JD-TWINS

Assume he’s talking about Sands - Ober - Jax - Ryan.

IMO, can’t do it. He’s always wanted to start - doubt until one has a few years of success, that a pitcher wants to be in the Pen. They were all starters once……he wants to maximize his ability to make $$ - can’t blame him. His stuff plays up so well in 12-20 pitch outings. Have said it here a few times, Jax has wiffleball stuff. His tailing change-up with the sweeper and 97 MPH on a string at the letters or knees is just too good to fool with. His ability to get 18 outs regularly would be a lot different than getting 2-4 outs at a time. Can’t go max effort for 85-100 pitches and his stuff plays up to another level when he goes max effort. Not the same guys, but look at Varland & Paddack going for 10-22 pitches at a time v. being starters. Last, Lewis - Morris - Matthews - Raya will all be in AAA with starter stuff and mindset just in case they are needed (when they are) due to one of top 5 guys scuffling. PEN could be like Cleveland’s with JAX - DURAN - SANDS - VARLAND - PADDACK - TOPA - STEWART - ALCALA ……Henriquez - Funderburk - Blewett - Moran - Winder. 8 guys with really good bullpen stuff and some depth pieces to fill in as needed. Players available OPTIONS obviously come into play but for the most part this could be the Team’s strength, IMO.

Not sure there’s any other kind of owner group ……. it’s not the same as 15-30 years ago…….Billionaire’s now buying a toy for attention! Gotta spend or you get negative attention. If guys running the organization, under ownership, are solid then they should be competitive regularly! Better ways to make money in the near term, if one can raise $1.8 Billion, than operational profits on a Sports Franchise………..I think it’s 90% chance of good things to come and just 10% or so this could be a negative going forward.

Agreed on the Alcantara ranking - as we all know, it’s just a forecasted value on a player’s 5 tools though………..how high was Brooks Lee ranked across baseball (I don’t know) but his first foray wasn’t something that instilled an extremely high level future at the plate. He may improve and Alcantara may pan out - at any rate, I’d hang on to both Jax & Vazquez for a push in ‘25!

Packers have been very fortunate with Favre trade, Rodgers draft, & what appears to be a very solid Love via draft! Credit to them. New GM’s, granted, but same “ownership group” trade for John Hadl in a blockbuster at one point.

The former Red Wing Training School (right on Hwy. 61) Bobby Zimmerman?? Can’t be. Maybe somebody’s been sending Joe Pohlad the lyric from Positively 4th Street and saying he was Dylan? That could have taken the family over the edge! 😉

While I agree with essentially everyone here that this will be a positive move ……… difficult to imagine anyone or any group spending north of $1.5 billion and not be pressed from within to spend to win at some higher level than the Pohlad’s……..the “careful what you wish for……” thought popped into my head immediately & may be real. There are many of us that remember the Griffith Family ownership & they were “baseball people”………..tight as one could imagine!!! Hope this goes the right way - pretty confident it will. STILL need sound organizational people and some players to succeed. Here’s to the new buyer!

Is it realistic to have a local channel as well? Am curious. The local channel wouldn’t have to pay much w/o any market protection & I assume MLB wants $$ from streaming platforms? I like the flexibility this other alternative would bring but having a competitive broadcast doesn’t seem to be able to be pulled off - to me. Hope so!

I agree - don’t see Falvey making any changes at Catcher due to Vazquez restrictive $$ cost and Jeffers completely unimpressive defense AND his 3.5 months of really poor offensive production to finish the season. Can’t imagine who wants this with any sort of return. No real replacement available in the system that is clear cut right now. Garver though, not the answer at Catcher …… no issue with trading him. He’s played 54 - 87 - 114 games over the past 3 years. I don’t think he’s caught more than 40 games in those 3 years combined. He’s hit .207 - .270 - .172 in his last 3 seasons. He has a nice ‘23 but again he played 87 games at nearly all being the DH. His “availability” over his career has been terrible, even when used as a DH. This past season is his total game played high at 114.

