ToddlerHarmon

I think there is a story in Kepler's Statcast number that DOES add up to his mediocre production, and maybe to a path forward. His worst trait is xBA but it's not horrible. His hard-hit stats are good, but never great, especially for a corner outfielder. (Someone on TD once pointed out that Max's fly balls pre-2019 were long enough to be deep outs, but seldom long enough to be hits. I'm betting his 2021 flies look the same) To stand out, he needs to get *some* stat that's well above average. To do that, he needs to sacrifice something. Should he be swinging for the seats more, to get the hard-hit numbers over the hump to being a standout? Since he has good discipline, it looks like he could go there. The Bomba Squad season showed this approach can succeed, but 2019 was a world of juiced baseballs where the majority of pitches were fastballs. After 2021, the low xBA tells me he would sacrifice too much contact to be viable. His AVG is barely playable as it is. Maybe his best approach is the other way around. Shorten and flatten the swing, and work on line drives. This may seem disappointing, but he has enough foot speed, discipline, and physical strength to make this a productive approach. So, more aiming for .260/.360/.410 than the current .210/.310/.410. Is that an improvement? Well, OPS goes up by just .050, which is nice. But a sensible RC27 would go from: 205 TB * (105 H + 75 BB) / (500 AB + 75 BB) / 395 outs * 27 = 4.4 runs/game for a lineup of fly ball Keplers to 205 TB * (130 H + 75 BB) / (500 AB + 75 BB) / 370 outs * 27 = 5.3 runs/game for a lineup of line drive Keplers Which is a huge improvement

Look, I know it's possible I'm the only one who has read this, but I don't sprinkle bat wings over my tea every morning while saying an incantation to Calvin Griffith's poodle for this clown to come along and mess with the juju,

Between Donaldson's health, Arraez' possibly improving defense, and a need to find him a long term home, Arraez is your new third baseman. DH Donaldson C Garver 1B Sano 2B Polanco 3B Arraez SS ?? Free Agent/ Defensive stopgap until Martin or Lewis can be auditioned LF Kiriloff CF Buxton RF Kepler Bench: Jeffers, Larnach? Celestino? Miranda?

Worth considering. I can see that the Yankees will feel pressure to grab a big free agent and push him aside. Any speculation on the nature of an undisclosed injury? We know that recovering ankles have propelled Polanco forward, but *another* infielder with bad wheels seems like the last thing we need.

And don't forget that Nishioka literally did not know how to play shortstop at a major league level. Horrible, horrible signing

I love this. However, the conclusion to draw, IMO, is not "the FO should decide to sign guys like this", because the market reality is they can't make that decision. They have to hope the Yankees, Dodgers, et al, allow such a signing. The real conclusion to draw is the MLB has to make it possible for the Twins and similar teams to pursue such FAs. Whether through CBA, revenue sharing, national media contracts, or something. It is simply getting ridiculous.

I get that the Twins' only glut of assets to trade from is non-SS infielders, but you do realize that you just sent away about half the lineup's above-replacement production?

It also sounds like 2000-2010 Twins. Which had a ceiling of getting to the playoffs, but not the horses to make a run. If Falvine are going to show they can build a pitching pipeline, 2022 is a good time to start testing it As far as still having a lineup to compete if the pipeline delivers, it seems you have the following expiration dates: Donaldson - 2022 Buxton/Polanco/Sano/Kepler/Garver - 2024 If you don't make that, it's on to rebuilding with Arraez/Kiriloff/Jeffers/Larnach/Lewis/Martin/Miranda/Celestino, et al

I worry that signing Pineda only fills a rotation spot half the time. Yes, better than filling that spot with a Shoemaker performance, but still, it leaves you having to make another move, and have that work out

If only it had been Colome. I'm pretty sure he will be able to vault *some* team into the post season this year, but it won't be the Twins

I'll go along with your clarification, but this part brings up another concern: doesn't this strategy also set them up to sign players about whom they disagree with the rest of the league? Which works if they find a diamond in the rough, but fails if they fail to account for the shortcomings that others have seen. In any case, the player evaluation remains the thing they have to get right. Nothing new or surprising there.

Probably true in the case of Ray, but the strategy of late FA signings did backfire on the Twins here, and remains questionable for fielding a playoff team

Right? No 25-year-old starting pitching legends defecting from Cuba that hate the Yankees?

A lot of hand-wringing has gone into players the Twins have let go that have broken out this year. I don't see any candidates for such fears in a group like this. (Maybe Minaya? But that ship has sailed, IMO) However, one does have to fill the bullpen with some confidence. So, yeah, Thielbar and/or Minaya, I'd be ok with either or both. Beyond that, you start exposing prospects with too much upside or youth to other teams.

I voted 15-26, not with any conviction, but just because too many pleasant surprises are happening, and too little is on the line. Rookie pitchers will make a second trip through the division rivals, injuries will not be played through, and the lineup will be opened up for tryouts, and to protect the health of the veterans.