Real Talk: Rebuilding Is Not an Option for the Minnesota Twins

[Nick Nelson]

There's no breaking down this foundation. And that's not the worst thing, because it's a viable foundation in spite of how this latest season ended. The front office should be looking to add, not subtract.

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

In a piece published in the Minnesota Star Tribune over the weekend, veteran columnist Patrick Reusse takes a rather odd angle in sizing up the Twins and their offseason outlook. "Pressure will be on Twins to spend money," the headline states, "but they should rebuild instead."

This immediately raises a question: What does a "rebuild" look like for the Twins? Traditionally the term refers to a strategy that involves tearing down a roster to the studs, clearing out expensive veteran contracts and starting fresh--typically with low payroll and low expectations (but high draft picks!) in the short term. 

We saw the Astros do it successfully. We saw the White Sox do it less successfully. Jury is still out on the Orioles, who are currently in the process of trying to parlay their many years of losing and amassing young talent into a championship run. So far, not so good.

To many of us fans, the act of "rebuilding" as portrayed above is a BS approach meant to provide cover for ownership to not spend and front offices to not try. I don't doubt, sadly, that if they had the capability the Twins might try to go that route. But let's be very clear: They don't have that capability.

Carlos Correa is locked into for another four years and $140 million, guaranteed. He'll make $37 million next year and there's no getting around that. Byron Buxton, likewise, has a four more guaranteed years on his contract, at $15 million annually. Both players have full no-trade clauses, and even if one or both were willing to waive theirs, the front office wouldn't be able to find a trade partner willing to take on their contracts at this point given their health situations. 

Those are the two players a traditionally rebuilding team would aim to unload in efforts to start fresh. It's not an option for Minnesota. And Reusse knows that; he's not suggesting trading Correa or Buxton. Instead he references the decision Terry Ryan made more than a decade ago to sign Ricky Nolasco as an unhelpful, reactionary, overpriced free agent on a losing team. In fact, Reusse's summarizing conclusion literally amounts to: "No Nolascos."

Which ... what?! I mean, yes, obviously. Don't sign Ricky Nolasco, literally or figuratively: He proved to be an ineffective malcontent, but also, throwing big money at unspectacular starting pitchers aging into their 30s is a losing proposition. Those aren't the kinds of moves Derek Falvey has ever made. It's part of the reason he replaced TR. There's no need to warn him against it.

If we pull back from that specific example, we can perceive Reusse's mandate to be: Don't spend any more money on this roster. That's an argument that falls flat with me. I don't think anyone is realistically expecting payroll to jump back to the $160 million range where it was in 2023, but I also don't think local columnists need to be using their platform to urge ownership to not add at all, or even to cut further. 

It's nonsensical. As we just discussed, Correa and Buxton are going to be here next year, making a combined $50 million. They're still in their physical primes, and both just showed us that they can still play at an elite, game-changing level when healthy. The Twins invested all of this money into them with the idea of building a winning team around them. 

And that's the thing: They have plenty of components in place already to do so. Reusse spent much of his column talking about all the young talent the Twins have ushered in, or will soon, as a rationale for following his suggested approach. Hand it over to the young guys.

This isn't a misguided notion, and the Nolasco example makes some sense through that lens: The Twins would've been better off just giving innings to their own young starters or experimenting with cheap reclamation signings versus running out a sub-mediocre Nolasco to eat innings on 90-loss teams. But that was a failure of decision-making, not investment. Thirteen million dollars can get you Ricky Nolasco or it can get you Nelson Cruz. 

If we want to take Reusse's "rebuilding" suggestion to a practical conclusion, the biggest move they could actually make would be trading Pablo López, whose salary will escalate to $21 million over the next three years. Unlike Correa or Buxton, he actually has surplus value and could bring in a haul. But is that actually a move Reusse, or anyone, would endorse? 

If we're talking about rebuilds, that's what we're talking about, so let's keep that term in the proper context. The foundation that's in place for the Twins is fairly immovable, so the question is whether they're going to build around it and maximize their chances of success, or further sabotage the champion vision that they've already invested so heavily in. 

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[Fire Dan Gladden]

Rebuilding is nonsense.  They have 3-4 solid to very solid SP, quality+  starters at arguably 5-6 of the field positions, depth at the end off the BP.  What more of a core do you need to build from?

Though I have zero expectation this will happen, this team needs to find a way to add at 2B, OF, and another SP this offseason.  The younger guys (Festa, Lee, Martin, Matthews) showed this year they are not yet ready to carry the load, they need to be backups so they can be put in better positions to succeed.

