ZachB

Very good points all around, I haven't even considered Bieber, but you're right, it does make a lot of sense for Polanco straight up. I do worry that his velocity struggles are more a byproduct of getting older, and thus permanent, rather than stemming from injury. I also saw MLB.network mentioning the Blue Jays as a great trade partner for the Twins yesterday. Although I think they were thinking about it solely form the Blue Jays side, as if the Twins are gonna trade Polanco and Kepler for prospects, I do think Kikcuhi would also be interesting along those lines of Polanco for a pitcher with one year remaining. Thanks for your comment, great insight!

I know everyone is starting to get a bit nervous, given the Twins' lack of activity this offseason. The season ended a month+ ago now, but I still feel it right to look over what I think the Twins should target this offseason. I'm gonna preface this by saying these are all ideas I think are realistic. I'm taking at face-value Falvey's comments on the TV-deal situation, and the idea that cutting costs is a goal (as much as us fans may disagree with it), thus most of these ideas are involve cheaper options or cutting money to spend it elsewhere. 1. Starting pitching help This has to be the top priority of the FO going into the season. I agree with not resigning Gray and Maeda at the costs they went for, but it opens up holes that need to be filled. Right now we know the rotation projects to be Pablo, Joe Ryan, Ober, Paddack, and Varland. In that I see 4 ? marks, Ober and Paddack have durability concerns, Joe Ryan desperately needs consistent secondaries and more sustained velocity, and Varland has yet to be an effective starter at the MLB level. The goal has to be to move Varland to the bullpen, thus I think we can get away with adding just one starter, but I think two would be ideal. I was frustrated with the twins lack of use of their second "long relief" guy they permanently rostered, and worst come to worst I'd be fine seeing a 6-man rotation when needed, maybe it helps keep guys fresh and healthy. I think there are a few good ways we could go about acquiring pitching, and I will also mention the classic twins method I'd expect to see if those preferable routes fail. 1a.. Add a high upside, high risk FA for relatively cheap -If I were to pick one guy we should be targeting in all of free agency, it would be Frankie Montas. Coming off an injury, and limited success directly before that, he'll be as cheap as he ever will be. I think the concern about pitchers injury history is overblown. All pitchers get hurt, Montas doesn't concern me, he's got a giant frame and has sustained higher inning volume in the past, if there's mechanical issues I trust we can fix those. For those unfamiliar with his repertoire, Montas has a big fastball, and a great changeup. I think if he's just healthy he slots in right behind Pablo. I also think just like Pablo, he's some small tweaks with his breaking balls away from being elite elite. I love the risk:reward ratio here, and would love to see him added on 2--3+ yr deal. 1b. Trade for front end pitching -There's a few guys rumored to be available, that should be definite targets of the twins, they're young, the have years of control, and they have big stuff. Those are the most important factors in my mind. Because of what I just mentioned they'll cost a hefty prospect package, and rightfully so, but if I'm the twins I'm open to trading anyone not named Emmanuel Rodriguez (I think his consensus value is more representative of his floor right now). These pitchers I'm referring to are in order of my preference: Jesus Luzardo (MIA), Logan Gilbert (SEA), Mitch Keller (PIT), Tarik Skubal (DET). I've seen rumors about all of these guys being available, but if I were to place bets, I'd bet against us actually acquiring any of these names. -There's a next tier of pitchers that should be available, again young and thus cost-efficient, but a bit less proven and a bit less going on in the developed repertoire department. The names I'd be targeting in this group are Bryan Woo (SEA), Bryce Miller (SEA), Edward Cabrera (MIA), Trevor Rogers (MIA), Reid Detmers (LAA), Patrick Sandoval (LAA), Griffin Canning (LAA). The SEA guys will still take a pretty big prospect haul, but in general these guys are gonna be a bit cheaper to acquire. Again, these are all guys I'd project to slot in as our #2 currently, with realistic developmental potential to become a top-end starter. 