bean5302

Average middle reliever, he's fair to keep at $1.3MM. 1 WAR does not equal $8MM of value by any stretch of the imagination. 1 WAR for $8MM is the going rate for free agents when you divide their salary by WAR. 1 win will cost $1.4MM in MLB salary ($3.5B / 81 wins / 30 teams) AAA replacement cost is $760k and will provide 0 wins. 1 WAR = 700k by that thought process. Cole Sands is not a free agent.

Lee was given regular playing time all year and he struggled all year, not just at times. He also struggled consistently in 2024 for what was a fairly signifcant portion of plate appearances. I'm not sure this article makes a lot of sense in general, but Lee was not a good player. While there is some hope, Lee's ceiling is pretty low. I think 2 WAR every day 2B is probably the absolute limit for Lee's potential. Lee's at 712 PA at the MLB level now. It's not a small sample size.

He delivered negative value and was hurt most of the season. Why spend $300k when you don't need to? I'm pretty sure Tonkin will take a guaranteed deal anywhere, and I'm also thinking he probably has to accept a MiLB deal with an invite next year.

Who to hire has to be a question of what can a manager do to add value? Fundamentals coaching/instruction Team strategy Gameday strategy Personnel management https://www.si.com/mlb/twins/minnesota-twins-news/torii-hunter-wants-to-manage-and-the-twins-should-let-him I don't know how good Torii Hunter or any other special assistant is at any of those things.

Probably not an investment I'd make. I don't think he's likely to be healthy going forward and his results in 2024 didn't carry forward. I don't see a reason to sign a guaranteed contract for -0.1 fWAR.

The Twins have run double the Pirates' payroll. The objective of the team, according to the ownership is the World Series. Nobody is looking to Pittsburgh on how to do that. This article is pretty much rage baiting.

You want the Pohlads making roster construction decisions?

Larnach is no longer an outfielder. He spent over half his time at DH last year and honestly, he only played in the outfield as a way to get a platoon lefty bat into the order when Wallner was out. It's highly likely Larnach is just a wRC+ 100 DH. He's an easy non-tender because he could be signed at or very close to league minimum after non-tendering. Despite his heavy platooning, his wRC+ 103 would rank 27th of 30 DH's with 1500+ plate appearances from 2021-2025.

Harrison Bader would be my vote. From a guy who needed to take a 1yr $6.25MM contract because of a far below league average bat and injury woes, Bader had his healthiest and most productive season at the plate for his entire career.

Brooks Lee is squaring up balls in the sweet spot of the bat at a high rate. Your note about swinging harder is critical. If he had more bat speed, his "barrel rate" (which requires a certain exit velo) would be higher. His squared up rate (when he hits a ball with 80% of the maximum exit velo possible) is in the top 1/4 of all MLB hitters. Lee's max exit velo suggests he's got juice in the tank, but he's trying to maximize contact vs. generating more power. If you look at where Lee is currently, it sure seems like there might be some opportunity to sacrifice some higher quality weak swing contact for some lower quality harder swing contact. Harder swings = more exit velocity. His current approach is non-viable at the MLB level so making the adjustment might be his only hope.

I understand having a favorite player or an optimistic outlook, but there is plenty of data on Brooks Lee. The sample size is beginning to grow at SS, and I've watched more than a handful of games. Objectively, Lee's average throw from SS was 80.7mph last year. Adequate for a 2B, but one of the worst arms you'll see as a regular shortstop. The average runner in baseball reaches about 27 ft/sec down the base path. The average throw from SS is about 130 feet. At 80.7mph or 121 ft/sec, the throw arrives in about 1.074 sec. An average SS 85.7mph arm (129ft/sec) would get to 1st base 0.938sec. 1.074sec - 0.938sec = Brooks Lee's throw reaches 1st base .136 seconds later than the average MLB SS. Runner traveling 27ft/sec x .136sec = 3.7 feet. That's what Brooks Lee's arm gives up relative to the average MLB shortstop. A bang-bang out play becomes an easy infield hit by almost 4 feet if Brooks Lee is throwing the ball. Lee's performance at the plate looks an awful lot like early Trevor Larnach. Lee was an easy out vs. changeups and slider variants. Considering those two pitches are amongst the most popular in baseball, it's not a projectable profile. When Lee does make contact, his bat speed is pretty slow so he doesn't generate much power. In summary, Lee is one of the worst runners in baseball, he's got one of the weakest arms for an infielder, he doesn't generate power at the plate, and he doesn't take walks or have good plate discipline. He's generated 0.0 fWAR the past two years combined. There is some reason to suspect an approach/swing change at the plate could generate more of the needed power as his max exit velo is 110mph (a little above average), but his ability to identify pitches is average at best. There's not much to be optimistic about in regard to Brooks Lee. He looks like another highly touted, but failed prospect to me.

Brooks Lee is not a starting caliber player at the MLB level currently. He's probably okay as a utility infielder. He doesn't have the physical tools to handle shortstop right now, and given his chronic back issues, I just don't see there being an obvious path to improvement to get to where he'd be able to handle SS on a regular basis.

The Twins are not the source of the $500MM in debt. The Twins franchise is the collateral for it as the Pohlads borrowed against the value of the Twins to support their other failed business ventures. The Pohlads cannot sell the Twins without wiping the debt clear. Once they don't own the Twins, they can't borrow against the team, either. Their cash / liquid asset reserves are undoubtedly insufficient to repay the debt, and by the time they get done with tax gain on selling the franchise, they're probably less liquid selling the team at like $1.2B than they would have been just keeping the team. There's marginal value selling unless they can get the buyer to pay off the giant debt. It would be a good idea for MLB to change rules in regard to allowing owners to borrow against their teams to support other business ventures.

