mac098

I see what you mean. I thought you were talking about those that struggled or didn't live up to expectations in NY. My bad. Makes sense when you put it that way.

I don't know. I would say we've had decent success working with former NYY players. Sonny Gray, Gio Urshela, Phil Hughes, Michael Pineda, and Jake Cave (albeit, it was only a partial year), I think getting out of the Big Apple has helped some of those players regain some of what got them to the Majors.

Like the old saying is said, "The season can't be won in April, but it can certainly be lost." Look at the 2021 Twins. That was a prime example of losing the season in April. If we can come out looking at a .500 record, I think we'll be sitting pretty good in a weak division. But I do think we need to look at the series against those top teams. If we can split or look at a 3-7/4-6 that will give us a really good idea of where we stand relative to some powerhouse teams. Heck, it might actually help us find where we need to improve.

I've never understood the idea of attempting to change a player's swing to make him more of a power hitter. If he is hitting for AVG and its working, why try to change that? I would take a player that hits .275-.290 w/ a OBP of .360+ over a someone who hits .210 but hits 30 HR's a season. Yes, homeruns are exciting, but so is a player beating out an infield single. Then they steal 2nd and are driven in with a single to the OF. As a team, you need table setters for the big guys to do their damage. It's pretty hard to win games if you're relying on homeruns (ask the 2019 Twins about their playoffs that year). But I think this is a make it or break it year for the Martin. He definitely needs to show us that he belongs in MSP.

This was a very good move by the FO. Trading Arraez was the best move at the end of the day. Trading a player that was worth the most he may ever be worth right now is the best move we could have done. He's a player without a set position, little power, and no speed. He can play, but his intangibles leave little be desired.

This is well put. If the Twins can maintain a .600 winning percentage at home, there is a good chance they make the playoffs...if they can get a .500 percentage at home (I know its not possible due to the fact that they play 81 home and 81 away, so realistically going 40-41 or 41-40 away we would be okay as long as we get a minimum of 49 wins at home). So that would leave us around 89/90 and 73/72, which TBH, isn't strong enough to make the playoffs most years, but with a weak AL Central, I think we could win the division.

I'm almost to point of "Get it done." We need some pitching and we have a plethora of LH OF on our team. Gordon, Kepler, or Larnach. Maybe even toss in a minor leaguer that is close to MLB ready. But we need to get something, especially if we've invested at least the next 6 years to CC. We owe him that much. The FO owes their fan-base that much.

This team looks like it is starting to get ready to take the next step. We have a good mix of young players and veteran players that will be playing together. Glad to see C4 back as he can be a huge difference make to a lot of our younger players. Especially with his knowledge, experience, and overall atmosphere. I think this is the year some of our younger player show what they've got. I believe Miranda will break out of his shell, meaning we'll see 20+ homers this year with serviceable defense. A healthy Polanco would make a huge difference at the plate and in the field. If AK can stay healthy, 1B is locked down with above avg defense and a solid bat. Now the OF is a still a mystery. We know Gallo can play elite defense along with Kepler, but the issue is with their bats. If Gallo can produce and avg of .220-.240, I'll be happy. With Kepler, I would like to see somewhere around .250 and I'll accept it, as long as he can put a few more balls into the bleachers. With Buck, we need him to stay healthy for 130-145 games. He is a literal game changer out there in both the field and the plate. If we can get a .275 avg out of him, I'll be pleased. The biggest question mark is the starting rotation and potential use of the BP. We need the starters to snag/grab/own 6 innings of QUALITY baseball. I know Quality Starts (QS) are an underrated stat, but having those really alleviates a lot of pressure of the hitters and BP to have to perform later in the game. Just my 2 cents.

I don't we have a single player that will qualify for anything. Not sounding negative, but Buck won't be able to stay healthy for 150+ games to garner MVP votes. Arraez doesn't have enough numbers outside OBP and BA to be able to garner votes. Our pitching is going to be about the same as last year. So, in reality, the Twins will NOT win the division, will NOT make the post-season, and will NOT have any individual hardware next year.

To be honest, it is a pretty poor off-season for the Twins. We haven't done much to garner any attention (like we ever do outside of a surprise signing like Correa last year), but this off season has been dreadfully slow for us. As a fan, it looks like the Twins FO are unsure what they want to do. There are times where it looks as if we should start the rebuild, and then there are times where it looks like we might have gotten a missing piece. But this offseason has looked like we have given up. This offseason is looking like we should start to find places for some of these expensive veterans to go and look to the future for a rebuild. I know that we have a lot of young talent on the roster and in the organization, but it is looking more and more like Falvey/Lavine have not been able to live up to expectations. Since they took over, the Twins are 451-421, with one 100 win season, and a shortened COVID season. We've made the playoff 3 times while missing them 3 times. Our supposed pitching "pipeline" has yet to show its face, a lot of our younger players have stalled out in development, either due to injury, new training staff, or just not meeting expectations, and our best player can't even stay on the field. How is this a winning formula for a team that is in a mid-small market and treated like a business? I don't know about you, but I love watching the Twins when we're winning, but its really tough to enjoy the Twins when we're repeatedly putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage by not being aggressive and going after pitching in the offseason. And right now should be our time to open the checkbook and sign some players. We have the space. But we need to take a look at our organization and ask, "Why don't players want to sign here in Minnesota?" Is it the culture we have? Is it the owners? Is it the FO? Is it the reputation of us losing playoff game after playoff game? There are a million different reasons why players don't want to come here. We just need to figure it out and make a change.

