nicksaviking

Julian seems like the best internal option. If the rest of the league overlooks Rhys Hoskins like this board is, I'd scoop him up though. Though he looks like a typical slugger, he only has a career 24% K rate. What would be appealing to the Twins, is he's also good at getting on base due to taking some elite at bats. For his career, he sees 4.41 pitches per plate appearance. For comparison, Ryan McMahon led the league this year at 4.38. With the Twins seemingly dead-set on taking as many pitches as possible, it seems like Hoskins is exactly what they are trying to do.

I don't want Wallner to change anything, I want the Twins offense to change things overall. Hitting with runners in scoring position is the actual problem, but striking out with runners in scoring position and less than two outs is the biggest cause of that problem. I'm not blaming Wallner, there should be room for a couple of guys who strike out a ton. I'm just not sure there's room for three or four. Which means to fix it, entails tough decisions.

There were no winners.

I agree that replacing Gray is the top priority. I really like Wallner, but it's going to be hard to reconcile his spot if the team has any intent of fixing the strikeout problem. Gallo is obviously gone and Larnach is much more expendable. But most of this board seems to want Michael Taylor back, but his strikeouts and lack of walks really gutted that offense. The team is stuck with Buxton. Can they figure out an offense with he, Julien and Wallner all striking out over 30% of their plate appearances? Julien seems most likely to fix that, and also more integral to the team. Maybe they can make it work, but they have to stop fanning with runners in scoring position all the time. If Wallner is the answer to replacing Sonny Gray (a la Arraez in 2022) I'd be interested.

And somehow the Cleveland defense has flown under the radar as being really, really good. They've given up fewer yards than any team in the history of the game through five games. The Vikings defense isn't going to keep them in many games.

I don't think most of the injuries had anything to do with having a specific trainer, nor do I think the Twins were any more injury prone than other clubs. Looking at injury lists by teams, the Twins seem to be pretty middle of the road.

Good for him. And honestly, I'd be happy when people around here stop referring to he and Falvey as though they are some kind of monstrosity conjoined by analytics who terrorize the offices at Target Field with their duel heads simultaneously reciting the +WPA of every player in the league.

Last year I was more than happy filling out the rotation with the internal options, but then they traded for Lopez and it was the best move they did all year. They've traded for Odorizzi, Maeda, Gray, Paddock, Mahle and Lopez to be mid-to-top of the rotation arms. I don't care if it's via trade again or free agency, but it would be weird if they didn't go it again after it clearly paid off last year.

At 1-4 I would have said this team is better than it's record would indicate. At 2-4 and after watching yesterday's game, this team is way worse than it's record would indicate. And of course, those are the two wins that will give Chicago two better draft picks. GB, Atlanta, NO and Denver are train wreck teams too, but with only the Saints at home, I can't see the Vikings being favored in any of those matchups. If they win any of those games, it will certainly be because those teams crapped the bed worse than the Vikings. I don't see much of a path for this team to score an offensive TD vs San Fran next week.

As well intentioned as the thread may have been, there obviously will be no moratorium on Buxton speculation, thus this discussion will only serve to rile up those who want to talk about it. Locking this thread.

Also, if this team gets serious about fixing the strikeout problem, removing MAT is the second easiest call after removing Gallo.

Anthony Prato played every position except CF and C last year and had a .990 OPS and 20% BB rate with the Saints. And he hits right handed.

Martin, Camargo, Prato, Keirsey and ERod. The first four guys should be looking at roster spots early next year, which means prospect needy teams would be happy to give them a try. I like Severino, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to start shifting away from the heavy strikeout guys this offseason.

Yeah, but then you're not leaving much room for Nick Gordon......

We have different tastes in free agent starters, but we walk the same path. Double down on the starters. Edit: To clarify, I'd like Snell, but I'm not sure if his high walk rate fits in with how the pitching staff currently operates.

Yes, trade or sign a Sonny Gray replacement. I like the internal options, but I did last year too, and overstuffing the rotation was easily the best thing the front office did all year.

Replace Sonny Gray. offer more years than you like to Nola, Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez or actually Sonny Gray. I'm a gambling man, so I'd roll the dice on Giolito too, though I have a feeling he's going to be a much talked about and devisive free agent this winter. Cut the offensive Ks. The biggest problem here, is that it's hard to tell if it's the players or the hitting philosophy. Do what you like with the coaches, but from the hitter angle, this isn't all that tough. There's really only seven hitters with obscene K numbers. We're stuck with Buxton, so no use worrying about that one. Cutting bait on Gallo and Garlick should be easy enough. Michael Taylor became a bit of a cult hero around here, but his Ks were just too much. Find our CF defense somewhere else. Then you have Julien, Larnach and Wallner. Julien is the best of them and also seems most likely to improve, so I'd keep him and look to move both Larnach and Wallner. Getting rid of those players would have dropped the team's K% from a league worst 26.6% to 24.3%, isn't great, but not league leading bad. If one was so bold to move Julien too, the K% goes all the way down to 23.7%, which is solidly middle of the pack. To get that lower, obviously the replacements need to be good at putting the ball in play. The easy part is when they turn to the rookies, don't fart around, call up Lee and Martin who are the best at this. Kiersey and Prato acceptable. Maybe avoid Severino and Chris Williams. The harder part will be the free agents. Most of the best ones will have some strikeout baggage. I don't know that this team really needs offensive free agents though. If they can make a CF option out of some combination of Buxton/Castro/Martin/Lewis, they can probably roll with what they have internally.

Toronto spent twice as much as the Twins on starting pitching and didn't have enough faith in even a 2nd starter. It's the current game itself, not the Twins. Outside of yesterday, the pitching was way more than acceptable for playoff baseball. This is entirely on the inability to put the ball in play. Not sure how much of that is the hitters and how much of that is the strategy, but that's what has to change. And honestly, when the Twins did put the ball in play, they squared up balls that found defenders when the Astros found holes. Luck, karma or more likely, defensive prerogative, that's something that needs to change too. The rotation is good if it replaces Sonny Gray with an equal caliber pitcher.

Rope a dope, he’s faking Royce!

Ok, switching back to the dark beers, that’s what I had in the first inning.

Jeffers just tagged Alvarez with his glove when the ball was in his hand? And the ump was cool with that?

It’ll be Heartbreak Hotel if they do.

Incorrect. I expected a strikeout.

“Solano is the Twins version of Michael Brantley, he’s a professional hitter, he can go to all fiel…” Rude Interuption: ”Strike three swinging, Solano goes down!”

James Rowson? Because Detroit was only the 7th worst strikeout club this year? I’d aim higher, but that’s just me.