***Official Minnesota Twins 2017 Season Thread***

Hollywood42 · 10-29-2016, 01:28 PM

Per request, here it is. Use this thread to discuss anything related to the Twins and the upcoming season. Hopefully it's better than last year's!

If for some reason you want to relive any part of last year, here's the link to last year's thread- http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/b...on-thread.html

I'll start things off with some of my keys to success for this year:

1. Starting pitching
Who would have guessed, right?

We need to get productive outings from our starters this year. There's times when people have looked great, and there's times when people have looked awful. Getting some sort of consistency and decent outings from our rotation is critical to our success this year. Duffey took a step backwards last year after a promising rookie campaign. Berrios struggled a lot in his first stint. Nolasco was bad as usual. Hughes was rough before landing on the DL. Ervin had a decent year, but we can't expect him to be anything than a #4 or 5 moving forward. Gibson continued his trend of looking dominant one night, and then terrible for his next 3 starts. We gotta get some consistency and decent outings

My early look at the first starting rotation for 2017 is, in no particular order, Ervin Santana, Hector Santiago, Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, and Tyler Duffey. Santana and Santiago are locks for the rotation, while the other 3 likely will have to work a little bit to earn their slots. We know what we'll get out of Ervin, but we need to have 2-4 better pitchers ahead of him in the rotation. We can't rely on him as a #1 or #2. I actually like the trade for Santiago a lot and still aren't really sure how we were able to move Nolasco for him (with Meyer). He's not a #1 either, but I'm hoping he'll be an alright low end #2 or a solid #3. The rest of the 3 on the list (Berrios/Gibson/Duffey) have some work to go. Hopefully Berrios has more luck this coming year and can be that ace we really need. Duffey will hopefully be able to bounce back and pitch strong again as well. Gibson, I'm starting to grow impatient with and don't really know what's next for him. We'll also have Hughes coming back at some point, but who knows the state he'll be in. All in all, pitching is, yet again, a huge question mark heading into this year. I still think we need a true #1 ace before we'll ever be a real contender, but it's not looking good at this point.

2. Production from youth hitters (Buxton, Sano, Kepler, Rosario, Park, etc)
Buxton had a rough overall first showing, but was starting to look pretty good at the end of next year. Hopefully he can become than true 5-tool player we thought he would be and eventually lock down the leadoff slot with consistency. I think we know what we'll get from Sano at this point. He seems like 30 HR power, but also about a given for 200+ strikeouts over a full season. It'd be great if he could cut down on the K's, but if he can stay healthy and hit 30+ bombs, I'll be content and I think it'll be fine provided we get production out of the rest of the lineup as well. Kepler had a good rookie year, with that monster stretch being the highlight. He did taper off a bit after that and slow down at the end of the year, so hopefully he can start strong again. Rough year for Rosario as well, but I still see him as the long term LF. We need a bounceback year from him as well and be a solid everyday player. Finally, Park. This guy has true power, and when he gets ahold of one, it's fun to watch. But man, he swung at pretty much everything this past year. Especially with Sano in the same lineup, we need more plate discipline from him. If he hits 30+ and strikes out 200+ like Sano, so be it. I think that'll be ok as well, but again, we need to have even more production out of the rest of the lineup in order for that to be ok. Hopefully he can figure things out and finally adjust to MLB pitching and be a real threat.

3. General Competency
I don't know how many times last year the Twins failed to do the easy things right. Baserunning errors, not being able to move a runner to the next base, get out of any sort of pressure situation, etc etc. This is a much less tangible goal, but it should be an easy thing to do. This is a major league baseball team. We have to be able to do the little things right.

That's all I have for now. Lots more to come from me as usual, but those are the 3 key areas to success that quickly come to mind. Hoping this year is much better than last!

HOFAutoRookies · 10-29-2016, 01:40 PM

Great start!! Thanks for making this, I'll reply about my thoughts etc in a bit.

