jmlease1

I guess that depends on where you look and whether or not you count the buyout against this year's contract or next? But yeah, the Cheap Pohlads cut the #@%$* out of the payroll, and a lot of our guys are now on minimum salary or early arbitration salaries. So? It's an indictment of ownership, not really about Bell's (reasonable) contract.

technically? Arbitration players haven't settled yet and you have to assume Jeffers, Ryan, and Ober pass him.

It's not one season, though. it's 2. And he's not unsignable, but he is a poor fit for the Twins, who are looking for more thump in the lineup and don't need more LH hitters who can't hit LHP. For all that Arraez is a good hitter still, he doesn't hit LHP and has always been poor at it. Basing a preference for Arraez on him winning batting titles in the past while ignoring everything else is faulty logic.

It'll very interesting to see if the Twins are able to improve Bell's defense through positioning and how much impact that has on him. They also have the option of bringing Clemens (who appears to be a fine defender with very good range at 1B) as a late inning replacement as needed, depending on the situation. But if they're able to help Bell out, that would be impressive. (Probably still won't convince some people around here that they care about defense, though, or coach it) If Bell hits like he did the second half and shows modest improvement defensively, this signing could work out quite nicely. There's some risk, especially if Bell's implosion against LHP in 2025 is for real and not a fluky small sample size thing, but there are few sure things in the aisles the Twins ownership has them shopping in.

I'm not going to tell anyone not to love a player for their own personal enjoyment, but if Arraez gets on base 12 times in 6 games, a) his OBP will have turned back the clock by 3+ years, and b) Bell probably still gets on 10 to go with the homer. It's not 12 vs 1.

LOL, you're comparing Arraez to 2 Hall of Famers? Here's something that Kirby & Tony did consistently: hit the ball hard. Yes, they swung the bat a lot and chased balls, but they also didn't just slap the ball around. Kirby became a star when he showed he could turn on a ball and put it in the seats (along with his CF defense, of course) as part of his hitting package. In Tony's years either winning batting titles (or leading the league in hits) his lowest SLG% was .491. Arraez right now looks like old, broken down Tony O when his ruined knees kept him from playing anything other than DH, not the real deal. Giving Arraez 3 years and $37M is a terrible, terrible use of resources. Good grief.

He's not that difficult to judge any longer, though. He's chasing contact like crazy and it's making him worse. He's not taking walks, he can't hit LHP, he's not a good defensive player, he's showing little power...he's a one trick pony and that trick ain't as good as it used to be. The goal of a hitter is to avoid outs, not avoid strikeouts. The weak grounder to second sucks about as much as a K. (sure, sometimes it advances the runner, but sometimes it's a DP) Plus, we're not paying Bell $10M.

I suppose it's possible if you could find 9 Luis Arraez's it MIGHT work to have them them all play together (we'll ignore the fact that it would be one of the most shockingly terrible defensive teams in league history for this exercise), but I suspect once the OF starts playing super shallow on them and the pitchers realize that the lineup can't hurt them with extra base hits it's not going to go well (watch those double plays fly!) But the real issue here is that you just didn't read the article. Yes, Arraez can hit the ball...but he can't get enough actual hits with his current approach to make him a starter, and he doesn't have the positional flexibility any longer to be a utility guy. Sure, he's hitting the ball, but it's not doing enough when he does and he's not offering much of anything else as he chases the ball out of the zone. He left MN and stopped taking as many walks, hit into a lot more DPs, and started chasing contact to the exclusion of all else. The batting titles are cool, but seem to have changed who he wants to be as a player.

