stringer bell

I don't think Martin earned any guarantees, but he played well when he was recalled from the minors in 2025. His defense and base running were much better and he hit decently. He provides contact and speed, two things lacking in the Twins' roster. 60 PA segments are really small sample sizes. His entire body of work in 2025 was still a small sample size of 181 PAs. As a right handed hitter, a platoon role equals only 250-350 PAs in a full healthy season, so I think he should be given a chance to see if he can sustain or improve on his 2025 season before being relegated to bench/short side platoon player.

I really would like to see Bell get the majority of plate appearances as the DH. That would make Roden redundant and make a starting outfield of Larnach, Buxton, Wallner (ugh). Also, it really buries Clemens and if he gets opportunities, it would be at the expense of Keaschall. This projection would lead to several guys being DFA'd--Jackson, Outman, Gray. I don't see losing three guys. IMHO, Gray gets a utility role over Kreidler because he doesn't have options. Less certain about Outman, but sending Roden to St. Paul would save Outman for the beginning of the year. DFAs would leave roster space for non-roster guys to make the club. I fully expect that one of the non-roster pitchers the Twins have signed will make the Opening Day roster. I don't have much confidence in Adams or Klein and they can be optioned, so I think both start in St. Paul. I also think a second rotation candidate along with Festa will be sent to the bullpen, most likely Matthews. I think a trade or two is still called for. With some of their best prospects being left handed corner outfielders, the Twins should part with at least one of Larnach/Wallner. If someone is willing to back up the Brinks Truck for Ryan, do it and if good value can be had for Jeffers, make the move. Edit to add: it is my understanding that Kreidler has an option remaining and that Gray does not. OP seems to indicate Kreidler is out of options. On further review, Gray also is listed with an option. I would expect Kreidler to prevail in that case, even though he isn't much of a hitter at all.

Yep, claim him and then immediately DFA him and outright him if he isn't claimed. He'd be good minor league depth, but that is it. 7.2 innings is way too small a sample size to project over a season. Andrew Albers, Scott Diamond, Juan Minaya, Trevor Hildenberger and 50 other former Twins pitchers had an early stretch when they looked like something until they weren't

There was plenty of sentiment that Vazquez and Farmer should return. They had been members of the '23 team that was considered a success The Margot and DeSclafani moves didn't work out because of poor performance (Margot) and injury (DeSclafani and Paddack as well). Given the reduction in payroll, Falvey had to thread the needle with no errors and the players he acquired didn't measure up. It is easy with 20-20 hindsight to say Falvey should have acquired X, Y, and Z. It seems that Falvey mishandled the business side, perhaps assuming that he was repping a winning team with a chance to have postseason success. The vicious cycle of losing too much and then having less revenue to make the team competitive seems to have exacerbated their losses. My mind's eye sees a bunch of Dilberts in a Pohlad board meeting--throw out a buzzword and figure that will bring success. Just say you expect wins and they will magically occur instead of building a better franchise. Now Tom Pohlad is going with we'll cut payroll moderately and they should compete because he says so. After all they signed two seven million dollar players. It is betting big on hope and low percentages. Big picture (IMHO) the franchise is in a bit better spot than they were after the 2016 season when Falvey took over, but it isn't anywhere near a smashing success. Most of the success was in the early years of his tenure and the disappointments in 2024 and 2025 are fresh.

Pablo is my favorite current Twin. He certainly wants to give back and he's wants to be a mentor to the younger pitchers. He also is very talented and works very hard on his game. A lot to like and not much to criticize. I hope the powers that be hold on to him despite his large contract.

Well, I think it is tough to have a team succeed with reduced payroll. Falvey was instructed to win while reducing payroll substantially. To succeed, Falvey needed to be almost error free with signings and promotions and he wasn’t. The in-house players that were counted on haven’t performed nearly well enough and still are the only way the team will compete. Besides that, the roster is a mess with too many corner OFs and starting pitchers and not nearly enough quality in the infield and bullpen. Maybe he had plans to address the soft spots, but now that will fall on Zoll with little time to accomplish the transactions.

I think it’s far more likely that established players will be traded. If ever a GM gets slack to tear it down, it is when he is appointed.