Nothing to go up from here! Well, hopefully lol

dashcol · 10-29-2016, 02:33 PM

I love your start already, some great insight! My thoughts are that our farm system is very strong right now, and we should exploit that.

I have watched Tyler Jay pitch and have been impressed with what he has. There are those who say he is not ready, but I think he could be a great #5 starter.

Nick Gordon is ready, put him in coach! Even if it is a little early, could he really be worse than Escobar at SS? He may not be a power hitter but I still see gone being a .300 hitter and base runners is what we need.

Then why not let go a couple of top end prospects to get some experienced pitching in there? We could let Kiriloff go, I don't see a need for him in the field and if we can get something for him let's do it!

mnvikingstwins · 10-29-2016, 03:16 PM

Subscribing

Hollywood42 · 10-29-2016, 03:35 PM

I wouldn't be opposed to this, start the youth movement. Gordon, Jay, Polanco, Gonsalves, Chargois, bring em up. At the very least give them a long stay in ST. Don't know if prospects would be the way to solve our pitching problem tho. We'd probably be looking at another Ervin/Santiago type that we could get for who we have, and while that'd be an upgrade from where we're at, we need more than that

Quote:

Originally Posted by dashcol

I love your start already, some great insight! My thoughts are that our farm system is very strong right now, and we should exploit that.

I have watched Tyler Jay pitch and have been impressed with what he has. There are those who say he is not ready, but I think he could be a great #5 starter.

Nick Gordon is ready, put him in coach! Even if it is a little early, could he really be worse than Escobar at SS? He may not be a power hitter but I still see gone being a .300 hitter and base runners is what we need.

Then why not let go a couple of top end prospects to get some experienced pitching in there? We could let Kiriloff go, I don't see a need for him in the field and if we can get something for him let's do it!

As long as it's on my mind, I'm curious how we're going to solve our problems with having too many guys at the same position. We have this issue in a few places-

OF- Our long term 3 are looking like Buxton, Kepler, and Rosario. But we have a lot of other OFs as well, or it looks like we will with prospects- Grossman, Kiriloff, Walker, Palka

1B/3B/DH- Mauer, Park, Plouffe, Sano

SP- Santiago, Santana, Gibson, Duffey, Berrios, Hughes, Jay, Stewart, Mejia

OF could be fine as the first 3 are/should be the starters with Grossman as the 4th/backup, then one of the 3 prospects later on as I don't know if I see Grossman staying with the team long term or not

1B/3B/DH is still a mess, as Mauer is our first baseman (for better or worse), Plouffe is our 3B, and that leaves both Sano and Park for DH. Sano is a true DH in my mind, best to keep him out of the defensive lineup if we can. Though, I still think it's best to trade Plouffe. Maybe we could get a decent pitcher for him and a prospect. I dunno, I like the guy but we have 3 guys for 4 slots. It might not be an immediate problem if Park stays in the minors awhile to figure out pitching, but all 4 of those guys are going to be in the MLB at the same time eventually, and it's going to be a problem we'll have to face. If we move Plouffe, someone like Escobar could slide over to 3B, Sano could DH, and then Polanco or Gordon could come up to play SS

SP is not a good problem to have. Way too many guys, but not all of them are that good. This is repeating what I said earlier a bit, but Santiago and Ervin are locks for the rotation. I'd think Berrios will get awhile as well to see if he can figure things out. Gibson and Duffey likely close out the rotation out of ST at this point. But what do we do when Hughes comes back? And then whenever we decide Jay is ready? There's way too many guys for 5 slots, and only 2 of them are really locks to be there. Wouldn't be surprised to see Gibson traded or sent to the bullpen at some point. I don't know. Our rotation is a mess

As long as I'm on the topic, let's address the bullpen. Time to start over. I like Perkins, but doubt he doesn't have it anymore and it's time to move on (I'm assuming he won't be any better than before coming off the injury). I'm fine with Kintzler, Pressly, May, and Tonkin at least getting another shot to prove their worth. Then it's time for Gonsalves, Chargois, Jay (if he doesn't go to the rotation, I've heard more rumors that he's the next heir to the closer role), Burdi, etc. Can't get a lot worse than the past few years

dashcol · 10-29-2016, 04:42 PM

So you hit on a lot here, let me see if I can intelligently respond to some of this��.

