tony&rodney

More and more signs point to the Twins rolling out the current roster. I'm not convinced that ownership has a strict $130M payroll as often is suggested and which I used both last year and now. Perhaps Paddack is retained. He would be easy to trade and useful on the team, but I fear Paddack in the rotation. Front offices and managers have distinct thoughts and philosophies on players and game strategy. This makes my preference for defense and better team speed pretty pointless versus the Twins choices. Each of us views separate ballplayers through our own personal bias. Julien was a sad hole last season. None of Lewis, Lee, or Miranda can be pointed to as players who put up a fair performance last year either. Yet there is a constant refrain that all of Lewis, Lee, and Miranda will lead the team forward in 2025. It seems like Falvey and Baldelli share this belief. As such it might be best to accept an infield of Miranda-1B, Lewis-2B, Lee-3B, and Correa-SS. There a few people (very few) ready to hand an outfield position to Emmanuel Rodriguez because he plays outstanding defense and is ready. I would play ER. The Twins are quite unlikely to take that plunge, leaving an outfield of Larnach, Buxton, and Wallner. If management sees this squad as their optimum lineup, it is what it is. Perhaps the only change may be a trade of one or more pitchers and a couple of prospects. I have to admit that the Twins "wait and see" and "we are listening" approach doesn't seem like a plan. Never a fan of billionaires, I am tired of any references to "owner imposed ..." The Twins have had numerous options and continue to have opportunities if they see a need to make a few changes with their roster. They will have the highest payroll in the division and quite a bit higher than Milwaukee. Money is not an issue. I'm entering my wait and see, but I'm listening phase too. Change can still occur but I have no idea how Falvey & Sons view talent or roster construction.

Have we seen this before or not?

Ortiz is a real shortstop. He only played third base because Adames was entrenched at shortstop for Milwaukee. Turang would also be a very good shortstop but is more valuable and comfortable at second base. Brooks Lee projects quite nicely at third base for either the Twins or Brewers. I think the Brewers would like Lee but may take Woods Richardson. The harder question is whether Milwaukee is open to trading Quero at any price. He is a gamble because he is coming off of a shoulder injury suffered while sliding back into first base on a pickoff. Ford may be available for a Julien or Miranda plus Varland deal. I'm not sure Falvey is willing to trade anyone due to his belief in his guys. Hard to guess what the Dodgers want for Rushing. Pitching always, but i get the sense LAD likes Rushing's bat at LF/1B/DH/C enough to keep him. Cartaya has seen his stock plummet after a tough year with the glove and less than expected results from his bat. Seems like the Twins need to take a shot for a catcher this year but I'm afraid Falvey has lost a sense of whether the team needs any movemt in their roster. Plenty has occurred with the Twins on the sidelines. On the other hand, a ton of Twins Daily folks seem like the talent on hand is fine. I don't see it right now. Call me skeptical but the team needs 2-4 moves to be competitive.

The payroll limitations are less of a problem than the will or vision. The Twins may see their team as complete with zero additions necessary. Then again, the Twins may want a few changes but are hesitant to make a deal. Look around baseball and you will see many teams making some changes. All of the teams hoping to find themselves in the playoffs have made some moves, more or less.

Perhaps Ryan, Miranda, Vazquez, and Yasser Mercedes would bring back Jarren Duran.

It is pretty complex. We don't even know how much concern is present, much less attention to specific details. The sale process is hired out likely.

Is that The Plan? We haven't seen much movement and teams are already closing up the holes on their rosters. The Twins are ...... listening?

I'm a little surprised to get a thumbs down on suggesting a Spring Training invite for these players if they are unable to sign contracts. Seems like a gamble worth taking to give them a shot.

Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Chicago have all made attempts to improve their rosters for 2025. We can debate whether their teams are improved but we cannot refute that each of those teams have made some moves. The Twins added a few non roster players who hope to shine bright in the Florida sunshine as well as a roll of the dice Rule 5 player. In other news Joe Pohlad put down 100K on red at a local casino (JK). Who has better odds to smell like a rose?

Agree totally and have plugged him in a major point of business for the Twins to consider. What is the price. Is it a few prospects like The Culpeppers (Kaelen & C. J.) or higher? I am not a fan of trading any of Jenkins, EmRod, Keaschall, Festa, or Matthews. Open to ideas but Tampa Bay is always a little mysterious with their asks.

It might be time to retire any idea that all trades made by any front office of the Twins are bad. Falvey & Sons have made a number of really good deals. Trades of good players always contain an element of gambling, especially when one considers injuries; the unknown can be tricky.

The most exciting player, hands down, that I ever watched in baseball from my era (1961-2024) of following baseball. Not my favorite but the most exciting. I loved the first person Ricky interviews. RIP #35. Wearing #24 later was a tribute to Say Hey.

I read that the Twins already completed their coaching hires for next year.

That ship has sailed. The determination on spending needs to be made by the close of the World Series. Perhaps the team owners are not totally set on exactly $130M or less, which allows for something in the neighborhood of $135M. We can be pretty sure though that nothing significant will added to payroll and live with the loss of Paddack's contract via a trade as a minimum reality.

Correa and Lopez are not only different people playing different positions but their contracts are also far different affecting their different value. Add that the Twins do not have anyone to play even passable shortstop and all conversations stop there with Carlos. Pablo should be held tight unless another team wants to get stupid with an offer. Yes, that happens. Mostly, these threads are throwing out ideas which is always ok.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Pete Alonso. He may just go for a one year deal if nothing materializes. As far as the Twins go, they should just stay away from any of these players unless they manage to deal current options like Miranda, Julien, and Lewis making a reunion with Santana a possibility.

