MeleMouth

With two outs in the ninth inning of the fourth game of the 1947 World Series, Lavagetto broke up what would have been the first no-hitter in World Series history. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-3-1947-cookie-lavagettos-walk-off-double-shocks-yankees-ruins-bill-bevens-no-hit-bid/

Varland and Duran would definitely have helped the Twins make the playoffs this year, but then what? Collectively, Varland and Duran would not have been as good as they were apart, because much of their WAR overlaps. Add Varland and Duran to the present roster and they still lose in the first round. Add Varland, Duran, healthy Lopez, healthy Ryan, healthy Buxton, first half Larnach, and first half Jeffers, and maybe they have a chance in the first round, but that's a lot of "adds," which means the likelihood of all of it happening is pretty small, and their chances of advancing beyond the first round is even smaller. Have a roster with that set of "adds" and there would be less chance of Culpepper or Jenkins being on the roster, much less ERod, which sets back next year, when a bunch of the "adds" would be gone or leaving soon anyway. The team cast its lot into rebuilding when they didn't bring Sonny Gray back and didn't add the next year. They just denied it to themselves for three years of mediocre baseball. Edit: Also, the answer to your "what if" asking whether the Twins would have been more aggressive at the trade deadline this year is "probably not." Of the top players traded, probably the only one who would have helped the Twins was Skubal, and the Tigers wouldn't have traded him to the Twins and the Twins would not have outbid the Dodgers. They wouldn't have had the guts to trade for Peralta, and Rutschman would have been duplicative of Jeffers. Maybe they would have gone for Arraez, who has basically been bad since the trade deadline?

For Eric Wagaman, because you can never have enough poor-fielding, mediocre-hitting, platoon bats.

I thought the Twins would lose 90 games, so they were *successful*, I guess. However, in the big picture, this was one of the worst years in a long time for the Twins. Winston Churchill allegedly said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Many great businesses take advantages of downturns to rebuild their businesses, invest in areas where their competitors aren't, and emerge from the downturn stronger than their competitors. Tom Pohlad, on the other hand, as the representative of a family who inherited billions and never had to make life-changing decisions under existential threat, and perhaps reflecting more current political leaders, thinks the way to address a downturn is to deny its existence and message positivity. Leaders who follow this strategy usually fail to make the hard decisions that lead to market-gaining opportunities when the crisis is over. In fact, when the crisis ends they usually emerge as weaker competitors. Unfortunately, that's the path the Twins took this year, and it bodes poorly for the immediate future.

Why are they playing Lewis? They know what he can do. At this point, the best reason to play him is to make him struggle so much that they can get inside his head.

The Jays were happy to dangle Martin because they realized quickly that his rep was better than his ability to play major league ball. Same with SWR.

Radke and Silva were pretty good, and when Radke retired Baker was pretty good. Bradley could have replaced Boof Bonser as #5 if Gardy and his pitch to contact philosophy didn't mind the higher number of walks.

Josh Bell at $7 million for a DH with a 105wRC+ is like going to an expensive fine dining restaurant and ordering the lo-cal dinner. And I like Josh Bell.

Somebody needs to do these jobs. The Twins need a plan for what they will do if it happens. They also need to be sure they have the best leader to deal with it. The suggestion is that someone outside the organization could address losses in player development better than Zoll.

Ryan Fitzgerald would have been great as a bench utility guy. He could hit a little and play solid defense. Oh, wait.

Management must be tired of Royce Lewis Superstar and will try to get more for him than they got for Julien. Depending on the length of the lockout, Buxton may be ready for Opening Day. 99% chance Bell won't be on the 2027 roster.

Hoffman lasted longer than Dyson, but contributed the same amount to playoff success. Congrats to Zoll and Pohlad.

Zoll can be proud that Hoffman lasted longer than Dyson, although Falvey was smart enough not to tie himself down to the next year for a reliever.

Johan Santana? You mean when Bradley was five years old?

Ober? Kremer? Sounds like someone who ruined his coffee.