tony&rodney

Excellent article Nick. Baseball is a hard game and the little nuances can sink just about most players. I wonder if a change of scenery could make things better for Julien in a mental approach sense. Also wondered if Lewis can adapt as he returns from injury, although they are totally different people and athletes.

Fitgerald, Morales, Rodriguez, and McCusker is a fun #1-4 in the lineup. I sure hope the Twins don't mess that up. Royce Lewis batting 2nd cost the Saints quite a few runs. Let Julien and Gasper trade off at second base and put them down in the order. Yes, the minor leagues are for development but it doesn't hurt to win as well.

MLB players come back from injuries all the time. Sometimes the minor league rehab assignment goes well and other times not so hot. There doesn't seem to be much correlation to how a player does when they are back in the majors. We will have to hope Lewis comes back strong because he looked awkward in the field, slow on the bases, and totally off balance at the plate. Royce may have been super careful because the games were mostly on wet fields. We shall see and hope for the best. Good things can happen.

Dear Twins Daily owners and management, Please order a stop to the inane line that the Twins don't have any or insufficient financial resources to field a team. The toxicity of that repetitive line does not add anything to a discussion and is also simply false. The trend is to say something and that makes it true is a popular practice in our country right now but it is also very tiresome. I won 7 Cy Young Awards in the 1960s. That isn't true either. Moving on, there are disappointments galore thus far in the 2025 season but we have not even reached mid May. The Twins can easily reach their expected mark, which is roughly 83-85 wins. The bats can still come alive and the pitching should maintain. The Twins have spent more money on payroll since Falvey arrived than any other team in the AL Central. Money is not an issue. There are good players still in the system and trades are always a possibility even if Falvey is reticent to gamble. Some big series coming up. One can only imagine what the fan base in Baltimore is thinking and writing about their team. I'm thinking the Twins reach .500 baseball some time in June or July.

Why don't I see the similarities? Cleveland looks like they have more athletic players who run, field, and can play small ball. Those type of teams have some luck in close games. Minnesota is built to hit. The Twins pitching staff is quite good.

Emmanuel has looked rusty thus far for St. Paul. He is pulling off the ball at the plate and is more tentative than in previous years in the outfield. All the time on the sidelines may have set him back or he might just need a week or two of warm weather.

Royce Lewis has not looked good at all playing at AAA, but we have seen guys come back from crappy rehabs before to hit at the MLB level. Hopefully Lewis isn't as overmatched against Baltimore pitching as he was versus Colombus arms. Julien seems to take his woes at the plate into the field. When he is getting on base, having good at bats, and swinging well he does fine in the field. The play or misplay Friday night by Julien was pretty sad. Hard to see where his career goes with the Twins. He isn't really depth so one has to wonder if he could bring back a lottery ticket from some team. The starters look good and the bats seem to be edging forward. May will be a big month for the Twins.

There were several mentions of this in various articles earlier in the year and I'm not totally sure of the exact circumstances.. One article I can remember was when a TD writer was wondering if Alcala would begin the season in AAA because he would pass the point of being optioned after 8 or 10 days into the schedule. Someone will know the answer but I'm think Alcala cannot be sent down. Alcala has a great arm but he loses it pretty quick at times.

Only problem here is that Alcala is now beyond the option stage. The Twins would be reluctant to DFA Alcala because he would almost certainly be picked up by another team.

The fly ball error was 100% on Trevor Larnach. Totally agree that an error should be given on that play. The ball was in the air for a fair amount of time and within a short casual trot from where Larnach was playing. While Bride may have called for the ball, a routine fly ball to an outfielder is always the responsibility of the outfielder. The Twins seem to be very focused and working hard. The bats are starting to earn base hits. Now the team must be a little more productive with RISP. The season is still in a formative stage.

Never give up.

