TopGunn#22

I should clarify: I would still like a deadline deal involving SWR. But chpetitt19 is right to point out that if Festa, Matthews and Morris look good, we could see a bigger off season deal involving Lopez, Ryan or Ober. The names involved in that trade would be interesting. Perhaps the Twins make a trade that solves their future catching problems fully. I for one would not be extending Jeffers. I'm dealing him at some point. He's just too inconsistent. It will be very interesting to see what Cartaya and Camargo show this season.

Good comments from all and an interesting article to ponder what is, what could have been and what might still be. I do not think we lack in RH power. Buxton, Correa and Lewis is plenty of RH power. What we lack with each of those 3 is durability. Let's face it, the Twins aren't going to be very good if any of those 3 guys misses significant time. All 3 missing 50-60 games would be a disaster, no matter how well the rest of the team does. They are just that important. On one hand, I think the FO missed an opportunity to sell high on SWR and package him in a trade for a true power hitter. I think SWR hit his peak last year and Festa, Matthews and Morris will all surpass him. They all just have higher ceilings. We are not an exceptional defensive ballclub despite having a couple of Gold Glove candidates at SS and CF. Again, Correa and Buxton need to play 120-130 games for their defense and offense to fully benefit the Twins. There was a lot of talk about making a play for Triston Casas. I would have favored a trade with SWR and something else going to Boston. The problem with this trade was how Boston would be handling 1B, 3B and DH. Matsusaka didn't play any games in the OF last year. The Red Sox used him exclusively at DH. Casas is not a good fielding 1B but he's a young power hitter who WILL hit HR's. I would compare him to Matt Wallner. I'm convinced Wallner hits at least 25 HR's in 2025. The Red Sox also have Rafael Devers who is a terrible 3B but an outstanding hitter. Then they went out and signed a former Gold Glover at 3B in Alex Bregman. It would make a lot of sense to play Bregman at 3B as he's been a Gold Glover and one of Boston's top prospects is a 2B (Kristen Crawford). But Devers is pouting about being moved off of 3B so there is trouble brewing in Beantown. What makes sense and what the Red Sox actually do is yet to be seen, but they are one player too full at DH, 3B and 1B unless Bregman plays 2B. So there is still a chance a deal for someone like Casas could happen. While I would have been proactive and made a deal involving SWR the better scenario may be what chpetitt19 suggested and that would be a deadline deal. If SWR is holding his own, I would still look to deal him if Festa, Matthews and Morris are looking good. I just think their ceilings are higher than SWR's. The Twins would be better off trading pitching for a hitter who is a good defensive player as well. THAT may be the deadline deal that proves to be much more beneficial than an off season trade for someone like Casas.

I cannot remember a time there has been more uncertainty about 2B for a Twins team in their history. While I was born in 1958, I became a Twins fan and starting collecting baseball cards when I was 6 years old (1964). That's probably why Tony Oliva is my favorite all time Twin. So as a fan, I started with the relatively unremarkable Bernie Allen with a little Frank Quilici thrown in. (and a little Jerry Kindall) Not long after that, the Rod Carew years started (1967) which later gave way to the Bobby Randall years as Carew slid over to 1B. Through the years, the options haven't always been good, but there wasn't a great deal of intrigue about who would open the season. To put Castro there the majority of the time negates his biggest value...his day to day versatility. I once thought Castro could be the next Cesar Tovar. A guy who just earns his way from master utility guy to a full time position, in Tovar's case, first LF and then CF for 1969, 1970 and 1971. Unfortunately, I don't see Castro as having that ability. And I don't want to see him playing the majority of games at 2B. To me, it has to be Brooks Lee's job to win or lose, and you have to give Lee spring training and April & May (possibly even June) to win it outright or lose it. Julien was SO BAD last year that he's got to set AAA with St. Paul on fire before he even gets a thought. He will always be below average defensively (we as Twins fans have seen enough) so his only chance to stick is to hit, and to hit with a vengeance. I can't see Austin Martin getting 105 plate appearances with the Twins in 2025 much less 105 as a 2B. So that leaves the 2 Wild Cards that got mentioned but received 0 AB's from Baseball Prospectus "PECOTA" projections: Luke Keaschall and Peyton Eeles. The Twins will have Keaschall, Eeles and Julien all at St. Paul with the Saints. Eeles can play all over but his best position at the MLB level will be 2B. Keaschall may DH quite a bit and spend more time at 1B while he strengthens his arm post Tommy John surgery. But he will get AB's while playing 2B. Keaschall could also see some time in LF and CF with the Saints. By the end of May things will start clarifying themselves with how Lee is doing at the MLB level and how Keaschall, Eeles and Julien are performing at St. Paul. It's possible, but not probable that everyone just under performs, but I think there will be a couple players who separate themselves from the pack. Who those will be is anyone's guess. But I think the BEST outcome would be for Lee to emerge and for Keaschall to keep raking.

