chpettit19

FYI, Verlander signed a 2 year/$86.6 million deal this offseason.

It's not "nitpicky." It was asked if anyone was playing their "top lineup." They aren't. Again, you can dislike how the Twins are doing things without making things up. The Yankees had 7 major leaguers on their position player roster that day. I'm pretty sure that isn't their "top lineup." What was their spring training playing time like for their starters last year? If you're going to claim this is "part of the Twins managing style" I sure hope you looked that up. Cuz I did. And it doesn't match your claims at all. Again, you can dislike how they're handling Buxton and Polanco without making things up. I'm sorry if you think it's "nitpicky" to actually want facts. Yes, at some point they will need to use their regular lineup. Probably will start seeing more regular lineups popping up next week after teams make another round of demotions this weekend (and the WBC ends so it's even possible to play a top lineup). This isn't abnormal stuff. This is how spring training works every season. Nobody is using their regular lineups yet whether you like it or not. Oh, Buxton and Kirilloff are both playing in game action today for all of those still worried about them.

They aren't. Nobody has put their opening day lineup out there. Stop saying they are. Are most regulars playing in games? Yes. That is a different thing than "other teams were showing their top lineups already." You can disagree with the Twins handling of Buxton and Polanco without making stuff up. Teams aren't showing their top lineups.

Narvaez and Ortega aren't even on their 40-man. Peraza is a tossup at best to make the opening day roster. So, no, it's not.

Ok? That's not all their regulars.

Hey, no car payment so it's a little better than you expected!

What MLB team is expecting the regular season to be "all hands on deck every day?" What fan of what MLB team is expecting that? Nobody who watches baseball regularly is expecting that. No team is fielding their regulars for any game in spring training to this point. The Rays didn't send a single major league position player to their game with the Twins Thursday. I mean you're just complaining about Spring Training in general here. The difference between last year's shortened spring training and what the Twins are doing with a few players this year is that the Twins players have been in the complex for the full Spring Training, and they're all participating in activities. Hitting, running, fielding, pitching, everything. Buxton played in a minor league game instead of a major league game because the rules are different and he was allowed to bat 2nd every inning. Didn't have to follow the lineup. Could just step in there and hit when he wanted to. So he got more game action there than any major leaguer gets in any Spring Training game to this point of Spring Training. None of this means the Twins will have a healthier roster. They may still get hurt. But there's a big difference between you not seeing them play, and them not playing.

I haven't looked it up, but I'll bet every asset I own, every nickel I'm worth, that no, it hasn't happened.

Dennis Santana was with the Dodgers before they traded him. Don't think the Dodgers have had World Series aspirations recently? Then he was with the Rangers before they moved him to Atlanta. Don't think the Rangers have WS aspirations after signing Seager, Semien, and deGrom the last 2 offseasons to massive deals? Then the Braves waived him (that's how he ended up in MN). Don't think the Braves have WS aspirations? He's a borderline 40-man guy, but clearly not someone WS teams feel is worthy of a 26-man spot. This stuff happens constantly in MLB. Teams claim a guy and then waive him. Next team claims him and waives him. And so on until every team that was interested has had a shot at him and finally the last team standing gets to put him in the minors and work with him. You're upset they keep Pagan because of stuff over results (for the record I also want Pagan gone), but you want them to keep Santana despite his results? I don't quite follow the logic here.

FYI, adding those extra picks would get the Twins extra bonus pool money. It'd actually be a good thing in terms of signing draft picks as they'd have much more money to spread around. Picks right after the first round carry slot bonuses in the 2.4 million range. Adding 2 or 3 of them would get the Twins an extra 5- 7.5ish million for signings. I'm right with you on the situation with Mahle, Gray, and Gallo. I think extending one of the arms and getting 2 top 35 picks for the other 2 would be the perfect outcome.

MLB doesn't have the radio broadcasts for free, but for $30 a year you can stream every major league game radio broadcast with no blackout restrictions. That subscription also gets you video streaming of minor league games. I'm not defending MLB cuz they've been awful at promoting the game and making it possible to watch local teams, but they do alright with the radio broadcast streaming. Not to mention iHeart radio is free and you could stream the radio broadcast through that easily.

No problem! My hope is we see them give out 3 (Mahle, Gray, Gallo) if there's no extensions done. And hopefully at least 2 of those get 50 million or more and the Twins get really nice picks. A Mahle extension, and 2 picks following the 1st round as compensation for Gray and Gallo is the perfect situation for me. Likely means the team did quite well this season, and they're setting themselves up really nicely for the future.

Yeah, I think if it were a different pitcher it's probably not even noticed by many people. But all eyes are on him coming off the end of last year and he's being hyper analyzed. If they push back his next start or he comes out not being able to hit 90 next time I'll jump on the panic train, but right now it doesn't look like anything to worry about to me. I'm just ready for the regular season to start so we can just get the answer to everyone's health questions and get this show on the road!

In the 4th inning Baseball Savant had him with 6 splitters between 82.3 and 85.6. 4 sliders between 82 and 83.8. 1 cutter at 86.7. And 16 4-seamers between 89.7 and 93.1. Had another 4 seamer at 93.0 in the 4th. 4 others above 92. I'd certainly like him to be throwing 95, but his 66th pitch of the day was 93.0. 67th was 93.1. And his 69th pitch was 92.6. Last year his 4-seamer averaged 93.2, splitter was 85.6, cutter was 85.5, and slider was 83.9. He was definitely on the low end of his velo range today, but it doesn't look to be anything crazy to me.

