Cory Engelhardt

They were used in completely different roles though. I’m not at all certain that Varland, if used in the exact same role Henriquez had in 2024, would have been worse in those innings.

I have a difficult time not having a healthy Topa (if that is a thing) and Varland both a clear step ahead of Henriquez, at least when drawing out potential 13 man pitching staffs in my head. At least he will get a shot to show where he is at this spring. Cross that bridge when we get there I suppose.

I too like to worry about things that I have no control over and may or may not happen in the future :)

Saving this article for when trade(s) start to happen :)

These are always fun to read. It'd be nice to compare where some of the other prospects from other teams would rank if they were in the Twins organization. For example, would Colson Montgomery rank ahead of Rodriguez? Ahead of Keaschall? Behind both?

Figured agreements like this could happen with other teams. Also could be a sign that Sasaki is going to be a Dodger. Hopefully this works out for Teilon and the Twins in his future.

I think if we could guarantee Jax would be in the top 3 of this rotation, then moving him there makes a world of sense. Do I think he could be a #5 starter? Absolutely. I'd prefer him as a lethal setup man to a #5 starter though, and the Twins certainly have starting pitcher depth. And yes, I do believe he is easily a top 10 reliever in baseball.

I think with the offseason steam of Lewis trimming down, I'd imagine he will either be our primary 2b or 3b this season, with Lee (hopefully his back is healthy) being the primary at the other spot. I am curious if Keaschall could play his way into the 1B mix. I'd love it if Miranda could stay healthy for a full season too. But with a lot of offseason left, it'll be interesting to see what trade(s) they make to augment the roster.

We will see. I would prefer a more known quantity, especially on defense at 1b, than they currently have. I expect any addition to be via trade. I also have a hard time banking on anyone you listed

Just curious on the catcher line; how come the Twins only had 1 catcher listed (when they use 2) but the Royals had 2 listed? Thanks! Also makes me think more moves are coming. I don't at all believe the starting 1B for the Twins is in the organization today.

I would be curious what would take just for the twins to get Mountcastle. Would a younger Twins starter interest you, like SWR or CJ Culpepper for example?

First, welcome! Baltimore is an easy team for me to cheer for. Love the stadium and love the direction they have been trending a few years now. I don’t think that would be a fit here. Mountcastle and the comp a pick would be a good start, but it would have to be a real piece with that coming back as well for the twins to consider trading Pablo. Probably Mayo or Basallo. Those assets (Mountcastle, Mayo or Basallo and a pick or another prospect) would have to be the starting point. Even then I personally wouldn’t want to trade Pablo

This is a great article, as always. Thank you! If he were to move to a corner outfield spot, my guess is he would be stronger in left with this information. Is that correct? Or would you prefer to see him in right field and play more right center than hugging the line?

I'd argue their lineup is very much WS caliber. They need more pitching for sure, so we'll see how the rest of their offseason unfolds.

That'll be tough I'd imagine. I have to think Tucker saw the deal that Soto got and has a goal of making it to free agency, right? I guess we'll see.

I'm not expecting this to impact anything this offseason. And that's ok. This could bring for a VERY exciting trade deadline though, right? At least that would be my hope.

So the Twins just got Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers for low level minor league pitcher Jose Vazquez. Just throwing this on here, as they did add decent depth to the catching in the organization today. Hopefully Cartaya can find his bat again.

Twins got Cartaya! Low minor league level pitcher Jose Vazquez goes to the Dodgers in return. I think he's a good add for depth in the system. We'll see if he can get his bat going again.

I agree with you, I'm saying IF this move is made, San Diego would have to attach a good prospect with Peralta to make it work. I don't think at all that it's a fair 1-1.

I don't hate this thinking. I do think the Padres would have to send a prospect WITH Peralta to make that work, but I'd be open to this. More moves would be coming, but something like this would definitely help the bullpen

👍 Agreed

The Padres don't have a starting or backup catcher on their roster right now. Ethan Salas is still probably at least a year away. But I wouldn't mind the Twins getting in on Cartaya here. Curious where he gets moved to

They don't have to trade Pablo.

Arenado will be 34 in April (Correa will be 31 at the end of September 2025) and statistically he really started to fall off last year in a few categories compared to his peak. He played about double the games that Correa did last year (152 to 86, which is good) but in those games he was worth only 3.1 fangraphs war, while Correa was worth 4.3 in only his 86 games. Arenado's batting line of 272/325/394 shows a pretty significant dropoff in power production too, and his wRC+ was only 2% above league average. According to steamer, he is projected to be a 3 win player. Correa's batting line of 310/388/517 is really pretty awesome, and is 55% above league average in terms of wRC+ (or 53% better than Arenado was.) He also projects to be a 3.7 war player this year according to steamer. And then really after that, you have the position change. Arenado is still a good defensive 3b, but not an amazing one. Correa is still a great defensive ss. The downgrade of Correa with Lee or Lewis at 3b to Arenado and Iglesias on the left side is noticeable at worst. The money being less would be ok if you could fill the gaps. But really, truly, the dropoff here would be a world class SS to a dumpster diving SS. And I don't want to downgrade our SS position that much. As far as value, Correa has positive value, and would bring back a different return if traded. I'm just not certain I want to trade him at all, especially for a older vet who isn't as good at a position that is then harder to fill. Good thing all of this is on the Pablo Lopez thread, right? :)

I get the feeling that could be the same with the Ishbia’s