Nashvilletwin

Larnach is in the same boat as Miranda and Martin - all are solid prospects who have pretty much done (or soon will in Martin’s case) what they have needed to earn a spot in the majors. Right now we have four players on the team who are blocking their innings and/ABs: Kepler, Sano, Urshela, and Sanchez. The Twins have over $33MM committed to those four this year. I hope we contend early and these players produce. But if they don’t, Larnach et al should get their chances and the cash should be reinvested in pitching.

You are correct that Kepler’s job security is threatened. Patience is required, but it’s quite possible that if Max doesn’t start hitting, Larnach is a starting OFer for us by early summer and Martin is as well by the trade deadline.

I’ll be the contrarian and suggest that playing time/ABs should be based on actual production. So after about the first couple of weeks, if that suggestion holds, we should be looking at something like this: 1. Buxton CF 2. Arraez DH 3. Polanco 2B 4. Correa SS 5. Kiriloff 1B 6. Miranda 3B 7. Larnach RF 8. Jeffers C 9. Martin LF Of these four veterans - Kepler, Sano, Urshela, and Sanchez - I have the most hope for Sano and Urshela; however, all four better get on their horses or they should be riding the pine and/or getting moved before the deadline. We do not have the luxury of taking a full 4-6 weeks off like last year waiting for our “proven” players - who haven’t proved much in the last year or two - to demonstrate whether they can find their groove again.

Get used to those box scores……

Thank you for this comprehensive post. Very informative and a hopeful take. If anything, it’s more likely that his hitting rebounds - at least he was a really good hitter at one point. He’s never been a good catcher, so we shouldn’t expect his catching to improve. Thus, it may turn out Gary DH’s more than he catches. We will need to carry three catchers for sure. I will be cheering for Gary. But, I’ve never been a big believer in the change of scenery theory for veteran professionals; so at this point I’ve got the under…..hope I’m wrong.

Let’s say the Twins move Correa at the deadline. If so, they would have a good chance to add at least a couple of solid players - most likely young, controllable and potentially big contributors as our new young core matures. So for about $20MM and the possible upside for Correa we could acquire several good young players. That’s a good deal if such a situation transpires.

Going into this season, my assumption was the Twins were going to transition into opening a new window starting in ‘23. Lots of young talent on the mound and in the field needing time to season. This deal is perfect in that it provides upside for this year, but improves the rebuild plan if desired. Hear me out. If Correa is having a great year but the Twins aren’t competing and Correa looks like he will opt out, the Twins move him at the deadline for several additional pieces that accelerate the opening of the new window. Essentially the FO could be paying about $20MM to get several cheaper, controllable pieces for the future. That’s actually a good alternative if Correa will be leaving. Btw, it also pretty much guarantees that Correa, if he wants to, will be playing for a contender this year if it’s not the Twins. Not much downside for either party here. Brilliant move.

The more I think about it, it’s really a one year deal. Don’t get me wrong, I like the deal. Maybe Correa likes it here and he hangs out for more than one year. Maybe we renegotiate a new deal after next year. Maybe Lewis really is a shortstop and is ready sooner rather than later. Maybe we trade him at the deadline for a haul. Etc, etc. The point is that this thing could go a number of ways, but for today I’m ecstatic.

I was one of those we did not like the last trade (and in a vacuum it was a poor trade - it made the lineup worse). And as days went on, things looked more bleak. Last night as it was reported that we likely were not favored to get Story and before this news posted, I commented that I had always supported Falvey and the FO and thought the Pohlads were great owners. But that I was not excited about this year’s team. I clearly needed more patience and underestimated the commitment and the plan. I was wrong to not trust that another plan was in the works. So yes, I am one of those posters who needs to say I was wrong about doubting the plan and was too impatient in my condemnation of the last trade (to the extent the last trade was a requirement for this move - which I will assume it was). As for this move, I’m both ecstatic and surprised by the deal itself and length of the deal - the press was talking up to 8 by $25/30MM. It’s the perfect length deal at three years on so many fronts. With Correa at SS, Urshela/Miranda at 3B, Polanco at 2B and Kiriloff/Sano at 1B with Arraez and Gordon in the utility roles, the Twins infield is in good shape. It’s likely we will carry three catchers and Sanchez (sorry, but I still think he has no place on the team) will DH more than I originally thought and on those days Sano will play first and Kiriloff LF. I apologize to my fellow TDers for jumping the gun on my condemnation of the last trade and not having the patience to let the off-season plan take a more final form.

I knew I liked Falvey/FO and the Pohlads. Patience is a wonderful virtue and I wish I had more of it. Perfect length deal money be damned. Congrats to the organization. Now we are better. Much better. Now we are committed to compete. With that type of investment, maybe more to follow? Could be…. I am impressed and pleased and excited for baseball again.

