Kummel

This is sounding familiar -- the Twins hoping to trade a player, then not finding team interested in that trade. It's interesting to see the teams which remain in playoff contention today. According to spotrac, three of the remaining teams are among lowest payrolls in baseball this year: Guardians (lowest payroll, #30), Rays (#28), White Sox (#24th). Twins slot in there at #22. It does make you reflect on how Twins organization handles roster construction and other things in comparison to these playoff teams with lower payroll.

I would think there is a place for Clemens, eg, at 2nd base until Marek Houston comes up and Culpepper moves over (assuming all that works out and we are actually moving into a period where some of the young players stick). Catcher is a big hole if Jeffers moves on -- wish the Twins could somehow retain him next year, not likely I know. Keaschall looked better in RF in Sept, I am in minority but I think he can improve there (not be such a liability in the field). I assume they can manage to acquire a 1st baseman, a good hitter, and move on from Lewis.

He was really solid at 3rd, embraced the role to his credit. He got happier about his place on the team. And offensively, I agree, he changed his hitting philosophy to making contact. Big change and we could see the results. He was good with RISP and even hit more home runs. Twins manager moved players around in season looking for a core (Lee, Keaschall, Clemens who's granted not so young). This didn't make the team competitive (esp hard on Keaschall who might improve defensively some if sticks in RF or LF), but you have to start somewhere. For me, it was a welcome change from metric-driven approach of Baldelli. This manager went with what he was seeing -- using that info to help build a core from young players. So my thought is as viewers: let's trust our eyes, too. I really enjoyed seeing some players emerge more clearly into positions and roles (Lee at 3rd, clutch Kody, Keaschall as leadoff hitter). Lee's not perfect, but he had a fine season, especially considering regression of so many young Twins players in recent years.

Yes, the first half is important. And as we can see from three years of collapses, the latter half is as well. The problem for Twins and their fans is that Buxton is not a full season player. So let Jenkins develop in CF and add Buxton later in season, I think it's a decent response to reality.

Underway.

I hope Buxton's recovery goes well. We don't know how long it will impact him or how he will do when he returns. Considering that he is rarely able to play late in the season, delaying his return could mean he is more likely to be healthy and available to play in the second half. Of course it would be better to play an entire year, but this way he could be a factor late in a season. And Jenkins can develop as next CF.

The top management, the owners -- it's hard to change things when there isn't real change at that level. I hope our most recent generation of home grown talent materializes over this year and next, but any MLB team has to also have some financial infusion via trades and at least some self-awareness about what is keeping team from doing well if it struggles to compete year after year. Also, it seems hard to ignore that Buxton and even Ryan are not reliable second half players. You can't continue to have two of your best players disappear in final months, it's one factor in end of year collapses if rest of your roster can't make up the difference. We've sorta moved on to rebuilding despite not moving Jeffers or Ryan or Larnach at deadline. Still, with all that and despite another deteriorating season, I still like some elements of this team -- not a moody group; some really dedicated players (Keaschall); and in some games players showed more grit than I've seen in recent years of Twins play (my favorite was the epic comeback in bottom of ninth and two outs with Kody's grand slam). So for next year... Move on from Lewis, Larnach, Martin, Wallner, Caratini, Ober. Time to finally pull the plug. For 27, Lee, Keaschall, Clemens, and the newly arrived cohort (Jenkins, Culpepper, Rodriguez). If Marek Houston comes up as SS, move Culpepper to second, Clemens to super utility? Twins could make Jeffers an offer, probably won't keep him. If not, catcher is going to be a black hole. Finally, key with such a young roster to have a veteran presence or two if Bell isn't returning. I guess Taj Bradley and Lopez (IF he returns to form) are at top of pitching rotation. Not a given with Prielep, Zebby. The bull pen is going to need some reinforcement, still. Promise not to mention Varland again. Funny thing -- We're already used to Twins not paying for talent, esp uninjured talent, we assume it's off the table. If we're not going to patch holes with much in the way of trades, then imperative to finally scrutinize how this team goes about player recruitment and development and maintenance of player health; identify front office practices and ownership behaviors which keep us down year to year. I'm not saying that will happen, but it needs to.

