Nashvilletwin

Wasn’t a fantasy trade - it was a bonafide offer at the 2025 trade deadline. Ryan for Tolle and Arias. Multiple confirmations. Look it up before you spout off. Might be the worst decision Falvey et al made during their tenure. Hell, Tolle is already better than Ryan and he’s 5 years younger, under control for 4/5 years and way cheaper. And Arias is a stud SS who likely would be our starting 3B for half a decade once Houston came up.

Wouldn’t be any issues at all if they had pulled the trigger on trading Ryan for Tolle (and Arias - the #2 prospect overall) and Jeffers for Elayason instead of being short-term delusional idiots. If they had, this article would be about how we have the best young rotation in baseball.

We might need a Bull as a new mascot so he can teach our pitchers to throw at it to intimidate the batters….

Exactly. There is no reason to knock Houston at this point (! - as he still has plenty of time to develop) if he doesn’t project in the 3-5 slots in the batting order. With his speed and contact rate, he’s probably an ideal #2 behind Keaschall. Houston is clearly our prospect of the year - as if that means anything of importance anyway. He went from a fringe top 100 at this point a year ago to a consensus top 50 or so - and that is probably too high still. Come next April, he’ll probably be top 25. Assuming Jenkins has graduated from the prospect ranks, Houston may actually be our #1 prospect over Lackey. He plays virtually just as an important position and d he’s better defensively at SS than Lackey is at C. Lackey’s bat may have more upside, but Houston has proven his bat skills through a couple of years of outstanding, consistent performance in the minors. The article should really be that question.

Houston’s imminent arrival should not prevent the Twins from considering an Arraez return. Why? 1. Houston won’t be up until mid year at best. Arraez plays 2B until then with Clemens at 1B. Lewis should be gone. 2. When Houston does arrive, he should play SS every day and Culpepper moves to 2B. Clemens and Arraez fill 1B, DH, and utility IF (with Clemens also able to play OF as needed). 3. Arraez and Buxton could be platoon DHs as well. 4. We could really use Arraez’s bat skills, possibly hitting 2nd behind Keaschall. 5. Arraez is really fun to watch. 6. Players are going to be injured. Arraez would be excellent veteran depth. No to the other names suggested in the article

Let me change the tag line under the title: The Twins shortstop for the first half of the 2027 season and second baseman of the future….. Our shortstop of the future is Houston. But we should be ecstatic about our long-term 2B.

Roden comes to camp and competes for outfielder #5-7 with Martin and Gonzalez. He also should compete with Lewis and Sabato at 1B. See how things go and take it from there. He either stays up in one or two roles and gets enough ABs or he’s traded. Fairly straightforward. But no reason to make a decision now. What to do with Roden is hardly one of the top questions facing the Twins in the off-season.

Yep, the best deal they has on the table at the ‘25 deadline was the one they didn’t do. Delusional morons might be a little harsh, but it’s not to far off.

Twins have seven propects/young players who could have what it takes (i.e. the complete package) to be the face of the franchise for a decade or more: Bradley, Keaschall, Culpepper, Jenkins, ERod, Houston and Lackey. Can you imagine if we had been smart enough to accept the BoSox offer for Ryan of Franklin Arias (SS, #2 MLB overall prospect) and Payton Tolle (rookie LHP starter already better than Ryan)? Add in Eyanson (SP #45 MLB overall prospect) for Jeffers (Eyanson went to the Orioles for a catcher at the deadline). Geez, things are definitely looking up, but good grief - just think if Falvey and JZ had pulled the trigger on those two trades.

Unless you think his play is going to deteriorate - which is less likely than his play improving - you keep him as short term 5th - 7th OF (along with Martin and Roden) while keeping his long term option value as a viable starting/4th OF or 1B. Roden, btw, has a similar profile.

I’m not so sure why the author is so confident that a salary cap/floor won’t be adopted. We should then expect a long lockout assuming the owners don’t cave on that point right out of the blocks. Regardless, let’s assume that the Twins use ‘27 to get their most promising youngsters the innings and ABs to be fully ready for ‘28. What might the roster (and cost) of position players and pitchers look like in ‘28. Keaschall, LF, $3.2MM. Jenkins, CF, $900k ERod, LF, $900k Lee, 3B, $3.2MM (or so) Houston, SS, $750k Culpepper, 2B, $900k Clemens, 1B, $3.2MM Jeffers, C, $17.5MM (the point being we re-sign him) Buxton, DH/4th OF, $15MM (his last year, btw) Those nine position players total about $42.5MM. Throw in a backup C, and three more position player backups and the entire position player roster is less than $50MM (excluding extensions and Correa’ sunk cost of $10MM but, remember, with $25MM for Buxton and Correa coming off the books after ‘28). Our starter roster might look like this: Bradley, $6,2MM Mick Abel, $2.8MM Connor Prielipp, $2.3MM Riley Quick, $750k Plus one or two young starters at $750k each received for trading .Lopez and Ryan. Those six starters total about $13.5MM. Throw in a bullpen of $25MM - to be generous. Those three position groups total $98.5MM - including Correa and re-signing Jeffers to a 4yr $70MM deal (and with $25MM coming off the books after ‘28)! The point is that there is PLENTY of available cash even for the parsimonious Pohlads to sign a couple of SPs, including a stud #1 or #2, as well as a difference making position player or two to fill any holes that arise from the young guys not developing as desired. If those extra, let’s say three or four, FA signings totalled $50MM - $30MM for the two SPs and $20MM for the position player(s) - we would enter ‘29 with a payroll approximating $130-140MM (including raises). The Twins are in an incredibly advantageous position to be able to put a truly compelling, entertaining, and competitive team on the field while maintaining financial discipline. The first step is to not lay up and to re-sign Jeffers.

