TopGunn#22

Trading Lopez is not automatically turning the Twins into a pumpkin. It all depends on the moves they would make in addition to a Lopez trade. As I mentioned in an earlier post regarding all these "what if we traded" pieces TD is churning out, the Mariners moved on from Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez in back to back seasons and then went on to win an American League record 116 games. I'm not advocating for the Twins to trade Lopez. But it really does depend on what moves the team makes and who we get in the Lopez deal to begin with. Tony&rodney would probably rather have Boston include Teel rather than Mayer. Boston currently has Connor Wong doing a fine job behind the plate. Maybe Boston would rather deal Teel than Mayer. Trevor Story's health may lead Boston to treat Mayer as untouchable. But with the money saved from a Lopez deal what if the Twins went out and signed Roki Sasaki? His cost initially will be between $4-$8 million of international signing bonus depending on when he's actually posted. What if the Twins signed Kikuchi or a similar vet SP? And/or moved Jax to the rotation and signed a LHP RP like Chapman or Ferguson? Sasaki is VERY interesting. Everybody assumes he's going to the Dodgers. But with the cost for the 23 year old being so affordable and the rumor he may prefer a smaller market, it's more realistic than you'd think. Would a rotation of Ryan, Ober, Sasaki , Jax and Festa (with maybe Kikuchi and Jax still in the pen) make Twins fans happy. I could live with that. But a blockbuster deal like that would need to be followed up with a couple more trades. Moving Paddack and Vasquez is a priority. If Teel were substituted for Mayer it's a LOT easier to consider moving Vasquez and not caring what you get back. There is also talk that the Phillies are strongly considering moving 28 year old 3B/1B Alex Bohm. Bohm hit .280 last year with 15 HR's, a .779 OPS and 97 RBI. Royce Lewis and Alex Bohm on your corner IF spots would be pretty nice for the next 7-8 years. If Bohm could be had in a package for SWR I'd go for that in a heartbeat. Does trading Lopez make the Twins better for 2025 and beyond? It all depends on what the Twins get and what other moves are made. But discounting it out of hand without giving it some serious thought is not acceptable. The point of TD is to vigorously debate these scenarios. I'm happy they're putting them out there. Some might be wildly speculative, but to me, that's O.K. I love the debate.

Cory Englehardt asks a very good question. "If Jax were moved to the starting rotation, would that open up a trade possibility for another SP, like Ober or SWR?" I would would emphatically say "YES !!" I believe Jax could make the transition to the rotation and be a pretty good SP. Ober probably has more value, but the guy I would explore aggressively to see what I could get in return would be SWR. SWR did quite well last season, but I always felt like we were walking a tightrope with him. What would he actually bring back in a trade? I don't use BBTV's any more, but I'd be curious to see a couple of trades where SWR would be the centerpiece. SP is always at a premium. What is SWR's value?? Ober would certainly bring a LOT more. The idea of Boston giving up Teel for Ober or the Dodgers giving up Rushing for Ober may not be far fetched. Again, I'd like to see someone with BBTV's access throw out a couple deals involving Ober to see what the ceiling would be. I doubt I would trade Jax under any circumstance, but if the Twins moved him to the rotation and he had a solid year or two (thus raising his value considerably) and it was time to fully integrate Festa, Matthews, Morris etc...into the rotation, THEN I "might" be interested. If you pitch well, your team is ALWAYS in the game. It seems to me, that the best deals the Twins could be making would be spinning SP's off in a trade when they begin to become prohibitively expensive as long as they have plenty of promising SP's waiting in the wings like Festa, Matthews, Morris etc... You can't trade ALL your good and dependable SP's. Core guys like Lopez, Ryan and Ober. But if you need to patch a gaping hole, like catcher or 1B and get an infusion of good prospects, you can deal one of them occasionally.

"Lasorda" asked "what did St. Peter do for the Twins organization for the last 22 years?" Answer: Not a darn thing that amounted to anything GOOD. He was always part of the problem in my estimation. Never have been a fan of his. Falvey gets a chance to make his mark this season, but if there IS a sale, there is absolutely no guarantee that he's a part of the new ownership groups team. I would say a playoff appearance and one series win is the hurdle Falvey has to clear to have a chance to remain. And I agree with whoever commented that under the current circumstances with the Twins, you would never have gotten a top GM candidate to take a position. To me, the odds are that the new ownership group will clean house and start with their own people unless the Twins have a VERY successful 2025 season. That's going to be very difficult with a self-imposed $125 million dollar budget. Someone just posted what their off season plan would be with a $143 million dollar budget and it looked pretty good. But many people correctly pointed out that he was $18 million over budget. Something has got to give there. Falvey may or may not realize he is auditioning for a job with a new ownership group. It's up to him to convince the Pohlad's that to maximize their sale, spending $15-$25 million dollars more in 202 is a good investment.

