Seth Stohs

None of those were big moves and none of them are that exciting. Andrew Albers is the one on the list that has had some really strong moments. Only two of these guys were MLB signings. Minor League signings are just for depth, and if they're more than that, that's a bonus. Minaya and Magill certainly had some good moments. Smith had a good six weeks or so. And, Barnes and Colina were Twins signings/picks who came up very briefly.

Kerry Taylor's youngest sister is Megan Taylor. Some may remember her because in high school, she set the state scoring record for basketball... she went to Iowa State and is now in their Hall of Fame.

A few bits of information came out of the Twins media luncheon this afternoon at Target Field. We have some TV news, but the biggest news is that Corey Koskie has been elected to the Twins Hall of Fame and will be inducted this summer. Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images On Friday afternoon at Target Field, the Minnesota Twins announced that third baseman Corey Koskie will enter the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at a pre-game ceremony on August 17th. A native of Anola, Manitoba, Koskie was the Twins 26th round draft pick in 1994 out of Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia. A big, strong Canadian, Koskie was quite raw in baseball terms. After the draft, he spent a summer in Elizabethton. He then played at one level per season, from Low-A Fort Wayne, to High-A Fort Myers, to Double-A New Britain, and Triple-A Salt Lake. At each level, he hit, and he continued to add power. In 1997 in New Britain, he hit .286/.414/.531 (.945) with 26 doubles, six triples, and 23 homers. At Triple-A in 1998, he hit .301/.368/.539 (.906) with 32 doubles, five triples, and 26 homers. He earned an 11-game call up to the big leagues that September and hit just .138. He really didn't have a defensive position. Tom Kelly played him in right field, but over time, Koskie put in the work and became a very solid third baseman. In 117 games in his rookie season of 1999, he hit .310/.387/.468 (.855) with 21 doubles and 11 homers. The following season, he hit .300/.400/.441 (.841) with 32 doubles and nine homers. 2001 may have been his best season. He hit .276/.362/.488 (.850) with 37 doubles and 26 home runs. He also scored 100 runs and drove in 103 runs. He played three more seasons with the Twins and posted OPS of .815, .845, and .838. These all came before blogs became a big thing, and before Moneyball was dared to be discussed. His consistency, and his willingness to get on base with walks, may be more appreciated now than two decades ago. He wanted to remain with the Twins, but the Twins weren't willing to meet his price. Instead, he signed with the Blue Jays. He played in 97 games in 2005 and 76 games in 2006. Unfortunately, concussion issues really ended his career. For a long time, he struggled with lights, noise, and other major symptoms of concussion. He has remained in the Twin Cities, raising his kids, who were/are stars on the hockey rink and the baseball diamond. He now plays summer amateur baseball with his sons. Over his six seasons (and 11 game September call up), he hit a combined .280/.373/.463 (.836) with 180 doubles, 13 triples and 101 home runs. Koskie is now the 41st member of the Twins Hall of Fame. “For more than two decades, Corey Koskie’s presence and impact have been felt across Twins Territory, embodying what it means to be a Minnesota Twin through his leadership and community stewardship,” Twins President & CEO Dave St. Peter said. “Corey was a clubhouse leader, a critical offensive catalyst and one of the best defensive third basemen in club history on several of the most important Minnesota Twins teams of the last 25 years. Post-career, he became a community leader, an annual presence in support of the Twins Community Fund and occasionally joined his family on local town ball fields.” We have some information on how to watch the Twins... Starting February 11, Twins.tv will begin. The streaming package will cost $98.99 for the season, or $19.99 per month. In addition, there will be no regional blackouts, including in Iowa! More information will be coming over the coming weeks. Of note, season-ticket holders will be able to buy this streaming package for 50% off. The organization believes that they will get 92-93% season ticket renewal. The goal is to get attendance over two million in 2025. Joe Ryan Update According to Derek Falvey, everyone is healthy at this time. Joe Ryan is doing the same workouts he would be doing now if he ended the season healthy. This is obviously great news for the team as Ryan continues to add pieces to his game that make him better. When his season ended in mid-August, it was a huge knock to the team. Falvey also mentioned that he is still trying to improve the roster, "whether it be first base, or a complementary right-handed bat." View full article

He did, but... The Twins replaced him with Tucker Frawley. This Tucker Frawley: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=frawle000har

He did.