Boy, you surely are going to be disappointed when we get nothing for Lopez, Ryan, Jeffers and eventually Buxton in addition to Larnach…..

What would we want for Ryan? Let me give it a shot. At least one player whom we are sure can be a reasonably significant contributor starting in ‘28 and ideally be under control through at least ‘30. Anything more would be gravy at this point and it’s unclear we could get even that. The big value return ship has sailed (unless we don’t trade him until the deadline - whenever that is next year - and he is fantastic up to that point). Ok, given that, what position(s) would we target? We are long outfielders and seem set at 3B, SS, and 2B (remember, Houston will be up in ‘27 too). If we re-sign Jeffers, catcher should be off the table. That leaves 1B, SP, and RP. Hard to see us trading Ryan for a reliever. 1B also just seems like a long shot. Our best bet is a top 100 SP prospect who’s in AA or AAA and who will be up in ‘28 with almost certainty. We might be able to get that. If we can get that in the off-season, Zoll should hit the bid. If not, roll the dice and see what things look like approaching the deadline. Btw, the same reasoning applies to Lopez.

If the Twins are looking at building a true open window roster starting in ‘28, they have all the money in the world. Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Kremer, Hofmann and Banda will not be on the ‘28 Twins. That saves about $57MM. Throw in Caratini and Lewis and that’s another 12MM. So that’s nearly $70MM to play with prior to some raises and extensions for ‘28 and beyond. And with Buxton and Correa basically sunk costs and coming off the books after ‘28, there’s an additional $26MM to play with in ‘28 looking forward to ‘29 - ‘31. If the “target payroll” is $130MM, that’s over $100MM to play with over the next two off seasons If there is a salary cap with a floor of around $170MM (likely to be applied over some period of time), the Twins would have another $40MM to spend at some point. So, what’s the plan? Use the ‘27 off season and regular season to build for ‘28-‘31. That means a) anyone signed must be looked at as primary contributors during those years and b) anyone not going to be on that roster either plays out their contract, is traded, or is released. So specifically what are the moves? The single biggest priority is re-signing Jeffers to be our starting catcher in ‘27 and ‘28 and then transition to 1B/DH in ‘29-‘30. Four years at $17.5MM for a total of $70MM. If we add expensive relief pitching then they must be projectable through ‘28/‘29. After that, we let the youngsters (including Houston) in the lockout shortened ‘27 season, finesse 1B and the starting rotation (trade Lopez and Ryan at the deadline), and keep the rest of our powered dry to fill in any holes in a more robust free agent market during the ‘28 off season. Its not rocket science.

Which of those players realistically could be on the ‘28-‘30 Twins? Bradley and Clemens only: Keep. Which of those players could realistically help significantly in ‘27 and be possible valuable trade bait during the season? Ryan and Kremer only. Keep. Which of those players are so cheap and may have some legitimate upside to possibly be a contributor in ‘28-‘30? Only maybe Sands. Everyone else should be gone.

These may be the ten biggest questions, but the answers are easy and straightforward. 1. Lockout Length. If the owners stick to their guns on a cap, then the lockout will last until the ASB. 2. Ryan. Trade him, but they won’t - at least until the trade deadline. BTW, that goes for Lopez too. 3. Buxton. Primary DH and #4 OF. 4. Lewis. Lewis is (correctly) not in the long range plans, but he might stay one more year. 5. Future Rotation. Bradley, Prielipp, Abel, Matthews, and Rojas (and maybe Morris still) all could be long-termers. Lopez and Kremer are not. 6. Bullpen. No, the BP is not good enough. Need two - three additions for ‘28 and beyond. 7. Jeffers. Re-sign Jeffers. #1 priority. Not even close. 8. Spending. After Jeffers they will keep their powder pretty much dry until the next off-season. 9. Pohlads. Not until the CBA is finalised; then things will heat up again. 10. Zoll. Hire me as Assistant GM with full control over the roster. Otherwise, retire. Seriously, all JZ needs to do is follow #1-8 above and he will have the best off-season imaginable.

