All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole
From the Parkinglot said:
I am never a pocket protector, but man has this been a tough off season. The twins have done so little to make the team better. I think they are the best team in the Central still, but that’s it. That will get you a home playoff series, but no way they will be favored in a playoff series against anyone.

What a depressing and bad vibe for this team coming off so much positives last year.
Click to expand...

We can always add an arm at the trade deadline and have the pieces to gain one; my likely trade candidates would be Julian, as another half season of production will increase his trade value and Lee will provide better D at second in the long run, with either Rodriguez or Gonzalez as the second piece. This type of move allows them to adhere to their payroll structure they have to this year as well.

That move allows them to make sure Buck & Correra are heathy and productive; reality is that without them operating 75%+ of their abilities, we don’t have a snowball’s chance to win the pennant, which should be the goal moving forward, and all moves need to be geared to that end.

If we signed a big time FA pitcher and we were missing significant offensive contribution from Correra and Buck, both on O & D, we’d end up where we last post season anyway. So, getting an arm at the trade at the deadline (assuming good health from Buck/Correra/Lewis) vs. signing a FA without having their encouraging first half performances, is the smarter move from my perspective, as it minimizes your risk.

Yes, they could get hurt in the second half, but Buck & Correra had chronic injuries last season vs. acute, so them having good performances in the first half would be a good harbinger. I like Lewis is more likely to not have another season ending injury, as odds/baseball gods would favor it.

There are a ton of “ifs”, but with the signings of Buck, Correra and Lopez (three of the four largest signings in team history IIRC, apart from Joe’s), show the Pohlad’s will spend 💰when it’s justified
 
Last edited:

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Keith Law from The Athletic has us winning the Central as well. He’s a senior baseball writer for him -

American League Central

TEAM WINS LOSSES
Minnesota Twins
90
72
Cleveland Guardians
80
82
Detroit Tigers
78
84
Kansas City Royals
72
90
Chicago White Sox
60
102
The Twins winning the AL Central may be the best lock of all six divisions. They are a genuinely good team, and they’re also the only team that seems to be trying to win the division currently.
Click to expand...

I think Detroit is at least "trying".
 

Ope3 said:
I think Detroit is at least "trying".
Click to expand...

???

Did I or the author say they weren’t?

They have their plan and they’re sticking to it.
Good young core now and they the most Top 100 prospects in the Central 6 IIRC.


I think KC offseason is about selling tickets, you gotta do something after cracking the hundred mark in the wrong direction.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Keith Law from The Athletic has us winning the Central as well. He’s a senior baseball writer for him -

The Twins winning the AL Central may be the best lock of all six divisions. They are a genuinely good team, and they’re also the only team that seems to be trying to win the division currently.
Click to expand...

Gopher_In_NYC said:
???

Did I or the author say they weren’t?

They have their plan and they’re sticking to it.
Good young core now and they the most Top 100 prospects in the Central 6 IIRC.


I think KC offseason is about selling tickets, you gotta do something after cracking the hundred mark in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...

The Author/Keith Law said it about Detroit, 2nd sentence after the Records from what you posted.
 



Reusse has a very pessimistic column in the Strib, focused on the pitching staff - starting rotation is weaker without Gray, and bullpen has multiple injuries. his semi-prediction (a little vague) has the Twins winning under 80 games.

look - all the numbers say Gray was a really good pitcher - and sometimes he was. but I watched a lot of games last year where Gray threw 90+ pitches through 5 innings because he kept throwing the breaking ball a foot outside and hoping guys would swing at it.

So the Twins will miss the "good" version of Gray - but the other version of Gray is replaceable. Now if Paddack's arm blows up or Varland can't cut it as a full-time starter, then you can panic. but for right now, I'm taking a "wait and see" approach. (and because I have Bally on cable, I can see it...)
 

for the heck of it - looked up weather forecast for Kansas City. looks good.

Thursday: sunny, breezy Hi 67
Thurs nite: cloudy, breezy, Lo 49
Friday: (no game unless needed as weather backup)
Saturday: mostly sunny, Hi 68
Sat nite: party cloudy, low 49
Sunday: partly sunny, High 75
Sund nite: 30% chance showers late, lo 56
 







ESPN's David Schoenfield graded the offseason for each MLB team - let's just say it wasn't a banner report card for the AL Central: https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/sto...s-all-30-teams

Royals: A- (he liked the monster deal they gave Witt)
Tigers: D+ (not very aggressive considering some good momentum coming out of 2023)
Guardians: D+ (did nothing to upgrade a struggling lineup particularly in the outfield)
Twins: D (we all know why)
White Sox: D (underwhelming free agent signings and they haven't traded Cease... yet)
 

Here’s today’s lineup. Interesting that Jeffers is in the two hole.


BuxtonCF R - - - - -
JeffersC R - - - - -
Lewis3B R - - - - -
CorreaSS R - - - - -
Santana1B S - - - - -
KeplerRF L - - - - -
Farmer, K2B R - - - - -
Castro, WLF S - - - - -
MargotDH R - - - - -
 



Rocco is all-in on platooning. different lineups for LH and RH pitchers.
look at the lineup - one LH hitter and two switch-hitters.

Gleeman wrote an article about this for The Athletic with a lot of statistics that back up the strategy.

at some point, yes, Julien, Wallner, etc will have to demonstrate they can hit better against LH pitching. but for right now, the platoon makes sense.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Here’s today’s lineup. Interesting that Jeffers is in the two hole.


BuxtonCF R - - - - -
JeffersC R - - - - -
Lewis3B R - - - - -
CorreaSS R - - - - -
Santana1B S - - - - -
KeplerRF L - - - - -
Farmer, K2B R - - - - -
Castro, WLF S - - - - -
MargotDH R - - - - -
Click to expand...
Margot is our best option at DH???

Edit: TNG beat me to it.
 



Gopher_In_NYC said:
Here’s today’s lineup. Interesting that Jeffers is in the two hole.


BuxtonCF R - - - - -
JeffersC R - - - - -
Lewis3B R - - - - -
CorreaSS R - - - - -
Santana1B S - - - - -
KeplerRF L - - - - -
Farmer, K2B R - - - - -
Castro, WLF S - - - - -
MargotDH R - - - - -
Click to expand...
Jeffers had a monster spring and hit lefties well last year. I like putting up near the top.
 












You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom