Riverbrian

Could be The only argument to your post is that Falvey extended Baldelli and has kept his guy in place for many years now. So... I'm going to point my finger above Baldelli's head. If Falvey has bigger development dreams, then Rocco is allowing, he is offering an extension that is counter to the direction the front office wants (needs) to go. In the end... Falvey has to approach Joe or the other Pohlads and ask for 20 million every year or so... just to roster 5 or 6 low cost vets to enable his manager to work with the personnel he desires. Meanwhile, the Larnach's and Wallners are in arbitration or reaching arbitration unable to hit left handed pitchers, the Royce Lewis first pick overall in the draft is reaching arbitration carrying a year long slump on his back. Jeffers will have to catch 100% of the games next year and will be backed up by Chance Sisco or something. A DFA find developed by other organizations like Castro is reaching free agency and now beyond our price point. The DFA find developed by other organizations like Kody Clemons are about to reach arbitration as well. We are about to transition into 2026 with Lee, Keashall, Wallner pre-arb and that's it, no budget, holes that need filling on the 26 man and a bunch of question marks on the farm, plus a manager (Front Office) only willing to give select young players sink or swim opportunities because he feels he can't afford to take Ty France and Christian Vazquez out of the lineup for a single game because... if he takes Ty France out of the lineup, the team won't be able to keep up with the Brewers or Tigers who are beating him anyway with 18 players developed primarily by their farm system. I gotta look Falvey in the eye on this one.

Yes: Catchers are overpays... If the Padres are desperate enough to need to fill the catching position they will need to over pay for it. Therefore... Yes... the consideration of trading Jeffers should be considered because you are taking advantage of the market conditions. No: The Twins have failed to take advantage of this market by not producing catching from their system. It is to the point that they don't have a reasonable replacement for Vazquez when he leaves after this season and therefore also don't have a reasonable replacement for Jeffers when he leaves the year after that. Bottom Line: You take advantage of the catching market conditions by trading Jeffers which then necessitates an immediate being taken advantage of... with those same market conditions acquiring his replacement plus the need to replace Vazquez. This is called treading water and the Twins have been treading water for too long. Keep Jeffers... the organization has left themselves no choice. Sleep in the bed that they made.

That's the million dollar question and I wish I knew the answer. Are the Twins just failing to develop MLB talent? Or have they limited opportunity by becoming more reliant on players developed by other organizations. Or are they simply betting all chips on the wrong horses? Either way or combination of... we got a problem with the bill coming due. On paper... in order to have 15 pre-arb players making the minimum on your roster like other teams are able to compete with... you have to produce an average of 5 a year. If you are not producing 5 a year... you are paying extra for the shortfall. Can't sign decent free agents because of budget and you don't have faith in what your farm is doing to fill the spaces adequately. That's a bad combination. That's 2 out of 3 avenues of talent acquisition compromised. And I can't rule out the possibility of those 2 avenues being compromised INTENTIONALLY in order to milk just enough out of the current year. If those two avenues are not getting the job done. The only avenue left is: Trade the decent talent you have for players developed by other organizations that have a low price tag? That's the start of a rebuild. The bill is coming due.

Something interesting will probably have to be done. On the top end, the prospect bottle neck may need to be removed due to multiple 26 man spots to fill and the financial limitations that are most likely in place. If they don't turn the kids loose (which they haven't thus far)... They may need to move some of our arb guys like Larnach to free some financial flexibility just to bring in the low cost vet filler again. On the other side of the coin. How many seasoned prospects (Miranda, Gasper, McCusker) will need to be jettisoned to make room for the low cost vet filler and the prospects requiring protection from rule 5 come December. If we don't reset at the major league level. We may have to do a reset at the minor league level as a new batch of prospects join the 40 man. I'm concerned that one Luke Keaschall produced in 2025 will not be enough to cover 2026 needs.

Love your posts.

Personally... I'd go with your plan. The Twins? It would be out of character to release two vets and introduce this much youth. I'd be ok with it.

Thanks for pointing that out. You are correct. The original 19M in Arb would be coming off the books. I did not factor that in.