I like tony&rodney's suggestion of a Larnach for Endy Rodriguez trade. Not now, but maybe mid-season or more probably the 2025-2026 off season. We have E-Rod and Walker Jenkins on the way with a decent chance that Luke Keaschall could play some LF too. We have options for the OF post-Larnach. The Pirates have decided the catching days are over for Henry Davis. That still leaves Joey Bart, the former Giants prospect who had a solid year last year, and Endy Rodriguez. Endy-Rod has had some injury issues the last couple of seasons and the Pirates need to see him play and rebuild some value. Larnach showed solid improvement last year and if he builds on that in 2025 a trade could be very beneficial to both teams. The Twins cannot make this trade next week. They need Vasquez for 2025. Someone mentioned the possibility of Vasquez signing an extension with the Twins at a more acceptable market value than $10 million a season. While that's possible, I don't see that happening. The Twins will be focused on Cartaya's development and to a lesser degree, Camargo's. I'm still not a huge fan of Jeffers but acknowledge his value. It's possible if Cartaya and/or Camargo show improvement in 2025 and the Twins and Pirates complete a trade of Larnach for Endy Rodriguez that a trade of Jeffers and departure of Vasquez ushers in a new set of catchers in 2026.

GREAT feature Jamie !! When we selected him I was excited. Then, as the baseball season crashed and burned and the the focus shifted to prospects like Keaschall, E-Rod, of course Walker Jenkins and even the compelling story of Peyton Eeles, I sort of forgot about Hill. It's very encouraging to see that velocity hit the upper 90's. His slider looks filthy and his change up looks tough. I tend to speculate a lot on Falvey and Co. looking for new jobs with new ownership eventually coming, especially if this season is a major disappointment like last year. But you cannot deny the pitching pipeline Falvey and his scouting department has built. Consider where the Twins were 10 years ago and where they are NOW. It's impressive. I'm excited to follow Dasan Hill in the minor league reports the TD staff supplies throughout the baseball season.

Mauer didn't really get his chance until AFTER the Twins traded AJ to the Giants (a great trade by the way). But Mauer probably still qualifies. I don't think Keaschall needs to start in AA. I think he will certainly begin the season at St. Paul. The Twins will be interested in seeing how Brooks Lee and Julien play in spring training and then to begin the season. Unless he has a huge spring training, I can't see Julien breaking camp with the Twins. He's got too much to prove. And Julien will have stiff competition for innings at 2B in St. Paul with Keaschall and Peyton Eeles. Julien has his work cut out for him. A slow start for Julien and good starts for Eeles and Keaschall may lead to an early season trade. But Keaschall sure is intriguing. Linus made a great point about Keaschall's defense. We've heard and read that he at least appears to be be competent at 2B, 1B and LF. He's got to build up arm strength as well. But is there a position he shows above average to pretty good defensive ability? It seems the tendency of the Twins is to keep playing players at multiple positions. But could he become a Brian Dozier type 2B? Could he be a little bit better? A little worse? I just don't know and I don't think many of us here on TD know either. It's an important question to be asked. With the addition of Bader (like it or not) our OF is pretty full (especially if you add Keirsey to the mix). This just might put E-Rod BEHIND Keaschall in who might get a call up first. Our OF looks much more certain than 2B and 1B do. Rocco has said Ty France is going to get a lot of AB's. I'm assuming that means in spring training. Rocco is going to give France a chance to make the team. But if France doesn't impress and Miranda looks pretty good, I think France gets cut.