1c. Add a more established FA -There's a couple guys out there that I think are interesting for the twins, they maybe aren't quite as young, but these are good value, solid upside picks. There's only a few guys in here, none of them are particularly exciting, but it's better than 1d, which I'll get too shortly. The first two I'd highlight are LHPs, James Paxton and Sean Manaea, which I think is an organizational need, and they have real solid stuff, and are gonna be relatively affordable. I'd also look at Lucas Giolito, has had some good years, and there's still the potential to develop his breaking ball and get a bit more out of him. I think because of his past success, he'll still net a good contract, possibly pricing us out. All 3 of these guys, as I mentioned, aren't exciting, probably slotting in as 4-5 guys in our rotation, but that's just fine if it allows Varland to be the weapon we know he can be in the bullpen. 1d. The Twins special, add a washed up elder with a bad stuff profile -This is what I fear will happen. The JA Happ, Matt Shoemaker, Chris Archer, Dylan Bundy type additions. We do it way too much and it always kills me, adding these older guys who don't throw hard and don't have any other out pitches left. It's a waste of money, and it's a waste of starts when we could get the same results from AAA guys at a fraction of the cost. 2. Add a Right Handed Bat -I honestly don't care too much about what position they play, or if it comes from free agency or trade. I do think Hoskins will be too expensive for us realistically, but would love to see that addition. One guy I'd love to see us go after that almost makes too much sense, is Jo Adell (LAA). He's got a top prospect pedigree, has killed at AAA but struggled with production at the MLB level and injuries. He just can't crack consistent playing time with the angels, and I think a straight up trade for Trevor Larnach could be great for both sides as the angels need LHH. Baseballtradevalues.com calls this a fair trade, but I love Adell for us and would be willing to go even higher. He's a big time athlete, crazy power and can steal bases, he'd play every day against LHP, and if we can get him going he's got huge middle of the order potential. I think it'd be a great pickup with serios boom potential and almost no cost to us. As far as free agents go, Bader makes alot of sense, versatile, hits LHP, can play CF. If you're looking more for an impact bat, the guy that would be exiting to me would be Soler. 3. Trade Christian Vazquez One of my gripes with this front office, is that they seem very slow to admit mistakes. I'd love to be proven wrong here and see them ship Vazquez off, but I doubt it happens. $20M for the next two years is just too much, he's not getting any younger, doesn't make hard contact, and we saw in the playoffs exactly where he fits into this roster...on the bench. There's a market out there for catchers, the Braves were able to move Max Stassi and his $7.5M within a day of getting him, and he's barely played this year. I'd trade Vazquez for no one, or even give up some low end prospect to give him off the books, but right now if the budget is what we're told, the $10M he's owed this year needs to be allotted to shoring up other weaknesses. I'm not sure what the Twins are gonna do, but it was interesting to see Jair Camargo get added to the 40-man, it gives me a bit of hope that they're at least trying to move Vazquez. FWIW Camargo's bat is electric, and he's gonna get a chance in the MLB some day with some team, would love for it to be here in a 70-30/60-40 type split with Jeffers this year. 4. Add Relief Help Injuries happen, we have a good bullpen on paper right now, that is a fact, but there should always be a focus on adding depth. We have Duran, Jax and Stewart locked in to high leverage roles as long as they stay healthy, Alcala deserves a shot at that 6th inning-Emilio Pagan role, we forget too easily he's not far removed from being dominant in 2021. His stuff has been great in winter ball, and I think in a one-inning role (I'll revolt if they try and use him in a multi-inning role again coming off injury) he will be great. As mentioned before, it's yet to be seen what happens with Varland, but if he's in the pen, pencil him in for the Duran 2022-lite role, he'll face the best guys when they first come up in mid-late innings. As I said, real solid potential in the bullpen already, and I think there are a couple guys in the minors who could be difference makers too this year, Matt Canterino if he can stay healthy, and Ronny Henriquez, health abiding as well. But, as I said, depth does not hurt, guys in the bullpen will get hurt, it's just a fact. I wouldn't be looking to spend big money on the well known commodities, I'm looking at cheaper under