Seth Stohs

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.

I think trading Willi Castro is something that could happen. Helman can hit just as well as Castro, probably run as well and defend as well... but for $740K rather than $6.4M. I can certainly see Helman being a DFA option, but that would be unfortunate.

I actually agree that he's shown an ability to be a solid reliever in a couple of roles. Hasn't been consistent in AAA, much less MLB, but he's still so young and has electric stuff. My comment would be that if he is "fascinating" and "could blossom into a bona fide high-leverage reliever," then why would they consider DFAing him?

The Minnesota Twins' offseason has been pretty uneventful, but it isn’t as if the other AL Central teams are making big moves to push and pressure them. Let’s look at the projected starters for the five teams, starting with the infielders and catchers. Image courtesy of Colt Keith (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images), Jose Ramirez (© David Dermer-Imagn Images), Bobby Witt Jr (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images), Royce Lewis (© Peter Aiken-Imagn Images), Andrew Vaughn (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images) As I considered how to go about writing this series of articles looking at the AL Central rosters to see how the Twins stack up against the other teams, I realized that it has the potential to be really long. And I don’t want to do that to you, especially knowing that rosters will likely change at least a little bit over the next six to eight weeks. So I plan on splitting it into three or four parts; Infielders/Catchers, Outfielders/DH/Bench, Starting Pitchers, Relief Pitchers. Below, I’ll go position-by-position and post who I think will be the starter. With the name, I’ll include their fWAR from 2024. At that point, I will add a couple of sentences with thoughts on the position, but I also want to leave it to your opinion and how you choose to rank the five teams at each spot, and ultimately how to rank the five teams as a whole. Hopefully, this series can generate some good discussions. Catchers Twins: Ryan Jeffers (1.7) Guardians: Bo Naylor (1.6) Royals: Salvador Perez (3.2), Freddy Fermin (1.9) Tigers: Jake Rogers (2.2) White Sox: Kyle Teel (played in minors) There are a couple of extremes in this grouping. I don’t know if Kyle Teel will make his MLB debut right away on Opening Day, but the Top 25 overall prospect who came to Chicago in the Sox-on-Sox trade involving Garrett Crochet reached Triple A a year ago and is very close. If he starts in the minors, Omar Narváez will likely get some more service time. On the other side is Salvador Perez, who I believe is going into his 37th season with the Royals. But he just continues to put up numbers. He will likely DH more and maybe even get some more time at first base, but it is noteworthy to see how well Freddy Fermin did in his opportunity. Jake Rogers had a down season. Bo Naylor will have to play without his brother, but having defensive whiz Austin Hedges to work with will certainly be helpful. And I’m biased, but when Ryan Jeffers is on, I’d put him with anyone in this group. First Base Twins: José Miranda (1.1) Guardians: Carlos Santana (3.0) Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino (1.5) Tigers: Colt Keith (1.8) White Sox: Andrew Vaughn (-0.2) This offseason, the Twins lost Carlos Santana to his original team and Alex Kirilloff to injury-induced early retirement. For this exercise, I have José Miranda at first base, and you could put names like Edouard Julien, Mickey Gasper and others in for the Twins. We’ve seen the upside for both Miranda and Julien, and if they can perform near that level, the Twins will be happy. Santana had a remarkable season in 2024 for the Twins. He won his first Gold Glove Award and was a solid offensive contributor. Pasquantino has all the talent, but he has missed some time with injuries. He takes his walks and has the power you look for at this position. The Tigers recently noted that Colt Keith will move over to first base to accommodate Gleyber Torres's arrival. What does that mean for former top pick Spencer Torkelson, his present and his future with the Tigers? Andrew Vaughn took over at first base when José Abreu left the South Side. I think it’s fair to say that, at least, Vaughn has been better than Abreu, but he’s really struggled. He should be traded, and could perform better with a better team around him. Second Base Twins: Brooks Lee (-0.3) Guardians: Angel Martinez (0.0) Royals: Jonathan India (2.8) Tigers: Gleyber Torres (1.7) White Sox: Lenyn Sosa (0.1) I placed Brooks Lee at second base. It’s possible that he and Royce Lewis could change places, but I went