Rod Carews Birthday

I will be as patient as Tom’s level of leadership will allow me to be. It means some meaningful spending additions. It means building an effective team. It means winning baseball. It means re-engaging the fan base. When/if there is failure on those accounts, he will lose my support, just as he should have previously pulled his support from the baseball people who were making bad decisions. I don’t know. Maybe he did, but we don’t know either way and need to move on from here. I’m not naive. It’s going to take some time. I’m also not stupid. It’s going to take some investment and effort on his part as well. It’s your gig now, Tom. Let’s see what you’ve got. I am and will remain a fan of the Twins, but Tom, you could make this a LOT easier if you try.

I’m not expecting miracles, but this might indicate at least a little bit of potential for movement. Maybe Tom is the guy that has been screaming at family board meetings to do something. Maybe he’s not and is just acting this way. We can’t actually I know. I, however, am willing to give him a.chance to do some good work. Right now that’s all we can hang our hat on. Let’s see what happens. The leadership of the past two years was mighty poor, so the bar is low. In that realm, I’m willing to let change happen relatively slowly as long as there appears to be a positive direction. There will always be corporate speak in every organization. We all know that. I just hope that it doesn’t run things around here.

I think that part of (maybe all of) the problem is that the Twins don't have players who are particularly good defensively that aren't named Buxton, AND those same players (sans Keaschall and maybe Wallner) aren't good enough offensively to really carry the day that way either. Positional flexibility is a fantastic thing! See Gonzalez, Marwin. . . see Castro, Willi. . . see Tovar, Cesar. It helps to start with players that are good at it though.

Now there's an idea!

At best, combining Lewis (the most accomplished so far, I guess, but. . . ), Lee (still waiting. . . . ), Keaschall (extremely SSS), and Culpepper (still in MiLB) seems like it could be an adequate infield. Calling it anything like a pipeline at this point is premature. IF all of those work out, we could be OK in the infield. So far we don't have any true stars there. As fans, sometimes we forget that almost every player that experiences a few years of success in the majors was not just good in the minors, but often a big star in the minors. Even then, they don't all work out. Every team has guys just like these guys. The teams that are successful are the ones where they work out or who trade for or sign guys that do. My fingers are crossed, but let's stay realistic as well.

Nope. If there are any extensions, they should be for Joe Ryan or perhaps Ryan Jeffers. Keaschall is intriguing, but I'm not ready for it. He has plenty left to prove. I'm not willing to gamble on either Lewis or Lee developing. Wallner is too old to extend.

Thought provoking article Nick. On one hand, our deep-seated (and well-deserved) disdain for ownership and management has us convinced that the sky is falling (it might be, but that’s not a sure thing either). On the other, a projection like this gives me hope that things aren’t as bad as they seem. A little objectivity will do that for you sometimes. My hope is that ownership/management takes this to heart and finds some quarters in the seat cushions to add to this team in meaningful places. Nobody can make this team World Series contenders, but reasonably competitive isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. I know I am in the minority on this, but I don’t think that the Twins should be tearing down this team further. I lived through several periods of the dark days in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. It wasn’t pretty or fun to watch Ron Coomer be the best player on the team. Let’s not do that again.

This is exactly my fear about tearing it down. If submitting to two (or more) years of terrible 100+ loss baseball, to be followed (if everything goes pretty well actually) by a team that is about the same as 2025, what have we gained? I’m probably in the minority, but I would rather watch and cheer for an 82-87 win team than watch a train wreck for two plus years with only a faint hope that the team will actually be better than it is now.

Rumors are out there for many reasons. One, there is some truth in them and they are based on real things. BUT, two, they are planted by various parties and fed to sports reporters so they can get a particular spin out there. I’m guessing there is some truth out there, but there is also a lot of ether. Reader beware. As for trading Lopez or Ryan, here’s how I look at it. If you are trying to build a winning team, you need to have (IMO order of importance) good starting pitching, good offensive production, a good bullpen, and at least a modicum of defense. The Twins have mostly crummy defense, a non-existent bullpen, mediocre/inconsistent offense, and good starting pitching. I also think that the odds of them developing a bullpen from the multitude of pitching prospects are strong, but will take time. So. . . the pitching side is OK. The offense and fielding are not. If there was ever a time to sign some hitters in the free agent market, it is now, but I digress. . . sigh! So, by my logic (and YMMV) it seems ridiculous to trade away the strength of your team (two semi-ace starters) to solidify other aspects unless you think that you have so many solid (or potentially solid) starting pitchers that they won’t be missed. I don’t see that because I’m not sure who I would project as being as good as or better than Pablo and Joe that is currently at/near the top of the minor league food chain. Taking them away means that now the starting pitching is where the offense has been for the past year or more. AND, you are no longer on the right side of the bar in any of the four categories. Because Major Leaguer for Major Leaguer trades so seldom happen, the prospects you acquire will (at best) be helpful in the future, and the best ones (most potential, most risk, farthest from the majors) won’t help for several season or maybe ever. In the meantime, you have completely jettisoned any chance of being competitive for at least a couple of seasons. Living through the early 80’s and late 90’s has made me never want to do that again. Thinking that “tanking” now will mean we are really good in a couple of years is a short-sighted view. Is it POSSIBLE that the Twins get an offer that blows them away? Sure. Anything is possible, but when was the last time that happened? Probably it was the trade that brought us Joe Nathan, et al many years ago (and I’m not sure that wasn’t just dumb luck). I’m not holding my breath for that.