Maybe the FO is done….

No reason to be sorry. You are spot on.

If the plan is to have Sanchez DH on any sort or regular basis, then the Twins will have to carry a third catcher. That’s very valuable real estate on the pine for a young Twins team with lots of prospects needing ABs and innings. I can’t see the rationale for having Sanchez on this team. Great - our young pitchers will be throwing to essentially the worst defensive catcher in the league. That’s just what they need, lol. Just on his defense alone, Goyon should be our #2 catcher. I’d never thought I’d be saying that a week ago.

Thanks Nick. I think you nailed the summary. Somehow, inexplicably, our FO took an incredible important and difficult to fill position demanding depth from a clear area of strength to a “glaring weakness” in just a matter of a few days. Quality shortstops and catchers are really hard to find. Right now - in our entire system - we have exactly one possibly decent player that can play one of those positions on an everyday basis. That’s Jeffers and the jury is still out even on him. That’s it. There are no other players who project as an above average major leaguer at those two most important positions in the field. Maybe Lewis at SS - but that has yet to be proven not only as a SS, but even as a major leaguer at another position. BTW, Urshela is not our answer at SS - the Yankees clearly didn’t think he was theirs. So we entered the week strong at one and deficient at the other regarding the two most important defensive positions. We end the week deficient at both with an additional player who probably projects as a utility infielder but not an everyday SS. It’s hard to see how the money saved and the short term nature of Sanchez’s contract can make up for that. Maybe the FO has some grand plan - I sure hope so.

Thus the beauty of Jeffers/Rortvedt over Jeffers/Sanchez. We would never have Jeffers in the DH slot - thus we could get away with having only two catchers on the 26 man roster. But if Sanchez is going to DH as much as people think he is, we are only a foul tip away from losing our DH for the rest of any game. On a team like ours - with so many young players needing ABs and innings, that need for an extra catcher takes up a lot of valuable real estate.

Thank you for clearing up my neophyte question. I guess that means we really should be carrying a 3rd catcher in the event Sanchez is DHing.

Could one of my fellow TDers help me understand this question: If Player A (let’s say Sanchez) is in the lineup as the DH and Player B is catching (Jeffers in this case) and gets hurt, can Player A replace B in the field as the catcher?

Thanks Ted for the analysis. I’m expecting a strong season from Sano this year as it really is a make or break season for his future. I’m hoping he responds in a big way. I have no expectations for Sanchez as he was probably a release candidate for the Yankees before we paid up for him. As a catcher who really can’t catch very well or a DH who really can’t hit very well, I don’t see much long term future with our Twins (or anywhere else for that matter). Hope I’m wrong, but the only thing really going for him now is that he can catch about 30% of our innings and, even with Godoy, we don’t have any other options to take those innings.

Thank you Bean. That’s exactly why Rortvedt>Godoy. You nailed it.

You are correct. Losing Rortvedt is not organization altering. But taking an incredibly important and difficulty to fill position like catcher from one of strength to one of weakness can cause both short and long term pain. We went from having two legit starting catchers and one promising youngster with an important tool set to one legit starter, a reclamation project who has struggled both offensively and defensively, and a career AAAA guy (which Rortvedt might end up being but the Yankees sure seem intent on giving him 30%+ of their innings this year).

Good points. It’s not the angst over Rortvedt per se. Its the decimation of a balanced (offense and defense) catching depth chart for what we have now. We are arguably worse off at all three spots and Urshela for JD, despite the cost savings, is not a win for us either. Unless something dramatic happens, one cannot say that our lineup is better off than we were before we traded Garver.

Ok, let’s call the Yankees and see if they will trade Rortvedt back straight up for Godoy. Don’t think so…..

We’ve downgraded all three of our catching slots: Garver, Jeffers, Rortvedt > Jeffers, Sanchez, and Godoy. Not even close. It’s ok though, because catching is not an important position and it’s easy to acquire a lot of quality depth. A lot like shortstop. Sheesh.

Well if declining players head to Colorado to see their hitting numbers improve, then we should probably send Sanchez to the Rockies.

Well, we all hope so. But we shouldn’t really expect it. Sanchez may be a wonderful person, but a bad fielding, bad hitting catcher really has no place on this ball club right now. I’m wondering how many of us on the TD (understanding how smart we are as stay-at-home GMs) would take Sanchez over Rortvedt straight up? I would not. IMHO, it goes to show how badly the FO wanted to move JD. Good luck Gary. I’ll be rooting for you. I just won’t be surprised if the change of scenery doesn’t make you a better catcher.