Nashvilletwin

1. Lewis is going to get every chance to prove he’s the 3B of the future or at least part of the future core (1B?) 2. Lee is going to have a similar opportunity this year to prove he too can be part of the future (more likely though at 2B or utility). 3. It’s possible we draft Lebron at #3 this June and our core future infield is Culpepper and Lebron handling 3B and 2B, Houston at SS and ideally Keaschall and Lewis at 1B and DH. 4. Flexibility is great (and the infield in point 3 with Lee in the utility role exemplifies that), but should not be the end all goal. Ideally the kids learn to play one position at an exceptional level and come to the park each day knowing that is where they are going to play. That alone will do wonders for their confidence and performance both in the field and at the plate.

Let’s run through all the usual suspects: Lewis - he is in a prove it year from both sides’ perspectives. Wallner - the Twins think so much of him as a potential DH they signed a 33 year old to take a lot of those DH ABs, especially against righties. Lee - destined for a (easily replaceable) super utility role at the absolute best unless he somehow catches fire. Martin (let’s not forget him) - see Lee above. But it’s not clear who might be the more valuable of the two - it could prove to be Martin. Jeffers - given the hype surrounding Tait, he’d be too expensive to be a back up; besides, he’s only 10 months from free agency through which he’ll get paid way more than what we’d pay him. Ryan - would love to get him extended, but a) he’s too much moolah and b) he has no interest in staying here; he’d much rather be traded. So, in conclusion, no extensions make sense at this time.

Buying season tickets today…….lol.

……..but the relief corps will make up for our poor defense….

I’ll take the under on Bell outperforming Santana. With respect to him outperforming France and Clemens, I’d still take the under, but the difference one way or the other won’t matter much anyway. At least France could play defense.

1. We simply have a difference of opinion on Julien. At least he might have some upside as Bell really does not. 2. Bell’s presence might prohibit Keaschall getting an innings at 1B - which given our glut of existing and upcoming OFs, might be his best long term position. In addition, if Julien and Clemens need ABs and Bell is at 1B, they may have to get those innings at 2B, thus impacting Keaschall. 3. Please check your data. Bell cannot hit lefties. At all. He can’t field either, but that’s a different point. There is no reason for Bell, despite being a switch hitter, to DH against lefties. Therefore, if he does DH, he will do so against righties, thereby taking valuable ABs from Wallner, and possibly Larnach if he’s still around. Cody wrote a good piece that in a roundabout way points out the impact of Bell’s signing on the roster and many reasons why this isn’t a very good signing. Just out of curiosity, is Bell - an aging one year rental - going to make you buy more tickets?

Cody, thank you for so clearly pointing out how poor this signing is. He can’t field. He’s really only usable against righties (don’t we have enough of that already). He’s 100% going to take ABs away from Wallner, Julien, Larnach and Clemens. He will limit the possibility of getting Keaschall reps at 1B. His presence could contribute to delaying bringing up Jenkins, ERod and/or Culpepper. He cost $7MM - money that could have been spent on the relief corps. He’s 33 and on the downside of his career. He has no chance of being here for the post lockout core in ‘28. No one could possibly expect him to add more than a win or two at best to a team where one or two more wins are inconsequential. The only positive attribute you pointed out is that he might be tradable at the deadline. Bell is an absolute Falvey special. Nothing more or less. I, for one, have zero desire to commit my fan emotional energy to him or any of the other one and done retreads Falvey signs. I’m certainly less likely to buy a ticket today than yesterday

Yes, I agree, 1B/DH was our most obvious position player of need. But there are cascading effects to these signings. Here are a few, many of which with I’m sure you will disagree: 1. Wallner DH opportunities. 2. Julien ABs. (some of us would like to see what he has under new leadership). 3. Possibly Keaschall innings at both 2B and 1B. 4. Delayed call ups later in the year around the fringes. He’s just one more guy who will 100% not move the dial taking innings and ABs. Like so many before him.

A “substantial addition”? Seriously? C’mon, we can do better than that Matthew.

You just can’t make this up. Just what we need - a 33 year old on the last legs of his career blocking critical innings and ABs from our younger players. This is a great signing. Our win projection in ‘26 just skyrocketed to 72 from 71. lol. Are we honestly supposed to get emotionally invested as a fan in another one year rental retread player? Haven’t we seen enough of this? I’m done blaming Falvey. He is who he is and you can’t blame him for trying to save his career, let alone his job. Moves like this are the fault of the Nephew. What a clown show this franchise is.

One of the things I’m most interested in watching this season is how many of our young players who could still develop to be part of the next core perform under new managerial/coaching leadership. The list includes Lewis, Lee, Martin, Wallner, Julien and even Larnach - with Lewis at the top of the list. I just hope Falvey doesn’t sign a bunch of retreads that take away that opportunity. Oops, too late. Falvey signed Bell. Sorry Julien. Sorry Clemens. Keaschall you’d better watch out too.

Not so sure this is satire - lol

Falvey should call the Vancouver Canucks GM and the Nephew should call the Canucks’ owner. That’s how you trade a star on a roster that can’t compete who has two years left on a decent contract and 100% will not sign an extension (he doesn’t want to and the Canucks can’t afford him anyway).

Sano absolutely raked in the Dominican league this winter….lol

Hmmm, which one of these will surely make us legitimate contenders? It’s so hard to tell since any of them could be the difference for us in ‘26. I know, why not just sign all of them? Sheesh…what a list. Can’t wait for opening day to watch any of those retreads. The anticipation is unbearable….

