Dman

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Regarding the last point, this may be the deepest Twins squad since the 91 World Series winner.  Somebody will say something about the squads over the 2000s until 2011, but those teams always had deep bullpens, but a couple of starts with no business in the major leagues and several AAAA fielders.  Everyone on this squad is a clear major league player.  The only players anyone could argue may not be ready are Larnach (due to experience) and Pagan (who actually had a better second half after being pulled out of the closer role).
Even better is that there are major league caliber players at AAA at every section of the roster. 
I know there is some heartburn over Ober, but we haven't had a ready starter at AAA to start a season in decades, let alone three.  But with Ober, which of the five starts would you dump for him on opening day?  People mention putting Maeda in the bullpen, but he was so dissatisfied with relief that he asked the Dodgers for a trade and was an outstanding starting for us.  He deserves the right to try to start again after the injury.  Not letting him try is disloyal and would have ramifications for morale and our desirability as a landing place for pitchers in later years.  Players remember and word gets around.

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

I think Maeda looks close to ready but no way he goes 25 plus starts and 150 innings. He's 19 months from pitching in an MLB game. I think we'll be lucky to get 90-100 innings, 15-17 starts from him. Ober will get the other "half" of that starting spot. Or more likely, an injury or two happens and Maeda, Ober and Varland all get 15 plus starts at the MLB level. 
My prediction is that by August, Ober will be in the starting rotation and Maeda will be in the bullpen - just like the dodgers used to pitch him over the course of the season. worked pretty well, too. 

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Maeda looked like he took a step forward in his last start

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. 

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Nice article!  Can't say I disagree with much.  I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at.  Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

Trevor Larnach has good spring training stats.  Thanks for a good article.

I don’t believe any real catching prospect is cheap. Teams need two good catchers and at least one other that is major league ready. They aren’t going to easily trade that depth. If Rodriguez could have been picked up cheap last year someone would have picked him up.
Quero is probably the Angels third most valuable minor league prospect. The Twins third most valuable minor league prospect might be Rodriguez or Julien. The Twins wouldn’t let any other team cheaply pick them up.
The Twins do need young catching and should be willing to pay up to get it. Quero is worth pursuing but it might take Julien.
 

I’d say zero chance. Miranda has now been cleared for all activities and is starting to throw. Gordon has been cleared for all activities. Polanco is on track. If Kirilloff isn’t ready for opening day, and that looks very iffy, Larnach or Wallner will. We have Solano, Miranda, Gallo and Farmer who can play first. Then the question of who comes off the 40-man to make room? Yeah, zero chance. 

Willi Castro is far likelier to make the team than White.
Castro has been having a stellar spring, he's young, and he could play all over the diamond with Miranda/Gallo/Farmer/Solano rotating in at 1B. To even have a shot at the opening day roster, it's likely that someone else other than AK would need to not be ready for the start of the season (someone like Gordon or Miranda). 

I felt the same way Luke and was disappointed when he was sent down. It's a big question mark in what happen. IMO he wasn't happy here and wasn't handled right in a few aspects. If he could have adapted quicker and everything worked out better. He'd have been awesome in '19. 

I like the thought behind this, but I think you are over estimating the value of Farmer and Kepler. To get most of those players the Twins would have to add prospects, IMO.

Dodgers are not going to overpay for a guy like Farmer who will just be a little upgrade over what they have, if an upgrade at all.  Could they have interest in Kepler, but gain will not overpay.  There will be other options for them to improve without overpaying.  

That's a great breakdown! Thanks for the information!
Yes, just from a batting perspective, Gurriel would at least project as a bit better overall, assuming he comes back close to his previous career numbers after a down 2022. Can he at his age? Well, he was still pretty good in 2021, IIRC. I would have been fine adding him. But Solano had a re-birth with the bat a few years ago, offers very similar numbers, and obviously provides a great deal more versatility.
In an ideal world, everyone is healthy and playing/hitting to expectation and there is no room for Solano on this team, despite being a good, solid player. I mean, I'd rather have a 100% and productive Larnach and/or Kirilloff in his place. But how often is the roster 100% healthy at any time? So solid bat, solid glove, experienced, and versatile. And if Farmer is pressed in to extended starting time at any spot, Solano is a nice utility player where the Twins don't have to make room for a AAAA player, or rush any of the kids.
I good signing that I like the more I reflect on it.
 

The bat relative to the team is outstanding. He was so much better than anyone else on the team with over 100 PAs. The team OPS was .685. His was 1.047.
On the other hand his ability to throw out base stealers relative to the team was poor throwing out only 7% in the FCL. That is consistent with his poor numbers the previous season. Endy was throwing out 44% and 31% at a similar place in his career. If we are going to compare the two I think we need that data.
 

7% is concerning, IMO Olivar has the tools to control the runners (above avg. arm, quickness & instincts) but they need to give him that extra attention to achieve much better results as far as behind the plate.

1st I heard of Olivar was on a podcast called "Scout the Statline" they were evaluating 10 top catching prospects. I was interested in Endy Rodriguez (PIT) and some other catching prospects that maybe we could nab.  They announced at #10  Ricardo Olivar from MN. I said to myself WHAT? I've never heard of this guy. They only gave his offensive stat line & said keep an eye on him.
It's hard to get defensive info on this guy, only that he's got an above average arm. Since he plays a lot of CF, I suspect that he has quick reactions & good instincts both good qualities for a catcher.

Yeah I didn't know a thing about him until he showed up in Gleeman's top prospects list.  He sure looks like he has a solid approach.  Good walk rate, Good K rate, Good slugging, excellent average.  The bat looks really good but full season A ball will be a good test for him.  Lot's of young players struggle with the better pitching there.
If this kid can stay at catcher and actually throw guys out at a decent clip he could really help the Twins system out as they are struggling in the catcher department.  I have my eyes on this kid as well and hoping for big things from him this year.  Still he is only 21 and Catchers generally take a long time so he has time.
If more of these international signings can work out it could really lift the system up.

If you really want to know about Helman you will have to hope Seth responds.
The main issue I see is Helman doesn't have any plus tools not one.  His best tools are average at best per MLB.com . Still he is an over achiever and if he ups his power and finds a way to OPS in the high 800's to 900's he will get his chance.  If not with the Twins then elsewhere.  He just needs to distinguish himself and the best way would be with the bat.  Also the Twins are loaded with talented infielders and with Correa and Polanco blocking 2nd and short and Miranda third for now there isn't a place for Helman to break in.
I think he is a good player and there is a reason he made the top 30 prospects but making it to the big leagues is hard.  He has a lot of competition.  Hopefully he continues to hit and hit with power and he will get this chance.