chpettit19

That was last year's prediction. They have them at 81 wins this year.

So, I get Mookie Betts (has had 3 100 RBI seasons in 11 seasons), Shohei Ohtani (2 100 RBI seasons in 7 years), Jose Altuve (never had a 100 RBI season in 14 seasons), Acuna Jr (2 100 RBI seasons in 7 seasons), Soto (3 100 RBI seasons in 7 seasons), Judge (3 100 RBI seasons in 9 seasons), Yordan Alvarez (1 100 RBI season in 6 years), Ketel Marte (never had a 100 RBI season in 10 seasons), and Francisco Lindor (1 100 RBI season in 10 seasons)? I'll take my chances with those guys against whatever guys you want to take. Seasons with 100 runs in a season for that list: Betts: 6 of 11 Ohtani: 3 of 7 Altuve: 4 of 14 Acuna: 2 of 7 Soto: 3 of 7 Judge: 3 of 9 Alvarez: 0 of 6 Marte: 0 if 10 Lindor: 4 of 10 What are our criteria here? Cuz I just listed off 9 of the best hitters on the planet and only Mookie Betts has scored more than 100 runs or driven in more than 100 runs more than half of his seasons.

Martin Perez hasn't been much better with anyone else outside of his first year in Texas that's an extreme outlier. He had a 2.89 ERA that year. He hasn't had a single other year with an ERA under 4.50 since 2016. His FIP his year with us was actually his second best since 2016. He's basically been the same guy outside of his extreme outlier 2022 season.

Kyle Higashioka debuted in Swanson's first year in MN. Doesn't get credit for him. Jose Trevino played 4 years in Texas before he went to NY. Doesn't get credit for him. Ben Rortvedt debuted with MN 2 years after Swanson left and didn't play with NY until 2 years after that. Hard to credit Swanson for all of him, but he certainly played a role early. Austin Wells developed under different guys because Swanson doesn't work with their minor league catchers in NY, but yes, he was developed during Swanson's time there. Gary Sanchez was, and is, a horrible defender behind the plate and Swanson had 3 years with him. Austin Romine had been playing in the majors since 2011 so Swanson really doesn't get credit for him. Those are the guys the Yankees have had at catcher since Swanson took over. "One of the best for producing quality catchers" is based on what exactly? They've debuted 1 catcher since he's been there. Austin Wells. You just make stuff up without any actual proof of anything. They don't have any MLB ready, or close to MLB ready, catching prospects. Where do you get this idea that they're "one of the best for producing quality catchers" because of Swanson? Ryan Jeffers was in the system for 1 year under Swanson. Mitch Garver had half a year. Rortvedt was in the system for the full 2 years under Swanson, though. So pointing to those 3 isn't some great point you're making. And those are 3 catchers developed by the Twins since 2017 when Swanson got his first job in pro baseball. The Yankees have developed Austin Wells in that same time frame. Nobody else. Everybody else debuted before he was in NY. So who's "one of the best for producing quality catchers?" The reason Wells is mentioned in the article about Swanson is because he was drafted because he could slug and the Yankees are hoping he can stick at catcher. He's a left handed version of Jeffers or Garver. The Twins hired Swanson in the first place! What a weird argument. "The Yankees hired this guy because they care about catching but the Twins don't even though they are the ones who discovered and hired him to his first job with a major league organization." The Yankees poached him because he was good. Just like the Twins hired him in the first place because he was good. The Twins have a lot of guys who have the baseball smarts to aid in scouting, drafting, and developing catching. What a nonsense argument. But really what this comes down to is you just making stuff up. The Twins have debuted 3 MLB catchers since the great Tanner Swanson took his first MLB job. Should probably only count it as 2 since Garver debuted that year. The Yankees have produced 1. With an 18 year old A ball player as their only other top 20 system prospect (Edgleen Perez). They had another top 30 prospect who played in A+ ball last year who was rule 5 eligible and nobody claimed him despite the supposed greatness of the Yankees catcher development system. They have no more meaningful catcher depth than the Twins. The catchers on their 40-man roster are Wells, J.C Escarra, and Jesus Rodriguez. Escarra is a 30 year old with no MLB experience and has played 2700+ minor league innings at 1B compared to 506 innings at catcher (Mickey Gasper in pin stripes). He's a bat first player who can't field the catcher position anywhere near how you want. Jesus Rodriguez is a 23 year old with 23 AA games under his belt and more playing time at non-catcher positions than catcher in the minors. He's also a bat first player. Your complaints about the Twins are actually complaints about the Yankees who draft for bat and hope they can make the guy a defensive catcher. Worked with Wells, so they have 1 guy on their list. You're just making stuff up. The Yankees have been no better than the Twins and have the same strategy you claim is the reason the Twins fail.