I think Lewis is a core building block and depending on what we eventually see from Walker Jenkins and E-Rod, Lewis is probably the "key" building block. He was TERRIBLE in the 2nd half of the season but nagging injuries will do that to you. Yes, he's hurt waaay too much, but so was Paul Molitor early in his career. Trades always come down to what you could get back. After last season, Lewis's value is down. You sell high and you buy low. This would be a sell low situation and I'm not really inclined to give up on a cornerstone player.

Nice exercise going through this cjm. This is always fun to speculate and agree/disagree on certain ideas. Here are a couple of things I agree with: Jo Adell would be an excellent "value" for 4th OF. He's a plus glove and would be an adequate backup plan for Buxton as a RH hitter. I think Keirsey should be on your bench somewhere or if not, he's the call up when Buxton goes on I.L. I think your idea of Yandy Diaz at 1B is very good. He's somewhat affordable at $10 but your $143 million budget is way out of line. In order to have a chance to make a deal for Diaz, we need to clear Vasquez and Paddack and probably Castro as well. There is no circumstance where the Twins will pay a bullpen guy $7.5 million. Not even if he was the closer. You need to trim the fat before you can make a deal for Yandy Diaz. Castro has value. Vasquez, while vastly overpriced has value, especially to a catching starved team like Miami. Paddack has value to the right team in the right role. But with the exception of Castro, the primary objective with Vasquez and Paddack is to shed the $17.5 million in salary to free funds up to repurpose elsewhere. Anything of value gotten in deals for those two is a bonus. Caleb Ferguson is a decent LH RP. He had some good years with the Dodgers. But I would sign Chapman. I'm not sure what his price tag would be, but I'm guessing $3-$4 million. He has closing experience. I like the ideas JDTwins added. Travis d'Arnaud is a great target for catcher if the Braves refused his $8 million dollar option. If you traded Jeffers and Duran to the Red Sox for Tristin Cases that fills the Red Sox hole at closer and gives them a catcher to pair with Connor Wong. The Twins get their 1B for the next 10 years. Would the Red Sox do this?!? They might. There has been talk of moving Rafael Devers to 1B. Playing 3B has been kind of hard on his body and above all else, the Red Sox want Devers healthy and mashing. Adding Casas saves the $10 million needed to trade for Yandy Diaz. There would be a need to come up with another catcher if both Jeffers and Vasquez were moved. d'Arnaud could be the everyday catcher for the Twins probably getting 2/3 of the starts. And d'Arnaud can play 1B and DH as well. But somebody else would need to catch about 60 games. Maybe Yoan Moncada IS TRASH. Or maybe he just needs to get out of the hell hole that is the Chicago White Sox. He only played in about 10 games last year and is always hurt. How cheap would he need to be to be a decent gamble. Considering him is moot if Casas or Diaz were acquired. Looking at your $143 million dollar budget it's clear you need to cut it. Vasquez & Paddack are easy. Castro would be difficult to replace. Would the Twins gamble that Helman or Eeles could be the utilityman? Would they look for a veteran infielder who wouldn't cost much like Jose Iglesias? If Castro was moved, they'd almost have to. Some publication just rated the Twins as the 4th most talented roster in the American League. That really drives home the point how badly the Pohlad family has lost this fanbase, bringing on the sudden announcement of the team being up for sale. And what does that assessment say about Rocco as a manager??? He has the 4th most talented roster in the A.L. and he leads the team to a 4th place finish in his DIVISION? The Twins should contend next year. They can try to run it back or make some blockbuster moves and re-tool/redistribute how that talent is spread out on the major league roster. It's going to be fun discussing this ALL WINTER LONG !! :)

The value of pitching year to year just seems to accelerate. Each year, pitchers in various tiers are projected to make "X" on the free agent market and they almost always exceed the projection. MLB radio this morning was speculating if the Mariners would trade Luis Castillo to the Orioles for young talent to open up a bigger pot of gold to offer Juan Soto. Teams don't generally trade away solid SP's like Luis Castillo. Because of the need for pitching for every team in MLB, Paddack probably has a little more value than we think. Not a LOT more, but a bit. For the Twins, under the "right size my budget" Pohlad regime there is no way the Twins can pay $7.5 million to a bullpen arm who is NOT the closer. Heck, if the Twins had to pay $7.5 million to Duran or Jax they would probably get traded. But there are teams who could look at Paddack as a worthy $7.5 million back of the rotation SP, long reliever or a swing pitcher of sorts. The primary objective in trading Paddack is not necessarily to bring back a good prospect, it's to dump his salary, freeing up $7.5 million that could be better used somewhere else. But the time to trade Paddack is NOW, not at the deadline, hoping he somehow increases his value. The Twins need that salary relief NOW. Not in July or August. Take what you can get for him and off load the $7.5 million. There are bigger spending teams that won't look at that as an astronomical salary.