the radar guys with big stuff, who could get a shot at a low leverage role and potentially run with it. There's a few guys I'll namedrop: Shintaro Fujinami, Codi Heuer, Josh Staumont, all of these guys could easily be DFA candidates by midseason, but they also have big time stuff and will be well worth the small risk of investment. The only two well-known names on the FA market that interest me are Jordan Hicks and Wandy Peralta, as I mentioned, I doubt we'll get either, but would be excited to see either in MPLS. 5, Don't give up on the young guys yet Recency bias is strong, and I think in the case of Jose Miranda and Alex Kirilloff it's fair, they both were a bit (at the least) frustrating last year. I know both now have injury concerns, but the value their contracts provide is fantastic for a smaller market team looking to cut costs. I keep seeing bigger names thrown around on Twins Twitter for who we should sign in FA to play 1B/DH, but I think it would be perfectly wise to give that position to in house guys. For context Alex Kirilloff was rarely healthy last year, and he still put up an OPS+ of 117, that's a starting quality offensive player. I also think that's fair to assume is near his floor, his bat speed clearly wasn't what it was as a rookie last year, and he didn't provide a ton of pop, but I think there's legitimate potential to regain that bat speed/power and become the 30 HR guy he was projected to be coming up. The context for Miranda is simple, the guy has hit everywhere he went the 3 years prior to last year. Don't forget that every single one of us would have penciled him in happily as the 3/4/5 hitter in the opening day lineup this last year. Sure, his batted ball metrics were never great even in 2022, but he hit for contact and he hit for power, a combo that no one else on this team possesses to the level he did. One injury riddled season isn't indicative of his whole career, and I think he's earned plenty of shots to produce this next year. My point being, it is just too early to give up on these guys, and we've seen that when they're healthy they're just too good for AAA, that's why I do not think the 1B/DH position should be an offseason priority for this team, as the roster stands currently. Even behind Kirilloff and Miranda there's an in-house guy in Yunior Severino who is deserving of a shot at the MLB. Keep the Rhys Hoskins money and spend it on pitching and a right handed outfielder. That's my TedTalk, let me know what you all think.

I know everyone is starting to get a bit nervous, given the Twins' lack of activity this offseason. The season ended a month+ ago now, but I still feel it right to look over what I think the Twins should target this offseason. I'm gonna preface this by saying these are all ideas I think are realistic. I'm taking at face-value Falvey's comments on the TV-deal situation, and the idea that cutting costs is a goal (as much as us fans may disagree with it), thus most of these ideas are involve cheaper options or cutting money to spend it elsewhere. 1. Starting pitching help This has to be the top priority of the FO going into the season. I agree with not resigning Gray and Maeda at the costs they went for, but it opens up holes that need to be filled. Right now we know the rotation projects to be Pablo, Joe Ryan, Ober, Paddack, and Varland. In that I see 4 ? marks, Ober and Paddack have durability concerns, Joe Ryan desperately needs consistent secondaries and more sustained velocity, and Varland has yet to be an effective starter at the MLB level. The goal has to be to move Varland to the bullpen, thus I think we can get away with adding just one starter, but I think two would be ideal. I was frustrated with the twins lack of use of their second "long relief" guy they permanently rostered, and worst come to worst I'd be fine seeing a 6-man rotation when needed, maybe it helps keep guys fresh and healthy. I think there are a few good ways we could go about acquiring pitching, and I will also mention the classic twins method I'd expect to see if those preferable routes fail. 1a.. Add a high upside, high risk FA for relatively cheap -If I were to pick one guy we should be targeting in all of free agency, it would be Frankie Montas. Coming off an injury, and limited success directly before that, he'll be as cheap as he ever will be. I think the concern about pitchers injury history is overblown. All pitchers get hurt, Montas doesn't concern me, he's got a giant frame and has sustained higher inning volume in the past, if there's mechanical issues I trust we can fix those. For those unfamiliar with his repertoire, Montas has a big