Lets stop with all the opt-outs. This is getting old. I understand thats what Boras wants, but we need to be able to get players that don't want opt outs and a full no trade clause. This is ridiculous. I'm sure with those opt outs, the minute the team starts tanking, he would opt out and decide that the Twins were the wrong fit for him. Correa needs to take a look at the most recent signing of Turner and Bogaerts and think REAL hard. Does he want to opt out, or does he want to be the face of the franchise for a team to build around?

I would be okay with trading Arraez. Of course, we would have to add something or 2 to make it worthwhile for the Marlins. But right now, Arraez is worth the most he has ever been. He is the odd man out on positions for our team. He isn't much for fielding, hits for average, lacks power, and is one IL stint from being a wasted roster spot. He has spent time every year he has been on the ML roster, or at the very least, been injured enough to where he shouldn't be out there playing.

I agree. Bally Sports has severely hurt the entire MN sports fanbase. And I mean across ALL sports. I haven't been able to watch a single MN sports team, outside the Vikings, for over 2 years. Not being able to watch the Twins hurts the future fanbase. If kids don't see the sport, they don't wanna go to the games and don't get to purchase the apparel of the team. Lost revenue right there. As a parent, my son has always asked, "Why don't we get to watch the Twins on TV?" As a coach of the sport, I see my players repping more SD, LA, NYY, PHI, MIA, BOS, and CHI Sox hats than I see MN Twins hats. Why is that? Those teams are on TV. Our team is not on TV.

I agree. The M looks more like Miami Marlins logo, and quite frankly, it stinks. Its the biggest eye-sore in terms of our new uniforms.

I don't understand the bandwagon of non-tendering Urshela. He was our most consistent hitter outside of Arraez and Correa. He was one of our more solid defenders. He earned the right to be able to get the spot on the Twins roster. All he showed was consistency on a team that was bruised, battered, and bloody all season.

Honestly, it should be whomever is hot on the mound. If Lopez is hitting his spots and getting K's at a wicked pace, let him have it. If Duran is blowing it past everyone, let him have it. I understand that we as fans have been lucky enough to see Steady Eddie, Joe Nathan, Perkins, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Eric Gagne all hold these spot for years, but that was a different era of baseball. Today's era is having multiple guys that can come in and shut the door. It's a gut feeling type of thing. You gotta trust the guy who's been heating up. Then ride them until they start showing kinks in their armor and then throw the next guy thats heating up.

Sano is a true 3 outcome player. Everyone loved him when he was hot. Because he was always the hottest hitter when he was hot. But more often than not, we had the COLD Sano. Could buy a hit, let alone make contact with the ball. Opposing teams knew that. If he was cold, they throw everything at him and he would miss. Honestly, If he does come back, I think it should be on a minor league pact where he has opt outs at various points in the season.

I agree with the article. Maybe a few of the these players will hold a showcase if no one decides they want them. But I would for sure stay away from Rogers. IMO he never really showed me that he was a dominant "Closer" for our team or any others. He seemed more like an inning eater or "lefty specialist". He has struggled since the 2019 campaign and there wasn't much convincing me that we should have kept him.

And we have to remember: If any teams do decide to take any of these players, they have to stay on the Majors roster for the whole year, otherwise they get sent back to the team they were drafted from.

Based off everything I could find, he has decent numbers. Only an 18% runner throw out rate does hurt. But I think if he can spend another offseason with some development and maybe picking up some more stuff from Conger and Jeffers, I think he will be a solid player behind the plate.

I am all for upgrading our BP, but there is realistically only one player on here that could have good success in our system. Rafael Montero. The other 2 would be flyers that could certainly implode or they are works in progress. The plus side to Moore, is that he could be used in spot start situations. But we also have more than enough starters looking for spots in our rotation/BP. So to put this bluntly, there is only ONE pitcher that we should go after. And that pitcher just won a WS ring.

This looks like the Twins prospect might be trending in the right direction. This week was a solid week for everyone. Yes, we expect Martin and Julien to play at this level, but I didn't think they would play ABOVE that level. I would believe both of these players will see Target Field sometime next year. Maybe Martin gets up to be our 4th OF as a RH batter. Julien is in a predicament because he doesn't field very well, according to metrics. So using him as a utility is typically not the best idea. Which throws a wrench into things if Kirilloff comes back and Arraez is not our regular 1B. But there are a lot of if's to go with these statements. Now maybe is Isola is showing us that he should be given a ST Invite next season. It might actually be a good fit. He can play 1B when we need him and he can back-up Jeffers (assuming we don't sign anyone from FA) when Jeffers needs a day off.

I still don't understand why people want catchers to be this huge hitting machine when they need to be able to play DEFENSE. They need to be able to call a game, throw baserunners out, and block pitches in the dirt. Yes, pitch framing is nice especially if it helps us, but that shouldn't be the "go to" metric we look at for catchers. And if the catcher has a bat, that is a positive for us. As of right now Jeffers is our best option unless we chase a catcher that can field phenomenally and hit well. For a catcher, I will take a below average hitter if their defense can save us over the course of a season.

I couldn't have said it better myself. In a previous article I stated we were spoiled in the last 20 years from the catching we were able to have. But I agree that a catcher needs to be able to call the game, block balls in the dirt, and throw baserunners out at a high mark. Hitting is definitely a secondary trait that is a + if the catcher has a bat. And pitch framing is a situational skill that might help in a pinch when the pitcher needs to get out of an inning or things are starting to get out of hand.

I mean could you imagine how many SB Ricky Henderson would've had if he has larger bases? But I do agree that with the larger bases, the throw over limit, and the pitch clock starting, I think teams are going to start utilizing more defensive catchers first. Soon enough their bats aren't going to carry them to a MLB team, unless they plan on switching positions. And as I stated in a previous article, I would honestly prefer the catcher to be more of a defensive specialist behind the plate.