Seth Stohs

I like most extensions, but this is a great one. Basically they're paying him his normal this year to rehab and next year to see how it's going, and then get one more year at a very reasonable price. I really like this!

Here are the Top 20: Twins Daily's Top 20 Twins Prospects of 2020 20. Jose Miranda, 2B/3B 19. Cole Sands, RHP 18. Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/LF 17. Misael Urbina, OF 16. Edwar Colina, RHP 15. Matt Canterino, RHP 14. Matt Wallner, OF 13. Wander Javier, SS 12. Gilberto Celestino, OF 11. Lewis Thorpe, LHP 10. Blayne Enlow, RHP 9. Brent Rooker, OF 8. Keoni Cavaco, SS 7. Ryan Jeffers, C 6. Jhoan Duran, RHP: 5. Jordan Balazovic, RHP 4: Brusdar Graterol, RHP 3. Trevor Larnach, OF. 2. Alex Kirilloff, OF 1. Royce Lewis, SS:

That is the challenge of signing guys at 16 years old and sometimes reaching deals when the players are 14. Injuries. Pandemic. Growth. Maturity. Handling Money. Being away from home. So many factors involved.

I'm not a fan of DFAing Enlow. I would assume he'll be claimed. If not, good move. Ortega throws hard, good breaking ball, but hasn't put up numbers and struggles with control. But, if they claim him and put him on waivers when they sign someone else in the coming days, he's the kind of guy you'd like to get through waivers and work with.

Happy New Year's Eve, Twins Fans!! Take one more look back at the 2022 Twins according to their most-viewed articles. this one just might have you laughing at crying. Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports Before we get started with the fourth and final installment, we just want to say Thank You to our readers, our followers, those who participate in the forums, our terrific, talented writers and bloggers, those who provide videos, and just everyone who has helped 2022 become such an exciting year at our site. #5 Minnesota’s 3 Options with Carlos Correa July 23 Cody Christie It was obviously a big deal when the Twins signed Carlos Correa, and as you can tell from our Top 20 most-viewed article rankings, at times you may think that we are ABC, All ‘Bout Correa. While that isn’t completely true, Correa has certainly found himself key in many articles throughout the course of the year. This article was a little over a week from the trade deadline. The Twins were still in first place, but the injuries were catching up, especially in the pitching staff, but throughout the roster. Cody wrote about three options for the Twins at the deadline. They could keep him and make that push toward the division title. They could try to lock him up before the deadline, though Correa was always going to become a free agent again. They could trade him and receive something in return for his services over the season’s final two months. Wisely, the Twins' front office decided to be buyers at the deadline. They made significant trades, adding to their starting staff, adding an All-Star reliever and a #2 catcher. Obviously, it didn’t pay off as two of the three ended the season on the Injured List and the other regressed to the mean with the Twins. #4 Twins Fans Absolutely Furious at Surprise First-Place Start May 20 RandBalls Stu This is RandBalls Stu at his finest. It was approaching two months into the season. The Twins, who finished in last place in the AL Central in 2021, were playing well and found themselves with a nice lead in the division. However, a quick glimpse through #TwinsTwitter and many Twins-related forums found fans upset about all kinds of things. Correa was a bust. How can you send Royce Lewis back to St. Paul? The Twins front office only cares about their algorithms and spreadsheets. You know, it’s some of the silliness you may read here from time to time too. And RandBalls Stu captured it perfectly. #3 3 Reasons Target Field Attendance Continues to be Sparse May 26 Cody Christie Another topic that brought about much conversation and disagreement was Target Field attendance. Why were the Twins struggling to bring fans to the ballpark? Obviously in Minnesota, weather can be a huge factor in attendance, especially with how cold temperatures can get in April after the sun goes down. Obviously, after there were no fans in 2020 and limited fans at some stadiums in 2021, 2022 was the return to semi-normalcy. There are several reasons listed, and you may have your own. For me, the fact that such a high percentage of people simply can’t watch the Twins on TV is major. How do you gain interest in a product? Well, I’m not a marketer, but making it difficult for many people to watch easily is not a good strategy. Unfortunately, Bally’s Sports is mostly only available on cable and not included on many streaming services. What are other reasons for the Twins' struggle with attendance, and what might your suggestions be? #2 Byron Buxton Did the Twins a Favor December 12 Ted Schwerzler You just never know sometimes. I’ve written thousands of Twins blogs and articles over the past 20 years (Maybe 2003 was the start of SethSpeaks dot net). In the past couple of years, I’ve read, edited, and scheduled hundreds if not thousands of Twins articles. You just never know which ones will click, or resonate, and get page clicks. With the free agent prices skyrocketing this offseason, Ted notes that the Twins are very fortunate to have locked up Byron Buxton a year ago. And as we suspected at the time, the Twins got him for an incredible deal. Had he been a free agent this offseason, he would be looking at a Swanson contract, if not a Bogaerts-like deal. #1 Dozens Injured as Twins Bullpen Attempts to Prepare Salad July 8 RandBalls Stu Yes, RandBalls Stu has two articles in the Top 5 most-viewed Twins Daily articles of 2022. And this article came in #1. The article that came in at #4 was fantastic, but there’s no question, this was the best of the year. “Sources say the bullpen was assigned chips and ice, but when reliever Emilio Pagan got lost on his way to Kowalski’s and drove to Fort Smith, Arkansas instead, they improvised a pasta salad. That’s when the trouble began.” And hilarity ensued. What a fun, creative article from such a talented Minnesota writer With that, we wish you all a very happy and safe New Year, rich with fortune and maybe even a little prosperity. Thank you so much for stopping by the site frequently, commenting, and helping other Twins fans to check out our site Previous Articles: Part 1: 16-20 Part 2: 11-15 Part 3: 6-10 View full article