[Brandon]

49 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Rebuilding is nonsense.  They have 3-4 solid to very solid SP, quality+  starters at arguably 5-6 of the field positions, depth at the end off the BP.  What more of a core do you need to build from?

Though I have zero expectation this will happen, this team needs to find a way to add at 2B, OF, and another SP this offseason.  The younger guys (Festa, Lee, Martin, Matthews) showed this year they are not yet ready to carry the load, they need to be backups so they can be put in better positions to succeed.

The Twins could resign Polanco this offseason for 2B.  He would be cheap after last season.  He is the one player it’s ok if he gets injured cause Lee will need more chances.  Also Julien may figure things out too.  
 

but there is no reason to rebuild.  The issue for this team is to figure out how to time Correa’s and Buxton’s injuries so they do not overlap too much and to get more consistency from Wallner and Lewis.  And for Rocco to figure out if a players performance like Killeroff or Miranda’s performance drops off a cliff that it’s probably an injury being undisclosed and DL the player and bring someone up.  E Rod will be up at some point next season so we have offensive reinforcements on the way..  We already have reinforcements for the rotation with more on the way.  
Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Paddack, Woods-Richardson, Festa, Mathews, and Dobnak.  With Lewis and Morris almost ready for an opportunity.  That’s 10 starters.  
The pen is looking good too now that Varland is going there full time it will be interesting to see if he can make it there.  Depending on Brock Stewart’s rehab will determine if we need to sign a reliever or just minor league depth.  
back to position player side real quick,  the Twins need a CF and and back up IF and a bat to replace Santana if we don’t resign him.  Austin Martin should go the either instructional league or winter ball to play CF defense.  Larnarch should practice 1B as well.  With Walner ERod and Buxton in the OF Larnarch will be getting time at 1B and DH  and some in LF next season.

The two biggest needs for this team next year is health and maturity gain and consistency from the younger hitters.

on a fun note.  I expect the Twins to participate in the rule 5 draft this year.  This is potentially a great avenue for finding cheap players.  Since the budget squeeze is on all avenues for finding talent need to be.open.

[Jocko87]

Rebuilding is for losers.  Can you imagine these pages if those cheapo Polhads very saying trust the process?  Not discussed enough in all this is how close we were to a full rebuild (owner driven) before the first Correa signing.  Couple guys not signed and payroll is at Oakland As level.

So much of the Minnesota fan base losers mindset can be directly linked to the local media that have been here forever not knowing what actually matters.  Here Reusse uses fear words to say they should just do what they did last year.  

No kidding Patrick.  I've been on an island for a long time that payroll is irrelevant if the kids don't come through.  Even less relevant if Buck and Correa don't perform injury or otherwise.  

Payroll can't buy what the Tigers found. 

[Whitey333]

Not sure about the title of the article.  Maybe it should have been called Rip Reusse.  I do agree that a total rebuild would not work.  At least not now.  Not with the Twins current "relationship: with their fans.  But we need to find out if these prospects they have been playing can actually play in the majors.  They need to play regularly.  None of this playing half a game due to the platoo ING.  Let's see what they can do.  

[gman]

I think the Twins have enough players to compete with where they are at. The real question to me is will they have enough healthy bodies. Their real hope for a championship team is to hold where they are and plan to add from Keaschall, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Eeles the next two years. The pitching staff is starting to make it to the majors and they have a strong starting and relieving core if healthy. I don't think they can trade for health from the position they are in, they just need to solve the medical problems.

[FargoFanMan]

100% not gonna happen. This is why newspapers and mainstream media is dying. Completely out of touch and nonsensical. If only I had a well known name so I could make a living writing fantastical columns about things that everyone knows won’t happen just to get people in an uproar. It’s all hot garbage.

[RpR]

5 minutes ago, gman said:

I think the Twins have enough players to compete with where they are at. The real question to me is will they have enough healthy bodies. Their real hope for a championship team is to hold where they are and plan to add from Keaschall, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Eeles the next two years. The pitching staff is starting to make it to the majors and they have a strong starting and relieving core if healthy. I don't think they can trade for health from the position they are in, they just need to solve the medical problems.

They have enough young players to fight Chicago for 4th, and that is all.

[bean5302]

I don't think the Twins are in a position they should "rebuild" right now, but they're not far off from it. I don't expect the team will be competitive next year without a very creative offseason or a highly increased payroll.

Worst case scenario is KC goes to the World Series. Their owner is already lobbying for a new stadium, and he has proven to be unlike the Pohlad's so he's willing to open the wallet wide in a window. It wouldn't surprise me to see KC push to $150MM.