The Twins don't have a direction now, so no long term contracts. I don't think anyone knows yet what the Twins have in any of Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, or Luke Keaschall. At this point they are prospects and the Twins are in limbo on money.

I was in Milwaukee when a routine fly ball directly to Delmom (5-10 ft.) nearly conked him on the head. It was ruled a double. Something about that guy was oddly adorable, even as I wanted him gone.

Keaschall may not be a 2B/3B player and we already know he is not a SS. Left field is a position he might be really good at in a few years. I would say he has more of a likelihood of being average out there than what the Twins have been using in the recent past. First base is also a consideration. Either way, I believe we shall get the answer this year and his bat may force the Twins to find a position for him. Emmanuel is MLB ready with the glove and his bat will either thrive or curse him. Put him in coach, he's ready to play.

Miami may have a position of holding Alcantara. Tough to know because that organization seems a little dysfunctional. If I were the Miami GM, I would like the high number of prospects my deal offered. I might throw in Raya. Right now I'm too bullish on Festa. I have never been much of a fan of BTV. The search for a catcher continues. My original idea (from October) was to focus on an athletic type and/or defense-first young catcher. The list included guys like Teel, Ford, Romo, Rushing, and a couple of others. My top choice was/is Jeferson Quero because his glove plays now. The reason I cooled on both Rushing and Cartaya was because neither is expected to play much behind the plate in the next two years. They are well behind in learning how to catch. I was not very impressed when I watched Rushing behind the plate last season. I was impressed when Dalton was at the plate; he can hit. We have to remember that Dodger and Yankee prospects always get more hype too. I'm unclear what Seattle requires for Harry Ford. Would Julien and Varland get it done. After shifting around for the last month plus on ideas, I'm right back to my first thought - Quero for Brooks Lee. Finally, I expect that Woods Richardson is more than enough for Rushing. I guess we can only hope the Twins are engaged in conversations seeking to upgrade the catchers of the future. What strikes me about this offseason for the Twins is that one deal is unlikely to solve their problems and a trade may actually require another deal. This complicates how the team proceeds but if the Twins intend to compete for an AL Central crown they will almost certainly need to consummate a couple of transactions. I would be delighted to humbly eat these words next October if the current roster blooms.

Teams are filling up their roster needs while the Twins seem to percolate around the idea their team is already complete. Maybe it is, as many here on Twins Daily believe. Seems like there were some opportunities and I would suggest there still are some deals possible. The comments expose differences among our beliefs. I never put Walker in my plans at 1B because i put Royce Lewis there. The idea of exploring Walker seemed worthwhile because of his athleticism at a position where the Twins could benefit from his skills. Tristan Casas has big time power, similar to Matt Wallner. Unlike Matt, he is slow and would be a real downer for our less than sterling infielders. Casas is a strictly a DH, but not nearly in Yordan Alvarez territory as a bat. in fact, I would not trade any of our top three prospect bats for him. A number of people have advocated trading for Casas. We simply disagree on him. I did state that Boston is extremely unlikely to even consider trading Duran, but there were a few articles out of Boston similar to what we read about Lopez. The Red Sox could really use a top flight starter and they are flush with cash and outfielders. Any trade of Pablo Lopez needs to lean in the Twins favor because a healthy starting pitcher of his type is pretty rare. Finally, your proposed trade for Casas seems like something Boston would favor and it might benefit the Twins. However, I really believe in Matthews more than Casas and Duran should be the topic of many queries sent to Falvey, which may bear better fruit. All of this is total wishing/"spitballing" because the indications favor the position of Falvey being content with the current roster.

A month ago I suggested a trade for Sandy Alcantara. My proposal was two players who can play for the Marlins now (Miami's choice:Julien or Miranda and Chris Paddack) plus three prospects that do not need to be placed on the 40 person roster (Charlee Soto, Billy Amick, and Gabriel Gonzalez). I would be ok with replacing Paddack with Christian Vazquez and adding a prospect such as Kaelen Culpepper. If I were a Miami fan this might seem fair. It is a pile of players. I am higher on David Festa than most, so no DF. FWIW Alcantara had a value of 27 on BTV one month ago. I'm not in favor of a 6 man rotation because it puts additional pressure on the bullpen guys. There isn't any evidence that a pitcher goes another inning or two with an extra day between starts. Jesus Luzardo may make a strong return and he is worth trading Julien and Kaelen Culpepper plus the comp pick, but I don't like the fact that Jesus has been unable to complete more than one year without incident. I'm unlikely to trade for Luzardo. It is my belief that some people are underestimating Zebby Matthews and Luke Keaschall quite a bit.

Well, he did it which is significant. But perhaps you are thinking of looking at the hitter minus that one short stretch, which may be worthwhile.

Walker signed for 3 years and $60 million. I suggested that a conversation should have been had with Walker, offering more money in total but spread out over more time as a way to lower the annual cost (5 years and $70 million). The idea of not being in on Walker doesn't bother me but it might be a good idea to shoot higher than fourth place. So you read that wrong, no big deal. You can't trade free agents. I have no idea how you say "traded away our best SP for a slightly above average 1B?" The thread is discussing the Twins listening on Pablo Lopez. I have specifically called for the Twins to hold any team wanting Lopez for a ransom, suggesting that Boston send Jarren Duran if they want Lopez. That is extremely unlikely. In any event the Twins are doing nothing. When you read various sites, pretty much all of the writers state that they hear the Twins have no plans but are "listening."

It's important, that's for sure.