TNtwins85

He is part of the plan that bridges a gap to be competitive in 2027. You’ve got guys that are solid, guys who are stars in the making. Not every team is built like the ‘87 twins. In this free agency class if it’s strong in the bullpen then you go get those guys.

lol!!!! Yes, if the Twins signed Bednar it would be just like Arod in Texas. If this isn’t the epitome of Twins fans thinking I don’t know what is. I literally laughed out loud

Who is next and what is the direction? Will they fill these open roles internally or will they go outside the organization?

If they all turned into what is hoped for the Twins would win 110 games every year lol

Yes, for essentially being a low on the ladder number 24 ranked prospect in a weak but top heavy Phillies system in ‘25 he’s become a very solid prospect. The dude just hits. Not necessarily a fast riser but yeah, by age 25 what will we be looking at? A 1B who hits .265-.275 with 20-25 homer power? If he can get to that it’s a win for sure!

I was unaware. Both terrible. I wonder if any of the AAA options are any better? Can’t be much worse.

Have you looked into any trade targets? I have looked around a bit and not found much as far as 1B/C upgrades unless they really swing for the fences.

Ok, and Caratini is much better than that or no?

True, but they’re not gonna just magically change everything for this offseason. For instance if a floor and cap are put in place and they don’t come to an agreement until spring training they’re not gonna force every team to spend a bunch of money to get to the floor in a matter of weeks. Just like a cap is not gonna force every team that is over to cut a bunch of guys. It would be gradually put into place so whatever happens it’s not gonna happen day 1. So I doubt this offseason will be drastically different from the last offseason a new CBA was negotiated. Also, a cap/floor would be the most drastic change so I don’t see it being something teams do nothing for ‘27 just because they don’t know what’s in store. Top FA’s will find teams. Teams will still target which FA’s fit what teams want. A new CBA won’t change things day 1. Therefore, the Twins need some hitters. Who will they be and who should they target?

This is true only if your definition of a winning team is comparable to the ‘98 Yankees. If you have 4-5 guys with a 4 WAR or higher and another 4-5 guys with 2.5-4 WAR you’re talking about a 95-105 win team unless the rest of the roster is all replacement level. If you’re looking for that as the bar to contention then it may be time to become a dodgers fan.

I would tend to agree. I’ve become disillusioned with Lewis but there’s not many options that are clear upgrades unless they go on the trade market. Might as well run him back out there and see. Maybe a platoon with Hendry Mendez does him some good?

???

If you bring back Jeffers why not leave him at catcher?

A good premise for sure. Which 2B are you going for and which of Lee/Culpepper/Houston do you trade to upgrade other areas?

That too! He’s just too one dimensional and if you’re going out and paying for a hitter he better have the ability to hit 20 bombs and do something else well.

Power.

I’d take a 2-3 WAR Kody Clemens at minimum salary than an expensive singles hitter at 2B. At this point Clemens is penciled in at 2B I believe and he’s earned it.

Exactly. The allure of Arraez around here has always puzzled me. In my mind I still don’t get why Miami traded Lopez for him. Even before taking into account that Pablo wasn’t Pablo yet.

I looked into Yandy Diaz. He already hit his vesting option so a trade would have to be the way to get him. Tampa is always willing to talk in the offseason. Not sure what they would target in a trade though. The Twins don’t really have the arms to spare in the minors but maybe a few position players get him.

They should do both, but as I said in the write up they need to replace some hitters. Who are guys they can go out and sign that are better and improve the offense? If Tom Pohlads goal is to make a splash, go big and spend money who do they spend it on in a down hitters market?

I used to like Arraez but he provides no pop to the offense, is a bad defensive player and he’s left handed. If I wanted that production as far as WAR I’d just run back the Larnach/Martin platoon and resign Josh Bell.

I would agree but if the Twins are gonna spend money on a FA I’d prefer a hitter. Especially with the guys they’ve got coming back on the pitching side. With that said they’re losing Jeffers, and Bell from an offense that hasn’t looked stellar of late despite the amazing numbers with RISP they put up earlier in the year. Also, Buxton is another year older and absolutely not a guy to be counted on for 100 games. Yes hopefully the young guys take a step but we’re now losing the guys we were waiting on to take the next step and they never did. This all rests on if they’re gonna spend money to upgrade and actually compete.

I wouldn’t really be keen on trading Keaschall or Rodriguez either but it’s their only position of over abundance. Unless Jeffers accepts the QO which I don’t see happening it’s a weak spot and I see Contreras as a bridge to Lackey. There may be other options for that but he’s the most obvious with how Milwaukee handles impending free agents. I would be good with upgrading 1B but there’s no obvious FA upgrade and you’re having to trade to get a legit upgrade. It’s a tough FA class to be looking for impact bats.

