Bodie

Even a decade ago he was carrying a lot of "baby fat". Unfortunately, after a decade that has to be just called fat.

Sorry to but in others' debate, but you are correct. As the old adage goes: there are lies, damnable lies and then statistics. Any statistic that says that Pagan and Duran are even close to equal pitchers this past season can be put in the same circular file as OPS+ (which says that '23 Gallo was above average!).

No, he wasn't. He was not even close. Elite doesn't mean good. Or even great. The elite are by definition the best of the best.

Joe Nathan. He was elite. Until he wasn't, and then he was not even close. All you need to get a shadow of a doubt about Duran being "elite" are his results over the last 6-8 weeks of this season. Walks went up, everyone seemed to get more confident facing him and the hits and runs piled up. He had a stretch where I had less confidence seeing him making an appearance than most of the bullpen. Being a Twins fan, I assumed the worst (something requiring TJ surgery, and as he is a Twin not named Maeda a double length recovery!) and prayed for the best ("dead arm" or something similar that a long week of week of DL time hoisting longnecks would take care of). That said, he has (seemingly anyway) both the physical and mental makeup to take that next step to "elite". Unfortunately for the Twins, he has that star quality to makes him a national star. As long as he is regularly hitting 103mph (!!!) the Twins will always be bidding against several teams that will overpay just for the WOW factor that he will likely have for many years to come. I realize the Twins have the arbitration years where they won't be in direct competition for the next year's service, but even the most grounded and down-to-earth players have an agent (who gets a % off the top), and Duran's will be whispering sweet nothings in his ear about a 9 digit contract! With all that said, if Duran would sign the hypothetical contract mentioned in the article, you do it every day of the week. And twice on Sunday!!!

C Mauer 1B Harmon Killabrew 2B Carew SS Versalles (a sop to my late mother, she knew Twins baseball - actually before my time. I'd take my childhood favorite Roy (magnificent haircut) Smalley) 3B Koskie LF Bob Allison (again for ma...) CF Kirby RF Oliva (mom did have some sense about what she beat into me!) SP Kaat was simply too good for too long... DH Morneau? Wasn't a dh regularly, but for a few seasons he put together several of the best hitting seasons in franchise history. If being a regular dh is necessary for this "position", I pick the local hero Hall of Famer - Paul Molitor. Closer? If one is actually needed... Joe Nathan. Pretty much the easiest pick. THE premier closer of his time. Utility ??? Why anyone would even think about replacing any one of my picks before the 14th inning, I just don't know... (Mauer can relieve Kaat for the 15th) But, the correct answer is Micheal Cuddyer. Originally a SS, moved to RF where he blossomed into a star. And seemingly ended each season playing (as a stopgap emergency...) every day in the IF.

ANY stat showing Joey Gallo to be above average (i.e. better than the average, I don't need confirmation that he is a world-class hacker...) is instantly worthless in evaluation...

CAREFULLY check the local sandboxes. Often found bear leavings there when living in Montana.

I'll never respect Rocco as he is either a) utterly ignorant, or b) a flat-out liar. EVERY time a player leaves a game, the post-game press conference includes a "not as bad as it looks", or a "probably a day-to-day thing" report on the injured player before the next day's "official" report of said player needing major surgery and a 60 day DL stint. I realize he isn't a doctor or even a trainer, but adding this to his history of baffling moves (esp. pitching, and weekly days off for position players beyond travel days) and strict analytical adherence, I see nothing to recommend him at all as a manager. He'd likely make a good babysitter. Assuming your child is bulletproof...

No, but he IS the only "very good, smart SS" on the Twins roster. And the fact that he doesn't have a Kingman-esque approach to hitting (unlike 90%+ of Twins developed hitters) and he is worth his contract just for providing an alternative to the all-or-nothin approach that is so prevalent in baseball today. LET HIM LEAD!!!

Not all of your roster needs to be all-stars, and Castro is a fine example. Somebody needs a day off? Plug Castro in anywhere on the field. Farmer fits that mold also. Either will almost assuredly give you solid defense, and with a spot of luck each can be your star of the day! Are either the sort you build your roster around? No. Are either an integral part of a quality roster? Undoubtedly. Randy Bush, innumerable "piranhas" and now Castro and Farmer are probably in the 20-24th range on the roster, but proved themselves invaluable by filling the (reduced) roles given to them on winning teams. Just ask a Tigers fan if they'd like Castro back for next season. Then ask a Twins fan the same question. Simple (!) as finding the right role for your players...

I will gently remind you of the then-unhittable Jacob deGrom a few years back when he was a Met. 10 wins versus 9 losses, with a 1.75 ERA. The Mets were so bad that 2 consecutive starts (both CG shutouts - if I remember correctly) were won by deGrom at bat as he drove in all the runs scored in those two games! At the season's end, people said he wasn't Cy Young material because he only had ten wins/wasn't much more than a .500 pitcher!