He struggled defensively, but IS he absolutely beyond learning as others are stating? There are players who come up to the majors and lag defensively (others who "have been playing baseball for decades") who DO improve. For all his difficulties in the outfield, he also made a couple of great diving and sliding catches. He's athletic, speedy, gives his all. If he knew now that he would be in LF next year, the Twins could arrange for him to train over the winter with a mentor like Arraez did. Build on that next year rather than move him between positions. I bet he'd improve.

Too early to say.

Lee "drove in six runs last week and is second on the team behind Bell with 79 RBIs on the season — but the underlying metrics portray a hitter with poor discipline and consistently low contact quality." Underlying metrics, schmetrics. As noted, he's second on the team with RBIs and drove in 6 runs last week. This year he's batted .314 with runners in scoring position, even better with bases loaded (he's hitting .500 with 22 RBI!) -- he's been clutch and for a Twins fan, that's heaven. Homered tonight for 23 on the year, more power than we have seen in him before. In 2026 he's been at least an average MLB offensive player and defensively he's got 7 DRS, which is great. He has been really solid at 3rd. I was feeling pretty happy for him!

Twins fans are very familiar with uneven development of rookies (and 2nd year, even 3rd year players), so first month is just a little blip, not definitive in any way. I'm just glad they're getting some time in the bigs -- and Culpepper's swing is sweet out of the gate, which is fun to watch.

I agree with others here re: the talented, loyal, but oft-injured Buxton. Constructing a team again next year with Buxton in CF means there is a very high chance the offense will sputter mid or late season when injuries mean either he is not playing or his batting is deteriorating so badly he is clogging the lineup. He has said he doesn't do as well when only DHing. So continuing to build a team around him will just contribute to the all too frequent end-of-season Twins meltdowns, despite Buxton's best efforts and intentions. Jenkins in CF. Please, please, put your money where your mouth is and spend $$ to resign Jeffers. Consider one more year with Bell -- as main DH. I saw Keaschall's recent difficult game in CF, but he is hard worker, a willing learner, and speedy. Is there any chance he could be one of those players who makes surprising progress defensively (RF)? If his arm just isn't there, then plug him in at 1B (Lewis showed a few flashes at plate, but is still susceptible to lunging and other old habits).

Doesn't sound like they're actually interested in selling the team.

They lost, but to just dwell on the offense for a bit: scoring 7 innings in the bottom of the ninth is no small feat. I am impressed that this team hangs around. Plus there were some great individual stories -- Miranda's hits-in-a-row streak is out of this world. Lee looks fantastic. Correa's grand slam...

When I see Lewis running the bases, I have thought more than once that he is moving in a way that is not to the point of "reckless" but is not really contained either. Not "smooth." I have worried that he might get injured, but of course we all are because of his injury history.

Some of this is about the larger picture in baseball today. The league, teams, individual players routinely overvalue home run production. When too many players on a team swing for the fences, offense suffers. Not enough runners on base, and those runners often stranded. Arraez is the refreshing antidote to that situation. I appreciate that he does his thing (making contact), revels in it, does it extremely well. he is routinely over- or under-valued, in part it's this larger context that is shaping responses to him as an individual player.

Santana racking up RBIs!!! We have seen Kirilloff go from having a sweet swing to looking rough. In other years it turned out he was injured. I wonder what's up this time. When there are runners on and Vasquez is up, I tend to fast forward (I realize i'm asssuming "automatic out" at this point).

We are conditioned to assume the worst, because there is reason to associate poor performance at the plate for Kirilloff with injury. If for the first time it's a matter of adjusting and not dealing with injury, I have hope. He has a sweet swing when he's tuned in.

Well, you literally can't win them all. This one felt lackluster early.

He throws so hard, I'd be worried about injuries if he is stretched over more innings.

Platoon splits and veterans (some like Santana clearly past their prime) -- this risk-averse approach to creating "depth" takes away from the energy and excitement of the game (imo). Really look forward to the return of Royce, and I hope with time other bats return to form.

Ober looked injured.

When Kiriloff was healthy this summer, he was a great player, a favorite to watch. So sorry to see this news -- it was evident for quite a while now that he was injured - he looked like a different player, lost that beautiful swing. Maybe he should have had surgery weeks ago? Regardless, such a shame. I wish him all the best.

It's unbelievable. The young MN batters who have emerged in the latter half of this season are a joy to watch, none more so than Royce Lewis!

It was painful to watch Floro stay in there. Agree with others, when a pitcher doesn't have it, why let him continue to get pounded? That was giving up on the game early.