stringer bell

Travis Blankenhorn, another guy who got a "cup of coffee" with the Twins, has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. He got into 10 games with Washington last year. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/nationals-re-sign-travis-blankenhorn.html

Wow, glad you survived your ordeal. Get well soon. Baseball is just around the corner (about a month from pitchers and catchers reporting).

I agree. That is not a bet to take. The ray of hope I see is that the specific injury to Buxton which limited him for years (knee) seems so far to be healed by the removal of the plica. He has had a bunch of injuries besides the knee, but the knee has limited him for years and there is hope that that specific injury has been resolved. Similarly, Kirilloff's career was at a crossroads because of his wrist, which limited him, ended two seasons early with surgery. That problem also seems resolved. The surgeons found the best possible result when they looked at the injured shoulder, so I have (maybe too much) hope. I'll add that both Buxton's knee and Kirilloff's wrist will probably need ongoing attention to allow them to compete at the highest level, but as I said, the reports so far give me hope.

Mauer was a catcher for only seven plus years. It appears he is being considered as a catcher and that makes his path much, much easier. Dare I dream of Mauer, Jack, Winnie and Molitor all alive and in the Hall? St. Paul can be proud.

The consensus of the responses to this article is that neither Lee or Julien should be traded. I agree. I think this might be a year where most of the perceived logjams are figured out. There are a lot of "ifs" in looking at the 2024 Twins--if Lewis is healthy, he's an All-Star and MVP candidate, if Wallner keeps the Ks down, he's an offensive monster, if Julien continues to improve, he's an elite leadoff guy, if Kirilloff and Buxton are healthy......and so on and so forth. Putting a solid year behind a breakthrough (Jeffers, Lewis, Julien, Wallner) takes a lot of uncertainty out of the equation. José Miranda is an example of not backing up a breakthrough. I'd certainly like to see Lee get a month or two of big league time to see if he's as good as his boosters say or if he's just another prospect. I think all the guys will get a shot and I have high hopes for almost all of them. I also think Austin Martin will be a good addition to the position player mix. As far as moving Julien to left field. He struggled there before (in the minors). We have no track record for Lee at second base and Matt Wallner probably improved as much defensively in 2023 as any player on the roster, including Julien. Wallner may well end up in right field (better use of the plus arm) if Kepler is traded, but until then, he's decent to good in left.

Because he's RH hitter who can play first base, I have Miranda on the team on Opening Day instead of either or both Gordon and Larnach. IMHO, the Twins will carry 13 pitchers and two of Gordon, Larnach and Miranda end up in St. Paul or DFAed. Of course, a lower level trade might be made in order to clear space and someone might be placed on the IL. Kirilloff's injuries have opened the door for other options, but I think the FO correctly believes in him. I don't think an outside option is necessary and if Miranda can duplicate his summer of '22 hitting, the Twins might have the nice problem of finding at-bats for a lot of good young hitters.

mlbtraderumors.com has an item that the Twins have signed 30-year-old right hander Hobie Harris to a minor league deal. Harris got 50-some days on the Nationals roster in 2023, his first major league action. Harris’ stats were pretty poor, but he does have a minor league history with some good results. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/twins-hobie-harris-agree-to-minor-league-deal.html

From what I see, the best the Twins can hope for is a young guy who can grow into a #2 or #3. I still think their best hope is getting a guy from a bad team and try to “fix” him.

I agree that the club has handled Ober gingerly throughout, last year giving him a time off/time out in St. Paul late in the season. He publicly said he felt fine and his velocity and extension were consistent. However over 160 innings (AAA and MLB) were quite a step up from anything he had done before. On balance, I think Ober is probably no greater or lesser an injury risk than any random starter in MLB. Almost all of them have injury histories and have worked to get back to the highest level. On the late season IL stint in 2021, I recall that Ober was basically the only guy who could be taken off the roster and they couldn't option him because the minor league seasons were over. I won't swear to this, but that is my recollection.

