jmlease1

Not great timing on this one. But Bradley has shown an ability to chew up innings that could make him impactful in the back of the rotation. He's got to find a way to draw back on the homers in big situations and be less hittable. Maybe the Twins can finish cleaning up his delivery and get him some consistency, but there's a fair bit of work to do. Seeing him walk a guy at the bottom of the order and them give up the bomb as the lineup turned over is exactly the sort of sequence that will have him flaming out as a starter. The stuff is good, but it's unclear if he'll be able to master it enough.

Lol, it's funny when people act like the Twins will get $30M to spend on payroll. The only way they're getting more than a few bucks to spend in the offseason is if they deal players like Lopez, Ryan, and/or Jeffers...at which point it might not matter if they make a real investment in free agency. Beyond that, why would anyone believe the Pohlads would actually let the front office replace all the spending they cut when the opportunity to generate a bigger profit looms? They should be able to spend $20-30M in FA even keeping Lopez & Ryan, but the smart money says they absolutely won't. Never trust a Pohald when it comes to payroll.

Well, Lopez & Ryan should be in the rotation in 2026; it's only because we have the Pohlads in ownership and the fear they're going to mandate a payroll around $80-85M that it's a likely scenario that Pablo & Joe will be sent elsewhere. (Ober has wobbled this season a lot, but based on his track record prior you have to presume he's still in the rotation) Even if you accept the Pohlad leak that they were losing $30M this season on a $140M payroll (and why anyone should accept a Pohlad leak on financials is beyond me), and you presume that they'll be losing more attendance next season (hard to believe anything else after the payroll whack, the trading away of so many players, and the continued presence of the most tone-deaf owners in sports)...they still should be able to sustain a payroll north of $100M, which is plenty doable even keeping Lopez & Ryan. It should be all doable even with some rebuilding. But expecting that from the Pohlads seems absurd, which is why so many of us expect Pablo & Joe to be traded (bringing the commitments down to like $62M) and then for the tone-deaf owners to try and sell everyone on them "creating" $20-25M in payroll room that fans are supposed to be happy about...while still cutting payroll and ensuring ownership profits come in before the inevitable and owner-driven lockout for 2027. And if Pablo & Joe go, there's plenty of room for SWR in the rotation. If not, it gets tighter, but I'd have to put him above Festa (out for at least the start of next season and possibly all of it), Matthews (struggling with consistency with only 1 really good outing in a month...against CWS), Bradley (maybe more upside, but has consistency questions), Abel (still needs work to command his pitches), or Morris (hasn't pitched in MLB yet). The floor is pretty good with SWR at least. That profiles pretty well for the back end of the rotation.

Nice game from GG. Twins have to be feeling good about his season has turned out, moving all the way from cedar Rapids to Saint Paul in one season and not doing it on scholarship. Quite good results at 21. There's still some things to work on (be great if he could tick that OBP back up, and show more improvement in the OF), but he's looking like a guy that could really pay out on the Polanco trade. I suspect that he won't get much of a shot to win a job out of spring training, but having his RH bat waiting in AAA when the inevitable OF injury comes along does add to the depth. Fedko also looking to finish strong. I still don't really know what the Twins think of him as a prospect? But I like the fact that he's gotten some time at 1B this season. He's been scrabbling for the last month after a hot run in Saint Paul, so finishing on an upswing is probably fairly important for him. I think the floor and ceiling are higher on GG than Fedko, but at 25 (and showing some ability to play 1B) he might get a look from the MLB club first. Sorting through the young/younger OF for the Twins next season will be an interesting one. Between Martin, Roden, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, and Fedko will they feel confident enough to move on from Larnach (who stumbled in July, but has been productive since) and/or Wallner (who is having a down season) in the OF? Martin might fit best as a 4th OF, but his CF defense isn't good (he's done well in LF though). Jury is very out on Roden, both offensively and defensively, but I'd bet real money that this management crew will give him every chance to land a job. But there's still room to move a guy to be a primary DH (and maybe ask either Larnach or Wallner to work with a 1B glove in the offseason) Interesting questions. Hope Jenkins, Rodriguez, Fedko and Gonzalez make it as hard as possible through their performance.

