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JD-TWINS

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  1. JD-TWINS
    4 players on the 40 man for what Polanco was paid plus $5.5M…..,and two prospects. DeSclafano washed out (calculated risk) - two young guys weren’t expected to do anything in ‘25 - Topa had a lower body injury and is under Team control going forward. Farmer was hurt most of the first 4 months and hence, greatly underperformed in those months prior to August 1st - hit well from there - most everyone else collapsed. If a Team is looking for starter depth, 2B depth, relief depth………I do not understand how the trade with Seattle didn’t make both roster & $$ saving sense? I don’t get the hindsight comment? Polanco played around 180 games total over ‘22-‘23 seasons. He was obviously breaking down physically. If he had better health in ‘24 (was on pace through June) he may have lead the A.L. in strikeouts. I don’t wish Polanco any ill will …… nor do I wish Kepler any ill will ……. time comes to move on……to me, Polanco’s performance in ‘24 proved his decline. If Topa pitches with health, he will be a contributor ……. maybe obvious, but I don’t think Polanco going forward is capable of being anywhere near the guy he was for the Twins.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Absolutely correct!! Unless Polanco struck out 35% at home and 23% on the road, equating to his 29% average, (his previous overall average being 24 plus %) the batting eye theory doesn’t wash. Never heard of some huge disparity for the Team leading A.L. in strikeouts the past couple seasons, home and away - right?? IMO, not popular theory, is Polanco was physically washed before the trade & exemplified the fact throughout the ‘24 season. Gonzalez has a 40% chance of making The Show - just another prospect that MAY or may NOT come to fruition in another couple years. Topa can be a contributor and at $1.3M is hardly too costly for the organization. No way it is sensible to sign Polanco on any kind of one year deal for ‘25.
  3. JD-TWINS
    95% sure some team will sign him for $1.75M or similar…….maybe a “make the 26-man” contract, ranging from $300K to come to Spring Training and some realistic ($1.75M) salary if he makes the team out of Spring Training……certainly nowhere near $5-$6M.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Bednar looked a lot like Emilio Pagan in ‘24 … A LOT! One decent - one bad - two good - one decent - two terrible……much of the year from what I saw over 8-10 viewings of Pirates. No crystal ball from me nor anyone in a GM seat: My “must get one” guys via trade or via FA last offseason for ‘24 were BEDNAR/Pirates - pretty bad year……… J. MONTGOMERY/Arizona - terrible year……..D. WILLIAMS/Brewers - hurt for 4 months and crumbled in Playoff game. Never know who is going to work out. Inside Division Trades seem like a stretch, as you point out. (Crochet/Robert) I’m actually GOOD with our entire staff at this point. Obviously, adding is always cool but to me, we need to be focused on run production help! Staff: Paddack - Blewett - Stewart - Varland - Henriquez - Winder - Funderburk - Topa - Sands - Jax - Duran - Moran for starters in the Pen…………Lopez - Ober - Ryan - SWR - Festa is a good base with Morris - Matthews - Lewis - Raya developing in St. Paul. I’d consider trading Duran & moving Jax to closer’s role. Duran - Julien - a AA pitcher as a package to Boston for Casas, their 1B……that’s my early off-season hope. I like Rooker’s upside but I assume he’s an 8 figure guy at this point …….. the negative isn’t really cost it’s that he clogs the DH spot. With Lewis - Miranda - Buxton on the roster, it seems that DH is already filled - right?
  5. JD-TWINS
    I think the $1.5M is meant as a portion (or should be) of a lefty’s salary. Any updates on Moran’s health?……he is as reliable as Funderburk ……not very. But he is a controllable lefty option. It appears that the gang at TD have completely written off Thielbar - right? What if they offered him the $1.75M or so available for a lefty? Too ineffective & inconsistent to consider?…….probably a YES from me. Can they go 100% right handed? Is Blewett an option for the ‘25 staff? Stewart - Topa - Sands - Alcala - Henriquez - Jax - Winder - Blewett - Duran - Paddack - Varland ……..11 righties that ultimately need to add up to 7 effective guys, with some unknown lefty in last 2 months (worst case)…….Raya in September?
