Can Free Agent-to-Be Alec Bohm Fit at First Base for the Twins?

[TNtwins85]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

There are no gaurentees with Bauers in regards to health or continued performance. That's the risk you take when you sign free agents or trade for players. It was one hell of a breakout this year so that's where I'd like the dice rolled.

I'm fine with Tinney or anyone who can hit the baseball hard. 

Hitters fall down the defensive spectrum and land at first base all the time.

That's why other teams are producing 1B because they manage to get first base mitts to guys who can hit the baseball. 

The Twins we just sign guys at 6 million for a year and we remain stuck in averageness. 

Exactly. Bauers metrics on savant paint him as a guy who doesn’t swing at bad pitches, when he does he doesn’t miss and he does all the little things you need from a high OBP hard hit rate metrics. He would provide another anchor in the lineup that they’ll need. As far as falling down the spectrum for a 1B yes, in a way. That decision needs to be made at A+/AA at the latest. Not at the major league level as has been the case for the last 10 years. Carson Tinney is not your catcher of the future. Stop playing him there. Just like Sano was never going to be an adequate 3B or RF guy. Just like Brooks Lee was never your SS. They need to stop this experiment of squeezing every drop of defensive versatility out of every guy. It leads to terrible defense and guys trying to keep their heads above water in the field and possibly leads to struggles at the plate. 

[JD-TWINS]

Gotta come up with thoughts for articles in the off-season…….understood. Bohm is a decent player offensively…….essentially 2026 Brooks Lee stats year in & year out.

As others have mentioned, keeping Lewis with the probability of a much higher ceiling is more prudent & gives Team every bit as much upside. Lewis might cost $5M with no strings & Bohm is probably middle teens in millions for 3 years. Don’t need that signing.

Do need to spend a bit to improve. Payroll was $106M, with $10M & $22M going to Correa & Lopez for zero help on the field. $$ left for guys that played this year was at a $74M pace, until deadline moves.

Guardian’s payroll was $75M - Tampa’s payroll was $98M - Brewer’s payroll was $144M……..IMO, Twins target should be $140M max for ‘27.

I’d push hard to sign Jeffers & then find a trade partner for Caratini (will have to pay $5M of $10M owed him under his contract) …… this saves $5M to apply to Jeffers……they already pay Jeffers around $6.5M so after Caratini is moved you have $11.5M from last year’s total to apply to Jeffers. With QO, or better yet, a 2 year deal for $37-$38M the Team needs to spend an additional $8-$10M …….. Bell is gone (that’s $7M) to apply to Jeffers.

If all else stays the same with Roster, I think they are around $110-$115M for ‘27, roughly. If they push to $140M it allows $20-$25M to spend on FA ……… this is after the typical raises via arbitration with many guys.

I’m pretty optimistic about the future, starting immediately in ‘27.

Lee at 3B from the jump helps winning% over ‘26. SAME with Culpepper & Jenkins. Re-signing Jeffers is maybe unlikely but it’s a good place to spend $$! I’m a proponent of Larnach for 1 more year, while platooning & essentially only acting as DH/pinch hitter. Might play a dozen games in the OF out of necessity? Keaschall & Buxton are the other side of the DH platoon.

Keaschall - Buxton - Jenkins from left to right gives them a very competitive OF offensively and at least average defensively. 

Festa - Abel - Banda - Sands …….if any two of those guys pitch well, that strengthens the staff a bunch. Matthews - Rojas - Ober - Prielipp can battle for the 5th starter spot & at least 2 should then go to the Pen to contribute - just like Morris did in ‘26.

1 or 2 FA arms in PEN and a possible effective RH bat for OF/1B (either) or 2B would be $$ well spent in FA Market!

Do NOT need Alex Bohm on the Roster!!

[Cris E]

24 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Hitters fall down the defensive spectrum and land at first base all the time.

That's why other teams are producing 1B because they manage to get first base mitts to guys who can hit the baseball. 

The Twins we just sign guys at 6 million for a year and we remain stuck in averageness. 

I give huge credit to Shelton this year for breaking away from this and actually moving guys to new positions.  For all the talk over the years about development and teaching and whatnot they almost never fully commit to a move.  How long did Martin keep farting around at 2B before the OF experiment became his home? Winokur should have been settled in a specific role by now. Is Rojas a starter or bullpen arm? Why can backup catchers figure out how to play 1B but not anyone else? 

In some other thread around here I just read a comment that more or less said "guys do better in all phases of their game at their natural positions, and not letting them settle in hurts development." (Or at least that's what I want to take from it right now.)  Part of building players is establishing their confidence, and putting them in a role and showing faith by sticking with them while they learn is a big part of that.  This org needs a better eye earlier in the process to place guys where they'll succeed and then let them grow. 

