Rod Carews Birthday

I'm not suggesting that they wait until 2026 or anything. I'm just not of the belief that he is quite ready to hit the ground running in MLB games. By July he likely will be ready. He's only 23, which isn't "old" at all. Trying to get the draft pick for Brooks Lee winning the ROY award is a bit like playing the lottery. It's possible, but pretty unlikely. Winning that award usually takes "flashy" more than "solid" and my bet is that Lee falls into the second category. If $6M were going to make a difference in signing a SP, the team would have probably already done that. A pitcher who will actually move the needle is more likely to cost $25M+.

Easily the biggest benefit of the Twins catching situation last year was the fact that it was super consistent. As has been written many times, two guys did all the work, which is unheard of. Add the fact that they are both good to excellent defensively and that is an incredibly nice foundation upon which to build a pitching staff. The potential emergence of Camargo as a minor league option/emergency big league catcher only adds to their positive situation for this year. @Nick Nelson, you are right. Their position is pretty enviable across the league at the catcher spot.

I’m really having difficulty understanding what the hurry is to get Brooks Lee to the majors. He’s an obviously talented fellow who has had some decent success in the minors but little time at AAA to fine tune those skills. Give the guy some time to develop so that he can stay in the majors and not bounce back and forth to St. Paul because we rushed him and he’s overmatched. Add to this that there currently is no real “need” for him to come up and play. All of his positions are manned by players who are likely better than he is at the moment, and possibly forever. Remember, Julian, Correa, and Lewis are pretty darn good players. I think having him come up to ride the bench and replace Farmer is a very bad idea. He needs to have daily playing time in order to develop properly. IF there is an injury that requires an everyday player for 4-6 weeks, by all means give him a chance, but as the Twins are currently configured the best place for him is in St. Paul.

So, does this mean that the Pohlad family just owns the Twins because they are fans? They have a substantial capital investment in the Twins and it would seem likely that they would want it to turn a profit rather than subsidize our entertainment for decades. Pumping money from other sources into the team is not good business for anyone. If it’s about what they can afford to pay, that’s not realistic. They can afford to triple all the salaries and pay the salaries of the rest of the Central division, but doing so would make turning a profit impossible. Believe it or not, rich guys have a budget too. Having good stewardship of the budget is one of the ways they got that way and stay that way. We would all do that, I hope. I know the Pohlad family makes for an easy target, but those who are basing criticism all on their cheapness and greed obviously weren’t around during the Calvin Griffith ownership days. Now there was cheap!

I’m of the opinion that somehow it will wind up being Austin Martin. I think he brings some things to the table that a lot of Twins hitters don’t and that could be a nice lineup diversifier. He’s a righty. He can steal bases. He makes contact (at least so far, in MiLB). I am also curious about a truly healthy Miranda brings, although the reports are already questioning his health. That being said, if Larnach comes in a mashes like we think he might be capable of doing, he’s probably not getting sent down. Lineup construction be damned. Alas, if he or Kiriloff stays healthy and ever produces up to expectations it will be a miracle.

I think I would probably put it more as an epic PR failure on their part than as a “lie” per se. I’m reasonably sure that they fully believed that the next step in the TV situation was going to allow them to control the blackout situation. When suddenly Bally was back at the table and no one else seemed to be stepping up with real $$, they pivoted back to the old deal, which meant blackouts. The situation changed from their expectations, and it turned out they had guessed wrong. The Twins payroll cut was also handled poorly. They were trying to pass the buck (pun intended) to the TV deal as the culprit. The reality is that they are looking at some real increases next year and adding a multi-year big contract to a free agent would have added to the base of contracts that they would have to deal with in the future. We are all happy right now that the big talent on this team is young and cheap, but they won’t be young forever, not to mention the fact that we probably want to lock up a couple to an extension, which will further accelerate the payroll. It also seems somewhat likely that they were out over their skis a bit last year in payroll with the addition of the C4 money. I don’t love it, but they didn’t really level with the fan base on why the payroll cut was coming. PR failure number two. The third point I would just say that I don’t agree. You can try to make a trade all you want, but if you aren’t willing to part with the talent on your side to get the talent that you want, then you can’t make a deal. I’m guessing that the Polanco trade was like that. They wanted an upper end starting pitcher, but Polanco wasn’t enough. However, instead of walking away, the teams pivoted to another type of deal that gained the Twins some value and got the Mariners the player that they wanted. It seems likely the Twins didn’t want to part with some of the team’s young talent, and that is understandable. It also won’t get the trade done. I would also say that the moves that have been made with regard to the bullpen are a smart pivot from trying and failing to get a high end starter. They just invested less than $10M in their bullpen and may have built an extremely strong weapon. It may not be sexy, but I would call that trying to make your team better. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m a fool. Possibly. But I just think that scenarios sometimes change, even when you are in the middle of them, and that makes you re-think what your position is in response. We may not like it. In fact, they may not like it either. But reality has a way of jumping up and biting us sometimes.