OF - I agree we have a lot of depth here. I agree, Buxton, Rosario and Kepler have the job. Grossman would be our floater as needed, and I get what you are saying about him leaving but I still think we have a couple years for him to play backup. Again I will say because of having these four we send Kiriloff somewhere else. I will explain the trade I would like to see in a sec.

1B/3B/DH - this is not as easy. The easy answer is let Mauer go, but that will never happen. I used to live the guy but his time has come, he needs to gracefully bow out. Knowing that he is not leaving, what do you do? He can't be a DH, maybe five years ago but not today. His knees won't let him be 3B so 1B it is. I do think Park is 3B now. I love Plouffe and he will for always be a fan favorite but for the good of the team he needs to leave seeing as Mauer will not. That leaves Sano as DH.

For SS we need Gordon. I put him above Polanco. I see Gordon as taking over for Mauer as the face of the team. He will have a solitary bat as the Mauer of the 2000s.

Pitching wise I can see Jay being a closer. He did it in college, he may be able to do it in the Bigs. But what do you do with Perkins? I say throw him in the mud reliever position. So what do we starter wise? I do not like Gonsalves. I don't know why I just don't have a good feeling about him. I like Kohl Stewart, but don't think he's ready. That leaves us Iintzler, May, Presley and Tonklin. Good Lord we need help here! May should come around. The other three, meh.

Here's the trade I would love to see: Perkins, Plouffe, Escobar and Kiriloff to someone like the Angels who need a closer and also could benefit from the others for say Jered Weaver and a couple prospect pitchers. I know they wouldn't do it but they could benefit from Perkins and Escobar and Plouffe and we really need a pitcher like Weaver.

clarkzac · 10-29-2016, 04:45 PM

For me there are way too many questions going into next season. We have plenty of young players that have played well, but how many will regress? Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas, Tyler Duffey, and Eddie Rosario all played well as rookies recently, but experienced terrible sophomore slumps. Prospects are just that- prospects. Pitching will always be a question mark until we develop and bring along our own aces. Part of me is happy that the Twins have yet to ever sign a big time free agent pitcher as most of those guys end up costing too much and only have a few elite seasons left, if any.

On that note, I'm hoping that the new front office mixes things up a little as far as trades and signings go.

And as a Twins fan, I'm holding a contest and wouldo love to see some fellow Twins fans enter. If a Twins fan enters, I can promise you that you will not be disappointed with the prize.

http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/b...e-contest.html

clarkzac · 10-29-2016, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dashcol

So you hit on a lot here, let me see if I can intelligently respond to some of this��.

OF - I agree we have a lot of depth here. I agree, Buxton, Rosario and Kepler have the job. Grossman would be our floater as needed, and I get what you are saying about him leaving but I still think we have a couple years for him to play backup. Again I will say because of having these four we send Kiriloff somewhere else. I will explain the trade I would like to see in a sec.

1B/3B/DH - this is not as easy. The easy answer is let Mauer go, but that will never happen. I used to live the guy but his time has come, he needs to gracefully bow out. Knowing that he is not leaving, what do you do? He can't be a DH, maybe five years ago but not today. His knees won't let him be 3B so 1B it is. I do think Park is 3B now. I love Plouffe and he will for always be a fan favorite but for the good of the team he needs to leave seeing as Mauer will not. That leaves Sano as DH.

For SS we need Gordon. I put him above Polanco. I see Gordon as taking over for Mauer as the face of the team. He will have a solitary bat as the Mauer of the 2000s.