fastball, and a great changeup. I think if he's just healthy he slots in right behind Pablo. I also think just like Pablo, he's some small tweaks with his breaking balls away from being elite elite. I love the risk:reward ratio here, and would love to see him added on 2--3+ yr deal. 1b. Trade for front end pitching -There's a few guys rumored to be available, that should be definite targets of the twins, they're young, the have years of control, and they have big stuff. Those are the most important factors in my mind. Because of what I just mentioned they'll cost a hefty prospect package, and rightfully so, but if I'm the twins I'm open to trading anyone not named Emmanuel Rodriguez (I think his consensus value is more representative of his floor right now). These pitchers I'm referring to are in order of my preference: Jesus Luzardo (MIA), Logan Gilbert (SEA), Mitch Keller (PIT), Tarik Skubal (DET). I've seen rumors about all of these guys being available, but if I were to place bets, I'd bet against us actually acquiring any of these names. -There's a next tier of pitchers that should be available, again young and thus cost-efficient, but a bit less proven and a bit less going on in the developed repertoire department. The names I'd be targeting in this group are Bryan Woo (SEA), Bryce Miller (SEA), Edward Cabrera (MIA), Trevor Rogers (MIA), Reid Detmers (LAA), Patrick Sandoval (LAA), Griffin Canning (LAA). The SEA guys will still take a pretty big prospect haul, but in general these guys are gonna be a bit cheaper to acquire. Again, these are all guys I'd project to slot in as our #2 currently, with realistic developmental potential to become a top-end starter. 1c. Add a more established FA -There's a couple guys out there that I think are interesting for the twins, they maybe aren't quite as young, but these are good value, solid upside picks. There's only a few guys in here, none of them are particularly exciting, but it's better than 1d, which I'll get too shortly. The first two I'd highlight are LHPs, James Paxton and Sean Manaea, which I think is an organizational need, and they have real solid stuff, and are gonna be relatively affordable. I'd also look at Lucas Giolito, has had some good years, and there's still the potential to develop his breaking ball and get a bit more out of him. I think because of his past success, he'll still net a good contract, possibly pricing us out. All 3 of these guys, as I mentioned, aren't exciting, probably slotting in as 4-5 guys in our rotation, but that's just fine if it allows Varland to be the weapon we know he can be in the bullpen. 1d. The Twins special, add a washed up elder with a bad stuff profile -This is what I fear will happen. The JA Happ, Matt Shoemaker, Chris Archer, Dylan Bundy type additions. We do it way too much and it always kills me, adding these older guys who don't throw hard and don't have any other out pitches left. It's a waste of money, and it's a waste of starts when we could get the same results from AAA guys at a fraction of the cost. 2. Add a Right Handed Bat -I honestly don't care too much about what position they play, or if it comes from free agency or trade. I do think Hoskins will be too expensive for us realistically, but would love to see that addition. One guy I'd love to see us go after that almost makes too much sense, is Jo Adell (LAA). He's got a top prospect pedigree, has killed at AAA but struggled with production at the MLB level and injuries. He just can't crack consistent playing time with the angels, and I think a straight up trade for Trevor Larnach could be great for both sides as the angels need LHH. Baseballtradevalues.com calls this a fair trade, but I love Adell for us and would be willing to go even higher. He's a big time athlete, crazy power and can steal bases, he'd play every day against LHP, and if we can get him going he's got huge middle of the order potential. I think it'd be a great pickup with serios boom potential and almost no cost to us. As far as free agents go, Bader makes alot of sense, versatile, hits LHP, can play CF. If you're looking more for an impact bat, the guy that would be exiting to me would be Soler. 