tony&rodney

There is nothing in the 9 years of The Plan which allows for rookies burning up roster time. It may be an idea but no way the Twins play Jenkins and Culpepper. I'm fine with them having some fun in Wichita before being exposed to the Twins ways. Hopefully ownership and POMO/manager change occurs before next season. It needs to happen.

According to Dan Hayes, writing for The Athletic, the Twins were too busy to explore Ryan deals and Boston did not engage until the deadline with a lame offer. That seems odd. The Jax deal, Hayes again, came together very quickly because Tampa Bay had made an offer ealier in the day and then Jax requested a trade. So the Twins called TB back with 5 minutes to go or so.

Manfred is the worst. When he opens his mouth he lies. I can't imagine anyone could be worse at their job than him. Wait ... there are others .... worse too. What a world.

Sorry if I misinterpreted that you thought the Twins would sign a big FA. The carryover of the purge may affect a few small FA signings, although there is no way to know this information. For example, Coulombe was a terrific signing at $3M. Would he or a similar player consider the Twins? My guess is that experienced players will only discuss contracts with the Twins as a last resort. Both Colorado and the White Sox look more appealing at this time. Give it two years and a sale .... things could turn out for the better. For us old folks or maybe just me, I just want a clean slate: new owners, POBO, and manager. There are a number of people in the organization that I would work hard to retain if I were the new owner. Falvey goes though as his vision is too cloudy. In any event, I don't expect a sale of the team until 2027 unless the price and terms (as currently reported) are reduced.

The recent trades did not bring in a single position player who stands out as one to hold down the middle of the lineup. The Twins still need to "find" a catcher and first baseman. Ryan and Ober is their best hope to accomplish that need. Pablo Lopez does not have the value but we shouldn't be surprised if he is jettisoned too.

No reason that Culpepper is not the shortstop out of Spring Training next season. He turns 23 late in December and has made every progression needed. It is not uncommon at all for players to skip AAA. Kaelen is exactly the type of player the Twins need on their roster. He is athletic, runs, fields his position well, and drives the ball all over the park.

The optimism is good. You are correct that the Twins (any team) need to get lucky on draft picks. I watch a ton of minor league baseball. Noah Cardenas might work as a backup catcher but he won't hit. I'm ok if he is just a good catcher. DeBarge plays hard but I think his talent won't play at the top levels. It is possible to play all of Keaschall, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins full time next year. The Twins need a couple of players from an expected purge of Ryan and Ober. Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.

Mendez had a fine game but the player of the game was easily Kaelen Culpepper. Everyone looks to him and he drives the offense. Kaelen's line drive to start off the 9th inning fired up the entire team. It was over for Amarillo right there. Mendez was impressive in the 9th inning with the bases loaded, fouling off two pitches on 3-2 and then flaring a broken bat bloop into centerfield to score the tying and winning runs. Good bat to ball skills on display. That was a fun game to watch. Only watched Abel for one inning. He looked good. Toledo seemed flummoxed by his pitches. Winokur keeps marching along with a hit and RBI. He is developing.

Roden struggled in his first looks, at the plate and in the field. I watched the minor league games today. The two guys who are real deals are Culpepper and Jenkins. They are on a roll, laying off the breaking stuff and crushing fastballs of all velocity. They are also hitting with power to al fields. Hendry Mendez had 2 strong games as his introduction to the Wichita team. He looks like he has good bat to ball skills. The Twins best bet is to have Emmanuel and Walker flank Buxton in the outfield next season and stick Culpepper at shortstop. He is already better than Lee. The Twins need to give Keaschall a position and just let him play there every day. He is quick enough to play second base. Perhaps Roden gets a shot at first base.

The Phillies manager gave his uniform number (#59) to Jhoan Duran. Rob Thomson said managers don't need numbers. That is a sweet welcome.

I managed to catch parts (mostly the last inning) of both games. There was real excitement in the parks and the announcers were fun.

In other news, I just watched Wichita score 10 runs in the 9th inning. to come back and defeat the Sodpoodles. Kaelen Culpepper looks really good at the plate and in the field, really good. Walker Jenkins is right behind Culpepper and is also scalding the ball. I haven't seen any other minor league players look as good as these two and I am guilty of watching way too much milb. A positive note on Kendry Mendez, the 21 year old outfielder that arrived from Philly in the Bader trade. He had 2 good games for Wichita. The returns for Stewart, Jax, and Varland were simply strange. The future is not very predictable but did anyone see that coming? Correa? I guess it wasn't meant to be.

This the reality in the franchise. Some have stated that a new owner could have directed the recent sell off. That just seems so remote. A new owner would want to have their own people make decisions. While there is no way to know if there is any progress towards a sale or even any interest in the club, we will continue to hear rumors. Meanwhile we wait patiently, for a new era of Twins baseball.

The trades of expiring contracts: Paddack, Coulombe, France, Castro, Bader, and Dobnak were fine. Nothing really gained but a few tickets of chance. One would have hoped for a big gain on the other deals considering it wasn't necessary to move controlled players. Duran, Jax, Stewart, and Varland seemed to have value. The players now aboard have value but mostly are a replications of current prospects. Seems like some bundling or something should have left us feeling that one or two of the transactions were pluses. Yes, the 2025 Twins were going nowhere, but that was mostly due to weak hitting and deficient defense. The gains don't bring the hope envisioned in discussions of trading one or more of Jax, Duran, and Ryan. The trades that release Ryan, Ober, Jeffers, and possibly Lopez should bring at least two strong prospects. The deadline massacre doesn't inspire confidence in me for future success. Going for Bradley, Rojas and Abel made me wonder if the Twins feel that all of Festa, Matthews, and Woods Richardson are not adequate mid or back end rotation starters? Perhaps Morris, Raya and others have dropped in the eyes of the team evaluators as well. The direction is impossible to guess.