There are always the obvious one for all the obvious reasons: Walker Jenkins-he's ranked as our top prospect and we lucked out getting the 5th pick in a 5 player draft where Jenkins landed in our lap. E-Rod-he's the closest to getting to the big leagues and we've been hearing about him for years. He's got tremendous power and great plate discipline. But is he too passive? He's got the power and speed to be truly impactful. One of the things I'm excited about is his defense. I've heard he's a legit CF. If he's that good, maybe Buxton starts playing LF and that helps Byron stay healthy. Keaschall-he's a personal favorite of mine that I'm excited to see how he does in spring training. It's said he's got the speed to play the OF but I'd be content with him at 2B if it got his bat to the big league club sooner. Now for the slightly under the radar guys. Winokur is just so intriguing to me with his size and athleticism. And his glove has to be legit as well if he's playing SS and CF. He is such a Wild Card going forward. If he can make contact a little more consistently as he climbs from one level to another he's going to be a Minnesota Twin some day. it's hard to imagine what his ceiling will be but his athletic ability just jumps out at you. Lastly, I have to mention the polar opposite of Winokur in Peyton Eeles. One is 6:6 and the other is...about a foot shorter. What Eeles has is elite bat to ball skills and a good eye at the plate. His OBP at several levels is just striking. He could be a decent utility guy but may be best suited to 2B if he's got what it takes to be a regular. If Eeles and Keaschall BOTH blow up at St. Paul it will be interesting to see how the Twins handle it. St. Paul may be a very fun place to go watch baseball early this season to see their pitching staff but especially to see E-Rod, Keaschall and Eeles play.

I'm going to speculate that Ishbia dropped out because he felt he could gain a majority ownership in the White Sox. Bigger market, and despite the White Sox being the worst team in baseball, they are valued above the Twins. And now he doesn't have to sell any of his current minority shares in the White Sox. I have to admit, this is a disappointment. We were all so hopeful of new ownership being willing to spend at the trade deadline and that is certainly on hold now. We have heard that there was a "robust market" for the Twins. But the only group we heard about was the Ishbia group. Remarkably, not a single other group, name or conglomeration has been mentioned. I don't know if that is a good thing, or a bad thing. One outcome I can predict with certainty: If the Pohlad's hang on to the Twins they will lose a boatload of money in 2025. I just don't think this fan base is willing to put up with them anymore. Even if the team is playing well in April & May, people won't come out. If they continue to play well in June and July, attendance will not explode. Twins fans are just flat out done with the Pohlad family and I think the Pohlad's know it. This is why they announced their intent to sell so soon after the season ended. They know Twins fans have tired of their dumpster diving ways. Now that the news is out that Ishbia is focusing on the White Sox we should be hearing of 2 or 3 other groups who will be bidding for the Twins. The reporting on possible groups has been sub-par. I understand the desire of groups to remain quiet, but too much focus was placed on the Ishbia brothers. It's time for media in the Twin Cities and baseball in general to get to work on this story.

Got it from Google. (I just googled "has Royce Lewis ever had Tommy John surgery)? Google is not the most reliable despite the fact that it's widely available and used. I believe I should play the victim. ☺️

Royce Lewis had Tommy John Surgery in May of 2023.

I'm very enthused to read this about Lewis. I agree 100% in the observation that as players have gotten bigger and stronger, in other words, have done more weight training than players from the 50's, 60's and 70's for example, they seem to have become more injury prone. That's not to say that Killebrew, Oliva and Carew NEVER got hurt. Bu their injuries were a severely pulled hamstring in 1968 (Killebrew) and a couple of major knee injuries (Oliva & Carew). They didn't have frequent muscle pulls like others do today. You can still be strong, and every player should strive to be stronger, but you cannot do so at the expense of losing FLEXIBILITY. Staying flexible allows for a player's athleticism to manifest. As Lewis got stronger he seemed to be overly bulked up. Parfigliano succinctly remarked that Lewis isn't playing outside linebacker. Being bulked up leads to greater strength, but also erodes flexibility, which makes movement stiff, not smooth. I believe a more flexible Lewis WILL be a more athletic Lewis. He will also probably be carrying less weight as well, which is also a benefit. Lewis is plenty strong enough to hit HR's. I'd like to see him at the 60-rated speed he once had as well as the cannon for an arm he once had. Carew did not lose his speed after his first big knee injury in 1970. And having had Tommy John surgery shouldn't mean Lewis will have a noodle for an arm going forward. Lewis had other issues that contributed to his throwing problems last year. He SHOULD have a better arm than Brooks Lee when we compare their initial prospect grades. This new approach hopefully sets Lewis up for better, more consistent health, as well as a more well rounded game, in the field, at the plate and on on the bases.

