The Twins Have the Pieces for a Dominant Starting Rotation in 2027

[Patzky]

6 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

What's a potcher?

A pitcher who botches the fielding. Think 2024 Jax.

[TNtwins85]

9 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I prefer Lopez, Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, Matthews. With the acquisition of a couple AA pitchers in trades behind them, over Ober and Kremer putting up five ERA and being out of the playoff hunt by August because the pitching isn't good, but at least they have depth.... I'm interested in upside, not floors. 

They’ve gotta do something to trim the fat off this roster. I don’t know if you can get anything for guys like Larnach, Wallner, Roden, Martin, Kremer, Ober or if you simply non tender them. Other than Riley Quick, the minors are not producing the next guys up. Mostly due to injury but it doesn’t seem they’ve had the next guys up emerge this year like other years. The next wave needs to emerge and that might mean packaging some position players and pitchers to bring in some AAA/AA pitchers with some upside who can be the next wave. 

 

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

8 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

The negativity is truly something.....

One person's negativity is another persons realism.

Its the kind of the same old story it has been the last few years, could have the best bullpen, if Buxton stays healthy, Wallner is one of the best outfielders in the game, Lewis will finally get it, the Twins have Varland, Festa, Matthews, Lewis ready to go. 

IMO it could be a pretty darn good rotation (like 23 with Gray, Ryan, Lopez, Ober, Maeda), but I am not going to sign it praises before it happens, there are quite a few ifs involved. 

IMO they should bring back one of Kremer or Ober, not both, or neither and sign a free agent, and they should start the season with a 6 man rotation (which I have always hated) they have figure out why Ryan is hurt/bad or both in the second half), they likely need to ease Lopez and possibly Able back in, and that is a way to have Prielipp and Matthews in the rotation. 

Ryan, Brady, Lopez, Prielipp,  Matthews., Kremer/Ober.

Now if they can get good value for Ryan, I would trade him, now if they end up having to spend money to meet a floor there are a few free agent pitchers out there I wouldn't mind, Maybe Bieber, Woodruff, Ray, Gray type (olderish type that would take a shorter contract). 

 

[TNtwins85]

8 hours ago, DJL44 said:

He could be the best of the bunch

Agreed, he’s shown subtle strides this year between MLB/AAA. If he can take another step in spring training he could be up there with Bradley and Abel to anchor this rotation for years to come. He could be a shutdown reliever but if he takes the next step in his command and limiting walks he could be your best SP come May/June of next year as well. 

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

7 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

What's a potcher?

I think I saw that word in a Dez Limerick novel recently.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

The Twins have a VERY good bunch of arms slated for the starting rotation next season, with or without Joe Ryan, but I would hesitate to call it a dominant rotation. Cross your fingers in regards to injuries, but we ARE looking good going forward. As to whether or not there will be a 2027 season, that's another issue.

[JD-TWINS]

13 hours ago, PuckettPond said:

Zebby & Konnor will be starters opening day. Where's Ober?

Ober .. 113 innings .. 4.37 ERA … 7-4 …..1.7 WAR …….21 starts

Prielipp ..105 ins ...5.28 ERA …4-7 ….. -.2 WAR ……20 starts

Gotta pump the brakes on handing Prielipp a rotation spot when/if all guys are healthy. Possibly having him pitch twice per week in 2-3 inning stints from the PEN could bring more value to the Club & more effectiveness from Prielipp? Makes no sense to waste his innings in St. Paul.

Can’t imagine Ober & Kremer & Ryan are all on the Club, let alone in the Rotation to start the season …….somebody’s got to go.

Rojas is also another possible/probable depth guy for the Rotation going forward.

[TomboyStrength]

I’ve watched every game so far this year and I can only think of one where Taj truly gave me a “what the heck happened?” feeling. I don’t really look at stats other than ERA so I could be  “technically” wrong, but I personally consider him our ace and I’m very excited to see how he does in the future. 

[Craig Arko]

8 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

What's a potcher?

You eat it with fava beans and a good Chianti.

[MeleMouth]

10 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

What's a potcher?

Someone who smacks you on your tushy.