From what I can tell, everyone can be expected to see their vote percentage drop. I've seen a couple of in the know types that think a candidate over 80% when the public ballots are counted has a excellent chance of getting elected. Mauer has done surprisingly well and looks like a lock this year and for sure next year. Helton has gained very little from last year when he came 11 ballots short. Wagner and Sheffield need to get a lot of last-chance votes, even though Wagner has another year.

I'm not certain about this, but I think the time to decide on things like split contracts is when a contract is tendered. Jeffers has more than three years of service, with one very good year so far. I think it might make sense to wait until he sustains that production (maybe mid season, maybe after the 2024 season is over) before committing to a big contract.

Correct. Yes

Yes, it seemed that Julien had a lingering leg problem for most of the second half of the season. That he was able to continue to play was a win, I think. I would hope that he could show more speed and be more of an asset on the bases in 2024.

Yea "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas". The Twins don't have much speed and they don't have much contact, so hit-and-run and straight steals are pretty infrequent. The threshold for successful base stealing is right around 75%. With the exception of Castro and Buxton, there aren't any guys who will be successful that often, at least running at will. Taking the opportunities when they are given can and should be done. If a pitcher is particularly slow to the plate or a catcher is inaccurate or slow releasing the ball, marginal runners like Julien, Gordon and Wallner should go for it. If a team is paying zero attention, maybe Correa or Farmer can steal a base.

Regarding platoons--I get that managers want to get players in situations where they have the best chance to succeed. Kyle Farmer is a guy who has always hit left handed pitching better than right, so if he's in the lineup for 60-70 games, most of them should be against left handers. However (and this is @Riverbrian's point), pulling a superior hitter because a southpaw is coming in ultimately does more damage than good IMHO. The Twins figure to have four left handed hitting guys in the lineup regularly (Kepler, Wallner, Julien and Kirilloff) and will have Farmer as a guy who should be playing against left handers (perhaps adding Miranda or somebody like Donnie Barrels). Starting two of the four lefty hitters and resting two makes sense to me. That would give each of the lefty hitters somewhere between 20 and 30 starts vs lefties and wouldn't be a strict platoon for any of them. Kepler was decent vs. lefties last year, Wallner, Julien and Kirilloff were not. Neither was Willi Castro BTW. Farmer, Castro and Miranda (Solano etc.) have enough versatility that any of the four guys could be rested with a decent defensive option replacing them.

With all the deferred money, isn’t Teoscar’s contract worth less than the 1-year total payout?

2023 Willi Castro was superior to what Nick Gordon has accomplished in just about every facet of the game. If the Twins use Willi as a utility man, rather than making him a regular or semi-regular I don't see much reason to keep Gordon. Of course, injuries and ineffectiveness can change the perspective in a hurry. As far as Martin vs. Gordon--they're both basically 2B-OFs correct? With Castro on board, it would be important which guy could hit left handed pitching (probably Martin) and which guy could adequately play center field (unknown). Also, I like Martin's chances of being a difference-maker on the bases much more than Gordon's. I know Gordon's sprint speed qualifies as only average. I'm not sure how much faster Martin might be, but his minor league resumé features a lot of stolen bases.