Pitching wise I can see Jay being a closer. He did it in college, he may be able to do it in the Bigs. But what do you do with Perkins? I say throw him in the mud reliever position. So what do we starter wise? I do not like Gonsalves. I don't know why I just don't have a good feeling about him. I like Kohl Stewart, but don't think he's ready. That leaves us Iintzler, May, Presley and Tonklin. Good Lord we need help here! May should come around. The other three, meh.

Here's the trade I would love to see: Perkins, Plouffe, Escobar and Kiriloff to someone like the Angels who need a closer and also could benefit from the others for say Jered Weaver and a couple prospect pitchers. I know they wouldn't do it but they could benefit from Perkins and Escobar and Plouffe and we really need a pitcher like Weaver.

Please, no Park at 3rd base. He is 1B/DH. He has questionable defense at 1B, so I don't wanna see that at 3B.

And that trade sounds horrible. Weaver is aging, and can't even hit high 80s anymore, and the Angel's have no prospects to give in return.

Tyler Jay is an interesting prospect right now. The Twins are going to do everything they can to have him become a starter. His innings were limited this year, due to him not starting in college so they didn't want to increase his workload too much at once. You don't draft a pitcher that high with hopes of them being a reliever. While he was starting in the minors, he was doing well, and I can only imagine that he will be given an innings increase this year allowing him to start more games before being moved to the bullpen. My hope is he can start for the entire season in 2018.

dashcol · 10-29-2016, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarkzac

For me there are way too many questions going into next season. We have plenty of young players that have played well, but how many will regress? Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas, Tyler Duffey, and Eddie Rosario all played well as rookies recently, but experienced terrible sophomore slumps. Prospects are just that- prospects. Pitching will always be a question mark until we develop and bring along our own aces. Part of me is happy that the Twins have yet to ever sign a big time free agent pitcher as most of those guys end up costing too much and only have a few elite seasons left, if any.

On that note, I'm hoping that the new front office mixes things up a little as far as trades and signings go.

And as a Twins fan, I'm holding a contest and wouldo love to see some fellow Twins fans enter. If a Twins fan enters, I can promise you that you will not be disappointed with the prize.

http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/b...e-contest.html

I forgot about Duffy! That just goes to show how last year went for him that I could forget. He could be great as a #2 or 3 pitcher.

Kennys Vargas had so much potential but then really fell. I want to think he will bounce back, but I think the only bouncing he will do is back down to Rochester.

Hollywood42 · 10-29-2016, 04:58 PM

I forgot about Vargas, shoulda included him in that 1B/3B/DH group. Muddles stuff up even more

dashcol · 10-29-2016, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarkzac

Please, no Park at 3rd base. He is 1B/DH. He has questionable defense at 1B, so I don't wanna see that at 3B.

And that trade sounds horrible. Weaver is aging, and can't even hit high 80s anymore, and the Angel's have no prospects to give in return.

Tyler Jay is an interesting prospect right now. The Twins are going to do everything they can to have him become a starter. His innings were limited this year, due to him not starting in college so they didn't want to increase his workload too much at once. You don't draft a pitcher that high with hopes of them being a reliever. While he was starting in the minors, he was doing well, and I can only imagine that he will be given an innings increase this year allowing him to start more games before being moved to the bullpen. My hope is he can start for the entire season in 2018.

So if Park needs to stay at 1B who do you put at 3B? Mauer? I don't think so. Do you want Plouffe at 3B and Park at 1B with Mauer DH? Then what do you do with Sano? I would rather have Sano's 30 HR a year over Mauers .260.

You're right about Weaver, I was more thinking about what teams need a closer the most and would actually entertain Perkins.

clarkzac · 10-29-2016, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dashcol

So if Park needs to stay at 1B who do you put at 3B? Mauer? I don't think so. Do you want Plouffe at 3B and Park at 1B with Mauer DH? Then what do you do with Sano? I would rather have Sano's 30 HR a year over Mauers .260.

You're right about Weaver, I was more thinking about what teams need a closer the most and would actually entertain Perkins.

