Vidal, we hardly knew you....

[stringer bell]

After his DFA, Brujan was traded to the Mets for cash. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/twins-trade-vidal-brujan-to-mets.html

[Parfigliano]

Yea Mets or something.

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

After his DFA, Brujan was traded to the Mets for cash. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/twins-trade-vidal-brujan-to-mets.html

So it is possible to work on different parts of the roster at the same time when opportunities arise 

[nicksaviking]

So the Twins have to trade actual living breathing AA players with options for the DFA players they want, but when the Twins trade a guy they DFA they only get cash?

[old nurse]

7 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

So the Twins have to trade actual living breathing AA players with options for the DFA players they want, but when the Twins trade a guy they DFA they only get cash?

You can’t be serious

[sampleSizeOfOne]

10 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

So the Twins have to trade actual living breathing AA players with options for the DFA players they want, but when the Twins trade a guy they DFA they only get cash?

They don't exactly have to, but well... that's kind of how wanting works.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

You can’t be serious

Finally someone doesn't call me Shirley...

[ziggy]

2 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Finally someone doesn't call me Shirley...

But has anyone ever uttered the phrase "nice Beaver" in your presence?

[bunsen82]

10 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

So the Twins have to trade actual living breathing AA players with options for the DFA players they want, but when the Twins trade a guy they DFA they only get cash?

You do realize we just pulled Brujan off of waivers for just the 50k posting fee right?  We likely got 100k from the mets because they needed depth in AAA due to their recent trades.   The players we have traded for have more upside than Brujan.   Beyond that carry on.  

[Richie the Rally Goat]

9 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

You do realize we just pulled Brujan off of waivers for just the 50k posting fee right?  We likely got 100k from the mets because they needed depth in AAA due to their recent trades.   The players we have traded for have more upside than Brujan.   Beyond that carry on.  

I think he meant Mickey Gasper, who was traded for even though he was DFA fodder, then was DFA’d for Brujan and then Brujan was traded for the DFA posting fee

[nicksaviking]

3 hours ago, old nurse said:

You can’t be serious

Not really. 

But it would be nice to swap out the the bottom of the 40-man roster with players that aren't required to be on the 40-man roster.

Or you know, players that WOULDN'T be on the bottom of the 40-man.

[nicksaviking]

5 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

I think he meant Mickey Gasper, who was traded for even though he was DFA fodder, then was DFA’d for Brujan and then Brujan was traded for the DFA posting fee

I was talking about Gray and Wagaman. The Twins gave up players, not cash to get them. With Brujan, the Twins got cash, not a player. Brujan may be the worst of the three, but that's pretty relative since they're all AAAA players.

But yeah, Gasper last year too.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

I was talking about Gray and Wagaman. The Twins gave up players, not cash to get them. With Brujan, the Twins got cash, not a player. Brujan may be the worst of the three, but that's pretty relative since they're all AAAA players.

Half the team is quad-a types

[nicksaviking]

1 minute ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Half the team is quad-a types

Yeah, that's the most frustrating part of this organization right now.

[bunsen82]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

I was talking about Gray and Wagaman. The Twins gave up players, not cash to get them. With Brujan, the Twins got cash, not a player. Brujan may be the worst of the three, but that's pretty relative since they're all AAAA players.

I was just getting the Trades,  I thought for sure you were talking about Gray, Jackson, Wagaman and Orze.   So a player that no other team valued went through waivers we pick up for free, and you want to continue to die on the hill that we just got more back less than a week later seems bizarre.  No one else was trading a AA body for him a week ago but suddenly they will now.  🤔    

 

Just now, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Half the team is quad-a types

Most AAA depth pieces for teams on the 40 man is AAAA pieces.   Pereda, Gray, Julien, Wagaman, Kriedler, Outman, Roden, Jackson

Right now I see the bench being  Roden, Kriedler (utility), Caratini, Clemens

Roden and Wagaman both have upside,  more so than Gasper ever did in my opinion.  This team is not a ton of AAAA types.   Wagaman, Gray both have options which have more value than someone like Brujan.  They are depth pieces for AAA if we have an injury.   

Jackson is odd - as he has no options, has a decent contract,  but he is also a back end catcher option, so a desperate team will most likely be willing to trade for him if they run into injuries.   I don't see him passing through waivers.   

[sampleSizeOfOne]

43 minutes ago, ziggy said:

But has anyone ever uttered the phrase "nice Beaver" in your presence?

It didn't stick out if they did, but it seems more likely to have happened than one might expect, the ol' college mascot being nature's engineer.

[Fatbat]

We won’t miss him. The twins suck a little less today.

[ashbury]

I'm tired of all the negativity.  What was your favorite Vidal Bruján moment as a Twin?

