mikelink45

Here is the grade that the Athletic gives the Twins for the off-season so far: Minnesota Twins Grade: F Trades: None. Free Agents: Hansel Robles, 1 year/$2 million. Waiver Claims: None. Rule 5: None. The Twins have had an ugly offseason so far, saying goodbye to reliever Trevor May who left for the Mets in free agency, non-tendering outfielder Eddie Rosario and not yet being able to persuade designated hitter Nelson Cruz to return. They did make one move, landing reliever Hansel Robles who’s coming off a 10.26 ERA season in 18 appearances with the Angels. The best part of the offseason for the Twins is opening up a spot for one of the game’s hitting prospects in outfielder Alex Kirilloff.

I loved the movie, but it cannot replace Bull Durham or Field of Dreams for me. I do wish they would do a movie based on the women who played in the negro leagues - https://tht.fangraphs.com/tht-annual-2018/the-negro-leagues-last-hope-three-brave-women/ They were on equal footing with the men in the league. Anyway, you bring up a great subject. I still love the Lou Gehrig movie with Gary Cooper - Pride of the Yankees and being a sucker for tear jerkers I loved the Stratton Story with Jimmie Stewart. I also loved 42! Thanks for a great review.

I am not impressed with the remaining starters - maybe the FO can arrange another trade.

I thought this was an excellent article, but then I wondered - what would you have written if in fact the Twins had signed Hendriks and Hand? The slant and take might have been quite different, like the way we justify over paying for Donaldson who we expected would not be worth his final year salary. Baseball has a very strange system for signing veterans who might be sliding down from their peak - like Kimbrel?

The Twins have Jorge Polanco at SS. In 2019 he was an all star. Now all of Twins fandom wants him at utility and hope for the team to sign another SS. I am not sure why. Our number one prospect remains Royce Lewis who is still listed as a SS who should be ready by the end of the year at least. So why do we want to demote Polanco and block Lewis? This is reasoning that does not work for me. Then we have Wander Javier who came to us in the same international draft that produced Vladimir Guerrero, jr. and Yordan Alvarez. To say that he is behind them on the development level is an understatement. I am still not sure why he is rated so high as a prospect. He has had a hamstring injury during his 2016 debut, a torn labrum costing him all of 2018 and a strained quad keeping him from making his full-season debut in 2019. Then he came in and looked lost for 300 at bats. And MLB.com still has him listed at number nine. Above him on the mlb.com site is Keoni Cavaco who is given great grades for athleticism, which is fine in the Olympics, but batting and fielding count in baseball. I am not sold on him. He was a fast riser in HS according to his notes. Another prospect who does not make my list. At 17 is Nick Gordon. He seems to be on a slippery slope to a forgotten prospect, but I hope he will find a way to get to the majors someday. He just isn’t going to make the team as a starter. Will Holland is next on the prospect list at 19. Notes about him say that he was doing great at Auburn until his Junior year where he bombed and slipped to fifth round. Then he came to rookie ball and still bombed. Not looking good. Today the Twins made an big international signing – Danny De Andrade who is 16. He could be projected to arrive when Lewis runs out of arbitration and signs elsewhere. He is big, potential middle of the order project (typically that means not staying at SS). At 16 he is a project. I know what my grandsons are like at that age – I would not sign them for $2.2 million and I love them. If he makes it he will probably replace Donaldson and not Lewis. Finally the second signing is Fredy LaFlor who is already projected in the mlb.com writeup to shift to second or CF. He said to be a high energy top of the lineup prospect. So there is the Twins SS list. I would like to see us develop one of them into the next great SS rather than sign one who is already down the road of his career and will be overpaid. How do you see these names playing out? The Athletic summary of international signings did not include the Twins - disappointing. https://theathletic.com/2326602/2021/01/16/mlb-international-signing-period-day-1/?source=weeklyemail For those of us who do not know who they are it is important to have outside opinions.