Tucker Frawley was both the infield and catcher coordinator at the time of that interview. I told you that. Now he's just the catcher. He was giving examples that people could relate to and infielders are easier to do that with. The article was about development in general. You shouldn't be getting anything about his desire to develop great catchers from that. What a terribly weird response. You don't think Hank Conger wants the Twins catchers to be great? How do you expect him to keep his job? Of course he wants the Twins catchers to be great, but his role isn't drafting and developing so you shouldn't be getting the feeling that he's heavily invested there because that isn't his job. Swanson is splitting duties. Conger is splitting duties. With their respective major league teams. The teams also have heads of scouting and head of development people. I promise you Tanner Swanson is not scouting high school and college kids during the season. They have other guys who do that because it's an in person thing. As for your Google pull, wikipedia doesn't say one single thing about what Swanson's role looks like so that's not a great source. The quote from The Athletic about working with Wells is "The Yankees will also rely on Swanson to help continue to develop Austin Wells,...Wells has worked with Swanson, minor-league catching coordinator Aaron Gershenfeld and defensive coach Aaron Bossi to improve his blocking and arm strength, and the Yankees believe Wells has a chance to stay behind the plate in the majors." The core of the article is actually talking about his work with the major league catchers. Maybe don't trust Google without actually going and reading the sources. The AI response on him being a catching specialist is incredibly basic and likely is from the fact that he used to have a catching academy before becoming the Twins minor league catching coordinator. He's a catching coordinator, of course he's a catching specialist! I just gave you the quote the AI used to come up with the Wells input. The statement is about working with Wells at the major league level to continue his development there after he worked with Gershenfeld and Bossi in the minors. "Swanson likely provides" is not the ringing endorsement you're trying to make it. They have traits and skills they look for in their catchers that they think can teach up once they get in the system. Just like the Twins have traits and skills they look for in pitchers that they think they can teach up to add velo once they're in the system. Just like you misuse your CERA wikipedia quote from Bill James, you're misusing this Google AI pull because you don't check the actual sources and the context of the statements. Bill James is talking about comparing catchers across the league by using CERA. Not catchers on the same team with darn near equal sample sizes with the same pitching staffs. That is why CERA isn't a go to stat. Because there's too many variables outside the catcher's control. You can't compare catchers ERA from the Mariners and their league best pitching and catchers ERA from the Rockies and their league worst pitching and say which catchers are better. But when you're comparing 2 catchers with the same staff and even sample sizes it is a useful tool. As Bill James, Keith Woolner, and Craig Wright have said for decades and new analysts say now. Hank Conger does not draft or develop anyone. Is he part of conversations about catching? Of course he is. He didn't join the Twins until 2022 (December 10, 2021 if you want to get exact). Even if he was running everything that'd be 2 seasons worth of development from him. Another reason you shouldn't just blindly trust Google AI is because it'll tell you Hank Conger was the Twins catching coach in 2016. Hank Conger had a .571 OPS in 49 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. Quit using wikipedia and Google AI to simply confirm your biases without getting the context. The same person who oversees catcher drafting isn't the same one who oversees catcher development. They're different people. Different groups of people, actually. They work together, likely with Conger's input, and Falvey's, and 20 other people's, but it isn't one person. It's a team of people. Each minor league team has their own set of coaches as well. Think through what you're saying. The Twins have numerous different teams at numerous levels. There isn't a person solely responsible for this stuff. You need coaching staffs at your AAA, AA, A+, A and complex leagues who all work on developing catchers. You need a scouting staff made up of numerous people both in America and in Latin America to scout. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of how MLB organizations work and what these roles look like. Tanner Swanson and Hank Conger are not scouting and developing players. They simply aren't. It's literally impossible. It's a team of people and they have a voice in the room in the offseason and spring training, but once the season starts and the actual scouting and developing is happening those guys are with their major league teams doing multiple jobs. Every team works this way. It's impossible to be an MLB coach and run scouting and development. Sean Johnson is the Director of Amateur Scouting. He runs the scouting for catchers and the draft for the Twins. Kevin Goldstein is the Director of International Scouting. He has his own team of scouts for international scouting. The scouting isn't even all one person. Deron Johnson is the Senior Scouting Advisor. Drew MacPhail is the Director of Player Development. He has 2 assistant directors (Tommy Bergjans and Frankie Padulo). Tucker Frawley is the closest answer to what you want. And he wants the Twins to develop great catchers. Otherwise he gets fired. Tucker Frawley's job this year is only Minor League Catching Coordinator. He's not in charge of drafting them, but he's in charge of their development in the closest way to what you're asking.

