tony&rodney

Maybe use the GM Roster Tool and show your team for $100-110M. This may need to be $90M. Also, guess the win total. While I'm supportive of some of your ideas (#3-5), they don't push the team toward a ,500 record. In addition, Jeffers uses his last year and Lopez and Ryan are now closer to FA. Finally, when one suggests realistic it sweeps aside other thoughts as less than realistic/unrealistic. It is impossible for any of us to predict the 2026 roster just as it was for the last several years. The most realistic roster is the one listed right now. That group will not cut it, unless one believes the Twins were just unlucky last season. There are always going to be people who think the Twins were close to the playoffs but suffered bad luck. Realism is here and now. There are options that can be accomplished. Realism, as far as the Twins roster, is whatever the front office desires.

There is widespread disagreement on Twins Daily. An article today pushes the dysfunction of the ownership group and wonders when an answer on all topics related to Pohlads and support of their baseball team will be revealed. Well, the Pohlads apparently have some financial "things" to straighten out and the Twins are not going to be receiving extra money at this time. That is apparently, but some folks may disagree. Then this article posits that the 40 person roster is a mess. Well, who put this roster together? Who has had more money at their disposal for their roster than any other AL Central team and clubs such as Milwaukee and Tampa Bay in the last ten years? Please tell all of us if you have ever heard of a billion dollar corporation not having any general budgets or financial communications. It would be a first. Are we crazy when we have people tell us or we believe that the front office of the Twins have absolutely no idea of how much money they are going to spending in the next year for payroll? The entire idea stretches all reality of hundreds of years of corporations. We look at the 40 person roster and make declarations of who should or should not be kept? WTF? There is a person who has made these decisions all along and this team is exactly his personal dream team within the limits of his budget. Of course the 40 is a mess. The guy making the decisions is the reason. People sound like they have empathy for the front office which is .... apparently .... being asked to field a team on a budget similar to their peers, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay. Why? Demand work. If you ask me the problem with the franchise is neither ownership nor the dugout. It lay between the two. A goal to win 75 games is not so regal from my chair. So how can change take place? I have no idea. I know the Red Sox just picked up a #3 starting pitcher who can be very good at times for $21M plus a couple of guys who they never expected to pitch in Fenway too often, although Clarke has some talent. Meanwhile, the Twins? While I'm ranting, I am curious about the number of Twins fans who actually watched most, if not all, of the games (9 innings, not 5 minutes) in August and September last season? This is the roster we currently have, which was a roughly .333 team. All of the "IF's" in the world cannot lift that team above 75 wins. Roll it back and hope for the best has been a widely repeated comment. The young guys (they are not young) will prosper. Really? The offseason's before 2024 and 2025 were the same conversation. Change needs to take place now before the Twins are consigned to 65-75 win teams for a decade. Can we trust the front office? No, less than ownership but it is all we got - hope.

Which player improves the team enough to avoid 100 losses?

You couldn't be further off. I believe the Twins should embrace a rebuild. Within that rebuild they need to add talent. I'm willing to trade any or all of Lopez, Buxton, Ryan, Jeffers, and Lewis if the return merits the transaction. We don't even know if any other teams value any of the Twins players. I'm also willing to trade players like Wallner, Lee, or prospects (EmRod) who the Twins may or may not believe are going to be MLB regulars. In consideration of the current roster, my strategy would suggest open competition for the two open outfield jobs as well as first base. Wallner is a DH. If we are going to suggest that any of Martin, Roden, or Clemens have earned a starting job based on August and September play, then we are thinking that a .333 winning percentage team is the mark to seek going forward. Frankly the roster construction looks awkward. I have no problem with either Roden (who might work at 1B also) or Martin (who might be used like Castro) starting in the outfield. All of these guys have options. Clemens, Outman, and Kreidler do not have any options remaining. In the past, that has meant they get roster spots. I was not impressed by the 2025 Twins and want change. Thus, my hopes for the 2026 Twins were based on change to the roster. It doesn't look good right now. The next hope is for open competition. People who look at Twins Daily are Twins fans and hope for the best. There are many paths and thus disagreements about how that can be accomplished. Not a single person that I'm aware of predicted no substantial moves the last two years and it is looking like Alex Jackson might be our leading addition for 2026. Knowing full well that there was no chance of my suggestions being a reality or even discussion taking place on this board, I submitted 3 GM 2026 rosters at $100M, $130M, and $50M. Of course, these were not realistic because absolutely nothing any of us ever says is realistic; it is simply our thoughts/wishes/hopes. I'm interested in what others think. Why does Roden have a place in line ahead of anyone else? What do you see, using the GM Tool, as the 2026 roster?

Fine, then improve the overall quality of the roster via a trade using EmRod.