3. Trade Christian Vazquez One of my gripes with this front office, is that they seem very slow to admit mistakes. I'd love to be proven wrong here and see them ship Vazquez off, but I doubt it happens. $20M for the next two years is just too much, he's not getting any younger, doesn't make hard contact, and we saw in the playoffs exactly where he fits into this roster...on the bench. There's a market out there for catchers, the Braves were able to move Max Stassi and his $7.5M within a day of getting him, and he's barely played this year. I'd trade Vazquez for no one, or even give up some low end prospect to give him off the books, but right now if the budget is what we're told, the $10M he's owed this year needs to be allotted to shoring up other weaknesses. I'm not sure what the Twins are gonna do, but it was interesting to see Jair Camargo get added to the 40-man, it gives me a bit of hope that they're at least trying to move Vazquez. FWIW Camargo's bat is electric, and he's gonna get a chance in the MLB some day with some team, would love for it to be here in a 70-30/60-40 type split with Jeffers this year. 4. Add Relief Help Injuries happen, we have a good bullpen on paper right now, that is a fact, but there should always be a focus on adding depth. We have Duran, Jax and Stewart locked in to high leverage roles as long as they stay healthy, Alcala deserves a shot at that 6th inning-Emilio Pagan role, we forget too easily he's not far removed from being dominant in 2021. His stuff has been great in winter ball, and I think in a one-inning role (I'll revolt if they try and use him in a multi-inning role again coming off injury) he will be great. As mentioned before, it's yet to be seen what happens with Varland, but if he's in the pen, pencil him in for the Duran 2022-lite role, he'll face the best guys when they first come up in mid-late innings. As I said, real solid potential in the bullpen already, and I think there are a couple guys in the minors who could be difference makers too this year, Matt Canterino if he can stay healthy, and Ronny Henriquez, health abiding as well. But, as I said, depth does not hurt, guys in the bullpen will get hurt, it's just a fact. I wouldn't be looking to spend big money on the well known commodities, I'm looking at cheaper under the radar guys with big stuff, who could get a shot at a low leverage role and potentially run with it. There's a few guys I'll namedrop: Shintaro Fujinami, Codi Heuer, Josh Staumont, all of these guys could easily be DFA candidates by midseason, but they also have big time stuff and will be well worth the small risk of investment. The only two well-known names on the FA market that interest me are Jordan Hicks and Wandy Peralta, as I mentioned, I doubt we'll get either, but would be excited to see either in MPLS. 5, Don't give up on the young guys yet Recency bias is strong, and I think in the case of Jose Miranda and Alex Kirilloff it's fair, they both were a bit (at the least) frustrating last year. I know both now have injury concerns, but the value their contracts provide is fantastic for a smaller market team looking to cut costs. I keep seeing bigger names thrown around on Twins Twitter for who we should sign in FA to play 1B/DH, but I think it would be perfectly wise to give that position to in house guys. For context Alex Kirilloff was rarely healthy last year, and he still put up an OPS+ of 117, that's a starting quality offensive player. I also think that's fair to assume is near his floor, his bat speed clearly wasn't what it was as a rookie last year, and he didn't provide a ton of pop, but I think there's legitimate potential to regain that bat speed/power and become the 30 HR guy he was projected to be coming up. The context for Miranda is simple, the guy has hit everywhere he went the 3 years prior to last year. Don't forget that every single one of us would have penciled him in happily as the 3/4/5 hitter in the opening day lineup this last year. Sure, his batted ball metrics were never great even in 2022, but he hit for contact and he hit for power, a combo that no one else on this team possesses to the level he did. One injury riddled season isn't indicative of his whole career, and I think he's earned plenty of shots to produce this next year. My point being, it is just too early to give up on these guys, and we've seen that when they're healthy they're just too good for AAA, that's why I do not think the 1B/DH position should be an offseason priority for this team, as the roster stands currently. Even behind Kirilloff and Miranda there's an in-house guy in Yunior Severino who is deserving of a shot at the MLB. Keep the Rhys Hoskins money and spend it on pitching and a right handed outfielder. That's my TedTalk, let me know what you all think.

Yeah I don't think Miranda survives at 3B barring a trade. Scouts have said they assume both Royce and Brooks Lee have the potential to be elite type defensive 3B a the big league level. Seeing that they're also the two best hit tool prospects in our system, that would require some big numbers from Miranda to survive.