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

I was just getting the Trades,  I thought for sure you were talking about Gray, Jackson, Wagaman and Orze.   So a player that no other team valued went through waivers we pick up for free, and you want to continue to die on the hill that we just got more back less than a week later seems bizarre.  No one else was trading a AA body for him a week ago but suddenly they will now.  🤔    

 

Most AAA depth pieces for teams on the 40 man is AAAA pieces.   Pereda, Gray, Julien, Wagaman, Kriedler, Outman, Roden, Jackson

Right now I see the bench being  Roden, Kriedler (utility), Caratini, Clemens

Roden and Wagaman both have upside,  more so than Gasper ever did in my opinion.  This team is not a ton of AAAA types.   Wagaman, Gray both have options which have more value than someone like Brujan.  They are depth pieces for AAA if we have an injury.   

Jackson is odd - as he has no options, has a decent contract,  but he is also a back end catcher option, so a desperate team will most likely be willing to trade for him if they run into injuries.   I don't see him passing through waivers.   

Pretty much most of the players on the bottom of the 40 man would be injury relief trade candidates. 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Not really. 

But it would be nice to swap out the the bottom of the 40-man roster with players that aren't required to be on the 40-man roster.

Or you know, players that WOULDN'T be on the bottom of the 40-man.

Organizational filler is easy to find. Cash, not so easy to find for a little extra 

[GCTF]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

I'm tired of all the negativity.  What was your favorite Vidal Bruján moment as a Twin?

Quite possibly the greatest major leaguer with the initials VB since Vida Blue

[bunsen82]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

Pretty much most of the players on the bottom of the 40 man would be injury relief trade candidates. 

No different than 80% of the other teams.  So when we have moderators on here stating the team is a bunch of AAAA players,  its offending to the players and its just not accurate.   Its a demeaning comment more to go after the front office and ownership.   I can guarantee no one would be going up to Wagaman and saying how does it feel to be Falveys new AAAA player.   1st off he is a AAA player most likely with the possibility to be a replacement if we have an injury or underperformance.  

[Linus]

53 minutes ago, GCTF said:

Quite possibly the greatest major leaguer with the initials VB since Vida Blue

I remember as a kid thinking Vida Blue is the coolest name ever. 

[stringer bell]

53 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

No different than 80% of the other teams.  So when we have moderators on here stating the team is a bunch of AAAA players,  its offending to the players and its just not accurate.   Its a demeaning comment more to go after the front office and ownership.   I can guarantee no one would be going up to Wagaman and saying how does it feel to be Falveys new AAAA player.   1st off he is a AAA player most likely with the possibility to be a replacement if we have an injury or underperformance.  

I agree with your sentiment, but I also understand the frustration of only going for low-wattage players. Every team, even the Yankees and Dodgers, adjusts the bottom of their 40-man roster (roster churn) and sometimes a player comes out of comings and goings (Willi Castro for example). The frustration is when trading for Mickey Gasper is the big move and even more to the point when signing Caratini, Rogers and Bell are the big free agents.

The Twins are counting on guys to produce who are unproven and overall that's a poor bet, but it can work out. It happens on occasion (Detroit and Baltimore in this decade) but more often fails. I think there's enough talent if all goes well for the Twins to contend, but I sure wouldn't bet on them.

[mac098]

I mean for the most part every team has their core of 20-30 players that are gonna be on the major league roster. As for the players 33-40 those are your replacement players in the event of slumps, injuries, or other activities that take place. So yes they are the fringe ML players and solid AAA players. 

 

Brent Rooker was our solid AAAA player as he wasn't a good enough player to break the lineup on a regular basis. Realistically we're looking at the same with Larnach and Martin. They're strong players, but haven't performed at a consistent basis to warrant them starting everyday. 

[bunsen82]

17 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I agree with your sentiment, but I also understand the frustration of only going for low-wattage players. Every team, even the Yankees and Dodgers, adjusts the bottom of their 40-man roster (roster churn) and sometimes a player comes out of comings and goings (Willi Castro for example). The frustration is when trading for Mickey Gasper is the big move and even more to the point when signing Caratini, Rogers and Bell are the big free agents.

The Twins are counting on guys to produce who are unproven and overall that's a poor bet, but it can work out. It happens on occasion (Detroit and Baltimore in this decade) but more often fails. I think there's enough talent if all goes well for the Twins to contend, but I sure wouldn't bet on them.

I understand but when the claim is 1/2 of our team is AAAA players,  and it wasn't just 1 statement or 1 moderator I am tempted to say,  ok go ahead and name them.   You calling Lewis, Lee, Martin, Larnach, Wallner SWR, AAAA players?   At most we will have 2-3 bench players and maybe 1-2 bullpen arms that we would be potentially in this category of players needing to prove themselves no different than a Castro or Clemens last year.   

Yes they are low wattage moves improving the bottom,  but they are also dismissing a solid signing in Rogers, and ignoring potential upside or usefulness in players like Jackson, Wagaman, Gray and Orze.  Maybe 1 or 2 fail,  maybe we find a really solid player like Castro.  You just don't know.    

