Front Office Sports: There is 'momentum' towards a sale of the Minnesota Twins, could be just weeks away

[Major League Ready]

14 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

The farm system isn't top three. Most of the value of the farm is in quantity, not quality. Which superstars are ready to start next year? 

Skubal was a 9th round pick.  Teams that can't buy Ohtani / Betts / Yamamoto etc, have to crush every first round pick and/or develop a few Skubals.  Maybe Matthews is our Skubal.  Jenkins and culpepper are our first rounders.  Keaschall is our 2nd rounder and there is still reason to believe in Lewis.

They are crazy deep in SPs now.  There is a very good probability they will not need to pay market prices for SPs for several years and with Correa gone the amount of dead money is very manageable and it's off the books in 3 years.  That opens up a lot of payroll.  They just need to get the next big FA right or better yet extend the right guys.

Is ready to "start next year" an appropriate measure.  We need to come to terms with the fact this is a rebuild.  What can they get done by the end of next season would be a more reasonable measure of success, IMO.  If they can assemble the personnel that can actually contend in two years that would be far better than most rebuilds.  What needs to happen to get there is the question.  There is a ton of pitching and OFs ready.  Culpepper and Debarge are not that far off.  It's not going to take years to reconstruct this roster but it's also not going to happen by the start of next year.  

[tony&rodney]

36 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Skubal was a 9th round pick.  Teams that can't buy Ohtani / Betts / Yamamoto etc, have to crush every first round pick and/or develop a few Skubals.  Maybe Matthews is our Skubal.  Jenkins and culpepper are our first rounders.  Keaschall is our 2nd rounder and there is still reason to believe in Lewis.

They are crazy deep in SPs now.  There is a very good probability they will not need to pay market prices for SPs for several years and with Correa gone the amount of dead money is very manageable and it's off the books in 3 years.  That opens up a lot of payroll.  They just need to get the next big FA right or better yet extend the right guys.

Is ready to "start next year" an appropriate measure.  We need to come to terms with the fact this is a rebuild.  What can they get done by the end of next season would be a more reasonable measure of success, IMO.  If they can assemble the personnel that can actually contend in two years that would be far better than most rebuilds.  What needs to happen to get there is the question.  There is a ton of pitching and OFs ready.  Culpepper and Debarge are not that far off.  It's not going to take years to reconstruct this roster but it's also not going to happen by the start of next year.  

The optimism is good. You are correct that the Twins (any team) need to get lucky on draft picks. I watch a ton of minor league baseball. Noah Cardenas might work as a backup catcher but he won't hit. I'm ok if he is just a good catcher. DeBarge plays hard but I think his talent won't play at the top levels. It is possible to play all of Keaschall, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins full time next year. The Twins need a couple of players from an expected purge of Ryan and Ober. 

Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.

[Cory Engelhardt]

10 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The optimism is good. You are correct that the Twins (any team) need to get lucky on draft picks. I watch a ton of minor league baseball. Noah Cardenas might work as a backup catcher but he won't hit. I'm ok if he is just a good catcher. DeBarge plays hard but I think his talent won't play at the top levels. It is possible to play all of Keaschall, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins full time next year. The Twins need a couple of players from an expected purge of Ryan and Ober. 

Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.

Why would we trade BOTH Ober and Ryan? MAYBE one, but you don't need to trade both this offseason. Even then, you wouldn't need to trade either of them or Pablo this offseason.

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Why would we trade BOTH Ober and Ryan? MAYBE one, but you don't need to trade both this offseason. Even then, you wouldn't need to trade either of them or Pablo this offseason.

The recent trades did not bring in a single position player who stands out as one to hold down the middle of the lineup. The Twins still need to "find" a catcher and first baseman. Ryan and Ober is their best hope to accomplish that need. Pablo Lopez does not have the value but we shouldn't be surprised if he is jettisoned too. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

4 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The recent trades did not bring in a single position player who stands out as one to hold down the middle of the lineup. The Twins still need to "find" a catcher and first baseman. Ryan and Ober is their best hope to accomplish that need. Pablo Lopez does not have the value but we shouldn't be surprised if he is jettisoned too. 

