Rosterman

Going into 2022 Celestino should prove worthy. EWxpect him to start and play everyday in St. Paul. The bigger question is how long does Buxton stay in center before rotating out to one of the corners.

Topps actually had very few assets as most of their products were licensed, so getting the next few years of the baseball card business in-house for this a amount satisfies Fanatics to get a jump start on their own business. Much of the mon ey will just go thru Topps and back out the door to honor licensing agreements already signed. Plus Fanatics now also owns the physical property of the negatives and other items, so they can reprint under new licensing agreements with MLB. Smart move overall for Topps, as basically the distribution network that made them thrive as card salespeople has all but expired. The new world is expensive graded and autographed and special items, virtual cards, and the ilk.

I like Rozek. But future closers? Whew. Always names like Slama. Remember him? Hildenberger, Curtiss, Chargois, Graterol. The Twins had a K-man named Deduno. Some of our best bullpen closers/arms were pretty bad rotation arms: Mahomes, Perkins, Hawkins, Guardado. Even Aguilera and Nathan started as starters. And if the Twins had given more of a leash to Hendriks. although that would've involved another four years on the major league team doing something. After 2020, Duffey might've been a closer possibility. The Twins never thought Crain could close. I thought Trevor May needed to be given a chance to fulfill that role. I picture Jorge Alcala having the stuff.

If the Twins add nothing more to the team's offense, and if Kirilloff looks good at first, Sano is the DH. Would be nice to get at bats at DH for Donaldson and Garver, and in retrospect might be nice then to play Sanoa t first and maybe even third base. Sadly, with Donaldson and maybe Arraez still on the team, I see Miranda starting the season in St. Paul. Sano has to mash. He has to show he is a bat and a DH that can play the field in a pinch. He would then be valuable for a National League team when trading deadline rolls around. But if he controls his stroke and mashes for the Twins, is he an Ortiz keeper with annual $15-20 million contracts until he no lonegr wants to play. As a fan, I need to see him overcome the situation where he comes up with men on base and one or two outs, and chases obvious low and outside pitches. He has to learn to eliminate that golf swing of his and make the pitches come more into his zone. Which means he has to make a hard push to stay consistently and constantly in the game. Will he be able to do this as a bench riding DH? Or do we jettison him and let him be another team's problem. Fist three months of 2022. If he comes around, and shows discipline that can carry over towards the future...keep him. if he doesn't, take what you can get before you just let him walk for nothing.

Thanks for the wonderful memories. I wish the Twins would do something like this more often before games, remember the legacy of players that made the franchise. The players that played in the sixties are diminishing. Fondly remember this Mudcat Grant moment at the Harmon Killebrew celebration.

Nope, he got the right player. Traded to the Twins with catcher Russ Nixon for Dick Stigman. Rosters were expanded at the beginning of the season and Schilling sat on the bench, cut by Sam Mele in May after never getting in a game and decided to retire rather than go to Triple-A. So, like at least a half-dozen other players (including two this past season - Drew Maggi and Tomas Telis), was on the major league roster but never played a game for the Twins.

Wonderful wonderful way of bringing back baseball film memories. I always wondered what it would be like if you actually did have co-ed players on major league teams. Someday. Of course you leave out any of the singing fellas from Take Me Out To The Ball Game and Damn Yankees. Someone has to smuggle Lola into the locker room to give Annie a run at supplying concessions to the team.

With all the young arms, I would love for the Twins to have a tandem of, say, Thorpe and Jax able to pitch 2-3 innings up to every other day (once thru an orer at least) as there are so manya rms that will have a 100 pitch limit or five innings, which ever comes first. If, and that is ONE BIG IF, the Twins look like a competitive team, they need a bonifide closer who can work continuous days and get the job done. Flat out period. They have wo fine setup men in Duffey and Rogers. They have Thielbar (and Coulombe) as an additional lefty. Can Stashak come back? Is Garza the eal thing? Who is Cotton? Moran is a hottie. But do you start him at AAA. This was a decision I felt the Twins blew bigtime in 2021. You bring the guy up to face major league pitching. If he stinks, he can go down and work and then come back up. Why the Twins felt the need to drag out Barraclough, Law, Albers, Gibault, Vincent and others in a losing battle. Hey, I thought Minaya would at least stick, but who knows how the minds work at Target Field. The Twins will have some 40-man roster worries. If they move in Cano, they have to keep him unless he totally stinks. Names like Hamilton, Sammons, Mason, Smeltzer can get a chance and be jettisoned....forever....if they turn bad. But you have to have a swinging door roster spot. Oh, I forgot Alcala. I think the guy has closer potential. If the Twins are in a rebuild, I would work him into the role. If not, he is another flame arm for set-up duties. You need a real closer. Left and righty setup guys. A long relief pitcher, luxury if you can have two who aren't the same. Great if you have a ground ball pitcher and can afford a spot. Nice if you have pitchers that throw strikes rather than walk batters. You can match them up against power bats and trust they will win the battle. A real luxury is having a good "bad fly ball" pitcher. And utilize that light rail service between Target Field and St. Paul Saints land. Only the price of a train ticket and the guy can still sleep in his regular bed at nite.

