nicksaviking

Just, lets not do the Lions again. I'm not sure yet what I like I guess. The Chiefs deal does look like the best of both worlds. Still get to stay in the 1st round, and pick up two additional picks.

That's pretty opposite of my preference of going hard at the defensive front seven but good take.

Yeah, DRT isn't my choice for the 2nd round, but I don't like all the group-think that occurs with college kids and draft picks so I do like a different take.

That's a relief to me. I'm still a bit worried that they may like Tanner McGee though. O'Connell won a Super Bowl with Stafford and has been fine with Cousins, so I do have concerns that he doesn't view the need for a mobile QB the same way I do. I really don't want another pocket statue though.

I know it wasn't a popular move keeping Sands, but I really like how they're using the last spot in the pitching staff. Sands to Varland to Headrick, this flexibility is exactly what they needed this year, and it's a great way to give these guys the experience and audition they need for next year.

I don't want to label Gordon a fluke either, but that very poor BB% was not a good omen. Gordon does have the same thing Miranda has going for him in that neither are striking out much this year, the balls just aren't falling in. Still, I'd not be inclined to give Gordon the full year to recover as he doesn't have a terribly high ceiling. I hope the team doesn't shy away from tough decisions like losing a Gordon or Kepler just because they want to stockpile assets. Now is clearly not the time to have to worry about those tough decisions, but it's likely coming in the months ahead.

Dorian-Thompson does look interesting. Though I never know what to make of QBs whose stock drops with the draft wonks after the season ends. I do want an athlete at QB though. Assuming Young is un-gettable and Richardson is unlikely, a QB next year is a good idea, except for the fact that this organization is internationally putting a team together that should still finish in the second half of the draft.

Assuming it's not a QB, my top choices are front seven players. I see Myles Murphy all over the board, but he's probably my top choice. I'd bet he's more likely to go top ten than bottom ten though. I want some beef upfront, but Bryan Breese is probably the only true interior guy I want in the first round, and I only assume he could fit our system. Maybe he doesn't. I'd LIKE to like Calijah Kancey more, but I have a tough time getting over his size. I suppose if the Vikings picked him everyone would make John Randle comparisons and he'd end up being my new favorite player despite my feelings now. Nolan Smith and BJ Ojulari are my other favorite edge guys. I suppose I should also like Lukas Van Ness since the Big 10 has actually been pretty good at producing DE's lately. Not sure if he's a fit for our system though either. 270 is a bit light for a 3-4 DE. I'm not looking at WRs but if they were to get one with a 1st round pick, I think Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the only one I'd want at this time. They blow another top pick on a DB and I'll probably break my TV. This is the only organization that seems to think your backfield needs to be made exclusively of 1st and 2nd round picks. Every other team has 3rd, 4th, 6th UDFA guys making up their backfield, but not this one. Two front offices in a row too. Those guys are the RBs of the defense, they're mostly a product of the system.

Yeah, for sure, the Tennessee offense makes a QB look good. His ability to process a progression is in question, but only because he wasn't asked to. But sounds like he's got great mechanics a quick release and great arm strength. Those things probably weren't at the top of my wish list five years ago, but they do seem to be a fairly reliable evaluation tools right now. And he can scramble. QBs play forever these days though, so his age doesn't bother me. I'd also take the back over the OL. If Robinson fell, I'd be interested. Likely not my top choice, but he'd be exciting.

I'd be up for trading for Bryce Young. And it would be crazy to see a RB go that high again; at this point, the position is being way undervalued so someone should take Robinson high. I'm not sure what to make of Hooker, but I like him more than Will Levis, who looks as talented as Justin Herbert, but as indecisive and as easily rattled as Christian Ponder. CJ Stroud is a better QB than Hooker, but considering I want a QB who can and WILL run when needed, I don't want him (or frankly any OSU QB) either. Richardson is still a wild card, but you could dream on him. If I were forced to rank the QBs, Hooker would actually be 2nd or 3rd on my list. But, I'm well aware that my tastes don't match those in the industry. Anyway, I guess that's probably a spicy take. I'm up for trading just about anyone other than our star WR and the OTs. I don't like the idea of trading down, particularly because I don't yet trust this front office to evaluate the non-elite prospects. I get this team needs more picks, but they should have thought about that long before now.

