TNtwins85

Yet many here want the Twins to spend money on 28/29 year olds so that we can watch expensive $20-30M a year washed up 30 year olds when they inevitably age poorly 3 years into a 6-7 year contract.

Pohlads will never allow this lineup unless Falvey convinces them of it. It’s too young and if it came to that Buxton is gone. LeBron isn’t advanced enough of a college bat to be up that fast. Even if he has a monster half year after being drafted he sure isn’t starting at 3B the following year. Tait is gonna need to go to another world as well. The bat was good for a 18 year old in the middle of that lineup at A+. I watched him quite a bit on MILB last year. He handles him self well behind the plate but needs to get much better to be in MLB defensively as the starting C. From what I’ve heard Houston is MLB average to above average right now. If he can simply show any ability to hit somewhat competently I could see him in this ‘27 lineup. If total system failure 2.0 happens this summer expect some more upper minors talent as well as it seems Falvey would like to turn this around fast.

Matt Garza. I agree. Things would have to go disastrously for Houston to be called up. Although plausible I wouldn’t expect it especially if the bat isn’t showing, He’ll be lucky to get to AAA this year

Yes, it’s the way the Pohlads have operated the previous 2 downturns. I wouldn’t expect it any other way really. When faced with the choice of completely tearing it down and maximizing prospect value they’ve always turned to the let’s try and stay respectable model which is great for keeping a few butts in the seats but leaves you short at the other end of the rebuild. Which has been the case the last 2 rebuilds. If they don’t make a move for another competent hitter then that’s the path pending a trade deadline sell off this year.

That’s pretty off base. He’s at least a decent utility INF. Polanco wasn’t a good SS either and there’s a reason Willi Castro was signed as a 25 year old FA. If he can improve enough to make the plays he should make as a young Castro could and provide even a sliver of what Polanco did with the bat as a SS he’ll be fine. He’s not far off if he improves even moderately. The 16 bombs is a very positive sign and he passed the eye test defensively at the end of the season. You don’t need a prime Correa at SS to win. You do need consistency and competence. He’s not that far off. What worries me is the lack of another reliable hitter. That should be Lewis. Does he take the next step? It’s time for Lewis to take that step or be relegated to bust territory. Lee was never gonna be an AS out of the gate. That expectation was always unrealistic. Even when he hit .330 at AAA. I believe he’ll be just fine at SS. If he hits to even half his potential.

Unless they make a big move before spring training then I’m convinced that the first half of the year is the barometer. If everyone produces and they’re in the mix come the trade deadline then they’ll buy themselves in. If not, and that seems to be where they will trend with the current group, then they’ll sell and they should absolutely clear the slate and get what they can for everyone they can get something for. Do they? If the 3rd generation of Pohlads is anything like the 1st or 2nd then they’ll screw that up by keeping whoever they can and simply let them walk. Either way I’m not confident in the Pohlads bringing this team back to contention this decade. If things are truly bad as believed then yes the Twins will be the Pirates or Marlins. This all sits on the lynchpin of one big move and a few smaller moves before spring training. Do they do it? We’ve got 2 months to see what the Twins next move is. It may not be a move and that will say a lot.

Well, considering the last couple of 1 year Twins 1st baseman have turned in pretty good years defensively they may have a trick for getting the most out of them. I don’t expect them to be 30th out of 30 as there’s a lot of bad combinations if one simply looks around the other 29 teams and doesn’t pessimistically just look at the Twins. As it stands now a combination of Bell, Clemons and insert random guy will most likely be in that 20-25 range. If Bell can squeeze one more 1-2War season that’s fine. But until they address the 1B spot by acquiring a young 1B. Signing a big 1B FA or commit to developing one like they did Morneau it will continue to be a black hole for big positive production as the 1B spot should be.

Another ongoing tree starts with AJ Pierzynski and gets you to Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait. I wonder what that one has added up to? Or what it will add up to and if it will continue more branches.

I’d be fine letting the young guys fill the bullpen if they get one more “legit” bat. Preferably someone to anchor the bullpen and a legit bat but if I have to pick one I take the hitter. I hope O’hearn or trade for at least that quality. I’m unimpressed with anyone else not named Tucker or Bichette and that ain’t happening. With the glut of SP’s and LH outfielders something’s gotta give. I don’t think they carry all these guys into camp. At least I hope not anyways.

I would be all over the Ober for Lawler trade over Vientos. I’ve seen you mention this before and it’s grown on me. I liked him coming out of HS. Seems a change of scenery might do him good. At worst he’s probably a light hitting super utility and better than Fitzgerald. I think at this point they’ve gotta move on from Ober before he turns into a pumpkin and they get nothing for him. I think when he starts to go it’s gonna be fast and he’s starting to show the signs.