I didn't say Keirsey would've debuted at 24. I acknowledged he'd had injuries early in his career. He played fewer than 50 games that season due to injuries. If the 2021, 2022, or 2023 Royals weren't rebuilding Isbel would've had a harder time getting on their roster. If the Twins were rebuilding Keirsey would've likely gotten real MLB time here last year. I don't think it's controversial in the least to suggest that the organization you're in has a very real impact on your chances to get real MLB playing time. Kyle Isbel debuted on April 1st, 2021. That was the 2nd game of the season for the Royals. He was on their opening day roster. He'd never even played in AAA at that point. In fact, hadn't played above A+ ball where he had an 86 wRC+ before he debuted. (2020 in between) Jarrod Dyson was also an outfielder on that opening day roster. Erick Pena, Nick Loftin (utility player), Seuly Matias, Tyler Gentry, Darryl Collins, and Lucius Fox (utility player) were the other OF prospects on their MLB top 30 prospect list. They were 18, 22 (in A+ ball that season), 22 (in A+ ball), 22 (in A+ ball), 19, and 23 (in AAA) years old respectively. Isbel's AAA performance didn't get him a chance because he'd never played in AAA before he debuted. A horrible roster with horrible prospects to compete with got him his chance. Because the organization you're in matters. Yes, Isbel has some of the best reactions in baseball, but also takes some of the worst routes. If Keirsey is a balance of those he's the same kind of fielder. I watched a lot of Keirsey with the Saints (in person and on milb.tv). He's not a star there, but he's a good defender. Isbel isn't a star fielder, but he's a good defender. Neither is PCA or Brenton Doyle or Buxton in his prime, but neither is Margot or Martin either. Maybe Isbel is slightly better, but Keirsey can defend. I wouldn't project him higher than 1 WAR either, because he isn't going to play that much. Could he be a 1.5 WAR player in 136 games like the range Isbel is in? I think so. But I don't want either of them playing 136 games in CF for me. I hope Keirsey is passed up by Emma or Keaschal quickly if there's a need for 136 starts in CF for the Twins.