More sympathetic than most to the box Falvey has been in since November of 2023. I don’t know if he handled “rightsizing” well, but not an easy job to stay competitive with a decreased payroll. It’s the old “do more with less” demand that is tough to do.

I guess that is true, but actually granting a release gives them the ability to sign with whoever they want. My impression has been that the Twins have treated players fairly with a few exceptions and that ex-players like Taylor, Pressly and Hawkins come back after their careers are over indicates good relations as well.

BBRef lists 11 players in major league history whose first name starts with “Jh”. Jhoan Dúran, Jharel Cotton, Jhon Romero and Pereda all played for the Twins and Jhoulys Chacín spent most of a year at Triple A in the Twins’ system. All of the players are Hispanic and principally have played in the last decade.

Ex-Twins and almost Twins: Mickey Gasper was DFA’d by the Nats because they claimed almost a Twin Richard Lovelady (half season at St. Paul), Lovelady was DFA’d by the Mets when they claimed Vidal Brujan from the Twins who DFA’d Gasper when they claimed Brujan. Do I have that right?

Derek Law signed the D-Backs. He’s been a pretty good middle reliever since his short stay in Minnesota.

If this is true, Jackson can be outrighted to St. Paul , still not optimum because of the options piece, but perhaps doable especially since he will make over the minimum ($1.3M) IIRC. Jackson rates well as a defender and did some encouraging hitting for the Orioles. I hope he stays in the Twins’ system.

A couple notes: Jeffers almost certainly would have exceeded the 502 PA mark in 2025 if not for missing more than two weeks on the Concussion IL. Caratini is an option at first base and I would expect both he and Jeffers will serve as DHs quite a bit. I always thought the alternating catcher idea was a Rocco Thing. I don’t expect Shelton to be wedded to that idea. There’s a thread about the Twins waiting for “an offer they can’t refuse” and I would expect Jeffers to be in the conversation if a catcher goes down on a contending team as early as Spring Training.

Finding power works for some. Brian Dozier comes to mind. Changing approach sometimes is something that needs to be done. It obviously didn’t work for Austin Martin but it might help for other guys. Some might think Buxton should change his approach—he strikes out a lot and pulls almost everything, but it seems his approach works for him. One size doesn’t fit all and insisting on one plan seems certain to stop development for a number of players.

Darren McCaughan, who pitched a few innings for the ‘25 Twins, signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati.

I agree that Ryan would bring a far greater return. His salary will increase dramatically in ‘27. It is of note that Joe and Pablo are only three months apart in age and that each player’s most significant injury for the Twins was a teres major strain. Lopez has said he wants to lead the staff and mentor. I’d like for him to stay for the duration of his contract. Getting value for Ryan and perhaps Jeffers might be a good move and might not hurt the Twins’ prospects for success in 2026.

Gulp. Royce Lewis?

I disagree with one paragraph Nick. The Twins were in position to make postseason in '24 until August and through half of June they were relevant in 2025. It is not like they were perceived as hopeless in either season. Wallner went from facing lefties 16% of the time to 25% in 2025. Larnach went from facing lefties from 6% in 2024 to 21% in 2025. When the Twins made the playoffs in '23, they protected Kirilloff, Julien and Larnach/Wallner, but two of the three alternates (Solano and Farmer) were okay to very good. Not so much Margot.

Thanks for the research @Riverbrian. There's a lot to chew on and big numbers tend to take out anomalies. We can say that in general, left handed hitters have more severe platoon splits than right handers, so the best matchup is LHH vs. RHP and the worst is LHH vs. LHP. How to avoid the latter and maximize the former is what a manager gets paid to do. If you have a team of Shohei Ohtanis or Freddie Freemans you don't worry about it. You'd rather see Freeman or Ohtani up against any lefty than see Ryan Kreidler. So get the best hitters and play them as much as you can. It's the Matt Wallners and Trevor Larnachs that need to be paired with a different handed alternative, especially Larnach (.151 OPS difference last year, .174 lifetime) without being lashed to that player. Having alternates that can rest more than one guy (Kody Clemens, Victor Caratini) gives much more flexibility in getting good matchups. Also, switch hitters always have the platoon advantage, but it is really worthless if they are lousy from one side. Last year Bell was dreadful against LHP, but his career OPS is a solid .751. Caratini had pretty neutral splits last year, but lifetime he's a better against RHP. Finally, hitting isn't everything. A player who is a superior defender and base runner can make up for hitting deficiency. Austin Martin's play after the big selloff is an example. My hope is that he can save a run or two with his glove and add some value on the bases. I can't say that about Larnach or Wallner or several other players on the roster.