They have a ton of value, each of them. One of them alone can bring in a catcher, a top 50 prospect and probably a good reliever. They don't need to jettison all 3 to do that.

[USAFChief]

11 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They have a ton of value, each of them. One of them alone can bring in a catcher, a top 50 prospect and probably a good reliever. They don't need to jettison all 3 to do that.

At the moment you wouldn't get even just the prospect for Ober.

At least one of Ryan or Lopez are getting dealt this winter. Why wouldn't you? 

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

At the moment you wouldn't get even just the prospect for Ober.

At least one of Ryan or Lopez are getting dealt this winter. Why wouldn't you? 

I agree, in that I don't see a trade of anyone coming off a down year. So I don't see Ober getting moved.

I do think arguably Ryan would be the easiest to trade, coming off a good year for him. He would track as making the most sense to trade in my opinion IF that's the case. Coming off a good year and having good value could make sense.

Pablo, I guess we'll see. If he comes back and looks strong I could see it too. I also could see them holding onto him for next year if they were looking to trade him.

I more was just saying I don't see a way they trade all 3 THIS offseason. 1 makes sense, depending on the return. 

[The Great Hambino]

31 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Why would we trade BOTH Ober and Ryan? MAYBE one, but you don't need to trade both this offseason. Even then, you wouldn't need to trade either of them or Pablo this offseason.

They didn't need to trade the entire bullpen either, but here we are.

I have a hard time seeing a path to real contention in the Lopez/Ober window (you could say I'm not optimistic that the payroll saved will be reinvested in the lineup improvements needed to make short-term contention a possibility).  And if that's true, why would you keep any of them, let alone all of them?

[Cory Engelhardt]

5 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

They didn't need to trade the entire bullpen either, but here we are.

I have a hard time seeing a path to real contention in the Lopez/Ober window (you could say I'm not optimistic that the payroll saved will be reinvested in the lineup improvements needed to make short-term contention a possibility).  And if that's true, why would you keep any of them, let alone all of them?

Only because I don't think you need to trade all 3 of them this offseason. 

I think they could trade one for real value, and then be open to deals both this next trade deadline in 2026 and in the 2026/2027 offseason  no? That is, if there isn't a work stoppage.

We also don't know for sure if the new owner would want a different plan? What if they come in and want to extend Ryan for example?

[Major League Ready]

51 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The optimism is good. You are correct that the Twins (any team) need to get lucky on draft picks. I watch a ton of minor league baseball. Noah Cardenas might work as a backup catcher but he won't hit. I'm ok if he is just a good catcher. DeBarge plays hard but I think his talent won't play at the top levels. It is possible to play all of Keaschall, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins full time next year. The Twins need a couple of players from an expected purge of Ryan and Ober. 

Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.

I did not mean to suggest an expensive free agent would be added anytime soon.  That makes no sense at this point.  Where I was trying to lead that thought was that they should be able to fill the rotation for the next 6-10 years with cost effective players.  When it comes time to add an additional piece, all of the inexpensive talent will make it feasible to add via free agency.  I also mentioned the even better scenario is that we make smart extensions like Atlanta.

Could not agree more that getting a premium return on Ryan / Lopez / Ober would be a huge boost in taking this team to the next level.  

[The Great Hambino]

7 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Only because I don't think you need to trade all 3 of them this offseason. 

I think they could trade one for real value, and then be open to deals both this next trade deadline in 2026 and in the 2026/2027 offseason  no? That is, if there isn't a work stoppage.

We also don't know for sure if the new owner would want a different plan? What if they come in and want to extend Ryan for example?

All bets are off if a new owner takes control, but it doesn't seem like they weren't interested in moving Ryan at the deadline.  Seems like they either held the line on their price more firmly than with the relievers, or just ran out of time (maybe both?)  If the idea that their new owner had a hand in their strategy at the deadline (I'm very skeptical of this, but others seem to be treating this as fact), I don't think we'd have seen the smoke around a Ryan trade that we did on deadline day if they envisioned extending him.