Go ahead and check back jmlease. I was one of the guys saying that Jax could succeed as a SP and I still think that. Of course he could still be very effective as a late inning RP. He's just a good pitcher. I'm willing to consider Lewis moving around the IF with 1B a possibility. I keep reading how Lewis's arm is a noodle now. The guy started out with a cannon. I think his throwing problems were more related to lower body issues than a lack of recovery from Tommy John. I just want Lewis to play some place where he will stay healthy so his bat is socking 30 HR's and driving in 100 runs. If you project Keaschall at 2B and Lee at 3B that kind of leaves Lewis somewhere else. I'm not advocating for it, but I see it as a possible outcome. With the exception of SS this Twins team is about as unsettled in the IF as I can ever remember. You'd probably have to go back to 1981 or 1982 with Hrbek and Gaetti coming up at the corners to find a similar situation.

The Bat Boys video was fascinating. That guy Sandoval has a GREAT swing. It's pretty difficult to go from bat to bat and be able to dial your swing in as well as he did. Buxton's slightly slower swing allowed him to hit for a higher BA than he had in previous seasons. His slugging percentage was still over .500 even if his HR's were down a bit. Lewis didn't seem to be strong in his lower half and core as he slumped, and that is also probably why he just jogged to 1B when he hit ground balls last year (Puckett would have had a one-on-one "meeting" had they been teammates). It sounds like the team is entering spring training in relatively good health. Especially the 3 most important hitters on the team: Correa, Lewis and Buxton. Swing speed is no good unless you are barreling the ball up. But if you ARE barreling it, and your swing speed is optimal, you ARE going to hit HR's. The question becomes, how does your body, from your shoulders all the way down to your feet hold up with that consistently optimal "torque?" This was a great article, especially with the video.

I'm not very fired up about the Ty France signing. He's not a very good fielding 1B. Neither is Miranda. So improving the team defensively there wasn't accomplished. I've heard nothing that assures me Julien has even worked out at 1B this off season or that the Twins actually have that in mind. We should say "Julien BATS left handed" NOT "Julien HITS left handed." There is a difference you know. I've never seen a major league hitter so lost as Julien was last season. He's got a LOT to prove to me. Ty France is not a significantly better power hitter than Miranda (who has nice "Gap" power but I'm not sure he will ever reach 20 HR in a season). So there is no significant upgrade there. France no longer has the ability to play 3B or 2B and he's a poor runner. So there is no significant upgrade there. I'm not sure if Royce Lewis is a possibility for 1B. It seems like they expect him to play 3B and Brooks Lee would be the favorite at 2B if he hits. But I think LambchoP is correct in pointing out that Luke Keaschall is probably the future 2B. That could auger a move to 3B by Lee. Where does that leave Lewis?? 1B? Full time DH to keep him healthy and swinging a lethal bat? Where does Ty France fit in any of these equations? He doesn't. He just takes AB's away from younger players with potentially higher ceilings. You can say the way the contract is constructed leaves little risk for the Twins and I'd agree with that. But for every AB or ground ball that France takes in spring training, that's one less for a younger player with higher potential.

Diego Cartaya. Vasquez either has one more season left with the Twins or he will be traded sometime in 2025. Jeffers has had "good" seasons and "not so good" seasons as a hitter. His defense is not a strength. Cartaya, if he can regain his early Dodger career magic, could have a bigger impact on future Twins success than any other player listed.