Kyle Isbel is my Keirsey comp. And if that's who he is, I'm totally fine with him being the 4th or 5th OFer. Both were 2018 picks. Isbel in the 3rd round, DaShawn in the 4th. Both entering their age 28 seasons. Isbel's AAA line: .270/.360/.454/.814 Keirsey's line: .292/.370/.451/.821 Neither is lighting fast, but neither is slow. Neither is a gold glover, but neither is you or me out there. The Royals are trying to win the division with Isbel as their starting CFer. If Keirsey is our backup with Emma and Keaschal as added support I'm good with it. I don't think he's a star, and I wouldn't want him or Isbel as my starting CFer for the season. But if Keirsey is Isbel I think we're alright to start the year with him in the 4th or 5th OFer/backup CF spot. Especially because I think Emma or Keaschal take the reins if/when Buxton is out for a month plus. On a side note, these 2 are good examples of the organization you're in mattering. Keirsey missed time with injuries, but if he's in a different org he may very well have gotten a real crack at the majors one of the last 2 years. Like Isbel has gotten multiple times.

The article also stated "Let's explore the Twins' top players in their age-25 season or younger." The title was misworded, but the article itself states they're looking at age-25 and younger seasons. So Zebby fits. That doesn't change that there aren't a significant number of young players on the Twins 40-man roster who aren't also prospect eligible, but the article explained why Zebby was on the list. It also makes David Festa eligible. So now you're at 4 guys on a top 10 list. And that's a pretty hefty number of guys. And technically it makes Ronny Henriquez eligible as well, but I doubt we'll see him on this list. But now you're at 5 guys instead of the 2 you claimed. So, yes, the title should've been reworded, but the article itself explains the criteria quite clearly.

The Twins didn't try to turn Martin into a "strikeout prone home runs hitter," they tried to turn him into pre-2024 Bo Bichette. Which is a .290-.300 hitter with 20+ HRs. Instead of being a .290-.300 hitter with 5 HRs. They tried to do what the Guardians did with Steven Kwan last year. Teach him to look for balls to pull for power early in the count before going back to his normal approach with 1 or 2 strikes. Which lead to a .290 hitter with 14 HRs instead of a .300 hitter with 5. The Twins tried to turn Austin Martin into a .290-.300 hitter with 15-20 HRs. I don't get why people think that was a poor strategy. He just couldn't make the adjustment so is doing things his old way now and struggling to have an MLB career because of it. Jenkins already has the ability to pull the ball for power so they don't need to teach him that, just refine it. Hopefully he's able to earn a September call up this year and an opening day gig in 2026.

Sorry for the delay, haven't been on in a few days. Tanner Swanson is also a major league catching coach. He used to be the minor league catching coordinator here, but he's now the major league coach in New York. He's their Hank Conger, but with a different title. He's also their major league field coordinator. I'd doubt he's working on their minor league catching development while traveling with the major league team fulfilling those 2 job roles. Tucker Frawley is the Twins minor league catching coordinator. I think you'd find this interview with him interesting. He was both infield and catching coordinator at the time of this interview, but is only catching coordinator now, I believe.

How good of a defender is he? 104 OPS+ isn't anything to write home about but he'd be strictly platooned here so that'd likely be higher with fewer ABs against lefties. If he's an upgrade defensively at a cOF or 1B spot he could make some sense. The Twins still have at least 1 open lineup spot and they can use it to rotate people through the DH spot so I'm not at all worried about Larnach and Wallner in the corners. A strict platoon at 1B with Miranda would be a waste of Miranda, though. Don't like that idea at all. But they should be able to easily get all 4 guys in the lineup against righties at this point in time. But Miranda had an .856 OPS against righties last year compared to Burleson's "breakout" .805 OPS against them. Miranda doesn't need a platoon. He's got a better OPS against righties than lefties in his MLB career. I don't get why people are trying to short side platoon Miranda.

