Minnesota Sports Forum

OK. I'm convinced. Based on Austin Martin not being plate-ready, Lewis' health, and Henriquez' potential as a reliever, this is a good trade.

That being said, they won 73 games last year, had the 13th best rotation, 12th best bullpen, traded away their best SP, won't have their new best SP until (at least) late August, and traded away their only good hitting catcher. Unless everything goes right with Thorpe and about 5 other guys, it's going to be a tough year, right?

FWIW the Rangers added Ronny H to their 40 man roster to protect him from the rule 5 draft that never happened. That makes me think he is actually a little better prospect (or valued more highly) than I had first thought.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:OK. I'm convinced. Based on Austin Martin not being plate-ready, Lewis' health, and Henriquez' potential as a reliever, this is a good trade.

That being said, they won 73 games last year, had the 13th best rotation, 12th best bullpen, traded away their best SP, won't have their new best SP until (at least) late August, and traded away their only good hitting catcher. Unless everything goes right with Thorpe and about 5 other guys, it's going to be a tough year, right?

I have to admit your take is the most reasonable one, Jason, and it matches the way the national pundits see us. But while I admit I'm generally too positive about the Twins' chances, I think they will be a surprise team this year...and especially if Buxton can stay healthy (and I know that's a big ask). I think they will hit and be very strong defensively, the bullpen will be good (as it was late last season) and Ryan and Ober will have breakout years. I don't like Bundy much and have him as our 5th starter at best, so it's reasonable to question who #3 and 4 are going to be. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are going to channel Tampa Bay for once and give some very promising youngsters a chance, and they will step up. I'm looking at Josh Winder, and think he will make a big contribution this season....he looked terrific last season. And I also like Balazovic, Cantorino and Duran Duran. Yeah, I'm way out there on that limb, but I'm excited about this team.

Barring any unforeseen trades that bring in starting pitching, I see the 2022 Minnesota Twins being one of the worst teams in the AL at worst and threatening .500 at best, which is far from good enough. That's not a new take from me if you've been paying attention. I'm much more optimistic about 2023 and would have built with that in mind, and perhaps the front office is doing that.

But it's possible to acknowledge that and grade this trade as a good one on multiple fronts. The Twins got better today even if it's ever so slightly. Mitch Garver's best days are behind him and they got a pretty solid return for him even without the added prospect, and even he looks like there's reason to be intrigued.

The Twins have shown interest in signing Johnny Cueto. I wouldn't exactly hate that move, but what's the reasoning for it? Why not let a young arm figure it out against Major League hitters? Cueto doesn't really do anything for this team.

Fangraphs placed Ronny Henriquez as Minnesota's ninth-best prospect after the trade. For reference, he's actually ahead of Simeon Woods Richardson and behind Jhoan Duran and Matt Canterino.

Link: https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2022-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&team=min

Camden wrote:The Twins have shown interest in signing Johnny Cueto. I wouldn't exactly hate that move, but what's the reasoning for it? Why not let a young arm figure it out against Major League hitters? Cueto doesn't really do anything for this team.

What price point is Cueto? I guess the hope would be he would be cheap and decent and stay mostly healthy...yeah a lot of ifs in there but for what something like 4 million (just throwing out a number) or maybe even less sure I suppose. Personally I think it seems clear the Twins are planning to have young guys in the rotation this year. There may also be some value in having a veteran starting pitcher in the clubhouse for the young guys. No I'm not saying Cueto (or any other similar guy) will have some super magic mentoring effect but I'm saying there could be some value there. It looks like the Twins currently have 1 spot open on their 40 man roster after today's trade. Using that spot on starting pitcher certainly makes sense. Obviously they could add more guys beyond that one spot too.

I'm also guessing there will be a lot of minor league deals signed in the next few days by a lot of teams.

Frankly, I'd much rather the Twins sign Matthew Boyd than Johnny Cueto. There's at least some level of upside there.

Camden wrote:Frankly, I'd much rather the Twins sign Matthew Boyd than Johnny Cueto. There's at least some level of upside there.

Sounds good to me. I'm up for signing someone to help fill out the rotation. I'll be honest though my expectations are pretty low for what we may get.

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:Frankly, I'd much rather the Twins sign Matthew Boyd than Johnny Cueto. There's at least some level of upside there.

Sounds good to me. I'm up for signing someone to help fill out the rotation. I'll be honest though my expectations are pretty low for what we may get.

Is this part we're I mention that I wanted to trade Kepler for Boyd 3 years ago lol

Cueto would be inning eater signing.

Cam I agree that this team is probably below .500 but they will also go as far as there young pitching developes. They're still going to be able to hit the ball this year.