mnfireman

Duran is a heckuva a talent, but each of the last 2 springs he has looked bigger than he did at the end of the previous season, at least to me. Maybe a team mandated strength and conditioning program is in order....

So, everybody comes on here complaining that the pitching pipeline of the pitching guru's (Falvey & Levine) isn't delivering, but, now that it is supposed to be relied on (and is delivering), everybody comes on here, complaining that the pitching guru's (Falvey & Levine) didn't bring in a veteran from outside the pitching pipeline to help the team. WOW!! Can't have it both ways. Trust the process. The team didn't cheap out, the young talent on the team and on the way isn't going to be cheap...

"What are your expectations for the back end of the rotation? How many innings will Paddack and DeSclafani pitch for the Twins in 2024?" I don't think DeSclafini throws a pitch in 2024, unfortunately. As for Paddack, Tommy John threw 209 innings in his first season back from the surgery named after him...😉

System failure. Not all batters are the same, but the team seems to be coaching them that way....launch angle = HRs. Some guys are more adept at hard hit line drives, with some of those becoming HRs, instead of the highlight reel, tape measure shots. Maybe coach to the players strengths, or trade them for guys that fit the system.

So, in 1972 Steve Carlton put up a 12.5 WAR season, the second best post-1927 WAR season, for the 59-97 Phillies and Gaylord Perry put up 11 WAR for the 72-84 Guardians. By this logic, the A's (WS Champions) Joe Rudi (6.1 WAR), Catfish Hunter (5.9 WAR) and two players at 5.6 WAR, were each worth close to or more than either of those 2. It wasn't their fault they put up GREAT seasons for also-ran teams. That is why I don't place much value on those type of metrics, especially when the metrics have to be quantified.

Say what you want about the value, many national outlets have accepted it, so it is what it is. I personally don't care for WAR or many of the other "metrics", but the industry uses them. And they can be used to get TD users riled up 😉

Several publications/websites are out there that have put a $$$ value on WAR, and $8 MM is about the value they have come up with....so yes you can put a value on WAR.

Playing 6 of every 7 games is 139 games, playing 5 of 6 is 135 games. There are weeks with built in days off (no games) and Rocco has a propensity to go with "get away day" line-ups, but I feel those are the numbers needed for Buxton, 135 - 140 games.

All professional sports have now fully embraced the sportsbook culture, and placing lines on almost everything is a given at this point. I know this statement has nothing to do with the 2024 Twins, but with this being the new normal, when does Pete Rose get in the HOF??? Otherwise major league sports should not embrace sportsbooks. It's a bad look and, as the NFL is seemingly dealing with, leads to speculation about game outcomes.

Don't know where you are going with this statement, but yes, Lewis was just 1-18 if you remove his HR's in the play-offs. Watching the games, I thought he was selling out trying to hit these HR's at the expense of just driving the ball and putting it in play. Not to use an injury as an excuse, but he was playing with a bad hamstring and maybe it affected his swing a little and he didn't want to make adjustments during a short series, I don't know. Regular season splits; May 29 - Aug 22( 32 games): .316/.355/.453 (.808 OPS) 4 HR, 17 RBI, 5/34 BB/K ratio Aug 23 - Sep 19 (26 games): .300/.391/.660 (1.051 OPS) 11 HR, 35 RBI, 15/21 BB/K ratio Playoffs (6 games): 5-22 4 HR, 5 RBI, 4/8 BB/K ratio .227/.346/.773 (1.119 OPS) Looking at the numbers, nothing suffered if he made a conscious effort to try to hit more HR's from Aug. 22 on. In fact, except for a slight dip in AVG, his regular season numbers actually improved across the board. By a lot. You can't remove his HR numbers, as a more accurate comparison to Julien trying to work the count deeper would be Lewis trying to hit more HR's, which he did. His AVG suffered in the playoffs and his K % regressed to be more in line with with his pre-Aug 23 numbers, but all other numbers remained in line with his later production. It is a SSS, but hopefully Lewis is skilled enough to make the necessary adjustments going forward so as to not fall into any prolonged slumps.

Glad to see most posters talking about defense instead of offense, but Julien's calling card is and will be his bat. And he needs to adjust at the plate or he will fall out favor, much like Miranda; April 12 - July 29 splits (57 games): .300/.388/.539 (.927 OPS) 10 HR, 18 RBI, 25/65 BB/K ratio. July 30 - Oct 1 splits (52 games): .222/.374/.367 (.741 OPS) 6 HR, 19 RBI, 39/63 BB/K ratio. Play-offs Games 1 -5: .214/.389/.286 (.675 OPS) 0 HR, 1 RBI, 4/7 BB/K ratio. Play-offs Game 6: 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 1/1 BB/K ratio. He was also often removed from games late for defense and didn't face LHP, including Play-offs. .741 OPS from July 29 until the end of the season was league average (Gallo's full season OPS was .741, which equated to an OPS+ of 101, league average.). Including his first 5 Play-off games, he was slightly below league average over this period, but finished his season with a very good game against Houston. Just looking at the numbers, it would appear he tried to work deeper counts, which resulted in more walks and maintaining a high OBP, but came at the expense of a lower BA, a lower SLG%, and an uptick in SO's. He's young enough and skilled enough to hopefully turn it around (and he's off to good start this spring), but he could also turn into nothing more than a placeholder until Lee or someone else pushes him out.

Not saying it's better, but (Twins) baseball on the radio is a very viable option to keep fans. I find it way easier to keep a game on in the background on the radio and still be able to do other things than a TV broadcast (streaming and unlimited data plans are making this tougher though...).

Trade, don't trade/sign, don't sign, but the line-up/possible line-up looks LH/RH balanced - OF is LH heavy, IF is RH heavy. RH - Jeffers, Vazquez, Correa, Lewis, Buxton, Farmer, Miranda LH - Julien, Kepler, Wallner, Larnach, Kirilloff SH - Castro, Santana

Again, for the people in the back, Buxton has a full no-trade clause...

Sign 'em both!!

Bellinger may wind up "settling" for a deal like Correa signed in 2022; big $$, short years and lots of opt-outs (I am not saying that it will be with Minnesota, I'm just saying). He is older than Correa was at the time of that deal, but still won't be 29 until July.

You're right, it was probably more of a Gordon/Martin argument.... Castro was gonna play no matter what.

That settles the Gordon/Castro debate many have been involved in...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/mlbpa-hires-carlos-gomez.html

I think the Will Smith signing is the bigger news, HE has been in the BP for the last 3 WS champions....😜

I was Waiting for your "Sign Clevinger for 2 years" comment, and, you sir, did not disappoint!!

That is correct for their 2023 list, they have Ortiz at #63 for 2024, Hall, still considered a rookie, is not ranked. FanGraphs had them at #64 & #66 preseason 2023.

If Lee/Varland was the asking price then the Twins made the right move by not making a move.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/diamond-sports-group-expected-to-retain-guardians-rangers-twins-broadcasts-for-2024.html