Hawkeye Bean Counter

Most of Steers WAR came in the first 2 months, with an OPS over .900. Since then ok. CES has been playing at a 0.1 WAR. Effectively replacement level. MLB pitchers are more effective at striking him out and limiting HR. I expect that to change next year. Of the two bats, he has a better one in my opinion, just such a large jump this year. Impressive what he did, but they fed him to the wolves trying to stay competitive.

They have actually been playing pretty good ball the last 6 weeks or so since Buxton and Gallo were injured or playing less. Better bats up and down the lineup.

2022 class appears to be very good. Getting Lee was a gift. If I were to stack these drafts on how I expect them to turn out I would currently have ranked 2023, 2019, 2022, 2021. Yes we traded away 2021 but I am ok with that. 2022 with Lee immediately jumps that draft class up. The number of hits in 2019 with still missing on Cavaco and Canterino so far is just crazy. 2022 can pass that 2019 class but you need close to all star numbers from Lee or some more players coming up to join him. Doc you have kept tabs on the minors for several years. Do you have confidence that the A and A+ coaching staff can develop the current draft class. You have to admit their talent and coming from higher level programs is much better than previous years. Yes its still inconclusive, but unless something falls apart I don't see how at least 2-3 don't develop to be top 20 prospects.

Alright lets get this topic back on track. The 2023 Twins draft. I have said this draft has the potential to be a franchise altering draft. Slightly hyperbole maybe, but it had the the talent to achieve that. They drafted and signed 4 bats. There is still a possibility they sign Parker this spring. I would say that is a 50/50 possibility, however all 4 bats are playing at a high level. Jenkins looks the part of what many said was a #1 draft pick. As of now, nothing has popped up regarding his hips (good sign). His power numbers will increase and as he continues to develop more muscle mass. If his contact rates and eye discipline continue to be good you have an elite player on your hands. Winokur in the third was a massive swing (high bonus as well). As of now it has paid off. Had Jenkins had his numbers people in Twinkies land would have been pretty happy. I really wanted him to move up with Jenkins but acknowledge you ended the season with a good note and continue to develop his skills. You have the ability at another high end talent. Keaschall and Harry are both contacts hitters that looked destined to make it AAA and will then see if they can make it to the big leagues. Harry is all effort and probably doesn't have quite the raw skills Keaschall does. The Twins definitely seemed to have a more balanced approach of finding more contact hitters through out the drafts. As to the pitchers we haven't seen much. So is this article early. A tad, but honestly I don't even need to see them to know we are going to hit on several. Currently the A and A+ ball coaches have been off the charts. I would really like to see some articles on these guys, because what they are doing with pitchers is amazing. Increasing velocity, redefining pitches, developing command. The talent coming in this year is basically double of what we have had in previous drafts. Soto has the ability to be a high end pitcher. He has a slightly better build but seems very similar to Chase Petty. You also added another high school pitcher in Questad. I know very little on Quested. Seems to be a lottery pick to me, high ceiling low floor in the 5th round. The college pitchers is where they will make their bread and butter. Hall is an elite pitcher already. I assume the Twins will add velocity and unless he has injury I have very little doubt he will have lots of success. Santos was a signing bonus savings so not going to discuss much. Stoffal Dougherty Dunn Langenberg, Pasqualotto and Lee are all pitchers that have more talent and ability than what we usually get in rounds 8-13. Some are flame throwers, some were #1 pitchers in their system that struggle slightly last year, and some had injuries. I could hope all succeed but we know that isn't likely. If 2 of these develop its a great draft, if more than 2 develop we are back into my historic draft possibilities. That is ignoring the rest of the small school pitchers that we have had success in the past of developing. Santos, Bengard, Silvas, Bragg, and Garcia. This was a pitching heavy draft with some big swings on hitter early. If the hitters pan out, which this article is stating we are well on our way to eclipsing the 2019 draft and in the realm of best drafts ever. Yes it is early and we have seen prospects fizzle out. As long as Jenkins performs we will be happy with this draft, but I will be keeping a keen eye on those pitchers next year, and expect to be very happy with what I see.