I don't see a significant difference in the quality of the roster between Cleveland and Minnesota the last couple years. What their managers got out of their teams is a huge difference.

It feels fairly clear at least that ownership sets the guideline for the maximum budget for the next year before the current season ends based on historical quotes/articles; however, it also seems clear they're willing to adjust that guideline (Correa x2) if the front office makes a case. Joe Pohlad is not an owner. He's a spokesperson for ownership and liason between ownership and the front office. Whether or not Falvey is a micromanager, I have to believe that's pure speculation on the part of everybody making a comment here. I base my opinion on results Falvey's leadership has brought. Regardless of what his management style is, the results haven't been there.

No idea how Falvey runs the shop. I just know the results haven't been good on the field or in the stands. Falvey is the last stop for roster construction, front office performance, and now game day experience. He's been given more autonomy and assets to work with than any of his divisional rivals. Generally speaking, that's when responsible leadership (in this case ownership) pulls the plug. Colorado is supposedly looking at Thad Levine. That would be interesting.

Ownership role: Make reasonable assets available when setting budgetary guidelines. Approve organizational goals. Hold executive leadership accountable. Last 3 years, opening day payroll, 2023-2025 MIN = $154, $127, $142, total = $423MM CHW = $181, $123, $74, total = $378MM DET = $122, $98, $145, total = $370MM KCR = $92, $115, $126, total = $333MM CLE = $89, $98, $100, total = $287MM The Twins are the only team in the AL Central who hasn't run a sub-$100MM opening day payroll in the past 3 years.

Pablo Lopez - Acquired by trading All Star Cost Controlled Infielder who was a prospect Falvey inherited, signed to an extension. Simeon WR - Acquired by trading All Star Cost Controlled Starter who was an MLB prospect Falvey inherited. Joe Ryan - Acquired by trading All Star free agent signing Nelson Cruz coming off a season where he earned MVP votes. Chris Paddack - Dylan Bundy/Chris Archer re-tread type who we apparently don't have in our rotation anymore? Acquired by trading All Star closer Taylor Rogers (inherited) and future All Star cast off Brent Rooker. So yeah, you can build a pitching pipeline if you have a bunch of All Star surplus players, especially ones you inherited from the previous GM regime that are fueling all your success as a GM.

Falvey is the biggest problem with this organization. It was almost the sole duty of the Pohlad's to recognize some people don't have the skill set to be successful no matter how nice you think they are or how hard they work or what process they put in place. Falvey has failed miserably as a GM president of baseball operations.

Red Sox opening day payrolls in recent years. I have no problems with those numbers at all. 2025 = $184MM 2024 = $162MM 2023 = $176MM 2022 = $195MM 2021 = $180MM Like any well run team, the Red Sox will expand payroll as needed, but they don't spend just to spend like the Yankees, Mets or Dodgers. Seattle > Blue Jays > Red Sox > Detroit > Guardians > Yankees Brewers > Padres > Cubs > Reds > Phillies > Dodgers

Buxton doesn't get on base. It's why he's not a 10 WAR player and won't be an MVP. That's not going to change. When he made attempts to increase his walk rate, his K rate also climbed. 2nd half .226/.287/.516 OPS .803 6.7% BB, 29.2% K, wRC+ 113 Aug-Sep .228/.292/.531 OPS .823 6.7% BB, 28.7% K, wRC+ 118 Sep alone .233/.300/.556 OPS .856 6.0% BB, 32.0% K, wRC+ 128 (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs)

TBF, so have the Pohlads and Falvey based on their moves recently. Some of the crazy thinking is just trying to match the team's decision making philosophy... probably.

Want to talk about wasting peak careers? Talk about 2004-2010. Buxton come playoff time 2015 - 138 PA, was playing 2016 - Not good, was playing. 2017 - Not good, was playing. 2018 - Injured ---------------------------- Peak after this 2019 - Injured 2020 - Injured 2021 - Bad team 2022 - Injured 2023 - Injured 2024 - Bad team 2025 - Bad team

MiLB pitching numbers I look at. K%, BB%, WHIP, FIP, ERA. I don't think any pitchers in the Twins' minor league system had truly remarkable seasons by performance standards, but relative to what they had to prove, a few stand out. From this list, Prielipp is my choice. I reviewed several of his game logs with pitch locations / at bats and it seems like Prielipp's stuff worked against him earlier in the season. Painting the edges of the zone resulted in quite a few too many balls which were actually strike 3s, etc. The fact Prielipp was able to make it to AAA and get 82.2 innings pitched this year was great. He proved his stuff was working against higher level players, but his placement of his slider needs some work. He's got to keep it further out of the zone to reduce contact. Dasan Hill needs to throw more strikes. There are an infinite number of pitchers who've been successful getting low minors guys to chase pitches who run into a wall as soon as hitters learn an iota of plate discipline. His season was impressive, but even amongst the group considering his age, there were pitchers who were better. Not many, but a few. Hopefully, Hill can take another step forward and tighten down the control.

Vazquez is the kind of player who should be a February signing on a MiLB contract with an invite to spring training. He's Austin Hedges, but not as good defensively. The challenge system removes any potential value Vazquez actually had.