Jham

last year he was seen as a DH and perhaps even damaged goods. The perception was maybe Tampa knew something the rest of the league didn't. Many teams were scared of him for that reason. I was.

I don't think Cron makes it through waivers. He's relatively young, relatively productive, and has the upside for a breakout season (basically if he sandwiched his healthy 1st half). Unlike when the Twins took the chance, he's now shown he can be defensive asset. Cron in his final arb year only costs money 1 year. The pitching we're discussing will be 4 or 5 year deals. This staff loves 1 year deals. Insurance for a Cruz injury isn't awful either. I'd rather pay a little more for short term investments than have an extra couple million thinking that will be the difference on Cole and not the 6th and 7th year and extra 75 million the Yankees are going to offer.

I dunno. I doubt he makes it past waivers. The amount of teams that are shedding payrolls would probably love a player of his caliber available on a 1 year basis. Even if not picked up on waivers, we'd have to outbid the free agency market which may require a multi year deal. Cruz is in his last year. Dangling a reasonable extension with the leverage of a non-tender is an option I'd look at. I shudder to think what our infield defense would have looked like without Cron scooping everything for most of the year.

96 regular season games and 3 playoff games this season? My point is only that all the forum talk is centered around bringing in free agent arms slotting above to just behind Berrios. No talk about a Berrios extension which we attempted and failed last winter, reportedly. If he's not going to re-sign its reasonable to start thinking about a potential Glasnow type return.

Rays traded Archer and got back Glasnow. (and Odo for nada) Berrios has to be even more coveted... Lots of ways to build a winner.

By what standard was he good? WHIP<1.10 K/9>11.5 xFIP 3.39. 45% GB rate. Numbers were killed by likely unsustainable hr/fb of 22%. In the post season, he's had 3 good starts and 3 poor. line ups are good come October. We all get you never liked Darvish, but you don't have to disparage a good pitcher who had a sneaky good year, who'd be a prime candidate to improve with better luck on fb and Buxton roaming center in target field. Didn't Odo lead the league in HR 2 years ago? More to the point, our decision makers like him.

I guess there's really 2 conversations going on with a little overlap. There's: What SHOULD we do? Sign Cole. Trade for Thor. Sign Wheeler. Then there's: What WILL we do? Announce we have no spending limit, try to construct a team within a spending limit of $110 to $135 million. Renegotiate Perez. Kick the tires on Odo, Bumgardner. Get outbid for Gibby. Probably being back Pineda, a test away from a year-long suspension and not having to pay the second year. Give Berrios to a modest extension (1 year past arb) to placate the fans. Look for the next Anibel Sanchez among late free agents. Both are interesting conversations to have. but read alongside each other, the realistic version is frustrating and depressing. If we did somehow make a deal for a big name, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Yu Darvish. Could trade now without giving up a ton and get him close the deal we originally offered. FO obviously likes him.

We will trade them both... when cheaper replacements are available and it's evident neither will resign for a lowball offer. This team doesn't trade prospects, it hypes them. This team doesn't sell superstars, it sells hope, and hope is much much much cheaper than super stars. From that standpoint it doesn't matter much if the prospects pan out or not. What matters is that they represent the hope of the unknown. Fans love prospects, Twinsdaily loves prospects, and the Pohlads love rookie deals. everyone wins... except the twins. Get to know 'em, in deed.

I'd guess Pineda gets a multi- year deal and Odo declines the QO and goes to free agency. Probably signs after the draft. We likely get nothing.

At some point we'll have to extend Berrios too. There's no way the Twins will carry more than 2 long term pitching contracts. Historically, we've never even carried 1. Big name free agents require long commitments. For lux tax teams that's actually a benefit, financing over more years. For us, it means looking for 1 to 3 year deals. Reclamation projects, guys at the end, injury prone arms, or just serviceable pieces.

The real failure at the deadline the trade deadline this year may not have been the failure to improve or chances at and in the playoffs, but rather the missed opportunity to salvage the 2020 rotation. It certainly appears that we've left ourselves with too much to do.

