James Outman and the Death of Roster Building

[Cris E]

Stewart was traded for a lottery ticket named Outman. He can still come through this spring, but if he hasn't righted the ship and claimed a spot by Opening Day he's mostly AAA roster filler and they should leave him in St Paul or send him away. 

Larger picture 2026 is a year of seeing what they have, so I think a bunch of these 27 year old prospects need to move up or out in the next 12 weeks. I believe that's been implied pretty clearly, and the proof will be in the pudding, but culling the herd of placeholders has to happen as the top youngsters are reaching ripeness soon. 

Roster building looks sloppy when you're holding several spots for guys that are only a year away. They don't want to block the coming SS or OF kids even though what they have is not great and there's no guarantee of Culpepper or Jenkins or ERod or whoever being ready for Mpls this summer. Picking up faltering prospects like Outman is just like gathering pitchers to fix, a lottery game that teams like MN and MIL and Tampa Bay have to play. It may well be the case that he doesn't make the team and he is lost through waivers, but that's what a losing lottery ticket looks like. 

[rv78]

I fully believe that Falvey would have traded Larnach by now had a decent offer been made. Like all the AAA players the Twins are adding and subtracting, Larnach is in another class of redundant players just 1 step above those AAA players. He's one dimensional, and there are a boat load of players just like him, which makes his value easy to obtain anywhere. Falvey thinks he's special only because he's better than the AAA players he usually acquires.

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Left handed hitters facing right handed pitchers is a statistical platoon advantage that can be applied 72% of the time. It's a platoon advantage that is almost as prominent as the statistical platoon disadvantage of left handed hitters facing left handed pitching that occurs 28% of the time.

Every time you make roster decisions to address the 28%... you have to toss the 72% out the window. 

If anyone feels that we have too many left handed hitters. That is a problem that will help you 72% of the time. I repeat... it's a problem that will help you 72% of the time. Left handed hitters facing right handed pitchers produced a collective .747 OPS in 2025. Right handed hitters vs right handed pitching produced a .703 OPS in 2025. It will help you you 72%. It is the most productive configuration of all platoon splits and you have to toss it aside because we are scared of the minority 28% split. 

At some point... the constant worry over left handed hitters just becomes a form of OCD with no statistical support. 

If the Twins short side platoon Austin Martin. You can just cut Austin Martin now. He will have absolutely no future value to the Twins. 

Can I double like this somehow? Preach on, brother, you're right. Keep the best players and play the best players. 

[NYCTK]

5 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Maybe, but the Brewers fans in my life aren't happy with this trade. (and the starting pitcher market is never closed, right?)

Fans are often misguided. This was a great trade for the Brewers. Sproat isn't that special, a #3 in the rotation at best. But Jett Williams is the exact type of player that has turned the Brewers into perennial contenders, and the exact type of player that fans love to watch. 

Compare to the Sonny Gray trade and you see just how well the Brewers did on this trade. 

 

[Hubie29]

Outman makes Clemens look like Babe Ruth.  If you have to have James Outman on your opening day roster, not to mention about 5 others that will be, you might as well give up the farm. 

[Hubie29]

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

I think Larnach best serves the team by trading him for a young high upside relief pitcher. Then they take the 3.5 million they saved in the deal and sign another reliever. They've done basically nothing to rebuild our pathetic bullpen and until that's dealt with, we aren't competing anytime soon.

They just signed Rogers, so yes, they still haven't done anything to address the pathetic bullpen. 

[Pat]

My point is the redundancy of LH outfielders.  They already had a bunch of them and then at the trade deadline acquired even more. Why?  So now they are loading up with no hit utility infielders.  Strange way to construct a team and roster.

[DocBauer]

Falvey's ego gets in the way. He traded for Outman, so Outman must stay to get an opportunity to PROVE for a THIRD year he's not a bust. 

Meanwhile, Falvey traded a BETTER player for Roden...part of a package I know...as an additional LH OF who is younger and has more potential and is probably a BETTER player than Outman. 

So where does Falvey's Ego go? You send down the younger player with more upside than the player who's proved he isn't a ML player only because he has an option? So Roden sits at AAA to compete with Rodriguez, Jenkins, Gonzalez, and Rosario because despite HIGH career AAA and MILB production you want to give Outman a 4th chance to be a MLB player?

I mean, this is RIDICULOUS! Outman shouldn't be on the 40 man today. If he was DFA tomorrow and someone claimed him, what would be the harm to the Twins? They'd still have Rodriguez, Jenkins, Gonzalez, Fedko, and Rosario. PLUS 1B convert Mendez that I expect to also play at least a little OF here and there.

Meanwhile, I'd absolutely love for the FO to have made a minor deal for another Pedro Floriman, Punto kind of deal for a MILB utility player that has a chance to at least hit .200 vs at the ML level vs Kreidler.  Maybe Gray can be that guy. 

But I'm hoping and praying they add another quality RH RP and dump Larnach for roster flexibility and $ and will have enough payroll to grab Lowe as a 1B for 1yr ir 2yrs to stabilize the INF AND the lineup. 

While not tremendous, imagine a lineup where Bell is the DH, the very solid Lowe at 1B, Keaschall, Lee, Lewis, Wallner, Buxton, and a mix of Martin and Roden in LF and no block for Rodriguez, Jenkins, and Gonzalez. 

While the utility position is still a question mark, Clemens as a 5 position option doesn't exactly stink. And that may change mid season if K-Pepper is ready, but also, maybe Schobel is ready to contribute to some degree.

It all comes down to payroll. No Larnach, add 1 more solid RHRP, add Lowe...who should have been a primary addition and is still looking for a team/deal...the only real flaw is the backup SS/utility INF. Again, maybe that's Gray. MAYBE they just give Kreidler the 1st shot. 

But a $115-120M payroll allows these things to happen very easily. 

It's up to Tom to PROVE his go big or go home. And it's also up to Falvey to nudge the payroll as he's done in the past. 

The roster construction is not good right now. Removing Larnach, and adding 1 quality RP, plus adding Lowe, suddenly has the Twins with better defense at 1B, with a solid bat, and better defense in LF, and a quality DH with nobody blocking the AAA prospects on hand.

St Paul, position wise, will have Rodriguez, Jenkins, Gonzalez, Culpepper, and others on hand. So why deny their debut by keeping outcasts like Outman when Martin and Roden are not only younger and more talented,  but also about ready to push them out of the way?

WAKE UP Falvey and do your job right and let your damn ego go!