That's a hard question for me to answer. I'm really trying to keep away from speculation on individual prospects so my participation in any kind of ranking wouldn't be worth much. However, I can tell you that youth doesn't scare me at all. They cause me not one bit of concern so the answer is none of them. I get that sense of security from watching the other 29 teams. Youth is performing quite well around the league. When I watch the Twins... I am suddenly concerned about all of them. We are behind. despite every a consistently high ranked farm system for quite some time... we are behind our peers.

I don't know. Joe Ryan was 14th ranked in the Rays system at the time of the deal. The Rays didn't know what they had. No way... the Rays make this deal if given the chance to turn back time. I think Willi Castro could fetch a 14th or higher ranked guy. I think possibly a top ten guy. There is just no way that another team will throw in a Drew Stotman. Unless the Twins add a Calvin Faucher. 😁

This is such a complicated question with no easy answer. I believe with all my heart that Buyers should Buy and Sellers should sell or you are just standing still. I still believe that with all my heart. However, I also believe that the Twins have put themselves into a position where they can't afford the prospects necessary to be effective buyers at the deadline. We are already too far behind the rest of league in regards to major league serviceable young players making the minimum to consider putting ourselves further behind. I also believe it is quite possible that this front office has sold it's future soul of tomorrow in order to stay reasonably float today and I believe they did that yesterday the year before and the year before that and the year before that. Therefore... this is how the front office operates and a reversal of that style would require the front office to be something that they haven't really been thus far. So... to answer the question. Buyers Buy and Sellers sell. I'll stick with that. We will see what bucket they belong in at the end of July. If they are in contention to buy. I'd recommend an expiring contract rental of a decent offensive player to keep the prospect cost down. Ryan O' Hearn would be a good example... but only if the Orioles are willing to trade him for a 19 year old player that is a two or three years away from the majors. Soto, Beltre... something like that. If they are not in contention and it's time to sell at the deadline. All expiring contracts should be traded and those that they can't trade due to no interest... they should be released but I'm really not sure what type of return we can expect from those players even in a sellers market and this should be a sellers market. Would Castro as 2 million dollar rental bring back a prospect outside a 5th ranked organization prospect. I think he might. Would Paddack as a 3 millon dollar rental bring back a prospect outside a 5th ranked organization prospect? I think he might if he remains healthy. Would Bader as a 2 million dollar rental bring back a 10th through 15th ranked organization prospect? Maybe. Coloumbe as a 1 million dollar rental left handed reliever bring back a 20th ranked organization prospect? Maybe but it's not for sure. Topa, France and Vazquez. I don't know how much interest there will be for any of them to get anything interesting back. France has been decent this year... I'm not slamming France... he's had some big hits for us. But he was similarly decent last year and DFA'd for the effort. DFA'd and traded to the Reds for an unranked light hitting catcher. Not only did they only get an unranked light hitting catcher for France... the Mariners sent along CASH in the deal. France had an OPS of .662 at the time of the DFA and deal. He currently has a .679 OPS this year. He didn't get much in return last year and what is different about him this year? To conclude, selling beyond the expiring contracts. Duran, Jax or even bigger like Joe Ryan or Buxton. If we reach that point... I'd rather they wait until the off-season so a different front office can facilitate the deals and then properly develop what should be pretty significant young talent.

