chpettit19

Mr Eeles was the first name that came to my mind as well.

Every player should always be a trade candidate. Refusing to trade someone would be foolish. It's all about setting a realistic price for that player and then deciding if that trade would help the short and/or long-term health and success of your team. Should the Twins be shopping Ryan and Ober? Absolutely not. If they're in such dire straights that they need to worry about the salaries for those 2, things are far worse than any of us are imagining. But is there a reasonable trade that could be made for them that would help the team? Sure. Do I expect either of them to be traded? I have no idea. I have no idea where this offseason is going to go. I don't think any of us should be confident in what Falvey is going to do. He shouldn't have been feeling super comfortable in his job stability with the Pohlads in charge, but knowing he may have a new boss on the way should make him even more nervous, and nervous can lead to desperate, and desperate can lead to moves that none of us see coming. My guess would be that neither of these guys are moved because there isn't a trade that would help the 2025 Twins by trading them. There are probably a lot of trades that could help the 2026 and beyond Twins, but Falvey is likely more focused on the current iteration of the team than he ever has been. Because of that, I don't see it as very likely that he's moving his cheap top-end starting pitching. Unless the Pohlads think it's a smart move for their attempt to sell the team, I don't see Falvey making a lot of future-focused moves. But I don't feel confident in predicting anything he'll do over the next 6ish months.

The Orioles sold in 2 months. I think it's about setting a realistic price tag. 2 billion is not realistic. The Twins aren't worth that. If they're realistic and looking for 1.4 to 1.6 they can sell the franchise pretty easily, I'd bet. If they're asking 2 billion it's going to be much more difficult.

As far as just the Twins as a stand alone product, I think their attractiveness comes down to a prospective buyer's feelings on how well the Pohlads maximized the Twin Cities market. I've been quite vocal that I think they've failed miserably and there's a great deal of room to improve and draw more fans, and thus increase revenue. So I think they're pretty attractive when it comes to mid-market teams. The complicating factor is that it's not just about the Twins, it's also about MLB as a product. It's an interesting time to be trying to sell. Right in the middle of the switch away from RSNs as you switch to streaming. The prospective buyer must also trust the league office to maneuver through the next handful of years and find the right path to revenue growth away from RSNs. Or the new buyers have to have their own plan with a good understanding of the media market.

Too soon!

MLB is looking to expand. That's just as big a reason as any to expect the Twins, or some team, will be in MN. Nashville, Montreal, San Antonio, whatever city you want to name is going to be a smaller market, but the owners are also going to get some real nice expansion fees from new owners. Relocating the Twins won't be what the other owners want. They want their infusion of expansion cash. The interesting twist on that is that the Rays and As have figured out their stadiums which has been the holdup on expansion. Do new owners prefer expansion teams or the Twins? Does this help or hurt the Pohlad's asking price?

Well now I'm waiting on the new owners to see if we get along or not. Just keep this opportunity in mind when the Priests come calling tomorrow.

This is much like the talk of replacing the front office or Rocco or anyone. Could get better, could stay the same, could get worse. I don't think the Pohlads were the worst owners in baseball, but I don't think they truly cared about winning. The new owners may care about winning or they may care even more about profits than the Pohlads. Just like I'd like to move on from Falvey and Rocco, I'm happy to "move on" from the Pohlads. Not because I think they're the worst owners in baseball, but because I don't think they were the right people to lead the Twins to a championship (like I don't think Falvey and Rocco are). But I have to be realistic and understand that there's a lot worse possible outcomes, as well. My hopes are we get somebody who wants to stay in MN and has a vision for engaging and growing the fan base that will allow them to better invest in the team and get us where we all want to be. I would've liked this move more a few years ago before the Pohlads (and Dave St Peter) started completely alienating their fan base and making terrible decision after terrible decision when it came to their marketing and fan engagement, but a new owner can reignite the fans passion with some early wins in strategy. I don't need an owner that will pay to get themselves out of the low parts of the team building cycle, but I do need one that will pay to get themselves over the top during the high parts. An owner who cares about winning does that. That was always my complaint with the Pohlads. When it's bad, blow it up and make your profit with low payrolls. When it's good invest and don't worry about profits while you try to win. I think that's a reasonable hope for the next owner of the Minnesota Twins. But there's just as much of a chance we get somebody worse who cares even more about profits all the time. We'll have to wait and see how things progress and who jumps in on the bidding.

He called me early on but I declined until I knew what the payroll situation was and he said he'd just go it alone until I decided to join up. I'll bring you in as assistant GM when I make my decision after the Pohlads sell.

FYI, Falvey has basically said they aren't hiring a GM. They don't have plans for changes in the FO or something like that is how he worded it. So it's all on him now.