We've got a glimpse last year of what Jose Miranda can be, a guy that seems to put the ball in play a lot with hard contact, a high level run producer in the middle of the order with 30 HR potential. This year we've seen a much different version of him. So far he's actually been a liability in the middle of the order with 7 GIDP already. He chased a lot last year, and seems to be doing the same this year, except with less hard contact to show for it. His swing looks geared to line drive contact over the fly ball oriented contact we see a lot these days, not the worst thing, but when he's not going good it's proven to be problematic in the middle of the order. He's never gonna be an above average defender, so offense is imperative to keeping him valuable, one way or another he's young and the ship must be righted. He's young, penciled in to be a cornerstone of this team and start all year long, for the time being it seems that might not be the case. With Farmer only a week or so away, it wouldn't be surprising to see him lose playing time if he's still not coming around. I personally think a AAA stint could do wonders for Miranda, confidence can be everything in baseball, and I can't imagine the poor results he's had so far this year has been good for his, would be nice to see him get a chance to reset in St Paul. Not sure Willi Castro survives the return of Farmer in the coming week, but is it crazy to think that if he does, it will be Miranda going down when Royce Lewis is healthy again, hopefully at the end of the month?

The potential is definitely there for Larnach, unfortunately for him and the Twins, I don't think we are well bit to sit around wait for potential this year. The power is off the charts, but that doesn't matter when you're not barreling up balls. I think mentioning his approach is an interesting discussion. He walk a lot, obviously nice to see, but I think he's gotta rethink his game plan. He's clearly struggling on all off-speed, I've watched most of his ABs and aside from the changeup HR, not sure he's hit another off speed pitch hard. Makes me think he's sitting red dead on the fastball, I don't think it's working anymore, he's not adjusting to the off-speed. I personally don't think we can afford to have a guy struggling for long, taking up a middle of the order spot on this team. The calls for Kirilloff will get loud, another 2-hit game last night, tonight is an important game for Larnach I imagine.

Don't forget the most important part, his nickname is Beef Stew.

I was thinking about this the other day. Kepler for Wallner was obvious, and tot he dismay of twins fans, barring injury Kepler is gonna keep getting chances and wont be leaving before the all star break. That leaves us with Gallo, Farmer, Polanco, Kirilloff and Royce Lewis all getting back some time in the next month and a half. The first three are certainties to be on the MLB roster if healthy and are also my guess to be the first three back ready to be activated. Castro and Garlick are certain to be off the 26 man at this point, and rn there's no reason why Julien would stay either (defensively limited, and realistically less impactful offensively than Polanco). Things get really interesting if we somehow keep our current lineup healthy, and get AK and Royce back. I'd be shocked if this situation comes to pass.

A big deal was made of how the rules this year were so much more friendly towards potential base stealers. So far this year, they've proven to be exactly that, base stealing is up across the league. It's early but the twins seem as tentative as years past to send would be baserunners. Some of this could be attributed to Buxton nagging injury, it's been evident that the twins won't be sending him until they feel he's healthy and his body can withstand the extra wear of stealing bases. While he doesn't walk or even single much, if truly healthy one would assume he'd lead the team in steals. With our current roster it's tough to even imagine where steals could come from in the lineup, I'd note Kepler, Royce Lewis, and Polanco as notable options to steal bases who will play in Minneapolis this year, but all 3 of them are coming off lower body injuries and it's still to be seen how aggressive coaches will be with them. Michael A. Taylor seems the only realistic speed option left, and even he's only 1/1 this year, despite the fact that more opportunities and stealing situations have been available. Does anyone see any way the Twins start stealing bags this year? It seems to be a serious disadvantage compared to teams like the guardians who have 5 guys in their every day lineup that will attempt to steal second every time the possibility arises.

