DocBauer

End of the day I get my choice for free? I take Wheeler and his velocity and the hope he takes another step forward. That's why he got the offers he did. That's not to knock him. The Twins, myself, majority of people here wanted him. But he is good with hope attached. I was never really in on Ryu. Just hard for me to be in on a guy, even a talented guy, who I just have no clue if he's going to be available, for how long, etc. I liked Bumgarner as I don't agree he will just "fall off a cliff". I like his success, knowledge and bulldog mentality and thought he would be a solid second choice behind Wheeler. Now, Maeda vs any one of these guys? I'd probably still take Wheeler, straight up, with the hoped for upside. But I am not disappointed in Maeda, like the trade, and it turns out even better when you factor in Donaldson and the Maeda $ numbers. Man, it's almost like our FO is smart or something.

I don't expect Rosario to suddenly re-invent himself. And let's be honest, guy is an amazing "bad ball" hitter. But if he can take all his experience and just reign it in even a little bit, he becomes so much more dangerous. And while not mentioned, I would like to see The Turtle make a few adjustments. Contact is great! But contact on stuff way outside the zone doesn't cut it. We saw he could hit in 2018. Healthy, we saw he could hit in 2019. When hurt or coming back, he really struggled at times. Able to just lay off the crazy/stupid stuff, guy has value as a reserve. Not a stud, not a star, but potential as a useful reserve.

I know he's on the 40 man, but really happy to see Celestino is getting plenty of action. Should only hasten his development. Seems to be an awful lot of talent to tap in to there. Did I miss something about Larnach? I think he's only been a DH so far in every game he's been in.

As a talent, I have no questions about Thorpe. While this is a setback for any sort of "immediate" contribution, long term I don't believe it will affect his status and future contributions more than say a bad ankle or something. As a person, I hope for the best for him. I'm guessing family. He seems like a tough and resilient kid, but he's already been through a lot. I wish him the best and hope this is something not really bad. I hate to say it, but selfishly as a Twins fan and a fan of Thorpe himself, I hope it works out soon and for the best.

I absolutely love the mentoring attitude of Donaldson! And while it isn't his job to coach, I sure he works with Blankenhorn. I've been intrigued by him since drafted. IIRC, he was a multi sport athlete in HS. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's not uncommon for those kinds of kids to take a little longer to hone their skills once they settle on a single sport. Kid is a good all around athlete with power and seemingly some hit potential. I've never heard he has a weak arm. Last year he concentrated on 2B and LF. He has the size for 1B and I would think he should be able to play at least a decent RF as well. I think it's a huge mistake to move him off of 3B so quickly. Now, I don't know, maybe he's just a butcher at the hot corner. But if he can play the position at least passably, or develop that ability, how valuable could he be as 5 position player with power?

I also thought for sure you were going to mention Duffey. I really liked what I saw of Littell last season, but there is absolutely room for improvement. And I mean that in a positive way. But if we're going to include Littell in this conversation, really curious why Stashak didn't make it an article about three potentials.

I appreciate the idea. I'd rather Kepler stay in RF if/when Buxton has any time off. Just not sure I can get behind trading any of our pitching for all the reasons given previously. I was really hoping there was a veteran FA flier to bring in on a milb deal for some insurance to start at Rochester and see if he rebounds. Not sure there is anyone left that fits that thought process. Might there be a similar player during the course of the season? Possibly. Could a trade option be available during the season? Also possible. I think I'd go status quo for now, see how the guys on hand actually do, and make a move if necessary rather than trade away a young pitching asset right now.

This is just my opinion, and I've stated it before, so take it for what it's worth. Polanco doesn't have a great arm and never will. But I won't hold any defensive stat against him until after 2020 as he has now had a little short of an full season working on a new throwing motion. Did it work? To me, we will find out over the course and the end of this year. Further, while a fine athlete, I have seen him mis-read some balls or simply drop them, despite getting to them and looking to be in position to glove them. In other words, he sometimes misses the easy play. Now, I'm not banging on the guy because I like him very much and I think he's better than given credit for and has room to improve. I think experience, concentration, better footwork will smooth some of those errors. So again, I'm holding out any real judgement until I see his overall growth through 2020.

Just tossing this out there, but there's a neat article on the Twins website about Sano and Donaldson already creating a bond from day one. And let's not forget, Sano helped champion Donaldson joining the team via a video message he made. Sano has clearly been growing the last year or so from everything we have seen. I'd invite everyone to read the article.

