Matthew Lenz

That's a fan issue, not an FO issue. The Front Office is by no means perfect, but given the constraints they're working under they've done a very good job.

We could go back and forth and cherry pick names on both sides. The Twins have acquired PLENTY of relievers who have gone pear shape in the Falvine era. At the time of being released with the Twins, Jeff Hoffman was coming off a healthy, solid (albeit only 0.2 fWAR) season and was four years younger the youngest name in this article...seems a little apples and oranges to me. You only get 26 active roster spots so taking a chance on three guys who profile similarly is not the smartest of moves, IMO.

They have other arbitration and roster decisions to make where they could use more funds for a lefty

That's typically my motto too but we have to think about the roster and financial constraints. Right now the Twins only have two lefty relieves in their top two levels assuming Headrick is going to continue working out of the bullpen when he's with the Twins. They need a left-handed reliever and I don't know if they have to roster room or "cap space" to do it if they tender all three of these guys.

I don't totally disagree with this either. I like Stewart but could go either way on the other two

The Twins have arbitration decisions to make on three should-have-been key relievers who combined for just 34 ⅓ innings for them in 2024. Should the organization tender contracts to any of these three or let them walk to free agency? Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images (left), Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images (top right), Matt Blewett-Imagn Images (bottom right) MLB Trade Rumors projects Brock Stewart, Michael Tonkin, and Justin Topa to get $800,000, $1.5 million, and $1.3 million, respectively, via arbitration this winter. Stewart and Topa were limited in 2024 due to injuries, but each has a track record of being reliable relievers when they've been healthy. On the other hand, Tonkin provided a full season of work with the New York Mets and New York Yankees before finishing with the Twins. Each of the relievers took a different route to the Twins, as Topa was part of the return from the Jorge Polanco trade; Stewart signed as a free agent in the middle of the 2022 season; and Tonkin was poached off waivers from the Yankees. At relatively cheap costs, should the Twins tender any or all of these relievers? Let's look into both sides of the arguments. Why They Should Be Tendered At just $800,000, you can't find a cheaper player than what Stewart is projected to receive. While he wasn't productive in 15 ⅔ big-league innings in 2024, we have a larger (and healthier) body of work from 2023 that suggests he can still be a very good right-handed reliever. In 43 ⅓ innings, Stewart has pitched to a 2.28 ERA supported by a 2.78 FIP, with a 22.7 K-BB% and 86.3% strand rate, which is good for fifth in baseball among pitchers who have thrown 40 or more innings. There's nothing we can garner from Topa’s 2024 season, but if you wanted to try: he performed well in 2 ⅓ innings over three appearances at the end of the season. Topa was one of two major-league pieces acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade, and with the Mariners in 2023, he posted a 2.61 ERA, 3.15 FIP and 15.4 K-BB%. His low-90s sinker, which is his primary offering, was a plus pitch for him with a run value of 10 and sets up his sweeper. Entering the offseason fully healthy from a non-arm injury, I wouldn’t be surprised if he can bounce back to his 2023 self. Old friend Tonkin re-joined the Twins at the end of August, and quickly became one of their most reliable arms. While his 2024 stats aren’t anything to write home about, two straight seasons of roughly 80 quality innings are nothing to be scoffed at, either. His two primary offerings, a mid-90s four-seam fastball and sharp slider, induced a combined .215 and .321 opponent batting average and slugging percentage, respectively, and he generated a 78th-percentile chase rate between all his pitches. From a roster construction standpoint, the Twins need relievers, and each of these present cheap options to bridge the gap between the starters and the back end of the bullpen. They are each fly-ball pitchers which is something to consider, at least in the short term, given the number of question marks surrounding the defensive viability at each of the infield positions. Why They Shouldn’t Be Tendered Before getting into each reliever individually, be reminded that relievers are a very volatile group and it’s always hard to predict when, or how fast, the fall in production comes. Moreover, each of these relievers are entering their age-33 or older season, making the likelihood of regression even higher. And lastly, each of these relievers are right-handed, with traditional splits. Those alone are arguments as to why none of these fringe relievers should be tendered, before we even address their warts. Alright, with that out of the way…let’s look at each of these pitchers individually. Stewart is returning from arthroscopic shoulder surgery, meaning there is a very real chance that we’ve seen the last of a serviceable Stewart. In a small sample of work, he also allowed a lot of hard contact in the air with a .407 opponent slugging percentage. I’m less concerned about Topa’s injury, given that it’s to his lower body, but it can’t totally be ignored—especially considering he basically just missed all of 2024. For what it’s worth, Edwin Díaz returned from a patellar tendon injury this year and experienced a slight dip in performance from 2022. While these players are in completely different echelons, Topa can’t afford much of a decline in performance given his age and arbitration price point. Tonkin is the most expensive arm of this group and, similar to Stewart, he allowed a lot of hard contact in the air to the pull side. While most of his surface-level and peripheral stats suggest the last two seasons weren’t a fluke, ZiPS projection models don’t see him as a serviceable reliever in 2025 and beyond. What I Would Do I don’t think the Twins should keep all three relievers, given that they need to add another left-handed reliever to go alongside Kody Funderburk. And I don’t think any of these relievers are clear choices above the rest, so I am going to go with the two cheapest options, who also provide the most upside. Brock Stewart, whose shoulder should be mostly (if not fully) recovered by the time Spring Training rolls around, was very good for the 2023 Twins. Tendering him for less than a million dollars is a pretty low-risk, high reward move. The same line of reasoning can be used for Topa, but I also want to see some (hopefully) positive return from the Polanco trade and I’d think the Derek Falvey would feel the same way. That leaves Tonkin as the odd man out as I’d repurpose his $1.5 million for a lefty reliever. What do you think? Who, if anybody, from this group would you tender a contract to? View full article