This is amazingly one-sided. Lewis made sacrifices to stay on the field and play hurt? Really? Compared to Correa who played through plantar fasciitis in 2023? In the 3 seasons Correa played for the Twins, he played more games than Royce did in every single one of them. Hell, even in 2025, Correa played in almost as many games as a TWIN as Royce did, and Correa got traded. It's fun to make Correa the bad guy, but Royce got no leg to stand on for being mad at Correa, not really. Lewis did not "avoid arbitration" with a salary below projections for multiple years in a row: this is his first year that's he's been arbitration eligible. Maybe the Twins needed better defensive coaching, but it's not like Lewis hasn't improved at 3B, and certainly looked competent there in 2025. Musical chairs for positions? You'd have to put a lot of weight on him being asked to maybe play some 2B and objecting to it to sell this one; he's played 214 games in the field, 199 have been at 3B. Of the remaining 15 12 were at SS, 2 at 2B, and 1 was the unlucky adventure in CF. They've hardly played musical chairs with him. Beating down players in arbitration? We've already established that the Twins didn't do it with Royce (yet), and they generally settle before a hearing with almost everyone. They're pretty bog-standard with how they handle the weird and semi-busted arbitration process. The last shot at Baldelli is gratuitous and cheap. There's literally no evidence that Baldelli was trying to re-live his playing career through his players. Why not just put a big sign up that says "I Hate Rocco Baldelli" instead? There's enough reasons why Rocco needed to go as manager without making crap up. I don't particularly have a problem with Royce's attitude, but things that are charming or funny when you're kicking butt can come off as out of touch or stupid when you're struggling. It sure looks like Royce has experienced some of the blowback in the past season and a half where he has struggled as a hitter and still hasn't managed to play a full season. His injuries are almost certainly a huge part of why he's struggled over the past season and a half, but at a certain point he has to play and perform. I don't consider injuries a personal failing on the part of a player, and I'm not going to get mad at him for getting hurt; I'm quite certain he wouldn't choose to miss any time and no one is more frustrated with his inability to stay on the field than him. But it hasn't happened for him...yet. And it's why this season is something of a crossroads for him, because if he struggles to hit and stay on the field again, now that he's getting into his arbitration years, he'll eventually get too expensive to roll the dice on.

Honestly if he's able to hit LHP back to career levels then it shouldn't be an overpay. I'm a little nervous about how ugly his numbers from the right side were last season, but hopefully that more small sample size than anything. Of course, signing Bell really makes me want to move on from Larnach...

I think this is right, but some of "league figuring him out" might be more about injuries reducing his physical ability as a player. There are reasons to think he can be a significant contributor in 2026, but he's got a lot of work to do. I liked the fact that he was running on the bases again and looked comfortable with his legs. I liked the fact that his struggles at the plate didn't follow him into the field, and he played a very solid 3B. If they can get him to a point where he doesn't need to swing at everything to get hits and can find it in him to not chase those low and away pitches, the rebound at the plate will be there. It's a pretty critical season for him: can he be a core player again, or is he a guy whose talent was overcome by too many injuries? If Shelton's team gets him going quickly, this could look like a very different team in a hurry. Would love to see him hitting 5th behind Wallner and looking dangerous. Let's get Mr. Grand Slam firing on all cylinders.

well, it's been proven that Josh Bell is very tradable at the deadline, even when he's not been producing. But he's not really blocking anyone: there's still room for Wallner to DH, Julien hasn't shown enough in the past 2 seasons to say he's being blocked from anything (and I say this as someone who spent a lot of time defending Julien), Keaschall is going to get every opportunity to take 2B and run with it (and I'd much rather have him do that than already get shifted to 1B or the OF), and the real issue on guys not getting called up is a punk like Outman or continuing to roll with Larnach. If we get AZ Josh Bell, we're going to be pretty happy. There's some indicators that Bell was a little unlucky in Washington last season as well. Curious as to the terms, but I don't hate this move, especially if it means that Clemens isn't starting at 1B against LHP...

I get that prospects are suspects until they actually do something, but you simply can't say they have no value. Even if they're no contributing to the MLB club yet they at a minimum have trade value. I highly doubt we would have been better off with Arraez than Lopez; Arraez simply hasn't been very good the past 2 seasons and hasn't gotten on base at high levels (certainly not high enough to make up for his lack of pop) since 2023. Varland absolutely would be better than Roden, but he was traded (with France) for Rojas and Roden, and Roden was not the centerpiece of the deal. He just wasn't. Yes, the bullpen is very important in modern baseball, but it's also been shown to be the area that's the easiest to build cheaply. The Twins have done it before, the Rays do it all the time. I don't think the strategy is that hard to see: they traded relievers for starters, under the belief that starters are harder to find and more impactful, trusting in their ability to find the next Brock Stewart off the scrap heap, create the next Varland by converting a struggling starter, etc. Clearly it was both a value play in a lost season, but also a budget move: with the Cheap Pohlads resetting payroll down in the $110-115M zone, they're not going to pay a reliever $10M. We'll see if it works; they need guys who struggled last season to really step up to have a chance.

