IndianaTwin

Yes. And the corollary is that both teams can "win" a trade, because both received what they needed in exchange for something they needed less. In fact, the ideal is when both teams "win" the trade, because you get a good reputation and are able to make future trades. Trades aren't a zero sum game, particularly when they happen across league lines. In my vast experience as a geezer, even in my half-vast experience, seeking to "beat" the other person in a negotiation situation is rarely a long-term winning strategy.

Twins/Rays is at the same time as Jays/Yankees. Guess which one is on TV...

I assume this is the same game that was on replay on MLB Network when I woke up at four and couldn't get back to sleep. I saw two of his at bats, and he looked really good physically. Didn't see the stolen base, but saw the homer. This isn't a "the FO is so stupid for letting him go" post, but based on those two at bats and how he looked physically, I don't think we'd mind having him in spring training. Kudos to Sano for what's clearly been a lot of work on his part. I hope he makes their team.

You guessed it. It’s a cool set overall, but it’s got a great picture of him, the little “Topps All Rookie team” trophy and it’s the first “solo” card in the regular sets. Honorable mention goes to the 1976 card, but that’s primarily for the set as a whole, since it’s the set I spent the most time sorting as a kid and the first set I ever completed (as opposed to buying a few complete sets over the years).

A variation on your “favorite card in the set” is to identify the favorite card of a given player. If you are going in chronological order, I will soon find out if you rank my favorite Oliva card as the best in that particular set. Keep the posts coming!

This is shaping up to be a fun series @Al from SoDak. I’m looking forward to more posts. Last fall, I had a blog post describing the project of making a wall display of a complete set of Oliva cards, along with a bunch of Carews, Killebrews, Hrbeks, Puckett and others. See That blog included an in-process picture, so here’s my final result (as if projects of this nature are ever “final”). Near the upper left is the Oliva from this set, which I wasn’t familiar with until I began working on this. Olivas make up the first five rows on the left half.

From the OP: "The Twins' payroll situation has been discussed at length from multiple perspectives at Twins Daily." -------- Ad nauseum would be a suitable replacement for the words "at length," in my opinion. I get it -- salary is less than what many here want it to be and/or think it should be, but all of our "analysis" is done with incomplete information and without being privy to the internal discussions of what's going on. Not to mention that it's a little hard to compare "Opening Day" salaries when we're still a couple weeks from Opening Day. A late spring training trade or a signing of the Boras However Many Are Left by any of these teams changes the list.

He had an OPS+ of 100, 94, 100 and 100 in his ages 19-22 seasons, even being an All-Star at age 20. But they averaged 104 losses per season, so most of the time, he was about the third-best hitter on the team.

Also, Gus.

Is this any relation to Joey Chestnut? I hear he eats like a horse.

I wouldn't say Max has been inconsistent at all. In five of his seven full seasons, he's had an OPS+ from 92-98, which is a very tight range. His two outliers have been significantly better than that (and are actually very tight with each other). Going backwards, his bWAR is 2.9, 2.1 and 2.0 and would have extrapolated to 2.7 in the shortened 2020. Again, consistent. "Counting on a particular level of production" implies having a consistent floor. With Kepler, you can count on a floor that is very close to average offensively, partnered with what's seen as outstanding defense, particularly in a home park that can be tricky. We can talk about whether his contract his justified for a right fielder who is significantly above average defensively and a known floor OPS+ of 95. But inconsistency isn't the issue. There's not many people who have been as consistent as he has. For the record, I do think the contract is worth it and can understand why he "escaped the budget crunch," to borrow the phrase from the title. With the potential that's in the rest of the lineup, stick him in the nine hole to start the season and move him up if he gets on one of his rolls. If you've got a 95 OPS+ at the bottom of the lineup, that's pretty impressive.

The 19 from last year does include 10.1 combined innings over four combined appearances from Paddack, Woods Richardson and Derrick Rodriguez. There were 16 that pitched 12 innings or more, which probably isn't far off. I should have included a separate grouping for Moran, "Likely out for the season," so there are actually just 17 bodies listed, aside from the guys working as starters. I don't know if any of the NRIs include an opt-out, but between that possibility, an injury or two and general incompetence, a couple of those 17 won't make appearances. However, that list also doesn't include fast-rising prospects already in minor league camp. And odds are that one or more of the "currently working as starters" will actually get some relief appearances, whether because of a shift in role or because of load management. With all of those options, it seems likely to think they won't need to pick up many bodies along the way, a welcome change from prior years. This eternal optimist likes what they've done.