I will agree that it's debatable how much value Paddack has. Yet teams are ALWAYS looking at pitching and catching lightening in a bottle. To me, a win would just be getting a team to take Paddack and clear the $7.5 million. But if a marginal prospect or a player with some talent came back, even better. The Mets are an interesting fit. They may be looking for a small $7.5 million arm to fill out the back end if they plan on offering mega-bucks to Juan Soto. Maybe even the Dodgers for the same reason. Baltimore is an interesting fit. Either Ryan O'Hearn or Ryan Mountcastle fits the 1B need for the Twins. O'Hearn could platoon with Miranda. Mountcastle would replace Miranda. Mountcastle was nominated for a Gold Glove at 1B this season so he would provide the defense we'd need. If we had to attach a prospect to Paddack to get either Mountcastle or O'Hearn I'd do it in a heartbeat. We have a gaping hole at 1B. Even a lateral move salary-wise that fills that hole with a productive major league hitter is acceptable to me. The Orioles have a TON of young prospects breaking through and that makes Mountcastle and O'Hearn expendable as they try to find spots for guys like Westburg, Cowser, Jackson Holiday. Ramon Urias and Heston Kjerstad.

There are all sorts of examples that when a team traded away star players team not only didn't tank, they improved and contended. I'll give you a couple of examples. The first is the Brewers. They have traded away Josh Hader (who was the best closer in baseball while with the Brewers) and Corbin Burns, who was a top SP. They even let their "All World" manager Craig Counsel go to the Cubs and yet, the Brewers continue to confound the "experts" by winning division titles and qualifying for the playoffs. How about the 2001 Seattle Mariners. In 1999 they traded away both Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson and in 2000 they still went 91-71 and qualified for the Wild Card. (they lost the division to Oakland by half a game). They then completed the "Fire Sale" by letting Alex Rodriguez walk in FA to the Rangers at seasons end. Coming into the 2001 season, without Griffey Jr. The Big Unit and A-Rod they won an American League record 116 games!! The thing that terrifies most Twins fans is NOT trading Correa and Buxton which would open up a $52 million dollar checkbook to address specific areas with the team. What terrifies us is that with the exception of trading Nelson Cruz for Joe Ryan and Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez the Twins FO has botched more trades than won them. By a wide margin. If the Twins were to trade those two pieces away, they would need to go after Willie Adames with a vengeance in FA. They would need to go after Tyler O'Neill. Correa and Buxton out. Adames and O'Neill in. Swapping out RH hitters for guys with more power and who play more consistently. That would be a net benefit. Not sure what the total cost to bring in those two guys would be, but it wouldn't be $52 million. Maybe you sign Anthony Santander instead of O'Neill. Would you be able to sign someone like Danny Jansen as a catcher once you've moved Vasquez? Probably. You'd probably have enough left to sign Aroldis Chapman as the LH bullpen piece as well. You might even have enough cash left to sign one more SP if you didn't acquire one through a trade. Kikuchi is 34 years old and Manaea is 33. BOTH have been mentioned as a fit with the Twins (as have the Brewers, Rangers, Nats and Orioles). We can compete with those teams for FA's. Both, remarkably are LH !! Other somewhat affordable potential SP's in FA include Walker Buehler, Luis Severino, Shane Bieber (coming off Tommy John but believed to be ready for the start of the season) and maybe even bargain basement Matthew Boyd (also LH). Or how about really being aggressive and bidding for Roki Sasaki, a 23 year old fireballer from Japan who will be posted. He will not command the huge signing bonus due to his international FA status and even though the Dodgers and the New York teams are favored to sign him, it's rumored he might prefer a smaller market. How about the Twins?!? It would depend on how much international signing money we currently have but to add a 23 year old pitcher of his talent? That would open up a trade of SWR to a pitching needy team. Or Ryan or Ober for that matter. Trading Correa and Buxton away is NOT throwing up a White Flag. But it will take an astute, creative and aggressive front office to move the chess pieces of roster construction to make it work. Is Falvey capable of this? Tying up such a high percentage of your team payroll in those two guys is not a recipe for success. Baseball is a game where massive roster shifts can happen and a team can function smoothly. It's not like trying to get an offensive line to work together or integrating Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle into the Timberwolves lineup.

One of the interesting things I noted in Matthew's article that I thought about when the Gold Glove nominees were released was "where was Byron Buxton in the announcement?" He finally played 100 games, and I was sure that would be enough to qualify him, but he was nowhere to be found. This doesn't mean Buxton isn't still a "good" CF. It just means he more Vada Pinson than Willie Mays or Curt Flood. But Yeah Matthew, you just don't trade All Star caliber pitchers for 5th OF types. I also thought of Paddack right away but dismissed that unless we were paying $7 million of his salary. The Brewers don't take on salary. It's true that the Brewers need SP but I also agree that giving Keirsey a chance makes much more sense. He profiles as a potentially much better hitter and his glove is also solid. The advantage Perkins has is that he's a RH hitter. But if I'm looking for a RH hitting OF for next year, I'm trying to clear some payroll (Paddack, Vasquez, Kepler, Farmer, Santana) and seeing if I could scrape enough cash together to sign Tyler O'Neil who had a good year for the Red Sox but is a FA. Where Perkins sits in the Brewer pecking order (5th OF at best) a trade of a minor leaguer should be enough to get him. But in the end, I'd rather give Keirsey a chance. The kid has done well at AAA two years in a row. He deserves a shot.