Yeah he’s the best player but that’s exactly the problem. You build these teams around a guy who can’t play more than 100 games a season. Maybe you have that in a Jenkins or a Rodriguez but at least not for another season. You’ve gotta put talent around this guy. Another bat that can’t play provide an .800 OPS for a season. They’ve got too many hot/cold guys. When it goes good they’re amazing. When they’re not you’re talking about replacement level guys and they’re not good enough in other parts of the game to make up for shortcomings in the batters box. He’s a good player. But he’s not great. Great players put up the big numbers because they play 130-150 some games a year. You can’t build a team around a guy that’s only on the lineup card 50-65% of the season.

The 2026 Minnesota Twins were fun( from my perspective anyway). We got to see a "competitive" team (albeit with a down league overall leading to their contention) heading into the trade deadline. They bought instead of selling giving the fans some hope for a day or two until they came back down to earth. This set up a terrible August ultimately putting them in the position they are in. Not out of it technically but out of it. 6 games out of the division after tripping over their own feet in between second and third base and 4.5 games back slipping on the grass coming around third. As I've watched this team one big thing comes to mind. The thing that drove them in May/June/July that has abandoned them in later July/August and now September. Hitting. As seen too often this season the Twins winning or losing has come down to one thing. Did they score enough runs realistically to win the game? More often than not the answer has been no other than the random 1-2 games a week when the offense just seems to not be able to stop hitting. More often than not the starter will give up a few runs early in the game, the offense will answer back, then they make the opposing pitcher look like Cy Young the rest of the game. Byron Buxton is the one superstar player on this roster but as we've come to learn the past decade he cannot carry a team like a Jose Ramirez or a Vlad Guerrero. Not because he doesn't have the ability but because he simply cannot stay healthy and be expected to play more than 100 games a season. They are losing some key hitters to free agency this winter so they will need to replace these bats somehow. Some of the next wave of hitters can supplant that but the Twins need to infill the ups and downs of the future young guys with some veteran guys as well. If Tom Pohlads words speak true they need to spend money in free agency, make a bold trade or both. First lets look at the free agency route. The Twins will have money to spend if they choose to spend it. The hitter FA class is down this year. I think there are a few fits and none better than Randy Arrozarena. He's not an upper echelon star but he does possess a few qualities that the Twins could use. He's a perennial candidate as a 20-20 guy and he plays. Since exploding on the scene in 2020 he's played 141 games or more in every season. The Twins need that. He doesn't possess elite batspeed but his squared up %, LA sweet spot % and average exit velocity have and still are elite. When he hits it he hits it hard as can be seen in his elite hard hit percentage which has come down this year but still above average as he's upped his batting average this year putting more balls in play yet getting on base more as well. He brought his K% down to an average level this year. He has always walked a fair amount and improved on that a bit this year. I think he pairs well with the current Twins OF/DH projection. a rotation of Arrozarena/ Buxton/ Jenkins/ Rodriguez/ Keaschall provides a perfect mix where you still have 3 capable CFers in Buxton/Rodriguez/ Jenkins while shuffling guys with days off and Arrozarena occupying a mostly DH role with the occasional days in LF. I believe its the perfect mix without blowing up the young core that has emerged. That ultimately means you get rid of the dead weight that is Martin/ Roden/ Wallner/ Larnach. How I don't but that's not the point of this. As far as terms I believe that if the Twins jump on this out of the gate and simply overbid with a a high AAV contract for less years its a win-win. He's projected for roughly a 3-4 year deal in the $60-85 million range. I say offer a 4 year deal for $100 million. Go above and beyond because you want this guy. don't play around the edges to save a million or two. Just go get what you want. Another option would be Seiya Suzuki. He's a year older but offers better fielding value and pairs well with the younger OF's as well. He has an elite BB%, doesn't chase and still barrels the ball up at an above average/top tier rate. He's going to command about the same type of contract as Arrozarena with a 3-4 year deal in the $60-85 million range. I just believe being one year older gives you one less year of above average production. I like Randy better for that reason. I believe the Twins need to spend on someone and yes they probably need another BP guy but I'm not as worried about that as how to hand leads to those guys. As far as trades I would love for them to go out and get a catcher to bridge the gap as its one area they need to improve on and its an area they can improve. Milwaukee is known to flip guys before FA so maybe a package for Contreras is possible. Maybe a package led by one of Rodriguez/Keaschall with Tait in there gets something done? 1B could be an area to find a guy for but there's not really anyone in FA that gets me excited that could legitimately replace Lewis. He's been up and down but we've rode with him this long what's one more year. Especially when he goes into the year knowing he's gonna be the 1B. He's athletic so he can only get better defensively I hope and I just don't see an obvious upgrade without a trade. What do you guys think? Who must they go out and get without blowing it up and looking to improve on this year and be more " competitive."