this direction. He was underwhelming in his injury-plagued partial rookie season, but I doubt any evaluators worry much about his ability to hit in the long term. Martinez (or someone) will need to replace Andrés Giménez, who was traded to Toronto. The Platinum Glove defender has struggled offensively. I still think that Cleveland will sign Jorge Polanco to play second base for a year. Speaking of trades, the Royals traded Brady Singer to Cincinnati and brought back Jonathan India, the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year. He should provide the Royals with an on-base guy at the top of the order, a missing ingredient for them in 2024. The Tigers added Torres on a one-year deal. It was clear the Yankees had no interest in bringing him back, but it could be a very nice signing for Detroit. Third Base Twins: Royce Lewis (1.2) Guardians: José Ramírez (6.5) Royals: Maikel García (1.1) Tigers: Jace Jung (0.1) White Sox: Brooks Baldwin (0.1) José Ramírez is on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He has been an All-Star in six of the past seven seasons. He’s finished in the Top 6 in MVP voting six times in the past eight seasons, including three top-3 finishes. The 32-year-old is signed through the 2028 season. A typical Ramírez season, I think, remains what we Twins fans believe Royce Lewis can do if he is able to play a full season and realize his upside. Consider: in Lewis's MLB career, he has played in 152 games and has been worth 4.0 fWAR, with 27 doubles, 33 homers and 104 RBIs. That's even with his late-season struggles in 2024. The sky remains the limit. Jace Jung was a top-50ish prospect, but it will be interesting to see if the Tigers are able to add Alex Bregman. Maikel García is a nice player for Kansas City, although pushing him down the lineup with the addition of India will help him. And someone has to play third base for the White Sox. Shortstop Twins: Carlos Correa (4.3) Guardians: Brayan Rocchio (1.1) Royals: Bobby Witt, Jr (10.4) Tigers: Trey Sweeney (0.4) White Sox: Colson Montgomery In 2024, Carlos Correa was well on his way to his best season since 2021, or 2017, or 2016. Unfortunately, plantar fasciitis cost him about 10 weeks of game action in the second half of the season. He was on his way to a 7-8 WAR season. And that would have been about 2.0 WAR less than what Royals shortstop Bobby Witt accrued in 2024. If not for Aaron Judge’s crazy numbers, Bobby Witt would have been the easy MVP choice. The 24-year-old fills up a stat sheet like few others. He played 161 games, led the league with a .332 average, and had a .977 OPS. He also led the league with 211 hits, including 45 doubles, 11 triples and 32 homers. He stole 31 bases and won both the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. Equally important, I believe he has taken over the top spot in my personal favorite non-Twins player to watch, taking the mantle from Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, who stole it three or four years ago from Francisco Lindor. Last season, the Royals paid him just $2 million in the first year of an 11-year, $288,777,777 contract that could keep him in Kansas City through the 2034 season (though he can opt out after 2030). SHould he stick around that long, the club has an option that could keep him there through the 2037 season. Bryan Rocchio is a fantastic defensive shortstop for Cleveland. Sweeney came to the Tigers in a mid-season trade, and he ended up taking over at shortstop for Javier Baez. It will be very interesting to see what AJ Hinch does at shortstop over the next couple of seasons. Colson Montgomery has been a Top 100 prospect at times and could debut in 2025. Summary At the beginning, I made the note that you should think through how you would want to rank each of these positions. Maybe you even want to consider degrees in 'better than'. Just for fun, I tried two exercises. The first chart simply ranks the teams, with "1" being 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 simply 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, as I did in the first two rows, or use fractions like in the last three rows. In my example, I have given Bobby Witt (Royals SS) five of the 10 available points. 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 Bobby Witt 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 the outfielders/DH/Bench and then the pitchers. View full article

Looks like no Twins will be heading to Arbitrations Cases... which is good. Nice work by Doogie Wolfson and Dan Hayes to beat the national guys on most of these.

That is a risk I would take every day of the year. A Former Top prospect from a top development organization coming off a tough year at Triple-A at age 23 for a DSL pitcher.

