JoeCool

I give them a solid D. When you look at the prices on the trade market for Tyler Glasnow and Corbin Burnes I would have been pretty excited to see the Twins make one of those two moves. Both would have made them a playoff run contender. I think they will be a solid team that makes the playoffs but without the firepower to compete with the deeper and stronger rotations. If Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan step it up to near Sonny Gray level performance I could be proven wrong, but I think the chance of an injury in the rotation is high and the depth is not enough and not with enough upside. Too much was spent on platoon split type guys as well. If one half of the platoon goes down with an injury it leaves the team susceptible to being dominated by a certain handed pitcher.

Twins would be legit contenders if they could get both Bellinger and Montgomery on short term deals. It would be nice to see the Pohlad’s go for it at a high annual value short term deal. I am not holding my breath, but it would be a breath of fresh air to see another front line starter and a good defender/bat like Bellinger.

The Twins really need another arm at the top of the rotation. Without it we will get back to our losing ways in the playoffs. Also a right handed bat is needed to balance the outfield. This team has a lot of promise with their youth, but I also think it’s not improved from the roster we saw one year ago.

I think Pablo has a good chance to be strong in 2023 and I would not rule out Bailey Ober as an up and coming contender to be in that mix. If the Twins do not make a trade in the next week I am starting to believe they will stretch out Johan Duran and make him a starter to replace Sonny Gray as a number 2 as well. The Jay Jackson signing also points to something being potentially up with the Twins Bullpen. Just a hunch.

A solid signing and I suspect Bubba and Duarte will be removed from the 40 man roster or we could see a surprise trade perhaps seeing our catcher in Vasquez or utility guy like Farmer moved to clear up more salary to allow us to go after an Adam Duvall type of player out there in free agency. I also sense we could see Johan Duran stretched out to a starter role which would be the way the Twins attempt to replace Sonny Gray’s production in the rotation. Adding a solid bullpen arm also strengthens this case. There is no talk of this by anyone I have seen, but if the price is too high in both the trade and free agency markets to replace the lost production in the rotation this type of move makes a lot of sense.

I am disappointed in this offseason. I think the Twins should convert Johan Duran to. Starter to replace the loss of Sonny Gray. Royce Lewis to the outfield also makes a lot of sense with Brooks Lee knocking at the door. As for closer I would not mind seeing Varland getting the nod. His stuff really played up in the bullpen last year.

Underwhelmed with this addition. I felt this way about Gallo last year. Wasted millions that could be used towards someone who upgrades the roster from the squad last year. This might be the time to reload players on this team into different roles. Perhaps moving Johan Duran to the rotation they can get equal value to what they had in Sonny Gray with upside. Then Varland can assume his role in the bullpen with his stuff that plays up. The Twins just don’t have a playoff ready rotation and if unwilling to go after a Jordan Montgomery due to sticker shock this might be the missing part. I also am thinking the Twins should trade Max Kepler and trade for Anthony Santander or sign Adam Duvall to get more balanced in the lineup.

The Twins spending less this offseason may be a blessing in disguise. The free agent class has been largely paid sums of money that are insane and very risky. There is a young core that looks to be very special and I would love to see us lock up a Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Ryan Jeffers, Eduardo Julien and even Walter Jenkins to long term deals at controllable costs like the Braves did for Ronald Acuna. Outside of this core there still is some value to be gained via trade or free agency. I would love to see the Twins go after an Adam Duvall and even take a waiver on Trevor Bauer as a replacement to Sonny Gray. Some might be concerned about the optics of a Trevor Bauer, but I think the risk/reward is worth it and Duvall would be a nice complementing piece to put into left field and even spot for time at 1st against lefties. Neither of these two options would break the bank and I believe would even upgrade the club from last year’s squad. Even more so a massive overpay would not impact the organization for years to come. The young core is as talented of a core that I have seen since the early 2000’s group.

Would love to see Jordan Montgomery in a Twins uniform. Pablo Lopez and him at the top of the rotation would give us a lethal 1-2 punch. Rather than trading away the future it would be a nice add.

I think TL will be a solid big league ballplayer when it is all said and done. He is still young and learning to adapt and I get the sense he could be a later bloomer. I don’t see him as a knock the cover off the ball guy, but could see him evolving to a solid Nick Markakis kind of player with a little more development. I think the Twins swing for the fences too much rather than taking what the pitchers give you and getting on base. Just making contact and putting the ball in play forces defenses to work. I think they need to focus less on power and more the fundamentals. With the bases loaded or a runner on the pitcher is more forced to throw strikes as well.

I would not mind seeing the twins bring him in on a minor league deal. If he finds some of his peak form it would be lightning in a bottle. I am not expecting much but sometimes those scenarios work out in an unexpected way and Sano if in shape is still young in years that should be his prime.