If he has only gotten to AA at this point I think it would be a shock if someone picked him up in the Rule 5 draft. The Twins HAVE created some room on their 40-man roster so there could be room for him. Where does Noah Cardenas fit in future catcher status?

RpR, you have to get over the notion that a No-Trade Clause means the player CANNOT be traded. It's nothing more than a tool to give the player the leverage to say "no" to a trade he certainly doesn't want. Like, say, getting traded to the White Sox. Most players waive their No-Trade for a price. It's usually written into the contract. In the end, ANYBODY can be traded. A player just doesn't want to get dealt to a last place team that has no chance at making the playoffs. Correa may look at his Twins situation and think the Pohlad's, with their big trade deadline acquisition of Trevor Richards sold him a bill of goods and don't really want to compete for championships. Correa wants to compete for championships. He may think with a team payroll of $125 million, less his $35, leaving the rest of the payroll at $90 million, isn't enough to be a playoff contending team and certainly not enough to compete with the likes of the Yankees, Orioles, Guardians, Tigers, Royals, Houston, Seattle, Texas etc... The No-Trade Clause is there to benefit Carlos Correa, not the team. It just may be that Scott Boras had a conversation with this New York writer (off the record of course) to stir the pot. Finishing 4th in a 5 team division with the last place team setting a record for futility isn't what Correa thought he signed up for. (and certainly not what Scott Boras wants in trying to best market his client). Correa certainly wasn't banging the table that all the Twins needed down the stretch was Trevor Richards!!! This may prove to be nothing more than Hot Stove speculation. It may have been nothing more than a Scott Boras agitprop. But it may have been done with a purpose of forcing the Twins to trade Correa. We will just have to wait to find out.

I decided to write my comments before reading any others. But with 47 responses and counting, it's going to be interesting going back and checking how others see this. I'm sure the Hot Stove is going to heat up a little more after a post like this Nick. I've been saying since the off season began that a No-Trade Clause means nothing. It's usually just a lever for the player to squeeze a little more money out of the deal by buying it out. The Yankees and Mets make sense. The Mets only if Correa moves to 3B. The Yankees only if they plan on moving Volpe to 2B as Torres departs in free agency. One other team that could be interested in Correa would be the Dodgers. Yes, I know they boo him every time he comes to the plate in Dodger Stadium. But that changes as soon as he makes a dazzling lay at SS or knocks in the game winning run. They need a SS if they plan to play Edman in CF or they need a CF if they plan to play Edman at SS. Either way, we have something they need. $30-million dollar contracts are nothing to the 3 teams I just mentioned. Even if they are planning on bidding high for Juan Soto and a host of other FA's. If I could make a trade to move on from Correa or Buxton the player I would choose to deal is Correa. $33 million is more than twice the savings for Buxton, and I'd like to hope the new Twins ownership won't act like a $15 million dollar contract is more than they can bear. As it is, with the Pohlad's, that $33 million dollar deal for Correa is an Albatross. The biggest question for the Twins brain trust if they dealt Correa would be: #1 Who plays SS. And #2 what would they do with the $33 million saved to improve the team. When you're talking to the "Big Boys" (Dodgers, Yankees, Mets etc...) you don't have to agree to pay a portion of the big salary. We didn't for Donaldson. We won't have to for Correa. I don't think trading Correa destroys any chance of the Twins competing in 2025. It just may push the more realistic window to 2026 when E-Rod AND Walker Jenkins should finally arrive. Could the Twins just hand the SS job to Brooks Lee? Would they need a 1-year placeholder like Jose Iglesias? If Iglesias played SS would Lee play 3B and Lewis 2B? Would it be beneficial to having Lewis & Lee learn from an old pro who has a great glove like Iglesias? Jose Iglesias is NOT Carlos Correa, but he's a very good glove who hits for average without any power or speed. He will never win a batting title like Luis Arraez, but he will make plays in the field and put the bat on the ball. And then it all comes down to what does the team do with the $33 million dollar windfall? Do they sign Tyler O'Neill to play LF and give DeShawn Kiersey a chance? This gives them 2 options in CF if Buxton spends time on the I.L. And by mid-season/All Star break could Emmanuel Rodriguez be on the way? Do they spend to bring in Aroldis Chapman as a LH reliever? Do they sign Roki Sasaki in FA or maybe a Kikuchi or Flaherty? If the Twins trade Correa to LA or NY what other trades could/would that open up? The Twins FO needs to have a detailed plan for what they plan to do AFTER a Correa trade is made. The Twins should NOT trade Correa unless it's a trade that not only gets them out from under (as the Pohlad's view it) his Albatross of a contract., and they have a PLAN to revamp the roster by redistributing resources to field a more balanced ball club. Look, if the Twins chose to have a payroll of $150 million, Correa's contract wouldn't even BE an issue. But to the Pohlad's it is.

