Greglw3

SO you think Martin and his .282 batting average, ability to steal and defensive ability is not particularly good? I disagree with that. I’d much rather have him than Larnach. Many more ways to beat you.

I like an outfield of Roden, Martin, Buxton, Outman, Gabriel Gonzalez and possibly Emma. I like Martin full time but Roden deserves a vs righty platoon as a starter based on his magnificent spring. I don’t want Larnach involved at all, that’s called running back 70-92 and so is Wallner. If they must keep Wallner, I’d hope he’s limited to just playing vs righties. The 6 that I have gives you the option of the track meet outfield in Martin, Buxton and Outman, the upside outfield of Roden, Buxton and Rodriguez or Roden, Buxton and Martin. Vs. Lefties, you can go al RH with Martin, Buxton and G Gonzalez who seemingly stepped out of the womb hitting. 1 of the 6 could DH. I think there’s enough at bats from 300, 400, 500, 550, 600 to go around for all of these guys. If anybody falters, I think Wagaman looks like he will be a solid hitter.

I think he’s got a good bat and just now coming into his prime. He would be a fantastic platoon-mate for Larnach and or Wallner who both should 100% be platooned (although I hope one is gone and the other platooned or both gone). He can platoon at DH, 1B, possibly a little in the outfield and maybe help at 3B if Royce Insurance needed. Finally he’d make a nice bat off the bench and pinch hitter. I really like him to be on the 26. I could easily see him getting 300 at bats or more and being an asset.

I remember everyone saying Ty France was a poor defensive first baseman when we got him (advanced defensive metrics, probably) and he won the gold glove. I’ve read better reports than what you’re indicating on his defense - we’ll have to see. One thing I would not rely on is the newer "advanced" defensive metrics. Credit Milb.com https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024/twins/gabriel-gonzalez-694224 Looks like written before 2024 season but as a scouting report purportedly using scouts knowledge and experience, I assume its not based on what I consider the dubious advanced metrics, especially OAA. "He’s a fringy runner now and might slow down as he matures, though he has decent defensive instincts and has an absolute hose for an arm" And this from Sam Caulder, Twins Daily, this article, "While there’s still room for refinement in routes and consistency, his range and arm give him the tools to be an above-average defender. To me it all adds up to a much higher ceiling than Larnach, but maybe its because I’m in the throes of "hope-springs-eternal"-ism! And I like Roden more than Wallner but time will tell. Like Dan Gladden mentioned on air yesterday, no more excuses for the hitters, we’re far enough into spring training that the hitters have their legs and Roden counting the Puerto Rico game is hitting .500 and Gonzalez about the same while Larnach and Wallner are not hitting, which based on recent track record, especially with Wallner is very concerning to me. I have seen Wallner swing oppo twice for nice looking line drives to left, once late last year and once in spring training, which would help him a lot IMO, but he way too often seems confused or just overmatched.

I agree! I would have Gonzalez much higher. I think he’s a pure hitter with a very high ceiling. He should make the opening day roster at least as a platoon bat and maybe more. GG is my favorite with Roden neck and neck!

Roden is more deserving, based on what I’ve seen so far. And Gabby Gonzalez would be very useful as a platoon mate or more for a lefty bat that might hit .200 or less vs lefties. But stay tuned on E-rod, he’s ticked down just a bit with his recent at-bats but too small a sample size. It’d be nice if all 3 made it!

I was just thinking the same thing yesterday. I like Sim, but right now it’s trending toward Ryan, Ober, Matthews, Bradley and Abel or maybe Littel or Giolito.

If they just run back what got them 70-92 by starting .202 hitting Matt Wallner who had the least RBIs of any 22 home run hitter ever (since the RBI stat’s inception, around 100 years ago) - a guy that had 10 RBIs on non HR plate appearances for the whole season AND stick with Larnach, a below average player when they have dynamic young talents like Alan Roden, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez, Walker Jenkins and even Ka’lai Rosario for platoon work, it would be a major gamble and a foolish one. I’m hoping they’re gonna still make the right call and transform this team to a much more athletic, defensively adept team with great upside - the players are right there in front of their eyes.

