Hawkeye Bean Counter

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.

Paddack and Stewart. I think you can work Paddack in for a couple more weeks. His stuff actually looks pretty decent this early into it. Stewart, Paddack, and Maeda added to the Pen makes the depth of the bullpen much better. In terms of leverage Duran, Thielbar, Jax, Stewart, Varland, Pagan, Maeda, Winder, Paddack, Floro. Winder Paddack and Varland can give you multiple innings and help in extended inning situation. If they can't figure out Floro replace with someone else.

I gave you your 77-78 . . . so whats your stance now, I still haven't seen anything you want to support,

https://www.justbaseball.com/betting/2023-mlb-win-total-projections-early-over-under-picks/ 77.5

https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/mlb/minnesota-twins-preview-odds-win-total-predictions-bm15/#:~:text=The Twins' win total for the 2023 season is 82.5. How much more do you need Woof

I told you it was midseason . . . what are you doing? What about the betting odds, how do you get around that?

so you think Twins were expected to beat both Cleveland and White Sox, because I damn well know that was the projections by the media or others. So what hole am i digging?

Woof, the info is out there https://franchisesports.co.uk/preseason-world-series-odds-2023/ We were a longer shot on betting odds than both Cleveland and White Sox. Not by a huge amount, but its there. Show some countering data if you disagree.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2023-mlb-predictions/ mid season 83 wins

They didn't but based on their responses and also what they were saying before the season they most certainly had us below .500. Yes I am giving what support I can find, but a little harder now. Even still where is that much different than my claim of 82? Didn't I provide you with enough evidence . . . sheesh high hurdle to climb.

My stance was also to show the absurdity of the over reaction at trade deadline. There were several saying they were done with this org and we were not going anywhere while also not realizing the cost of trying to make a move and what the expected value of that trade is. The bullpen will be quite a bit different than it is today, and I can guarantee Headrick won't be on it and wouldn't be surprised if Floro isn't either. I also think the Twins are playing a longer game, and neither this year or last year, did we have a good enough roster to spend the extra money (that they likely didn't have) on another reliever. Gallo withstanding. Yes I have broad shoulders and willing to take some constructive criticisms. Within 2 weeks the bullpen will not be considered shallow, maybe weak on the top end. Varland 2.1 innings of relief yesterday against Tampa, Duran, Thielbar, Jax and possibly Funderburk is an ok to above average bullpen.

ESPN had us as a below .500 club firing Rocco missing playoffs and levine and falvine on chopping block https://puckettspond.com/posts/minnesota-twins-season-prediction-espn-playoffs Bleacher report 83 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10079068-reevaluating-all-30-mlb-teams-based-on-2023-preseason-projections Twinsdaily - 87

Doc, I can agree I would have liked to seen any small move at the beginning of the season or after. When we signed Gallo though there really wasn't a whole lot left if my memory serves. I think the board was looking at 1 possible decent option. I think the twins should have kept Coloumbe. And they could have picked up 1 other reliever. However most likely we wouldn't have called up Brock Stewart or Funderburk. If I have a concern with the organizations philosophy is they are very reluctant to give minor league relievers a shot in the big leagues it seems. I am not sure of that reasoning. I think a Funderburk and a Stewart, will give you about what a Coloumbe and another solid reliever would give you. I just think any of these moves are window dressing and don't significantly create the Twins into a contender. However, its a team that we have been able to cheer, bemoan, and gripe about all season long 😉, so in ownerships eyes, the front office did their job for this year.

What chips, who are your trading and why and who are you getting and what needle are you moving? Are you making any significant changes in the potential of the team winning a WS, the answer is no. So the question is why spend any chips?Now I do think they engaged and I think the prices were too high or the players taken off the market. As to the front office, I think they want to put a solid team out there every year and give themselves a shot. I think they have a much longer horizon than just this year on competitiveness. The other thing is last year we moved more chips in because we had more players at risk for the rule 5 draft. This year I don't see a massive crunch.

The average consensus of non Twins fans was this was a team that would finish 3rd in its division. The average consensus was 78-82. The average Twinsdaily projection was mid eighties. Kirby - the twins are only +4 within the division. So maybe they would be knocked down 1-2 to more wins if in another division. As of now they make the playoffs because they are in the Central. However it would not surprise me if they go on a bit of a run here. Your mid tier RP and RH bat would make a 1-2 at most 4 game difference. This teams is still not on par with a Braves, Texas, or Baltimore lineup. Now that doesn't mean they can't catch lightning in a bottle but the moves you are talking about are just window dressing. They do those moves, you lose this shiny object to be upset about but most likely you will find something else. In order to be on the level of a Baltimore Texas Atlanta you would have had to put a significant amount of chips in. So effectively you are happy with the team (maybe 1-2 games difference) with your suggestions, or you still think we are not a WS contender. Now just being in the playoffs gives you a chip and a chair, but I do think the Twins have enough pieces to create some magic this year. its not something I am counting on, but something I could see occurring.

I can't argue swapping a Gallo contract for a reliever, it would have been a better roster construction. At the same point the org was maxed out on salary after the Correa signing so I can understand not signing a reliever especially after signing Gallo. They still have a budget to follow from management whether we agree with it or not. Lets be clear though this team has outperformed all expectations to start the season. Anyone thinking this was the year to put all their chips in . . . well I guess that would be the true idiocy. I think the org when they feel they have a good shot will put their chips in, we just hope that it hits.

1 wouldn't have made a difference. I said in order to remake the bullpen into a strength of reliable relievers, it would have been costly. A single reliever would not have moved the needle and actually supports the Twins strategy of standing pat. None of the relievers you named look like a pitcher that could carry a team in the playoffs. Right now we have 1 in Duran, if we can avoid the soft contact hits and walks - he is affectively unbeatable. I don't have to admit to anything 😄. My stance was this was a good enough strategy to get to the playoffs and give you a chip and chair situation and allow the team to catch lightning in a bottle. Now if we tank the remainder of the season yes I will own up. That would be an epic collapse at this point. For me the long term prognosis of the Twins is more interesting than this team which is why i think trading prospects for a semi flawed team this year or last year were ill advised. I think we have a pretty big window opening here in the next year or two where the Twins could be a top tier organization. This would be elevated if Correa can regain his prior form. However with Lee, Lewis, Martin, Jenkins, and Julien you have the potential of a very strong core of batters with some contact and power. There are enough other depth batters in the organization to fill in with upside in Kiriloff, Wallner and Larnach and Miranda let alone all the over performers in AA and AAA. We also look like we will get an additional draft pick from Sonny Gray as well, making that trade very favorable for the Twins. Now we just need to continue to add to the pitching side, and I hope sooner or later they address the bullpen in the offseason.