Detroit is large market and I expect their payroll to expand into that 160-180MM range next year.

Cleveland seems to just be competitive regardless.

The AL Central is shaping up to be a very tough division next year. The Twins will have their work cut out for them to make the playoffs. They need guys to stay healthy. An season ending injury to a high performer would be potentially catastrophic.

 

[DJL44]

What is the point of a rebuild? Tear it all down, watch the team come one starting pitcher, two relievers and one bat away from contention (where they are currently) and tear it all down again? A recurring cycle of half-trying followed by a stretch where they aren't trying at all?

[bean5302]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

What is the point of a rebuild? Tear it all down, watch the team come one starting pitcher, two relievers and one bat away from contention (where they are currently) and tear it all down again? A recurring cycle of half-trying followed by a stretch where they aren't trying at all?

The point of a rebuild is to push off highly compensated players who can't carry an otherwise depleted roster to a World Series championship (except the Twins change that to "carry an otherwise depleted roster to an excitingly competitive .500 ballclub which has a shot at the playoffs maybe")

The Twins can probably sustain an also-ran .500 ballclub indefinitely. They can't sustain World Series caliber teams without a rebuild in there somewhere.

[mikelink45]

Our problem is both philosophical and financial. We signed two very good players to to two very large contracts and then reduce the overall budget. You can't have at all. I don't blame the players for taking those big contracts, but what is our overall philosophy? What guides the decisions for this team?

[GNess]

 

A rebuild would not be wise.

The Twins have assets which can most certainly result in a postseason berth in 2025 but each comes with caveats and/or question marks.

HIGH END CORE: Correa, Buxton, Lopez, Jax, Duran. ? Can Correa and Buxton stay on the field enough?

YOUNG HITTING TALENT: Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, Lee, Miranda but all of these 5 have been really up and down. Can they be more up than down? (Might include Julien and Kirilloff here too)

PITCHING PIPELINE: Cleveland has shown that it is possible to keep churning out fairly reliable SP. Twins aren't Cleveland in terms of development, but they do have a nice number of young arms / prospects ready and close to ready: SWR, Festa, Matthews, Raya, Morris etc.

Having said all of that it sure would be nice if they could go out and spend on a Big-Time Bat or a Front-Line Starter. (That doesn't seem likely given self-imposed restrictions.)

 

[LewFordLives]

Most teams that rebuild are always rebuilding.  

[LastOnePicked]

I agree that probably it's better at this point to push forward than to rebuild (that should have started four years ago, in my opinion). But here's the problem: a payroll of $130M on this club isn't going to cut it. You can't count on 100 games each from Correa, Buxton or Lewis, so you'll need high-end replacements to fill in during long injury stretches. However, the younger players clearly aren't ready to fill those shoes. So you need a big free agent roster with proven talent ... or you'll need a lot of hope.

A great coaching staff could maybe, maybe thread that needle. The one we have? No.

Next year Chicago can't possibly be worse and KC, Cleveland and Detroit will likely be better. If you rolled it all back, can this Twins team compete? Absolutely not. So if you're not competing in 2025, you should probably be in a phase of rebuilding. Otherwise you're wasting a season.

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Our problem is both philosophical and financial. We signed two very good players to to two very large contracts and then reduce the overall budget. You can't have at all. I don't blame the players for taking those big contracts, but what is our overall philosophy? What guides the decisions for this team?

Exactly this. As a fan, I have no idea what the Twins are trying to become or what they're building towards. It almost seems like they thought Carlos Correa was just a magic wand they could wave into a middling roster and - poof - make themselves a contender. In a weak division, that might get you a division pennant and a Wild Card series win, sure. But two teams in this division are now ready to reap the benefits of their rebuilds, while the third remains the undisputed champion of player development and pitching pipelines.

Twins ... your move?

[ashbury]

All of Keaschall, EmmaRod, and Prielipp as part of Opening Day Plan A could be a little far-fetched, and my preference is to start Lee at AAA as well.  But Reusse is first and foremost a columnist and he writes to entertain.  Still, he's also a keen student of the game and I respect his overall acumen, and the direction he advocates here happens to be mine too.  Don't waste scarce dollars on veterans whose ceiling is "average" when your own talent evaluation says that rookies you use instead of them may stumble at first but then rise to at least that same level of achievement anyway.  I'd term it "reload" or "retool" rather than "rebuild," but the meaning is the same. 

