All Things 2022 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

BleedGopher

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Spring training is now basically upon us. Hope springs eternal.

THIS IS OUR YEAR!

Win Twins!!
 

With baseball lockout over, Twins turn their focus to building a pitching staff and lineup​

Baseball's lockout is over. Now the lock-in begins.

"We ordered in food," Derek Falvey said of the Twins' player-acquisition staff, now sequestered in the team's executive offices in Fort Myers, Fla. "We might be here awhile."


That's because, three days from spring camp's formal opening and a mere four weeks before Opening Day, the Twins roster looks like a home improvement project on the contractors' day off: Some parts are missing, and it hits you just how much more work is required. The starting rotation has zero proven veterans, the bullpen has nothing but question marks, and even the Twins admit they don't know who their shortstop will be.

"We don't have a blueprint for this. … It's going to be difficult," Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations, said in a video call with reporters about a half-hour after Major League Baseball formally ended its 99-day lockout of the players union. "It'll be hard to navigate a little bit of the challenges associated with roster-building in a really short period of time. We're going to navigate through it successfully because we have a good group that can do that."


Win Twins!!
 

If they aren't going to spend money on a real SS (yeah, I know, not gonna happen), I'd prefer to see Lewis or Martin there to open the season. Let's see what they've got.
 

Immediate Needs:

SS (unless they put Polanco back at short)
at least 2 Starting Pitchers
finalize Bullpen
settle on a DH. (if Sano is the DH, move Kirilloff to 1st and open up a spot in the outfield...maybe Larnach...)
 

Immediate Needs:

SS (unless they put Polanco back at short)
at least 2 Starting Pitchers
finalize Bullpen
settle on a DH. (if Sano is the DH, move Kirilloff to 1st and open up a spot in the outfield...maybe Larnach...)
I think Sano at DH and Kiriloff at 1B is pretty much a given. Sano will still play some 1B when Donladson DH's etc. If they insist on signing a SS (I prefer Polanco at SS and Arreaz at 2B) then Arreaz is the LF'er.
 


Carlos Rodon off the board to the Giants. So much for Falvey being "ready to pounce."
 







Don't really love this trade.


Interesting. I'm ok with it. Garver is a good hitter but he struggles to stay healthy, and he's 31.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 26, a gold glover, can steal bases, doesn't have much pop but seems to be improving a little at the plate.
 
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Interesting. I'm ok with it. Garver is a good hitter but he struggles to stay healthy, and he's 31.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 26, a gold glover, can steal bases, and is improving at the plate.
With a different manager, it might be OK. Even if you view Garver / Jeffers as a wash, the back-up catcher will start at least 60 games for Rocco. And those 300 ABs just took a massive downgrade. Also this forces Arreaz to LF or the bench.
 



With a different manager, it might be OK. Even if you view Garver / Jeffers as a wash, the back-up catcher will start at least 60 games for Rocco. And those 300 ABs just took a massive downgrade. Also this forces Arreaz to LF or the bench.

The backup catcher isn't getting 300 ABs, Garver barely got that many when he was healthy in 18/19.

Neither Arraez or Polanco are shortstops and shouldn't be playing there.
 



Great trade. The Twins received an ok prospect and the better player at a position of need.
And another number for a pitcher. Hopefully when we roll the dice, a couple three of these guys will do well to solidify the pitching staff where we are in dire need of help.
 

The backup catcher isn't getting 300 ABs, Garver barely got that many when he was healthy in 18/19.

Neither Arraez or Polanco are shortstops and shouldn't be playing there.
Garver was the starter in 18 and 19 so you're proving my point. The Twins catcher will never be Sal Perez and catch 140 games as long as Rocco is manager. The backup will start 30-40% of the time.

Polanco was the Twins primary SS from 2017-2020. And then suddenly it was decided he's "not a SS". An overreaction to one bad error in a playoff game.

