gunnarthor

I love gardening, too. We planted a ghost pepper this year! I actually have a really good line of raspberries growing - red, black, and gold. Delicious. Can't grow blueberries worth a darn, though.

The offense can't be this bad all season. Last season, they had a team OPS+ of 105 and we felt they were underachieving. This year, it's 98! Regression will be a positive for us. But the Twins have wasted some really good pitching. As ugly as Pagan and Jax have looked at times, the staff still has an ERA+ of 128. Sadly, that won't be sustainable either. But, the AL central is a dumpster fire so we should still be ok.

I think the logic was, more or less, sound. Lewis and Adell were my favorite guys and Adell just wasn't in the mix to go 1. Leech/Rooker seemed like reaches at where they were picked but Leech had a lot of helium so it wasn't a crazy pick. Enlow was a big overslot pick so, as we were told, it was like having another first rounder. So the logic is easy to follow. The results have been a bit disappointing but that's the reality of the draft. If Lewis was healthy, this draft might look completely different. .

baseball-reference has every trade. I think the trades that bothered me the most were the ones that show a lack of a plan by the FO, rather than disappointing results. Examples would be the deadline trades in 2017. First, we talked all off-season of trading Dozier but couldn't make it work, which made us look pretty stupid. But then we were competitive (which I called but most were surprised by). So the FO goes out and trades a nice dynamic arm in a "win-now" trade to grab Garcia. But then a week later, we backtrack and trade Garcia and our closer, pretty much assuming we couldn't win this season. Of course, the team still made the playoffs despite the FO. They FO had no idea what they were doing. At the end, Ynoa looks like a good arm, although he had elbow issues so he might be done. In 2018, they traded a 2nd rounder to dump salary. That might have been more an ownership thing but small market teams like the Twins should horde, not trade, picks. That's why I also really don't think the Graterol/Maeta trade was great since we gave up a pick as well (Graterol has been pretty solid and has pitched about 30 innings less than Maeta since the trade despite being a relief pitcher). It's another reason I don't really like the Gray/Petty trade. Grabbing Gray for Petty made sense but only if they were going to do more. They didn't. So we traded a big time lottery ticket and still had a very bad pitching staff. They tried to cure that by adding Mahle late but that was a mistake, But it kinda makes sense so ... [The Dyson trade was a huge blunder but I'm honestly not sure if the Giants lied or the Twins didn't do their due diligence. But it was a bad trade.] On the other hand, I actually like Lopez trade the most. I think they picked the right time to trade high on Arreaz (unlike Dozier). And adding Taylor made sense to be competitive this year. It looked like the Twins actually had a plan to improve the staff. The Cruz trade was a no-brainer but it was nice to see them get something back for him and I liked the Berrios trade even though Martin has been hurt. I do think the FO has generally been worse but I also think they've gotten better and learned from their mistakes. Hopefully, this season continues to be a good one for us.

I'm hoping Max Clark is there at 5. If we get him, it's a strong draft. At 34, along with the names already suggested, someone like Charlee Soto would be wonderful and, potentially, realistic. I like tall pitchers but I don't think Sykora will be there but he could be. If we got Clark and one of those two tall HS arms and Ledbetter at 49 ... 😁

Except for the Bears game, the first half of that schedule is rough. The second half looks pretty doable although I'm really curious how could Detroit will be. On paper, they should finally be good. But they could easily find a few ways to be the Lions we all know and love.

Meh. Most trades are defensible. The issue should be is our FO consistently making good trades/bad trades? Are they evaluating talent correctly? I think if you look at all the trades this FO has done, most haven't been that good. This is just another mistake in a line that's getting a bit long.

I liked this draft a lot at the time and it was pretty good. Another good pick that didn't work out was Tyler Benninghoff in the 11th round. He ended up with serious arm injuries but it was the type of risky pick teams should take when they have some cap money. Kiriloff is obviously the star (if he can stay healthy) but the other great thing about this draft was how young these guys were when we drafted them. Kiriloff, Baddoo, Rorvedt and Balozvic were 17. Baddoo at 24 has amassed more WAR than Larnich has at age 26. Draft young, toolsy players.

I haven't been able to watch any Twins games this year, so I don't know what he looks like, but my general though it no, we keep him in the lineup everyday. He's not as young as I'd like but he's supposed to be a cornerstone. Give him a lot more time. 1000 ML at-bats before we write him off. He has nothing left to prove in the minors.

I liked the Roy pick in the 5th round.

I'm ok with the pick. Let's have a fun offense that scores a ton and just enjoy that. Cousins replacement will certainly benefit from those weapons, as well. We'll just have to win a lot of games 35-32. :-)

Nice to Larnich hitting well.

88 pitches and he was dominant. And we pull him. I bet we're going to get an amazing 140 innings from him this year. In all seriousness, dud he slow a bit in his last inning? Was he showing fatigue?

The trade made sense on paper but it didn't work out (yet). Hopefully, he gives us a strong season and a playoff win or two.

3-0, can't complain.

I think this is where the Twins really will suffer (again). They want to be more like the Rays, I guess, but I just don't see it working. To me, this is just a strange philosophy for the Twins to embrace. The good Twins team of the 2000s major flaw was depth - they just couldn't overcome injuries like big payroll teams could. We couldn't add an established arm like the Yankees and Red Sox always could. But this philosophy - have your best pitchers pitch less and less each game - means that we have to find more and more pitchers to carry the load. So we have to find a few Everyday Eddies or a bunch of AAA/AAAA arms we can shuffle between the majors and the minors on a, basically, weekly basis. This will - likely - expose the teams lack of pitching depth. And this team doesn't have good pitching depth.

Cleveland wins the central, Sox come in second. I think the twins will finish below .500 again and we will be sellers at the deadline, making the team a bit worse and improving draft position. I just don't like the pitching staff and health could be a killer.

What are you looking at on fangraphs? Last years stats or some projection?

I hope I'm wrong but don't think we have the pitching to last a whole season. Probably very similar to last season so say 77 wins.

Nice write up. I figure Cleveland wins the central again. They have nice young talent, solid vets, and a good manager. They are a lot like the 2000s Twins, actually.

I liked the idea of the WBC but it has been so much better than I could have hoped for. It's great for baseball. I love it.

I don't think you're right but I hope you are. It would be nice to see a playoff team (or at least a team with a winning record).

That's not starter money. Wonder if he has some incentives? I like him as part of our running back core but not as the main guy, and it seems like most agree.

I don't know how all the parade of horribles would work if Rodgers can't get traded. But I hope he doesn't get traded and then the Packers have to deal with a full season of Rodgers/Love drama, esp if they go with Love and he struggles early. I don't know what would happen to GB if Rodgers just straight up retires but it sounds like they would be in cap hell if that happened. So, that's also good.

I assume by compensation he meant what the Packers want back from NY. Sounds like they are demanding several first round picks but other reports refute that. Also a question of whether Rodgers is wanting to take a pay cut or demanding more money. https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2023/3/15/23641294/green-bay-packers-news-aaron-rodgers-trade-compensation-update-new-york-jets-adam-schefter-2023