The talent evaluation had better be right, of course, or else the season could be a disaster.  But the talent evaluation has to be right concerning using veterans instead, and we ended up with Manuel Margot who was NOT the backup in CF that was implied when he was traded for, and DeSclafani who was NOT in fact viable as even some kind of mythical #5 in a rotation, and we had a rotating cast of relief arms who did NOT add up to a shutdown bullpen - and we ended up with a team not built for a long run of success.

Get the evaluations right, and/or coach the players up, and then the rebuild versus spend argument goes away.  Do the latter when you can, of course, but get it right in either case.  Our FO didn't get it any better in 2024 than an amateur like me could have, and that's just sad.

[Mike Sixel]

I'd have Preillip as a RP.... He's not going to pitch much next year. I'd also move Emma up and see if it works. Can always send him down if needed. I'd be more likely to start eeles than Keaschell. 

No way a rebuild is a good idea. But I'd not be shocked if they dealt Lopez, and lost what little is left of the fanbase

[ashbury]

25 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

But I'd not be shocked if they dealt Lopez, and lost what little is left of the fanbase

I kind of would.  They've marketed the heck out of him.  He probably does a better job of paying for his own salary than even Buxton or Correa at this stage of things.

And to replace Lopez in the rotation?  Trading him would not bring back someone I would trust as much - why would another team do that?  Trading Lopez would indeed be a tear-it-to-the-studs move, a real rebuild, and that's why I do take issue with the word Reusse chose relative to the plan he laid out (with no mention of Lopez that I could find).  Retool - find what you can inside the organization, maybe latch onto a player or two from outside who can fill a perceived gap. 

"No more Nolascos" is a bit of a strawman since no one is advocating him specifically - but there does seem to be sentiment that we should spend similarly (adjusted for current payroll sizes) and an expectation better results somehow.  BTW Nolasco was an early foray by the analytics team on the Twins - remember how much lower Ricky's FIP was than his ERA?  Other teams seemed to be more advanced than the Twins where FIP was concerned, since we "outbid" the few other teams interested in him.  The Dodgers for example were said to have broken his heart by telling him "no thanks" at the time.

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I kind of would.  They've marketed the heck out of him.  He probably does a better job of paying for his own salary than even Buxton or Correa at this stage of things.

And to replace Lopez in the rotation?  Trading him would not bring back someone I would trust as much - why would another team do that?  Trading Lopez would indeed be a tear-it-to-the-studs move, a real rebuild, and that's why I do take issue with the word Reusse chose relative to the plan he laid out (with no mention of Lopez that I could find).  Retool - find what you can inside the organization, maybe latch onto a player or two from outside who can fill a perceived gap. 

"No more Nolascos" is a bit of a strawman since no one is advocating him specifically - but there does seem to be sentiment that we should spend similarly (adjusted for current payroll sizes) and expecting better results somehow.

Money. I really think ownership wants money. I wouldn't be shocked if they keep him either. 

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Money. I really think ownership wants money. I wouldn't be shocked if they keep him either. 

The FO has access to their internal marketing studies and I don't.  But if someone in business wants money, revenue plays as big a role as spending (maybe greater since spending can't go below zero or some reasonable floor), and my assumption is that Lopez brings in more revenue than whoever would replace him on the roster if we traded him

[FargoFanMan]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

I agree that probably it's better at this point to push forward than to rebuild (that should have started four years ago, in my opinion). But here's the problem: a payroll of $130M on this club isn't going to cut it. You can't count on 100 games each from Correa, Buxton or Lewis, so you'll need high-end replacements to fill in during long injury stretches. However, the younger players clearly aren't ready to fill those shoes. So you need a big free agent roster with proven talent ... or you'll need a lot of hope.

A great coaching staff could maybe, maybe thread that needle. The one we have? No.

Next year Chicago can't possibly be worse and KC, Cleveland and Detroit will likely be better. If you rolled it all back, can this Twins team compete? Absolutely not. So if you're not competing in 2025, you should probably be in a phase of rebuilding. Otherwise you're wasting a season.

Maybe that’s all true but that’s the beauty of baseball. No body knows. All it takes is an injury to Jose Ramirez or Bobby Witt and the star power in the division changes massively.  Does Seth Lugo have the same type of season? Maybe Cleveland’s bullpen isn’t as lights out. Then where are they at? What if Detroit doesn’t have the same magic? What if the Twins young pitching takes another big step? The fact is everything looks great on paper but you still have to play 6 months of baseball. If anyone should know this it’s twins fans. As bad as this year went, with a couple of positive turns instead of bad ones this team could be a 100 win team. Look at the giants from a few years ago. To say they need to rebuild is absolutely, mind blowing to me. You don’t burn down the house cause the windows broke.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

A Don't waste scarce dollars on veterans whose ceiling is "average" when your own talent evaluation says that rookies you use instead of them may stumble at first but then rise to at least that same level of achievement anyway.

