Roster Trimming

[Richie the Rally Goat]

5 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

I think they will be .500 or better depending if they rebuild a quality bullpen.  

The 2026 team if they rebuild a quality bullpen will be as good as or better than 2024 and 10 games or more better than 2025?

[DJL44]

On 9/28/2025 at 10:32 AM, stringer bell said:

Here is the current 40-man roster plus 60-day IL:

Here's what I would keep

Pitchers--Abel, Adams, Bradley, Festa, Funderburk, Laweryson, López, Matthews, Ober, Ohl, Raya, Ryan, Sands, Topa, Woods Richardson (15 pitchers).

Catchers--Jeffers, Pereda

Infielders--Clemens, Keaschall, Lee, Lewis

Outfielders--Buxton, Martin, Roden, Rodriguez, Wallner (11 position players)

Here's what they are likely to add:

Pitchers: Connor Prielipp, Andrew Morris, Kendry Rojas, CJ Culpepper (4)

Position players: Gabriel Gonzalez, Hendry Mendez, Kalai Rosario, Kyler Fedko (4)

There's 6 spots left for 

Schobel, Klein, Olivar, Cardenas, Hidalgo and any free agents they would want to sign

They will want to add a SS, C, 1B and a couple relievers in free agency. I think there's a spot for Fedko and Rosario, but that does give them 9 outfielders on the 40-man without adding Walker Jenkins (who will debut next season). That's why Larnach and Outman both need to go. 12 outfielders, 6 infielders and 2 catchers on a 40-man roster all of 2026 would be malpractice. 8/9/3 would be better.

At least one starting pitcher will get dealt. Ryan/Lopez/Woods Richardson/Ober/Bradley/Abel/Matthews is too many. I would try to find Bailey Ober a new team.

[Steve J]

I like Larnach as a role player.  Not sure that fits with a 5-6 million dollar salary.  Honestly, I think this team is about 20m from 'fixing' the offense towards something resembling league average, but I don't see Larnach soaking up at-bats at DH helping that at all.  

[bunsen82]

2 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

The 2026 team if they rebuild a quality bullpen will be as good as or better than 2024 and 10 games or more better than 2025?

Yes if they rebuild the bullpen and get a legit 1st baseman absolutely. Keaschall, Buxton, Jeffers, good 1st baseman gives a solid foundation.  Lewis, Wallner and Lee have wide variances. Gonzalez has hit at every level. If Lee struggles you have Culpepper to bring up.  The starting pitching has immense depth and high upside. As many things have gone wrong this year, sooner or later luck does change. 
 

Pereda, Martin, and Clemens is a much more dynamic bench than we have had.  Power option, speed option, and contact hitter depth catcher.  How many games did we lose because Vasquez, Fitzgerald, Julien, Gasper ect we’re getting at bats because we had no one else.  They were empty at bats.  You put a legitimate lineup out there every day things should change significantly, I am an optimist. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

26 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Yes if they rebuild the bullpen and get a legit 1st baseman absolutely. Keaschall, Buxton, Jeffers, good 1st baseman gives a solid foundation.  Lewis, Wallner and Lee have wide variances. Gonzalez has hit at every level. If Lee struggles you have Culpepper to bring up.  The starting pitching has immense depth and high upside. As many things have gone wrong this year, sooner or later luck does change. 
 

Pereda, Martin, and Clemens is a much more dynamic bench than we have had.  Power option, speed option, and contact hitter depth catcher.  How many games did we lose because Vasquez, Fitzgerald, Julien, Gasper ect we’re getting at bats because we had no one else.  They were empty at bats.  You put a legitimate lineup out there every day things should change significantly, I am an optimist. 

They lost Carlos Correa and Wili Castro. They had Martin all season and last year too, and they had Clemens since May. How is this lineup getting significantly better adding one first baseman essentially Smooth, after losing Castro and Correa? Below, the two year period ‘24, ‘25

[tony&rodney]

17 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Yes if they rebuild the bullpen and get a legit 1st baseman absolutely. Keaschall, Buxton, Jeffers, good 1st baseman gives a solid foundation.  Lewis, Wallner and Lee have wide variances. Gonzalez has hit at every level. If Lee struggles you have Culpepper to bring up.  The starting pitching has immense depth and high upside. As many things have gone wrong this year, sooner or later luck does change. 
 

