tony&rodney

Lewis becoming a star or even a serviceable regular would be good. I really hope that happens. I never saw him as a can't miss player. In fact I felt his value was prime trade material after 2023. Again after 2024, I suggested moving Lewis. I'm not sure what value other teams place on Lewis at this time. You may have a point about players (like Walker Jenkins) being reluctant to sign with the Twins given their current regime. I don't have any feel or knowledge for that situation.

When I read the first post, that was my question. Sands, Funderburk, Adams, Prielipp, and Raya seem like a start for a bullpen. Rojas looks very raw right now. Morris could be in the rotation or bullpen. I'm higher on him than most. We might be better able to flesh out the pitching by January after the organization does whatever shaking they plan to do. The roster is far from set, seemingly. I also hope the Twins do not fill the bullpen with veteran losers. Sign reliable solid relievers or use what is available in house. There should be funds for a few bullpen fellows.

There have been a thousand articles about Royce Lewis. He is a darling of Twins Daily and many Twins fans. That is fine. I don't believe there are many comparisons to make between the two ballplayers other than being drafted highly. Walker is pretty smooth and has a picturesque swing, which we all hope grows into more power. An 8/$80-88M contract with 2 option years would be a sound move and one that Jenkins likely sees as a good decision. Both sides could benefit. The money is not a killer for the franchise and Jenkins is a free agent as a 30 year old. If it is something Jenkins is open to discussing, waiting is not prudent from the organization's side.

I totally agree that these guys are the hope for the Twins future. I like each of them. It is just a bit of a stretch to hope they all are successful, so there is that concern. However in the meantime, because it is all we have, I'm hoping these players all bust out together. Is next year too soon or am I being greedy? Hey, maybe a few trades bring even more help.

I'm hoping the Twins win tomorrow behind Zebby. I'm also thinking that nobody should be surprised by how the games are going in the last month, or for most of the year for that matter. This is Falvey's Dream Team after all. Not everyone sees life or baseball in the same light. We see what see. Falvey? I don't know what he sees. It is what it is.

What is done is done. I'm hoping for miracles.

What stands out from the article and from watching these guys play is the continued disdain for defense. More DH types and we are hoping they can learn a position. I'm hoping too, but that's different. I'm a fan and I hope the the players within the organization learn skills needed at the highest level and fit somewhere in the field. If the Twins cannot manage to get players to become skilled at all phases of the game, we can expect a long series of losing seasons. But some of these guys will hit. The comment on passing on higher upside players is perplexing. So Falvey prefers lesser talent that is more polished now. I have watched a number of these guys, including Kendry Rojas tonight versus Nashville. Rojas has a nice arm and is young. He looks athletic. His pitches do not look too polished. He didn't get out of the first inning. Jenkins, on the other hand, is a higher upside kid. He went 3 for 5 and his two outs were rockets to the warning track. I'm screaming into the wind wanting higher upside talent and now we have a comment from Falvey that answers why the Twins have the team they roster. These players are Falvey's dream team.

Not more than a few PA and an inning here and there. No thoughts on him at this time. FWIW, Tait was not good at the plate but good behind it tonight. He handled his chores very well tonight for his pitcher. The path to MLB is long.

There should be a ton of chatter in November and December onwards. I'm hoping for change. The deadline was a bit much and seemed hurried. Hopefully the design is solid in the next flurry. Lewis - trade him. Maybe the Twins can add a guy like Charlee Soto and Alan Roden to get Tyler Soderstrom. Jeffers - trade him .... but better get a catcher or two first. Would Boston deal Franklin Arias for Jeffers? Wallner - call Pittsburgh and see if they will send Jared Jones in an exchange. Pablo - keep him unless the offer is great. Ryan - I wish he could be extended but it seems very unlikely. I think he is gone. There should be some great options and offers if Jow finished the year on a strong note. Heck, call the Tigers and see if a Max Clark deal works. We have zero idea of the value other teams place on Twins players and their propsects and we also have no idea what lengths they will go to to acquire a player. There should be a few simple change of scenery transactions but it is nearly impossible to guess. So we spit into the wind.

I'm not sure what you are saying. I said I'm going to be patient, which is why people should keep their expectations down for now as I mentioned. I like Tait. I watch him play most of the time. You can too and any differences of opinion are not really important because time always sorts out things. As far as polish goes, you might be surprised how good some young catchers are, but the better defenders are often very poor with a bat in their hands. This is the difficulty of development. Cedar Rapids plays a very good Quad Cities team at 6:30 pm CDT. tonight.