Chance was a great pitcher, 1.65 ERA is a bit historic, and did some great things with the Twins. Do we have to throw away Rod Carew’s 7 seasons with the Angels? Though Buxtons been a Twin, how many high quality full seasons has he really played. I’m just trying to give my take on the question from a full historic point of view. I left out Tovar and Zolio Versalles because of their meteoric Twins careers. I should have mentioned Hrbek as well. Let’s see how he does, I’m all for Buxton, Jenkins, Rodriguez and Gonzalez dominating for several years.

The All Star nods tell a different story with Buxton having 2 and Rod Carew having appeared in 19 consecutive All Star Games. I don’t like the WAR stat, very flawed, IMO and in Bill James opinion but I guess you gotta use something when comparing players of different positions, eras and the type of role they played on a team. Another player I would rank ahead of Buxton by age 31 is Gary Gaetti. Another in Buxton’s league would be Dean Chance who had just a 7 year period of greatness but only 3 with the Twins. In 1964 with Angels he was 20-9 with a 1.65 ERA and 11 shutouts! With the Twins in 1967, just 19 days apart, he first threw a 5 inning rain-shortened perfect game, then 19 days later threw a complete game no-hitter. Also, Jim Perry. I think his body of work is clearly more notable than Buxton’s but as the author points out, Buxton could close the gap with a run of great seasons, probably not likely but very possible. Radke doesn’t truly belong in any discussion with Blyleven, Kaat, Dean Chance, Jim Perry, Joe Nathan or even Dave Goltz. One last player that had the same level of talent as Buxton but also has to be put in the "what might have been" category is Lyman Bostock. I consider him one of the greatest hitters to ever wear a Twins uniform but unfortunately, first Calvin Griffith let him go to the Angels for about 500k a year. Thus taking him out of the hitting environment that he enjoyed at Met Stadium. And, of course, tragically he was murdered, mistakenly, as a young man. I really feel he was a Hall of Fame caliber hitter and would have won a batting title in 1977 with his .336 average with lots of pop but his own teammate beat him out by 52 points, the quintessential Twins single season Twins achievement, when Carew hit .388 and won the MVP award on a 4th place team in a 7 team division. Buxton is probably, as it stands, one of the 20 greatest players in Twins history and could climb higher but I don’t see him ever being in the category of Carew, Killebrew, Mauer, Oliva, Puckett, Kaat, Nathan, Jim Perry, Chance. He could hopefully be the equal of Gaetti and Lyman Bostock with more seasons last year. In any case, let’s enjoy his hopefully good years to come and thrill to the Buck truck pull, the fire and passion of a great athlete!!!

I have confidence in Derek Shelton to choose the right mix. If Gonzalez, Roden or Rodriguez, as examples play lights out and Wallner strikes out his way through Spring training, I would hope that Shelty would pick the young talented and up and coming player with a multifaceted game to move into the Twins future. I actually see the outfield as competition as quite fascinating at this point. And I agree with all those who say Martin should be a full time starter. He has much more to offer the Twins than Trevor Larnach at about an 85-90% probability, IMO.

I think Jenkins.

Great article! Count me as one that pines for an OF with Jenkins, Rodriguez and Gonzalez. It could even be done with Buxton still here. I have to think it would be better than a .202 hitter in Wallner and then Larnach. A 5 man OF of Buxton, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Martin! Let’s Go!!!

That's the guy they should sign is Littell. Still plenty of room for the young guys to pitch over the course of a season when 10 or more starters are sometimes used by MLB teams.

I disagree with your takes and find them extremely pessimistic and out of line with reality. The Twins have done a lot of good things since end of last season, at least very consequential. Fired Falvey and Baldelli, finally. Hired Derek Shelton who I keep hearing lots of good things about. They’ve signed Josh Bell, who after making adjustments to his swing, had a good 2nd half and hit righties hard.. They hired Grady Sizemore, Latroy Hawkins and Ryan Pressley. They added Banda and Chafin, and Orze, Taylor Rodgers, Liam Hendricks. Caratini is at least another bat that won’t duplicate the Twins achilles heel of having myriad .1xx to low .200 average hitters in their lineups the last few years. Wagaman hit .283 vs L and can make a good platoon partner. Every indication is they’re going to be aggressive and run this year. As far as Tom saying we’re going to compete, I think he meant they were going to compete when they finish the job of adding players AND payroll and indeed, they’ve been adding players since then that should help. And he meant they were going to compete, considering they have at least 5 players with star potential, close to ready or ready in Gabriel Gonzalez, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Hendry Mendez and Kaelen Culpepper. And Rosario and/or Fedko may just find themselves as platoon bats this year. Neither Larnach nor Wallner should bat against lefties. The family also had the guts to kick Joe to the curb and install Tom. Let’s give him a real chance hear. Jeremy Zoll is another reason for optimism and the restructuring of operations so there won't be a Derek Falvey type position complicating things for the GM. Let’s let a little more time go by and see about any further additions to payroll and the roster. I also liked bringing back Laweryson, we’ll see.

