Rosterman

Interesting thoughts going forwards. Correa, in all likllihood, will produce and make it worth his while to walk from the Twins. But if he doesn't, that juts one helluiva a complication that could arise come 2023. When I see the Twins playing Arraez at first base...well, it got him in the lineup. But putting a guy in an uncomfortable position (even leftfield) doesn't necessarily make him more comfortable in the game. Arraez, the guy with the lone Twins bat as of today, but no place to play. I started to think that Miranda should get the call, and be cycled in at first base or leftfield. Clearly staying in AAA would help Larnach and Celestino more than struggling at the major league level right now. And watching Garlick, I guess it will be time for more Jake Cave. I have yet to figure out Rocco. From bullpen usage (it is their turn today) to lineup construction (who hasn't batted cleanup, or isn't it time to reeeeeeestablish Kepler as a lead-off hitter) to player usage (let's play someone somewhere, at least for a couple of innings...hey, have we tried Sanchez at shortstop yet?). We (I) get emotional and call for heads to roll, and the season is still young. If WE all think the Twins are competitive, as our front office told us throughout the off-season, then we start questioning every decision, every player move, every thrown pitch, every swing. If it is just a team in a rebuild, or just coming out and giving us an entertaining evening of play, they we can sit back and hope that the next or the next or the next season will be a return to greatness that the Twins have only seen periodically in their 60+ years in the business.

Well, the second coming of Colome (Pagan), Robles (Smith), Farrell (Romero), Waddell (Cotton). And another cast of characters that will make us still remember we trotted out Law, Barraclough, Gibaut, , Vincent, garcia, Burrows, Garza and Anderson, amongst others. I imagine the Twins will make a couple of hard decisions come May 1, but will still stick with Duffey and others because they are paying them and hope they turn around and become, if nothing ese, tradebait if the team tanks.

Well, amidst all the changes the Twins made, they still needed a bonifide closer. And if they had gotten one, Rogers would've been one of two solid setup guys (with hopefully Alcala surplanting Duffey in that role). But we basically have a bullpen of all middle inning guys. Some have decent skill sets, but we keep our fingers crossed if the game is close. The joy is that there are a lot of bodies at AAA to run thru the system, depending on how far you wish to slip in the standings. And, at some point, you have to give the ball to THE FUTURE: Canoi, Moran, mabe Mason, possibly Gore...guys that you may expect to be around next season.

We just expect Sano to break out. Call it the David Ortiz-syndrome. We don't want him to go away and become a mainstay somewhere else. So we gamble that he will be more than he has shown to be. .243 average and 35 homers a season (hopefully more with men on base). But a slight dip in eitehr of those numbers, and we basically can run-the-slush-pile each season for a 1B or DH at this point. Sano had value, at times, when he played a decent third base. But, in hindsight, we always seem to be asking "what about Sano." Should we get a real third baseman, biut then where do we play Sano instead of our current 1B or DH. Do we make him a fulltime DH, but then we go and get others who need to play that spot. Like Ortiz, who the Twins didn't feel was worthy of going to the "higehr arbitration" salary, the Twins will make a hard decision on paying him for 2023, or watch him, in all liklihood, go and sign somewhere else on the cheap, and cross out fingers that he doesn't produce bigtime. Of course, if he starts a tear, I would entertain any and every offer possible mid-season at this point in time, especially if Kirilloff is back and playing.

I'm picturing a lot of pitching staff movement come May 1. Who goes. Who stays. Who comes up from St. Paul (Minaya, Smeltzer, Moran ready yet, can they keep Cano down on the farm much longer, Megill.) Of course, Lewis Thorpe, yes!

