nclahammer

Anyone else feel like this acquisition was influenced specifically by Schoop's AL Central success, especially against Cleveland starters? Also, given the deep free agent market for middle infielders, the one-year deal being signed so soon in free agency seems to indicate Falvine fully intend to give Nick Gordon a shot to be an everyday player in 2020 if not before. 

I hope it was just the triceps for Reed and that he can be a veteran presence in our bullpen next year.

I hope it was just the triceps for Reed and that he can be a veteran presence in our bullpen next year.

It's hard not to be bummed with this lineup but these war rankings were absolutely damning evidence of what needs to be done to get moving in the right direction and the list seems long.
  
Key observations based on your war ratings.
 
1. Our bullpen is bad. Tyler Duffey, Alan Busenitz, Matt Magill and John Curtiss left a lot to be desired. How Jake Reed was once again not called up last season with as bad as the BP was is anyone's guess.
 
I find it puzzling that the FO did so little to try and stabilize the BP situation when it became apparent how bad they really were. I also think that Molitor made a bad situation worse with his mishandling of the pen. That said, it's hard to work with junk and some of the failure falls on the pitching coaches, BUT Paul's usage of BP guys was head scratching at best.
 
The Twins HAVE to upgrade the pen in order to have a shot at competing in 2019 if you ask me.
 
2. No doubt the Catcher position was a weakness on this team but it was probably the least of our problems. Jason Castro being down for almost the entire season certainly hurt, but let's not get carried away. I've never been overly impressed with Castro. I did like what Garver was able to do in limited at-bats down the stretch and the games he caught. Astudillo also provided some interesting moments as well but the Twins could and probably should be looking to upgrade at catcher if possible in my humble opinion. That said, I would still like to see what Garver can do with more playing time and experience.    
 
3. DH. This one really hurts. Logan Morrison was an absolute disaster last season and no-one stepped up and picked up the slack. This guy finished his Twins career with a .186 BA! It doesn't get much worse then that. I had hoped at some point that Vargas would figure things out and develop offensive consistency at the MLB level but we've been wishing that for several seasons and it never happened. An upgrade is definitely needed at DH although it's possible Tyler Austin sees time there.  There's also a good chance that Sano ends up at DH in a few years but probably not next season.
 
4.  3rd base and CF. Look i know everyone wants to keep the faith with Sano and Buxton but the fact is these two were perhaps the biggest disappointments in all of baseball last season. Sano once again showed up at spring training out of shape but even more disappointing & disturbing was his complete lack of plate discipline a regression from his previous season.
 
Likewise Buxton was wildly inconsistent at the plate and despite all his defensive heroics was not able to overcome a disastrous start to the season and finished -0.6 war. Fortunately Jake Cave stabilized CF after Buxton went down to Rochester but that's not a permanent solution. These two (Sano & Buxton) HAVE to come back with a vengeance next season or the Twins will be forced into Plan B at some point which likely leads to MORE years of mediocrity and misery for the fan base.  
 
5. 2nd base. Brian Dozier utterly failed last season. While i admire what he was able to do in 2016 and 2017 he reverted back to his old offensive Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ways in 2018 and was non existent prior to the all-star break. Unfortunately for the team he never showed up at all last season and was traded.  
 
Heading into 2019 the Twins need to figure out 2nd base and where Gordon fits. Perhaps Polanco moves to 2nd and Gordon stays at short until Lewis arrives. All of this was complicated by Gordon's horrendous season in AAA, Escobar being traded and Polanco's 80 game PED suspension that torpedoed his season for all intensive purposes. Disappointing to say the least. 
 
6. 1st base. I was never a Joe Mauer Homer but a team -1.6 war stat for 1st base? That can't be right? 
 
This is a position that Falvey and Levin will no doubt be looking to upgrade and we already have evidence of that in their discussions with the Diamondbacks over Paul Goldschmidt. That said, i think his price will be unbelievably high in prospects and the Twins might settle on Tyler Austin as a stop gap measure until Brent Rooker arrives. This will undoubtedly cost them games next season depending on how quickly Rooker progresses through AAA (assuming he starts there in 2019) and Austin handles a full time job in the meantime. There's also the the outside chance that Sano ends up at first again depending on how desperate they get, but i think Miguel has a greater chance of ending up at DH the way he's going.     
 
7. Starters. Probably the least of their concerns heading into the off-season which seems hard to believe. Now that Santana is gone, it's Berrios, Gibson, Odorizzi, Romero and Stewart? Pineda is still an option in 2019 along with Gonsalves whom i was not impressed with. There's also an outside chance that Thorpe could be a late season callup if need be. I don't see a reason to spend big here unless it's for someone like Patrick Corbin. For the first time in MANY seasons the Twins have plenty of internal candidates with significant talent to pick from. At times Romero has looked amazing at the major league level and should build on this.  Further down, Thorpe is in AAA and should reach 150 innings this coming season.  He's getting close.  There's also the phenomenon Brusdar Graterol but he's a ways away.  The outlook on starters is so much better than a few years ago.