I think the Twins strength is for 2025 and beyond is SP. Lopez, Ryan and Ober (and possibly Jax) provide a solid base. SWR, Festa and Matthews will be contributors as well. I'm not really in favor of trading any of Lopez, Ryan or Ober, but the trade bean proposed with the D-Backs, Lopez for Zac Gallen and Gabriel Moreno certainly works for me. We get an excellent SP back for Lopez and we add our starting catcher for the next 10 years. The question would be, why would the D-Backs do this? The trade is fair by BBTV's standards but Arizona would have to be really high on Lopez to give up Gallen and Moreno. But it's a great starting point in conversations. Lopez, Correa and Buxton are unlikely to be traded but it's a possibility. Correa's contract may be too big to move. Lopez is a very tradable piece and would bring a large return. But unless it's a Gallen and Moreno type trade, I'm probably not interested. That brings me to Buxton. He's making $15-million per season. That is no problem for a team like the Dodgers or Yankees to add. Philadelphia could probably make it work as well. I'd bet Boston or Atlanta could, but both of them have good options in CF already. Buxton's value has improved on the heels of his 2nd ever 100 games played season. He's also entering this off season healthy, which is a big plus. I think his value is NOT negative and he could bring some real talent back. The question for the Twins is this: Buxton could have a BIG season next year if he can remain healthy. How likely is that? Probably not overwhelmingly likely, but he's not rehabbing anything major this off season. He's a fan favorite. How would the fan base react to a trade? To get the salary relief the Twins would need in a Buxton trade the talent coming back would need to be young and relatively unproven. Minimum salary guys ready to make the jump to the major leagues or young players with a season or two under their belt. Would fans accept that kind of risk? The kinds of guys the Braves or Phillies could send us for Buxton are LH hitters. Kelenic and Marsh. The Braves are not including Michael Harris in a Buxton trade. Maybe the Phil's would include Rojas. What else would the Phillies have that would interest the Twins? I think it's certainly possible one of the "Big Three" get traded but I don't think they will. Attaching a prospect to a Paddack deal will be necessary. Possibly attaching a prospect to a Vazquez deal with Miami to get an Alcantara or Luzardo is a trade that MUST be looked at. And with Farmer, Kepler and others no longer on the roster that is also some salary relief. I'm not in favor of signing Santana (39 years old) or Goldschmidt (37 years old). There is no future with either. We didn't resign Michael Taylor and he flopped with the Pirates. I take the "win" of what Santana did in 2024 and let him walk for 2025. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Polanco trade. He was HORRIBLE for the Mariners. Know when to cut bait.

I think the Twins have some GOOD options for 2B. Lewis at 1B has been discussed and he may be their best option. But you'd hate to put a player with his athletic profile at a position he would have to learn on the fly. Lewis at 2B could be an excellent fit, IF, he's willing to give it a shot. I also think a healthy Lewis would be fine at 3B. Brooks Lee is the best option defensively at either 2B or 3B and could probably be the primary backup for Correa if he needs a day off or spends time on the IL. Where does Lee profile to be better defensively? Could he be a Gold Glove caliber 2B? He probably profiles as a solid 3B. either way, his switch hitting bat should develop into a plus and he looks to be an answer at either 2B or 3B. Willi Castro: I think it's time to stop saying Castro "is not a full time player." He IS a full time player. He just plays a LOT of different positions. I've compared Castro in the past as kind of a Cesar Tovar "Lite." He's not the hitter Tovar was, but he provides the speed and the glove. It took the Twins awhile before Tovar rose to "everyday status" as a specific position player. In 1967 & 1968 Tovar played all over. By 1969, while he could still play a little 3B and 2B he was mostly in the OF (primarily LF until a trade opened up the CF spot for him in 1970 & 1971). Castro IS a fulltime player, just not at a specific position. Is it time to reward him with one and put him at 2B? I think this is an option with Eeles, Helman, etc... getting a chance to break in as the utility guy. To me, this is a big decision the Twins need to make this off season. Has Castro finally earned a full time, specific position or does he remain the Super Utility guy? Do we trade him to a team that offers him the full time defensive position or does the other team feel he's "just a utility guy?" I think Castro would be a decent full time option at 2B. Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's the Twins finally rewarded Cesar Tovar with a full time defensive position, while still using him as a utility guy occasionally. It paid off very well for the Twins then. Could it do so again with Castro?

