As MLB Free Agency Opens, Twins Make Flurry of Roster Moves

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

Laweryson getting cut was a head scratcher. 

Miranda making mental mistakes in the field was likely the culprit for his being cut. There is usually a belief you can fix the swing when the batter’s eye is good. That is why the took on Outman and Roden. They have had success in the minors 

Outman placed 3rd in ROY voting in ‘23 for the National League…….he played in 151 games at MLB level and had a 3.4WAR.

That’s why he was worth a flier  - trading Brock Stewart (mostly injured) who was a no-show for the Dodgers after he arrived there.

To me, the trade with Toronto was to get Rojas and Roden was a sweetener in the deal. Roden hit around .320 at AAA previously ……. DeShawn Kiersey hit .300 at AAA previously as well.

Miranda tied an MLB record for consecutive hits in mid-‘24 and the next season he couldn’t hit at all.

Success can be fleeting!! ….. ask Royce Lewis

[JD-TWINS]

The organization obviously has a number of guys they value more than Lawyerson that need to be protected on the 40-man. More to come on 40-man additions.

[sweetmusicviola16]

9 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Lawreyson didn't get "picked off" by being dropped to AAA.

He has 3 option years remaining (as noted in the OP).

If the Twins wanted him in AAA, all they had to do was keep him on the 40 man. He could spend another 3 years in AAA.

Immediately picked up. Twins don't need any BP help I guess. Had to make room for all of the big name RP's that we will sign this off season. 

[Nashvilletwin]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Please explain how the Twins mismanaged Jose Miranda. They moved him to 3B in order to give him an opportunity, and he showed real improvement defensively there. He couldn't stay healthy and completely fell apart at the plate. (It's notable that his decline started not long after getting beaned) That's on the Twins management?

It’s not Miranda per se; it’s essentially every position player brought up under Rocco.  There is always an explanation (i.e. excuse) for every individual player. We could go through all the names and come up with a reason to absolve Rocco et al for each and every one of them. Yada, yada, yada.  But there are a lot of them and, at some point, some sort of institutional deficiencies must be hypothesized.  

 

 

[TwinsDr2021]

So like a week ago there was an article on who the Twins should add to the 40 man. Currently there is 14 pitchers, I believe Morris, Prielipp, Rojas were agreed on that needed to be added, and Klein, Culpepper were also in the mix, if all of those are added that gives 19 pitchers, so room for one more. People they can't keep everybody.

Sure there is Topa, Ohl,  and Adams that could go, but still not a lot of room for pitchers.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I was a little surprised they let Lawyerson go, but probably shouldn’t be. He is pretty fungible and already 27. I think Thomas Hatch actually has some potential. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was resigned on some kind of minor league deal.

The next shoe to drop will be the interesting one, who do they add to the 40 men roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft? Pitchers tend to get drafted.  more than hitters, so I would expect some of the young pitchers that have to go on will take at least three or four of the open seven spots. Losing Prielipp, Rojas, Klein, Morris, and/or Culppeper would be organizational losses, so I expect at least some if not all of them to be added back on. That may explain why Laweryson was dropped; they had to make space for these guys coming up behind him and still leave a couple open 40 man spots for relief pitchers they’re going to sign in the off-season

[jmlease1]

3 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

It’s not Miranda per se; it’s essentially every position player brought up under Rocco.  There is always an explanation (i.e. excuse) for every individual player. We could go through all the names and come up with a reason to absolve Rocco et al for each and every one of them. Yada, yada, yada.  But there are a lot of them and, at some point, some sort of institutional deficiencies must be hypothesized.  

 

The toughest step for a pro player is the last one, right? At the end of the day it';s about the player not Rocco. Is it fair to say the Twins have not developed enough MLB talent from their position players over the past several seasons? Sure is, and it's the biggest reason why i was ready to move on from Falvey & Co this offseason. But there's very little on the ledger to say they actually screwed up with Miranda. he battled injuries and appears to have lost.