Pro football playoffs start tomorrow and thus far the Minnesota Twins have done next to nothing to improve their roster. They have added three right handed relief pitchers, none of whom are guaranteed to make the Opening Day roster, and added zero position players. Pitchers and catchers report in less than five weeks. While I am confident the Twins will make an acquisition or two, the most I can hope for is someone who makes tChe starting rotation and a capable right handed hitter. Here is my guess for an Opening Day roster with comments: Pitchers: Starting rotation (5)--López, Ober, Ryan, Paddack, Varland. Bullpen (8)--Balazovic, Winder, Alcalá, Funderburk, Thielbar, Jax, Stewart, Durán. Comments: This is assuming health for all players. I expect Balazovic makes the team or is traded, either for a non-roster prospect or another out-of-options player. I picked Winder to go north mostly because he's had the most major league success of the candidates. I doubt Staumont will be both effective and healthy and Jensen is a lottery ticket. I think it is now or never for Alcalá as a Twin. Catchers: (2)--Jeffers, Vázquez. Comment: Barring injury, this is the tandem. I guess there is still a chance that Vázquez is traded. Infielders: (7)--Kirilloff*, Polanco, Julien, Correa, Lewis, Farmer. Miranda. Comment: Farmer is still likely traded before Opening Day. Without an acquisition of a right handed hitter, bounceback candidate Miranda makes the team as a platoon 1b with the ability to play third base. Polanco is still on the trade bloc, as well. Outfielders: (4)--Castro*, Kepler, Buxton, Wallner. Comment: The oft-injured Buxton is listed here as the center fielder. The Twins might still bring is an alternate like Michael A. Taylor, If the price is right, Kepler could be traded. *--Infielder who can play outfield or outfielder that can play infield. This roster has no room for either Trevor Larnach or Nick Gordon, who IMHO are both major league talents. Injuries could well provide a roster spot for one or both. I also think a strong spring could move Austin Martin in front of Gordon, because he hits right handed and has more speed and would project to be a good on-base guy. Spring training will probably determine who is in the bullpen. If Staumont is truly healthy, he could be a really good pickup. Matt Canterino is a wild card. He could be a rotation candidate or temporary bullpen arm or he could be too rusty and spend the bulk of 2024 in the minors. Adding a starter is probably priority #1 for the Twins, which could move Varland to a bullpen role or to St. Paul. IMHO, this roster has much more depth on the position player side. If the Twins aren't going to sign a significant free agent, they probably will trade from position player excess to get more pitching. If Farmer is traded, Castro is the backup at short and third . If Polanco is traded, Julien is the regular at second, and one of Martin or Gordon probably is on the team as a backup second baseman and center fielder. I'm assuming good health for Kirilloff, as well. The Twins lack of activity in adding a first baseman seems to indicate they think a healthy AK will be ready for the season.

Thanks for the information. Sounds like the Twins made a shrewd move with Alcalá.

All but Gordon have agreed to terms. It looks like the Twins saved a few bucks.

mlbtraderumors.com says that it is a mutual option. Almost never happens.

Per mlbtraderumors.com, Jeffers and Thielbar have agreed to terms on contracts (Thielbar $3.225M and Jeffers $2.425M).

I'm a big Kirilloff fan and I believe that a healthy Kirilloff is a better hitter than either Polanco or Julien. We've only seen glimpses of AK healthy, but he can hit. I also believe AK can and will be above average at first base. The advantages of being over six feet tall and left handed give him a leg up on others that have played there in the last two years.

Bailey Ober has been a gold mine for the Twins. As a late-round draft choice with a considerable injury history, it looked like a major league career was far off while he was idled during the COVID year. Since 2021 he's logged 57 starts with an ERA+ of 116. I have emphasized that since the COVID year, Ober's arm has been sound. His injuries in 2022 were to his lower body and he managed to avoid any lost time due to injury in the most recent season. The Twins have seen fit to limit his innings, often pulling him from starts where he's been very good or even dominating. As @chpettit19 mentioned, I don't see him as any more prone to a disabling injury than the other members of the current Twins' rotation. I see him as a candidate to exceed the threshold of 162 major league innings in 2024, as much as Joe Ryan. I am curious if the Twins Daily faithful think that Ober's injuries in 2022 were some sort of red flag that will limit his innings in the coming years. To me, since he was able to rehab (no surgery IIRC) and the lower body problems didn't recur in 2023, he is past this and we can worry about an arm that has been uninjured since 2019 (again IIRC).

Without looking at stats, I would have picked Posey. With the numbers presented, it is a really tough call. I don't think there's any question now that all three guys will be in the Hall of Fame. I wish the Twins had had more success in post season, which is one area where Mauer falls quite a bit short of the other two.