jmlease1

It's hard to see any of these as real trade candidates; the most likely are Jax & Duran, because a) relievers are the most fungible, and b) they're getting more expensive. But dealing either of them right now would almost look like surrender, because it would weaken the bullpen so severely it would be hard to look at it as a positive or having the capacity to be a weapon in the playoffs. Lee has significant upside still, is young and cheap, but after an injury and unimpressive debut, it's not exactly selling high. Wallner would be selling high, but would leave the team really needing Rodriguez to be ready immediately or the offense would be missing a critical element. Ober is a rotation stalwart; you'd have to be very convinced that Festa, Matthews, Lewis, etc are ready to perform at his level right soon or again...surrender. I'm sure some people want to deal Wallner because they can't stand his Ks and would rather dump him, but he's been incredibly productive and I want his LH thump in the lineup.

because he's turning 35 this month and has never really had a particularly standout season his whole career? He was pretty good this year, He was decent in 2015 in limited innings. But his career ERA+ is 101, his career FIP is 4.24. he gets Ks, but also gives up hits & walks: his WHIP this year of 1.261 is right in line with his career WHIP of 1.296. he's just not all that dominant and hasn't shown a high ceiling. he's been fine? But not really much better than say, Staumont, who no one will really miss. he's not bad or anything, just hard to see him as being worth tendering. I'd rather see Varland in that spot.

Max Kepler absolutely owning Bauer in 2019 is a truly delightful Twins memory. Always liked Kepler. His entire second half in 2023 could merit a place on this list, as he was great down the stretch and carried the team in August. It's too bad he wasn't able to find a way to consistently hit for power; his 2019 and 2023 seasons stick out pretty clearly as the years where he was able to mash. The rest of the time he was vaguely disappointing on offense while usually providing quality to excellent defense. The Cuddyer comp isn't that far off; Max was a much better defender (Max had much better range, Cuddy had a better arm, but not by a ton), but Cuddy was a more consistent offensive player. I think a lot of us thought we could expect Cuddyer's power production out of Kepler, especially after he had the big year in 2019, but he couldn't do it. Injuries in the past few seasons certainly played a part. A good but not great player, but you need guys like Kepler on your roster to support your stars, and if a couple of them have peak years at the same time maybe you can win a title. Someone will offer Kepler a contract, but I'm betting it's a 1-2 year deal to platoon in the corners, maybe DH a little against RHP.

It's an interesting proposal, and as much as I like Keaschall he makes a certain amount of sense to be the centerpiece of a deal like this because that's an area of strength for the Twins, so moving him doesn't blow a hole in another area (like dealing our top relievers would), and we also know that other teams were calling on him this year at the deadline, so it's not just us thinking he's a prize. Rushing would be a heck of a fit with Jeffers, so it makes sense to look at him too. we've also heard that there's some agreement around the league that vazquez is still seen as being valuable and it wouldn't have to be something where we have to send a significant prospect or eat a big chunk of his salary to move him...which has a lot of value with our self-imposed payroll limitations. adding Rushing while moving Vazquez makes it a lot easier to add the kind of LH reliever this team needs while strengthening the catcher position for years to come. Twins would have to add something to Keaschall to get it done, but it's an intriguing idea and I appreciate the creativity. It's also not living in fantasy land: there's real reason to believe that the Dodgers could be interested in a deal like this. Hard to make it happen, but I like the fact that this idea is thinking carefully about both sides of the trade equation.