Three of the Twins minor league affiliates announced their 2025 coaching staffs on Tuesday morning. The Twins announced the rest of them on Tuesday afternoon. There has been a lot of change, and there were even some managerial shifts. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (Toby Gardenhire, Brian Dinkelman), William Parmeter (photos of Brian Meyer, Kevin Morgan, Nico Giarratano) We all know the importance of player development to any sports organization. Obviously, it’s incredibly important in baseball where organizations have players entering as 16 or 17 year olds from international countries, 18 year olds just out of high school and 21 or 22 year olds coming out of college. Each organization has six levels of development before reaching the big leagues, and there are adjustments and improvements needed to keep moving up. The Twins made some changes on their big-league staff at the start of the offseason. Ramon Borrego and Rayden Sierra were promoted to the Twins from within the organization. Other Twins player development staff was poached by other organizations. So there are quite a few changes from just one year ago. The Twins affiliates have started announcing their coaching staffs this morning. The Twins usually follow by announcing their entire player development staff, and we will update this article accordingly. Without further ado, here are the 2025 Twins Minor League Coaching Staffs. St. Paul Saints Manager Toby Gardenhire will lead the Saints again. He has been the team’s manager for all four years that the Saints have been affiliated with the Minnesota Twins. 2025 marks Gardenhire’s 10th season as a coach or manager in the Twins system. The son of Twins Hall of Fame manager Ron Gardenhire played for three colleges. He was drafted by the Twins in 2002 and 2005. He played in the Twins organization for parts of seven seasons. He became the head coach at UW-Stout in 2012 and spent five seasons there. Gardenhire will work with some new staff in 2025. His defensive and first base coach, Tyler Smarslok, is now the Marlins first base coach. Pitching coach Peter Larson is now in a similar role in the Yankees organization. Shawn Schlecter is the lone coach returning to the Saints. He is the lead hitting coach. This is the Burnsville native’s sixth season in the Twins organization. He’s been a hitting coach in Cedar Rapids (2022) and Wichita (2023). This will be his second season with the Saints. He played ball at North Iowa Community College and then spent six years as a coach at the school. He joined the Twins organization in 2020. New to the organization, Danny Marcuzzo will be a hitting and development coach for the Saints. A native of Omaha, Marcuzzo spent two seasons at Coffeyville Community College before playing two seasons at Western Illinois. He later earned his Masters Degree at Central Oklahoma where he also helped the baseball program. He returned to Coffeyville as the assistant coach in 2019. In 2020, he started a four-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska. Most recently, he was the assistant coach at the University of Akron. He is touted for his defensive coaching as well as hitting. Jonas Lovin joins the Saints after two years with the Kernels. This is Lovin’s third season in the organization. He came to the Twins from Iowa Central Community College where he was the pitching coach. In college, he pitched for Division II Augustana (SD) and was a big part of their 2018 national championship team. He went to Nebraska-Omaha in 2019 and earned a master’s degree. Carlos Hernandez moves up from Wichita where he spent the past two summers. Hernandez is now in his eighth season in the Twins organization. You may recall that the southpaw pitched for the Astros in the early 2000s. Wichita Wind Surge Ramon Borrego has been in the Twins organization since signing as a player in October of 1995. He held several roles in the Twins organization since he stopped playing in 2003. He has been a manager in the Twins system the past 15 seasons including all four seasons in Wichita. He moved up to the big leagues, and deservedly so. That does mean that there will be a new manager for the Wind Surge. Brian Dinkelman will be making the move from Cedar Rapids to Wichita. He was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America in 2023 when he led the Kernels to a Midwest League championship. He was drafted by the Twins in 2006 and spent eight seasons as a player including some big-league time in 2011. He is a career .301 hitter in the big leagues! He spent the past eight seasons in Cedar Rapids including the last five as a manager. Andrew Cresci is new to the Twins organization. He has been coaching in the Houston Astros organization the past three seasons. In the spring of 2021, he was the hitting coach for Central Lakes College in Brainerd, MN, and then joined Driveline for a short stint before the Astros hired him. He played club baseball at Sacred Heart University and graduated in 2014. He then went to Rome (yes, the one in Italy) to continue his education at John Cabot University. In 2017, he played for S.S. Lazio Baseball Club in Italy. Yeison Perez will return for his second season as the Hitting and Development Coach for the Surge. Perez played for the DSL Twins in 2016 and 2017 and in the GCL in 2018. He spent two seasons as a coach in the FCL before joining Cedar Rapids in 2023. Ryan Ricci joined the Twins player development staff a year ago after coaching at Lafayette College for two years and then spending 2023 at his alma mater, George Mason. After college, he signed with the Diamondbacks and pitched in 15 games in 2018. 2025 marks the third season that Jesus Sanchez has coached in the Twins organization. The Venezuelan coached in the DSL in 2023 and with the FCL Twins in 2024. He had a unique career as a player. He signed with the Phillies in 2006 as a catcher. He caught for three years before they moved him to the mound. He pitched in affiliated ball through the 2014 season. He spent three seasons in the Brewers system and one season with the Marlins. He spent about two-and-a-half seasons pitching in Triple-A but never got The Call. He continued to play in Venezuela in the winters and independent baseball in the summers through the 2022 season. The Wind Surge have played their home games at state-of-the-art Riverfront Stadium since 2021. They will continue to play at the same stadium. However, it will now be called Equity Bank Park. Cedar Rapids Kernels Brian Meyer has been the manager in Fort Myers the past four years. In 2025, he gets an opportunity to move up the ladder with some of his players. He had spent 13 years coaching in college before joining the Twins organization, including five seasons at Tulane and three seasons as an assistant at Butler. Argenis Angulo returns to the Kernels for his second season as a pitching coach. Drafted in 2014 by Cleveland, Angulo pitched professionally through the 2022 season (which he spent with Wichita). He pitched in the Arizona Fall League in 2017 and 2019 and was named to the AFL Rising stars team both years. He began coaching in 2023 with the FCL Twins. Hunter Townsend has joined the Twins organization this offseason. He pitched at the University of Charleston in West Virginia from 2016 through 2020. He transferred to East Tennessee State for the 2021 season. He began working as a Performance Coach at Tread Athletics in Charlotte, North Carolina. CJ Baker will be a hitting coach with the Kernels for a second straight season. He joined the Twins organization a year ago after coaching nine seasons in the college ranks. Most recently, he was in charge of Video, Technology, and was the Analytics Coordinator at Stanford for two years. And yes, he has a master’s degree too, from the University of Washington. New to the Twins organization is hitting coach Julian Gonzalez. He spent the past two seasons in the Orioles organization, spending a year in the DSL and then 2024 in the FCL. The Orioles hired him after the 2021 season. He had spent the previous two years as a high school hitting and outfielder coordinator in Jacksonville, Florida. While studying at the University of North Florida, he was a volunteer assistant on the softball team. