tony&rodney

Sano? The only things Miguel and Emmanuel have in common are birth country and k's; totally different players. EmRod has proved himself at every level. In fact his highest OPS for a season was his recent play for Wichita. Rodriguez can't prove it until he is in the lineup every day and he will struggle as many young players do, but the talent will play. He is full grown and ready for an opportunity. Plenty of players skip AAA. He does need to show he is worthy to play MLB in Spring Training. If ER is to be what we hope he doesn't need to have plate appearances for the Saints. EmRod is not a 4th or 5th outfielder. The post was whether Keirsey Jr. deserves a shot as a 4th or 5th outfielder and I agree with those who want to see him get an opportunity. For Keirsey Jr. the question will be whether management gives him a shot or not.

Seems like an interesting plan to buy a car that now doesn't leave room for groceries. You are not wrong. The opportunities still exist to complete trades and reduce expenditures. You proposed a few yourself. The fate of the team rests with Falvey & Sons. Can they determine what talent is available and whether the Twins need Castro? Winter meetings should provide an opportunity if these guys go. I'm open to all ideas and hoping for the best. I don't think Castro fits in 2025 though.

While I agree that Keirsey Jr. deserves an opportunity to play, using Emmanuel Rodriguez as a guy who needs to prove himself is way wrong. EmRod has terrorized every pitcher he faces. His performances thus far are small sample and injury laced, but the bat, glove, and speed are real. Rodriguez will strike out a ton but his penchant for extra base hits, stealing a base when it is needed, and defensive skill are a big plus for any team. The super small sample at St. Paul coming off of several months down due to injury did include an inside the park grand slam. Don't get down on the future just because DaShawn has been treated in a poor fashion.

So if DaShawn was a mediocre right-handed bat with less speed who only played average or so defense .... he has an MLB roster spot? Does his minimum salary intimidate? Would he have a better chance if F & S had traded for him? Keirsey Jr. is not a savior but if someone can figure out why he has been shunned, that would be cool. His original sin may be the violation of the i before e except after c rule.

This trade would benefit both teams. Would Falvey & Sons make this move?

The problem with Rushing is defense, which is one reason he has been used often in the outfield. Dodgers take Keaschall straight up but that would be a big mistake by the Twins. The Dodgers want future stars or someone for their current roster. They ask for Jhoan Duran, which should be a no. I'm not keen on Rushing if the package is large. Rushing for K. Culpepper and Gonzalez is ok. The Twins should target Jeferson Quero and Harry Ford, both good athletes and fine defenders. Milwaukee is hard to deal with because they have a tighter budget than the Twins. Possibly Julien, Varland, and $2M of international bonus pool money (MIL might try for Sasaki). Maybe Ford can be acquired as part of a larger deal with Seattle.

Gooden was a star at 19, but he wasn't Hillsborough County player of the year in 1982. Man, where have you gone Bryan Oelkers?

I'm in too. This might be a roll the Twins can pull off. Hoping for top three.

All three do not need to be dealt, perhaps none. depending on if the Twins are to be closer to $140M than $125M. However, reality is a part of existence and some moves need to be made to improve the defense. Who and how is up to F & S. Maybe you have some suggestions on how to field a better team on a budget of $125M.

I could too. I would prefer fewer teams in the playoffs as well, which is bound to be unpopular with some folks. The problem with reducing games swings back to revenue collection though. At some point the owners and PA need to look further forward than just their pride.

There actually should be room for optimism toward this offseason and the 2025 Twins. If the budget really is going to remain stable around $130 million, only a few steps would reduce the current number (est. $135M) and create room for "creative" trades to improve the team. The obvious are Vazquez ($10M), Paddack ($7.5M), and Castro (est. $6.2M). Moving just one of those players gets the Twins below their mark. Accounting for minimum salaried replacements, the Twins are down to around $114M. From there Falvey & Sons have a little room depending on their plans. Naturally, keeping one or two of the three guys mentioned leaves less room. So there is hope.

Willi Castro is a damn fine player, but he is best utilized in a utility role. Teams like the Dodgers can pay whatever they deem appropriate, thus it has very little to no relationship to what Castro means financially to the Twins. The Twins need to maneuver in the AL and NL Central crowd (minus the Cubs) as a reality and this means Castro is a little rich right now for our guys. However, there may be teams looking at Willi and figuring that he could plug a hole in their system. Boston, the New York fellows, San Diego and Seattle come to mind. While it would be sweet to see Castro have his best year yet in 2025 for the Twins, there should be an opportunity to trade him for a needed player. Likely this is in combination with another player or two. The Twins have holes to fill and they have guys like Brooks Lee, Ed Julien, Jose Miranda, Anthony Prato, Michael Helman, and DaShawn Kiersey Jr. to fill utility roles at MLB minimum cost. There are also a couple of guys who may be closer than many believe, Payton Eeles and Luke Keaschall. Seems like there are some pieces there to find a transaction to benefit the Twins. Please find that deal F & S.

