tony&rodney

Emmanuel is going to strike out, that is a given. He also has a significant boom or bust profile. Because of the potential boom the Twins need to let him play. I'm not seeing or thinking there is any reason for EmRod to marinate in AAA while people decide if he is going to make it or not. The defense is there. He has a really good glove and an ability to go get the ball. The bat is what the Twins want and he is ready right now. For me, he is a use or trade player. If the front office does not believe in Rodriguez then the trade value should return a strong player. The injury fear and the concerns about passivity at the plate can only be assuaged by playing time. It is now or never for Emmanuel.

Max Kepler was a decent player for the Twins. He never rose to All Star status, managing just to be a regular in the lineup. Perhaps Max is a poster for how hard it is to excell at baseball in the major leagues. The fans always expected and wanted more from Kepler than he could produce. I believe he was a solid player for the Twins. We just wanted much more. Miguel Sano was an enigma. The power was alluring. 2015 was his best performance. There were a host of issues that likely began with his recruitment. Sadly, Sano never managed to level out or improve enough to carve out a decade in MLB. The turbulence surrounding Miguel always seemed a little much, maybe unfair or fair-I don't know, and he never managed to get settled. I hope he has found contentment and peace in his life.

Calvin was more or less forced out and while his fear of bankruptcy may have been a little far fetched he did hold a real desire to provide for all of his relatives. The Twins were losing money he no longer could afford to lose. Calvin was old, in his 70s, and fighting health problems; he was ready to go and MLB wanted him out too. Hiring Andy MacPhail was a smart baseball move. There were a number of reasons the Twins rose in the 1980s, winning in 1987 and 1991. All of the reasons were important in my opinion. The strong players Calvin had in place, the hiring of MacPhail, Tom Kelly, and a few timely trades. Another factor, sometimes forgotten was the collusion of owners in restricting the free agent market that fed a couple of key players to the Twins. Jack Morris was a Twin via collusion. After the success of those years (late 1980s/early 1990s), Carl increasingly lost interest in the team and wanted out. TheDome had a firm lease and Minnesota had a strong judge that kept the team from leaving. MLB is a corporate world with little to no concern for humans besides finding paths to the money. Calvin was the last of his kind, a species now extinct.

It would be mildly surprising if Baltimore traded a key prospect for Dylan Cease. He will want to see his market as a free agent. Their best bet is to sign Flaherty. I, selfishly, want the Twins to hold Lopez. Luis Castillo can be really good but he can also be really mediocre. That said, Lopez has his down games as well. Seattle has a great park for pitchers

Seems like it should be an easy agreement from numerous discussions in the past. The Twins cannot remove one of their current MLB catchers until another one is on board. Jair Camargo isn't the answer and neither are Diego Cartaya or Mickey Gasper (now listed as an infielder).

FWIW, Carmargo is a better glove behind the plate at this moment in time than Cartaya. Take that for what it is worth and ask yourself what sense one could derive from a question which asks whether the Twins should consider trading either Jeffers or Vazquez. Note, nowhere here is there a push for Camargo. Also, worth remembering how the Twins viewed Camargo last summer in his time on the Twins roster. Finally, the trade for Cartaya was a decent play because the Twins have a year to see if the changes in lattitude results in some adjustments and growth for the young former Dodger prospect. Time and a new view can bring about positive results.

Both mlb.com and mlbtraderumors.com cover all MLB teams in a relatively neutral fashion. Dan Hayes of The Athletic also works to be a fair reporter on Twins news. in October (or was it November?) of 2023, the Twins put out their brain dead statement that the payroll budget would be cut. Leaving passion and general disgust with the idea aside, one could understand that the one time BAM money and the failure of the RSN deal portended a fall of cash in that ultimately could result in reducing cash out. It happened and we were not happy at all. Unhappy. Sometimes reality sucks. At the close of the 2024 season there were pointed and repeated questions about the status of the 2025 player payroll. The club responded that no further cuts would occur. From there the Twins just ignored and refused to discuss financial matters. From a distant viewpoint there was zero reason to do so because it was a lose-lose conversation. Many people seethed at the debacle of the 2024 season and put the entire record as a consequence of the reduced payroll. The screams of "We need to sign Jordan Montgomery" or "The Twins need Rhys Hoskins" are still echoing. Fast forward to this offseason and every article has claimed some form of "self-imposed" payroll comment, even when a post had zero to do with finances. It was/is absurd and reflected poorly. The team is for sale. The revenue is still impacted by the media money decline. The Pohlads want a sale to go though asap as much as those fans who are managing to hold ire at such impressive levels. The payment of salaries for 2025 will fall to a new ownership. A reduction or increase in payroll does not affect them in any manner. It is pretty much common sense that no major free agent signings were going to occur under the current status-team for sale. Likewise, a teardown was similarly not going to take place. The roster shuffling was always going to revolve around any transactions that the front office managed to complete. Falvey has latitude to make changes but he was never going to deal for the sake of change, only if the deals made the team stronger. Crickets thus far is not actually surprising despite my wanting to see a few deals. The idea that suddenly the Twins might not cut payroll for 2025 is only news to those who steadfastly refused to pay attention, listen to or read the actual comments from the Twins, or more likely were so enraptured with their rage from the 2023 cuts that only a mantra could soothe the pain. I'm hoping this sale goes through today so that I don't have to stumble through the anger against the Pohlads when I'm trying to read an article on prospects or ways in which a pitcher may improve next season. When the sale is complete I will think - good riddance - and hope the Pohlads are absent from Twins Daily articles.

