jmlease1

Because being a wonderful defender means his hitting will improve? Look, I hope everyone is right and he becomes at least an acceptable hitter, but the early returns should make people nervous. His defense made him worth taking a flier on, and it's possible that will be enough to get him up to MLB. As a mid-first round pick...why not? Maybe the struggles in Cedar Rapids was just long season challenges. Maybe it was the stress of having to move...again. Maybe it was just small sample size. But maybe he's not a good hitter once you give him a wooden bat and take him out of the Wake Forest bandbox. I hope I'm wrong. I'd love nothing better than for him to hit .280-.300, take some walks and pop a few doubles if/when someone hangs a breaking ball or grooves a fastball. Notably, Greg Gagne never hit below .270 in A-ball, was in AA at 20, and hit quite well for a SS in those days for 2 seasons at AAA before installing himself at SS in the Twin Cities.

Props to Shelton for recognizing that "best shape of his life" needs to be retired.

That's a real possibility. Just because someone is playing doesn't mean they're truly healthy, and you do see with many injuries that it takes a long time to fully trust in it again. While I don't expect Wallner to be "good" defensively, landing back to where he was would be very helpful

Zero chance Houston is playing SS for the Twins in 2027 unless disasters have happened injury-wise. He simply has not shown he can hit, and he might not be in AAA in 2027 if he doesn't show real improvement at the plate. I get that everyone loves his D (and it's excellent), but he'd make Kreidler look like a fine hitter in comparison right now. To me this isn't a make-or-break season for Lee in terms of his baseball career, but it will likely show more about what his path is. If he takes a big leap forward at the plate, he'll stay on the path to be a starting infielder, even if it's not at SS. If he takes a solid step forward defensively while making modest improvements at the plate, he'll stay on that starting path. If the D doesn't improve at SS and he doesn't take much of a step forward at the plate, then he likely starts shifting towards a utility role. It's not the sort of thing where he's off the roster next season or heading overseas to play if this season doesn't go great: he's still cheap and shown some useful skills. But whether he's seen as a potential starter or a bench guy going forward is probably going to be clearer after this season. I hope he hits and figures out how to lay off pitches that he can make contact with, but not do anything with.

Wallner's defense will be interesting. He was far worse last season in RF than he's ever been before, but it wasn't just one thing that tanked him. So was it just a bad year, hampered in part by injuries and maybe him dragging his struggles at the plate into the field? Is it correctable where he goes back to be below average (but acceptable) instead of just kinda bad? I'm not going to pretend he's a good defender, but if he can get back to what he was the previous 2 seasons, both offensively & defensively, the only people who will be complaining about Wallner are the ones who hate K's so much they'd rather cut him than play him. Modest improvements from several guys would be impactful, even if it doesn't move them up to being plus defensively. But some of it is going to be challenging based on the roster design.

When you lump Wallner in with Larnach you lose credibility. They're simply not the same player in terms of style or value. Wallner has been far more productive than Larnach. (this is like the Sano v Kepler debates, where people kept trying to argue that Kepler was as good a hitter as Sano entirely because they didn't like Sano's K's....)

If Houston's hit tool is an honorable mention then either our system is utterly bereft of quality hitters or we need to change how we rank & evaluate them. Because right now, even excusing him from needing any power production, he needs a lot of work. He looked totally overmatched in his brief stint at High A and his total production in the minors doesn't scream top hit tool.

I think there's a fair amount of opportunity for Keaschall to improve defensively at 2B with reps. Because of injuries, he really hasn't gotten a lot of time there, and he has the physical tools to be at least average. Playing Martin more in LF would help; he looked good there last season in a limited role and has the speed and range to get to a lot of balls. (Even if Outman's defense in CF has slipped, he should be better than he showed out last season in the corners, right?) Lee's range is a concern still: maybe he's gotten quicker and can position himself better? Might be asking too much. He does seem to make the plays he gets to at least, which is more than you can say about some. But it's not a strong defensive team. It could get stronger fairly quickly if they hadn't committed to Larnach and formed a weird attachment to Outman, but we are where we are. (moving Wallner/Bell to DH and letting a better fielder take their spot consistently, whether it's Clemens or Rodriguez would have been nice) Lewis looked like a good defender at 3B last season at least? It was good to see him not drag his problems with the bat into the field, at least. I'd be more willing to accept the poor defense if they made up for it with superior hitting. We'll see if enough of the bats are strong enough to live with their limitations. Seems questionable.

with this roster construction, though, you have 1 of 2 choices vs LHP. stick one of them in-between a couple of righties higher in the lineup and roll the dice that it doesn't kill a rally, or stack a couple of them at the bottom and take an inning off. Wallner might be the least bad choice of our LH hitting OF/1B/DH types, because Clemens is unplayable vs LHP, Larnach stinks at it too, and does anyone have faith in Outman? one of them seemingly has to start against LHP. Which ain't great.

Always funny to see professional athletes lie about their height.