Twins wouldn't win the NL West with the teams they have. Would you be happy being under .500 just because the team is in a different division, though? That's the argument? Its OK the Preller is below .500 for 7 straight years because they have to play the Dodgers and Giants? The AL Central had 3 playoff teams last year so I assume you're good with missing the playoffs cuz the division was better? I've never said that isn't Falvey's job. Never. Not once. I did point out that you have a complete misunderstanding of what Hank Conger's job is because he doesn't develop minor league catchers. That flat out isn't his job. It is Falvey's job to hire minor league coaches and development staff that develop minor league catchers. The fact that you still think it's Hank Congers job is mind blowing. He travels with the Twins. He's a major league coach. Do you think it's the major league hitting coaches' job to develop minor league hitters? Those coaches are with the Twins all year. They travel to all their games. When do you think Hank is working with minor league catchers during the season? It's not his job. They have entire minor league coaching staffs and development teams. That its Falvey's job to hire. Conger doesn't see those minor league catchers outside of spring training. How is he supposed to make educated decisions on players he doesn’t see 1 single time between April and October? AJ Preller is the president and GM. He's in charge of everything. He, like Falvey, is given a budget by ownership/the business department and then it's all up to him. You called him a "great GM." Don’t claim your point wasn't his ability because you flat out said it. Being proactive isn't useful if you make bad trades. That argument doesn't make any sense. "Hey, he may build bad teams while trading away stars, but at least he makes a lot of moves!" You actively complain that Falvey makes trades because you think he makes bad trades by trading away players "they need" while acquiring players they don't. But when Preller makes bad trades its good because at least he's proactive? That logic doesn't track, sorry.

7 straight years below .500 isn't bad luck, it's bad performance from the man in charge. There's no parsing needed. Apathetic fan bases? The Padres have been drawing 2+ million fans going back to the mid-90s. They drew 1.9 million in 2009, but that's the only year under 2 million since 1995. Until his owner threw massive amounts of cash at the team, they weren't doing any better than they were before he got there. 2017 and 18, his 4th and 5th season in charge they were back down to barely over 2 million. You don't need to parse anything. AJ Preller didn't do any of that, the owner throwing an unsustainable budget at him made up for his awful performance and got the fan base excited. You would not call 7 years below .500 fun. Or, if you would, then you've been having a lot of fun with the Twins.

Being able to develop players is Preller's job. Literally. Him not being able to build a minor league system that can develop all these stars he's traded away isn't a badge of honor, it's another mark against him. "He can't control how other teams develop players?" What does that mean? So, it's not his fault that his organization can't develop players even though other teams can develop them? It's literally his job to make sure his team can develop players. His job isn't just to "buy and sell." He's been in charge of the Padres for 11 years and has been trading away stars the whole time while finishing under .500 for the majority of his time in charge (7 of 11 years under .500). He's been awful. He didn't find success until his dying owner threw the budget out the window and let him spend like crazy. He's made the playoffs 3 of 11 seasons. You think Falvey's been bad and should be fired? He's been in charge for 8 years. Preller's first season of finishing above .500 was in his 8th season in charge. Preller's been horrible. Totally terrible.

AJ Preller took over the Padres in 2014. In 11 seasons with him running the show the Padres have made the playoffs 3 times and finished above .500 4 times. Their best season was the shortened 2020 year. They didn't finish above .500 for the first time until his 8th year, which was 2020. Then in the 9th season they dropped back below .500. Since then they've finished above .500 all 3 years, but 2023 they won 82 games. Just like the Twins just did and people are acting like the Twins are a disaster. Year in and year out is a drastic exaggeration of the actual results for the Padres under Preller. AJ Preller has an awful track record. The Padres dying owner won over their fan base by throwing their budget out the window for a handful of years that are now coming back to bite them as they're needing to do things like trade Cease to cut salary. They're locked into multiple long-term deals that are already starting to look bad. You don't have to look at playoff results to say Preller hasn't been successful. Falvey has been in charge for 8 years. Again, at that point Preller had only finished above .500 once, in a shortened season in his 8th year, before immediately going back below .500. Their "year in and year out" success has been 3 years with 1 of them being the same record as the Twins just finished with.