Great article! Even if he uses it even 50/50 with the original changeup just that difference in both adds another wrinkle. Now that he is aging into his 30’s the ability to keep reinventing himself ( and I believe he’s that kind of pitcher) extends his career and maybe elongates his prime another year or two and allows him to age more gracefully without his performance dropping off a cliff. Whether it’s for the Twins or someone else he’s always gonna be one of those guys you root for.

If what I wrote was the saddest thing here then you sir are maybe the most miserable person here. That’s saying something. Do you remember the late 90’s twins? Maybe the 2011-2015 teams? No? If Falvey makes you this upset what happens if I mention Terry Ryan?

This is the saddest thing you’ve ever read here? Enlighten me then. Please.

I’m not unfamiliar with the Twins. I just refuse to be a parrot and repeat the stupid childish narrative that a guy should be fired because he didn’t do what I wanted him to do. I refuse to beat the same old dead horse and claim a guy is dumb because he traded someone that I liked. I don’t fall into the same trap as everyone else thinking I should be the GM because my team on MLB the show won so why can’t he. I try to see a positive and see someone else’s line of thinking on a move instead of immediately grabbing my pitchfork and torch and going to a baseball teams blog to express how stupid someone making a million dollars more than me is. I try to analyze a situation and judge a guy by a series of moves and be able to see the parameters he’s working in rather than just garble out the same mess as 50 other people do everyday. I don’t thumbs down someone because I don’t like what they’re saying but instead because it’s irrelevant. I’m very familiar with the Twins and not just the Twins but baseball in general. Which is why I find it so unintelligent to simply say “Fire Falvey!” Whenever he does something I question but instead try to see and analyze what and how he’s thinking. Because I can’t ask him the question myself I have to follow breadcrumbs. The “sell off” at the deadline made sense to me when looking at all the parts. Frankly, I think they’re doing a disservice by not trading Ryan, Buxton and Lopez. It resembles 2010/2011 all over. But they’ve got more in the prospect cupboard this time. So we’ll see. I’ll be excited to see what they do up until July and whichever way they go I’ll be excited. Because if they win or lose and sell it all at the deadline I’ll watch with an optimistic view. I’ll never say “Fire Falvey!” Why? Because there’s 29 other teams and it’s just as easy to get excited watching the Mariners or Blue Jays make a run as it is the Twins. Why? Because I love baseball. Not the Twins. They just happen to be the team I follow more closely. Ok, you can give me a million thumbs down now. Ready……GO!!!!!

The fire Falvey narrative is so old and beat to death. The guy has done some good things. He took a franchise in 2017 that had just lost 103 games and got them to the playoffs with some pretty precise moves. 2019 was brilliance. He turned some low level guys into difference makers with smart moves that Twins fans hadn’t seen since the Pierzynski trade a decade earlier. He helped orchestrate Josh Donaldson and Correa signings which were monumental for a franchise that hadn’t touched even a mid level FA ever. Made a trade for Maeda to get an impact starter. Made an impact trade for Sonny Gray. Both places 2nd in Cy Young voting. Something nobody had seen since Santana. Made a challenge trade for Pablo. Did all the things highly capable FO’s do. Then the Pohlads pulled the rug out. Is he culpable? Yes. But the Pohlads did this. He went along with it and played the good soldier but I don’t believe he deserves to be fired. If not for him the Twins would be the Rockies. Saying the Rockies are better is so stupid if you analyze all the moves he’s made to make this franchise better and modern and saying he’s stupid is stupid. It shows no intellect whatsoever to just parrot things that aren’t true just because you’re angry. Fire Baldelli, Fire Falvey, Fire the Pohlads. That’s so stupid and shows the character of people here. If he’s so stupid then why is he the PBO and not anyone here? Because it’s a hard freaking job. He’s not stupid. If he was he’d be on here telling everyone else that the GM of his favorite team should be fired. But he’s not. He’s actually doing it. He’s in a put up or shut up position. If he fails this test then yeah he probably should be fired.

Well, considering the absolute mess he’s been handed by ownership twice now it could sure be a lot worse. Do I think he’s doing an A+ job? Absolutely not. This is ownerships fault and I give them 80% blame while giving Falvey 20%. Frankly I’m surprised he’s still here. Not because I think he should be fired but because I think he has and will get opportunities to go elsewhere. I also think he would be smart to for the state of how the Pohlads have handled things in his tenure. I don’t think many remember how bad the state of the team and FO was when he arrived and he turned things around quick just to make them even competent in terms of analytics, scouting and modern. This is probably gonna get thumbs down but may I suggest this. 1.Tell everyone who you think he should be replaced by. 2. Are the Pohlads capable of hiring another competent PBO? if you can’t do that then maybe you should be thinking a bit harder before just saying “Fire Falvey!” Because at that point you’re just mindlessly commenting the same thing as everyone else and you’re just another miserable pessimistic fan. And if my comment makes you more mad maybe you should just go comment on politics. Another fruitless sport that you truly can’t control. It will add to your misery but you can follow everyone else in repeating the same things and it will make you feel better hopefully.

