Rosterman

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!

Well, Twins will be playhing musical chairs again DH will be Sano (fulltime, I hope) with Garver and Donaldson getting some play. I want to see Kirilloff at 1B. But who is in left field? Larnach can grab it in spring training, otherwise looks like Rooker. Then the decision is: does Celestino play everyday at St. Paul or is he the backup. Do the Twins just grab someone, anyone else, or do they feel they have enough in Gordon and Arraez as being the spare outfielders. Someday the Twins will have position players that just play a position. Let's start with at least 155 games by Buxton in centerfield!

GIVE HIM A CHANCE AS A PLAY-BY-PLAY BROADCASTER FOLKS. It takes time. He's trying really hard, doing the work. Remember Bert and Dan when theyt started out. HOF - No! Is Don Mattingly in the HOF?

I guess it was pay Cave or watch him walk. $800,000 is a significant backup to have him start at St. Paul and be there if you need him. Of course, a few weeks ago was still unsure about the Buxton situation longterm, so they did that "just in case." Not sure who the Twins will remove if they sign a free agent. Did Garlick also stay with the Twins? Haven't heaerd any mumblings. Plus they say Smelzer went unclaimed. Is he staying the the Twins or going free agent. Plus, over in Twins staffing land, they list Rody Hernandez as now being a minor league corrdinator along with Kevin Morgan with Edgar Vareda still as a hitting coach?

Well, that was one quick let down.

Mauer. You can't complain about his contract. He gave the Twins more than they deserved for the first 7 years. As the face of the franchise, it was a fine choice to make. It as a decent move to first base, as it was doubtfuyl that he would play that many games behind-the-plate, no matter how well he kept himself in condition. You have to look at the Twins overall spending during the time of the conract. Did it keep them from spending elsewhere (no). I always feel that every team should have a "franchise player" once a season where that salary doesn't count against any payroll cap. If you look at Joe as a marketing coup, he was cheap. Sure, he wasn't always the best in the public scene, too quiet and unassuming. But better than the opposite. Did he offer enough leadership, can argue there, too. But you can never doubt his work ethic.

The pain of trading for a valuable piece good for two years is the reality that the Twins aren't that close to being competitive. Their chance for success still lies in prospects who MIGHT come together for the future. We also can't expect to trade castaways for prime pieces. A Strotman or a Rooker in a deal are a roster problem for the other team who would then have to jettison further plkayers on the roster for these guys. With every trade, and every free agent acquisition, the cost coimes from removing someone (maybe of worth) from a 40-man roster.

Closers have it tougher than designated hitters. Partly because they often split their careers as just being a bullpen arm, failed starter, or don't have the length of duty. As well as what defines a real save comapred to, say, a cheap save. That said, Joe was the runner-up to being the best of his decade. What would've happened had he played for a constantly competitive team? Again, a short of many a pitcher (Bert Blyleven ahd that issue). Your stats suffer if you are the only dominant player on the team. You can't win, you can't save, if the team doesn't put you in a position to do so.

For us autograph card collectors Jack was one elusive guy. He moved to Alaska for most of his life, and then ended up retired in Mexico where at least one card collector tracked him down...a family member said he could usually be found daily in the town squae feeding birds. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/peninsulaclarion/name/john-kralick-obituary?id=25103073

Yes, if it looks like Enlow is NOT available until the earliest of June, you egt to put him on the IL list, and can probably rehab for, what, six weeks at a lower level before needing to return him to the roster as a 26th man on the roster, thus getting service time split then thru two seasons, as he could start the next season also on the roster before being delegated to the minors. If his talent is that good, at least the Twins have the ability to not stash him at Ft. Myerstraining camp forever but get him into the swing of things at Cedar Rapids and maybe Wichita before the 2022 season ends, and if the Twins tank, maybe even some major league relief innings to jumpstart his 2023 season...plus play him in the Arizona Fall League. The difference between now and the previous season is that the Twins really have no sgortage of players they could designate off the roster. The problem comes with filling the roster to many minor league players, when you are telling fans you will be competitive and not rebuild. Right now, by the process of elimination, the Twins will start Celestino, Miranda, Lewis and Rortvedy/Jefefrs in the minors from the position side of things. They have 13 starting pitchers. Two will open up roster spots (Madea and Enlow). Two could switch to the bullpen (Jax, Thorpe). Balazovic, Duran, Strotman, WInder, Sands, Vallimont will start in the minors. That leaves Ober, Ryan and Dobnak as the only three of 13 probably getting a major league call, and Dobnak is on the bubble. The bullpen has 10 arms for 8 spaces. Alcala, Duffey, Rogers, Thielbar are pretty much locks. Cotton, Coulombe, Garza, Minaya, Stashak are all replaceable. Unless he shines in spring training, Moran could start again at the Saints bullpen. I like the future. I just am not happy with the present.

Out of the lefty trio of Smeltzer, Thorpe and Barnes, I half expected Barnes to be the one still standing. Hopefully Thorpe is healded, otherwise I question why. Although not sure I see Thorpe as a rotation arm anymore. Still could see Smeltzer as a starter possibility, but maybe it was a good time to give up on him. And Barnes...who knows. Be interesting to see final locales for all of them come spring training.

Anything is possible. The Twins could be burned three times in that international market, but...why not! Give him the money you would give, say, a J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker and Alex Colombe combined.

The Tigers didn't feel he was worth a couple of million. No otehr team approached the Tigers to grab him. So he is out there, dangling, and can probably be ahd for less. I'm sure he is looking for a multi-year deal first, advertised as a utility gem...but if the Twins could guarantee him a good hard look at being a starting shortstop. How does he fit into a potential Twins lineup with his power and speed. Yet we don't need him coming up and striking out too much in game situations. Soon we will find out if the Twins are serving us a dish of "contention" or if the team is just going to play ball, try and get better internally, and Niko could be a fine stopgap/

I'm all for keeping Palacios. A team has to be willing to pay him to keep him in the majors. The Twins losing him? Well, they already traded him to the Rays. They were fortunate to have him come back. They gave him anotehr contract free and easy. Palacios had the chance to sign anywhere, for a lot cheaper than another team paying the Twins for him and then paying him a major league partial salary.

: Edwar Colina clears waivers and assigned to AAA ball by the Rangers.

Interesting. Keep the lefty and younger Charlie Barnes, or the aging righty Griffin Jax. Wonder if they did rock/scissors/paper to make that call. Or, better yet - Thorpe or Barnes, if you have to make a choice. Wonder where all three will be in 2022?!