I think Riverbrian encapsulated this discussion with his last comment. The Twins, from the FO to the manager seem to be obsessed with defeating the drop in productivity when a LH hitter has to face a LH pitcher. There are tons of examples where RH hitters actually hit better against RH pitchers. Miranda is just the most recent example, but if you went back to Harmon Killebrew, you'd see he hit the vast majority of his 573 HR's off of RH pitchers. And that makes sense because there are a lot more RH pitchers than there are lefties. I'm not thrilled about the Bader pickup because he's a limited asset for $6 million that we've been told over and over is a HUGE expense for current ownership. I would have been fine if they would have just had Keirsey as the 4th OF. That way if Buxton is hurt for any length of time, Keirsey would be hitting against RHP 75% of the time anyway. The FO's failure to add any kind of RH bat that would help balance the offense is concerning, but as tony&rodney has mentioned many times, the Twins are not a good defensive team. At least Bader makes their OF defense BETTER. They still desperately need offense though. Julien is not a major league hitter after what I witnessed last season. He has no business making the team out of spring training even if he hits .400. He's got to absolutely RAKE at St. Paul for half the season before I even consider bringing him up. They may indeed get a mid season boost from E-Rod and Keaschall but that would be more hope than certainty. Health will always be first and foremost with this roster as the key players (Correa & Buxton) while talented, are often unavailable. You can Royce Lewis to that group. I'm not convinced Jeffers is a "major league hitter" because he's too inconsistent. I would have preferred to see the Bader $6 million used in a trade that might have added some salary...a Yandy Diaz or Ryan Mountcastle at 1B. Both of them can be everyday players even though Baltimore has used Mountcastle in a bit of a platoon with Ryan O'Hearn the last couple of years. I'm convinced we can pitch well. I'm a little nervous about the lineup top to bottom if Buxton, Correa and Lewis all play 100 or more games (and it seems absurd to me that out of a 162 game schedule, that is how LOW the bar is). But if Buxton, Correa and Lewis all miss 60-70 games I don't like what our lineup looks like at all. The "hope" is that if the Twins are in the mix come the trade deadline, new ownership will identify a hitter (or more) and aggressively make the trade to give the ballclub a jolt.

Neither Rizzo or Turner have anything left in the tank. Nothing. It would be better to let Jose Miranda have a clear shot at the position and ask Trevor Larnach to bring a 1B mitt to spring training. Otherwise, if you don't trust your in house options the only other option is to make a trade for a CLEAR upgrade. That would be Casas or Yandy Diaz. But the idea of getting anything positive out of Turner or Rizzo is misguided.

Castro's strength is his versatility. But it seems like a waste to me, to put one of your more physically gifted and athletic players at 1B. Castro's speed, arm and glove are better deployed everywhere else but 1B. Someone made the point that one of the unappreciated values of Castro is that you can PH or pinch run him for a LOT of people throughout the lineup and then just leave him at the position he hit or ran for. That kind of talent makes Castro a "manager's dream" because it's fat less stressful to try to slice and dice the lineup without that kind of versatility. But, I DO agree that with guys like Keaschall, Eeles and Culpepper coming up as well as OF's like E-Rod and Jenkins, the Twins will have depth options that will eventually lead to them trading Castro. Think about it, if you had to deploy Miranda at one corner infield positions and Castro at the other, wouldn't you just play Castro at 3B? If the choice was to play Julien and Castro at 1B/2B, wouldn't you just start Castro at 2B? Isn't he the better defender at the more difficult position? And the idea that Larnach should maybe get a 1B-mitt and take some grounders and throws over there is an idea that Larnach himself should be having !!! He's not as good in LF as Castro. He's not better in LF than Bader. And when E-Rod and Jenkins arrive, his days in the OF for the Twins will be hard to come by. Adding 1B to his resume would help the Twins but also any team the Twins might trade him too.

Good points Elliot. Not sure if it was an auto-correct that got you but you meant to type Freddy Patek.

