Linus

Let’s say we started the newer guys, added a free agent or two and then played consistently winning baseball, heading towards the playoffs. If this occurred my guess is you would see an uptick in attendance towards the end of the summer with better attendance next year. To get back to 2.5+ million is going to require a couple years of playoff baseball.

Call me a cynic but I’m calling BS on the defensive metrics. We’ve seen previous examples where they ying-yang all over the place in a given year. Common sense tells you that it is near impossible to consistently rate a poor fielder over the course of years and suddenly he’s great. Did he get demonstrably quicker and faster? Seems unlikely at age 29 and that’s what it would take for him to improve that much in such a short period of time.

I believe the budget will allow for one impact bat and 1 or 2 decent relievers. Would you rather re-sign Jeffers if it meant you can’t sign another impact bat? I like Jeffers a bunch but due to position and Twins philosophy he will be a part time player - probably 60 ish percent of games. For that money I want a bat that will play most games. I would rather sign Lowe to play second and then transition to first when / if Houston gets to the show. Obviously I would love to have both but I’m trying to be realistic here.

This is a thought provoking post. First, I had forgotten about Faucher - man the Twins have let a bunch of good relief pitchers slip between their fingers. That’s a problem. Second, I appreciate the observations about Opportunity Cost. Many times roster decisions are judged solely by what happened which is a limited analysis. Opportunity Cost is useful in that it incorporates the idea of what could have happened in order to fully evaluate the value of a given decision. In other words, what was the value difference between the best decision available and the decision that you made. There can be many layers to this. In the case of Berrios, the trade return was likely not optimal but they also received the value of not paying him the $117 million required to extend him. Ostensibly that money was used to obtain other value. Anyway, I appreciate the discussion.

This will be an unpopular opinion but I would bring Wallner back in a very specific way. He will not play the field and he will have to earn DH appearances next year (I believe he has one option left). Here’s why: you are not going to get anything in trade. The chance that he figures it out, however small, is much more valuable than an A ball lottery ticket as his ceiling is high. The 40 man isn’t an issue as they have guys all over the place that can be removed. The odds of Wallner figuring it out are not good. If he does, the reward is substantial.

To me, this article is illustrative of why the Twins are in this position - poor FO decision making. They correctly chose to trade Berrios but didn’t get appropriate value back. They incorrectly chose to hang onto Ryan and will, again, not get appropriate value back. These two situations alone, with good outcomes, would have a dramatic effect on the current roster.

A truer indicator of his hitting ability is AA performance; the AFL just doesn’t mean much. I try not to worry about prospect age too much and focus more on “are they still improving”. Unfortunately, DeBarge is looking suspect in both of those measurements. Hoping for a hot start with the bat next year as he does have other tools.

Ron Perenowski (sp) also pitched many multiple innings games as a precursor to the modern day closer.

If, a few years ago when he was with the Twins, you would have told me a 35 year old Pagan would be turning down a $10 million player option I would have called the local authorities. The thing that jumps out to me is how few innings he has pitched over the last few seasons. I would pass and look for a younger option.

Good info - thanks. Possibly Jackson otherwise no.

Between the small sample sizes and watered down pitching the AFL isn’t really an indicator of performance going forward. It’s great the players are getting the extra reps but that’s really how it should be viewed.

I like the Henry Davis idea. We already know the floor - good defender, struggling withe bat. If he hits even a little going forward you have a youngish valuable player going forward.

Correct. This is just me speculating which is worth the digital ink spilled to write this but my guess is, like you, if Jeffers accepts that will largely be it on the position side. Cross our fingers for a bullpen add but that’s about it. Catching has been a bad habit this franchise can’t shake.

Are you asking what I think will happen if he accepts the QO?

I like the overall philosophy. Add a bat and some relievers which gives us a chance this year and builds towards the future.