Who have the Twins lost in the Rule 5 Draft? Seems the Twins weren't a HIGH PROSPECTS organization for many of the drafts, not losing any players. *notable players lost in minor league portion of the draft. 2020 - Tyler Wells, Akil Baddoo 2017 - Nick Burdi, Luke Bard 2016 - Stu Turner 2015 - Zach Jones 2014 - Sean Gilmartin 2011 - Shooter Hunt* 2009 - Jose Lugo 2006 - Kevin Cameron, LeVale Speigner, Justin Jones* 2004 - Angel Garcia 1998 - Walker Chapman 1997 - Alan Mahaffey 1995 - Kimera Bartee 1992 - Kerry Taylor 1990 - Doug Simons 1984 - Jim Weaver 1974 - Doug Clary* 1972 - Jose Arcia* 1971 - Brant Alyea, Dick Rusteck* 1969 - Mike Sadek, Rich Donnelly* 1968 - Moe Ogier 1967 - Sandy Valdespino, Hank Izquierdo* 1966 - Orlando Martinez 1964 - Pete Magrini*, Fred Scherman* 1963 - Reggie Smith*, Rudy May*, John Donaldson*, Rob Gardner*, Steve Jones* 1961 - Rod Kanehl* 1960 - Jack Baldschun

This is an interesting recap. Quite a few actually did play for the Twins. https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-rule-5-draft-history Plus: 1969 - Hal Haydel 1967 - Bruce Look (besides Jim Holt) 1963 - Bill Fischer (notable losses by the Twins were Rudy May and Reggie Smith) 1962 - Charlie Keller 1961 - Bruce Swango, George Banks, Georges Maranda (besides John Goryl) 1960 - Gerry Arrigo, Gary Dotter

You just never know. Injuries can sure curb a career (Romero) and it could do the same for Thorpe who had a ride, again, last season. Otherwise, list pretty good about those who did at least get to the majors. Littell had that dynamite season as a starter. Felt the Twins gave up on him too soon (he did pass thru waivers). When it came time FOR HIM to find a new home, he grabed the chance, at a loss for the Twins. Of course the Twins signed Brandon Waddell instead, as well as Ian Hamilton, and made a 40-man spot for Ian Gibault. I still don't know why the Twins kept Cave instead of Wade. I was surprised someone gambled on Baddoo, as the Twins would've had the guy stuck at High-A with a smidgen of playing time at AA if he ahd stayed with the Twins. Rortvedt was actually ahead of Jeffers for a moment there. That guy has cannons in his arms. Now can he swing them into the bat? I do wish the Twins had given Gonsalves the same chance they gave, say, Barnes and Jax. Not that he ahs done much anyways. And Blankenhorn. Teams much see something: he was woth four organizations in 2021 - Twins, Mets, Dodgers, Mariners. What is interesting is that Lewis and Javier have yet to get a taste of the majors. Javier up for Rule 5 again (and could've been a minor league free agent and give the Twins a $3.5 million loss by just walking away).

I see no way the Twins are competitive for 2022. They might be better than 2-3 other teams in their division, but that is only if every one steps it up a notch. The Twins need roster space to send players up and down, piggyback back-end rotation arms, iof need be. They can do what they do best, a low end starter or two who might have some trade value. The Twins were lucky with Happ, getting rid of the salary, but they basically placed him with a non-keeper and a possible prospect. But no one bit on Pineda, which will say alot about his market this off-season. The Twins can steal deal from strength. Donaldson is a contract to jettison. Maybe you trade him and cash for Elvis Andrus. But then you need to put trust in Miranda for fulltime at third. Or keep Luis Arraez. Arraex is probably his most valuable right now, especially if he becomes a utility guy in 2022. Of course, you could but him at second and move Polanco to short, and trust Miranda at third. Sano could be had, if any other team believes in the guy. Doomed to be the Twins DH, a position that could also be filled by, say, Garver on the cheap. But then you are banking on Kirilloff being a fulltime first baseman. No Sano, Kirilloff goes down...who's on first. If truly retooling, don't need a real closer, but with a bunch of four inning starters you need a couple of bullpen arms that can get thru a lineup. Or you can run the shuttle bigtime between St. Paul and also jettison some of the expensive worth like Rogers or Duffey. But in any trade, what are you getting back. A Berrios clone you can sign for 5-7 years. Someone who can go at least 3 years for your team with possible trade value if the youngsters come thru? You don't want to trade prospects, but you also can't keep them all. There are at least a dozen rotation arms the Twins need to shuffle thru the majors in the next two seasons. That is too many. Some have to have worth and can be labeled "top prospect."