Unnecessary dig at Rosario who was having a career year before battling hamstring and ankle injuries. For most of the first half he showed patience (for him) and was turning into the player we hoped he could be. The talent is unquestionably there. The team largely went as he went. He was a leader his teammates looked up to, often the voice of the team. I'd give him a first baseman's mitt before I traded him. We have guys we need less who will fetch more, imo.

If we wouldn't trade at the deadline when we could have gotten an extra 1/2 season and play offs we knew we were in position for, and almost no competition, can't imagine we will pull off a trade with more teams looking to add, fewer sellers, and every team tied. We're in an awkward position of needing 4 starters. if we only get 1, we'd potentially be better off getting none and using 2020 to continue rebuilding. If we can get 3, we will likely have made a large investment and have raided the farm system such that we'd be pot committed and might as well push all in and get an ace. Knowing the Twins strategy is more of a business model based on selling hope for the future, my guess is we will straddle and shoot for borderline contender. Good enough to keep fans interested and draw sellouts, cheap enough to maximize profits, young enough to sell hope that we're trending up.

Yeah he had a choice. He could have sulked. He could have asked for a trade. He could have demanded playing time. When the Twins played in Baltimore after he was dealt to Milwaukee at the deadline the previous year, a year in which he statistically fell off the table, then signed with the Twins for 2019, his first at bat back in Camden Yards he received a standing ovation from a very appreciative and knowledgeable fan base. His last year there was much worse than his year here. It later came ot that he was playing hurt most od the season. I watch almost every game, and he is always laughing and joking with his teammates, cheering when not playing, and playing hard when he gets the chance. He was mostly bad in the 2nd half and small in big moments, but overall he had a productive year. It's easier to have good chemistry when you're winning, but good chemistry also contributes to wins (anecdotally).

I actually really like Schoop. I thought he and Cruz providing leadership was a big reason for the turnaround. He handled his demotion like an absolute professional. He had shown flashes of all star in his career and overall this year was a bounce back for him after playing hurt mitch off last year. I'd be happy to have him back but I'm guessing he'll want a place where he can start.

whatever happened to moving the 3rd basemen behind 2nd and leaving the shortstop on the left?

I could see us declining Perez' option and trying to resign him to a similar incentive laden deal. He flashed big time early. Might have run out of gas as our whole rotation seemed to. I wonder if working with Wes to throw harder also contributed to the midseason fall off. I also wonder if the more drag free ball contributed to velocity and hindered off speed pitches...

I'm not saying he can't be Seager (18 overall) or Coreia (1 overall). I'm saying it doesn't look like he'll have that kind of immediate impact which you might want from a 1 overall. If he ends up as more of a project, well I think it's fair to have higher expectations for a first overall pick who peaked inside top 10 overall prospect lists. And once again, he put up good single A and rookie ball numbers, but not what I'd consider eye popping. At the very least, I don't think we can bank on him being an upgrade over anything we have now or even a replacement in 2020.

I mostly agree with your assessment. I also think sometimes prospect evaluation is a bit of a rorshach test. you can see what you want to see, and what you see is often guided by bias and expectations. Evaluators who see a young heady toolsy player with charisma can see his speed playing at any position and his bat developing along the way. Those seeing a first overall pick and finding a natural recent comp in Carlos Correa might find even his early success relatively disappointing in comparison. Correa was up in 3rd season at 20 years of age, cruising through 3 levels and dominating at a level that Lewis isn't close to. I'm not swayed by the swing alteration. The fact that they had to make such drastic adjustment so early in his career and his inability to adjust does not suggest the natural talent of a top 5 MLB SS (or 3b or cf). On top of that, evidently there are large doubts on his ability to stick at short. Now the talk is 3b over center field, and frankly nothing suggests his bat will be better than average at a corner, nor that his glove will be elite there either. Dude ops mid .600s at the same age and levels than Correa was opsing 1.000 and jumping to the show. Ditto Corey Seager. For most prospects, it's whatever. For our top prospect and a former #1 overall, I don't see how this is anything but alarming. Agree that next year is important. Lewis has to play half the year like fall league (as opposed to even his 2018 numbers) and hit the majors in order to really have a realistic chance at hitting his ceiling. Right now it appears that he'll ops in the mid .700 with average to above average power. Basically Trevor Plouffe with speed. If that excites you about a 1 overall, you're wearing very Twins colored glasses, imo.

