tony&rodney

I'm not looking back at Rooker. He is having a good run with the A's. Good for him. Rooker may have never worked out no matter what with the Twins. I do think Larnach and Wallner need plate appearances to show their worth. I agree with you, let us see what we got.

The "self-imposed" was a creation of writers disgusted by the payroll being clipped last offseason. We all were disappointed. While I'm not expecting any major additions, there would be room for adding Cease if Falvey worked out a favorable deal. I don't believe Paddack will still be a Twin in May. While my take is that Paddack could be good in the bullpen and useful as a spot starter 4-6 times in 2025 his salary doesn't fit that role in Minnesota. The return might not be much but if it clears some dough for Cease it makes sense. On a different note, Willi Castro likely has wide appeal for a number of teams. Yes, Castro also has value to the Twins but if the Twins have any faith at all in Keaschall, Rodriguez, and Lee providing value this season, Castro becomes very useful as a player to trade and has the ancillary benefit of reducing payroll. Both Vazquez and Castro are gone by 2026 and Cease will be a free agent as well. Can a deal get finished? The Twins could take on all of Cease's money and half of Vazquez's contract if Paddack and Castro are up for discussion. The difficulty is getting Preller to agree on a return of young players. Perhaps a deal involves two of C. J. Culpepper, Marco Raya, Cory Lewis, and Kaelen Culpepper plus SWR. I don't know what Preller is looking for but I'm not listening on Festa, Matthews, Keaschall, Jenkins, or EmRod. The Twins don't need Cease. Heck, Preller may like one of Larnach, Miranda, or Julien for that matter.

The Padres-Twins discussions are being discussed under Twins active in trade market under Twins Talk.

The Twins have a big investment in both Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee. We can be pretty sure one of them will get the first shot at second base. That is how the Twins roll. It would be refreshing to see a competition for the positions in Spring Training. Other than Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton and maybe Matt Wallner, none of the other players looking to be in the starting lineup have proven themselves to be regulars. Payton Eeles pretty much showed he deserves an opportunity last summer. If he can play at a high level, give him a shot. I'm actually more worried about the catching position if there is an injury than I am about second base or any other position.

Thank you for putting the work in to examine how Pablo Lopez can take a step to be more consistent and finish 2025 with improved numbers. I'm not at all concerned about Lopez. Dude is a big guy who is intelligent and disciplined in the routines needed to be good at pitching. Something about Lopez oozes confidence and success. The Twins need to put a better set of defenders behind him to turn those outs into outs at a far higher clip than the ragged defensive group from last season. I beieive Lopez is primed for a big year.

I don't know that to be the case. Like I have said previously though, i have no idea what Falvey sees or wants.

Wallner has quite a bit of value and I assure you that multiple teams would push forward some enticing offers to Falvey in order to acquire big Matt. Wallner can be streaky and look futile on occasions but he winds up with pretty consistent numbers for the last three years. If he gets close to 600 PA, expect an OPS near .900, 30+ HR, score about 90 runs, 100+ RBIs, and a BA from .260-280. If another team had Wallner he would play in 150-160 games. I'm expecting that this year. If the Twins are not going to use a pen to put him in the lineup, he should be traded.

The problem is that the Twins need bats and catchers. I'm not fixated on RH/LH. I'm pretty sure the Twins could trade Wallner to Pittsburgh for Jared Jones or maybe even get both Bubba Chandler and Endy Rodriguez for Wallner plus Cory Lewis, but that merely reduces the offense. The good bats are not very easily found. A number of people would like Austin Hays but i'm not sure that is the answer. Right now the only bat I want to trade for is unproven and almost certainly not available. I'm interested in who other people feel is available. My gut tell me that Luke Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez are going to be good as soon as June.

Cease is not worth any of EmRod, Keaschall, or Jenkins included in any way. I'm not inclined to include Festa or Matthews in a deal either.

Wondering who? What do you think?

Reading the article it seems like San Diego has some interest and Minnesota is interested in Cease. The comments are typically insane because they take it as a rumor of a one to one trade, which is absurd. Riffing a little off of this article, perhaps San Diego wants Woods Richardson and Vazquez for Cease. The Padres need to drop their payroll and they are going to have a hard time making deals, just like the Twins.

Wow. How did you come up those returns? Larnach, or any player, are business assets (doesn't that sound rude) to deal as a regular part of baseball activity when trying to improve the roster. Trading Larnach for players who are not as good? No. Also, the idea of too many left-handed hitting outfielders is a story to kill once and for all. Emmanuel Rodriguez (unless traded) and Walker Jenkins are on their way to MLB and they bat lefty as well. Oliva, Carew, Mauer, and Morneau were left-handed as well. I have no problem with trading Larnach but it isn't because he bats left-handed.

Yes, 100 games should work.

The Twins need to get some good young catchers is my takeaway. For those who believe/ would bet that Ryan Jeffers can catch 120 games, bet the over on Buxton at 140 games. Can happen and Correa plays over 150 games too. Can and will ...