It was a pretty quiet week in the Arizona Fall League, so after some brief highlights, we look into the outlook of Twins top prospect, Kala'i Rosario, who is eligible for next months rule 5 draft. View full video

Are you saying you want him traded?

Mr. 105 enters his first year of arbitration in 2025, after an up-and-down year as the Minnesota Twins' primary high-leverage option. With the self-imposed salary constraints looming over the head of Derek Falvey, he’ll have to think carefully about how to proceed. Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images Jhoan Durán came to the Twins via trade, from the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of the 2018 trade deadline. It was the deal that saw fan favorite Eduardo Escobar head to the desert. I’d be remiss not to include Escobar’s legendary “thank you, Minnesota” tweet here: Durán wasn’t the focal point of that deal, but more than six years later he’s the only part of the deal that has contributed to the big-league roster. Now, after three years as one of the more dominant pitchers in baseball, MLBTR projects the right-handed fireballer to make $3.7 million via arbitration. And if he continues on this trajectory, that number will assuredly more than double going into his final year of arbitration eligibility in the 2026-2027 offseason. For reference, Milwaukee Brewers’ closer Devin Williams is projected for $7.7 million this winter, despite missing two-thirds of the 2024 season. With that laid out, should the Twins tender Durán a contract or move on? Let's look into both sides of the argument. Why He Should Be Tendered Simply put: he’s one of the best relievers in baseball. Yes, he took some lumps in 2024, but ultimately ended the season with a solid 3.64 ERA, a very good 22.4% K-BB rate, and a 60.9% ground-ball rate. Of the 22 earned runs he gave up on the season, 15 of them occurred in five different outings; he had a whole lot of scoreless, even clean appearances. His lumps may seem more magnified, as two of them came in the home stretch of the season when seemingly the entire team was slumping. That said, he pitched to a 2.85 FIP, thanks in part to a curveball that allowed an opponent batting average of .151 and induced a whopping 46.7% whiff rate. When we look at this from a roster construction standpoint, there is an unquestioned need for quality bullpen arms to pair with Griffin Jax and Cole Sands. FanGraphs has his 2024 production worth $9.5 million, so the current price tag for a reliever of this caliber is an absolute steal and a no-brainer, even when considering the financial constraints the front office faces. If they do decide that $3.7 million is too rich for their blood, Durán would undoubtedly draw sizable interest on the trade market from any team on board with cheap production. Why He Shouldn’t Be Tendered Durán seemed to falter when it mattered most, with a 4.56 ERA in the second half of the season, and we’ve now seen his ERA increase for the second straight season after a sub-2.00 ERA in his rookie campaign. While ERA isn’t the best indicator, his FIP has also increased in each of the last two seasons, while his strikeout rate is going in the opposite direction. He’s also seen an overall increase in his opponents' batting average each year, but most concerning is the ineffectiveness of his fastball in 2024. Down more than one mile per hour from 2023, the heater had a run value of -3 in 2024, with an opponent batting average and slugging percentage of .296 and .408, respectively. From a roster perspective, relievers can be an extremely volatile group. It’s really rare for relievers to produce at an elite level for as long as someone like Emmanuel Clase has, and it’s nearly impossible to predict when the fall-off comes. While I don’t expect Durán to turn into a pumpkin and become completely unserviceable, there are signs suggesting that he may already be on the decline as one of baseball’s most dominant relievers. What I Would Do Tender him. The Twins would be absolutely nuts not to. They’d be slightly less nuts to tender him and trade him away, but at least they’d be recouping some value out of the dominant reliever. With three more years of team control via arbitration and currently in a competitive window with more top prospects coming, the Twins need to hold on to one of the best high-leverage arms in baseball. While his blowups are fresh in our minds, we can’t let ourselves suffer from recency bias and think the righty is cooked. Relievers are volatile by nature, but at only 26 years old, hopefully, Durán has many more years of dominance left in his tank. What do you think? Should Durán be tendered and kept, tendered and traded, or non-tendered? View full article