And they could stagger the sell-off of them over different trading windows, but wouldn't their theoretical value decrease with each window?  I know it's more nuanced than that for starting pitchers, but that seems to be the general trend line

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I did not mean to suggest an expensive free agent would be added anytime soon.  That makes no sense at this point.  Where I was trying to lead that thought was that they should be able to fill the rotation for the next 6-10 years with cost effective players.  When it comes time to add an additional piece, all of the inexpensive talent will make it feasible to add via free agency.  I also mentioned the even better scenario is that we make smart extensions like Atlanta.

Could not agree more that getting a premium return on Ryan / Lopez / Ober would be a huge boost in taking this team to the next level.  

Sorry if I misinterpreted that you thought the Twins would sign a big FA. 

The carryover of the purge may affect a few small FA signings, although there is no way to know this information. For example, Coulombe was a terrific signing at $3M. Would he or a similar player consider the Twins? My guess is that experienced players will only discuss contracts with the Twins as a last resort. Both Colorado and the White Sox look more appealing at this time. Give it two years and a sale .... things could turn out for the better. For us old folks or maybe just me, I just want a clean slate: new owners, POBO, and manager. There are a number of people in the organization that I would work hard to retain if I were the new owner. Falvey goes though as his vision is too cloudy. In any event, I don't expect a sale of the team until 2027 unless the price and terms (as currently reported) are reduced.

[mluebker]

On 8/2/2025 at 12:31 PM, Irishman said:

New owner(s) could be worse than Jim Pohlad.  

That's hard to imagine. If someone out there wants a Triple A team, they can just buy a Triple A, not try to transform an MLB team into one.

[Major League Ready]

15 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Sorry if I misinterpreted that you thought the Twins would sign a big FA. 

The carryover of the purge may affect a few small FA signings, although there is no way to know this information. For example, Coulombe was a terrific signing at $3M. Would he or a similar player consider the Twins? My guess is that experienced players will only discuss contracts with the Twins as a last resort. Both Colorado and the White Sox look more appealing at this time. Give it two years and a sale .... things could turn out for the better. For us old folks or maybe just me, I just want a clean slate: new owners, POBO, and manager. There are a number of people in the organization that I would work hard to retain if I were the new owner. Falvey goes though as his vision is too cloudy. In any event, I don't expect a sale of the team until 2027 unless the price and terms (as currently reported) are reduced.

Manfred's statement on the certainty of the sale really surprised me.  You just don't make that kind of statement without being really certain.  So, I wonder, is the deal done or has he not learned this lesson.  I can tell you from personal experience it does not take long to learn that lesson when you have tightly held information.  It gives me some confidence, but it's quite possible Manfred opened his mouth when he should not have.

They might have to overpay a couple free agent RPs given the number of holes they have to fill.  A $3M/year player is probably a lot more swayed by more money or an extra year.

[Cory Engelhardt]

38 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

All bets are off if a new owner takes control, but it doesn't seem like they weren't interested in moving Ryan at the deadline.  Seems like they either held the line on their price more firmly than with the relievers, or just ran out of time (maybe both?)  If the idea that their new owner had a hand in their strategy at the deadline (I'm very skeptical of this, but others seem to be treating this as fact), I don't think we'd have seen the smoke around a Ryan trade that we did on deadline day if they envisioned extending him.

And they could stagger the sell-off of them over different trading windows, but wouldn't their theoretical value decrease with each window?  I know it's more nuanced than that for starting pitchers, but that seems to be the general trend line

Depends completely on health and performance. Hard to trade an injured pitcher no? But I do get what you are saying otherwise.

New owners can't get here soon enough though

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

It gives me some confidence, but it's quite possible Manfred opened his mouth when he should not have.

Manfred is the worst. When he opens his mouth he lies. I can't imagine anyone could be worse at their job than him. Wait ... there are others .... worse too. What a world.