I know what "from the same mold means." It's why I've easily shown that they're not from the same mold. Yadier Molina was not a defense only catcher. He was a two-way catcher. He doesn't prove your point because he's the proof against your point. In 2011 he was the 40th best hitter in all of baseball according to wRC+. In 2012 he was the 18th best hitter in all of baseball. In 2013 he was the 28th best hitter IN ALL OF BASEBALL. They are not the same mold. Christian Vazquez is a defense only catcher. He has been for his entire career outside of 1 full season. Yadier Molina was a star with the bat for multiple years and well above average for even more. It's not the same thing. They're not the same mold and it's ridiculous to claim they are. Catchers do add more than their hitting. But their hitting matters. Your guidelines are the point. Not the exact numbers, but what you're trying to represent. I understood the point about the difference of OPS at each position and I showed you you're wrong about how big of a difference there is based on position. I showed you, with actual data and evidence from actual player performance, that Vazquez level hitting would make the Twins one of the bottom 5 hitting catcher positions in baseball. The exact number doesn't matter, just your general split idea. I understand that. What you're not understanding is that Vazquez is so bad that he's under your already too low of a number and that matters. Yes, they bring more than just offense. Of course they do. But they have to provide some offense. And Vazquez doesn't. I get that your point is how much weight you need to give to OPS/hitting vs defense at each position. And my disagreement is with your weights you give to them. Your exact numbers were just proof that your idea of the importance of offense is too widely varied between the positions.

I don't disagree that Cease would help. I don't think I'd call it an outsized positive effect in the postseason, but I can understand the argument that he'd be more helpful there than a LF or 1B. But I think the difference would depend on who the bat is. Upgrades to LF and 1B in general are much easier to get anytime, but if you're talking about a position player that's equal to the type of pitcher Cease is it isn't much of a difference. If you're just trying to improve on Martin (for example) in LF then that's way simpler than getting front line SP. But if you're trying to get a front line bat it's still crazy expensive and hard to come by at the deadline. I can't say I think it's outrageous to try to take advantage of a questionable AL field this year, but I don't think Cease makes the Twins the favorites. It's reasonable to want him. I just don't trust the team enough to give up what it's likely to cost to get him. Especially if Vazquez is included in things as that just raises the financial or prospect cost of the deal because he's a negative asset.

Christian Vazquez has had 2 seasons of 100 or higher OPS+ numbers. And one of them was in 2020. Yadier Molina had 3 seasons over 120, including one at 137. He had 7 seasons over 100. I already pointed out the only 2 seasons even close to what Vazquez is hitting. Career OPS for Molina (over 19 seasons until he was 39 years old) is .726. Vazquez is .673 and he's going into his age 34 season. Through his age 33 season (13 MLB seasons compared to Vazquez's 10) Molina's OPS was .738. Vazquez OPS+ 81. Molina 99. Vazquez has been out of Boston for over 2 years. He's been here for 2 years. If it takes him that long to "study a whole new pitching staff & system" there's problems. Teams go through dozens of pitchers every year. They're constantly learning new pitchers. They need to be able to do it much quicker than 2 years. Molina and Vazquez are not the same mold. 1 is a first ballot Hall of Famer. It's a terrible comparison. Do you have evidence of catchers being better once they're settled? After apparently 2 years. Martin Maldonado is a similar catcher. He was in Houston for 4 seasons and didn't suddenly get better as a hitter. You like Ben Rordvedt, but argue he figured out his hitting in year 1 with the Rays. I'd be willing to bet if you actually looked up the numbers there wouldn't be any correlation at all. But instead, catchers follow the same general hitting curve as every other position. Vazquez was reported on many times at the beginning of last year about how he went and did special training to get his bat figured out for last year. He wasn't sitting at home studying pitching charts he was out changing his swing and preparing to hit better. I'd say that directly refutes your idea that he hasn't focused on hitting since he literally said that was his focus last offseason. And he got worse. That isn't my standard to gauge everyone no matter what. Defense matters. I've never disagreed. The disagreement is in the weight given to defense. I've never said fundamentals don't matter. Never said taking or stealing bases doesn't matter. Bunting is a bad strategy in the vast majority of situations, though. Hit and run can be useful. Clutch hitting is obviously super important but isn't a skill that's separate from simply being a good hitter (I know you don't care about stats, but there's stats that prove this point). Striking out too much is bad. We don't disagree on most those things. We disagree that you can, or should, have 3 spots in your lineup that you almost don't care about offense. We disagree that Vazquez does anything special with the pitching staff or his defense to make up for an unusable bat. Seattle is a great pitching and really good defensive team. They missed the playoffs last year, and nearly every year for 2 decades, because they can't hit. You can't throw away offense at multiple positions. Especially SS in this day and age. You're ignoring what's actually happening in baseball and what teams that win actually look like. Your defensive weights are off. And WAR overcompensates for defense, not under. It's a pretty universally held stance. Thus, Myles Straw showing WAR is a questionable stat. Because he has too much WAR because his glove gets too much weight compared to his horrid hitting. You're disagreeing with basically the entire baseball community. If there's a question about defense in WAR it's that they credit it too much. And I didn't twist anything. If you don't want people to refute your numbers don't give numbers. You gave specific numbers for specific positions. If you didn't mean those then you shouldn't have written them.