Lot of reasons to feel good about Hill right now. I'm sure he'll start back in Cedar Rapids in 2026 and that's fine, but he's done quite well in his first professional season reaching High A at 19 (doesn't turn 20 until Christmas!) He'll need to cut down the walks, but the stuff plays. He didn't give up a single hit this season to a player younger than him (only 15 PAs, and he walked way too many of those dudes, but it's still a fun stat). If he can chop that BB/9 down to a more manageable 3-3.5 in 2026 he'll be on a fast track. Sure would be nice to have a high-level LHP prospect for the rotation. Mendez has done a great job since coming over. He's a legit 21 who is doing very well in AA. It'll be very interesting to see how fast he gets pushed to AAA; there could both be room and competition. He may be another one of those guys that simply needed better health to shine? The contact skills look very good and he can do enough damage that he'll punish pitchers who give him a "get over" pitch. Not sure where his ceiling is, but like where he's heading. I'm less enamored of Urbina, like most here. 23 is not young for High A, and needing to repeat a level 3 times isn't good. He's finishing the season well, but his overall 2025 hasn't been particularly good. The numbers have improved across the board, but a lot of that is because of how terrible he was in 2024 and 2023. He's basically the same age as Kala'i Rosario (Urbina is in fact older by a few months) and there's a fair bit of (reasonable) doubt on Rosario, and he's been much more productive and sitting a level higher. I wish him luck, but he'll appear on zero prospect lists for the Twins, even if you go down 40 names. Hard to argue he deserves more.

It's not that hard to forecast a quick return to contention, but it presumes the franchise won't have the knees cut out from under it again by ownership. There's a reason that many are predicting Lopez & Ryan get dealt in the offseason, and anyone who has been following the team certainly fears it. And if that happens, the rotation will be in the same position as the lineup: potential is there, but many question marks remain. With the bullpen needing a full-on rebuild, arguments for a quick return to contention are hard to swallow when there are likely real questions about the lineup, the defense, the rotation, and the bullpen. That's...too many questions. Just looking at the lineup, I do think they should be looking at the potential of Larnach or Wallner to play 1B; neither are good defenders in the OF and the offseason is the right time to ask a player to learn a new position. The best hitting prospects in the high minors for the Twins right now are all in the OF, and you still have Roden lurking. (while I'm unimpressed with him so far, giving up on him this quickly is likely a mistake, no matter how tempted I am) But absent injury and a clean sweep in the dugout and front office, they won't get the opportunity absent injury if Larnach, Wallner, and Martin are all on the roster with Roden if a position move isn't made and/or a trade/non-tender. We've seen enough to feel confident that they'll manipulate service time (Jenkins), use injury excuses (Rodriguez), and "need" to hold on to depth (Gonzalez) to keep the prospects in AAA to start the season...and once the season starts they'll stick with vets even if they go past their sell date on production. Kody Clemens isn't a bad guy by all accounts: he works hard, hustles, and happily plays wherever he's asked. But I agree with the basic premise here that someone like Clemens can't be a regular if you expect to be any good. We need both a higher ceiling and a higher floor. Adding a right-handed bat with some thump to play 1B/DH shouldn't be that hard, or even that expensive, but I have zero confidence that ownership will authorize sufficient payroll. Beyond that, since I expect ownership to mandate trading Lopez & Ryan (and the front office to cover for them and pretend it's a "baseball move"), I would bet this front office would be much more likely to spend what little salary space they'll claw out of this on a retread veteran starter to try and patch the hole they've created, and go dumpster-diving for 1B again, while hunting the waiver wire for relievers while they churn the in-house starters who can't make the leap into the bullpen. There's a path back, including having a solid lineup, but it requires an ownership that cares about the on-field product and the fans, and we don't have that. After missing the playoffs like this in 4 of the last 5, we should be looking at significant changes in all levels: front office, manager/coaching staff, roster. Seems highly unlikely with this ownership, which sadly we are stuck with for a while longer. Too many holes right now and not enough money or will to fix them, IMHO.

