Jocko87

Agreed but they know that's what they are getting. Wallner can do all of that minus the defense. Not unreasonable to set the floor and wait a few months. To get closer to their price they need someone desperate at the deadline.

Agreed but in the larger picture a month or two isn't going to matter much. On the balance, offense/defense, even the assumed difference just isn't that large. They locked in a more certain player for a few months. I do think they are overestimating his value, I don't think the LH corner OF market is down-I think that's what it is. Saturated. I still think they have to move him but if they are overvaluing him I could see taking pivoting to a much larger return for Wallner or Larnach. Its not likely they move either of those guys but the best return for Kepler is a middle relief pitcher.

I wish someone would have thought to tell him not to run into walls years ago. Sorry-too easy. I can summarize all this discussion with the following statement. If MAT had an OPS that was about 100-150 points higher our problems would be solved. No? I think that would be a fantastic outcome. The problem is that player is a unicorn, like a Buxton-but healthy. I just spent some time sorting through various leaders in center field and it would be a good exercise for everyone in the thread. Some Trouts and J-Rods, lotta Ruiz and MAT. Sorry. That said, Lewis may be the best option we have to maximize the roster. I do believe that much of the Lewis to center field talk and action was based on Miranda locking down 3rd base. Where do we play all these studs? I've shifted to Miranda in the outfield and Lewis at 3rd just to maximize the value of Royce. He doesn't need fooled with at this point in his career. Having little or no minor league experience means he will be doing a ton of adjustments with the big club. Lets not add to the curve with defensive changes too. I wouldn't mind if they made the change in the off-season. Give him time to adjust and make it permanent. I don't think anyone will play him off 3rd base though. Miranda would have to come around hard plus Lee and Julien pressing. It would signal the end of Buxton in the outfield sadly.

If he's healthy he starts. I'd like to see more platoon use for him but without any RH hitting outfielders truly in the mix it is was it is. He will not be benched as, yes, an organizational favorite and well respected veteran but as a solid player that can be counted on. Would we like more? Sure, but we need all the stability we can get. Besides, if you bench him his trade value is tanked. It's low enough as everyone else knows what we have waiting too.

I've been saying for months that they will be taking 4-5 more shortstop types no matter who they have in the pipeline but I would not advocate it with the top two-three picks. I love the idea of stocking up on players with lots of skills and ability to move around the diamond. They make great trade chips, which are my favorite kind. I do believe you have to look at your organization and draft in the top 5 to profile on your roster in some manner. I'm not talking about taking a catcher 10 spots to high because you need catchers, I'm just using it as a tiebreaker between equalish talents. I don't want a high school lefty corner outfielder because they grow on trees, unless its a generational talent. If they are, they won't be there at 5. I can fill that spot ten different ways. Give me the pitcher or the RH outfield bat we need badly for use within the next two years.

To pass on Skenes they would have to have something from Wes bordering on arm falling off. It’s also reasonable to assume they would have the best insights from Wes but they also might not be on speaking terms. Who knows. I’m of the asset value thought process and there would be no greater value than Skenes at #5 unless he has a metal plate in his shoulder. Trade value would be off the charts if they wanted to go that way.

Everyone is still very tight lipped and there is so so much left to happen. In addition to the workouts and meetings, we still have to sign with agents and signability discussions. A composite of the teams boards would look like that conspiracy theorist meme with lines every where. The ESPN mock from today had Clark going #1 so Pitt could save almost a million. The preps can still threaten to go to college and while NIL money hasn't hit baseball fully yet it will soon. How much NIL money does it take to skew the slot value game? Also, did you say 110mph AVERAGE exit velocity? Langford was my target already but sheesh.

I don't know about a change but the issues I see are all coaching related. They can only do so much but scouting, approach, attacking tomorrows pitcher by doing X are all coaching. It feels like they are swinging for the pitcher to hit their bats, like the 8 year olds I played wiffle ball with yesterday. I guess we shouldn't be surprised the very young coach with no major league experience is getting out maneuvered regularly.

