jmlease1

because their time with the twins overlapped significantly as international signings? moreover, people (around here at least) fairly consistently compared their contributions to the twins from 2016-2022, especially in like 2021, where people gave Kepler a pass at the plate and complained about Sano all the time. Kepler's an interesting case, where the Twins got a ton of value out of him and he had a fine career here, but the 2019 season was such an outlier that it was easy to keep wondering why that never happened again, or to expect that he could do it over. Kepler also always looked great out there: big, strong, fast with a lovely looking swing. He ended up being a solid starter, but it often felt like there was more to unlock that simply never happened. Sano's biggest problem was the injuries. (The decision to try and move him to the OF in 2016 was also remarkably dumb) Add that to his already not great defense and suddenly he's stuck at DH in order to just get on the field, but even then, the leg injuries took his base out from under him. (I'm a little amazed he managed to hit as much as he did in 2021). The weight problems didn't help, I'm sure. The decision to try him in RF after never playing there in order to get more time for Plouffe, Escobar, and Nunez (immortals all) at 3B? If ever there was a developmental mistake it was that one. I think if sano's seasons had been in a different order, people would feel better about him. They're probably wouldn't treat his injuries as personal failings as much if he'd had 2015, 2017, and 2019 all in a row and then had the major knee injury and a fall off. but who knows. The fact that he struck out a lot will always stick in the craw for some Twins fans.

it's less of a spread if you're only thinking about Gallo circa 2017-2021, rather than the version we've seen over the last couple of seasons. Gallo was a good player in Texas! And while Soto as a hitter is an insanely high ceiling, the fact that Soto is an increasingly poor defender, what you're really talking about for a range is "quality starter/borderline all-star" to "all-star to MVP". It's very optimistic, in that projecting any player who hasn't made it to MLB yet to be an all-star is terribly optimistic...but the talent is there. he's been a consensus top 100 prospect 2 years in a row, and should be again this season. I think putting even a top end comp to Soto is going too far, just because Soto has been so insanely good as a hitter immediately. Comping Emma to Soto or Votto (even if there are some stylistic and approach similarities) is comping against Hall of Fame level players. nice to dream about, but exceptionally unlikely. But a young Gallo or Adam Dunn + defense is a) not a bad comp, b) would be a very valuable player, and c) not ridiculous.

Tonkin does seem like a DFA choice if they need a spot. is Headrick on the 40-man right now? I'd drop him before Canterino. Helman is definitely a guy that could slide through waivers. Gasper's already passed through Rule 5, so seems like a fit too. feels like there's some room to work without too much trouble.

It's depressing that some of the best news we've had all off-season is that management chiseled $2.5M out of the players in avoiding arbitration. Blegh. I guess it's better than needing to dump salary, but yuck. I hope new ownership a) does better in raising revenue without screwing fans on tickets, b) invests in the team that increases so nicely in value year over year whether they're good or not, and c) gives a damn about the on-field product at least as much as their cash flow. Pohlads can go count their dollars in their mansions and stay out of baseball.

We'll see on Julien. He had a bad enough season in 2024 that it's more than fair to be skeptical...but was also good enough in 2023 that it's a little crazy to consign him to the dust heap already. Hard to know whether or not Lewis will be a good fit at 2B, but he does have the glove to be good there, and it might suit his arm better. But Brooks Lee has looked just fine defensively at either 2B or 3B (he was a more than acceptable backup to Correa at SS too) and his MiLB history shows a player who makes good contact, gets on base, and has some pop in his bat. It's a small sample, but he out-hit Eeles in AAA last season. If he's healthy, I expect him to hit and defend at whatever infield spot the Twins land him on. I like Keaschall a lot, but expecting a player coming off a significant injury who has never played above AA to be ready for MLB is...optimistic. he didn't exactly play much 2B last season and was limited in the field because of the elbow injury. I would suggest he's not a better defender at 2B than Lee at this point, but we'll see how he does once he's healthy and can throw again.

the story of carl Pohlad and the transit system in the Twin Cities is your basic vulture capitalism. Exploit an asset as much as possible for your own gains and then dump it on someone else (preferably at a profit). Could this be the story of the Twins? (I'm jumping ahead) This is very good stuff, most people probably don't know the history. While I knew the banking sagas, I didn't know the transit tale and how Carl helped screw over public transportation in the TC. (Not that there weren't many culpable bastards...)

why is this the worst division in baseball? Sure looks like the AL West to me. Oakland still stinks, the Angels horribly run and a mess, Texas is counting on a bunch of ancient pitchers and has real lineup problems, and who exactly fears Seattle? heck, even Houston ain't what they used to be. yes, CWS are awful, almost certainly the worst team in baseball again, but otherwise the AL Central looks much more competitive than the AL West.

