Road trip

Good for him. At this rate, Jackson's MLB pension will be fully vested when he hits the 10 year mark around 2033. Of course, to do that he will have to actually play in another 4 dozen or so games for the Twins.. Good work if you can get it..

Fair. "Laughing all the way to the bank" was a common phrase, at least for my generation, essentially meaning "profiting without succeeding". Perhaps it no longer translates. I certainly wish him (and your friend) the best. The dream dies at different points for almost all athletes, but I suppose the closer you get the harder it dies.

Never said he was... simply noted he was paid quite well for a venture that didn't work out. I'm sure he is disappointed, but so are thousands of other minor leaguers who didn't make it to MLB. Unlike the vast majority of them, Cavaco is a multi-millionaire.

This. X 1000. In the last few years the Brewers minor league system has graduated Churio, Turang, Mitchell, Misiorowski, and Henderson among others. That's about 25 WAR this year just for those five guys, all of whom are or may soon be All Stars.

Even with them back, I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if Taj is our best starter next year. I expect him to be better next year. Ryan just wasn't good lately, so I don't know what to expect of him next year. I love Pablo as a player, but coming back from a UCL repair.. well, we hope for the best but I wouldn't bet money on him immediately returning to past form.

Well, quite safe to say that Walter Johnson will never get surpassed for #1.

Yup. I laughed a bit at the article, and then felt a bit bad for laughing at Cavaco's failure, and then realized that Cavaco was likely laughing all the way to the bank.. A $4 million signing bonus should set him up well for whatever path he chooses going forward.

It almost seems that way sometimes, doesn't it? The last plus defensive player produced by the Twins minor league system was.... maybe Buxton? (It certainly wasn't Larnach, Lee, Jeffers, Garver, Wallner, Martin, Arraez, Julien, Kiriloff, Miranda, Lewis, Keaschall, or the legendary Tortuga). I might be forgetting someone, but that is a damning list. I saw they let long-time scout Derron Johnson go yesterday. I don't know if this has been a scouting problem, or more likely, a minor-league development/philosophy problem.

If the Twins are going to turn Mendez into a 1B man, they perhaps ought to play him there in the minors? He's only played there 2 games. I wonder if this is only speculation? I get that Mendez is somewhat blocked by the plethora of corner outfielders the Twins already have on the 40-man, but if they are going to move him to 1B he should have gotten a lot more in-game action there this year. Beyond that minor quibble, this is a nice report.

Well, Caratini *tries* to hit.

I wish him well and hope he gets a good run of playing time next year. Outliers are fun, and it would be difficult to find more of an outlier chart of extreme red and extreme blue on Baseball Savant. I don't know if he will be a star or a bust, but I doubt he will be average.

Bell may be a great clubhouse guy and a leader, but I don't get the perceived need for more "veteran presence" for this squad. Next year the Twins are very likely to roster nearly all of the below players: Nance (36) Hoffman (34) Buxton (33) Caratini (33) Clemens (31) Ryan (31) Kremer (31) Ober (31) Pablo (31) Funderburk (30) Jackson or other random veteran backup catcher (30 something) This is an OLD squad, not a young one, even after you add Jenkins, Culpepper, etc next year. Buxton, Clemens, Pablo et al should be able to provide more than enough veteran presence for the few under-25 guys on the roster.

Happy for Sabato! Hope he's in the lineup a lot this week. Strange series of decisions on Jackson. Are Zoll and Shelton even on the same page? Did Zoll force Jackson onto the roster, and Shelton simply refused to play him? Or did Shelton also want Jackson, but never found opportunity to play him somehow? It may not have cost the Twins a win, but was at a minimum a very unorthodox approach for the 25 man roster.

Sigh... Jackson still playing cards in the clubhouse I guess. I thought playing the Angels was maybe his window of opportunity.

Just for the hell of it, I'd like to see Jackson get three or four starts this month. I mean, why not? The Twins are essentially eliminated, he isn't blocking a young catcher, and we are playing the Angels and Giants (non-contenders) the next few games. Give the guy a few at bats!