Danny Coulombe signing a minor-league deal with the Twins for the fourth straight year.

The 2022 Twins season was filled with ups and downs, but there were plenty of stories (good or bad). Today we continue by jumping into the top 10 articles at Twins Daily by page views. Which articles generated the interest of Twins fans? Image courtesy of Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports Today, we jump into the Top 20 articles at Twins Daily in 2022. We appreciate all of our readers and those who comment as well. So it's fun to look back at which articles received the most page views over the course of the year. It's also kind of a fun way to look back at some of the biggest stories of the past year. As you take a look through these top articles, think about which Twins-related stories you might say are the top 10 stories of 2022 for you. Maybe it was the Correa signing. Maybe it has been the Correa offseason saga. Maybe it was the trade deadline, or the drafting of Brooks Lee. Maybe it was the debut of Royce Lewis, or the debuts of hometown kids Louie Varland and Matt Wallner. Through the Wins and Losses, the ups and downs, it certainly hasn't been boring to be a Twins fan in 2022, even with the limited signings this offseason... so far. But who knows? Maybe some of the most-read articles at Twins daily in 2023 will be transactions made over the next month or so. Enjoy looking back at the #6-10 articles at Twins Daily in 2023. #10 Why is the MLB Increasing the Size of Its Bases? March 13 Melissa Berman Following the lockout, we kept hearing about various rules that would be coming to he big leagues starting in 2023. Melissa Berman, who had just joined us as a regular contributor, did a fantastic job of breaking down each of the coming changes, why they might be making the change, and what it might mean to teams. Her article on the increasing base sizes took off and became one of our top ten articles this year. Besides just encouraging more of the running game in baseball, it may also help players remain healthy because of a bigger first base. #9 ;Latest Twins Carlos Correa Rumors Free Agency December 10 Nick Nelson Ever since the Twins signed Carlos Correa in spring training, we knew he would opt-out and become a free agent. I’m not sure at any point did we think that the Twins would offer him a 10-year, $285 million contract. Days before Correa agreed to a 13-year, $350 million, Nick wrote up an article on the various rumors surrounding Correa. The Twins and the Giants weren’t the only teams. The Cubs were rumored to have interest. This was when there were reports saying that the Yankees had interest. It was soon after this point that the Mets showed some interest. As we know now, the Giants backed out after concerns about Correa’s physical. Hours later, news broke that Correa agreed to sign with the Mets for 12 years and $315 million. The roller coaster offseason for Correa continued as the Mets didn’t like his medicals either. So, the saga continues. #8 The Weirdest Move Minnesota Could Make October 7 Ted Schwerzler On Opening Day, the Twins sent Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the Padres in exchange for Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan. Rogers started out well for the Padres but after losing the closer job, he was traded to the Brewers. Rooker played in just a couple of games for San Diego before he was traded to the Royals. Chris Paddack made just a handful of starts before he needed his second Tommy John surgery. Pagan stayed healthy, but he really struggled. Pagan has always given up a ton of home runs, but he gave up an even higher percentage in 2022. He continued to get high-leverage opportunities and put up some terrible Win Probability Added numbers. However, we keep hearing, and anyone who watches can see it, that he has some very good stuff. His fastball sits 95-97 mph. He’s got a decent slider. He has typically shown good control. One of the frustrating things about the offseason for many Twins fans came when the Twins tendered a 2023 contract to Pagan. But as Ted wrote in this article, it would have been ‘weird’ had they not done so. Of course, I think that most believe that the Twins will attempt to trade Pagan during the offseason. We shall see. #7 Pitching Coach Wes Johnson to Abruptly Leave Twins June 26 John Bonnes It was a big surprise to people around baseball when the Twins hired Wes Johnson as their pitching coach before the 2019 season. Few knew who he was, but a quick search tells us that he had a lot of success at various colleges in building pitching staffs. Johnson did a nice job with the Twins, so it was quite a surprise when it was announced that Johnson was heading to LSU during the middle of the season. Johnson is responsible (along with Derek Falvey and others) for the current Twins pitching programs and philosophies throughout the organization. They have continued to spend on technology and analytics, coaches and coordinators, and we have seen those processes working through the likes of Louie Varland, Simeon Woods Richardson, Josh Winder, Cole Sands and others who made their debuts in 2022. However, in late June, news broke that Johnson was leaving the Twins to become the pitching coach for LSU where he would make significantly more money. Obviously at a college powerhouse like that, they wanted him to join them quickly, so Johnson had to make a quick decision. He took the job and remained with the team through the big series in Cleveland that was arguably the turning point of the season. Pete Maki took over as the team’s pitching coach. He had been an assistant and worked out in the bullpen. In reality, the change was fairly seamless in that the Twins hire Maki to be the Minor League Pitching Coordinator after he had coached at Duke. He was right there with Falvey and Johnson in determining the organization’s pitching philosophy. #6 Carlos Correa Contract: Giants Postponed Medical Concerns December 20 Nick Nelson As I mentioned in the previous installments of this series, December was a good month for Twins Daily. We would like to thank Carlos Correa for a bit of that success. The rollercoaster offseason of Correa has kept Twins fans intrigued and coming back to read updates but also to converse or share their frustration with other fans. This update from Nick came after the Giants had backed out on their contract with Correa and Scott Boras, but before the news that he wanted to sign with the Mets. What a mess! Check back soon for the Top 5 most-read articles at Twins Daily in 2022. Previous Articles: Part 1: 16-20 Part 2: 11-15 Part 3: 6-10 Part 4: 1-5 (Coming Soon!) View full article