I didn't say "pitching is good, we need hitting." I said offense is their bigger question mark. They can use more pitching. Everybody always can. But I have fewer questions about the rotation than I do about the lineup. Cease would help. I said that in the original post you responded to. But if I'm giving up the type of package it'd take to get him I'd rather give it up for a bat. I can fill out a rotation with 5 names I believe are good enough to be in an MLB rotation. I can't fill out a lineup with 9 names I believe are good enough to be in an MLB everyday lineup. So, to me, offense is the bigger question mark. Especially when you add in that the biggest names in the lineup can't be trusted to stay healthy. The Twins have potential all over. But almost every offensive member comes with a question mark. The Twins getting rid of the Thielbar, Jackson, Okert, Richards type arms (whether by choice or budget limitations) gives me even more faith in their pitching. If you're picking between their rotation and their lineup, which do you trust more to perform this season?

Don't bad mouth Eeles! I love that guy. But I'm with your point in general here.

And during their collapse in September they scored the 20th most runs in MLB. They collapsed because their offense fell apart. Not their pitching. And while I don't expect Santana to continue to hit at the level he did last year, he was one of their better bats and he's gone. They have 8 regulars for their lineup right now. They have a full pen and rotation. I stick by offense being their bigger question mark.

Let's start with Molina. He only had 2 seasons in his 19 year career where he hit as bad as Vazquez has the last 2 years. When he was 23 and 39. He was a premium hitting player, not catcher, player for his prime and was still putting up 100+ OPS+ numbers into his mid-30s. From 36-38 years old Molina was putting up OPS+ numbers 20 points higher than Vazquez is. His career OPS is .726. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Comparing him to Vazquez is quite the stretch. Now for your OPS by position numbers: SS- A SS that is only OPSing .650 better be out of this world in the field these days. Have you looked around major league baseball and seen what shortstops are actually hitting now? There were 10 SS to OPS over .800 last year and another at .794 (Willy Adames). That's 1/3 of the league. Dansby Swanson is considered the best fielding SS in baseball by many and he OPS'd .701 in a down year. His previous 5 seasons were all at basically .750 or higher. Jeremy Pena and Ha-Seong Kim are 2 other elite gloves at SS who OPS at least .700. A .650 OPS is way low for a SS in 2025. There were 22 teams with OPS over .650 from their SS last year. You're asking the Twins to have a bottom 25% hitting SS. 2B- .700 is a reasonable number. There were 12 teams with OPS over .700 from their 2B last year. So .700 is a good target spot. 23 teams over .650 just as an FYI. CF- Dalton Varsho is considered one of the best fielders at any position and his OPS was .700 last year and has only been under .700 once in his 4 full seasons. His other years were .750ish. He's never had a full season OPS+ under 84. Kevin Pillar and Kevin Kiermaier were "glove only" CFers who were also putting up mostly .700 marks for an OPS. Never 60ish OPS+ numbers except for last year for Kiermaier. 18 teams over .650 OPS from their CFers last year. 2 others at .649 and .644. So, you're targeting roughly the 33rd percentile in CF hitting with .650. C- There were 23 catchers with at least 200 PAs last year who OPS'd at least .700. 