Seth Stohs

On Tuesday night, news broke that the Twins were signing Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmonsto a one-year, $10.5 million contract. Moments after those reports, we discussed it on a new episode of Offseason Live.The Twins had arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball already. Now they have the best defensive shortstop in baseball too after signing four-time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons to a one-year, $10.5 million contract. Shortly following the news, Seth Stohs, Matthew Taylor and Nate Palmer discussed the transaction on a new episode of Offseason Live. How good is Simmons' defense, and what does that mean for the Twins? Where might he fit into the lineup? And what moves remain for this Twins front office. We discuss it all and answered a ton of listener questions along the way. Check it out! Watch below: Tune into future live broadcasts on Twins Daily's Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube page. It's be an interactive show where viewers help steer the conversation via comments and questions. You can also catch every episode in audio form by subscribing to our podcast. In the meantime, check out previous episodes of Offseason Live and see what's upcoming: Ep 1: (Thurs, 10/8)Ep 2: (Tues, 10/13)Ep 3: (Thurs, 10/15)Ep 4: (Tues, 10/20)Ep 5: (Thurs, 10/22)Ep 6: (Tues, 10/27)Ep 7: (Thurs, 10/29)Ep 8: (Thurs, 11/5)Ep 9: (Thurs, 11/12)Ep 10: (Tues, 11/17)Ep 11: (Weds, 12/2)Ep 12: (Weds, 12/16)Ep 13: (Weds, 12/30)Ep 14: (Weds, 1/6)Ep 15: (Tues, 1/12)Ep 16: (Mon, 1/25)Ep 17: (Tues, 1/26) Click here to view the article

yup, minor league deal with the Braves. He'll make $1.5 million in the big leagues.

For me, it's still Lewis... But I've also been on record (on Twitter) as saying Kirilloff will win a couple of batting titles and an MVP. So, that's pretty good. I also don't think there is a huge difference between Kirilloff and Larnach, prospect-status-wise.

Ehire Adrianza posted a Thank You message to the Twins and their fans on his Instagram page earlier today. Can't find any reports yet on who he may have signed with, but sure would look like he is heading to another team. Adrianza was claimed by the Twins and had four really solid seasons as the team's utility infielder. A terrific defender, especially on the left sign of the infield, he even hit a little bit, certainly more than expected.

Hank Aaron was my dad's favorite player... Was pretty cool when Steve Buhr found the below tweet. Reuben Stohs is my dad's dad's cousin. He was proud to have given up a homer to Aaron. I didn't realize the homer he gave up to Aaron was his first as an affiliated player. Pretty cool!

Yup, it's just an opinion... I hated the trade probably more than anyone when it happened. But the Twins needed a new closer. Jon Rauch was absolutely horrible. Maybe he would have turned it around, but who knows? And Capps wasn't great either. I think the bigger issue is that he was re-signed. Hated that trade probably more than any other trade that the Twins have made, when it was made. But I don't put it near the Brunansky/Herr trade on the list of bad trades.

it's strange to me that $8 million for one year of a left-handed starting pitcher who has had a sub-4 ERA in 5 of the last 6 seasons is an 'overpay', but so many people want to pay Nelson Cruz whatever he wants... I like this signing. He's probably the Twins #3. He could be their top guy. Yes, he's 38, but he's not reliant on velocity. If he stays healthy, which he has, I think this is a really solid signing for the Twins.

Several reports from national writers report that the Twins have agreed to terms with veteran left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ.On Wednesday afternoon, the Twins were back in the news, making a second major-league move. The team added a veteran with a lot of experience and a lot of success. The $8 million deal matches what Toronto signed Robbie Ray for earlier this offseason. MLB Trade Rumors had Happ as their 41st ranked free agent and predicted he'd get a one-year, $6 million deal. FanGraphs had him ranked 45th and their Craig Edwards predicted he'd get this exact deal. Happ had a $17 million option that would have been triggered had he made 10 starts or pitched 61 1/3 innings last season. The Yankees made sure he only made nine starts, and Happ wasn't too pleased about it. (Tom Froemming contributed to this article as well) SEE ALSO Where Can the Twins Add the Most Value? Why Didi Gregorius is the Best Shortstop Fit for the Twins The 10 Best Twins Targets Among Remaining Free Agents Free Agent Faceoff: Kiké Hernández vs. Tommy La Stella Click here to view the article

Yup, this was Bill Smith. I hated it at the time... and I still don't think it was good. That said, Capps was really good for the Twins that year. They may not have been a playoff team without him. Ramos had some good years, but he fought injuries too. There were certainly some question marks at the time.