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Seth Feldman is in his seventh season in the Twins organization. He began by managing in the Dominican Summer League for three seasons. He has been the manager of the FCL Twins the past three seasons. This will be his first year as a manager of a full-season affiliate, the Mighty Mussels. Before joining the Twins in 2019, Feldman was an assistant coach at his alma mater, UW-LaCrosse for three years. He played for the team the four previous years and twice participated in the Division II World Series, finishing second in 2015. Richard Salazar returns to the Mussels for the third straight season. He’s been in the organization for the past eight years. He coached in Cedar Rapids the two previous seasons. He came to the States to attend Miami Dade College, got drafted by the Orioles in 2001, and then spent 17 years playing pro baseball. Anders Dzurak pitched for Division III St. Olaf from 2010 to 2013. Since then, he has continued his education and coaching career. He spent time at Macalester and then at his alma mater. Then he went to Northern State to earn an advanced degree, but he also kept coaching. The Twins hired him in 2020 as the rehab coach. He is now in his sixth season in the organization. This will be his first season with a full-season affiliate. The Mighty Mussels hitting coaches in 2025 will be Luis Reyes and Andrew Parks. Reyes is in his third season as a hitting coach with the Mussels. He began coaching with the Twins late in 2021 and coached in the FCL in 2022. Prior to joining the Twins, he earned a bachelors and a masters degree. He has coached in a variety of hitting and infield roles at colleges in Oklahoma, and joined the Twins after two seasons at Texas A&M, International University. Andrew Parks was hired by the Twins last September. He will be a hitting coach in Ft. Myers. He had been working at the Florida Baseball ARMory in Lakeland. He pitched for four years at Division III Medaille College. FCL/FTM Complex With Feldman moving up a level, the new manager in the Florida Complex League will be Nico Giarratano. This is his third season with the Twins organization, first as a manager. He’s been a development coach the past two seasons. In 2022, he was the manager of the Mariners’ DSL team. Prior to that, he was drafted by the Giants in 2017 out of the University of San Francisco. He played through the 2021 season. There will be two hitting coaches, three pitching coaches, and two development coaches at the complex in Ft. Myers. Chris Powell came to the Twins before the 2024 season and will be a pitching coach in the FCL again. He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2015 out of Cal-Poly, Pomona, and pitched three seasons, topping out at Double-A. He played independent ball in 2018. Since then, he’s been very busy coaching. He did some work as a high school coach, an instructor at Fully Functional Baseball (Fullerton). The past few years, he has worked with MLB as a pitching coordinator at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California, and as a coach for the 2023 MLB Diversity Pipeline program in Arizona. Erick Julio has been with the team since the 2022 season. He’s been working in the DSL, but this year he moves to the States as a pitching coach. The 28-year-old from Colombia played professionally from 2014 through the 2021 season. Dan Urbina returns to his roots, working with pitchers in the lower levels of the minor leagues. He was a pitching coach with the Saints a year ago. It is his seventh season in the Twins system. He was a pitching coach in Wichita for three seasons before joining the Saints last year. He came to the Twins from the Pirates organization. He was the pitching coach for their Venezuelan Summer League team for 11 seasons and then for seven more seasons with their Dominican Summer League team. Before that, he pitched for three seasons in the Dodgers organization. In addition, Carter Kessinger will be the rehab pitching coach at the complex in Fort Myers. He will be working with any pitchers returning from injury. Kessinger joins the Twins from Yale University. He pitched there from 2020 through 2024 in a variety of roles, from starter to closer. He was unable to pitch in 2023, so we became the team's director of analytics and spent time reviewing game film and pitch tracking data. He also had an internship with Cressey Sports Performance in 2023. Collin McBride is now in his third season in the Twins organization and specifically in the FCL. He spent one season in the Rangers organization before joining the Twins. He played college ball at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, and he spent time at the College of Central Florida as a coach. He co-owns Thundercat Sports Academy in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Emilio Guerrero is starting his fourth season with the FCL Twins as a hitting coach. He signed as an infielder with the Blue Jays in 2011 and played in their organization through the 2019 season. He actually attempted pitching the last couple of seasons. The development coaches are Jairo Rodriguez and Tristan Toorie. From 2006 through 2016 (11 seasons), Rodriguez represented the Minnesota Twins organization as a player. He got a little time at first base, but he was usually the #2 (or #3) catcher on whichever roster he was on. He reached Triple-A for a few games. He was a part of the first group of Twins players to play in Cedar Rapids in 2013. He has been coaching in the organization since the end of his playing career. He was with the Kernels in 2021 and 2022. He went back to the DSL for the 2023 season and came back to the Kernels in 2024. Toorie is in his second season in this same role. Previously, he had been an assistant coach at some small colleges, and he worked for MLB helping scouts and coaches. He played ball at Augusta State University and made his coaching debut in 2013 with the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League. The Twins will likely announce their entire Player Development staff later today, and we will update this article when we get that information. DSL/Dominican Complex For the fourth year in a row, Rafael Martinez will manage the DSL Twins. The hitting coaches are Steven Cardona and Carlos Lara. Both were in the same roles last year. Cardona was working as a hitting instructor at Infinite Hitting. He has worked in a variety of roles, from sales, to data entry, to ESL instructor in the Mets, Marlins, Rays, and Blue Jays organizations. Lara has also with the Twins' baseball technology group. Former Twins minor leaguer Ruben Santana returns for his fourth season coaching in the DSL. He originally signed with the Twins in September of 2015 and was a player in the organization through the 2021 season. He has been responsible for hitting, base running and infield work through his tenure. Dylan Hawley will be one of the team's pitching coaches. Hawley is in his second season with the organization and in the DSL. He is from Minnesota and had been working at Driveline the previous three years. In 2022, he was the pitching coach for the Excelsior Legion Baseball team. Alex Wright is joining the Twins this season and will be a pitching coach in the Dominican Summer League. He was a student at the University of South Carolina from 2016-2020. As a freshman, he applied for an internship with the Gamecocks as a video analyst. He became a student manager as well. His second year, the school invested in Trackman, Rapsodo and other technology and he dove in head first. After school, he joined Ascent Athlete, a sports performance facility in Pennsylvania that focuses on baseball and softball player development. Player Development Staff Jeremy Zoll: VP, General Manager Alex Hassan: Assistant GM Drew MacPhail: Director of Player Development Brian Maloney: Director, Minor League and High Performance Operations Amanda Daley: Director of Player Education Tommy Bergjans: Director, Player Development Frankie Padulo: Assistant Director, Player Development Josh Ruffin: Director, Applied Analytics Jason Davila: Senior Manager, Minor League Operations Lisa Maria Tolentino: Coordinator of Minor League Operations Chad Raines: Coordinator, Player Development Nihar Maskara: Analyst, Player Development Research Coordinators Kevin Morgan: Minor League Field Coordinator Edgar Varela: Coordinator of Instruction Ehire Adrianza: Assistant Coordinator of Instruction. Nat Ballenberg: Pitching Coordinator Bobby Hearn: Assistant Pitching Coordinator Bryce Berg: Hitting Coordinator Ryan Smith: Assistant Hitting Coordinator Tucker Frawley: Catching Coordinator Mike Quade: Outfield Coordinator View full article