They've named his position... assistant player development. Essentially, I believe, he's taking Julio Borbon's job (he left a few weeks ago to become the Brewers 1B coach). My assumption is he'll be working throughout spring training and then get time at all of the affiliates, maybe a little extra in Venezuela, and he'll get plenty of office time too. The Twins have a 3B coach. This has nothing to do with that.

The A's continue to spend some money. Late tonight, we learned that our old friend Brent Rooker has agreed to a 5-year, $60 million extension. It essentially buys out his three arbitration seasons and two years of free agency. There is also a vesting option for a sixth season at $22 million. The A's will play in Sacramento the next three years before moving to Las Vegas. Read more here. On a personal level, I couldn't be more excited. Such a great dude, hard worker, studies the game, studies hitting, knows himself...

It's been a quiet offseason for the Twins and their fans, but what does that mean for the 2025 Twins roster? Is there enough talent and depth to compete in the AL Central? Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images It has been a painfully slow offseason for the Minnesota Twins and their fans. Aside from the basic, offseason business (40-man roster decisions, Rule 5, arbitration), the Twins have made a handful of minor-league signings and one trade. That’s it. So, if you’re a Twins fan like me, I’m sure you’re often asked, “Are they going to do anything this offseason?” In the early years of the Derek Falvey Era, the answer would have been, “Certainly.” It may not have always happened before February, but the Twins were active, even in some price range sections that they previously had not shopped in. Fans understand that there is a budget, but with Falvey, the sense was that he pushed that every year. Until last year when ownership insisted that he cut $30-35 million from the payroll. And now this offseason, the goal is to remain pretty similar to 2024, if not down just a little bit. We have seen free agents such as Max Kepler, Kyle Farmer, Caleb Thielbar, and Carlos Santana sign elsewhere as free agents. Even guys like Diego Castillo (the pitcher), Steven Okert, Matt Bowman, Caleb Boushley, Jay Jackson have signed elsewhere while Manuel Margot is still unsigned. The Twins did bring back Scott Blewett and Daniel Duarte on minor-league deals though. Alex Kirilloff abruptly retired. But that doesn’t mean that the cupboard is bare. Honestly, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that the team can’t compete to return to the playoffs in 2025. What might the Twins Opening Day roster look like if the season had to start today? Note: the season doesn’t actually start for nearly three months, so assume that the Twins will have a few more transactions by then. Starting Rotation (5): RHP Pablo Lopez, RHP Bailey Ober, RHP Joe Ryan, RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Chris Paddack Summary: Pablo Lopez is a borderline ace. His salary jumps precipitously in 2025, but with some of the offseason free agent pitcher signings, it appears that the Twins were wise to lock him up nearly two years ago. Bailey Ober continues to improve. He has pitched quite well since he was first called up to the big leagues. He is in his first year of arbitration. So is Joe Ryan who also has continued to get better and make adjustments since his debut. Unfortunately, he missed the final six weeks of the season but should be on track to return by opening day. Simeon Woods Richardson came on early last season and did not give up his rotation spot. He made his starts and he showed some signs that he can be a mid-rotation starter. And, I’ve included Chris Paddack here for now as well even though rumors are that the Twins may want to trade him. When healthy, he can provide some quality innings. He just hasn’t been healthy since joining the Twins. Next In Line: RHP David Festa, RHP Zebby Matthews David Festa came up and also showed signs of high potential starting stuff. He’s got the pitches and generally throws strikes. He will just need to be more consistent with them Zebby Matthews began the 2024 season with the