This is basically what it comes down to. Kepler being a known, very affordable piece, is insurance against the kids not being alright. The cost is that we get to have threads like this. The FO made the right play here even if its not exactly what most of us would have done. It's not that they are holding the kids down, they are buying a few months to make sure they want to proceed. It's a perfectly reasonable play. Someone probably moves at the deadline, but don't be certain its Kepler. Also, we are seeing the market for LH hitting corner outfielders isn't tremendous. Every team has several and more are on the way. I have no data but assume it lines up roughly with the start of the platoon era, 20-30 years ago. It's the main reason I'm out on the 2 high school kids at the #5 pick. While one might stick in center, I hate paying the highest price for an asset in the most loaded area. They have to be generational talents to pay off. Meanwhile, we can't do better than Garlick from the RH side of the plate. Nobody cares how bad his defense is because he hits RH.

Brent Rooker is on pace for 32.4 homers. A's on pace for 29.45 wins. The gap is closing and getting more depressing as the Rooker train loses steam.

But what are the roster limitations? Nothing that playing to their capabilities wouldn't overcome. At least 60% of this roster is playing like crap, 30-40% under ability. Normalize that a bit and everyone here is delighted. They can comfortably put forth a starting 9 of nothing but highly touted 1st and 2nd round draft picks. This website is filled with pages upon pages of roster crunch where every choice results in a good player being effected. What we are seeing is a coaching and leadership problem. Preparation and approach are abysmal. Don't let the coaches off the hook even a little bit right now. There isn't much more we could have asked for from the front office this offseason and certainly nothing that would address what we are seeing now. Our bullpen woes would almost certainly be eased by a functional lineup. We would be nervous for October but the FO will act at the trade deadline. The front office should be looking at this very carefully as they can't pull many levers outside of the coaching staff starting with Rocco. I will say I'm seeing a bit more outward frustration, open coaching today with Julien was good to see. I do believe they like to do most things behind closed doors but sometimes a public callout can be helpful. A mild public callout of Correa would send shockwaves through the clubhouse. Rocco probably needs to put that demon to bed, the backup GM talk is tough for a leader to overcome. As motioned, he is rarely pointed so he has an opportunity to use a pointed moment to great effect. I wouldn't be surprised if they could work that out between themselves for effect. If I were Rocco I would consider it.

It’s the underrated part of a really good pitcher. Things go all to hell but somehow still go 5-6 innings with 4-5 runs and minimize damage to the game and bullpen. Ten runs might be a bit much but the bullpen will thank him.

It's no secret I've moved a bunch over the years and have frankly, become quite proficient at paring my belongings down to that what really matters. The most recent of these moves was a lengthy one over the summer of 2022 from Sherman, IL to Goddard, KS. Work obligations and a dynamic housing market led me to continue working in Illinois for 4 additional months after selling and buying a new house. I'm just now really starting earnest work on setting up the shop and garage. This background is only to help visualize how serious the following is. I generally know what I have and I know where it is. It's just a thing for me. For the past several months I have been unable to find my TC logo front license plate. I've looked several times with a purpose to find this one thing. It has been very frustrating. It was not on the truck in Illinois as a front plate required state but was featured in a prominent place on the license plate wall in the garage (again, I've moved a lot). I'm happy to report that as of Friday, May 26th, the lost is found and restored to its rightful place on the front of the truck. It was on top of some garage cabinets, in that sunken area where spiders go to die. This may not seem like a big deal but when I consider the timeline for the missing woobie things start to come together for me. The movers packed it away on June 8th, 2022. On June 8th, 2022 the Twins beat the hated Yankees 8-1 at Target field to move to 33-25, 4.0 games clear in first place. Chris Archer!! was the starting pitcher that day. Ten days later the Twins were tied for first as the season started to unravel. June 10th was the unpacking day at the new house. On this day, it was announced Royce Lewis did not, in fact, have a bone bruise in his sore knee but rather a partial tear of the repaired ACL. Twins territory wept. Many pages have been written about the rest of the season so I will not expand upon that here but I will say that in spite of some amazing offseason good fortune and good front office work something is missing. As the OP states, there have been nothing in the way of ephemeral sparks that could start this massively talented engine. Let's face it, the team is in first place by default and I would argue, all the time in first place since, oh say June 8th last year has been default only. I took a break from garage cleaning to watch the game yesterday. I was struck by the contrast in quality of at-bats from the start and even posted to that effect in the game thread. The quality of at bats continued throughout the game for the most part. When Matt Wallner revealed post game the Jace Tingler may have chewed some ass "rallied" regarding execution, I knew what really happened. There is a non-zero chance that when we write the epilogues of the 2023 season we look to this game and see two lucky home runs that the starting center fielder would almost certainly not have allowed and see a turning point. A home run given by the backup center fielder off his glove, then off the top of the wall after a 3-time gold glove winner had his lower back tighten up could certainly be a spark. Two pitches later an actual home run was deep in the same glove until the top of the same wall collected it into the bullpen. That could also be a spark. This game could very well be written into Twins lore as the turning point of the 2023 season but I'll know better, and now you will too. Call me sabrstitious if you like, but check back with me in a month.

