Danchat

My humble opinion: Givens: RHP Jhoan Duran 2B/3B Travis Blankenhorn Duran has high upside and Blankenhorn has a chance to become a starting infielder in the near future. Both should be easy adds to the 40 man roster. Likely to Add: RHP Griffin Jax OF Luke Raley RHP Tom Hackimer Jax is one of those pitchers who stuffs the statline in the minors, but you have to wonder if he has the pitches to make it in the big leagues. I'd rather give him a chance to prove himself instead of letting another team draft him. Luke Raley is a borderline guy who probably won't end up as a starter, but might become a strong bench bat. I wouldn't hate it if they didn't add him, as I think he could make it through the Rule 5 draft. Hackimer put up some good numbers at AA last year and might wind up pitching the Twins at some point in 2020. He may be getting old, but nowadays it seems like relievers are breaking through at the MLB level in their late 20s. Likely not to add: CF Gilberto Celestino INF Wander Javier RHP Dakota Chalmers I don't think Celestino and Javier are going to get drafted, they're simply not close to being ready and had poor seasons last season. I just can't see a team plucking Javier and wasting a whole season he needs in the minors on a major league bench. Celestino had a good final month, but he's several years away at this point. I would guess they'd need to protect him next year. Chalmers has put his name on this list thanks to his play in the Fall League, but I don't think he's got a good enough track record to get poached. No thanks: 1B Zander Wiel RHP Jake Reed Wiel's stats look good, until you examine the aggregate and realize his numbers were actually below-average for AAA hitters. Anybody with a pulse can hit for .800+ OPS there. I like the guy, but he's in no danger of being drafted. Jake Reed probably should have been given a shot a couple years ago, but this front office clearly doesn't think much of him. He also had a poor 2019 season with the juiced ball ruining things for him. I would be fine if he's released at some point. I originally thought this list was going to be much longer, but with Stashak, Alcala, Graterol all on the 40 man and Davis & Diaz traded away, there's no longer a logjam.

There goes yet another top pitching prospect, barely making any impact on the Twins roster. It seems like the last 7-8 years have just been failure after failure for minor league pitchers in this system. At least I think we can say we finally can have some hope for the minor league system after a strong 2019, now that Falvine has [almost] fully revamped things. Oh, and yes, I do mean "top pitching prospect". He was Twins Daily's #1 prospect a few years back. To be totally honest, I was completely underwhelmed when I saw him throw for the big leagues last year - his fastball tops out at 90 and his secondary pitches are just OK. He's put up respectable stats in the minors, but IMO he doesn't have MLB-caliber pitches.

Never liked the Perez deal, and they got about 6 weeks of All-Star baseball out of him before turning back into a pumpkin. I at least have more confidence they can fix up some ‘project’ players, but they aren’t at the level of the Astros yet.

I thought Cole should have come in during the 7th inning once Greinke was done... what are they waiting for?

Well, even their offense can't handle the likes of Strasburg. Verlander has somehow managed to lose his last 6 straight WS games (he's got something around a 5.50 ERA in the WS), and their bullpen isn't all that great. But I'm just nitpicking at this point, this is a fantastic squad all around.

Verlander is going to somehow lose his 6th straight World Series start, isn't he... that'll be a record I find unlikely to be ever broken. It's just weird how the Nationals get their mojo on in road games, but can't hit at home.

He’s got great strikeout numbers, so I guess there’s some potential there. They will likely DFA him later and try to get him to AAA.

I think we’ll see some other names like Stewart, Hildy, and Harper get DFAd soon. They have some room to create for the new 40 man adds and for some free agents.

I certainly didn't expect the road team to win all of the first 5 games. The Nats are in big, big trouble with Scherzer hurt. 'Tis a shame, they might have been able to pull this with him healthy.

We're a couple years away from this conversation, methinks. I'd like to Garver play a few games at 1B when he's not catching.

In my book, he’s a quality #2 starter and an incredibly important asset to this team. He may have the potential to be a true ace, but I’d like to see the team try to find another one. If they want to build a World Series caliber team, they’re gonna need a real #1.

I could see a one year deal with a FA catcher as a stopgap for when one of Jeffers/Rortvedt is ready. Tortuga is a solid 3rd catcher with options, I’d like to keep him in that role.

I have to wonder if he's not fully healthy, as he certainly doesn't look like the version of himself earlier this season. He wasn't getting swings and misses today.

Weird how three weeks ago we lamented the ruin of the offense, and now the offense is Super Bowl-caliber and the defense is struggling. An NFL season is truly full of ups and downs. I'm happy to see Cousins living up to his contract, and the O-line looks like it's figuring things out. Cook is now a top NFL HB, and even without Thielen they moved the ball effortlessly. Meanwhile on defense, Rhodes just looks cooked. I also think they need to add a pass rusher, as they're getting zero pressure from anyone outside of Hunter and Griffen (except when Barr or Alexander blitz). I've also noticed that Zimmer's defenses usually play much, much better in home games and struggle to rush the passer in road games.

I’d still much rather be the Yanks than the Twins. Meanwhile we’re going to set an unprecedented record for consecutive playoff losses in all sports if we lose our next playoff game.

If the Twins want to move Sano to 1B - which I don't see happening, but it's in the realm of possibility - I would like signing Moustakas. You'd get a .800+ OPS with average 3B defense (3B is a hard position to play, so just average is good in my book) for not too much. Maybe 3 years, $45M? Just on paper I'd prefer Moustakas over bringing back Cron, but moving Sano to 1B may not be the best decision value-wise.

Wow, it's weird to see the Nationals living up to their potential. Did they need to get Bryce Harper off their backs or something?

I wonder if the blueprint for the future of the rotation is to be like the Cleveland Indians - develop internal options that can come in be shockingly good. Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and Zach Plesac are just a few of the guys they've been able to pump out of their system lately. I would like to see the Twins be able to do with the guys they have coming up from the minor league pipeline. That aside, they absolutely need to add pitching this offseason. Nab a free agent, trade for a guy, work on a reclamation project - they've got a lot of money to spend, so go out there and spend it wisely and prudently.

Speaking of Twins on the move, it sounds like bench coach Derek Shelton is going to get a manager gig, possibly in Pittsburgh or for the Mets.

Nice idea, I think you could split that list into hitting for average and hitting for power. Kiriloff would probably top the former and Larnach/Rooker would top the latter.

I don't think many people saw a Nationals-Cardinals NLCS happening. I sure didn't.

Ugh, yeah, I wouldn't mind passing on that deal. Woof. If anyone is going to reporting this type of stuff, it'd probably be Wolfson, not Reusse. Old Pat would be ripping the front office left and right in that article.

I was told our additions of "veteran leadership" would help this team win postseason games. Marwin, Nelson, and Romo all had experience winning playoff games. So much for that! Just an abysmal game for the hitters. For all the talk of needing postseason experience, Luis Arraez, a mere rookie, was hands down the team's best hitter in this series. This feels like the end of a Vikings season... getting out of the 90+ loss seasons is nice, but now it's back to the getting their butts kicked in the playoffs routine. Ugh. I guess that's what I get for being a Minnesota sports fan.

He's always been awful against pitchers with good stuff. Now that he doesn't get to feast on the poor pitching of the dregs of the AL, he's back to his old self. I don't find it all that surprising.

You would think that the umps would try to make this fixing job a little less conspicuous....