I agree Fezig !! We've talked about the Twins getting faster and more athletic. This guy is the answer to that and we don't need to trade for him. Just give him a chance. I don't know how well he hit LH pitching at St. Paul, but he was an everyday player. He's the obvious answer to 4th OF on the team. Adding him to the 40 man (they have the room now) and if he makes the team out of spring training will set up a corresponding move. A trade of either Larnach or Wallner. The obvious guy is Larnach, but we could get a LOT more for Wallner. The Twins need to explore options for both and see how big the deal could be. Like Fezig said, if you set records at AAA you've probably spent too much time there. Kiersey's glove would be an immediate upgrade and his speed will be a welcome addition. The other possibility is a trade of Buxton and just putting Kiersey out in CF. Moves need to be made. All options should be considered.

Cron was actually more than adequate defensively at 1B for the twins in 2019. I think Doc Bauer does a great job of summarizing. The Pohlad's need to be careful what they do because they need a competitive team to maximize their sale. They played with fire last season and they got scortched. So far, there has been nothing leaked about potential buyers but I've got to believe some people quietly reached out to the Pohlad family as soon as the announcement was made. They will not simply just "run it back" because it's clear the division (with the exception of the White Sox) has moved past them as things presently stand. So the Twins won't stand pat, but they won't tear the whole thing down to the studs either. And they shouldn't. There is a decent core, but some glaring holes with the roster that haven't been addressed in far too long. When you have a glut of LH outfield bats, you don't sign Joey Gallo. You just don't. I could see one major surprise trade like Doc Bauer suggested. It won't be Lopez. It won't be Correa. It probably won't be Ryan or Ober. But I think it could be Buxton. His $15 million dollar salary is treated like an albatross by all of us here on TD. In reality, it's a drop in the bucket to many teams Buxton just might drop his no-trade. The Red Sox don't need him, they have Duran, Abreu and Rafaela. They have plenty of options. But I'll bet the Yankees would love to move Judge back to RF and Soto to LF if they could get Buxton. The Dodgers would be interested if they decided to make Edman the starter at SS. They could find somebody to make the move. Buxton's value has never been higher. He finally played in 100 games for the 2nd time in his career. Consider this: If a guy plays in 100 games that amounts to just 62% of the total schedule. No matter how good a player is (or could be) a team like the Twins cannot win and SUSTAIN winning, if one of their "Stars" is only available about half the time. A team like the Dodgers or Yankees CAN make that work, because they have the extra payroll to have a solid backup. Buxton will never be more marketable than he is right now. It's time to move on. If there is a SP that I think they could move, it just might be SWR. His value is at an all-time high. They have Festa and Matthews behind him with Jax being a Wild Card as a rotation option if the Twins give him the chance. I'd rather hold onto Lopez, Ryan and Ober and look at what kind of return I could get for SWR. Maybe the Twins offer Wallner, SWR and Paddack for Teel and something else? I think tony&rodney and I agree as do several others that we need to acquire a Catcher who is young and on the verge of making the big leagues. Jeffers isn't the answer. Vasquez to Miami is a strong possibility. A major overhaul of the roster is not going to happen. A couple of minor moves around the fringes will not move the needle to the point that there is sufficient fan excitement to facilitate a favorable sale for the Pohlad family. Each trade should be made with a plan for what the NEXT move is going to be. It's Chess. Not Checkers.

I would say that for an article like this to have more meaning, we need to see some sort of example (or 2 or 3) of what trading Wallner could bring and an explanation of what hole would be filled. Or if Ober were traded, what's the return and how does that balance out the roster. THEN we can have a chance at more informed responses. Otherwise, guys that respond with a comment only have about 25-33% of the information they need. Not that any of these trades would work, but it needs to be something like: Twins trade Vasquez and Wallner to Miami for Jesus Luzardo and Ryan Weathers. This opens up a hole in RF and at catcher, but allows the Twins to consider trading a SP. Twins shed $11 million in salary and take on Luzardo $6 million and controlled for an additional 2 years and Weathers (salary ? but it can't be more than 2.5 million). Twins trade Ober to the Red Sox for Tristan Casas. Hole at 1B filled. Ober's spot in the rotation is filled by Luzardo. Twins trade Griffin Jax and Chris Paddack to the Dodgers for Dalton Rushing C and Dustin May SP. Rushing fills the hole at C and forms a tandem with Jeffers. Paddack's $7.5 million off the books. Dodgers get a rotation candidate or bullpen guy in Paddack and their new closer in Jax. Twins sign Tyler O'Neill to play LF and spell Buxton in CF occasionally. This is very disjointed because I'm babysitting grandkids and someone wants me to play a game with them. But someone could do a better job with some more realistic trade scenarios. Unless you have some sense of what you'd get if you traded someone, it's all just Hot Air.

We're throwing darts at a dartboard here but my dart lands on Stewart. He's got the best stuff of the three. I'd spend what it took to add Aroldis Chapman or AJ Puk and settle on quality. Rookie relief pitchers will only cost the MLB minimum of about $800,000. Stack up quality with Duran, Jax, Chapman/Puk and Sands (maybe Alcala). Give Varland the 2 innings at a time role and with Stewart you have 7 guys. Funderburk makes 8 and I'd expect Jovanni Moran as #9. There are a LOT of guys currently in our minor league system who could fill in, or guys we invite to camp (like a Jeff Hoffman type). So I say Stewart, but target a veteran LH who brings a track record of quality like Chapman or Puk.

