hitterscount

This would be another exciting game changing move by the FO, right along the lines of the Gallo signing. I honestly don't understand what their plan is with the OF. At this point unless trades are made that really move the needle go with the younger players and see what they can do. Most of the top prospects are old enough to either sink or swim. It's time to see if Kirloff, Larnach Miranda, Lewis, Wallner and some of the pitchers are going to be impactful, The season is shaping up to be another bust so might as well go all in.

The roster as it stands is filled with holes. If they were in any division other than the AL Central they would finish at or near the bottom. The FO did nothing to improve the OF. If you are counting on Buxton and Kirloff to be healthy and have big years the odds and past history will say you are going to be disappointed. The Gallo signing was a joke. The Brewers traded Renfroe who would have been a perfect fit and would be an immediate upgrade over either Kepler or Gallo, plus a much needed RH bat. The OF as of today is concerning. The INF, not much better. I think trading Urshela was a bad decision. I have no problem with Miranda playing 3rd if they received something of value for that trade, which they didn't. Is Farmer really the answer at SS? 2nd they are alright, but I would look at trading either Polanco or Arraez, who IMO are the teams best trading pieces. What is the plan at 1st... Arraez again, Kirloff.. either way one is not a 1st caliber player and the other has injury issues. And who is the DH.. assuming Buxton slots there a lot when he can play... but that leaves a hole in CF. Catcher they should be alright at. The SP is what it is... hoping Ryan takes a leap this year and is a little more consistent. The biggest question is how the manager utilizes them again. The 5 inning or three times threw the line-up rule destroyed the BP last years. BP could be decent. Colome in 2021 and Pagan last year were just morale killers... you can only blow so many games before it just kills any momentum. The manager failed to adjust and go another route letting the two of them blow game after game. Wow this is really a pessimistic view of the team... someone mentioned earlier, they need to go the Atlanta route and identify key young pieces and extend their contracts while still under team control and build around them. Who those pieces are is the issue.

They need a lot more than three players to step up... if they pick up where they left off last season they pretty much need the entire team to step up. I was also surprised that they were so quick to bring Baldelli back, not many starters were happy with the quick hook that he utilized which most likely led to the BP failures, oh and the willingness to keep watching Pagan blow save after save when they had a legit closer all along.

We are more than a quality SS away from being competitive. Just a bad look for our genius's running the team hoping that most fans are naïve enough to believe that they are trying to field a quality team. I despise the big market teams that attempt to buy a championship and love watching the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees , Mets choke annually. There is no doubt smaller market teams are at a disadvantage, but well run organizations can compete... unfortunately it's not the Twins. Look no further than St. Louis similar size city and market and they have fielded competitive teams for the most part for the last 30 years. But that takes competent long and short term planning and a commitment from the owners. Not happening here.

It's quantity over quality as far as the OF goes. When healthy Buxton is really good.... the problem, he is never healthy and might give you 40 -100 games. When talking trades I am surprised that Polanco isn't brought up. There has to be some value there and they have a logical choice to plug in with Arraez . The Arraez experiment at 1st was, IMO, a fail. Trading Urshela made no sense. Freeing up $$ when the FO knew they had zero chance at signing Correa shows how incompetent they are when you look at the return. Looking at this roster it is difficult to see a team that even gets close to .500. The OF is a mess, The IF is a disaster and our starting pitching has one reliable arm in Ryan... everyone else has injury concerns. There is nothing to get excited about. We made it to last June before the wheels came off and as it stands today the balloon has been deflated before spring training even begins.

The Gallo signing is a joke. The OF didn't get better with this move. Rumors are now really heating up that they are looking to trade Kepler, which I was alright with, but brining in Gallo... why. Kepler is a better player so this makes zero sense which is why it does, the FO is inept. Take the 11 million along with the 50 million you are looking to spend and try and extend Ryan, Mahle or Gray to stabilize the starting rotation. How about extending contracts to some of the good arms in the bullpen instead of blowing money on a .199 career hitter that strikes out nearly 50% of his at bats. The OF was horrible heading into spring training and may even be worse today. The genius GM's are either incompetent or their hands are tied by the owners...either way 2023 is shaping up to be a disaster. Than they wonder why enthusiasm and attendance is near rock bottom for this team.. look no furtehr than your off season moves.

This team as stands is a dumpster fire. There was zero chance CC was signing with a club that finished the season like they did. Going from first place in late June to completely free falling wasn't on him. No one stepped up to right the sinking ship. We have been played once again by the front office while taking their word that they are/were looking to to spend money to try and field a competitive team... clue they weren't and most likely knew their offer to CC wasn't going to get it done. What is this teams strength? OF is really bad, No true 1st base experience, Kirloff? Always hurt. 3rd base was traded away for an unproven player...SS a joke, 2nd base, Polanco struggled in 2002 at the plate and to stay healthy. Starting rotation, we saw how they fared the last two months of the season. BP could be decent and most likely the strength of the team. And a manager that the players weren't happy with in how he used them. Optimistically a 65-70 win team.

So many needs… so many unproven players with a history of injuries and just not a day or two, months. Crawford does nothing to improve this team, more glaring needs at 1st and the OF.