Angels don't need a closer, they have Huston Street. I think it is almost inevitable that the Twins trade Plouffe at some point. You mentioned putting Park at 3B, but Sano would have better defense there compared to Park. Does that mean Sano is great defensively? No, he's are from it. This is a scenario where you have to decide if Sano's defense, or lack thereof, is worth having st 3B if he can provide 30+ HRs, and hopefully hit .260 or better

Hollywood42 · 10-29-2016, 05:08 PM

That's the problem. Park isn't a 3B. Mauer really should be the guy that goes, but that won't happen. Plouffe will be the one to go of the 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by dashcol

So if Park needs to stay at 1B who do you put at 3B? Mauer? I don't think so. Do you want Plouffe at 3B and Park at 1B with Mauer DH? Then what do you do with Sano? I would rather have Sano's 30 HR a year over Mauers .260.

You're right about Weaver, I was more thinking about what teams need a closer the most and would actually entertain Perkins.

dashcol · 10-29-2016, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarkzac

Angels don't need a closer, they have Huston Street. I think it is almost inevitable that the Twins trade Plouffe at some point. You mentioned putting Park at 3B, but Sano would have better defense there compared to Park. Does that mean Sano is great defensively? No, he's are from it. This is a scenario where you have to decide if Sano's defense, or lack thereof, is worth having st 3B if he can provide 30+ HRs, and hopefully hit .260 or better

So what do you do with Park then? You want Park 1B Sano 2B and Mauer DH? I could go with that assuming Plouffe is traded.

Yes they have Houston Street, but wasn't he statistically the worst closer? I may be way off and remembering wrong. They also have Weaver and Wilson looking for a new home. Weaver to teach and lead a young pullpen and Wilson to add strength.

What about Berrios? What do you think of him for next year?

Eckstein197 · 10-30-2016, 10:10 AM

We could have made this thread in May lol

Hollywood42 · 10-31-2016, 10:52 AM

A couple of interesting off-field notes-

1. Bert to broadcast less games moving forward- Bert Blyleven will be broadcasting fewer games in 2017 - Twinkie Town
Dunno, not a big deal to me. Bert knows baseball, and he brings some nice insights. But like the article mentions, he's been pretty critical of the team of late. Not that some or all of that isn't deserved, but his filter seems to be falling apart (see criticizing other teams/parks/fans). Personally, I'd love to see Roy Smalley in the broadcast booth more. He brings so much interesting insight to the commentary. Don't have any examples off the top of my head, but he's just super interesting to listen to and really good at describing the strategies and intricacies of the game that most people don't know, even if the viewer does know a lot about baseball

2. Twinkie Town's top plays of the year- Top ten Twins plays 2016 - Twinkie Town
Some fun stuff in there that I don't even remember seeing. Scroll all the way down for a massive facepalm too

Just a few things I found this morning while wishing next season wasn't so far away

Homerun · 10-31-2016, 10:53 AM

Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if the Sox and Twins are battling for last place once again next year.

Hollywood42 · 10-31-2016, 11:54 AM

This was a fun gif I just found. Don't think this was intentional

Edit- Curses, embedding isn't working, so here's the link- https://gfycat.com/BoldSameGadwall

Hollywood42 · 11-03-2016, 11:49 AM

New GM- Thad Levine, former assistant GM for the Rangers

Minnesota Twins name Thad Levine general manager

Minnesota Twins hire Thad Levine as general manager

Anyone know anything about him? Sounds like he helped make the Rangers the good ballclub they are today, so I'm all for that. Hopefully he can shape this club into a contender again and get back to Twins baseball

Hollywood42 · 11-07-2016, 12:41 PM

So, hate to think about it, but it's gotta be asked- Is Dozier traded this offseason?

Firerunner4 · 11-18-2016, 04:30 PM

Plouffe has been out righted off the 40 man?

Hollywood42 · 11-18-2016, 04:45 PM

That makes no sense. I don't know what's going on

Saw we lost ABW to the Brewers too

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firerunner4

Plouffe has been out righted off the 40 man?

