Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Minnesota Twins | Profile & Projection | 617

Episode Date: March 3, 2023

Use code JOMBOYPRESEASON for 15% off on your next purchase at SeatGeek https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/JOMBOYPRESEASONTrevor Plouffe's Minnesota Twins saved their offseason with the re-signing of Carlos Correa and a trade for Pablo Lopez. What needs to happen for the Twins to get back into the postseason? 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.

The Twins. Next up. The Twins. C4F. Oh, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to another team profile and projection. And today that team is the Minnesota Twins. We're doing an episode today every day until opening day.

Brought to you by Seeky Code talking. I am all about the Twinkies this year. Jake and Trevor down on them, and I'm up. Jake. Also up on the twins. Just Trev was down on them. They added Christian Vasquez behind the dish, Jim. That's a sneaky little signing. Talk dirty to me, Jay.

Extra voice. Joey Gallo. Are you saying Calo? Shifts gone. Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Farmer in trades and Pablo Lopez. The biggest trade of the author. season recently. Who they lost?

Gio the God, Urchella. Luis Arias, your batting title champion. He was the guy who went out for Pablo Lopez. And then a ton of guys who like are unsigned Gary Sanchez, Bundy, Fulmer, Archer, Aaron Sanchez, Suno, Joe Smith. Maybe the sign

that they're unsigned means something. Trevor Plouf the Bomba Squad back. Oh, and before we do that Quick BBD ad break to tell you guys even more about Seekek. All of our PPPs, TPPs, our whole preseason package here is brought to you by Seekkeek. Baseball is back and to celebrate Seekkeeks giving you a special offer.

This is just for people who like us. This is a special one. John Boy preseason, 15% off your order. Whether you're a first time buy or not, doesn't matter if it's your first order. Take out your phone, open the Seekek app. add John Boy preseason as the code. Do it right now. Offer is only available through the end of March. March 31st, that goes away. Code Johnboy preseason, all one word. I don't think Bomba squad is back, but I like this offense here. You know I like this team. Byron Buxton at the top. Maybe I've heard some rumors of Joey Gallo at the top of the lineup, too. We'll see you. Like James did not like when I said that. But we got Bucston at the top of the lineup. Carlos Correa is. back, my friend at shortstop, Jorge Polanco, go look at his numbers over the last couple years

and comparing to the other second basement in the league, you're going to like him. Max Kepler out in right field, Jose Miranda, who Carlos Correa said look real sexy. The offseason has been kind to him. He's a third base. Joey Gallo is going to be mixing in there. Alex Kirillov at first base. Christian Vasquez, like you said, he comes in a catcher. Nick Gordon's going to find his way in the lineup somewhere.

They got a lot of pieces they can mix. and match. The bench is really good too. Kyle Farmer comes over from the Reds. They got Jeffers as a backup catcher. Larnark, guy named Trevor, you believe in those guys. He's there as well. Then Michael A. Taylor came over. Probably going to be slaughtered in the outfield somewhere during the season as well. I like the lineup a lot. James, tell me about the pitching stuff. The pitching. They made a Trade for starter, if you will remember, Pablo Lopez. How about that? They got him as the one.

How about, oh, wow. Sunny Gray, Joe Ryan, a lot of good names. A lot of quick hitter names. Tyler Mali and Kenta Maeda. What's his role going to be, Maeda? He's back. He's stronger than ever. Bailey Ober is also around.

Widener Woods, Richardson, Bullpen. They have some names. They got Duran. got some vicious stuff Jorge Lopez traded for him he's a dude Griffin jacks Emilio Paghan feels like he needs to be traded soon I don't know if he's ever lasted this long on a team Trevor McGill and some other names I think this is a well-rounded team like when we look at kind of the other teams we've done up into here we did the Cubs and the Red Sox where I thought one of the three assets one of the three groupings were kind of weak

the twins are the first team. I think that we've done where I'm like, yeah, they got enough there and there and there in all three departments, bullpen rotation and lineups. So I am up on the twins. They don't like the bottom of their lineup that much, but they play in a division

that kind of hasn't proven itself to be a multi-team division in a while. And I think the twins are going to roll through the central this year. Wow. Okay. I mean, I don't want to put the center.

down that much. I don't think they're going to roll through it. I think there's going to be some competition from the White Sox. And maybe that's it. I don't know. The Guardians, people forget about how good they were last year. I did forget about the Guardians.

When I did forget about the Guardians. I think the Twins are going to be much better than the White Sox this year. Okay. Thank you. The Guardians will be pests. The Guardians are nuts. Like the bugs. They're a very good team.

I think you guys are just really dismissing the ALE Central. I know that, you know, in years past, in the playoffs, they haven't been up to snuff. I understand that. I said they haven't been a two-team division. That's not just a team. Well, that's just what you just said this time. Other times before this, you guys have been calling the A.L. Central, Aal Mid. That's what Jake says all the time.

