bean5302

I agree, re-building and trying to compete is typically a recipe for failure. It's the traditional recipe for this front office (and the Pohlads expectations). However, this front office has accumulated a bunch of overlapping talent. Guys who are "good enough" to be on an MLB team, just not all of them on a single team since they fill the same role. I think the Twins were in a unique position to deal from that role player strength, clear space on the roster and improve their ceiling for once, instead of improving their "floor" which didn't need any help. They had 20 1 WAR guys already. They didn't need 30 1 WAR guys. They needed two or three 2 or 3 WAR guys.

Why are people worried about the feelings of players who are not good enough? Yeah, it sucks for them. I'm sure it's heart breaking, but it's the business. You have to produce in professional sports, and baseball is just about the easiest sport to analyze actual production. Larnach, Bell, Kriedler, Jackson, Martin. None of them should have been on the roster on September 1st or later. They shouldn't be part of this team's future plans. The front office's job is to put together a clear plan for 2027 and beyond. There are plenty of players who could potentially have a role in the future, but instead of focusing on that, the Twins played guys who should not be a part.

I think Pohlad's best move is to fire Zoll the moment the Twins end potential contention. It needs to be a loud and clear message. This front office has not met ownership expectations.

They could have easily DFA'd a bunch of guys before the end of August and let them have a chance to get picked up by potential playoff teams. But the Twins elected to.... "stand pat"

I found him! The Twins optioned him to AAA after 135 dreadful PA and after a week in AAA he started raking, but never had his number called again because the Twins stockpiled every mediocre, left handed hitting, defensively challenged player in MLB available for $8MM or less.

100% the Twins should have dealt Lopez. They were handed a tight budget and Lopez ate up $22MM of it and he had surplus value while his peripherals were declining. Dealing Lopez would have allowed for flexibility to address holes in the roster before the season started. Ryan would have brought back more prospect capital for sure, but if the Twins were going to try to compete in 2026, it would have been difficult without both Ryan and Lopez. Either way, the Twins needed to trade one of the two for sure. Standard procedure was followed though. Stand pat, roll the same team back out and see what happens.

IF he blows out his arm about 17x he can become a guaranteed Cy Young legend like Matt Canterino. Speaking of, the Twins were content with that one game, I guess, LOL.

Yay, I guess. Maybe there's enough time to get a partial glimpse into his K:BB rate. Way, way too late.

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.

I honestly have no idea what to expect of this CBA negotiation. Will we lose 2027? It seems to be a large contingent of fans actually want to lose the season because it gives them something to complain about and it's not like they go to the games anyway. Then the are fans looking out for the poor, destitute players who are only earning $800k+ a year. Practically food stamp money. Of course, fans who back the owners because players make too much money! It's already hard to find people who want to come out to a baseball game. They'd rather attend any other sporting event in the cities. The soaring concessions, fees, and variable ticket pricing mechanisms have rendered it nearly impossible to get a feel for the cost of attending a game. An insane blackout policy and a broadcasting spiderweb makes watching the game broadcasts feel like a final exam. Why watch anyway? It's not like the 162 game season means much anymore anyway. A 30 team playoff grid finally whimpering to a end in late December seems like the ultimate goal. Owners have certainly done their fair share of spoiling the milk. Then there's the MLBPA who couldn't care less about what the plebians of the world want from the game opposing every single change designed to improve the game day experience as long and hard as they can simply because the changes were proposed by the owners. I dislike both sides.

The CBA is not going to change the splits between players and owners much is the bottom line. Being careful about throwing around non-existent values in early proposals is unwarranted.

Give a bad starter a spot in the rotation because there are other bad players in MLB. Got it.

Why is this an important time of the season for the Twins? Martin is a solid option as a platoon pre-arb back up corner outfielder as exciting as that might be.

Absolutely. In general, the market pays a premium in years and AAV for 3+ WAR players because those players are harder to find and are the guys who actively help teams make the playoffs. It's not as much of a premium as it should be, though. That's one of the weaknesses of the Twins FO. They do seem to value players on a linear scale.