I’ve read scouting reports and articles on him. I’ve watched and seen video of him. Judging him with past HS players and the scouting reports he worries me in the sense that his bat has swing and miss. Which is gonna hinder him from tapping into that power. He’s got good athleticism to stick at SS but the arm might not. He’s not as much of a slam dunk as Emerson as far as a HS SS. I would say the same about LeBron as well. But that’s the 3rd pick for you. If Lombard dominates this spring and shows the hit tool is solid that will alleviate a lot of question marks. In turn it might push him up to 2 or even 1 depending on Emerson and Cholowsky. There’s a lot of time left. Maybe a Paul Skenes type emerges. Let’s remember he was ranked more middle of the 1st round before that season and Dylan Crews was the consensus 1-1. It’ll be a fun HS and college season!

I guess what I’m saying is that they’ve done this on the fly before. None of these guys were can’t miss prospects and had their share of warts. The Twins turned these guys into high impact relievers. Had most ever heard of Duran before he made the team out of spring training throwing 104. Hardly. I remember comments about Jax and Varland and how skeptical most were. Brock Stewart was an injured journeyman on his last leg. Point is the Twins turned these guys into bullpen stars. So why would the same organization not be able to do it again? Oh yes, Falveys an idiot and should be fired. I forgot. I think they can do it again and i believe they’ve got more to work with now. Yet, If they succeed it means nothing if the defense is still poor and they struggle to score more than 2-3 runs from game to game.

Right! Which looking back now knowing what I know how in the hell did we not take Trea Turner or Aaron Nola? I remember wanting them to take Nola at the time but Turner was a lock to stick at SS.

Right, that’s when he was hired. Outside the organization. Who succeeded Andy Macphail? Terry Ryan=internal. Who succeeded Terry Ryan? Bill Smith=internal. Who succeeded Bill Smith? Terry Ryan=internal. Who succeeded Terry Ryan? Rob Antony=internal. Who succeeded Rob Antony? Derek Falvey=external. This team could have gotten another internal candidate in which case the Twins could be the Rockies of today. For all the Falvey hate around here I get it but I don’t get it. All I ask is for some semblance of intelligence. Instead of “Fire Falvey” every other comment. It’s like the 15th century around here with people wearing armored helmets holding pitchforks and torches yelling “kill the king”. Can we at least use a portion of our brains? Sheesh.

We watched a shaky bullpen the last few years give up leads. Duran=injured and failed SP. Jax=failed SP. Stewart=injured and failed SP. Varland =failed SP. Coulombe=aging cheap FA to be. They flipped all these supposed studs who continually let them down for future value. Some of those guys may be recycled back to the BP. The point is they do it again as they’ve done before. I have no problem with that but the underlying issue was the offense. You could sign the 5 best relievers on the market but if they’re expected to continually protect 1 run leads they wear down. The bullpen will round out. They need some hitters! Internal and external. I don’t worry about the BP. I worry about the D and hitting.

I believe the scouting report on Gordon was a higher floor prep. I think he accomplished exactly that for the Twins. He made it to the bigs but with little upside and didn’t have an elite tool to carry him higher. Lombard I believe has a higher ceiling but no clear floor to get him to MLB. A true boom or bust.

He’s a true boom or bust prep from what I’ve heard and seen. Do they go safe pick or shoot for the stars. I think that’s the underlying point of the article in sequence of the 3rd pick. At that point a lot of the draft changes depending on how a team goes. Some shoot for the stars and some take the safe pick. Still a lot of times it’s a coin flip regardless if it’s a college or prep, pitcher or hitter taken.

It would seem that it’s not just the Twins or Pohlads who facilitated all this and it was in turn handled with tight conjunction with MLB. I just skimmed this section but I love you went to the actual CBA agreement as I like to routinely reference to the actual agreement rather than read an article on someone else’s interpretation of it. It’s interesting when you really dig into that thing!

I thought there was a path to Rustchman but after they traded Caden Bodine yesterday I think the line of succession goes to Basallo in a few years if they don’t just outright extend Rustchman at this point. I was of the thinking that a trade like Pablo or Ryan paired with Jeffers bringing back Rustchman, Mayo, Bradfield and 1 or 2 close to ready prospects to backfill the rotation/bullpen really fit is seemed to have crashed and burned. I take it the Twins and Orioles have discussed something along these lines the last few weeks and they couldn’t figure out a path. I believe the line to the Orioles as a trade partner has died or we for sure would’ve seen them pull the trigger on something as they matched up well. They have clearly pivoted going in their own division to get Baz. I take it the Rays weren’t their ideal trading partner which I think means the Twins weren’t impressed by whatever they were offering.