tony&rodney

There are players who put winning above money. Thing is, baseball is corporate so the players know they cannot make most of their decisions so money is a reality. The only reason that Carlos Correa signed with the Twins is because no other team would sign him. The Twins had to outbid themselves. Pete Alonso went back to the Mets instead of signing elsewhere. Does anyone believe he signs with the Twins if they are high bidder? So money is a thing but the control of these players by the clubs makes independence or choice of employer for most players a distant thought.

I'm not remembering anyone who is worse out there. I understand Wallner has his fans, which is good for him. I would prefer to watch Keirsey Jr. make outs rather than see Wallner lope around helplessly. I can live with others preferring Big Matt. Ryan, among others, are not enamored to see him in the lineup as an outfielder. Why not just use him as a DH?

The bat plays, but he should never have a glove in his possession; as pure a DH as we have seen.

Did the Twins whiff badly by not trading Ryan at the deadline? It seems like the Twins didn't have any sort of plan but were just taking calls; reactive. I guess we find out in the offseason. Put the odds of Ryan returning at about 5%.

As a former pitcher it is almost impossible to imagine the stress of pitching with that defense and that manager. We will never know but there may have been some acrimony within the bullpen that led to the purge. The saying that you cannot get rid of all the players, so the manager/GM/ POBO has to go is being flipped by the Twins. We can expect another pile of 7-10 players to be moved after the season closes. The reason the Pohlads are such crappy owners has zero to do with money. They are not involved and have made poor hires to lead the ship, so it sinks.

Total conjecture but the young players must struggle to relate to Byron. I'm not seeing the effort that suggests the younger and/or inexperienced players are loving being a Twin. Buck isn't leading anything.

Wallner should never be allowed in the field. He is a big part of Ryan's issues. Wallner has potential as a pure DH.

Defense is an idea that is rejected by the Twins, which makes evaluating the pitchers nearly impossible. When I watch Ryan I see a dejected guy. We can't know what is going on within the clubhouse. The team looks uninterested.

Roden could be an average MLB player but his skills are not polished yet and he should be near prime age. Do the Twins roll him out for a year on a 100 loss team and allow him to learn the MLB game with the hope he blossoms in a couple of years? Maybe. The plans for the team are not very evident to me. I don't have anything against Roden or others, but I'm wanting to see a few prospects who have been highly regarded step forward and play regularly. Is that going to happen? Emmanuel Rodriguez is looking more like a mirage than a Twins star; always on the IL and high K rates when he does play. And yet, still, I'm hoping for a miracle. If Roden is the miracle .... great.

Jenkins is raw as a 20 year old and needs experience playing baseball against strong competition. The move to St. Paul and the more advanced AAA pitchers (specifically breaking balls and off speed pitches) should be a solid learning experience for Walker. Jenkins has done well in centerfielder thus far but projects as a corner outfielder. Many Twins fans, including you, are very high on Matt Wallner. His bat has definitely gone boom at times. He is, however, strictly a DH. There isn't any way to be a .500 team with a glove that poor unless you hit as well as Manny Ramirez. So Wallner isn't an issue if the Twins choose to use Jenkins in right field. There is room for both if that is the decision.

From my viewing perspective it isn't the pitchers figuring him out. Kaelen looks tired and just a touch slower with his reflexes. He has not played shortstop exclusively, which may be a reaction from the manager noting that Culpepper is tired. It isn't unusual for a player to fight the game physically and mentally in their first full year of professional baseball. I expect KC remains at AA and he plays through the remaining games as a learning experience. Culpepper will have a much better idea of how to prepare for next year and he will be working hard this offseason.

The week went pretty much the way it felt it would go. The Twins are not fielding a team that can win more than a game here and there. The A's and White Sox are better teams. 3 games in Toronto with the Blue Jays and then hosting the Padres for 3 at Target Field should be a treat. Hope for 2 wins and who knows what will happen. Seems hard to believe still that the Twins couldn't pick up better position prospects in the recent purge. The only hope is that a bidding war breaks out for the Twins top three starters and some talent flows into the system at the top end. Still hopeful for a few fast, defensively skilled ballplayers who can hit coming back in trades.

Maybe. Something is better than nothing. Fedko will need to learn how to lay off breaking balls and offspeed stuff. Perhaps he can further refine his swing. Wallner? He needs to be a DH only. All the talk of his improvement in the outfield and the drone of the TV voices cannot soften the harm he causes as an outfielder. Bring back Delmon. I think Wallner might have a chance to blossom as a bat if he burns his glove. Would Pittsburgh exchange the injured Jared Jones for Big Matt?

Kaelen (Culpepper) has had a rough go recently. He might have hit a wall in his first full year of professional baseball. In July, Culpepper was tearing up the AA Texas League. In August, the games have become a slog. He is hitting .200 in August with his average moving from a high of .369 in late July to its current .289. Kaelen might need a little break.

Cedar Rapids and Wichita looked tired this week. Baseball players are human and the movement of guys has bound to be a little chaotic, even if it is a part of the business and to be expected. The managers at the minor league level need to focus the players in their final month of play. Careers are lost or won on how they play through the end of a long season.

Festa does need to harness the edges of the zone and master a changeup. I'm thinking he is in the mix for a rotation spot next year along with Woods Richardson, Matthews, Morris, Abel, and Bradley. Impossible for me to know how the Twins view these pitchers. Prielipp and Raya could be solid additions to the bullpen. Will the Twins trade any or all of Ryan, Lopez, and Ober? A few people have mentioned the CBA and payrolls. I believe this only applies if a team is below a percentage in multiple years. It won't be a surprise (to me) if the Twins were well below the $100M mark in the next 2 years.