Pereda, Martin, and Clemens is a much more dynamic bench than we have had.  Power option, speed option, and contact hitter depth catcher.  How many games did we lose because Vasquez, Fitzgerald, Julien, Gasper ect we’re getting at bats because we had no one else.  They were empty at bats.  You put a legitimate lineup out there every day things should change significantly, I am an optimist. 

Love the optimism but it is very fair to say that the Twins only have one regular, Byron Buxton. I'm pretty excited about the potential talent among the starting pitching staff even if Ryan is traded. The inexperience among the potential prospects (Jenkins, Gonzalez, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Fedko) is difficult to project. Expecting players you listed, other than Keaschall, to be key cogs in a .500 team is wishful thinking. Their defense and bats are not up to par.

All of that aside and pretending you can against all odds get position player performance, it is improbable to rebuild the bullpen. Remember that Duran and Jax had 4 years in the pen and Varland had significant MLB experience when he was shifted to the bullpen this year.  Stewart and Coulombe were also good and still the Twins didn't have the best bullpen by any means. It is possible to find arms to be good for a stretch but these guys had 60-70+ appearances. The Twins are unlikely to spend $30 plus million on relief pitchers. There will be a learning curve. 

To be clear I want the Twins to play exciting baseball and do well. The rebuild begun in July needs to be completed though.

[The Great Hambino]

This was a 110 loss team post-deadline.  They are not a decent bullpen (which apparently you can just rebuild on the fly by throwing a couple coins in a fountain - they're completely starting from scratch here) and a single position player away from contending.  Unless you're counting on winning a dozen coin flips in player development and assuming unproven starters can transition immediately to high-leverage bullpen roles without a transition period, contention in 2026 is a pipe dream.

And with all the Falvey word salad we've been forced to ingest over the last year, this passage:

"Those guys [López and Ryan] are part of it, right? So that's my vision, that's my hope. That's my expectation as we sit here. It still requires some ongoing conversations with ownership and what that looks like. And ultimately, my hope is that we could build around that group. That would be my hope.”

reads to me like Falvey providing cover for himself when they're inevitably sent off to the highest bidder.  "I wanted to keep them but I just didn't have the budget. It's not my fault!"

That combined with Rod and Todd Pohlad talking about "short-term pain" and "investing when the time is right" have me completely convinced that this is going to get worse before it gets better.

[bunsen82]

1 hour ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

They lost Carlos Correa and Wili Castro. They had Martin all season and last year too, and they had Clemens since May. How is this lineup getting significantly better adding one first baseman essentially Smooth, after losing Castro and Correa? Below, the two year period ‘24, ‘25

My personal opinion is Correa was a negative asset for the team.  I just  just don’t think he was a fit for this team.   You are getting better by having better contact hitters. You are getting better by removing empty  outs.  It’s counting on the  younger kids at least 1 or 2 to perform when called up,  Let’s be clear I said ,500. We need to sign a closer, a mid tier reliever and then possibly trade for a third piece. Add to Funderburk, Sands and Topa I think you have a functionable bullpen. Switch 1 starter to the bullpen and see what we have.  

[old nurse]

On 9/29/2025 at 2:21 PM, Riverbrian said:

Your sticking point is also my sticking point in reverse. If the Twins have pinch hitters on the roster next season... I'll lose my mind. You pour 13 players through the filter at all times... not 9. 

Martin playing 5 out of 6 is not going to hurt him. Outman playing 4 out of 6 or 3 out of 6 is not going to hurt him. Larnach playing 4 out of 6 is not going to hurt him. Wallner playing 5 out of 6 is not going to hurt him. 

The only outfielder that has EARNED 6 out 6 games playing time is Byron Buxton. The rest can compete with each other for playing time and I'm certainly not going to predict winners with up and down performance from year to year.

You pour 13 players through the filter not 9 because I'll guarantee you that not all 9 of your chosen 9 are going to make it through. Your odds of finding 9 major league talent level players improves by pouring 13 through instead of the bare minimum 9.

