Riverbrian

McCusker could easily be dropped to open up a pre rule-5 roster spot.

Please No! Where do I stand to picket? I will take Fitzgerald over a one year rental. Fitzgerald has years of control if he somehow... someway... makes himself worth more years. However... one of the most important things for the front office to do this off-season is remove Fitzgerald from any 26 man projections. Trade Ryan or Jeffers or James Outman if you can spare him and bring in a young close to major league ready SS... Please! If you looking at free agents... look in the bullpen aisle stay clear of the sale priced one year position player freezer section.

Agreed but if he maintains his infield possibility. It will open the door to Emma, GG or Jenkins to be the first call up if an injury happens anywhere on the diamond besides catcher. That possible flexibility could serve the Twins well even if there is a defensive hit playing infield.

Hope it works!

Anointing Austin Martin the everyday LF would be a tragic mistake. That is nothing against Austin Martin despite his light hitting ways. I think he can help us. I acknowledge that you don't want a team full of Martin types because I agree that slugging gets you further down the road quicker in comparison to simple batting average. Having one or two of them on the team can create a different way of winning a ball game. Players like that can even be inspirational... if they play the game hard. However... Every Day? That would be a tragic mistake because: A. They can't say that Martin is better than what Roden will be or is now. They can't even say that Martin will be better than Outman in the near future... if they fix Outman this off-season. Keep going down the list. Other than Jenkins... nobody is a guarantee to what they will become. You are just guessing on the margins and opportunity is what will determine success, failure and everything in between. Giving one player (Martin) a full time gig... forsaking others is just compromising your timeline. 156 innings of solid baseball is still a pretty small sample... you can't commit full time playing time to 156 innings of achievement. If anyone thinks the coaching staff, scouts, manager, front office know... I think it's fair to say that they don't. If they knew... they would make no mistakes and we don't know either. B. Martin can also provide an unforeseen value to this club. I know the passionate defensive minded posters on TD will not like this idea but... here goes anyway: Martin should primarily be OF but... he needs to keep that infield glove nearby and get the occasional infield tune-up. OK... deep breath everyone. Martin's infield ability will allow... almost guarantee... that your favorite outfield prospect is the first call up... even if the injured player that provides the opportunity to be called up is an infielder. Only Buxton should play every day. He is the only one who has earned it. The other 4 outfielders on the roster (Whoever they might be) can split up playing time for 3 spots (LF, RF, DH). 4 players... 3 spots. Development on HIGH.

Martin platoon? Short Side? If that's the plan... just take him out back and throw him off a cliff. He will have no future value to the club. He will actually immediately become a detriment to our future. Martin will no longer matter. A future pinch running option that will be destined to be replaced by a younger pinch running option. If our development plan with the current batch of prospects is to continue strip mining these players for parts just like we did with the last batch. Let's just stop any type of thinking that this front office can develop players. They can't and won't. Might as well throw the front office and manager off the same cliff. The 2026 Twins roster should not contain specialists in any form or fashion. If the front office thinks they can cobble together role players and think they can contend with marginal gains using a little of this, little of that. They will fail and fail spectacularly.

In order to be specific on the perfect off-season trade suggestions when I prefer general such as get a SS and a 1B using Ryan and Jeffers. I just matched up value according to BBTV. BBTV suggests that Ryan and Aiden Miller matchup decently... maybe the Phillies throw in a reliever according to BBTV. The reason I keep throwing his name out is just the speed and power combo that he is showing. As far as 1B... Casas does seem to be a bit polar with the TD crowd. He's got the pop I'd like to see at the position. He has years of control but his injury history is horrible. Basically I'm just looking for a BBTV match to fill the 1B spot. I'm open to refinement.

I'm ok with refinement to my suggestions. All I have to work with in regards to prospects is the pile of stats that they have accumulated and the projections made by other people. In general... I just think they have to Trade Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers. Have to... I really think it would be a mistake not to... and what I would desperately like back is a young SS and young 1B and the combo of those two things leads to my specific ideas but I'm ok with any refinement suggestions. I agree talent accumulation is the primary goal so I'm OK with a really talented OF like Clark but my first priority would be to get Fitzgerald off the 26 man roster so we can maximize the utilization from as many 26 man roster spaces as possible... that's why I went with Miller. In regards to Larnach. Yeah I have no idea what will interest who or who will interest what... But if a team is going to be interested in Trevor... the Padres would have to be near the top of that interest meter and they are also a team that has accumulated nice bullpen depth. If we have to sweeten the deal to get someone like Bradgley. OK... We got some depth to throw in but in the end... I was just trying to matchup the BBTV suggested value of Larnach. As you know... if we keep Larnach... I'd be perfectly fine with that.