Alex Kirilloff was once one of the top prospects in all of baseball, but after a confounding 2024 season, he now finds himself as a possible budget- and roster-crunch casualty. Here's the case for and against keeping the former highly touted prospect. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Alex Kirilloff was the 15th overall selection in the 2016 MLB Draft, out of Plum High School in Pennsylvania. He reached the majors in 2020, becoming the third player ever to make his big-league debut in the postseason when he played right field in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. He went 1-for-4 in the game, and his future looked bright heading into the 2021 season. Since then, his career has been up and down, marred by various injuries that have really limited his availability. He's yet to exceed 88 games in any single season. Now, MLB Trade Rumors (MLBTR) projects him to get $1.8 million in his second of four possible arbitration years, meaning he still has three years of team control including the 2025 season. Should the Twins tender him a contract, or move on from the former top prospect? Let's look into both sides of the argument. Why He Should Be Tendered Despite a self-imposed salary ceiling and long-term uncertainty surrounding their television broadcasts, $1.8 million is fairly negligible for the Twins. Moreover, given his prospect pedigree, if he was tendered a contract and they later decided to move on, I think he'd draw some interest from other clubs, making him a movable asset. Heck, even Miguel Sanó got some run in 2024, despite his track record—although his power potential is a little different than that of Kirilloff. But if we focus on the Twins’ needs, they are expected to lose Carlos Santana in free agency. Internally, José Miranda is the only other player on the active roster with first base experience and Yunior Severino is the only other possibility currently on the 40-man roster. One way or another, I don't expect the Twins to enter 2025 with Miranda as their full-time first basemen, especially considering his considerable struggles against left-handed pitching throughout his career. Looking closer at Kirilloff’s production, he's shown signs of being a good hitter when healthy and will only be 27 when Opening Day arrives. He's tried to play through injuries so often that it's hard to know when he has and hasn't been at or near 100%, but in his limited action, he has eight months of above-average production, based on his wRC+. Overall, he's been a league-average hitter, slashing .248/.309/.412 with 27 home runs, 116 RBIs, 92 runs, and below-average walk and strikeout rates. Typically, guys with draft and prospect pedigree like Kirilloff's are given a bit of a longer leash to prove they can stick in the Majors. Like it or not, the organization is invested in Kirilloff, so signs of an unexplored upside are taken more seriously from him than from lesser prospects or young players. Why He Shouldn’t Be Tendered I’m really concerned with his wrist, and more generally with his ability to stay on the field. He has not unable to finish three of the four seasons he's played, and has averaged under 63 games per season. Moreover, there was something… funny?… about his 2024 season, where he was optioned to Triple-A, never made an appearance after belatedly reporting an injury, and then was placed on the 10-day IL five days later—where he stayed for more than two months. Upon his return to the Saints lineup, he immediately got injured and didn't play for the rest of the season. When we look at it from a roster construction standpoint, he doesn't fit well with Miranda in a platoon role, as both hitters have struggled significantly against left-handed pitching throughout their careers. Moreover, Alex Kirilloff has graded out to be an average defensive first baseman and a complete liability in the outfield. In other words, his greatest contributions are going to come at the plate where he's been slightly below average when available. Overall, we’re currently looking at a subpar first basemen who is expected to get a million-dollar raise in 2025. What I Would Do Disclaimer: I was a huge believer in Kirilloff and a super collector of his prospect and rookie cards. That said, prior to writing this article and digging into Kirilloff, I had made two (incorrect) assumptions: He’s a very poor defender. His wrist injuries have sapped his power output. Neither of these things are true. Since his wrist injury, he's held a roughly average .153 ISO and really shined in 2023, as he was on pace for roughly 20 home runs, 82 RBIs, and a career-high .445 SLG—good for a wRC+ of 119. And, as highlighted above, he actually grades out to have an average glove in the field, with a 0.3 UZR/150 over his career. Thus, I think the Twins have to tender him given his prospect pedigree and production when he's been healthy. Am I worried about the wrist and checkered medical chart? Yes. But he’s still a young player with three years of team control left, and in the grand scheme of things, a $1.8-million payday isn't going to be the reason the Twins aren't able to bolster their bullpen or add elsewhere. They have players who are projected to make a similar amount of money or more who I think are more reasonable non-tender candidates. I'm not opposed to moving on from him via trade, but I think the Twins would be making a mistake if they were to let him go for nothing. What do you think? Should Kirilloff be tendered and kept, tendered and traded, or non-tendered? View full article

