tony&rodney

Position by position, would anyone choose a Twins over a Brewer?

Thank you for the kind words. I'm not and never have been a Pohlad family fan. In fact, I fought the purchase in 1984 but MLB only approved Old Carl. The reference to Milwaukee should have been better explained by my comment. I'm sorry for the poor wording. Before I try to explain, I must say that I reject that the Twins are building a team through the recent trades. That was a sell-off for financial purposes. The weakness of the team was in position players. The problem still remains. Any hope rests solely with prospects, most of them were already in the system before the trades. Milwaukee has an owner who is quite transparent concerning the limits of their financial support. The Milwaukee market is roughly just more than half the size of the Twins market. Milwaukee is either the smallest or second smallest market in MLB by any measure. The Milwaukee front office has a strong view on identification of potential players to sign, draft, or acquire. There is a strong development, promotion, and playing style for their franchise. The differences in playing style and philosophy of winning or development between the Brewers and Twins are vast. The Twins adhere to (fill in the blank), while the Brewers use every tactic ever known in baseball. They play the game with an open mind. If the Twins copied everything the Brewers do starting today I could get on board with the current front office. Finally, the Pohlads have zero baseball knowledge. Signing and then trading Carlos Correa were probably their only contacts with player personnel in the 9 year Falvey era. They are terrible absentee owners who are apparently also lacking any business acumen. The team we see on the field is therefore, by process of elimination, a direct product of the mind of Derek Falvey alone. I'm not sure how any other conclusion can be drawn.

Perhaps some people can, but I'm not sure there is much evidence for that belief. Let's just go with even a blind squirrel ....

We must be Twins (pun intended). I'm doing the same thing. Tonight I can watch Ryan pitch but usually switch to another game when the Twins come to the plate. Sadly the Minnesota squad is stuck on Falvey ball, which is, has been, and will always be losing baseball as far as worth watching.

Easy. The Brewers play to win. They have a front office and manager that are committed to winning and that focus is direct with every player on the team. Christian Yelich is an established player who has suffered numerous injuries and yet he is bunting, stealing bases, putting his bat on the ball to advance a runner, and sprinting to first base on a one hop grounder back to the pitcher. A team with that ethos has a chance in every game. Yes, it is wonderful that the Brewers are winning so often but their brand of baseball is attractive to anyone who ever liked baseball. Compare that to the turn off the radio and tV Twins. Finally, I would argue that the Brewers expected to win a ton of games. They have been consistently competitive and because they develop players at the lower levels they are young hungry players with skills ready to perform.

Do you think the Milwaukee front office could put together a good team with the Twins payroll? The Brewers have the best record in baseball with a ton of young exciting players and a really good minor league system. They began the year with a $108M 26 person roster while the moribund Twins began the year with a $142M 26 person payroll. The Pohlads are a problem not because they don't invest in the team but because they have zero idea about how to run a baseball franchise. It is really hard for anyone to defend the Pohlads in relationship to the recent quarter century plus malaise in owning the Minnesota Twins. They seem like a deficient incompetent group of wealthy people who have nobody to tell them that they are running around naked and look embarrassing. Still, the philosophy of putrid is all Falvey and his enforcer is Baldelli. One wonders what Levine would say. It is a sad situation for MLB and Twins fans.

A change in ownership, front office, and manager was the sole hope for those of us who are not fans of the boring baseball that is the trademark of Falvey/Baldelli baseball. Bad decisions and bad baseball has stretched this Twins fan since 1961 in ways no other era in the franchise history. Only a miracle can save the Twins now.

Really? We also still have a 1st Amendment, 14th Amendment, and so forth. These are all clearly pliable. I'm not reaching. I do not believe for a second that the Twins will move but power and money make the law when it's needed. Money will keep the Twins in Minnesota.

The bottom line is that 9 years of Falvey has yielded Ryan Jeffers as the only position player worth noting. Some may say Lewis hit some grand slams and Wallner hits home runs, but I'm reserving confidence for guys we know can be every day players and not just hopefuls in this last 9 years. Twins fans continue to hope on the prospects and players like Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, Lee, etc. The record speaks for itself as far as position players in the Falvey Era.

A Jax and Castro for Ford would have been nice. I don't think that Seattle discussed much with Minnesota.

I don't think relocation will occur because there is enough opportunity to make money in the Twin Cities region. The lease may have once been a logistical obstacle but it is now 2025 and the law is money and power. A lease would not be supported by our new legal world if the person looking to break that lease had power and money. The old judges have retired. In reality it could happen soon but the best way for someone to make money is to manage the business properly where it currently resides. It should be interesting (well maybe not) to see what happens.