Nothing shows the rookies, including Lewis who so many drooled over, are even average.

Castro, Larnach & Wallner are the best of the bunch, in that order, the rest are not as good as the least of the veterans.

Wishful thinking on the good day and Shooting Craps the rest.

 

[tony&rodney]

The Twins cannot just roll with the talent and combination of players they used this past season. First off, the defense costs the team on numerous occasions. While Julien was the poster child on Twins Daily, few were any better. Correa and Buxton on the Il was not ever covered. Secondly, the hitting was largely missing versus decent teams. What is available? Falvey has his work cut out for him. Thirdly, the base-running was substandard. This should be simple enough to fix.

It seems fair enough to expect that the Pale Hose should be a more competitive team next season. While any team can falter from year to year, all of Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City should be improved teams as well. The Twins need to make some changes. Change happens.

[Coach]

6 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Rebuilding is nonsense.  They have 3-4 solid to very solid SP, quality+  starters at arguably 5-6 of the field positions, depth at the end off the BP.  What more of a core do you need to build from?

Though I have zero expectation this will happen, this team needs to find a way to add at 2B, OF, and another SP this offseason.  The younger guys (Festa, Lee, Martin, Matthews) showed this year they are not yet ready to carry the load, they need to be backups so they can be put in better positions to succeed.

Our youngsters just ran out of gas.  They will be ready, hopefully for next year.  Plenty of talent on the learning curve.

[DocBauer]

Any notion of a rebuild is ridiculous and impractical as well. And Nick has done a really good job of addressing that.

The word for me is RETOOL the team. Look, the 6 week disaster of this season had me, an ardent and dedicated fan, hardly watching as it was painful and confusing to watch. Period. But I like to feel I can take a step back and take a long, honest look at things despite the utter disappointment in the 2024 collapse.

The 2023 team was a good one. They won a playoff series and woulda/coulda/shoulda maybe beat the Astros. And maybe they would have another day. But they still had a good season and got the monkey off their back. Despite a ridiculous start to 2024, confounded me and I think all of us, they were a very good team for 4 months. They were something like 17 games above .500 and all but guaranteed a playoff spot, and a chance to overtake Cleveland, right up to the point where they lost the 4th game of the Texas series, missing out on a sweep, and then SOMETHING UNEXPLAINABLE happened and they suddenly bottomed out!

The frustration, hurt, disappointment, and anger are real, and justified. But when I look long and hard at this team, what's available, what's nearly ready, I'm actually optimistic about 2025 with a RETOOL. And yes, I realize I'm a bit of an optimist by nature, lol. But seriously...

ROTATION: Lopez, Ober, Ryan, and SWR is a hell of a nice 4. It's a 4 we would have salivated over just a few years ago. And it's good enough to hang with most any club. Paddack being kept or dealt is an interesting conversation, but also an interesting part of the rotation, potentially. Festa and Matthews will only grow and learn from 2024 to be ready at some point next season, if not immediately. And there's other good looking arms behind them.

BULLPEN: Ah yes, the bullpen, and all the angst it carries with it. Like any rotation, it needs depth, but it's also probably the hardest part of a team to predict. But as of today, it will consist of Duran, Jax, Sands, Varland, Alcala, Topa, and Stewart. Are there question marks? You bet! But Alcala used properly makes a difference, IMO. Topa's knee healthy, he's probably not worse than a solid 6th inning guy. If Stewart's shoulder "clean up-not repair" can give 40-50 IP, that's a HUGE difference right there. And Varland has the stuff, and past success, to suggest he could be really good at 1-2 IP at a time. The issue, as of now, is the LH side. I'd move Headrick to the pen permanently yesterday, and maybe see if he's a candidate for a cutter or splitter to add to his repertoire. He's got some decent stuff to work with. So does Funderburk, if he can get back more of the control/command he showed in 2023. Moran coming back from surgery might need some time, but we shouldn't forget about him as an option at some point. If trade or FA could bring in just a single, solid contributor, the pen could be a really solid unit in 2025

POSITION PLAYERS/LINEUP: A lot of this hinges on 3 players: Correa, Buxton, and Lewis. Time, new therapy, and new shoes, could be an answer for Correa. Buxton seemingly no longer hindered by his previous knee issue might finally allow his hip issue to decrease, if not right itself. I'd take 100 games again, but if his hip is actually better, maybe 110-120 games? Lewis' body just more used to more games, the knee issues now a full season plus behind him, does he stay more healthy? And does all of that mean he can now just grow and adapt and learn as a potential stud batter?