  6. JD-TWINS
    Duran’s numbers are interesting. 9 losses do come from somewhere within his pitching performance……,a few maybe “bad situations” and poor location/mistakes but generally, his SEQUENCING, as you suggest, seemed to be the biggest problem with me. Pitching backwards to make hitters look foolish, just for kicks, isn’t a great approach when one has a 99.5-101Mph fastball……,he continually threw curves & splinkers early in counts & would get behind……then he’d overthrow a fastball out of the zone. Difficult to watch unfold. His stuff is so good that he still had very good peripheral numbers and a decent year overall. Establish fastball and pitch off of it with the other 2 pitches. His stuff is good enough to actually not worry much about patterns but he needs (like most pitchers) to get ahead of hitters on a much higher % basis!
  7. JD-TWINS
    I don’t really have any interest in reviewing the graphs over 9 seasons…….it seems that the author is in agreement that the Bible Awards are based upon real metrics…….Santana was recognized as 3rd across baseball & 1st in the American League. This information seems to have him well above “average” at 1B defensively, without any local bias being involved.
  8. JD-TWINS
    I think he had a really nice season considering the physical ailments. Agree, can’t trade him now - a guy showing these types of improvements needs to get some more leash to potentially be a main cog in the line-up. He already has 20 HR power (15 HR in ‘24) …… just needs to get more plate appearances. 500 AB’s gets him to 22 HR’s and 75 RBI ….. with 25 doubles. Hoping he can stay healthy and get the extra 150 AB’s over ‘24. These numbers assume no improvement (other than health) so it’s not overly optimistic.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Not really sure how a Club sees if a guy can be the 3rd or 4th piece in a trade with no real control of the player before hand? Why would the receiving team show any interest if there’s a real possibility that the player can be signed as a free agent? 2023 results equate to health - early 2024 results equate to health. His 2023 (about 60% of what is considered a full season) .270 BA with a .348 OBP & 116 OPS+ shows a potential norm, with health. I’m not deluded though…..his health is not a very dependable prospect. If they want to trade him, I think they have to pay the arbitration. For the $$ amount, I’d probably pay him and bring him to Spring Training…….assuming his back or whatever the 2024 ailment was, is healed. Seems he would need to comply with some sort of physical.
  10. JD-TWINS
    Agreed - they don’t need to be hidden away “until they get older”. However, big difference between 20-21 to 23….. life experience/maturity and physical maturity in today’s world are a pretty big deal. I see Keaschall up by late June/July …..assuming he’s going to need some time for his arm to get to 100% and for him to trust himself. If he keeps hitting he seems to be the best 2B alternative going forward. Lee got hurried up in ‘23 (he’s older) after being hurt & he was thrilling for about 10 days, then offensively declined throughout the balance of the year. Have enough options at 2B to be able to sift out someone that can actually perform on O & D. Emma has to play 8 weeks without getting hurt - he may get a shot by July 1 if he’s performing - gotta prove with some durability! Jenkins, to me, his absolute best shot at MLB in near-term is September. Am assuming AA through May/June. We’ll see. Middle of ‘26 seems realistic for him, at age 21.
  11. JD-TWINS
    Not looking for common ground necessarily. My point is Prielipp hasn’t pitched much at all over last 2 years and have no idea what he did prior to that. If he’s super fragile but has good stuff (which seems to be the case) he may be helpful out of the Pen. A guy that can’t pitch because he’s broken down, from something that ails his arm, isn’t worth anything.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Festa & Matthews & Lewis all get traded? I’d agree that Ober is the only above average guy at this point but any of the 5 rotation spots being covered (SWR) is a success! The other 6 guys we mentioned have an opportunity to produce at least 2 guys if not more. Might be ‘26 to get past just Festa but they all have some promise.
  13. JD-TWINS
    I don’t expect him to get past 55-60 innings at end of September ……. His health is THE question. If Zebby Matthews can go from A ball to MLB as a starter ….. if healthy, Prielipp should be able to go an inning at a time out of the Pen. I don’t care if he dominates anywhere as long as he isn’t terrible. Not looking for him to be a savior in September just considering his promotion if he’s having success…..only if he’s done well….,lefty with 2-3 pitch mix is a possibility out of Pen in September. Surely doesn’t need to dominate at AA or AAA.