The Minnesota Twins just completed their 63rd season and in that time have had 117 rookie pitchers complete qualified seasons. Using that threshold, let’s create a 13-man pitching staff using the best rookie seasons in Twins history. Who made the cut? Who was snubbed? Let’s dig in. Image courtesy of © Jason Bridge-Imagn Images For this exercise, I’m only including players from 1961 to 2024 who qualified for end of year awards in their respective season and I excluded shortened seasons, such as 1972, 1981, 1994 due to player strikes and 2020 due to COVID. I also considered roster construction, specifically when it comes to the handedness of the pitcher and their ability to manage high lever situations. I included 13 players on the hitter version of this article, and thus will carry 13 pitchers. Without further ado, here is the best active roster of rookie pitcher seasons by position. Ace - 2006 Francisco Liriano Man, what could have been. Francisco Liriano’s rookie run was magical and had us feeling like the 2006 Twins were a team of destiny. Liriano exploded onto the scene with a 28% K-BB rate and a 2.55 FIP holding opposing hitters to a .202 batting average. He'd end up making the All-Star game and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, despite missing the last two months because his elbow exploded and Tommy John was needed. #2 Starter - 1990 Kevin Tapani Before Kevin Tapani was earning Cy Young votes in 1991, he was earning Rookie of the Year votes in 1990. With precision control, the righty boasted a 4.4% walk rate and didn't allow a single free pass in 12 of his 28 starts. While strikeouts weren't his calling card, he had a miniscule Home Run rate and boasted a 3.10 FIP. He went on to be a reliable innings eater for the Twins, White Sox, and Cubs. #3 Starter - 1970 Bert Blyleven At just 19 years old, Bert Blyleven quickly established himself as one of Major League Baseball’s best starting pitchers. A former third-round pick of the Twins, Blyleven established his ability to pitch late into games early on going seven innings or more in 11 of 25 starts. He finished his rookie campaign with a solid 20% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate, and a 3.18 ERA on his way to a Hall of Fame career. #4 Starter - 1978 Roger Erickson Prior to his career getting derailed by a bum shoulder, Roger Erickson threw 265 2/3 innings for the 1978 Twins as a 21-year-old rookie right hander. A very low strikeout rate and .259 opponent batting average led to a 3.96 ERA, but he was able to limit free passes with a solid 7% walk rate. He went on to pitch three more years for the Twins before being traded to the Yankees and making his final major-league appearance in 1983. #5 Starter - 2022 Joe Ryan It's not often you're on the winning end of a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Twins can easily claim victory in the Nelson Cruz for Joe Ryan swap in 2021. His rookie year saw him throw 147 innings across 27 starts with a 3.55 ERA and a solid 17.2% K-BB rate. His deceptive delivery and unique fastball movement make up for the lack of velocity, and resulted in a .174 opponent batting average with a run value of 20 ranking as one of the best pitches in baseball. Since then, he's established himself as a mainstay in the top half of the Twins pitching rotation. Spot Starter / Long Reliever - 2012 Scott Diamond Count me as one who would NOT have thought Scott Diamond would have cracked the Top 5, but here we are. After seven lackluster starts in 