How often does (or is it future expected) Zebby give the Twins a good chance to win the game when he's a starter? For me, that's 5.0+ innings and an ERA of under 4.00. Zebby did that 10 times in 21 starts. 10 games with ERA under 4.00 10 games with SIERA under 4.00 9 games with xFIP under 4.00 8 games with xERA under 4.00 7 games with FIP under 4.00 Matthews was generally either very good or very bad. To me, he feels a heck of a lot like Louie Varland. Not quite good enough to be a starter. This article talks about Matthews' "stuff" as good because of velo only. The truth is he doesn't have a single pitch which by movement and velo is better than MLB average. He's probably better off ditching the new sinker, the cutter, and the changeup, boosting his velo by 2mph and pitching out of the 'pen.

Bad decisions, mixed results. RBI is a fun old school stat which you're pointing to as proof of Bell's contribution to the team winning games. Bell didn't put guys on base before he got to the plate, though, and when Bell had RBI, it was in games where those RBI apparently didn't matter since he's well below average in qualified player WPA. Bell's at 81/122 qualified players in WPA. -0.40 on the year. So when it count, Bell helped lose games an average player would have helped win. Trevor Larnach's had a great season. Far, far beyond what any reasonable person would have predicted. It culminated in a solid, but unspectacular 2.0 fWAR because he's a terrible fielder, and when he could have been traded, the Twins failed to do so to clear roster space. There was little in Larnachs 0.6 fWAR average season history to suggest he deserved a MLB contract, much less a starting job out of spring training with a team absolutely loaded to the gills with left handed batting defensively challenged players and the log jam of prospects in the minors. Did taking the drunken shortcut across the thin ice from the bar back home work out? Yeah. Was it a good idea? No. Is Emma any good? Who knows, but I think he's either going to be very good or very bad with little in between and he should have been an excellent corner outfielder. 2.0 WAR is a middling every day player production level. There's a good chance Emma would have outperformed Larnach and helped the Twins win more games. The whopping 10 games he's get under his belt will tell us nothing. Patience and taking their time with Rodriguez had run out last year. We're well beyond the "have patience" reasonable time frame.

Extensions have not generally increased current year pay. The extensions have typically increased salary as if it were projected arbitration salaries, and then a discounted year or two of free agency value. It's more likely the Twins would acquire a free agent or two via trade and sign some free agents via the open market.

The Twins have done everything they possibly could to mismanage Rodriguez. Falvinzoll's failure has been maximized. Rodriguez's trade value is utterly tanked. He's never had a single PA at the MLB option, but he won't pass through waivers, either. The Twins elected to bring back a player they shouldn't have (Larnach) sign a player they shouldn't have (Bell) and refused to move on from either when it was obvious the season was basically over. We're left with a player who cannot be DFA'd because of the sheer stupidity of doing so, cannot be traded for anything of value and cannot be relied upon as a 26 man contributor.

The mean average competitive balance payroll for MLB this year was $190MM. Getting to a $170MM floor would not be that hard. There would be some forced trades from the top teams, and you'd see some bad contracts get eaten by the lowest payroll teams. The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays and potentially the Red Sox/Padres might have to work to clear a player or players, but that's the intended outcome of the hard cap. I wonder how that would work from a NTC standpoint? The Dodgers would be catastrophically impacted. Their "dream team" would be immediately disbanded.

I can only imagine Zoll's roster decisions LOL. Larnach back. Bell option exercised. At least 10 $5-10MM free agents. Culpepper, Jenkins, Lewis, Lee all to AAA to make room for the dumpster dive free agents. Basically, any player with an option goes to AAA

In regard to defense, scouts and talent evaluators are clear. Marek Houston is a dramatic upgrade at SS compared to Kaelen Culpepper. Houston is expected to be an elite defensive shortstop at the MLB level.

Such a big fan you don't even know how to spell his name LOL

Houston has struggled greatly since 8/1. His last 127 plate appearances have been pretty poor. .254/.325/.360 OPS .685 wRC+ 77, 7.9% BB, 22.8% K, ISO .105 He should open next year in AA again, and I don't think there's a good chance he makes the team until late 2027 or 2028 at this point. Houston needs to prove he's ready for MLB before we start deciding if he's going to push Culpepper off SS.

Clemens is a solid utility player or a worthwhile starter at 2B. He's been a pleasant surprise. I wouldn't necessarily say he's a player the Twins should build around, but he's earned a roster spot and a lot of playing time.

Anyway, who has earned a spot? It's an interesting premise. I think a lot of teams try to build a roster constructed with obvious strengths they don't have to worry about, and then leave in a handful of spots on the roster for rookies or the unestablished. The Twins have precious few positions locked in for next year. It's a free for all mess thanks to never establishing roles.