I don't blame the front office for Royce Lewis blowing out his knee multiple times or Pablo Lopez tearing a muscle or Joe Ryan doing the same. I do blame them for not drafting/developing enough talent. But Miranda doesn't look like an organizational failure: he took a while to develop in the minors, came on strong, made it to MLB (a success for a 2nd round pick) and showed real promise as a hitter in 2022, with defense that needed work. 2023 he was hurt. 2024 he came back and looked good at the plate and improved defensively, and fell apart down the stretch last season with everyone else, with his slide beginning not long after the beaning, which in retrospect seems significant. 2025 he was ineffective and then got hurt and then stunk after demotion. seems more about the player and his health to me.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Miranda was demonstrably frustrated in AAA last season. It was obvious with body language that he didn't want to be there anymore. Lousy attitude and lousy performance. The only surprise is he wasn't released earlier.

This is why I'd be surprised if he comes back on a minor league deal as some have suggested. I think he needs out of the Twins system for his own sake. He clearly has bat to ball skills so it's entirely possible he figures it out somewhere else (and fans freak out), but he was not happy in St Paul and the Twins don't need that kind of attitude there next year. I was also surprised they didn't release him earlier because of that.

[AKTwinsFan]

Why Lawyerson? Its not a surprise he was claimed quickly. We got a front office that is useless. 

[Mike Sixel]

The question is ... In a lost season, why were those relievers on the roster, and not someone with a possible future?

[DJL44]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The question is ... In a lost season, why were those relievers on the roster, and not someone with a possible future?

1) They're hoarding service time for anyone who might be good and didn't want to spend it on 2025.

2) They don't have a lot of relief pitcher prospects in the minors. Can you name someone who clearly seemed ready for the big leagues and was held down unfairly? I was willing to give Marco Raya a shot, but he wasn't doing particularly well in AAA. With nobody obvious to promote they decided to spend September auditioning waiver wire pitchers. Unsurprisingly, they didn't find anyone useful.

[ashbury]

The waiver process isn't an exact art.  Looks like the FO thought this was the time in the off-season to sneak someone through.  Among the list of players they did waive, Laweryson seems clear cut as one the Twins might regret (Miranda maybe but he's now in Outman territory as somebody else's fixer-upper).  

The waiver process isn't an exact art.  The loss of a middle reliever probably isn't a big deal in the great scheme of things, but still goes into the negative ledger - I continue to look in vain for any sign of something Falvey is especially good at.

It's 20/20 hindsight now, but with the 40-man being so depleted now, it would have made sense to wait until a roster spot was actually needed due to new acquisitions and prospects they need to protect from Rule 5, before placing Laweryson on waivers.  But the waiver process isn't an exact art. 

[BillyBallLives]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but in order for the Angels to get Cody Laweryson, only the White Sox stood in the way. He was claimed quickly, and that alone tells me this could have been a big mistake for the Twins.

[Mike Sixel]

11 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

1) They're hoarding service time for anyone who might be good and didn't want to spend it on 2025.

2) They don't have a lot of relief pitcher prospects in the minors. Can you name someone who clearly seemed ready for the big leagues and was held down unfairly? I was willing to give Marco Raya a shot, but he wasn't doing particularly well in AAA. With nobody obvious to promote they decided to spend September auditioning waiver wire pitchers. Unsurprisingly, they didn't find anyone useful.

Better not be hoarding time for RPs. 

[MGX]

I would have liked Laweryson to slip through so we could see more.

With that said he is a 27 year old reliever with all of 7 IP at the MLB level. In his 76 IP at AAA he had a WHIP north 1.4 & gave up 13 HR's. His numbers were a bit better at AA, but come on they can't keep everyone. I believe someone mentioned this earlier, relievers like him will be readily available throughout the off-season.

He may have some success with the Angels & that would be great for him, but it still won't change the fact that the Twins made the right decision at this point.

 

[Doctor Gast]

3 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Please explain how the Twins mismanaged Jose Miranda. They moved him to 3B in order to give him an opportunity, and he showed real improvement defensively there. He couldn't stay healthy and completely fell apart at the plate. (It's notable that his decline started not long after getting beaned) That's on the Twins management?

I have extensively stated my view on how the Twins have mismanaged Miranda. I get tired of continually explaining & some get tired of me doing so. So I've stopped.

When Keaschall hurt his arm in '24, they immediately played him at DH/1B & treatment. They slowly eased him at 2B & kept him away from 3B & OF. This is the right way to manage his arm problem. In '23, Miranda was given 3B. To get ready, he quickly overextended his arm & landed on the IL. He came back in '24, with the expectation of starting at DH/1B. While he played there, he did well. They quickly moved him back to 3B when not 100%, He had overcompensated for his arm, he hurt his back & landed on the IL for the rest of the season. Kiriloff mirrored Miranda's condition, but they placed him in the OF. In '25, Kiriloff didn't want to go through the difficult recovery process; he retired. Miranda dealt with it & struggled even before he got beaned.

