TwinsDr2021

Can't disagree with anything you said, as of today it doesn't look good for the Good Guys (Twins ?)

At this point, Gordon, Rooker, Laranch, and even AK until he proves healthy. (which hopefully is right away in spring training) And currently the starting catcher hit .199 last year. Which I expect he will be better, but... I am fine with giving 1 spot to unproven minor league player (for example 3B to Miranda or AK in LF) but giving more than 1 spot to somebody with really no back up plan, turns seasons in 2021.

Laranch, Gordon, Celestiono, Miranda, Rooker, Lewis and maybe AK not be being part of plan A. Getting a decent LF that can be made the 4th OF if one of the outfielders force their way up. Miranda to be called up for 1B, 3B, DH if something goes bad or just start him at 3B and make Urshela the roving back up infieler. Gordon to be a guy brought up to be back up SS, 2B, CF if needed. Tell Lewis to get comfortable and get his game back and his time will come when he is ready, he won't be forced into action. Maybe have a 3rd catcher on the 40? Get rid of some of the log jam of pitchers on the 40. How can a team carry Valliont, Thorpe, Strotman, Sands, Moran, Jax, Henrquez, Graza with no earthly idea if they are major league pitchers.

Well of course it is AAA players, but the Twins Plan A already has too many AAA players IMO. They have basically zero depth, because their 40 man is loaded with pitching prospects that are completely untested. So as of now if Jeffers starts out this year like last year (or Gaby gets hurt), they have to somebody or put somebody on the 60 day just to have a back up catcher. If Laranch hits like last year, the back up is another guy that couldn't hit last year. Or God Forbid Buxton goes down for a few weeks, every Plan B is terrible, well except Martin (maybe) and he isn't even on the 40. There really isn't any hitting prospects that seem to be close either. Which isn't all that much different from last year, when things go bad or unexpected there was NO plan on putting somebody capable in to replace somebody, oh wait Cave is in AAA all is good.

So as of now Plan B for the Offense/Defense is Lewis, Miranda and Celestino, and then a bunch of AAA players that need to be added to the 40, can't see anything going wrong with this plan. This FO has so messed up the 40 man construction it is a wonder they still have a job. The 40 man sits at 39 right now, so even if they sign Story, that means Rooker moves to part of the back up plan, and for any pitcher they get they have to cut or trade pitchers off the 40. Hey but they open up two spots when the season starts for Enlow and Maeda. ?

So we should just ignore that in that time Berrios has pitched in 8 more games, 88.67 more innings, and have average 5.99 innings a start and Gray has average 5.2 innings per start. So penalize the guy for pitching more and claim the guy that pitches less is better? Seems like a huge stretch to make the Twins look good.

I agree that Cruz wasn't technically a salary dump, and was 100% the right thing to do. I also don't think Berrios was technically a salary dump, but with that said per sportrac last year's Twins payroll was 120 million and it currently sits at 72 and change. Which IMO means they didn't re-invest that savings (Yet, hopefully) which at the end of the day is dumping salary. So even if they add Story and 20 some million, they have reduced payroll this year by approx 25%. Which isn't a good look, and as of right now made the team much worse.

I don't agree with that, I think the people that have been begging to trade him and punt 2022 on prospects would have been the ones saying that, which is no different then they have been saying for months.

Was that really the consensus? Some believed it was a signing to save face because they didn't bring any pitching, and coming of the year they did, not spending money would have looked real bad. My biggest issues is they didn't do a trade like Gray on top of the signing JD. That would have made more sense, then trading for him now. I don't like the idea of trading JD to free up money for Story, because that means they will never sign more than one guy, now if trading JD was to sign Story and free up money to bring on a pitcher, I can agree with that.

That idea IMO makes the FO look worse, they are the ones that signed him two years ago, and that does make them look like they are throwing darts and hoping something works. Also if they truly wanted just to get rid of him and it wasn't amount money they could have spent money in FA. My guess is they said screw it on 2022, and the new deal came out with extra playoff teams and they thought we team that can compete, so the changed their plans, again.

This guy says the Twins had to offload payroll? But didn't explain why, if the Twins are going to start saying they can't afford a 120 million plus payroll and have to play in the sub 100, well screw them. I don't understand this trade at all, and I can't believe had to trade Donaldson, Garver and Ben so they could play Story, doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money to not really make the team Better,

I have two big problems with this trade, one it wasn't done after signing another starter, meaning this seems like an awesome second move for a starer, not the first move. And my second problem is WHY the Heck didn't they make a trade like this when they were in real contention? It really seems like when you think you may have some sort of idea on what the FO office is doing, they go and do something that completely goes against that though.