At long last we have our Payton Eeles feature and it did not disappoint. His rise is truly meteoric and his 5:5 stature crowns him as an underdog for the ages. But what I keep gleaning from everything I read and see about him is that the kid is a GAMER. At every level he's played he has shown ELITE contact skills, an excellent idea of the strike zone and a tough guy to strikeout. There was a time in baseball when this skill was in high demand for a 2B (Rod Carew, Felix Millan, Nellie Fox), heck, even for a CF (Matty Alou). Thank God the Twins didn't obsess about "exit velocity" with Rod Carew at the beginning of his career. There is nothing wrong with hitting the ball HARD. Especially if you do it often. But there is something to said about a LH hitter dumping the ball into short left field for a single, especially if they have SPEED. Your Honor, I would like to present Defense Exhibit A...HOF Rod Carew and his inside out bloop hits to LF. His 3,000 MLB hit happened as an Angel against the Twins in just such fashion. Eeles starting at AAA St. Paul is good. But if he rakes you can't just keep him down there. I don't think you can underestimate the kid's "gamer" attitude. Every good team in every sport has at least one guy on their team like this. I agree with the comment regarding his speed and Rocco's inability to take advantage of it. We have guys who SHOULD be able to run. Rocco just isn't interested. Ever since Eeles burst onto the scene last year and watching Eddie Julien take called 3rd strike after called 3rd strike I've felt that with Eeles in the system now and with the drafting of Kaelon Culpepper, the time is NOW to trade Julien while his value is still relatively high (16.5 BBTV). Julien could be a significant trade chip to allow the Twins to make a run at Dylan Cease (33.6). Julien gets you 50% of the way there. If Eeles struggles at St. Paul people will start jumping off the bandwagon. I think his elite contact skills and knowledge of the strike zone won't let that happen, but there is no question Eeles has to keep doing what he's been doing. But if he does, we as Twins fans KNOW that someone will get hurt, someone will struggle at the plate and an opportunity will open up. I'd love to see Eeles get his shot.

Yeah Stringer, I agree. These were just a couple of interesting trades other people had posted on BBTV. The deal for Pasquantino could work if the Royals are considering playing Sal Perez at 1B more and let younger guys catch. Like I said, their OF is pretty punchless. Larnach would essentially replace Vinnie in the batting order at a different position. The deal with the Reds gives them a LH bat in the OF. Steer has more versatility defensively so he probably makes more sense. But CES is probably terribly undervalued right now due to some injury issues. (I don't know what BBTV values CES at). My memory of him in the Twins system is that he was a higher rated hitter than Miranda. He doesn't just have power, he hit and got on base in the minors. He could be a cheap option at 1B/DH if the Twins wanted some affordable power. There are those on TD who have always questioned the Mahle trade. Getting one of those guys back might be "karmic."

The latest Twins moves: Singing LH Coulomb for the pen and Bader to be the 4th OF leaves the Twins in an interesting position. They've made a couple signings that will help, at least with OF defense and the pen, but the question remains...are they still looking to cut payroll? Vasquez? Paddack? There were a couple interesting trades posted on BBTV that caught my attention. Trade #1 Trevor Larnach 28 y/o OF 21.7 value and Chris Paddack (2.8) to the KC Royals for 27 y/o 1B Vinnie Pasquantino. With Bader the 4th OF and E-Rod on the way possibly by mid-season, Vinnie P. would give the Twins a solid and long term 1B. Willi Castro could be the LH hitting LF. The Royals have one of the worst OF's in the A.L. Central: MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe. They could use a guy like Larnach. After trading Brady Singer this off season the Royals could use a guy like Paddack and the Twins shed $7.5 million in salary. For all the talk about needing a RH OF bat, Bader brings the defense but not really much bat. The other trade also involves Larnach, who remains a strong trade chip to balance the roster, especially with the eventual arrivals of E-Rod and Walker Jenkins. This would be Larnach straight up for 27 y/o Spencer Steer who could play LF, 1B and even some 3B if needed. Steer and Pasquantino are each one year younger than Larnach, but they each have values very close to Larnach. It's just a re-balancing of the Twins roster.