Kind of stole my thunder Cap, and that's OK. I think where the Yankees pen exceeds the Twins is in 2 areas: 1] They probably have more experience. 2] NAME RECOGNITION Point #1 can now be argued, somewhat at least, as a non-factor with Romo and Clippard on board, plus the experience of Rogers and May over the past few season's. Point #2 is easily arguable, reflecting some back to point #1 as well, because no matter how good any of our pen is/may be, everything from time to press...not results...would favor the NAMES in the Yankees pen. Skipping to the rotation, you also made a valid point or two in regard to the Yankees vs the Twins. I am not denegrading the Yankees...or Astros, or anyone else...when I/we look at the rotation depth. And while there are certainly some things left to prove, I really don't knkw that anyone has the depth of talent/potential/numbers that the Twins do. I was literally lost in thought yesterday on a 3 mile walk rolling the rotation options over and over in my head. Berrios, Odorizzi, Maeda, Bailey and one of Chacin, Thorpe, Dobnak or Smeltzer to begin the season. Let's just suppose Chacin is toast, which I kinda doubt, and the 5th spot belongs to one of the kids. Mid May, Pineda is now ready. Unless someone is hurt or just stinks, someone has to get bumped. July comes around...and I'm playing the long game here...and Hill is ready for the second half and hopefully the stretch run and playoffs. Now who gets bumped? And what about a couple of these young guys raking in Rochester for depth? It's a long season for EVERYONE. While we may not, in February for sure, match up at the #1 spot, the depth is outstanding. Winning and getting there is half the battle. And from there, anything can happen. I think we match up pretty well. Are we the best team? I don't know. But the pen and rotation are good and deep. The lineup is one of the best in all MLB. The fact that we are even debating as to whether we are the "best" team at this point is exciting as he'll! Can't wait for the season to begin!

Wish I could watch it, but at least I get some feel for the game here.

I thought Berrios and Romo both looked great. Alcala showed some life to his FB and had a few really nice breaking balls but was all over the place. I'm hoping that was mostly nerves/excitement and not truly indicative of his control. On Kepler, if he doesn't leadoff, I'd like to see him slot after Cruz and Donaldson and before Sano to break up the lineup. That should put him 4tn or 5th in the lineup most days.

Bomba for Wiel!

Are the Twins just that much better...and probably are...or do the Jay's just not care? They seem sort of lethargic

Romo in regular season form. Shouldn't be surprised.

FWIW, I thought Berrios looked sharp. Seemed to overthrow a few of his fastballs, but seemed to mix things up well and generally hit his spots. Couple nasty breaking balls.

55" of Twins baseball on my bedroom TV. (sniffle) I'm so happy!

Oh so tempted to make a Manfred joke here and blame him. But seriously, and not laying blame anywhere or on anyone because we have no clue what happened or what is going on, but isn't this just ridiculous? Literally each and every year, hundreds of Latin ballplayers go this process and yet we constantly come across bizarre situations like this. I'm sure a mistake or two will happen here and there that requires a simple correction, but a multi billion dollar industry doesn't have people in place to just dot a few "i's" or cross a few "t's" to make sure everything is in place ahead of time? We're not talking about circumventing the Berlin Wall here are we? Or are we? Is there so much unrest and incompetence politically that some players have no issues but others do? Are there under the table dealings we don't know about? Or is there really that poor of communication and competence between player and organization? I really don't know. But if it IS the last question asked, then shame on the Twins and MLB for not having a better handle on this after so many years.

Wonderful! Wish I was drunk enough or twisted enough to write this! Probably not far off how it actually happened.

This. At this point, it is about today and future tomorrows. Any mistakes or blame to anyone for any dark ages of drafting and development are moot. They are over and done. Just being honest, the jury will be out on the FO for a couple more years as virtually anyone they have drafted or acquired as a prospect has yet to reach the ML level. Early returns for development look very good for our current FO. Early returns on player acquisition outside the draft look very good. But for me, I am hopefully and enjoying what we are seeing and will refrain from any sort of judgment for another year or two. But yeah, I like what I'm seeing thus far.

To me, that is the entire key to any sort of "regular" order. (Though I'm sure Rocco will continue to mix things up as he did last season). There are good, sound reasons for Kepler, Polanco or Arraez all hitting #1. And it creates a bit of a trickle down affect. There are almost as many reasons for Arraez hitting 7-9 as there are for him hitting #1. Hitting between or behind less contact prone batters, for instance. You almost can't make a mistake however you make out the lineup.

I understand the arguments against. Phenomenally conditioned and determined, I see him growing "mentally" within the nuances of the game itself. The change seems to be improving but the curveball needs to come back. I have often mentioned stuff meeting experience. At only 26yo I see that happening, even if velocity dips some. Not speaking of Berrios directly, but if a guy drops from 96 to 94 while improving his secondary stuff and just further learns how to "pitch", that guy is usually better even with a decrease in pure velocity. I would absolutely like to keep him until or through age 30 if the contract demands aren't unreasonable.

I hate to be obvious, but I'd have to go with Chacin as he does qualify for the award. Gearrin is my second choice and more in keeping with the dark horse candidate status. He's had good seasons, is a veteran, someone could stumble or get hurt and I don't believe we HAVE to have that additional lefty. Am I wrong, or wasn't Kirlloff invited to ST? I know his stay won't be as long as the other guys, but i look for him to be impressive early, slide back over to the milb side of things, and then still make a couple additional appearances as they often "borrow" from the milb side for some games here and there. The bat is for real.

While I am very high on Thorpe and am basically predicting he is one of the starting 5 in 2021, with so many SP options in the chute for 2020, it would be easy to also list Dobnak, or even Chacin, as was mentioned. Kind of nice to reflect back on Odorizzi's year and realize that if he just repeats, and doesn't progress any further, that is a very, very fine pitcher right there! No 100% he's an X factor as Berrios taking a step forward, or Pineda being the same guy we saw from June 1st on could be named just as big of X factor, IMO. However, Buxton, no question, biggest X factor in 2020.

Nice to have a couple veteran bounceback fliers to call up in addition to the lines of Alcala and others.