MackMan

I agree. I think that seeding should be done by record. For example: Best record of division winners get #1 and 2nd Division winner gets #2. Then a WC team could theoretically have the #3 because their record was better than a division winner (This year with the Yankees and Houston). Then the #4 is the 3rd Division winner and 5&6 being the other WC teams. Keep same format of #1 &#2 get byes. Move the Wildcard series to a BO5 and everything else to a BO7 series. Get the season down to 154 or 146 games. Push the start of the season back a week or 2 (especially considering the northern teams) so that weather doesn't have a huge impact of make-up games, double headers (especially if we go to a 6 game series in 6 days), and require that if players get called up or sent down, they must stay a minimum of 7 days (barring injuries/paternity leaves/bereavement leaves). On top of that make it so if a player in their first 5 years wins MVP/CY Young awards, they're eligible for free agency after 5 years. But with that, the team they were with gets a supplemental pick (kind of how rewarding young players with actually getting called up and getting ROY happened) for having the current MVP/Cy Young award winner. Reward these teams and players properly for it.

He's still young (lack of solid MLB playtime) when it comes down to it. The underlying metrics seem to favor him very well. Now I'm not a metrics are the end all, be all to die on a hill for. But his metrics seem to suggest he's better than average in most offensive categories. He may never be a huge power hitter, but he seems have a decent line drive style swing as he's below average on being underneath the ball. With that he also tend to get on top of the ball so groundout are a very real thing as well. To pair with that he doesn't have the fastest bat speed, which will cause the Exit velo to be low as well. If he can be a decent singles with some doubles scattered in there, I would take that at first base instead of Lewis.

I have also noticed this as well when I listen to other clubs' announcers thru the MLB app. I have noticed 2 things that I find are lacking amongst the announcers: 1. The lack of true color commentary. It's as if they forget that people are trying to visualize whats going on on the field. You can say strike all you want, but if you don't give a description such as, "Here come's the pitch and its a curveball right on the edge of the plate," I will just assume he threw a strike with a fastball. 2. They are so monotone when it comes to being on the radio. They act as if they aren't allowed to express even a cent of emotion. Maybe its all the noise gates, VST's, and limiters causing this, but most of the time its a snooze fest listening to them. If I wanted to listen to lack of personality, i'd listen to NPR. Said my 2 cents. Again, maybe biased as a Twins fan, I pick out the nuances that Dan Gladden has when calling a game.

Yeah. I know but again. I'm telling him what he wants to hear. Twins fans are so conditioned to seeing their players fail and be claimed busts, so I figured I'd tell him what he wanted to hear.

I mean that's not what I said. I was just comparing 2 guys with similar profiles at the same level of play, albeit with one being a year older at that point AND the other one missing a development year during COVID. Do I think that Houston is going to be Bobby Witt Jr. No. Does he have a similar profile to the guy at the same level? Yes. Can a guy hope that a prospect we drafted actually achieves what would be an awesome career? Yes. But then you come along being a negative Nelly, explaining that would it be almost impossible for a player to achieve this type of stuff unless they played over 100 years ago. I mean maybe Houston is a generational talent that slipped by everyone the 1st time around and somehow magically fell into our laps. That isn't a complete abstract thought considering 24 teams/picks overlooked Mike Trout, who when at his peak, was a generational talent. I for one, like to look at the optimistic side of things and look for the positives that can come from this, whereas as you are looking at the pessimistic outlook. Maybe I want our prospects to do well in the minors until the hit majors running.

I mean, I hate the whole idea of relocating the club, but this is probably the inevitability of it. Probably to a much higher hub of traffic and sports. New Orleans, Nashville, Indianapolis, or either of the Carolinas could be a few possible destinations. Just looking at where baseball might end up being very popular especially when other sports seasons are done for the year. Plus, those would be slightly better place geographically and weather wise.

Now why are you skeptical? Is it because we know the Twins record of development on their players, or is that this level of offensive success isn't sustainable? I for one think that he has risen to the challenge every step along the way, including college. Now it might be possible that he wins multiple batting titles with the way the league is focusing on hitting HR's is more important than reaching base. Look at Simpson. The dude may not ever hit a homerun, but he's showing that being a singles hitter with the ability to steal is just as useful and dangerous as being a player to work around. Like I understand that people want to the long ball. It's more exciting to see a player crush a ball 450ft+ versus hitting a ball 91 feet and getting a base hit. But the 450+ moonshot means nothing if there's no one on base and you're down by 2. It just a really far run scored. Whereas a player who reaches via single, steals a base, and gets moved over to 3rd via groundout, sacrifice, or flyout puts pressure on the pitcher. That pressure than causes mistakes which can lead to base hits, HR's, or passed balls which allow the runner to move up and score or end the game depending on the situation. But it isn't the whole story. The dude could come back next season and just not figure it out. End up hitting .210 and then be called a bust and we have to live with the thought of time to move onto the next SS.