Catcher? None have high floors. Shortstop? Kaelen Culpepper could stick as could Danny De Andrade. The sleeper here is slightly improbable but should not be counted out - Brandon Winokur. There are questions at these two positions, no doubt. This is why i proposed, in the past, that the Twins go hard after Jeferson Quero of Milwaukee (cost ? B. Lee) and Jordan Lawler of Arizona (cost ? J. Duran and one of J. Miranda or E. Julien). However, I don't think the Snakes or Brewers oblige.

I'm pretty bullish on the Twins actually. I rather like their pitching. The only wish for me was that the front office would be willing to go a bit overboard on a couple of gambles for young players who are capable of filling an organizational weakness. Neither players may even be available but I would overpay for both. The current top prospects are very close to earning lineup slots. Jenkins may be a year away, but I'm hoping big time to see some success from Emmanuel, Luke, and Payton this year. The farm system may clock in among the middle third in MLB but there are players itching to show their stuff. Let it be.

The key point on any additions should hinge on whether the new guy is better than the guy being replaced or pushed down. I'm struggling to come up with free agent starting pitchers or position players beyond a big ticket and that isn't realistic. A relief pitcher is possible. Does Yates sign to be a set up reliever?

The LH/RH bat depends on the severity of the splits and whether the Twins brain trust will allow a LH bat to play every day. Emmanuel Rodriguez (like the honey badger) - he don't care. I think Basallo is a possible minor version of Yordan Alvarez. Mayo (future) and Westburg (now) are really good but they each strike out quite a bit. Seems like the K's need to be watched as closely as the LH bats. FWIW, Larnach and Wallner may be ready to face LH pitchers too. I think the Twins must give that a long trial run because (discussed much) the past strategy has hurt as much as helped. Kjerstad is going to be really good (IMO) but he overflows the bucket already present (Larnach, Wallner, Keisey Jr., Rodriguez, Jenkins), so I agree the interest won't be there from the Twins side.

We sure have to be impressed with how dedicated and hard working Brent Rooker has been in his pursuit of a baseball career. This is especially noteworthy in his ability to handle repeated failure and the lack of belief from separate organizations. The rebound to his current standing is laudable. I'm impressed.

The concussions suffered by Morneau and Mauer were both very serious. I was relieved that both were able to retire without further complications (thus far) which would have compromised their personal lives. Once upon a time, people were near ridiculous in their ignorance of concussions and brain injuries. I'm not sure everyone, even now, understands how serious these are for an individual. Athletes tried to play on and saw their careers end, usually on a poor note. Professional athletes were mostly paid peanuts until the 1980s and it was understandable why a person would try to continue their careers. I don't believe either of the M & M boys wanted to retire but they lived the effects of concussions and understood rational thinking made the decision inevitable.

Cease is good but a rental, so Baltimore will not give up either Mayo or Basallo for him ..... or at least I would not do that deal. Lopez is real steady and signed for three years, which is why he has people calling and the Twins holding him.

Julien has a pretty severe upper cut swing. Still, the fall last year and subsequent relegation to virtual non-entity was surprising in its totality. There must be a couple of thoughts on Julien. One could be that he needs another setting via trade, a fresh start. Another could be that the winter off to reset and adjust returns Julien to relevance. Despite the flack Julien took on Twins Daily, he was a key player in the second half of the 2023 season. I would think there are teams hoping to acquire Eddie for a song.