Hollywood42 · 11-18-2016, 05:16 PM

Looks like we didn't want to pay what Plouffe was asking, he'll be a FA soon. Looks like it's back to 3B for Sano

clarkzac · 11-18-2016, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Looks like we didn't want to pay what Plouffe was asking, he'll be a FA soon. Looks like it's back to 3B for Sano

It sounds like nobody wanted to pay Plouffe $8+ million. Was a fan favorite? Absolutely, but with Sano playing 3rd, everybody knew something would happen to Plouffe. The twins definitely missed the chance to trade him last year. I hope fans don't get upset at the new FO for this move since something had to happen. I know I'll miss him, but with Sano at 3rd I'll be okay

HOFAutoRookies · 11-18-2016, 05:21 PM

I have no idea why we never traded Plouffe. I've been saying it for almost two years now. We could have gotten something for him.

10-29-2016, 04:42 PM	#6
dashcol Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: It's complicated Posts: 7,876	So you hit on a lot here, let me see if I can intelligently respond to some of this��. OF - I agree we have a lot of depth here. I agree, Buxton, Rosario and Kepler have the job. Grossman would be our floater as needed, and I get what you are saying about him leaving but I still think we have a couple years for him to play backup. Again I will say because of having these four we send Kiriloff somewhere else. I will explain the trade I would like to see in a sec. 1B/3B/DH - this is not as easy. The easy answer is let Mauer go, but that will never happen. I used to live the guy but his time has come, he needs to gracefully bow out. Knowing that he is not leaving, what do you do? He can't be a DH, maybe five years ago but not today. His knees won't let him be 3B so 1B it is. I do think Park is 3B now. I love Plouffe and he will for always be a fan favorite but for the good of the team he needs to leave seeing as Mauer will not. That leaves Sano as DH. For SS we need Gordon. I put him above Polanco. I see Gordon as taking over for Mauer as the face of the team. He will have a solitary bat as the Mauer of the 2000s. Pitching wise I can see Jay being a closer. He did it in college, he may be able to do it in the Bigs. But what do you do with Perkins? I say throw him in the mud reliever position. So what do we starter wise? I do not like Gonsalves. I don't know why I just don't have a good feeling about him. I like Kohl Stewart, but don't think he's ready. That leaves us Iintzler, May, Presley and Tonklin. Good Lord we need help here! May should come around. The other three, meh. Here's the trade I would love to see: Perkins, Plouffe, Escobar and Kiriloff to someone like the Angels who need a closer and also could benefit from the others for say Jered Weaver and a couple prospect pitchers. I know they wouldn't do it but they could benefit from Perkins and Escobar and Plouffe and we really need a pitcher like Weaver. __________________ “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” Satchel Paige.

10-29-2016, 04:45 PM	#7
clarkzac Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 4,591 zc3009	For me there are way too many questions going into next season. We have plenty of young players that have played well, but how many will regress? Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas, Tyler Duffey, and Eddie Rosario all played well as rookies recently, but experienced terrible sophomore slumps. Prospects are just that- prospects. Pitching will always be a question mark until we develop and bring along our own aces. Part of me is happy that the Twins have yet to ever sign a big time free agent pitcher as most of those guys end up costing too much and only have a few elite seasons left, if any. On that note, I'm hoping that the new front office mixes things up a little as far as trades and signings go. And as a Twins fan, I'm holding a contest and wouldo love to see some fellow Twins fans enter. If a Twins fan enters, I can promise you that you will not be disappointed with the prize. http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/b...e-contest.html Last edited by clarkzac; 10-29-2016 at 04:52 PM.