Detroit’s playoff roster salary total is around $19M. Baez - Maeda - ……Skubal …..along with a couple other arbitration guys will take the ‘25 payroll (as it currently stands) to around $80M……….ownership in Detroit isn’t going to add $80-$100M/yr spending. Doesn’t mean they won’t be pretty good. KC spending more is likely based on their success. They have better core talent than Detroit. Cleveland maintain’s their competitiveness year to year. They’ll be good again. To me, this should be a great impetus for the Pohlad’s to become more aggressive in a very good Division. They don’t want to go backward. I don’t believe they don’t care …. wealthy people are prideful and may not wish to choose to lose money in an operation but I don’t think for a second that the negative press doesn’t wear on the Family. Getting back closer to 2023 payroll is probable, particularly since Lopez & Correa have been under contract for 2 years and the 2025 raises have been a known issue for some time. Moran - Haedrick - Funderburk …….Blewett - Henriquez - Stewart - Winder (7 guys) are all potential periphery guys for the Pen. Duran - Jax - Varland - Paddack - Topa - Sands are all core guys for 2025 Pen (6 guys). Could be a strength! 9 guys between Ryan - Ober - Lopez - SWR - Festa ………Morris - Matthews - Lewis - Raya. A stable base to work from and complete enough to free up Paddack & Varland. Efforts need to be put into lifting the offense!! Buxton - Correa - Larnach - Wallner are the only 4 guys I have confidence in going forward and at least 3 of those 4 are potentially prone to prolonged droughts……….Lewis - Miranda - Jeffers - Vazquez - Castro are others that one would assume are on the Opening Day roster. That’s 4 open spots based on who may be acquired and who looks good in the Spring. Martin/Kiersey ……..Keaschall/Lee are guys one would look at as internal options. Julien needs tonight up AAA for a bit to get any serious consideration. To me, one FA bat or trade partner bat needs to be brought in to supplement these known options.

2024 POLANCO talk is deluded……he hit .213 - his OPS was .651 - he played in 118 games, shockingly, due to injuries……struck out over 30% of his AB’s……93 OPS+……..pretty sure the Mariners aren’t rushing to the bargaining table to resign Jorge. Kyle Farmer hit .214 with a .642 OPS as a contrast.

I pretty much agree…….as we all know a lefty would be handy but an effective righty is better than a trophy lefty. Henriquez has 4 pitches - longer guy potential. Really though, if all 8 guys can pitch, a long guy isn’t really necessary. Canterino is probably #20 on Pen depth but with health, he could help. Obviously, Stewart - Headrick - healthy Moran are all depth options…….. a sharp Funderburk is a maybe. I saw a handful of times and heard Morneau comment that “Blewett can pitch” and how did he become a hidden September call-up? Bottom line is including Paddack in Pen offsets the need to go find an “experienced reliever” in free agency (& spend most of $7.5M on a ?? arm) Pen could be a real strength with the additions of Varland - Topa - Stewart - Paddack from the jump in April. Tempting to ease Stewart back in June maybe to keep innings down?

