There's No Path to a Passing Grade for Twins' Offseason Moves

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I'm not sure that I can agree that there is no path to a passing grade, or even what that means in the first place.  If the Twins can make a trade or signing that makes them better, that's great.  But if it is trading and signing for the sake of trading and signing to make it look like there is activity, then that's a waste of time, energy, and money.  AND that doesn't equal a good grade.  They certainly have question marks, but they don't have holes (way worse than a question mark), so it may make sense to stand pat.  If there are no good options within the budget (that Falvey can't control), then standing pat is probably the best option.  I don't love it, but it's better than just making bad decisions for the sake of creating churn.

[PatPfund]

Until there is an end to the offseason there is always a potential path. One might be the team changing hands quickly, the new owners authorizing a payroll increase, and the Twins sign Flaherty and Santander, trade Julien and Vasquez for a solid LH relief arm, move Paddack to the bullpen as a power arm, and find out Buxton,  Correa, Miranda, and Lewis all had great offseasons and report healthy and ready to go. I'd call that a great offseason.

(And why issue "grades" even once Spring Training starts? Only the regular season will tell on so-called grades. Remember the ones that gave the Twins an A for trade deadline moves a couple years ago, and gave Chicago and Cleveland Fs? The same Chicago and Cleveland that blew past the Twins after "Failing" the trade deadline?)

[Greglw3]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

No. Everybody cannot agree on that as there are other teams who needed to make moves as much or more than the Twins, plus many teams had the budget to make the moves. Instead those teams just wound up being mostly tire-kickers and also rans in competitions for talent so far. Teams like the Orioles and Tigers.

I have to wonder what players you'd consider non-questions...

 

Miranda, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Duran, Jax, Sands. I like Martin as a likely solid major leaguer. I think Keaschall will very likely be good. I personally like DaShawn Keirsey a lot.

I’ve watched this whole off season and Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and White Sox have all made more significant moves than Twins.

The Twins have a lot of needs offensively on a team that’s been inconsistent and sluggish, at best, for the last few years , sprinkled with sub .200 batting averages and low .200 batting averages and the genius acquisition of a .177 hitter. The Mike Ford acquisition was weak.

My plan, made in November, had the Twins doing a modest amount in acquiring Profar (still out there), Jose Iglesias, who hit .338 last year to back up Correa and Jesse Winker to play OF and DH, the Winker of the .360 OBP last year, shedding Vazquez, Paddack, Castro’s salaries and I came in at 129.xx MM.

Do you disagree with me on any of the 8 question marks? If so, which of the 8 are you confident will likely have relatively healthy and productive seasons?

My other positives for the offseason are Cartaya, Gasper (due to his high OBPs and .366 AAA avg and .477 OBP in 200 PA). I think the recent acquisition from Oakland, Armando Alvarez has some chance. I also think the Eiberson Castellanos Rule 5 pick was a good pick.

My objection is to not shedding any salary or acquiring major league talent like Profar, Iglesias, Winker. These 3 would help the Twins offense a lot.

If the Twins add some real MLB level offensive talent before spring training I’ll up my grade from F upward. Just Profar, Winker and Iglesias, all still available would move it to C+ or B.

SO, we’ll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[terrydactyls]

6 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

If the Twins add some real MLB level offensive talent before spring training I’ll up my grade from F upward. Just Profar, Winker and Iglesias, all still available would move it to C+ or B.

SO, we’ll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And where does the money come from to acquire these three?  And don't say by getting rid of Vasquez, Paddock, and Castro.  There probably isn't any team that wants Vasquez or Paddock, and Castro might be a difficult player to trade without taking back salary the other team wants to shed - so that would be a net zero trade.  I'm afraid the Twins are stuck with these three for 2025 so they should make the best of it by working with Cartaya to be a MLB catcher, moving Paddock to the bullpen, and having the new hitting coach work with Vasquez.  I can live with the current team.  I would rather see the Twins giving opportunities to their prospects than just go out and a body to appease fans.

[SaberNerd]

Even if we make no moves on the player side, if we get new ownership the off-season can still be a success. Long term thinking

[Doctor Wu]

Yeah, it's been a very bleak off-season thus far, and hey, we are only about a month away from spring training. My favorite move, or signing so far was getting Huascar Ynoa on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. If he's finally healthy he COULD crack the starting rotation or become a good piece in the bullpen. 

