Riverbrian

That's part of the reason that tomorrow is such a key date. How many will be on that 40 man roster. The lingering presence of Keirsay and McCusker on the 40 man. Did they just DFA enough to get through this date? Are they hoping that everybody else fills up before dealing with the roster spots so they can sneak those two through? It's like an episodic cliff hanger. Who Shot J.R? Tune in Tomorrow. Stay Tuned... We will be right back.

On the plus side: 19 Homers in 379 Plate Appearances is nothing to sneeze at. On the down side: Making Clemens a 1B only and not utilizing his multi-position skill would be a mistake. Not attempting to locate a talented young 1B with multi years of control will be a mistake. Any consideration of a platoon or role players of any kind for this roster will be a huge mistake. Free agency will not fix this. Free Agency will only delay the fixing of this.

I have no idea what to expect tomorrow. I'm as curious about it as I have ever been in any given year. I'm just saying... as the roster stands right now. Typically teams need around 6 players on a 26 man roster. Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald are options 4, 5 and 6 as it stands. The combination of Offense in my opinion the biggest priority to be fixed and Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald currently being options 4, 5 and 6 are why... in my opinion... that a 1B and SS are nearly critical and the Naylor early signing and how many teams could be shopping leaves me little hope that 1B can be decently addressed via free agency.

As the roster stands right now. Clemens and Julien would probably both make the roster along with Fitzgerald. Lewis, Lee, Keaschall, Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald is your infield. It would take two solid additions just to get Clemens or Julien the very last roster spot. Both Clemens and Julien are out of options so it's 26 man for both of them or exposure to the other 29 teams. Another SS would have to be added to knock Fitzgerald off the 26 man. And the need for a 1B is loud as the roster currently sits. Martin could be converted to primarily IF (2B and 3B work) with occasional OF instead of primarily OF with occasional IF. Not sure he should be utilized like this but he could be. These are important considerations because injuries will pull Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald into fairly regular utilization. This team is simply not in a comfortable enough position to just say Lewis, Lee and Keaschall for 162 games and whatever happens happens. I will renew my request that we bring in a solid SS and 1B somehow... someway. On the Naylor front in regards to the Twins need at 1B. The AAV hasn't been announced but it will be enough for a 5 year deal and enough to get him to sign very very early in free agency... So I assume it will be a high AAV. There are a few teams with 1B holes... including some big boys with big money to spend like the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox. Only Pete Alonso fits big contract worthiness. After that... unless you include Bellinger as a first base free agent option (which you could) it falls pretty steeply to Ryan O' Hearn as possibly the third best option and he has been a platoon hitter of late. Arraez and Hoskins are what's left along with aging Goldschmidt and Santana. The Yankees, Red Sox and Mets could compete for Alonso... Two won't get him and the others could also consider a free agent 3B like Bregman, Saurez and that Murikami guy while shifting someone to 1B. Other teams that potentially need a 1B. White Sox, Astros, D-Backs, Reds, Rockies, Padres and Nats. That's 10 teams (not including the Twins) with possible needs at 1B and maybe 5 solid options if you include 3B and OF candidates (Alonso, Bregman, Saurez, Murikami, Bellinger) And 4 so-so options (Arraez, Hoskins, O' Hearn and Andujar). I worry there are not enough chairs for all the teams walking around the chairs when the music stops. I think the Twins should just stay out of this mess and try to trade for a young 1B.

Nice to meet all of you. Best of luck.

This week will be interesting and full of direction clues. Tomorrow we will find out who gets 40 man spots. In the days leading up to the setting of the 40 man roster... you often see trades. There are currently 33 players on the 40 man. 14 of the 33 are Pitchers: 9 of those 14 pitchers have been utilized as starters leading up to this season. Teams typically have 22-23 pitchers on a 40 man roster. Therefore... around 8 pitchers will need to be eventually added to the 40 man... bullpen candidates a high priority. 19 Players on the current 40 man roster are position players. If 22-23 are typically pitchers. 18 is about where you want to be so they are currently overstaffed on this side of the ledger. 3 of those 19 are considered catchers if you shove Gasper into that box. 7 would be considered IF 9 would be considered OF. Seth Stohs who knows (Rhyme unintentional) the minor leagues as well as anyone. He thinks that 4 Pitchers and 2 outfielders are givens to be added to the 40 man. This would bring us to 39 players on the 40. 18 pitchers. 3 Catchers 7 IF 11 OF These numbers don't include Rosario, Fedko or JENKINS. We have 4 OF too many... and around 4 short on the pitching side and I'm guessing that roster clean up this off season will need to un-lump these numbers for balance.

