Twins Acquire Utility Infielder Tristan Gray in Trade with Red Sox

[LastOnePicked]

This could be nuts, but I'm starting to wonder if Falvey is anticipating an MLB Expansion Draft in the next few years. The last draft in 1997 had these rules:

1) For the first round, 15 players from the rosters of their entire organization—both their 40-man roster, plus all minor league affiliates.

2) Each team could add three more players to its protected list after each round.

3) All players in an organization were eligible to be drafted, except those with no prior major league experience who had less than three years service if signed at age 19 or older, or had less than four years of service if signed at age 18 or younger.

4) Players who were free agents after the end of the 1997 season need not be protected.

It's the bolded provision that makes me wonder if Falvey is signing all these low-cost utility players to essentially block pathways to the big leagues for a number of Twins prospects, attempting to assure that they would not need to be protected in an upcoming expansion draft.

I just could not understand why the Twins were refusing to commit to a youth movement in 2026, but this could be why.

OR, this FO continues to be absolutely addicted to signing and trading for marginal veterans. That could just be the case, too.

[nicksaviking]

46 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I'm a pay closer attention to the Pirates this season, least they've somewhat tried to put together a better team for 2026. Besides I'm still a fan of them from 1979 and the We Are Family bunch. Sad how 30-40 years of bad ownership turned them into laughingstock. 

The Pirates aren't getting credit for one season of minimal to modest spending after thirty years of doing absolutely nothing. I'll move them up a peg if they do this for the next 5-10 years.

[Mahoning]

Is there still a AAA world series? If so, the Twins have a chance.

[Hubie29]

4 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

We have re-arranged the deck chairs slightly, but all in all I do like some of these marginal players we have been picking up for effectively scraps.   Wagaman could be starting 1st baseman,  Jackson could be  tandem catcher, Gray could be a decent utility player.   They are moving the needle and not much more, for depth end of the bench players or AAA players, its not something that I am really excited about or upset about.  I think you have gotten better marginal players across the board but we will see how it works out.  

I could fill in at 3rd too, but that doesn't make the team any better!

[CRF]

Looks like yet another genius move by Derek #1. 

[bunsen82]

19 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Right, but when you say bottom of the 40 man roster, for most teams that's like four or five spots, for the Twins it's a dozen.

And you don't improve the team by tinkering with these guys, you improve the team by removing these kinds of players for guys who can help the team.

Ummm,   thats not factually correct.   

For Pitchers - you have Adams, Ohl, Klein, Morris, Raya     -  All 5 of those show promise or value on the 40 man no different than any other team 

Hitters - is where we have the chaff - Pereda, Gray, Julien, Wagaman, Kriedler, Outman.   I see more value in Pereda and Wagamen.  The rest can be cut in my opinion.  

[bunsen82]

2 minutes ago, Hubie29 said:

I could fill in at 3rd too, but that doesn't make the team any better!

I think Wagaman can hit a ball better than you LOL

[Hubie29]

1 minute ago, bunsen82 said:

I think Wagaman can hit a ball better than you LOL

Ok, that changes my mind on everything. 

[nicksaviking]

1 minute ago, bunsen82 said:

Ummm,   thats not factually correct.   

For Pitchers - you have Adams, Ohl, Klein, Morris, Raya     -  All 5 of those show promise or value on the 40 man no different than any other team 

Hitters - is where we have the chaff - Pereda, Gray, Julien, Wagaman, Kriedler, Outman.   I see more value in Pereda and Wagamen.  The rest can be cut in my opinion.  

Offensively you have Outman, Wagaman, Kreidler, Julien, Clemens, Jackson, Pereda and now Gray. I know some would toss Larnach on that list but I won't. 

Adams, Orze, Raya and Topa on the pitching side. I'm not dumping Adams, Orze or Raya just for the hell of it, but I also wouldn't sweat removing them if something better came along. And obviously nine better sosmthings aren't coming along.

[mrtwinsfan]

3 hours ago, NYCTK said:

73.5 wins is the over/under for these Twins. And I think I'm taking the under. 

ITS A GIFT -   $$$$$$$$$$$

[rv78]

"It's a small move, but this deepens Minnesota's roster as they try to hold onto a competitive foothold in the wide-open AL Central."

 

This made me laugh and laugh and laugh. 

[rv78]

21 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Offensively you have Outman, Wagaman, Kreidler, Julien, Clemens, Jackson, Pereda and now Gray. I know some would toss Larnach on that list but I won't. 