The front office has to stop pretending that they got this evaluation, forecasting thing nailed and therefore limiting the numbers going through the filter with focus on a select few.

It's way past time to let the players decide by performance.    

I've railed against the low value one year contract guys that won't be back the following year. He works out he's gone anyway. If he doesn't work out... he's gone anyway. That ain't Trevor yet. 

Plus... I'll admit that there is part of me that is reacting to the unfairness of the stupid approach they took with all of their left handers. I'd like to see that rectified to see what happens better late than never.  

 

 

The Twins poured 24 position players through the filter. By performance very few should be back. Considering the 900 AB by 9 position players who could not OPS .650. One could say Larnach is a valuable bat being league average considering the number of poor hitter. One could say given the large number of AB to poor performing players that being league average doesn’t mean much as most the low 9 might not see major league pitching again except in case of emergency 

[Riverbrian]

17 minutes ago, old nurse said:

The Twins poured 24 position players through the filter. By performance very few should be back. Considering the 900 AB by 9 position players who could not OPS .650. One could say Larnach is a valuable bat being league average considering the number of poor hitter. One could say given the large number of AB to poor performing players that being league average doesn’t mean much as most the low 9 might not see major league pitching again except in case of emergency 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before... in case I haven't. I enjoy your posts. You are one of the few who is consistently researched. 

Yep 24 players. 21 in 2024, 21 in 2023. 25 in 2022. 24 is a little on the high side but not far from a typical number for any given year or any given team. We sold at the deadline so some of that 24 will be trade inflated.

Cleveland ran through 21 players in 2025. 13 of those 21 were below .650. 14 players if you count Carlos Santana who was exactly at .650 and those 14 players produced over 3000 AB's. Cleveland would love Trevor. 

I would also say that... of those 24 players that the Twins ran through the filter... 7 never really made it into the filter... they bounced off the side of the filter and onto the floor.

Keirsay, Bride, Fitzgerald, Roden, Miranda, Pereda and McCusker never built a sensible sample at the MLB level or any kind of consistency.  Roden got hurt, the others were manager decision. 5 of those 7 players would be included in your 9.

I'd just toss Keirsay, Bride, Fitzgerald, Miranda, Pereda and McCusker overboard right now. No faith was displayed toward them at any point. O course... that could have been Rocco... He's gone now... Maybe somebody new would feel differently about those players. 

24 is a normal number and exactly why I'm insistent on pouring 13 players through the filter at all times and creating competition because searching for 9 will never be enough. Brooks Lee might be our everyday SS and people may think that SS is covered.

He won't be the SS for 162 games. Could end up being the SS for anywhere between 0 and 162 games. We will need someone besides Brooks who can play SS in 2026 and if Brooks is going to OPS below .700... he will also need competition. 

 

[bunsen82]

13 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

This was a 110 loss team post-deadline.  They are not a decent bullpen (which apparently you can just rebuild on the fly by throwing a couple coins in a fountain - they're completely starting from scratch here) and a single position player away from contending.  Unless you're counting on winning a dozen coin flips in player development and assuming unproven starters can transition immediately to high-leverage bullpen roles without a transition period, contention in 2026 is a pipe dream.

 

I am not looking for contention I am merely looking for a winning team.  After the deadline the goal was to lose games by not having a competent bullpen and running out crappy lineups with 2-3 players a night that were not MLB players.  They had 8 blown saves in 18 opportunities.   They took them out of the opportunity of winning games in probably another 6.    I am expecting better offensive production as well.  

We gave 750 non competitive at bats to the following players (Outman, Vazquez, Gasper, Kiersey, Julien, Miranda, Bride) with the majority coming after the trade deadline.   1 to 2 batters were guaranteed outs in the lineup every time through.  If you think we will have several players of that caliber in the lineup every day maybe your expectations are correct.  I truly believe the lineup will be significantly better than what we were putting out there at the end of the year.  

Bullpen can be rebuilt,  either by buying Free Agents and/or trading for some players.  If you had 1 high leverage are,  and 2 other decent bullpen options the bullpen is at minimum adequate.  I think most would agree as currently constituted our starting rotation should be a strength.  