Luis Ramirez was their pitching coach in recent years. Unfortunately, Ray Smith and Jeff Reed are no longer in the organization.

On Tuesday, the Twins minor league affiliates announced their managers and coaching staffs. Despite re-alignment and a couple of new affiliates, there were few changes from the scheduled assignments in 2020.The Twins made a commitment a year ago to have at least one bilingual coach (English and Spanish) at each of their affiliates. That remains the case. Also, each affiliate will have two pitching coaches among their four coaches. ST. PAUL SAINTS - TRIPLE-A The Saint Paul Saints announced their first coaching staff as a Twins affiliate. Toby Gardenhire was named the manager. He managed in Cedar Rapids in 2018 and in Ft. Myers in 2019. He had been assigned to manage in Rochester in 2020. Note - The Saints held a press conference to introduce Toby Gardenhire as the Saints first AAA manager. Read Parker's story: Saints Throw a Gardy Party in 2021. Gardenhire’s hitting coach will be Matt Borgschulte. He filled that role in Ft. Myers in 2019 and in the GCL in 2018. The team will have two pitching coaches. Mike McCarthy spent 2018 and 2019 with the Red Wings. Bello has spent four seasons as a pitching coach in the Twins system, including at Pensacola in 2019. Tyler Smarslok will be the team’s infield coach. He joined the organization before the 2020 season. WICHITA WIND SURGE - DOUBLE-A The Wichita Wind Surge will be also joining the Twins affiliation in 2020 as their Double-A team. They announced today that Ramon Borrego will be their manager. He has been in the organization since he was a player in the 1990s. He managed Double-A in 2019. Ryan Smith was the Cedar Rapids hitting coach in 2019, his first year in the organization. He moves up to Double-A in 2021. Luis Ramirez is in his 16th season with the Twins, his first at Double-A. He spent 2019 in Ft. Myers. Virgil Vasquez, who pitched in the big leagues, is also a pitching coach for the Wind Surge. He has been a coach since retiring in 2015. (He even threw a no-hitter for New Britain in 2014) Finally, Joe Mangiameli is the team’s catching coach. 2020 was his first season in the organization. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - HIGH-A The Cedar Rapids Kernels will now be the team’s High-A affiliate. Brian Dinkelman was the Kernels hitting coach for a few years before becoming their manager in 2019. He moved to Cedar Rapids when he became a coach there and now remains manager as the team moves up a level. Bryce Berg will be the Kernels hitting coach. He spent several years as a coach at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, before joining the Twins last year. Mark Moriarity came to the Twins from the University of Mary in Bismarck before the 2020 season. He will be a pitching coach. So will Richard Salazar who has held that role in Elizabethton in recent years. Jairo Rodriguez joins the staff as a coach as well. This will be his 14th season in the organization as a player or coach. (Here is a Get to Know him article from 2016) Read Jeff Johnson's article on the Kernels coaching staffat The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. FT. MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS - LOW-A The Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels now become the Twins Low-A affiliate. Aaron Sutton left Montana State-Billings last year to be the manager in Ft. Myers. Brian Meyer was hired a year ago from Butler. He is the hitting coach. Peter Larson and former big leaguer Carlos Hernandez will be the team’s pitching coaches. GCL TWINS - ROOKIE LEVEL As you know, there will not be a team in Elizabethton in 2021, so the team’s rookie team will only be the GCL Twins. Their manager in 2021 will be Takashi Miyoshi. This is his fourth season in the Twins organization. He has coached previously in Elizabethton. He was set to be the GCL manager in 2020 as well. Shawn Schlecter, a Minnesota native, will serve as the team’s hitting coach. Jared Gaynor, who was in the DSL a year ago, will now be a pitching coach in the GCL. So will former big-leaguers Calvin Maduro. Dan Urbina was a pitching coach in the DSL in 2019 as well. He will take on that role in the GCL. Yeison Perez, who caught in the Twins organization until 2018, becomes a coach in the GCL as well. DSL TWINS - ROOKIE LEVEL Seth Feldman will be the Dominican Summer League manager for the second season. Ricardo Nanita, who played 16 professional seasons through 2018, will be one hitting coach. So will Steven Rosen who joined the Twins from Notre Dame before the 2020 season.Kevin Rodriguez will again be a pitching coach. So will Joey Skracic who enters his first season as a coach. Jimmy Alvarez will also remain in a coaching position. MINOR LEAGUE FRONT OFFICE AND COORDINATORS Alex Hassan begins his second season as the Twins Director of Player Development. (Get to know him from this 2019 article) Drew MacPhail returns as his assistant director. Tommy Bergjans has been promoted to an assistant director of player development as well. Mauricio Mena will also fill that role. Kevin Morgan will be the field coordinator. He spent 25 years in the Mets organization before joining the Twins last year. Tucker Frawley will be the assistant field coordinator and coordinator of skill development after spending a dozen years at Yale. The organization’s minor league hitting coach will again be Donegal Fergus. Michael Thomas remains the catching coordinator. Billy Boyer is the infielder coordinator. Mike Quade is back as an outfield coordinator. With JP Martinez joining the Giants as their assistant pitching coach, Justin Willard is now the pitching coordinator. Zach Bove will be the assistant pitching coordinator. Nat Ballenberg will be a special projects pitching coordinator. Click here to view the article