In the final breakdown of the AL Central rosters (currently), I'll consider the bullpens of each of the five teams. How do the Twins rank? Who has the best bullpen? Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-Imagn Images (photos of Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran), Ken Blaze-Imagn Images (photos of Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith) A week ago, I started an attempt at comparing the Twins roster (if the season opened today) to the other teams in the AL Central. If you missed any of the first three installments of this series, you can look back here: Part 1: Infielders/Catchers Part 2: Outfielders/DH/Bench Part 3: Starting Pitchers Part 4: Relief Pitchers (Today) In my mind, comparing bullpens can be quite difficult. Sure, for most teams we know the closer, but after that, one could argue that they are all underrated, or at least aren’t talked about as much as they should be. As we all know, aside from some closers, the only time you really hear about a reliever is when they don’t do well. Think about it. Twins fans saw how amazing that Griffin Jax was the last couple of years, and he wasn’t even mentioned among the Top 10 relief pitchers in baseball. In reality, he was Top 3 in MLB, and the other two are also in the AL Central (arguably). In addition, a lot of teams use the back half of their bullpen to shift players between Triple-A and the big leagues. When there are DFAs, they often happen with players at lowest-leverage roster spots. And how do you compare an 8th inning, high-leverage reliever to a long reliever who pitches in blowouts. So, I broke it into five parts, which may be too many. Those categories are: The Closer, Top Set Up Guy, Top Lefty, Next Two, and then Bottom Three. The Closer: Obviously the ninth-inning guy. The guy who gets the Saves. The Top Set Up Guy: Often the team’s best relief pitcher. He may be called upon for the biggest outs of the game whether they happen in the eighth inning or sixth inning. Top Lefty: I’m not sure if this is as important as it was before the three-batter minimum rule came into place. However, most teams want to have at least one high-quality lefty reliever in their bullpen. The Next Two: I guess, looking at Twins terms, this is the rest of The A Team. These are the two other relievers that are called upon in high leverage situations and with leads. The Bottom Three: I need a better name for this group, but this is really just the final three bullpen spots. One could be a long-reliever. One could be a Rule 5 pick or a younger reliever that they don’t want to use in high-leverage situations. Bullpen Twins: Jhoan Duran (1.2), Griffin Jax (2.6), Cole Sands (1.5), Jorge Alcala (0.3), Kody Funderburk (-0.1), Justin Topa (0.1), Michael Tonkin (0.4), Eiberson Castellano (R5), Brock Stewart (IL, 0.1) Guardians: Emmanuel Clase (2.2), Cade Smith (2.7), Hunter Gaddis (1.6), Tim Herrin (1.0), Pedro Avila (0.3), Slade Cecconi (0.2), Sam Hentges (0.3), Logan Allen (-0.7), Trevor Stephan (IL). Royals: Lucas Erceg (1.4), James McArthur (0.1), Sam Long (0.2), Chris Stratton (0.0), John Schreiber (1.1), Angel Zerpa (0.2), Carlos Hernandez (0.2), Daniel Lynch (0.2). Tigers: Beau Briske (0.5), Alex Lange (0.1), Alex Faedo (-0.5), Matt Manning (0.2), Will Vest (1.1), Sean Guenther (0.4), Keider Montero (-0.1), Kenta Maeda (0.0). White Sox: Justin Anderson (0.2), Jared Shuster (0.2), Steven Wilson (-0.7), Fraser Ellard (0.1), Jordan Leasure (-0.4), Prelander Berroa (0.1), Gus Varland (0.5), Cam Booser (0.3), Bryse Wilson (-0.2). Full Disclosure: I didn’t take a ton of time considering the final bullpen spots. However, for the Twins, I included Eiberson Castellano since he is a Rule 5 pick so until he’s not on the roster, he’ll be on the roster. That means that someone like Louie Varland may have to start the season in St. Paul. The Twins signed Michael Tonkin and Justin Topa to avoid arbitration. Tonkin has long been out of options. Ronny Henriquez is also out of options, so would the team let him go for nothing, or could Topa, who has two options remaining, wind up in St. Paul? The Guardians have several pitchers coming back from injuries, and several lefties. The Royals have a lot of arms, some who have shown potential at times. I included a couple of starter/long relievers on the Tigers list. And frankly, I have no idea what the White Sox bullpen will look like. I just want to see #OldFriends Prelander Berroa and Cam Booser get an opportunity, and it would be fun to see Varland vs Varland games for the next several years. Closers: Is there any question that right now Emmanuel Clase is the class of the division’s closer group. Duran came down to earth in 2024, so he’ll need to have a comeback season to stay ahead of Erceg. Top Set-Up Guys: I’ll put Griffin Jax up against any other reliever in the game, but former Twins draft pick Cade Smith was best in baseball in 2024. The Tigers don’t necessarily have a shut-down closer, but they do have some really big arms with stuff to go with it, guys like Alex Lange and Alex Faedo. Top Lefty: I like Kody Funderburk, and when healthy, his stuff can generate a lot of strikeouts. Mid-90s fastball with a sharp slider. He came up through the organization as a starter so he, at times, can have a third pitch too. Herrin and Vest are the top guys on this list. And Cleveland’s got Minnesota Sam Hentges coming back from injury too. The Next Two: Cole Sands came on in 2024 and was more than anyone could have fairly hoped he would become. Jorge Alcala was healthy in 2024 and outside of one really bad game, he was quite good. Again, Cleveland has big arms and depth. Hunter Gaddis has been really good at times. The Tigers and the Royals have a bit of depth too. The Bottom Three: The Twins have a couple of mid-30s options with lots of service time. If not Tonkin/Top, then it’s youth in the form of Castellano, Varland, and Henriquez. Cleveland added Slade Cecconi in the Josh Naylor deal. While he hasn’t yet done it in the big leagues, he does have some interesting stuff. SUMMARY I went with a little different format for the starting pitchers than the hitters, and with the bullpens, my system goes back to what we did for the hitters. In the first chart, it is just a simple ranking of the five closers (and other categories). The team with the best gets five points. Four points for the second-best. One point for the fifth best, also known as "the worst." Then in the second chart, I again gave 10 total points per category. Those 10 points are then allocated between the five teams. In theory, if you felt all of the teams were exactly the same as each other, all of them would get two points. For these, the highest points I gave to anyone was 3.5. But I think that what we find is that the Cleveland Guardians have the top bullpen on paper heading into the season. The Twins aren't far behind, especially when, in chart 2, we are able to show scale or differentiation more clearly. The Royals and Tigers both have some good arms but are clearly behind the top two teams. And then there are the White Sox. What do you think of these rankings, and how would your rankings look different? View full article