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I don't know if I've mentioned this before... in case I haven't. I enjoy your posts. You are one of the few who is consistently researched. 

Yep 24 players. 21 in 2024, 21 in 2023. 25 in 2022. 24 is a little on the high side but not far from a typical number for any given year or any given team. We sold at the deadline so some of that 24 will be trade inflated.

Cleveland ran through 21 players in 2025. 13 of those 21 were below .650. 14 players if you count Carlos Santana who was exactly at .650 and those 14 players produced over 3000 AB's. Cleveland would love Trevor. 

I would also say that... of those 24 players that the Twins ran through the filter... 7 never really made it into the filter... they bounced off the side of the filter and onto the floor.

Keirsay, Bride, Fitzgerald, Roden, Miranda, Pereda and McCusker never built a sensible sample at the MLB level or any kind of consistency.  Roden got hurt, the others were manager decision. 5 of those 7 players would be included in your 9.

I'd just toss Keirsay, Bride, Fitzgerald, Miranda, Pereda and McCusker overboard right now. No faith was displayed toward them at any point. O course... that could have been Rocco... He's gone now... Maybe somebody new would feel differently about those players. 

24 is a normal number and exactly why I'm insistent on pouring 13 players through the filter at all times and creating competition because searching for 9 will never be enough. Brooks Lee might be our everyday SS and people may think that SS is covered.

He won't be the SS for 162 games. Could end up being the SS for anywhere between 0 and 162 games. We will need someone besides Brooks who can play SS in 2026 and if Brooks is going to OPS below .700... he will also need competition. 

 

Without research because I am not geeky enough to use all the fancy stuff on Savant, I have the following opinion on why these guys don’t get much of a chance. They can’t hit the outside edge breaking ball. Minor league pitchers can’t throw it consistently. Make mistakes and it gets whacked.  Fastball isn’t good enough either.  If they have a breaking ball and a fastball that are good enough the pitcher will be on their way to the majors.  The gizmos can help the team figure out the holes in the swing. That is why they don’t get as much of a shot.  They get it wrong upon occasion, Hellman, Rooker are 2 examples, but it probably holds fairly true.  

[nicksaviking]

On 9/30/2025 at 9:43 PM, bunsen82 said:

My personal opinion is Correa was a negative asset for the team.  I just  just don’t think he was a fit for this team.   You are getting better by having better contact hitters. You are getting better by removing empty  outs.  It’s counting on the  younger kids at least 1 or 2 to perform when called up,  Let’s be clear I said ,500. We need to sign a closer, a mid tier reliever and then possibly trade for a third piece. Add to Funderburk, Sands and Topa I think you have a functionable bullpen. Switch 1 starter to the bullpen and see what we have.  

The Twins wouldn't pay for a mid-tier reliever let alone a closer even when they WERE willing to spend money. Any tier reliever they sign this year will be of the bottom variaty.

But it doesn't matter, you can't buy a bullpen, you need to develop one through familiarity and then trial and error. There is next to no possible way this team can have a better than average bullpen prior to 2027.

[The Great Hambino]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

The Twins wouldn't pay for closer, let alone a mid-tier reliever even when they WERE willing to spend money. Any tier reliever they sign this year will be of the bottom variaty.

But it doesn't matter, you can't buy a bullpen, you need to develop one through familiarity and then trial and error. There is next to no possible way this team can have a better than average bullpen prior to 2027.

Agreed.  Spending top dollar on the bullpen - a position group that seems to be the least reliable year to year in the FA market - given all the other needs of this team would be an incredibly inefficient use of limited resources.  The bullpen that was nuked at the deadline took multiple years to build.  Duran didn't become a closer overnight.  Jax and Varland took a lot of trial and error before they settled in to what they became.  Thinking that Festa or Abel or Prielipp can show up and be reliable high leverage options immediately is nonsensical - and that's what it would take to have a competitive bullpen next year.  They are truly starting from scratch - Sands and Funderburk should be at best secondary options in a good bullpen, not the cornerstones they'll have to be.

I hope their precious little tank was worth the marginal improvement in odds in the biggest crapshoot in all of professional sports drafts, because it damaged the bullpen to the point that rebuilding it within the remaining time they have with Ryan and Lopez is a bit of a longshot, especially if significant time is missed in 2027.

