EGFTShaw

Make it rain... 😎

Good or bad, we get to say "What the Hellman?"

it is October, so this is Scary. 🫣

Ugggggg, Ooops, I enjoy the article Nick! There is a solid core of players with more coming. We have not been able to say that very often as Twins fans. The only type of pitcher I would go after is one that slots in at SP2 but has potential to be SP1 or maybe the Ace. That is NOT an easy find and if you find one, even harder to acquire from another team. Our staff, somewhere in the Twins Org, should be able to coach up and teach defense. So someone who under performs in that side of the ball should be coachable to be at LEAST league average. I do understand the younger players may need more time. But there is the Sano Bar, if they are not improving then we need to find alternatives either inhouse or outhouse, (yes I wrote this whole article just to say outhouse 😁). SWR - had a very good full year Ryan - I think took the next step in his development Ober - also took a step, but need to figure out why when he is off he is OFF THE CHARTS off. Festa: impressed by what he did and how he responded to adversity Matthews: Holy crap guys, he went from High A to the Majors in one year? I think he has potential too. IF: We do need to figure out our 2B and 3B and how fits which spot best. Then get them reps, coaching and more reps. OF: We are sitting good, not great, at the OF slots too. Wallner responded well to his ABYSMAL start and being demoted. Larnach actually seem to figure somethings out. Here is where I think we have the dog from Hades 2.0, (this one has four heads), Buxton, C4, Lopez and Duran. Their performances need to be more even. Hitting-wise I think C4 and Bux-Truck did better than expected. But these injuries...more regular time off? Lopez - why does it take so long to get on track? Duran - still young and relief pitchers are very volatile, but identify why the drop in performance. I had advocated for retaining Sonny. He was Sonny this year, started a bit rough, ERA 3.84, WHIP: 1.09, 200+Ks more the 9Ks/9Innings. Would he have made the difference? Perhaps if he started in place of some of one of our 3-4 rookie pitchers maybe that saves the couple games that could have gotten us to the playoffs. Long winded, I got to work in the word Outhouse, but the Bottom Line because Stone Cold says so is: You cannot as either businessman or baseball fan, stay stagnant or cut the payroll. It needs to go back to the 2023 PLUS the baseball inflation amount. Invest in the product ROI will be a better TV deal. Cheapen the product ROI will be a terrible TV deal.

Don't disagree on JoeP at all. In fact I'd be surprised at $140M based on history. But, I am living in a fantasy world. 😁

I'm answering this as I would do if I was DF, not as I think will happen. First I'd go back to JoeP and push very hard to get back to 2023 levels minimum. The selling point, aside for increased fan attendance, is the viewing rights deal. These rights were at a high after the 2023 seasons, but by trimming payroll, JoeP gambled and devalued these rights. So as the master salesman that I am, I convinced JoeP to spend $165M; the $10M our current team was going to cost + the $155M of the 2023 team. Based on this report above of it costing $132M to keep status quo and not including the expiring contracts, I have $33M to spend. First I would look at Carlos Santana on a 1-2 year deal. Good glove, good bat, good teammate. Starting Pitchers: I know a lot of people are not enamored with our staff, but I think we have a good core. But was is lacking is the shutdown starter. The guy that will stop a losing streak. We contenders but no one has stepped up. But the good. Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and SWR. All made good to excellent steps forward. The potentially good: Festa/Matthews: Easily good 4-5 starters with potential to be better. Coming: Marco Raya, Corey Lewis and Andrew Morris. The Inconsistent: Pablo: when he is dealing, he is at an Ace level. The issue is this is not consistent enough over the season. He can't have so slow starts. Mediocre starts OK, but then you hit your stride and it lasts the year. Relievers: Good: Sands, Jax and Duran The rest: Meh. I mean Acala and Vaarland as full time reliever, but no one else who finished the season is worth much. Stewart has to come back from injury Topa barely pitched so is really also an return from injury Dobnak is same boat. With $33M I am not signing at FA Ace. But can I get a solid #2 with upside? How much will I need to spend to keep Carols "Guitar" Santana? I'll go into a complete plan during this offseason. Basically this is really just to address what I think the owners HAVE to do and that we have a good core of pitchers, lacking the a True Shutdown Ace, and the Twins are almost never in this position. Remember Ryan will be in is 4th season? Ober as well? Festa/Matthews their first and SWR his 2nd. Also, Buxton, C4, Royce and Paddock are going to under go a comprehensive exercise regimen to focus on their problem areas. Losing Bux, C4 and RL as much as we did is virtually unacceptable. It may be a change in playing habits, or treatments, or workout routine. They all need to be around 80% of the games minimum; 130 games. Coaches will be designated to different players specifically to work during the offseason on hitting, fielding, pitching all with the goal to improve each facet of their games.

As an OG, capitalize on that and run with it. Killer, TonyO, Carew, Kaat and Blyleven are who got me started when i was growing up in NW MN. Also I can't forget Cesar "HBP" Tovar. The "Clean" Perry, Jim vs I Can Sell A Video on the Spitter Gaylord. Walter Johnson: Wins: 417–279 ERA: 2.17 Strikeouts: 3,508 Shutouts: 110 Manager W/L: 529–432 Percent: .550 I didn't know he managed as well.

Correct, not so much in this thread, but other Twins Daily threads they do.