Hopefully, Jenkins plays every day and gets 100 plate appearances in the 24 games left on St. Paul's schedule. He can DH once per series to get off his feet. AAA has the challenge system. AA does not use it. Jenkins has a very good feel for the strike zone. The increased command of breaking balls should be a good challenge for the young outfielder. Same batter's box and strike zone, so Walker should just have some fun working on his skills.

I watch minor league games about 4-5 nights per week. I usually skip between 3 games. It seems quite difficult to judge the pitchers at times within the Twins system because there are problems at times with decent defense. For example I watched Andrew Morris give up a few legitimate broken bat hits and then a run scores on an inexplicable play by Jose Miranda. I feel a number of pitchers including a few young Twins (Matthews) stretch for strikeouts. How comfortable are the pitchers with letting the opponents put the ball in play? The Wichita and Cedar Rapids teams seem to play better defense than the St. Paul squad. Pitching is tough if the guys behind you don't make routine plays.

That is interesting. Kyler Fedko took AAA by surprise when he was promoted. Lately I have been turning away from watching St. Paul except for certain players in favor of Wichita and Cedar Rapids. Guess it will be more Saints viewing now.

I am weary of how many times Falvey & Sons struggle to identify talent. Oh well, maybe things change in the future. Why does it seem like a few GM's are excited to discuss Ryan and Lopez with the Twins brain trust this coming offseason? Doesn't it seem like Griffin Jax might have returned a guy like Harry Ford? I guess it gets tough when a team takes 15 minutes to complete a deal. Doesn't leave much time to float other offers or interest. Nobody was too surprised that the White Sox took the series.

Isn't this exactly why many conversations should occur seeking out a team that likewise sees potential in Royce Lewis, or Roden too if that has any chance? What is the bottom range of Lewis? Would Milwaukee (always rebuilding players and seeking power) give up Jeferson Quero for RL?

The "core" (my definition is MLB players expected to be in the lineup regularly and perform year to year) was cut in half when Carlos Correa was traded to Houston. That leaves Byron Buxton. We should also include Ryan Jeffers as part of a catching duo. After that it is a scramble and we are witnessing this as the White Sox play the Twins. Until the front office goes (which would include the manager) it is hard to see any change. The best hope is for a few other teams to approach the Twins and suggest trades that not only benefit their teams but also help the Twins. Can that occur?

Hey, I'm a Twins fan so I hope you are correct. The Twins winning would be nice. A 83-88 win team that plays good baseball would be wonderful. A playoff spot and getting hot in the series like 1987 is the dream. I don't see it right now and I'm an optimist. The Chicago White Sox have a better team than the Minnesota Twins at this time in my opinion. Changes will need to be made to improve the talent. Apparently Falvey and Baldelli will continue to lead the club, which is just bad luck for fans of baseball. There is a small percentage possibility that Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and Kyler Fedko step in to help players like Keaschall and maybe Lee form a decent nucleus around the pitching but the inexperience is just too much to overcome in the short term. Both Ryan and Lopez are gone after 2 years unless people believe the Twins will fork out $300+ million for the pair in long term contracts. I don't believe either will be here past 2027 in a best case scenario due to salary demands. If either or both are injured or totally ineffective a contract doesn't happen either. So it becomes a matter of priorities. Teams that need pitching and have money (Boston, Detroit, etc.) will be willing to hedge their bets on tipping the balance with the right addition while the Twins are left with their ownership issues and roster shortcomings. Clemons, Martin, Julien, Larnach, Outman, Miranda, and some others are waiver pickups. Teams may see value in Jeffers, Wallner, Lewis, and Ober. We can be sure there is interest in Ryan and Lopez. Thus it becomes a test of evaluation by the Twins and other teams to find a path forward towards rebuilding. When the Twins sold off their bullpen retooling moved to rebuilding. I will say, we can always be surprised by Joe Pohlad deciding he wants to sign Bellinger and Alonso. Again, I just don't see any short term gains. By 2028, the Twins can be relevant if the right moves are made this offseason. After the 2023 and 2024 season I called for a few dramatic trades that could have possibly helped the team. I wanted to explore deals that included some of Jeffers, Lewis, Wallner, Lee, Julien, Miranda, Larnach, Jax, and Ober. Not all, naturally, but find which teams had matches for their needs in an attempt to upgrade the Twins roster. It didn't happen. None of us knows what will happen but the defense is in pretty dire straits and the team speed is at a shuffle. This affects the pitchers more than expected. Whatever, but I sure hope your idea works.

We will never know who is available, so all names are up for discussion until another team says no. I think the White Sox say NO on Montgomery or Teel for example. So the ideas will flow freely. How about Max Clark? Jesus Made? Jeferson Quero? Harry Ford? Franklin Arias? On and on it goes and where it stops nobody knows. We hope it doesn't end up like the Varland trade (with apologies to those who believe the Twins fleeced the Blue Jays).

The Twins currently have Ryan and soon Lopez is returning. They are not a .500 team with or without them for the next two years unless they have 3-4 ROY type performances which is very highly unlikely. Signing Ryan will cost between $150-200 million over 6 years. Will the Pohlads sign off on that contract? If Lopez is good next year he would enter the final year of his contract with leverage and demand a similar contract. I would love it if the Twins signed both of them for the next 6 years. Is that even remotely possible? I'm going with NO. This is why it is terribly important that the Twins trade both of them (surely Ryan) for talent, even if we are hesitant to trust the front office in the identifying or negotiating a good deal.