bunsen82

Wagaman has options and has upside, with a bit of a flash at the end of the season. He played about as well as Lee so I can understand fan frustration with him. Similar to the lack of catcher depth, Wagaman has more value to us and a situation where we are willing to give him more chances. As to @karcherd concerns on the bench. I think it will resolve itself. Wagaman, Clemens, Kreidler, Gasper and Outman. In reality we have minimal invested in all the players. I see Clemens as a utility for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I am wondering if we give Lewis some reps at SS. If Lewis is the backup we don't necessarily have to carry a Kriedler or try to sign an IKF. Gasper was DFA'd and I expect the same outcome for Outman. Martin/Roden, Buxton/Martin, Wallner - for now is my expect outfield. Bench - Martin/Roden, Clemens, Caratini, Kriedler/IKF?/Arcia/Brujan I can live with that. That is some ample pop. I would prefer the SS option is a bit of a speed option as well to pair with Martin. It likely means Larnach is traded. I still don't know why they tendered him. Maybe there is more value for him than I think. We do know Kepler got suspended. So I guess its 1 less option out there. If he can get us a usable reliever I guess it would be worth it.

I would much rather spend money to get a decent catching tandem than spending on FA pitching. $7 million just got you a pretty decent backup. $7 million for a SP will get you a wet rag. Paddack, Anderson, Montas and Perez. Ugg As to the trade market for Catcher. There have now been 3 different articles I have read about the dearth of options for catcher needy teams. Red Sox, Rays, Padres, Astros. With the remaining options being Heim and Sanchez. Garver really isn't an option anymore. If the goal was to trade Jeffers, this is the market you want want to do it in. If Jackson is no longer in the plans he can easily be flipped for potential more/better fit than Eeles. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

I don't ever remember this many or what seems to be higher ceiling pitchers. It sure seems like for having a higher amount of guaranteed money, our teams have struggled in the DSL. I think its been a lack of focus on the pitching. I think its a bad philosophy. I still am not sure I like getting a top 29-34 prospect as our best prospect, but it does look like we got a ton of depth. If Angel Ozuna is an additional add, but as part of last years class, this is an extremely deep group of kids. I had lamented previously not getting someone higher on the list, especially for $1.5 million. All things considered I am as happy as you can be with a box of chocolates LOL.

I had mentioned the Angel Ozuna exclusion on Friday/Saturday. At this point there are 2 options in my opinion. He was added to the 2025 list - when I added up the money I was coming up no where near our allotment. That information also came out in November. The signing period for 2025 ended in December 15th. If I were to guess this is what occurred. Angel did not show up on any other list. The only other option is he was continuing to negotiate. It is possible someone else became aware after the reporting and tried to get involved.

They could . . . I expected more from Questad after the 1st month and then he fell apart.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2026-mlb-international-signings-tracker/ I went through the entire list. He didn't sign with anyone else. I though we had used all our money last year but maybe there was still some budget left. As it stands he is not on the current signings for the Twins.

They are extracting as much value as they can. Right wrong or indifferent the Twins felt they needed a true 1st baseman so they got Bell which on a 5.5 million contract this year, has the potential to be a really good deal. Jackson was a cheap option if other things didn't fall into place. For the twins Caratini did. However, the relief pitching market has not quite gone the Twins way in my opinion. So if that means the Twins will put more money into positional players I am ok with it. Can they find enough bullpen arms. That has been the question. I like Orze, I really like Bash on AAA signing. I guess if this is the way we are going to play, sign the best 7-8 AAAA relief pitchers on minor league contracts and say we got 3 open spots for the best players. You will have some depth in the minors and all any starters we want to transition. I am still waiting to see if we can trade a bat for a reliever. We have a couple options if that were to come to form. There is rumors we have a limit closer to 115, and I still think Larnach gets traded. Jackson I think gets traded but we will see. Worst case he is nice depth to have during spring ball. Then see if we can sneak him through waivers. By my count on the initial calculation we had $7.5 million left. We will see if its a little higher or not. Do we get a back up SS or do we think thats covered with the AAA signings and the pickup on the 40 man. If so, the relief market and figuring out the outfield are the key questions left. There is a very real possibility we get a good return on Jackson in spring training if there are injuries to other teams and his bat still looks pretty good. We would have got a player who was set to be removed from the 40 man for the Orioles, for a player who doesn't really appear to have an MLB career, and then be able to trade him when others have a need. Its a marginal nudge of the needle. Do we go for a full needle change by trading Jeffers in the next 2 months. I don't think so currently, but if someone is willing to overpay I think we would be willing to do it.

