Why Minnesota Twins Should Go All In On Building Their Future Around Walker Jenkins

[tony&rodney]

After watching pretty much all of Walker Jenkins plate appearances since he reached AAA and after watching him at AA a ton, I feel confident saying the Twins have not had a prospect anywhere close to Jenkins since Joe Mauer in terms of overall skills. Walker controls the zone and routinely hits the ball hard. If there is one player the Twins should seek out to sign to an extension, it is Walker Jenkins. Use Chourio as a base, go 8/$80-90M and add two options years at $25-30M each. By the end of next year those numbers will no longer be in play.

[Brandon]

54 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I guess that wouldn't shock me, but I don't really understand why. The league isn't folding. There's still going to be baseball after 2027. They're still going to have to pay players after 2027. The CBA will account for any contracts that run longer than that for any rules that change drastically. I don't think there's any reason for them to avoid contracts beyond that season. The most likely outcome is that the league comes out with a CBA that's pretty similar or completely and utterly different (salary floor and cap). If it's completely and utterly different, then the CBA will adjust his contract accordingly. If it's pretty similar, then the savings will still be good to have.

Like I said, them having that thought process wouldn't shock me. But I don't know why it'd be their strategy.

Because more bad press creates more fan apathy. Meaning they lose more fans and fewer people go to games

[chpettit19]

39 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Because more bad press creates more fan apathy. Meaning they lose more fans and fewer people go to games

How does signing Walker Jenkins to an extension create bad press? Wouldn't it create the opposite? And having him at a discount means you don't have to lose him later. I don't follow the logic. And not signing anyone to a deal beyond 2027 is bad press.

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

After watching pretty much all of Walker Jenkins plate appearances since he reached AAA and after watching him at AA a ton, I feel confident saying the Twins have not had a prospect anywhere close to Jenkins since Joe Mauer in terms of overall skills. Walker controls the zone and routinely hits the ball hard. If there is one player the Twins should seek out to sign to an extension, it is Walker Jenkins. Use Chourio as a base, go 8/$80-90M and add two options years at $25-30M each. By the end of next year those numbers will no longer be in play.

It's something we should get done in 2026 spring training. If no extension is agreed to, the earliest he'll be on the team is the exact date when we gain an additional year of control. Late April/Early May?

[Brandon]

13 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

How does signing Walker Jenkins to an extension create bad press? Wouldn't it create the opposite? And having him at a discount means you don't have to lose him later. I don't follow the logic. And not signing anyone to a deal beyond 2027 is bad press.

The lockout affects fan attendance.  It did big time after the 1994 strike.  If there is a strike / lockout that lasts an entire season you lose a lot more fans.  The uncertainty will keep the Pohlads from committing too much to payroll until there is more certainty on that situation.  If there is no strike/ lockout then yes they will commit more.  I agree that it shouldn’t affect an extension for Jenkins except that payroll could shift downward league wide with an extended strike/ lockout.  And that could be a missed opportunity too.  
 

[Morland]

Yes, the Pohlads should sign Jenkins to a long-term contract. Will they? No. The Pohlads were so cheap that they dumped Dobnak on the Tigers, taking a lesser prospect in return, so that they could save $3 million. They aren't going to commit $80-100 million to a prospect, no matter how much baseball sense it makes. The commentator who said they might keep him in the minors until 2028 is probably closer to the truth. Anything to save a buck.

[twinfan]

On 9/2/2025 at 1:50 PM, chpettit19 said:

Then he's going to cost more. That's the risk. Once he establishes that he's a star he's priced out of the Twins payroll and he's gone in either 5 years when they trade him or 6 when he walks for a comp pick. (Under current CBA rules, which may change drastically in 2 years)

If you're good with that, cool. But waiting until you see how he does means waiting until he and his agent have more leverage. And his agent is really, really good without much leverage so once he has it the Twins are likely out of the Walker Jenkins business. They probably can't get him to sign an extension now because of how good his agent is at his job, but waiting until Walker is lighting up the majors is essentially closing the door on Walker Jenkins being the future face of the Twins because he's leaving in free agency or trade at that point.

So you give him $120 mil for 6 years and he never comes close to deserving that and you have no money for someone else? I know it's a crap shoot but I don't think we can afford that. And I wouldn't wait too long when he's up here. The Twins have an established pitcher in Ryan yet they only talk about trading him instead of extending him. I guess I should never own an MLB team (except in Strat-O-Matic).

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, twinfan said:

So you give him $120 mil for 6 years and he never comes close to deserving that and you have no money for someone else? I know it's a crap shoot but I don't think we can afford that. And I wouldn't wait too long when he's up here. The Twins have an established pitcher in Ryan yet they only talk about trading him instead of extending him. I guess I should never own an MLB team (except in Strat-O-Matic).

Who has said anything about 120 mil for 6 years? That's not a contract anybody has suggested. That'd be an awful contract to hand him. There's literally no reason to ever give a pre-debut player that deal. 

1. It buys out 0 years of free agency. So, what's the point?
2. It's like 80-90 mil more than the max he'd make in 6 years if you didn't extend him.

You give him 8 years and 60-80 mil. If the Twins can't survive 7.5-10 mil of bad money they've cut this payroll below what anyone is hoping for the next 8 years and that extra 7.5-10 isn't saving them anyways if Jenkins doesn't work out.

The Twins already control Ryan through his age 31 season. Extending him and Jenkins are very, very different things. It's going to cost you 25+ a year at a minimum to extend Ryan into his mid-30s. It's not even a comparable conversation.

[Mike Sixel]

41 minutes ago, twinfan said:

So you give him $120 mil for 6 years and he never comes close to deserving that and you have no money for someone else? I know it's a crap shoot but I don't think we can afford that. And I wouldn't wait too long when he's up here. The Twins have an established pitcher in Ryan yet they only talk about trading him instead of extending him. I guess I should never own an MLB team (except in Strat-O-Matic).

The Twins have never discussed trading Ryan. Fans have.