The question is only worth asking if the returns for Buxton, Lopez and Ryan are not very exciting (i.e. no top near-term projectable prospects and/or controllable proven with upside major leaguers are being offered). Otherwise the question is essentially ludicrous if not for our sweet talking but delusional GM and the naive Nephew. This team has exactly ONE above average major league position player and he will be lucky to play 100 games. Jeffers is around average, but the rest of the entire position player lineup is decidedly, unambiguously below average. There is no money nor trade assets (unless Falvey reaches into our cadre of top prospects - which would be a firable offense) to change that scenario. All the retread vets Falvey can muster up signing for peanuts are not going to change that. It’s a real Hail Mary to think Falvey can somehow recreate his biggest FA victory (Santana) despite all his other failures or that somehow many, if not most, of Lewis, Wallner, Clemens, Martin, Lee, Julien, Larnach, etc are going to suddenly start producing at much higher levels. Let’s turn to the mound. We have exactly TWO above average pitchers on the ENTIRE staff, including the bullpen. Lopez and Ryan can theoretically keep games close for 5-6 innings; however, a lack of run support and what is arguably on paper one of the weakest bullpens in the league will not result in many victories from their starts. Sure, SWR and Ober are decent #4 types; but, the run support and bullpen issues are only magnified when they take mound. The HOPE is that several young converted prospect starters, a couple of holdovers, and a few bottom of the barrel newcomers can somehow be cobbled together to form an effective bullpen. But an “effective” bullpen is not enough to consistently win if the run support is atrocious. To further darken the outlook, the elation once realized upon Rocco’s dismissal quickly turned to despair with the hiring of the “already proven unsuccessful managing a low spending team” Shelton. The hiring of Shelton feels a bit like the Falvey equivalent of signing retreads like Gallo, Margot, France, etc. etc. That may be more than a bit harsh, but Shelton’s arrival is not being taken by anyone as a likely game changing manoeuvre. This all is a decidedly dark (and long, for which I apologize) take. Understood. But there is no data, precedent, or any other solid reason to come to any more likely conclusion. However, going back to the opening premise: if the market for Lopez, Ryan or Buxton just isn’t there right now, than there may not be much choice than to make a few small additions to see if the Hail Mary might work and the team somehow catches lightning in a bottle. We can only hope. But if not, we can also only hope that Ryan, Lopez, and Buxton remain healthy and productive, their market opens up as the year progresses and Falvey can actually be smart and flexible enough to pivot to building for ‘28.

Agree. I just can’t believe the Nephew is so stupid as to subscribe to this strategy.

Well, we could’ve had Polanco at 1B/DH, but the Mets signed him to a 2/$40 to fill that role.

You’re hired.

Just talking too much sense.

You make a really good case - but only up to a certain point. IMHO, Rocco et al had so many of these kids completely nuts between different positions, platooning, different spots in the order, and getting in his doghouse when they made bad plays. It’s no wonder they couldn’t become decent full-timers. They just had too much to worry about. Try them at a new position, they make a few errors, then they start putting pressure on themselves at the plate to make up for it so they won’t get sent down, soon they are in a slump, their confidence is shot and they are back in St Paul. It’s not like this isn’t a common pattern among many of our prospects under Rocco going back years. If you want the kids to develop, pick a position (or two), put them in the lineup every day in about the same spot in the order, and let them clear their heads and play ball.

Let’s take another young talent and move him around the diamond and screw with his head just like Rocco has done for years with so many of our prospects. It’s just so stupid.

The clown is already admitting that he can’t and won’t. Why even hire him? Can’t this organization see that the ONLY way they can even attempt to compete is to be better at developing their cheap, in house, controllable young talent. It’s not rocket science - the Twins do not have the resources to buy the established quality players on the open market. Duh. What a horrible article to wake up to this morning. The new head coach is already making excuses why he won’t succeed at his most important role and giving cover to Falvey on his run it back with vet retreads strategy.

Because Falvey and Rocco were trying to save their jobs and subscribe to the same retread vet bullcrap strategy that Shelton has utilized and is setting the groundwork to employ with us.

What a complete joke Shelton is as a hire. Why? 1. He is already making excuses as to why he won’t succeed. Hey, if the young players don’t work out, it’s not his fault. It’s just the way things are. 2, He is already giving Falvey cover for his “no reason to trade our diminishing return assets because we can win with a few more retreads” strategy that has been proven to be an abject failure, especially for smallish revenue franchises in general and our franchise in particular. 3. He’s laying the groundwork for not committing to younger players. Nope, we won’t invest in getting those players the committed ABs. If they come up at all and don’t rake immediately, they are going back down. Keaschall better watch out. Don’t expect to see much of Jenkins, ERod, Gonzalez or Culpepper at all this season. TDers get ready. This season is going to be a disaster on three fronts: 1) we are not going to compete; 2) we are going to lose most of the value on not trading Lopez, Ryan, Buxton, and Jeffers; and 3) our young players are not going to get the investment they need so that this franchise can compete in ‘28. All of this so Falvey and Shelton can attempt to save their jobs. Honestly, if the Nephew can’t see through this baloney, he is more of an idiot than most of us already think. Shelton’s #1 job requirement - and how his performance should be primarily judged - is to develop our young talent over the next several years. And he’s already making excuses as to why he won’t succeed. He sounds just like another Falvey stooge. What a complete joke.