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Twins Outlook '23
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Wilton
12:27
who says no to Trevor Larnach for Tylor Megill? Mets?
Anthony Franco
12:29
I'd rather have Megill but this isn't crazy. Depends on whether the Mets feel there's still untapped offensive potential with Larnach. I'm basically out on him at this point
Mike M
12:30
Would the Twins be able to trade Vazquez and bring in somebody with a better bat, or one of their minor league prospects as backup catcher?
Anthony Franco
12:31
Can't see anyone taking the full 2/20 after the year Vázquez just had but they could offload like 60% of it and sign Tom Murphy or something, sure
Mike M
12:32
Would the Twins be in the market to add a closer in some way in order to free up Duran to be used in other high leverage situations?
Anthony Franco
12:35
Could look into that, sure. Wouldn't say it's a priority but if they're interested in David Robertson or Craig Kimbrel and Duran doesn't care a whole lot about his role, then it'd be a way to upgrade the bullpen
Twins
12:35
Do you think we botched the 22 deadline so badly that the front office will now be reluctant to make another impactful move at the deadline?
Anthony Franco
12:36
Nah. It was a bad deadline but the front office has to have a short memory too
12:37
Most people (myself included) felt they got the better end of the Jorge López at the time. The Mahle package looked like a lot from the beginning but they also ran into some bad luck with the Tommy John surgery. Could say the 2022 shoulder stuff was foreseeable but this year's injury probably wasn't
Ahh Puckett
12:38
Is there room for Willi Castro and Nick Gordon to be on the roster together?
Anthony Franco
12:39
If they also bring back Solano and/or retain Kyle Farmer, it's a lot of multi-positional guys with limited offensive ceilings. Not sure Gordon holds the 40-man spot all winter
Cody Bellinger
12:40
Do I make sense as a Twins target?  CF and 1B are both question marks for MN and Bellinger can play both.
Anthony Franco
12:41
He fits on the roster but this would require the largest contract in franchise history for a second straight offseason. Can't see it
M Brower
12:42
Given the skill and production Michael Taylor delivered cor the Twins this season, isn't the prudent decision to sign him to a long term contract?
Anthony Franco
12:43
He'll be 33 and the profile's built around plus CF defense. He's probably looking at two years in the mid-teens
Throwing him 2/$15MM makes sense though
AL Central Casting
12:44
I found the 2023 roster to be fascinating on the position player side because there were so many moving pieces. Between guys who could play multiple positions and platoon bats, the Twins had plenty of in-game options and used them frequently to try to gain an edge. However, there is a sense sometimes that this is a strategy used by teams who don't have (or don't want to pay for) star players - the Rays being the obvious example, but also the Giants and Guardians, among others. Never mind that the Dodgers do this too. Do you see the 2024 Twins continuing to prioritize depth and flexibility in this way, or can they consolidate some of these players into more high-end talent? For a team that seems likely to make the postseason again, are they more in need of difference-makers instead of depth?
Anthony Franco
12:44
I agree with this characterization of the 2023 Twins but I think it's in large part because their three potential star hitters were all limited
12:45
Lewis only played 58 games. Buxton was playing through the knee injury. Correa played through plantar fasciitis most of the season
12:46
If even two of those guys are at full strength for the majority of next season, the Twins should have top-end talent
Twins fan
12:47
Any chance a guy like Lars Nootbaar could become available? Hed be a hell of an upgrade. Simeon-woods and maybe someone like Paddack going the other way?
Anthony Franco
12:47
Cardinals seem determined to keep Nootbaar and if they did listen to offers, it'd be for a lot more than Paddack and SWR
martras
12:48
Thoughts on Rhys Hoskins for the Twins? I could see C Jeffers, 1B Hoskins, 2B Castro, SS Correa, 3B Lewis, LF Kirilloff, CF Buxton, RF Waller, DH Julien as the Twins opening day lineup.
Anthony Franco
12:49
Kirilloff seems like he's mostly a first baseman at this point. Could work Hoskins in at DH if they keep Julien at second base in this scenario
It's not outlandish but the right side infield defense would be rough
12:50
Feels like Philadelphia should make Hoskins a QO, which he might accept. But if he gets to free agency unencumbered by the draft pick, the Twins are an ok fit
Guest
12:50
As far as the rest of the division, are the Tigers the closest competitors now to the Twins. KC seems a few years away, while Cleveland and Chicago seem on the downturn.
Anthony Franco
12:51
Yeah I agree that Detroit has surpassed Cleveland as the second-best team in the division
Weitz
12:52
With Kirilloff's injury bug and Mets kind of pause on contending what would a Pete Alonso trade look like?
Allen
12:52
Do they have the pieces for a Soto trade?
Anthony Franco
12:53
Don't really expect either of those guys to move this winter. David Stearns has more or less already said the Mets are going to hold Alonso into the season. Padres haven't said as much on Soto but they have other players (Trent Grisham, Scott Barlow, Michael Wacha) they could trade or let walk before Soto if the payroll's an issue
Duran Duran
12:53
Duran was once a promising starter prospect. Can you envision a scenario where he returns to that role or has he become too valuable as a reliever to consider that option?
Anthony Franco
12:54
He's awesome as is. Leave him in relief
Sammy So-so
12:54
I understand that if you get into the playoffs anything can happen, but I never believe the Twins are a realistic WS winner even when they do make the postseason. Beyond "it's a crapshoot," do you think there are one or two facets of the team they can focus on to become a stronger contender?
Anthony Franco
12:58
I don't think they're far off if everyone's healthy. They could have an offense, rotation and bullpen that all end up in the top five to ten. There's a lot made of how often the lineup strikes out, and it'd obviously be ideal to make more contact, but the run scoring environment can skew more favorably to power-heavy teams in the postseason because it's harder to string hits together against high-end pitching
martras
12:59
Joe Ryan finished pretty poorly in the second half and it's clear the Twins didn't really trust him (or Maeda/Ober) to be a traditional starter in the playoffs. Did the scouting reports finally cap his ceiling or can he get back to mid/upper rotation results?
Anthony Franco
1:02
He's a mid-rotation guy for me. Likely always going to struggle with home runs because he's so fastball-dependent but the velocity was also down a little bit at the end of the season, which is probably in part an injury thing
1:03
Alright that's all I have time for today. Darragh and I are recording this week's podcast soon
I'm on X/Twitter @affranco10 if you want to hit me with other questions
1:04
I also do chats every Friday afternoon for Front Office subscribers. I get to the bulk of those questions because there aren't nearly as many
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