Yes. I was ecstatic that we actually were willing to spend some money on a player to help benefit our team. At the time it seemed like a huge deal that we did because the FO showed they were committed to winning at this point in time. The issue of course was that Correa was not worth that price tag we gave him. Yes, his offense was good for a shortstop, but wasn't elite. His defense and anchorability was what the Twins were targeting. We haven't had a solid and consistent shortstop in a VERY long time. If he got some resemblance of post-season Correa, thats a win. Other than that, the Twins and the FO were okay with a .260+ hitter, with a 20ish HR season, that anchored the middle of the diamond. Yes, they made the worst possible move in back tracking and trying to shed payroll. They should have just stayed pat. They would have at least gotten less criticism if they had kept payroll similar to what they currently had at the time. The downside is that Correa (Buxton too) are not built for the colder weather in MN where they need to be healthy all the time in order to perform properly. If we were to make it to the playoffs with them, how well are their past injuries going to hold up as the weather starts to get colder? I'm guessing a struggle for the most part. Now we just need a change in Farm Director or have a better scouting team that can work to identify players of interest, scout them accurately, and then have them deliver. Somehow the Guardians and the Rays get these arms that all other 28 teams overlooked and make them into perennial All-Stars then ship them out when they're worth their most and restock their farm system. I know thats what Falvey and Levine were trying to do, but their draft picks just weren't turning out. They were missing WAY more than they were winning.

Time to get the Wilf family involved to purchase the Twins.

Personally I think AAA might be the right move. If he struggles send him back to AA. Right now there isn't anyone in the organization that is screaming "I'm a better shortstop" over Houston. I definitely think he gets an invite to ST and has a chance to earn a 40-man. Sometimes organizations need to be aggressive in their development of players they see as cornerstones. This might very well be one of those moments for the Twins. There's a reason why some of our players aren't moving thru the lower level very fast and I think it's coming down to the farm director and slowly making these moves. Sometimes you gotta give them a shot to rise to occasion and see what they can do.

Yes, but also look at how many HR's Witt hit versus Houston. That is the difference right there. Right now, Houston profiles as a light power, more contact and base path disruption than Witt does. If Marek Houston can keep this method of offensive production, I won't mind too much at all. He'll have been our best shortstop in over 2 decades. He is essentially turning singles in to doubles and walks into doubles with his ability to steal bases. He may never be a 30-30 player, but if he can be a 15-50 player, that works out just as much. It forces the pitchers to not give him free passes and seeing eye singles might be more damaging than originally looked at. Especially if he continues to work on making his swing a more line drive approach. Which in turn will mean the power will come, just not in the form of HR's. but more doubles and triples, especially if shot into a gap or down the line. Houston is forcing the OF to be on their toes ready to make a throw, which is incredibly useful as he progresses thru the Minors and eventually makes it to the Majors.

Yes. This is easily the best answer. If you throw enough money at a problem, 9 out of 10 times, it can usually be fixed or sold. And clearly the problem is the Twins ownership group refusing to field a competitive team since 2023 and before that 2009-2010. If this limited partnership turned into a whole purchase and we actually get an ownership group that cares about winning, this will be awesome. Sadly, the Pohlads win no matter what as they made a huge profit on their investment AND they no longer need the Twins to help fund their other affairs.

From what I can see and what I've heard, this kid seems legit. Now I was doing a little bit of digging and was wondering. Who does this kids AA profile match up with very well. Now I'm not saying anything, but it matches up with another Shortstop who creates a lot of damage at the plate and on the basebaths while providing top not defense year in and year out. Our player (Marek Houston) and his AA stats on offense: The other player that profiles really well: Bobby Witt Jr. I know that there is a slight age difference and that Witt Jr was a whole year younger while facing the same competition, but if we can get our own Bobby Witt, I will be extremely happy about it.

I think I can speak for ALL of us when I say this: SELL THE TEAM. Now am I being realistic when I ask are they actually on the market? No. I personally don't think they're on the market unless the right offer comes. Sadly, I don't think that $2.0 Billion is going to be enough to get it done. I'd think closer to $2.5-3.0 billion will get it done. But alas, we shall see what the off-season brings in terms of sales, acquisitions, and losses to see where we are prepared for 2027.

Yeah. They haven't had a real direction in almost 15-16 years. I thought they were figuring it out come 2023 after our post-season series win. Then they decided to cut budget and hope that similar results were going to happen. Then a fire sale of our BP in 2025 really showed us they wanted to rebuild. Then 2026 came around and the AL was really weak and it made us look really good compared to a lot of teams. So I don't even know what to expect for 2027 other than expect the unexpected

This is correct. Larnach I think is the higher floor/lower ceiling and has show consistency everywhere. Like you said, he's shown the ability to take the necessary steps to stay on the field, and perform. Whereas Lewis has tried (as far as we know) to use his natural ability to get better.

Yeah. This is kind of a weird place to be right now. The Twins, thanks to Falvey and Levine, have been constructed very strangely. I'm wondering if the long-term goals were to have developed 1 or both of these players and eventually flip them for some established pitching or close to big league ready pitching. We have a major log-jam of players that are fringe starters, but are being surpassed by better, younger talent. We can't hold on to them as they've shown who they are as players, but we can't trade them because most teams more than likely would rather just do a player swap where Lewis/Larnach are swapped for players of the same caliber. What I think we do, offer then contracts. Then when ST comes around have a sit down with both stating you are fighting for your Major league roster spot. Force them to step up their game and excel. If they can't or refuse to do so, you found your answer in who really wants to stay and who wants to be somewhere else. Whether DFA'ing one/both or trading them for a change of scenery and either a middling releiver/aging starter/super utility player to help benefit the team down the stretch. I know it sounds like throwing money down the drain, but we need to make the decision of contending in 2027 or looking to revamp and contend in 2028 and decide who is going to be part of those long-term plans.

I think he still has some value in the OF especially as we know that Emma and Buck are just ticking glass cannons. Also to go with that, Emma being LH he is going to be spelled when we face Lefties as Shelton showed he was not comfortable with him hitting against lefties during the short time he spent on the Big Club. Now if we could develop or get some of that 2025 Gonzalez, I'd be more than happy trying him out at first base. I honestly don't care about power. Hitting homeruns doesn't win you games when you're down by 2 and you need baserunners. A solo shot can't score 2 runs to win.

I agree. It would be different if trading for Gilbert would put us over the hump to get to the World Series. But this type of trade wouldn't even be good enough to get into the playoffs with the team we'd have behind him.

I mean the Saints are actually worth watching though... Its worth the price of admission (to watch the Saints) because these are players that got a taste of the big leagues and want back or are trying to get there for the first time. These games matter to the players, not as much the organization outside of a development standpoint.

This is one of those moves that mid-low market teams make to help supplement their farm systems. This is one that the Dodgers/Yankees/Mets/Cubs/Padres take a flyer one because those teams are just a piece or 2 away from making a big run and they can afford to lose a few prospects if it means end of season hardware. The Twins just don't have the capital (prospects) to afford this trade type of trade. At least without giving up their next couple of years when our prospects are to go. If I were to give up prospects for a player, it has to be a player I have more than 1 season of control left.

Well part of that is his own fault. He wants the big moments. He wants to excite the crowd. Anyone can plainly see this. He wants to be the face of the franchise because he was drafted #1 and believes he should have it. In 2023 he looked like he might get his wish due to his success in such a short period of time. Since then, he cannot live up to what he created. He is struggling to succeed because he (and probably a lot of his family, friends, and Twins Territory) put himself on a pedestal from his Post-season success and rookie season success. He needs to prove to us and the FO that he more than just a bench player that are a dime-a-dozen. I for one think the Twins should take a 2 year flyer with year 1 being close to arbitration numbers and year 2 being a club option at $15million with a $2-4 million buyout. That way he stays happy if he performs well in 2027 he will get some money before being able to test the FA market in 2029. At lowest it'll cost the team $10ish million for Lewis to play 2 years, which if arbitration is what it is, will probably be a steal for us. Worse case scenario he underperforms and we DFA him partway thru the season and give him his buyout WHEN another team picks him up.

I'd love to be able to do less (productive) work and get paid more. That would be something interesting to try...🤔🤔🤔

The Twins are in that weird cycle where their top prospects are starting to hit that graduation/fall of period all at the same time due to 1) stagnation at the upper minors or 2) the prospects aren't as good as we thought they were or 3) they graduated to Rookie status in the MLB. I am very excited to see what some of these prospects can bring us next year after their short time in the majors this year. Jenkins 100% showed us how good he can be when he finally starts seeing the pitching. Emma showed us that he has the ability, he just needs to slow the game down and let it come to him. You could see he was pressing when he should be patient and let things unfold. Culpepper showed us that he is MLB ready, but maybe not the long-term SS we need. He seems comfortable enough to play it until Houston gets up and then I think he understand that 3rd or 2nd are going to be his home. I would actually enjoy a middle infield of Houston and Culpepper with Lee anchoring the hot corner. Could be some exciting defense going on.

Personally, I would say get rid of him. But that would only be thru a trade of some sort. Tender him the contract, go to arbitration and hope the mediator thinks the # we submit is the better option for him. Then we maybe work on an extension during spring training while we give him a shot as a platoon bat for 2nd base and 1st base. Of course this all banking that we sign a LH hitting 1st baseman. Now if he is able to change his approach and be a bit more selective at the plate, awesome. The biggest thing I can see (eye test) when he is batting is that here is too much movement from his back leg, at least compared to other swings from players on the team.. To me, it looks as if he just isn't stable or doesn't trust that leg to bear his weight when swinging. Maybe another off-season of working with our hitting staff (of course this pending we don't have a lockout) could potentially unlock what we needed. As much as I would love a 30-35+ HR from Lewis, I just don't think that is realistic. I would settle with 25+HR's and average defense with him.