I am Liking some of the moves we are making. They aren't elite players, but we have picked up another solid Catcher option, and say what you will, maybe I am ok, with giving all the best reliever invites on the market a signing and say we will have open competition. Come take a spot. Beyond Dominguez I am not sure any of the remaining arms are much better than some of the arms will be AAA invitees. I could see us having multiple long relievers bulk pitchers in the bullpen. Matthews, Festa SWR. Starting Pitching - Pablo, Ryan, Ober, Abel, Bradley. Bullpen - they had another nice under the radar signing in Andrew Bash. At this point we will see who the twins are dialed in on for a leverage reliever - I still think we sign at least 1 from the free agent market. Otherwise, with the bulk pitchers above, Matthews, Fests SWR - traditional bullpen - Sands, Topa, Orze, Funderburk, - signing (I would like Dominguez - lets say its Coloumbe or Rogers equivalent), 1 more reliever. I think you could fill in enough reliever innings. You can gradually start to lock people in, see which of the young players you want to remain stretched out for injury purposes, and which ones you want to start locking into reliever rolls. It would make sense why we haven't seemed to care about the bullpen. The bulk pitchers is also a philosophy we have used in the minors. Is this the year we see it transition to the major leagues.

Angel Ozuna. He is not in the list from the Twins player development. This also the quietest release I have ever seen for an international draft class. Edit: I do wonder if Angel could have been classed as a 2025 signing. I have no idea if they had any money remaining, but he would have qualified for his age and that article came out around the deadline for the prior year. Maybe someone here on Twinsdaily will track down what happened.

Even if there is - can you name a year in the last 2 decades where the Twins have had more pitching talent in the minors?

The pitching depth could be impressive. Spitballing here A ball - Ellwanger, Reitz, Barr some combination (Mitrovich, Daniels, Smith Fang and prior year draft players) A+ - Hill, Soto, Quick, Oliveras Bohorquez (that is a strong starting 5) AA Armstrong, Gallagher, Bowen, Hoopes, Jones (Weakest of the levels and I still really like that) AAA - (If Bradley and SWR are up) Abel, Matthews, Festa, Rojas, (Raya Ohl, Lewis or Adams if they want to keep 1 stretched out). Thats a stacked starting pitching farm system.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/twins-alex-jackson-settles-with-minnesota/ He settled January 9th for 1.35 million.

Since 2021, especially considering their draft slots - their drafts have been very very very good. 2021 Petty, Miller, Hajjar, Povich, CES - These were traded, Then Festa, Fedko, Ohl 2022. Lee Priellip, Schobel, Morris, Matthews, Lewis Culpepper, Cossetti, Baez ( Stud class with potential more upside and depth from this class) 2023 Jenkins, Soto, Keaschall, Winokur (traded Bragg for Wagaman) - there are few other players with upside, but the Twins had no where near the success with lower draft picks as 2022. Nailing the top of the draft is ok in my book. You have 2-3 studs and Jenkins looks really good, and Winokur is still a Unicorn (we will see if he is real or not). 2024 - Culpepper, Debarge, Amick, Hill, Diaw - not much after the early rounds 2025 - unknown but a ton of upside after a safe pick in Houston.

The talent level in the minors catcher has improved significantly. You have potential MLB talent at every level. AA and AAA are weaker on high upside prospects. MLB - Jeffers, Caratini (Jackson) AAA - Pereda, (Jackson), Cardenas Winkel AA - Baez Cossetti Oliver A+ - Tait, Diaw, Ferrer A Jiminez, Pena, Pena International - Carabello

Cedar Rapids could have Quick, Soto and Hill all as starting pitchers to start the year. That is a ton of high end talent. I would not be surprised if the low minors is loaded on starting pitchers again like they were a couple years ago.

https://www.mlb.com/news/alex-jackson-traded-to-orioles https://www.mlb.com/news/alex-jackson-twins-orioles-trade Catcher needy teams will always trade for a warm body with upside.