I think you're overlooking a couple options that would slot in before cutting ties w/ Kepler, Gallo, or MAT. We're paying Solano $2m and he has his role hitting lefties, but he's mainly gonna DH or play first, slots Kirilloff will be more valuable at. It's too early to get worried about Nick G and his defensive versatility is certainly nice, but he's ineffective against LHP and has been useless early on offense.

Figured no time is better than 7 games in to the season to give out my, mostly unwarranted, overreactions to the start of this Twins year. 1. Injury bug is already killing us I've been a bit disappointed with the transparency provided on the health status of our guys who came into the spring injured. Based off the reports the fans got during spring, it seemed that Polanco and Kirilloff were both looking to be fine for opening day. As time went on, little more info was provided yet it became clear and clearer that each's chance of being ready was pretty slim. Now 7 days in and it seems that both are at least 2 weeks out of playing in Minneapolis, definitely disappointing for 2 players that figure to be middle of the order pieces if truly healthy. We also heard little on the state of Buxton's knee, it was my presumption at least that he would be on his usual oft rested schedule, but available to play the field. Now we know that for April at least he will be locked into the DH slot role. Honestly I find it a bit fortunate that the rest of the roster isn't healthy right now, Buxton DHing isn't currently blocking a better bat from entering the lineup, and MAT has filled the CF slot admirably, but this could become a bit of an issue in coming weeks. Those were the three injuries we had heard of going into the spring, and the main three known coming out of camp too. One week in and we've now lost Kepler and Gallo to injuries. The status of both players seems a bit unclear, Kepler supposedly available to PH the last few games yet they're unsure if he'll be ready today and thus could warrant a corresponding IL move. Gallo w/ a core muscle injury that he's supposedly been playing through. Those have a track record of being lingering issues that can shut players down for months in the end, here's to hoping it's minor as Gallo has looked extremely comfortable at the plate so far. Interested to see if any roster moves come today, if anyone has any thoughts on what they should do if an IL move from Kep or Gallo is necessary pls chime in. If one goes to the IL I would like to think Joulien is first up if someone goes to the IL, not sure I believe it though given his inability to play outfield. 2. Pitching is the best I can remember in the 2000's Granted, 1.5 times through the rotation is a bit early to comment, especially when the teams we've played are the offensive juggernauts in KC and Miami, but our pitching staff has a different feel to it than past years. Pablo looks like an ace thanks to a new plus-pitch in the sweeper, and added velocity (Not sure why we don't mandate pitchers go to Driveline in the offseason at this point), Sonny Gray ditched his first week control woes yesterday and was dominant with every pitch he threw. Joe Ryan is honestly the biggest wild card (health withstanding the staff) in my opinion. His fastball gives him a solid floor, and I think last year stuff wise was about the worst we will see from him. Week 1 wasn't particularly encouraging, although seeing 96 flash on the gun from him was exciting, the inability to land either the breaking pitch or the splitter was disappointing, I think if we see him right those week 1 woes we could see a very, very good Joe Ryan this year. With Tyler Mahle the only concern in my mind is health, if he's healthy we know what we're getting, a borderline all-star who has 3 good pitches and can generate a lot of whiffs. I'd personally love to see his velo tick up and live in the 95-6 area like pre-injury last year, to really feel comfortable, but was happy to see his performance/stuff in week 1. Again, remember this at the 4 slot in our rotation remember that. Lastly in the rotation we have king Kenta, back off Tommy John, who imho had the most impressive/relieving start in the first week. Besides one terrible slider that got hit approximately 580 feet, he looked fantastic. Control and offspeed stuff was always his calling card and he looked as good as he ever was against the Marlins. He generated a shocking amount of whiffs, and after an imo lackluster spring, his first start was so great to see. Haven't heard anything more about his injury, gonna assume it truly was minor, and it was originally reported as a wrist area issue which doesn't necessarily elicit immediate concern like the elbow or shoulder does. The bullpen is also on track to be the deepest and best in a long time. We can all hate on Pagan, and eventually Megill will be back too, but having their sort of stuff in our lowest leverage