  14. JD-TWINS
    I like Raya in the Pen by September……Prielipp, with health, could meet him there? 2-3 pitches in repertoire from a lefty in September could bring real value. ……I’d consider grooming him for Pen after seeing how his health holds up through May. AA for 6 weeks and AAA 6 weeks then in to Target in September - optimist!
  15. JD-TWINS
    Neither guy - regardless of their talent - has shown they can throw 40-50 innings w/o getting seriously hurt. If they can get 45-60 appearances and 50 innings total it would be great. I am hoping that ‘25 will be the year they can pitch without breaking down. Also, see this year’s their transitioning from historically being starters to being guys in the Pen that throw an inning 2-3 times per week. On paper they both show a big upside facing 3-6 guys per outing. The durability advantage from the Pen is that guys are maxed out at 25 pitches so they don’t start to drift mechanically as easily - they don’t have to worry about fatigue/abuse in any one outing - therefore they don’t physically break down. I think they are both destined for Pen roles at least through ‘25.
  16. JD-TWINS
    So, the Red Sox need pitching. Kenley Jansen will more than likely not be signed there again. 3 moves to ponder (I realize trade pieces are nearly infinite) to help ‘25 Club……trying to be realistic from both sides. 1) Trade Paddack & a decent/good AA player & Julien or Kirilloff to someone for $1-$2M in cash consideration …….generates $7.5 - $9M of cash flow for payroll. 2) Trade Duran & C. Lewis & maybe Julien or Kirilloff to Boston for 1B Casas……..generates another $3-$3.5M for payroll cash flow. 3) Sign Nick Martinez to 3 year $40M deal as a swing guy for Rotation & Bullpen. He’s add as much or more than Paddack in the Pen and he’s more stable health wise if added Rotation spot starts are needed. Three straight years of 3.50 or better ERA. Jax to closer role so he feels he’ll get paid in near-term v. going back to rotation. Still have Matthews - Morris - Raya at AAA polishing their approaches……Prielipp, as an effective lefty, is too intriguing to move off at this point for Pen help.
  17. JD-TWINS
    9 pitches - 4 runs - tie game. Guy had a sub 2.00 ERA going into the outing. No reason to think as a Manager “you know” he’s not going to get anyone out w/o getting rocked - gotta be fair. Be pissed - upset - disappointed - whatever…….the terrible pitching execution was on Alcala. He had 2 outs and nobody on (2nd out after game became tied) ………since it was a tie game and your sub 2.00 ERA guy seems to have recovered, why not let him get the 3rd out and not burn another leverage guy…….maybe not a perfect course of action but it’s defendable. No crystal ball for the next and crushing HR. That said, it didn’t sink the season. There’s a whole long list of poor execution and no production and maybe a couple bad decisions to follow. Alcala pitched poorly again in some subsequent outings (not all) and he was eventually sent down. Again, he didn’t throw the offense into a tail spin - the Team left Texas having won 3 of 4 against defending Series Champs - it was a short term gut punch - that’s it, IMO.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Along with 10 or so missed starts by Ryan & half a season from Paddack. Varland being 0-3 in his first starts of the year with an ERA toward infinity didn’t help much either. Three weeks in our 6th guy (SWR) became the 5th guy and eventually the 3rd guy in the rotation. Lee was hurt to start season - hurt again in middle of season. Farmer was apparently hurt until he got off IL around August 1. Larnach’s toe - Kepler’s knee - Julien/Wallner forgetting how to hit over big stretches. Many of the infield injuries pulled Castro out of the OF and pushed Margot on the diamond about twice as often as he should have been. An awful lot of circumstances beyond “the bumbling Manager” that many want to blame. We all realize a bunch of guys are going to miss time with injuries every year but dealing with this list, and being 17 games over .500 on August 16, was probably not sustainable for most clubs.
  19. JD-TWINS
    Exactly, nearly every young pitcher in baseball, if they had better command - went deeper in games - gave up less HR’s, could be a very effective rotation guy. I like Festa. His early starts, giving up 3-5 runs in an inning were all part of the uncomfortable learning process. He may have a few big innings in ‘25 as well (see Bailey Ober) but that’s OK. His demeanor seems level and he’s confident - those are tough traits to teach. His lack of a true “off speed” pitch is a little bit of a concern. His change-up is around 91Mph & Slider around 92Mph……..if he could throw a handful of some variation grip on his change-up or maybe a curveball…….just occasionally, it could help him with setting his other pitches for more deception.