People are awfully fast to shove Keaschall off 2B. Yes, he had some wonky throws and clunkers off the glove, but he's got the quickness and range to do well at 2B, so many give him some reps now that he's actually healthy and see if he can handle the position? He's got 42 games at 2B in MLB and only 56 games there in the minors, total. Considering the time he missed to injury, might be worth seeing how he looks after an offseason where I'm betting he took a bunch of reps and could work on his throwing. (I seem to recall he didn't really field in spring training last season either) We really don't know what his arm looks like yet; he's barely 23. I'm certainly not looking to dump him in the OF if he can play on the dirt, because we have better options in the OF than we do shuffling around the infield right now. Lee's lack of range (and lack of big arm to make up for it) is a problem at SS, and it's hard to see him sticking there, but unless he hits moving him anywhere else isn't going to be great either...and if he starts hitting above league average we might be able to accept his defense at SS for now (he does handle the balls he gets to?) until Culpepper is ready. And moving Royce Lewis to 3B to find room for Lee doesn't work for me either; Royce is developing nicely at 3B defensively, and if he can't hit either then moving him to 1B isn't going to work. I'm not terribly interested in dropping assets on a placeholder SS, and if you believe in Culpepper (and it's hard to see why you wouldn't at this point; he's answered every question put to him so far) why would you spend significant assets for something more impactful, when there are other areas of greater need?

I'm sure that's true, but a boy can dream, right? (The O's can actually use a competent LH hitter I think; YMMV on whether or not Larnach really is one) But if the O's want pitching, I would make them really pay for it. No "oh, what a lovely deal for Baltimore" crap that the east coast bobos that wish they didn't have to get on a plane to cover baseball or stay up for a west coast game would like, no "the midwest teams are supposed to be the farm system for the AL East" Bee Ess. :P

Oh, I'm sure someone was floating it and there are even credible people around MLB tossing it around. It just feels like a deal where you'd better be damn sure Mayo is going to break out in 2026 or you're in real trouble. And I'm not talking "Mayo as an all-star", I'm talking Mayo as a 2-3 bWAR player. And I'd be very concerned that Mayo's value is inflated because of the draft position and previous prospect ratings more than his actual ability and projections at this point. Players should stop getting scholarship bonuses in "value" for their prospect rankings once they've lost their rookie of the year eligibility, IMHO. But it consistently feels like they still get that "extra" in these kinds of deals, whether they deserve it or not. Especially for Ryan. If it was Pablo, then at least you'd be gaining significant salary relief (which I hate is a consideration, but we have Cheap Pohlads as owners), but Ryan is not expensive. Mayo has been ok for a guy getting his first significant playing time in MLB. But he's proven nothing.

Gotta say, even if we had to flip in a rookie ball prospect, I'd send Larnach out for Mountcastle. Gets us RH help at 1B, even if we would need a bounce back season to have him really show value, while also opening up the logjam of LH COF/DH types to allow guys like Roden/Rodriguez/Jenkins real chances for playing time, and saving the $ on Larnach's salary still keeps us within a Cheap Pohlad budget and would leave resources to add bullpen help. While I don't love Mountcastle and would be concerned that he's backup material heading towards replacement level...I was also ready to cut Larnach rather than pay him for the roster spot. But historically, Mountcastle has hit LHP quite well. Exploring possibilities with the O's is a fair idea. We may even have things they want. It'd be great if they'd want a Larnach?

I don't mind giving Ohl a real shot at a bullpen job. He's got a pitch in the changeup that might allow him to thrive, and coming out of a starter/bulk pitching mode, he should be able to handle a workload where he's asked to go 1-2 innings in a stint 2-3 times a week. Maybe going max effort allows his fastball to play up a bit, maybe trimming down/adjusting his pitch mix a little lets him be more consistent. As a candidate for the 7th-8th slot in an 8-man bullpen, he could be a reasonable fit and grow into a higher leverage role. And if not, you still need guys who can give you credible innings in the 5th and 6th innings on a consistent basis. To me, it's not about whether or not Ohl can step in a role, really; it's whether or not he's going to get handed one on scholarship because we don't bring in anyone credible for a high leverage role from the jump. I like having guys like Ohl, Raya, Adams, Preilipp competing for spots in the bullpen. I just think they need to have 3-4 guys like them fighting for 1-2 jobs, not presuming that they already have one...