I think Randy Arozarena would be a better trade target. We need a right handed versatile bat for an outfield corner position, he is much more balanced as a hitter than Kiriloff or Larnach and while not a wizard in center could hold his own barring injury to Buxton. With an outfield of Arozarena, Buxton and Kepler with Nick Gordon and Austin Martin in reserve it’s a nice mix out there.

I did not expect the Twins to make a run at Sonny Gray especially multi year at his age. He did fantastic as a Twin, but the Cardinals overpaid. Losing Kenta Maeda to Detroit at a reasonable rate stung a bit. I expect the Twins to make a run at Lucas Giolito on a shorter term deal with a slight overpay in a way they targeted Joey Gallo with hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. Giolito is a much better bet than Gallo. Corbin Burnes is a possibility but he will come at a cost of E-Rod and/or Festa level prospect and possibly Polonco. It would be a steep cost, but I hope the Twins make a run at Burnes now while Yamamoto looms large and distracts other contenders. If Burnes gets injured like Tyler Mahle it would be quite devastating to give up a top prospect for a rental we hardly use, but in the risk/reward scenario this risk is worth it to have the talent to make a playoff run again. I also expect the Twins try to resign Tyler Mahle with a team friendly deal to make that ill fated trade for him feel less painful. I think we need three starters like a Giolito, Mahle and hopefully Burnes. One of our current starters or more will go down with injuries as we saw all last year. Depth paid off last year. High upside arms are needed in depth to make a serious run this year.

Trade Kepler and sign a FA to a short term deal. I don’t think he will replicate his second half last year and we can get a lot for him right now. Adam Duvall and/or Nick Senzel would be great adds to help bring some pop against lefties. Walner, Gordon, Castro, and Kiriloff can do some damage against the righties. I also do love the idea of moving Royce Lewis to the outfield. He has the speed that upgrades the defense. It also helps remove some of the middle infield logjams and maybe opens up a slot for Austin Martin if any of the outfielders get injured.

I see Lewis as a special talent that transcends just statistics. He brings energy, hustle and drive in a way that is unique and reminds me a lot of Torii Hunter and Kirby Puckett. This is contagious to others around him. The hope is he does not forget to do the little things rather than the Twins philosophy of swinging for the fences. Getting on base, getting a good pitch to hit hard and do damage with and forcing pitchers to throw strikes is an area I would like to see improve in Lewis and the rest of the team. As for the glove I think he will improve greatly especially with Correa as a mentor.

Keep him for sure. I expect he can bounce back offensively and defensively he brings a lot to help get more out of our pitchers as well. His price tag is a bit steep, but good catchers are hard to come by and he brings upside with his bat that we have yet to see but he has proven it over his career. I expect a bounce back season for him just as I expect Correa to perform better as well in 2024.

Miranda will likely be a solid everyday 1st baseman when healthy. The Twins should not give up on him. He is an affordable bat that should be given a chance. His upside is too great to not see what he can do when healthy. What a story of depth and talent though. To have players like Miranda and Gordon on the bubble shows how deep of a team the Twins have.

Save the pen. Houston has good pitching even with injuries. I have to imagine it will be a close game and extras are possible. López and Gray getting some length improves our odds.

Time will tell, but I think they are doing a better job than they get credit for as a duo calling the shots. The Good: 1) Recent Drafts: Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee and Walter Jenkins are franchise altering talents. Ryan Jeffers, Bailey Ober, Alex Kiriloff all look to be great picks. They missed on Saboto and Cavaco, but the draft is very complex and with top picks they appear better than the prior regime who made a lot of whiffs with top picks. 2) Attracting Top Talent: Before this regime top talents did not consider Minnesota. This regime has attracted top tier players to this organization. They also have got the Pohlad’s to spend more and while not all talents worked out this is a great improvement from what he had seen historically. 3) Pitching: Particularly the starting pitching is the best we have seen in a long time if not ever. The starting pitching depth is incredible. We don’t have a Johan Santana, however he was a generational talent and we may have a few of those coming up in our system or even at the big league level. The Bad: 1) Coaching Staff: I am not sold on Rocco’s game management. The hitting coach also is a disaster and they continue to let it happen. It would be great to see how Joe Masson would handle this club. Also a competent hitting coach could for sure get more out of this lineup. 2) Trades: Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan are both great adds. Tyler Mahle, Emilio Pagan/Chris Paddack, Jorge Lopez were disasters that were masked by our deep farm system thankfully. I give the FO credit for having a deep farm system, but we got fleeced in an epic way on those trades. Perhaps Pagan/Paddack will still pan out better. 3) Hanging on too long to failed projects: Too much talent is in the minors to allow Joey Gallo to take a roster spot. Same with Jorge Lopez and even to an extent Pagan who is performing now but was a huge reason for last years failures. We have too much young talent knocking at the door. We need to cut bait sometimes and much faster. Final Assessment: If they can upgrade coaching I sense this current roster could perform much better than today. I would be for keeping them given how much they improved the short and long term prospects. With Lee, Lewis and Jenkins on the way. The future is bright for this team.

