Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 113 | Minnesota Twins | Profile & Projection

Episode Date: March 15, 2020

The Twinkies! Plouffe joined us to talk about his beloved Twins. Are they for real? Can they make a splash in the playoff this time? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

That's another TPP with TPP. Trevor Ploof's joining us for this one because we're talking about his Twinkies. Yes. You like Twinkies, the snack? You know, I don't eat sugar like that. And you did it? No, I mean, I'd eat them. Twinkies are pretty overrated, right?

Yeah, I want to go search them out. They've got a great name, but you're going to pick so many things before you get to Twinkies, right? Once a decade, I pick one up and I'm like, is this good? Is it what I remember as a kid? And it's not really. They need a syringe something to tell in the middle of them. I mean, it survived the test of time, right? Didn't they go out?

Literally. And then it's back. They almost like canceled them. And everyone was like, no. They're a post-apocalyptic food. They stay good forever. Yeah. Jake's a post-apocalyptic cumin.

Coronavirus. Loat up. Yeah, load up. We did that. Got to keep Trevor on his toe. You can't get it if you're the one spreading it. That's Jake's motto. I'm watching where you're putting your hands at all times.

Hello. Trevor. Yes. How are you? We're at spring training. And we are doing the Minnesota Twins. A team you played six years, seven years? With the org for 12?

Yeah, six years, yeah. With the org for 12? I think you've been longer than that. 13? Yeah, 13. Yeah. Long time. Twins did some work this off.

season. They did. So I'm going to just run down the list real quickly for everyone listening at home. Who the twins gained. They picked up Josh Donaldson on the second biggest contract ever given out. Yep. They picked up Rich Hill, Homer Bailey, Tyler Clippers going to the bullpen.

They picked up Kenta my Ada in the trade. Love that. They re-signed O'Darizzi. They re-signed Pined Pined Pined and Search, right? Serge, he's back. My haircut, buddy. Yes. We'll be connected forever.

You will. And that's about it, but that's a lot of people. They traded away Graterall, but then they also agreed to another Graterall in a minor league contract. Juan Graterall. Interesting. So it might be a Graterall thing. You always need one around. And who did they lose, Jake?

Who did they lose? They lost our guy, Gibby. Friend of the program. Ghibi goes from the twins to the Texas Rangers. Cron, Scope. Martine Perez, Jason Castro. Dyson. Hildenberger's on the socks.

I didn't know that. Cool. Yeah, we saw him. Caj. Cron or Cron? Cron. Cronie's gone. Cody Allen.

A couple dudes. Paneda, Odo, they come back, along with Sergio Romo, as mentioned. Trevor, I don't normally do this. It's all you right now. Start with your Minnesota twins, man. What exactly do you want me to tell you about them? I mean, we saw them last year. How many wins?

103? 1003? 100. 101? I thought it was 1003. Well, the Yankees had 103 and they were a higher seed than them, so it couldn't have been 103. They'll be standings.

Anyways, yeah. They had an awesome year. They were awesome. The Minnesota Twins, a team that for years, was like, hey, we'll build something up, but, you know, when Johan's getting close, we got to sell them. They led the league, they broke the MLB record in home runs. Yes. And then they signed Josh Donaldson this off season.

Yeah, I mean, when you look back just like the last 20 years of Twins baseball, you had a great run there in the 2000s. 101 last year. 101, okay. Great run in the 2000s when you had Johan, Liriano, Mourne, Kadeir, the old guard was there. The whole bullpen was there. Tori. You had Joe Nathan.

I mean, everybody. They had a great team. And it was a lot of fun for Twins fans. They were winning the division every year. Playoffs have always been the problem. Or at least lately. They've got two world championships. But they've been the problem lately.

Last 15 years. Yeah. And then a little bit of a lull there. You know, from 2011 to 2016, not good. You know, we lost a lot of games there. Not for lack of effort, but I honestly don't know what it was. I think a lot of the times it was our starting pitching. I always say that, because I don't want to put any blame on myself.