[MeleMouth]

21 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

If it's one guy... it's OK to assume that it could be that one guy with the problem. 

When a decade goes by and all the farm has produced is Keaschall and Jeffers and that's it. By produced I mean a player that other teams would want to acquire and willing to pay significantly for. Not strip mined specialists. 

At that point... I think It's OK to assume that it isn't each guy but the organization itself. 

What's the old saying... If you think everyone in the room is a jerk. You are probably the jerk. 

We need to develop or we die. 

Another old saying. . . the fish rots from the head.

I really hope the front office isn't sitting around thinking, "We got all these guys and gave them a bunch of chances, why do they keep letting us down?"

[cjm0926]

I would love the Twins to go the Michael Busch route at 1B, if the Cubs are willing at least. I think a Joe Ryan for Busch straight up trade is a possible framework. Both coming off somewhat "down" seasons, Busch fills the Twins need of a 1B for the next 3 years, whereas Ryan fills the Cubs even bigger need of Starting Pitching for at least one season. From there the Cubs can extend Ryan, which I would have a very hard time seeing the Twins do.

[JD-TWINS]

Gotta come up with thoughts for articles in the off-season…….understood. Bohm is a decent player offensively…….essentially 2026 Brooks Lee stats year in & year out.

As others have mentioned, keeping Lewis with the probability of a much higher ceiling is more prudent & gives Team every bit as much upside. Lewis might cost $5M with no strings & Bohm is probably middle teens in millions for 3 years. Don’t need that signing.

Do need to spend a bit to improve. Payroll was $106M, with $10M & $22M going to Correa & Lopez for zero help on the field. $$ left for guys that played this year was at a $74M pace, until deadline moves.

Guardian’s payroll was $75M - Tampa’s payroll was $98M - Brewer’s payroll was $144M……..IMO, Twins target should be $140M max for ‘27.

I’d push hard to sign Jeffers & then find a trade partner for Caratini (will have to pay $5M of $10M owed him under his contract) …… this saves $5M to apply to Jeffers……they already pay Jeffers around $6.5M so after Caratini is moved you have $11.5M from last year’s total to apply to Jeffers. With QO, or better yet, a 2 year deal for $37-$38M the Team needs to spend an additional $8-$10M …….. Bell is gone (that’s $7M) to apply to Jeffers.

If all else stays the same with Roster, I think they are around $110-$115M for ‘27, roughly. If they push to $140M it allows $20-$25M to spend on FA ……… this is after the typical raises via arbitration with many guys.

I’m pretty optimistic about the future, starting immediately in ‘27.

Lee at 3B from the jump helps winning% over ‘26. SAME with Culpepper & Jenkins. Re-signing Jeffers is maybe unlikely but it’s a good place to spend $$! I’m a proponent of Larnach for 1 more year, while platooning & essentially only acting as DH/pinch hitter. Might play a dozen games in the OF out of necessity? Keaschall & Buxton are the other side of the DH platoon.

Keaschall - Buxton - Jenkins from left to right gives them a very competitive OF offensively and at least average defensively. 

Festa - Abel - Banda - Sands …….if any two of those guys pitch well, that strengthens the staff a bunch. Matthews - Rojas - Ober - Prielipp can battle for the 5th starter spot & at least 2 should then go to the Pen to contribute - just like Morris did in ‘26.

1 or 2 FA arms in PEN and a possible effective RH bat for OF/1B (either) or 2B would be $$ well spent in FA Market!

Do NOT need Alex Bohm on the Roster!!

[Jeff K]

22 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Exactly what I was going to comment, though we'll probably do this now, right? Pick up Bells' option and add another medium/high floor guy with no ceiling to further the logjam.

Please no!  What a horrible thought!

[MeleMouth]

1 hour ago, cjm0926 said:

I would love the Twins to go the Michael Busch route at 1B, if the Cubs are willing at least. I think a Joe Ryan for Busch straight up trade is a possible framework. Both coming off somewhat "down" seasons, Busch fills the Twins need of a 1B for the next 3 years, whereas Ryan fills the Cubs even bigger need of Starting Pitching for at least one season. From there the Cubs can extend Ryan, which I would have a very hard time seeing the Twins do.

The Twins should not trade one of their best trade chips for a guy whose ceiling is 3 WAR, just had a bad year by underlying metrics, and is probably already on the downswing of his career.

[Over The Hill Again]

23 hours ago, Danchat said:

Seems like Bohm had a similar season to Josh Bell, high RBI count (88) and very streaky, and not as much power as you'd like. I wonder if the pro-RBI camp would be excited by a Bohm signing... but from what I've seen, people seem to dog on players with a below average RBI rate but don't necessarily value a high RBI rate.

This member of “the pro-RBI camp” says “no” to Bohm