Don't forget that. There's a lot of optimism in the Twin Cities. Most of it, because Carlos Correa is back. And I've talked about this on our show. before. He makes you believe in yourself. He makes you believe in the team. He is a leader and they desperately needed that vocal leader in the clubhouse. They got him back. They made some additions. They brought in Lopez. I think that that starting rotation is going to be pretty dang good. I believe in Sunny Gray. I believe in Lopez. I believe in Joe Ryan. There's guys there that can take

steps up. I think there's enough depth there to get them through the season. And then if you go to the bullpen, they have some electric arms back there, some guys that can really get it done. So I do, James, also agree with you. This is a very well-rounded team. In years past, and maybe I'm just speaking from my own experience there, the expectations were there, but we always just wanted to see how it went, I guess. But I didn't get that at all talking to the players on this team. They think they're going to be in the playoffs.

They think they're going to win the AL Central. They think this team is really good and has a chance to go deep into the playoffs. And it's not just like an off-season optimism type of thing. I think Carlos Kray has set the tone there and they believe in him and Byron Buckson really leading this team throughout the season. This is going to be a team that's,

this is going to be a team that I think can win, easily win 90 games. I don't know what the over-under is at. I know that our fans, Fans voted this before Carlos Correa came back, so I think they're a little low on our rankings here. They have a chance to be a very, very good team in Minnesota. I tell you what, the more I look at it,

because the pitching, you know, you kind of know the guys in the rotation if you're around baseball, even, you know, Maita coming back, Tyler Mali, Joe Ryan, Sonny, Pablo. I like the bullpen. I've talked about a lot. The Twins Bullpen, I think they've got two of their biggest threats out there in a long time. mind some of the supplemental pieces like teal bars a nice lefty giovanni moran is is projected to have a

really nice season they have depth in that pitching bailey ober uh simeon woods richardsson louis varland your guy trep honestly it's funny looking at a twins team and what scares me a little bit their offense is a little top heavy buxton and carea bxton's had an injury history Correa kind of hasn't, but everyone's horrified of. If you lose one of those guys, the offense gets a lot less things you can bank on. And I just think Twins teams in the past, we have thought of them a lot differently. Now, I think Polanco can be really good. I bet on Kepler or Gallo, one of them bouncing back.

You know, I'm interested to see how the lineup plays throughout the year 162. pending those guys' health at the top. I kind of like the pitching depth, especially in a regular season. We can talk about twins postseason another time. Let's get them through a regular season. I have a couple offensive question marks. I wonder if there's anything else coming for them,

or will there be some young guy surprises? Will Austin Martin make a leap that people have been thinking he might, Vandy? Royce Lewis, when he comes back from injury, can he be a spark, and will they plug him back in the lineup? I like what the twins have done, and I think if there's anything you can upgrade fairly easily, it'd be finding a bat, whether it's a rental or whatever it is. I like their pitching depth,

which we haven't said about a twins team in a long time. They also sneaky play some serious defense in Minnesota. So I like that combo. Not sneaky. This is going to be one of the better defensive outfields and all of baseball, and you plug in the platinum winning shortstop there as well. Gotta love that. I have a bone to pick with Bailey Ober.

Okay. He's too tall. Tough name, too tall. 6-9, nice. There's a video that Bill took of me, him, and Carlos Correa talking, and I look like way too short, and it pisses me off a little bit. Stop being so tall, Bailey Over. There are some guys there that need to step up.

Kirillov and Trevor Larnick, like if one of those guys like kind of gets to where he needs to be, which a lot of people believe both them can be real deal big league hitters. I mean, that's going to help the depth a lot in that lineup for sure. But what you said about like Kareh and Buxton, if one of them goes out,

I mean, you can say that about any team. If Aaron Judge leaves the Yankees, I mean, they're going to be missing an identity. I mean, that's, I don't think, that's not a fair assessment. Like, I was going to ask that. I was going to ask you about injuries.

Like, isn't that a concern? Well, Byron, people talk about Byron Buckson injuries all the time. Most of them are kind of like freak stuff that happens because he just plays the game so dang hard. So maybe we tell Byron like, let's, it's hard to tell a guy that plays the game like that. That that's like part of what makes him good to slow down. I mean, how can you tell Byron Buxton to slow down? Not to, you brought up Judge. So I just counter you that judge did that.

he had three seasons where he got injuries by diving or playing, and he came out before the 2020 season said, I'm not diving in the regular season anymore. And his outfield metrics have gone down. But that is literally he came out. And yeah, yeah, do it. So you can tell a guy, he has to buy into it. Since 2015.