Of course it's in a lost season that the Twins put together one of their absolute best games against the hated Yankees. But props to SWR who threw a gem. I'm still a fan of his and it's nice to see him maybe finishing the season strong after an unpleasant bout with a parasite. Offense even got something done against a tough LHP. There's enough players on this roster that should be fighting for jobs or even their MLB careers that there shouldn't be much quit here, but still nice to see in the dregs of a miserable season.

He's getting starts because Will Smith is hurt and Rushing hasn't seized the job. But anyone who is betting on Rortvedt to keep hitting like this is...optimistic. (and I say that as someone who bought a lot of real estate on Rortvedt Island when he was a Twins prospect) He's a fine defensive catcher, but got dealt in a low-wattage backup catcher swap at the deadline and seems unlikely to get offered arbitration by the Dodgers, which is why I mentioned him. There's a fair amount of churn on those good defense/no-hit catchers as teams try to get a little more out of the position or make room for a prospect. My point is, it wouldn't be hard to replace Pereda with a similar guy at league minimum, so you'd hope you could do better first.

Gasper just hasn't shown he can hit MLB pitching nearly enough to be a serious consideration for backup catcher. It's tough enough to have a black hole in the lineup when they're excellent defensively, but Gasper simply isn't that. He's been better than advertised behind the dish...but that's really only because there's been a lot of talk about him being terrible back there. Instead he's well below average but not a butcher as a receiver. That would require him to hit, which he still hasn't. Pereda definitely looks like a more skilled defender back there, but it's not a lot to judge on. Much like Gasper, the small MLB track record ain't good. He's hit well in AAA, but not as well as Gasper. I don't think i'd be very happy with either getting slotted in as the backup for next season. Not sure either can be semi-competent at the plate. If I was forced to choose it'd probably be Pereda because if he ends up being a no-hit guy he'll might be average as a defender? But that's saying so little. Ben Rortvedt (or someone of his ilk) is probably going to be available on a league minimum salary too.

LOL. It's not crazy, and with some tweaks could probably shape into something that could get considered. (i.e., treat international signings under 18 with a special rule, but 18 or above gets treated like HS grads, etc) You'd have less of an issue with an international prospect still (correctly) in A-ball needing to get added to a 40-man, etc. There's some interesting ideas here.