There are couple of factors to consider when looking at the Duran trade. First, the Twins did not have to trade Duran. More to reality is the type of player Falvey seeks, which has been repeated over and over. Tait is going to hit (imo). Falvey loves the power. There is a good chance he is moved to 1B or DH because he needs quite a bit of work behind the plate. He certainly could improve though. Abel can blow away minor league players but if he cannot show good command with his breaking and off speed pitches he will get crushed in MLB. We have already seen this and it was previously known. So Falvey chose those two. There were reports and comments out of Seattle which indicate that the two mentioned were being offered. Harry Ford is more of a skill player and projects to be very good behind the plate and hit for average in the batter's box. He has shown his abilities through AAA and was called up yesterday. Ford is an athlete. The switch pitcher has a high ceiling. Cijntje has looked very talented in the few times I have watched him pitch. The Twins prospect (K. Rosario) hit a HR off of him, but otherwise Wichita had a tough time with Cijntje's pitches. The podcastors prefer the Philly guys. I would have preferred the Mariner's offer. Pitcher love good catchers and guys who can play defense. It is all just guessing though so no worries about different viewpoints.

If you are interested and have the time you can watch every game via milb.com. Tait takes a healthy hack at the plate. Thus far he has neither embarrassed himself nor shown any real skills behind the plate. He is only in A+ ball with Cedar Rapids so people should not expect anything at this time. Tait does not project well as a catcher (he is rough now), but I'm willing to be patient. He could be a part time player by 2028.

Perhaps you forgot about Joe Mauer.

This sounds like you expect the Twins to chase the Rockies and White Sox for a record. Another article asked which among Lopez, Ryan, Jeffers, Wallner, and Lewis would be traded. A few people added in Ober and Larnach. In one article there was a comment asking people to play the other side and questions what the Twins would want for Walker Jenkins (comment did not suggest a trade). That made me think of whether a Tarik Skubel for Walker Jenkins deal was way off. Never happen? Who says no? The reverse of that is Joe Ryan plus a good A ball prospect for Max Clark. Never happen? Who says no? This coming winter should be an opportunity to create a more talented team. The Twins should not be trading Ryan and/or Lopez for a pile of utility players. The Twins need value. Any of the others should be discussed widely. I do expect Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner back, which is a big part of my pessimism for next year. Larnach, Julien and Miranda had some value a few years ago, but they were never going to be consistent answers. I view Lewis and Wallner in a similar vein. Who even knows if other teams consider either as viable players though. Any of us on this board can forward a pile of ideas but we have zero clue of demand or what is available.

75 was very optimistic. I don't like predicting 100 losses. I have no idea where Falvey is leading this organization. I'm not sure he is capable of gaining the talent needed in trades. Uncertainty abounds in my mind for the Twins. Yet I do think there is potential for positive change. The current roster is either the worst team in MLB or among the bottom five. If the roster is rolled back, expectations should be low. As much as we may want this guy or that guy to remain Twins, the best bet for the Twins is for each of the five players mentioned to close the season on hot streaks raising their value among other teams. The position side of the roster needs sweeping changes. I'm hoping for a busy November and December.

What isn't known (likely never will be) is whether any other teams had any interest in Duran or what offers were put forth by various teams. Apparently the Twins were happy with Tait and Abel. I guess you need to know when to hold. The lists of players traded should be totally dependent on the offers. Larnach may be non-tendered and the 5 players from the article could all be in different uniforms as well. If any (or all) are traded, fans can only hope and wish that talent with promise is returned. Sometimes fit is important for players and right now the Twins roster doesn't fit. Can the front office actually accomplish positive change?

Walker Jenkins is the next great hope. A ton of expectations are riding on his skill set.

You have a fair point. Ryan has two more years under Twins control, which is going to cost somewhere near $20M. At that point he is a free agent. Since the idea and viewpoint is that Ryan will remain a good pitcher, we can then expect he will hold leverage in all negotiations. If Ryan is healthy, a contract post 2027 would approach $200M. Extending Ryan now would save some money. We have no idea what Ryan's thoughts are, but we can safely suggest adding years will cost. Assuming health, a bargain would be around $150M or more for six years if negotiated and agreed to this coming offseason. Will the Twins, in 2025, sign a pitcher to a large extension? A larger point though is how the Twins see their organization now and going forward. I have no idea what The Plan is for the team. Currently the Twins have a pile of DH only players. Pitching is difficult when the ground balls always find a hole and the fly balls drop. The differences among fans often come down to how they see individual players and the range of expected deficiencies people believe are acceptable as a tradeoff for offense. This is where the announcers keep suggesting that so and so is improving or recent numbers tell us that so and so is now playing average defense. What I see is that the Twins often look like those White Sox teams where the ball always eluded their defender's gloves. So I'm wondering how the team can complete transactions/ trades to improve the athleticism of the team. It becomes circular. How do the Twins improve without trading their best asset, Joe Ryan? What does Ryan think? I suspect we shall find out this winter. The only thing I'm certain of is that I have zero control over this and that the current product is, at best, a 75 win team.

