Wizard11
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Everything posted by Wizard11
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Week in Review: Coming Undone
Wizard11 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Just about our whole lineup is kids. Look up the ages for Castro, Julien, Larnach, Lewis, Lee, Wallner, Miranda, Martin, and Jeffers. This is most of our active position player list. Exactly how much younger do you think they should get? Keirsey and Helman are older Players. Kyle Farmer is not holding anybody back and is one of the last experienced voices left in the club house. His 10 ABs per week handed to someone making their MLB debut in a pennant race is Not going to be a game changer. They are going to win or lose with the personnel they currently have.- 34 replies
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- royce lewis
- louis varland
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Kind of wonder if Buxton for 2 or 3 games a week wouldn’t be more valuable right now than carrying Eddie Julian. We do have an abundance of players who can play 2B with Castro, Martin, Farmer, Lewis, Lee, and Helman. It would be an easy active roster spot to create and potentially get a little more outfield coverage assuming Buxton can handle a couple of games per week. He may not be rehabbed to a multiple game level but perhaps at the part time level which would still have value on this roster. It seems like a low risk endeavor to me.
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I wonder how Jarret Whorff felt about his “promotion” from Wichita to Fort Myers? 🤔🤭
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- emmanuel rodriguez
- byron buxton
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The Rocco haters seem to dismiss the Twins wins as being in spite of him but all of the Twins losses are his fault. Yet he is the winningest manager we have had in over 40 years. winning %’s for Kelly .478, Gardenhire .507, Molitor .471, Baldelli .535. That is a massive improvement over previous decades of futility. Yeah, he sucks 🤔
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- pablo lopez
- ryan jeffers
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Any starter we trade for at this point would likely get at most 11 regular season starts. The hypothetical variability of impact on our season between Flaherty and Festa is probably at most +1 game. The predominant reason to trade for any starter now is for their ability to match up better in the post season than one of our current starters that they would displace. The other logical reason would be to get a cost controlled starter for 2025 and beyond. There is no reason to trade for any starting pitcher unless they can meet one of these 2 criteria. My .02
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Travis Lee was not drafted by this front office which is the basis of the article. I also find this piece to be clickbait. Pretty lame. This front office did use high picks on Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, and Walker Jenkins just to name 3 easy ones.
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- keoni cavaco
- aaron sabato
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In addition to the many insightful comments I considered the following. One tangential issue I was struck by as I read thru comments…. The Twins effectively had a $133M payroll last year if you subtract the unforced errors of Gallo $11M and Vázquez $10M. Ownership may have looked at the rather dismal FO history with middle market FA signings and said no mas`. Last years complementary player acquisitions were largely successful as well as typical of this FO. Farmer and Taylor as trades, Castro via waivers, and Solano from the bargain bin of FAs. Falvine seems to be fairly good at finding excess value in these channels. They have also been fairly successful in most of their major trades such as Odorizzi, Maeda, Gray, Lopez, Ryan, and probably Paddock and Pagan to name a few. Mahle stands out as an exception. They have a good record with finding future major leaguers in the draft and International free agency. Mid and upper market FA spending has brought them “gems” like Gallo, Vazquez, Bundy, Colome, and Odorizzi on a qualifying offer just to name a few. Their 2 mega contracts have been Correa and Buxton which have not been disasters but would be stretch to call successful thus far. It would not have been unreasonable for the Pohlads to take stock of their FO and simply directed them to stick to their core skills rather than blow $15-$25M per winter on ineffective FAs. This not articulated as well as I would have liked but hopefully conveys the point
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Kenta Maeda Agrees to Deal with Tigers
Wizard11 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I will try to suspend judgement but my initial reaction to losing Maeda and Gray to very reasonable contracts is one of major disappointment. I realize we are never going to compete for the 5-6 top FA pitchers each year but these signings seem like they should be in our wheelhouse. Twins off seasons have become acid inducing.- 28 replies
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- kenta maeda
- kyle gibson
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I grew up listening to Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall on the radio. They helped me fall in love with baseball and the Twins. Dick Bremer had reached that iconic status for me in recent years. He seemed kind of stiff and like a company man during the Blyleven era but it felt like he had loosened up and showed more of his personality since then. It felt like he was getting better with each year. He is such an encyclopedia of Twins history. If Corey Provus does get the job I hope loses his lame attempt at a signature home run call….”back it goes, deep it goes”….blech, it sounds so scripted and wooden. I like him otherwise. It seems weird to me to push Bremer out but then to potentially retain Gladden as a broadcaster for whom English is a second language. My teenage son does love listening to Gladden just to hear how he is going to mangle the names of opposing players. It really delights him.