I'm a little baffled by the push for Eeles I keep seeing on this board. is it just because he's so new to the organization that he hasn't had much chance to struggle yet? is it because he's short and doesn't fit a mold? is it because he doesn't strike out all that much? I mean, people are ready to throw Ed Julien (who put up 2.6 bWAR as a rookie with a 130 OPS+) out with the trash after last season and seem to want the Twins to hand 2B to Payton Eeles who has 156 games as a professional, with nearly 1/3 in the Independent leagues. he's a great story, potentially a great find, and if he were the starting 2B for the Twins today you'd have to put their 2B 5th in the AL Central, because betting on a player to go from the Independent leagues to starting MLB 2B is pretty wild.

it'd be a LOT more athleticism? Dunn was a notably terrible defensively player basically everywhere; dude had a terrific season at the plate in 2009 (144 OPS+? yes, please!) and gave it all back in the field and then some. would have done less damage if he's just been a DH his whole career. Emma is a much better OF. But I could live with Dunn's offensive production and quality defense. He's a fascinating case. Wonder if the electronic strike zone will make a difference for a player like him, with tremendous discipline and a very strong understanding of the zone. You have to wonder if the times Ed Julien got rung up on pitches that were not strikes messed him up the most...

Tied for 2nd is basically 3rd? Right now I think it's very fair to have KC on top and the Twins and Guardians battling for #2. (and is it a weak division, or have we just been trained to think of it as weak? CWS might be the worst team in MLB, but no one else is a pushover) why do you think our RP won't be well-rated? there's depth and top-end quality in our bullpen. The only thing we don't have is a proven LH specialist (which may be overrated anyways). It's a borderline playoff team because they were borderline last season, haven't lost much, and have top end talent (Correa, Buxton, Lopez) high ceiling younger players (Lewis, Lee) and quality throughout the squad (Wallner, Jeffers, Ryan, Ober, Duran, Jax) that would slot in for most other playoff teams. If they end up 2nd or 3rd in the division at almost every position and the division is good...that's a team without a lot of weaknesses.

Seems like a fairly reasonable assessment of where the Division stands for infielders right now. A few things that popped out for me: 1B is pretty rotten in the AL central right now: it's hard not to pick Cleveland #1 there, but they're also hoping for Santana to hold off Father Time for yet another year. No one is really covering themselves in glory here 2B shows the impact that a quality offseason move can make: India is an excellent fit for KC. Twins could do quite well here, but it's unproven 3B drops off fast after Ramirez, even if you believe in Royce (which I do). And after Royce it could get quite ugly for the rest of the division SS should be deeper, but holy cow Baez has utterly imploded in Detroit. Oof. 3 more years of that contract is pretty gross. C is the deepest position in the AL central infield. Didn't have that on my bingo card, but sure looks accurate, especially if you like Teel (which I do) for CWS. It'll be very interesting to see where we think of the Twins at 2B and 3B at the end of the season. depending on health & development, we could be ecstatic...or searching for answers.

8 of the 14 you've listed here made the MLB debut at 22 or later. Emma turns 22 at the end of Feb. Seems to be doing fine, especially for a player with injury histories. I'd be more concerned about him burning an option year if he'd done things like repeat levels on his way up. Those option years are very useful for players when they hit a bump or three acclimating to MLB (Ed Julien, are your ears burning?) but you'd hope that a high-level prospect like Emma isn't going to need to bounce up and down in 3+ seasons. And not for nothing, but Walker Jenkins is actually moving through the system faster than Joe Mauer did at a similar age, and could easily debut in 2026 in his age 21 season, just like Mauer did. Since Mauer's easily one of the most successful draft picks and players in Twins history, it seems like a good path to be on. I might start to worry if he struggles against AA pitching this season; AA is where prospects can easily hit a wall for the first time.

You're basically the only person in the world who is this down on Walker Jenkins. Why are you claiming that Emma is "advancing very slowly through the MiLB system"? He's never repeated a level in his professional career and will be in AAA at 22. Is that really slow? For a player with some injury issues, it seems just fine.