I was thinking of Sean Gilmartin... whose wife was once the White House Press Secretary. Gilmartin was a Rule 5 pick by the Twins, I believe.

Looking at offense is fun, but what wins? Pitching. How does the Twins starting five compare to the predicted starting five for the other AL Central teams? Image courtesy of Cole Ragans (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images), Tanner Bibee (Ken Blaze-Imagn Images), Pablo Lopez (Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images), Tarik Skubal (Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images), Seth Lugo (Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images). Comparing five hitters who play the same position is fun, and sometimes there can be challenging decisions. Comparing 25 starting pitchers to each other? That's a whole other ballgame. However, many would agree that pitching is the most important part in a ballgame, starting with the starters. Previous AL Central Comparisons Part 1: The Infielders/Catchers Part 2: The Outfielders/CH/Bench Part 3: Starting Pitchers (Today) Part 4: Relief Pitchers (Coming Soon) I’m not sure there is a great way to look at and compare a group of five starters, so I’ll talk you through some of what I did. You’ll see this in the summary charts below too. The key to this exercise is to not overthink it. That’s the key because then I have a chance. How much research do I want to do? But I also think that sometimes a first reaction gives a person a good feel for how they truly feel about the pitchers and the group. The first thing I wanted to do was attempt to predict the five rotations. I’ve listed five potential season-opening starters for each team. I also noted a couple of starters who are likely to come off of the injured list at some point during the season. When in doubt, I guessed. One part that is really difficult to account for is injuries and depth. I included Chris Paddack in the Twins starting rotation, even though I think I’d rather see David Festa or Zebby Matthews. I went with Jackson Jobe for the Tigers instead of Kenta Maeda or Keider Montero or Matt Manning. The Starting Fives Twins: Pablo Lopez (3.2), Bailey Ober (2.9), Joe Ryan (3.1), Simeon Woods Richardson (1.8), Chris Paddack (1.0) Guardians: Tanner Bibee (3.3), Gavin Williams (1.3), Luis Ortiz (1.0), Ben Lively (0.8), Triston McKenzie (-1.0), Shane Bieber (IL, 0.8) Royals: Seth Lugo (4.7), Cole Ragans (4.9), Michael Wacha (3.3), Alec Marsh (1.4), Michael Lorenzen (0.7), Kyle Wright (IL) Tigers: Tarik Skubal (5.9), Reese Olson (2.4), Casey Mize (1.2), Alex Cobb (0.3), Jackson Jobe (0.0) White Sox: Jonathan Cannon (0.9), Drew Thorpe (-0.1), Davis Martin (0.6), Shane Smith (R5), Martin Perez (0.5) So, there are the five AL Central starting rotations. Now what? First, I kept it pretty simple. Who are the Top 5 starting pitchers in the division? They each get five points. Who are the #6 through #10 starters in the division? They get four points each. Eleven through 15? Three points each. Sixteen through 20? Two points each. The White Sox starters each get one point. That’s not true, though it’s close. I am pretty sure that we can all agree that right now, Tigers lefty and reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is the best pitcher in the division. But then I put Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans, both of the Royals in the two and three spots. I ranked Pablo Lopez as the fourth-best AL Central starter, and Tanner Bibee of the Guardians at #5. Those five pitchers got five points for their teams. That’s 10 points for the Royals and five points for the Twins, Guardians and Tigers. I think that those five are pretty well agreed upon. It’s right away in Group #2 (6-10) where you can start finding some variance and disagreement in the rankings. It’s my list, and you should create your own list based on your opinions, your research, what you’ve seen or read. It’s your fandom. For me, I ranked Twins righties Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober in the #6 and #7 spots. Is that a hometown bias? They were followed in my rankings by Michael Wacha (Royals), Gavin Williams (Guardians), and Reese Olson (Tigers). So real quick, here is how that ranking turns out after ranking the 25 pitchers in order: Looking at this chart, the Twins and Royals stand at the top of the AL Central in terms of their starting five. However, the Guardians and Tigers are both close. What is the difference between 18 and 16? (I know. The answer is 2, but as it relates to this discussion...) So I wanted to take it to a little different level to try to gain a little separation. Since you’ve already ranked your Top 25, from 1 to 25, why not include a second chart. Why not just give one point to the #1 pitcher (Skubal), two points to the #2 pitcher (Lugo), three points for the #3 starter (Ragans), and four points for the Twins for Pablo Lopez in the fourth spot. The #25 starter… maybe White Sox Nick Martini (?)... adds 25 points to the White Sox ledger. The value in taking time to do this exercise is to provide scale. Instead of #1 being given equal weight as #5, and just four points different from Tarik Skubel to, ummm… let’s pick on a different White Sox starter, maybe Davis Martin (?) at #24? Which is better? Having three Twins starters in the Top seven in the division, and their #5 starter at #18, or the Royals having two in the top three, three in the top 10, and four in the top 12, but they have a 23 in their fifth spot? Well, from my personal rankings, here’s how it turned out for me. How does yours look? So by adding this level of detail, the Royals do separate themselves a little bit from the Twins for the top spot. There is a more noticeable difference between the top two teams and the next two, but the Tigers (largely due to Skubal) finish in third place. And, as with any preseason projection or prediction, there's no way of knowing who is right or who is wrong. One or two injuries could alter everything. We all know that a team will get starts from at least eight-to-ten pitchers, and as many as probably 20. There are other variables that happen during a regular season. But this is a fun exercise to find out how you really feel about where the Twins are right now relative to their primary competition. Now it's your turn. Discuss my rankings, if you want, but take a few minutes and create your own rankings. View full article

I was thinking of the wrong lefty reliever. Doolittle was an All-Star. The guy I'm thinking about wasn't.