I love his age, hate that he has to be put on the 40, I would hope that 21 year old on the 40 would be somebody that helps the MLB team, not somebody that that you hope can help at some point. Unlike some of the older prospects on that 40 that the team needs to figure out ASAP, you would hate for them to rush him up and ruin him.

what is your point of this reply to downplay top 100 lists for the sake of this FO?

Maybe it was better or it is better, doesn't really matter, this FO was handed a ton of talent. You saying 6 years later half of the players are still here basically proves that point. Not sure if you were on this site back then but Romero (top 100 prospect) was a future top of the rotation pitcher, Gonzo (top 100 prospect) were no worse than a 4, Jay was a lock down relief pitcher. (lets not forget they were also given Gil and Ynoa) Lewis was added with the first overall pick they were handed, Martin and SWR are a result of Berrios who they were given. Alcala was traded for Escobar, Duran for Pressly, Maeda for Graterol, Odo for Palacios. It isn't a knock on this FO to say they inherited a darn pretty good situation, it is actually disingenuous to say they weren't. They took what they were given and supplemented and swapped out a few players and did well the first 5 years, now it is up to them to get their young guys to perform and they are going to have to hope their pitching prospects work out better than the pitching prospects they inherited. But is it really better today than before, well if the pitching prospects work out with Martin and Lewis, then yes it is, but if there isn't enough of them or Lewis and Martin aren't really good, then no it will be worse, much, much worse.

Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, Sano, Polanco, Arraez, Garver, Kirilloff, Mauer, Escobar, Gordon, Berrios, Gibson, Romero, Gonsalves, Stewart, Mejia, Jorge, Duffey, Pressly, Rogers, May, Wade, Baddoo, Jax just to name a few plus the first overall pick. Sure a few of those pitchers didn't pan out but at one time or another some were in the top 100 prospects overall. That is like 7 all stars, 4 of which are pitchers.

Throwing the prospects to the Wolves in 22 doesn't guarantee anything for 23, there should be a way to promote these pitching prospects and get their innings and try to compete with the offense they have. I have no interest in watching a bunch of pitchers pitch 2 or 3 innings every game, but I have Hulu so not watching probably won't be problem.

My two cents on Ober is for me personally to temper expectations. If the Twins have a have/had a similiar plan with him as last year, I don't expect him to be any worse than last year, meaning keeping his innings down but keeping his pitch count down. But if the Twins plan to extend his pitch count consistently to 80 or above, it will be hard to predict what that means for him, he could thrive or maybe he gets exposed, we don't know, we can only assume or predict. He didn't start that great (or really that terrible either) last year, seem to find his grove in July and excel in August and fall down again in September, that was making 7 5 plus innings starts and pitching roughly 75 pitches per start (for those 7 starts). Minus a couple of starts, after hitting that 80 pitch mark the next star was usually much rougher. IMO if the Twins plan to continue to push his pitch count he will be more up and down. But if they plan to use him like last year 25 or so stars, 5 or less innings, and around 65 to 75 pitches, I would expect him to have even better numbers than last year. As for my sleeper it has to be Sands, first he is already 24 and will be given a chance before any younger prospects because they have to figure out where is fits in the Organization and because he is on the 40 man and so far has the least expectations of the pitchers on the 40 and unless things go real bad, I don't see many of the starting pitching prospects not on the 40 being added.

When did the Twins put Matt Wallner on the 40 man? (was this meant for winder? ) Maybe the site should keep the list of the Twins 40 man roster since so many times people are confused of who is on it and not on it.

IMO, he has exceeded my expectations of player signed at 17, he has played in the majors for 7 years (8 if there is a season this year), has hit 161 homers, has a career OBP of .329, SLG of .491, and 8.4 career WAR. With that said, after making the majors he has not my expectations, his .238 is a bit low, his age 25 season was an embarrassment, and he is too streaky. After his first 3 years in the majors I was expecting him to be a 2.5 and up WAR player, and he has only got there once in the last 4 years. I will say that if we got his performance out of all of the international signings and high draft picks, the Twins would more than likely be good to great every year.