Look, it would be a good thing if the Twins don't have to do salary dumps of any additional players like Castro, Paddack, or Vazquez just to fit under ownership's self-imposed payroll limits (which are at least partially due to their own poor business decisions, development, and lack of investment in the team). It would be nice to not get one last middle finger from ownership on their way out the door, but I won't bet on it until we get to Opening Day. The front office aren't reliable messengers on this one, because they're just out fronting for ownership and doing what they need to in order to keep their jobs. This is neither worthy of any excitement, nor renewed predictions of doom, really. Words mean nothing right now, actions speak far louder. Reality is the Twins have had a poor off-season where they've done next to nothing to improve the team. It's almost entirely because of ownership's self-imposed payroll limits. That said, there's still plenty of talent on this roster and an average level of health will make this team competitive with the status quo. But after the terrible optics of the end of last season, fan understandably want to see more than just status quo.

Kind of a reach to suggest that Morneau would have been the secret ingredient to better results in 2017 coming off a terrible season at age 35, especially since what we were short in 2017 was pitching. Blaming Falvey for that one in his first season as POBO seems silly. Would we really have been happy as Twins fans to have Morneau back and see him struggle mightily in a depressing final season (which is the most likely scenario)?

Huge bummer about Morneau and it is a huge what if. He was absolutely crushing the ball and was really locked in. I'm glad that it doesn't seem to eat Morneau up these days. That 2010 team was close, and just needed a couple of things to line up better and they might have made a run at a title. Morneau not getting hurt on a fluke play. Perkins not being ready yet (next season he'd fully made the transition to the bullpen and was a real weapon), Kubel and Blackburn having fallen off the cliff from the previous year and Span playing poorly after 2 good seasons. The stars just didn't quite align for that squad, who were still very good and plenty of talent, but didn't have everyone healthy and enough guys peaking at the same time.

well, I don't think the Pohlads expected this to get done by Opening day, and I think you're right to still be skeptical that it will. I'm sure the payroll cuts were entirely about ensuring that the Pohlads didn't have to cash-flow anything into the franchise on their way out the door.

well, I don't think the Pohlads expected this to get done by Opening day, and I think you're right to still be skeptical that it will. I'm sure the payroll cuts were entirely about ensuring that the Pohlads didn't have to cash-flow anything into the franchise on their way out the door.

I can't not be excited about walker jenkins, who looks amazing. Should be fun to see him destroy AA pitching and roll up to Saint Paul. I do think it'll be a fun storyline to see where Eeles and McCusker end up. Both are unheralded players with plenty of doubters. But both are guys who took advantage of their opportunities and have moved forward and are making people take them seriously. They're great, fun stories and I'm rooting for them to keep producing. A starting pitcher breakout will be fun to look for, I think. we have a lot of depth in AA and AAA with starters that might be someone...or might not. It wouldn't surprise me at all if one of them comes into the season with a few more mph on their fastball, or better feel for the change or something that leads to more dominant performances. Cory Lewis is a guy I like a lot, and if he's healthy from the jump this year I think he's going to impress in saint Paul.

I can understand the fear. While I agree that it's highly unlikely to happen, for various reasons (the fact that we have a great stadium, there's a long term lease in place, the size of the Twin Cities market and potential reach into Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, the sizeable corporate base here, limited attractive alternatives, etc) anyone that lived through the contraction debacle is going to have a concern. Nashville, Charlotte, or Portland aren't unreasonable alternatives and have floated out there before. But it's still very unlikely. John Fisher had to really run things into the ground in Oakland in order to force his way out, and it took a long time of absolute trash product in an almost impossibly bad stadium with the Giants across the Bay to get him to Vegas. the fear is overblown IMHO, but I understand the reaction.