Who was? I'm sure I had something to do with it. I know we're going historical here a little bit, but, I mean, who was good during those years in the AL Central? I mean, the Tigers had a really good team for a little bit. Tigers were very good. We had some Indians teams that were supposed to win the World Series. The Tigers had some of the...

they didn't. The Tigers had one of the best rosters, I think, that might have been ever constructed, and they had an Achilles heel, which many teams do, and it was their bullpen. They could never fix that. And I don't, I mean,

think about the rotation the Tigers had at that time. You know, you're talking Verlander, Price, Scherzer, Annabille Sanchez, Rick Porcelo. Really good. It's crazy. And, yeah, so after that, we had a new regime come in. Yep.

And they changed a lot of things. And I haven't been a part of the organization since they came in. But I have seen their moves, and they've done a lot of things that are very smart. But I will say that for all the credit that they're getting, there was already a core in place. And we're seeing that core come up and really be essential. There's been pieces added, people brought in, but this core has really been in the middle, as cores are. By definition. of this resurgence and guys that we talk about all the time, you know,

Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Miguel, Sino, Byron Buxton, Jose Brrios, these guys were all there already. Well, right now, I'm looking at the lineup, and I think we should start with the lineup because they... And it's quicker conversation, I think, the lineup. They literally broke the MLB record for home runs last year and then added Josh Donaldson, a former MVP winner. But, man, what you were saying about your corn,

middle thing, which was really powerful stuff. It was on point. I think as they have the lineup projected right now, seven out of nine dudes are either amateur free agents or drafted by the twins. The two guys that they brought in Nelson Cruz on a team-friendly contract. That was a great signing by them. They took a little chance on his age, but that's more than, I mean, even if it was just last year, I mean, it's worthwhile.

And then they brought in Donaldson, which is incredible. and I think that's, that was the coolest vibe to see around Twins camp because, you know, it's Minnesota and, you know, we're fighting and we're doing our best and we're going to try to put a good team out there, eh? But, like, they signed Josh Donaldson. Yeah. Like, they, they have that core and they have added to it. And the lineup, right now the bench has Marwin Gonzalez on it, which, I mean, say what you want about his career and Astros Ties, blah, blah, blah. But to have him in that super utility role is,

what you want Marwin Gonzalez for. And never mind when I'm looking at Kepler, Polanco, Cruz, Donaldson, Rosario Garver, R-A-S, Sanoe, and Buxton. Yes. I mean, however you shape that lineup, which it also has a lot of guys you can move around. I just said Sano 8th.

I sat next to him the other day, and he's three of me. I mean, that lineup is insane. We just talked about how there's a possibility that Suno could lead the big leagues and homers this year. It wouldn't shock anyone. I don't know if he's going to hit 8th in that lineup. That's a projected lineup we're looking at.

But Rocco's got a pretty fun job there. He can kind of just throw darts to the dartboard, so here we go. But definitely the lineup's not going to be the problem. They're going to score a ton of runs. They scored a ton of runs last year. It's obviously a ton of home runs. They're going to bring in some more offense with Josh. But I think we're really that JD signing short up their infield defense,

which was a problem last year. They needed to have someone a veteran presence in there and just kind of correct that. And when you bring a guy like Josh Donaldson, who at 34 is still very athletic, we saw that at camp, and he can go get the ball. So that was a big part of bringing him in,

as well as the offense, we all know about that, but his defense is that good. The pitching's the problem. And maybe not problems. The pitching is the toss-up. because you have Berrios who's been good and he'll be the number one. Going into the offseason, that was all they had. Just Berrios and no one else.

They bring Odo back or he accepts the qualifying offer. So he's there two or whatever, however you want to label it. They did resign Pined Pineda, but he's suspended for the first half of the season or first 60 games or something like that. They went hard reportedly after Wheeler, Riu, and Bumgarner to a lesser extent, and fell short on all three of them. And they pivoted and they pivoted. and they pick up Rich Hill, who's hurt, going to miss the first half as well,

and Homer Bailey, who's doing this weird resurgence halfway kind of thing. I didn't, I understood those moves, and I'm not, like, against them, but you much would have rather Riu or Wheeler. And they were definitely like, fuck, we didn't get our guys. We got to go find someone moves in my workout, but they're kind of toss up. I was leading to that. Then I like that move. I think that supplements the whole thing.

where you slide Bailey and Rich Hill down. And now you have Barrios, Odo, Maeda, you have Pineda coming back, and then you have Rich Hill coming back. And now it's better. The Mayada really changed it for me. Let's talk about that because I feel like a lot of people share that sentiment where, yeah, pitching is going to be a problem.

