farmerguychris

I hate to say this, but come trade deadline I'd prefer to sell any pending free agents we have and try again next year. (certainly not in a position to buy with what I've seen) We have a good core, but won't be big players in the playoffs. I think still a chance to make to post season as we are, even minus a couple of guys that we could trade away for the future. Think we could even still win that 1 playoff game that's eluded us.

I think he could have a great role if playing for Cleveland.

In your opinion, what 'role' should he have as our highest paid pen pitcher? His salary is 50% of the total pen expense.

@AaronGleeman Emilio Pagán is the only MLB reliever with an ERA+ below 100 and negative Win Probability Added every season since 2020. 2020: 94 ERA+, -1.0 WPA 2021: 81 ERA+, -0.6 WPA 2022: 89 ERA+, -1.0 WPA 2023: 79 ERA+, -0.3 WPA His combined -2.9 WPA since 2020 is dead last for relievers. His results prove he is worse than being 'just a guy'. We would be a better team with literally any other relief pitcher in his place.

They seem to be ok at scouting other team's players, but are we as good at scouting our own young guys? Steer, Cano, Petty?

No.... just no, time to move on. Trade him (the fo claims they can) for some no name single a reliever and bring up literally any other pro level pitcher to replace him.

Is it however? Yes, this plan brought us Stewart. But this plan has also put us in spots where Pagan and Colome and have blown how many saves and lost us games? You can't have low leverage pitchers put in high leverage situations as often as we do and be considered a good pen. Half of a good pen does not make it a great pen IMO. I can't see how any pen with the worst reliever in the past 4 years (Pagan) can be considered a 'good' bullpen. We've certainly been worse, but I think today we're only halfway where we want to be.

My guess is that it will be Martin. Lewis's agent doesn't want him playing in the OF, and we know we listen to what the players want (right or not) as Kepler hasn't played in center for 3 years despite being a better option than others we've put out there. I'm still hoping Celistino can work on his hitting enough in AAA this year to be above replacement level for us, Don't know enough about the other minor league options currently in the system, already see enough of our options to certainly not trade for one at this point until they announce Bux is done as a CF option.

Sure, they have a good 3, but they also have a group competing weekly to be last man out of the pen. Worried this will be considered a 'success story' for the F.O., proving the fact that they don't need to 'really invest' in the pen in the future.

Can't believe how far this guy has fallen in just 2 years. Guess this is why the F.O. is reluctant to sign big name pitchers to long term deals. https://clutchpoints.com/twins-news-minnesota-signs-former-cy-young-winner-deal Confirmed on muiltiple pages - can't hurt I guess as long as we don't force him into the big league roster simply because of his resume.

Fun article - nice idea and well written.

I've noticed some horrible umpiring this year - not only this play, but more 'no where near the strike zone' calls being called as strikes. The current batch of umps are making a pretty good case for robot umps going forward, even if most of us don't want them. We want accuracy.

I'm also a believer in both Buxton and Correa - but how is it Rocco's fault that neither Buxton or Correa are able to hit and in Buxton's case - stay/get healthy?

I've been reluctant to push to have Buxton play in the field if he's not physically ready - BUT, with said I think you have a great point. Either let Buck rest until he can play CF, or admit that he is simply now a DH. Too many other talented (possibly) hitters on this roster are being blocked by having him in that DH role, and while our CF play has been adequate, it is time to bring up both Lewis and Miranda and then can send down someone like Castro, or DFA Kepler or even Pagan. Season is 40% over - time to make some internal moves to know if we should be buyers or sellers very soon.

Heck we had conflict on our beer softball league team - I would expect some conflict where things actually matter to happen. Conflict simply shows people care and are passionate about doing what they feel is best for the team. Its ok to have conflict as hopefully the compromise is better than either individual idea.

We try to be patient, but for the 4th year in a row - we simply can't hit. Different hitting coaches don't seem to make a difference. Time to change that philosophy somehow.

I think we have to move on. Next year neither Kepler, nor Polanco will be on this team as we have younger (and cheaper) options available. This is not unique to us, most teams have these same decisions to make as talent ages and new talent emerges. We have some good talent waiting in the wings that need a place to play.