The “hierarchy of failure” is a concept I like because the level of responsibility doesn’t get lost in some narrative. 1) PLAYERS ……in mid-August they were 17 games over .500 with the roster the FO put together and the Manager/Coaches they had for 4.5 months and the level of spending Ownership signed off on through February. Correa had been out for a month already. 2) OWNERSHIP ……..when Ryan went down, after Paddack had gone down, there should have been a real starter option OR a recently acquired reliever to help shut things down when in a position to win. This needed to be anticipated and handled at the break ……,implementing/reverting to 2021 payroll in 2024 was a problem. 3) FO …….I spent a good chunk of the season sticking up for Margot and Santana and Farmer ……….Santana was a Good Acquisition as he POSTED daily & lead the Team in HR & RBI while playing fantastic defense. Vazquez played good defense and ended up tolerable at the plate after mid-June. Margot was OK or better v. LH pitching but his defense was sub-par ………due to all kinds of injuries…… even infield injuries that pulled Castro from OF availability……… also, ineffectiveness of Wallner & Julien ……..Margot was forced into action way TOO OFTEN v. RH pitching. He was not multi dimensional enough with the bat. Farmer was just rough (due mostly to shoulder issue) for 16-18 weeks and that turned out to be an unfortunate mistake signing. His bench presence and attitude couldn’t outweigh his lack of offensive performance. 4) MANAGER/COACHES …… too many details to cover here …….streakiness of success and complete malaise the group fell into late has to be combatted somehow. See #1 though for failure responsibility……, however, Tommy Watkins at 3B butchered up his job 4-6 times over a short 3 week period …..big problem! Batting coaches have been fired….. so there’s that ……. My slant …..maybe not popular but players hit, pitch, catch, etc. ………they are adults that have played the game from age 8 to 24 at a minimum (take responsibility for performance) ………….if the Players that make up the roster and the coaches that were in place through 4.5 months look GOLDEN (17 games over .500) to that point, how did what FO & coaches did over last 6 weeks screw up the Team so much that they couldn’t play level .500 ball?

Festa is more ready - Matthews throws strikes at a high rate ….. that did diminish somewhat at MLB level…… he doesn’t have enough command within the zone though! I agree, SWR is ahead of Matthews at this point and the rotation you show should work! Matthews - Lewis - Morris - Raya as AAA depth. Blewett - Headrick - Funderburk - Lefty acquisition or Moran?…………..Henriquez - Alcala - Stewart - Varland - Sands - Topa - Paddack - Jax - Duran ……,our Bullpen could be a real weapon!

I just can’t get behind Julien as the #1 option at 2B ……..he seems to have high potential for a “change of scenery” trade piece. His defense is marginal but his offense is below standards the Twins need to set for the Club, IMO. ……..I’m really not a Brooks Lee fan after what I saw at MLB level either. His defense works at 2B ……. I think he provides value at 3B defensively. His bat though, really looks impotent. Routinely, he rolled balls to 2B from the left side and his plate discipline is not very good. As you say, maybe needs 6-10 weeks in St. Paul to get him right and get him hungry to prove himself. I guess they both come to spring Training to compete and Castro is a fallback as needed. Will be interesting to see if Keaschall will be ready to throw in Spring Training - assuming he won’t be a consideration until at least June? Kirilloff comes to Spring Training to have an opportunity but he may be an affordable trade piece later in the season if he’s not in the regular playing time mix. I think they need to focus on adding a BAT! A proven, capable guy to DH or play OF or 2B. Pitching seems stable to me: Blewett - Funderburk - Headrick - Henriquez - Alcala - Varland - Sands - Topa - Paddack - Jax - Duran……….11 capable bodies in the Pen to start. Lefty with experience is only potential need….,,,a guy to spend on or trade for if possible. Canterino healthy enough to help in Pen??? Ryan - Ober - Festa - SWR - Lopez Matthews - Lewis - Morris (Raya for Pen depth after June) If this group of pitchers are expected to be healthy……..I think they have enough for ‘25.

2024 was a debacle - lots of blame to be spread around - lots of point of views. 2022…….can’t expect to win games with Nick Gordon being a Top performer in the line-up down the stretch. Jake Cave - Celestino in the OF every day……..he’s not David Copperfield. Sandy Leon catching……..Buxton out 8/23 for balance of season……..Kyle Garlick & Billy Hamilton on roster for OF August/September. Jorge Lopez on the mound with a big grin while he’s getting lit up (nuts) …….Joe Smith. Can’t win with no players…….i.e. Casey Stengel w/Mets.