  20. JD-TWINS
    I do not think Vazquez salary can be moved. PEN potential: Varland - Alcala - Paddack - Sands - Jax - Duran Topa - Stewart……health? Blewett - rostered? - Henriquez Funderburk - Headrick - Moran - Winder Raya in September? To me, Paddack can’t throw high innings and stay healthy nor effective. Moving someone to free $$ & then pay a different reliever something approaching Paddack’s salary isn’t worthwhile, to me, since Paddack is a known quantity within the organization.
  21. JD-TWINS
    I get liking Vazquez over Jeffers behind the plate! Jeffers is such a head case at the plate that having some strong attachment to him because of his offensive upside is difficult…….he essentially had a poor 3.5 months at the plate in ‘24…..,this doesn’t excite me in any way and I understand why floating him to help improve elsewhere may make some sense. Camargo as an option seems unrealistic. It’s unfortunate, but he’s no better defender than Jeffers, with less experience handling a staff AND he’s not as good a hitter as Vazquez. Not really a good choice for ‘25 & maybe never a good choice. I do not think though, that another strong defensive catcher helps the staff much at all - calling a good game and throwing guys out or blocking balls in the dirt don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Jeffers getting it together (consistency) by maybe choking up all the time v. just with 2 strikes or some other detail with mental approach from new coaching voice/point of view would be nice. His defense getting better needs to come through effort! (practice smarter) I don’t see any change in the catching duo in ‘24. Radical thought, maybe impossible for both sides, how about extending Vazquez a year for a combined $14.5M? Get him to take $8M in ‘25 & $6.5M in ‘26? Completely crazy with his age - his bat? Is it worth the reduction of $2M in ‘25?
  22. JD-TWINS
    I don’t understand the overwhelming blame on coaching for the player’s inability to do what’s right at the plate. ……if a guy misses free throws in a basketball game it’s not “coaching” ……. if a QB throws the ball into the ground on an easy swing pass into the flat it’s not “coaching”. Baseball players are grown men, not high school kids or younger that need to be educated daily on how to advance a runner nor how to steal a base nor where to throw the ball from the outfield nor how to protect the plate with 2 strikes. There is NO coaching philosophy from any individual coach nor staff that’s promoting HR cuts with 2 strikes - just not real! Players have the mental ability to approach the game & play the game right, or they don’t. Coaching reminders, helping with physical keys, and certainly mental massaging from coaches is key & valuable but the players play, ultimately. The players had a terrible combined performance over the last 6 weeks of the season due to a bunch of circumstances, some we are aware of and some we probably don’t about……don’t think it’s because the coaches lost the Team or forgot/lost the ability to coach. Popkins got scooped up by Toronto - obviously, his reputation isn’t torched in the League………..If the Twins roster & everyday line-up were so poor or without promise, why would Borgschulte leave Baltimore to get on a sinking ship? TWINS really need a bat to help replace & add a bit to the numbers Santana had in ‘24. The other 12 spots will be filled with guys currently on the 40 man. Am hopeful that the new guy can get them & keep them focused with all the advantages of today’s technology and some subtle skills of his own. Fingers crossed!
  23. JD-TWINS
    Carew moved to 1B principally to make sure his knees held up not because he was poor defensively at 2B. Bottom line is Julien’s BA dropped 64 points and his OBP dropped 90 points from ‘23 to ‘24 & he had a pretty good April in ‘24, so after that he was just terrible! He needs help but even with that, not sure he can be counted on for any real contribution in ‘25. A developing depth piece but on the edge of the 40 man roster.
  24. JD-TWINS
    Combination of LF - 1B - DH works for me with Lewis……
  25. JD-TWINS
    I’ve been touting a sports psychologist for Julien since last June. He’s looked anxious, facially, since he first came up in ‘23……..a mix between anxious and arrogant. Odd for sure. Anyway, I don’t know how one goes from where he was over first 4 weeks of ‘24 to where he languished the next 5 months? Gotta be 95% between his ears. Hopefully, he can get help!! ………to me, any pressure on him above any MLB player is self imposed.
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