This is a little bit contradictory in nature. "No chance" because of who is in front of him? That might be a Twins policy. How is anyone but Buxton ahead of him. "If he's not good enough." That seems like Emmanuel doesn't fit because of skill. The skill level has yet to be tested in MLB. There may be forces at play due to how the front office views their guys. That would include players like Larnach, Wallner, Martin, Roden, and Outman. However, the Twins front office also signed Rodriguez. He is either good enough to compete for a starting job or he should be traded before his value is all gone. I stated this in November of 2023 - The Twins need to find a team that sees a fit on their roster for Edouard Julien. The Twins saw Julien as a "cornerstone' piece of the team. Just recently, Falvey restated a belief in Julien. I was never down on Julien as so many have been on Twins Daily but I never saw him as a "core" player and felt he had value in November of 2023 as a player to trade. Of course I was also not seeing the superlative features everyone sees in Royce Lewis, who I admit is a different player with higher value than Julien. The Twins need to trade Emmanuel this winter if they do not just put him in the lineup. He has talent that surpasses those not named Buxton. If he cannot get to that talent on the MLB level in your belief (the Twins), trade him now.

Take the 13 best pitchers in the system and put them on the MLB team. There isn't a rule about once a relief pitcher, always a reliever. Seth Lugo and many others.

Something I have wondered about is who is responsible for evaluating players within the Twins organization? Second to that is whether the people who actually make the decisions follow the evaluators' recommendations. If evaluations and decisions are made in a collaborative fashion I wonder how many voices are in the room and whether a person on point for a player makes the call or whether the call is made by Zoll and/or Falvey. If I were a Pohlad I would expect every guy who might be in the room that evaluates and/or makes decisions to be very familiar with every single player above A+ ball and they should also have reasonable knowledge of every player in professional baseball. If the club has people assigned to be more familiar in a specific area that person should have a vote in decisions when appropriate. We can expect that this is true of all of the planners, decision-makers, and evaluators within the Twins organization but my confidence is a little shaky concerning this system as it rolls into its tenth year. This had bubbled up in my head previously but was regurgitated by reading many comments from people who had never heard of Alex Jackson. That is really normal for readers and fans but there must have been at least 10 minutes of specific discussion related to Jackson within a conference room or via Zoom to pull the trigger on a trade that holds down a 26 person roster spot. I don't think the loss of Payton Eeles is important. He looked decent in 2024 but the knee injury slowed his 2025 season and Eeles actually looked pretty weak the last two months. It would have seemed a fair decision to hold Eeles because of his low cost and years of control versus the decision to hand the second catching job to an inexperienced, seldom used Alex Jackson. I'm hoping Jackson proves to be a special find.

Just a wild guess but I can see one of the outcomes from the next CBA giving players a full year if brought up before the All Star Game. This eliminates the shenanigans of toying around with rookies.

My guess is 3 of these guys, tops, are around in 2029.

Wallner has never played first base, any where. There is zero doubt in my estimation that he was worked out at various points in high school, legion ball, college, summer ball and in the minor leagues at first base. Wallner is a very good athlete but not good with a glove on his hand. Wallner is a DH. You can't believe that the decision to not run was with Rocco, but I'm sure people do. The style of play, the players, pitcher usage, and so forth seem clearly dictated from above. The style of play changed once Rocco was informed of his fate.

Yes. Many of us on TD don't understand either. Too often our reactions to DK's moves are a stunned wtf. Naturally, others disagree and abide by the decisions. Still others are positively excited by the possibilities of the rostered players all having great seasons next year and agree with the plan. Hope is good. I watched the games last summer in August and September, all the way until the final outs. The style of play change after Rocco was delivered the news of his future with the Twins showed some life actually. The talent as assembled produced a .333 win percentage. It felt like November would bring big change and churn to the roster. The change has turned out to be in the coaching staff and the churn is Alex Jackson. So it goes.

Dude, you were so off the wall for your Mariners two years ago and now that seems to have been fueled you to wish for more, more, more. Ford for Gore? Might as well ask for Woods too. Montes is strictly a DH. Farmelo is a good prospect, a couple of years away. Have you been watching these guys play the last few years? I have.

Alex Jackson was a big deal, Baseball America High School Player of the Year and 6th pick as an outfielder. I remember that. He had the world at his feet. He was 18 years old. Baseball has been really tough for him though and he turns 30 in a month and is now a catcher. It would be such a sweet story to see him suddenly transform as a Twin. The odds are against it. He looked rough at the plate and ok behind it the several times I saw him play for Tampa Bay a couple of years ago. The facts are that nobody knows if he can be someone as a 30 year old that he hasn't been since he was a teenager, a good baseball player. Looking over his stats and the sunny reports people have decided he is better than Christian Vazquez. He never has been yet but he certainly could be. The Twins will not pay him $10M either, which was a frustration for some Twins fans. My only real concern is that his contract has historically (last 9 years) meant he gets the position all season no matter what happens. I was hoping for some trades, still do. However, that's on me and is my fault for being an optimist. I wish Jackson well. He looked so invincible on the cover of Baseball America, the next Bryce Harper. I totally admire that Jackson has stuck with the dream.

He has played for several teams and at AAA. A number of people have commented on him and I wondered who had seen him play .... you know ..... actually watched him behind the plate and seen him batting on several occasions.

