tony&rodney

Remember that Carlos Santana was moved from catcher to third base because he was a very poor catcher and subsequently moved to first base because he could not manage to play even a slightly below average third base. When he moved to first base he had all sorts of problems there but he kept on hitting and working hard to learn the position, thus eventually becoming a good first baseman. As much as I am hoping for improvement in the defense in 2025 at several positions, realistically not every player will be above average on defense for the Twins next year. Players can improve their footwork quite a bit and through repetitions and gaining comfort become better at a position. Don't give up on a guy. Teams did not give up on Carlos Santana. Any consideration of Walker can only result from a trade of a larger contract. I do not believe that will occur.

Julien? Eddie had a better 2023 than Lewis and others on your list. Jeffers was the highest via WAR of the position players. I'm not going to suggest Julien versus Lewis but I was only looking at what are core position players. Correa and Buxton hold spots, largely via the nature of their contracts. Teams are filling the edges of their rosters now. There are still some expensive free agents available but we don't expect the Twins to go big on dollars. Trades are the path forward to improve the team. It is possible, though, that the Twins feel their team is already complete making all thoughts and conversations of deals pointless. I'm open to trading any player on the current roster if it potentially improves the team going forward.

Ah, nowhere and at no time have I ever advocated for poor defense or suggested that first base is not critical. I am suggesting the Twins need to evaluate what they are seeking for first base. My own choice would be Christian Walker. Yes, that requires movement of salary and other moves first. Not likely at all though.

The lakes are amazing and the fishing is good. The Twins should definitely pitch the club to Roki. All in. Why did the movie Fargo pop in my head watching that fine little media pitch?

Are we going to examine this scenario for Julien too? To me, Lewis may still have value in a trade. Less than last year but if a GM was very fixed on Royce there may still be an opportunity out there.

Define core. I agree that moves need to be made. Looking at the roster and who has proven themselves as a core player I come up with Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa.

Jordan Lawler

There are so many unknowns regarding the Twins. Will the 26 person roster budget rest at $130 million? If so, the Twins are a little pinched to add much in the way of experienced players, whether a LH RP, RH corner outfield/1B bat, or otherwise. The team will not find it difficult to reduce below the current mark if that $130M mark is a requirement. Does an agreement to sell the team mean any change at all for 2025? The expectation is that a sale tomorrow still takes months (or longer) to complete. It seems unlikely to have an effect on next season. How does the front office view the chances of the current roster (displayed above by Nick) in the AL Central? If Falvey & Sons are convinced the current collection of players is adequate for 2025, changes could be quite minimal. Are the Twins open to trades of players they may have seen as critical to the team in 2024? While the depth is questionable nearly everywhere, there must be more than a few teams asking questions on players besides our two long term contract players. It seems like a trade of some consequence is possible. There are still a fair amount of opportunities for transactions. However, a number of teams have already made a number of moves that are tightening the market. This doesn't seem like the year to wait out the market if there are plans to trade with other teams.

Ronny Henriquez might be lost and he has some promise. Louie Varland has such opposite results. Seems like he could be a pitcher to evolve like Jax or like Sands did last year. The shift from starting pitcher to being a relief pitcher involves a fair amount of physical and mental adjustment. Can Varland make the needed changes to be effective? I'm less worried about the pitching than I am about the gloves or bats.

Manfred is nuts.

Carl was a businessman and loved everything about the corporate world. The Minnesota Twins were a steal of a deal and he recognized it. MLB put him in the seat and it has been a long ownership for the Pohlads. Running a big business may not be very interesting or suit the heirs. The time has come for the Pohlads to make an escape from so much public scrutiny about something they don't necessarily feel passionate about now/any more. As regards the question - perhaps Joe Pohlad and others are just letting Falvey & Sons run things at a set number. The proper answer is that we just don't know. So we wait it out.

So what I read is that Falvey has communication issues. A relative who is from another state, only really follows football, and reads the Falvey piece asks me, "So why are the Twins listening to offers on Carlos Correa? Do you think the Twins are going to trade Correa?" I respond - "I think it was just a little bit of mumbling that was misconstrued by people. I don't know what the Twins think about Correa." My relative - "Sounds like somebody is sending messages." Me - "Nah, just poor communication." Relative - "What about the Vikings?" Me - "No idea. I don't follow football but my son tells me they are going to the Super Bowl." ....... etc.

Kyle DeFarge must be up soon for an article. DeFarge doesn't have the size or power potential of Amick, but was projected to be a better hitter, much faster, stronger arm, and much better defender than Billy. While each player gets an opportunity to present their skills and I wish them all well, it would appear that players like Amick and DeFarge did well with their signing bonuses and now face a long road strewn with obstacles to climb toward MLB. I wouldn't bet on anything other than a possible utility role for a ceiling. Baseball is a tough sport.