Lack of understanding (for the fans) of if he will just be a DH forever, or will return to the field someday is what is frustrating most of us. If he's unable due to lingering knee injuries to play the field as a 29 year old, what happens 2,3,5 years from now? They don't need to tell us anything, but as fans - we simply want to know if there is a plan.

I was thrilled when we were able to sign Buxton for 7 years at only $100M! I knew we were getting him at that price ONLY because of his injury history. He could have demanded double that if injuries were not part of the narrative of this outstanding center fielder. We knew that even if he only played 2/3 of the games, we would still be getting good value for our dollars as his ability to produce when he was in there and healthy came in bunches. With 1WAR being valued at $4-$8 Million annually in the free agent market. Paying $15M for a player who averages 3 to 4.5 WAR - it seems fair. IF he were in centerfield. Here is my question - IF the Front Office knew Byron would only be able to DH starting in year 1 of his new contract, would we still have made this deal? Removing the ridiculous and long ago contract signed by Cabrera in Detroit ($32M) to be their DH - Byron is tied with Jorge Solar in Miami as the 2nd highest paid DH in the league in the first year of his contract. Is this sustainable? In 6 years, Buxton will be 34. A lot of players can continue to be productive at 34, but when I hear that there is no way Buxton could possibly play in the field as a 29 year old, how could he possibly ever again in the future? In closing, I love what Buxton can bring to our team when healthy. I'm not one of the fans who wants him to run out there and play CF regardless of how he feels because his injury history suggests it would only be a matter of time before he had a significant injury, preventing him from even being a DH. But what does the future hold for him as a Twin? Will he ever play in the field again? Should he? He has a full no trade until his age 33 season, at which time does open to be the possibility of being traded to 1 of 5 teams for the last 2 years of his contract. (according to Sportrac) Would he WANT to play in the field? If he wants to play in the field and we're scared to put him out there, should we look into seeing if he would trade his no-trade clause for one of those 5 teams early if they are willing to play him in the field? So many questions, but just wondering if this is all we're ever going to get out of him - then maybe this great value deal isn't quite so great anymore. Hope this is only temporary, but I don't think we'll always be lucky enough to put someone out there with Taylor's fielding ability will we? What do you think, is he still a good value at $15 to be our DH for the next 6 years?

He would be a great fit for a team where they have a pitcher who can hit and the DH bats for the Right Fielder - maybe the Angels. But - can they even do that?

Yes if we could trade Kepler and Pagan for some random reliever. This would allow one of our younger corner outfielders more playing time, and I feel pretty safe that any random reliever would be better than Pagan.

Glad he's doing well - Good job. BUT, I'm afraid now this will only support the FO belief that they don't need to invest in the pen because they can just find guys like this. They obviously do, but not as often as they think they do.

As long as we can have a quality CF like Taylor, I'm ok with Buck being the DH... But, if we start to have a glaring weakness out there, then I think its time to reconsider. I think we got a great deal with the contract we gave him as a CF, but as a DH its not as good. Do they think he'll be the DH for the next 6 years? That doesn't sound as appealing. No doubt he is injury prone, but so was Molitor early in his career. Hope he can get in the field again at least a few days each week to spread out the wear and tear on everyone - not just him.

I would bet the Twins are hoping Celestino is ready to take over CF next season.

You're giving examples of things Rocco is not in charge of. Pagan cannot be sent to St. Paul as he has too many years of service to be sent down to AAA without passing thru waivers. This is a F.O. decision, not a manager one. Same with Jax - its not Rocco's call, that goes to the F.O. of who stays in the bigs, and who gets sent down. Same with injuries - Rocco never went to school past high school - you think they let him make medical decisions? You can be upset with the F.O. for giving Rocco God awful players like Pagan (I agree he should never have been resigned, also not a Rocco role), but Rocco plays who F.O. gives him. The Twins deserve some heat from fans - but it needs to be placed on the people making the poor decisions, not blaming Rocco for choices that are not his to make. Is he perfect - of course not, but know what he controls, and what he is not allowed to when assigning blame. One last note - given the pitchers Rocco has been given to select from in our pen (again, by the F.O.)- who would you send out instead? There are NO good options because the F.O. admits, the pen is not something they feel needs to be invested in.