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- dick bremer
- bert blyleven
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Mitch Garver is going to be a free agent…just saying
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- donovan solano
- jose miranda
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Given the unknowns about the Twins TV deal I think the chance of one of the “top” (aka expensive) starters landing in MN is zero. MN has the nation’s fifth highest state tax rate and is the coldest place baseball is played. Local fans often try to discount these factors but for those outside of MN it is a big deal. For most high end FAs it is going to require more than matching big market bids. We are mostly going to get the overpays like Donaldson or those with limited choices like Correa. Not a lot of these in most off seasons. Many fans chant the annual chorus of “they should go get…(fill in name with a hyper expensive FA) as if it were a matter of simply ordering from Amazon. This year more than most I think the odds of that are near zero. I suspect the FO hope is that Paddack can replace some of Gray’s production. Bringing Maeda back would make a lot of sense. He pitched well last year and one more year removed from TJ should bring better results and stamina. A trade may be an option but a lot of player capital was spent on the Gray, P. Lopez, Mahle, and J. Lopez trades. A rebound candidate like Gioloto and/or a Pineda like deal for Mahle seem more probable
- 37 replies
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- pablo lopez
- sonny gray
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What Should the Twins Do With Jordan Balazovic?
Wizard11 replied to Cody Schoenmann's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
To me Henriquez is more likely cut than Moran. I believe Alcala is kept. I think it is possible we see all of the other 6 you listed as being cut. They are all replaceable by widely available minor league free agents. Also I think they would only keep at most one of Stevenson or Keirsey. They would bring similar things to the roster. Given that Keirsey is 26 I doubt either of these 2 are kept. I would add that it puzzles me so many fans think Nick Gordon should be kept. He has zero positions he plays well defensively, is not an accomplished base stealer, is a weak hitter (no, 10 good weeks are not more important than the rest of his major and minor league numbers), and he is no longer a young prospect. He is a very likable player but not the type who is part of a future championship club. -
I would love to hear some fan’s theories on why we are going to win in the postseason. It is boring and a buzzkill to keep reading so many entries about why we are going to lose. Could all you predictors of doom (someone actually used that term) go descend on an Astros fan site and work your dark magic there? You will have all winter to come back here and kvetch about the “terrible” Twins and the leadership you despise. 1987 & 1991 were filled with good vibes. Long time Twins fans deserve the same for 2023..
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The spin to find Rocco hate is mind boggling at times. Gallo and Vasquez were the only 2 pinch runners available for a hobbled Julien. Which one should he have chose? What would your imaginary ideal manager have done? Use of the pen? Look at the recent bullpen usage and availability. Please do get in to the math… on days used and pitch counts. The only master class here is the stunning narrative of Rocco’s perceived inadequacies after another good victory.
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- donovan solano
- dallas keuchel
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Jorge Polanco’s Twins Tenure is Approaching an End
Wizard11 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Polanco would be a great super utility man IMO. It is common in baseball for an aging vet to transition to a reduced role. In Polanco’s case that would likely also translate to better health. All the angst about a spot in the infield for Julien seems misplaced to me. He is our next DH who can grab a glove if needed. Maybe he starts 2024 @ 2nd base if they don’t feel Lee is ready or they want to suppress service time for Lee . Lee, Lewis, and Castro will cover 2B and 3B by mid 2024. Martin will likely replace Taylor as the “backup” CF who gets 400 ABs. Kirilloff will likely stay at 1B. Buxton plays CF and IL. Wallner and Kepler in the corners. Lewis, Lee, Castro, and Polanco could all cover SS when Correa is NA. Gordon, Farmer, Taylor, and Solano are likely gone. These are the guys that are pushed off the roster by younger players. This also makes it easier to find 40 man roster space for players like Severino and Prato. -
Brooks LeeWalker JenkinsEmmanuel RodriguezDavid FestaMarco RayaCharlee SotoAustin MartinConnor PrielippTanner SchobelYasser MercedesLuke KeaschallBrandon WinokurJordan BalazovicKala'i RosarioYunior SeverinoDaShawn Keirsey JrJair CamargoJose RodriguezAndrew CossettiBrent Headrick
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A New Position for Royce Lewis?
