GKuehl

How is this realistic considering it would add approximately $30 million to our existing payroll? I'm sure the Front Office would have loved to have another $30 million to play with, but I don't see how picking 2 deals you think the Twins should have matched but couldn't because of ownership's self-imposed payroll presents a realistic alternative to the status quo.

When Brooks Lee is called up, he'll need to be added to the 40-man and the no-brainer list, likely pushing Paddack or Jax out of a protected spot (I'd rather protect Varland than Jax because Varland is younger with more team control, might be able to remain a mid-rotation starter, and his worst-case scenario is a Griffin Jax-level reliever).

We knew he was going to be a high-risk, high-reward draft choice. We probably didn't foresee him being this high-risk. I still have some hope that he can get healthy, but I'm not confident in him remaining a starting pitcher after all of these injury concerns. Similar to Duran, we might simply prefer to unleash him as a weapon out of the bullpen to be able to keep him healthy. Imagine how great the back of the bullpen could look in a few years if Duran, Canterino, and Prielipp could all remain healthy with contributions from Jax, Brock Stewart, and Funderburk.

Really good move, especially considering Okert has 3 years of team control remaining and there was no fit or role for Nick Gordon to fill on the Twins. Okert can complement Thielbar this season and, potentially, take over for him over the next few years if Thielbar struggles to perform or stay healthy.

I'm not particularly fazed by the Royals spending money, especially because the owner is incentivized to spend to drum up community support to build a new stadium. But if the Twins end up signing a TV deal in the range of $40 million for 2024, it's unfathomable that we didn't at least pursue someone like Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell to be our #2 SP. Even with a roughly $15 million drop in payroll, there should have been room to sign either of those pitchers to a 1-year, $30 million or a 3-year, $75 million contract.

I would be surprised if we couldn't get back a mid-level prospect in a Nick Gordon trade, especially from a team like the A's or Royals who could use an everyday utility player (with 4 years of team control). Gordon is still young and talented enough to figure things out, but I don't think that's likely to be as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Trade Gordon for a Darren Bowen-level, C+/B- prospect and reallocate Gordon's roster spot to a RH-OFer who fits the roster better than Gordon as a LHH.

I hadn't really though much about Kepler potentially getting the Qualifying Offer after this season, but it's an interesting idea. The question comes down to whether the Twins would be content with Kepler accepting a 1-year, $20 million contract after next season. Even if Kepler plays as well next season as he did this season, I can't see the front office wanting Kepler back for $20 million, especially if the self-imposed payroll limitations are likely to continue beyond next season because of the collapse of traditional sports broadcasting. Over the last 3 seasons, Kepler has averaged 2.3 WAR. Based on the standard estimation that each WAR is worth approximately $9 million, that equates to $20.7 million in value, on average, over the last 3 seasons. That number falls right in line with what the Qualifying Offer salary projects to be next year. With the team's budgetary limitations, would the Twins be happy bringing Kepler back for roughly 1/6 of their overall team salary? I don't think so, and there isn't much excess value that would make Kepler a particularly tradeable asset were he to accept the QO. Considering Emmanuel Rodriguez should, hopefully, be on the cusp of the majors by the beginning of 2025, I don't think the Twins would be willing to risk making Kepler the QO in the event he would accept it and tie up a large amount of the team's 2025 budget.

We often see Sonny falter a bit in the 5th or 6th inning, usually the third time through the order. If he doesn't have his best stuff, I would love to see Varland get the call in the 5th or 6th inning at the first sign of trouble.

Depending on how their starts go, it's entirely possible either Sonny or Pablo have short starts, especially if they're trying to avoid making mistakes and nibbling at the edges of the zone (which increases pitch counts). There are quite a few starts where Sonny has pitched 4 innings, given up 0 or 1 run, and has a pitch count around 85. It could make sense to turn to Maeda in these circumstances to avoid the 3rd time through the order implosion that can happen with Sonny. If these circumstances were to come up, it could make sense to turn to Maeda in the 5th inning and have him pitch through the 7th, depending on the circumstances. Then we can turn the game over to some combination of Thielbar, Pagan, Jax, Stewart, and Duran for the 8th and beyond.

If only some of us were hollering for the Twins to keep Coulombe. Oh wait ... *checks own comments from Spring Training* ... some of us were.

If we can trade Gallo for anything (including a bucket of baseballs) we should. He’s clogging up the roster and impeding our ability to determine whether Larnach and Wallner should be core players to build around. Gallo’s OPS is propped up by a red-hot May, and he’s playing like the same player who got boo’ed out of New York last year. Time to cut our losses and either trade him to a team looking for a power-hitting pinch hitter or DFA him so Larnach or Wallner can get an extended look, especially since they can’t play any worse than Gallo has this season.