I'm only suggesting trading SWR because his value is at an all time high (19.9) and I think Festa, Matthews and Morris, maybe even Colby Lewis have more upside. The appeal of SWR is that his floor is pretty solid but I see some regression for 2025. If the Twins want to make a bigger move, guys like Paddack aren't going to get it done. But the Orioles rotation is shaky and the BP could use a couple of "average" arms. They really need pitching. That's why a Paddack and maybe Henriquez for Mountcastle makes sense. I don't have access to what Bassalo's value is, but it's going to take more than Paddack. Guys like Festa, Matthews & SWR are DOUBLE the value of Mountcastle (and Baltimore still has Ryan O'Hearn plus all those young sluggers). If you want a deal where Mountcastle is a throw in with Bassalo, we need a valuation on Bassalo. I could see making a bigger deal if I had more information. It sounds as if Bassalo is close to being major league ready, but he's blocked by Rutschman and Gary Sanchez. If the Twins made a deal that brought Bassalo and Rutschman, they could probably make a pretty good trade involving Jeffers (16.2 value) but there is probably no market for Vasquez at this time. Maybe Jeffers could be part of a Dylan Cease deal?

Baltimore is over flowing with good prospects and while Tyler O'Neill may be a better fit to compete in 2025, this just stalls the development of Kjerstad, Mayo, Holliday and more. The Orioles almost certainly need to move either Mountcastle or Ryan O'Hearn to open up a little more opportunity for the prospects. You can say O'Neill slides in to replace Santander, but they still have Mullins and Colton Cowser in the OF. I realize that BBTV is not the be all, and end all of gauging trades, but it at least gives you sense of the value of a player. Bailey Ober, with his talent and contract status is valued at 54.7. To put that into perspective, Ober is on a par with Jackson Holliday (56.6), Jordan Westburg (59.1), and more valuable than Coby Mayo (46.3). Ryan Mountcastle's value is 8.7. Baltimore needs pitching in the worst way. Someone like Paddack (3.7) and Billy Amick (7.0) would be an overpay. Not sure what Ronnie Henriquez has for a value but you could argue Paddack and Henriquez could bring us Mountcastle. The Orioles still have Ryan O'Hearn for 1B/DH AB's if they deal Mountcastle. I'd make that trade. One other trade I might consider if my commitment to Harrison Bader is just for one year would be a trade of SWR (19.9) for Mountcastle (8.7) and Enrique Bradfield (11.3). To me it's clear the Twins don't have much faith in Keirsey. Bradfield is 23 years old, bats left/throws left and is lightening fast. But what future does he have in an Orioles OF with Cowser, Kjerstad, O'Neill, Mullins and more?? He made it to A+ last year and stole 74 bases. His OPS was just .708 but he brings SPEED. When Buxton's time with the Twins is done, and E-Rod and Jenkins are considered more corner OF, why not have someone with that element of elite speed either leading off or batting 9th? I think Mountcastle is the best 1B option for the Twins at the lowest cost, both in salary and prospect capital. I prefer the Paddack/prospect rated about a 6.0-7.0 for Mountcastle, but I have to admit, having a speed guy like Bradfield intrigues me. Rocco would turn him into a 15-20 SB guy, so a new manager would probably be needed after the ownership change. Mountcastle may never hit 30 HR's again, but 18-25 is possible at Target Field. He's also a very solid glove (was in the running for a Gold Glove at 1B last season) and to be honest, I'm looking for some back sliding from SWR this season and would much rather see Festa in there. Just remember though, Mountcastle's value is 8.7. Bailey Ober is at 54.7. Joe Ryan 54.6. Pablo Lopez 47.8 (despite his contract escalating). These are guys have tremendous values who just can't be given away for a solid, but not a star 1B.

I'm with the consensus on this move. I see the positive: He can play a good CF and functions as Buxton Insurance and he's got some speed, although with "station to station" Rocco he probably steals 10 bases, tops. But he's completely uninspiring as a hitter. I'm not looking forward to him taking AB's away from Wallner and/or Larnach, even against LH pitching. I 100% agree, the better signing would have been Grichuk and have Keirsey available if Buxton misses time with an injury. Doc Gast, you nailed it when you lamented "how can a team always so concerned about payroll, WASTE it so frivolously and so consistently?!?!? I'm a Senior Softball Player...I guess I should be expecting a call from the Twins to take over the Utility player role once Castro is traded at the All Star break. I'd sure give the Twins a "Veteran Presence."