2011, Diamond managed a 3.54 ERA thanks in part to an impressive 4.3% walk rate, which was needed given his sub 90s fastball and opponent batting average of .271. He was never able to regain his 2012 form and threw his last pitch in Major League Baseball in 2013. Middle Relievers - 2005 RHP Jesse Crain, 2016 LHP Taylor Rogers, 2006 RHP Pat Neshek, 2017 RHP Trevor Hildenberger Setting his postseason shortcomings aside, Jesse Crain was a pretty serviceable reliever and had a stellar 2.71 ERA and .209 opponent batting average as a rookie. What made his effectiveness even more impressive is that he had a NEGATIVE 1.2% K-BB rate, striking out just 25 hitters across 79 2/3 innings of relief. Appearing in mostly low and middle-leverage opportunities, Taylor Rogers provided 61 1/3 innings of relief as a rookie. Despite a solid 18.2% K-BB rate, he boasted a 3.96 ERA largely due to three appearances where he allowed 10 of his 27 earned runs. The lanky lefty allowed a lowly 3.9% barrel rate and held hitters to an average 7.8 launch angle as a groundball pitcher. At least for me, Pat Neshek will go down as one of my all-time favorite Twins. His unique side-arm delivery befuddled hitters to the tune of a 38.4% strikeout rate coupled with a 4.3% walk rate and an .174 opponent batting average. His dominance led to a 2.19 ERA across 37 innings, and he was a key piece to a phenomenal 2006 (regular) season for the organization. On an unrelated note, Neshek was an avid card collector and always welcomed fans to send him memorabilia to sign. #1 High Leverage - 2009 LHP Jose Mijares From a pure performance perspective, Neshek deserves this spot, but from a roster-construction perspective we need a lefty reliever capable to handle high-leverage situations. The analytics of 2009 season suggests Jose Mijares wasn’t an overly-effective reliever in 2009, but with one of the highest win probability added (WPA) for a lefty reliever in Twins history (2.83) he made it work. Across 71 appearances, he donned a 2.34 ERA and a 21.7% strikeout rate with a .219 opponent batting average. Mijares had a little more success in his career with the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants and was suspended due to a positive drug test in 2015 and never pitched in Major League Baseball again. #2 High Leverage - 1980 RHP Doug Corbett A name I was not familiar with prior to this exercise was Doug Corbett who accrued 23 saves across 136 1/3 innings in 1980. Wait, he must have been a part time starter then, right? Nope. He had zero starts in 73 appearances and averaged roughly two innings and seven batters faced per appearance. His 1.98 ERA was vastly different from his 3.06 FIP but, regardless, he got the job done with a Twins reliever record 7.58 WPA and .209 opponent batting average. We need more swing and miss from our closer so, despite his impressive WPA, he's relegated to a high leverage role due to his 16.8% strikeout rate. Closer - 2022 RHP Jhoan Duran Twins fans had long heard of Johan Duran’s electric arsenal and finally got to experience it in 2022. His 89.3% strand rate was good for sixth in baseball among qualified relievers, and he had a 77.2% strikeout rate on his fastball and curveball combined. Moreover, he limited opposing hitters to an excellent 6.0% walk rate and carried a 61.0% groundball rate. All this added up to the second best WPA for a reliever in Twins history at 4.56. What does your rookie roster look like? Was anyone snubbed? Let me know in the comments! View full article

