You don’t know if you were even going to need every single one of those guys to be playing often or productively for you. “You go down our roster and see 35 different names that have contributed in a really positive way to us winning,” Baldelli said. Castro has become a cult hero by thriving in a super-utility role. Farmer has started 65 games all over the infield. ![]() Taylor and Solano have stepped up into near-everyday roles, with production at or near their personal bests. Keuchel has been a much needed second-half rotation filler.Īnd the bench quartet of Taylor, Farmer, Castro and Solano, all slated for part-time gigs initially, have combined for an above-average. Pagán has avoided meltdowns while working his way back into a setup job. Kepler leads the Twins in homers and tops their position players in WAR thanks to a monster second half. López has been one of the best pitchers in the league, gradually winning over a fan base that understandably still misses Luis Arraez. “Every time I think like that, I would say every time, just wait a day.” ![]() “I’m never comfortable with our pitching depth at the moment,” Falvey said. And midseason, despite the rotation being a strength, they signed former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel to a minor-league deal. Within the rotation, they paid a premium to add Pablo López to a group that already had five solid starters in place, bumping then-27-year-old Bailey Ober back to the minors and pushing prospect Louie Varland down the depth chart. And without every single one of those guys, we’re not sitting here in the position that we’re in.” We all liked it and agreed we should go grab all these guys and bring them in. “Good role players and platoon-type players. “We added a half-dozen really good, veteran players, guys who have started in this league,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. ![]() Then, just for good measure, they signed 35-year-old longtime regular Donovan Solano for $2 million in the middle of spring training, initially ticketing him for a small platoon role. They brought in Willi Castro, a multiyear regular elsewhere, on a minor-league contract without an obvious place for him on the Opening Day roster. Taylor and infielder Kyle Farmer, veterans in their early 30s who started for their previous teams.Īnd that wasn’t the end of the Twins’ bench building. From there, they boosted the bench with winter trades for outfielder Michael A. ![]() They magnified what was already a logjam of left-handed corner bats by betting $11 million on a Joey Gallo comeback that’s been a big whiff.īut the bulk of the Twins’ depth-driven moves have delivered, starting with the unpopular decisions to keep Max Kepler and Emilio Pagán despite no shortage of reasons to part ways following rough 2022 seasons. They signed longtime starting catcher Christian Vázquez to a three-year, $30 million deal to displace Ryan Jeffers as the primary backstop, only for Jeffers to unquestionably outplay him. Some of the Twins’ depth-focused offseason moves have flopped. “You’ll figure it out if you have good players.”īases-clearing triples are always fun…Donnie Barrels does it again! #MNTwins /7xvTyBYwcp “I just never feel you have too much depth anywhere,” Falvey said. Carlos Correa’s drama-filled free agency dominated the headlines all offseason, and re-signing the star shortstop for $200 million was by far the Twins’ biggest move, but their transaction log from November until March told the story of a front office in constant pursuit of veteran lineup and rotation reinforcements to avoid a repeat of a decimated, makeshift roster losing 29 of the final 45 games.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |