All Things 2022 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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That was a solid win all the way around.

On Thursday night, they were acting somewhat cocky I thought. Not so much now.
 


RealU said:
The most important decision this offseason for the Twins may very well be who they decide to become the new pitching coach, assuming they don't keep Maki in the position.
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Can't be Maki IMO. Nothing I've read about him is impressive. They will probably pluck someone from Cleveland or Tampa.
 

GopherVotary said:
The Caveman is the jumpstart we need!
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And not one Divin' incident yet. There was one tonight he wanted to dive for so bad but he pulled up and let them have a single instead of turning it into a triple. Progress maybe.
 


Twins odds of making the play-offs per fangraphs is now 61%. Was 49% after Thursday's game. Odds to win the World Series 1.4%.
 






From the Parkinglot said:
I completely agree. Not to mention your “good” starters are capped at 5 innings so in a normal week playing 6 games you are asking a bullpen to get somewhere around 30 or the 54 outs. That’s unsustainable. As it’s been motioned why they don’t bring up Smeltzer and and Make Bundy / Archer and opener and second man on the same day is beyond me.
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Amazing as TB has been using this approach for the last several years as well 🤷‍♂️
 

The next few days are critical for the Twins. They travel to LA to play the Dodgers, the best team in baseball. The Guardians and Sox play KC and Detroit. If the Twins go into the Anaheim series next weekend holding the same two game lead, that's a victory.
 







well, we knew this was an option for Kirilloff.

But it's major surgery. they literally go in and shorten the ulna bone - meaning they cut off a piece of bone and remove it.

this creates more room in the wrist area and (if it works) eliminates rubbing and irritation.

from what I've read, this is pretty much a last-case scenario. if this doesn't work, he could be done.

So now, the Twins have to go into next year not knowing if Kirilloff will be available or effective.
 

RealU said:
It's not unreasonable to have differing views of how the Twins should have approached the deadline. Being 6 games over .500 (at the deadline) and having a one game lead in the 2nd worst division in baseball is not enough evidence to suggest otherwise. I think some of your reasoning regarding injuries and underperforming mainstays in the lineup helped support the "sell" stance.

You can also throw in their poor baserunning and that since Wes left the team, the pitching has completely collapsed. Rocco has a couple of pitchers in Bundy and Archer that he simply cannot pitch when the order turns over for a 3rd time. His #1/#2 pitchers in Ryan and Gray have failed to pitch beyond 5 innings in 10 of their last 16 starts. Even when they are pitching well Rocco tends to stick to the analytics and pulls them, resulting in an overtaxed bullpen.

I didn't see anyone of note urging for an all-out rebuild, which I agree would be foolish considering the contract for Correa, trade for Gray and extension for Buxton this past offseason. It's clear the FO is in it to contend and with this current roster, they should be. However, I was in the camp to sell to bolster their assets for an "all-in" offseason. Maybe they put out feelers on veterans like Gray, Urshela, Correa, etc. and the proposed returns were underwhelming. We don't know what discucssions they had. To your point, I'm happy they picked a direction and didn't follow the White Sox/Guardians.

As far as your first point, while you support the trade for Pagan/Paddack, I think it's also fair to criticize the trade (and some did at the time). Trading Rogers and sending the Padres $6.6m for the best P in that deal seemed incorrect. Pagan has been a bust and despite Rogers imploding lately, he has still outperformed Pagan this year. For Paddack, even if didn't need his second TJ surgery, he appeared be a #4 starter at best.

Gary Sanchez has been largely below average this season. Defensively, he's a negative WAR player and lack of pitch framing (ranks 26th) does the pitching staff no favors. Offensively, his averages of .211/.275/.387 are all well below his career averages of .227/.312/.474. Over the last 2+ months, Sanchez is 26 for 139 (.187) with 48 strikeouts (34.5% K rate). Jeffers has been an upgrade over Sanchez but obviously Sanchez is the best bet with Jeffers injured. I agree with your points on 2-4, I would much rather they be aggressive in their gameplan then not.

As for the all-in offseason, it's time for the Pohlad's to up the ante, open the checkbook and spend closer to $170m at least for a season or two. I provided a link below that shows Twins revenues for anyone worried if they could still make ends meet or not. They could also likely fetch close to $1.5 billion if they decided to sell. Not a bad return on their father's $44m investment.

I would love to see them make a run at Willson Contreras in FA. If Correa bolts and the Angels decide to finally blow it up after years of futility with the games best player in Trout, put a competitive package together for 1 year of Ohtani and attempt to sign him to a massive extension. They likely get beat out by a team like the Dodgers but then shift focus to another bonafied #1 SP like Mclanahan with Tampa or Alcantara with the Marlins. I get both are extremely unlikely to be dealt given the team control/what appears to be an insanely team friendly deal for Alcantara but put offers together and make a run. If you can pull one off then it beats having to overpay for mediocre pitchers that largely underperform their multi-year contracts like Hughes, Nolasco, Santana (he was mostly solid), Pineda, Lynn etc. year after year.


https://www.statista.com/statistics/196669/revenue-of-the-minnesota-twins-since-2006/
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This is a very good response @RealU.

I'll still stand by my viewpoint on what should have been done at the deadline. I agree with Howie's contention it would be sticking a middle finger at the fans if you sold at the deadline. I don't believe the Twins are World Series contenders this year but you start by winning your division. The mediocrity of Cleveland and Chicago allow for this opportunity. You should try to seize the opportunity. I like their moves.

Regarding Paddack....even if his ceiling was a 4th or 5th starter, you still make that move. One year of a closer was worth that chance. You need to find young starters. Very hard to pry away an Alcantra without a prospect ransom. I also don't necessarily like giving huge dollars on the free agent market with how many injuries we see in the starting staff. Much better to give yourself options in the starting staff, in my view.
 


I can hear the crack of the Toronto bats 350 miles away in Wisconsin. Archer ain’t fooling anyone today.
 




From now on in baseball when sliding into home plate slide feet first right at the middle of the plate. There is no advantage to trying to avoid the contact and grab a corner. Just slide into the catcher if they are there and get rewarded.
 

What a BS call. Don't see how they came to that conclusion.
 


Maybe now that Buster Posey is retired and every other catcher is just a person (besides Wilson Contreras) we can get rid of the stupid rule. No one would care if Gary Sanchez blocks the plate and his leg breaks.
 



Blue Jays should have just walked off the field after the win and not even shook hands. They know that was shit.

On the other hand, I didn't know Rocco was capable of going off. That was actually fun to see.
 

GophersInIowa said:
He’s not even blocking the plate until he had the ball.
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That’s not even the problem. As it is not considered blocking the plate if you are making a legitimate attempt to catch the ball. Because the ball was thrown right at the base Gary has every right to be there.

The “rule” is not really a rule as it’s just an opinion and nothing more. When you think of all the other rules in baseball they are black and white except for balks. This “rule” is just an opinion.
 

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