What do you do with Sano? Leave him at first? Move him back to third and move Kirilloff to first? Have him DH when you lose Cruz?
Maybe move Polanco over to third and let one of the kids play SS?So many options.
Can someone get ahold of a moderator? Someone hacked Dutch’s account. No way would Dutch post about Sano and not call him the fat kid 
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
He will hit the bricks with a couple hundred other guys. This will be a blood bath for the players.Yup there will be a lot of big names on the open market.
They are not moving Sano or anybody to third. They just spent some good coin on their third basemen last off season. Now keeping your third basemen healthy is the question.
Kiriloff will likely take one of the corner outfield spots. At least for the next season.
Forgot about Donaldson 
my bad.
Dan it’s truly me. I’ve turned a new leaf well at least until he shows me again he isn’t serious about baseball. If he comes in shape and shows he has a glimmer of a idea what the pitchers are trying to do to him I’ll leave him alone. Maybe. 
Ya’all can sleep easy now. Berrios got signed for $6.1 million.
That’s cheap for an ace. 
Rumors keep growing about the Twins signing a shortstop. I’m on the bandwagon for that deal. Polanco is terrible in the field and I’m not sure he can hit like he did in 2019 again. Marcus Semien is the latest name the Twins have been linked to.
Still waiting on some bullpen pickups. They are going to need something out there.
Much like Polanco I’m not sure Semien will hit like he did in ’19 again either. At least Semien can play a lick of defense. Theres plenty of talk Polanco would slide over to 2nd base if they did acquire a SS though.
Much like Polanco I’m not sure Semien will hit like he did in ’19 again either. At least Semien can play a lick of defense. Theres plenty of talk Polanco would slide over to 2nd base if they did acquire a SS though.
Yeah I hear they are looking to trade Arreaz for SP if they get a SS. As high as I was on Arreaz his knees worry me as does his defense and I’m all for trading starting 9’s for SP. Was really hoping we’d be in on the Snell trade speculation with all the prospects we have, but SD picked him off.
It only makes sense, as they’ve invested into Polanco for a few years. He’s on a good team deal so it doesnt hurt to keep him around and hope for the best. I read somewhere he played injured throughout the year last year, but thats always the excuse for a down season so who knows.
As you’ve mentioned, Twins still have plenty of holes all over their pitching staff. Weird this year not knowing what teams projected payrolls will be. Rather obvious we will see a lot of 1 yr deals across all of free agency this year. Falvine doesnt seem understand the offseason begins before February as most of their deals have come right before spring training starts in recent years. I’m not going to stress about how the roster will look for at least another month!
Falvine doesnt seem understand the offseason begins before February as most of their deals have come right before spring training starts in recent years. I’m not going to stress about how the roster will look for at least another month!
HA! They also seem to like to throw together a bullpen with guys that have plus 5 ERA’s instead of being proactive and getting some pitching help. My hope is they are actively trying to resign Cruz and once that happens we will see more activity.
I subscribe to the Athletic mainly for the baseball news. Many of the alleged experts are predicting a Twins move but not until the Cruz thing is worked out one way or another. Cruz won’t sign until the NL is told whether the DH will become forever or not.
Pitchers? There is always the independent league to grab guys from. 
I subscribe to the Athletic mainly for the baseball news. Many of the alleged experts are predicting a Twins move but not until the Cruz thing is worked out one way or another. Cruz won’t sign until the NL is told whether the DH will become forever or not.
Pitchers? There is always the independent league to grab guys from.
See Tbro! I AM a great baseball mind!
I see Darvish also gets traded to the Padres for prospects and Zach Davies. Either Darvish or Snell would of looked good in a Twins uniform.
I see Darvish also gets traded to the Padres for prospects and Zach Davies. Either Darvish or Snell would of looked good in a Twins uniform.
Starting to wonder if there will be any pitching left after SD is done!
I’d love to see Bauer in MN but I don’t think there’s a snowballs chance in H&** that happens.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Walleye Man42 wrote:</div>
I see Darvish also gets traded to the Padres for prospects and Zach Davies. Either Darvish or Snell would of looked good in a Twins uniform.Starting to wonder if there will be any pitching left after SD is done!
I’d love to see Bauer in MN but I don’t think there’s a snowballs chance in H&** that happens.