If their goal is to outdo their spectacular failure in fan engagement from the last 11 months then they should absolutely trade Correa to save money as they go into a season where they are relying on subscriptions for TV revenue. We could safely carve Joe Pohlad's face on the Mount Rushmore of terrible businessmen if that is the decision they make.

I don't mind the trade idea. Not one I'd pull the trigger on, but I think it's a reasonable thought process. Especially if you don't think Emma can stay healthy. He's never played 100 games in a season (did hit 99 in 2023). If he can't stay healthy the Twins do need more OF help as Buxton can't be counted on and Larnach and Wallner have their own question marks. What I don't like is the idea of bringing in a top-100 type prospect to make him a short-side platoon player. If you really think he can be a star you hand him a job and let him learn. I don't have the slightest idea of where the Twins go with this offseason. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a trade of Jax or Duran or basically anyone on the roster. Also wouldn't be even a little surprised to see them run it back with the exact same team. Will be interesting to see how Falvey decides to handle things.

Still believe that they pocket whatever profit they can each year and don't roll it over to the next year? Absolutely. Why would we ever not believe that?

I was watching the Dodgers and Padres last night and found it fascinating that Michael King threw 173.2 regular season innings this year after having maxed out at 104.2 last year. 2.95 ERA and 10.4 K/9 for the year and a 1.57 ERA with 9.4 K/9 in September say he didn't "run out of gas." Is that just his DNA vs Twins pitcher's DNA. He was a reliever up until the end of last year. Wasn't great last night, but was incredible in his first postseason start. Why are the Twins players wearing down? Something isn't working. I find it very hard (impossible) to believe that they just happened to pick 20 dudes who all wore down. Outside of Royce Lewis who hasn't played near a full season in what feels like a decade, none of them should be wearing down. Need to figure that out if they want any chance of making noise in the playoffs ever.

Offense. Consistent offense. That's need #1. Add some improved defense to that and they're in a pretty solid place for contending for the Central.

Jeffers pop time is actually better than Vazquez's, and not really bad at all. Vazquez was 1.96 (54th percentile) and Jeffers 1.93, which was 75th percentile.

Garver played 54 games in 2022, caught 14. Ben Rortvedt didn't step foot on a major league field in 2022. A promising prospect at catcher is certainly needed, but your past Garver/Rortvedt combo left you 148 games short in 2022. In 2023 Garver played 87 games and caught 27. Rortvedt played 32. They left you 103 games short in 2023. Gerrit Cole made 33 starts in 2023. Ben Rortvedt caught him 13 times (of his 32 total games played for NY). Luis Trevino caught him 18 times. Not much of a "private catcher." The Twins absolutely lack catching depth in their system, and it's a self-made problem because they just don't put any resources into acquiring catchers. But trading Garver and Rortvedt was not a bad decision. And most veteran defense first catchers are not expensive. It's why the Vazquez deal was questioned so much when they signed him. Most go for about 4-6 million for a year or 2.

I've never understood this "young guy to mentor" idea as if Vazquez is some secret catcher whisperer that's going to make a young catcher better than he is. He's mentored Jeffers for 2 years and you're ready to move on from him. What evidence do we have that Vazquez would've done some magical work with a young guy not named Jeffers? Because, you know, Jeffers was a young guy for Vazquez to mentor for 3 years. And shouldn't have traded Garver and Rortvedt so they'd have them instead of Jeffers and Vazquez? You think the catching situation is bad now? Imagine having Garver (who has caught a whopping 67 games since he left) and Rortvedt who has played in 144 total MLB games in the last 3 years. That was the way to go? A DH and a AAAA catcher? Come on. Garver has been hurt so much while not even catching that you wouldn't have even had him and Rortvedt is so bad Tampa is openly talking about needing to add catching this offseason after the Yankees traded him because he wasn't good enough for their team. Your plan would've had the Twins out of viable catchers 3 seasons ago instead of 2026.

I disagree with the premise that it seems almost certain that the Twins will trade one of their catchers. Anything is possible, and this offseason could see a lot of turnover if that's the direction Falvey chooses, but Vazquez isn't the backup catcher because the Twins don't do backup catchers (or backups in general). The most drastic they'll get is 60/40 behind the plate, but they prefer 55/45 or 50/50. Because of that they need 2 guys they like behind the plate. Trading Vazquez, a prospect, and 5 mil to bring in Vazquez 2.0 for 5 mil means all you did was give away a prospect (they aren't trading a prospect good enough to have a team eat all 10 mil unless Falvey is crazy desperate and Joe should veto that immediately while firing Falvey). Trading away Jeffers for prospects to replace him with Jeffers 2.0 or Vazquez 2.0 for his same salary isn't a move you make when you're feeling the heat. Falvey may not want to blow up the top of his system to save his job this year, but he certainly shouldn't be worried about adding to it when he won't even be here next year if the big club loses again. I think moving a catcher is actually towards the bottom of the possibility list. Certainly don't see it as "almost certain." Feels more like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic to worry about switching out a catcher for no real 2025 MLB gain.

