Cory Engelhardt

Always love a dewey, cheatem and howe reference :)

Tait not even turning 19 until the end of next week is pretty exciting to see he is at high a to finish the year. He'll be 19 all of next year and very likely could be at AA at some point in 2026.

How much more or less valuable do you think he is, league wide, compared to say SWR? Just curious

Sears had a lot of value there too. I’d imagine if the twins had included one of their non Lopez/Ryan/Ober starters they would have gotten more back too no? For now I’m plenty happy with the return

Same. I’d be curious if national writers truly think of MN at all

Correa even views himself more as a 3b now. Playing SS is hard.

Even then, Lopez is coming back from injury, and Ober has had a down year (to his standards.) Other than simply trading guys away just to trade them, I haven't seen this front office trade away players coming off down or injured seasons. Have you?

And that could be. It just doesn't take into account that the young players who will really start to get a shot in 2026, you are assuming that they will produce worse than our lineup has in 2024 and 2025. That could be the case, or it might not be. That mostly then falls on coaching and development no? If you already have a rotation in place, and you make a couple of moves for the bullpen, AND you have a lineup that stays healthy, that doesn't mean explicitly that it will fail.

Maybe. But 2 follow-ups... 1) Why is trading both of them THIS offseason better than trading possibly one this offseason and another next deadline? 2) What exactly are you shooting for in a return? Are you trading them JUST to be bad? Are you trading them to supplement elsewhere for the major league team or to add to some positional group in the minors that needs more (for example, catching in the upper minors?) The only thing I was saying is, I don't see the point in HAVING to trade both of them this offseason. I suppose it all depends on new owners really, but the goal doesn't HAVE to be to bottom out. Too much starting pitching talent in the mlb level and in the upper minors (in my opinion) along with all many guys who are either currently in the majors or on the cusp too. Basically IF you trade both, what are you wanting back specifically?

I do see the redundancy for the left handed hitting outfielders they received in this deadline. However, if the long term plan is such that Wallner will be 1B/DH (just throwing out hypothetical) and Larnach isn't on the team next year, then there isn't redundancy with that any longer right? And comparing Tait (who turns 19 in about 3 weeks) to a different prospect who is older is fine, but we don't know that Quero will be a catcher long term any more than we know Tait will or won't. I do like his bat though. All of this to say, we don't know who the owners will be before next year, or if the coaching staff will be in place let alone the front office. But hopefully the moves they made last week help the shorter (2026) and longer term outlook for the team.

Only commenting on you saying they lost every trade; If you KNOW they lost every trade, do you also have the powerball numbers for this weekend? I'd love to be able to see into the future :)

Roden does have the ability to be an everyday player, that’s true. And Rojas might be a good starter. That’d be fun. I really did think Varland was set to be our closer for the next year or 2. Hard to not cheer for the hometown kid making the team. All of this is to say, I’d much prefer a gm make baseball decisions that could be hard at times, even like this. If they were prioritizing an offer or a trade return just for people from Minnesota, that would very much handicap them longer term.

Harry Ford is a super fun prospect. Would love to see him with the twins. He is certainly blocked from a full time role there too with Raleigh around and all

Then another team will offer something they like, right? Of course, they could just keep Ryan too.

That’s a very good question to be honest. Catcher or middle of the order type bat (and figure out position later) is what I would lean towards

I like Jonah Tong a lot actually. But with them getting Abel and Rojas and Bradley last week, along with the other starting pitchers they have and are close, I don't know that I'd prioritize another AA/AAA type starting pitcher for a return like this. I'd want to look at trading a strength to fill an area of need. Especially with the idea that I THINK they have real options in the rotation once that gets sorted out. I also like their centerfield prospect options. Do I like them more than Walker Jenkins or Emmanuel Rodriguez? No. And their options and Jenkins will all debut around the same time, in the next year or so at some point. How about Tampa? They've made lots of trades with them over the years. Tampa has a number of hitters who are already either in the majors or who are close who would very much help the 2026 club. I guess that's what I'm saying. I THINK if Ryan (for example) is traded, it would be to help an area of need for next year and 2027. I wouldn't see the point to adding to an area that they already have volume. AA/AAA starting pitching is a spot in the organization right now that they have quite a bit of depth. I know you can never have enough pitching, but if they are trading Ryan I think the focus could be elsewhere.