Bummer for Wichita, but it was a very good season for the AA squad. Got some guys promoted, brought up some guys from A ball and had them perform well, had some other guys look like they got themselves back on track...a pretty positive season, even if they just missed the playoffs. I'm really disappointed with how the Twins have handled Rojas, who has looked overwhelmed at AAA, and really had no business being there other than being the most prominent part of a divisive trade. He'd literally had 4 starts in AA before Toronto gave him the 1 game bump (where he got shelled) and rather than just put him back in AA to keep working on thinks and develop the Twins have let him get his brains beat in for...reasons? Seems very foolish to me and a knock against the Twins player development process. Speaking of AAA pitching, Cory Lewis really had the AAA wall smack him right in the face. He's been dreadful and will be off the top prospect list. Can't throw strikes, getting hit a lot, and whatever his different pitch mix and faster knuckleball were doing in lower levels to baffle hitters ain't fooling anyone in AAA. Too bad; after his fast rise in 2024 he looked like a potential rotation option and now he looks like no option for anything. Maybe he can get a re-set in the offseason and give AAA another shot, but he's in trouble. Excellent season for Gonzalez, who would be getting a lot more conversation if he wasn't playing along side Walker Jenkins. I'm willing to bet the most important thing for him this season was simply being healthy and being able to let his talent show out. There's maybe some concern because he stopped drawing walks as well at AAA, but the contact skills were there at every levels and it's not like he was unwilling to take a walk. Think it was encouraging how consistent he was in hitting for power this season at all levels too, and as a RH bat he'll pair up well with his OF mates in Jenkins and Rodriguez. While I feel the Twins simply won't bring up Jenkins, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez all at the same time next season (especially not to start the year) I hope we see GG sooner rather than later in MN. Not a great season for Raya, who I doubt was ever given serious consideration for a promotion this year, and certainly didn't earn one. But at least he's finishing the season better, and I wouldn't be sad at all about a move to the 'pen for him. It might suit him better and there's a real need. While it's still early in his career and he's shown some useful skills, DeBarge is having a rotten close to his season. He's been dreadful for over a month now, and there hasn't been any pop in his bat since May. Maybe that's getting worn down after a first full pro season and he can do some things in the offseason to build up better to handle it...but it's also possible teams have started to get a book on him that better pitchers can exploit. I'm curious if anyone has any insights on his home/road splits? He's been great at home and unplayable on the road. Fluke? (Winokur is the other way, which is actually more surprising) Kaelen Culpepper has appeared gassed, but it's still a very successful season for him. It'll be interesting to see where he starts next season. He could get pushed aggressively to Saint Paul or start the season back in Wichita, and I have no feel at all for where the Twins will go for him. But a very good first full pro season and it seems their confidence in his ability to stick at SS was warranted. I'd argue it's been more of a mixed bag on Houston: the glove looks legit, but the bat is questionable. I'd say he passed the Lemon Test, but you'd hope a 3-season college starter would handle High A bit better. Small sample to be sure, but so far he's gotten overwhelmed at Cedar Rapids. A very interesting minor league season for the Twins as things wind down. It'll be fun to see how the top 30 lists look after all is said and done.

so are your constant attacks, but whatever.

Kind of weird to see a bunch of "fire Rocco" type comments after a game this this; you have to look pretty hard to find ways to blame this loss on the manager. I mean, Sands imploded the second time in a row, but what do we have in the bullpen to work with? Is he supposed to send out Adams there? Isn't going 3-16 with RISP more on the hitters not getting it done? These are professionals and only 3 hitters that played last night should be feeling confident of their status for next season. If they're not getting it done at the dregs of a rotten season, it says more about them than the manager. I'm ready to move on from Rocco because there needs to be some changes made, but games like this aren't really the issue. Nice job by Laweryson and Funderburk has settled in as well. Much rather see what guys like this can do in the bullpen then more of the waiver wire dudes. It's still a pretty small sample, but Martin is playing like a guy who wants a job next season. I like the way he's making himself a hard out and if he can keep doing damage against LHP he should get a lot of playing time next season.

Nice to see Prielipp go 5 and throw 77 pitches. I've been on the train that he should be in the MLB bullpen next season, but his performances this year have me wondering again if he can actually start. He's certainly got the stuff, and it would be nice to have a vicious LHP in the rotation...it's going to be interesting to see which way they go. (knowing the Cheap Pohlads, I'm still betting on a payroll under $90M with Lopez & Ryan getting dealt and the fans being told that we should be happy about the $20M the front office gets to spend in the off-season...which opens up a spot for Prielipp in the rotation.) Glad to see Emma finishing the season in decent form. I'm a little concerned about the power dip this season, but that may just be a result of a bunch of nagging injuries. How to keep him healthy? Be nice if Wichita made the playoffs. They've done a nice job down there this season, in a variety of ways.

well, something's not adding up here: the page showing Twins vs a LH starter shows Clemens with a homer and quality OPS. His 2025 splits show zero homers and an unplayable OPS. I don't think he's been a league-average hitter vs lefties of any stripe this season...