If you look at the minors last season, of course they were coming off an absent 2020, a lot of potential starters only pitched 3-4 innings in a game. One, to get them innings, but also season endurance. Did the minors double up on rotation arms for those extra bullpen innings? Even in the majors, how many wins did Ober NOT HAVE because he couldn't get out of the fifth. Would an opener have helped him? Is the opener really a thing? The Twins have many failed starters who became good bullpen arms. Notably Nathan (with the Giants), Hawkins, Guardado, Perkins. Hendriks also is one. Zack Litell was a tremendous minor elague starter who has found a home in the pen. Nowadays it is all about if a guy can get thru a batting order once, twice, or maybe even three times. The flip-side is how many teams have bullpen arms that pitch multiple innings on consecutive days, or even multiple inning appearances of 3+ with a short outing also in a week. I thiank back to the sixties with four starters pitching complete games, sometimes coming out of the pen. The whole pitching staff was 10 pitchers max (and sometimes only 12-14 guys used in a season) and a bullpen arm would also pitch 100 innings or more in their 50 apperances.

It's all in the 40-man roster. The Twins have two current open spots. Come spring training, they will probably have two more with Madea and Enlow going on the longer-term disabledroster, although Enlow would come off eventually. The Twins currently have eight bullpen arms: Rogers, Cotton, Duffey, Garza, Moran, Alcala, Stashak, Thielbar. If any go on the short-term IL, they have no one else...unless you factor in Thorpe or Jax. Thorpe has to start the season or the Twins say bye-bue. Does he replace a bullpen arm mentioned above, or open in the rotation. Dobnak, I have little faith in the guy at the moment. He needs to work out of AAA-again, no matter how promising his spring. And he needs to be considered strictly a rotation arm. Otherwise, let him off the 40-man. The Twins need innings, and people who can get past the 5th inning, otherwise the bullpen will be an utter mess. Of course, if you are in a "rebuild" and just getting pitchers experience, and you don't need a bonifide closer, the Twins could be set. Bundy has pitched above 150 innings a couple of times, but only reached that number of innings total combined the last two seasons. Ober could easily be pushed to 150. 30 five inning starts. Not what I want to see, but. Ryan will get every opportunity to pitch. He has basically done 100 innings 3 of the past four sesons, so could be pushed. But, still, would like someone to pitch 30 games and more than 5 innings a start. Otherwise, just trade for Jake Odorizzi Griffin Jax has been a workhorse. But, like Bundy, you only want him pitching lots and lots of innings IF he doesn't allow lots and lots of run. You can maybe have one guy giving you bad numbers. But two? And, again, if rebuilding maybe okay. If a guy is pitching this badly, though, what is his future in the orga nization. The youngsters. Duran has basically missed two easons. How many innings can he pitch? You can pull the minor league trick that the Twins used alot last season and had very few starters go more than 3-4 innings at times to build up their game endurance as well as push innings. But even if Duran started the saeson in the majors, how many games could he potentially start. Balazovic needs to get some AAA games under his belt. I was surprised the Twins didn't bring him up at the end of last season. Give him some of those John Gant games and expose him to what he needs to work on in winter ball/training. It is one thing that upsets one about the Twins. You a had nothing to lose by elevating Balazovix and Strotman to the majors in the final weeks of the season. You had no need to give innings to Gant and Barnes and Jax if you plan NOT to be in rebuild mode. See what you have. Both Balazovic and Strotman could be on the major league roster and give innings to the team, but will they be clobbered getting experienced and up-and-down to the minors, with still high hopes for 2023 pulling it all together? Sands, Winder and Vallimont will also need exposure to higher caliber players. Now these guys, as well as the aforementioned, are starters. Potential future starting arms for the organizations. Not yet to be considered relief arms. They will hopefully get opportunities at AAA ball, although how much room there will be on that roster if you have Jax and Strotman and Barnes and Shepherd and Sammons fighting for innings? You suddenly have no room in the inn, or who plays and in what situations. Again, these three can all pitch short games, where you double up rotation arms, if the roster permits. But if any of these three made it to the majors, would you get 10-15-20 starts out of them. But you need to see pretty much ALL of the names mentioned above in the majors league at some point, deciding who stays and who goes as you end 2022. Are Jax/Thorpe longterm, or a switch to the pen. Why did you trade for Strotman if you didn't feel he was ready...just let Tampa release him and sign him because they didn't see him as part of their future. Balazovic, Sands, Duran could all be in the rotation, joining Maeda and Ober and Ryan for 2023. With Winder still in ther wings (remember how these names change fast every season). You still have Woods-Richardson, Canterino and Varland, all hoping to get a regular turn at AA Wichita and maybe some time in St. Paul. So, in overall 40-man positioning, the Twins do look fairly good...if they leave one roster spot open for the bullpen expressess where you bring him up, release him while repalcing with another new name, releasing him, etc. You have to have flexibility where you don't add names too soon that you would rather have on the farm. The Twins already have that issue with Balazovic, Duran, Strotman, Winder, Vallimont, Jax. All names that IF you are a truly competing team, you would only see them for short-term IL-list replacements. Are the Twins blowing smoke about being competitive? They have Sano and Donaldson playing...where. No shortstop or left-fielder of note. Arraex and Miranda and Gordon doing what? Catchers that will be catching too many arms trying to impress, and ultimately learning. Who are the five arms you expect to pitch starting in April for the 2022 Twins. Actually, make that 7 or 8 as you have to double up on arms because of lack of innings pitched. If properly managed in 2022, who are the five opening in 2023. Remember that Maeda will be back, but do you still expect 200 innings out of him? Who do you see as longer term keeps out of the dozen of: Balazovic, Duran, Strotman, Winder, Vallimont, Thorpe, Woods-Richardson, Ober, Ryan, Varland, Canterino, Enlow. Who do you see debuting in 2023 and becoming a mainstay in 2024 from even deeper in the minors?