10-29-2016, 04:58 PM	#10
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	I forgot about Vargas, shoulda included him in that 1B/3B/DH group. Muddles stuff up even more __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

10-30-2016, 10:10 AM	#15
Eckstein197 Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 14,830 pmwrestler220 Eckstein184	We could have made this thread in May lol __________________ Favorite teams: TB Bucs, MIN Twins, DET Red Wings PC's: Kyle Snyder, Alstott, Tristan Wirfs, Hasek, Moritz Seider, OL/K/P/FB Contenders Autos, Red Wings Young Guns, Vintage Pokémon, NCAA Bowl Patches

10-31-2016, 10:52 AM	#16
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	A couple of interesting off-field notes- 1. Bert to broadcast less games moving forward- Bert Blyleven will be broadcasting fewer games in 2017 - Twinkie Town Dunno, not a big deal to me. Bert knows baseball, and he brings some nice insights. But like the article mentions, he's been pretty critical of the team of late. Not that some or all of that isn't deserved, but his filter seems to be falling apart (see criticizing other teams/parks/fans). Personally, I'd love to see Roy Smalley in the broadcast booth more. He brings so much interesting insight to the commentary. Don't have any examples off the top of my head, but he's just super interesting to listen to and really good at describing the strategies and intricacies of the game that most people don't know, even if the viewer does know a lot about baseball 2. Twinkie Town's top plays of the year- Top ten Twins plays 2016 - Twinkie Town Some fun stuff in there that I don't even remember seeing. Scroll all the way down for a massive facepalm too Just a few things I found this morning while wishing next season wasn't so far away __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

10-29-2016, 01:28 PM	#1
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	*Official Minnesota Twins 2017 Season Thread* Per request, here it is. Use this thread to discuss anything related to the Twins and the upcoming season. Hopefully it's better than last year's! If for some reason you want to relive any part of last year, here's the link to last year's thread- http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/b...on-thread.html I'll start things off with some of my keys to success for this year: 1. Starting pitching Who would have guessed, right? We *need* to get productive outings from our starters this year. There's times when people have looked great, and there's times when people have looked awful. Getting some sort of consistency and decent outings from our rotation is critical to our success this year. Duffey took a step backwards last year after a promising rookie campaign. Berrios struggled a lot in his first stint. Nolasco was bad as usual. Hughes was rough before landing on the DL. Ervin had a decent year, but we can't expect him to be anything than a #4 or 5 moving forward. Gibson continued his trend of looking dominant one night, and then terrible for his next 3 starts. We gotta get some consistency and decent outings My early look at the first starting rotation for 2017 is, in no particular order, Ervin Santana, Hector Santiago, Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, and Tyler Duffey. Santana and Santiago are locks for the rotation, while the other 3 likely will have to work a little bit to earn their slots. We know what we'll get out of Ervin, but we need to have 2-4 better pitchers ahead of him in the rotation. We can't rely on him as a #1 or #2. I actually like the trade for Santiago a lot and still aren't really sure how we were able to move Nolasco for him (with Meyer). He's not a #1 either, but I'm hoping he'll be an alright low end #2 or a solid #3. The rest of the 3 on the list (Berrios/Gibson/Duffey) have some work to go. Hopefully Berrios has more luck this coming year and can be that ace we really need. Duffey will hopefully be able to bounce back and pitch strong again as well. Gibson, I'm starting to grow impatient with and don't really know what's next for him. We'll also have Hughes coming back at some point, but who knows the state he'll be in. All in all, pitching is, yet again, a huge question mark heading into this year. I still think we need a true #1 ace before we'll ever be a real contender, but it's not looking good at this point. 2. Production from youth hitters (Buxton, Sano, Kepler, Rosario, Park, etc) Buxton had a rough overall first showing, but was starting to look pretty good at the end of next year. Hopefully he can become than true 5-tool player we thought he would be and eventually lock down the leadoff slot with consistency. I think we know what we'll get from Sano at this point. He seems like 30 HR power, but also about a given for 200+ strikeouts over a full season. It'd be great if he could cut down on the K's, but if he can stay healthy and hit 30+ bombs, I'll be content and I think it'll be fine provided we get production out of the rest of the lineup as well. Kepler had a good rookie year, with that monster stretch being the highlight. He did taper off a bit after that and slow down at the end of the year, so hopefully he can start strong again. Rough year for Rosario as well, but I still see him as the long term LF. We need a bounceback year from him as well and be a solid everyday player. Finally, Park. This guy has true power, and when he gets ahold of one, it's fun to watch. But man, he swung at pretty much everything this past year. Especially with Sano in the same lineup, we need more plate discipline from him. If he hits 30+ and strikes out 200+ like Sano, so be it. I think that'll be ok as well, but again, we need to have even more production out of the rest of the lineup in order for that to be ok. Hopefully he can figure things out and finally adjust to MLB pitching and be a real threat. 3. General Competency I don't know how many times last year the Twins failed to do the easy things right. Baserunning errors, not being able to move a runner to the next base, get out of any sort of pressure situation, etc etc. This is a much less tangible goal, but it should be an easy thing to do. This is a major league baseball team. We have to be able to do the little things right. That's all I have for now. Lots more to come from me as usual, but those are the 3 key areas to success that quickly come to mind. Hoping this year is much better than last! __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