Start with this concept and figure it out from there.

.283 is too low of an OBP and .388 is too low of a Slug. Whatever it takes to fix that... he's going to want that fixed. He is going to lose significant money if he doesn't fix that... So... Adjust... Don't adjust... listen to your coaches... listen to nobody. Whatever it takes. In the meantime... .283 OBP is too low and .388 slug is too low. If I was the GM... I would be doing everything I can to bring in a player or players who are stronger than Ryan Fitzgerald for Royce to compete with for playing time. I would not be handing him the keys for 162 games and whatever happens happens... just letting him take us down if he is going to .671 himself down the road. I'm hedging my bet. In 2025. Royce had: .805 OPS in games that the Twins won. .563 OPS in games that the Twins lost. Take that split for what it's worth. Lots of players have splits that look like that because players plural not hitting the ball tends to lead to the reason you lost. I'm just saying that it's quite possible that Royce helped us lose more games than he helped us win games in 2025 and he needs to fix that and he fixes it with his bat. He had about 200 AB's where he played every day and hit worse than anybody in BASEBALL including Vazquez. So adjust... don't adjust... as long as the Twins have the talent on hand to adjust to whatever Royce is.

Don't forget the PA Announcer.

The short answer to your question... that really needs a longer answer. Starters always have more potential value than relief pitchers. If he develops into a major league starter... you've won the trade at the very moment regardless of what Varland does going forward. Development is always the key to winning trades. The Twins need Rojas to develop. I'm not sure if anyone puts any stock in BBTV but in case anybody does. Both Rojas and Roden are basically equal value at the moment. 11.6 and 11 respectively. Varland currently rates a 10.4. Again... if BBTV has any value at all... it suggests that both players were equally necessary in order for the Twins to cough up Varland and at the moment... The Twins got back 22.6 in value giving up 10.4 For what it's Worth.

Bottom Line. It's a critical year for Trevor and I wish him well... and I also believe he can do what needs to be done. Next year he will be on an expiring contract with an Arb number around 8 million. If Larnach is with the Twins or someone else this year. Trevor needs to OPS over .800 which is something he hasn't done before. I still believe he can do this but he will need around 25 dingers over 450 AB's or so to get there. A little increase in OBP would aldo be helpful. I'm not crazy enough to bet anything of value to support my belief in Trevor but the guy is a major league level hitter.

The most plausible candidates will be teams that lack above average hitters. The White Sox would be another candidate based on that criteria.

Whatever started at the trade deadline last year. It certainly isn't finished.

All possible. This better be an interesting off-season for our Twins.

I typically struggle to use words like incompetent since you just can't sit in those chairs without a certain level of competency. Below the level of their peers is how I would term it and even before I attach that to anyone. I'd be a lot more comfortable with a lot more information. Information that I'll never get... therefore leaving me to just spout theories on this website. Go Twins!!! 😉

I've been a staunch Larnach defender in the face of stiff winds on Twinsdaily. However... I would certainly consider a trade of Larnach for a decent reliever... if possible and the possible part is what I just don't know. In regards to Cleveland specifically. Even with Larnach's extremely average .727 OPS last year. That OPS would have ranked third behind Ramirez and Manzardo if he was with Cleveland last year. Cleveland isn't going to spend significant free agent money and rumors are heavy that Kwan is on the trade block. I can't rule out Cleveland interest in Trevor Larnach.

I agree... my gut tells me to point my derision toward ownership because my assumption is that the Pohlad's OK'd this direction. On the other hand... By Allowing them to go this particulur direction also suggests that the Pohlads were willing to invest in the team and that is going to fly in the face of the popular narrative that the Pohlads don't care that is all over this website.

This sentence right here. Everyone needs to understand this sentence. I'd change "all" to most but this sentence right here describes how this needs to work. Outfield needs to be sorted out and how much sorting will get it's first clue when we find out how many outfielders end up on the 40 man when the rosters must be set. There is only X amount of space that any major league club can devote to 40 man OF roster spots without severely limiting roster space for all the other positions. I don't know what that number should be but... it seems like anything over 8 would start to compromise the space needed for Pitching, Catching and Infield on the 40 man. There are currently 9 OF on the 40 man and that's before you even consider GG, Rosario, Fedko and Mendez who are due R5 protection within a week or exposure is risked and that doesn't include Jenkins either. The Twins will need to clean this up. How much cleaning up? Let's see what it looks like a week from now.