slots speaks to how deep the bullpen is. Moran needs to find the zone with his FB more often, if his control continues to struggle I could see him having stints at AAA, otherwise so far I have no questions. Alcala has looked great and should thrive in a medium leverage situation with his stuff, we know health permitting we're gonna get elite bullpen stuff from Thielbar, Jax (as long as he's not throwing right on right changeups), Lopez, and Duran. Even Cole Sands stuff impressed me in his first action, touching 95+ and showing a good changeup to go with his plus curveball, I think he'll get every chance to entrench himself in the long relief role. In short this staff has looked dominant. Yesterday's win vs the Astros really felt like a different team than years past. It always used to seem the twins were at a disadvantage if games went longer, especially against teams like the astros who will run elite pen arm after alite arm at you, but we matched them step for step. No Colome, no closer Pagan, no Duffey, this is a much improved staff all around. 3. Correa needs to fix his approach Correa will produce, he's great inside the clubhouse and off the field, but it's still disappointing thus far to watch his ABs. This guy was always marketed as a pro hitter with big power, who has a knack for big moments. It's still early in his twins tenure but we're still waiting for some of those signature clutch moments. He's hit a few balls hard but generally has looked lost at the plate, chase rate appears abnormally high, and then gets caught taking pitches that he should be trying to drive, everything is a bit backwards rn and it's clear he's not seeing it well or feeling too hot at the plate. With our current lineup sans Kep and Gallo, he's one of 4 or 5 guys that we'll run out there who's a true threat to go deep. It's imperative that he's having better ABs. I have faith in him, and it's so early, but would definitely like to see him get hot now when we don't have guys like AK, polo, Royce, etc. to hide him with if he's cold. The twins talk a lot about simplifying swings on their mechanical side, Correa needs to trust that and start seeing the ball deep again. He'll turn it around, he's an upstanding guy who is hard to dislike as a fan, but it's still disappointing and will only get more frustrating as Royce gets healthier and Brooks gets closer to ready, the $35m price tag comes with expectations, there's no getting around that. 4. Despite what Twins twitter and FB followers believe, Rocco is not an idiot. A lot has been discussed about Rocco's in game moves, unwillingness to extend starters late into the game, and devoutness to the platoon splits. 7 games in I can't highlight a single coaching decision that I can disagree with. Playing Farmer and Solano in favorable match ups has already paid off. You can dislike the decision to go to Jax when he did in the last marlins game, but it was the right call, with some better umpiring and less Jax changeups thrown I think that game ends differently. Rocco finally has the weapons to suit his analytical style and I think it'll pay off this year. 5. The Twins are favorites to win the central Living through 2022 and now '23 as a twins fan has taught me one thing, how to hate on the damned Cleveland Guardians. A completely unlikeable team that seems to perpetually get lucky. Last year they were better than us, I don't think the same can be said this year. Their lineup is not bad, but I think we matchup favorably against them at almost every position. For the first time in franchise history I think our advantage actually comes on the pitching side. Shane Bieber will be good, but his velo is down again and advanced models just don't like his stuff, I think it's just a matter of time before he trend towards league average. Mckenzie is hurt, and even when healthy stats showed he was the luckiest pitcher in baseball and bound for regression. After that they have no one who scares you, if we face Civale, Quantrill or Plesac in any game I like our chances, really hoping they just trade Daniel Espino away before he inevitably becomes the best pitcher in baseball lol. Their bullpen is good, Clase will be great, but I think ours is better. They're gonna keep throw Karinchak into high leverage roles, and few things make me happier than watching that jackass struggle, maybe they'll catch on faster than the twins, but we know from Tyler Duffey that 93-5 mph fastball and a good curveball isn't enough to be good in the MLB, I'm so ready for his implosion. The White Sox lineup looks better and healthier than years past, and their bullpen can be scary with healthy Hendriks and Crochet, but their starters just aren't good enough to compete and they have no one in the farm that will be of real help. The Royals and Tigers should be better but they're years away still. It's early, but this years roster feels different, excited to see how it plays out.