awmonahan

He seems like one of the better options, internally, to begin replacing Arraez's production. Hope he can put together a solid start to the season.

I'm hoping for Jorge, with a transition to Julien, but I doubt Julien would get a shot until next season.

Great article. He belongs, but will likely be forced to wait to prove some point or other. Lots of ifs with Joe, but he is one of the best hitting catchers ever and a HOFer.

I believe the top two assets have no trade clauses. So, while I am feeling better about the state of this team, I'm hoping things go according to the FO's plans!

MAT was a fan favorite in DC. A good guy, capable fill-in at almost starter level in CF. He's defense is great- not as flashy as Buxton but less likely to kill himself too. His hitting is what held him back, but just barely, on some really good teams. He's also got surprising power.

Yes, I am concerned. In order to win, this approach requires all or the majority of players with injury histories to have a healthy year. That is hard to do. I still think the best, most recent example of this is the Nationals in 2019. It almost took the stars aligning to keep Strasburg, Scherzer, Rendon and others healthy for that run, but they won the World Series. Since then....it's ugly. The good news is that the Twins have started to deal in higher-end players with injury histories, rather than the Sam Dysons of the world. You could conceivably put Buxton and Correa (Paddack and Mahle, not quite as much) in the category of players the Nationals won with, so at least the reward might now be worth the risk. There are still two points in this approach from the Twins that I do not understand: 1) You have to have a very good medical/training staff to take this approach. The Twins just changed theirs due to these concerns. Hopefully that fixes this problem. BUT, in a state that has some of the best quality ratings in healthcare its absurd it took this long (and is still pending results from the new team). I look at the T'Wolves and their partnership with Mayo Clinic and wonder if the Twins are missing something that a team with a pathetic history are doing right (admittedly, the T'Wolves certainly have their injury issues as well). 2) If you are taking big risk/reward swings with your star players, it would be nice to minimize variance with your supporting players and bullpen. The Twins are not doing this. Instead, there's huge reliance on young, unproven players and little to no investment in the bullpen. Skipping or skimping on the above leaves the team open for a huge variance in results. I am tired of first round exits too, but you can't lose in the playoff if you don't make it at all. I get that there are budgets and a million priorities, but I think the overall approach to taking on players with injury histories could be more unified.

Agreed - between Gordon and Gallo, a back-up at CF is covered. We need guys if/when Byron goes down, but we don't need three of them.

I know we have a new training staff. Here's hoping we amp up the investment in them, considering our the MO is to spend on players with injury risk. It's the humane approach, but will also help the team moving forward.

Wow. I don't think it was as planned, but the FO really salvaged this off-season. Adding Correa, moving Farmer to a vs LHP and utility role, and still having Lewis at midseason will be huge. Farmer also makes all the corner outfielders a lot more expendable. I'm excited about Correa but also wondering if we'll see more.

Considering most of the trades are in the rotation, and just a year in advance of contract expiration, they may as well pull the trigger now.

This further illustrates just how stupid the FO's "off-season plan" truly was.

After putting a dent in the farm system and coming in third, I don't see the FO losing a pick signing Eovaldi and trading prospects for Adames in this off-season.

We can argue that the numbers used to be good. Watching them come about, is going to be ugly, especially as he struggles to build back up to his peak. I'd have rather had JD Martinez for that money, but it's hard to beat the Dodgers.

Perfect article. I was generally ok with the FO up until this off-season. Mistakes happen. But this was a bad, underfunded plan, based on a stupid premise, and somehow they didn't adjust. Heading into the last year with any sort of projected rotation, this is the worst time possible to completely butcher an off-season. And that's precisely what they've done.

I hope the FO wasn't really waiting on Correa for any additional moves. Being unwilling to go to $300mil in this market leaves you on the outside looking in.

Happy to see a move for a fundamentally sound player. The floor is improving, with Vazquez and Farmer. But we need Correa to actually move this team's ceiling upward.

I don't know. I feel like this would be setting a contract salary at the peak of Swanson's value. If it were Swanson or use the money elsewhere, I'd pass, and see what we have in Farmer, Lewis, and maybe even Lee (if he keeps progressing quickly).

This Correa strategy is brutal. All fallbacks are gone (unless you love Kyle Farmer). Vazquez realized he can wait out Correa and if he goes elsewhere, up his salary request to a desperate team, and it's working. Swanson is doing the same thing, so everything is on hold. If we don't get Correa and this all falls apart, the FO should be fired for incompetence.

What went unmentioned is that playing 1B and DH likely kept his knees in shape and allowed him to hit that way. That appears to be known around this team but may be something others are willing to explore still (which keeps his value high now). Failed experiments around the diamond this year could really crater his value.

The pitching is better, but he's shown an ability to narrow down his swing rate before. I think he'll adjust. There's enough of a track record of success and ability to adjust that I think he can do that. If he's not the greatest at 3rd, but can hit and with some power that's acceptable. I think he'll do that. If not, we have Lewis, Lee and Julien coming up behind him.

I think it's all of the above. The FO is uncertain of the market and unsure they'll be able to get off their plan A, and now they have insurance to handle lots of their needs - a temporary SS, a RH platoon bat and emergency catcher. If the guy could pitch they'd be doing cartwheels. I'm happy with the trade. If he fills in at SS for the Spring, it's far from ideal. Hopefully he ends up as a pricey utility man. That's just not the norm with this team.

OK. But do we have to watch them try to fix him?

Sounds great. Good all-around player. Just don't think he's available.

Yes, sign him! Durable, good relievers are needed on this team.

I hope the FO takes an honest look at their roster and in-game management practices this off-season. If they do, they should invest in solid middle relief. If they're unwilling to do so, then the team can lose a lot, again.