Ghost of Kirby Puckett

Translation: My way. Stopped reading at that point. I'm sure it says something like all the hitters k too much, and Jenkins is the only guy who MIGHT make it but even he is having an average year, or something close. 😂 Rinse and repeat, here and everywhere else he posts.

That sound it makes is different. And man, a couple of Culpeppers homers recently have also sounded like his bat is exploding. Abel with 11 punch outs last night also. Guessing he is up in the rotation by September.

I wouldn't pay attention to any of those numbers since he has been in and out of the lineup so much. Hard to gauge anything from this season in those little bursts. It's very troubling how often he is hurt, I'm not holding my breath for him anymore. I question whether he'll ever stay healthy.

Agreed. All those arms we just grabbed, Rojas, Abel and Gallagher, are all going to get rotation opportunities next year. Along with Festa, Matthews, SWR, Lopez and Ryan. Ober is gone imo. Lopez and Ryan possibly also. I think they move Morris to the pen. Maybe Prielipp to pen. Going to be interesting. Probably an extremely young squad next year, reminiscent of 1999.

Like you, I'm also bullish on Winokur. He is that create a player on MLB the Show you make, lol. Arm, speed, power, size and acumen. Keaschall, I liked on day one and all the receipts are littered across this site with my praise and predictions for him. He is a stud. If his arm doesn't get broken, he wins ROY. He is really, really good. No fluke. Just goes up and drives it all over the place. Today he absolutely clobbered a walk off to right center over the wall. His teammates, you can tell, feed off him. If Royce turns it around and with Walker looking like he doesn't much care to delay his arrival, man these guys could be dynamic together. I do wonder if they'll send Walker and/or Culpepper to AFL. I think that will be very telling of where they see them in the pecking order if they both went. Jenkins is a freak though. I mentioned man muscles earlier in a post about Dasan Hill. Walker has his. Guy already looks 20 lbs bigger than last year, and he is raking right now. As his power catches up to his hit tool, which I think we're seeing at this point, watch out. He could be a superstar. So lucky we fell into that pick!!!!

When his man muscles come in the next couple years, watch out. He is all about projection, and that frame when it fills out, with his current skill set!! Mark Mulder or Barry Zito I will take, thank you very much. I can dare to dream we finally have a nasty LHP in the rotation again.

I have not been shy in my fondness of Gallagher. I think he is a steal, especially if we do the usual and add a couple ticks and tighten up his slider just a hair, maybe swap that curve out and get him into Twins sweeper school with Pablo, etc. He will be in the rotation imo at some point next year. Back end or spot starting.

We 100% have a top five minor league ranking right now. Hell, even Keith Law, not AI or a teenager, who I've wondered if the Pohlads may have stolen his grandfather's farm back into the day and that explains his distaste of Twins prospects over the years, loves us in his most recent rankings. He has both Prielipp and Culpepper top 60. Along with Abel, Tait, Keaschall, EmRod and Jenkins. That is some serious talent spread out over three levels. When Gallagher is your 16 or 17th best prospect, you're doing really well. And since you mention Winokur, who I also like, I believe he is also on the rise. His last two months he has raked, and I believe he is around 25%k rate on the season, but since the beginning of June, that number sits right around 20%. He has a ways to go, but man his skills are insane for anyone who hasn't seen him yet. Literally the guy is a 60 imo at pretty much everything but hit tool, that needs quite a bit of polish. He is very young for his level, and being asked to play the most demanding positions on the field minus Catcher. Id repeat him at Cedar Rapids to start next year, in the hopes he goes off early and really FORCES that promotion to Double AA, which will be a great challenge. But man for his age, it's still impressive. And his size, it's just crazy how he moves. Has an absolute hose. And is like a runaway freight train once he gets rolling. Fun fun player to watch.

I am not, but my Dad is, so I am familiar, lol. I also know he has an equally deep hatred for Lou Holtz, Norm Green and Mariah Carey. So he really didn't like Calvin.

I love Rojas and he will be good imo. But how is it too good to pass up Derek, when you have a homegrown kid who is also really good and also under control FOR 6 MORE FU**ING YEARS? THIS IS BS, PERIOD. I swear on my brothers grave it was done as an F U. I literally cannot make sense of it, any other way. That or the guy is just an absolute dip ****. In my head when I heard Varland rumors, I thought Dodgers and probably a really good haul for all the reasons stated above. But I also thought, even moreso really, no way, why? He is exactly what every damn team wants and needs. I can make sense of almost all the other deals, maybe not the returns, if I'm calm and think it thru. Varland, nope. And even Jax really. Why? There was no need, at all. You could do it in the off season or next July when we suck ass again. This was the Pohlads sticking it to fans, period. All that family has done for a 100 years is take, destroy, repeat. Why stop now.

That's a pretty hard argument to make, considering the Pohlads might be one of, if not the worst owners of a baseball team, ever. And besides, we already know what we get with that family. At least there is a possibility of normalcy with new owners. You shouldn't own a team if you're gonna run it like it's a gas station.

I covered that in another post, at GREAT length.

I like Rojas quite a bit. But he needs to gobble innings the remainder of this season. Maybe AFL since he missed first couple months with abdominal injury. And keep stretching it out next year, like get to 150ish innings and the curve he is on, he'll be ready at that point imo. And Gallagher is a sleeper for me. Lots to like with him. Gives me Ryan vibes. Abel and Bradley, we shall see. I like Abel better out of the two.

Who is that Joe Ryan guy again? Sorry, but this take is meh imo. I would argue Lopez, Ryan and a guy like Sonny Gray have had or are having great seasons, vast improvements actually over previous stops. Ober, Festa and Matthews were all later round picks and have made vast improvements relative to pre draft synopsis and draft position. And the guys we just gave up, Duran and Jax and Varland, that people rightfully feel the pain of losing, also developed right here. I could go on and on with examples. Hell, we were a juggernaut the first two and a half months on the rubber until injuries wiped us out. Pitching is not my concern with this org right now. I'm looking around at the manager and ownership, and I'm pinning 75% minimum right on them. The Wilfs they are not, lol. It's embarrassing for baseball what occured today with a team 5 games under five hundred trading half the roster. I think it needed to happen to some extent similar to the Wild buying guys out years back, to reset the culture. Soon we'll have new ownership, a new manager and probably FO, and giving them a clean financial slate and a boat load of young talent to mix and match with, is ideal really. Unloading Correa was smart. He is always hurt, wrong side of 30 with foot issues and 30 million a year, no thanks. He was about to start being challenged by younger, cheaper and potentially better options. I'm glad he went. This team was going absolutely nowhere this year. Too many injuries, and the division isn't a bunch of push overs anymore to stack wins against. Tait is very interesting to me. Cannon arm. Receives differently from the videos I've started watching, but apparently it's improving. He absolutely scorches the ball when he makes contact, and his k rate is very respectable for his power profile, around 20%. Would have preferred Ford from Seattle but you need two willing partners and Tait fills a huge need. Would be nice if he was a little closer to MLB. I also like Rojas, Abel and Bradley, but Gallagher is who intrigued me the most, (maybe Rojas because he is a lefty.) Gallagher is just rock solid, similar to Joe Ryan when we grabbed him. Exceptional control, good pitch mix. Throws a mid nineties fastball, excellent changeup. Slider. Deceptive delivery. Great k/9, whip. I really really like him. And my Cubs friends are quite upset about losing him. One of them being someone I trust wholeheartedly who turned me on to him and said it stings. I agree. I don't think he'll be a 1 or 2 ever without developing his slider and adding a couple more ticks, but definitely a 4 or 5. For a rental, not bad. The Varland deal is kind of a wtf until you dig into Rojas. I've been watching all I can of him since earlier, he is legit. Swing and miss stuff, lefty, solid frame that could add more. 7:1 k/bb this year is outstanding, but only 40 innings so he needs to build up endurance. I'm tired so I'm not gonna pour through all these tonight, but the haul is not nearly as bad as people on here are saying. I mean, Painter and Leo would be really nice, but Painter was never EVER moving. And Miller has four years of control, and SD might try and make him a starter so giving up a top five prospect in all of baseball, while steep, he has twice the control as Duran. And Miller is also awesome. That control is a big deal, especially when you're chasing the Dodgers every year.

Varland and France gone also. To the Blue Jays.

I just read that exact paragraph on ESPN🤫

Agreed, and I'd move all of them this season, or off season. Unless some white whale just purchased the Twins, none of them will be here. I was 100% against moving Ryan until his All Star game comments. He isn't resigning here, ever. Get Boston and LA and both NYs bidding, and move him for a haul. He is an outstanding player and should bring back a potential group to add to an already very valuable system. Castro, Bader and Coulombe, all gone. Duran, gone. Jax, gone. That's a haul of players I can't imagine wouldn't include one or two sure fire players, hopefully at Catcher and young arms. Painful, yes. But absolutely necessary.