He's going to have to trick people into running on him, like he did there.

Holy hose.

Does Kiermiar get both of those?

Good at bats in the 1st… I like it.

I think mock drafts at this point are fun but without knowing who reps each top 5 player its really hard to figure how it plays out. I would pay a bunch of extra slot money to get Langford over one of the high school lefties and even take a pitcher ahead of them. I have to imagine there are plenty of agent discussions going on right now but without any signings we don't know the Boras effects etc. Signability issues are just around the corner.

How does one achieve 120%? I'll take it as a good sign from the man himself but he is probably comparing it to how he felt over the last 3 years with one leg. True 90% would be good by me.

How the F*** do you know? I have a longer post for this discussion but the first part of it is this. So many people, so comfortable being completely certain about something they know jack all s*** about. So comfortable stating as fact that Rocco does what the FO tells him, has no agency to make decisions. only a patsy for the FO. The reality is that you know nothing of the structure of the organization. Maybe the FO jumps when Rocco says so? Not likely but just as provable as most of the bull **** in this thread. I have thoughts on Rocco and will come back for them but until then, link some hard reporting, put up or shut up. You can't prove your thesis, feel free to retract. This is for more than the quoted post, there are several of you.

Reverse splits?!?!

Its the most recent movie I've seen. I'm the hippest.

The distinction helps me understand your point but it doesn't change my stance. Rocco is a member of the coaching staff. They also work for him. That makes it his job and responsibility. He should absolutely be involved in breaking down swings and pitch usage. Not every swing but when there's an issue he needs to be involved with both feet. I'm not saying coaches turn Gallo into Arraez as some of the sweeping examples you are using would suggest but there is absolutely a difference in a well coached team vs one who isn't. In civilian parlance, hes the director of operations which is a position that requires technical proficiency. He may be an expert in only one field of his operation but his overall technical proficiency has to be at a level he can function in all areas. In the management field, leader eventually grow to positions where they have less and less technical skill but are still responsible for production in those areas. One of the main jobs is helping your sub reporting managers solve problems. Excluding bullpen catchers there are 12 coaches on the staff including Rocco per MLB.com. He's involved in everything, I don't see how he couldn't. How much time does it take to fill out a lineup card? If you have a reference that states the org operates like you say I will become the biggest advocate for firing everyone involved and burning everything that remains. It will save me a ton of time watching the team because I know its not going to work and the end will be spectacular.

Langford failing their laps would be my ideal as well. The signability questions will be the big thing to watch, its always the MLB draft surprise. There is no telling whats being said behind the scenes. I'm intrigued by Laws comments about HS bats and looking at shortstops, I'll take that as confirmation bias of my earlier stated opinions! I'm completely out on the two lefty HS bats.

I guess I'm confused then. What would you say Rocco's job is? I listed a few things that are objectively and obviously on the coaching staff and you use a 1 in a million Knoblauch example to say managers don't do anything?