He had such a sweet looking swing !!! Maybe he will attempt a comeback when he's been away from the game for two years. Maybe he'll be tearing the cover off the ball for some town team and a major league team will come calling. This happens for pitchers with some degree of regularity. Less so for hitters. I wish him a full recovery and all the best.

He's never going to be a Gold Glove catcher, but the look they gave him in the OF wasn't because he was horrible defensively, it's that for the 2024 season they were set with Will Smith and Austin Barnes and the kid can flat out HIT. Diego Cartaya has always been the heir apparent at catcher for the Dodgers. Within 2 years, Cartaya will be the primary catcher with Will Smith moving to 1B when Freddy Freeman retires (Smith will still probably catch one game per week in this scenario). I've mentioned the Twins going after Rushing in several trade scenarios already this off season and I think he should be a top trade priority that could set dominos falling in a positive way for the Twins roster. If I could get him for Keaschall I would do it. Assuming that this could very well be the final year of the "Rocco Reign" as manager, acquiring Rushing would be to play him 75% of the time in 2026 and beyond.. Sure, Rocco would platoon him with Jeffers, but Rushing is a LH hitting catcher. He'd play more than Jeffers, even with Rocco. A full time catcher with a plus bat ultimately is more valuable than a full time utilityman. Considering the Twins have a rather bleak outlook at the catcher position in their farm system, acquiring someone like Rushing would be a huge plus. The Dodgers also need a closer and I expect they will go get one. However, if the Twins want to compete next year I'm giving up Keaschall, not Duran or Jax. Maybe I dangle an arm like Alcala to seal the deal, but he'd just be another arm in the Dodger pen, not the closer. This move frees the Twins up to jettison Vasquez and I maintain the Marlins are still interested in having him handle their young pitching staff. Vasquez for Jesus Luzardo who is only projected to earn $6 million in 2025 and is arbitration eligible thru 2026 at 27 years old old is a trade that could happen. Luzardo has to fully recover from some nagging injuries, but he will. A Twins team with Luzardo in the rotation, Rushing & Jeffers at catcher and Duran & Jax still holding down the back end of the bullpen has exciting possibilities. There would/should be some other moves made as well. But those two moves secure the catching position for the short and long term and makes for a rather formidable rotation for the Twins.

Good article and lots of interesting comments. My 2-cents: E-Rod is very talented and certainly seems to be on the fast track. If not for the injuries, he might have been a full time player this past season. There are some "slight" similarities to Julien. My worry for E-Rod is that he will end up taking called 3rd strikes at an alarming rate much like Julien. But I agree that in terms of sheer talent, Julien can't hold a candle to E-Rod. A similar situation is unfolding for the Yankees and Jasson Dominguez. He is also uber-talented, has battled numerous minor league injuries and I'm betting he's the Yankees starting CF right out of the gate in 2025. And he's 21 years old. Even if the Yanks re-sign Soto, I think he's moved to LF and Judge slides back to RF. Aaron Boone's failure to get Dominguez in the lineup in place of Alex Verdugo in the World series will probably cost him his job this off season. There is no denying we have an absolute glut of LH hitting OF's. Wallner, Larnach, Kirilloff, E-Rod, Jenkins, and even Kiersey (he HAS to be included because his defense and baserunning alone would have translated to more wins than Margot in 2024). Wallner, Larnach and Kirilloff are each limited to a corner OF spot. If the Twins really believe in the talent of E-Rod and Jenkins, no matter what the timeline for them, something has to give. Either Larnach or Wallner should probably be moved. Getting a 1B, RH hitting OF, C (or catching prospect close to a major league promotion) a #3 or #4 type SP...any of these positions is worth giving up Larnach or Wallner. To me, Larnach will never be more tradable than NOW. Kirilloff has no value and is very below average as an OF. 1B is where he will play or he won't play. I'd HATE to give up Wallner. But what could he actually bring back? I'd test the waters. Ultimately, you can't play Jenkins, E-Rod, Wallner and Larnach at the same time. Especially if you still have Buxton and Kirilloff. There's a part of me that says if Buxton would waive his no-trade to a contender and you also deal Larnach, depending on what RH hitting OF you bring back in those trades or other trades, I could see an OF of Wallner, E-Rod and a mystery RH hitting OF with Kiersey as my 4th OF in 2025. Then, in 2026 when the expected debut of Walker Jenkins happens you'd have to live with the ups and downs of a pretty young OF. But you'd have Correa, Lewis, Lee in the INF and a pretty affordable roster with the exception of the pitching staff as Lopez, Ryan, Ober and maybe a mystery 4th SP acquired in a trade age into higher contracts as well as Duran and Jax. And maybe by that time, Ober or Ryan have been traded away to make room for Festa, Matthews, Morris etc...There is ALWAYS churn for baseball teams. The Twins have a roster that is out of balance. Some bold moves need to be made, whether it's by Falvey in the final season of Pohlad ownership, or by a new GM and FO with the new ownership.