And that's just the bullpen.  This tank provided nothing in the way of meaningful immediate help to the lineup, which is relying heavily on historically inconsistent players like Lee and Lewis and Wallner suddenly figuring it out and staying that way, as well as guys like Jenkins and Culpepper being reliable contributors while having nothing more than a cup of coffee at best past AA.  Expecting it all to click into place immediately, or at least early enough in the season to make a difference (games in April count in the standings just as much as games in August, after all), just isn't realistic.

[bunsen82]

8 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

The Twins wouldn't pay for closer, let alone a mid-tier reliever even when they WERE willing to spend money. Any tier reliever they sign this year will be of the bottom variaty.

But it doesn't matter, you can't buy a bullpen, you need to develop one through familiarity and then trial and error. There is next to no possible way this team can have a better than average bullpen prior to 2027.

Iglesias is 8 million, Maton is 7 million, Williams is 5.7 million.  

Mid to low tier - Coulombe 4 million, 

I think they may be willing to spend $10 to $12 million on a bullpen.   

Bullpen -  Williams (closer 5.7 million, if back is healed),  Sands, Traded reliever, Coulombe, Funderburk, Topa, Laweryson, converted starter.   

That is $10 million and using some prospect capital.  you have to realize that Falvey is feeling the hot seat.  He is not just going to put a subpar bullpen out there to tank a season that determines whether he will continue in his position or not.   Iglesias or Maton give you a higher floor with a little more money spent.   Falvey is in current preservation mode now,  but will be for next year as well.  My guess is he puts the best roster out there he possibly can.  

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

Agreed.  Spending top dollar on the bullpen - a position group that seems to be the least reliable year to year in the FA market - given all the other needs of this team would be an incredibly inefficient use of limited resources.  The bullpen that was nuked at the deadline took multiple years to build.  Duran didn't become a closer overnight.  Jax and Varland took a lot of trial and error before they settled in to what they became.  Thinking that Festa or Abel or Prielipp can show up and be reliable high leverage options immediately is nonsensical - and that's what it would take to have a competitive bullpen next year.  They are truly starting from scratch - Sands and Funderburk should be at best secondary options in a good bullpen, not the cornerstones they'll have to be.

I think they have to put Festa and Prielipp in the bullpen if they want to have a competitive bullpen in 2027. Even if they sign free agent relievers, they'll give them one-year contracts. Then we're back to scratch again in 2027.

40 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

But it doesn't matter, you can't buy a bullpen, you need to develop one through familiarity and then trial and error. There is next to no possible way this team can have a better than average bullpen prior to 2027.

They may not be able to move from bad to elite in a season without spending money on free agents, but I think they can move from bad to average. It's perfectly fine to have just an "average" bullpen next season. If they somehow overachieve and end up in the mix in the weak AL Central, they can add relievers at the deadline for not much. Average in the bullpen is a reachable goal for 2026 and a step toward competing in 2027. I would love to watch an 80-win Twins team in 2026 if it has a bunch of young talent getting better.

[Schmoeman5]

Watching Tigers vs Guardians. All this doomsday Twins suck gibberish. Tell me outside of Kwan and Ramirez, which Guardian starts for the Twins? And this is their weakest defensive team they've had in a while. Sure they'll have trouble manufacturing runs. But they did have enough to make the postseason. So how far are off are the Twins?

[mnfireman]

1 hour ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Watching Tigers vs Guardians. All this doomsday Twins suck gibberish. Tell me outside of Kwan and Ramirez, which Guardian starts for the Twins? And this is their weakest defensive team they've had in a while. Sure they'll have trouble manufacturing runs. But the did have enough to make the postseason. So how far are off are the Twins?

It is a lot like watching the Twins play, 4 hits yesterday, 2 hits today, failing with RISP and 0 or 1 out, miscues on the bases and in the field, etc... 

[Schmoeman5]

30 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

It is a lot like watching the Twins play, 4 hits yesterday, 2 hits today, failing with RISP and 0 or 1 out, miscues on the bases and in the field, etc... 