I agree the Twins may very well be willing to go with a Caratini, Jeffers duo for the year. If Jackson were DFA and claimed- we were out Eeles. As I said cheap insurance. I think Caratini was going to Philly if Realmuto did not resign. This was not a slam dunk option that the Twins were going to be able to get him. I think the Twins preference for the season of free agents or trade was clearly Caratini 1 and Jackson 2 and then a drop for the remainder of the catcher free agents. They ended up with both. Like I said more than anything this gives us options. We have Caratini for 2 years, and we will see what happens with Jackson or Jeffers. I am more than ok running with a really solid backstop duo for the year.

I agree with most of what was said on the podcast. I posted in the signing thread, but this gives the Twins options. We have have a really strong Catcher duo for the year if we keep both. I am good with that. Caratini likely comes to the Twins because we were willing to offer the 2nd year. This was a case where the Twins needs, and seeing good value in a player, and a player wanting to capitalize on 2 year contracts matched up really really well. Worst case scenario is we try to stash Jackson and someone takes him off of waivers. What are we out - Peyton Eeles. That it allowed us to wait out and get a Caratini for 2 years I am happy with. If we can flip Jackson - great, if it allows us to trade Jeffers which we had no options at earlier this year for something useful for the future, its a great outcome.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/twins-alex-jackson-settles-with-minnesota/ Alex Jackson agreed to $1.35 million contract avoiding arbitration. The $1.8 million number was the estimated contract number at the time of the trade. So Caratini, as has been stated by several - he is an extremely solid catcher. I have no qualms about running a Caratini Jeffers combo if we choose to do so this year. Caratini is an average to slightly above average defensive catcher, and has improved his offensive profile to almost league average by swinging at less balls out of the zone and pulling the ball more. Also he performed better outside of MinuteMaid park that at home so there is some slight potential at even a boost above this. Unlike several of the players that we have grabbed like Jackson who had a really nice SSS. Caratini has done this over 2 years. So ultimately a 2 year contract for a backup catcher who has been improving his offensive numbers seems like a really really good deal. Now we will see how the contract breaks out. I would not be surprised at all for a split contract of $6 million for 2026 and $8 million for 2027. Many seem confused about Jackson. At this point I am not. Jackson was cheap insurance if . . . if . . . the Twins did not get the player they wanted which was Caratini. They traded away Eeles who likely does not see a major league field or if he does will have minimal impact, for a player that showed last year he could be a backup catcher. So is a trade incoming . . . and for whom? My guess is there is nothing on the table right now. What this does is give the Twins options. Injuries happen especially in spring training. Remember how did Alex Jackson get to the Orioles in the first place, they had a rash of injuries (4) and traded $250k of international money and a player to be named for a player with the stat line most like to talk about which is not very good. Then he flashed. At the very least we are now in a position of strength. I had come into this season thinking there was no way we were trading Jeffers I have stated as much. We just didn't have the experience or the depth to handle trading Jeffers before the season or during the season. I thought the best option the Twins had coming into the season getting value for him was a QO. Now the odds of that was slim. The equation on that has now changed. What this does is give the Twins options. Could we see a situation where they flipped Jackson to someone else for something the Twins need. Absolutely. At a $1.35 Salary that is open to most teams If they have a sudden need and we are probably getting more back than Eeles. Could we keep Jackson as our backup and trade Jeffers at the beginning of the season if someone is willing to give good compensation. Absolutely. Some wonder why a team wouldn't just pick up Caratini and be willing to trade for Jeffers. Jeffers has more history behind him and more upside and is viewed as a starter not as a backup. They could try to sneak Jackson to AAA and keep him there until a trade or injury materializes. So ultimately I think this goes back to the Pursuit of Value thread. In this case this signing absolutely helps the team. It is a value signing anyway you cut it. Caratini is worth more than 2 years $14 million. This gives us a starting catcher option and depth for 2 years. Ultimately it allows the Twins to likely extract more value either from Jackson or Jeffers. The Twins can say what they want to compete, but the endgame is likely a Jeffers trade is coming, when who knows. 2 weeks, end of spring training, May, June - Trade deadline. The end game will be much much better than the combined value of Peyton Eeles and $1.35 million and a $7 million a year contract to Caratini that is almost equal to Jeffers. That is what Jackson and Caratini allow us to do. That I can see as a dollar and cents move for a player in Jeffers that back in November I saw as player that we had no options to trade throughout the year.