[Fezig]

Fire Baldelli = A

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Fezig said:

Fire Baldelli = A

Honestly, I don't get the Baldelli defenders on this site. We all mostly agree managers don't really have THAT big an impact. But we also know he's overseen multiple late season meltdowns and holds a 3-8 post season record. And he pinch hit Margot HOW many times last season? 

He's completely unremarkable. 

 

[wavedog]

Remembering back to the end of last season - the team was pretty bad at fundamentals - defense and baserunning/speed.   We have kept the status quo and even lost Santana/Kepler who were two of our best defensive players - so in fact on paper gotten worse.  The minor league signings we have made have not addressed that issue.  Any improvement will have to come from coaching or player self-improvement.   Hoping we are not rolling out the same play we saw at the end of last season.   

[sampleSizeOfOne]

18 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

There’s one; complete the sale.

True.

And the sale hanging over everything probably limits how aggressive they can be, as it would be unfortunate if potential buyer(s) backed out over a Randy Dobnak extension.

Coffee is for closers.

[Taildragger8791]

9 hours ago, PatPfund said:

Until there is an end to the offseason there is always a potential path. One might be the team changing hands quickly, the new owners authorizing a payroll increase, and the Twins sign Flaherty and Santander, trade Julien and Vasquez for a solid LH relief arm, move Paddack to the bullpen as a power arm, and find out Buxton,  Correa, Miranda, and Lewis all had great offseasons and report healthy and ready to go. I'd call that a great offseason.

(And why issue "grades" even once Spring Training starts? Only the regular season will tell on so-called grades. Remember the ones that gave the Twins an A for trade deadline moves a couple years ago, and gave Chicago and Cleveland Fs? The same Chicago and Cleveland that blew past the Twins after "Failing" the trade deadline?)

Buxton, Correa, Miranda, and Lewis reporting healthy and ready to go should be the bare minimum expectation, not grounds for an A offseason. Their health prospects in September/October is what concerns me.

I fail to see how even a quick sale likely would be officially completed in time for the new owners to make any notable moves before the season. But we'll see.

[Blyleven2011]

As of right now I wouldn't even give them an E for effort  ,,,

They first told us they were going to be creative  and after the winter meetings they changed that statement to , We will have to wait and see  ...

[NotAboutWinning]

Doing nothing is probably better than the Polanco/DeSclafani and Margot messes they made last year 🫤

[USAFChief]

I'd have to agree. At this point, it's a complete and total fail of an offseason, and there isn't enough remaining talent available to change that. 

Even if there were the will, which is hard for me to believe in.

 

 

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, NotAboutWinning said:

Doing nothing is probably better than the Polanco/DeSclafani and Margot messes they made last year 🫤

Agree with this sentiment.

Perhaps the Twins are willing to trade a few international bonus dollars to San Diego. The Padres have indicated a willingness to trade Robert Suarez. San Diego needs a backup catcher, starting pitching, and outfielders. The Twins could surely use a dynamic relief pitcher like Suarez. Worth a call to see what is possible.

[David Maro]

First off to say this is the best roster in the Central is a reach. Detroit and KC are equal to if not better. Both of those rosters know who is playing where while this roster is still who is on 1st and 2nd and don't forget about 3rd. With the ownership up in the air 25 is going to be a long season. With that going on the FO and manager will be under the microscope. The only money spent is going to be fans having to pay higher ticket prices.

[Jeff K]

22 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Paddock is a "key player"? For what team? I've never felt they were trading Vazquez, and have no idea why anyone else did. 

Other than stockpiling catchers this off season...given they are, at best, mediocre.  But then, so is Vazquez.

[chpettit19]

10 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

Miranda, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Duran, Jax, Sands. I like Martin as a likely solid major leaguer. I think Keaschall will very likely be good. I personally like DaShawn Keirsey a lot.

I’ve watched this whole off season and Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and White Sox have all made more significant moves than Twins.

The Twins have a lot of needs offensively on a team that’s been inconsistent and sluggish, at best, for the last few years , sprinkled with sub .200 batting averages and low .200 batting averages and the genius acquisition of a .177 hitter. The Mike Ford acquisition was weak.

My plan, made in November, had the Twins doing a modest amount in acquiring Profar (still out there), Jose Iglesias, who hit .338 last year to back up Correa and Jesse Winker to play OF and DH, the Winker of the .360 OBP last year, shedding Vazquez, Paddack, Castro’s salaries and I came in at 129.xx MM.