I'm sure the Twins prefer him at 2B, and I'm aware he didn't play there last season. But I suspect he'd pick up the glove and run out there in a minute if asked, and he'd probably be credible. If Arcia is the backup infielder, it would be interesting to see whether they would have him slide in at 3B if Royce goes down or have Lee do it and move in Arcia at SS? neither is unreasonable, but I suspect it'll depend on how well lee is doing at SS... I'd rather have Martin playing more in LF: he's got the ability to be quite good there defensively and can add on the bases. Larnach can't add anything but hitting. I'd also prefer to make Outman superfluous, but I could see them playing him in LF and DHing Larnach in order to justify keeping him. While I think Outman won't hit once we're past ST...I could be wrong? If he hits, he could add in LF too...I just don't think he'll hit and he'll linger on the roster until June...not hitting.

It'll be interesting to see if they split the RH bats up at the top of the order? I could see them going Keaschall, Larnach, Buxton, Wallner, Lewis, Bell, Jeffers, Clemens/Outman, and Lee against RHP Again LHP maybe it's Keaschall, Martin, Buxton, Wallner, Lewis, Bell, Jeffers, Caratini, and Lee? I think Keaschall gets the first chance at leadoff, and I'm fine with that. Would rather have Buxton lower down where he's more likely to have opportunities with runners on base? Martin is a reasonable choice too, but I think they'll give Keaschall the first bite and they're still likely to give Larnach et al more ABs in the OF to let Martin take the job. It'll be interesting. I'm going to be very interested to see how aggressive this roster is on the bases; they have some guys with speed, but also some real plodders.

I don't think Arcia not playing 3B in ST means much: He can probably slide over there without needing much prep, but Brooks Lee can slide down there if needed, and Clemens can fill in there too if/when Lewis gets hurt. Sure, these are not terribly compelling options, but if lewis doesn't hit at 3B this season we have bigger issues than who back him up. I prefer Arcia to Gray by a lot. Gray looks like a rotten hitter and his defense doesn't impress me much either. Hopefully neither are used much... The Larnach deal still baffles me. He'd better hit, because the roster spot is almost as valuable as the $5M. I hope they're right about Outman. I don't think they are. I would love to be wrong, but I'd rather see Roden or Rodriguez in that spot.

LOL, you're using "losing" Paddack as support for why the rotation will top out at mediocre? I'd much rather have Abel in the rotation than Paddack! But again, the issue isn't what the most likely outcome will be for the rotation, it's whether or not the "at best" outcome will be for them. There are real talents in this rotation that have high upsides.

Clearly, you and I use "at best" differently. It might end up being a mediocre rotation, but if Abel kicks butt and Bradley is quality there's nothing mediocre about it as a unit. Ober didn't have a good season in 2025, but still put up a bWAR of 1.1 and had a Game Score of 50+ in 16 of his 26 starts. That's pretty comparable to most teams 5th best starter. It's still disappointing, and means he'll likely be moving on rather than keep paying him if he can't get it back, but it's not a disaster if guys like Abel & Bradley are able to fill his previous role.

I don't mind the team taking a flyer on vets like Urshela and Chafin to see if they have anything left. I just get worried when their "veteran-ness" gets them extra credit that their performance doesn't merit. Seems like the right decisions here: Chafin didn't have the velo and we have plenty of LHP options for the bullpen. Urshela wasn't hitting, is limited on defense, and is unlikely to find the fountain of youth during the season. If his bat was back, he might have been an interesting replacement for Clemens as a RH hitter, but if he's not hitting, he doesn't fit. I'm a little more surprised that Hendriks didn't stick, but the Twins were clearly looking at more than just his velo in making a call on him, and I'm fine with that. I'd much rather the Twins roll with the younger players at this point, so no complaints in letting these vets go. Maybe they'll catch on elsewhere, but all of them look a bit washed.

I'm not expecting a WS title either, but your projections on the rotation make little sense to me. There may be question marks about the rotation because Bradley & Abel are unproven and Ober's velocity is down, but the upside isn't "mediocre". Ryan, as noted, is an all-star. SWR gets knocked a lot, but is still actually quite young for his experience and has pitched well for the Twins: other teams would have loved to had a guy like him pitching as their 4th starter. Ober isn't a #2 starter any longer if he can't get his velocity back, but as a 4th or 5th starter he can still be additive (with the shortage of competent starting pitching in MLB, the bar for a 4th or 5th starter is lower than most people realize). But Bradley and Abel have very high upside. Both have the talent and the stuff to be playoff caliber starters, and if his control gets to where it was in ST, then Abel has ace written all over him. That puts the ceiling awfully high...not mediocre. Are they going to get there this season? That's less likely: between injuries, inexperience, and just luck expecting a 90th percentile result from everyone is silly. But even the floor for this team's rotation is pretty solid and the best case scenario has Abel looking like a young ace, paired with an experienced all-star in Ryan, with Bradley chewing up innings and being a playoff caliber starter as your 3rd guy. There's still more upside to be found in SWR as well, and while expecting Ober to rediscover his velo at this point may be pie in the sky, if the expectation is for him to eat innings and hold down the 5th spot....he's probably viable even if he mostly repeats 2025. Add in the depth we have in AAA and they actually have the ability to survive even more injuries than we've already suffered. I like the rotation. There's volatility in it with younger pitchers that aren't proven yet...but the upside is quite high. They might flunk out (I personally think there's people around here rooting for that, since the top prospects were picked under the Falvey regime) but they are at least worth watching and have real upside. Very glad Abel is getting his chance: he earned it.