He would have definitely been on it, but I did only include Twins rookies so 1961 to current

The Minnesota Twins just completed their 63rd season, and in that time have had 62 rookie hitters complete qualified seasons. Using that threshold, let’s create a 26-man active roster of the best rookie seasons at each position starting with position players. Who made the cut? Who was snubbed? Let’s dig in. Image courtesy of © Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images For this exercise, I’m only including players from 1961 to 2024 who qualified for end-of-year awards in their respective season, and I excluded shortened seasons, such as 1972, 1981, 1994 due to player strikes and 2020 due to COVID. I also considered roster construction, specifically when it comes to the depth pieces on the roster, and will be constructing a roster with 13 position players and 13 pitchers. Without further ado, here is the best active roster of rookie-hitter seasons by position. Catcher - 1976 Butch Wynegar In just his age-20 season, Butch Wynegar was one of the top contributors for a Twins team that included legends like Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, and Bert Blyleven. The second-round pick out of Red Lion High School in Pennsylvania contributed on both sides of the ball right away, grading out as above average by Fangraphs “Off” and “Def” metrics. At the plate, he slashed .260/.356/.363 with 10 homeruns, 58 runs scored, and 69 runs batted in while walking more than he struck out. First Base - 1982 Kent Hrbek Despite being a bit of a liability with his glove, the homegrown kid out of Bloomington Jefferson high school was far away the only choice at this position. Slashing .301/.363/.485 with 23 home runs, 82 runs scored and 92 runs batted in on the season, his rookie season at age-22 sparked an impressive career that ended with two World Series rings and being enshrined in the Twins Hall of Fame. Second Base - 1967 Rod Carew From an fWAR perspective, he had the second-best qualified rookie season in Twins history. I gave Carew the nod over 1984 Tim Teufel as he was a more-balanced contributor on both sides of the ball, and especially with the bat in his hands. Carew won the American League Rookie of the Year award at 21 years old with a 150-hit season, an OPS+ of 113, and falling just short of a 10-10 season. Of course, this was just the beginning of what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career for the left-handed hitter from Panama. Third Base - 1979 John Castino John Castino had a short five-year career due to chronic back pain, but in that short time, including his rookie season, he was a solid contributor for the Twins. While this is another shallow position in Twins history, he posted a .285 batting average and an above-average glove at the hot corner, earning Rookie of the Year honors. Shortstop - 2014 Danny Santana Believe it or not, Danny Santana pretty easily had the best rookie campaign out of the 10 rookie shortstops who qualified for this list. In fact, when ranked by fWAR the switch hitter’s season ranks third all-time among qualified rookies for the Twins. I bet you never would have guessed he slashed .319/.353/.472 over 430 plate appearances with seven home runs and 20 steals while also having an above-average glove. While he did have another solid year in 2019 for the Texas Rangers, his downfall was always his approach at the plate where he struck out 22.8% of the time and had a lowly 4.4% walk rate as a rookie. Because of this, the .824 OPS during his age-23 season wasn’t sustainable, and he was out of Major League Baseball when he was 30 years old. Left Field - 1995 Marty Cordova Another Rookie of the Year makes the list, and Marty Cordova might be the most-complete player to make this list having a 20-20 campaign with an .839 OPS and a plus glove in the outfield. What makes the accomplishment even more impressive is that he went on to establish himself as a solid big leaguer over nine seasons as the Twins 10th round pick in the 1989 MLB Draft. Center Field - 1963 Jimmie Hall Until the 2014 season (Jose Abreu), Jimmie Hall held the major-league record with 33 home runs by someone who had no games played prior to their rookie season. He finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting with a .521 slugging percentage and graded out as an excellent center fielder. Unfortunately, he was relegated to a platoon role just a few years later, resulting in diminished production, and retired following the 1970 season. Right Field - 1964 Tony Oliva The Rookie of the Year had a phenomenal season that also saw him finish fourth in Most Valuable Player voting with 32 home runs and 12 stolen bases. He set career-highs in batting average (.323), doubles (43), and hits (217) which also led Major League Baseball. He was a below-average defender in right field, but more than made up for that wart with his bat. Designated Hitter - 2015 Miguel Sanó Touted as the next David Ortiz, Sanó had a great start to what would be a roller-coaster career for the free-swinging righty. He didn’t debut until July 2nd but was still able to accumulate 18 home runs, 46 runs scored, and 52 runs batted in. He even held a 15.6% walk rate. His offensive productivity made his 35.5% strikeout rate bearable. Unfortunately, the production wasn’t sustainable given his penchant to swing-and-miss coupled with his below-average glove, although I always thought that label was a little unfair given his size. Bench Bats: 1984 Tim Teufel, 1984 Kirby Puckett, 1985 Mark Salas The bench bats consist of Tim Teufel and Kirby Puckett who could play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, respectively, as well as Mark Salas who could serve as a backup catcher to Butch Wynegar. Teufel was a solid player at first, second and third base who slashed .262/.349/.400 during his rookie campaign with more walks than strikeouts and 14 home runs. Puckett on the bench? First time for everything. Having not been born yet, I didn’t realize that he hit zero home runs and just 17 extra base hits as a rookie, but more than made up for it with a .296 batting average. If I wasn’t worried about roster construction, the last bench spot would go to Chuck Knoblauch. Alas, we can’t carry just one catcher so Mark Salas gets the call (Joe Mauer didn’t qualify in his rookie season) with a .300/.332/.458 slash line and an above average glove. What does your rookie roster look like? Was anyone snubbed? Let me know in the comments! View full article

It's time for your Minnesota Twins Arizona Fall League Update for Week 2: Danny De Andrade Still Not Playing. Kala'i Rosario hitting for power, but also striking out. While Twins protect him from the Rule 5 Draft? Knuckleballer Devin Kirby pitcher three scoreless innings using his knuckleball exclusively. More hitting and pitching updates. View full video

I think they should shop him not as a knock to his game but because he can return decent value that can help fill gaps elsewhere.

What? They have a pretty big surplus of infielders...none of which are overly great in the field.