Maybe the goal for 2025 is to repeat 2024. The Twins finished with 82 wins, not embarrassing at all. In that vein returning Santana is a good idea. Still, what about the money?

Was it the team that played better defense?

A brief note on Herr. He loved playing in St. Louis. It was a divorce he never saw coming or expected. His employment and life was changed totally and he couldn't adjust. I believe we occasionally underestimate the human side of situations. Herr just could not make the switch. He was willing to play for a minimum for St. Louis as opposed to making bank for Minnesota. Perhaps some of you have quit your job or changed careers to avoid a mandated move.

As a manager or even as a player I could evaluate every single ball in play. As a fan this is nearly impossible. The inability to make plays can be easily dismissed but the cumulative affect can be large. As an example, a player with 500 at bats with 125 hits bats .250 which may be respectable. That same player missing 25 plays is now effectively a .200 guy. It's not just the plays not made, it is the number of extra pitches, and even the pitcher attempting to strike out more guys. As such I lean hard towards players who can learn or already play good defense. The Twins were ok at the catcher position last year and I am fine with Buxton in centerfield when he is healthy, even if he is no longer really above average. I also can accept a couple of below average strong bat types. However, last year the Twins were below average in at least five positions and so I seek improvement there. Finally, I completely understand that there are people who feel that defense is not that important and that offense is where it is at. Carlos Santana had a pretty good year with the glove last year. Because first base is typically a position where a team seeks more offense, it is important for a calculation of the value of that defense versus the reduced bat. Personally, it seems like the Twins benefitted to the max from a resurgent Carlos Santana. Does another bet land heads up? I would not take that gamble. In any event, the financial ceiling may make resigning Santana a moot point. First base is a bit of an odd position too. While less athleticism may be required for fielding, footwork, quickness, and throwing as a whole compared to elsewhere in the infield, there are an entire pile of little tricks around the bag to learn. Strange as it might seem some players do not like fielding a ton of throws from fellow infielders, which automatically makes any potential shift to first base more difficult.

Twins fans would love to no longer have to read or hear about money as a factor in building the roster. This seems like it might be true and a dramatic change to these new "saviors" may alleviate the annual angst. I'm not understanding how this affects the roster being finalized for 2025. As a Twins fan, I'm hoping the 2025 roster lines up to be competitive with the three teams that finished above the Twins in 2024. Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Chicago all seem to have made a few decisions to improve their rosters. We are still waiting for our Twins and while we wait a few teams have filled holes to a point where the Twins no longer are very good partners in prospective deals. Right now I cannot see the Twins improving on their record from 2024 unless several of their young players step forward in a strong fashion. Sure, a sale of the team is very important for the future, but I'm not content to wait until 2026 or 2027.

The answer is maybe not.

Are you saying that people only need to work for 45 years now. When I was a .....

If you read the comments, you basically know my positions. In any event, it is best to speak for your own voice and avoid casting another's voice. I read your posts and often find sound thought in your comments just as I also find thoughtfulness in some other's comments. I find disagreement a common factor in life. What I do not find sound is to set strong judgments against others, which is all too ironically a sort of judgment in and of itself. i apolagize for that. You be you but your best comments are when you just make your points.

Not fair to me (speaking only for myself).

Curious why this was surprising to you.

Roki Sasaki is a lottery ticket. One cannot win without a ticket. The Twins just need to put themsleves forward as an interested entity. I would think that around 100 hours of work would be sufficient to prepare a proper introduction (of the opportunities available as a Twin) to the young man and his agent. The meeting itself might only last an hour or two at most. It is winter. The front office has time. The agent will give everyone Sasaki's decision. Just do it.

Tom, it is worth noting that MLB did not approve Mark Cuban at one point. Recently, it seems like the club owners have been less about rejecting individual owners. Cohen was approved. You might not remember that only Carl Pohlad was allowed to buy the Twins among the roughly four other groups of people interested in buying the Twins in 1984. While Carl had the most most money his bid was actually slightly lower. MLB did not allow Calvin to sell to the others. Hopefully this recent "talk" bears fruit. My fear is that the process will not be completed in time to affect the 2025 Twins. While the Pohlads have not exactly endeared themselves to many franchise followers, it is interesting that most people give a pass to the front office. I would suggest that the product on the field is on the front office. I don't see how it can be totally ignored that the Twins most often carry a larger payroll than their AL Central foes and certainly more than their NL Central neighbors in Milwaukee. The Pohlads have always struck me as uninterested in baseball and even business to a degree. Carl was the businessman in the family and he is long gone. It is my understanding that the Pohlads are trying to divest and allow for a final distribution of corporate assets, freeing the family members to pursue their own interests in a fashion that does not spill on to other relatives. I did meet Carl several times and he was not a fan of baseball but generally a nice man and genial. For the benefit of most everyone, it would be sweet if a sale went as quickly as buying a house. In the meantime, perhaps the front office can put in some time on roster matters and make a few changes to improve the 2025 Twins team.