A lot of things happened in 2020 that i did not believe would happen till he77 froze over… I think the snowball has a chance!!
HA! They also seem to like to throw together a bullpen with guys that have plus 5 ERA’s instead of being proactive and getting some pitching help.
Twins bullpen last year was 6th best in ERA, 5th in FIP and K/9, and tied for 1st in WAR. The bullpens total payroll dollars, average payroll dollars/bullpen pitcher, bullpen % of team payroll were all below league average.
I think you’re thinking of the previous regimes idea of a bullpen.
Paul Molitor and Matt Belisle still haunt me.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
HA! They also seem to like to throw together a bullpen with guys that have plus 5 ERA’s instead of being proactive and getting some pitching help.Twins bullpen last year was 6th best in ERA, 5th in FIP and K/9, and tied for 1st in WAR. The bullpens total payroll dollars, average payroll dollars/bullpen pitcher, bullpen % of team payroll were all below league average.
I think you’re thinking of the previous regimes idea of a bullpen.
Paul Molitor and Matt Belisle still haunt me.
Oh Tbro, we were doing so well. I don’t want to get going on the bullpen because its a terrible rabbit hole. The only reason their numbers were that good was because the incredible first three weeks of the season. After that the blew games on a day to day basis. Those numbers might say they were one of the best in the league but the games did not. When your closer had almost 10 blown saves alone you don’t have the best bullpen. I don’t care what the numbers say. I’ll leave it at that. If you feel good about the bullpen right now I want what you’ve been smoking!
AND the only reason their WAR was so good is because their replacement had they not pitched would’ve been a 19 year old still pitching for his high school team! 
Ask and you shall receive. Twins sign Hansel Robles today. Former Angels closer. Fantastic 2019, awful 2020. Pretty standard Twins signing. But this regime has a track record of getting free agents signings back on track after bad years so hopefully we get the 2019 verson.
For a team as pitching strapped as the Angels it’s gotta make ya wonder.
He had a terrible 2020. But a great 2019. 2020 was fluky for a lot of players. We’ll see….
The only reason their numbers were that good was because the incredible first three weeks of the season. After that the blew games on a day to day basis. Those numbers might say they were one of the best in the league but the games did not. When your closer had almost 10 blown saves alone you don’t have the best bullpen. I don’t care what the numbers say. I’ll leave it at that. If you feel good about the bullpen right now I want what you’ve been smoking!
The Twins bullpen, as a whole, was 4th in FIP and 2nd in WAR after the 3rd week of the season. Top 10 in ERA and K/9 too. So yes, they were great the first few weeks, but still very, very good the rest of they season. Actual statistics vs your memory. I like this game
I agree Rogers was bad last year, but I think it had more to do with the situations he faced than anything. I’m a huge believer in pitching the situation, and a lot of times Rogers was expected to close games vs teams that were VERY successful left handed pitchers. I hate the idea of having a dead set closer you use in every situation unless hes a Hader/Chapman type, which obviously we cant expect Rogers to be. Pitch to matchups, not the age old idea of a “closer”
I never said I liked where the bullpen is right now, but I have little doubt Falvine will figure it out before the season begins.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
The only reason their numbers were that good was because the incredible first three weeks of the season. After that the blew games on a day to day basis. Those numbers might say they were one of the best in the league but the games did not. When your closer had almost 10 blown saves alone you don’t have the best bullpen. I don’t care what the numbers say. I’ll leave it at that. If you feel good about the bullpen right now I want what you’ve been smoking!The Twins bullpen, as a whole, was 4th in FIP and 2nd in WAR after the 3rd week of the season. Top 10 in ERA and K/9 too. So yes, they were great the first few weeks, but still very, very good the rest of they season. Actual statistics vs your memory. I like this game
I agree Rogers was bad last year, but I think it had more to do with the situations he faced than anything. I’m a huge believer in pitching the situation, and a lot of times Rogers was expected to close games vs teams that were VERY successful left handed pitchers. I hate the idea of having a dead set closer you use in every situation unless hes a Hader/Chapman type, which obviously we cant expect Rogers to be. Pitch to matchups, not the age old idea of a “closer”
I never said I liked where the bullpen is right now, but I have little doubt Falvine will figure it out before the season begins.
