gunnarthor

Sano looking athletic

Sano looks pretty fit.

Finally got around to watching the second season of Space Force with Steve Carrell. The last scene of the last episode - kokomo - was the funniest thing I've seen. I was literally laughing so hard, I was crying. My wife didn't think it was funny but, man, it killed me.

I hope we win

Again, "I don't have anything to support it, but I think Bundy will be a huge positive for the Twins this year." It's opening day. It's a day for optimism!

I like the concept. I will go out on a ledge here and say that Dylan Bundy should be - and will be - much higher. I've been higher than reasonable on him for years, figured, like Gausman, leaving Baltimore would help him. Had a decent strike shortened season but a disaster last year and his HR was silly bad. So I don't have anything to support it, but I think Bundy will be a huge positive for the Twins this year.

There certainly are scenarios where this team can win the division - mostly by being an elite offense and the pitching staff not completely sucking - but I don't think this will happen. Twins MVP Byron Buxton Twins Top Pitcher Sonny Grey Twins Most Improved Kiriloff Twins Top Rookie Miranda Gold Glove Winners Buxton Silver Slugger Winners Correa Twins Record 79-83 Place in Division 3nd AL Central First White Sox AL Central Second Tigers AL Central Third Twins AL Central Fourth Royals AL Central Fifth Tigers

I'm a bit lower on Rogers than most people on TD so I was ok moving him. Rooker wasn't going to fit in here, good luck to both in SD. I don't think this trade moves the needle much but we'll see. If they develop Paddack, great deal for the Twins. If they can't, we'll have a new FO soon enough.

Larnich for Paddack + something else makes some sense. Paddack was a good prospect but has been iffy in the majors. Not sure I like a pitcher who struggled in SD coming to TF but ... He's a bit hitable but his walks and k rate are good.

He had a nice career. Just making the bigs is impressive but to stick around that long is even more so. Best of luck to him in his new coaching job.

I wasn't that optimistic last year relative to everyone else but I might not be as pessimistic as everyone else this year. The Twins have some things going for it. They have two players who, if healthy, are legit MVP candidates. Not a lot of teams have that. Their lineup could be a top 3 lineup in baseball if everything breaks right and should easily be a top 10 offense in a normal course of events. Their best prospects are hitters as well. The pitching can't be as bad as last year, which was historically bad, and I think Bundy might be a really pleasant surprise for us. Pitching with a lead, with an offense that overwhelms the other team, this could be a team that competes for a playoff spot. Maybe they move some prospects in a few months to strengthen the staff once they decide they are actually in it. On the other hand, this season could also be a dumpster fire. Jeffers/Sanchez could be the worst catching tandem in baseball. Ryan is not an ace and teams will figure him out. Gray is a solid pitcher but not a work horse. Our minor league pitchers are more depth then quality. I don't like the pen. Rogers is overrated. (Duran could be exciting though). We need Correa and Buxton to stay of the IL. Kiriloff needs to make a jump forward (I think he should). Kepler and Sano need to play up to expectations. There's a very real chance that the Twins end up trading Correa and Gray at the deadline - getting a better return then Chase Petty - and TD telling us what geniuses the FO is for pushing forward a rebuild. My guess is that the Twins finish 3rd in the division with about 81 wins.

There isn't, at least to me, a lot of good news in this pitching staff but Duran could really be a big surprise for us this year. I'm worried about him staying healthy but he could really be something.

I was the low guy on Maeda last year. If he pitches at all, it'll only be like 20 innings this year. Going forward, I think he'll be a back-end starter type. Maybe they'll use him as a three inning opener or such. But he won't be the answer to our pitching issues.

I'm a bit down on this class then I was a few years ago but it still has time. Agreed that COVID was a real problem. Hopefully they all do well.

I'm going to stay on the WR train if one of the top 3 is there. Have a top 3 offense and outscore everyone. That'll be more fun to watch. ?

I'm sure it's nice for him but it probably doesn't mean all that much, especially the way starting pitching is changing in baseball. But I hope he's awesome for us.

One of the reasons the 2000s Twins were so fun to watch was because they relied on their minor league system to get them starting pitchers. In that decade, they had only 100 or so starts from FA pitchers, and that counts Radke re-signing with us. Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, Garza, etc all had their moments and I'm sure that the Pohlad's hired Falvey to replicate that success. I don't think he can but we will see. None of the pitchers we have are nearly as acclaimed as Liriano was. Before his injury, he was outpitching Santana. That's a tough comparison. But it's possible we have enough arms that could pitch 100 innings at 100 ERA+ or so. That would be a big improvement over last year. I think Winder looks like the closest. We'll see.

I don't mind the move, in a vacuum. But this pitching staff is really bad. Again, it has to be better than last year simply by accident but I have no idea how they are 1400 or so innings out of this group. I like Bundy more than most posters do and Gray is a real pitcher but this looks bad. That said, let's see what happens before the season starts. Archer in the pen with Montas in the rotation makes things a bit different.

I think if the draft fell as you described, they would look really hard to trade down. If they had to stay there, I'd be good with either Wilson or London to put with Jefferson and Theilen.

I think the Twins are looking at this as a primary 10 man lineup with Arraez floating around multiple spots. Arraez can play LF, as needed, and I think Larnich should be the opening day starter there (he's 25). Gordon makes sense on the bench to play a lot of spots. Kepler will spell Buxton in CF and Arraez/Larnich/Kepler are the main corners with maybe Kiriloff getting an occasional day in a corner when Sano is at first and Sanchez is DHing.

Can see how this could backfire but I like the move.

You're not wrong. This is a horrific pitching staff. It was so bad last year that it will probably be better just on chance alone but is easily a bottom five staff. That said, I'm going to wait until the moves are done. I do like Bundy, probably more than most. And Gray is a real pitcher. But Ryan will regress, I'm not sure we can hope for more from Bailey than what we got last year, and the arms we're stockpiling in the pen (so far) look pretty meh to me. On the positive side, the offense and defense should be better from last year. So pitching with a lead might happen a bit more and our up the middle defense might be a true asset. I think we'll score a lot and give up a lot. It'll be a more entertaining brand of baseball, if nothing else.

As a staff, we had a negative pitching WAR last year. Baltimore's 52 win team was nearly 2 WAR better, pitching-wise, then the Twins.

I am stunned.

I understand nothing.