I'm curious: do we know that the Twins count the Dobnak contract against their self-imposed payroll limitations? Do they only count the 26-man roster, do they count the whole 40-man roster, are they counting the signing bonuses for the drafted players against the MLB "payroll"? Just how cheap are the cheap-ass Pohlads? :P I'm not as down on Miranda as a potential 1B than others: he seems like a guy who can improve defensively there, and Julien is another player who could (maybe should?) get time there, but there does seem to be some need for another bat on this roster. not sure we'll get one without dealing Castro, Vazquez, or Paddack. Buxton and Correa aren't getting traded, no matter how much some people want their contracts and injury histories shot into the sun. I would hope after struggling mightily to find reliable top of the rotation starting pitching we wouldn't move Pablo, who is everything we could ask for in a staff ace: talented, effective, smart AF, great leader & mentor, seems like an incredibly nice dude and good person, and with a reasonable contract for someone of that ability. I would move either Paddack or Vazquez (or both), if I thought the ownership wouldn't just pocket the savings. (My trust levels are low after the recent debacles and the Pohlads selling the team make me even more skeptical that they wouldn't be willing to grab an additional $5-10M in savings to line their pockets if it looks like the sale isn't going to get completed quickly). Paddack is acceptable as a 5th starter, but there's very limited upside, IMHO. With SWR having done well in 2024, and Festa, Matthews, Lewis, Raya, Adams, Morris, and Nowlin waiting in the wings (not to mention CJ Culpepper and Ohl lurking a little further back) I'm more willing to roll with the young guys. Vazquez is still a quality defender, but he's probably no longer a superior one and since age is undefeated he could slip fast. he's also unlikely at 34 to have any kind of a renaissance as a hitter: he's got 2+ seasons now of being this kind of bad hitter (low average, low walks, no power). the defense is good enough to be a reasonable backup, especially with so few catchers who can hit in MLB, but if someone will take him I would move on this. If we moved both Paddack and Vazquez (and don't have to count Dobnak's contract against the overall self-imposed payroll limit, that would free up $15M to use on a LH reliever and a 1B/OF/DH bat. Might put us in a pretty solid position, if we don't botch the FA signings.

I think it's Stewart & Topa, let Tonkin go. Stewart & Topa both have the same problem: injury. Which is why they're cheap. But with Sands and Alcala having good seasons last year the Twins are in a position where they don't need to rely on having both of these guys all season for high leverage roles. They'd be more like veteran depth where if they're healthy can contribute to an excellent bullpen and if they're not they're on the IL and we move along. Both have higher upside than Tonkin, but are higher risk due to injury. Tonkin is decent, but has never shown that he should be counted on to be anything more than a middle relief option. he's Just Another Guy as a reliever, one of many that float around the league for 5-10 years and one year put up at ERA+ of 115 and the next might be down around 90. he's also going to be 35 for the 2025 season. Pass and as many have said: put the money saved towards the best LH reliever they can find, so we're not totally reliant on Funderburk, Moran, Headrick, etc I like a bullpen of Duran, Jax, Sands, Alcala, Stewart/Topa (if I presume only one will be healthy at a time, I'm less likely to be disappointed), Varland, LHP To Be Named Later, and Funderburk. If Funderburk starts the season in AAA because both Stewart and Topa start the season healthy and ready? Oh, darn.

Ooof, that's a tough one. Having to retire at 27 I'm sure is not what he wanted to do, but the grind of constant rehab from injury I'm sure took a lot of the fun and enjoyment out of playing baseball for him. I'm bummed. I loved his swing, and he seemed like a decent guy. Having seen what was possible the rare times he was truly healthy...I couldn't quit on him. I'm guessing this last season where things got derailed again with now a back injury made him ready to walk away. Wonder if the Twins communicated that they didn't intend to tender him and he chose this rather than try and start over somewhere else? Doesn't seem crazy. Good luck, AK. Sometimes injuries win.

Brooks Lee doesn't project as a 1B/DH. He was a quality defender last season for the Twins, holding his own at SS and looking quite good at 3B (arguably his best position). but maybe let's not panic too much about Brooks Lee's sprint speed at 23 coming off a back injury in only 50 MLB games. the running game is much more complicated than sprint speed anyways: Castro is pretty fast, but wasn't actually a very good base stealer. Buxton is excellent at it, but the team is (not unreasonably) reluctant to let him run much. Julien is a fine base stealer, but hasn't really gotten the green light. As a team, the Twins have chosen not to explore this, maybe because they think everyone is too slow, maybe because they're risk-adverse on it. But there's opportunity for them to do more, regardless of just sprint speed.