The question isn’t the correct one. The question should be “What should the Twins do to get prepared for ‘28?” We have 18 months to get these things done: 1. New owners. Likely post the new CBA and after the ‘27 season. 2. New GM. Won’t happen until ownership changes. 3. Re-sign Jeffers. We don’t care if we overpay. Jeffers catches for two years and then plays 1B and DH. Probably won’t happen because TTT and JZ are delusional idiots. 4. Trade Ryan, Lopez, Hoffman, Larnach and Lewis for young starting pitching this off-season. None of those players will be on the ‘28 Twins. See #3 above as to why it won’t happen. 5. Play the young guys - everyday. That includes Culpepper, Jenkins, ERod, Lee, Keaschall, Houston (when he’s brought up) and all the young starting pitchers. Should happen, right? 6. Buxton goes to primary DH. If he insists on playing OF every day, oblige him by trading him. Won’t happen. See #3 again for the reason. 7. Start building the bullpen with projectable ‘28 and ‘29 talent. 8. Get ready to spend some real $ in the pre ‘28 off-season to fill any holes (for the ‘28 - ‘30 seasons) identified in ‘27. Probably happens with the new CBA - certainly if #1 is accomplished. Easy peasy. Steps #3-#8 are what TTT should do to maximise the Pohlad’s sale price. If the Twins did these things, attendance and fan excitement would be greater and the window would be wide open for ‘28-‘30.

Everyone, don’t worry. The question is not if Buxton/the Twins waited to long to have his surgery - they didn’t, because it’s highly unlikely there is any baseball before June next season anyway. The actual question is what role is he going to play. Ideally, he’s our primary DH, playing in the outfield no more than twice a week, and certainly not taking innings and ABs away from Keaschall, Jenkins and ERod. If he still wants to be an everyday outfielder, we give him the option to do that somewhere else. Easy peasy.

Nothing against Lewis, but if I never see him take another AB as a Twin, I wouldn’t be sad.

The Twins will be very pitcher heavy in the ‘27 draft. Just think where we’d be if we had accepted the BoSox offer for Ryan at the ‘25 deadline (Payton Tolle and Franklin Arias) and traded Jeffers to the BoSox for Anthony Eyanson. Tolle (LHP) is a 23 year old starter who in his first year in the majors went 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA and 171 Ks and only 40 BBs. In other words, he’s already way better than Ryan and he’s nearly seven years younger (and way cheaper with five or more years of control). Arias (SS) is the #3 MLB overall prospect. Our starting infield at some point next year would be Arias (3B), Houston (SS), Culpepper (2B) and Lee (1B). Wow! Eyanson (RHP) is a consensus top 50 MLB overall prospect with a #2 or #3 (at worst) starter potential. He’d be our #1 pitching prospect probably coming up in ‘28.

Not much needs to be spent, besides on Jeffers and maybe a BP arm or two. Why? Because no one should care about ‘27. The “lockout” shortened season (for all you owner haters out there who complain that technically it’s not a strike but the owners fault for locking out the players) needs to be an investment in our young players year. You play Culpepper, Keaschall, Jenkins, ERod, and, when he’s ready in July, Houston as much as possible. They need innings and ABs. Given the season is destined to be shorter, you don’t need to worry about innings for the young starters - Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, and Matthews should be going every fifth day (certainly if we get rid of one or both of Lopez and Ryan). Re-sign Jeffers (that’s where we spend some cash). That’s priority #1. Jettison Lewis and Larnach. Rhoden and Gonzalez (and Martin) take their place and we see what potential those young players may have. Kremer goes to the pen until we trade both Ryan and Lopez (that will save us some money). If TTT wants to get delusional about winning in the ‘27 stub year, he’ll probably just keep both and let their contracts expire and get zippo for them (I’m having a hard time even imagining how incredibly stupid he and Zoll would have to be to let that happen). Who knows, that roster may be a winner anyway. You tell Buxton that he’s primarily a DH going forward. If he still wants to play in the field for his last two seasons, you give him the option to be traded. We then head into ‘28 with all the cash in the world to augment the roster via FAs or offer extensions - Jeffers is the only big contact, Buxton and Correa are done at the end of ‘28, and Lopez and Ryan are off the books. Btw, we all need to get off this “payroll has to be at least ___” thing. It’s about the players whom we can roster at a reasonable overall cost - whatever that may be. We are way better off developing our own young players and rounding out the roster with a couple of FAs (like Jeffers, for example) to fill holes.

As a result of these trades are the Twins better positioned to compete in ‘28? Will any of the players acquired or the key assets kept bring any value post next year’s strike shortened season? The answer to both questions is assuredly no. Therefore, regardless of the individual trade grades, the overall grade is a solid F. Embracing delusion and short-term PR gains at the expense of building a true competitive team is precisely why the Twins under Tough Talking Tom and his minion JZ will never field a winner. Sad, but true.

Should we expect anything different? That record is probably pretty close to what Shelton managed last season with the Pirates. lol

Was Sabato missing his equipment tonight? If so, tough way to make your MLB debut. You work your butt off for seven years and then Delta Airlines loses your luggage. Hard to make that up.

…..and crowded…