Zebby threw 134.2 innings this year. 97 in the minors and 37.2 for the Twins. He should be able to 160 this year, but if he's in the majors all, or most of the, year I'd lower it to a 140 goal. Should be more than doable. They have come a long ways from the Shoemaker, Happ, etc. days. And that is very nice to see.

It will be interesting to see how they manage their innings. Zebby is a big boy and I'd like to think he can do 140 innings next year. But I'd bet we see a lot of quick hook complaints early next year whether those guys are in AAA or with the Twins. I actually like the collection of arms they have. Their hurdle is going to be managing workloads for everyone while putting them in the best roles for them to succeed. I don't like the typical long reliever role of sitting around for 2 weeks before coming in during a blowout. Think it's a waste of a roster spot. But if you can get 2 or 3 guys in your pen that can go 2 innings every 4 days you can really manage your entire staff pretty well. Or at least in my head you can. I think Paddack has a role on this team. It's just a question of what that role is.

I don't disagree on him having stuff and he was good in most of his starts last year. I just don't think he can hold up. If he is Stewart in the pen and can't hold up there either then just get as many starts out of him as you can. But if he could throw the entire season out of the pen and get you 70-90 innings that way I'd prefer that over 15 starts and a 60-day IL trip. They do/should have enough good arms in the pen to start the year so I am not totally against not putting him there, but I think it's time to lean on the kids in the rotation. They're going to need them moving forward and it's time to start getting them experience. Ryan, Lopez, Ober, SWR and a fight between Festa and Zebby with the other taking the #6 spot in St Paul would be my plan. But I certainly don't think Festa and Zebby both in St Paul with Paddack in the 5 spot is outrageous. Morris, Raya, and Lewis all starting the year at AAA gives me more hope for the youngsters to start taking over. But having all 5 of those guys in St Paul isn't a bad place to be with Paddack in Minneapolis. I just want to turn the games into 5 inning games whenever one of those guys start. And I think Paddack, Varland, and Sands as 2 inning monsters once or twice a week each makes it pretty realistic that the Twins could say the game is over if they have the lead after 5 most nights. As odd as it feels to say right now, I think there's real reason to expect the Twins pitching to be very good in 2025. The offense on the other hand...I have some real concerns.

If you're just looking at 2024, MLB batters preferred to face Dobnak. Dobnak K% was 15.6 compared to Paddack's 20.6. Dobnak's BB% was 11.1 compared to Paddack's 5.5. Insanely small sample size, but Dobnak wasn't good in his 9.2 innings pitched last year. I don't want either in the rotation, but Paddack has the better stuff and coming out of the pen could be a real weapon, I think.

If they think he can hold up for an entire season and be dominant in the bullpen that's what they should do with him. If Duran, Jax, Sands, Paddack, Alcala (in 1 inning stints only), and Topa can form the core of a Cleveland level bullpen that should be their move. Add 1 lefty or Varland (or Stewart when he's actually healthy) and a long guy and win games with your pen instead of having Paddack start 15 mediocre to bad games and get hurt. If him and Sands (and/or Varland) can each be 2 inning guys twice a week you can shorten some starts for the young guys while letting Lopez, Ober, and Ryan go 6 more often than not and have a really nice pitching staff. The problem is the Twins will clutch their pearls at the idea of paying a reliever 7.5 mil. But the Twins have the makings of an absolute monster pen if Paddack can be dominant there. That's how I'd do it. Duran for saves, Jax for the 8th, and an army of flame throwers for the 6th (when needed) and 7th. Teams better score in the first 5 or the game is over. No more Jay Jackson types. Give me Duran, Jax, Sands, Paddack, Alcala, Topa, Varland and a long guy (Winder?) to start the year. And, yes, I know those are all righties. I don't care about lefties in the pen if all my righties are shutdown guys.

I think the big question with all of them is who are their replacements? Ownership may not care about winning, but I promise you Falvey and Rocco do. Their jobs are on the line. Or, at least, should be. They aren't going to be given financial resources to improve the team, but they can't let it go backwards if they want to stay in MN. There's no replacement for Duran so I'd think he's a pretty easy decision. They traded for Topa because of the extra control so I doubt he's going anywhere. Kiriloff and Castro comes down to whether or not they'll trust rookies. They haven't shown much willingness at all to open a season with a rookie on their opening day roster. Lee is the only one I remember as even being talked about as a possibility. If they aren't going to trust rookies the replacement for those 2 would be more flawed veterans. How flawed do the veterans have to be to sign them to a combined 7 or 8 million? Santana for 5 and a utility type for 3? A different veteran for 7 and Martin for darn near minimum? The pitchers seem like easy decisions, but the hitters are a tougher call depending on their willingness to go young to start a season.