Do you disagree with me on any of the 8 question marks? If so, which of the 8 are you confident will likely have relatively healthy and productive seasons?

My other positives for the offseason are Cartaya, Gasper (due to his high OBPs and .366 AAA avg and .477 OBP in 200 PA). I think the recent acquisition from Oakland, Armando Alvarez has some chance. I also think the Eiberson Castellanos Rule 5 pick was a good pick.

My objection is to not shedding any salary or acquiring major league talent like Profar, Iglesias, Winker. These 3 would help the Twins offense a lot.

If the Twins add some real MLB level offensive talent before spring training I’ll up my grade from F upward. Just Profar, Winker and Iglesias, all still available would move it to C+ or B.

SO, we’ll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You talk about the Twins having too many question marks but your solution is to add more?

Iglesias: Didn't play in the majors in 2023. Instead he was a 33 year old in AAA putting up a 108 wRC+. So a league average AAA hitter. In 2022, he had a wRC+ of 87. In 2021, it was 89. He had a wonderful 85 games for the Mets last year, but that was the first time he'd been an above league average bat in a non-2020 season since 2013. That's an awfully big offensive question mark in my book. Would help the defense, though.

Winker: Had to sign a minor league deal in 2024 because he had a 66 wRC+ in 2023 while hitting .199. He hit .219 in 2022. If sub- or low-.200 batting averages concern you he should be considered a question mark. 

Profar: Last year was his 10th major league season. It was the 4th time he had an above average bat. His 2nd best season was in 2020. So, for non-pandemic seasons he's had 3 out of 9 years as above average. Last year his wRC+ was 139. His 2 other seasons above average were a 107 in 2018 and a 110 in 2022. Last year is a massive outlier for a guy now in his 30s with a decade of MLB experience. If that's not a question mark, I don't know what is.

The reason these guys are still available is because they're massive question marks in their own rights. 2 of them were on minor league deals going into last year and the other signed for $1 million. They're just as big of question marks as any of the 8 spots the Twins currently appear to have set in their lineup. 

[NYCTK]

9 minutes ago, Jeff K said:

Other than stockpiling catchers this off season...given they are, at best, mediocre.  But then, so is Vazquez.

Adding one AAA catcher is not what I would call stockpiling. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

11 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

Miranda, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Duran, Jax, Sands. I like Martin as a likely solid major leaguer. I think Keaschall will very likely be good. I personally like DaShawn Keirsey a lot.

I’ve watched this whole off season and Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and White Sox have all made more significant moves than Twins.

The Twins have a lot of needs offensively on a team that’s been inconsistent and sluggish, at best, for the last few years , sprinkled with sub .200 batting averages and low .200 batting averages and the genius acquisition of a .177 hitter. The Mike Ford acquisition was weak.

My plan, made in November, had the Twins doing a modest amount in acquiring Profar (still out there), Jose Iglesias, who hit .338 last year to back up Correa and Jesse Winker to play OF and DH, the Winker of the .360 OBP last year, shedding Vazquez, Paddack, Castro’s salaries and I came in at 129.xx MM.

Do you disagree with me on any of the 8 question marks? If so, which of the 8 are you confident will likely have relatively healthy and productive seasons?

My other positives for the offseason are Cartaya, Gasper (due to his high OBPs and .366 AAA avg and .477 OBP in 200 PA). I think the recent acquisition from Oakland, Armando Alvarez has some chance. I also think the Eiberson Castellanos Rule 5 pick was a good pick.

My objection is to not shedding any salary or acquiring major league talent like Profar, Iglesias, Winker. These 3 would help the Twins offense a lot.

If the Twins add some real MLB level offensive talent before spring training I’ll up my grade from F upward. Just Profar, Winker and Iglesias, all still available would move it to C+ or B.

SO, we’ll see.

The nature of a baseball roster is that it is full of question marks.  If it weren’t that way, we wouldn’t need to play the season.  We could just line up the stats and see how it winds up.  

You are obviously averse to potential injuries, listing Buxton, Correa, and Lewis among your question marks.  OK, but Duran, Stewart, and Ryan were also injured last year, so are they question marks also?  Ober is just a couple of years removed from being unreliable due to a pattern of injuries.  Lopez is probably due for one since he has been so healthy.  You have Wallner as a question mark.  I think he’s demonstrated an ability to hit well, even with his poor start to last year.  In fact, the players who you suggest we pick up are along ways from sure bets as none of them have long consistent track records of performance. I’m going to call them question marks also.