But they're in the postseason.  And yesterday they faced Skrewball. And I pointed all that out. Defense has been bad. Baserunning too. But they're in the postseason. Did I mention? They're in the postseason. And just like that, they punch across 5. Once you're in, anything can happen 

Edited October 1, 2025 by Schmoeman5
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[Riverbrian]

8 hours ago, old nurse said:

Without research because I am not geeky enough to use all the fancy stuff on Savant, I have the following opinion on why these guys don’t get much of a chance. They can’t hit the outside edge breaking ball. Minor league pitchers can’t throw it consistently. Make mistakes and it gets whacked.  Fastball isn’t good enough either.  If they have a breaking ball and a fastball that are good enough the pitcher will be on their way to the majors.  The gizmos can help the team figure out the holes in the swing. That is why they don’t get as much of a shot.  They get it wrong upon occasion, Hellman, Rooker are 2 examples, but it probably holds fairly true.  

You are fine without the fancy stuff. The deeper you dive into stats... the more it equalizes. Good stats with bad stats mix together. More data typically leads to more average. Of course... if you do run into that player with minimum bad stuff. There is no debate with those players. You don't have to look at the stats to know that Aaron Judge is pretty good. 

I think you are right. The Twins have access to data that tells them who is most likely to succeed and they use that data to provide and limit opportunity. It makes sense... but... the thing that I can never get past. They are wrong often... and I mean often. Not just the Twins... All teams. The information, is maybe 50% (making up a number) correct and they deploy it like it's 100%. 

And past data is always past. Development isn't linear. Coaches... have a reason to get up in the morning and report to work... to coach... to improve... to make better... that's why they are paid. Austin Martin doesn't have to be frozen in time at age 25 with no hope. Can't hit the curve ball on the outside corner. Let's face some and go over it. 

This is better than... you can't deal with the curve ball... OK... you sit here on the bench... I'll pour the cement over you and we will lock this problem in. 

[tony&rodney]

19 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Tell me outside of Kwan and Ramirez, which Guardian starts for the Twins?

This is a fan view that could make sense. However, one must accept that people will evaluate  players based on many different criteria. You asked a question and my answer is solely based on what I would choose given my experience. Instead of going position by position and not favoring a long post, I will just say that I favor Naylor and Hedges at catcher, Manzardo at 1B, Rochio at 2B, Ramirez at 3B, Arias at SS, Kwan in LF, and Valera in RF. I would choose Buxton for CF. 

Naturally, others will have their own thoughts. I'm picking the players between these two teams that give my pitchers the best shot at winning games.

[Riverbrian]

17 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Once you're in, anything can happen

Every single year this is proven true. 

Every single year... a superstar has a horrible post season and every single year someone that nobody expected rises up. Yesterday it was Bo Naylor with his .195 regular season batting average coming up big. Anthony Volpe has been leading the way for the Yankees so far and Giancarlo Stanton has been dragging the bottom. Trevor Story has led the Red Sox. Ben Rortvedt is the catcher for the Dodgers. He's 3 for 6 so far. 

Every single year a blooper falls in and every single year a screaming line drive is caught. Nothing ever goes as scripted. First team to 13 Wins wins it all. You can lose 9 games and still win it all. 13-9 will get it done.

During the regular season... 4 wins every 10 games will get the manager fired and 6 wins every 10 games will get you in the playoff door. The Margins are incredibly thin during the regular season... they become even thinner when you jam it into a small sample size of 3 game series, 5 game series or 7 game series. 22 games maximum sample size.   

Every single year anything can happen is witnessed by many (or not witnessed) and ignored immediately afterwards so they can return to talking about the building of a world series champion being the only thing that matters. If you want to build a world series champion... you got to get in first. 

There are 6 spots and 15 teams in the American League... every single year.    

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Nothing would surprise me in terms of roster turnover heading into next year. The Pohlad's aren't done trimming costs. Pablo, Ryan and Jeffers aren't long for Minnesota.

[MinnInPa]

On 9/28/2025 at 8:09 PM, Riverbrian said:

If they gave up Brock Stewart just to rent Outman for 2 months in a lost season... knowing he is out of options.  

That would be a little... umm... questionable. 

I gotta believe that Outman has a 40 and 26 man roster spot waiting for him. 