He gets “too aggressive” on high fastballs and then can’t hit sliders as eye level is out of whack ……he seems to fluctuate a bunch with his plate discipline……my biggest concern is his health! Gotta be able to play more than a sixty games stretch at MLB level………Tough to make a living getting on top of high fastballs. ‘23 Kirilloff OPS+ 116 ‘23 Juilen OPS+ 130 Things change, sometimes good and sometimes not. LEVINE is gone as of this a.m., so maybe the talent level needle moves upward?

Didn’t watch video - Duran dipped from 103.8 max at times in ‘23 to 103 max in ‘24. He was being scrutinized for “only throwing” 99-100Mph “…..lost his velocity….” I saw him throw 20 times minimum and his curve was still around 87Mph …… Splinker 96-97 Mph …..Fastball 99-101Mph. So he’s not at his career peak……do these numbers show a guy that’s losing it in a dramatic fashion? Clase throws 100 to 101 maximum. Jax has “electric stuff” and his fastball is 97Mph. Pitch sequence and execution are the only thing Duran has to worry about/fix. Stay healthy!!

Surprise…….watching MLB Central this a.m. & “Thad Levine has left the Twins to pursue other opportunities inside and outside of Baseball……” That should make some people here smile!!

The other Teams use a different ball in 2019? Wallner was sent down after a glowing ‘23 stint - he fixed himself in St Paul with a bit of coaching in ‘24 and seems OK. Julien, not so good. Lee can’t hit at proper level, he needs more time in St Paul OR he was a poor draft pick? Lewis seemed to transition just fine, until he had to play regularly and pitchers made some adjustments to combat his aggressiveness……..players come and go at the AAA/MLB levels in every organization in the game initially. Then they either sink or swim with that organization or they pursue opportunities elsewhere…….very common! A Manager that can coach and understand a tight budget situation seems to be in Baldelli’s wheelhouse per his numerous seasons in the Ray’s organization - right? Maybe he doesn’t embrace the approach but he surely understands the nuances.

Add 2019, also under Baldelli as Manager of the Year, they are 421 - 389. Facts in the big picture w/Baldelli. ……..I don’t love the guy but nobody gets on Rob Thompson when Phillies go in the tank for 6 weeks - hitting coach isn’t blamed when Castellanos goes Ofer a series, in 3 of 4 series, because HE’S expected to come out of it on his own and does. Players play, and Managers give guys an opportunity to succeed in differing situations. Lewis has to get HIS act together, for example. My assumption, other than not having a better idea, is that Management kept Rocco to send a message to the players in the entire organization that they won’t be bailed out by placing blame elsewhere……it’s up to them.

The assumption is the Manager should get the Team into the playoffs every year he manages regardless of player performance?

‘22? AAA club for last 60-75 days due to injuries ……..anyone could have managed that group because where Jake Cave & Celestino & Contreras hit in the line-up didn’t matter. They tried out Billy Hamilton. Nick Gordon was a star on that club.

He played for them for multiple years after this incident - right? I don’t think anybody (small%) even thinks about that issue with him. Would the Twins or any organization not hire Barry Bonds if he wanted to be a hitting coach? I’m old school but this seems to be a non-issue to me. I do like, as suggested, Cruz as the assistant. Maybe Joey Votto is bored playing chess in Toronto?………great contact hitter…..,,,high OBP guy with 350+ HR’s. Don’t know if he can teach or would want to try?

Camargo is not the answer unless absolutely unavoidable! Helman is not going to make it past St. Paul without serious rash of injuries above him. I think I would protect Kiersey as at least defensive insurance in CF. I could see him starting 30 games or more in ‘25 for the Big Club. Lee - to me - major disappointment. He grounded out weakly to 2B more than Jeffers popped out & that’s hard to do in only 40 something games!! 3 HR is not an issue - hardly any well struck line drives is very worrisome! Martin will be taking Margot’s spot as the RH bat as a platoon. He’s gotta WORK on stealing bases to bring value & help offset his mediocre defense.