Oops. You’re right. My bad. He was non-tendered and managed to do well for himself on a one year contract. That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to be the one writing his paycheck for five plus years. One year with an option? Sure. More than that? There are many better investments, maybe even some extensions for a couple of their pre-arbitration players.

I'm sure that the reason he hasn't been signed yet is that no one trusts the situation. He went from a tremendous debut and MVP year with the Dodgers to being DFA'd after two years of being mostly unplayable, only to bounce back and have a good year with the Cubs. One or two years? Sure. A contract of five or more years that he and Boras are seeking? No way. Remember how we all complained about Kepler's down couple of years? They were a LOT better than Bellinger's down years. Kepler had OPS+ in the 90's. Bellinger had an 81 OPS+ and a 44 OPS+ (!). That's a little scary.

Plus, one of the major reasons that veterans are brought in for the #4/5 starter spots is because the prospects have options and therefore flexibility. It's pretty simple. You can't put DeSclafani in St. Paul, but you can put Louis Varland there. So instead of being able to have one of the two pitchers, you get to keep both. Varland may well be as good or better than DeSclafani, but have both is preferable to having one, no matter what the perceived pecking order is.

Using the term “crossroads” might be a little dramatic for Joe Ryan’s situation. He’s been a good pitcher for the Twins for the past couple of seasons, with a couple of hiccups thrown in that have affected his numbers and effectiveness. Certainly it would be great if he would dramatically transform himself into a Pablo Lopez (results) clone, but even if he doesn’t, he’s plenty valuable and looks to be a solid mid-rotation guy. Back a few years ago, when we got him in trade, he seemed like an amazing talent on our starting staff — because we really didn’t have much in that department. However, after being spoiled on the starting pitcher front last season, we are now letting the nearly perfect (or as close as we are likely to get) get in the way of the very good. I’m an optimist with regard to Joe Ryan continuing to improve, but he doesn’t really need to change to maintain being a valuable MLB pitcher.

It would seem that this year’s bullpen is designed to equal last year’s starters, and hopefully in effect make this year’s starters equal to last years starters. I like it. Investing in a bunch of expensive starting pitching was never going to happen this year, so this looks to be a very plausible workaround to me. Not every one of these relievers is likely to be lights out, but there are plenty of solid arms to choose from rather than the default “you have arms and your heart is beating, take the mound!” approach from some previous years. It made a person wonder if guys like Gordon, Astidillo and Wallner couldn’t have made the team out of the bullpen! Now if we can start off the season actually hitting the ball (unlike last year), we could be in pretty good shape.

You're looking for sure things. There are never sure things. This year's top remaining free agent starter, Blake Snell, has two Cy Youngs to his credit. Undoubtedly he was outstanding in both of those years but pretty darn mediocre in between. As I said, there are never sure things. I think the rotation will be just fine when combined with the improved bullpen and likely better offense.

Well, that is also true!

Joe Ryan is one of my favorites as well and I feel your pain. I’m just hoping that it was a momentary blip and not something that becomes a long term problem. I am probably in the minority on this, but I really believe in Joe Ryan. Aside from being a fine pitcher, I think he has some intangible qualities that will serve him well as an MLB pitcher.

I think it completely depends on what you value the most. Festa has the more solid floor and is a more finished product that is closer to the majors. Raya has the higher ceiling and has quite a bit more development ahead before he hits the majors. For me, I see the value in having someone like Festa available sooner rather than later, so I would value him higher. Will he have a better career? No one can answer that, but if I’m placing bets, he seems like a safer place to put my money, even if the return isn’t necessarily projected to be quite as great.

