Danchat

Holy cow, it's 13-3 in the 3rd inning! Judge already has 2 HRs.

Lineups: MIN Lineup Matt Wallner (L) RF Carlos Correa (R) SS Byron Buxton (R) CF Trevor Larnach (L) LF Ty France (R) 1B Mickey Gasper (S) DH Willi Castro (S) 2B Jose Miranda (R) 3B Christian Vázquez (R) C STL Lineup Lars Nootbaar (L) LF Willson Contreras (R) 1B Brendan Donovan (L) 2B Nolan Arenado (R) 3B Alec Burleson (L) DH Iván Herrera (R) C Jordan Walker (R) RF Victor Scott II (L) CF Masyn Winn (R) SS

I believe that's the most prospect value I've ever seen in our AAA rotation!

I betcha the Cardinals Daily forum is throwing one... 😉

Looks like we are getting the same version of Lopez that we saw in Spring Training. I guess we'll have to wait another 2-3 months until we see him pitching his best again.

A balk in the first inning of the first game of the year? Come on, Pablo.

Let's hope not!

Is Cleveland really only at 22% of making the playoffs? Feels like we underestimate them year after year and they always overachieve.

A couple sources are reporting that Dobnak is getting the last bullpen spot. He has options left and will likely be the first to go once Tonkin / Stewart are ready to go. They could also opt to pluck someone off the waiver wire.

I think this is the root of the problem... they're drafting bat-first players and their plan to develop their defensive skills are questionable. Then they reach the majors and it's then we figure out, oh hey, Julien can't handle 2B or turns out Steer isn't gonna be a 3B, so on and so on.

My guess is Blewett makes the pen, he pitched well last year and is continuing that in camp. I see Tonkin is on the IL, is Topa there too?

I thought there was a surprising amount of parity in college football despite the NIL concerns. It will keep some players a bit longer in the college ranks but they'll have to leave at some point. It might lead to older prospect ages but perhaps less raw players.

Creative pun there!

I'll admit I haven't studied the draft as much as I usually do, so I will share what I can. So far this is probably the weakest draft I have covered, I'd say only 4 prospects in this class would be ranked in the top 10 last year, and barely 20 guys are clear 1st rounders in my book. However, the DL and edge classes are stacked and RB is really good. As for your targets, @TheLeviathan, I like Nolen a lot. The only downside is the character concerns, so I'll leave that to the team scouts to figure out how big a problem like that is. I would take him at #24 if he clears that check. I'm not as high on Harmon but I need to do more work on him. I like Zabel as a guard, maybe he can develop into a center. In this class, taking him in the late 1st round is fine. The CBs in this range scare me, I feel that the bust potential is high with this group. Amos is my favorite of the bunch but I still think he's a 2nd rounder, Hairston scares me with his crazy athletic numbers covering up his poor play at Kentucky. I've found that there is a high correlation between low PFF grades in a player's last year in college and busting (notably, I've found little to no connection between high grades and players panning out). My favorite draftniks also aren't high on him. Az Thomas is also a no from me. Revel and Porter are two guys I like more, but need to develop and I don't see them as 1st rounders. The RB class is fantastic, so many quality options to pick from. I like Skattebo in the 3rd round as a 1B option - change of pace and dangerous in the passing game. So many great options on Day 3 as well - Bhayshul Tuten, Brashard Smith, Kalel Mullings, Ollie Gordon. I'm not as high on the TEs, but Fannin Jr is one of my favorite sleepers. Oh, and if I haven't shared this before, you should try out my Mock Draft Simulator I built from scratch: https://supersimnfl.com/draft-sim (I recommend you use it on a tablet or PC)

It has been a while since I have shown off my Vikings depth chart, have a look: (ratings from PFF, graded over a span of 3 seasons) Hard to argue that this hasn't been a successful free agency spending spree. Now if some of our draft picks can hit for a change...