We all dream of the BIG free agent signing. Yes, we got it, at least for a year, with Correa. But he doesn't pitch. Maybe what the front office showed is that they would be willing to grab a half-season rental if their place in the standings warrant such an acquisition. Pitchers? Always a gamble. Especially if you look at overall production of the last few the Twins have signed. Thankfully Jake Odorizzi got a pro-rated salary during the 2020 season. Ervin Santana, Michael Pineda. Even back to Hector Santiago. The best the Twins could do? Of course, no one wants to come to Minnesota, it seems. You have to develop from within. You also, sadly, have to make an effort to keep what you develop (Jose Berrios) or take a chance, maybe, on others on the cusp or fringe (Liam Hendriks, Kyle Gibson). Hindsight? The Twins did grab Sonny Gray. He's good for another year. We keep forgetting that Kenta Maeda will also be back. Chris Paddack is now a part of the immediate future. Chris Archer, Dylan Bundy are placesetters. Partly because all those pitchers on the cusp still need a little work on tweaking things, as well as a lot more innings in, well, a less stressful environment than daily American League pitching. Winder and Duran are getting some reps in the majors out of the pen. Will Duran be the rotation arm the Twins can always use, or does he have the stuff to be a light's out closer. (Joe Ryan, if he fails as a starter, definitely has the stuff to be a closer). Why are our top prospects on the injured list (Balazovic?). Sands should see the majors. Enlow and Centerino should advance to AAA and have a shot in spring training, if we are lucky. Woods-Richardson and Varland and others are in the pipeline. Hell, even Smeltzer is a prospect now. And we can't forget...Randy Dobnak, can we? I still shake my head at pitching and bullpen management, though. This is the year I'm paying extra close attention to this important part of the game!

I almost wish we had included him in the Padres deal and took Hosmer. Throw in Sanchez and get their catcher Campusano. And we also take Myers salary and give them Cave as an option for the season. And not send them any monies.

The hope always is one homer for every 20 at bats gives us at least 25 for the season.

$4 to get in the door is a bargain. You got a lot of seats to choose from in the upper decks if the place is only a third full, or totally empty above. Target Field is a comfortable roaming stadium with lots of standing rest stops while you savor food fare. So just having a cheap entry and knowing you can sit somewhere is a bargain.

What we saw in the game tonight was a true contending team and one that thinks they can contend. Although the game seemed tight thru the first few innings, as both starters held their own, we saw a breakdown when the Twins went to the bullpen. Rather than play to win, they played with the master-plan that so-and-so works now and we hope he gives us what we want. And we will give guys time to pitch and play, and......man...look at the Twins that aren't hitting really NOT hit against great pitching. First major league game for Josh Winder on a cold rainy night. Against the Dodgers. Well, guess what. You gotta throw strikes. You can play the corners and be cute with your pitches. Of course, you are facing major league batters which means unless you really know what you are doing, they will probably make contact if you do throw a strike. He learned a lot, got out of the inning. Now that he ahs the experience, he will (hopefully) be a fine piece of the team's future. The epic was taking advantage of the new kid on the base paths. Someday we may actually see the Twins have a running game. Winder got out of the inning amazingly with a bad called third strike, and wo hard hit flies, not to mention the near homerun foul. Sitting in the stands, I told my wife "this is a guy who can give the Twins innings." Unfortuantely, he didn't...and we got to see a patchwork bullpen when the starter can't go five. Of course, it was a wet night. Should the game have been stopped after six and continued the next day? How much "wet" can you have, showing up in fielding errors and low command of the ball, before the umpires see that it is futile to play in a drizzle? But saw little confidence as Twins ran thru their bullpen. You realize that the pen has a few arms that are in no way the future of the Twins. Even hoping to get a second inning out Pagan, which you don't do on a cold wet night making a guy sit in the dugout. Again, the Dodgers just watched the bullpen try and be cute rather than try and command the count and the strikezone. Nine walks don't win you games if your own bats are silenced by superior pitching. . Sanchez was horrible at the plate, making swings we wouldn't wish on Sano. Talk about totally overmatched, as pitchers should be when in command of the plate. The Dodgers are an expensive and quite good ballclub. Cotton being released the next day tells you all you need to know about the Twins. Was at the game with great seats. Shooting picture thru the netting, they come out looking like a painting.

The guy can work a count and is a delight to watch at the plate. He puts the ball in play. I would love to just see him play two weeks at one position. Or a month. But..... The glove isn't always the best (is he in the game as much in the field as he is at the plate?), and...his lack of speed. Which is, sad to say, why the Twins need to sell high at some point. Before the longjam in the infield makes him obsolete as even a Twins reserve.

Rogers is not a closer. The Twins needed a closer last year and got Colome. They needed one this year and got...no one. If you thought Duffey had potential, you ahd all last season, especially in September, to see if he could handle the job. The guy is a mid-inning and possible set-up guy. But NOT a closer. Alcala could be a closer, but again...did you try him last September? Of course, if you don't mind losing games like this, it doesn't matter. Go by committee. Have another crappy April. Of course, since you have no written-in-stone bonifide closer, better hope you don't have a full month of 1-run games. Duran NEEDS to be given the chance. He ahs the stuff. He can get the outs. But, alas, if we go thru the week and end up with NO starter giving us five innings...we may question how well the Twins used their limited spring training, and the faith they have in their aresnal of starting arms.