My point isn’t to poke holes in every one of your choices, but rather to point out that there are no sure things.  Aaron Judge was hurt a couple years ago and produced almost nothing — that could happen again.  That would take a pretty big bite out of the vaunted Yankees offense in 2025.  Gerrit Cole has been hurt.  Others as well.  Teams have to assemble a roster that they feel strongly about and put it out there.  It is only then that we see what happens.  

There are certainly places I would like to see filled with long time proven productive major league stars, but I think that the positions are filled pretty reasonably, and I would argue that the rotation and bullpen project as well as any I’ve seen on a Twins team.  Let’s get the season started, the team sold, and see what this Twins team can do.

[Greglw3]

16 hours ago, NYCTK said:

What are you talking about? The Tigers are the only team in the AL Central that HAVE done anything to improve. Not to mention they were already better than the Twins and lost basically no one in the off-season. 

Cleveland acquired Luis Ortiz from Pittsburgh, a starter with an ~ 3.20 ERA in about 120 IP last year, they resigned Lane Thomas, they sign Carlos Santana and signed Shane Bieber for maybe half the season. Plus Cleveland drafted Travis Bazzana with the 2024 #1 pick and he’s thought to be close as a 2nd baseman.

Tigers added Cobb and Gleybar Torres and could be in on Flaherty and/or Bergman.

KC brought back Lorenzen and added Cavan Biggio, Jonathon India and Joey Weimer and extended Michael Wacha for 3 more years.

The White Sox got the good haul from the Red Sox, added Cam Boozer and Bryce Wilson from the Brewers 5-4 4.04 last year. The Sox signed Omar Narváez.

[NYCTK]

1 minute ago, Greglw3 said:

Cleveland acquired Luis Ortiz from Pittsburgh, a starter with an ~ 3.20 ERA in about 120 IP last year, they resigned Lane Thomas, they sign Carlos Santana and signed Shane Bieber for maybe half the season. Plus Cleveland drafted Travis Bazzana with the 2024 #1 pick and he’s thought to be close as a 2nd baseman.

Tigers added Cobb and Gleybar Torres and could be in on Flaherty and/or Bergman.

KC brought back Lorenzen and added Cavan Biggio, Jonathon India and Joey Weimer and extended Michael Wacha for 3 more years.

The White Sox got the good haul from the Red Sox, added Cam Boozer and Bryce Wilson from the Brewers 5-4 4.04 last year. The Sox signed Omar Narváez.

All very fair. I'm mistaken, though we can argue how much all those teams have improved. I haven't really dug into anyone, but that comment that the Tigers have done nothing was particularly egregious. 

[Linus]

9 hours ago, wavedog said:

Remembering back to the end of last season - the team was pretty bad at fundamentals - defense and baserunning/speed.   We have kept the status quo and even lost Santana/Kepler who were two of our best defensive players - so in fact on paper gotten worse.  The minor league signings we have made have not addressed that issue.  Any improvement will have to come from coaching or player self-improvement.   Hoping we are not rolling out the same play we saw at the end of last season.   

This is a good point.  IMO we had 4 guys that played good defense and two of them are now gone.

[Greglw3]

On 1/15/2025 at 9:00 PM, RpR said:

Hmm, Lewis has played 7 games in his entire pro career at 2nd base and was not good there.

So he is going to take a proton-neutron energy pill and suddenly hope he is not as bad as Julien.🤪

It's the team that has talked to him and had him working out there this off-season, if reporting is correct. The Twins ambiguity communication machine hasn’t made it clear yet as far as I can tell. He can probably improve there as Julien did.

[Greglw3]

On 1/16/2025 at 5:13 PM, Linus said:

This is a good point.  IMO we had 4 guys that played good defense and two of them are now gone.

It is a good point and a bit more realistic look at what the Twins should have been and should be looking to correct.

[Greglw3]

On 1/16/2025 at 11:14 AM, Rod Carews Birthday said:

The nature of a baseball roster is that it is full of question marks.  If it weren’t that way, we wouldn’t need to play the season.  We could just line up the stats and see how it winds up.  

You are obviously averse to potential injuries, listing Buxton, Correa, and Lewis among your question marks.  OK, but Duran, Stewart, and Ryan were also injured last year, so are they question marks also?  Ober is just a couple of years removed from being unreliable due to a pattern of injuries.  Lopez is probably due for one since he has been so healthy.  You have Wallner as a question mark.  I think he’s demonstrated an ability to hit well, even with his poor start to last year.  In fact, the players who you suggest we pick up are along ways from sure bets as none of them have long consistent track records of performance. I’m going to call them question marks also.