[Vanimal46]

Out of the 4 groups mentioned in the original article tied to the Twins, I think Marty Davis is probably the best fit for what we’re looking for. Long time Twins fan, local billionaire.

I don’t know much about Jim Hays to have a strong opinion. Maybe someone here can fill us in on him…

The group led by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau feels like private equity behind it. I don’t think this is the direction we should go. 

Finally, Glen Taylor… Absolutely not. He had no idea what he was doing as owner of the Timberwolves. That team was in the gutter for 15+ years until A Rod and Lore changed everything. 

[tony&rodney]

42 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

All bets are off if a new owner takes control, but it doesn't seem like they weren't interested in moving Ryan at the deadline.  Seems like they either held the line on their price more firmly than with the relievers, or just ran out of time (maybe both?)  If the idea that their new owner had a hand in their strategy at the deadline (I'm very skeptical of this, but others seem to be treating this as fact), I don't think we'd have seen the smoke around a Ryan trade that we did on deadline day if they envisioned extending him.

And they could stagger the sell-off of them over different trading windows, but wouldn't their theoretical value decrease with each window?  I know it's more nuanced than that for starting pitchers, but that seems to be the general trend line

According to Dan Hayes, writing for The Athletic, the Twins were too busy to explore Ryan deals and Boston did not engage until the deadline with a lame offer. That seems odd.

The Jax deal, Hayes again, came together very quickly because Tampa Bay had made an offer ealier in the day and then Jax requested a trade. So the Twins called TB back with 5 minutes to go or so.

[The Great Hambino]

Just now, Cory Engelhardt said:

Depends completely on health and performance. Hard to trade an injured pitcher no? But I do get what you are saying otherwise.

New owners can't get here soon enough though

I totally get that Lopez and Ober were untradeable at the deadline.  And that could bleed into this offseason if Pablo can't re-establish his health during the remainder of the season.  For those two specifically (and anyone else that develops an injury), health has to be factored heavily in finding the right trade window.

You touched on something that I hadn't been thinking of but definitely needs to be considered: how do teams viewing the potential of a lockout in the 26/27 offseason, and what does that do to the trade market up until that point?  Will teams in a contention window be more motivated to add for 26 if they think 27 isn't there?  On the other hand, will teams shy away from adding long-term assets if they are concerned about the lack of a 27 season or what the landscape looks like with a new CBA?

I have no idea how that will play out.  Should be very intersting/depressing

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Skubal was a 9th round pick.  Teams that can't buy Ohtani / Betts / Yamamoto etc, have to crush every first round pick and/or develop a few Skubals.  Maybe Matthews is our Skubal.  Jenkins and culpepper are our first rounders.  Keaschall is our 2nd rounder and there is still reason to believe in Lewis.

They are crazy deep in SPs now.  There is a very good probability they will not need to pay market prices for SPs for several years and with Correa gone the amount of dead money is very manageable and it's off the books in 3 years.  That opens up a lot of payroll.  They just need to get the next big FA right or better yet extend the right guys.

Is ready to "start next year" an appropriate measure.  We need to come to terms with the fact this is a rebuild.  What can they get done by the end of next season would be a more reasonable measure of success, IMO.  If they can assemble the personnel that can actually contend in two years that would be far better than most rebuilds.  What needs to happen to get there is the question.  There is a ton of pitching and OFs ready.  Culpepper and Debarge are not that far off.  It's not going to take years to reconstruct this roster but it's also not going to happen by the start of next year.  

You're arguing against something I didn't say. I replied that the farm system isn't considered top three. Agree? 

I posted that it is rated highly because of depth, I mean it's literally what fangraphs said in their review. They have a lot of prospects that night work. 

So I'm not sure your point?

[Musk21]

Not a lot of concrete evidence in this report. My guess is that the "source familiar with the matter" is in reference to LaVelle's appearance on the Dan Barreiro show a week or so ago (might have been the appearance on 7/25?), where he said something similar and that he anticipates a sale by the end of the year.