Adams, Orze, Raya and Topa on the pitching side. I'm not dumping Adams, Orze or Raya just for the hell of it, but I also wouldn't sweat removing them if something better came along. And obviously nine better sosmthings aren't coming along.

Yes these players are offensive.

[Nashvilletwin]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

That's putting a lot of faith in the last 16 games of the season. It's boosted by going 4 for 9 in 3 games against a Texas team that was going through the motions. They can't platoon Julien and play him against teams that don't care for a whole season.

We’ve seen Julien produce and we’ve seen him fall off.  Hard to say what caused the fall off, but it might be worth seeing what he can do once he’s no longer under Rocco’s thumb.

But Julien (and his agent, btw) probably agree with you and most TDers - he would be much better off getting a fresh start with another organization.  He probably can’t wait to get released from this clown show the Twins have been with their young major leaguers over the past half decade or so.  He’s probably not the only one either.

[Riverbrian]

We are all going to feel real silly when Tristan Gray hits the game winning three run homer with two outs in the ninth in game 7 of the World Series knocking in Caratini and Bell. With Joe Ryan giving up 2 runs over 8 innings and Justin Topa shutting the door with the 3 K's in the ninth to close it up as the Pirates fans go home stunned.  

Shelton gets the last laugh.    

[Original_JB]

3 hours ago, Exiled in Illinois said:

I share the frustration of not addressing glaring needs at the MLB level, but I don't I don't get all the hand-wringing about moves like this.  Trying to improve at the margins is an improvement, trying to improve minor league rosters is improvement and always neccessary.  I imagine both clubs are trying to catch lightning in a bottle hoping to get some positive MLB contibution from their side of the trade.  I also imagine 90% the time neither club gets that.  We'll see, but why get worked up about it.    

 

Yeah, you've got to give the Twins credit for keeping us angry and not slipping into outright apathy.

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

 

I just could not understand why the Twins were refusing to commit to a youth movement in 2026, but this could be why.

 

I think you're reading too much into it. It's more so that the Twins youth just isn't that good (or ready) either. Baseball America released their top 100 today, and Jenkins is the only one in the top 55 prospects, sitting at #5 actually, proving once again he's the guy worth getting excited about. Meanwhile, Rodriguez is just under 60 and then Culpepper is I think 74, having also failed to make the MLB pipeline's top 10 SS prospects this morning. 

The Twins minor league system is not bursting with MLB ready talent. 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

This could be nuts, but I'm starting to wonder if Falvey is anticipating an MLB Expansion Draft in the next few years. The last draft in 1997 had these rules:

1) For the first round, 15 players from the rosters of their entire organization—both their 40-man roster, plus all minor league affiliates.

2) Each team could add three more players to its protected list after each round.

3) All players in an organization were eligible to be drafted, except those with no prior major league experience who had less than three years service if signed at age 19 or older, or had less than four years of service if signed at age 18 or younger.

4) Players who were free agents after the end of the 1997 season need not be protected.

It's the bolded provision that makes me wonder if Falvey is signing all these low-cost utility players to essentially block pathways to the big leagues for a number of Twins prospects, attempting to assure that they would not need to be protected in an upcoming expansion draft.

I just could not understand why the Twins were refusing to commit to a youth movement in 2026, but this could be why.

OR, this FO continues to be absolutely addicted to signing and trading for marginal veterans. That could just be the case, too.

If they expanded in 28, by the old rules the expansion teams could not draft minor league players who were signed in ‘25, ‘26, or 27 if they were older 19 when signed, if they were under 19 when signed, the no draft rule applies to those signed in 24.  

[old nurse]

So much angst over the bottom of the 40 man roster

[LA Vikes Fan]

13 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I think you're reading too much into it. It's more so that the Twins youth just isn't that good (or ready) either. Baseball America released their top 100 today, and Jenkins is the only one in the top 55 prospects, sitting at #5 actually, proving once again he's the guy worth getting excited about. Meanwhile, Rodriguez is just under 60 and then Culpepper is I think 74, having also failed to make the MLB pipeline's top 10 SS prospects this morning. 

The Twins minor league system is not bursting with MLB ready talent. 

Agreed. We don't have a bunch of MLB ready guys to throw out there other than Martin and maybe Roden. The plan is to augment the roster and see if you can compete in the first half of next in what is a truly mediocre division. That explains getting guys who have shown some talent but not enough production like Wagaman (.674 OPS in his ONE MLB season), Orze (3.74 ERA with 3 saves in 43 MLB innings, basically 1 season), Brujan (former top 100 prospect), etc. If something hits, you keep running. If not, you sell and now your prospects have another half season of experience before coming up and taking their lumps - it; most likely that none of them will prosper from Day 1..  