The Twins must have someone who talks with Lewis, the Saints coaches, and evaluates whether he is physically ready for MLB. I'm watching the Saints game and he doesn't look fully healthy. However, I'm watching via milb.com which means I'm not seeing the full picture. I'm not down on Royce at all but his flexibility, speed, and approach are a concern at this time. As a Twins fan I desperately want him to be successful. To be fair to what you see as our differences, I did suggest that the Twins trade all of Lewis, Julien, and Julien after the 2023. Last October I suggested moving Lewis to first base and also wanted the Twins to trade Lee and Wallner. I guess I thought the value of players could be maximized but that is totally speculation on my part because it is fact that we do not know if other teams would offer a decent return for Twins players. I do fully support the Twins and continue to hope the team will rebound and play well.

Not too bad really. A couple of balls that might be outs with a dry field. Too many pitches, but he may be working on specific things as opposed to just getting outs. Wish the Twins would let their pitchers go 100-110 pitches at AAA.

That was a brutal play by Larnach. Julien deserves some of the criticism he receives and I'm pretty done with him, but it has always surprised me that Larnach's blunders go quietly. Pitching gets really tough when every pitch is critical and the manager has no confidence in the offense, playing the infield in Fenway Park in the second inning. While I called for trading Paddack all winter and spring, he has been pretty decent thus far; a fair #5 pitcher.

Not sure I understand how your response is related to mine. How did the Twins mess up Lewis? He is looking rough again in today's game. Sure hope he can come around. Lewis needs another week or so at AAA. Javy is a really good athlete and the injuries gave him another shot. Hinch seems to get quite a bit out of his players.

The pick of Royce Lewis at #1-1 - I was totally on board. He began as a pretty athletic player in the minor leagues and nobody is going to forget the string of grand slams. However, whether it is because of injuries or a bulked up physique, Royce is not the flexible, swift player who signed in 2017. If you have been watching him play for the St. Paul Saints, he mostly looks overmatched at the plate, stiff in the field, and not running anywhere close to full speed. Yes, I thought he would be a good first baseman and I'm still holding out hope Lewis can return to the team and be a consistently sound player for the Twins at any position. Currently, Lewis looks like baseball might be a challenge for him. I hope he figures it out. The Twins and their fans could use a strong Lewis. A couple of people have referenced injuries as a point of the Twins current situation. Other teams have also suffered similar numbers or worse losses. Take a look at how the Detroit Tigers are currently playing and consider the loss of 6 pitchers, the starting catcher, 2 starting outfielders, and 2 reserves. By comparison the Twins have been much healthier.

Nick, thank you for putting this article out there. For the last two plus years, it has been clear to me, Falvey is in over his head. Roster construction and a vision of what ideally makes for a team that might compete at the highest levels are simply out of his realm. His preferred style of play does not create excitement for the paying public. Waiting for the bats and big innings is a difficult process. This is the first article I have seen that points to Falvey as opposed to the many dozens of articles blaming the Pohlads. Despite having never been a fan of the Pohlads ownership going back to 1984, I fail to see much involvement by the owners in player acquisitions and roster management. The Twins have spent more money than all of the divisional rivals since Falvey arrived. This doesn't completely erase a reticence to add a couple of players during a few stretch drives. However, the Ryan years were marked by more pinched budgets, especially in comparison to their AL Central foes. While I'm not ready to mark the end of the Kepler/Polanco run as a cause of the current malaise, it does seem like karma has left a mark. The current team was expected to win 84/85 games. I predicted 83 with a ceiling of 88 victories if everything went extremely well. I'm not actually moving off of that prediction yet but the type of baseball played by this current regime makes the product hard to watch. A .500 record seems like their goal. A team that fields 4-5 players on a daily basis whose skills are best suited for DH needs to average close to six runs per game. The manager is getting good starting pitching but the innings are more stressful in low scoring games which results in removing the starter earlier due to the higher load of tough innings/pitches. In turn, the bullpen is required to use 3-4 persons per game which is not sustainable. Pitching with the cloud of a poor defense behind you and no run support can be wearing on anyone. Lastly, the inability to complete any meaningful trades in the last few years, particularly at the close of the 2023 season, raises questions of how other teams view both Falvey and the players within the Twins system. I'm afraid the Twins are between a rock and a hard place until their ownership and management people have left the organization. If the Pohlads cannot sell they need someone to counsel them on change.