It's been known... Charley Walters tweeted a "little birdie" thing after the St. Paul announcement in December, but again, it is no surprise. We'll be covering the press conference tomorrow. He was set to manage at Rochester last year. He played a prominent coaching role in 2020. He's a really good manager.

https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1351252616311832576

This kid must be 16... but man, he looks young. And I feel old!! https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1350186902654128128

https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1350122208270577672

Freddy La Flor: $1.1 million. https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1350090738881753092

Rainer Rodriguez: https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1350106058396561409

$2.2 million for De Andrade

Per Baseball America, the #MNwins have signed nine players already today... https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2020-21-mlb-international-signings-tracker/#Twins

Late on Monday night, news broke that the Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with free agent right-handed reliever Liam Hendriks. Meanwhile, Twins fans wait for even a good, strong rumor regarding the Twins to present itself.The White Sox would certainly seem to be the favorite right now in the American League Central Division, if the season were to start today. While bringing back free agent outfielder Adam Eaton isn't terribly concerning, they also acquired RHP Lance Lynn in a trade with Texas last month. The addition of Hendriks improves the back-end of their bullpen. Over the past few seasons in Oakland, the once top Twins pitching prospect became one of baseball's best relief pitchers. Earlier on Monday night, MLB Network revealed that he is the best reliever in the game. We could probably write an article or two chronicling why the Twins DFAd Hendriks, with options remaining, after just over a season with the team and before even trying him in the bullpen, but that can be for another day, and another writer. The White Sox went and got creative with their contract offer to Hendriks, specifically the fourth season which is a $15 million option with a $15 million buy out. Of course, if they buy out the deal, the $15 million is spread over several years. Meanwhile, the Twins have seemingly presented as a team that is quite active, looking to fill several needs this offseason. There have been plenty of rumors, though not for awhile, about their search for a shortstop. But we are still waiting to see how that will play out. We have heard that they are looking for a fourth starter to team with Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda and Michael Pineda. Randy Dobnak warrants a shot at the fifth starter, so they need to add at least one starter, maybe more. There haven't been any real rumors associating the Twins with starters, even though some are believed to be available. And we are still waiting to see how that will play out. The Twins lost Trevor May to the Mets in free agency. They non-tendered Matt Wisler and he signed with the Giants. Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard are free agents that they could bring back. At this time, the Twins have signed only Hansel Robles. And Twins fans are waiting to see if more will be added, or if they will trust pitching coach Wes Johnson to turn someone like Brandon Waddell, Ian Gibaut, Derek Law, Glenn Sparkman, Luke Farrell, or some minor leaguers into this year's Wisler, or this year's Alcala. And still we wait. We have seen this before as Twins fans. And, there is no reason to believe that the Twins won't make some moves. They have made moves late in the offseason each year. Lynn and Logan Morrison a couple of years ago. The Kenta Maeda trade wasn't completed until last February. Marwin Gonzalez signed late. So, there is no reason for Twins fans to panic. Cleveland is trading off pieces. Kansas City has added some pieces and has a lot of pitching coming. The Tigers have some serious pitching talent coming. But the White Sox are legit. Their offense was one of baseball's best in 2019, and they added Lynn - who has been one of the top 5 pitchers in the AL the past two seasons - and Hendriks - baseball's best relievers. It's still mid-January, so there is plenty of time. But, for Twins fans, it is OK to start feeling a bit antsy. Presumably the White Sox are done with big-time moves. They aren't likely to go after George Springer or Trevor Bauer. But they have put themselves into serious postseason contender in 2021. The Twins do not have to respond to these moves. They simply need to keep putting their 2021 roster together. They need to fill at least one rotation spot, and they need to add a couple of bullpen arms. And, clearly they would like to add a shortstop and probably a utility player. And there are a lot of options remaining, either in free agency or via trade. So, while we start to get nervous and wonder when the Twins will make their moves, just remind yourself that it is WHEN and not IF. They will make moves. And when they do, we'll see how the Twins compare to the White Sox. Click here to view the article