I mostly agree with what you are saying but... I'd like to add a couple of considerations that may taint it a bit. 1. I can't know for sure. However... actions suggest that their was an abrupt shift when the RSN money went away. The key question that needs an answer is. Why did Falvey and Lavine think that they could keep adding to payroll prior to the RSN model collapse? The Twins have never operated with significant budget during my entire life time. Why did they think it would be different with them in the chair? 2. Yankees fans constantly worry that the team won't spend enough to be competitive and they constantly accuse the Yankees front office of not spending enough. It is just at a different level than what we do. They call Steinbrenner cheap all the time and it speaks to how insatiable the demand for spending is from the fans. There is no end to the amount of money spent to satisfy the demands of fans to get them to nod their head in approval. Currently the Yankees are looking up at the Mets and Dodgers and crying poor. The Yankees crying poor actually might be what it takes to get ownership banded together to insist and not budge on a salary cap in the next round of negotiations with the players union. If they are able to come to agreement on a salary cap with the players union. My prediction will be the salary cap will be set at such a high level that teams like our Twins will still not be able to reach it... therefore not making much of a dent in the competitive imbalance that exists. It may only accomplish a balance between the Dodgers and Yankees.

Let's just use the 142 million we spent last year on payroll. If I were to guess... I'd assume that 142 is over budget but let's just use that number for example purposes. Just rough math... nothing fancy... just for illustration purposes. A. If you have 18 pre-arb players making the minimum at 760K. That adds up to $13.68 million... subtract the 13.68 from the 142 million and it leaves you with 128.32 Million to spend on the remaining 8 roster spots... this averages $16.04 million per for those 8 players. To be fair... I'll include the 74.23 million made in 2025 for 3 players Correa, Lopez and Buxton. Include those 3 big contract obligations and you have $54.09 to spend on 5 players. This averages 10.82 million per. B. If you have 8 pre-arb players making the minimum at 760K... just like the Twins opened up 2025 with. Those 8 players will cost $6.08 million. subtract the 6.08 from 142 and you have 135.92 to spend on non-pre arb 18 players. This averages $7.55 million per player. When 3 players eat up 74.23 million. You now have $61.69 to spend on 15 players which averages out to $4.11 million per player. 4.11 Million per player isn't even Arbitration Level Pay. They ran out of money. Every move they made suggests that they were under the impression that they could keep adding salary until we had to abruptly right size. The flashing neon sign that you have run out of money and are scraping bottom to merely roster a team is when you sign Ty France for a million and PLAY HIM EVERYDAY! Whatever Falvey and Zoll have planned for this off-season. If they veer even slightly from the direction of example A above. Just hunker down for a long rebuild that may never get here and wait for the eventual termination of the front office. They better be 100% focused on developing talented players that they can afford so they have money to extend players or the money to actually compete for a talented player or 2 in free agency. The current Payroll breaks down this way right now. We have two players (Lopez and Buxton) drawing $36.89 out of the well. Add 11.33 million in Correa dead money and you have 48.22 million in upper end salary commitments. We currently have 17 players listed on the current 26 man roster per roster resource making the minimum for a total of 12.92 million. Upper End and Lower End Salary will eat up 61.14 Million and 19 roster spots. Leaving you needing 7 additional players for a 26 man roster. If payroll can go to 140 million. They have 78.86 million to spend on those 7 players at 11.26 per. If Payroll can only go to 100 million. They will have 38.86 million to spend on those 7 players and that's 5.55 per. Arbitration level. For shits and giggles... Let's say the Twins don't take development seriously this off-season in an attempt to compete or not rebuild or rewhatever when it isn't completely necessary to compete as proven by teams like Milwaukee and Cleveland. Let's say we go backwards to 10 pre-arb players making the minimum as we not only fill the bullpen spots with low dollar vets and bring in IFK and Josh Bell types to fill development holes. To really squeeze it. Let's set budget at 100 million. Take those 10 pre-arb players and the two larger contracts on the upper end. That will leave us looking for 14 players with 55.82 left to work with at 3.98 per. All this does is delay the inevitable and will require the same necessity of developing youth the following year or the year after that. It might as well be done... RIGHT NOW. For those who made it through all of this. It's just rough math that isn't even accurate but regardless of the accuracy... It's close enough to show what needs to happen and it should clearly illustrate the only path that the Twins should be travelling this off-season. If they deviate at all this off-season from what should be a massive shift toward youth. They will have learned nothing and will be in the same situation that put us here in the first place. For those waiting for a new owner who will raise payroll to $200 million. It won't happen but let's say it does. You will eventually run out of money at $200 million as well because without significant minimum making talent, continuing spending to staff your roster will drain even that lofty bank account. The Twins will never be the Yankees, Phillies or Blue Jays in terms of financial viability. There is only one path out of this mess. Complete commitment to youth this off-season. Not next off-season! It's not about finding one special Jenkins type talent and high fiving your success and declaring mission accomplished. You have to find on average at least 5 major league talents per year. Not all have to be Jenkins type hero status success stories but 5 major league talents on average per year just to staff your team with 15 pre-arb players before they start drawing arb money out... just so you can afford a couple of Josh Naylor types in free agency to augment what you have built. This off-season has to... and I mean has to... be a full commitment to discovering and finding players that make the minimum that they can move forward with into 2027 and beyond. We have some catching up to do. They won't get there by being scared of youth. They won't get there putting all of their development chips in a select few. They need to run multiple young players through the process just to cover for those who are going to fail. Every roster spot is going to matter.

