Twins_Fan_in_NJ

Will be curious to see what the Twins do with Polanco. He's been a fixture but with the way Julien's hitting, perhaps they want to use Polanco's money on starting pitcher or a high-leverage bullpen arm to go with Duran. Wouldn't mind Solano back on a one-year deal. Twins have been fortunate to have the positional versatility with Solano, Castro and Farmer. Yeah, they've all struggled at the plate at various times, but who hasn't on this team and they've really allowed Rocco to mix and match and survive injuries to Lewis and Polanco. No idea what the Twins do with MAT. Castro's getting more time in CF and Celestino's waiting in the wings. Maybe they rotate with Buxton (hopefully he's able to play the field in 2024) and MAT is cut loose. The rotation has four arms - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Paddack. Paddack may need a month or two next season to get his stuff back - similar to Kenta - but they gave him an extension for a reason and he's going to pitching every 5th day if health allows. That begs the question - bring Gray or Maeda or do you give Varland the 5th starters spot? I seem to be in the minority but I'm not a huge Gray fan. He seems to implode after 4-5 innings and that's just who he is at this point in his career - if that's what he gives you, why not give the spot to Varland and divert that ~$20MM elsewhere? I'd love to see the Twins invest more in the pen but would anyone be shocked if they address that spot by re-signing Pagan and signing 4-5 depth arms for St. Paul in early January?

Kepler won't get traded. I think the bigger question with Max is do the Twins pick up his option for 2024? I'm not condoning that move nor would I criticize it - just throwing it out there. The FO tends to have a tough time saying good bye and with Buxton being such a gigantic ?, even if Kepler isn't a CF, it might make sense to hold onto an outfielder at a reasonable price.

I don't necessarily think Buxton's hurt. I think he's so far inside his head right now and he can't figure it out. If he's looking for Popkins for help, that's not going to do a whole lot.

I'm over Sonny Gray. He's good one time through the line-up and then the wheels come off. Ironic that the guy barking loudest about pitching deep into games can't manage to do so even with Rocco having a different philosophy than last season.

A win is a win. Sounds cliche but it rings true, especially in the AL Central. Twins need to bank wins whenever they can. A good 10 game stretch - something like 8-2 or 9-1 - as hard as they might be for this group - could give them a 6+ game lead headed into August. Cleveland's teetering with the pitching injuries and their line-up essentially being two players (Ramirez and Naylor).

Yup and based on the comments from the FO before the break, this is what they're banking on. Young guys continue to hit and the Big 3 get healthy and on track. If that happens, the Twins can probably get close to 90 wins and win the division by a handful of games. But at this point, that is a gigantic IF.

The problem with this team - the rotation and even the bullpen if Stewart and Thielbar are healthy - are good enough to win a series in October. But the offense is what you would expect from a 72-90 team. I don't think the Pohlads have much confidence in the front office to make the right moves at the deadline - last year's mistakes still loom large. I think we see the status quo and hope that Buxton / Correa / Polanco get hot at the same time and give the Twins a big second half. It won't take too much of a hot streak to pull away from Cleveland, IYAM.

Which perhaps speaks to the line-up not being good enough - I love Correa and I'm glad he's a Twin but if you're banking on him to be your best hitter, you're setting yourself up for failure. With that said, Popkins still isn't off the hook because even though the line-up isn't good enough - it shouldn't be *this* bad.

Correa's never been a great offensive player - I'd say he's good to very good (when he's locked in) but he's not going to carry a line-up for long stretches of time. His defense has been gold glove caliber so there's that and if he even slightly rebounds in the second half, his run production will wind up close to his career averages.

Good call on the differences between 2019 and 2023. It does seem like this team is focused on dead-pull and trying to lift the ball and that would have worked in 2019.

Fair point but I think that team has major chemistry issues and things going on behind the scenes. Maybe the Twins have the same issues, I don't know. But just from an approach standpoint, I'd like to see if Cruz could offer a different insight. I think we can all agree whatever it is that Popkins is doing - it isn't working.