 

Outman does not belong in MLB...unless that team wants to remain watching playoffs every October

[Riverbrian]

6 minutes ago, MinnInPa said:

Outman does not belong in MLB...unless that team wants to remain watching playoffs every October

I've stopped predicting what players are or what they will be. 

Regardless... The Twins front office must feel differently because it makes no sense to acquire him knowing that he is out of options for a two month stretch of baseball in a lost season.

We can all discuss the value of Brock Stewart due to his injury history. The Twins certainly could have acquired someone that didn't require a 26 man spot or 40 man spot next year... or they had the option to keep Brock in uniform in 2026. We were going to need the bullpen help next year... Brock just might have helped.   

Unless they can trade Outman for something in the off-season... I got to imagine that he has a 26 man spot waiting for him. Otherwise there was no sense moving Brock at all. 

The Twins like him and are going to take a shot at fixing what has been ailing him. 

[Whitey333]

The first one to go should be Falvey.  He made this mess.  But we know hes not going anywhere.  I'd probably deal Larnach but I would keep him over Wallner.  There's much hate out there on Larnach for whatever reason.  But IMO hes better than Wallner.  Ive heard hints that payroll will be around 95 million.  They surely aren't going to increase payroll after dumping it.  Who other than a baldelli clone would Falvey hire?  Who wants this job but a rookie manager?

[Coach Wheels]

On 9/28/2025 at 8:19 PM, nicksaviking said:

I mean I get it. As a MLB player he’s been pretty unimpressive.

However the Twins largely don’t field MLB players so on this team, he’s basically elite.

I'm not DFA'ing Larnach but he's traded, Im not shocked.

Im keeping Outman.....for now and hoping he becomes the guy the Dodgers thought he could be 2 years ago. There's not one current bullpen guy that I'll miss and I'm including Sands in that discussion

[LA Vikes Fan]

On 9/28/2025 at 5:09 PM, Riverbrian said:

If they gave up Brock Stewart just to rent Outman for 2 months in a lost season... knowing he is out of options.  

That would be a little... umm... questionable. 

I gotta believe that Outman has a 40 and 26 man roster spot waiting for him. 

 

Talk about a lose/lose trade - Stewart lasted 3.2 innings in LA, went on the IL, and is now having off season shoulder debridement surgery. His 37.2 IP in 2025 is the most he's pitched since 2017. C'mon guys, we know Stewart - 25-30 innings and his arm falls off. I live in LA and the word here is that the Dodgers got fleeced because they're desperate for BP help and Outman can return to his 2023 form. Both fan bases are smoking crack IMHO. I'll bet neither one is on a 40-man roster come December and it wouldn't surprise me if both go back to their old teams. Hey, we traded a breaking down reliever for a guy trying to reclaim lost form. Didn't work. Worth a shot. 

[nicksaviking]

24 minutes ago, Coach Wheels said:

I'm not DFA'ing Larnach but he's traded, Im not shocked.

Im keeping Outman.....for now and hoping he becomes the guy the Dodgers thought he could be 2 years ago. There's not one current bullpen guy that I'll miss and I'm including Sands in that discussion

I'm sure they'll keep Outman simply because they just traded for him, but I'd get rid of him.  

I'm sure the Dodgers where happy he hit a bit a couple years ago, but I don't think the Dodgers ever thought he was going to be anything special. 181 strikeouts in his unexpected season had to have been a sign that it was never going to work out.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm with you with a couple exceptions. The Twins are desperate for BP help so I think they either pick up Topa's option or negotiate a contract with him for 2 years at a lower AAV. $2M is probably less than he's worth on the open market. I suspect that Vasquez may be back because of a lack of alternatives if he'll take the right number and I don't think that's such a bad thing. I also see Hatch and maybe Tonkin getting MiLB contracts with an invite to ST to try to make the team for the same reason.   

Larnach is the hard one. I think they'd like to trade him for a BP piece, but I don't think he gets that unless we attach a 10-20 prospect type. I also think he might sign a lower value deal than he'd get in arbitration if he can play 1B. Other than that, I think he's non-tendered and gone. He just isn't worth the roughly $4M he's predicted to get in arbitration.