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

You're arguing against something I didn't say. I replied that the farm system isn't considered top three. Agree? 

I posted that it is rated highly because of depth, I mean it's literally what fangraphs said in their review. They have a lot of prospects that night work. 

So I'm not sure your point?

Two points and I am not sure either is an argument, just perspective.  One, you framed your post as which prospects will impact the Twins by the start of next year.  Is immediate impact the appropriate perspective in any form of rebuild?  Two, it can be very difficult to predict which prospects are impact players.  There was very little fanfare surrounding Arraez as an example and the most likely source of a premium prospect will be the trades of Lopez and Ryan so they are not on the radar yet.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Major League Ready said:

Two points and I am not sure either is an argument, just perspective.  One, you framed your post as which prospects will impact the Twins by the start of next year.  Is immediate impact the appropriate perspective in any form of rebuild?  Two, it can be very difficult to predict which prospects are impact players.  There was very little fanfare surrounding Arraez as an example and the most likely source of a premium prospect will be the trades of Lopez and Ryan so they are not on the radar yet.

Well, the FO said this isn't  a rebuild.....but neither of us believe that. Also again, I was replying to a post, and that was the context of my reply. Nothing more or less.

Let's be clear, though, most sites think the Twins have a lot of good prospects, but not many great ones. Since none of us are scouts, we kind of have to rely on those sites for perspective. Or not,, but that's what I do. 

Sure, everything could work! The Twins could fix Outman (hahahahaha) and Raj (who hasn't been good in the majors at all) and all of the LH OF that need to be on the 40 man somehow get playing time, and all the pitchers they traded for could reach their ceiling! (I keep seeing posts that say "if they trades work out perfectly, the Twins win the trades"....hawt takes!). But, the TWins haven't fixed any hitters under this FO. (I don't see you doing this, btw).

I do think they can build a bullpen over two years from this group. I have no idea if they have enough SP though, especially if this is a rebuild and they deal Ryan/Lopez. I have no confidence this FO can identify and develop hitters and defenders,. 

Of course it is difficult to predict prospects.......which is one reason I found it odd the Twins took most of the risk in these deals. I love they went for ceiling, though......so who knows? 

[bunsen82]

4 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.

Relief pitching is the question,  willing to spend money to either flip at the deadline or give enough talent for a run while we develop the rest of the bullpen.  

Ryan has value in a trade, by far our most valuable asset.  Ober and Lopez are both similarly valued, and that isn't high.  Higher expectations for Lopez but also higher salary.  Ober has minimal value unless the velocity increases is my guess.  You can get as much value by betting on them hoping they perform and you can get comp picks for them.  Otherwise they are not worth trading.  We will need some pitchers to eat innings.  You also need at least 1 veteran starting pitcher.  I really like Lopez in that role.   You are effectively paying 1 pitcher Lopez ($21) and Buck ($15 million) to be your leaders and bring professionalism to the clubhouse.   I think that is fair.  Hell, I would be tempted to sign Vazquez for 1 to 2 million to continue to be our backup catcher.  I could care less what he brings in the bat.  Continue to help us develop these young pitchers while we try to figure out the long term catching plan.  

Relievers is the one position where they are willing to take the highest contract. Arlodis Chapmen has shown willing to take the best contract.  Signing with both Pirates and Royals.  He has has a good year though, value might be too high.  Pagan has done well but I think that ship has sailed. Jensen might.  Helsley might and I could see Pressley coming back home and that could happen even still this season.   The thing is Falvey has never, ever, ever spent money on the relief corps.   

 

[TopGunn#22]

I will say again that I was on board with all of the Twins trades except TWO.  Off-loading Correa was good.  Re-deploy that money elsewhere.  I'm satisfied with the 2 players the Twins got from the Phillies but thought we should have gotten one more player.  I would have preferred adding Bader to Duran and maybe tossed a minor leaguer in to add a speedy OF like Crawford or included SWR and upgraded from Mick Abel (who looked VERY GOOD in his Saints debut) to a Painter & Tait deal.  Duran, SWR & Bader for Painter and Tait.  

