Juza

Come on Lou, what 90s kid wouldn't want Richie Rich as the owner of the Twins! He's got boat loads of money, understands baseball, and would hire the best coaches (Reggie Jackson) and presumably players.

Paddock will join the rotation straight from ST as the 4/5 guy. I think Canterino starts the year at AAA in the same 2-3 innings per outing format he was previously in with an eye toward a late May early June call up as a RP. This will help limit the innings to 75-100 for the year (Pagan had the most innings for the bullpen last year at 69). This was a similar thought to Duran starting in the bullpen in 2022 as a multi-inning pitcher with an eye on starting in 2023. Duran was just dominant in 2022 as a RP. I think Canterino will come to ST in 2025 with an eye on starting having had success in the bullpen in 2024. :)

I'm seeing a lot of comparisons to Duran and his move to the bullpen. The difference to me is that Duran was reasonably expected to only throw 75-100 innings the year he made the bullpen out of spring training. Coming off TJ that would be a stretch. I think I'd keep him to the 3-4 inning starts every 5th day in the minors until maybe August. Probably give him an IL stint in there somewhere as well to rest. I'd then give him the Varland treatment, spend 2 weeks at AAA coming out of the pen for 2 innings at a time and join the Twins pen for September, October, and November (yes World Series!). All of this with the eye on starting again the next year at spring training. He has no MLB service time and it wouldn't bother me if he is 27 making his first starts at the MLB level in 2025. I don't think you give up on a #1/#2 type starter before they make their MLB debut.

I wouldn't be opposed to trading Rodriguez but I wouldn't unless it was for a very good pitcher. Rodriguez has a 19.7 value per MLB Trade Rumors. Joe Ryan has a 43.7 value. Baily Ober has 27.5. If it took more than Rodriguez to get a pitcher like Ober, I'd rather keep Rodriguez.

The thing that strikes me most about the streak is that the villain that ultimately did the Twins in was often not a superstar. Frank Thomas and Rueban Siera were like 9,000 years old when they put the Twins to bed. I think this will be the year that the Twins can win a game and even a series. Let's Go Twins!

The numbers between this year's rotation and last year's are similar. The biggest difference (other than the strike outs) is the number of innings pitched by the rotation. Twins starters have thrown 78 innings so far, which is exactly 6 innings per start. Last year that was 61 innings. That's a big difference. This rotation is capable for consistently getting 6 innings per start and giving Rocco the ability to set up the bullpen to be used the way he wants to. Go look at the bullpen usage chart after GM1 vs the Yanks. Too often last year Rocco had too many pitchers unavailable because they had thrown too many pitches the day before.

I think he overpaid ...

C: Christian Vazquez ($10.00M) 1B: Kiriloff ($.7M) 2B: Jorge Polanco ($7.50M) 3B: Jose Miranda ($0.70M) SS: Correa ($36M) LF: Joey Gallo ($11M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.01M) RF: Max Kepler ($8.50M) DH: Larnach ($.7M) 4th OF: Kyle Garlick ($0.70M) Utility: Nick Gordon ($0.70M) Utility: Gilberto Celestino ($0.70M) Backup C: Ryan Jeffers ($0.70M) SP1: Sonny Gray ($12.00M) SP2: Tyler Mahle ($8.00M) SP3: Kenta Maeda ($9.00M) SP4: Joe Ryan ($0.70M) SP5: Bailey Ober ($0.70M) RP: Jhoan Duran ($0.70M) RP: Jorge Lopez ($3.00M) RP: Griffin Jax ($0.70M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.00M) RP: Caleb Thielbar ($2.00M) Payroll is 6.64% under budget

I think both SWR and Varland will be back with AAA to begin next season. Both are starters and need to be treated as such for their development especially since neither pitched a lot at AAA. Winder will compete for a rotation spot but could be a similar pitcher to Jax out of the 'pen. I think Sand will move to the 'pen full time in 23. He doesn't seem to have enough quality pitches to stick as a starter and a career similar to Duffey could be in the mix for him. Henriquez will be back at AAA as a starter. See if he can start since he's still very young. All in all, a successful group of pitchers to make their debuts.

I love Nick Gordon! The thing that sticks out most to me is that at each promotion and level Gordon struggled to hit. Generally, he spent an entire year at a level before beginning to hit. That is exactly what has happened at the MLB level too. Once he got to 400 plate appearances he started to hit. His May, June, July splits all have an OPS over .750 which is very impressive for a "utility" player.

Great move! The only real valuable piece the Twins sent is Povich. Cano is already 28 and could be a good option in the next 2-3 years. The other 2 pitchers are lottery tickets. Seems like the Twins got great value in Lopez for 2 seasons.

MLB Trade Rumors has this as a MAJOR overpay by the Twins. According to the site Larnach himself is just about enough value to land Gallen. Name Position MTV ($Ms) Balazovic RHP 10.6 Larnach OF 46.4 Martin OF 17.4 Winder SP 17.6 Name Position MTV ($Ms) Gallen SP 53.5

He will need to limit the walks to stick as a starter, but has some bullpen upside with the FB/slider combo. Another lottery ticket for cheap pitching is good to have in the system. I think back half of the top 30 for the Twins seems high. I picture him less than Cole Sands and less than the Henriquez kid we got from Texas which puts him in the mid 20s range.

I'm expecting 3 innings 2 runs and about 65 pitches with a quick hook to Winder. I'd like to believe that throwing his 3 good pitches (FB, slider, CU) and not his bad pitch (sinker) will help fix what ails. In an era of launch angle and elevation, throwing a sinker seems to have the pitch movement directly into the swing path and barrel.

I love this idea. Duran is likely to throw less than 100 innings this year anyway as the Twins want him to have a healthy season. At AAA this would include 3-4 inning starts with skipped starts throughout to limit the innings and give his arm rest time. Why not use those innings at the MLB level? 2 inning stints every 3 days or so would be at 100 innings but he would be getting his feet wet at the MLB level and if this works prior to the All Star Break and the Twins are in contention then change the plan and pitch him like a traditional reliever. Best case scenario he throws 100 MLB innings this year with moderate success and goes into next offseason healthy and building up for a rotation spot.