Who needs stars or Star Wars when we can pick up players you have never heard of and put them in a trance under Obi Wes Johnson?

16 year olds are low on my list even though I do not know him. Wander Javier and Cavaco are consistently on the prospect list, but I would like to see some production first. The CF is the one I like in this age of flyballs and strikeouts the great OF is replacing the infielder as a need.

Both Bradley and Wood were in offseason speculation on TD this winter. I know we are supposed to be patient. The value players are getting fewer and fewer. I am really curious who the Twins are thinking about.

It really is a poor list compared to the last few years. No one on this list jumps out at me. I am not a Clemens and Bonds supporter. When I look at Rolen I think Ken Boyer who never made the hall, but deserved it as much as Rolen. There are a lot of good players not in the hall, but I am not sad about that. Once in the hall players tend to be forgotten and we move to the next list. None of the players get the annual attention of Bonds, Clemens, Rose, Jackson. Controversy feeds the headlines. I would be content to see no one added. In many ways I am more interested in the However many of these will get in. I looked ahead at the next ballots and 2022 will be interesting because Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz will get the attention and Joe Nathan will slot quietly behind them. If those two go in Clemens and Bonds have to as well. 2023 headliner is Carlos Beltran - he sealed his fate in Houston and no one else is interesting so it is a good year for those like Rolen to get the call. 2024 has Adrian Beltre - sure thing and Joe Mauer. Boy am I curious how Mauer will be perceived. 2025 has CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki - they have to make it. 2022 could actually have a very large induction number because of the era committees, ""In view of these concerns, the board of directors has decided that the Golden Days Committee and the Early Days Committee will instead meet during the winter of 2021." Both the Golden Days (candidates whose most indelible contributions came between 1950-69) and Early Baseball (contributions prior to '50) Era Committees were scheduled to vote this winter on potential Hall of Fame candidates who were not previously elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America or a different veterans committee. Those two committees will now vote in the winter of 2021, with the Today's Game Era (1988-present) Committee's vote postponed until the winter of '22 and the Modern Baseball Era (1970-87) Committee moved to the winter of '23." mlb.com There will be three eras being considered at the same time - go Tony Oliva!

As usual, I am not excited by this - I would rather have a young arm to develop than an old one that needs to be held together by wire and tape.

Good comparison. We have subtracted and they have added, the next two months should be quite interesting for the team and TD. It is hard to watch all the moves that other teams are making - Sox, Padres, Mets, even KC and have the patience to wait for our team to pounce.

And the Padres

I look at the package we got and find it depressing. Your essay needs to be wrapped in a black ribbon.

Lynn and Hendrix's contract number don't matter to me because baseball is in an economic zone that I cannot even imagine, but their arms do matter. So far we have subtracted and they have added Let's hope that people's fears about LaRussa come true because we are definitely sliding back. I do not see us signing Bauer so who is the pitcher that matches Lynn? Who is the reliever that matches Hendrix or Trevor May? We cannot just replace, we have to get better to match the efforts of the Sox.

My choices - RookerLarnachWhoever we are restingSpend the money on a pitcher.

We have enough hitters, we still need a SP and a RP - that is more important than the SS upgrade or the DH signing.

In the Athletic today they asked teams about underrated prospects - this was the Twins entry. Matt Canterino, RHP Age: 23 B: L T: R HT: 6-2 WT: 223 Scouting grades: FB: 55 SLI: 65 CB: 55 CH: 45 CTL: 55 CMND: 50 Canterino was the Twins’ second-round pick (54th overall) out of Rice University in 2019. Canterino has the full arsenal of four major-league pitches with a fastball in the mid-90s coming from a deceptive angle that results in above-average life. He throws an above-average 12-6 curveball and a four-seam fastball, and his slider is a wipeout pitch when it’s working. He throws a decent change to left-handed hitters, but it could be softer with better fade. His delivery has effort but actually benefits him in terms of deception and timing issues to opposing batters. He’ll be in the middle of the Twins’ rotation sooner rather than later.