So last year the Twins used 19 "relief pitchers." I put that in quotes because it doesn't include that Maeda (1) and Keuchel (4) each entered a game from the bullpen. Nor does it include Luplow and Castro. Given that they are almost certainly going to go through more than the 11 "relievers" currently on the 40-man roster, I got noooo problem with rolling the dice with a minor league invite to the Brighams of the world.

Help me out here -- is this our current list of bullpen guys? Considered locks, if healthy: Duran, Jax, Staumont, Thielbar, Topa. On the 40-man, out of options: Jackson, Owert, Stewart. On the 40-man, with options: Alcala, Funderburk, Weiss. Non-roster invites/minor league contract: Balazovic, Bowman, Brigham, Duarte, Jensen, Henriquez, Moran. Being used as a starter, but at least a few folks on TD thinking of them as a bullpen option: Varland, Canterino, Headrick, Sands. Am I missing anyone? And I don't really care whether Stewart should be a lock and Topa not, etc, I'm just trying to put together a list of bodies. I feel like my wall needs one of those magnetic boards with movable nametags.

Of note (though maybe not a very large note), the trade where he went from LA to Miami was a 13-player trade. When was the last time you've heard of a 13-player trade?* *Please don't say, "Just now."

The great thing is that they've constructed a bullpen where he's not someone to be counted on. He's what, eleventy-seventh on the depth chart? As others have noted, virtually no risk -- anything he provides is a bonus. And even if he is mediocre in St. Paul, there's still a role for "guy who covers innings so the real prospects can stay on their regular rhythm."

This article in The Athletic seems timely: https://theathletic.com/5299395/2024/03/05/kyle-farmer-2024-twins/ Since you need a subscription, I'll summarize for those who don't have one. The gist is that Farmer himself was expecting to get non-tendered, but that he's very glad to be back. It also talks about why the Twins wanted him back and is very complimentary from a number of sources. I just posted a comment to this effect in another thread, but I think it's another example of the Twins treating players right, and I think that goes a long way in their success and player recruitment.

It's also another example of the Front Office having a reputation for treating players well.

Not mentioned in most of the "dump Vazquez" discussions of the winter is realizing it's one thing to say that they have Camargo as an option to replace him, but who would they have to replace Camargo? As in, it's incredibly rare to have gotten through 162 starts on just Vazquez and Jeffers a year ago. The likelihood of getting through 162 this year with just Jeffers and Camargo would be just as slim. So what would you do when, not if, one of those two goes down? At other positions, it's mostly about having a viable backup option, with roster flexibility designed to cover the third and fourth options. At catcher you really need to have a legitimate third option available because of the specialization required and increased likelihood of injury. EDIT: Mostly ninja'ed by the "risk avoidance" part of jmlease1's post above, but I'll leave this here for emphasis and agreement.

That's plane to see.

People overestimate the playing time players get throughout the season. There also has to be viable alternatives, which they haven't always had. Gallo spent most of the last month of the season on the IL, when there was wondering about how "hurt" he actually was. In the last quarter of the season, he started a whopping eight games. When he played in the last quarter, it was primarily for defense, which hadn't slumped. Javier Vazquez retired in 2011. If you mean Christian Vazquez, the alternative was to bring up a guy with zero MLB experience, in the middle of a pennant race, at the position most likely to have your starter go down due to injury. They kept playing Christian to keep Jeffers fresh in the regular season, and in the playoffs they showed they weren't committed to playing him when there was a better option. And you're not going to sign off on bad hitting when a bad hitter is still playing the good defense he was signed for. Bundy and Archer "earned" playing time by being available in a season when other starters were hurt and rookies were not ready. Simmons played when the alternative was to shift a hobbled Polanco back to short. Gonzalez was solid in his full year and only sucked in a year that was too short to release someone, but he was let go (i.e., not re-signed) when they had a chance that offseason. Morrison didn't need to get released -- he got hurt and didn't play after mid-August.

Oh, man, did we just sign ANOTHER left-handed hitting guy? Looks like he's got no speed either.

From the OP: "...There’s no reason that the start of the 2024 Minnesota Twins season shouldn’t be met with unbridled excitement. Following how last year’s team finished and the emergence of Royce Lewis, there couldn’t be more for fans to get behind. Brooks Lee should be coming this year, and Edouard Julien looks like a legitimate regular. A case can be made that Pablo Lopez could win the Cy Young, and Correa being healthy, may earn MVP votes. Even with all of that being true, fans were split, and indifference reared its head...." And yet, the rest of the article pretty much does the opposite.

Thank goodness Ed Ames isn't on the roster.

Not to mention that his manager, Ron Washington, is known to be a great infield defense instructor, even though he knows playing first base is incredibly hard.