The Twins typically announce their minor-league coaching and coordinator assignments in mid-to-late January. Within the next week, we will likely notice that there have been a lot of changes, on those rosters and throughout the player development department. Why? Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Ramon Borrego) Baseball and major sports leagues have the anti-trust laws. Leagues want fans in all of their locations, so players can’t change jobs in baseball like they do in the “real world.” Consider: If a player is drafted in 2021, he signs a contract with a signing bonus at that time. From that point, he will not have any real say in where he plays, or for how much. That is true throughout their minor-league career and until they reach nearly three years of MLB service time, when they gain a little bit of say thanks to the arbitration process. That’s really the first time there is any negotiating to do, and it can happen anywhere from five to 10 years after the player originally signed. It isn’t until the player reaches free agency that he can truly find out what his market value is and, based on the needs of the 30 MLB teams, pick the deal he most likes. However, that is not the case for coaches and coordinators. More and more, we see minor-league coordinators and coaches jumping from organization to organization. We aren’t talking about coaches being fired. For instance, after the Twins' season ended, we learned that assistant bench coach Tony Diaz and hitting coaches David Popkins, Derek Shomon and Rudy Hernandez would not be returning. That made them free agents. Popkins very quickly was named the hitting coach of the Toronto Blue Jays. Soon after, Shomon was added to the Marlins coaching staff. We then learned that former Twins minor-league hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, who has been a co-hitting coach with the Orioles the past few seasons, would be the new Twins hitting coach. Later in the offseason, the Twins announced that Trevor Amicone was named an assistant hitting coach. He was the Yankees' Triple-A hitting coach. Rayden Sierra was promoted from within to be another assistant hitting coach. Also, long-time Twins minor-league manager Ramon Borrego was named the first base coach, and Hank Conger moved from first base coach to assistant bench coach. Those are all major-league coaching moves, and they are caused by a disappointing final two months of the 2024 season. In return, they grabbed a couple of coaches from other organizations, and they provided some much-deserved in-house promotions. Now let’s get to the minor leagues, and you’ll see that the Twins have been poached. I love an organization that tends to build from within. As noted above, Rayden Sierra and Ramon Borrego earned promotions to the big leagues and have worked closely with several of the young players who are, or soon will be, on the big-league roster. It is impossible to get upset at a minor-league coach who moves to another organization for a big-league job. Julio Borbon spent a few seasons as a minor-league coordinator. Recently, he was named the first base coach of the Milwaukee Brewers. Tyler Smarslok has been a coach with the Saints the past four seasons. He got the opportunity to manage in the Arizona Fall League after the 2024 season. Soon after winning that league’s championship, he was named the first base coach of the Miami Marlins. In addition, it’s hard to complain about a guy taking a top position with another organization. DJ Engle has coached in the Twins minor leagues the past two or three seasons, including in Wichita in 2024. Around the holidays, he was named the Minor-League Pitching Coordinator of the Houston Astros. There may be personal reasons that a player goes to another team that offers him a position. For instance, Tucker Frawley has been a coordinator in the organization for a half-dozen years. The last few years, he has been the minor league infielders and catcher coordinator. He is a native of New Haven, Connecticut, and spent nearly a dozen years at Yale before joining the Twins. He has joined the New York Mets organization in a similar role, the minor-league defensive coordinator. Peter Larson spent six seasons in the Twins organization, including the past two seasons with the Saints. He has joined another organization as well this offseason. These are not insignificant losses. There are seven upper-level coaches who need to be replaced, and soon we will learn how the Twins were able to replace them. I am encouraged by the fact that, since Derek Falvey took the reins of the organization, he has had to make a lot of player development hires because a lot of coaches have been poached by other organizations. It should be seen as a positive that the Twins' player development group is a place that other organizations are looking to for big-league jobs. In addition, the fact that this trend continues gives me hope that they will be able to find some really good coaches that will help the minor leaguers develop. When Falvey was named the President of Baseball Operations in 2018, Brad Steil was the minor league coordinator for the transition year. The next year, Steil became a Director of Player Procurement, a key job in leading minor-league scouts. Jeremy Zoll became the Minor League Director. After two seasons, Alex Hassan became the minor league director. He served in that role for two seasons. Drew MacPhail has been in the role for the past three seasons. Earlier in the offseason, Jeremy Zoll was named the new General Manager. This week, it was announced that Alex Hassan, Sean Johnson, and Josh Kalk will be joining Daniel Adler as assistant GMs. Hassan and Kalk, along with Zoll, were brought in by Falvey and his group. A quick look at other Twins coaches who have joined other organizations in recent years shows some pretty impressive names. Peter Fatse, Red Sox Hitting Coach. The Sox fired several coaches this past offseason, but Fatse made the cut! He was the Twins minor-league hitting coordinator for about a year before joining the Red Sox big-league job. James Rowson, Yankees Hitting Coach. The Twins hitting coach for the Bomba Squad left after that 2019 season to become the Marlins’ “offensive coordinator.” Things didn’t work out there, or in his time with the Tigers, but being Aaron Judge and Juan Soto’s coach is certainly good. Wes Johnson was brought in as the big-league pitching coach in 2019. He left the Twins midseason in 2022 to join LSU as their pitching coach. He taught Paul Skenes the splinker. And then he left LSU to become Georgia’s head coach the next year. Justin Willard, Red Sox Director of Pitching. Willard came into the Twins organization with Johnson and with Pete Maki. He took over as minor league pitching coordinator when Maki moved up to the big leagues. When Craig Breslow took over the Red Sox, he quickly hired Willard from the Twins and has him overlooking the pitching throughout the fully organization. Zach Bove, Royals Director of Major League Pitching Strategy and Assistant Pitching Coach. Bove was a pitching coach in the Twins low minors when he left to join the Royals big-league staff. Jeremy Hefner, Mets Pitching Coach. Hefner was the Twins bullpen coach, but he was quickly hired by the Mets as their pitching coach. Even through several coaching changes in that organization, Hefner is safe. Tanner Swanson, Yankees major-league quality-control coach and catching coordinator. Swanson was given a lot of credit by Mitch Garver, Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt in his time working with Twins catchers. The Twins really wanted to keep him around, but when he went to the Yankees, the Twins didn’t have a spot on the big-league coaching staff. A few weeks later … Derek Shelton, Pirates manager… Shelton was named the manager of the Pirates in the 2019-2020 offseason. He’s had some ups and downs, but he’s got a pretty exciting pitching staff and hopefully they will take off in 2025. Garvin Alston: Giants Bullpen Coach - Alston was the Twins pitching coach for 2018. JP Martinez: Giants Pitching Coach - Martinez was drafted and then pitched in the Twins organization for several years. Years later, he joined the organization as a pitching coach. He did well in Cedar Rapids and moved up to the assistant minor league pitching coordinator job. After a year in that role, he became an assistant pitching coach with the Giants. This offseason, he was named the Giants pitching coach. So, the primary answer to the “Why?” question is pretty simple. First, you can’t be upset at a coach for taking an opportunity to advance in their career, especially if it’s a promotion to the big leagues. And, you can’t blame the Twins front office for giving them an opportunity, and then for giving them the opportunity to move up. If you want to dig a little deeper, this is also an issue in most industries in the United States. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “the median tenure of wage and salary workers with their current employer was 3.9 years in January of 2024, down from 4.1 in January of 2022. There are a lot of variables in that stat, and frankly, the 0.2 difference isn’t terribly exciting. From the same report on Employee Tenure in 2024, there are several stats indicating that the current generation is much more likely to switch jobs more often. How about this one? The median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 (9.6 years) was more than three times that of workers ages 25 to 34 (2.7 years). Among workers ages 60 to 64, 52 percent had been employed for at least 10 years with their current employer in January 2024, compared with 21 percent of those ages 35 to 39. So, in those terms, the baseball coaches and coordinator industry is just like most other industries in the States. Is it generational? Is it just about upward mobility? As I read this data and type out sentences about it, it’s clear that statistics can tell a story. The older generation stays with a company for longer, in general, than the younger generations. I have been employed by the same company for 27 years. It’s clear I’m fully in the “old dude” category. Of course, that’s probably obvious, since there are people who weren’t born when I graduated from college that have already switched jobs—if not careers—a couple of times already. Of course, in Twins terms, I’m also old enough to actually, clearly remember both of the Twins' World Series championship teams, seasons, and games. Old! Finally, the Twins aren’t the only team that has had players pillaged from their organization. According to this article in the New York Daily News by Gary Phillips, the Yankees have lost 14 player development employees this offseason. That is definitely not the norm. Kevin Reese is the Yankees’ vice president of player development. He called this an “unusually high number.” For the Yankees, three were promoted to the big-league staff. As mentioned above, the Twins poached Trevor Amicone from them. Most left for similar jobs in other organizations. Change is inevitable. Is this a trend in the game, or is it a temporary “fix” of restructuring? We’ll need a few more offseasons to gain more insight on this. What are your thoughts? Former Twins Org Players Just for fun, I went into the websites of the MLB organizations, found their player development staff, coaches and coordinators, and looked for former Twins (and Twins minor league) players to see what they are up to. Maybe there are a few names here that you'll recall. Sherman Johnson: Orioles Assistant Hitting Coach/Upper Level Hitting Coordinator Buck Britton: Orioles Major League Coach Drew Butera: White Sox catching coach Carl Willis: Guardians Pitching Coach Allan de San Miguel: Royals Strategist/Bullpen Catcher Juan Graterol: Bullpen Catcher Marcus Jensen: Quality Control Coach Antoan Richardson: Mets 1B Coach Jason Kanzler: Cubs, Minor League Director Ron Washington: Angels Manager Bobby Wilson: Rangers Catching coach Henry Blanco: Nationals Catching Coach Quintin Berry: Cubs 3B Coach Matt Hague: Pirates hitting coach Dave McKay: Diamondbacks 1B Coach Mike Redmond: Rockies Bench Coach Danny Lehmann: Dodgers Bench Coach Aaron Bates: Dodgers Hitting Coach Rick Knapp: Rays Assistant Pitching and Rehab Coach View full article