I posted the following in another thread. In that thread there was a discussion about picking up the option of Harrison Bader. I'm thinking it needs it's own thread for discussion. Bader doesn't need to be the focus point. This thread should be about the future health of the Twins organization overall. Bader would just be 1/26th or 1/40th of what the Twins need to do this off-season or maybe as soon as this trade deadline. I admit that I did nothing more than back of the napkin type math to come up with my numbers. Those numbers could certainly be corrected, I don't mind at all. The overall question is this: What will 2026 look like? I don't see a 25 million jump in payroll. Here's what I posted in another thread (with some changes) in response to picking up Bader's 10 million dollar mutual option for next year. The breakdown of the players leaving and the possible upcoming raises is the only part that I'm bringing over for the conversation. What can the Twins do? Breaking it down. For 2025 he (Bader) is guaranteed 4.75M with another 2M possible in performance bonus... the bonuses are mostly tied to awards as far as I can tell so let's just leave his number at 4.75 which will be coming off the books. Other contracts coming off the books: Vazquez 10M, Paddack 7.5M, Castro 6.4M, Coulombe 3M, France 1M and Topa 1M (Club Option at 2M). That's about 33.65M coming off the books and 7 roster spots to fill. 8 players are due arbitration raises: Jeffers, Duran, Ober, Ryan, Jax, Larnach, Stewart and Lewis. 2 players will be Arb 1: Sands and Clemens I don't know how much this group will earn exactly in raises through arbitration and therefore how much is taken from the 33.65 million available. According to the information I've found online, the average arbitration raise is 113%. For this exercise let's just make the math easy and say 100% raises for the 8 players moving up the arbitration ladder. Those 8 players are making 19.2 this year collectively through arbitration. 100% raise due for all 8 and they will be making 38.4 collectively in 2026. Add in whatever you think Sands and Clemens will get in their first year. I don't know but let's say 2 million a piece and we are at 42.4 million in raises. This means that payroll is already up 8.75M in 2026 before even considering picking up the 10M option on Bader. Keep in mind that we have 7 roster spots on the 26 man roster to fill with Bader, Vazquez, Paddack, Castro, Coulombe, France and Topa not signed beyond this season. If the Twins pick up the 10M on Bader... payroll will be up 18.7M with 6 roster spots to fill. If the Twins pick up the club option on Topa... Payroll is up 20.7 million with 5 roster spots to fill. I realize that Clemens may not be offered. I also realize that all 10 players that will be in arbitration this off-season may or may not offered arbitration this off-season and the reason some may not be offered is going to be due to budget more so than performance related decisions. What do y'all see?

Perfectly stated. The simple counting of pre-arb players leaves a lot of factors untouched.

I know you see what I'm talking about. I'm just less optimistic that the ratio will be improving soon. I pray you are right but I'm just not sure. The Twins have had a highly ranked farm system for many years now and not enough to show for it. I believe it's quite possible that IF the ratio improves... it will be because the Twins have no other options. Even... the Margot's of the world become too expensive and Sabato is taking France's place... not because he is ready but because they have to. I don't know if the Twins are failing to develop or are purposely choosing to limit the exposure of young players but either way... it's scares me and it needs to be fixed. I just broke down the outlook for 2026 in an earlier post. It's pretty scary. The bill is coming due. This club needs to turn around this development thing quickly.

While it is true that most mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties. I always assume it's because of performance disparity. If the player struggles, the club walks away. If the player plays well, he goes back into the market to get more for his performance. I believe this mutual option is for 10 Million with plate appearance escalators. His reward for good performance is already baked in. Harrison and his agent would have to believe that he could get more than 10 million plus whatever it escalates to... to decline it. Kepler got 1 year at 10 million from the Phillies so... I don't know... Maybe he declines it because a team could offer more but I'm not sure how much more a team is willing to offer because the majority of teams struggle with the same budget demons that the Twins struggle with. In consideration of that current budget stress, which I don't believe will go away this upcoming off-season (even with new owners). You can't discount the possibility that the Twins will decline the option because they may not have 10 million available to pay him. Breaking it down. For 2025 he is guaranteed 4.75M with another 2M possible in performance bonus... the bonuses are mostly tied to awards as far as I can tell so let's just leave his number at 4.75 which will be coming off the books. Other contracts coming off the books: Vazquez 10M, Paddack 7.5M, Castro 6.4M, Coulombe 3M, France 1M and Topa 1M (Club Option at 2M). That's about 33.65 coming off the books and 7 roster spots to fill. 8 players are due arbitration raises: Jeffers, Duran, Ober, Ryan, Jax, Larnach, Stewart and Lewis. 2 players will be Arb 1: Sands and Clemens I don't know how much this group will earn exactly in raises through arbitration and therefore how much is taken from the 33.65 million available. According to the information I've found online, the average arbitration raise is 113%. For this exercise let's just make the math easy and say 100% raises for the 8 players moving up the arbitration. Those 8 players are making 19.2 this year collectively. 100% raise and those 8 players will be making 38.4 collectively. Add in whatever you think Sands and Clemens will get in their first year. I don't know but let's say 2 million a piece and we are at 42.4 million in raises. This means that payroll is already up 8.75M in 2026 before even considering picking up the 10M option on Bader and keep in mind that we have 7 roster spots on the 26 man roster to fill with Bader, Vazquez, Paddack, Castro, Coulombe, France and Topa not signed beyond this season. If the Twins pick up the 10M on Bader... payroll will be up 18.7M with 6 roster spots to fill. This isn't directed at you... It's directed at everyone who doesn't understand why I stick on these subjects. I'm just piggy backing off your quote. This is why I'm raising the caution flag. This is why I'm counting the pre-arb players on the rosters of other clubs and trying my best to tell everyone that it matters. This is why I'm pretty convinced that we have a development problem, that is financially unsustainable and will lead to an eventual hard crash and high draft pick the following year and probably years to come. This is what I mean when I say that a bill is coming due for the constant parade of low one year contract filler year after year. This is what I mean when strip mining your left handers for parts and handcuffing them with 4 million dollar Margot's is a bill that will come due. This is what I mean when I say that I don't have a problem with Bader as a ball player but I have a problem with needing to sign someone like Bader. This is why I talk about all 13 roster spots being gold and am disappointed every time a roster spot is wasted weather it be Bride, McCusker, Fitzgerald or whoever because the Twins have to start making up the difference between the 18 Pre-Arb players the Tigers, Brewers and Rays are winning with and the 8 pre-arb players that the Twins are treading water with. Bottom Line: Bader has been great... I love watching him play. He single handedly won the game for us yesterday. The Twins could barely afford his his 4 to 6 million this year and I don't see them being able to afford the 10m next year. My prediction is that if the club option is picked up by the Twins. Players that we all know and love will have to be traded to make room. Larnach? Duran? Lopez? They may need to be traded even if we don't sign Bader. If we are moving these type of players... are we starting a rebuild? The rebuild may be necessary regardless because this isn't sustainable. Once you start to lose names like those... Is 10 million for a 32 year old Bader (as decent as he has been this year) worth it? I think that Bader will be allowed to enter free agency where the market will determine his value and we will continue our bargain shopping to fill the available roster spots. Develop or Die.