Then if they are trading Ryan it isn’t to Boston. Seattle and other teams probably would have interest. It’s not like it has to be just to Boston for whatever Boston would decide to trade

Roman Anthony just signed an 8 year 130 million dollar deal. He isn't going anywhere. I only mention Casas because I know the Twins have had interest in him in the past. He has shown real power in the past and is coming off an injured year. He wouldn't be the centerpiece in a Ryan trade, but I do think they need a middle of the order bat for this line. If he is healthy, I think he has that type of production in him. That's all.

I do agree that new owners are needed asap. And I do agree that they have a path to choose once that happens. If Ryan does go back to Boston, I'd imagine they could get Tristan Casas as DH/1B along with a starting outfielder and a good prospect or 2. Barring health that wouldn't hurt either. Casas or O'Hearn or Naylor or someone, I think the focus to get a middle of the order bat would solve a lot of issues with the lineup as a whole. And if Roden (or Outman) could be Larnach with improved defense, that's a good thing too no? I do think you are selling Jenkins a little bit short with his potential, but we'll have to see results when he does come up. Otherwise, fun talking baseball. Thanks!

Ok, but let's play it out with a cup that's even near half full. Barring health, let's say Lewis and Wallner both do get back to their expected seasons. Wallner carrying an .800 OPS and Lewis being closer to 2023. He doesn't even have to top what he did, just not the shell of himself to start this year. With Buxton playing the way he can, and Lee getting more footing along with Keaschall, those are 5 bats that can be at the top of an order. I do think they need a 1B. They'll certainly have money to give a 1 or 2 year deal to someone like Ryan O'Hearn or Josh Naylor. I don't know what the plan is with Jeffers. I could see him play out in 2026, or I could see a small extension with him since he hasn't been traded. But they do need a co-catcher with Vazquez moving on. I did see they were interested in Yankees backup JC Escarra around the deadline but nothing materialized. I think for 2026 they need to find someone who can produce at least as well as Vazquez did, and I don't think you need to trade Ryan to acquire that player. After that, they do have a rotation. Yes they will need to bring in some 1 year free agents. And I'm not going to say it'll change overnight, but Varland and Jax and Duran and Stewart were all failed starters, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that they can piece together a bullpen between April 2026 and the trade deadline. It's also not at all a guarantee that any of Jax/Duran/Stewart/Varland stay both A) Healthy and B) as productive in 2026 as they did in 2025. Outside of that, figuring out the outfield could be a chore, or it could become Buxton and Jenkins with Roden or Outman in short order. Or maybe someone else, like Austin Martin? Gabriel Gonzalez in left? Anyway, I am an optimist by choice. But I don't think the cupboard is bare for 2026. Even if they do trade Ryan (and if they do, I'd imagine they would get back either a starting level catcher or a middle of the order bat along with another prospect and probably a good reliever) and then you still have Lopez/Ober/Zebby/Abel/Bradley/SWR/Festa and then will move some guys from fringe starter to bullpen no? But yeah, with all of this, what would you think Ryan would bring?

I keep seeing people say they are certain that both Lopez and Ryan are getting traded. Other than the trade deadline happening a few days ago, I struggle to see why people are so certain of this. That said, let's play it out. Let's say one of them is traded. I'll say Ryan because he is having the better year and isn't injured. What is coming back in that scenario? It's not like we trade him and then nothing is in return. What do you think a return for Ryan would be? How would trading him help the 2026 and 2027 team? And how would that help the team more than trading him would?

This year Larnach has hit 259/337/440 for a .778 ops against righties. I'm not saying he is a budding star or a building block. But Ty France got moved didn't he? I'd have to think a team would have given SOMETHING to have a hitter on their bench who could hit righties occasionally. That said, Houston went out and got Jesus Sanchez from Miami, so maybe there wasn't a ton of options out there. Probably more options for a change of scenery this offseason if that's the case.

The draft is supposed to be a VERY strong one in 2026 fwiw. Right @Jamie Cameron? Not that that helps today, just saying.

Larnach to me is the one guy who I am surprised wasn't traded at the deadline, especially when comparing to them needing to move Stewart and Varland. Larnach, I would imagine, gets moved to a team this offseason for a reliever option. Maybe Toronto would listen on Louie Varland? :)

If they do trade one of Pablo or Ryan (I don't see them trading both) I think we would have to look at what the focus would be. Let's say the return is a solid starting level catcher, another higher end prospect and a good reliever, then I can see (depending on results) that actually working ok for the lineup. If they trade them for a bunch of lottery ticket types, then that wouldn't work in my opinion.