In '19, Polanco struggled with bad ankles at SS & had off-season surgery. In '20, they continued to play him at SS & again suffered throughout the season with bad ankles & again had off-season surgery. Finally, in '21, they shifted him off SS & he had a career year. In '22, he injured his knee & they kept playing him for about 2 months until he could no longer take the field. This had totally screwed up his knee & his career. Most of Polanco's time with the Twins, he had played injured & hurt. 

When Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff were healthy, they were awesome. When they were playing hurt & injured, they struggled. It's the Twins' job to better manage all their players' health so the Twins can maximize their offense. Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff are lost because of it,

[sweetmusicviola16]

36 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I have extensively stated my view on how the Twins have mismanaged Miranda. I get tired of continually explaining & some get tired of me doing so. So I've stopped.

When Keaschall hurt his arm in '24, they immediately played him at DH/1B & treatment. They slowly eased him at 2B & kept him away from 3B & OF. This is the right way to manage his arm problem. In '23, Miranda was given 3B. To get ready, he quickly overextended his arm & landed on the IL. He came back in '24, with the expectation of starting at DH/1B. While he played there, he did well. They quickly moved him back to 3B when not 100%, He had overcompensated for his arm, he hurt his back & landed on the IL for the rest of the season. Kiriloff mirrored Miranda's condition, but they placed him in the OF. In '25, Kiriloff didn't want to go through the difficult recovery process; he retired. Miranda dealt with it & struggled even before he got beaned.

In '19, Polanco struggled with bad ankles at SS & had off-season surgery. In '20, they continued to play him at SS & again suffered throughout the season with bad ankles & again had off-season surgery. Finally, in '21, they shifted him off SS & he had a career year. In '22, he injured his knee & they kept playing him for about 2 months until he could no longer take the field. This had totally screwed up his knee & his career. Most of Polanco's time with the Twins, he had played injured & hurt. 

When Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff were healthy, they were awesome. When they were playing hurt & injured, they struggled. It's the Twins' job to better manage all their players' health so the Twins can maximize their offense. Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff are lost because of it,

Polanco was given away. Discarded. Good for him though as 2025 looks like he finally recovered. But we got another great prospect for him right? Sure. We also got another Falvey dream of an SP who got approximately 0.0 IP. When a team needs BP pieces as bad as this one does after Falvey's implosion of it in July you can't afford to throw away possible pieces. He had zero value of Varland either from what I can tell. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

imo Cody Lawyerson has value. The Angels must think so. Maybe he's easy to replace with another waiver pickup. Ok. But how have the waiver pickups from the past 3 month's fared? Awful is how. But we'll stick with a Gasper though. Why? Because someone is still dreaming that he can be this super utility player even though he's shown that he isn't. And Julien has proven that he can't field a position but he remains. And has proven that ML P's have adjusted to him and he can't make the needed adjustments. This is why my hope for this team has vanished. Once again we will see Gasper and Julien on the team while Eeles and Fedco remain on the outside. Fire Falvey. Until that happens this team will fail.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

When Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff were healthy, they were awesome. When they were playing hurt & injured, they struggled. It's the Twins' job to better manage all their players' health so the Twins can maximize their offense. Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff are lost because of it,

The Twins are one of the most paranoid teams in baseball about having someone play hurt. If someone gets a bad hangnail they'll go on the injured list.

[jmlease1]

39 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I have extensively stated my view on how the Twins have mismanaged Miranda. I get tired of continually explaining & some get tired of me doing so. So I've stopped.

When Keaschall hurt his arm in '24, they immediately played him at DH/1B & treatment. They slowly eased him at 2B & kept him away from 3B & OF. This is the right way to manage his arm problem. In '23, Miranda was given 3B. To get ready, he quickly overextended his arm & landed on the IL. He came back in '24, with the expectation of starting at DH/1B. While he played there, he did well. They quickly moved him back to 3B when not 100%, He had overcompensated for his arm, he hurt his back & landed on the IL for the rest of the season. Kiriloff mirrored Miranda's condition, but they placed him in the OF. In '25, Kiriloff didn't want to go through the difficult recovery process; he retired. Miranda dealt with it & struggled even before he got beaned.