I'm definitely in the "can't happen soon enough" camp. I'm tired of the Pohlads as owners: for the most part they don't really care about baseball all that much, and while it might be a family business, for the most part the family haven't been all that active in running the club. (for the most part that's probably been good (having fewer nepotism hires), but it also means they're not as invested in its success) While they're not the worst owners around, they also haven't been particularly good. They were successful in leveraging a new stadium out of the public coffers, and while it's a great stadium and certainly improves the viewing experience over the Dome (which simply sucked for baseball outside of the noise for playoff games), ownership received more benefit from that than anyone. It's been more than 30 years since we won a title, and our playoff record since '91 became a national punchline. From a business standpoint they haven't exactly set the world on fire with expanding the fanbase, developing new revenue streams, and have failed repeatedly when it comes to the media side (botching an attempt to create their own channel, mishandling radio, staying behind the 8-ball on streaming, and fiddling while the RSNs burned just to name a few). In terms of popularity, they're behind the Vikings, Wild, and Wolves. The best thing that can be said about the Pohlad regime is that they didn't embarrass themselves in public (at least not after the contraction debacle), and while that puts them ahead of some, it's still thin gruel. They have been so cheap that getting up to a middle of the pack payroll felt like a gift from the heavens, which is pretty awful. Their unwillingness to spend when the club was well positioned to contend in 2024 puts them back in the rotten class. the next owners may turn out to be sleazebags, con artists, or incompetent...but the odds are pretty good they won't actually be worse than the Pohlads, who will leave with a legacy of "cheap, but not actively evil". Low bar to clear, IMHO. I'm betting the Ishbias have the inside track for a couple of reasons: 1) they've already been vetted by the NBA, so the skeletons have already been cleared out of the closets, 2) there's no question that they have real money (as opposed to what's been going on with the Wolves), and 3) Justin is known to actually love baseball. Maybe there's another huge money candidate or three out there that we're not hearing about, but this fits the profile of what MLB wants: exceptionally rich owners that aren't going to see the team as an asset to be flipped in 5 years. regardless, I'm willing to take a chance on new ownership rather than endure more of the same from the Pohlads, who simply don't care enough about the Twins as anything other than an asset to have them improve on the field, and have failed from a business perspective in pretty much every way except getting the public to build a stadium for them.

I think that's right. Do I mind it? Not at all, taking a flyer on a former high-value prospect at a position of need in the system seems like a decent enough idea. relatively low risk, potential high gain. Are they going to be able to fix his bat? Maybe, maybe not...but if they do it'll be a big win. Sometimes a player needs a fresh start. I don't think this fixes the Twins needs at catcher, but adding another guy into the mix at the top end of the minors is a start at least.

Seems like a fair list to me. I agree with the folks who think that Buxton earned his way back on with his performance last season, but I'm not going to lose my mind over it. It's awfully fun to see three starting pitchers in the top 5. I'm trying to recall a time before Pablo got here that we would have landed that way...and I'm struggling to think of the last time when 3 of our top 5 assets would have been starting pitchers going into the season. I'm so much happier with where the Twins are at for starting pitching now. We have guys that can be relied on at the top of the rotation, guys that should be seen as legit playoff starters that give your team a chance against basically anyone. That's a great place to start. I hope Royce can be healthy enough to showcase his talent and skill. He's got a ton of it, and the joy he plays with is a delight. Same goes for Buxton. They're some of the most fun twins I've ever watched, so easy to root for. I try not to get overly excited about Walker Jenkins, but it's hard. He's got all the pieces. i think he's going to crush AA this year and get himself up to Saint Paul. It's gonna be fun!

I don't think there's anything wrong with Eeles, but he's had relatively little exposure to professional and high level competition. he did great last season, and deserves a ton of credit for grinding his way into professional baseball moving all the way up to AAA already. I don't think it's crazy for the Twins to want to see him repeat it in AAA this season, maintaining those excellent hitting skills he put on display last season, showing he can keep making good hard contact consistently and seeing where his skills defensively land him. I'm definitely rooting for him. And he's definitely going to be pushing guys like Brooks Lee, Ed Julien, etc to play well or find him pushing for a chance. because you know he's got the motivation and drive! He jumped 4 levels in 1 season, which is remarkable. but right now Eeles is still a bit of an uncertainty, having only 1 season in MLB-sponsored professional baseball going into his age-25 season.

It's not that unusual for players to improve defensively in the MLB career if they get settled into a position. I'm not expecting him to turn into Kepler out there, but it's not unreasonable for him to slide up a little more towards average. (Martin I really don't know about; I thought he'd be better in the OF from the jump and he has the tools for it, so his poor performance in the OF was bit surprising and very disappointing. Wallner wasn't awful, but looked tentative or unsure at times, and that's the sort of thing that can improve with reps IMHO) Also, which is more likely: a player who has generated more than 2 bWAR in each of the past 2 seasons playing about half a season each in MLB generating 3-4 bWAR in 2025 at age 27, or sliding down to replacement level with a huge drop in power?