10-29-2016, 01:40 PM	#2
HOFAutoRookies Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Medina, MN Posts: 4,922	Great start!! Thanks for making this, I'll reply about my thoughts etc in a bit. Nothing to go up from here! Well, hopefully lol

10-29-2016, 02:33 PM	#3
dashcol Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: It's complicated Posts: 7,876	I love your start already, some great insight! My thoughts are that our farm system is very strong right now, and we should exploit that. I have watched Tyler Jay pitch and have been impressed with what he has. There are those who say he is not ready, but I think he could be a great #5 starter. Nick Gordon is ready, put him in coach! Even if it is a little early, could he really be worse than Escobar at SS? He may not be a power hitter but I still see gone being a .300 hitter and base runners is what we need. Then why not let go a couple of top end prospects to get some experienced pitching in there? We could let Kiriloff go, I don't see a need for him in the field and if we can get something for him let's do it! __________________ “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” Satchel Paige.

10-29-2016, 03:16 PM	#4
mnvikingstwins Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 42,228 ski_4 ski_4	Subscribing

10-31-2016, 10:53 AM	#17
Homerun Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Illinois Posts: 12,799 perfectgamesportscards1 Homerunsportscards	Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if the Sox and Twins are battling for last place once again next year. __________________ Collector of White Sox autographs and blue refractors. Blowout Redrafter's Dynasty Fantasy League Inaugural World Series Champion!

10-31-2016, 11:54 AM	#18
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	This was a fun gif I just found. Don't think this was intentional Edit- Curses, embedding isn't working, so here's the link- https://gfycat.com/BoldSameGadwall __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

11-03-2016, 11:49 AM	#19
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	New GM- Thad Levine, former assistant GM for the Rangers Minnesota Twins name Thad Levine general manager Minnesota Twins hire Thad Levine as general manager Anyone know anything about him? Sounds like he helped make the Rangers the good ballclub they are today, so I'm all for that. Hopefully he can shape this club into a contender again and get back to Twins baseball __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

11-07-2016, 12:41 PM	#20
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	So, hate to think about it, but it's gotta be asked- Is Dozier traded this offseason? __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

11-18-2016, 04:30 PM	#21
Firerunner4 Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 12,981 RunningDad310 dppolice4	Plouffe has been out righted off the 40 man?

11-18-2016, 05:16 PM	#23
Hollywood42 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 39,679 Hollywood42	Looks like we didn't want to pay what Plouffe was asking, he'll be a FA soon. Looks like it's back to 3B for Sano __________________ Collecting the Twins All my PC wants/haves available at hollywood42cards.com

11-18-2016, 05:21 PM	#25
HOFAutoRookies Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Medina, MN Posts: 4,922	*Official Minnesota Twins 2017 Season Thread* I have no idea why we never traded Plouffe. I've been saying it for almost two years now. We could have gotten something for him.