In '19, Polanco struggled with bad ankles at SS & had off-season surgery. In '20, they continued to play him at SS & again suffered throughout the season with bad ankles & again had off-season surgery. Finally, in '21, they shifted him off SS & he had a career year. In '22, he injured his knee & they kept playing him for about 2 months until he could no longer take the field. This had totally screwed up his knee & his career. Most of Polanco's time with the Twins, he had played injured & hurt. 

When Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff were healthy, they were awesome. When they were playing hurt & injured, they struggled. It's the Twins' job to better manage all their players' health so the Twins can maximize their offense. Polanco, Miranda & Kiriloff are lost because of it,

This is flat-out ridiculous. You're blaming the Twins for Kirilloff's back problems? (BTW, would love to know the secret medical reports you apparently have that says that Kirilloff and Miranda had the same back injury, since there's been nothing published about it) The Polanco stuff is utterly irrelevant to Miranda, but I'm guessing you're accusing Seattle of mismanaging him as well, since in 2024 he didn't make it to 120 games and played poorly (for him). Your dates are also wrong on Polanco: he was pretty healthy in 2019, played a career high for games and had one of his best seasons as a pro, including making his one and only all-star appearance.

Keaschall and Miranda's injuries also were not the same, but more importantly the way Miranda played to start 2024 suggests he was ready resume his business at 3B

You're simply wrong about Miranda in 2024: he started the season with the Twins primarily playing 3B with some DH; he quite literally didn't play his 2nd game at 1B until JUNE. Miranda also did not miss the rest of the season in 2024; he was playing games in September. Miranda was also not struggling before he got beaned, he was in fact in the middle of one of the best stretches of his career: take a look at the game logs. He was awesome in June & July, which is part of why his finish to the season was so disappointing...but also why it's increasingly reasonable to look at that injury as being significantly damaging to Miranda's career.

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, Rufus said:

Let's see I remember the Twins had this guy a big prospect......his name was.......SANO.  He was a shortstop when signed, obviously got too big for that position, The Twins moved him to third base,  then to right field, then to third base, then to first base.  I never heard anyone or Sano complain that he was mishandled.   

It's a bit hard to take you seriously when you're comparing 16 year old Miguel Sano who was 6'3" and 185lbs at the time to 25+ year old Jose Miranda. Sano started 30 games between age 17-18 in the minors and never played there again as he bulked up and was no longer fit for the position. He went on to balloon to over 300lbs and Sano was moved as he grew out of each position he played. Jose Miranda was 24 for his debut and had already filled out. A poor runner with a weaker arm, (and the patented Twins coached rock hands) it was already established he was going to be stretched at 3B, but the Twins kept him there anyway when Miranda proved to be inadequate there.

I don't recall either player complaining about the position they were playing. Does a player have to publicly complain when they're being deployed improperly? Seems to me any player complaints about position generates about 100 threads of fan rage around these parts.

 

 

[chpettit19]

31 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

This is flat-out ridiculous. You're blaming the Twins for Kirilloff's back problems? (BTW, would love to know the secret medical reports you apparently have that says that Kirilloff and Miranda had the same back injury, since there's been nothing published about it) The Polanco stuff is utterly irrelevant to Miranda, but I'm guessing you're accusing Seattle of mismanaging him as well, since in 2024 he didn't make it to 120 games and played poorly (for him). Your dates are also wrong on Polanco: he was pretty healthy in 2019, played a career high for games and had one of his best seasons as a pro, including making his one and only all-star appearance.

Keaschall and Miranda's injuries also were not the same, but more importantly the way Miranda played to start 2024 suggests he was ready resume his business at 3B

You're simply wrong about Miranda in 2024: he started the season with the Twins primarily playing 3B with some DH; he quite literally didn't play his 2nd game at 1B until JUNE. Miranda also did not miss the rest of the season in 2024; he was playing games in September. Miranda was also not struggling before he got beaned, he was in fact in the middle of one of the best stretches of his career: take a look at the game logs. He was awesome in June & July, which is part of why his finish to the season was so disappointing...but also why it's increasingly reasonable to look at that injury as being significantly damaging to Miranda's career.