I think Priellip is best to be used as a starter. My concern is to not getting many other relievers that can legitimately be a closer or have the stuff for the position, we will transition players like Priellip and Festa out of need rather than what is in the players best interest or potentially even the organizations best interest because they created the hole and didn't fill it.

That doesn't mean he would have had an injury with the Twins, but I understand what you are saying. At the time neither the Twins or Dodgers were anticipating him to get injured. Although the medicals are why there wasn't much return.

The Pursuit of Value . . . I am not sure that is what happened at the deadline. They traded their expiring's then they dumped the bullpen - for a semi rebuild or full blown rebuild. They are very inconstant with their messaging and plans in my opinion. Ryan should have been traded . . . and maybe he still is although that train seems to have left. They didn't think they could win the WS with the current roster, so they are resetting for the next wave. I thought they still had a shot last year, talent wise. What I don't think they had was the correct team chemistry or mental fortitude. Jax was done as a Twin last season, it is what it is. The original intention was to not trade him - although I don't know how factual that is. Duran and the Varland trades are really the only trades we can state were done for Value purposes. They both had multiple years of control, were performing well. We flipped those 2 for Abel, Tait, Rojas, and Roden. That is a lot of value for those 2 players and particularly Varland. Short term, destroying an elite bullpen will not work. I think we will have a functional bullpen this year. Ultimately I don't think anyone thinks the bullpen alone will get us to a WS in 2026 or 2027 had we kept the arms. I think you will have a few arms step up to fill roles, and we will have a bullpen reminiscent of early 2020's - 1-2 really good arms then a couple ok and then a bunch of fillers. I don't see having 5 dominant to above average relievers any time soon. 2-3 years unless we begin to spend on it, which is an area that Falvey has refused to spend. At this point our best hope would be Seranthony Dominguez and Rogers or Coloumbe. to pair with the rest of what we have. Dominguez you would be hoping you can control his dominant stuff and improve control to make him the fireman of the staff (the role Rogers had). Its not as much a pursuit of value what we did last year, as much as they acknowledged the team they had created was not going to achieve the goal they had of going to the playoffs and possibly a WS. So they transferred the value they had on those players to future value. Whether it comes to fruition or not is questionable.

Stewart was an effective arm when healthy. The Twins had 18 blown leads in 2025 after the trade deadline. Let alone had you had a decent bullpen how many more opportunities you would have had at wins. If you kept Varland and Stewart, I think it adds at minimum 6 more wins maybe 8-10 to the tally. Then you still have a decent bullpen. Varland closer, Stewart (8th), Sands (7th), Topa, Funderburk (Lefty), fill in with other players.

Twins are leaning in big on players with positive SSS to end the season last year. .268/.362/3.17 (95 OPS +, .5 War). I am not expecting a lot. You are taking a stab that he is starting to handle MLB pitching better and can be a usable utility player with some positive WAR, taking up the Willi Castro mantle. Lets be clear most of these borderline players are not going to amount to anything. I think 1-2 could be solid pieces or more. Prior to the end of the season I wasn't expecting much from Martin. He now seems to have carved out a role.

How does Brujan compare to Fitzpatrick? Gasper was a goner long ago, I have no idea why he was dumped before Fitzpatrick. So Brujan is either replacing Fitzpatrick as an option - or more likely than not just some musical chairs. Marginally I do like Brujan and Wagaman compared to Gasper and Fitzpatrick.