My point isn’t to poke holes in every one of your choices, but rather to point out that there are no sure things.  Aaron Judge was hurt a couple years ago and produced almost nothing — that could happen again.  That would take a pretty big bite out of the vaunted Yankees offense in 2025.  Gerrit Cole has been hurt.  Others as well.  Teams have to assemble a roster that they feel strongly about and put it out there.  It is only then that we see what happens.  

There are certainly places I would like to see filled with long time proven productive major league stars, but I think that the positions are filled pretty reasonably, and I would argue that the rotation and bullpen project as well as any I’ve seen on a Twins team.  Let’s get the season started, the team sold, and see what this Twins team can do.

I want nothing but the best for the Twins, which is why I would be much more aggressive. I’ve just been frustrated with the FO since the 101-61 season that they could have built on, instead averaging 81.8 wins per year the last 5 years. Not horrible but what happened to the GM that got Cruz, Cron and Schoop and reaped the benefits. He now seems like hibernator in chief. Sorry.

I do have to give precedence to the very strong seasons turned in by Profar and Iglesias and I think WInker’s a hitter and this team can always use a .360 OBP. I’m an on-base moneyball believer.

I grew up with the Twins in the 1970s when they did nothing but hit, hit and hit some more with Braun, Brye, Holt, Oliva, Carew, Bostock, Glenn Adams, Hisle, Cubbage, Bobby Darwin, Smalley. It’s super tough watching this FO leave the offense vulnerable year after year.

If we can get good health from the coming stars in Lee, Julien, Lewis, Rodriguez, Wallner, Keaschall, then we’ll surprise!

[RpR]

17 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

It's the team that has talked to him and had him working out there this off-season, if reporting is correct. The Twins ambiguity communication machine hasn’t made it clear yet as far as I can tell. He can probably improve there as Julien did.

Lordy, I hope not, you see Juliens numbers at 2nd are SO much better than 2023.

[Greglw3]

On 1/16/2025 at 10:57 AM, chpettit19 said:

You talk about the Twins having too many question marks but your solution is to add more?

Iglesias: Didn't play in the majors in 2023. Instead he was a 33 year old in AAA putting up a 108 wRC+. So a league average AAA hitter. In 2022, he had a wRC+ of 87. In 2021, it was 89. He had a wonderful 85 games for the Mets last year, but that was the first time he'd been an above league average bat in a non-2020 season since 2013. That's an awfully big offensive question mark in my book. Would help the defense, though.

Winker: Had to sign a minor league deal in 2024 because he had a 66 wRC+ in 2023 while hitting .199. He hit .219 in 2022. If sub- or low-.200 batting averages concern you he should be considered a question mark. 

Profar: Last year was his 10th major league season. It was the 4th time he had an above average bat. His 2nd best season was in 2020. So, for non-pandemic seasons he's had 3 out of 9 years as above average. Last year his wRC+ was 139. His 2 other seasons above average were a 107 in 2018 and a 110 in 2022. Last year is a massive outlier for a guy now in his 30s with a decade of MLB experience. If that's not a question mark, I don't know what is.

The reason these guys are still available is because they're massive question marks in their own rights. 2 of them were on minor league deals going into last year and the other signed for $1 million. They're just as big of question marks as any of the 8 spots the Twins currently appear to have set in their lineup. 

Profar 2023 and 2024 over .280 BA combined. His 2024 was truly outstanding, 668 Plate appearances. That’s valuable. Way beyond any Twin. 94 Runs scored. One of three seasons with at least 82 runs scored. 85 RBIs, more than any Twin in 2024. 10/13 SB, a real roadrunner for the Twins.

.380 OBP. Who on the Twins came even remotely close to that? 14th in the MVP voting. None of the 8 Twins were even within an eon of 14 in MVP voting. All Star. 76 walks, Mauer-esque.

One hundred and fifty eight games played. Which of the 8 = question marks on the Twins played 158 games?

My point is Profar has shown flashes before, was thought highly of.

24 Home runs, one of three career seasons 20 or more HR. Profar’s season in LF was staggeringly superior to Larnach’s work. In fact significantly better than any Twin in an area where they’ve been weakest, hitting. They could have signed him by now. I read Falvey had a taker for Paddack’s 7.5 million salary but wasn’t getting much back. 

