Emmanuel Rodriguez's Time With the Twins May Be Coming to an End Before it Begins

[MMBoys93]

3 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

Roden has 230 plate appearances in the last two years, playing full time last year for a month for Toronto and has an OPS of .586.  He has had more of a chance than people want to give credit for, yes he could probably use more time.  But are you going to prioritize playing time for a 27 year old who didn't take advantage of his opportunity or younger prospects who have more potential upside.

The trade for Roden made no sense at the time and fair or not he needs to be organizational depth at this point.

He played full time for 25 games to kick off his career and 2025 and then has never gotten another legit opportunity.  Jenkins has already played 12 games, ready to give up on him soon too?

Metrics loved what Roden was doing this year with the Twins. 
 

He was on a WS runner up team filled with talent, then traded to a team with too many corner OFs. How is any of that his fault? Everything he does will translate to a good ball player. He’s had a .400 obp every year of his minor league career but he’s been on teams either stacked or too dumb to use his services.. 

[Seth Stohs]

Unfortunately, E-Rod never made himself an option for the Twins to call up. They certainly pushed him up to Triple-A quickly, and when he was on the field, he produced. They've played him all around the outfield when he is helpful. But when they've had a need for an outfielder, E-Rod hasn't been available. 

That said, I know he's out of options, but whether or not he got 15-20 games in the big leagues in September wouldn't alter how Jeremy Zoll or any front office would feel about his future in baseball. It wouldn't alter how other organizations feel about him. 

Yes, Ben Ross got called up, but he's barely played. Gonzalez was called up because he is right-handed, and now Martin is back. 

This offseason, they will and should take calls on him and see just what they might be able to get in return. That's true of everyone. 

But assuming they have a board in an office somewhere with their intended goal for a roster in 2028 and beyond, they already have made that decision on him. With the knowledge that any future transactions could shift that thinking.  

[JADBP]

19 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I don't think you can send him to AAA just because he has a contract, or every big market team would do that...

So the only options are:

Keep him in AAA until he’s 100% ready and you know he will stay

or bring him up and play him until:

injury

Send him down and expose him to waivers—probably losing him for nothing

stash him on the bench and train him at the big league level (like we have done with so many other players)

 

anything I missed?

 

 

[HarmonK03]

55 minutes ago, weitz41 said:

It was 180-degree change of direction from 2025 deadline to late 2026 offseason. Falvey quit/fired Jan 30th. Pitchers and catchers reported Feb 10th. If that doesn't say a change in direction what does? I believe you have been for the let the young guys play. I don't disagree. But also, think if Falvey was still running the show and Tom was a hands-off CEO. That would have happened with Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers Larnach, Martin and maybe even Buxton likely traded when they had real value. Now it way way too late. We have a roster loaded with outfield prospects and no way to play them all. No easy way to fix that but part with some less valuable (now) players.

2026 deadline is (IMO) based on Tom's we can be completive mantra...

“I think any structure can work with the right belief in it, with the right people, with the right people underneath, and the foundation,” Falvey said. “And I want to say this: I totally respect Tom's position that he would like it to look a little different in the other way. There are few teams that have it this way, there are a lot more teams that don't that have it spread apart. I totally respect that decision. It's a really hard job for sure to do both. I think with the right environment, the right structure around it, you can do both, but I respect the decision he has going forward and I'm sure they're going to have someone really good to take on this business.”

This was Falvey's quote in an article on MLB.com when he left.  He didn't want to give up Business Operations, which was naive on his part.

I understand why they made the decision at the trade deadline, it was strictly a business decision, but I also don't agree with it.  I am not sure Tom is hands on, other than from a business standpoint he was trying to build attendance.  This is why I want him to bring in a real baseball executive to put together a plan and help sell the plan to the fans.  I don't think Falvey understood that part of the job, you have to get the fans to buy in to what you are doing.

[HarmonK03]

33 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

He played full time for 25 games to kick off his career and 2025 and then has never gotten another legit opportunity.  Jenkins has already played 12 games, ready to give up on him soon too?

Metrics loved what Roden was doing this year with the Twins. 
 

He was on a WS runner up team filled with talent, then traded to a team with too many corner OFs. How is any of that his fault? Everything he does will translate to a good ball player. He’s had a .400 obp every year of his minor league career but he’s been on teams either stacked or too dumb to use his services.. 

I am not sure how stacked the Blue Jays outfield last year, Davis Schneider played the most games in LF, so if that is the bar you want to clear that is fine, I would like a higher bar.  

I honestly could care less about metrics, he looked tentative in the field, but did start having better at bats before being sent down.

Time is working against him right now to get a chance with the Twins, I am not in favor of playing him over the younger prospects right now.

[Dave Lemke]

On 9/10/2026 at 6:37 PM, StiltedGopher said:

I don’t understand what the organization is trying to do.  

They aren’t a contender now (in hindsight, they never were contenders with the holes in the roster, disregard for defense, and injuries.)  

So play for the future,  play your prospects and stop wasting MLB time on marginal players that will not be the future.  
 

 

They are a contender until eliminated. Granted probably soon. But you don't just give up. It appears the players are trying. What kind of players just give up?

[saviking]

On 9/10/2026 at 5:52 PM, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Here's an out of the box thought. 