I completely agree that any good bullpen building that happens this year needs to come from the starter pool that they have amassed. It will be challenging for sure to convince guys to make the move, but come spring training, it will probably be apparent to the pitchers that they are #8 or #9 in the starting pitcher pecking order. When faced with taking a bullpen role or going back to AAA, possibly to only get a spot start in the majors, that may loosen their stance a bit. Hopefully the guys are smart enough, and the Twins are transparent enough with them to make the transition go smoothly.

Your last sentence is absolutely correct. The problem is that the Pohlads have done nothing but tear it down in the last two years so there is no trust built up with the fans to think that there will be a decent payroll. Do Yankees fans worry that the team might not try to spend enough to be competitive? Of course not. Unfortunately there can be no trust with the current ownership.

I can pretty much agree with everything said here. Too many folks are convinced of a better outcome by stripping it down to the studs and selling off anybody with any value. If they do that, they MIGHT be back to the 2025 squad in 2028 IF they do things right and there are no hiccups. Really. What are the odds that they do everything right and everything goes well? I have more faith in building around the current rotation and trying to supplement the offense, while rebuilding a bullpen on the fly. It may not be pretty either, but the odds of not being atrocious for the next to years are probably much higher. I remember the late 90’s, and the early 80’s. Don’t need to live through that again.

Yes please. He seems like a good fit if the numbers can work. And that’s a mighty big IF!

There isn’t really a great answer in the short term unless some players really step forward. Two thoughts. One thought would be to mess with Buxton batting leadoff, replacing him with Luke Keaschall, and moving him to batting third. The problem that presents would be losing the spark he provides with the occasional leadoff home run. The other thought is, if Larnach is an OK option, why not Wallner — yes, slightly less OBP, but overall a better hitter. The chief complaint this year was that Wallner didn’t drive in enough runs for all of his power. Batting #3 would likely change that if the hitters in the first two spots do their job.

A bunch of day traders in a long term activity, but they are certainly loud!

By logic and on paper, Hawkins should be a terrific hire. Now we need to see if either of those things translate. He will have his work cut out for him trying to make a bullpen work out of some questionable parts (with potential, but still questionable). He’s an easy guy to root for in the role. Go get’’em Hawk!

Oddly, Jay Bell is also listed as a top prospect of the Cleveland Guardians as well. The guy got around. It would be nice to see Walker Jenkins supplant him on the Twins’ mountain. An admittedly non-statistical analysis of the data seems to indicate a lot of hit or miss for a lot of prospects on a lot of teams. It could be an indictment of the developmental track record of teams, including the Twins, but it can also be an indictment of Baseball America’s ability to pick prospect lists — or anyone else’s for that matter. Are teams failing to develop or is picking top prospects merely a somewhat educated guess? It is certainly something to think about when people are clamoring for some team’s number one prospect in a trade, or when we think there is always a major difference to be had in ranked prospects just a couple of spots apart.

We won’t know until he starts coaching, but I think Hawkins is potentially a terrific hire for the team. He’s a regular guy who carved out a long career in the majors by adapting and adjusting. The Twins need more of that all the way around.

Also, have you ever seen Berninger and Shelton in the room at the same time? I think not. For that matter, did you ever see Tom Kelly in the same room with the Queen of England? Hmmmm. . . .

You bring up a good point. We seem to be hiring a lot of good people, but they achieve their biggest successes only after they leave the Twins. Certainly small sample size is a big factor in this, but I think it also has to do with a lack of talent depth on the team. Sure, we have Buxton, Ryan, and Pablo (and even Buxton has been more promise than achievement until recently), but maybe guys like Lee, Sands, SWR, Miranda, Julien, and Larnach just aren’t that talented. It’s a big step from AAA to the majors, and probably an even bigger one to stardom. We have guys who can make it to the league but seemingly can’t take that next step. Unfortunately for coaches and managers, they’re easier to fire than the players.

Space isn’t the problem. Loosening the cash sphincter is.

This is about as uninspiring as possible. When the two most realistic possibilities are Clemens and France, that’s not much. As a side note, no one thought much of France’s defensive skills when he was signed. How he managed to pull the gold gloved rabbit out of a hat is amazing to me. It does make me think that perhaps the best first baseman could be made out of Wallner who is not unathletic for a bigger guy. The team has been resistant, but there is certainly more depth in the corner OF than there is in at 1B.

Oh goody. Another OFer. Glad we went with the Phillies' offer.

Cody, if you’re grading the Twins management for the hiring process, it could be a B-. Not sure how to really know before we see Shelton manage, but I will certainly agree that it wasn’t an out of the box, splashy hire. So, on that basis of a lack of imagination by the Twins, I get it. I hope that Twins fans give Shelton a chance. Many are already calling him a failure, which is ridiculous. We have almost no idea how this will turn out and pre-judging it isn’t fair to Shelton, the Twins or the fans. Let the man come in and do his job. The much bigger issue is for ownership to put some players in place that will give him a chance to succeed. That will be the grade that truly matters.

Why is it a forgone conclusion that Ryan is some sort of unhappy player who will be a cancer to the team? He was seriously jerked around on deadline day and expressed his displeasure. So what? I know I would have. Do you really think that Ryan is going to pitch badly just to show somebody he can do that and sabotage the Twins' season? He's not going to quit and he knows that his best ticket to a big payday is to pitch really well for his team. He's not stupid. Ryan is a weird guy, but not a bad guy. He's wired a little bit different. Lot's of star athletes are. Just because we don't really understand what makes them tick doesn't mean that things are bad.