Ive abstained from reading most TD Comments because of the Doom and Gloom, (justified in many aspects tbh), but I am someone who moves on right away from an action, positive or negative, and look to the next step. Any SP brought in had to beat the Dobnak Bar AND, (this part is important) cost the appropriate players/prospects in return. The SP who would have justified that cost were not moved. JF of Detroit maybe but Detroit was probably never sending to the Twins without a treasure chest sent back. I think Toronto hoodwinked Texas, but Tampa did great business. All that business Tampa did wasn't really going to come the Twins way when you look at what Tampa received. That said I am OK with the pitching at the moment. Its not Great, but it's not Horrible either. Ober is quietly having a good year despite his initial shellacking he took. Ryan is also having a quality year. I am looking forward to seeing more Festa and hopefully seeing Zebby on the Big Twins. Also very curious to see what RandyD turns out giving us. So lets get behind out players and stop beating them up. Its not as though they aren't trying, (yes I'm talking about you JButler). The Guardians are still gettable, so lets go get 'em.

Yeah, I didn't understand how low Zebby was given he is now at AAA and has the best stats across the MN farm system, I'd put him at #4.

Before reading this article I had AK-19 E. Julien K. Farmer ??? C. Vasquez - has improved dramatically since the beginning of the season P. Lopez - similar to last year, but I feel he is still a bit off.

No shade on anyone, but... Reliable link on the Internet... 😁

tough to do isn't it. 😎 I think, despite his GSs, HRs, Playoff performance and the start of this year, I am most impressed with his overall attitude and outlook.

An unwritten rule that was never unwritten in the first place? Plenty of examples why Kepler should have done what he did, when he did it, because it is what should be done.

The correct answer is this totally speculative. Fairness it was not presented as anything else, but we just hit May 1st. This would be a good conversation to have on July 1st if the usage is the same. It lies with Buxton, training staff and team as to how he feels and how much management wants to manage his workload. All of us Chair GM, Chair Managers and Chair Physical Trainers all have opinions without any actual data to the day-to-day health of Buxton. He looks healthy. There was no way in hell that ChiSox were going to get him at the plate from 2nd based on the RBI hit by Kepler Monday night. Let's just hope Buxton is honest with the trainer and training staff.

I had hoped that Nelson Cruz would have taken him under his wings and taught him more about being a professional. The weight issue, (I deal with it), often can be discipline issue. but when he connected on a FB at Target Field it often ended up at Mall of America. 😉

Well now we know, it was the Twins who let the Dogs Out.

Touche 😉

Exactly this. Find some better content. We are getting too many articles with Click Bait Headlines about things that are more knee jerk reactions. I expect it from a place like Fox News/CNN, but Twins Daily???

LA (Evil Empire West) Dodgers Broadcasters: "A healthy Buxton, a gift to baseball" This is my take away from these early games. Plus, I'll take Ober's response to a horrible game with a solid start along with AK-19 hitting.

What was Taylor's HR potential before his career year in 2023 and how does that compare with Margot's HR for this year? Curious and BORED Twins Fan.

@DocBauer Did we replicate Royce, which if we did thank you, thank you, thank you. 😁 Great points. I've been bored this off season, not so much by the lack of movement by the Twins but because there wasn't a lot of movement needed. You can never have enough quality SP in this league, but I am glad we didn't regress to our old format of scrap heap pitchers. I want to see these young Guns. Also, can someone answer a question for me? I understand that hitting is a difficult task, but fielding? How can a player as talented as you have to be to make it to the Big Show, not be competent at fielding? I understand that when they enter the minors at Low A ball, they may not be average, but you have Low A, High A, AA and AAA to teach them to be competent.

So that averages out to: 9, 17, 14 and 15: 13.75 Or if you the skating scoring system from the 80s, throw out the high and the low (usually US & USSR judges), you get 14.5. Either way just a tad bit above league average

What a tease...but damn those stats from the DSL are amazing. Thanks for putting another prospect on my radar, which at my age has intermittent glitches. 😁

Keith Law's notes on David and Marco. The following is for informational purposes only and not my opinion, but belong to Keith Law. Bashing Law is pointless since I am quite sure he is not on the TD website. David, ranked 8th. Festa’s a 6-6 right-hander whom the Twins popped in the 13th round in 2021 out of Seton Hall. He’s developing into a potential back-end starter if he just gets another half-grade of control. He’s always had a 55 or better changeup and his velocity has ticked up in pro ball to the mid-90s, while the slider has developed enough to be a weapon versus right-handers, so he showed no platoon split whatsoever in 2023. Marco: Ranked 5th Raya’s a smaller right-hander who might have the best pure stuff in the Twins’ system, but he’s had trouble staying healthy and doesn’t pitch that much when he is on the mound, maxing out at 63 pitches in a single appearance in 2023. It’s 94-97 mph with a four-pitch mix; both the slider and change miss bats while the fastball has good life to at least limit hard contact. He missed 2021 with shoulder soreness and now has thrown 127 2/3 innings in the last two years. You have to develop him as a starter because of the upside, but you can’t reasonably project him in that role when he’s had this much trouble staying on the mound. Just to add to this because KL has a pitcher between these two: Charlee Soto: ranked 7th Soto was the Twins’ second pick, 34th-overall in the 2023 draft, earning a bonus just under $2.5 million after a spring where he’d show three plus pitches … if you saw him at all, as he pitched somewhat infrequently for a Florida high schooler. He’s hit 98 mph with some life to it, probably more for sink than ride up top for whiffs, and can both spin a hard slider and show a split-change with late fade. He didn’t turn 18 until after the draft, so the Twins gave him the summer off. He’s inexperienced and it can show on the mound in terms of command and sequencing. It’s probably No. 2 starter ceiling, depending of course on him staying healthy with this kind of arm strength at his age.