Here is an idea I would like to see Falvey propose to Arizona, although I highly doubt it would receive a friendly ear. Duran, Paddack, Castro, Yasser Mercedes, and Kyle DeBarge go to the Dbacks for Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Lawler, and Druw Jones. Why not?

This is a potential problem that directly affects the win-loss column. Usage of players according to contract is as silly as a high school coach using a senior with zero talent or leadership versus the underclassman who has talent. Yet it happens. FWIW, I do think Paddack is a keeper in the bullpen and swing starter role. If he is plopped into the rotation at the beginning of the year and kept there until the injury bug bites again, the Twins are aiming for a .500 record.

FWIW, I highly doubt the Twins are not spending the $4-9M necessary to sign a guy like Hays or Grichuk due to financial limits. Rather I would suggest Falvey wants to see either what is available via trade or he wants to see how his current guys produce.

Instead of a simple like/ thumbs or in addition to .... This is exactly what I see. Yet I don't understand it. The point of a draft and a few other changes in the 1960s was to create more more ability for competition. Clearly there are a number of franchises stuck with owners who are content with the staus quo. Fans are nearly irrelevant.

The odds of Chris Paddack throwing more than 90 innings are quite low. Personally I beleive Paddack would be a good arm for the bullpen. If the Twins are still considering him for the rotation above either of Woods Richardson or Festa, I would hope for a trade, any trade. There should be one team out there that is willing to send a PTBNL for Paddack.

Perhaps everyone can agree that Willi Castro has value. Castro fits the Twins well and this is also what may make him a perfect buy high player for another team. The Twins finished in 4th place last season. They are looking at around 84 wins in 2025 until a few moves are made. Of course, full health and a big uptick in performance across the board could impact the record too. It seems like a better idea to be proactive. Maybe the Twins sign Austin Hays to satisfy those who want a RH OF/DH/1B spot. The team also needs to think of a way to add a catcher to their minor league system and better if that player could also play at the MLB level. I have been pushing for one or two of Jeferson Quero, Harry Ford, Endy Rodriguez, and Kyle Teel since last season ended. Teel is off the board. The cost for the others will be high or maybe they are not available. This is where Willi Castro could be used to improve the 2025 team. His value is high and his contract is up after this season. A trade of Castro plus another player could bring in a player the Twins need.

Not shocked, but I would be quite surprised if any former Twins actually are 1% investors in the next ownership group. Smalley is at a phase in his life where he keeps busy with projects of a personal nature. Mauer is the least likely to want any scrutiny. Morneau could be a small "representative" part but he is a busy guy. Why would any of these players want to be burdened with any duties beyond their broadcasting, coaching, and advisory roles? The Twins have not had an ARod or Jeter personality. So, sure, some player may be tapped in a minor role requiring less than a 1% investment. It just seems unlikely.

I get this more or less but am also aware that there are years where the economy goes backwards. Real estate was a no brainer with low interest rates but was not too hot an item when interest rates went into the teens. No doubt the Dodgers will have the money. When the Dodgers last sold the franchise was worth somewhere around $2B and is likely more than $6B today and growing. For some reason ownership groups have been narrow in their thinking, or at least it seems that way. When people say revenues from gates and media are evenly split, I'm not sure if this is correct. If the Dodgers bring in $350M on a media deal and they keep half while the Twins bring in $80M and keep half plus get additional funds from a pot (revenue sharing), it doesn't seem to come remotely close to any sort of parity. While stadium ads and site development (Atlanta for example) would be local investment returns that enrich a team, I'm at a loss why any media deals and ticket revenues would not be split given that it takes two teams to play any game. That type of monetary sharing in a business that totally requires others (one team playing another) seems pretty simple. How has that bypassed generations of owners? My shortcoming is a general disinterest in this part of baseball. I'm commenting because it is looking like MLB has a challenge on its hands that is adversely affecting both competition and a wider interest in baseball. However, I also can accept if this is seen by clearer thinking people than me as no big deal.

I'm wondering which top prospects you are willing to trade? Are we talking top 30? 20? 10? 3? Can anyone think of a realistic trade where the Twins part with Walker Jenkins? There are several laughers on BTV where a team empties the scrubs on their team off to Minnesota and magically pick up Jenkins. What possible player would people want for Jenkins? Rodriguez? Keaschall? Falvey is free to make trades right now if he feels the team would be better off with a transaction or two. I'm hopeful for a positive vibe from the exchange of ownership but I'm not seeing it much differently than 1984, which was ok.

I'm ok with the opinion even if i disagree, but it is too late. ... Ortiz is in already. Unless you meant from today forward. On a totally different point, everyone has to go watch the interview on mlb.com with Ichiro. It isn't really important that he missed the one vote, but what a fabulous human being. Ichiro is a star.

Rushing projects, mostly, as a corner outfielder or DH. He hits from the left side, and his bat looks pretty good. If the Dodgers aren't using him often as a catcher and they could use a good hitting backup to push Austin Barnes (good field/no hit) away, why do the Twins add him. If Rushing can catch I might be interested. I watched him catch a couple of games (milb.com) last year and he looked bad behind the plate. Yes, super small sample. Duran for Jeferson Quero i can get behind perhaps.