Seth Stohs

Football may be an option for him still. It really could be. But, if not, he can't be a free agent until after the 2020 season... he's too talented to let go, so just keep working. Keep developing. Maybe the new regime's pitcher development plan can bring it out of him.

That is probably true of the pitchers who are closer, maybe... but San Diego took three really young guys last year. They could take a shot with a guy like Diaz or even Stewart.

Yeah, I believe you are right... Forgot about that... Still, he's got 2 options remaining... Either way, I'm not just letting go of a 6-10 starting pitcher with good durability, tremendous control, a fastball 91-94 and good secondary pitches. No one is saying he'll be a star, but there's definitely enough there, and he's 25, to keep around at least until there is a reason not to.

He can be on the 60 Day DL, but there are a certain number of days that he has to be on the active roster. If he is on the DL longer than that, the rules would bump to the next season.

I'm not going to question the strategy, but injuries happen and the Twins have been bitten by injuries to Chargois, Reed, Burdi, Melotakis. Hildenberger is the one who has stayed healthy for the most part to this point. But I do think that these decisions are very much telling that this offseason the Twins will be adding a couple of spendy relievers. I mean, there are a ton of those 3 year, $21-24 million types available this offseason.

No one is saying they would be taken by contending teams, but there are a LOT of teams that are competing for losses and acquiring as many prospects as they can in whatever ways they can. It's very possible none of these guys get selected, and that's great...

Agree with you on this stuff... But again, if the Twins go out and sign a Jake McGee or another lefty reliever, Boshers can be DFAd then. I'd keep Slegers until absolutely needing a roster spot. He can be a solid back end of the rotation guy at least early in the year until Gonsalves and crew are ready. And, well, he's got three options left, so having a 6th/7th starter in Rochester is always valuable thing...

Reed and Burdi much more likely to be selected than Bard, they're just younger, but I do think Bard could be selected if the right team sees the right numbers. He's got some good stuff.

So that they've got guys to drop when they need to later in the offseason. I'd keep Slegers, but I'm shocked Boshers is still rostered.

He was #4 in my list of 4 givens... I'm much more surprised that Jake Reed was left unprotected... I'm as confident that Reed will be selected in the Rule 5 draft as I was in Zack Littell getting protected. It's gonna happen... or I will again be shocked if it isn't. Consider Zack Jones got selected two years ago, and Reed is a far better prospect now than Jones was then... Nothing against Jones, but Reed is more of a prospect, much more ready for the big leagues.

Fair point... they could probably still add more, but if that's the case, there was no reason to announce these three players now. So, I would guess not.

I guess I was wrong on Lewin Diaz... and I wonder how likely it may be that he and Jake Reed and Nick Burdi and even Kohl Stewart might be selected in the Rule 5 draft next month.

On Monday night, the Minnesota Twins (and teams around MLB) needed to add players to their 40-man roster. By adding these players, they will not be eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft next month. They will be at Twins MLB spring training. The Twins added left-handed pitchers Lewis Thorpe and Stephen Gonsalves and right-handed pitcher Zack Littell. Image courtesy of Kelly McGlohon On Monday night, the Minnesota Twins (and teams around MLB) needed to add players to their 40-man roster. By adding these players, they will not be eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft next month. They will be at Twins MLB spring training. The Twins added left-handed pitchers Lewis Thorpe and Stephen Gonsalves and right-handed pitcher Zack Littell. Pitching was the theme of the Twins 40-man roster additions. Adding three pitchers to the roster continues the front office's theme of finding and retaining quality pitching. Stephen Gonsalves was the easiest choice of the group. The lanky left-hander from California has been the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and he was the runner-up in 2015. He was invited to spring training in 2017. He had a 9.7 K/9 rate in 2017 in AA and AAA. He will be 23 years old through the majority of the 2018 season. Gonsalves was excited to learn that he had been added, but knows it comes with more work. He told Twins Daily, "I'm very thankful for the call I received this morning, but this is only a stepping stone to my dream to become a big leaguer. Now it's time to push even a little harder and fight for a jersey." The Twins acquired right-hander Zack Littell from the Yankees in a late-July trade for Jaime Garcia. On the season, he went 20-1. He went 9-1 with Tampa in the Florida State League. He went 5-0 for Trenton, the Yankees AA team, and then he went 5-0 with Chattanooga. That's 19-1, so I included a playoff win that he got to make it an even 20. His combined ERA was 2.69 and he averaged 8.1 K/9. Littell will be 22 through the 2018 season. Littell was also excited to learn that he was added to the roster. "It’s awesome to get this news, and I couldn’t be more excited about this year. Obviously this isn’t the end goal, but this step feels really good to have accomplished and motivate me even more to keep going." Injury always makes 40-man decisions interesting, and the Twins had a couple such decisions. One made the roster. Lewis Thorpe was a Top 10 Twins prospect as a 19-year-old after a nice showing in Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, he missed over two seasons due to a Tommy John surgery and a bout with mono. He returned this year, and moved up to Ft. Myers, and he looked good again. He posted a 2.94 ERA in 77 innings in Ft. Myers. He walked 31, but he struck out 84. Thorpe will turn 22 on Thursday. Thorpe was a little surprised when he got the call today. "It felt awesome when I️ got the call today. I️ was in shock and was just so excited." He continued, "After having two-and-a-bit years out of the game, it’s just a relief they still believe I’ve got what it takes to still get there. I’m very excited for 2018, to see what it has to offer me. I’ve still got to work hard because I️ haven’t made anything yet." So, there are several players who are more likely to be selected in the Rule 5 draft including Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Lewin Diaz, Kohl Stewart, Luke Bard, Ryan Eades, Brian Navarreto and Mason Melotakis. What do you think of the Twins decisions tonight? View full article