Interesting regarding Lewis and while I get where he's coming from, this just solidifies what a joke the front office is. Lewis might turn into a franchise player. But he is no where near the point where he should be dictating the position that he plays. If the Twins had a legitimate opportunity to get Arenado, they shouldn't think twice about it - go ahead and make a trade. Let the dust clear afterwards and figure things out with Lewis.

Popkins wasn't ready for the job. He's too inexperienced. Sometimes thinking outside of the box works. Sometimes, it doesn't. There's nothing wrong with trying something and failing - if you see the mistake and correct it. The Twins are incapable of doing that. Speaking of thinking outside of the box - I'd say Nelson Cruz. IYAM, the Twins' success in 2019 had as much to do with his presence as it did Rowson.

Oh, and when I say Popkins isn't going anywhere - he should have been fired in May. Actually, he should never have been hired. But nonetheless, there's 0% chance that the FO will move on from him. If the Pohlads bothered to check-in once in a while, perhaps things would be different. But alas...

This is my fear. The Twins' FO doubles down on their mistakes rather than admit them, fix them, and move on. Popkins isn't going anywhere. He's their guy and they'll continue to provide puff piece interviews where they can't stop speaking but don't actually say anything of substance or meaning.

I know the line-up has holes. But for the love of god - we're talking about a historically bad line-up in terms of batting average, hits, and strike outs. Hard-pressed to believe that at least a major culprit is approach and scouting - falls on Popkins. He needs to go.

They do, which is also weird, but either of them would be better than Popkins.

Popkins' resume is laughable. The guy has zero business being a hitting coach at the MLB level. This is a prime example of Falvey and Levine trying to prove they're the smartest ones in the room and they won't own up to the mistake. As I wrote in another thread, it is up to the Pohlad's now.

Nail on the head...

Yankees fired their hitting coach....so it can be done.

Fewest hits by the Twins in the first half since...1995. Yeah, the lineup has holes. But for a hitting coach to survive this, it's absolutely bizarre.

You bring up a good point on the weight loss. Thought it was a good sign when they talked about the commitment to fitness and getting in better shape - then I saw him in spring training and couldn't believe how thin he was. Looks like a completely different person.

The Twins' pitching staff - especially if Stewart gets back healthy and Lopez regains his stuff - is good enough to win a pennant - IMHO. It's just that the offensive production is what you would expect from a 75 win team and that will be their undoing. The tantalizing thought of the pitching carry them deep into October is enough so that the Twins aren't sellers. But they also won't be buyers. Falvey and Levine have lost most of the trades they've made and I don't think the Pohlads give them a green light this year. Even though not necessarily a small market, teams like the Twins just can't survive dumping prospects year after year. Regarding Gray, Polanco, Kepler, Maeda... Polanco's stats aren't eye-popping but there always seems to be a correlation to his being out of the line-up and the team struggling. His salary next season isn't cost prohibitive and while Julien has shown flashes, he might not yet be ready to start everyday - I would be surprised if the Twins didn't pick up Polanco's option for 2024. Kepler's in the fans' doghouse more often than not and it is time for Larnach to be an everyday player. Do the Twins feel the same about Wallner? Wouldn't be shocked if Kepler's also back in 2024. If Maeda pitches well the rest of the way, wouldn't mind him back on a one-year deal. Next year's rotation has a big unknown (Paddack) and we've seen that you can't have too much pitching depth. Ryan-Pablo-Ober-Paddack-Maeda with Varland waiting in the wings would be my preference but I can understand if the Twins want to move on from Kenta. Even if the Twins want Gray back, he's gone, IYAM. Don't think he loves playing for Rocco.

Duran hasn't been as sharp this season but there's only him and Jax for high leverage situations.

Friday was fools gold as it's been all season when the offense produces. Home runs. Mixed with strikeouts and missed opportunities. A good team would have scored 10+.