Danchat

That was the same logic to why they took Ed Ingram in 2022, despite him being a consensus 4th rounder. Jackson's prospect profile is way better than him but this process is what leads to future regrets. I saw a medical report on Twitter (hard to trust, of course) that said his knees were in bad shape, seems like NFL teams concurred. If healthy he'd be a great pick but if other NFL doctors are giving him a red flag I'd listen to them.

I don't like reaching for Jackson, who is a clear 2nd round talent and another example of this regime drafting for need over BPA, but it's not a terrible move. He is a natural LG who can play LT in a pinch but is much better at guard. It was disappointing to see the two teams who traded after us were both able to move down, which is what I would have preferred. The Rams moved down to the 2nd round and picked up a 2026 1st, which is gnarly. I am a bit disappointed but I think they at least have an average starter at LG instead of going with Brandel and hoping Rouse/Jurgens could push him.

For those interested, I'm predicting picks live here on my draft board: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v1cx09ZI-Qj5Im4EDU8uYfgw3vXo46snzTWFHgYAaxE/edit?gid=2122586536#gid=2122586536

Not often do you have 10 outs in RISP situations in a span of 5 innings...

I don't think either Cartaya or Camargo are going to be major league contributors, but it's not as if they have any catchers in the system that is going to push them out of their spots any time soon. I expect both will be DFA'd after the season is over unless they get an early axing.

It's already been pointed out, but Rocco leaves in his starters longer than the average manager does and unfortunately this is a modern baseball thing. The next manager isn't going to keep our starters out there for another inning on average. Sure, he could leave his starters in a bit longer but I have that same critique for most of our opponents we face. Methinks bullpen burnout has more to do with bad starters having short starts, not because of the manager. And with the improved rotation we've had the past few years, our pen hasn't been as taxed. Their usage this season is in line with other MLB teams.

While I agree with the article's main points about the organization itself being the root of the failure and not the manager, we could learn a lot after Rocco gets canned. Does his replacement A) provide no improvement whatsoever, B) improves but plays at a .500 level which doesn't get us anywhere, or C) massively increase and put this team back in contention. I think C is incredibly unlikely given the talent of this roster and B would be the worst outcome because it would allow the front office to continue treading water. A is more of what I'd expect as the new manager would likely continue to do a lot of the things that people hate about Rocco's management like with starters leaving early / bullpen management / lineups being different. And I agree with the "he's responsible for when they are underachieving but gets zero credit for when they overachieve" point, however, we're on track for 4 of the previous 5 seasons being incredibly disappointing as 2019-20 begin to disappear behind the horizon. It's a "what have you done for me lately" league and right now 2023 looks like the outlier. I do wonder how responsible Levine was for some of the FA and trade errors made in recent years and that's why he's gone. I appreciate the analysis, though I'd like to see more of a deeper dig into the farm system's issue with developing hitters / fielders and also having zero international successes in a long span of time.

I understand Jax is the main focus here, but are we going to talk about how Sands allowed the Braves to make the death blow by allowing two hits right after he came in? The game was salvageable if he could have held there. I agree, though it might be time to bump him back to the 7th inning or lower leverage situations. I don't think it's time to treat him like Colome or Pagan yet but we could be getting there.

Gotcha, didn't hear about that until now. We're definitely going to need him.

Sands is not the guy you want in the 8th inning, and Brock Stewart isn't pitching in rehab games yet... the bullpen is shallower than we thought. At least Varland has looked serviceable lately, but Alcala (who was the 7th inning guy last year) isn't going to help anytime soon.

Hard to be the "best bullpen in the league" when two of your top three relievers give up a combined 6 baserunners in one inning. Yikes.

I believe I made that argument in the game this year where Jax blew a save in the 9th and everyone said that Rocco should have used him in the 8th when the bottom of the lineup was due. I could be remembering wrong.

Y'know, Rocco might have been right to go Duran in the 8th and Jax in the 9th when the opponent's best hitters were up in the 8th. I think that is more important than what inning the reliever is used to pitching in.

Gasper is also a AAA player, but his ability to play multiple positions is a factor over Severino. Not that he's good at any of those positions, mind you.

I've been crunching some draft betting odds, here is a response to some of the points you guys have brought up: 3 RBs going in the 1st round: 40% chance (Jeanty 99%, Hampton 94%, Henderson 43%, Judkins 3%) Jaxson Dart going in the 1st round: 85% - I was initially believing that this was smoke but even the sources I trust are reporting that he's going in the 1st. I wouldn't even touch him in the 2nd round but teams be dumb! Tyler Shough going in 1st round: 10% The Shedeur Sanders numbers are conflicting. He's currently the favorite to go #9 but there is a lot of steam on him falling. If the Steelers don't take him at #21 I think he makes it to the 30s. For me, the difference is that Willis was being mocked that whole offseason in the 1st round and it was a major shock that he fell to Round 3 as I had seen very few suggest that teams didn't like him. Dart and Shough going Round 1 is more reminiscent of the annual mid-round QBs getting hyped out of nowhere. Hendon Hooker, Desmond Ridder, Drew Lock are recent examples. A Day 3 TE makes more sense, I think it is more likely than not they extend Josh Oliver and it's going to be >= $9M per year.

This seems like a no-brainer move, Bride hit .818 OPS last year but has been off to a horrid start to begin 2025. Of course, he can't be that good if the Marlins are DFA'ing him but I will take him over our mediocre vets in AAA.

They better not send him back down once Lopez is ready. Paddack has to be the odd one out.

Jorge Lopez immediately turning into a pumpkin alongside Yennier Cano being cured of "Twinsitis" gives that trade a run for its money. Oh, and the Orioles have Cade Povich in their starting rotation now as part of that trade. Yikes.

We need to have a retrospective on how badly we whiffed on that trade. There was a lot of defending of the trade right after Pressly immediately morphed into a high end closer and all we ended up with was an inconsistent reliever and an AAAA outfielder.

Can't be worse than Vazquez at the plate!

The Twins are going to need to do what other teams do - develop hitters in the minors. How many bats has this front office developed into quality or even slightly above replacement level players? And how many have been average defensively? Or even a tick below average? Or even a passable utility bench player? Heck, when is the last time this team developed an international kid from scratch? Feels like it has been since the days of Sano/Kepler/Polanco that we've had any sort of infusion of talent from that portion of the farm. Since that trio, only Arraez has gone on to be anything decent. The likes of Wander Javier and Misael Urbina have flopped, and no notable guy they've acquired from other means (Celestino) have panned out. And for the talk of the emphasis on slugging and hitting home runs, the lineup isn't even that great at that. The only guys to have quality slugging numbers last year (that were developed) were Buxton, Wallner, and Lewis. Larnach and Miranda's power hasn't developed as hoped, and the likes of Kirilloff and Sabato failed. Even if the ball hadn't been deadened, their bat-first players aren't even that good of sluggers. Sure, the next crop of hitters might be the next big thing, but so was the last crop.

FYI, coming into this game Wallner had a .388 OBP and the next closest is .320 OBP. Whomever you're putting in the #1 spot is getting on base significantly less than Wallner is.

Our last 3 relievers have allowed 9 baserunners... oh wait, it's 10 with the error added. Woof!

I can see him getting sacked near the end of the season, but I don't see him getting canned in the first half of the year. I could be wrong. It's the reason why he still has the job, and yes it's a poor justification but I'm stating what I think is the truth. If it wasn't good enough for Falvey we'd have a different manager.