I'm too cheap to subscribe to a source that would provide the information, but it is my belief that in general right handed hitters are far less vulnerable to same-side pitching than left handed hitters. Putting together a roster with a number of right handed regulars and a couple of switch hitters really shouldn't be bad the majority of time against right handers and would be decent vs. lefties. That is what the Twins have with as many as five "regular" right handed hitters and three switch hitters. Having a lefty hitter or two who could rest one of several of the regulars against RH starters would be ideal. The Twins could definitely use Clemens in that role if he hits like he did last year and Caratini could cover three positions as well. Back of the napkin estimates for playing time--Clemens 30 starts at first vs. RH pitching (Bell mostly to DH), 30 starts at second (Keaschall to bench), twenty assorted starts in outfield corners and third base. Caratini 60 starts behind the plate, Jeffers to DH vs. lefties, 30 starts at first base and perhaps a few DH starts. Roden 40 starts in left vs. RH pitching, 30 starts in center for Buxton rest days. Add in injuries and these guys would play even more. I've said it before, but barring injury I don't see a roster spot for Julien, Outman or Jackson despite all three being out of options and not much role for Larnach either.

Everybody has their favorite teacher from high school or college right? I bet if you compare notes it isn't always the same one for each person. Having a second guy who has been there is fine, but if Rogers is cooked he probably won't last much more than 27 days. It does seem that big leaguers do think reaching ten years service time is noteworthy, more than I would have thought. Big picture, Taylor Rogers is quite a success story for the Twins previous FO, A mid-round draft choice out of college who will almost certainly have a 10+ year career and make several million dollars, an All-Star nod and good career stats.

Thanks Matthew. We don't know how Shelton is going to manage this group of position players and the pitching staff. The pitching questions center on how many guys now considered starters are going to be in the bullpen both this year and for their career with the Twins. They've added some minor pieces to the bullpen--Orze and Taylor Rogers--but they are short on back end guys. Could a former starter step in to the back end as Duran and Jax did a few years ago? Maybe. I've projected Prielipp and Festa converting to the 'pen, but it could be Abel, Bradley or Matthews or even Marco Raya. On the position player side, I share your confusion. I do believe Caratini will play quite a bit of first base and that Jeffers will get quite a few days at DH. I think it's possible that the Twins will carry three catchers, but more likely that they try to slip Jackson off the roster and to St. Paul. Josh Bell should DH most of the time and first base should go to some combo of Clemens, Caratini and Wagaman. Wagaman has an option remaining, so he could end up starting the season in St. Paul. Second through third should be Keaschall, Lee, and Lewis. I'm not as down on their defense as Matthew. I think Keaschall has been denied a lot of development time due to injuries and with work and reps he'll be fine at second. Lewis was at least okay at third and Lee is sure-handed enough as a shortstop although his lack of range makes him lees than an ideal shortstop. Somebody has to be the backup at shortstop and it would appear to be either Kreidler or Gray, with Kreidler having the better glove, but Gray having some hitting potential. If Bell, Larnach or Wallner is the primary DH, there really isn't room for Julien, unless he supplants Clemens, who I think has a job to lose. I don't see Outman making the team either. Martin and Roden can back up center field (and Kreidler if he wins the utility infield job) and he's not as good a hitter as either Larnach or Wallner. Jackson, Julien and Outman don't have options so if they don't make the team, it is DFA time. I give Austin Martin a decent chance of claiming left field, at least until one of the Twins' top prospects arrives and Roden a decent chance of filling the fourth outfielder role. The Twins really should have another RH hitting OF and don't really need Larnach and Wallner. To fix the position player imbalance, I think a left hitting corner OF needs to be traded.

Oops. My bad.

Great lineups can have platoons in them. It doesn't automatically indicate there is a weakness. The late 50s and early 60s Yankees used a lot of platoons, won championships and managed to carry three good catchers (Yogi, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard) by playing one of Berra or Blanchard in the outfield.