Baltimore and Boston have often been cited as a potential trade partner when Pablo Lopez's name was put up. I don't think the Twins are going to trade Lopez unless the return makes a difference. Boston has mostly closed their needs and wouldn't trade Duran for Lopez anyways, plus one of the other interesting names (Teel) already went to Chicago. The Orioles are not getting a Pablo Lopez for anything less than Mayo or Basallo plus. Baltimore's best shot, if they were really serious would be to get the Twins to include a good MLB player (Castro, Larnach, or Miranda) and a prospect like C. J. Culpepper with Pablo Lopez in return for both Basallo and Mayo. The Orioles say no because they do not want to give up their best prospects. Mayo could be good but is slow and his glove needs work. He also K's quite a bit. Great power if he hits the ball. Basallo will be a really good bat but may not have a position. Easy to see why he is considered untouchable. A top prospect has to be able to do more than one thing to be a franchise untouchable. Holliday fits the criteria as do Dylan Crews, Walker Jenkins, Roman Anthony, and Max Clark. Again, Pablo Lopez has a ton of value right now.

For sure, all of the above, especially the last paragraph. The Twins are playing cards and have a decent hand for now and potentially an even better one in the future. They can play the pat hand or take a few gambles. It is totally their choice. What belief does the front office have in specific players and are they willing to make a few deals that are really gambles? Only Falvey & Sons will know where this is headed, but there are opportunities and I have no idea where this team is headed. If I had to guess I think they stand pat. We know that the team would like to wait and see how all of Eeles, Keaschall, and Rodriguez perform in AAA in April and May, but if the talent looks like it can play sooner there may be options to add via deals.

So much has changed in baseball. Scouting was so difficult and haphazard. Everyone did the best they could but we cannot compare anything from those times to now (you did not). Imagine the changes in running a team from then to now. MLB teams have 250-400+ employees now. Times have changed. Fun to look over this information. Thank you.

So that means 91% of the top three picks made MLB. Considering all of the things that can go wrong, I would say a top five pick is generally a good bet. Baseball is tough. Each year quite a few NFL and NBA draft choices wind up starting for their teams. Very few baseball players go from high school or college directly to an MLB roster. Walker Jenkins is going to be fun to follow this year.

That is actually a fun story in a way. Some people bought Enron early and continually sold half each time it doubled. The gains were very impressive (1-2-4-8-16-32-64) and the losses when Enron went bankrupt were still unwanted but almost laughable in the face of the previous gains. It was also, somewhat a lesson in greed. Yes, I do know people who did exactly that.

I would be quite surprised if there were any cuts. I think there may be a small add (@$6M). There may be trades aimed at improving the team. The Twins are at $134M including Dobnak.

The 26 person roster payroll sits at $131M. Add our buddy Dobnak = $134M. Adding 14 folks on 40 person brings the payroll up as does adding the MLB fees for benefits and bonuses. I don't believe there are any conversations about reducing the payroll at all. There are likely some discussions about the value of spending an additional unknown amount, maybe a guess like $6M added. A reduction from moving a player or three via trades is probably more tied to how that makes the 2025 roster more competitive.

You need to redo this. Carl paid $5M down in 1984. The terms of sale required an additional $5M per year over the next 4 years and then a ballon for the remainder of $7M. The Griffiths received $32M by 1989. That arrangement was after Carl had wanted to pay over 20 years and Calvin said, "I'll be dead." Carl paid $11.5 for the minority shares from Gabriel Murphy, which was financed. An investment of $5M in AAPL in November of 1984 still returns a crapload of money. Carl probably wishes he had done that instead.

The impressive part of Winokur is not his stats. He is quite athletic and his play has become more refined even if the numbers have not jumped off the page. You have to watch him play in a several dozen games to see the improvement. As the year went on he looked better even as his numbers sagged at times. Obviously, Winokur has used up his honeymoon phase now and we should expect much more consistent production from him at Cedar Rapids. Winokur is a tall player and the refinements typically are a bit harder for taller players. He does need to show where he is headed to some extent, although I think we should expect Brandon to take three more years of experience in the minor leagues.

My thinking is that the money is pretty much equal. SD gets their Profar substitute and two pitchers they could use plus a minor leaguer or two. The Twins get a good pitcher for one year. The gap can be filled by any of Matthews, Morris, or Raya in 2026. Cease pitches a ton of quality innings. All of Castro, Paddack, and Cease are free agents next offseason. Why is it too much?