I suspect that in the interest of resting Buxton etc if Emma were the "4th" OF he'd be getting plenty of playing time. Wallner, Larnach, and Buxton would see more time at DH, Castro would play less in the OF, etc. Performance and injuries have a way of shaking these things out fairly well. If the Twins don't sign a veteran, there will be an opportunity for Rodriguez to push his way onto this roster. I'm good with it.

Yeah, not a hard call at all on tendering. Must offer him arbitration. Must. sadly, we shouldn't be having a serious conversation about whether or not to trade him with multiple years of team control and elite stuff in his arsenal, but the self-imposed payroll limits of the Pohlad Family somehow makes it a legit question. Which is horrible. He's an excellent pitcher and while 2024 wasn't as dominant as he's been in the previous 2 seasons, it's much more likely that's a result of the small sample sizes relievers often deal with rather than any serious decline. The bullpen would be substantially weaker without him and while Jax is more than capable of being the "closer", we're much better off having 2 of these guys

I'm baffled that people would be jumping on selling off Wallner who has been one of the Twins best players the last two seasons. Despite the bad start he finished the season with a 149 OPS+ and was one of the only LH bats we had that could be counted on to consistently punish RHP. He's been an excellent corner OF, and i can't support the idea of trading him because people don't like the style.

huge fan of Emma. He can absolutely hit and the ball explodes off his bat. It will be interesting to see if he needs to add more aggression to his approach at the plate to keep from ending up in too many 2-strike counts and make sure he's giving his bat the best opportunity to play up, but he's oozing talent. Assuming Carlos Santana is not back (due to self-imposed payroll limitations) and they still have enough confidence in Julien to roll with him at the start of the season, there's really only 1-2 spots for position players available. One would have to be for a backup CF; would the Twins be ready to roll with Emma in that spot, or will they prefer to have someone with more defensive chops? Helman could get a chance, Kiersey could be seen as an option (and if they roll with Kiersey, it's hard to see them keeping another LH OF bat out the gate, especially one with options and little time in AAA). Austin Martin was disappointing defensively and unimpressive at the plate, but works from the right side of the plate and does bring some speed and experience. I suspect Emma starts in AAA, but I'd love for him to crush in spring training and force the Twins hand. he's also never had trouble facing LHP, so maybe they'll be less scared of the platoon disadvantage in his case. Health is the only thing potentially holding him back, and my god I am sick of talking about health in relation to our best prospects!

It's the toughest question for me. The payroll side of things shouldn't be an issue for a player likely to make less than $2M...but with the Twins self-imposed limitations, it is. The difference between carrying Kirilloff and not, could mean signing the LH reliever they need. But the bigger issue is simply Kirilloff's inability to stay healthy. It's really hard to count on him as a player, and when he picks up a knock it's tended to show in his hitting. 2023 Kirilloff was actually pretty dang good as a hitter (less so defensively) and if we could get that version of him for 120 games, I'd be more enthusiastic. But it's so hard to know what we're going to get with him, and his struggles with LH pitchers limits him as well. I think the answer is yes, tender him. I think there's still enough of an asset in there that we shouldn't let him go for nothing...but I can't argue too hard with the people who think it's just not worth it any longer and that he's a sunk cost at this point who is never going to be both healthy and successful enough to keep giving a roster spot to.

That's my point, though: he's only played 6 games at AA and hasn't even turned 20 yet. Expecting him to make a big impact in MLB in 2025 might be premature. I think his ceiling is immense and I'm happy to be aggressive in promoting him (as the Twins have been so far), but he's much more likely to be an impact bat in 2026 in MLB, which would still be in his age-21 season. 21! That would be right in line with Hall of Famer Joe Mauer's development. Kala'i Rosario could be a more impactful bat in 2025. It's not a knock on Jenkins at all, I think he's a spectacular prospect and will have more impact in the end than any other player currently in our minor league system. I'm just trying to be a little more realistic about when that's likely to start. And if he's in MLB at 21, then it's an unqualified success. I love Keaschall as well, but I expect him to be more advanced having played 3 years of college. His power was down a little in AA, and I expect the elbow injury had a fair bit to do with that. I expect great things from him the way he looked last season, but it might take a little time for him to get back in the groove, and while he may be ready for spring training...he may not. Recovery is what it is. If he hadn't had a significant surgery, I'd be more optimistic about his chances to have a big impact in 2025. The following season seems more likely to me? It will also be very interesting to see where he lands for a position: the elbow limited his time in the field last season for sure. But he's shown interesting positional flexibility; could he be a "10th starter" in 2026 who hits the snot out of the ball wherever he plays and puts up solid defense at 3-4 positions? Oh darn...