I don't think optimism here is unwarranted.

I think even the most hardened fan can't help but look at what Wallner has done the past 2 years, including an awful start to 2024, and not admit he's looked damn good, and damn dangerous overall. Larnach has really grown. He might be even better without the turf toe that bothered him much of the past season. And as much angst as there has been about Vazquez and Jeffers underperforming...Jeffers more in my mind because we've seen what he CAN DO...they're still a solid duo who put up way better than league average production from their spot.

Lee looked great, then pretty bad after a shoulder injury and his return. But what if he's 100% to begin 2025? He's not some middling prospect. He looked great in ST, raked at AAA, and looked good before he hurt his shoulder. MAYBE he's better starting off at AAA as some have suggested. Or maybe he's ready now and just needed to get his feet wet and get healthy again? Castro was great until he tweaked his back, but couldn't be afford rest or IL time so he struggled the 2nd half. I believe in him. Miranda proved what he might still be until he also tweaked his back. How good might he still be? Again, question marks, but talent available to be sure.

Second base is an issue until/unless Lee is really ready, Castro sits there instead of being the team's SUPER UTILITY guy, Julien suddenly gets out of his own head and "gets right" again, or Eeles...who I was absolutely bring in as a ST invite...gives notice to everyone that he can actually play this game and isn't just a good story. When! How's that for a running sentence? Lol. At least there are OPTIONS there.

1B, backup up CF, LHRP, and a RH OF who can hit and play solid defense and not be an embarrassment against RH pitching are the holes I see. There isn't, right now, that TOP DOG #4 type proven hitter like a Cruz we had previously in the lineup. But that's not going to happen via trade or FA. It's going to have to happen internally. And maybe the RETOOLING of the coaching staff can help with that and player development.

SO WHAT ABOUT THOSE COUPLE HOLES? (I've already touched on the LHRP role)

As much as so many of us are intruged by the potential of E Rodriguez, he's so young, missed so much time, I wouldn't dare suggest him on the club to begin the season unless he was playing daily. Instead, I'd give Keirsey every chance, daily, in ST to prove he can AT LEAST hit a little, and keep him as a Buxton fill in with good defense, and provide a PR speed option and late defensive replacement role. That could change later in the season. I'm not ruling out Martin, but his TOTAL GAME has to be raised a notch before he's ready for the role.

If Keirsey...maybe Martin...could handle that Buxton backup and speed on the bases role, PLEASE tell me it wouldn't be that hard to make a trade or inexpensive FA signings for just a solid, competent RH OF who could play the corners decently and provide some LH bashing while still being OK against RH arms. I'm not asking for a star player, just a good OF with solid offense who isn't going to ruin the lineup if being forced to play more than 25% of the time like another Margot. NO MORE SHORT SIDE PLATOON ONLY RH bats who end up playing more than you wanted.

As to 1B, I have no clue. I think we all see scenarios where Miranda, a healthy AK, (we can all wish), and a rebounded Julien provide OK defense and some quality production. I'm not discounting a kid like Severino suddenly taking a step up, but I think that's a longshot dream for opening day. And it would be great if the Twins moved Paddack's $7M and added another $10M and brought in Paul Goldschmidt on a 1yr deal because the market was light, to provide defense and an experienced bat with power who might have something left, but I sure don't see that happening.

Betting on Santana again at 39yo doesn't make sense. It shouldn't be so hard to find a solid 1B who can, at least, be a complimentary bat should it? But the Twins are currently minus a 1B at an offensive position. And that is weirdly odd to me. But as of today, it's probably the biggest hole in the lineup.

LONG STORY SHORT:

Yeah, RIGHT Doc, nothing i do is short, LOL. This team, RIGHT NOW, is good enough EVERYWHERE, if you just step back and take an honest look at what's on hand, and what's really close...Rodriguez, Keaschall, Festa Matthews, and others...that it just needs a RETOOLING. And again, a different hitting staff on the coaching side might help. Offensively, over the past couple of seasons, despite some weird and complex differences, the Twins have ranked pretty high over all of MLB. But the cold streaks early and late have been an issue, especially early. I expect no sudden difference no matter who the Twins hire. I'm just hoping for more consistency if the performance of a team that is think has the talent to continue to be very productive overall. 