Was a bummer to see Bohorquez struggle like that; he'd been on a nice run where he wasn't getting himself into trouble with walks, so it's a bummer to see that come back up on him. But he's still had a good season and has been handling High A pretty well at 20 and you can see why he's an intriguing prospect: hunts K's, not that easy to hit, not too homer-happy...if he can keep the K's down around 3 BB/9 he could be something. I'm still concerned with Houston's hit tool, so it's nice to see him have a good game. We know the defense is there, but he'll need to hit at least a little, and so far he's getting pushed around in Cedar Rapids. Tait's slash line won't set hearts thumping, but at 18 he's doing fine. Here's hoping he finishes out strong, gets on a good offseason program and comes back to Cedar Rapids to start next season and crushes his way into a promotion. Rosario's had a good season. He should be in Saint Paul next season, and it'll be interesting to see whether this aggression on the bases continues and he can keep himself a threat that way. AAA pitching and catching should do a better job of holding runners and throwing guys out, so it'll be a better test. Hope his defense can tick up more in the corners too.

Because in between those hot streaks, he makes a TON of outs...and because he's selling out for homers, he's making a lot of outs even during those hot streaks. The homers are memorable, and they've been important, but before this September hot streak we had 3 months where he couldn't come near a .300 OPS. We're coming off an August where Clemens hit like the much maligned (and deservedly so) Ed Julien. Clemens is utterly unplayable vs LHP (it's a small sample this season, sure...but he's never hit LHP) so he's a platoon bat at best. I appreciate his hustle, the fact that he's viable at multiple defensive positions and actually adding something there. But guys who make that many outs are not who I want for this team. A final flurry of homers doesn't change that for me all that much. And here's the other thing: he's got no options left so what happens if/when he's bad out the gate next season? This franchise (like many) is bad at cutting bait on an underperforming veteran until it's far too late. Is Clemens getting better at 30? It wouldn't be malpractice or anything if he made the final 26 next season, but the floor is fairly low and the ceiling isn't that high either. But hey, he had a great game. Sands had been looking better lately, so it's a bummer to see him implode like this. Is Adams settling in to this new role? Would be great if he could be tapped as a more known quality for the bullpen next season. I'm still not panicking about Keaschall's throwing; let's see how the arm looks next season when he's further removed from the injuries, gone through an off-season program, etc. But it will be something to monitor.

It's actually a further indictment of how bad the Twins are at marketing their own product if there are all of these ways of making it affordable for families to go see the Twins, and don't actually do it. Of course of the reasons is probably that these options are complicated and/or inconvenient, which makes them designed not to actually put butts in seats but chisel more money out of casual fans who end up paying for convenience and walk away after they see their actual total bill cranky and uninterested in coming back. I totally agree that the Twins need to become more consumer-centric in how they approach the fan experience. Less marketing double-speak. Better and clearer communication. Actual interest in having fans in the stands over banking revenue from tickets sold before the season starts. Ensuring that it's easy for fans to watch the games when they can't go. Ownership has bungled things badly in their operation of the team in public and less-public ways, and their rare public statement have been tone-deaf and clueless. How about showing some fan appreciate by being honest with fans about some of the mistakes (like how they botched it with their streaming rights and fumbled around with their broadcast rights?) and showing a little contrition? It may be unsavable at this point, but some humility over arrogance is a place to start.

SWR is the only one who has earned a spot. I'm not judging him based on the return from the parasite problem; we've seen it before when a player drops a bunch of weight during an illness that it takes a while to rebuild strength and they may not get it all back during a season. My fear on trading him is that the value is low because of the injury, but it has to be considered. But he at least has value. SWR is worth keeping If Miranda, Julien, or Outman want to stay in the organization on a minor league deal...ok, I guess? But under no circumstances should their lack of options be a consideration. It's really disappointing on Miranda and Julien after Miranda's 2024 and Julien's 2023, but betting a roster spot on either is foolish. I'd drop them all, and I was a big supporter on Miranda and Julien. But they've been passed by others, and baseball is a hard game. Outman hasn't looked good enough in CF for me to be very interested in keeping him. Don't throw value after him (a roster spot has real value) just to try and chase a bad trade. Sunk cost fallacy at work here, IMHO Clemens really shouldn't be kept either. He's far too inconsistent and even when he's selling out and ripping a homer he makes too many outs. He wouldn't be the worst 26th man, but we're better off moving on with younger players with options, especially with the Twins relative unwillingness to part with veteran players (and Clemens qualifies at this point) who are underperforming long past the point of them being playable. Whatever utility is gained by his ability to play multiple positions is cut by the fact that he's utterly unplayable against LHP. He is who he is, and the ceiling isn't high enough and the floor too low to carry him.