If this was looking at the list at the end of the Year, would easily find 10 names NOT to consider keeping, and many could still be upgraded right now or during the season. A few prospects on the Fringe...will either become a aprt of the team...but on the fringe...or bypassed this season. Names I would easily replace with others...but not with folks like Cave or Garlick or any number of minor league pitchers signed to fill the Saints roster.

Time for the RETURN OF TWINKIE THE LOON!

It will be interesting watching the development of Ryan. He can challenge the hitters, but if a team is savvy, they can also make him throw strikes. It's that fine line of when you just throw strikes and when you try and be cute, and keeping the advantage in your arena rather than the batters. I'm glad Duran got butterflies out of the way. He might just be the closer the Twins need now and forever. What do you think? I keep trying to think how I would construct this lineup. I always loved Arraez as a lead-off hitter as he can make a pitcher work. Better than Buxton usually can at this point. Correa is a good #2 hitter. But if Buxton gets on base, I love his ability to advance if the #2 hitter puts a ball in plau compared to Arraez. Yet Buxton could also give us power and would be a nice fit in the #3 hole. But you don't want him followed by strikeout kings like Sano or Sanchez. Is Kirilloff the good #4 hitter...but then HE is followed by the strikeout kinds. Or Gio...should he be the #4 hitter? And I hate toi bury Polanco in the end of the line-up, but someone has to anchor that end of the card, too. The Twins did get their own walks, and didn't swing as free as the Mariners, which was good. Ray managed to endure, which is a plus these days for saving a staff and is the type of performance Ryan should study...how to work a game. Of course, both pitchers suffered from a lone home run. Ryan's had a hit batsman. Read somewhere that the Twins are going with a six man rotation the first month. Pushed Ryan into the 70-pitch count. Happily the bullpen had a couple of multi-inning arms.

My bigger question is: Obvious the Twins needed a Closer going into 2021. And especially in 2022. Why didn't they at least make an attempt to tackle this issue, eitehr via a trade (too) or a signing. Thery had no idea how Rogers would return until spring games. And, truth-be-told, Rogers is an exceptional set-up guy who can close if you are winning so many games that your closer can't pitch every nite. I hoped Alcala would develop in that direction, but he is not there yet. I had hoped that the Twins would've given other people an opportunity at the end of 2001 (Duffey, for example) instead of giving Colombe more value. At best, a light's out closer is valuable if you are the competing team you say you wish to be. The problem is you have two rookie starters who will be pushing to do 30 rotations and 150 innings, two reclamation projects, a bunch of rookies, and - at least now - two veterans who can eat some innings. April will be a telling month in Twins land! Can Rocco manage the bullpen!

Can ARCHER AND BUNDY shine enough to be tradebait no matter how good they may be? I would sell if the opportunity arises, no matter their numbers, IF the prospects are pushing in minor league land. Like the relief corps, I wouldn't be afraid to pull the plug if a guy isn't giving the team what it needs. You want to be competitive, you can't let guys "work thru it." They produce or the next in line gets to see how hungry they are for a major league paycheck. All the pitchers are cheap enough that any "walk" is a no-brainer in eating a salary. JOE RYAN, if he doesn't cut it going 5+ innings has CLOSER written all over him. And he could be a great one, ala Nathan. ARRAEZ will get at bats. DH is an open spot if you can't play both catchers in a game. Some time at third. Some at second. Have the guy bat second behind Buxton. POLENCO put up offensive numbers rivaling the more highly paid Correa. I don't know the best spot for him in the batting order. GORDON has to hit and field and run if he wants a job, any job, in the future. People will be pushing him. At some point he becomes a journeyman, which I don't really see happening, or finds a home on a rebuilding team that lets him play everyday and sink or swim. Is SANO the DH of the future. We can dream that he is the next DAVID ORTIZ and sign him for $15m a year for the next decades. If only he stops chasing low and outside. Works the count. And gets continuous discipline. Otherwise, KIRILLOFF will get play at first base as the DH rotates between anyone and everyone that needs a day off in the field. Which is good for Celestino to get at bats which has to be a better thought than Rooker or Garlick. KEPLER has to be looking at pressure to produce with Larnach in the wings (and don't forget about Wallner). Of course Martin & Lewis are also hopefuls, as well as Miranda.