[jmlease1]

18 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

So, who do you suppose will be blamed when that doesn’t work out?

I assume it's still Rocco's fault...somehow.

There is real potential for the rotation in 2027, and there's also real injury risk. It's nigh-impossible to make your rotation injury-proof; the big advantage the teams like the Mets & Dodgers have is when a pitcher goes down they can buy themselves out of jail in a season or less. When Pablo went out for the season, it's pretty hard for a team like the twins to just go drop $20M+ on the best FA pitcher available or to throw out a bunch of prospects to rent a guy from another team.

Risk is simply part of the reality with starting pitching. What is likely the biggest problem for the Twins next season is having those depth spots if they lose 1-2 starters for more than a start or three. We went into 2026 thinking it was going to be Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Bradley, and SWR. But we also had Abel, Zebby, Prielipp, Rojas, and even Morris as options. (heck there were some people who thought Festa was going to be an option this year) So when Lopez couldn't get out of spring training, we had options. When SWR went sour, we had choices.  When Abel went down...uh-oh. When Bradley went down...

Lopez and Abel out for the season. Ryan missed significant time. SWR imploded. Ober has missed real time. Festa (unsurprisingly) never pitched. The depth got run over...and we don't have that same depth for 2027 in the minors.

The ceiling is high on the 2027 rotation. Big injuries take the floor out from under the team. I like a rotation of Lopez, Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, and Kremer quite a bit (assuming Ryan gets dealt; if not the rotation is even better). But where's the depth? Zebby's out of options, so he's not waiting in AAA to step in. Festa might get another option but also might never pitch again. Morris may have found a home in the bullpen. So now we're talking Rojas and not a lot else.

[IndianaTwin]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

I think I saw that word in a Dez Limerick novel recently.

There once was a guy called a potcher…

[Patzky]

16 hours ago, Historyking88 said:

Kremer and Ober both need to be gone next year. They need to trade Ryan for whatever top pitching prospect they can get for him. And there is no guarantee that Pablo will be ready to go next year. They need to trade for an upgrade in the rotation like Emerson Hancock. Their starting rotation, bullpen, and any of their pitching depth is nothing but uncertain going into next season. 

You want to gut three starters and discount the ace for the last three years. 

The Bullpen sale will pale in comparison..

[Patzky]

42 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

There once was a guy called a potcher…

If you pronounce it Pot-CHAY' I smell a limerick.

[jmlease1]

2 minutes ago, Patzky said:

You want to gut three starters and discount the ace for the last three years. 

The Bullpen sale will pale in comparison..

well, if that happens, it'll be really easy to complain about how bad the Twins are.

[mickster]

16 hours ago, Danchat said:

The conversation starts with do they tender Ober and/or Kremer... and of course whether they trade anybody. If nobody gets traded, do they pay up for those two when Zebby is better than them, Prieplipp and Abel have immense upside, etc? They need depth, but we also don't want to be in a situation where Ober/Kremer's maintaining a > 5.00 ERA and the young starters are ready to go at AAA but they won't cut the vet off because they've already sunk money into them. It's an intriguing situation with plenty of options.

tender both

[ToddlerHarmon]

16 hours ago, Danchat said:

The conversation starts with do they tender Ober and/or Kremer... and of course whether they trade anybody. If nobody gets traded, do they pay up for those two when Zebby is better than them, Prieplipp and Abel have immense upside, etc? They need depth, but we also don't want to be in a situation where Ober/Kremer's maintaining a > 5.00 ERA and the young starters are ready to go at AAA but they won't cut the vet off because they've already sunk money into them. It's an intriguing situation with plenty of options.

Same question with Larnach. A team with payroll room would extend Ryan, tender all of them, and not hesitate to absorb a sunk cost and bench the veterans if they struggle or are blocking someone.

We complain about injuries and post-hype prospects on here all the time, but the real problem is we can't afford to have any more than the barest depth, and so those issues sink seasons.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

A healthy and effective Pablo would be great. But how many pitchers come back from his kind of surgery pitching like he did beforehand? And this is his 2nd go around with it. Not many past examples of effectiveness and success under these circumstances. I love Pablo on the team. Great teammate and a great person.