But the 2 trades that ticked me off were Stewart for Outman...why not get something BETTER back from the Dodgers?  Ask for a couple arms you could have worked with?  They could have realistically asked for Dustin May and Bobby Miller.  And the Varland trade.  After acquiring Outman from L.A. and already having Wallner, Larnach, Jenkins and E-Rod we had no need for Alan Roden.  Varland needed to be kept as the closer for the remainder of this year and future years.  

I believe a sale will happen well before the baseball winter meetings in December.  That will allow new ownership the time to replace the Falvey regime with their own set of baseball people.  Those new people will determine how many of the current Twins employees will be kept.  They will keep the best of the best.

We will also see a new manager with a different philosophy and approach as well as a new coaching staff.  Maybe Maki is retained, but there will be new base coaches (so long Tommy Watkins) as well as a new hitting coach.  Let's hope and pray a new hitting coach can unlock some of the talent that's been floundering.

But I agree with tony&rodney and others that I don't think the Twins are done wheeling and dealing and the potential future new FO may already have some ideas.  They are now SP "Rich."  Ryan, Lopez, Ober, SWR, Festa, Zebby, Mick Able, Taj Bradley, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya, (maybe Morris and Adams).  To me, this is why Varland should have been kept.  He would have been a key piece in late innings no matter what other bullpen moves the Twins might make this off season.

There were 2 possible Joe Ryan trades mentioned by BBTV that should have or could, still happen:

Cubs get Joe Ryan 68.3 value.  Twins get SS Jefferson Rojas 17.9  LHP Ben Brown 18.5  OF Owen Cassie 17.6 (who is a LH hitter) OF Kevin Alcantara 10.8 (big power, RH hitter) and SP Jaxon Wiggins 9.8.  Total Value of 74.60.   This is good value for Ryan but would also put at least one of Wallner or Larnach on the trade block. 

Trade #2 for Joe Ryan is with the Red Sox (who are probably STILL interested in him).

Red Sox get Joe Ryan 68.3 value.   Twins get:  18 year old Frankin Arias SS  22.1   21 year old LH SP Payton Tolle 20.0   22 year old Brandon Clarke  SP  16.4   Connelly Early SP 13.3.  Total Value  71.80.

Once the off season hits, another possible Joe Ryan trade with the Red Sox could involve OF Jarren Duran with a value around 50-55 and 1B Tristan Cassas who missed almost all this season and will probably miss some time to begin next season due to a serious knee injury.  Cassas once had a value of 28.3 but that is easily half less if not more.  He's a spotty fielder with 30 HR power.  I'd offer a pitching prospect back to the Red Sox with sufficient value and insist they include the 21 year old LH SP Tolle.  

If you want to kick start the moribund Twins offense, give them a proven producer with speed at the top of the order like Duran and a 30 HR hitting 1B/DH like Cassas.  Ryan will be 30 years old next June.  Why not get a rotation replacement in the 21 LHP Tolle along with Taj Bradley and Mick Able already "in-house." 

While I like the prospects in both the Cubs and Red Sox trades above, I'd like to see the new Twins FO look for major league talent to rebuild the roster rather than prospects.  Anyway you look at this, where the Twins stand NOW after all these trades, at least one of Wallner or Larnach need to be traded this off season.

I'd rather keep Ryan and build around him as my Ace and I mentioned in an earlier post my willingness with the recent SP acquisitions and the young arms the Twins already have, that if I could rebuild some of Bailey Ober's trade value (which hasn't dropped as far as many seem to think, he just has to prove he's healthy) I'd love to offer Ober to the Red Sox straight up for Jarren Duran.  I'd really love to see a Duran/Keaschall top of the order next season.  

The Red Sox wouldn't part with Duran THIS year while they are in the running.  But once we hit the off season, when SP becomes even MORE important, I'd like to see what Ober could bring back while filling his #3 SP spot with Mick Able, Taj Bradley, David Festa or Zebby Matthews.  