Yes.

For the Twins? Would you be content with them in the Mets outfield? I'm not being difficult. I expected the bar to be higher. The return for expired contracts can be justified to an extent. But a counter is if the players coming back are merely replicas of guys already in the system, why add more 40 or 45 type guys. The exchange for good players needed to be pieces that will be regulars or critical support. What was it, 10 trades. Did anyone say, "Wow, that player could be a real difference" on any of the 10 trades. The most highly ranked/rated player is not even on the top 200 of some lists. I actually like Tait. If your Mets had made these types of trades I'm not thinking you were be too enthusiastic. Some of us expected better. I do not think that is a complaint.

The first two games were not much for an impression, but I will watch him play and we shall see. Odd that Toronto, a team in need of outfielders, would trade him if he was decent. No?

Julien is an anomaly. He plays like he wants out. The Twins play him to prove they own him. Great tussle going on. I'm actually surprised that Julien hasn't been more focused and all out in his play. It would seem like his professional baseball career is on the line and yet ..... we see what we see. Eddie would have a hard time in Senior Men's Baseball. The pitchers never throw the ball anywhere except the edges of the plate and it is a full 7 pitch arsenal of junk with 5% 85 mph FB, which Julien takes. Oh boy. Maybe he busts out starting today. Right?

Actually $11.333.333.33 per year by Fangraphs and other sites. But it saved money for someone which is what many believe is important in whatever way. Always good to have different viewpoints.

Most people can get behind that idea. Name one position player acquired who fits as a player in the 2027 lineup? Tait is 3 years away, if for no other reason than to learn catching skills (ETA-2028).

FWIW, the first post deadline evaluation of organizational minor league talent put the Twins at 9th among all MLB teams and notes that all of the teams above them have much more high end talent - Fangraphs. There are dozens of sites, some done by teenagers and some by AI, and a few may put the team above where Fangraphs puts them. While I am a big fan of Winokur and possibly Tait at A+, Jenkins and K. Culpepper at AA, and Keaschall at AAA, it must be noted that the Twins are still not benching good prospects because of any surplus at any level.

No argument that the Pohlads decided to cut back on the roster budget. It has been fairly established that after Grandma Pohlad died there was no interest in baseball within that family. They have other concerns, hobbies, duties, and interests. The inability of the people in charge of building a strong baseball roster failed mightily and that is where things went wrong. When the Twins lost to Houston in 2023 there were glaring needs/holes that needed to be addressed. The issues were ignored. Correa did what he could. His production wasn't very good this year but the systemic problems are directly attributable to the plans of the front office. A mishmash of slow, defensively challenged position players that struggle to hit wasn't ever going to work. Half a dozen DH types makes for a headache for the pitchers and the dilemma of who can the manager hide where. Correa was just a sideshow. Good for everyone that he can reset in Houston and that the Twins can move on. Also good that the Twins have a reminder each of the next 3 years of their deal ($11M+ to C4). So it goes. Things can get better with 2-4 really good trades in this coming winter.

Yes.

The weaknesses not only remain (slow, weak defenders that cannot run the bases or hit) but they are now arguably worse. The team added prospect pitchers and one A+ ball position player prospect (Tait). The Twins still need a stronger #1 catcher with Jeffers as the #2 guy. There is not anyone to play first base in the system. There is hope for Keaschall and Kaelen Culpepper to hold down the middle infield and Brooks Lee can be a decent utility player. The book on Royce Lewis is unfinished with Billy Amick a couple of years away (he is not yet a strong defender). The outfield has some potential if both Emmanuel Rodrigues and Walker Jenkins make the leap as every day corner outfielders next year with Buck between them, healthy and productive. Playing Wallner, Larnach, and Roden in the outfield is just hate on the pitchers. These guys and Gonzalez are pure DH's. Gonzalez is improving dramatically at the plate and projects as the most productive if he adds consistent power. Martin can be an effective reserve is used correctly. Looking above, it is clear that a rebuild has not really begun at all regarding position players because all of the players who the Twins plan or hope to fill positions were already in the system. The coming offseason will almost certainly result in further trades. The questions/speculations will revolve around the potential of the returns of position players/prospects for any or all of Jeffers, Lopez, Ryan, and Ober. Given how opposing GMs managed to get their player without giving up substantial players from their own organizations, we should be wary of the transactions. While any one deal completed might be seen in a positive light, the direction towards improving the offense, defense, and speed was ignored. The positive outlook on the deadline deals was strictly hoping for future excellence from the pitching additions with the exception of Tait. Watching Tait last night made me think positively that perhaps he and Winokur can arrive at the same time with high hopes for their potential as MLB stars. Until this coming winter ends and Spring Training begins we won't have any idea of the direction of this franchise. Will the Twins manage to find a Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery type player/prospect plus in trades? Can Falvey avoid adding more DH style guys? Trading Jeffers and 2 of the 3 starters should plug position player holes. That's the hope for 2026 and beyond. The coming trades are critical for the organization or it will be years before the team climbs above fifth place in the AL Central.

Very doubtful.