Trades are the way forward.

A shorter season means less money coming. I'm not sure the MLBPA will agree to that and the owners need the income to pay off the bills. Perhaps marketing for potentially interested fans is a path. The NFL is king in North America, but totally passe and even unknown in most of the world. The trick is to make the games available and grow the market. Gimmicks and massive change isn't necessary. Those who enjoy baseball or getting together with friends at a game will attend games and follow the sport. MLB should not be competing with the NFL, NBA, or NHL. Teams need to get their players' faces and athleticism out on media. Attendance is generally quite good but the media deals are less in baseball than in other sports. Baseball is fine.

The Twins need to use Spring Training to evaluate which players fit a puzzle to improve the team. Obviously, Buxton and Correa are exceptions because they get their positions. Jeffers and Vazquez are set if they are still the only catchers in the organization worth a look. Everyone else needs to earn a spot.

Absolutely. Me too. Been pounding this idea since the final day of the season.

Always good to have conversation, but the fact we are even discussing something so absurd is testimony to the damage caused by Manfred in his reign of terror as he does the bidding of the owners. Can you imagine the NBA having a designated free throw shooter or the NHL having a shootout to determine who wins ...... oh wait. Nevermind.

For fifty years plus the games averaged around two hours or less in length. The advent of TV added about 30 minutes to a game in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It wasn't until the 2000s that MLB reached three hours. The management of MLB has been incompetent in this century.

Bud Selig promoted Sosa versus McGuire, where local broadcast were interrupted to bring us many of their at bats. Thus he managed to bring us the steroid era, which was conveniently then blamed on the players. Manfred has toyed with the rules and the ball. The 2019 season was warped when it was divulged that the Manfredball ball gave MLB its own powerball. Recently, Manfred decided to use his superball only at one stadium, which it was said "makes it fair for both teams". Thus Aaron Judge, who doesn't need any help, now has a few new records. For now, that has ceased but the precedent for screwing around with the ball itself is a Manfred legacy. Introducing a pitch clock, Requiring relievers to either finish an inning or face at least three hitters Limiting the number of pitchers a team can carry, Putting a guy on 2nd base to start extra innings. Restricting mound visits and pick-off attempts, and Embiggening the bases MLB had a clock rule for both batters and pitchers for 100 years. MLB would not allow umpires to enforce it. Didn't anyone ever wonder why games from college to college to minors to amateur ball always has timely play? The umpires enforce the rule to pitch and bat at those levels, which is also why MLB players never had any problem whatsoever adjusting to the Manfredclock. MLB has toyed with both roster size and how players can be shuttled back and forth from the minors and majors. When MLB weakened their roster rules, you get the mess of pitching changes and larger numbers of pitchers. The ultimate in Manfredball is the ghost runner. Hey, cool, we used that when we were kids. The players love it because the games end quicker. Managers love it the most because they don't need to make difficult decisions for using pitchers. Folks who don't want to watch any more get to go to bed. The larger bases make little difference. It's just another PR stunt. MLB did not make home plate larger. I do believe that the Yankees, among a few other teams, needed to be corralled with the mound visits. The endless throws to first were once dealt with by the opposing pitcher, so this rule may be fair. The rules about purposely taking out a fielder or catcher were long overdue. These were also once taken care of by the pitcher. I understand that Manfredball has fans. To me, Manfred, or more correctly his rules and influence, are part and parcel of why baseball is #4 amongst North American sports and soccer is still growing. It is almost as if the owners, by virtue of employing Manfred, are seeking the decline of their product. Proof that wealthy people don't necessarily know what they are doing or have much in the way of intelligence.

There are a host of opportunities out there right now. i just hope that Falvey didn't take his squad to South Africa for a safari and team building holiday. I mean the safaris are wonderful and team building is a swell idea. It just seems like he might want to be available this winter. Let's hope for two small trades that reduce payroll (Paddack, Vazquez) and a couple of sweet deals to add talent that also uses a glove or pitches.

Doyle is a real centerfielder, fun to watch.

I wish Kyle Farmer all the best.

A bit of a s&*t show, but a nice city and a beautiful stadium. The Rockies drew 600,000 more fans in 2024 than the Twins and their market is smaller. I don't get what the owner is thinking but Denver still supports the team.

Jackson Holliday had a rough intro to MLB and still carries a very high value. Jenkins is still young and hopefully starts at AA. Highly rated prospects get argued over incessantly. Jenkins value is really high right now but he isn't going anywhere. He is in a different class than recent Twins prospects. One might put him beside Byron Buxton as a hyped prospect, although they are not very similar. Jenkins, like most prospects gets compared to some pretty good ballplayers, such as Larry Walker, Kyle Tucker, and even a mention of Bryce Harper. I don't know about any of those but I'm going to watch his plate appearances to see how he handles things playing for Wichita.

He managed to land a strong contract with Colorado. Amazing.