I know this isn't an exciting way to go but it does make some sense. We could go full youth movement, win 60ish games, and have 1.5m or less in attendance, and maaaaaybe be better set up for the 2027 season, if there is one. I prefer giving it a try for half a season before we do that. Reasonable minds may differ. .  

[nicksaviking]

10 minutes ago, old nurse said:

So much angst over the bottom of the 40 man roster

No, the anger is how large the bottom of the 40 man roster is. They need to stop bothering replacing Gaspar and Brujan and Fitzgerald with clones. What is the point, is Jeremy Zoll just bored? They need to start replacing them with guys who fit at the top of the roster. They should have cut the chaff months ago, but here we are, just recycling it.

[ashbury]

57 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

No, the anger is how large the bottom of the 40 man roster is. They need to stop bothering replacing Gaspar and Brujan and Fitzgerald with clones. What is the point, is Jeremy Zoll just bored? They need to start replacing them with guys who fit at the top of the roster. They should have cut the chaff months ago, but here we are, just recycling it.

In addition, I feel as if it's an opportunity cost issue, since it's clearly not directly a money issue.  Does Zoll's analytics team have nothing better to do than respond to weekly requests along the lines of "find me the best middle infielder you can at minimal prospect-capital cost."  Personally I'd rather they work on some promising angle on identifying the right 14-year olds in the Dominican.

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Love to see they're still goin big!

Every team makes these little moves here and there. In a vacuum this is nothing to really care much about. But this isn't a vacuum, and this team has made 0 moves to truly improve this team over the team that started opening day 2025. A season that went so poorly they set a record for the number of players they traded at the deadline.

I THINK YOU CHOSE THE KEY WORD   They are vacuuming up hitless, no-field utility players   

[Sjoski]

This move cements it! 

The Twins are destined to be the best AAA team in the Majors in 2026.

 

[GNess]

6 hours ago, amjgt said:

Would you prefer they NOT address the backup SS role?

I know I would prefer they addressed it a way more likely to produce positive results. This seems like being active just to be active. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

Yawn!!

[D.C Twins]

5 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

With Arcia and Brujan already on the roster, why even make this move? Brujan was just DFA’d to make room for Gray. Falvey keeps Julien on the roster, so I expect to see him get AB’s this year (since he was outstanding last season). Not sure why Fitzgerald was released, but after the Dodgers picked him up off waivers, they passed him through waivers and he’s been assigned to their AAA. They must like him as SS depth (I did too). A lot of noise for no apparent reason. 

I tend to trust the Dodger's assessments over ours... so......

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

So much angst over the bottom of the 40 man roster

I think the angst is more that they are wasting time and energy over the bottom of the 40 man roster while the top 24 is a hot mess. 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

In addition, I feel as if it's an opportunity cost issue, since it's clearly not directly a money issue.  Does Zoll's analytics team have nothing better to do than respond to weekly requests along the lines of "find me the best middle infielder you can at minimal prospect-capital cost."  Personally I'd rather they work on some promising angle on identifying 14-year olds in the Dominican.

They have a whole scouting staff for the Caribbean area. They have a whole analytic department over analyzing things. From the staff directory there are 40 people analyzing everything. 

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Agreed. We don't have a bunch of MLB ready guys to throw out there other than Martin and maybe Roden. The plan is to augment the roster and see if you can compete in the first half of next in what is a truly mediocre division. That explains getting guys who have shown some talent but not enough production like Wagaman (.674 OPS in his ONE MLB season), Orze (3.74 ERA with 3 saves in 43 MLB innings, basically 1 season), Brujan (former top 100 prospect), etc. If something hits, you keep running. If not, you sell and now your prospects have another half season of experience before coming up and taking their lumps - it; most likely that none of them will prosper from Day 1..  

I know this isn't an exciting way to go but it does make some sense. We could go full youth movement, win 60ish games, and have 1.5m or less in attendance, and maaaaaybe be better set up for the 2027 season, if there is one. I prefer giving it a try for half a season before we do that. Reasonable minds may differ. .  

I'm not sure how any of the offseason 'moves' to date have moved the needle one iota for 2026

[old nurse]

3 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

I think the angst is more that they are wasting time and energy over the bottom of the 40 man roster while the top 24 is a hot mess. 

As if it takes hours to make these decisions