Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:Luis Arraez was my favorite Twin the past two seasons...so much fun to watch his at bats. But that said, I'll join the chorus here that this was a terrific deal. We get a #2/#3 low WHIP guy plus two interesting prospects. Salas was the #4 Marlins prospect and you can never have too many top SS's in your organization. And the CF is only 17 and hit .342 in rookie league...and he's a plus outfielder.

I'll miss Luis a lot, but I started to notice last year how different he looked against LHP, and it turns out he only had an OPS of .685 against lefties...and lefties make up 25% of MLB starting pitching. Rocco was obviously invested in Luis winning the batting title, and was resting him more often than not against lefties late in the season. Almost like a platoon player.

Great deal.

Can't complain about the baseball value of the deal too much.

But like others, I liked Arraez. In part, because he brought me back a bit to the baseball I grew up with. I'm not nearly as much of a fan of the current game nearly entirely controlled by spreadsheets.

Sometimes, too much knowledge is a bad thing... especially when it makes a more homogenized product for entertainment purposes.

Oh well. Go Twins. My spreadsheet tells me there's a 52.843% chance this deal works out for them favorably for the next two seasons and 51.43578% chance it works out for them favorably over the next three seasons. And there's an amazing 55.48765% chance this trade works out favorably for the Twins in night games following a full moon when the temperatures are between 61 and 69 degrees with cloud cover below 40%.

How do you not take those favorable odds?!?!!?

PorkChop wrote:Does Paddack find his way onto this pitching staff this year? I think I read they expect him healthy near midseason at best. They did just resign him so it appears he's part of the short term future. Maybe in an attempt to work him back slowly and have him ready for next year he finds a spot in middle relief?

Jester1534 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Does Paddack find his way onto this pitching staff this year? I think I read they expect him healthy near midseason at best. They did just resign him so it appears he's part of the short term future. Maybe in an attempt to work him back slowly and have him ready for next year he finds a spot in middle relief?

I think they will take the Pineda approach and let him heal all year and get him ready for 2024. Worked out well for them last time Pineda was arguably our best starter the year he came back.

monsterpile wrote:Michael Taylor seems like a solid acquisition. I remember he was someone that an article suggested weeks ago as a guy they could target in a minor trade as Buxton insurance. Kepler is still here but for how long? The Twins sure seem willing to make deals.

FNG wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Michael Taylor seems like a solid acquisition. I remember he was someone that an article suggested weeks ago as a guy they could target in a minor trade as Buxton insurance. Kepler is still here but for how long? The Twins sure seem willing to make deals.

It's a terrific pickup, monster. We all would love to see Byron Buxton play 162 games in CF, but we also know it's not going to happen. The Taylor acquisition means we're almost certain to have an elite defensive guy in CF at all times. To understand just how good our defense could be next season, here's how some of our guys stack up at their position in defensive runs saved since 2020:

OF ? 36 (1st) Taylor
OF ? 32 (2nd) Gallo
OF ? 29 (T-3rd) Buxton
OF ? 14 (T-13th) Kepler
OF ? 11 (T-15th) Larnach

SS ? 30 (1st) Correa

C ? 17 (5th) Vázquez
C ? 8 (10th) Jeffers

If you believe this stat, we have 5 of the top 15 outfielders in DRS, the top SS, and 2 of the top 10 catchers. That's pretty extraordinary. Plus we picked up a starting pitcher who (arguably) has the best changeup in baseball. I give Falvine an A+ for this offseason.

Camden wrote:I think there was some real luck involved with signing Carlos Correa again, but I agree with those that believe the Twins have had a really good off-season. They greatly improved the defense, especially up the middle. The starting rotation is as good as it's ever been despite missing the clear ace of the staff. The lineup, if relatively healthy, should have little trouble scoring runs with as strong of a 1-7 as there is in baseball. The bench looks solid as well with positional versatility and situational flexibility.

I think they still need right-handed power and a couple of quality relief arms. Sign Franmil Reyes, Andrew Chafin, and Michael Fulmer, and call it done. That team could threaten 95 regular season wins, I think.