Lot of big talk from the sidelines from someone with no real stake in it. Zoll just got the job he's probably been dreaming about since he got into baseball. If you got your dream job would you immediately tell the CEO/owner to go eff themselves if they didn't also instantly give you a vacation home and a new car? 🙄 Zoll's job is to improve the team, but his primary constituency on whether he's doing it "right" isn't the posters on Twins Daily (some of whom wouldn't give him credit for anything he did well anyways). The idea that subordinates generally get rewarded for telling off their new boss is Hollywood fantasyland. They're much more likely to clean house. But regardless, there's no evidence that Zoll was just a flunky/yes-man to Falvey who slavishly went along with everything Falvey suggested...or even that he's doing the same thing with Tom Pohlad. We barely know anything about what Zoll really is as the head of baseball ops for the Twins.

I'm not happy with the roster either, but there's zero evidence that Zoll has his job because he was nothing but a yes-man for Falvey. The people expecting an immediate and radical shift in strategy and team-building when Falvey left the building (especially considering how late in the game it was) have been out to lunch.

zero evidence for this. your "feel for things" seems to be "I hate Derek Falvey, so I'll make up stuff to denigrate him". Clearly what minimal honeymoon period may have existed for Zoll has ended...

He's hugely talented. If he figures out how to be selectively aggressive in attacking pitches he can handle earlier in the count, rather than trying to wait for the ideal pitch to swing at, then I think he can Be A Guy. He'll be additive on the bases and in the field too, so this isn't an Ed Julien case where you're just hoping the bat plays enough that you have to slot him in somewhere: he's a legit CF and will be an asset in whatever OF spot he slots into. Plenty of arm to play RF, plenty of range to play LF, enough speed and arm to be a good CF. He makes the retention of Larnach look like a poor use of resources. Is he unproven in MLB? Sure is. How does he pass that "test" without actually getting to play? Roster spots have value too, and the twins have not managed theirs well this season. With all the OF depth they have in AAA they should have been looking to move off Larnach for a roster spot and put those resources to the bullpen. Between Rodriguez, Roden, Gonzalez, and Jenkins they have more than enough guys who warrant extended looks in MLB to fill corner OF spots, and moving on from Larnach unblocks a roster spot where you can slide Wallner in at times (and Bell) to give playing time to options with more upside and/or more balance as players. (I'm hardly a Kody Clemens stan, but he's a useful defender at multiple spots and Larnach is increasingly not an option at any spot.) Free Rodriguez!

The positional flexibility helps, but he looks like an auto-out right now. He's got the best glove between him, Arcia, and Gray for sure, but he's also got the worst bat. Unless the twins just don't think Arcia can play SS any longer, I'd think he's the pick over Kreidler, who can't hit his weight.

I hope all of this is right, but I'm currently very skeptical of Houston's bat. The glove is absolutely legit, but he really needs to show some progress at the plate because it's incredibly difficult to be a positive player if you're a zero offensively, even at SS. Maybe Houston's glove is so good that it'll be ok, but it takes a lot to get into Belanger class (and even Bambi had an OPS+ of 90 or better 3 times...which unsurprisingly were 3 of his 5 best seasons). I would love to be wrong. Would have no problems with drafting Justin Lebron at this point. He certainly looks like he could be A Guy.

Quick is a fun prospect and there's a ton to like in him. Can he stay healthy and turn that stuff into production? I'm looking forward to finding out. I suspect the Twins will be a little careful with his workload this season since he's pitched so little overall in his college career, and that might hold him back from winning an award...but that kind of stuff could be really dominant in A-ball even if he still needs refinement in his command & control. Hill did very well in his first season of pro ball, but he definitely has a fair bit to work on. Those walk rates just aren't sustainable for long. If he shows real progress on filling up the strike zone, though, he could crack that top 100. He's got all the things prospect evaluators look for: height, stuff, and he's still very young. Will he make AA at 20? Not with a BB/9 over 5...

Gray looks like a hell no to me. Not much of a hitter, LH bat, which we really don't need, and he's been unimpressive at best in the field. (including making the sort of play that if Brooks Lee had done it you'd have people around here calling for him to be cut) Probably Arcia, if the Twins are comfortable with his defense at SS. Kreidler if they don't think Arcia can hold up at SS as anything more than an emergency guy, because we need to have an actual SS. Kreidler can also play CF in a pinch, which has value, but he might be a zero on offense. I'd be happier with any of them if I knew that Brooks Lee had actually improved his range (not just a "best shape of his life" spring training tale) and was going to be a league average or better hitter this season, but Arcia seems like a fairly reasonable backup who won't be a disaster if he has to start for a few weeks.