31 were at at least .650. There were 26 teams with an OPS of .600 or better for catchers last year. 20 at .650 or better. You're targeting being one of the 5 worst hitting catcher positions in all of baseball with your mark. If you put together the team you're describing with an up the middle 4 who OPS .600, .650, .650, and .700 you wouldn't make the playoffs. Go ask Seattle. You're asking to put the team in the bottom 1/3 of hitting at 3 different positions and average at 2B. Having 4 guys in your lineup that have the OPS numbers you're suggesting would give you one of (if not the) worst offenses in baseball. Because your other position expectations are too high. There were only 26 guys in all of baseball to OPS .850 or higher last year with 200 PAs. You can drop it down to .800 and still not get to 2 guys per team as there were only 54 guys to do that. You're asking for 5 guys to do it so that 1 other guy can be an OK/below average contributor (2B) and 3 others can be complete non-contributors to half the game. DH- 4 teams hit that .850 mark. RF- 2 teams hit the .850 mark. 1B- 2 teams hit the .850 mark. LF- 2 teams hit the .800 mark. 3B- 1 team hit the .800 mark. You're asking the Twins (or your hypothetical team) to be in the top 4 for hitting at 1 position, top 2 at 3 others, and the very best hitting in the 5th. So, to make up for your below, or well below, average bats up the middle you require the Twins to have essentially a top 2-4 hitter at 5 positions. Do you feel that's realistic?

Oh, his throwing accuracy is atrocious. I don't know how he can look so uncomfortable throwing a ball while being such a great athlete. But on 130 throws last year he topped out at 85.8 MPH with an 84.4 average. This year in 125 throws he maxed out at 85.5 with an average of 83.7. From 3B specifically it was 129 and 114 throws with an average velo of 84.4 and 84.0 over the 2 years. Brooks Lee had 153 throws this season with a max of 83.1 and average of 81.5. Not enough throws (27) from 3B to get an average velo there from baseball savant, but I think it's safe to say it wouldn't have been 84ish when he maxed out at 83.1. Not a massive difference, but Lewis has the stronger arm according to the data we have available. And I don't know if throwing from 2B would help, hurt, or be neutral on his throwing struggles. Different arm angles used so could go any which way. I really hope he's ironed out his motion over the offseason, though.

Torres was in A ball at the time of the trade and was dealt at the deadline from a Cubs team trying to win their first title in 100 years. Ramos was a borderline top-100 prospect and that trade was pretty roundly despised the moment it was made. They weren't global top 10 prospects ready to step on a major league field. I'm not saying the Twins shouldn't be making calls on anyone and everyone they can, just that getting Lawler for a reasonable price is going to be incredibly hard.

I legitimately don't understand why you keep sending me defensive stats I've told you I don't care about because I know how they're compiled and they aren't good indicators of ability. I worked at SIS. I've literally helped compile the data for these stats. There are a lot of flaws in the data collection process and quoting these stats as proof of anything doesn't impress me. I've told you this many times yet here we are again. I get it. You don't like rookies. Trust below average veterans before you trust a rookie. Message has been received. And, for the record, that's no shot at SIS or the people working there. They're all wonderful, hardworking people. It's just that the tracking of these kinds of things is super hard without the type of technology that statcast type things have. They're relying on human beings to do things because it's their only option and that leads to a lot of problems with this kind of data. Its why defensive metrics are doubted so much.