The worst news possible ... Pohlads, Falvey, Baldelli continue on. Why is this almost predictable. The team we watched last night may become the new normal.

It is frustrating to read that the Twins may complete the trading frenzy this winter. However, a quick look over the roster makes it obvious the position side needs help. The ownership situation is a huge determining factor in what happens from October to March as well. The Pohlads will want payroll reduced. Thus, the expensive and increasingly expensive Lopez, Ryan, and Ober along with Jeffers become the most likely personnel that accomplishes two goals - reducing payroll and adding position players. Abel could be a solid rotation arm as soon as next year. I would not dismiss any future possibilities of success for any of some others: Woods Richardson, Festa, Matthews, and Morris. After watching Bradley last night I'm a little hesitant to think he belongs. I'm miffed why Jax wasn't able to return a better option. Watching the Twins, we can all see they need better position players who can field and get on base or otherwise contribute towards scoring runs.

No complaints. This is the reality of the current roster and nobody should be surprised. Seems like the Twins are playing hard but there is a pretty stiff differential in talent plus experience.

I'm not sure how people can really talk about this, not that there is anything wrong with conversations. The Dodgers are over $400M and committed to well over $200M before arbitration and adding players. If 75% is the marker and the Dodgers spend $400M, how can the lowest teams pay $300M? And if you don't allow the Dodgers to fill out their roster with anyone but rookies and the payroll is $240M (which they cannot reach that low), how are you going to get the Pirates, A's, etc. to spend $180M? The Yankees could make someone a little cash by dumping tonight's game. Gasper at catcher is a hoot. He didn't get hurt or hurt anyone last time out. Good luck Twins.

Great to have a guys like Bader as a 4th outfielder and Willi Castro as a utility player. These guy have retained their athleticism. They also played pretty well. I don't want either of these two in the starting lineup on a regular basis. How did the Twins do with their veteran utility guys starting? We can say they did their part and they did, if viewed as utility players. The Twins need to raise the bar with their starting lineup. At that point where they are competitive, then they can grab utility players.

You could be correct on Andrew Morris. Morris throws harder than either Abel or Bradley and has better control. Morris hit 98/99 a number of times this season. The command and secondary pitches still need work and he needs experience facing the best hitters. The Twins do have a pile of AA/AAA pitchers to sort through to see who goes where and when.

There are too many shifting pieces to make a guess at the Opening Day 2026 roster. The first variable would need to be ownership. The author stated that he was going with the Pohlad family still owning the team. In that event, one could reasonably expect that 2 of Lopez, Ryan, and Ober are traded. Additionally, it is quite feasible, if not expected, that Jeffers and Lewis are moved as well. Topa and Larnach would either be traded or not offered contracts. Really, it is way too early to guess at a 2026 roster due to ownership and injury situations. A $75M roster payroll is not just possible but a consideration. When one gets into future speculations this early many outcomes can be expected. We can also even expect a better team at half the payroll. I think I will wait until November before beginning thoughts on next year.

We all knew to expect this outcome late in games. This isn't the last time.

Not even close to a strike.

I'm not seeing what you see.

Let both Culpepper and Jenkins finish the year with Wichita. If they look ready after a winter of work, put either or both in the Twins lineup. Talent plays.

Some Nick. Some people, not all of us. My thoughts are the franchise wanted to get out of the contract, so save $20M off the payrolls for the next 3 years from one contract. I do not expect a penny to go back towards adding players. It was a money deal. However, that deal is now done and I'm hopeful for some potential solution going forward. It has not been pretty watching our new shortstop thus far. The team needs to be sold. This could take a few years. So it goes.

This is where I am with Brooks Lee. He also doesn't really project as a utility player because of his lack of speed. This was why I made numerous comment last winter proposing a trade of Lee for Jeferson Quero. Of course, Quero hasn't fully returned from his shoulder injury so there is that point.

I saw that sequence in the dugout too and began to write a similar comment as yours immediately after the game. I stopped and went back to the video. Julien was in the front of the line at home plate when Keaschall was running in to celebrate with his teammates. He was all smiles. I am sure I saw Martin in the pile of people as well and then later we also see Martin sitting in the dugout collecting his thoughts. From my re-watching the video a few times I concluded that both (Julien and Martin) had been smiling participants at home plate but with the game over were just moving on to gathering their stuff before going into the clubhouse. It is really almost impossible to know the dynamics on a team and how a player is feeling based on our looks.