When you are looking at names on the 40-man roster, I picture Dobnak being groomed solely as a rotation arm. He could start easily at St. Paul to get back to speed. He could also be removed from the 40-man, depending on his spring training, as his contract might be too much to gamble for anotehr team's 40-man roster. There is also talk of transitioning Jax and Thorpe into long-relief roles, which would be wonderful if you have a bunch of starters who can barely get thru the fifth inning, or have inning caps for the season. Thorpe needs to prove himself in the spring or is gone. Jax could also be the guy on the fringe. Last year the Twins shuffled many names on the bullpen express out of St. Paul, guys NOT on the 40-man when the season started. When you do that, you do risk them leaving (Waddell, Anderson). Just remember all those that came, and went: Luke Farrell, Derek Law, Danny Coulombe, Juan Minaya, Ian Gibault, Nick Vincent, Edgar Garcia, Kyle Barraclough, Beau Burrows, Andrew Albers. As well as those minor league free agents signed that didn't make the call: Brecklyn Williams, Jason Garcia, Brandon Koch, Adam Lau, Erik Manoah, Vinny Nittoli, Sean Gilmartin, amongst others. The Twins also have Yennier Cano getting older, Iam Hamilton back at St. Paul, and Ryan Mason as a prospect that could still disappear in the Rule 5. But the question remains: Twins have a surefire closer? Necessary if competitive, not necessary if just playing ball games.

Two questions the Twins need to ask: Who of their prospects can play shortstop. If they can't play shortstop (ala Polanco and Gordon), then what position do you see them mplaying and do they fulfill the needs of that position. Are Martin & Lewis corner outfielders now that Buxton is contracted out in center. If so, are they better choices than, say, Wallner and other outfielders in the system. Where do they play if Polanco is still the 2B, and you still have Arraez needing to play somewhere. Are eitehr third basemen, and where does that put Miranda in the prospect game of things. Do you still try and market any as a shortstop and play off trade value to fulfill any of your needs. Second: WHo plays where in 2022. If Palacios is still a promising shortstop, does he start in the position in St. Paul. How do you work Martin & Lewis into the position at AAA ball. Does Palacios go back to Wichita, does Lewis start at Wichita. Do you advance Javier to Wicihta for one last glorious look to see if this youngster can pan out as a prospect to add to the 40-man at the end of the 2022 season? So, do the Twins have an abundance of players who can play shortstop, but do you really want them to play shortstop. If Martin & Lewis are out of the picture, you sign someone for 2-4 years and hope the next wave of prospects will be what you need.