Maybe, but the same would have been said about Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler 4 years ago... Kepler had only a 1/2 season in Cedar Rapids when he was added.

They certainly could.But we don't see the AAA roster, so no way to know who could be lost. Presumably if a Luke Bard isn't protected on the MLB roster, he would certainly be on the AAA reserve roster... But basically guys who need to be protected a year from now in the MLB Rule 5 would have to b e protected in this year's AAA portion. So, certainly Jermaine Palacios and Nick Gordon will be protected on the AAA list.

Players added to the 40 man roster right now can't be dropped until spring training. That's why they have to keep a few guys like Boshers on the 40 man roster, and it's also why they may want to leave a couple of spots open. For example, they can't add Luke Bard tonight and then DFA him next week when they sign Darvish.

I would be shocked if the Twins left him unprotected. It'd be terrible to lose a Top 10 prospect for nothing. A team like San Diego should take him and let him get a bit of time and develop him. Guys like him aren't selected in the Rule 5 draft because guys like that get protected.

I think Curtiss can be a closer. I could argue for Jay higher than him. Moya's more of a 7th-8th inning guy. Burdi could be a closer, but obviously with all the injuries, that's my concern. 9 games is not going to affect my thoughts on him.

Many of the same names are on MiLB.com's 2017 Twins minor league all star list as well: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/stephen-gonsalves-john-curtiss-ready-to-contribute/c-261941320

According to a Phil Miller article in the Strib, the Twins will be heading back to WCCO in 2018. http://www.startribune.com/twins-radio-broadcasts-will-move-back-to-wcco-radio/458079313/

I think consistency is a big thing for players early in their careers. It's a long season. As they develop and work on mechanics and learn themselves and all of that, the goal would be that the consistency would come (preferably good consistency). Here are his OPS by month... April: .776 May: .604 June: 1.048 July: .449 August: 1.023 September: 1.500 (though it was just 8 plate appearances) Of course, these are just monthly break downs and there are probably wilder extremes looking at different start/end dates, but it isn't unusual to see something like this... Also, he played SS in high school - like everyone - but they moved him to 3B/2B right away. I don't think the move to 2B in the 2nd half was anything related to performance. I think it was a planned thing to get him consistent time in both places. The reality is that they still are trying to figure out where he'll play. He's OK at both.

Correct... I mean, the three Twins minor leaguers who made it from the 2011 draft without getting added to the 40-man roster (hence making it to free agency) are: Levi Michael, Dereck Rodriguez and David Hurlbut. Rodriguez (especially based on comments received) was probably a stretch at #29. The other two aren't Top 50 guys. Just hard to find trade value, except as toss-ins.

Lose Perez? Which Perez? The Red Wings starting rotation and bullpen should be full of 40-man roster guys and prospects. Position players, they're likely to need more minor league free agents.

It'd be nice to get something back, but these are guys that probably had very little trade value in-season. So they take their chances on trying to sign them.