For what he did in the total destruction of the team including Carew, Bostock, Hislee, Bill Campbell, Dave Goltz, Dan Ford, Blyleven - with no effort to retain a single one of them, he deserves a split verdict, under the reserve clause, what you say is true. Under free agency, he is quite possibly the worst owner of the last 50 years, the only competition coming from Charlie Finley. I will never pine for the days when he broke my heart by trading Carew to the Angels for a sack of baseballs and letting Bostock and Hisle walk for nothing.

Totally disagree. Was he setup to fail when he took a non-juicy payroll and had his one good offseason of his whole tenure, signing Cron, Schoop, N Cruz, etc.? After that, on average, he had a greater payroll than the Guardians, probably the Royals, Rays but had passive offseason year after year and never once had a good trade deadline. Dyson, Shoemaker, Mahle ( better than Luis Castillo, he told us), D. Bundy, D Keuchel, DeSclafani, Chris Archer, Jake Cave, Joey Gallo, Andrelton Simmons, stuck with pull happy ineffective Max Kepler way too long, Colomé, whiffed on Rooker, who can forget J.A. Happ, Chris Paddack. From 2021-2025, Falvey had payrolls of 121MM, 150MM, 156MM, 129 MM, 130MM. During that time his teams were 30 games below .500 with and average payroll of 137.2 MM. Compare this to the Guardians 2021: 57MM 2022: 66.5MM 2023: 88.9MM 2024:105.5 MM 2025: estimated 101-102 MM for an average of 84MM for the 5 year period. During that time, they went 80-82, 92-70, 76-86, 92-69, 88-74 respectively for a cumulative record 47 games above .500. So, on 50 MM less per year in payroll, the Guardians front office went 47 games above .500 while Falvey steered the Twins to 30 games below .500. Falvey had a few moments but was generally a poor trader, shrugged off lousy performers like Jake Cave and Max Kepler way too long and presided over a strikeout plagued era of one dimensional baseball and very poor use of analytics (Rocco also to blame there). I just thought Falvey was quite incompetent and Rocco was a decisive cut below the good managers I’ve seen in my day like Terry Francona, Tony LaRussa, Jim Leyland, Gene Mauch, Earl Weaver, Chuck Tanner, Joe Maddon.....the list his long. I’m happy the Twins have finally cleaned house and can now rely on the one bright spot, Sean Johnson’s scouting and drafting and rely on one General Manager...now we know who the general manager is! I’ve heard enough good about Jeremy Zoll to be optimistic. We shall see. In the end, nobody knows exactly how to apportion the blame among the Pohlads, Rocco and Falvey but the buck stops here. Ready for a new chapter and excited about Jenkins, Rodriguez, G Gonzalez (very high on him), Culpepper, Mendez, Rosario and maybe even Fedko. Plus I love Austin Martin, I think he will personify Derek Shelton’s son to watch Twins.

That’s a really excellent idea! I agree on the impact potential on winning, lengthening the rotation and especially it’s imperative that Tom Pohlad put his money where his mouth is and allow Jeremy Zoll to strike! I think with Jenkins, G Gonzalez, E Rodriguez, maybe even Rosario or Fedko and Culpepper and Mendez that the impact on the Twins offense could be significant. Let’s turn these talented studs loose!!!