 

[Chembry]

31 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I will say again that I was on board with all of the Twins trades except TWO.  Off-loading Correa was good.  Re-deploy that money elsewhere.  I'm satisfied with the 2 players the Twins got from the Phillies but thought we should have gotten one more player.  I would have preferred adding Bader to Duran and maybe tossed a minor leaguer in to add a speedy OF like Crawford or included SWR and upgraded from Mick Abel (who looked VERY GOOD in his Saints debut) to a Painter & Tait deal.  Duran, SWR & Bader for Painter and Tait.  

But the 2 trades that ticked me off were Stewart for Outman...why not get something BETTER back from the Dodgers?  Ask for a couple arms you could have worked with?  They could have realistically asked for Dustin May and Bobby Miller.  And the Varland trade.  After acquiring Outman from L.A. and already having Wallner, Larnach, Jenkins and E-Rod we had no need for Alan Roden.  Varland needed to be kept as the closer for the remainder of this year and future years.  

I believe a sale will happen well before the baseball winter meetings in December.  That will allow new ownership the time to replace the Falvey regime with their own set of baseball people.  Those new people will determine how many of the current Twins employees will be kept.  They will keep the best of the best.

We will also see a new manager with a different philosophy and approach as well as a new coaching staff.  Maybe Maki is retained, but there will be new base coaches (so long Tommy Watkins) as well as a new hitting coach.  Let's hope and pray a new hitting coach can unlock some of the talent that's been floundering.

But I agree with tony&rodney and others that I don't think the Twins are done wheeling and dealing and the potential future new FO may already have some ideas.  They are now SP "Rich."  Ryan, Lopez, Ober, SWR, Festa, Zebby, Mick Able, Taj Bradley, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya, (maybe Morris and Adams).  To me, this is why Varland should have been kept.  He would have been a key piece in late innings no matter what other bullpen moves the Twins might make this off season.

There were 2 possible Joe Ryan trades mentioned by BBTV that should have or could, still happen:

Cubs get Joe Ryan 68.3 value.  Twins get SS Jefferson Rojas 17.9  LHP Ben Brown 18.5  OF Owen Cassie 17.6 (who is a LH hitter) OF Kevin Alcantara 10.8 (big power, RH hitter) and SP Jaxon Wiggins 9.8.  Total Value of 74.60.   This is good value for Ryan but would also put at least one of Wallner or Larnach on the trade block. 

Trade #2 for Joe Ryan is with the Red Sox (who are probably STILL interested in him).

Red Sox get Joe Ryan 68.3 value.   Twins get:  18 year old Frankin Arias SS  22.1   21 year old LH SP Payton Tolle 20.0   22 year old Brandon Clarke  SP  16.4   Connelly Early SP 13.3.  Total Value  71.80.

Once the off season hits, another possible Joe Ryan trade with the Red Sox could involve OF Jarren Duran with a value around 50-55 and 1B Tristan Cassas who missed almost all this season and will probably miss some time to begin next season due to a serious knee injury.  Cassas once had a value of 28.3 but that is easily half less if not more.  He's a spotty fielder with 30 HR power.  I'd offer a pitching prospect back to the Red Sox with sufficient value and insist they include the 21 year old LH SP Tolle.  

If you want to kick start the moribund Twins offense, give them a proven producer with speed at the top of the order like Duran and a 30 HR hitting 1B/DH like Cassas.  Ryan will be 30 years old next June.  Why not get a rotation replacement in the 21 LHP Tolle along with Taj Bradley and Mick Able already "in-house." 

While I like the prospects in both the Cubs and Red Sox trades above, I'd like to see the new Twins FO look for major league talent to rebuild the roster rather than prospects.  Anyway you look at this, where the Twins stand NOW after all these trades, at least one of Wallner or Larnach need to be traded this off season.