Agree. Time is ripe to put him in the starting lineup no matter what he does in Spring Training. If not call Seattle and offer EmRod up for Harry Ford. The front office view will be Martin, Buxton, Wallner with Larnach, Outman, and Roden among the 26 going north because that is what the front office sees as a championship outfield.

A thought ... How many people have seen Alex Jackson play several times?

Maybe we should believe Falvey when he states that the roster looks good. The last two years it seemed evident that the Twins would add players via trades, waivers, and limited free agency. Falvey said that he liked the roster. We didn't listen. Gasper and a few minor free agent moves saved the team from 100 losses. Now we are told the team is fine. A number of people have gone full on "What If" in desperate hopes of watching a 75 win team 'if' everything goes perfectly. Others of us cry in our beer and still hold out hope for 3-5 significant trades and 2 reasonable free agent additions. We have even accepted a payroll of anywhere from $50-110M in our wishes. We are willing to suffer a few years of losses as the talent learns. Falvey says the team looks good. Maybe we should believe him. Look at the roster and it is really looking like this is it. Oh, perhaps a right-handed bat on a 1 year deal for $4-6M or a couple of relief pitchers for $2-3M each. It is hard to listen when one still has hope.

Arraez never had any speed even before he injured his knees and was never a good base-runner. He also never had any gap power. Finally, Arraez never approached average as a defensive player. A reason Arraez was off the radar as a prospect was because he was a singles hitter only. He did win a minor laegue batting title. Arraez did have ACL surgery but it was in the 21st century and coming back from ACL is very doable in almost all circumstances today. This isn't the 1960s and 1970s where knee surgeries were basically a fillet job trying get a person back to walking again. Carew had ACL surgery and never recovered his speed, although he stole as many as 49 bases due to skill. Arraez is a great success story because he took his opportunity and proved to be a very tough out, crowd pleaser because of his hustle and style, and then he hit, hit, hit. I'm a believer that there is value in a singles hitter if the players around the guy can pick up the slack but there is also a ceiling on what any team will pay such a player. In actual fact there are zero similarities between Rod Carew and Luis Arraez besides the fact that they both won batting titles. Then again, it never works really very well to compare a player to a Hall of Fame guy without some very specific qualifiers. I do appreciate your enthusiasm for Arraez and the Twins could use an interesting player or two worth watching like Arraez. To the post though ... Does Duran work for Lopez? Tong plus for Lopez? I really doubt the front office is even having conversations with other teams, although I have to believe teams are calling the Twins only to be put off the subject.

Buxton is a legit MLB player. Why he hasn't requested a trade is a little confusing, but great for Twins fans. Clemens, Outman, and Kreidler are out of options. Larnach, Wallner, Martin, and Rodriguez all have 1 option remaining. It would not surprise anyone if Emmanuel starts in St. Paul, but it would seem rather pointless to send any of the other 3 down to the minors again. So, that is 7 outfielders, but 2 can be considered for the infield (Clemens, Kreidler). McCusker, Gonzalez, and Mendez are pretty much DH only at this point with Gonzalez making enormous strides last summer to reach playable status in the outfield and he has not been stopped by the pitchers at any level yet. Mendez needs to learn a position and the Twins have zero plans for McCusker no matter what he does. Expect a DFA for Carson. Lewis and Keaschall will stay in the infield. Gasper is the team mascot. Fedko, Rosario, and Olivar will get some chances in AAA to shine and wait for an avalanche of injuries for their opportunity. They are not on the 40 person roster. Fitzgerald and Roden have options remaining, but Roden was a darling trade pickup which may be his ticket to the MLB roster. That leaves Walker Jenkins. If he hits .750 with 100% barrels in Spring Training, the front office will suggest he needs more time to work on his base-running. The solution is to trade or cut those players the organization evaluates as less talented and to promote and play the most gifted athletes. That would seem to point towards a Rodriguez, Buxton, Jenkins trio with Martin and Roden or Fedko or Wallner behind them. About a 2% chance of this. The odds on favorites though are Martin, Buxton, and Wallner with Larnach and Outman behind them. Maybe a sixth outfielder gets kept, Roden. Nobody will be surprised if both Clemens and Kreidler are on the 26 person roster. That's my guess. So it goes.

Can't recall offhand, but when was the last time the Twins cut a guy they traded for and swallowed the million or whatever before June or even at the close of Spring Training? This seems important.

Not my dream team. This is someone else's dream team (DF). FWIW, I posted 3 versions of a team for next year using Brock's GM Tool: $110M, $130M, and $50M versions. All I can really say about the Twins current roster is "Go Rockies."

BTW, I just noticed your tag on the side National......

I don't mind Trevor Larnach. Keep him and scrub eight other position players. Stats don't do anything, ever. People make the stats and those who look at them interpret them. Mookie Betts and Trevor Larnach are the same player in your universe or perhaps many others. That's ok. I'll take Betts and you can take Larnach. FWIW, I'm a math and stats guy, but I like physics too.

The time has come to shift all blame away from the hapless Pohlads. You know who is the architect of the rosters.