And there's a tweet here that I was pulling up by what didn't mean to be rude looking at my phone. But I wanted to show this to you because I saw it today. So projected F-4 totals Top three starters In the American League Get the Astros top 12.7

Nice The Yankees second 12.0 Changed after today And the Minnesota Twins Third at 11.2 So they're not far behind Am IA was a big part of that Yeah who's like even

Next The Rays but no one knows I don't know That wasn't part of the tweet The Indians should be up there now Maybe Clevenger's out for a while, so that kind of hurts that. But, you know, I think that they're going to be strong at the starting pitcher position come years in. We know they're going to be in the playoffs.

They're going to make the playoffs. It's all for them now. That's not what we're trying to do here anymore, which that was a goal for a long time. Let's get to the playoffs. They're going to get to the playoffs. Now it's where can our team be come October? because they got to they got to slay the dragon, right?

And I'm giving you guys a little segue right there. Who's the dragon? Your guys, they got to figure out a way. I was going to ask you, and then it comes off like a, because I'm a Yankee fan, it comes off this way. Twins have to go through the Yankees. The Yankees, the Yankees in 09,

had to go through the Angels because the Angels beat them in the postseason. So many years in a row, it felt like, it was like, fuck, the Angels just have our number. And once the Angels beat them, I was like, all right, we're fine. The World Series is going to be easy or whatever it is. Do you think Twins fans feel that way?

Would they rather avoid the Yankees and bypass them or do you have to go through them? It's like the Red Sox in 2004 where they had to beat the Yankees. Like that's how it had to happen for them to keep going. Well, shit, I think they'd be happy either way. Of course. If you avoid the Yankees, I think they'd be happy. I think they'd be happier beating the Yankees. Yeah.

And saying, you know what, this is a new era of Twins baseball. we get through the Yankees. And I really do think, I don't pay any attention to that shit because they're just different players, different teams. You know, it doesn't, just because you lost to a team, you know, 10 years ago, what does that mean for today?

But the old players on the Twins did say that, like, they, it was a thing in their head. Well, that's back in 2009-2010. That's them. I don't feel that way with this squad whatsoever. And that's one of the things I like about them and all the guys that I know there, especially that outfield,

who I'm very part of it. too. I love the outfield of Kepler, Buxton, and Rosario. I think it's one of the cooler outfields in the game. These guys all came up together. Yeah. You know, and Max's story is amazing. You know, Buckson's story is amazing. Rosario's amazing. Those guys don't give a shit who's out there. Yeah. They don't care about that at all. Especially Rosario. That's why he's probably my favorite guy on the team. They don't care about that. And that's what they need. That type of attitude to get past the end.

Yankees and they have it. Oh, that's funny. I mean, Eddie, steady Eddie is way too easy, but like, Eddie's going to do his thing. Eddie's going to hit some bombs. He's going to be in right field. Buxton, I mean, he was supposed to be the guy. Like, the guy in this team, and right now we're talking about him as the ninth hole hitter, like, hey, if you give us something cool and, like, he can still be a special dude.

Absolutely. And Kepler, I mean, had one of the probably most overlooked seasons last year. So you're right when you talk about that outfield. And I think the bigger thing for me that's making me like the twins a little more is that, you know, Berrios, he's young and maybe he can take it up another notch. Even if he doesn't, I mean, he's a really good baseball player. Yes. Oda Rizzi, I mean, he's been through the league a few times now.

Sneaky great stats, we were just looking at. Yeah, I mean, he could put a league a season together. Absolutely. Maeda, we all like that move. And come playoff time. if Minnesota is there. I don't know if we want to talk White Sox or Indians and any of that stuff.

I mean, you know, I don't love projections. You go look at any projections. They're a 99 percentile team. I mean, they're a great ball club, and this is what I'll spin it into again, is that Donaldson on the Hot Corner. We'll see what Snow looks like at first over a full season, ideally.