Once a series... I will post the number of pre-arb players on the 26 man roster from the opposing team. This weekend... the Rays have brought 16 pre-arb players with them to Target field. With Funderburk replacing Ober on the 26 man roster. The Twins now have 11 pre-arb players. The Rays broke camp with 17... The Twins broke camp with 8. The Rays are currently 48-40 on the year. The Twins are currently 42-46. When I say pre-arb... I'm just counting players with less than 3 years service time. For example. Royce Lewis (Super-Two) is counted among the 11 Twins pre-arb players even if he is in his first year of arbitration and makes more than the minimum. He counts because I'm really just down and dirty counting those who started 2025 with less then 3.000 of MLB service time. It would be 10 with Lewis off the pre-arb list. That would run counter to the Twins development lull point I'm trying to make. The Lower the number, the more dramatic my point. Regardless, I'm OK with the inclusion of Lewis since this will be a season long youth point that I am making by comparison to our peers and less than 3 year service time is the line I've chosen to signify youth. I chose that line because nearly all of them (not Royce Lewis) are making the major league minimum. This is important because if they are not making the minimum, they are chipping away at the available budget.

One of the greatest movie lines of all time. Delivered perfectly by Nigel Tufnel.

On this subject. I'm pretty pegged

There is no question that left vs left is the worst statistical matchup in regards to the platoon advantage. It is also true that left vs RHP is historically the best statistical matchup in baseball. It is not necessarily true that RH hitters can comfortably face any handedness. It's a 69 point drop. Here are the all time OPS Numbers: RHB vs RHP - .712 RHB vs LHP - .781 LHB vs RHP - .799 LHB vs LHP - .687 If 72% of pitching is RHP and 28% is LHP and you took those historical numbers X 72 and X 28 appropriately. An all right hand lineup would historically produce .730 OPS against all major league pitching and an all left hand lineup would produce a .767 OPS against all major league pitching. It's better to have an all left handed lineup compared to an all right handed lineup. Now I get it. You can only safely platoon 3 spots taking up 6 roster spots to play the advantage and teams do that. Actually 4 if you have a right handed hitting catcher like Jeffers and you want to get him involved at the DH position in this whole platoon mess. Most teams don't do that... So we will stick with three. On Paper those 6 roster spots/3 lineup spots can historically average out to .793 collectively if fully utilized but that still you leaves you with 6 spots in the order not platooned where the left handed hitter has the advantage over the right handed hitter. So... In a nutshell from a historical standpoint... the perfect platoon system to play the numbers correctly to full advantage. Would consist of 9 left handed hitters and 4 short side right handed hitters if you carry a catching platoon split tandem. 10 LH Hitters and 3 Right Handed hitters if you don't. That of course... is just based on historical averages. It is not based on the individual player... in order to have an average... you have players above that line and players below that line. Just because the historical average of LHB vs LHP is .687 doesn't mean you can't have a player who does better than that if allowed to. Those historical averages also don't account for injuries that blow the whole thing up. If you staff 3 short side platoon players to face only left handed hitters. Injuries will take those limitations away and now you have right handed hitters facing more right handed pitching than left handed pitching. This immediately negates the careful planned platoon advantage strategy. The easiest solution to all of these numbers is this: JUST GET HITTERS WHO CAN HIT! Left/Right it doesn't matter. In the case of a tie... take the left handed hitter over the right handed hitter Or... Or... Just get nothing but switch hitters and you'll never have to think about any of this ever again.