Congrats Keith. No pressure but this team is competitive again when hitting is competitive again. It's all on your shoulders. Welcome to Minnesota.

Well... We are who we are and we feel what we feel. If his ceiling is low... His floor isn't. He's been pretty consistent. I have no concerns of him going bad Royce Lewis for an extended time. Just haven't really seen him go Juan Soto for an extended time either. For now... I'm OK with that until the potential higher ceilings raise their floor. I'm not concerned with what Larnach will be at age 31. That's for Trevor to be concerned about. I just want talent accumulation and I'm ok with the kids coming and taking him out... but they got to take him out first and I hope the Twins will provide the opportunity to do so. We will learn what the Twins think... Soon enough. We have a lot of OF on the 40 man already and we have potential candidates to add and I'm guessing we are or certainly will be over the line in the total number of OF on the 40 man. We got to be able to staff the other positions. It should be an interesting off-season because the team is kinda lumpy right now... if you were not so depressed... you might enjoy it. 😉

I agree on all counts. The Twins didn't have much of choice in regards to Vazquez other than consider a lighter rotation with Jeffers getting more. We didn't have anybody to push him. When the Twins signed Vazquez for 30 million... There was reasonable evidence that he actually could hit the ball a little. I also agree that the expectation for Rortvedt is low. However, our current bar to clear at the position is currently laying on the ground. And I also assume other Rortvedt types will also become available as the off-season progresses. I'm curious but not willing to throw tomatoes at the front office just yet. Maybe... They would like to save the open 40 man spots until they get through the 18th. I also have a curiosity on what the Reds have planned since Rortvedt will probably require 1.3 Million in Arb One and he is out of options. They already have Trevino who is a defensive minded catcher and Stephenson who is an offensive catcher and none of them can be sent to the minors without exposure. Since Stephenson is not considered to be a defensive catcher. Will Stephenson shift to 1B with Rortvedt and Trevino wearing the tools of ignorance? Stephenson hits well for a C but poorly for a 1B. Is Stephenson trade bait? Or will there be an inevitable releasing of either Rortvedt and Trevino later in the off-season.

I'm a little curious why the Twins didn't claim him. They would have the option to claim before the Reds I believe. We just paid 30 million for a defensive minded catcher that couldn't hit. We played him 50% of the time because of his defense despite not being able to hit. Here is one of those defensive guys at a much lower price point sitting on waivers and they pass despite not having near enough options at catcher. I'll assume they have a different plan and I'll wait for it's unveiling.

I agree... We've spent a lot of time in the middle. I actually think the signing of Correa and the increasing payroll of the early 20's until the RSN wall was hit head on with full force was the only real indication of an actual direction away from the middle. Will this re-whatever be an indication of a different direction taken to get away from the middle. We shall see. But, Yeah... I'm pretty tired of Luke Warm, in the middle type moves.