First off I’ll take my memory of the blown leads our bullpen gave away over stats any day of the week. Wins and losses matter. Not “advanced stats”.
Also, I’m sick of hearing how Rogers had a bad year because of the situations he was put in. Did he have some bad luck? Yes. BUT he couldn’t locate his pitches the entire season. That was the only difference. Had he not thrown his slider right down the pipe all season he wouldn’t have had a terrible year. I was glad to hear Gleeman actually acknowledge that on his podcast last week finally.
And you can’t blame the Twins for using him in those situations because he succeeded in them the year before darn near every time. Where they shot themselves in the foot was after he blew 5 or 6 leads they kept pushing him out there. Refused to adapt.
When Falvine took over the Twins bullpen was perennially among the worst staffs in the league. Last year they were blatantly among the best, whether you look at numbers or just simply watch them, but mahto remembers that one time when that one pitcher gave up those few runs and they lost so therefore they suck 
I don’t know what the issue for Rogers was last year, but it was pretty clear he had at least a few of them. Pitch location, loss in velocity, less swings and misses, etc- whatever it was the matchups didn’t help. It was so clear he couldn’t get a right handed bat out for the life of him but yet they kept going back to him over and over and over expecting a different result. CHW, MIL, DET, and PIT were four of the top hitting teams vs left handed pitchers. Of the 8 games he gave up runs last season, 6 of them came against those four teams. Something was wrong with him, no doubt, but trusting him in spots he had failed in previously was poor managing.
What made the pen better last year was the 60 game schedule. Under the present regime the tendency is to burn the bullpen up over the course of the season. Weak marginal starters being pulled after 3-4-5 innings and turning it to the pen.
It seems with every year the starting pitching gets a tad bit better, not much but it has gotten better. Last year Meada helped eat some innings.
If they go back to 150+ games the bullpen will again get shredded.
Thats a thought process I can understand, but again, I disagree with. If I were comparing 2020 stats of the Twins’ bullpen to previous years of the Twins I’d see why you’d feel the way you do. Of course their numbers last year would be better. Last season was a season that will (hopefully) never be replicated so its difficult to compare those numbers to previous years. But the Twins were ranking very high when compared to teams in the same scenario as them. 60 game season where every game meant 3x more than in the typical season. And again, its not just the Twins who will be having a 162 game season next year. We can expect every bullpen league wide to get a bit worse, not just the Twins’. The bullpen last year was absolutely stacked. Will be difficult to replicate, no doubt.
You cannot deny the Twins bullpen has been much improved since the time that Falvine have taken over. If you do, you just have a very, very poor memory of how awful they were for several years prior to 2017.
I think the only thing you can look at is the starting pitching. Last year (60 games) it was better, starters as a whole ate more innings per game. Also any uptick in the quality of arms in the bullpen last year to this point have been released.
As long as the starters only go 5 to 5+ innings per start due to poor performance or Baldelli’s (Falvine) quick hook the bullpen will get lit up. Get starters into the 7th and everybody’s bullpen will improve.
Either Darvish or Snell would of looked good in a Twins uniform.
Imagine getting one starting pitcher of that caliber, let alone 2!!! Man those big markets have all the luck….(end sarcasm)
As much as signing a SS or Nelson Cruz is important – getting a true ACE in the starting rotation is more valuable. You don’t lose 17 straight playoff games when you have a dominant #1 starter. But you can lose consistently with a Gold Glove SS or All-star DH.
Without at least 1-2 high end starting pitchers this team will never get beyond occasional divisional crown status.
Death, taxes, mahto v tbro…
Seeing the Padres go all in these past few years (and especially this offseason) just makes me frustrated. All these teams have the $ to spend – there really isn’t such thing as a small market aside from TB and Oakland. Obviously it’s easy to spend someone else’s money and it doesn’t always work when you push all your chips in (Detroit 10ish years ago). I guess they spent $ on Donaldson last year so can’t complain too much…
As much as signing a SS or Nelson Cruz is important – getting a true ACE in the starting rotation is more valuable. You don’t lose 17 straight playoff games when you have a dominant #1 starter. But you can lose consistently with a Gold Glove SS or All-star DH.
Without at least 1-2 high end starting pitchers this team will never get beyond occasional divisional crown status.
X about a million!! Pitching wins in the playoffs.
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