All that said I don't mind trading Garver and I don't mind having this SS for 2022. I just don't like this particular trade. Shoring up SS behind the worst pitching rotation in the league is pointless. If Garver was going to be dealt it should be for pitching. Someone like Iglesias on a one year deal at SS would be fine unless they have given up on Royce Lewis.
 
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on the Trade, well, Garver is 31 with some injury history. He was considered a possible trade piece by several writers/bloggers.

at C, it's now Jeffers #1 and probably Rortvedt #2. Both are considered better on defense and both have some power, but neither hits - or has hit - for a high average.

after that, the farm system is pretty thin at catcher. There is a young kid Jair Camargo who looks promising, but he was at High-A ball last year, so a few years away.

at SS - the buzz I am reading is that the Twins want to keep Polanco at 2B, for health reasons. Royce Lewis has not played competitive baseball since 2019, and is coming off an ACL, so he is going to have to spend some time in the minors to prove he's healthy. Even before the injury, there were questions about whether Lewis was a SS long-term.
 

With a different manager, it might be OK. Even if you view Garver / Jeffers as a wash, the back-up catcher will start at least 60 games for Rocco. And those 300 ABs just took a massive downgrade. Also this forces Arreaz to LF or the bench.
My guess at this point is Donaldson DH’s at least a third of the time so Arraez should get some time at 3B too.
 

Garver was the starter in 18 and 19 so you're proving my point. The Twins catcher will never be Sal Perez and catch 140 games as long as Rocco is manager. The backup will start 30-40% of the time.

Polanco was the Twins primary SS from 2017-2020. And then suddenly it was decided he's "not a SS". An overreaction to one bad error in a playoff game.

All that said I don't mind trading Garver and I don't mind having this SS for 2022. I just don't like this particular trade. Shoring up SS behind the worst pitching rotation in the league is pointless. If Garver was going to be dealt it should be for pitching. Someone like Iglesias on a one year deal at SS would be fine unless they have given up on Royce Lewis.

The starting catcher is getting 300 ABs, not the backup as you stated, that’s my point.

It wasn’t just one error for Polanco at SS, he is not great defensively at that position. He also couldn’t stay healthy playing SS. He stayed healthy at 2B, is better there defensively, and put up great numbers at the plate. It would be stupid to move him back.

Shoring up your defense with an unproven pitching staff makes a lot of sense. They will be fine offensively. There are still questions if Lewis’s long term position is SS.
 

Kiner-Falefa has played catcher in the past too. So could give some flexibility late in games to pinch hit for the backup C and still let Jeffers get the day off.
 


The starting catcher is getting 300 ABs, not the backup as you stated, that’s my point.

It wasn’t just one error for Polanco at SS, he is not great defensively at that position. He also couldn’t stay healthy playing SS. He stayed healthy at 2B, is better there defensively, and put up great numbers at the plate. It would be stupid to move him back.

Shoring up your defense with an unproven pitching staff makes a lot of sense. They will be fine offensively. There are still questions if Lewis’s long term position is SS.
There are more than 600 abs from the catcher spot. If the starter is only getting 300 then the backups are getting 300 too.

Polanco was average or slightly below average at short. There's no evidence his injuries had to do with the position. With the shift you spend half the time on the other side of 2nd either way and he still played SS in 39 games last year.
 

Don't forget that Blue Jays SS prospect the Twins acquired. He's very highly regarded.

Lewis' position is to be determined.
 

My guess at this point is Donaldson DH’s at least a third of the time so Arraez should get some time at 3B too.
They’re on record as saying they like Luis as a utility player since it gives them flexibility and also helps since his knees are a liability and need rest.
With Josh’s injury history, he’ll get some ABs at third - I don’t like him in left, unless it’s an spot start, as that’s his worst position.
 
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Good info on the new pitching prospect. With his mid 90’s fastball, he should at a minimum be a contributor in the bullpen as early as this year.

 



Like the Gray trade. Now re-sign Pineda and the rotation is at least serviceable.
 




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