Alex Kirilloff had a chronic stress fracture and slipping vertebra. I will bet every dollar I have for the rest of my life that Jose Miranda didn't have that. For what it's worth, it was listed as a back sprain when he went on the IL. And, as someone who's had spine surgery because of similar chronic problems to Kirilloff, the idea that the Twins managed him into that problem is, as you state, flat-out ridiculous.

1B is not some miracle position that saves injuries. The stress on the lower body is not significantly different when playing 2B instead of SS (all the same actions are required). The Twins give their players far more rest days than the average MLB team. They sit players for all kinds of things that other teams wouldn't. They only play their catchers in a 50/50 split to avoid injuries and wearing down. The idea that the Twins have managed any player into an injury or reduction of performance is one of the most wild stances on this site.

They're pro athletes. There's no such thing as being 100% after about the 3rd game of the season.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

The Twins are one of the most paranoid teams in baseball about having someone play hurt. If someone gets a bad hangnail they'll go on the injured list.

They may be for some, That's not the point. I'm talking about Miranda, Kiriloff & Polanco, who they completely failed, damaged their careers & Twins chances for reaching their full potential.

[KirbyDome89]

5 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

This is why I'd be surprised if he comes back on a minor league deal as some have suggested. I think he needs out of the Twins system for his own sake. He clearly has bat to ball skills so it's entirely possible he figures it out somewhere else (and fans freak out), but he was not happy in St Paul and the Twins don't need that kind of attitude there next year. I was also surprised they didn't release him earlier because of that.

Concur on the bolded. I very much doubt he becomes anything of value elsewhere, the bat is just too streaky to compensate for the lack of defensive skill, but if he beats the odds and figures it out a la Rooker, I'd say fans should probably freak out a little. 

[KirbyDome89]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

1) They're hoarding service time for anyone who might be good and didn't want to spend it on 2025.

2) They don't have a lot of relief pitcher prospects in the minors. Can you name someone who clearly seemed ready for the big leagues and was held down unfairly? I was willing to give Marco Raya a shot, but he wasn't doing particularly well in AAA. With nobody obvious to promote they decided to spend September auditioning waiver wire pitchers. Unsurprisingly, they didn't find anyone useful.

Trying to hoard service time is how you end up with players in their mid to late 20s becoming 40 man casualties without actually getting a shot. 

Are RP prospects a real thing? That's only half rhetorical. Prielipp probably didn't need to be pitching in AAA during the 2nd half. They had Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Matthews, Abel, and Bradley for all of September.  

[chpettit19]

23 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Concur on the bolded. I very much doubt he becomes anything of value elsewhere, the bat is just too streaky to compensate for the lack of defensive skill, but if he beats the odds and figures it out a la Rooker, I'd say fans should probably freak out a little. 

I'm not sure what fans would have had them do differently. You can't count on him in the majors next year, even if it is a rebuilding year. He was bad in AAA. Like really, really bad. He's out of options so he either makes your team out of spring or you DFA him then and have him pout in AAA for another season. 

He got 1100 PAs with the Twins. He's one of the young guys I actually wouldn't complain about when it comes to the opportunity they gave him to take a spot and run with it (outside of not calling him up at the end of a lost 2021). Injuries crushed him a couple times, and it may very well be the ball to the head that ruined last year, too. But I don't know how you can carry him all offseason when he has no options left. So, I don't know what fans would have them do differently at this point. He had 2 seasons of nice performance overall, but quite streaky during them. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he can provide a league average bat for another squad. But, as you said, his lack of defense doesn't make that a great player to have around. He "figured it out" here in the sense that he had 2 seasons of roughly 15% above average performance with the bat. If he's suddenly putting up Rooker style 60% above average numbers he needs to be tested for PEDs. But him putting up 120ish numbers like Rooker last year wouldn't be him figuring out anything he didn't figure out here because he was already pretty darn close to that twice.

I just don't see anything with him to freak out about. Even a little. He got his shot every time he was healthy, is out of options, and was unplayable at AAA while pouting. Not sure what anyone would do differently if they're looking at things realistically as the FO making 40-man decisions right now. He had a 49 wRC+ in AAA last year. That's Vazquez level hitting in AAA instead of the majors. For a guy without options that's a death blow to your time with any team.