I get the reasons to be optimistic - Jax is a beast, having Alcala/Varland/Coulombe as middle relief is better than what we usually have, and if Duran and Stewart are healthy, this could be a string unit. But there are legitimate reasons to worry about Duran regressing and I'm doubtful on Stewart making 25+ appearances due to his health. Will they stick with Alcala/Varland or option them for the likes of Blewett/Tonkin too quickly? Will Castellano prove to not be a liability when he eventually gets put into a close game? I think Ynoa has sneaky upside as a reliever if he can stay healthy. I also wonder if some former starter prospects could make a dent in the latter half of the year like Prielipp and Raya. And please, if we get to the trade deadline and we're competitive but the bullpen is running out of gas, do something! I'm not asking for a massive move, but acquiring Trevor Richards and doing nothing else last year was the equivalent to flipping the bird at the fanbase.

Feels like Twins Daily is always due for an article titled like this to jinx something later in the day a few times every year. 😉

I'd prefer they'd go BPA rather than drafting to fill their current needs. The DT/RB classes are deep and will probably have a guy on the board that will be worth pick #97. It's a bad iOL class and middling CB/S class comparatively. I would like to start developing another Day 3 safety with the way we keep hitting on them, as well as another body at WR. It'd help if they could trade down and pick up another 3rd or 4th rounder. The guy they take at #97 is more than likely not going to help the 2025 team right away, so I'm fine taking an RB who is there to play a big role in 2026 - and potentially mix with Mason if Jones misses games, which I suspect will happen.

You would think they'd want him off the 40 man roster to open up spots for other players. Not that they'd need that right away, but come mid-season and you have guys on the 10 day IL, you will want that spot.

It's "up to $12M" which usually means it is a 2/$7M unless the player hits hard to reach incentives, and if they do then they are worth the extra money. Feels like a steal for a very solid RB whose skillset is a great match for Jones'. He can take some of the workload and his bigger body is perfect for wearing down defenses while Jones can be more of the home-run hitter and handle 3rd downs, recovering Mason's shortcomings. I also wouldn't rule out spending a 3rd or other pick on a RB given how deep this class is, and the odds are Jones does not have two quality years left so they may need to pair someone with Mason in 2026.

They also have a big need at RB2 so that Jones doesn't have another career high in touches again, his body is not going to be able to handle another workload this big. Thankfully, this is the perfect RB draft class to dip into.

If we're covering intangibles, then we also have to talk about his lack of focus which led to getting picked off bases or caught in between, and also making mistakes when throwing the ball into the infield. Sometimes he was infuriating to watch. I am glad he was able to be part of the World Series run with the Braves, but I have a hard time seeing the argument that paying him was the right move given the numbers he put up through the rest of his career.

Not anymore! Murphy is now the 4th highest paid CB in the game. The CB market exploded today, and the demand more Murphy went through the roof. He is a nice player but not a CB1 so this is a massive overpay. I wonder if they felt they had to do this or be forced to spend their 1st rounder on a CB.

Oh man, this really does remind me of learning how to use layers in Photoshop! The Angels are now the Anaels... oh no! 😆

Ryan Kelly signed to a 2/$18M deal, considerable upgrade to Bradbury at center. Slow going for the Vikings so far, but the deals flying around have been crazy. Pedestrian players are getting massive deals and "good" players are getting "great" contracts. I like the Rodgers move over bringing in a 30+ vet like Shaq Griffin, PFF loves him but he's never held down a starting job. Kelly will be worth the money if he can stay healthy. They still need at least one guard, one more CB, and an interior pass rusher at a minimum. Jonathan Allen is in town meeting with the team, but I'm not high on him as he hasn't been good for 2 years. Would be like a classic Twins signing, a 30 year old who hasn't been good in multiple years... I think that's just Ty France. For the draft, I'm thinking DL Round 1 and RB Round 3 still makes the most sense. They have to pair Aaron Jones with somebody better than Akers/Chandler to keep his usage down. For perhaps once all the money has been spent, a bargain option at RB will appear. I don't think a single non-backup RB has signed in FA yet.