I dont know if Festa can be counted on at all. He seems to be injured every year. Even when he was healthy, he wasnt very effective. 

Abel had 2 good starts in an otherwise underwhelming ML career to that point before injury ended his sseason. There is no guarantee he "figured it out". Could've been just a couple good starts. 

Ober is injury prone and his results haven't been good for a couple years. 

Kremer is what he is and likely doesnt make the rotation if any 5 of the other options are actually healthy. 

Zebby sure took a nice step forward in August, didnt he? He has shown flashes for a while now, but never really put a stretch like this together until now. Will it continue? 

Prielipp has potential, but the overall results aren't there yet. Its been an encouraging year from him coming back from his own injury history. Im looking for another step forward for him next season. I assume he'll be in the rotation. 

Ryan continued his 2nd half struggles. This time there was an injury potentially behind it. Obviously he's in the rotation next season. Does he have another gear or is he a nice #2 or high end #3 starter? 

Taj has taken a nice step forward this year. A few slip ups here and there. He is a nice #3 starter at this time. A bit more consistency is needed. Hes is also Obviously in the rotation next season. 

IMO, this team absolutely has 4 of the rotation spots covered. 2-5 can be filled and perform well. We need a true Ace that can be counted on 100%. We have a couple guys here with the potential for that, but its not 100%. I'd love to say Pablo will come back and be that guy again, but there are zero guarantees that will happen. I truly hope he can come back and be that Ace we need. 

If we dont sign or trade for any other starters, there are enough quality arms to make a formidable rotation. We can be competitive with these guys. 

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, ToddlerHarmon said:

Same question with Larnach. A team with payroll room would extend Ryan, tender all of them, and not hesitate to absorb a sunk cost and bench the veterans if they struggle or are blocking someone.

We complain about injuries and post-hype prospects on here all the time, but the real problem is we can't afford to have any more than the barest depth, and so those issues sink seasons.

You'd bring back the same team? Why?

[Major League Ready]

24 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

You'd bring back the same team? Why?

I heard that same basic theme a lot last year.  Didn't work out too well.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I heard that same basic theme a lot last year.  Didn't work out too well.

People are so afraid of lack of depth, they just won't move on. Despite proof this group isn't good enough. 

[Brandon]

At least we have options. Next year.

Ryan

Lopez (will he be ready in spring training)?

Bradley 

Abel

Kremer

Mathews

Preliepp

Rojas

Festa

And soon Quick 

And Ober (just in case we keep him)

That's 11 starters.  Hopefully that's enough to get us through the season.

[Major League Ready]

41 minutes ago, Brandon said:

At least we have options. Next year.

Ryan

Lopez (will he be ready in spring training)?

Bradley 

Abel

Kremer

Mathews

Preliepp

Rojas

Festa

And soon Quick 

And Ober (just in case we keep him)

That's 11 starters.  Hopefully that's enough to get us through the season.

Bradley / Matthews / Abel have to be there IMO because they offer something beyond 2027 and Matthews is earning it.  I doubt they could get anything for Lopez so he stays even if he is not ready on opening day.  I would trade Ryan if the return is an impact prospect but it's quite possible they managed turning what could have been Tolle / Arias into nothing of real consequence in which case they should keep him and see where things stand at the deadline.  

It they keep Ryan there are zero spots in the rotation to start the season.  So what do they do with Ober and Kramer in that situation?  Does one go to the BP and the other traded?  That leaves Prielipp, Rojas, and Parades in AAA.  Pretty fair depth I guess.  IDK what to think for Festa .  I have watched Quick quite a bit and he has not looked as good lately.  He is not part of 2027.  They should have targeted another AA/AAA arm for Jeffers.

[ToddlerHarmon]

8 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

You'd bring back the same team? Why?

No that isn't my point. I'm not trying to chase mediocrity. I'm saying that the Twins payroll forces non-baseball decisions to decide the roster. I'm not here to fight for Ober or Kremer. I'm saying that our 8 guys next year should be chosen on merit, and that letting someone walk because we can't afford to have that decision made on the field is unfortunate.