Seth Stohs

The Twins announced on Wednesday that they have claimed outfielder Michael Reed from the Atlanta Braves. Reed was born in Maplewood, Minnesota. He played in seven games for Atlanta in 2018. He had previous big league experience with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 and 2016.The 25-year-old Reed played 44 games at Double-A Mississippi and hit .314/.446/.493 (.939). In 53 games at Triple-A Gwinnett, he hit .363/.459/.539 (.997). Combined, he hit 26 doubles and 11 home runs. Reed is a speedy outfielder who has always been able to take walks. He has shown some power. He is also a right-handed bat. With Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Jake Cave in a likely 2019 outfield, along with Byron Buxton, a right-handed hitting fourth or fifth outfielder could provide value. The move may tip the Twins hand on roster decisions of Johnny Field and Zack Granite, and possibly Robbie Grossman. Could Michael Reed be a similar story to Jake Cave? The Twins acquired Cave in a spring training trade with the Yankees. He was coming off of a big season, split between AA and AAA after struggling with injuries early in his career. Both could be late bloomers who provide value in the big leagues. Cave has shown more power, while Reed has better defense and on-base skills. Claiming players off of waivers is not going to excite a fan base or provide a future star, but this could be a solid depth move for the Twins outfield, particularly if the front office has any plans to deal an outfielder this offseason. Click here to view the article

Jaylin Davis's four-hit night last night should help!

Updated... STrib is reporting that Gene Glynn and Jeff Pickler will also not be back on the coaching staff. Rumors are that there is a good chance Jeff Pickler will move into the front office in some role.

LaVelle adds that Jeff Smith and Eddie Guardado also will be gone.

Note on Derek Shelton (he's been given permission to interview for an open manager job). https://twitter.com/DanHayesMLB/status/1057343143643877378

From his article on The Athletic, Hayes wrote:

I changed the Original title of this forum thread to 2019 Twins Coaching Staff... just so we can include all Twins coaching news and updates here.

Hayes now reporting that hitting coach James Rowson and assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez will remain on the 2019 staff.

No surprise here, but the Twins have officially announced that they have bought out the option years for Ervin Santana and Logan Morrison's 2019 contracts. They become free agents.

They don't have to officially make the moves until mid-November (maybe the 20th or so?). And Baldelli won't see them. These decisions are totally front office/minor league staff decisions... The manager may help them lean toward a style or something to (very minimally) input an opinion.

This one is surprising... But, Baldelli coming in from the Rays... Alston was just brought in a year about BUT Josh Kalk was brought in after that, so they may have had someone in mind all along. Will be interesting.

Mauer, Belisle, Gimenez and Forsythe became free agents after the World Series. Santana and Morrison have options that the Twins will have to decide on, likely in the next day or two.

I would be completely shocked if Andrew Vasquez is DFAd. He was brought up for a purpose. He's potentially part of the future. So, he's' not going anywhere (well, I guess he could be traded, but he's not a DFA candidate). As for your starters... Jorge came off the roster in the season. Slegers is a possible DFA candidate. The others are not getting DFAd (again ,could be trade options). Rortvedt and the other high school picks from 2016 (Kirilloff, Baddoo, Miranda, Balazovic, Benninghoff) won't be eligible for two more years.

Navarreto was drafted in 2013, so he's not a free agent for another year. Bard and Baxendale became free agents at the end of the World Series. One thing for people to remember... The Twins will DFA some more guys before they add a few guys. I don't expect them to add too many. Remember,, those players added can't be removed from the 40-man roster until sometime in spring training. So, they'll leave some open roster spots and they'll keep some guys on the 40-man roster that they can DFA during the winter if needed. Do we know if LaMonte Wade is better than Robbie Grossman? I don't know that. I would say No right now.

But the GCL and DSL seasons were over, so he's not eligible... at least that's what I've been told by a few people. If that is wrong, then he is #1 on the Given list. For sure.

It''s a reality. That is and should be a factor for all teams. But, as we saw last year with Stewart, it isn't the biggest factor. A bigger factor will be his stuff. Second, they have Taylor Rogers and Gabriel Moya in the big leagues and Andrew Vasquez has passed Jay as a LH RP option. They also will factor in if they plan to go get a LH RP in free agency, and also, how they could potentially uses these guys.

That's the way it used to be. The managers still vote on it, but they're given better guidelines and take it more seriously now. They're given all the numbers, so it means a lot more now than it did, say, 15 years ago. The Platinum Glove is voted on by the fans, so that one may be more questionable... though I think the fans got it right when they voted for Buxton last year (And Andrelton Simmons has won it a couple times, I believe).

I'm not crying either... No... I'm not ... really!!

Interesting idea, and maybe Nick has some different thoughts... My thoughts are that the Offseason Handbook is a prep for the offseason. Presents many of the options for the offseason. But rather than update there, we will update with articles here on this site. And hopefully those articles (after signing players, etc) will include some thoughts on what is next.