Wizard11 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I believe Joey Gallo is gone at the deadline. Yesterday’s move of sending down a pitcher was IMO a ST move to facilitate some time to attempt to extract some value for Gallo. I would expect he is DFA’d if they can not package him up some how. This will start unclogging the position player jam- 67 replies
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- royce lewis
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The Twins Should be Shopping Sonny Gray
Wizard11 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Much ado over nothing. Sonny Gray is not getting traded, shopped, nor is he retiring at the end of the year. My worst Twins nightmare is waking up and finding out that a collective of negative TD commenters is now running the FO. I appreciate the commenters (many of whom are long time participants) in here who provide nuanced and unique insight about our team and the game. From the rest the torrent of negative commentary is a buzzkill. The team is in first place, will likely win the division and has a very good pitching staff. If you are a Twins fan let’s try to enjoy the ride. To the trolls let me say that you will have all winter to tell us you are right if the Twins flop. Go bother Yankees fans until then. -
Lessons Learned From the 2022 Trade Deadline
Wizard11 replied to Matt Braun's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I love the revisionist history. Last year after the J López and Mahle trades these pages were full of praise for the FO. “We got a second closer for nothing…the guys we gave Baltimore were garbage. Mahle will probably be our best starter Spencer Steer will never hit enough to be more than a utility player, CES has no position and won’t hit enough to be a MLB DH….blah, blah, blah.” Where were all of the searing criticisms at the time of these trades? The ever shifting narratives regarding the FO are ludicrous. Given all the vitriol I would love to hear from the keyboard warriors who exactly they think should be running our FO? If you hate the FO then who would you prefer be in charge? I am calling you out here. I would really like to get back to reading insightful commentary from knowledgeable fans without an agenda.- 52 replies
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- tyler mahle
- jorge lopez
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It's Okay to be Impressed by the Twins
Wizard11 replied to Matt Braun's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Wow, take a breath folks. The Twins are in first place and should remain there. If so, they are heading to the playoffs and for once we have the pitching to compete. As a side note the Twins are 15th in runs scored. For comparison SD with a star studded lineup is 24th. Our lineup is built around 2 players who are underperforming and are likely receiving around 30% of the payroll. The next best player (Polanco) is hurt. Miranda was the tip of the youth movement and was a dumpster fire. The rest of the cast in sum is doing about as expected. It has been frustrating and a bit dull to watch. I do expect that we will see some better baseball ahead. I also think that the concerns about pitchers regressing is overblown. Nothing in the underlying metrics suggests they have been lucky. The bigger risk for our starting pitching is injury. Not many teams will get to the end of the season with all of their starters intact..- 39 replies
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- louis varland
- tyler mahle
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Astros 5, Twins 1: Twins Fail to Launch in Space City
Wizard11 replied to Steven Trefz's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Correa looks awful at the plate. It maybe me but it seems like he has adopted the Miguel Sano approach and hacking wildly at pitches down and away out of the zone. His at bats seem like where hope goes to die.- 45 replies
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- royce lewis
- joe ryan
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I mentioned hitting only because a previous commenter on my post brought up WPA as a way of measuring impact. If you use actual results (Jax not Pagan) has been the worst reliever in terms of the Twins standings. I also think that Jax and Pagan can both be part of a very good bullpen. I know fans are frustrated and so am I. Swapping out a middle reliever however is not going to be much of an impact.