They will probably do something like this, thus making it even less likely to attract fans.

Love your optimism, I hope the same for Lewis and Martin, I am just trying to be more realistic. They Twins have so many questions marks on the pitching side, and with Rooker, Larnach, Gordon, Celestino, Jeffers and to some extent AK and Sano. It seems that just getting Lewis on the field and comfortable with his injury is the most important thing, but I do agree if his bat is closer to his minor league history than 2019 league, he will fall into Gordon territory and that will make the FO look bad, but people will excuse that away (not me or the sounds of it you) with the COVID season and his injury, and they will say he is still young (which he is), With Martin not being on the 40 I think the Twins will ask him to do what you said and try to get some of that pop back, and it might cause some short term regression, but long term gain and if they aren't forced by injury or a possible trade to bring him up they won't. I think this year will be used to evaluate AK in LF and 1B, where Miranda's plays, see what they have in Rooker and Laranch, Celestino, and Sano. Lets say AK looks like the future at 1B, Mirand's bat is starter worthy, and one of the outfielders prove they are big league worthy. Next year opens all sorts of possibilities (also assuming the pitching prospects get figured out). They could trade all or some of Kepler, Sano, Donaldson, Arraez. Still have AK(1B), Polanco(2b), SS?, Miranda (3B), Buxton (CF), RF to the hitter that stepped up, and they could put Martin in LF (it isn't horrible starting 1 rookie), Lewis could be the new Arraez. But they have to figure out where these players on the edge of the 40 man fit in, because if they start adding the Martin's of the world to the 40 man, they will have to cut or trade guys they never gave a chance. Which is why last September Rooker, Larnach, Celestino and any healthy pitcher on the 40 should have been brought up, and guys like Gant should have been gone.

You are either on to something or on something. But any chance of that being the the lineup on opening day 23, we are going to need to see Miranda (who is the mostly likely) Lewis and Martin playing those positions in the majors regularly this year to prove their ready. As of today one of them hasn't played in two years and the other isn't on the 40 man. And with the all the pitching questions, I don't see them jacking around much with the 40 man on the offensive side unless they have to. (Which IMO means Martin in the minors all this year, and Lewis if capable getting a call at the end of the year.)

IMO the talk of trades is fun and something to talk about during the off-season and lockout. But I don't see it happening, Imagine if Ober and Ryan do this year just what they did last year with a few more innings. If Winder or Balazovic step up to be a major league starter, and Maeda comes back. You have 4 starters for 2023, and that isn't including if one of Winder or Balazovic were decent but not quite ready. Ages will be start of the 23 season. They still have a 25 year old Canterino, 25 year old Duran, a 22 year old SWR. a 25 year old Varland, a 25 year old Sands, 22 year old Hajjar, a 24 year old Enlow, and a 26 year old Strotman all looking for spots (in 23). Sure a couple will end up in the pen, but in that list is 6 of the 10 ten prospects, a high paid 3rd round pick, and last years 2nd round pick. Sure maybe Ober or Ryan goes backwards and ends up in the pen, or both Winder and Balazovic don't turn out, but that scenario is should get FO fired. So unless this FO is willing to trade a couple of the guys above in the trades for a veteran pitcher, it makes no sense to me to continue to fill up the 40 man with guys on the edge but not willing to put them in. IMO, whatever job they were thinking Jax could do, you give it to Strotman straight away, if he fails he can go to the minors and work on being a shut down bullpen guy, if he succeeds great continue to give him more opportunities. They should plan on giving the 5th starter to whoever deserves it between Sands, Winder and Balazovic and tell the other to prove them wrong in AAA and they will be up. Duran should start the season in the majors, they can baby his injury there, why waste any more 100mph pitches in AAA. You have the AAA rotation be two of Winder/Balazovic/Sands, Canterino, Varland and Vallimont.

Start him at SS at AA and see what happens. I have personally have no expectation of seeing him in MN this year, under the old MLB contract maybe late September, under a new one maybe depending on how service time works. As a 20 year old in A+ and AA he was not good with the bat at all, The Fall league was exact opposite, so I want to see his bat be closer to fall league for an extended time. IMO this is kind of a make or break year for him, if he hits like he did in 2019, he will fall into the Nick Gordon prospect territory and the Twins will have to decide if he is worth a 40 man spot. If he hits like he did in the fall league, they are going to have figure out a spot for him next year on the Twins, which is a good problem to have.