I don’t see him taking time away from family but I wish he was our hitting coach today. I think he has a lot to offer the game still, but his children are young. Maybe his son who was kind of hilarious at the ceremony last night will be the future face of the franchise. :)

Popkins needs to go. Sorry but look at the regression of all the free agents that arrived. They all dropped and this lineup has better talent than performance. They need a true hitting coach, Would love to see the Twins bring in some real playing experience into the coaching staff to blend the analytics and art into something more balanced.

There was a lot of sub par talent out there. The places where quality could be gained ended up being buyers rather than sellers. Bellenger would have been a nice add but the Cubs are buying. Putting a Royce Lewis out in Center over a Michael Taylor is likely an upgrade even to Bellinger, because it puts a right handed bat in the lineup. I don’t think Verlander or Sherzer would have waived their no trade clauses, but a true #1 would have been nice and placing Lopez at #2 matches up well against any #2 in the league and Ryan/Ober against any 3-4. Polonco coming back helps us immensely against lefties and Julien is a spark. The glaring hole remains the bullpen. Floro is likely more stable than Lopez, but a Josh Hader or even Paul Sewold would have helped us a lot. We do see Jordan B. evolving though and perhaps we can covert a starter to a reliever to drive some additional high leverage arms. Simeon Woods-Richardson has the raw stuff to maybe be an upgrade and hidden gem in the pen. I would have liked to see a move that upgrades the club, but I don’t think the talent was meaningful enough for what we would have lost. Tyler Mahle and Jorge Lopez were fleecings and I think the same would have happened if we went after a Jameir Candelrio.

Hader is one of many missing pieces, but the Twins front office is competent, but too conservative in a state that is craving for a championship, but has no hope of getting one unless the roster is addressed with some more elements of risk/reward. The Hader for Maya and Hendrix is a no brainer. He would be a massive pairing with Duran in a way the championship Royals won their last title. But….. We need bats and even with a great staff…. A true #1. A trade that is too good to be true but won’t happen is Buxton, Gray, Kepler, and Austin Martin for Ohtani and Renfroe. The Twins lineup instantly can compete consistently and the Angels get a balance of today and the future with something their fan base can live with. The Twins also get a true #1 ace putting Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan up against #2 and #3 pitchers and make room for more playing time of Royce Lewis and Eduardo Julien. Placing Lewis in the outfield along with Renfroe instantly upgrades he lineup especially against lefties and keeps the defense strong. In 2024 we would not have Ohatani but would have extra dollars for a free agent starting pitcher with Kepler, Gallo, Gray, and Buxton off the books. That is around $40 million in salaries off the books and not far from what is needed to extend Ohtani, but I think sinking that many dollars into one player is a massive risk as he ages. With young superstar potential talents like Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Eduardo Julien, and now Walter Jenkins just starting their MLB careers or moving through the system that money is better spent on extending those players in a team friendly way as the Atlanta Braves did with Ronald Acuna Jr., Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy and building around them with complementary pieces. I don’t see this trade happening, but Hader is one of many missing pieces. This trade considers making a legitimate run in 2023 without sacrificing the future while also appeasing Halo fans/Trout for today and the future. It would be nice to see a more aggressive approach to filling the many needs from the lineup to bullpen to even a true #1 ace over just a bullpen piece. A World Series title goal rather than make the playoffs and hope would be nice. We have lost a record number of playoff games in a row from a “make the playoffs and hope” mode.

No thanks to either of these arms. Aaron Judge would feast off of these two in the playoffs. Arenado would be fantastic for both the lineup and defense. A clear 3rd base upgrade. Correa is heating up as I thought he might. I also dream of us going after another ace in Justin Verlander who has gotten back into vintage form and is perfect for our playoff aspirations. We need Jack Morris 2.0 in Verlander and pushing Pablo Lopez into a Kevin Tapani #2 role with Ober and Ryan at 3 and 4 and Gray at 5. Wicked rotation for a playoff run. Maeda in the bullpen would be an upgrade right there. Jordan B is turning into a high leverage reliever and should push a few of the others down. It would be expensive for our salary situation but sending Kepler out when he is hot and Gallo if anybody will take him helps that cause. Putting a healthy Royce Lewis in the outfield with his speed needs to happen as well. He would be an instant upgrade in CF and no need to overpay for Dylan Carlson. We need quality and not quantity. Lewis inspires much greater confidence than Carlson.

I think the IR is coming for Buxton. He is for sure not at 100%. It’s time to get him sorted health wise and upgrade the DH production in his absence. Popkins needs to go as well. He is just not unlocking the potential of this lineup. It’s obvious.