And the Twins likely are getting up to $15MM out of the record 311 MM luxury tax collected in 2024 plus up to $15 for markets that suffered lost revenue due to TV contract issues.

From Baseball Almanac:

 

 

 

Was Profar a top prospect?

 

 

No prospect this side of Mike Trout has a better minor leaguer resume than Profar.hen for an encore won MVP honors in the low Class A South Atlantic League in 2011 after posting an . 883 OPS at age 18.

[chpettit19]

9 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

Profar 2023 and 2024 over .280 BA combined. His 2024 was truly outstanding, 668 Plate appearances. That’s valuable. Way beyond any Twin. 94 Runs scored. One of three seasons with at least 82 runs scored. 85 RBIs, more than any Twin in 2024. 10/13 SB, a real roadrunner for the Twins.

.380 OBP. Who on the Twins came even remotely close to that? 14th in the MVP voting. None of the 8 Twins were even within an eon of 14 in MVP voting. All Star. 76 walks, Mauer-esque.

One hundred and fifty eight games played. Which of the 8 = question marks on the Twins played 158 games?

My point is Profar has shown flashes before, was thought highly of.

24 Home runs, one of three career seasons 20 or more HR. Profar’s season in LF was staggeringly superior to Larnach’s work. In fact significantly better than any Twin in an area where they’ve been weakest, hitting. They could have signed him by now. I read Falvey had a taker for Paddack’s 7.5 million salary but wasn’t getting much back. 

And the Twins likely are getting up to $15MM out of the record 311 MM luxury tax collected in 2024 plus up to $15 for markets that suffered lost revenue due to TV contract issues.

From Baseball Almanac:

 

 

 

 

Was Profar a top prospect?

 

 

No prospect this side of Mike Trout has a better minor leaguer resume than Profar.hen for an encore won MVP honors in the low Class A South Atlantic League in 2011 after posting an . 883 OPS at age 18.

Profar got cut by the Rockies in 2023. The Rockies. That's how bad he was. He didn't hit over .280 in 2023 and 2024 combined, he hit .263. So, your stats are already wrong. Because he hit .236 in 111 games with the Rockies. It's why he wasn't able to get more than $1 million last year. 

Yes, he has 3 seasons of 20 or more homers. The first 2 were 20 on the dot and he managed to be a slightly above average hitter in the first one (107 OPS+) and below average in the second one (91 OPS+). And, out of 10 full seasons he's had 4 seasons with double digit HRs. So less than half of his MLB seasons he's even reached 10 HRs.

If you believe in WAR then 3.6 out of his 8.4 total career bWAR came in 2024. Nearly half of his entire career WAR came in that one season. He's the very definition of an outlier and question mark.

He was a very well thought of prospect. And then he played 9 seasons in the majors. Who cares what his prospect ranking in 2010 was? That was 15 freaking years ago. That has nothing to do with whether or not he's had a successful MLB career. Because he hasn't.

Yes, his 2024 was incredible. And a complete and total outlier of a season. There's a reason he isn't signed yet. Every team could have signed him by now and haven't. Because he wants to cash in on his 1 big season with a multi-year deal and teams don't tend to trust outlier seasons in your age 31 season after 9 bad seasons.

The Twins have a lot of guys who have shown flashes before. And were well thought of. If "showing flashes" suddenly makes a guy not a question mark anymore you have to change your list of question marks. Jurickson Profar is a massive question mark. He has 9 seasons of previous MLB play that show that. Maybe he figured something out at the age of 31, but that one season doesn't make him a non-question mark. Sorry, his entire career disagrees with you.

And, yes the Twins get revenue sharing. That isn't a new revenue stream for them. They get that every year. And they also lost well more than $15 million on their TV deal. Those numbers you're throwing out aren't changing their payroll. It's money they already knew they were getting. 

[Squirrel]

On 1/17/2025 at 8:41 PM, Greglw3 said:

It's the team that has talked to him and had him working out there this off-season, if reporting is correct. The Twins ambiguity communication machine hasn’t made it clear yet as far as I can tell. He can probably improve there as Julien did.

Actually, it’s been stated by Falvey that Lewis will be the 3B this year but that they may play him occasionally at 2nd. That’s why he’s been working out at 2nd, in case he needs to bump b over from time to time, but he’s the 3B