I'd rather keep Ryan and build around him as my Ace and I mentioned in an earlier post my willingness with the recent SP acquisitions and the young arms the Twins already have, that if I could rebuild some of Bailey Ober's trade value (which hasn't dropped as far as many seem to think, he just has to prove he's healthy) I'd love to offer Ober to the Red Sox straight up for Jarren Duran.  I'd really love to see a Duran/Keaschall top of the order next season.  

The Red Sox wouldn't part with Duran THIS year while they are in the running.  But once we hit the off season, when SP becomes even MORE important, I'd like to see what Ober could bring back while filling his #3 SP spot with Mick Able, Taj Bradley, David Festa or Zebby Matthews.  

 

Most would agree where you are coming from on Outman.  We don't need another LH outfielder, but he is very good defensively and a backup option for Buxton.  Yes, we probably could have gotten May back in return, but he is purely a rental and an unrestricted FA at the end of the year.  Bobby Miller had a decent 2023, but an ERA of over 8 in 2024 (13 games) and over 12 this year (limited sample size at 2 games).  Not sure I would want either of those in place of Outman, unless we could extend Dustin May, which I am not sure we would with all the SP we have.  Personally, I would have liked to see if we could get River Ryan, but not sure that's possible since he is out the remainder of the year with TJ surgery.  He is their #9 prospect and started 4 games in 2024 with a 1-0 record posting a 1.33 ERA before injury.  He was sitting at 96-98 with his fastball topping out over 100 with a repertoire of plus secondary pitches.

I agree that Ryan may be on the block this winter, especially if Abel and Bradley come up and show promise.  I think most of us would agree that we would rather keep him and extend if we can.  However, it has since come out that the potential deal at the deadline centered around Duran or Abreu.  Those talks may heat up in the offseason.  If we can get Duran and Casas for Ryan, my thinking is we do it and run.  Duran is the type of player you want, so if we can get him, we should do everything in our power to do it.

[farmerguychris]

Here's my concern.  At the  all star game, this statement took place:

"I know some things that you don't know," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said during the All-Star break when asked about a potential Twins sale. "I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place.

To me, that's way too vague.  If the Pohlad's decided to simply infuse some cash into the business (to pay off debt?), they could sell 10% of the team to raise $170M and the "transaction consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place" will be a true statement. 

That would leave the Pohlads in charge of a business they clearly don't want, but can't sell for what they feel it is worth.  That to me would be the worst case scenario.

 

 

[Fatbat]

14 minutes ago, farmerguychris said:

Here's my concern.  At the  all star game, this statement took place:

"I know some things that you don't know," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said during the All-Star break when asked about a potential Twins sale. "I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place.

To me, that's way too vague.  If the Pohlad's decided to simply infuse some cash into the business (to pay off debt?), they could sell 10% of the team to raise $170M and the "transaction consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place" will be a true statement. 

That would leave the Pohlads in charge of a business they clearly don't want, but can't sell for what they feel it is worth.  That to me would be the worst case scenario.

 

 

Is that happening?  It sounds to me like the Twins will be sold for something around 1.7B depending on who takes control of debt. Will the debt be split? What kind of split….

[adjacent]

On 8/2/2025 at 4:05 PM, Whitey333 said:

Would someone tell Audra Martin to shut up once in a while?  Sick of listening to her bs and talking over the action on the field.  Does she think people turn on the game to listen to her babble?  It's also sickening how she and the announcers suck up to Buxton and Baldelli and Correa.  Correa was a bust in minnesota.  Why can't they admit that?

Have you been watching what happens in the field lately? Keep talking Audra, please

[srlarson]

On 8/2/2025 at 12:39 PM, Ghost of Kirby Puckett said:

That's a pretty hard argument to make, considering the Pohlads might be one of, if not the worst owners of a baseball team, ever. And besides, we already know what we get with that trash family. At least their is a possibility of normalcy with new owners. You shouldn't own a team if you're gonna run it like it's a gas station.

you must be young....remember Calvin????  Pohlads were seen as major step forward....they are selling to minimize capital gains....capture the Gains after the step up and limit capital gains tax.....