My last post was all the American League teams. I've been intending to get around to the National League teams. So here ya go. Mets - I already covered New York in my last post. I've been to the old Yankee stadium so I will be finally attending a game in the Yankee stadium in August. Citi Field was one of my favorite parks. Not Top Five but up there and the why is kinda weird. Why? The Airplane Traffic overhead. Planes are taking off frequently from La Guardia I assume and flying over head. It was kinda cool to get a good look at the belly of all of those planes not that far overhead. For that reason alone... I give Citi Field high marks in what would normally be just an average stadium. BTW... Don't come with the impression that Queens is a quiet suburb far away from the craziness of Manhattan. It's nearly as people crazy. Queens is nuts. Marlins - The stadium is decent and I rank it in the exact same place as they other stadiums with a retractable roof. The stadium goes in the same pile with Houston, Arizona, Texas and Milwaukee. As for food, Miami has a lot of iconic food due to the culture and none of it is high on my list of favorite stuff. Had the Stone Crab... Expensive little bits of crab meat is what it is. I had the Ceviche... wasn't a fan. I paid 30 bucks for a mojito in South Beach. I didn't know I was going to pay 30 bucks. I just walked in an ordered a Mojito and was told it cost 30 bucks after the bartender made it. It had a sugar cane standing up in the glass so I assume that was why it was about 20 bucks more than I was expecting. I did like my Cuban sandwich and Cuban Espresso in Little Havana. Here's an interesting fact. You can walk from Little Havana to the Stadium. It'll take you through some interesting neighborhoods, lots of windows and people yelling in spanish inside those places from multiple floors. It is exactly a one cigar walk from Little Havana to the stadium. I lit my cigar outside the cigar store... started toward the stadium and was done with it as I arrived. For that alone... I give the city planners credit because I think they did it on purpose. Braves - Been to the old stadium so it counts on my list of all 30 stadiums quest... but yeah... I've got to get to the new stadium. As for food... my sister lives in the Atlanta burbs so she usually feeds me. The one thing I know for sure about the food in the south. The BBQ is great but if you are looking for the best BBQ... look for the worst building you can find. If the building looks like it should be condemned... that's where you want to go. If it's a nice clean building in a strip mall... stay away. Phillies - Hitting this stadium in August. I've been to Philly once before. The two most famous cheesesteak places are Geno's and Pat's King of Steaks and they are right across the street from each other. We had four of us in our group. Two of us got cheese steaks at each location and then we traded halfs so we could all sample each one and two of us voted for Geno's and two of us voted for Pat's. I voted for Pats because the meat in Geno's was cubed. Other than that the difference was slight. Since taking part in this small focus group... I have spoken with actual people from Philly and they all laugh and say... if you want a real Philly cheesesteak... you don't go to either of them. Nationals - I'll be hitting this stadium in August - I've been to Washington a couple of times before. Did the tourist stuff and didnt sample iconic cuisine. In my research it has been suggested that hot dog with chili called the Half Smoke is the iconic DC food. I'll have one when I return. Cubs - I already covered Chicago in my previous post. As much as I loved Fenway... I didn't have the same love for Wrigley. It was under construction when I was there so that took away some charm and my seats had a pole blocking the view. I do plan on swinging through Chicago and giving Wrigley another chance in my upcoming August road trip. I'd like to spend some more time checking out the surrounding area before entering this time. Pirates - Top 5 stadium for sure. I'd say Baltimore and Pittsburgh are interchangeable at the 4 or 5 spot . ranking wise. Food... The Primanti Sandwich is a must. If you don't have a Primanti Bros. when you are there... you blew it. It's the