It's tough to tell a guy. Since 2015, Byron Buxton has played over 100 games once. That's since 2015, man. So I don't like, we've talked about it. I don't like injury prone because you're right, man. Like there's freak stuff that happens. People call Judgey injury prone. And he got hitting the wrist once and it had some weird stuff.

He broke the home run record last year. I hope Buckson goes out and does some shit like that next year because he hit 28 homers in 92 games last year. The guy is a freak show. But if there was a bet out there over under, a hundred games to take the over is a little nutty on him. And I hope it's wrong. But I think there are other lineups that if you take out one piece,

they wouldn't be as hurt as the twins. And I do think the Yankees were a fair example there, but it was also the guy that broke the home run record last year. Yeah, he's a stud. Look, there's reinforcements coming as well. Some of the pitching, you mentioned the depth. Louis Varland, you talked about Simian Woods Richardson, who came over in the Burrios trade.

like a lot of people are talking about him. They have a lot of rotational depth. And I wonder what the twins do at the trade deadline. I think they're going to be in position for a playoff spot, possibly for the central division. So where can you, where do you deal from, you know,

your position of depth, which I right now is outfielder's and starting pitching. And I don't know how much starting pitching you want to give away because I'm a starting pitching hoarder. But they definitely could dip into that if need be. So they're in position to make moves and get better at the trade deadline.

One thing that's, I mentioned the hitting, and, you know, they were 13th and average, 10th and OBP, 11th, and OPS last year. That was with Luis Eryas, who won the batting title. So Luis Erya's out and you have a guy like Gallo and I'm worried about how much that changes your team identity. You know, that batting average number is going to change a lot. And will the OPS and the home runs be there enough? The thing that scares me, I saw the Yanks do this,

saw the, I think the White Sox did a little bit last year, maybe not pure stolen bases. The Twins in its deal last year. They had 38 stolen bases on the season. They were last in MLB? I don't like that. When you punt on a full identity of the game, speed matters.

Like, we've talked episodes about the bases getting bigger. We've talked about organizations tapping into Speed more. When you fully punt on a game, part of the game like that, I feel like there's ripple effects. And whether it's seeing other teams do it and you kind of look across the field and you're like, damn, we're getting run all over and we can't do that. I don't know. That makes me nervous across 162 games.

You've got to really mash to overcome something like that. And I just don't like kind of the attitude that comes with that. I think they're going to steal an average amount of bases this year. How about that? Nice. That would be a massive jump. They should just use the good line. Michael A. Taylor is there.

We need Byron Buxton to be on the field. Those two guys right there alone will do it. But I don't think you want him stealing. Bxton stole six bags last year because he tried to keep him healthy. We're going to see what they do with him. I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk about his mentality about that. I'm sure some of the beat riders in spring training will get to those questions with him. I'm curious how he answers him.

I think in the years past he has answered the way I just. broken down. It's very hard to tell yourself, don't go play the game the way you've always played it. But, you know, he understands now the role he has in that city. They gave him a big deal. Like now it's like, hey, let's do our best to keep you on the field. I bet his attitude probably changes. He does make a concerted effort to stay on the field longer. Again, there has been freak injuries that like you just can't do anything about, like, you know, getting hit with pitches, fouling balls off. That's going to happen. You can't have. avoid that. But, you know, going 100% on every ball in the gap, probably not the best way to do it.

We'll see how he handles it. It's going to be interesting. I just think they got to make trades for the postseason get better because they're locked. Yeah, the overrunners low. 81.5. Is that up to the- You remember the Guardians? Yeah, you're still in. Okay. Yeah. Twins. Well, there's a wild card. Yeah. Sure is. Couple.

Couple. They're in the postseason. Jake, you hate her. Yeah. You hate her. Eater. 81.5 wins. Easy over for me. I don't know why that's so low.

Easy over for me too. I think it's higher than that. Wow. 81.5. Yeah. We won 78 games last year. I think the lineup needs a little help. I think that can come in young bodies and the trade deadline.

And like Trevor Ploof mentioned, the energy by keeping Correa and what that meant, inviting Trevor. Inviting Trevor Ploof to fan fest. Some new uni's. The energy is good. Let's have a winning season in Minnesota. I'm on the over as well. I do think this offense is going to-

Even a hater like you. I think this off-season is going to need, or this season is going to need a mid-season. and retool of the lineup, but I think they can do that. Way to go to the twins. It's a sweep. Jorge Lopez. He's the best.

Pohm, bum, boom, bada. Hitching in Minnesota? Duran is a guy, guy. We're best friends now. I compliment. I say, hey, you got a good brazo, bro. And he's like, yes, I do.

Maybe like a power-hitting corner infielder? I know. It's not being so tough. whole. Every day for us, man. Six and nine. Ridiculous.