stringer bell

Why not? He’s 25, a long way to go before he in decline, plus he’s still at a point where more experience at third should help him.

When the Twins got Roden, he was billed as a finished product who played good defense, including center field. Apparently not. He wasn’t used in center and Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall were instead. He doesn’t have above-average speed either. I’m seeing a Larnach replacement with less power, but better contact and defense and some ability to hit southpaws.

Roden wasn’t giing to get any firdt base reps with Vlad Jr. on the roster.

Vladdie Jr. is a good reason for Roden not to do much work at first base. There is a real opportunity for someone to get a lot of playing time at first base and I hope Roden gets a shot. Also, his Statcast data for 2025 put him above average as a defender. Not so much in 2026, but I would say he's a passable outfielder who doesn't have the tools to be much more than that. Kind of the same thing with his hitting--he doesn't really have corner outfielder or DH power, but again in a small sample size, his Statcast profile is pretty promising. Given the injury histories of the outfielders who are presumed to be ahead if him, it figures that Roden will get chances to play the outfield corners.

I think there's a 90% chance that France returns to the Padres. He was outstanding for them for minimal money. He'd be in line for a lot more after this year, but not eight digits. Arraez would be intriguing. He's going to hit .300 and be a solid bet to win a batting championship. He's also been surprisingly durable in his career and his defense was okay. He lacks power and the walk rate has fallen since his Twins days. He will want a lot of money and I don't know how long he will last as a second baseman. Okert had some decent years before he came to the Twins and has been good for Houston the past two years. I don't trust relievers moving to another club and continuing to do well. No thanks.

I don't think Larnach will have a role on the '27 Twins unless someone is moved or there are multiple injuries. Alan Roden is younger, cheaper and more athletic than Larnach and in a small sample size, his Statcast profile looks outstanding. There are four other outfielders (Buxton, Jenkins, Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez) in line for playing time in front of Roden, but they all have substantial injury histories so the likelyhood is that there will be playing time on the grass for Roden. As for Lewis, again he might be the second option at two positions (third base and second base) in addition to competing for playing time at first base where he is the incumbent. Without bringing in someone from another team, the Twins could go with Lewis as one of four alternatives at first--conversion prospects Keaschall and Roden, Kory Clemens and Lewis. $5.1M is a lot for a utility player if Lewis loses out to others, but it would give him a last chance to reestablish himself as a major league regular in his age 27-28 year. Lewis got through the season with less than two weeks on the IL after losing years to injuries. He's shown himself to be versatile and his speed has moved up considerably as he's recovered from devastating injuries. I still think there's an above average hitter with good power in there somewhere and it would be a pity to let go of him a year too soon.

I think the ideal would be for Houston to take over in midseason, but a little of things can and will happen in tge meantime. Having a lineup with Buxton, Keaschall, Houston, Jenkins, Culpepper and Rodriguez and we would see some speed and athleticism on display.

I’d do the under on “average walks”, which might be why he won’t break .800 for OPS for a while.

If Brooks Lee had Culpepper’s athleticism…… i think he’ll hit acceptability, but I wasn’t really impressed with his defense and he’s probably going to struggle at times. It was a pretty small sample size and perhaps the hard hit rate will rise and maybe tge walk rate as well.

Bobby Witt is among the five fastest runners in MLB. I don’t think Houston has that kind of raw speed. I would hope he has plus speed and range, but don’t expect that he has 99th percentile sprint speed.

Who isn't miffed to see other teams seemingly running at will against the Twins? It is a team-wide problem, well pitchers and catchers anyway and I don't think it is all on the catchers. On at least half and probably closer to two-thirds of the steal attempts last year the catcher had no chance. That's on the pitchers. Another point to consider is how important slowing a running game is overall. It isn't a be-all or end-all, but it is far from worthless IMHO. The Twins absolutely need to be better at limiting the opponents' running game in 2027 IMHO. Here's where I insert the Alex Jackson conversation. In small sample sizes, it appears that Jackson has the tools to be good to very good in limiting the running game. His pop time is well above average and his arm strength appears above average although I couldn't find a velocity number. Jackson had a fluky good season hitting, which I doubt he would sustain, but I think that with a normal backup catcher's workload he could be a defensive asset and not hurt the team too much offensively. Apart from limiting the running game, I thought Caratini was okay as a defender and he had one good month of hitting (playing a lot). I wonder what he could do with 60% usage. I doubt he would be above average, but maybe approaching what is expected for a catcher. Finally, I don't rule out Lackey making his major league debut sometime in 2027. He was a college player, so he's the same age as Walker Jenkins, although the complexities of catching probably would delay a promotion somewhat. Lackey/Tiat in 2028? That would be exciting.

IIRC Houston missed only a few games due to injury this year. It would be great to have a prospect develop who is durable. Having a guy who is an asset defensively would be huge for the Twins, add in the speed he has demonstrated and all he has to be is average-ish as a hitter to be a truly valuable player. Houston was the second college shortstop in a row taken by the Twins and followed Culpepper's path exactly, splitting his first full season between high A and AA. One would expect him to be ready sometime in 2027 if his development continues.

Gonzalez progression seems to be an every other year thing. He wasn't very good in 2024, very good in 2025 and ordinary (at best) in 2026. Even though he's still young, it would appear that 2027 will be a last chance season, at least with the Twins. The complicator IMHO is that he again is bat-first or bat-only and like Jose Miranda, he will have to be well above average as a hitter to have value to this or any other major league team. The Twins have had too many players like that in the past half-decade.

I think Martin has value, but probably not for the Twins. I think he could net an unproven relief arm (like Gomez was) or a utility guy.

I've never been a huge Ryan fan, but he's been a good acquisition for the Twins. I think his struggles and injury in the second half have lowered his trade value. It would seem to be a hard sell to get good value for Ryan this offseason.