tony&rodney

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.

Almost a wishing/reverse psychology manner of looking at the current situation. I would think Falvey & Sons are on the clock. The end product will determine if their days in MLB are numbered or not. As such, despite my complete inability to relate to how these guys put a team together, we should expect to see at least two significant trades. Does Falvey have what it takes? We are waiting to find out.

Manfred has caused enough problems without writers giving him more insane ideas. MLB needs a new commissioner, a new focus, and a turn away from gimmicks.

There are opportunities to both improve the team and reduce salary. Money is not a sledgehammer crushing the hopes of the team for 2025. The Twins will almost certainly open the season with the highest payroll in the AL Central. Falvey needs to make it work by finding the teams who are open for transactions. On a simple budget note, Chris Paddack has value to multiple teams at his $7.5 million contract for 2025, if all the Twins want is to get below $130M. We can be certain that teams are interested.

What were the chances that the Twins had any interest in Montas? Clearly he was going to sign for a seven figure salary. Whether that was $10M or higher, the Twins had zero interest in him due to cost. The Twins are almost certain to have a higher payroll than their Midwest brother, Milwaukee, and all of the AL Central teams. This means Falvey & Sons need to get on the phone.

Your painting realism over idealist dreams.

None of Sasaki, Verlander, or Scherzer would sign a contract to pitch with Casas, Lewis, and Miranda wearing gloves behind them. The idea of one DH playing the on the infield is tolerable. Putting multiple DH's in the field is a no-no to free agent pitchers. The contracts would need to include stupid money, well beyond a level anyone else would match. The Twins have very little to offer Sasaki in the way of income via endorsements or a notable Japanese community. Would i like the Twins to make an attempt? Yes, by all means. Offer the maximum amount and aggressively seek corporate help for endorsements too. Realism is a thing though. Before the Twins can approach Sasaki, they need to make a few moves to fix their defense.

It is 2024. You went to a number of Twins games and watched them play in the field. You also watched their opponents as well. You worked hard to construct a pile of numbers to make the Twins look average. Now you hear your brain tell you that what you witnessed was not compatible with the statistics that were created. It's the offseason now and the overwhelming consensus is to roll it back in 2025 with the same team as 2024, minus the free agents Kepler, Santana, Farmer, and Thielbar. The fans believe. The stats you constructed will work better next time. You don't need to watch because you can look over the best analytics to explain everything. You accept the fate of the team. All praise to AI.

Satchel Paige, "Don't look back ...." There are people who may need this article to explain the story because they are unfamiliar with Brent Rooker and his time as a Twin. So good post for that reason alone. For those who are familiar with this tale, let bygones be bygones.