Falvey went out and put a lot of effort into signing really good players ahead of the 2019 season. After that, he was quirky with a lot of bad signings and trades and Derek Falvey’s Minnesota Twins had a losing record, 18 games below .500 from 2020-2025 and 30 games below .500 from 2021-2025. I think Baldelli and Falvey were overmatched. What if thy could get Thad Lavine as the President of baseball operations (as mentioned on Score North Twins show today) and let Jeremy Zoll do his full job as GM. I believe, from statements I’ve heard lately that the Twins are still willing to spend 5-10 million more and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 15 million. Plus we have Gabriel Gonzalez, Jenkins, E Rodriguez, Kaelen Cullpepper, Hendry Mendez all strong possibilities for imminent help. Let Austin Martin play a full year in LF and run, then run some more. He was tough to throw out late last year, I see a very good defensive left fielder and a guy who had the 2nd highest batting average on the team at .282. The moves to fire Baldelli and Levine were a long time coming. I don’t understand all the shock and complaining I’ve heard today, mostly or maybe ALL from non-Twins sources.

I agree, for me Gabriel Gonzalez is the clear #2 prospect for the Twins. I think he’s a pure hitter who will put the ball in play, hit for a high average with moderate power on HR but possibly more on doubles!

For me, it’s simple. Brujan had a .253 batting average.. Gaspar 158. I believe low batting averages, Cave, Outman, Gaspper, Clemens, Gallo, Wallner, Kepler have hurt the Twins egregiously in recent years. Brujan hit .268 vs L. If he’s in the lineup, that’s one step toward correctng the lineups of the last 2 years where there were sometimes 4 and 5 players batting .19x or low .200s. And they just made outs and rolled through 5-6-7, even 9 innings without scoring. Wagaman helps too cause he hit .283 vs L and .250 overall and Bell .265 ish vs R w 18 HR.

Wagaman hit lefties real well .283 with good sag pct and Bell hit righties to a .804 OPS plus Bell hit lefties at a .150 clip. A quick estimate shows the platoon with about a .274 ave. with 79 RBIs and 23 HR.

I agree about the great recipe for 65-70 win team. Right now, relief much worse and lineup marginally better with Bell, who I think could surprise based on the swing adjustments that gave him a strong 2nd half in 2025. However, we just can’t afford to run back the annual low batting average lineup of the last few years and expect different results. Outman about .160, Wallner .203, Clemens ~ .220, Lee .239, Lewis .230s. We have a new manager and a huge addition in Grady Sizemore, I see only 2 viable outfielders on the ML roster, Martin and Buxton and they could, if healthy hold down LF and CF. Rather than the mediocre Larnach and Mendoza line Wallner who had 10 RBIs all last season from a single, double, triple, groundout, hit by pitch or sacrifice fly.... I would give every chance for 2 of the following 4 to win the 2 remaining OF spots: Gabriel Gonzalez, who I think will hit and is a pure hitter, Emmanual Rodriguez (high on base at least), Walker Jenkins and Hendry Mendez (I like his offensive potential and he can hit for Lyman Bostock type power and a .290 average and I’d be very happy. And I hope Roden emerges. Further, spring training would be an open competition for SS between Culpepper and Lee. I think 60% Lewis has a significantly better year as he was maturing 2nd half of 2025 and sounds like Shelton might be a very good influence on him. Keaschall at 2B. They need to trade for one more hitter with at least Martin potential. Finally, I think, even though a little disappointed when he was chosen, that Derek Shelton is going to help this team realize their potential. Interviews with him, articles about his strengths, and importantly that he still wants to establish a go-go offense (Martin, Jenkins, Keaschall, Buxton, Culpepper). Falvey needs to get busy as he’s being out hustled yet again. There are hitters out there for trade. Even Binentendi would be an upgrade on many of our hitters and has a past with some solid hitting in it.

Great comment! A+ for just plain funny and witty!

Good catch Greggory on the 'or two' by Zoll, seems a lot of people forgot that but the Gregs latched onto it. I’ll take Ryan O’Hearn and I’ll take Miguel Andujar with hid .318 average. Adding two bats that would have finished 4th and 1st in batting average, respectively with some pop is the best thing to lift the Twins up from their multi year affliction of featuring myriad .190, .204, .220 type hitters in their lineup. In the outfield, I’m looking at Austin Martin, Byron Buxton and 2 of G. Gonzalez, W Jenkins, E Rodriguez, H Mendez, Matt Wallner and Larnach with a strong preference to fill the 2 slots with 2 of the young studs. With O’Hearn, Andujar and the ascendent youngsters, we could actually have a chance.