No rebuild. Keep what we have, DEVELOP what we have, find a little more consistency in the approach, and RETOOL the spots I've mentioned. There's a lot of potential on this team. 

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Any notion of a rebuild is ridiculous and impractical as well. And Nick has done a really good job of addressing that.

The word for me is RETOOL the team. Look, the 6 week disaster of this season had me, an ardent and dedicated fan, hardly watching as it was painful and confusing to watch. Period. But I like to feel I can take a step back and take a long, honest look at things despite the utter disappointment in the 2024 collapse.

The 2023 team was a good one. They won a playoff series and woulda/coulda/shoulda maybe beat the Astros. And maybe they would have another day. But they still had a good season and got the monkey off their back. Despite a ridiculous start to 2024, confounded me and I think all of us, they were a very good team for 4 months. They were something like 17 games above .500 and all but guaranteed a playoff spot, and a chance to overtake Cleveland, right up to the point where they lost the 4th game of the Texas series, missing out on a sweep, and then SOMETHING UNEXPLAINABLE happened and they suddenly bottomed out!

The frustration, hurt, disappointment, and anger are real, and justified. But when I look long and hard at this team, what's available, what's nearly ready, I'm actually optimistic about 2025 with a RETOOL. And yes, I realize I'm a bit of an optimist by nature, lol. But seriously...

ROTATION: Lopez, Ober, Ryan, and SWR is a hell of a nice 4. It's a 4 we would have salivated over just a few years ago. And it's good enough to hang with most any club. Paddack being kept or dealt is an interesting conversation, but also an interesting part of the rotation, potentially. Festa and Matthews will only grow and learn from 2024 to be ready at some point next season, if not immediately. And there's other good looking arms behind them.

BULLPEN: Ah yes, the bullpen, and all the angst it carries with it. Like any rotation, it needs depth, but it's also probably the hardest part of a team to predict. But as of today, it will consist of Duran, Jax, Sands, Varland, Alcala, Topa, and Stewart. Are there question marks? You bet! But Alcala used properly makes a difference, IMO. Topa's knee healthy, he's probably not worse than a solid 6th inning guy. If Stewart's shoulder "clean up-not repair" can give 40-50 IP, that's a HUGE difference right there. And Varland has the stuff, and past success, to suggest he could be really good at 1-2 IP at a time. The issue, as of now, is the LH side. I'd move Headrick to the pen permanently yesterday, and maybe see if he's a candidate for a cutter or splitter to add to his repertoire. He's got some decent stuff to work with. So does Funderburk, if he can get back more of the control/command he showed in 2023. Moran coming back from surgery might need some time, but we shouldn't forget about him as an option at some point. If trade or FA could bring in just a single, solid contributor, the pen could be a really solid unit in 2025

POSITION PLAYERS/LINEUP: A lot of this hinges on 3 players: Correa, Buxton, and Lewis. Time, new therapy, and new shoes, could be an answer for Correa. Buxton seemingly no longer hindered by his previous knee issue might finally allow his hip issue to decrease, if not right itself. I'd take 100 games again, but if his hip is actually better, maybe 110-120 games? Lewis' body just more used to more games, the knee issues now a full season plus behind him, does he stay more healthy? And does all of that mean he can now just grow and adapt and learn as a potential stud batter?

I don't think optimism here is unwarranted.

I think even the most hardened fan can't help but look at what Wallner has done the past 2 years, including an awful start to 2024, and not admit he's looked damn good, and damn dangerous overall. Larnach has really grown. He might be even better without the turf toe that bothered him much of the past season. And as much angst as there has been about Vazquez and Jeffers underperforming...Jeffers more in my mind because we've seen what he CAN DO...they're still a solid duo who put up way better than league average production from their spot.

Lee looked great, then pretty bad after a shoulder injury and his return. But what if he's 100% to begin 2025? He's not some middling prospect. He looked great in ST, raked at AAA, and looked good before he hurt his shoulder. MAYBE he's better starting off at AAA as some have suggested. Or maybe he's ready now and just needed to get his feet wet and get healthy again? Castro was great until he tweaked his back, but couldn't be afford rest or IL time so he struggled the 2nd half. I believe in him. Miranda proved what he might still be until he also tweaked his back. How good might he still be? Again, question marks, but talent available to be sure.

Second base is an issue until/unless Lee is really ready, Castro sits there instead of being the team's SUPER UTILITY guy, Julien suddenly gets out of his own head and "gets right" again, or Eeles...who I was absolutely bring in as a ST invite...gives notice to everyone that he can actually play this game and isn't just a good story. When! How's that for a running sentence? Lol. At least there are OPTIONS there.