He's the new first baseman.  He's plenty athletic to learn a position -- arguably a plus outfielder.  If his hitting profile plays, he has a lot of pop and could be the slugging first baseman we haven't had since Morneau.  Personally, I would rather squeeze out one of the other outfielders, but Erod is the guy who could probably pull it off -- and fix first base for five years.  YMMV.  Or maybe I've been drinking, but I like this idea more and more the more I think about it.  

How many firstbasemen are 5'11" ? I really don't know and I imagine Killebrew was probably about that height and played first base well. 

Just seems like taller firstbasemen could get to a lot more bad throws. But we really do need to solve the firstbase situation. 

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Unfortunately, E-Rod never made himself an option for the Twins to call up. They certainly pushed him up to Triple-A quickly, and when he was on the field, he produced. They've played him all around the outfield when he is helpful. But when they've had a need for an outfielder, E-Rod hasn't been available. 

That said, I know he's out of options, but whether or not he got 15-20 games in the big leagues in September wouldn't alter how Jeremy Zoll or any front office would feel about his future in baseball. It wouldn't alter how other organizations feel about him. 

Yes, Ben Ross got called up, but he's barely played. Gonzalez was called up because he is right-handed, and now Martin is back. 

This offseason, they will and should take calls on him and see just what they might be able to get in return. That's true of everyone. 

But assuming they have a board in an office somewhere with their intended goal for a roster in 2028 and beyond, they already have made that decision on him. With the knowledge that any future transactions could shift that thinking.  

While it's true Rodriguez has done himself absolutely no favors by recklessly using his thumbs as brakes, Brooks Lee played 38 games in AAA before the Twins before they called him up. Emma's played 108. Also, I disagree with the assertion the Twins didn't need a corner outfielder or center fielder.

The Twins desperately needed them, but they were unwilling to part way with outright bad veterans on $5MM-ish contracts. Year after year after year. The Twins needed production from their outfield they didn't get.

The Twins ranked 23rd in MLB in RF production this year. They got absolutely nothing from CF for the 100 games Buxton wasn't playing there.

Minnesota was below average in RF production last year as well.

There was a need. There was an opportunity for a front office willing to concede they made poor decisions, but this front office is too arrogant and doesn't understand roster construction on a budget well enough. That's why Falvey is gone and that's why I expect Zoll will be gone soon.

[LastOnePicked]

4 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Unfortunately, E-Rod never made himself an option for the Twins to call up.

Never "made himself an option"? Wasn't he injured? Are ERod's injuries personal shortcomings, but Buxton's aren't? I'm confused.

The talent is clear. It's not like this team is winning anything. Seems like the kind of player a team consistently in the bottom third/quartile of MLB teams might want a good long look at.

[Mike Sixel]

4 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Unfortunately, E-Rod never made himself an option for the Twins to call up. They certainly pushed him up to Triple-A quickly, and when he was on the field, he produced. They've played him all around the outfield when he is helpful. But when they've had a need for an outfielder, E-Rod hasn't been available. 

That said, I know he's out of options, but whether or not he got 15-20 games in the big leagues in September wouldn't alter how Jeremy Zoll or any front office would feel about his future in baseball. It wouldn't alter how other organizations feel about him. 

Yes, Ben Ross got called up, but he's barely played. Gonzalez was called up because he is right-handed, and now Martin is back. 

This offseason, they will and should take calls on him and see just what they might be able to get in return. That's true of everyone. 

But assuming they have a board in an office somewhere with their intended goal for a roster in 2028 and beyond, they already have made that decision on him. With the knowledge that any future transactions could shift that thinking.  

The next time you disagree with the twins will be the first. 

ERod made the team in the spring, but they kept Outman instead. 

[Linus]

8 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

Roden has 230 plate appearances in the last two years, playing full time last year for a month for Toronto and has an OPS of .586.  He has had more of a chance than people want to give credit for, yes he could probably use more time.  But are you going to prioritize playing time for a 27 year old who didn't take advantage of his opportunity or younger prospects who have more potential upside.

The trade for Roden made no sense at the time and fair or not he needs to be organizational depth at this point.

The trade for Roden doesn’t make much sense but 230 plate appearances is absolutely nothing. What to do about it - I don’t know but the jury is definitely still out on him. 

[TNtwins85]

21 hours ago, Brandon said:

The Twins are 2nd in the League in Runs Scored.  They are also 2nd in the league in most runs given up.  I don't 🤔 think offense was the problem this season.  I hope you can take a closer look at the overall team. 

Just because they’re 2nd in runs doesn’t tell the story of the offense. It’s a facade. In July/August during their playoff push they have continually lost games 2-1, 3-2. Constantly starting out the game behind or not being able to answer back. Early and middle of the year their batting with risp was unbelievable. They didn’t sustain that. I’ve watched almost every game and it tells the same story as the last 3-4 years. The hitters you should rely upon just aren’t getting it done. 

[Brandon]

On 9/11/2026 at 7:36 AM, Brandon said:

Bell is 5th in the league in RBI and Larnarch has had a good season.  I can't complain about those two on the roster.  ERod just needed more time to break back in and get in a rhythm after a long layoff from injury.  He should be up before the end of the season.  Be patient.

Hey it appears that I was right.  He was called up yesterday after the Twins lost again and are likely waiving the surrender flag and playing the future now.  

[nova_twins]

Pure ragebait slop to be honest. 

[Obsvr]