Iconic food of Pittsburgh. It a sandwich built for truck drivers where they basically take an entire plate of food and put it between slices of bread. Meat, Cheese, Cole Slaw, Tomatos and French Fries between two slices of bread. Basically a dinner plate combined together on bread. It tastes just like you think it will. Milwaukee - My favorite stadium from the retractable roof stadiums. Tailgate if you can. They have a nice tailgate area across the interstate. Milwaukee food... Just drink Beer... Eat some cheese. You'll be covered. Cincinnati - This one is on my list for my August road trip. Been through Cincy twice in my life. I always... always and will always in the future have the Cincinnati Chili. I do the 4 way because I don't need the kidney beans. Spaghetti Noodles covered with the chili (Cinnamon or Nutmeg maybe both is the unique flavor from the Chili we all know), Cheese (Lots of it) and Onions. That's the 4 way. If I got the beans which is an option... it would be the 5 way. I do the 4 way. What can I say... I agree with Texas. No beans in my chili please. I know people who don't like it... I think they are all crazy. BTW... I'll be driving from St. Louis to Cincinnati on my road trip and I am purposely swinging south so I can enter Cincy from Kentucky. The Cincinnati skyline is perhaps the most beautiful skyline in the United States. The skyline hits you all of a sudden when it is combined with beautiful bridges as you cross the Ohio river. I did that once... and it dropped my jaw. So I'll be looking at Kentucky on my way to Cincy from St. Louis. St. Louis - This one is on my list for the road trip. First stadium I will be hitting on the trip. Haven't really spent any time in St. Louis so I'm looking forward to it. Research is telling me that I need to have St. Louis Ribs, Toasted Ravioli and Gooey Butter Cake. Dodgers - Already covered L.A in my earlier post. Dodger Stadium would rank higher on my list if it wasn't for the traffic. It was really helpful that Glunn was with because he knew exactly how to get there efficiently. I went to a game with Glunn and I went to one by myself. The Game I went by myself... I left Beverly Hills about an hour and a half before game time and ended up missing the first three innings. Could have had a Freddie Freeman bobblehead. BTW... When you are in a traffic standstill in some side street leading to the stadium... You are uphill and your car won't like it. D-Backs - The Stadium ranks with the other retractable roof stadiums. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not the desert sort of person. It's a hot desert. I live in North Dakota... I lost 200 pounds walking around. Food: Mexican Food Rockies - I really liked my experience in Denver. The stadium is a good experience. They probably have more interesting food choices than any other stadium. I had the Elvis Shake. Banana Ice Cream, Peanut Butter, Bacon and Cracker Jacks. Can't say it was wonderful but it wasn't awful. If you see it has a stadium food option. You gotta go for it. As Elvis says... Thank You... Thank you very much. BTW... Blue Moon beer was invented at Coors Field. Let me repeat that... Blue Moon was invented at Coors. The Sandlot Brewery in the Right Field corner. Giants - This used to be my favorite stadium of all the stadiums - The site lines are amazing... If you sit in RF... You can actually tell if the pitch was a curve ball. Normally when you sit in outfield seats... you can see a pitch thrown and that's about it. In San Francisco... you can see what kind of pitch was thrown. I don't know why... but you can. Perhaps I shouldn't have been sleeping in architecture school in college. I've covered the food in my earlier post. I'll just say... San Francisco is busy. It's the only city that I've visited that compares with New York as far as traffic. People everywhere. The Hills are relentless... Big Ups... Big Downs but it creates a stunning city. Padres - This is now my favorite stadium of all the stadiums... I would have bet against any stadium being better than San Francisco... I was wrong. Petco is the best. The Weather is amazing, the Gas Lamp District surrounding the stadium is incredible and the stadium itself is just plain beautiful with unique architectural touches. That's all of them.