Spot on from my perspective. While I think the draft process of identifying talent is a pretty well run machine, the development is embarrassing. Between the injuries and like you stated, guys who are clearly well liked around the league who proceed to fall off a cliff once they reach upper levels or MLB, it has to stop. This has been an organizational issue since I was a kid (80s). The only time being late 90s and early 2000s when the perfect storm had gathered, and we had no choice but to run that young group out, and they were fantastic, and Minnesota Twins until it was time to pay up. I also believe this is the one area you can't blame the Pohlads. We have always spent on IL free agents, draft picks, facilities are top notch, academies in the right places, etc. I've sat with plenty of scouts over the years and the Twins have a good rep for all that. Also, if I'm being honest development now is vastly different than when I was playing. Pitching especially. It's less about endurance and stamina and eating innings, and more just maximizing in smaller bursts, which to me is clearly why we have all the injuries we have. Not only are players throwing harder, but the damage is done to most of these guys before they're even drafted. Why? Well, when you're learning to throw that slider at 14-18, you're destroying your arm. It's one thing to spin one once you've figured it out, still a very violent action with the arm, but fundamentally sound. That is not the case when Dad is out in the yard TRYING to teach you. I've worked with kids for over 20 years now and for me, until they physically develop, it's all overhand, 12-6 curve. The motion is more natural, chance of injury very slim. It's unrealistic to do this obviously everywhere with everyone, because everyone wants to throw harder and roll the dice on injuries and learn that slider/splitter. But it will continue to hinder not just the Twins, but baseball in general. And on repetitions, 100%. We have too many guys who are considered swiss army knives, who should'nt be. I mean, I've heard at least 10 different names for future 1b, 2b, SS, 3b and catcher, at damn near each spot. That's an issue. Pick a place, put these guys at it, let them perfect it. I get the need for a Wili Castro, you need one. Not 10 of them. It's asinine the roster construction. Part of it is bred from players soft as pudding, hurt literally 75% of the time. The other is the stupid fixation on matchups and analytics, let them F@#ing play!! Rocco, to me, is the worst. Lifeless. Brain numbing decisions. Lack of accountability with players. Incessant need to bury his face in his binder of numbers. He has zero feel for the game, period. If the binder says it, that's what we're doing. I can't stand him, or his style, right down to how he interviews. Id fire him and his entire staff today if I owned them. Id bring in a Francona or Showalter on a deal where it's agreed this isn't long term, get the ship right, have a replacement ready for your retirement, and go turn this around. Establish a new culture, top to bottom. And id lean it all heavily towards the development side. To me, that is everything.

I couldn't agree more. This group is going nowhere. Clear the books, load up the system and hold your breath the next owner has pockets he'll dig into and pull out some cash instead of a Pohlad lint ball.

Two things can be true. We already have one down in AA, who is 20 years old and on his way soon. And yes, I would very much love an OF with him and Buxton!!! Sweet baby Jesus!

I've seen a lot of advanced professional pitchers walk batters, myself included, against countless hitters with discipline. Strange statement.

Oh, the movement is their,lol. That sinker and cutter look like video game pitches. Actually, when I watch him, now that I've thought about it some more, his pitch movement is Scott Erickson 2.0. The clips I've watched are pretty filthy. Control will be key.

I guarantee you they are. Add Walker Jenkins to that list. He has a burning desire to be the best. He has what I call the Jerry Rice factor. Asked late in his career when he felt he had arrived, Rice responded, never. If a good athlete is also the hardest worker, the pace setter, that's my guy. I go over this constantly with friends and peers, that I love analytics, but the real value to me are those factors. Do they have the fire to keep working after getting paid? Are they coachable? It's why I like the Culpepper, Keaschall and Marek picks. All are similar makeup, that being, guys who work. Non stop. Execute the fundamentals. Play at full speed. Maybe this comes from not just playing, but running a business. I'll take the greenhorn with fire over the guy with loads of experience who either thinks he knows it all, and maybe does but he doesn't get after it the right way. Correa and Buxton to me, are examples of super talents with a matching work ethic, who also don't quit. A clubhouse full of these types turn into a team of piranhas that nobody wants to play. We had a group like that 20 years ago

I wouldn't read to far into it. 66 shortstops were taken in the first round.

If they iron out his command, wow, his stuff is nasty. Kevin Brown was a comp I heard and I can't agree more. That sinker, cutter combo is devastating when it's working. Guy was a four star tackle coming out of high school, lol. Just a horse.