In Part 2 of this series, we'll compare projected outfielders, Designated Hitters, and the benches of the Minnesota Twins and the other AL Central teams. Image courtesy of Luis Robert (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images), Riley Greene (Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images), Byron Buxton (Brad Penner-Imagn Images), Steven Kwan (David Dermer-Imagn Images), Kyle Isbel (Peter Aiken-Imagn Images). Yesterday, we discussed the infielders and catchers of the five AL Central rosters as of today. Obviously there will (or should!) be more moves coming, but I think the other part of this exercise is that it shows where the Twins and their competitors strengths and weaknesses are as we approach mid-January. Today, we'll take a look at the three outfield positions, pick a DH for each team, and then try to project a bench for each team. Then, like yesterday, we can try to summarize and rank the players. Left Field Twins: Trevor Larnach (1.5) Guardians: Steven Kwan (4.1) Royals: MJ Melendez (-0.3) Tigers: Kerry Carpenter (2.4) White Sox: Andrew Benintendi (-0.3) A couple of CWS champions from Oregon State at the top of this list. Larnach and Kwan teamed with Nick Madrigal and Adley Rutschman at the top of the Beavers championship lineup in 2018. Kwan missed some time with injury last year, but he’s been very good at the top of the Guardians lineup and playing a Gold Glove left field. Larnach finally got consistent playing time and performed well. Quietly, Kerry Carpenter had a really solid season in Detroit. Presumably, more people will know about him after the upcoming season. Benintendi was a really good player as recently as three seasons ago. Center Field Twins: Byron Buxton (3.7) Guardians: Lane Thomas (0.4) Royals: Kyle Isbel (1.4) Tigers: Parker Meadows (2.1) White Sox: Luis Robert, Jr. (0.5) Here is a category in which there is no doubt that the Twins player is top of the list. Speed is still a big part of his game - he was certainly enjoying playing in center field more than he liked DHing in 2023. However, it is his power that has become his top tool the past few seasons. Parker Meadows played well in the second half, helping lead the Tigers surge toward the playoffs. Kyle Isbel is really strong in the center of the Royals outfield, but he hasn’t had an on-base percentage over .290 since his 28-game debut in 2021. Lane Thomas had a couple of decent seasons in Washington but struggled after Cleveland traded for him in July. Luis Robert has as much talent and athleticism as Buxton. While he had a very rough season in 2024, he is the one scary bat in the White Sox lineup. That, of course, means he could be traded at any point. Right Field Twins: Matt Wallner (2.1) Guardians: Will Brennan (0.5) Royals: Nelson Velazquez (-0.5) Tigers: Riley Greene (4.0) White Sox: Mike Tauchman (1.1) Greene was a consensus Top 10 prospect coming into the 2022 season. He debuted that season. He improved significantly in 2023 despite missing time due to injury. In 2024, he really put it all together. Strong defense, but an .827 OPS (133 OPS+) and 57 extra base hits. And he won’t turn 25 until the final week of the 2025 season. Considering how rough his first few weeks of the 2024 season were, Wallner came back later in the summer and really hit well. We’d love to see him get 140 games and see what kind of power numbers he can put together. Tauchman joins the Sox after playing on the North Side of Chicago the past two seasons. 2025 will be his eighth with big-league service time. He’s become a solid on-base guy with the ability to make some great plays in the outfield too. After a solid 11-game debut in 2022, Brennan has been the primary right fielder for the Guardians, though he hasn’t posted an OPS over .700 either year. Designated Hitter Twins: Willi Castro (3.1) Guardians: Kyle Manzardo (0.0) Royals: Hunter Renfroe (-0.1) Tigers: Matt Vierling (2.6) White Sox: Austin Slater (-0.1) Obviously Castro isn’t an ideal Designated Hitter, but he is an everyday player on the Twins roster and this spot fits. The true value of Castro is his ability to play all over the field, three infield spots and three outfield spots. He has earned his playing time with the Twins, and he even earned a spot on the 2024 All-Star team. However, his OPS+ the last two seasons have been 105 and 102. That’s not a bad thing for a utility player with strong defense. After a couple of seasons with the Phillies, Vierling has played in 268 games with the Tigers over the past two seasons. He has hit .259 with a combined 49 doubles and 26 homers. More of a utility player, he has played all three outfield spots and both corner infield positions. Renfroe has had several solid MLB seasons, even hitting more than 25 homers or more in five different seasons. The last two seasons, he has essentially been a replacement level player. Slater joins the White Sox as a free agent. After seven-plus seasons as a part-timer with the Giants, he played for three teams in 2024. The Rays dealt Manzardo to Cleveland for Aaron Civale at the 2023 trade deadline. He debuted in 2024 with about six weeks of games in May and early June. He came back to the big leagues on September 1st and homered twice in his first game back. He finished the month with five homers including two against the Twins in their mid-September series against Minnesota that put a dagger in the Twins season. Manzardo added another homer in the ALCS against the Yankees. Bench Twins: Christian Vazquez (0.8), Edouard Julien (0.0), Austin Martin (-0.2), DaShawn Keirsey (0.0) Guardians: Austin Hedges (0.4), Daniel Schneemann (0.3), Jhonkensy Noel (0.6), Tyler Freeman (0.3), David Fry (IL, 1.7) Royals: Freddy Fermin (1.9), Nick Loftin (-0.2), Drew Waters (0.0), Michael Massey (1.5) Tigers: Dillon Dingler (0.0), Javier Baez (-0.7), Justyn-Henry Malloy (-0.5), Zach McKinstry (1.1), Spencer Torkelson (0.1) White Sox: Korey Lee (-0.4), Josh Rojas (1.9), Bobby Dalbec (-0.7), Miguel Vargas (-1.2) I won’t spend much time talking about the bench, but the best teams often have the most depth. Injury is part of it, unfortunately. Initially, it’s fair to say that none of these benches inspire a lot of confidence. However, there are some interesting names. Will Vazquez remain with the Twins. Can Julien return to his 2022 and 2023 form? David Fry was an All-Star last year, but he’ll miss time early in the season. And Jhonkensy Noel should get a lot of at-bats. And hit a ton of home runs. Will Freddy Fermin get more time behind the plate with Perez DHing? What can the Tigers hope for from Javier Baez? Are they somewhat obligated to start him? Summary At the beginning, I made the note that you should think through how you would want to rank the players at each of these positions. Maybe you even want to consider degrees of 'better than'. Just for fun, I tried two exercises. The first chart simply ranks the teams, with "1" being the team with the best player at each position, "2" being second best, and "5" being the worst of the group. In this case, you can see how the teams rank (at these positions) with the lowest total being the best. The second chart is a chart in which you get to divvy up 10.0 points for each position. Depending on how detailed you want to get, you can use whole numbers or use decimals. In my example yesterday, I gave Bobby Witt, Jr. five of the 10 available points at shortstop. As you'll see today, I don't have any single spot over 3.75. Again, make it your own, give it some thought, and then we can discuss. The intent for these is to see where each team's strengths and weaknesses may be relative to the rest of the division. As you know, it's all a matter of opinion. Even projections are calculated opinions and guesses. So, have some fun with this and make it your own. If you think Byron Buxton should get all 10 points, that's totally up to you. Or make up your own system of rank and comparison. Think you have a good system? Share it in the comments for us to all try. Even if you don't formalize your rankings in a chart, please leave a comment below with how you would rank the positions. Who would make your All-AL Central Preseason First Team? Check back in coming days for conversations and discussions on the pitchers. View full article