I’m not sure if this exercise is actually healthy or not, but for me there are probably three dates, each for different reasons. The first is back in February, 1979 when the Twins traded Rod Carew to the Angels. It confirmed pretty much every bad thing we, as fans, thought about the Calvin Griffith ownership period and Carew as a player was of course sorely missed. The second is the day that Kirby Puckett announced his retirement due to his medical condition. It certainly felt like his career was being chopped off before its time, even though he would wind up in the HOF. The third is July 7, 2010, which is the day that Justin Morneau sustained a concussion sliding into second base. It took him from seemingly the top of the baseball world to a much more mundane path. Every time I think about this I think about what might have been had the injury not occurred. The baseball world is littered with many similar stories, but these are the ones that strike a chord with me. Fortunately, none of these memories are as strong as the positive moments in my baseball fan-hood. Some amazing plays in the field, tremendous pitching performances, or great clutch hits are always front of mind, to say nothing of the WS titles in 1987 and 1991. Experiencing the sad and frustrating moments makes me appreciate the high points much more, easily eclipsing the down side of baseball.

I can be pretty happy with this roster as a whole, even if it is a long ways from bulletproof. Offensively, barring severe sophomore slumps from Lewis, Wallner, and Julien combined with a little more return to normal from Correa and Burton, we should be pretty good. I think Santana is a fine pickup, particularly at the price. The weakest link is probably Larnach, who clogs the roster a little, but if he can find a positive hitting stroke, we will finally know what we have. On the pitching side, the bullpen, barring injury, looks tremendous. It’s not that there are a bunch of stars, but rather that the 6, 7, and 8 guys are genuine proven relief pitchers. Someone will surely bomb here, but the floor is pretty amazing as a group. There is plenty of complaining out there about the rotation, but I am a believer in one of Paddack, Ober, and Ryan stepping up to become more of a #2/playoff caliber starter. My theory is that when three guys have a reasonable chance at it, then at least one is likely to come through, although we also need Lopez to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke. Let’s play some games and find out just how right or wrong we, the speculators were!

I can agree that the W/L record is meaningless and replacing 184 innings of sub-3 ERA is what this is all about. However, I might maintain that the Twins' offense won't be nearly as inept at the beginning of the season as it was last season. A bit of increased run support, combined with a better bullpen performance (remember, they were a dumpster fire at the beginning of the year last year), might result in better team outcomes for those games. I also am a proponent of our good young pitchers (Ryan, Ober, Paddack, Varland) being able to take at least a half step forward this year, so that can help also. No matter what, I think we're going to be able to find out very soon!

Thanks for a terrific series of articles and a wonderful trip down memory lane! It is a fun exercise and inspires a lot of intense feelings and debate, but ultimately it is more about fond remembrance and nostalgia. From my point of view you got things more right than wrong, and while I could nitpick here or there, comparing 1969 or 1970 to 2023 or 2019 is pretty difficult to do. Bravo!

I wish Nick Gordon the very best for a successful season and career. He is a talented guy who has been through a lot and deserves a chance to succeed. That being said, as others have indicated, he was a poor fit for the roster, didn't have any options left, and had been supplanted by Castro for his role, so it makes me happy that we were able to get a very serviceable reliever for him in trade. I think it's another win-win with the Marlins - might be an excellent time to take advantage of the good karma and see what else they can cook up!

Brooks Lee will play on the Twins team when he is ready and there is a spot for him to play. There is no chance that they promote him and "hope" that he can win some awards. It would be malpractice to do so, both for him and for the team.

Wouldn't it be nice if one of the two Carlos Santanas would be featured in a postgame Target Field concert this summer? That could be a lot of fun on a lot of different levels!

I think they will win about 90 games, give or take. I like them to be a little bit better than last year with the hope that they find another starter (within or from the outside) that can be strong in the playoffs. I do think the bullpen is potentially a little bit better than last year, so that should help also.

Very interesting read. While you cast some doubts that it is reasonable to expect great things from Paddack this summer, it also is within the realm of possible outcomes that he will be at least a serviceable starter. I think we all realize that pitching is a mercurial thing and last year’s best starter can occasionally be this year’s worst starter, before coming back and being great again. Let’s hope this catches Paddack in the “up” part of the equation.

A move for another starter would be outstanding if we can make it fit into the budget and avoid gutting the farm system to do it. I'm not very confident that can happen. I think the most likely move would be for RH CF capable outfielder preferably with some power, and willing to supplement his salary by selling popcorn at Target Field between innings.