Hear, hear! (or here, here - never can remember) Suck the Fox!

Over reliance on analytics has hurt the Twins (and all of baseball)! fixed that for you 😉

We can dream...

The pitching staff - at least the starters - indeed might be built for an October run. Unfortunately, the lineup is performing in a manner that will lead to a very disappointing September. (not to mention August, July, June...)

You're talking about the same people/person who thinks it is a "good idea" to run Joey Gallo out almost every day...

Hopefully done by a new front office.

Funny thing... the same people who believe that "swing and miss" pitchers are an absolute necessity for a quality staff don't seem to think that an offense that does little but swing and miss is an acceptable part of a quality team! We have a staff that will assuredly break (more likely shatter) any and all Twins strikeout records. And an offense that will have even more Ks (and shatter MLB strikeout records). And a front office that thinks that what last year's strikeout plagued team needed was Joey freaKing Gallo! Fire Falvey and Baldelli now. Not at the end of another hugely disappointing season, but now. No heart, and no willingness to adjust are now the hallmarks of the Twins, and this starts with the decision makers both on (Baldelli) and off the field (Falvey). Bring in fresh eyes to see what is salvageable, what HAS to go via trade, and what just has to go into the old circular file cabinet.

5 hits and 9 strikeouts (against some pretty average- at best - pitching). Either a) the "promise" is worthless, or b) the offense in that hog-confinement pit wasn't even close to floating! Pretty sure the actual answer is "c)", all of the above. Truly sad to see. Almost as sad as it is painful to watch... Been a Twins fan long enough to remember rooting for Roy Smalley in his prime. Long enough to actually be able to compare the Buteras. Long enough to have seen Killabrew at the old Met. This year's team is simply the most unwatchable team I can remember. Not the worst team, just the worst to watch. The worst part? No one seems to care enough to try to improve their performance. Case in point, an unnamed 9th year vet, career sub .200 hitter, doing NOTHING to cut down on his universally acknowledged mega-weakness. And if he has done something, it has been nothing positive as he is hitting worse than his career average AND now striking out over 40% of the time for this season. (and approaching 50% over the last two months!) And he is about as close to being an everyday player that we have, judging by the lineup cards being turned in every day by Mr. Roboto... Can't even imagine how bad this would be if they had an average Twins pitching staff.... but it'd likely provide solace to this year's Royals fans. The old adage is that a fish rots from the head. Unfortunately, that rotting head has spread throughout the entire fish since about 2016. November of 2016 to be more precise...

You may be correct. Except for one small point: he really doesn't get enough outs any more! He isn't on the 40 man roster, isn't really much of a threat to anyone on it, and might be a good example to the Saints' youngsters. Not a bad "reach/reclamation project" signing. If he shows signs of life, great! If not, you can just sign next year's former star and try again. It is not like signing some overhyped, one-dimensional "player" and handing him a roster spot for one productive at bat a week like, ... not to say Joey Gallo, but... Joey Gallo!

I can't think of a WORSE signing by the Twins in many years. Anyone who shows even an occasional pulse with the Yankees is touted as an all-star (at worst). Don't pull a Canseco in the field, and you are a gold glover! Just show potential with one tool and you'll be a prospect into your early 30s. He is very expensive Kingman or Adam Dunn. A black hole anywhere in the lineup, utterly overrated on defense, and worst of all the exact opposite of what you want as a veteran leader (the lesson he shows is that you'll earn the yearly salary of a small town while producing next to nothing while doing NOTHING to adapt your game to improve yourself). I thought coming into the season that he was about as bad of a FA signing as the Twins could have made last off-season. Now, halfway through the season, he has been even worse than I feared. If the front office is serious about being a contender this year, there is simply ONE option: eat half the contract and DFA him immediately. Basically anyone can replace him as an overall player. Leave it to the Twins to find a way to somehow get rid of a lineup albatross (Sano) and replace him with the Bizarro World version of said albatross...

Learn to play defensively at any position...

Thanks! I didn't realize that I needed a laugh until I utterly lost it reading that any position player from the Twins was a possible all-star.. When you put out 7-8 Dave Kingmans out there every night, worrying about who is an all-star is pretty low on the list of things you want to worry about!

Even mentioning Gallo as a possible leadoff hitter is a sacrilege! Actually doing so should be grounds for firing. From a cannon, al a the First False Dimitry! True, the Twins lack anything approaching a leadoff hitter (Buxton is probably closest- he of the career .245 batting average- based of his skill set - but having multiple bad choices doesn't mean you need to make the dumbest f####### choice available!