It's a harsh but fair assessment. The Twins of 2026 are a lot like the Twins of the mid-late 1990s. Back then the youth movement of Cordova, Walker, Munoz, and McCarty was supposed to join Knoblauch as the next generation of core lineup players following the Puckett-Hrbek core. It didn't work out, none of those guys had enduring success, and the Twins spent a half decade wandering in the desert until Hunter, Koskie, and Mientkiewicz et al arrived. I think we can deem the rookie classes of the early 2020s a failure at this point, beyond Jeffers who will soon be gone. Time to move on, get younger like the White Sox did, and hope that the Culpepper/Jenkins generation can provide a new solid core by 2028 or so.

One more to add to the list, Sam. Prior to the growth of Diaw and adding Tinney, Lackey, et al in the past year, the sorta hot catching prospect was Ricardo Olivar. Olivar made the Twins top prospect list in the 20-30 range the past two years. He's been hurt much of this year, but he's still only 24. He's a bat-first catcher, with his defense being a question mark, but he still has some trade value if the Twins prioritize other catchers in the minors.

Baby steps, I guess. A lineup with 4 players under the age of 26 has rarely if ever been seen this year. It's excruciatingly slow progress? Just avert your eyes from the White Sox. They roll out a lineup with EIGHT guys under age 27 pretty much every night. And look at that... your 2026 division winners..

This is very true. Maybe a few discussions with Molitor would be beneficial when the time comes. Few players made the transition better, and much like Buxton frequent injuries were a large part of the reason Molitor was mostly a DH in his 30s.

This didn't quite match my memory, so checking the history (using AI, which I don't fully trust, but these were all cited) Major Outfield Defensive Injuries A high number of his most severe, impact-related injured list (IL) stints happened while tracking fly balls or making diving plays in the outfield grass: August 2014 (Double-A): Suffered a severe concussion after a violent, season-ending outfield collision with teammate Mike Berardino. [1] October 2014 (Arizona Fall League): Suffered a dislocated and fractured left finger while diving for a ball in the outfield. [1] July 2018: Suffered a left wrist injury after crashing into the outfield wall to make a catch. August 2019: Suffered a major right shoulder torn labrum after slamming into the center-field wall in Miami, which ultimately required season-ending surgery. [1, 2] May 2025: Landed in concussion protocol alongside teammate Carlos Correa following a scary outfield collision while both players aggressively pursued a fly ball. [1] June 2026: Suffered a right shoulder contusion after once again colliding with the center-field wall while making a running catch against the Kansas City Royals. [1, 2] August 2026: His persistent, season-ending right hip injury flared up directly on the outfield grass when he awkwardly decelerated and reached down to field a ball in the right-center gap. [1, 2] I agree that Buxton is probably more aware of his limitations and is more careful playing the outfield now. And yet, May 2025 and June 2026 would point to instances where being more aware wasn't enough. Having said that, if Buxton can't field a lot of his value disappears. If RF makes more sense he will be an asset there, when healthy.

Could be true, although I'm not certain how one would measure that percentage. Regardless, Amick is ranked 3rd in total home runs this year across all minor league levels, and only one player has more than 40. Even in a context of inflated HR levels, it is an impressive number.

37 HR for Amick. Making contact remains a problem. Still.... that' serious power. Guess I wish him all the best with the Mets but that trade is looking ok for them.

Yeah, I can see how the beams would be bad for obstructed views. I was only there once. Seats maybe 3rd row of 2nd deck on the LF line, which in my memory was stacked directly above the first level. They were really great seats compared 2nd deck of modern parks. So much closer to the action. The neighborhood was pretty dilapidated and the park was obviously very dated, but it sure had history.

Yup, I think 3 times. Sister-in-law lives there now. Not a fan either. Endless sprawl of a thousand strip malls. Seemed like 200 miles from the airport to downtown. Bottom 3. Detroit is low too. I *loved* old Tiger stadium, but with that gone I don't feel any need to go back.

Messick... geez, 2.53 ERA in 28 starts. Where does Cleveland find these young pitchers, seemingly every single year! I'd love to have a team do that.... but of the 20-some MLB cities I have visited I can confidently say Cleveland ranks dead last... and I wasn't even there in winter!