The Athletic asked for underrated prospects and wouldn't you know the Indians would list a pitcher - Cleveland Indians Carlos Vargas, RHP Age: 21 B: R T: R HT: 6-3 WT: 180 Scouting grades: FB: 75 SLI: 65 CH: 40 CTL: 50 CMND: 40 Vargas throws 98-100 mph, which explodes at the strike zone like fireworks on the Fourth of July, with run and sink. He also has a nasty late-breaking slider that hitters consistently swing over. His changeup is below average and needs a ton of work. His stuff is so overpowering that he projects either as an impact closer or, if the changeup develops, a mid-rotation-type starter. How he’s not higher on prospect lists is beyond me with that ridiculous stuff.

As usual it will be on the radio - football might be perfect for TV, basketball needs to be seen in person, and baseball is perfect for radio. Sorry soccer guys I haven't figured out your category - maybe it is the newspaper.

I am another one who wonders why we would trade for a one year player. Does it make sense to mess with Polanco's confidence? If he is going to the bench I am ready for Lewis to step in. Baseball has locked up minor league prospects with their arbitration years so we look at players who are at their peak or nearly so and overpay. The problem with that is that at the peak all the directions you can take are down. Think Pujols. I worry that might be true for Donaldson. So buyer beware on all these great SS deals. Tampa Bay stays relevant by trading for prospects, not established stars. Cleveland finds a way to develop their pitchers. The 1987 - 1991 Twins stayed on top with a group that went through the minors together and then they added around the edges with Shannon Stewart/Dan Gladden and short term contracts with Morris, Winfield, and Molitor. We saw Jeffers, Rooker, Kiriloff, Alcala last year. Lets keep moving in that direction.

The only reason Arraez and Polanco are not locks is all the buzz about trades. I would be shocked to see both go. I like Rooker as DH/1B and I continue to hope that Kiriloff is extended and we quit this two month waiting period before he takes the field.

I agree with Berrios and Maeda as the top two, Kiriloff and his potential is number three - but just extend him and get him in the lineup. With market for catcher being what we see across MLB I move Jeffers to number three. I drop Cavaco and put in Celestino since Buxton's injury issues could make a replacement CF very important. I also move Kepler out of the top five - I have no faith he will be better. I move Garver down to 19 and move Rooker way up - he could be our DH at this point. I will not go into all my rankings, but really enjoyed your posts and the efforts you put in. A good article is not about agreement, but about stimulating thoughts and responses so you rank right at the top with this list. Thank you.

I cannot make the purchase - it looks like they are keeping their red ink pen!

Don't you wonder what Shane Bieber is thinking? If we rate the activities of the division teams I think there is no doubt that getting Lynn was the big move and offsets what I think is a negative move with the hiring of LaRussa. Giving up Dunning might be more of a loss than people think at this time (I am still suffering negative Lynn bias). Eaton does nothing for me - just like he did nothing for the Nationals. KC with Minor and Santana actually jumped up the highest, it is just that they are too far from contending to notice - yet. Detroit with Hinch, a MLB pitcher who could help stabilize their young studs and Robbie Grossman managed to stay right where they were - at the bottom, but still they have done something. Minnesota does beat out Cleveland (who doesn't), but Robles doesn't replace what we have lost and I think in off season rankings (so far) we are fourth in the division, but it will not take a lot to jump to the top.

Some fun discussions. I have Arraez higher, Garver much lower. I think you did a good job avoiding the Byron has to be at the top because he is so good when he is on the field - because the weakness is keeping him on the field and soon those injuries are going to dampen his greatest asset - speed. Like many on here I like Larnach above Kepler. I just do not get the Kepler love and Polanco fills an important position but that is not enough to keep him that high - time to slide him down to utility ranking even if he is the starting SS.