Your logic makes sense...but I really like Eddie Rosario. He is a likable  person, from what I have seen at spring training and a caring person, based on his help with Puerto Rico disaster relief. MLB needs more players like Eddie Rosario...and so do the Twins.

I don't think there's anything wrong with this sentiment at all.

Middle infielder free agents who are at the "Top of the pile" (not including Machado):
 
Ian Kinsler - Age 36
Eduardo Nunez -  31
Jose Iglesias -  28
Marwin Gonzales - 29
Alceides Escobar - 31
Eduardo Escobar - 29
DJ LeMaheiu - 31
Brian Dozier - 31
Asdrubal Cabrera - 32
Josh Harrison - (if club declines option) - 31
Freddy Galvis - 28
 
Anything look appealing to you guys? I like Harrison, Eddie Escobar, and Jose Iglesias. Not sure if I'm in love with any of these players, though.

Throughout the minor leagues, Brian Navaretto has been known as a defensive catcher, his lifetime batting average in the minors is just .218.  I don't view him as a substantial piece to solving the Twins catching problems unless something dramatically changes in his offensive skill set.
 

A player the Yankees cannot get out. Keep him around for the Yankee series next year.

I had hoped to see more progress in batting average this year with Max Kepler (.235 lifetime avg.), although I do like his increase tick in walks.   Unless he makes strides, I can see him as the odd man out, especially if Buxton bounces back in 2019.

Very impressive assembly of information on outfielders. I won't/can't predict who will be playing outfield for the Twins, but I can appreciate a dang good article when I see one. Well done! 

I really do not think of TD contributors as "average fans". It is my not so humble opinion that TD contributors are extremely knowledgeable fans, who are guided by thoughtful editors and moderators who know more about the Twins than most   fans and sports  writers I really would not be surprised to discover that the FO monitors TD contributions...especially well thought-out comments by tarheeltwinsfan. 

Wait, so if the Twins gave Dozier an extension you think he'd play better this season? I highly doubt that.

Why is this an article? Fact is you can never begin to explain how baseball or any other major sport for that matter works to the average fan. These people still think it’s 1991 or 1987 and star players play for a million dollars and take the hometown discount every time. I have family that have season tickets. Watch every game when not there. Go to Twinsfest every year. Have everything in the world signed by Joe Mauer and Kirby Pucket. I had to explain to them who Berrios and Buxton were. I try to explain prospects, and all the intricacies of how it works and watch their eyes glaze over. The same people who love Joe Mauer but don’t think he should have got the big contract. Not understanding that when he signed that contract that was the market for a star catcher in his prime. If not more.Yet they still expected him to stay in Minnesota forever yet only play for like a million a year. Impossible. Trying to cater to the average fan is like trying to explain capitalism to a socialist.

So, the FO was supposed to know the following: that Lance Lynn would have the worst year of the last 5, and that Logan Morrison would regress this far from a guy who hit 38 HRs last year,   Nevertheless, both have one year contracts and will not constrain the Twins next season.   They traded very little for Odorizzi, who is a legit back of the rotation maybe middle of rotation guy under contract for next year.  Fernando Rodney has been very good and the Twins retain an option for next year.  The best thing the Twins FO did last year was NOT to sign Yu Darvish.   Darvish is now a big weight hanging around the Cubs' neck for the next five years!     

I'm not ready, either, but the clock is definitely ticking.

A little sarcasm can be good for motivation.  It's in the bag.
 

A little sarcasm can be good for motivation.  It's in the bag.
 

A little sarcasm can be good for motivation.  It's in the bag.
 

That was uh...interesting, although I used to draw mustaches and beards on some players too.  Now I just use this surplus of cards as bookmarks in my 3rd grade classroom.
 

Love love LOVE it.

Lots of different views on the season, but gotta believe every one of us is elated to have Mauer back. If nothing else we only have to see Grossman and Morrison one at a time. Unless of course Molitor decides the no hit no glove Grossman should spell Rosario more often.
 
My son got tickets to the doubleheader against the Chisox for $3 and other than Escobar's 3 run HR and a great stadium, we overpaid. This team is an offensive mess.

It seems it's been very difficult for baseball op-ed writers to call out Sano on his focus and effort. It's nice to see someone do it. It's also nice to see someone acknowledge this is a message move. Molitor did make a vague reference to it in his statement, but the FO release was mostly BS.

Not a chance. I'd half listen if they threw is some prospects.
 
Can't miss prospects usually miss: D'Arnaud, Swihart, Schwarber...no thank you.

I don't recall such an instance.
He may have been promised to be fast-tracked when he signed from Indy ball. His .895 OPS in A+ (SSS) suggests there may be something there.
And being a RH hitting outfielder may have prompted the FO to see if he is a viable option for the big leagues.
Still, seems aggressive.