THE DFC

Next year is really interesting, as it really should be a “transition to the kids” year, but our FO is acting like it wants to win…or at least saying it. As they say, actions speak louder than words, and this roster construction certainly requires action. Assuming Simmons is gone and Royce Lewis isn’t ready to step in on day 1, the SS position is a big question mark. And, then you’ve got a fascinating positional wave of at least 11 guys competing for 6 non C/SS/P spots: Donaldson, Polanco, Buxton, Arraez, Kepler, Sano Kirilloff, Larnach, Rooker, Miranda, Austin Martin Then, as many have mentioned above, you’ve got to hold a rotation spot for Ober. Ideally, big Mike is back, too. After that, you’ve got a huge wave of 7 high upside arms in Ryan, Duran, Balazovic, Woods-Richardson, Strotman, Colina and Winder that should all get a shot next year. You’ve also got Dobnak, Thorpe, Jax and Smeltzer as guys that have shown rotation ability. To me, this picture means you don’t go and sign FAs, or at least not more than 1. You have to deal the excess, particularly in position players, for arms. That can go in two directions - tap into the vet grouping for even more high upside arms (building for 23/24). Or, tap into the young kids for established arms (a real win-now decision). That decision is the most interesting to me and will dictate if the FO truly wants to win now, or if they’re saying that politically and really building for 23/24. Now, if we just don’t deal anyone and sign more Happ/Shoemaker types that simultaneously don’t help us win and block the wave of guys listed above, this FO will need to be booted.

Yea, wouldn't hurt to have blue chips like Duran, Balazovic and a healthy Graterol (among other interesting options) steps away from the big club to start the 2020 season...

How about getting Duran up to AA? He's been eviscerating A+ as of late, and his YTD numbers are excellent, as well.

Incorrect

Lewis is 100/100 with athleticism and pedigree. He's trying to make significant mechanical adjustments in a league where he's still super young. He's also coming off one of the worst injuries for a young hitter (oblique strain). This is the time the Twins coaches need to earn their $$$. He's approaching a fork in the road, and they need to ensure he takes the right path. I have a feeling Holland, who we just drafted, will have a similar situation given his mechanics are even substantially worse. Let's hope our hitting experts in the minors can deliver to the degree our guys at the big club have.

Huh? Royce literally turns 20 today.

I'm not so much worried about Nick Gordon acclimating to AAA. He tends to semi-slowly figure each league out. I'm more so worried about him emulating Brian Dozier's maddening 1st Half/2nd Half splits! 2016 First Half OPS: .751 Second Half OPS: .696 2017 First Half OPS: .880 Second Half OPS: .609 2018 First Half OPS: .906 Second Half OPS: .591 It's amazing how he continually runs out of gas half way through the year. Is it conditioning? Does he lose his form? Can he not handle hot temperatures? What is it?

All I know is that these guys May face a Kohl group of Stephen better Slegers in the Majors, so I hope we do more than a Littell to figure out something to make Enns meet.

I know the big league rotation for the Twins isn't exactly one that triggers much excitement going into this year, but I think it's pretty easy to be bullish with respect to where our pitching staff could end up by mid-season next year. With some good luck with trajectories and health, we could see a mid-2018 rotation something like: 1. Romero 2. Berrios 3. Free Agent investment 4. Gonsalves 5. May/Mejia/Stewart/Duffey/Jay Back that up with Chargois, Burdi and, potentially, Jay hopefully evolving into upper, upper echelon flame-throwing relievers, and that projects to be nasty. (I know there are other quality RP prospects in the pipe, of course.) Throw in the "Falvey factor," and I'm cautiously optimistic about where the pitching staff is headed for the first time in a very long time.