I prefer generally, But I know I have to be specific. So please... consider my specificity in a general type consideration. I think they have to trade Ryan and Jeffers or at the very least extend Jeffers. I know that BBTV isn't the be all end all but the website does well enough to take somewhat seriously the suggestion that Joe Ryan's trade value is similar to the trade value of Walker Jenkins. If that is his current trade value... he will bring back a Walker Jenkins type player. That's potential superstar type value and it's too big a risk to not cash that in. If Joe Ryan has a serious injury(not out of the question)... his trade value gone and it's like losing a Walker Jenkins. Too big a risk... you have to trade him. Try to extend Jeffers but if I'm Jeffers... I'm betting on myself. Jeffers could be one of the best free agent catchers in 2027... if not thee best catcher available. He will get paid. If you can't extend him... you must trade him now or you get no value from him. He walks away... leaving trade value behind. Just Jackson and whoever your way through the position. Any offense will help... but... you just try to load up on offense everywhere else. So specifically... meant to be generally. For example. Trade Joe Ryan to the Phillies for Aiden Miller. Trade Ryan Jeffers to the Red Sox for Triston Casas and Conner Wong. Trade Trevor Larnach to the Padres for Bradgley Rodriguez. Yes... as much as I've fought for Larnach... I will trade him if we get a decent return back. I don't know much about Bradgley but he's 22 and he hits 100 from time to time. So... Big Arm Reliever. Larnach would be a good fit with the Padres. With the ownership in flux. There is no way they will have much if any money to spend on Kyle Tucker types and even if they did... they got a lot of holes to fill. Someone like Larnach would help them and we get an upper 90's 22 year old arm. Arm for the bullpen. A young SS about major league ready. A 1B with Pop... If he stays healthy and a catcher that was decent a couple of years ago looking for a rebound. Something like that would make it a perfect off season for me.

And by not marketing the narrative. They don’t control the narrative. The fans do. Youth means losses. Youth means Cheap Owners.

I kept watching. I didn’t check out. IMO the main difference post deadline was pitching. Bullpen was completely untrustworthy while starters like Ryan and Ober were struggling. Offensively. They looked the same without Correa, Bader and France. Looked better once they started running the bases.

Yes Especially when you look at the rest of the roster.

Your call Mike… Not Mine. You lost me when you said “Basement”.

This Article articulates the very reason I have said over and over again in regards to Larnachs continued presence on this roster. Trevor Larnach is not the place to start!

They never do

I don't know anything about Jordan or Rumfield so I won't advocate one or the other. I'll just repeat what MLR said "If ever there was a year". The current condition of our 1B depth chart is almost impossible to achieve and it should be studied at Ivy league universities. The addition of Jordan would most likely cost us Julien or Clemens because there wouldn't be 26 man room for all 3. Jordon or Julien?

This a good post and this is a marketing issue. On Twinsdaily... We know who Walker Jenkins is? The average Joe who buys tickets? Not so much. If they are calling up Gabriel Gonzalez... sell it. I mean sell it. Make it seem like it's important. If they do that... the winds on the roads they travel will become less stiff. People will know who Jenkins is and why he matters.

No idea but they certainly know each other. That probably won't matter much to Boston. I imagine... the trade fit would the biggest hurdle. Boston would probably love to trade Duran for a starter because they have outfield depth and the Twins shouldn't move Ryan for an outfielder. Unless a third team could be pulled in. Philadelphia for example. They don't want to give up pitching but are trying to retool and they really need outfielders. Ryan and Jeffers to the Red Sox Duran to the Phillies Aiden Miller, Casas and Wong to the Twins I'd consider that deal... Don't know if the teams involved would consider it.

It could. One less starter to pursue but it could also make the Ryan a more perfect fit for them. Ryan's arb number is affordable and shouldn't disrupt other free agent pursuits. When Joe's arb number doubles next year... Gray will be coming off the books. Although... I'm sure that the Cards are going to pay down that contract significantly. They'd have to... because you wouldn't get someone like Clarke back if you didn't. I'd say the Red Sox are still in on Ryan (and others)... if the Twins are listening to offers for Ryan.

OK... I'll try again... Let's do it. It's been my experience... that we can get about one question asked before they start ushering us out. We will ask that question.

From a depth standpoint. 1B is indeed scarier because the Twins don't have a Culpepper at least to man 1B down the road. However, 1B can be addressed through transition while SS can't. Players transition away from SS and they tend to transition toward 1B. If the season started tomorrow. Thank God it doesn't. If the season started tomorrow. Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald (or Kriedler) are on the 26 man roster. So... as badly as I want a young 1B. IMO... SS is probably the bigger priority because it takes Fitzgerald (Or Kriedler) off the 26 man. Maybe even off the 40 man. I really really want both positions addressed but I may have to choose, If I have to choose. It's SS. Culpepper can still arrive on schedule... if he performs decently in AAA. When Culpepper arrives. We will be able to see what Clemens and Julien have been doing... What Lee, Lewis and Keaschall have been doing and if Culpepper hits the ground running. He will make his own room based upon the performance of his competition. The main problem is: To get the type of player I want... a highly ranked young prospect whoever that might be. It'll cost us Joe Ryan.

I agree with you. And I think a lot... if not all teams... do the same thing. It's going well in the bullpen so let's not mess with it. That's something all front offices need to get over. The context of all baseball teams are living breathing fluid things and teams need to be prepared to fill their squads based on wherever the context leads them.

I'm usually up to date on math/roster space equations. But... in case you were assuming that I wasn't. Thanks 😉

There are around 125 free agent relief pitchers to consider. For perspective... There are around 6 free agent shortstops. The 3 pitchers in this article... were non-tendered by other clubs and therefore join the group comprised of 125 pitchers. Because there are 125 of them... I assume that you don't have to be non-tendered to be lower cost.

Someone will have to. It doesn't have to be permanent.