First off, Walker Jenkins did not continue to hit for power when he got to AA, nor did he handle advanced pitching particularly well. He's an awesome prospect and I'm not the least bit concerned about him, but he put up an OPS of .450 in AA with 1 XBH. He also still still hasn't turned 20 yet, so again: not worried. But I don't expect him to have a big impact on the Twins in 2025: that's going to happen in 2026. He's going to be back in AA this season, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's in AAA at midseason. But I suspect he's going to need a little time and work in the high minors to adjust to better pitching. Hardly a crime, considering he's going to be 20. Keaschall might be an option, but I'm a little more skeptical until we see how he's recovered from the TJ. Yes, it's not as significant for hitters as it is for pitchers, but it's still a substantial surgery. Without the injury, I would have said we'd see him for sure in 2025, but he may have been set back a little because of it. Still a great prospect. Emma is the one who should be the impact player in 2025. If he can stay healthy. He looks 100% ready to tackle advanced pitching, has a vicious swing and a disciplined approach, is a solid fielder and we could use his LH power bat. Kepler will be gone and while I would expect Wallner and Larnach to get the first shot in the corners, Larnach's injury history suggests that Emma will get a chance to come in and prove his quality. I'm excited to see what he does.

They also liked the "closer" role as it evolved into 1 inning, 9th inning guy, in a save situation because it maximized their value on the market, because teams were substantially over-paying players for the save stat. So a lot of that also had to do with money. But the league as a whole has (correctly) gotten away from treating their "closer" as a 9th inning save guy to going back to the classic fireman role where the best reliever slams the door on the heart on the other teams lineup regardless of whether it's the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning. Which actually isn't a new strategy at all, more a repudiation of what developed in the 90's.

It will be very interesting to see how Moran pitches when he's back on the mound and when he actually starts really throwing. not unusual for pitchers to throw even harder after the procedure, but the real (only?) issue for Moran is whether he can locate his stuff consistently enough. Love his changeup. he's always going to walk some guys, but he also has the stuff where it doesn't necessarily matter that much if he puts a couple of guys on from time to time. A reliever can be a bit wilder than a starter and still be very effective when they have K-rates like Moran. Really hope he comes back in good shape.

Caleb Ferguson interests me; I'm not too worried about his "down" season this year. the peripherals still look solid, and it's possible that throwing his cutter more will increase his effectiveness. twins have shown a solid ability to boost pitchers by tweaking their pitch mix. I hope other teams are scared off by the "down" season so we can afford him. he's still under 30 and doesn't get killed by RH, so he seems like a good fit, even if he's not historically pure death to all LH hitters. I'd be in on Bummer too, but I suspect Atl picks up the option. be great if they don't! Moran and Prielipp are intriguing options to me for internal choices, and maybe Funderburk can get it together, but I'm hoping the Twins have signed at least one more proven LHP for the bullpen. It's easily their biggest need that's not needing to be in fantasy land with their self-imposed payroll limitations.