Ultimately they are building a .500 team for what it appears.  Maybe going the middle route is what so many are upset about.  Personally this is the first year in 10 in my opinion where they haven't built a team that it appeared it could compete.   All in all thats pretty damn good for a Twins fan.   I think a majority of these fans are not remembering the doldrums of the late 90s or early 2010's.    We can have so much worse that what we have now.   Last years team wasn't a bottom 4 team,  but it became that way because they used it as a way to improve the assets of the team through trades and draft position.  

2023 I will agree they went all out,  and even 2022.  But every other year including 2019 they have taken the exact same approach as this year.   

2019- Cron, Schoop, Perez, Anibal Sanchez, Pineda -  Cruz was your big signing and then that pitching staff is rough.   They have Berrios, Odorizzi (trade palacios),  For the playoffs we were counting on kid name Dobnak who had been a Uber driver.   Bullpen was Rogers, May, and Duffey. 

[bean5302]

46 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

I understand but when the claim is 1/2 of our team is AAAA players,  and it wasn't just 1 statement or 1 moderator I am tempted to say,  ok go ahead and name them...

Depends on what a person considers AAAA. I think it would be reasonable to call any position player or starter who might be expected to generate under 1.0 WAR (depending on the version you like)  in a full season "AAAA"

On the expected 26 man it's fair to project 9 of them: Larnach, Lee, Lewis, Martin, Outman, Jackson, Clemens, Wallner, and Wagaman at that level since they've all demonstrated that level (or very close to it) of performance recently.

For the starting rotation, Bradley, Abel, Matthews, SWR, and Ober all fall into that category as well.

The bullpen is everybody under 0.5 WAR, I'd say. There's not a single member of the bullpen where it would be unreasonble to have a +/- on their 2026 season of "AAAA."

So regardless of whether your opinion is it'll be the Twins having to deal with a 26 way tie for American League MVP next year, forecasting the team as 1/2 AAAA seems like a reasonable opinion. 

[bunsen82]

9 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Depends on what a person considers AAAA. I think it would be reasonable to call any position player or starter who might be expected to generate under 1.0 WAR (depending on the version you like)  in a full season "AAAA"

On the expected 26 man it's fair to project 9 of them: Larnach, Lee, Lewis, Martin, Outman, Jackson, Clemens, Wallner, and Wagaman at that level since they've all demonstrated that level (or very close to it) of performance recently.

For the starting rotation, Bradley, Abel, Matthews, SWR, and Ober all fall into that category as well.

The bullpen is everybody under 0.5 WAR, I'd say. There's not a single member of the bullpen where it would be unreasonble to have a +/- on their 2026 season of "AAAA."

So regardless of whether your opinion is it'll be the Twins having to deal with a 26 way tie for American League MVP next year, forecasting the team as 1/2 AAAA seems like a reasonable opinion. 

The Yankees then only had 13 players with a WAR above 1.1.   Guess they have 50% AAAA players.  If thats the justification,  then what are we making a big deal about this then.    I thought by this point most of the fans would have gotten over the trade deadline.  Its clear they have not.  Better I just go on my way and cheer on my team like I have the last 40 years.   Looks like its going to be a lonely group.   

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

I agree with your sentiment, but I also understand the frustration of only going for low-wattage players. Every team, even the Yankees and Dodgers, adjusts the bottom of their 40-man roster (roster churn) and sometimes a player comes out of comings and goings (Willi Castro for example). The frustration is when trading for Mickey Gasper is the big move and even more to the point when signing Caratini, Rogers and Bell are the big free agents.

The Twins are counting on guys to produce who are unproven and overall that's a poor bet, but it can work out. It happens on occasion (Detroit and Baltimore in this decade) but more often fails. I think there's enough talent if all goes well for the Twins to contend, but I sure wouldn't bet on them.

Sorry that the Twins are what they are. It was pretty evident from the end of the season there wasn’t going to be a big splash. When Fanduel sports missed contract payments league wide would have tighter belts as eight more cash cows ended. The math for the “invest in the team” idea shows that it will not work

[old nurse]

15 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Depends on what a person considers AAAA. I think it would be reasonable to call any position player or starter who might be expected to generate under 1.0 WAR (depending on the version you like)  in a full season "AAAA"

On the expected 26 man it's fair to project 9 of them: Larnach, Lee, Lewis, Martin, Outman, Jackson, Clemens, Wallner, and Wagaman at that level since they've all demonstrated that level (or very close to it) of performance recently.

For the starting rotation, Bradley, Abel, Matthews, SWR, and Ober all fall into that category as well.

The bullpen is everybody under 0.5 WAR, I'd say. There's not a single member of the bullpen where it would be unreasonble to have a +/- on their 2026 season of "AAAA."

So regardless of whether your opinion is it'll be the Twins having to deal with a 26 way tie for American League MVP next year, forecasting the team as 1/2 AAAA seems like a reasonable opinion. 

The definition of. AAAA players used to be Sean Burroughs. That is extended failure at the MLB level while still being able to perform at a high level in AAA Now it is whatever suits your argument.