I know this won't go over well, but if everyone was healthy, I'd honestly prefer Garlick to Kepler. Offensively they're a push, maybe Garlick's a bit better, but Garlick's is a righty. I mean, option C is preferable if option C emerges.

I'll take his bat even if I get nothing else, because so far half of the team is incapable of hitting.

Seems like there's a lot of wanting the cake and eating it too. Everyone complained about all the injuries and missed time last year and now the team is at least trying to control that with Buxton but that's not satisfactory either. Aside from the reconstructed knee, Buxton has also had plenty of soft tissue injuries, so I'd guess having him run as little as possible in the cold months is also part of the plan. I'm not saying I care for any of this, and since I don't know the specific diagnosis, I have no idea if I'd agree with the current plan, but there's little need to explain why they are using significant caution as we are all familiar with the Byron Buxton saga by now.

That should have been 3 days ago. Either call up Julien, or make a tough decision on someone else. This is ridiculous.

Yeah, Canterino would have to end up being HOF good if you're actually going to worry about paying him during his age 32 season.

Why the heck isn't Matt Canterino on the 60 day IL yet? Has this been covered elsewhere? The Twins only have one healthy position player on the 40-man that's not already up at the majors. Shouldn't Canterino be moved ASAP so there's more room for an emergency bat?

I think the strikeouts will be a problem for Wallner, but I’m happy to give him a chance to prove otherwise.

Yeah, probably even more valuable than starting pitchers. My faith in Miller’s bat ever developing is very low, but these are better lotto tickets than corner players.

Are there comps of offensively gifted MLB shortstops who struggled as badly as Miller has in Rookie League and low A Ball? I know it's only been two years and he's young, but if we're just looking at a glove-only player, I'm not going to push too hard. You can always sign a Jose Iglesias or Kiner-Falafa type cheaply as free agents. I'd make sure to defer to the higher ceiling prospects.

No, MLB says they can handle broadcasting if Bally doesn't pay up. This presumably would be free or dirt cheap, but I suppose greed could take over their decisions between now and then.

Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why the Twins couldn't pull of a bloated deal as well. This stuff all seems to be on the Dave St. Peter side of things. I usually could care less about the off field stuff, but he better pull his weight with the next TV contract because at some point the Twins aren't going to consistently carry a higher payroll than teams like Cleveland if they aren't making more money than them in broadcasting. The Twins seem to always be on the low end of broadcasting revenue, even when they sign a new deal.

I'm up for trying anything, but I think with Kepler, he'd have to overhaul his entire swing to get new results. His high exit velocity numbers are somehow buoyed by his ground balls: https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_tend.php?player=596146&gFilt=&&time=year&minmax=ci&var=hitspeed&s_type=13&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023 Additionally, his heat zones show he hits a high number of ground balls no matter where in the zone the ball is thrown. Somehow, even pitches at the top of the zone and ABOVE the zone he's turning into groundballs 25%+ of the time. Pitches sitting right in the middle of the plate he's still driving into the ground 30-40% of the time. https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_profile.php?player=596146&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=year&minmax=ci&var=gb&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023&balls=-1&strikes=-1&b_hand=-1 By comparison here's Joey Gallo's: https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_profile.php?player=608336&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=month&minmax=ci&var=gb&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023&balls=-1&strikes=-1&b_hand=-1 Certainly laying off pitches below the zone will result in fewer groundballs, but Max hits too many balls on the ground no matter where in the zone they are thrown.

So while this news is fantastic for a guy who can't currently watch the Twins, this still angers me in two ways. Why out of all of their broadcast deals, did they decide the Twins were a club they wouldn't pay? How in the hell do the Twins make less from their broadcast deal than Cleveland? I don't have The Athletic, so on the off chance none of what I said makes sense, I was going off of the Cliff's Notes version on MLBTR. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/mlb-seeking-overdue-rights-payments-from-diamond-for-twins-guardians-broadcasts.html

Looking at Brooks Baseball, Sands was throwing four seemers, two seemers, sliders and splitters yesterday, and he barely threw the slider. That's too many pitches, stop treating him like a starter. Cut out the splitter or two seemer at least, and get that slider usage up.

Rarely do the first few picks go as expected, and after getting Lee last year, I have to think the Twins would be happy to pull that trick again and pounce on whatever consensus top player falls into their lap. Of course the few times the consensus top players DO go off the board, the Twins end up with a Tyler Jay or Kohl Stewart.