The Twins need starter innings in the grand scheme of things. You can pretty much say that April will be full of 3-4 inning runs by starters, so with careful management of the pitching staff, the Twins may actually win some games depending on piggy banking of pitchers. Remember, Ober and Ryan MAY NOT be capable of 30+ solid starts. The Twins hope Bundy AND Archer will take up some of the early season slack. Happily the April expansion of pitching rosters have given teams the ability to really stretch out proespects, and for the Twins that means that Ober and Ryan CAN probably pitch for the full season, push up against 150 innings at the least. Paddack is a sold addition to the team going forward (moreso than Bundy and Archer). The Twins get Maeda back, hopefully, in 2023 (if not September of 2022). Gray is still around for another season. No matter how we look at the grander scheme of things, Balazovic, Winder, Sands, Henriquez, Enloow all need to be workhouses - in the minors. In a pinch the Twins can call up Strotman or use Jax (if he isn't cut today). Dobnak is somewhere in the mix along with Smeltzer. And looking forwards to 2025 you still have Ober, Ryan, Paddack...a couple of the above names, as well as Varland, Canterino, maybe Sammons, Woods-Richardson. I'm thinking the front office is being clever, as well as planning for the longterm. Yes, the Twins needed a closer last year and, in the early months, Colome wasn't the guy. Rogers is a set-up guy. The Twins have Thielbar and Coulombe right now. Moran is in the wings.

Paddack IS NOT a starter in decline., His best years MAY be ahead. The Twins went into the off-season looking for a closer. They didn't get one. Roger is good, a dynamite set-up man who can ALSO close. But..... The Twins now have Coulombe and Thielbar from the left side. Moran is in the wings. Yes, there is a logjam in the rotation. I picture, at least in May, the Twins doubling up one of the rotation spots to see how Bundy and Archer fare. You have that luxury with the expanded pitching staffs. Still, the Twins need to make a roster move to add, say, Garlick. What pitcher goes - we are on the edge of our seats. Stashak looked bound for the IL, but that dosn't remove him from the 40-man. Is Jax optioned off (going thru waivers). Romero? Of course, the bigger question is "who goes come May 1" from the Twins piching staff. That is going to be one helluva a waiver wire day. As for closer...humm, would the Twins be so bold as to offer up the job to...Duran? The Twins have to pitch well and win in April. That is the table setting for the whole season, and it rests on a strong bullpen and a lights out closer. Always felt Alcala had the stuff (and he still may, shades of promise I ahd for Trevor May and before that Jesse Crain). But we can't have a COlombe-April again.

Seth just posted the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels roster and a lot of over 20 guys on that roster who should advance fast thru the system...if there is room for them at the major league level. Without Elizabethton, players are forced to stay in the Instyructional League (and there are close to 50 players at the complex) to play in-house games. But ALL the guys at Ft. Myers should be knocking on Cedar Rapids doors this season, and ALL should make the jump next season if they don't bomb out.

There's a lot of age. Looks like a graduating class from college ball! I know we lost the 2020 minor league season. A lot of these guys will definitely be pushing towards High-A as the season progresses...and the Twins prospects, as a whole, should be glad minor league teams have to plan for hosuing.

The vets are solid placesetters in case of emergency, and easily recycled out if you need to advance someone from AA before or by mid-season. Last season, where the Twins actually had more minor league free agents at the upper level, was a better opportunity to give "prospects" a taste of major league action. They didn't. If the Twins are in the mix, the msot action MAY just happen with advancement to AAA ball. That being said, Canterino, Funderburk, Sammons, Schulfer, Bechtold, Martin, Wallner could've all started the season at AAA/ That missed 2020 season has aged the minor leagues considerably.

Remember that minor league guys lost a year!

Hummm...where is Ronnie Henriquez in all this mess. And Thorpe seems to have...disappeared? I hope Balazovic's injury isn't serious.

No way. The guys they drafted last alone will be prime players in 4-5 years of minor league service time. By then, you are starting to think about trading the Ryan Ober Lewis guys because they might be overpriced. The problem the Twins MAY face is 40-man roster issues. They kinda have that right now, too many NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME guys, and those that need a shot aren't fulltimers yet because of lack of innings, or because the Twins keep filling the upper levels with minor league castoffs. Wichita has a great team. Cedar Rapids is full of promising players. There's a lot that will be getting reps at Ft. Myers, or still young in the FCL playland.