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, BillyBallLives said:

Correct me if I’m wrong

Don't blame Batman for showing up when you shine the Batsignal.  🙃

By my reading of MLB's explanation of waivers, teams in the same league no longer get first crack, it's just winning percentage across all 29 other teams.

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/outright-waivers

Your point is still well taken.  Not many teams turned down the chance to snare this prize.

[JADBP]

Actually I am a little disappointed that Miranda didn't pan out with the Twins...he showed promise.  I wish him luck elsewhere.

On the other hand, how is Julien still in on the 40-man team?  Do they think they can turn him around?  By his standards, he sucked in AAA.  3 HR all year.  Are they keeping him around just in case of a Keashall injury?  Don't they have Clemons for that?  Or do they plan on Clemons as a full time 1Bman?  I can't see them keeping Julien other than as a project and he could be taking up a valuable 40-man position soon.

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

This is flat-out ridiculous. You're blaming the Twins for Kirilloff's back problems? (BTW, would love to know the secret medical reports you apparently have that says that Kirilloff and Miranda had the same back injury, since there's been nothing published about it) The Polanco stuff is utterly irrelevant to Miranda, but I'm guessing you're accusing Seattle of mismanaging him as well, since in 2024 he didn't make it to 120 games and played poorly (for him). Your dates are also wrong on Polanco: he was pretty healthy in 2019, played a career high for games and had one of his best seasons as a pro, including making his one and only all-star appearance.

Keaschall and Miranda's injuries also were not the same, but more importantly the way Miranda played to start 2024 suggests he was ready resume his business at 3B

You're simply wrong about Miranda in 2024: he started the season with the Twins primarily playing 3B with some DH; he quite literally didn't play his 2nd game at 1B until JUNE. Miranda also did not miss the rest of the season in 2024; he was playing games in September. Miranda was also not struggling before he got beaned, he was in fact in the middle of one of the best stretches of his career: take a look at the game logs. He was awesome in June & July, which is part of why his finish to the season was so disappointing...but also why it's increasingly reasonable to look at that injury as being significantly damaging to Miranda's career.

I answered you in good faith (I didn't have to), only to be ridiculed. Arm injury is an arm injury. #1 thing is not to aggravate by overextending it. My understanding, though, is that players come back stronger from TJ surgery (Keaschall) than from shoulder surgery (Miranda), so Keaschall should come back sooner & stronger to be tested in the OF but he wasn't. 

To begin the "23/24 offseason Miranda was understood to be the starting 1Bman. But Baldelli was deadset against it. So he starting playing DH to start the season but quickly was plugged into 3B because of injuries there & needed others to DH, not because he was fit to go. He said his back started to hurt in May, that was when he started to slump & never recovered. He got beaned at the end of July, 2 1/2 months later. 

You are wrong about Polanco, he had an incredible 1st half but in the 2nd half he was complaining about his ankles, for Polanco to complain about a pain, that means it was really hurting, & his #s kept dipping (his 1st half #s well compensated for poorer 2 nd half). His large number games he played in '19 is a tribute to Polanco being able to play while playing under extreme pain. A healthy player don't have off season surgery for the fun of it, only to return & do the same surgery the following year. You can check that out not just by looking at his overall '19 #s. I said that his bad knees damaged his career which includes SEA not only MN.

Kiriloff didn't point to a time where he did something that he injured his back, it just came on him gradually & steadily got worse. I don't need to see the doctor report to know that if you overuse one part of your body to compesate for another that isn't 100%. You'll end up injuring the healthy part, I can speak by experience. Baldelli got mad at Kiriloff because he didn't communicate how bad it was. I am an amateur but I knew he was playing hurt in May, Why didn't anyone on the Twins know it? And confront him sternly? I felt the same with Miranda & Polanco. IMO, all this wouldn't happen if the Twins weren't so dogmatic about what they think that has to be done no matter what while putting some players in jeopardy unnecessarily. 

[RpR]

1 hour ago, JADBP said:

On the other hand, how is Julien still in on the 40-man team?  Do they think they can turn him around?  By his standards, he sucked in AAA.  3 HR all year.  Are they keeping him around just in case of a Keashall injury?  Don't they have Clemons for that?  Or do they plan on Clemons as a full time 1Bman?  I can't see them keeping Julien other than as a project and he could be taking up a valuable 40-man position soon.

Heaven forbid!