I 100% agree with this, and I think this is the key. Any move in an attempt to win 90 games next year at the expense of the 2018 - 2022 Twins is a silly one. We need to focus next on getting lots of the young, high-upside arms either up on the big league roster or in the right positions for success. The latter maybe being most important. Here's how that breaks down: I'm very excited to likely see Trevor May in the rotation next year. Conversely, I want see Duffey in the pen. As noted on here, I never got May converting from a starter to reliever, and Duffey from a reliever to a starter. May has obvious back troubles from pitching frequently. Duffey has been killer in relief, has only two plus pitches and struggles after a round through the line-up. How isn't this switch obvious?Given the success of an Andrew Miller, why not move Tyler Jay back to the pen and have him ready for the big league squad in 2017? A healthy Burdi, a relaxed Chargois, a converted Duffey and a fired up Tyler Jay seem like a devastating late-inning bullpen grouping in the making. Throw in flamethrowers Jake Reed, Melotakis and Light and try out Hildenberger by the end of the year to go along with Taylor Rodgers, and that's a lot of velocity and upside in the pen that needs to be evaluated and done so quickly. As long as Berrios, Gonsalves, May and Mejia get extensive looks next year in the rotation, I'm happy. Hopefully, Felix Jorge and Kohl Stewart force their way into that conversation by mid-season, as well. Given the above evaluation needs to take place, I see these moves as musts: Let's swing Dozier for a young, ace-upside pitcher to join the aforementioned group of 4-6 upside arms that get looks in the rotation this year. The market will be there.Let's move Santana for max value at catcher or low-level, high upside starting pitching.Let's get what we can for Gibson and take it. Let's let Santiago walk or bring him in with a very, very short leash. Again, let's cut bait anyone above 27 in the bullpen.Have slick-fielding Engelb Vielma man SS duties with Escobar until Nick Gordon's ready to take over. Find a way to play Mauer less and audition Vargas, Park, Walker, etc. more. Evaluate appropriately from there. Trust Falvey after he's had time to observe, weigh, contemplate, negotiate, etc. throughout the year.

Don't understand this one bit. A 24-year-old with a quality minor league track record that has a 120 tOPS+ since being called back up, is one of the better left fielders defensively this season and is an excellent base runner should be a 4th outfielder? How about we play him for the next 3 years in a row, so he learns from his mistakes and becomes a smart player when he hits his physical prime versus just writing him off? This cut-throat mentality for our sub 26-year-old high-level prospects is frankly dumbfounding to me.

He mentions it a couple times on the front-end of his podcast here: http://www.1500espn.com/the-scoop-2/2016/08/the-scoop-twins-gm-update-plus-rob-antony-and-cole-aldrich-join-ep-33/ Both before and after the Antony interview.

Assuming Santana is around next year, it's going to be an interesting rotation battle. Molitor has said, per Doogie, that May's going back into the rotation for next year. I have no idea what to make of Gibson, Santiago or Duffey at this point (I wish Duffey would go to the pen, personally). I think Berrios, Mejia and Gonsalves all deserve a shot, too. Assuming by the end of the year we move Santana, I'm actually excited about the prospects of: Berrios Mejia Gonsalves May With these guys battling for the 5th spot: Stewart/Jay/Romero Am I nuts?

Again, insanely odd, ass-backwards logic from the FO. On what planet is Duffey the guy that starts and May is the guy in the bullpen? The swap is incredibly obvious. No reason to "dump" Duff. Just use him as he should be used--in the pen with Chargois again.

I'm 32 years old, and I've been a pretty decent Twins, Vikings and Timberwolves fan for as long as I remember. I've never disliked a team or, more importantly, a leadership group more than this. Pat Dean? Really... Neil Ramirez? Really... We give Chargois one outing and demote him, and then DFA Arcia in favor of Dean, Ramirez, Park, Santana etc., etc. We'll probably demote Kepler when Sano comes back. First time in my life that I'm tuning out the Twins for the rest of the season, and it's not even 4th of July yet. This will probably get buried because it's on the 6th page of the game thread, but the Pohlads should sadly realize that I'm the one that probably pays the most attention to the Twins of everyone I know...and this is my sentiment.