Nothing's in stone. But he's a number 1 overall pick. His competition isn't the AFL, it's other No.1 picks and MLB's top stars. If he's not that type of player, it's starting to appear he's not, then pretending he is is counterproductive to planning for the future unless you're trading up. If we're predicting Marwin Gonzales upside, and other teams still see him as Carlos Correa, we should trade him. If we think he's Correa then his bat plays wherever. Correa and Gonzo are both good players, but not equal.

Do we have actual evidence that 3b defense is more important than 1b? I criticized playing Sano at 3rd and Marwin at 1st based on the assumption that you should pt the stronger defender at 3rd rather than 1st. From what I saw, Sano is pretty bad at first. Pretty bad at 3rd. But his arm plays at 3rd at least. his range sucks either way. his hands are in my opinion below average. I think 1b is more important, involved in more plays. And I believe Sano is better at third than at first. And that Marwin is better at both. Therefore, Marwin at first and Sano at 3rd is better than the transverse. 3b hides Sano the most, and utilizes his strength. Twins fans 4 years ago: Big guys CAN'T play a good RF. Aaron Judge: Hold my beer. Fans: I literally can't even reach your bee... Judge: Tosses beer in the air, lays out and snares liner over his head, then catches beer without spilling a drop and chugs it as a third arm reveals itself to throw a 95 mph strike to the cutoff man.

His bat doesn't clearly play at a corner. Needs to stay up the middle, consistently hit better, or get traded. Fans on this site were scoffed and laughed at for bringing up his struggles this season. Then he plummeted down prospect rankings after the season. I'm so sick of watching this team sell nothing but hope. But it's a brilliant marketing strategy...

I think some of the "stay the same" is based on our 2019 success and the resignation to how our front office works, or doesn't work. A key tenet to modern baseball management is to pay for future production vs past. ie who is likely to hold their form or improve. Perez flashed dominance. I think he could improve and fill a back end. I would not necessarily bet on Pineda improving. He was caught taking a making agent. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it is. Odo and Gibson have strong track records. Both showed good velocity. Twins have never been good about signing FA. The FO prides themselves in not overpaying which is what FA is. So here's the catch 22. The guys the forum wants back or hopes to add are guys everyone wants. The chances we get even 1 of those guys, Odo, Pineda, Wheeler, Bummy, Ryu... remote or impossible. That's why we're looking closely as to whether Gibby can bounce back, whether Perez can take another step forward, whether Smeltzer/thorpe/dobnak are legit. I could see the Twins trading for Darvish for some reason. Finished strong, 1.10 whip. Hasn't worked out great in Chicago to date. FO loves him. We balked at years, fewer years left on the k now.

Also, pitch selection. Yankees weren't swinging down in the zone. We were so worried about HR we forgot to elevate fastballs for swinging strikes, pop outs and just to change hand and eye levels. Gibson reinvented himself with the high 4 seamer then came un and threw almost all sinkers at the bottom of the zone. He'd fall behind and no one would respect the slider which he was actually rolling off the table. He threw 1 pitch up and in to DJ and got a swinging strike then hung a slider middle in. Dobnak did the same thing.

Uhhh we've questioned this for a while, but why Margo at first and Sano at third? Both have strong arms but Margo has much better hands and range. Sano let two gettable balls get by him in absolute huge spots. Gardner caught him off guard, and the bases loaded double of his glove in Yankee stadium. To me that was obvious during the season and it finally caught up with us at the worst time.