A ton of ifs, for sure. Zero is not a chance and there is always an opportunity based on numbers. Sometimes the odds are very poor though. Right now the Twins are anywhere from the 12th-15th best team in the AL and anywhere from the 22nd-30th in MLB. Without some rather drastic changes or spectacular ifs between now and next April the Twins project as a team that wins somewhere around 75 games. Now those are just numbers and anyone can always bet against the odds. Any team has a chance. The Twins, Rockies, etc. all have a chance. The Twins rolled it back several times recently. The trade deadline purge shifted the roster more towards rebuilding. Only the front office and ownership knows the next phase. I wouldn't get set with any players at this time.

This is correct. My answer is if the Twins were a team that was in the top 10 in runs scored but needed more depth in pitching to be in the top 10 for least runs given up ...... yes, I trade Jenkins for Ryan. I might want the other team to include a decent prospect or two from A ball. This is especially true if the team acquiring Ryan could sign him to a 4-6 year contract. So then, how many others would think this way? More importantly is there a team in MLB that is willing to give up a Walker Jenkins type player for Joe Ryan plus ..... maybe Charlee Soto and/or Marek Houston?

Always love the minor league reports. Thanks Seth. Thank you to everyone involved in writing these 6 days per week.

Lewis was drafted #1-1 in 2017. He signed for a bundle, $6.725M. Even if he was only able to pocket half the money he should have made a few investments where his signing bonus worked for him. The MLBPA will have its hands full negotiating the next CBA. One would think they could see long term benefits of increasing the compensation for first year guys and/or decreasing the years of control for players. The balance will be both interesting and precarious. Hard to say what tact each side will take in the conversations. If a person making $1.6M has trouble taking care of their family, money might be the least of their concerns.

The problem for the Twins is in identifying which players have reached a peak and should be traded and perhaps even more importantly singling out players in deals that will be key to turning the Twins into a strong team. Along with the above long sentence issues there is the factors of whether any team sees value in a Twins player and whether any deal can shake loose a player from another team. Will any team offer a serious top talent individual or package for Joe Ryan? There must be teams that could really use a starting pitcher such as Ryan. No team is going to trade an established star bat for Ryan. BTV would suggest Ryan is worth more than Nick Kurtz but that trade would never happen, even if the Twins added Ober. Would Detroit risk trading Max Clark for Ryan plus a minor league A ball pitcher? The trick is in finding the team willing to trade players who can make a difference at the plate, on the bases, and in the field. Readers can concoct their own ideas. The Twins are a very poor fielding team. We saw the limited range of their infielders on display last night in a blowout to San Diego. Teams can live with one or two below average fielders but it is a nightmare for pitchers when most of the gloves are deficient. Improvements are needed. Perhaps trading Ryan and Lopez is the path forward for the Twins but it won't make any difference if the front office cannot identify talent and convince another team to return talent in any deals.

DH only. Do not use in field.

Compete can be seen from different levels. Last night the Twins defeated a very good San Diego team. In numerous games sprinkled throughout the year the Twins have won games against excellent teams and had great plate appearances against numerous top starting pitchers. In those games the Twins did compete quite well. The current roster, plus other players already within the organization, has enough talent to compete in many games next year. They could win anywhere from 60-70 games without making too many changes. So yes, the Twins can compete in the majority of games. If one takes compete to mean win an AL Central title or qualify for the playoffs, there is an entire different sort of factors that would need to line up. If the Twins hold on to what many feel is their core (Jeffers, Keaschall, Lee, Lewis, Wallner, Buxton, Lopez, Ryan, and Ober), some things would need to happen. All of the core would need to eclipse anything they have done so far as baseball players, remain fully healthy all year, and the core would need substantial help from numerous pitchers and rookie position players (think ROY type seasons). If all of the above occur there is a chance, albeit slim. The front office should be discussing dozens of potential trades with many teams and looking at various options for signings to improve the odds for 2026. Anything can happen. I'm just hoping that the Twins can field a competitive team next year. It will be easier to figure out what type of competitive once the roster is finalized.