Good lord, Lopez or Ryan for Mayo sure sounds like a huge overpay to me? All-star pitcher for a maybe slugger at 1B? He's closer to Alan Roden than Emmanuel Rodriguez, other than the mythical "pedigree" of high draft status and prospect ranking. I think the O's would fall all over themselves to send Mayo out if it brought back a starter of Lopez or Ryan's caliber. I'm unenthusiastic about Mountcastle, but he does look like a decent candidate for a bounce back season, considering he was injured and missed 2 months in 2025 and has been pretty consistent as a hitter in 4 previous seasons. It's worth having a conversation with the O's about a 1B. If Lopez gets sent out for Mayo (even with another prospect or 2) though, it tells me that the Cheap Pohlads are at it again.

They gave him a chance to play in a major league organization. They promoted him up the ranks. They even gave him a shot in MLB. He'll always get to say he was a major leaguer, and has a hit to show for it. Letting him flail away for another 100 ABs wasn't going to change anything, and there's a reason he's going to Asia to continue his professional career. I wish him luck. But I don't think the Twins screwed him.

I don't exactly recall a huge outcry over firing Popkins around here. Good for him. Toronto had an excellent season and it's nice he's getting some recognition for his part in it. If Springer falls apart, Varsho keeps declining, etc he might lose his job up there too. I mean, was Popkins responsible for Bo Bichette's return to form or was it just that Bichette was much healthier? He seems like a good coach. He looks like a much better coach with healthy players, a big payroll, etc...

you still have to name names. for you "significant" means top 10, maybe top 5, but I didn't know that until now. And frankly, there can be a big difference for most teams between their 9th best prospect and their 4th. Nats probably aren't looking to trade him, so the Twins would have to be chasing him and make a big-time offer. I doubt Royce Lewis and Dasan Hill gets it done.

I mean, these are going to be interesting guys to follow to see if any of them rise up this season and claim the 3rd spot. Since I don't really follow college baseball and definitely don't try to track high school, I appreciate seeing a preliminary list of guys to keep an eye on. I'm nervous about Lebron because "warts in his hit tool" aren't something you want to hear about the #3 pick, but his production has been impressive and he stepped in and hit immediately in the SEC and improved in his second season as well. It'll be interesting to see where Burress lands at the end of this college season; he was still excellent last year but not as incredible as he was in his freshman season. Bears watching. Struggled in limited time in the Cape Cod league, but it's a tiny sample...but you always wonder about the guys who put up video game numbers with aluminum bats and then have to go wood... I'd be thrilled if Flukey is the opposite of his name and takes another step forward and really dominates. It'd be great if a college pitcher emerges as a legit top 5 pick?

Don't write an article like this unless you're prepared to name the prospects that would have to go out in a deal like this. Royce doesn't have the value to move the needle for the Nats, so who is it that has to go out from the prospects, because it's going to have to be something big, not just an A-ball lotter ticket and Kyler Fedko. Adams would be a great addition to the Twins roster, and would allow Lee to slide over to 3B. But what do we really have to give up to get him? Do the Nats even want Royce? They're probably not ready to give up on Brady House at 3B, so they might be looking at moving Royce to 1B if they acquired him, which further lowers his value. I suspect to get Adams we'd need to not just give up Royce but also probably add a starting pitcher or two from the Morris, Abel, Rojas, Festa, Matthews group, and they'd also be looking for Dasan Hill or someone like that with big upside and more. Adams is not coming cheap, especially with 3 years of control. Tell me who the prospects going out in this deal, because Royce isn't the centerpiece, not by a long shot.

It wasn't a tandem, it was a trio: Wallner, Julien, and Lewis. The three of them had terrific seasons that really showed a promise of more. Wallner is the only one who was able to replicate the success the following season, struggled last year, and is widely reviled by a substantial number of posters around here. Julien has struggled to hit the last 2 seasons like Royce has, but Julien also hasn't shown the defensive upside. Even with Royce's injuries sapping his speed, he's shown more on the basepaths than Julien. Julien also hasn't had the kind of injuries that Royce has, and people (rightfully) are going to give more time and consideration to a player missing substantial time due to injury over one who has been quite healthy, but ineffective. I was on Team Julien, but MLB pitching has a playbook on him and he has not adjusted. And even with Royce's demonstrated struggles, he's still been significantly more productive the last 2 seasons. I hope this is the season where Royce gets it back together at the plate. A healthy offseason (as far as we know?) can't hurt. He's got so much talent that giving up on him seems foolish. I'm not worrying about "all-star" at this point; if he simply hits at career averages, runs and defends like he did in the second half of the season, and plays 130 games, he'll be a quality starter and that would make a real impact for the Twins.