I'm disappointed to not see de Andrade too, but he may have had a setback, it's hard to know. The other thing too is SS innings are usually at a premium in the AFL, so maybe it's been hard to fit him in as well? (the Twins don't have total control of the team) Rodriguez is probably still getting well; he wasn't fully healthy at the end of the year and I'm sure they want to make certain he's right before putting him back on the field. Walker Jenkins is just coming out of A-ball and is super young, I'm sure they didn't feel the need to get him more ABs since he finished the season doing ok, even if he struggled in his cup of coffee at AA. Keaschall is still rehabbing from surgery, no way is he ready for the AFL. Rosario is doing very well, and it's good to see him making plenty of contact. He's got a nice opportunity in front of him if he can take the next step. ben Ross is not doing so well. He needed to come to the AFL and show he could hit, and so far he's not getting there. He's got a nice glove, but hasn't hit above A-ball and that trend is continuing in the AFL (and the pitching is generally a bit below AA standard). Not boding well for him. It's still a small sample, but...

I think the trades grades here are about right. I might have given the Twins a better grade on the Dodgers deal if Margot hadn't been so poor but he really crapped out and played too much. Noah Miller is an excellent defensively player, but he can't hit. He's never put up an OPS over .700 in his professional career: not in rookie ball, nowhere. Yes, he's been a younger player at every stop, but he's also not shown any real improvement as a hitter as he's moved up. He's got no power, still strikes out plenty, and I'm pretty confident that his ability to draw walks will decline as he faces more advanced pitchers that realize that he can't really hurt him if they pitch in the zone. It's too bad, because his glove is excellent. But if he doesn't improve as a hitter soon, he's got little future even with that glove. (even someone like Andrelton Simmons, who we think of as an all-glove, no-hit player could at least put up an OPS over .700 in the minors) Doncon had some injury issues this year, but overall had a successful season, earning promotion to High A and holding his own there. There's more upside there, making it a solid if unspectacular trade for the Twins, but the Margot implosion drags it back down.

I think you picked the wrong Erickson: Scott Erickson should have made this list. Not his fault the team didn't call him up until July of 1990 (guess they "needed" to see more innings from the immortal Roy Smith and David West), but he was in AA. But Scott dropped an ERA+ of 145 in the second half as a rookie coming up without pitching an inning in AAA and previewed his 1991 that helped win a title. Roger threw a ton of innings (it was the 70's after all), but was below league average.

If you're just judging on their official "rookie" season, then Teufel wins out fairly handily. Knoblauch may have been RoY, but Tuefel was 4th in his season and had a solidly better OPS+ and bWAR. Knoblauch had a far, far better career but this exercise was based just on their official rookie campaign, so Teufel is a fair pick.

Anyone who gets injured as much as Gil and leads the league in walks might not really be a contender for "staff ace". (He also was wild and not particularly good in the ALCS and the supposed ROY wasn't good enough to pitch in the ALDS) He was a 19 year-old pitcher who had never thrown above rookie ball and had already experienced a significant injury. Sometimes lottery tickets come home. But it still took another 6 seasons for Gil to make the NY rotation, and more injuries were in there. If you're getting too upset over this one, you're basically saying you can never trade any prospect with upside for anything. Cave gave us a couple of solid seasons as a backup (at a time when we needed a player like him in the OF). This kind of deal happens all the time and usually the prospect flames out. We've been on the other side of this kind of deal too. Not really rooting for either of these reality-warping teams to win, but I guess I'd rather have Ohtani get a title if forced to pick. because the only time I've ever even mildly favored the Yankees was when they were playing Atlanta in 1996. And I sort of regret it.

I'm a fan of Festa, and I think he's got a chance to be a really good starter. If he manages to be around league average on his BB/9 that will put him in a position for success. I'm a big fan of his changeup; yes it got hit hard at times in 2024, but you look at the difference between the SLG and the xSLG and it suggests he may have been a little unlucky there. the pitch definitely is one to watch. He's got some things to work on in order to thrive in MLB, but he didn't sink in his first taste of MLB. I see him as the first call-up from AAA this year (assuming Ryan and Paddack are both ready by Spring training), and if they make a move in the MLB rotation he could be back from the jump. I wouldn't be mad if Festa spent a few weeks in AAA working on some things to improve his success in MLB, but if they move off Paddack, I think he's the next man up.

I do think that the FO doesn't see putting big money into relievers as being a good investment, and I tend to agree with them.