1B, backup up CF, LHRP, and a RH OF who can hit and play solid defense and not be an embarrassment against RH pitching are the holes I see. There isn't, right now, that TOP DOG #4 type proven hitter like a Cruz we had previously in the lineup. But that's not going to happen via trade or FA. It's going to have to happen internally. And maybe the RETOOLING of the coaching staff can help with that and player development.

SO WHAT ABOUT THOSE COUPLE HOLES? (I've already touched on the LHRP role)

As much as so many of us are intruged by the potential of E Rodriguez, he's so young, missed so much time, I wouldn't dare suggest him on the club to begin the season unless he was playing daily. Instead, I'd give Keirsey every chance, daily, in ST to prove he can AT LEAST hit a little, and keep him as a Buxton fill in with good defense, and provide a PR speed option and late defensive replacement role. That could change later in the season. I'm not ruling out Martin, but his TOTAL GAME has to be raised a notch before he's ready for the role.

If Keirsey...maybe Martin...could handle that Buxton backup and speed on the bases role, PLEASE tell me it wouldn't be that hard to make a trade or inexpensive FA signings for just a solid, competent RH OF who could play the corners decently and provide some LH bashing while still being OK against RH arms. I'm not asking for a star player, just a good OF with solid offense who isn't going to ruin the lineup if being forced to play more than 25% of the time like another Margot. NO MORE SHORT SIDE PLATOON ONLY RH bats who end up playing more than you wanted.

As to 1B, I have no clue. I think we all see scenarios where Miranda, a healthy AK, (we can all wish), and a rebounded Julien provide OK defense and some quality production. I'm not discounting a kid like Severino suddenly taking a step up, but I think that's a longshot dream for opening day. And it would be great if the Twins moved Paddack's $7M and added another $10M and brought in Paul Goldschmidt on a 1yr deal because the market was light, to provide defense and an experienced bat with power who might have something left, but I sure don't see that happening.

Betting on Santana again at 39yo doesn't make sense. It shouldn't be so hard to find a solid 1B who can, at least, be a complimentary bat should it? But the Twins are currently minus a 1B at an offensive position. And that is weirdly odd to me. But as of today, it's probably the biggest hole in the lineup.

LONG STORY SHORT:

Yeah, RIGHT Doc, nothing i do is short, LOL. This team, RIGHT NOW, is good enough EVERYWHERE, if you just step back and take an honest look at what's on hand, and what's really close...Rodriguez, Keaschall, Festa Matthews, and others...that it just needs a RETOOLING. And again, a different hitting staff on the coaching side might help. Offensively, over the past couple of seasons, despite some weird and complex differences, the Twins have ranked pretty high over all of MLB. But the cold streaks early and late have been an issue, especially early. I expect no sudden difference no matter who the Twins hire. I'm just hoping for more consistency if the performance of a team that is think has the talent to continue to be very productive overall. 

No rebuild. Keep what we have, DEVELOP what we have, find a little more consistency in the approach, and RETOOL the spots I've mentioned. There's a lot of potential on this team. 

That is not retool, that is throw crap against the wall and see what sticks.🤢

[TheLeviathan]

I honestly have no idea how this team gets better next year and they weren't good this year.

Usually...that's exactly when you should be talking "rebuild".

[Schmoeman5]

7 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I don't think the Twins are in a position they should "rebuild" right now, but they're not far off from it. I don't expect the team will be competitive next year without a very creative offseason or a highly increased payroll.

Worst case scenario is KC goes to the World Series. Their owner is already lobbying for a new stadium, and he has proven to be unlike the Pohlad's so he's willing to open the wallet wide in a window. It wouldn't surprise me to see KC push to $150MM.

Detroit is large market and I expect their payroll to expand into that 160-180MM range next year.

Cleveland seems to just be competitive regardless.

The AL Central is shaping up to be a very tough division next year. The Twins will have their work cut out for them to make the playoffs. They need guys to stay healthy. An season ending injury to a high performer would be potentially catastrophic.

 

WOW!

[LastOnePicked]

30 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

and then SOMETHING UNEXPLAINABLE happened and they suddenly bottomed out!

I love your optimism, and it was a great post. However, that "something unexplainable" was entirely explainable. They have a roster filled with significant injury histories, they have a manager that has failed to get them big-game ready (especially younger players) and their division competition is on the rise.

Here's the problem: all of those things are even more true in 2025.

But keep the optimism. We'll see how the retooling turns out.