mikelink45

I would make a case for Mauer's MVP season. He led MLB in each slash category AVG/OBP/SLG while playing catcher. Mauer's OPS (1.031) was actually higher than both Carew's and Killebrew's MVP seasons. Mauer's '09 season is far and away the best offensive season by a catcher in baseball history, while there are many better offensive 1B seasons than Killebrew's and Carew's MVP seasons.

Can't get rid of Gallo and put pursuits of strikeout records in jeopardy.  That is all.

Gallo is automatic out. But don't get another dud. Give some kid a chance.

Bye bye Gallo and hello to Williams coming up and getting a shot at 1B. Solano can still play there as well, along with occasionally 2B and 3B as he has done throughout the year.
What's that? But Gallo provides a LH bat at 1B that Williams and Salono don't have? No problem. How much worse than a .160 BA and 40% K rate could they possibly be playing daily as RH bats?

I think the Twins should promote from St. Paul. I do think a DFA of Gallo is justified. Williams is deserving and should be the guy I think. Albeit Andrew Stevenson although he is left handed brings speed and can steal bases and is really deserving plus might be a upgrade in CF. I think we need competition in CF. 

Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar for Mahle - that is a bad trade.  I agree with all the other ideas too.  A lot to choose from.  I also agree with Arraez for Lopez looking bad right now, but wait and see (even though I expect things won't change a lot). 

Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar for Mahle - that is a bad trade.  I agree with all the other ideas too.  A lot to choose from.  I also agree with Arraez for Lopez looking bad right now, but wait and see (even though I expect things won't change a lot). 

The Carew trade was bad, but the Twins were somewhat stuck.  Carew wanted out, as Griffith was dismantling the team and refused to pay anyone in the early free agency era (see Hisle, Bostock, etc).  Of course, under these circumstances the Twins were going to be terrible anyway.  Had they not traded him Carew would almost certainly have left as a free agent.  It hurt emotionally to lose Carew, but the late Griffith/Met Stadium era was going to be hopeless regardless simply due to the owner's refusal to recognize the reality of rising player salaries in the new free agent era.
Now, Tom Brunansky for Tommy Herr... oof, it still hurts decades later.  That trade was totally unnecessary and self-inflicted.  The Twins were coming off of their 1987 title, and *thought* that Tommy Herr would thrive on the MetroDome's turf.  They made the trade in late April, and it disrupted team chemistry very badly.  Turned out that Tommy Herr HATED leaving St Louis (where he was a fan favorite) to play in Minnesota, and his performance reflected that.  Bruno had also been a fan favorite at Minnesota, and his leadership, bat, and glove was sorely missed.  The Twins sort of seemed to be in a collective funk all year, in part because Herr was brought in to replace the popular (but offensively subpar) Steve Lombardozzi.  They finished a very distant 2nd place.
Herr was essentially done as a productive player (note: don't trade a 27 year old outfielder entering his prime for a 33 year old middle infielder).  The Twins flipped Herr the next spring for an even more past-his-prime Shane Rawley and went into full tailspin mode in '89.  Rawley went 5-12 with an awful ERA and retired following the season.  
I'm sure from a perspective of lost WAR there were worse trades, but the '88 Twins were potentially primed for another playoff run.  This trade derailed them.

The worst for me was Berrios trade, second Arraez, 3rd was Hicks.

So you're saying the Twins traded away a future all-star for a future all-star, but traded that future all-star for less than nothing..  Yep thats a bad trade. 
In 2013, the following ex-Twins were all-stars: David Ortiz, JJ Hardy, Torii Hunter, Joe Nathan, Grant Balfour, Carlos Gomez, Jesse Crain, and Michael Cuddyer.  Yikes.

Yeah, I'd even go as far to put Maeda in the winner column. Sure, his spring stats weren't great, but he's coming back from a major injury and just to have him out there throwing multiple innings again is encouraging to me. 

Rocco has been a loser this Spring. He still does not have his batters move runners over. Several times this Spring the Twins had more hits than the other team, but fewer runs. Spring training would have been a good time to practice moving runners over, but it just did not happen. The Twins are not going to be a good hitting team so they need to move runners over to score runs or they will be a losing team just like last year. Teams like the Twins that hit into so many double plays usually finish with losing records.

In this era where BP is almost more important than rotation I think Duran is a permanent key to the pen and the rotation is not only filled with vets but  has a number of young arms waiting in the wings.  

Did anyone notice that the Guardians beat the Yankees today and won a playoff game with bloop singles.  Oh, wait, you have to have exit velocity to win - right?  I love the way the Guardians play.  Rocco - please look up from your computer and watch Francona manage.

I just watched MLB.com talk about Bruce Sutter who averaged almost 2 innings per relief appearance at his peak - a number of years.  Starters pitching more innings, relievers pitching more innings.  What a difference and not a good one.  We need some new paradigms.  
 

Did anyone notice that the Guardians beat the Yankees today and won a playoff game with bloop singles.  Oh, wait, you have to have exit velocity to win - right?  I love the way the Guardians play.  Rocco - please look up from your computer and watch Francona manage.

Did anyone notice that the Guardians beat the Yankees today and won a playoff game with bloop singles.  Oh, wait, you have to have exit velocity to win - right?  I love the way the Guardians play.  Rocco - please look up from your computer and watch Francona manage.

I think people just overvalue a lot of Twins players.
Guys like Kepler and Polanco aren’t going back to 2019.
Nick Gordon and Trevor Larnach just aren’t that good.
Buxton will never play a full season.
Kirillof’s career may be derailed at this point.
Royce Lewis may never stay healthy. If he does, we don’t know he’s a good major leaguer yet based on a small sample.
The list goes on.  
 

Prielipp too hign, Varland and Wallner too low.  The last ten are just names to me.  And the second 10 are really a lot of disappointments and question marks. Truly a list that lacks what we are used to, but hopefully they will light things up and suddenly grab attention.  Balazovic is the biggest disappointment on the list along with Sabato ranking so low on a list that has so many unknowns.

Enlow hasn't pitched in a few years due to injury and COVID.  I suspect moving him to the pen is more about him finishing the season as he is likely on an innings limit.  
Its good to see we still have a stable of prospects after all the promotions, injuries, ineffectiveness, and trades.  We are definitely not as deep as in years past, but I think we can make that up over the next 2 years with good drafts.  

Just a suggestion. Show their their position and height/weight and age next to their names? 

I am not for Sanchez.  I want something from Winder/Ober/Varland.  We trusted a young Ryan, let's trust another young arm.  Sanchez has a -0.8 WAR.  That tells me how good he has been.   I went to BR and his statistics do nothing for me.  Yes we can trade him for Archer if we want the same results. 

I am not for Sanchez.  I want something from Winder/Ober/Varland.  We trusted a young Ryan, let's trust another young arm.  Sanchez has a -0.8 WAR.  That tells me how good he has been.   I went to BR and his statistics do nothing for me.  Yes we can trade him for Archer if we want the same results. 

I am not for Sanchez.  I want something from Winder/Ober/Varland.  We trusted a young Ryan, let's trust another young arm.  Sanchez has a -0.8 WAR.  That tells me how good he has been.   I went to BR and his statistics do nothing for me.  Yes we can trade him for Archer if we want the same results. 

I am not for Sanchez.  I want something from Winder/Ober/Varland.  We trusted a young Ryan, let's trust another young arm.  Sanchez has a -0.8 WAR.  That tells me how good he has been.   I went to BR and his statistics do nothing for me.  Yes we can trade him for Archer if we want the same results.