Let me be clear: I'm perfectly fine with moving on from Rocco. A change is probably necessary. But I don't have the reflexive hate for him that some people do. More importantly, I want to be accurate about where we assign blame, and what we rip people for.

Back to the ridiculous Sonny Gray garbage again? Sure, keep beating that dead horse. If you repeat nonsense enough times, people will always fall for it. The Earl Weaver comp isn't the insult you seem to think it is: Earl was one of the best managers of all-time, and an early adopter of analytics: it just wasn't called that back then. (also? Earl, much like Rocco was happy to steal bases with players that were capable of it. the ones who were slow and sucked at it were told to stay at their base...) They've become more aggressive in part because they have more players who are capable of running on the roster, or did you think Ty France & Carlos Correa were being held back solely by their manager? They struggle to hit with RISP because they struggle to hit. The vote on Rocco doesn't surprise me and it's not about fan apathy: people just blame Rocco the least for the mess that's on the field. Ownership sucks the most, then the front office for not figuring out a better to way to use the limited resources we had and making too many bad bets along with wiping out the entire bullpen, then the manager. Because at the end of the day, he can only work with what he has, and putting significant blame on Rocco for the bullpen taking a dump on a regular basis with waiver claims is a little silly.

Casilla developed into a pretty good defender at 2B; he just couldn't hit. Rivas was just a bad player, period. Walker might have been in the trade defense for hitting club...if he'd ever consistently hit. only had 2 seasons in a row as an above-average hitter in a 12 season career, which is why he played for 7 teams. Harris was never a league average hitter for the Twins, after 1 ok-ish season where he played like a decent utility player forced to start he sucked out loud. Is the issue that the Twins have traded defense for offense or more that they haven't been able to find a decent 2B who can stick for 5 seasons at the position period? Knoblauch. Dozier. That's basically it over the last 30 years for long-term solutions at the position. Punto never played even a half a season at 2B for the Twins (high of 73 games at the position), I mean Casilla played there for a number of seasons, but lord knows he wasn't a SOLUTION. Which is why if Keaschall can show progress defensively at 2B, locking him in there and rolling with it might be the smartest possible thing we could do...

The classic Twins Daily reaction to a prospect not being perfect in every aspect: let's move on to the next guy! If Keaschall can play average or better defense at 2B and hit anywhere near where's been in this truncated rookie season, he's a huge asset. Why would we want to move him to 1B now and still not have 2B solved? How about we just give Keaschall the opportunity to take 100 grounders a day in the offseason and get reps with his throwing, and see where he's at in a Spring Training where he's actually allowed to throw?

double post

I'm sure Detroit was thrilled. Tigers are a pretty good team. They also don't have anyone on their roster with more than 50 PA's that has a batting average over .280 and only 3 regulars that have a BA over .260. So I don't know if they're stringing together all that many innings where then send 10 to the plate without an out based on hits. But they do have a 7 regulars with an OBP over .325 and 8 with an OPS+ 105 or better, and have enjoyed decent health this season, so it's not really a shock that they're 7th in baseball in runs per game. The Twins have tried in the current era to go for those "crooked number" innings as a strategic pillar, and you've seen it with how they've deployed pinch hitters to try and capitalize (and they've been frequently pilloried for it too). Bottom line is the Twins simply don't have enough consistent hitters on this roster. Buxton, Keaschall, Jeffers, maybe Wallner (even when he's racking up K's he's drawing walks, but it's been a down season for him for sure), maybe Larnach, and maybe Martin. That's simply not enough. (I still have hope for Lewis as a hitter and player, but that OBP is not acceptable, especially at 3B) Part of how Detroit is having success is their lineup doesn't have tons of holes and their worst hitters are mostly playing SS or CF along with generally good health.