Brooks LeeWalker JenkinsEmmanuel RodriguezMatt WallnerAustin MartinDavid FestaMarco RayaConnor PrielippCharlee SotoYasser MercedesTanner SchobelSimeon Woods RichardsonLuke KeaschallBrent HeadrickYunior SeverinoBrandon WinokurJordan BalazovicCory LewisJose SalasCJ Culpepper

I would have it ranked 1. Lewis — We desperately need him back at 3B, especially with how well he was playing. 2. Polanco — Would allow us to rotate Julien and Polanco at 2B and DH. 3. Stewart — One of our go-to guys in the bullpen. 4. Thielbar — Key piece, especially since Moran isn’t your typical lefty due to his Changeup being his best pitch. 5. Paddack — Could be a nice middle reliever in September, a definite upgrade over Sands, Winder, Headrick, etc.

Great to see Ortega pitch a nice 8th, but hopefully Brock Stewart comes back soon.

First time since 2001 the Twins have had multiple Starting Pitchers make the All-Star team. And you could make a pretty strong case that Joe Ryan and maybe even Bailey Ober should have gotten an ASG nod.

With how aggressive we've been using pinch hitters mid-game, Wallner, Kepler, and Gallo could rotate through the corners. Wallner could pinch hit for MAT/Farmer/Solano when the lefty comes out of the game, with Castro moving to the infield for Farmer or Solano or CF for MAT.

I could definitely see a Wallner for Miranda move coming soon. Farmer/Castro/Solano can cover 3rd until Lewis is back, and Wallner can take over Castro's OF playing time.

A part of my concern is that he hasn't shown any power recently, which has been indicative of his wrist injury flaring up in the past. He's basically been a less prolific Luis Arraez lately.

I'm hoping AK's wrist wasn't injured on the play where the ball hit the runner in the back yesterday. The runner ran right through AK's glove-hand, which I'm pretty sure is his bad wrist.

Anyone else concerned that AK isn't in the lineup against a RHP?

Agreed, it’s definitely premature, but I figured it could be a fun thought exercise.

So much is up in the air with the 2024 roster, especially considering we have yet to get answers to some of our most important questions related to our top prospects. Is Matt Wallner a legitimate starting OFer? Was Jose Miranda's 2022 season a mirage? Is Edouard Julien going to be able to stick at 2B? Will Royce Lewis stay healthy enough to be a fixture in the lineup? Will Alex Kirilloff's power return? Is Trevor Larnach a building block? Will Austin Martin hit enough to be more than a utility player? Here's my projected 2024 Minnesota Twins 26-man roster. Please comment, add suggestions, or disagree with me altogether! Position Players C. Ryan Jeffers/Christian Vazquez 1B. Alex Kirilloff 2B. Jorge Polanco/Edouard Julien 3B. Royce Lewis SS. Carlos Correa OF: Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Utility: Willi Castro/Austin Martin I'm counting on the Twins bringing back Kepler and Polanco on their team options -- the front office has shown that it cares about value above all else, and they clearly continue to value Max Kepler. While both are blocking younger players to an extent, if Buxton is able to play some OF and Joey Gallo departs as a FA, there should be more DH and corner OF ABs available for guys like Wallner, Julien, and Larnach. I also don't think Nick Gordon will have a role on this team when he comes back from the IL. He's a candidate to be traded at the deadline for a low-level prospect to a team like the Nationals that could give him everyday playing time. Willi Castro provides everything that Nick Gordon does and then some -- Castro is a better/more versatile defender, he steals more bases, and he has a longer track record of adequate MLB production for a utility guy. In this scenario, Kyle Farmer was moved in a comparable trade to the Gio Urshela trade with one year of arbitration eligibility. Starting Rotation 1. Joe Ryan 2. Pablo Lopez 3. Bailey Ober 4. Lucas Giolito (FA Acquisition to replace Sonny Gray) 5. Chris Paddack The Twins take the comp. pick for losing Sonny Gray and let Maeda walk as a free agent. Louie Varland and Brent Headrick are the next men up. Bullpen 1. Jhoan Duran 2. Griffin Jax 3. Brock Stewart 4. Matt Moore (FA Acquisition) 5. Caleb Thielbar (hopefully he can stay healthy) 5. Jordan Balazovic 6. Jorge Lopez 7. Jovani Moran 8. Matt Canterino The bullpen has a lot of options/moving parts. It feels in need of one trustworthy backend reliever, but we say that every off-season. Since I was in charge, I went out and got Matt Moore in case Thielbar isn't able to stay healthy in his age-37 season. I could also see Woods-Richardson, Henriquez, and Sands factoring into the bullpen mix.

So just Joey Gallo?

I can’t help but agree. The plan seemed great when Buxton had a .900 OPS — but it doesn’t make sense if he’s going to be a solid but not great hitter. I wonder if his deep slumps this year are in part a product of DHing. When things aren’t going well, all he can do is sit in the dugout and think about his previous at bat, whereas in CF he can still contribute even after a bad AB or game.

Option 3. Call up Brooks Lee and install him as the everyday 3rd baseman. He’ll provide good defense and potentially bring a bit of a spark to our listless offense. Even if he shows he’s not quite ready, he’ll learn a lot. Royce Lewis is only than a month or so away, so let’s see what Lee can do for a few weeks — if Lee struggles, we can insert Lewis in at 3B.