The pending FAs being worthy of a QO changes the math on deadline trades and raises the price. Could be good or bad for the idea of trading them depending on the view. The equation changes from needing to get a return worthy of their performance for the rest of the 2023 season to needing to get a return worthy of their performance for the rest of the 2023 season plus the value of a late 1st round pick (or 3rd rd pick depending on the size of the deal you think they'd get). It can make it much harder to find a trade partner willing to give up what you'd demand in return at the deadline. All the "math" on this also changes depending on the team's W-L situation as well. But some teams would back away from giving a prospect return equal to the major leaguer's 2nd half value plus a late first round pick so it can limit your pool of trade partner possibilities. But if you can find a willing partner it can also mean you get a really nice return for that type of guy. My hope is the team is in first place because all these guys are performing well and they don't trade any of them and get 2 or 3 comp picks for next year.

He can get up to 95-96, but that's not where he sits. His average fastball velocity per season since 2017 has gone 93, 92, 93, 94, 94, 93. I can understand the nerves with him due to his shoulder situation last year, but he hit 93 multiple times today so I don't see any reason to panic.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them not add anyone until right before the season. If he wasn't going to make the team he was going to need to be DFA'd in the next 2 weeks anyways. If he was going to be lost to waivers you'd want to do it now and get the guys who'll be on the team in 2 weeks their work instead of working with him to just have him plucked off waivers. My guess would be he lost his battle for a 26-man spot so they moved on to create the spot needed for whoever does win a battle (if needed).

Tyler Mahle throws his fastball 92-94 MPH. He topped out with multiple 93 MPH fastballs today. I don't see any concern.

No limitations on the QOs a team can offer. As examples: Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox, and Yankees put QOs on 2 players this last offseason. Mets had 3.

Gray, Mahle, and Gallo all getting QOs and signing for 50M+ would be fantastic. You can restock the farm big time with that. Even just 1 or 2 of them getting the QO and 50+ would be great. I mean all 3 getting the QO, but getting less than 50M, would still be good by adding 3 extra picks a little later in the draft. I'd predict at least 2 of them get the QO and 50M+ so the Twins will have basically 3 first round picks next year. Hopefully those 2 are Gray and Gallo while Mahle is good and signs an extension to stay here and front the rotation with Lopez (he's starting to grow on me). That'd be the ideal situation.

Yes! Best player available. Especially this high in the draft. I actually think it's the route you should go for the first 5 rounds, but it gets a little more difficult with signing bonuses and all that as the draft progresses. But first round pick, especially a top 5 pick, has always got to be best player available. I don't care if they have 5 Byron Buxtons (talent, not health-wise) lined up at CF in the system. If the best player is another Byron Buxton you draft them. Just collect as much talent as you can and figure it out from there.

I'm probably the biggest Lewis supporter on these boards, and a huge advocate for the Twins doing some of these early extensions to buy out some FA years for well below what market value will be by then, but not even I would give Lewis an extension after back to back ACL surgeries. If he comes back and plays the 2nd half like the star I think he'll be then I'd certainly look to give him a Carroll-type extension next spring, but not before that. If Lee destroys AA and debuts this season I'd definitely try to lock him into a Harris type extension.

Yeah, that was the whole "lefty masher, part-time player" part of my comment. I never advocated for him being a full-time player or anything. He's got a very specific role on this roster. Just wanted to give an above average MLB player his due. He's been far better than the "career OPS+ of 92" hitter you were painting him as since his return to MLB in 2019. I don't want him as the full-time 1B for more than a week at any point in the season. But I do want to give the man credit for the hitter he's turned himself into since 2019 by providing a little context to his career stats.

To be fair to Solano, he has a 109 wRC+ since 2019. That's tied for 110th in baseball over that timespan. I agree his position on this team is as a lefty masher, part-time player. But he's been a really good hitter once he figured it out later in his career.

He's well overdue for a full season. But that doesn't mean he's likely to get it. You think they're just going to jump a guy who's cracked 100 IP once from 75ish innings to 150ish innings in 1 season? That doesn't sound like something many teams would do. Especially if that player is part of the "long-term" plans. Maeda has an injury history? What's that? He's never been on the IL for more than 15 days in a row before his TJ surgery in his 14th professional season. Maeda has almost no injury history. Certainly no worse than the typical major league pitcher. What do the long-term plans have to do with the 2023 season? Your statement was about a team that was "serious about contending for the Central" in 2023, wasn't it? The long-term plans shouldn't have anything to do with competing for the division title in 2023. You're kind of trying to have it both ways here. If it's about the long-term plans then Ober shouldn't be expected to top 110-120 innings this year so as to mitigate his injury risk for the long-term. But if it's about contending for the division in a serious way in 2023 then you don't want a guy who you won't let throw more than 110-120 innings as a rotation staple because you're either having him go for short starts, and putting more pressure on your pen (didn't work well last year), or you're skipping his starts throughout the year and bouncing someone into and out of the rotation randomly. Neither of those situations is ideal for contending in 2023. Maybe that isn't how it should work, but it is. It's the nature of the CBA where certain players are allowed to be sent to the minors and brought back while others aren't. It's also the nature of incentive laden contracts. They're a tool the Twins will want to use again moving forward. If you take a guy who's got nearly $10 million tied into starting vs relieving and you put him in the pen with no shot to reach any of his incentives you're making it way harder to offer deals with incentives in them to future players. Whether it's how it should be or not, this is how major league baseball works. Ober would/will still get plenty of opportunities to start.