We need guys to start 30 games, and go deep (i.e. at least into the sixth inning more often than not). Hopefully push waaaaay above 150 innings pitched. None of the Twins prospects will push beyond 150 innings: Winder, Balazovic, Duran whatever. Even Ryan. Ober might. Jax could possibly. But there will be a lot of Triple-A tag-teaming or, if back to rebuilding mode, just pitching 4-5 innings at best. You can stand that for one or two guys at best, but 3 or 4...no...because the 1-2 is 3-4 and the 3-4 is 5-6 pitchers you have to carry on the 40-man and shuffle.

Rooker gets the call in left. But our depth on the roster is Celestino and Larnach. Will the Twins be able to rotate guys like Garlick, Cave and whomever again (Kerrigan, Contreras). You need play space. Of course, if the Twins get a shortstop, you suddenly have Arraex and Gordon without a position. Miranda is still in play and won't bump Donaldson off of third totally barring a trade. They can let Miranda waddle at St. Paul for most of another season. Celestino should be the everyday guy in the minors, unless someone gets injured. Larnach, too. Yes, I fear Rooker being a regular, but if he works hard in the off season, could be a big bat. The question is does he play better as a DH (then where do we play Sano) than the field. And if Sano is back on first, is Kirilloff in left? The Twins have too many unanswered questions to be true contenders, no matter how many arms they add to the rotation or pen, sadly.

Someone like Oakland would take him in a heartbeat. But there is still that great unknown, and what the Twins actually get in return (remember, his worth IS based on signing bonus, training invested, and future potential). Is he the true shortstop of the future? Otherwise, wheere do you play him. Same can be said for Martin, who could play a corner in the outfield. Palacios is a dark horse in the mix. Who starts at shortstop in St. Paul. Does Lewis start at Wichita. Where does Javier fit into the minor league picture. Is Keoni Cavaco the real deal? Can the Twins tead water until 25/26 and Noah Miller?

I would stop by and see Tony every year at the Minnesota State Fair. He would always kid about me having too many of his autographs, and I would say that keep finding new images for him to sign. He loved posing for photos with kids...and fans. But my favorite is seeing him out on the wiffle ball diamond, pitching to kids who have no idea who he is, while adoring parents took pictures. I hope the Twins have treated him really well for all opf his ambassador duties and his stay in Minnesota, which has been his life in baseball! And gald he can now be a Hall of Famer with all that will bring to him and his family's future!

I'm sory, you still need rotation arms that can do two things. One, get you beyond five innings a good chunk of the time. Also, it is nice if a pitcher can do 30 starts minimum and the ideal rotation is at least four arms that can pitch 150+ innings, to keep the bullpen effective. Sadly, few of the prospects outside of Ober will even pass 100 innings in 2022. But there is enough arms on the 40-man that you can run the St. Paul shuttle. Depending on how much you feel they have to pitch competitive in St. Paul.

You can never have too many coaches, I guess. I always wondered how coaches coach those making millions more than they! And is there a stigma with prospects who work with coaches that "never really did make it big in the big leagues" telling them how to do things or make adjustments. The real secret of success is coaching in the minors, and very glad he Twins have expanded the coaching rosters at each level, beside extensive use of coordinators for different aspects of the game, working out of Ft. Myers. And the Twins have also been generous with keeping vet talent like Oliva and Carew and even Hrbek, not to mention T.K., sometimes Steinbach, Hunter and Hawkins coming to camps and working with player skillsets.

Who starts at second at AAA St. Paul. The Twins still need to solidfy positions for Martin ^ Lewis. too. And decide if Palacidos will be apt of the team going forward.

We still have to think of the Twins finances...the team that has said in the past that it will cap spending as close to 55% of revenue as possible. Now, remember, the lost 2020 season, where Minnesota graciously paid ALL minor league players their stipend, which in itself was pretty good for the guys as they could live at home (or most of them could). They also kept the majority of staff on payroll. Plus, as most teams, had to make up for revenue lost in advertising sales to non-existent fans in the stands,m yearbook and magazine sales, signage and such. Some of those rolled over into less advertising revenue for 2021. And 2021 still showed signs of suffering with reduced fans and concessions and sales overall of MLB stuff. So, teams did, in many ways, take a hit (as did players, and msot all of us fans). Yes, the worth of the team overall continues to grow and grow, and if the Twins have a sharpo financial management team they can offset 2020/21 losses against 2022 profits.

I would've done the 3-year contract the Cubs gave Stroman in a heartbeat. What gives with the Twins! Hey, Jon Lester is available, right? As well as Matt Shoemaker, Homer Bailey and Vance Worley! Heck, I would've been overjoyed if the Twins had again signed Rich Hill with the way things are going!