The dead money slots show no dollars attached. So his 17 million would have to be tacked on?

Back to some Good Ole' Roster Utilization. With the return of Royce Lewis... today is game three of an almost entirely healthy offense. The first two days of that health as yielded two runs. We will see what day three of health brings. First off the obvious: Keirsay has been up with the club since June 15 for a total of 16 games and has made one start. His utilization is clear. Defense and Baserunning late game replacement. The Catchers continue to rotate. Every other day with Vazquez getting a couple of back to backs when Jeffers gets a DH opportunity against left handers. As for the other 10 and the 8 other roster spots to fill. Kody Clemons is possibly the short straw. He's not in the lineup today and will have sat two out of the three games for this almost entirely healthy offense. Bader, France, Lewis and Correa will have sat one game... so it appears like a rotation is starting to take place. Rotation rest is what should be done when you have mulitple players that can perform. Buxton, Castro and Lee have not taken a seat yet three games into this almost entirely healthy offense. Larnach and Wallner also haven't taken a seat in this almost entirely healthy offense but I imagine their time will come on Tuesday when Imanaga takes the mound and again next Saturday against Heaney. BTW... I say almost entirely healthy offense because Keaschall is still on that IL. Keashall didn't break camp with the club so I'm not sure he counts when it comes to those the front office was counting on when they built this thing. I'm under the impression that this roster right now minus Julien and Miranda is what they intended. So I raise a glass to toast health. We are healthy. Let's see how the front office did.

Did you trade Pablo? If so... what did we get back?

You are right. When you factor that in. My perfect sense comment isn't as perfect. 😄

You are right. When you factor that in. My makes perfect sense comment isn't as perfect.

The reality is: It's too soon to be making these decisions but it can be fun and disapointing to what if. OK... What if. There are two types of selling and all the space in between. A. The simple moving of expiring contracts. B. The full tear down followed by full rebuild. Option A - Should happen fully and completely if the team is clearly not in contention. Even if you get nothing in return for these players... they need to be cleared off the roster so 2026 options are in the lineup instead. No hanging on to a Logan Forsythe for the hell of it. Option B - I'd listen to offers because some nice deals could be available in what could be a sellers market but I'd rather they wait for the off-season with a new front office in place to facilitate the moves. Larnach or Wallner - I am 100 percent against any reasoning of moving Larnach or Wallner because they are both left handed. This type of thinking has to stop. This team just needs to search for bats period regardless of what batters box they stand in. 75% of pitching is Right Handed. Why do we continually feel the need to suppress our left handed hitting pool and search for more average at best right handed hitters? I don't understand it and never will. The Tigers are doing just fine with a lot of left handers in the lineup. Matt Wallner will still make the minimum next year. Matt Wallner type players are exactly who the Twins should be trying to acquire if they are selling. Young players making the minimum with years of control with potential. Trevor Larnach? He will be in year two of Arb... probably cost 4 5 or 6 million. I'm a big Larnach fan but you could justify trading him but... I need to ask loud and clear. What has the Twins organization done to his trade value? They certainly haven't maximized his trade value by keeping him from left handed hitters. Everyone please understand that there is a future bill to pay for what they have done to our young left handed hitters. The bill that is coming due is a lowered trade value and therefore lower return when you find yourself in the situation of needing to sell. And it's important to point out that needing to sell will partially demonstrate that strip mining your talent for parts DIDN'T WORK because if it worked... you wouldn't need to sell. Royce Lewis: Good God Absolutely not... not at this time at least... Absolutely not. I'm just as frustrated with Royce as anyone else. The constant injuries and a year long slump has been hard to endure and that is exactly why you don't trade him now because the constant injuries and year long slump will have lowered his trade value to about as low as it can get. If we are selling... Royce Lewis plays through his issues and we continue to hope that he restores his trade value. Trading him at an absolutely low point would be irresponsible. Duran and Jax: Makes perfect sense. Both players will be expiring contracts in 2026. No idea what they will make in their third year of arbitration but they might be a combined 15 million out of the budget. I'd love to keep them but money is an issue this year and it's going to be an issue next year. Both are talented enough to return some decent talent from a contending team. Many will argue this but you can always make another closer or set up guy.