High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. He dominated his way through the system, and by mid-August made his debut. Certainly he was rushed a little quicker than they may have wanted, but the stuff is there. He could use time in St. Paul to continue developing, but these two are ready when needed. Others on the 40-man roster: RHP Travis Adams, LHP Brent Headrick, RHP Marco Raya. Others in the upper levels: RHP Andrew Morris, RHP Cory Lewis, RHP Huascar Ynoa, RHP Randy Dobnak, LHP Christian MacLeod, RHP C.J. Culpepper, RHP Kyle Jones, RHP Pierson Ohl. Bullpen (8): RHP Jhoan Duran, RHP Griffin Jax, RHP Cole Sands, LHP Kody Funderburk, RHP Jorge Alcala, RHP Justin Topa, RHP Michael Tonkin, RHP Eiberson Castellano (Rule 5), RHP Brock Stewart (IL) Summary: Duran may have had a down season, but the potential remains for him to be dominant at the end of games. Remember, he began the season on the IL. Meanwhile, Jax became one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. Could he return to starting? Maybe. Cole Sands was the most improved Twins player in 2024. He turned question marks into exclamation points and looks to continue to gain confidence. Jorge Alcala had his option picked up and at times looked like a late-inning option. Justin Topa missed nearly the full 2024 season with a knee injury, but the Twins signed him, Tonkin and Stewart to provide some veteran bullpen options. With Caleb Thielbar signing in Chicago, Funderburk is one of just two lefty pitchers on the 40-man roster. I have Eiberson Castellano on the roster, working as a long reliever, since he was the team’s Rule 5 pick. He has to remain on the roster all season or offered back to his original team. Next In Line: RHP Louie Varland, RHP Ronny Henriquez, LHP Brent Headrick, RHP Scott Blewett. Louie Varland is a big leaguer. No question about that in my mind, and he could be dominant out of the bullpen. I think he should be on the Opening Day roster, but for now I have them keeping Tonkin and Castellano on the roster so as not to lose them. Henriquez showed at times last year that he can be a really good, multi-inning reliever in the big leagues. And, Headrick could start or relieve. He’s the other lefty on the 40-man roster. He missed most of the 2024 season with a forearm injury but returned late in the year. And, my advice would be not to give up on Matt Canterino. He has tremendous stuff and a great attitude, and what a story it will be when he gets an opportunity in the big leagues! Others on the 40-man roster: Matt Canterino . Others in the Upper levels: RHP Daniel Duarte, RHP Darren McCaughan, LHP Jaylen Nowlin, RHP Kyle Bischoff, RHP Ryan Jensen, RHP John Stankiewicz, RHP Michael Martinez, LHP Aaron Rozek, RHP Cody Laweryson, Catchers (2): Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vazquez Summary: If I’m in charge, I would try hard to lock up Jeffers to a four-plus year contract extension. While he hasn’t always been consistent from month to month, he provides solid offense, include 20-homer power. The Twins have reportedly tried to trade Vazquez for awhile, but they won’t get anything in return without eating some of his contract, in which case, they might as well just keep him. That said Jair Camargo is ready to roll. Next in Line: Jair Camargo. Camargo has provided a powerful bat for the Saints the past two seasons, and he is a solid backstop with strong communication and leadership skills. He could handle the backup role. And, while he has been a catcher in the minor leagues, newly-acquired Mickey Gasper is really more of a DH/1B than a catcher. That said, if his bat is good, and he could play adequate first base or second base, he’s fine as the #3/emergency catcher. Others on 40-man roster: Mickey Gasper Others in the Upper levels: Patrick Winkel, Ricardo Olivar, Noah Cardenas, Andrew Cossetti, Alex Isola, Infielders (6): Jose Miranda, Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, Edouard Julien, Willi Castro Summary: We know that Carlos Correa will be the team’s shortstop anytime he is healthy. We know that Royce Lewis will start at one of the infield positions, second base or third base, when he is healthy. For Lewis, I think it’s only