But if you can rake, and if those guys can keep you in the game, like that's your identity. Like, let's pitch next guy up. I feel like I referenced the 2018 Red Sox a lot. They did have sale, but they just had the, like, hey, when they got to the playoffs, we need a dude who's going to get the next three hitters out. I don't care if it's David Price.

I don't care if it's a bullpen guy. When Rich Hill comes back and he's healthy, if Homer Bailey, who you have a story about, which I don't know if we want to talk about at the end of this podcast, it might not be podcast appropriate, but love to Homer Bailey. Bailey. I love Homer. Like, if they can get to that point where it's wearing the playoffs, our offense is going to do the thing,

and then we're just going to have throwers. I guess Brewers would be another analogy. That is not the recipe for success for the twins. Okay. I don't like that. That's what they did last year, and it didn't work out for them. I still believe. They got fucked with Paneda and some other things last year, though.

I still believe that there's a move to be made. And we know. that in this day and age, when teams are kind of out of it, they start to let players go with the deadline. There's going to be guys available. One of the guys we saw today, Chris Archer, I think, is going to be a target for them. But I believe at the trade deadline,

they are going to go get somebody. Now they're going to have to compete with the Yankees who are probably going to have to go get somebody too. Sure. But I think there's still a move that's going to be made. They have the farm system to go out and get guys. But what I would say is, we'll see who's available at the deadline. Yeah.

What I'd say is, I mean, what if it's not somebody above Barrios? I think he's kind of the clear one if everything goes right for the twins. He's nice. Right. He's nice. I don't know why you guys. It's Barrios. It's kind of like Erin Cheney.

Okay. So we'll say Barrios. Barrios? Yeah. Not Barrios? Yeah, I used to say that too. Barrios. Yeah.

That was being white. Yeah. But I mean. He's nice, dude. I don't want you to short-changed him whatsoever. So you're not expecting them to get someone better than. Barrios. It'd be hard.

He's a really good pitcher. Okay. That's what I'm asking. You slot someone in, and I don't know who it's going to be. I mean, who's going to be available? I'm not sure. I just have been saying all offseason, I think Chris Archer's going to be pitching in the postseason for somebody. Right.

But who knows who's going to be. But they're going to, I believe they'll go after an impact arm at some point during the season. Okay. Do you think it's fair that I have said, and I think I will continue to say, unless you tell it's unfair that I don't believe in the twins until they actually do it. Like the postseason thing has been the thing. And until they win a postseason series, I'm going to pencil them in as not a threat.

I say that about a lot of team. So, like, I know I'm biased here. So I agree with you. I'm like, I'm okay with that. They have to go out and do it. And they know that. And last year I was, last year, I didn't buy them from a. I think Jake was telling me, like,

Like in June, like, hey, the twins are going to be good. And I was like, no way. Because they had a losing record against good teams. They were the only team in the playoffs had a losing record against good teams. So I'm going to look at that this year. Yeah. Because their division got better.

I know you don't fully believe in the White Sox. I like what the White Sox did. The Cleveland has some pitching coming up. They're going to have more competition. They only had the Indians last year. Now they have the Indians in the White Sox. So I'm just, I think this team got, I think. I think they got better.

I think on paper they're the best team in the division by a lot. What's cool and what Twins fans should be excited about is they feel the same way. The team feels the same way. They don't give a shit that they won 100 games last year because that doesn't mean anything. It's nice. You won 100 games. What's going on over here? I was just about to go on a rant, baby.

We're almost done. I was asking why the red light was blinking. Okay. But they won 100 games last year. They don't care about that. You don't care about winning the Central anymore. It's time for them to take the next step. And that's the attitude that from the guys that I talk to,

that's what they care about. They understand that playoff baseball has been atrocious in Minnesota in the recent years. And they want to be the group that changes that. All right. Over Under is 90 and a half games. Over. You're taking the over. Jake.

I believe in this team. I do. Over. I think that's low. I think I was, I was waiting for it to be around 90. Because they're going to make a move over. All right.

I'll take the over too. But I still don't believe in them in the playoffs. White Sox are up, but Cleveland's down. That's not a bad over-under. Yeah. All right. That's the show. Thank you guys very much.

We'll see you later. See you. Bye. Goodbye. Jake sucks.