I don't mind the alleged "click bait." It's why we come here, to offer our opinion and see what other guys think. All that's missing is a beer or other adult beverage and eye contact. Come to think of it...some of you MIGHT be having a beer while reading this. They will 100% tender him. That much we all agree on. But even though Mike Sixel threw it out there about tendering and then trading him, THAT'S the article I would have preferred. Everybody is tradable, depending on what your getting. So how would a trade of Duran straight up for Tristin Casas be received?? Jax moves to the closer role and Casas is our 1B for the next 10 years. I could maybe live with that. I have no idea how that deal would stack up on BBTV's. What if you dealt Duran and either SWR or Miranda for Casas and Wilyer Abreu? You add a Gold Glove nominated OF in Abreu who has some speed and pop and Casas. I could live with that. Boston needs a closer, SP and a replacement 1B for Casas if they trade him. Duran, SWR and Miranda for Casas and Abreu? How do the values of THAT trade stack up? That's the kind of article I would have preferred. And frankly, every one of our arbitration guys could or should be considered as a trade chip. I'm not advocating for trading Duran. He has been a dominant closer. But what could we get for him if we traded him. The Red Sox actually profile as a good match for a possible trade. Who else does??

With non-roster guys like Eeles and McKusker I wonder if there may be "some" guys currently on the 40-man roster who may be on thin ice. I hope the Twins are willing to consider guys like Kiersey, Eeles and McKusker and not joined at the hip with certain guys. I also think that with the aforementioned guys the Twins should be VERY active in moving some prospects currently on the 40-man in trades to help balance the roster. That would open up some spots for guys who look to be figuring things out and who should be included in conversations about "internal" options.

The Twins have some young prospects pushing for an MLB debut. They also have a couple of corner OF types who need to produce if they are to stave off the eventual arrival of E-Rod & Jenkins, namely Larnach and Wallner. This would also include Kirilloff who probably needs to crush it in spring training and in April and May or his time in Minnesota will be done. This type of upward pressure from prospects in the minor leagues also opens up trade possibilities for the aforementioned Wallner, Larnach and Kirilloff and to some extent, Miranda if they decide Wallner would look awfully nice at 1B. There are other prospects who have value as well who could be packaged in trades. As someone else mentioned, the challenge for Falvey this off season will be in consummating a couple of trades to better balance out the roster. This is something Falvey failed at miserably this past season with his lone deadline deal bringing in retread Trevor Richards. You can blame it on budget restraints, but a trade involving our minor league talent and depth for young major league or minor league talent close to breaking into the big leagues should have been pursued with a vengeance. It's not like there were zero opportunities. It's Falvey's job to find and execute those possibilities. We've had an unbalanced roster for 3-4 years now. It's time to address that.

These are the "Big 3" that have been talked about for much of this last summer and no into the fall and pre-winter. I'm excited about Jenkins but agree with those that don't expect a major impact in 2025. He will begin at either AA or AAA but he would really need to blow up at St. Paul to have any chance at half a season with the Twins. That's not likely, but I COULD see Jenkins get that "cup of coffee" call up in September. Emmanuel Rodriguez is another story. He's one year ahead of Jenkins due to his very early appearance in the Twins minor league system. Even with a good spring training, I see E-Rod at St. Paul for at least April and May. Depending on how he's doing and the Twins OF situation he could be up as early as June, but more likely a July, post All Star Game promotion. As young as E-Rod and Jenkins are, I think it's too early to dismiss any action in CF. They may both end up in the corners, but with Wallner firmly planted in RF and E-Rod and Jenkins both being LH (as well as Larnach) CF has to be an option, especially if Buxton misses time. Keaschall is a very interesting prospect whose situation is complicated by Tommy John surgery. He's versatile and athletic and while he seems to be more profiled as an infielder, I think CF is a distinct possibility (as well as LF). There is an opening for a RH utility bat on the opening day roster. I'll be very interested in any and all news regarding Keaschall prior to and during spring training. One other guy I'm curious about is Brandon Winokur, the 6:6 kid who played both SS and CF for Fort Myers. His stats were decent but not great. Will he begin at Fort Myers or one level higher? He's a guy that is just outside the fringe of the Jenkins, E-Rod, Keaschall level, but with the athleticism to play SS and CF at 6:6 he kind of sounds like a Bob Allison throw back. I also think the Twins have a lot of depth in the minor leagues and should certainly look to move some pieces not named Jenkins, Rodriguez or Keaschall this off season in an effort to add some young, controllable, major league talent, at catching, infield or outfield.