The MLB offseason is upon us. There are many decisions that this front office will need to make. Some will happen soon. One big decision that is made every November is which players to add to the 40-man roster. Being added to the 40-man roster is a huge thing for players. They make a little more money in the minor leagues, but more important, a huge obstacle to being called up to the big leagues is removed. Here is a list of Twins minor leaguers who would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not protected.As a reminder, here are some of the criteria for who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not protected. Here is this year’s criteria: Players who signed when they were 18 or younger in 2014 (during the minor league season).Players who signed when they were 19 or older in 2015.Players who were eligible in previous seasons are also eligible again.Players drafted or signed during the 2012 season became free agents after the World Series was complete. That includes Luke Bard and DJ Baxendale. If the Twins signed them (or other minor league free agents) before the Rule 5 draft, they would be eligible to for the Rule 5 draft.But back to the players needing to be added or risk losing to the Rule 5 draft, I’ll break them into a few categories. The Givens are players that I think have to be added or there is a high percentage that they will be selected if they are not. The next are players that are more On The Bubble. It will be interesting to see which of these guys are added. How many spots are available on the team’s 40-man roster, etc. I’m going to add a couple of Sleepers. Finally, the Next category are those players that probably won’t be added and yet do have a chance to be selected by the right team with the right need or the right report. The Givens Andrew Vasquez would have been in this list, but he was called up to the Twins on September 1st. I have two players listed as givens. SS/2B Nick Gordon - He may have struggled in the second half of the season after his promotion to the Red Wings, but Gordon, the team’s top pick in 2014 just turned 23 and remains a quality prospect. Will he play second base or shortstop, or both, in the big leagues? Yes.OF LaMonte Wade - Wade will turn 25 on New Years Day. He returned to AA to start 2018 and hit the same number of home runs in less than half as many games. He hit .229 in Rochester and still got on base 33% of the time. The outfielder is close and for the right team, he could start in the big leagues now.On The Bubble Again, this group is the players on the bubble. Depending upon how many players the Twins add, a couple of these players could be added. 2B Luis Arraez - After missing most of 2017, Arraez returned to form with the Miracle in 2018 and ended the season with two months in Chattanooga. While not a high ranking prospect, the second baseman can hit single after single.RHP Jake Reed - If it was me, Reed would be a given, but he already didn’t get selected a year ago in the Rule 5 draft, and he didn’t get a September call up despite being tremendous over the final three months of the season. Now 26, he is ready for a big league opportunity.RHP Nick Anderson - As good as Reed was over the final three months, that’s how good Anderson was during the season’s first three months. Another inexplicable exclusion from the September roster adds, Anderson is absolutely ready for a big league opportunity, making him a strong Rule 5 candidate.LHP Tyler Jay - The Twins top pick in 2015 has endured a series of arm injuries which have cost him time and some of his stuff. Now a reliever, he still has a chance to be a big league contributor.The Sleepers Here are a couple of guys who might be brought up some places as possible . RHP Johan Quezada - Signed way back in September of 2012, Quezada only has four games pitched above the rookie leagues. He was very raw when he signed. He grew a ton, but then he struggled with shoulder issues for a couple of years. He returned this year and found an upper-90s fastball. He turned 24 late in the season and isn’t likely to stick, but he is a very intriguing arm.RHP Andro Cutura - Cutura returned in May after missing two years due to Tommy John surgery. The former seventh-round pick threw well for the Miracle in his return. Again, probably not so much a Rule 5 guy as one to watch in 2019.The Next This is a group that contains some intriguing names. While they aren’t obvious choices, there could be a team that likes them enough to take a shot with a Rule 5 pick. 1B/OF Zander Wiel - Now playing first base and left field, Wiel had a really nice season in AA Chattanooga before a late-season promotion to Rochester.RHP Ryan Eades - The Twins second round pick in 2013, Eades continued to pitch in multiple roles. Not a starter, and not a late-inning guy, Eades could be intriguing for teams interested in using him as an Opener candidate.C Brian Navarreto - Navaretto is such a strong defensive catcher. If he can hit even a little bit, he could have a long big league career. He’s got the size, but he just hasn’t put up the numbers offensively.OF Jaylin Davis - Davis is playing well in the Arizona Fall League. He was able to cut down his K-rate and increase his walk rate in 2018.RHP Hector Lujan - Another AFL candidate, Lujan has slowly worked up the system and continued to add pieces to his game. He throws hard and has some intriguing secondary pitches.RHP Cody Stashak - Stashak moved to the bullpen in 2018 and really had a nice season. He too could be intriguing as teams look to use the Opener of bullpening strategies in coming years.The Rest Here is a list of other players who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft in the Twins organization. LHP Sam ClayOF Tanner EnglishRHP Randy LeBlancIF Alex Perez LHP Alex Robinson1B/3B Chris PaulOF Jean-Carlos AriasRHP Miguel De Jesus RHP Sandy Lugo LHP Lachlan WellsRHP Yancarlos Baez RHP Williams Ramirez RHP Moises Gomez Now, the number of players added to the 40-man roster will in large part depend upon how many players that the front office is willing to remove from the 40-man roster over the next couple of weeks. In the comments below, discuss my ranking and rank them by how you would protect them. Click here to view the article

On Wednesday afternoon, Rocco Baldelli had his introductory press conference. If you didn't have a chance to see if, I''ll include a link below to watch it back... What are your initial impressions on Baldelli from the press conference? What did you like, or not like? https://www.facebook.com/Twins/videos/289643001878054/

This is fantastic!! Ha!

KSTP news is reporting that former, long-time Twins international scout Howie Norsetter is suing the team saying that he was terminated because of age discrimination. Here is a tweet from KSTP's Doogie Wolfson: https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1055208710820257793 I would think it would be difficult for Norsetter to win, but it certainly could get interesting.