fair to pick a position in spring training and go with it rather than have him bounce around. I believe that the Twins should look to lock up Brooks Lee long-term right now and hand him the position that Lewis doesn’t play. Willi Castro can play all three of those infield positions as well as at least two outfield spots. That leaves the big question mark at first base. With Carlos Santana going back to Cleveland and Alex Kirilloff retiring, who will play first base? For me, I would ask Justin Morneau to be at spring training nearly every day and work with Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien on first base defense every single day. Invite Mickey Gasper and Yunior Severino and Mike Ford. Aaron Sabato can be there, and so can Luke Keaschall. We have seen the kind of impact that Miranda and Julien can have on the offense when they are going well. Next in Line: Mickey Gasper, Michael Helman If the Twins were to play Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda at first base and DH, then having Gasper on the roster as the #3 catcher and the backup first baseman can make some sense. Michael Helman has played a lot of minor league games at second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions. There is a ton of value in that, especially if Willi Castro remains an everyday player. Others on 40-man roster: Mickey Gasper, Michael Helman Others in the upper levels: Mike Ford, Yunior Severino, Aaron Sabato, Ben Ross, Payton Eeles, Jorel Ortega, Jake Rucker, Tanner Schobel, Luke Keaschall, Anthony Prato, Outfielders (5): Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, Austin Martin, DaShawn Keirsey Summary: For nearly a decade, we have been able to play Max Kepler’s name in this group. His contract ran out and he recently signed with the Phillies. However, the Twins have some talented outfielders who, frankly, outperformed Kepler last year. It starts with Byron Buxton who returned to center field last year and surpassed 100 games played. Flanking Buxton will be a couple of lefty-hitting corner outfielders in Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner. Both have had success and did so in 2024. Both are ready to take another big step forward in 2025. All three are first-round picks. So was Austin Martin who debuted early in the 2024 season and showed his athleticism in the outfield and on the base paths. He could be a platoon option in left field. He’s got a good eye at the plate. And DaShawn Keirsey’s speed and defense alone should give him a chance. He can play all three outfield spots including a strong centerfield. And, his offensive numbers in 2024 show what kind of stat line filler he can be. Next in Line: Michael Helman, Emmanuel Rodriguez As noted above, Helman’s utility make him a valuable player in the organization. Along with the ability to play six defensive positions pretty well, he has raked in St. Paul the last couple of seasons, and he can steal bases. Emmanuel Rodriguez is a Top 25 prospect in all of baseball, and he’s been putting up offensive numbers since his pro debut in 2021. He missed a lot of time last year with a hand/wrist injury but still put up numbers when he was on the field and ended his season in St. Paul. Others on the 40-man roster: Michael Helman, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Others in the Upper levels: Allan Cerda, Kala’i Rosario, Walker Jenkins, Anthony Prato, Carson McCusker, Will Holland, Jeferson Morales, Kyler Fedko. Potential Lineup vs RHP: Brooks Lee 2B, Carlos Correa SS, Trevor Larnach LF, Royce Lewis 3B, Byron Buxton CF, Matt Wallner RF, Edouard Julien 1B, Ryan Jeffers C, Willi Castro DH. Potential Lineup vs LHP: Byron Buxton CF, Carlos Correa SS, Royce Lewis 3B, Ryan Jeffers C, Jose Miranda 1B, Brooks Lee 2B, Austin Martin LF, Matt Wallner/Trevor Larnach RF, Willi Castro DH. So what do you think? In my opinion, there remains an awful lot of talent on the roster. Players lost this offseason can be replaced by players with more upside. The top three starters are all very exciting, and there is some depth for starting pitchers with guys who have some big league innings under their belts now, or should be debuting in 2025. View full article

