Is it good for your team leader in plate appearances to post an OPS below 750 and contribute nothing on defense?
Neither is the best answer. Take the combined money and buy someone good in free agency.
If the Twins really want to win they need a better DH than Josh Bell. He’s 1.5 wins below league average as a DH. He’s also not getting any younger. Keeping Larnach is a better idea than bringing back Bell.
Back to the topic of the pitching coach hire, it certainly looks like they are trying to find a pitching coach who agrees with the fastball-first philosophy of the front office.
Upgrading the defense is going to be necessary to make that philosophy successful. Fastballs don’t generate as much swing-and-miss as breaking pitches. That may be one reason why Maki called so many breaking pitches.
When he talks about setting up relievers, it could be interesting to see Ober come into the game in relief throwing offspeed slop after the batters have been fed a steady diet of 96 mph fastballs.
I would like to see them add Carson Kelly if possible. Freddy Fermin, Carlos Narváez or Henry Davis would be good glove trade options.
Joey Bart is a potential non-tender but probably worth his $3M projected award. He seems marginally better than using Alex Jackson. Call the White Sox and offer them cash considerations.
I like having the highly paid veteran soak up the saves. It makes arbitration cheaper for the younger pitchers. If Hoffman is successful he could be flipped at the deadline.
“simplify, simplify. For example, this will look like Bradley leaning heavily on his elite cutter; Ryan trusting his fastball even more; and Jeff Hoffman spamming his slider“
That approach worked for Mariano Rivera, but most pitchers don’t have a best pitch as good as Rivera’s cutter. It sounds like they’re hiring a throwing coach, not a pitching coach.
I saw Baseball America ranked the Twins minor league pitching as among the worst in Stuff+, so maybe they could use more help in the analytics department. Why can’t they draft any decent pitching?
I looked up historic worst Twins pitchers for grins
JA Happ, Scott Klingenbeck, John Pacella, Jerry Fosnow, Sean Bergman, Matt Shoemaker, Terry Felton, Liam Hendriks
Cody Christie turned it into an article in 2024.
Cost of the player’s salary should never figure into an MVP vote. I don’t want the best players disqualified because they’re paid fairly for their performance. It is most/least valuable, not most under/overpaid.
These are pitchers who were highly rated before the injury - McDonald, Tidwell and Whisenhunt were top 10 organization prospects in 2025 and Birdsong was top 10 in 2024. Similar ratings as Mick Abel and similar expectations after surgery.