Actually this seems like a path but, alas, it isn't a given that the ownership people are interested enough to clean the counter and freshen things up. In a pinch could a Pohlad name the 40 person roster? I would hope so but it is possible that they too are very disgruntled and have fled to other pursuits and are waiting for .... Godot.

This is what makes the Twins the team they are - roster construction. It is pointless to point at Vazquez, Jeffers, France, Miranda, Julien, Lee, Correa, Lewis, Bride, Clemens, Gasper, Larnach, Bader, Keirsey Jr., Buxton, Wallner, Martin, etc. much less any of the pitchers. This is the result of Falvey's dream team with Baldelli making all the moves.

As always, any trade depends on the return. Most trades in July tend to return prospects. I'm interested to hear if anyone has a specific name or names of prospects that could be a return for any of the Twins top three pitchers. Does this mean a major rebuild? Seems to me that the Twins missed a golden opportunity in the last two offseasons, but since Falvey has stated on numerous occasions (apparently against his will according to some) that he has put together the team he wanted it is unlikely to expect much in the way of future trades based just on the past.

Walker Jenkins Eventually Jenkins will need to prove this ranking.Emmanuel Rodriguez Boom or bust is hard to earn on the Il list. Remain hopeful for now.Luke Keaschall Needs a position. Athletic fun player.Connor Prielipp Dominant with a cloud over his head. Prelipp looks ready for 3 innings or 50 pitches in AAA.Carson McCusker Why not? Time to ignore the Indy ball label. Nobody in the organization hits the ball harder.Andrew Morris All he does is get outs and keeps the ball off the barrel.SDasan Hill Have only seen him 3 times. Looks good.Charlee Soto Pitcher's body and good stuff. Can he stay healthy and throw strikes?Brandon Winokur Best athlete by quite a bit. 3 years away with many levers to harness. Fun to watch at either shortstop or centerfield.Kaelen CulpepperKyle DeBargeBilly AmickMarco RayaYasser MercedesJose OlivaresGabriel Gonzalez DH only, but his bat is coming around.Payton Eeles Based solely on 2024 play. Currently MIA or recovering. PE is a mystery.CJ CulpepperEduardo BeltreDylan Questad

Hendricks either lost control or he meant to hit Keaschall. We will never know. Pablo is not opposed to making a batter move their feet. Pitchers seldom throw at a batter above the hips. Frank Robinson stood right on top of the plate. Don Baylor and many others too. We live in an age of instant media and pitchers always profess innocence, but there are still guys who send a message about leaning out over the plate and plenty of pitchers who back their teammates when the situation calls for it. The article makes some valid points about exposure to HBP. If Keaschall changes the way he hits, his career may be over already. One thing Luke can do is load up with protection, especially on his back arm.

Fun report. I have enjoyed watching (via milb.com) a ton of minor league ball this year. Last year I caught more Wichita games. This year I have tuned into Prielipp pitching but switch to another game when he is lifted or when the Surge are batting. Mostly, I have followed the Saints and Kernels. Agree that Prielipp looks ready for AAA and think Hill can go to A+ in a month if he continues to cruise. Enjoyed your synopsis on the players.

There will never be any agreements on prospects, especially in baseball. Before the internet, before milb.com, there were magazines that printed box scores, stats, and there were articles. Today there is a proliferation of data collected by a host of people. The data largely reflects the opinion of the collector as it would be highly unlikely for separate individuals to agree on what they saw .... cue witness testimony in car accident cases who are standing right next to each other. So there is always disagreement. Given the above, it is still a common activity to rank and comment on prospects and people are interested in the players. Not everyone has the time to become familiar with any prospects much less the pile of hopefuls within any organization. Some look over a few data points and their favorite statistics, which may be fun or interesting for such individuals. It is likely that few people watch 5 minor games per week, simply due to the time required for such an endeavor. Watching the games via milb.com is not as useful as watching the games in person, but I would forward an idea that it far exceeds poring over data and statistics. This would be even more true for those with a lengthy background playing, coaching, managing, or scouting players as compared to a common fan. The point remains though that despite a raft of tools to sift through the value of prospects, people will still have their own order and there will be disagreements.

Really doubt that Baldelli has the full backing of his pitchers.