This is the most important statistic for both of them! Gonzalez started the season at age 19 in High A. (same with De Andrade and others). Yasser Mercedes overall numbers are solid, but if you just look at his FCL numbers, they're remarkable. He just happened to move up to Fort Myers for like 2 weeks and struggled mightily. But his athleticism is unreal. He'll be fine.

OK, I was randomly thinking about the Covid season and that I had created 3-4 Minnesota Twins Jeopardy games. I have enjoyed looking back at them. I think you will too. Having looked back, I realize that these were from the offseason AFTER the 2020 Covid season. #1: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/twins-daily-offseason-jeopardy #2: I can't find #2. It's also possible I jumped from 1-3. I don't know. #3: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/twins-daily-minnesota-twins-jeopardy-3 #4: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/minnesota-twins-jeopardy-4 Would you like to see more stuff like this?

It's time to see what the Top 5 articles of 2024 were at Twins Daily. I sense a pattern. Over the past several days, we have been counting down the Top 25 most-viewed articles in 2024. As I've written, I personally really enjoy looking back and seeing what our readers most enjoyed and what articles brought people to the site. I think that you will notice an interesting trend in the top five. If you have missed any of the previous installments, check them out here: Part 1: 21-25 Part 2: 16-20 Part 3: 11-15 Part 4: 6-10 #5: Twins Prepping Audra Martin to Make Pivotal Start Against Guardians Lou Hennessy August 8 Twins fans have enjoyed seeing Audra Martin reporting before and during Twins games. Her postgame interviews are great. Her interviews with fans at their first Twins game are great. Her in-game interviews with the parents of players making their MLB debuts are amazing. She joined the Moorhead Orchestra and played the National Anthem with her fiddle before a game a few years ago. In early August, she brought the house down when she sang ‘God Bless America’ at Target Field. However, with the Twins needing a starter for a huge series against the Guardians in mid-August, Rocco Baldelli and Pete Maki strongly contemplated turning to Martin to make a crucial start. While clicking around the rabbit holes of YouTube, they found a video of a Catch with Audra segment. Strong arm. Good mechanics. Athletic. Good control. They were also aware of her love of hockey and figured she must have a ‘tough guy’ mentality. Ultimately, the Twins used a combination of David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Even Ronny Henriquez and Steven Okert got starts. Maybe going with Audra would have been a good idea. “I just want to help the team however I can. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to make a breakthrough here,” she said as she turned back to her microscope, where she has been researching a cure for cancer. “It’s all in a day’s work.” #4: Twins Apologize for New Sing-a-Long Song RandBalls Stu April 12 Those that have gone to Target Field in recent years know that during the 7th inning stretch, Take Me Out to the Ballgame is played. Later, a crowd-picked song plays and fans sing and dance in an attempt to get on the big screen. The songs can be across genres, but they are known to all audience members. According to RandBalls Stu, the team’s in-game production staff hoped to add some new options. A couple were tried out, and one song in particular created quite the fire storm. #3: With TV Rights in Flux, Twins Close Target Field to Spectators and Media RandBalls Stu May 3 “The best way to experience Twins baseball is with the mind’s eye,” said a team spokesperson. “That’s why we’re closing Target Field to all spectators and media, effective immediately.” As more and more fans (specifically Comcast subscribers at the time of this article) were unable to watch, it became important for us to put RandBalls Stu on the case and see what he could find out. Being fair is really important, and if some Twins fans can’t watch their favorite team, maybe the ‘right’ thing to do was to not let anyone see the games. No fans. No media. No TV or radio. “As for how fans can follow the team going forward, the spokesperson said, ‘The oral tradition predates the printing press. Stories will travel from person to person, strengthening the bonds of family and enriching our neighborhoods. If you want to know if Austin Martin is getting called up, put down your phone and ask someone.’” #2: On Royce Lewis, Quadriceps Strain, and the Twins’ Options Lucas Seehafer March 29 Opening Day in Kansas City. First at-bat of the season for Royce Lewis? A home run. Second at-bat of the season? Solid single. Unfortunately, Carlos Correa followed with a double. Lewis took off, hoping to score on the play. Unfortunately, he pulled up at third base limping. He came out of the game with a quadriceps injury that cost him about six weeks. Lucas has been writing at Twins Daily for several seasons. In his “real” job, he is a professor and a physical therapist. When there are injuries, we really appreciate him letting us know what we need to know about the injury. What happened? What happened to the body part? What does the diagnosis or grade of injury mean in practical terms. What is a typical return timeline from that injury, and how or why could that vary? #1: Congress Votes to Shut Down Cleveland Guardians Until We Can All Figure Out What’s Going On RandBalls Stu June 28 Every year, it seems as if Twins fans look at the Cleveland Guardians roster, and aside from Jose Ramirez in the lineup and a Tanner Bibee or Shane Bieber in the pitching staff, they never seem like a clear-cut top team in the division. And yet every year, there they are, at or near the top of the division. I’ve mentioned several times that from mid-April through the end of July, the Twins had one of the top records in MLB. And yet they were barely able to make up any ground against Cleveland. In late June, RandBalls Stu wrote about the government investigating the Guardians and trying to figure out what was happening. “‘There’s no way their record can be that good,’ said (Amy) Klobuchar. ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it.’” There you have it. The Top 25 most-viewed articles of 2024. What does it mean that four of the top five articles were satirical? Do we normally just take things too seriously and people just want to have fun with it all? As always, we appreciate RandBalls Stu, and “Sweet Lou” Hennessy has added several really good pieces as well. Happy New Year to all! View full article