I would argue Ozuna or the outfield spots, could possible take over Keplers.

No Lewis or Julien anywhere????

Alex this has been my point all along. What the front office and Baldelli has done is performed their jobs. In most years in the past most would have been pleased with the outcome. Yes there would still have been nitpicking. However, lately there has been a group of individuals that continue with the phrase - they are done with the Twins or baseball. I tried to make a joke of it the other day, because they will be right back here the next day. When those individuals are truly done and stop watching is when ownership will make a change. Ownership is dictating some of the moves by their recommendations on salary, so we do also have to take that into account. I look forward to the rest of the season and post season and hope they have a good run.

Eh you just seem to be someone who wants to argue. I said they were buyers and sellers- its obvious they sold but they didn't tank. It appears they thought they could get something out of Thor. Yes the waiver claims fell in their laps, but that means 16 other teams refused to pick them up . . . why? Because the Guardians continued to want to add players and to their roster while the others wanted to tank. (the definition of being a buyer - even if it didn't cost them anything but money on the waiver wire). By adding the players they are showing they were not ceding the division to the Twins. It didn't work out, just like the Twins trades last year didn't work out and their performance plummeted. So are you saying even a team that may add players - it may not improve their performance . . . really 😄. Kinda like the Twins are proving the front offices position to stand pat. LOL. I am done discussing this with you. We will never see eye to eye.

1. They picked up players at the deadline (Thor) 2. They picked up players on the waiver wire (lopez, Giolito, and Moore) At no point have they waived the white flag and tanked the remainder of the season . They tried to sell and re fill those holes. I might not agree with the strategy

He is signed through 2025 correct?

So does that mean you stop watching, following the Twins, and posting until a change is made 😄

I could easily say, why did we put Donnie Barrels in instead of Kiriloff, why did Julien not swing and cause there to be 2 outs, why did Kuechel give up 4 runs in 4 innings. There is always a ton of woulda shoulda coulda and arm chair quarterbacks. 5 innings of 1 run ball from the RP wasn't the primary issue today.

Don't think anyone has talked about it in 4hours LOL

In my opinion the Twins should have sold last year rather than bought, or do a buy and sell strategy similar to what Guardians did this year. How exactly is the bullpen spiraling. The bullpen has 2-3 blowups in the 2nd half that has bloated their ERA. Today 5 innings 1 run. They did their job, just not in crunch time.

yep and how many bullpen arms would you need to remove them all? Plus you did 5 innings of 1 run ball. Actually pretty good. The problem is you couldn't afford that 1 run.

Robertson control is off in the 2nd half. Up to 4.8 BB/9. You can't translate fully from team to team. but a pitcher regularly throwing balls, it is more on the pitcher and would occur likely where ever he goes even in a SSS situation. You have to be able to make pitches.

At least we can have some humor 😄

Yep we should have traded for David Robertson.

Nope, even though Pagan may get out of this inning, Pagan either has his stuff or not, and generally the effectivenes goes down the more pitches he throws. So he should only be used in 1 inning situations. We have other reliever for this part of the game.

Is the ESPN strike zone way off or was that 2nd pitch a strike right down the middle called a ball?

why the hell do you put Pagan out for a second inning. He got lucky in his first inning.

At this point you would think Kepler comes back, what about Polanco?

2 clean innings from Floro and Pagan - 1 they have now been used, and avoided any blow ups. 3 more innings to go unless extras.

Nicely done Max!

Its all hypothetical, you are under the impression you will find someone that will be better than Floro, and will stay healthy. I am of the opinion we will have internal options that will allow us to drop Floro by the end of the season. Look at the Jets with Rodgers, even the best laid plans can go awry in a hurry. My stance is no one we could have legitimately picked up makes us a WS contender. Unless you can prove otherwise that is my stance. Using prospect capital for what was likely overinflated prospects, judging by other teams inaction as well (Yankees) shows it was most likely in the Twins best interest to stand pat, and the team has rewarded the front office by winning the division most likely. I like this version of the team and the one that will likely be out there in the postseason.