I think Keaschall could move into the 2B/1B mix sometime later in the season.

Free Agent 1B: Jared Walsh, Jose Abreu, Keston Hiura, Rowdy Tellez, Justin Turner, Yuli Gurriel, Ty France, Anthony Rizzo, Trey Mancini (considering a comeback), Brandon Drury, Miguel Sano, JD Davis, Mark Canha, Joey Gallo, Gavin Sheets, Connor Joe. Canha and Turner would be fine, but they're not coming here. Do Abreu or Rizzo or Gurriel or Mancini have anything left?

Well... the OF and DH and Bench will be posted Tuesday sometime... I don't think the Twins outfielder will rank as poorly as you might thing.

Agree with those who wondered how the Twins have gained 1.2 WAR when they have added zero players at the MLB level this offseason. Also, many years, the AL Central is the worst in baseball, and clearly the 2024 division housed the epically-bad White Sox. However, the Guardians had the second-best record in the AL. KC and Detroit were 5th and 6th, and the Twins were 8th, still over .500 despite their epic collapse.

terrific defensive middle infielder, though I can't imagine them moving Witt or India. So, he'd probably take over for Garcia at 3B. Not sure that'd alter my rankings too much, but an improvement.

Yeah, I included Fermin in the catcher spot just because Perez played a lot of 1B and DH and Fermin should probably catch more in 2025. For the other teams, I just had one and included one in the bench (to be posted on Tuesday). As far as 1B, I see little reason for them to go after anyone there. I mean, Pete Alonso isn't an option. I think I'd rather take my chances on one, if not both, Miranda and Julien hitting like we know they can. They already added Gasper, Mike Ford, and brought back Yunior Severino.

I think DFAing Camargo would be a mistake. He is the one catcher other than the two starters that is essentially ready to play. Cartaya is probably at least a half-season away, maybe a full year. Gasper's an emergency catcher probably only. Could they pass Canterino through waivers? Maybe, but I doubt it. I sure wouldn't. Henriquez - too much potential. Helman - too versatile, with the ability to hit and field and run. Gasper - in my mind, he'd probably be first, followed closely by Tonkin. But DFAing Gasper would mean getting rid of the still-high potential of Jovani Moran.