Miguel Sano. Joey Gallo. Hunter Renfroe. The big, powerful, home-run-hitting players who strike out a ton, but what do all three have in common as it relates to this article? Well, you'll just have to keep reading. Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports One theme from this grouping of lead stories from 2022 is power, home runs, and a lot of strikeouts. Again, we are counting down the Top 20 Twins Daily articles of 2022 by page views. The stories certainly created a lot of conversation, some good, some maybe less productive. Let's jump to the articles ranked #11 through #16.Jo #15 Minnesota Twins Sign Joey Gallo December 16 Theodore Tollefson Coming off news that the Twins had been outbid on Carlos Correa by the Giants, the Twins ended the week by agreeing to terms with former All Star outfielder Joey Gallo. Many, if not most, Twins fans were not happy about the decision to give Gallo $11 million after he hit just .163 in 2022. However, Gallo was an All Star as recently as 2021 with the Rangers, and he’s won multiple Gold Gloves as well. For a one-year, make-good type of deal, this makes a ton of sense. Where many fans question the decision is because the team already has several left-handed hitting outfielders at or near the big leagues. That includes Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Nick Gordon, recently-DFAd Mark Contreras, and Max Kepler, who could soon be traded. However, with injuries, adding a guy with the type of potential that Gallo has might pay off. Or, it might not. #14 Hunter Renfroe Trade Target November 17 Cody Pirkl Twins Daily takes a lot of pride in being a great place for Twins content throughout the year, but especially during the offseason. Shortly after the conclusion of the World Series, the offseason begins and we all get a little excited about what our favorite team could do, or might do, or what we think they should do. That’s why an article like this can do well. It was known that the Brewers were likely to trade the slugging Hunter Renfroe, and the Twins were believed to be looking for a right-handed hitting corner outfielder to team with the young lefties. Logical, to be sure, but by Thanksgiving, Milwaukee traded him to the Angels for three pitchers. #13 Looking to Find a Diamond in the Rough, the Twins Have Claimed Jewell August 17 Seth Stohs What was your favorite Jake Jewell Twins memory? Well, he posted an ERA well over five in his nine games with the St. Paul Saints. That was it. The Twins were still in first place, but Cleveland and Chicago had cut their lead. The Twins needed pitching, so when the Cleveland Guardians DFAd Jewell, the Twins claimed the 29-year-old with 31 games pitched in the big leagues. Were Twins fans excited about this waiver claim, or did people just really like my creative, if not obvious, article title. #12 3 Twins Trade Targets to Watch May 22 Nash Walker Twins fans, ok, all fans, not only enjoy the offseason, but we really love the trade deadline. Before the end of May, Nash wrote an article looking at what the Twins' needs were at the deadline. What did he say that the Twins could use? Frontline Starter (they did trade for one of the top available starters, Tyler Mahle) High-Leverage Reliever (the Twins acquired Jorge Lopez who was probably the best reliever in baseball for the first half of the season.) Big Bat (the Twins traded Ian Hamilton to Cleveland for Sandy Leon, not exactly a big bat, but a big dude who was able to catch every other game while Ryan Jeffers was on the injured list. Now consider how this list compares to what the Twins needed to acquire going into the offseason. In fact, think about what the Twins still need as we approach the New Year. #11 Miguel Sano’s Looming Return July 2 Cody Christie It might be fair to say that Miguel Sano’s baseball career and his time with the Twins has been a roller coaster. Immensely talented, Sano’s career can be defined by home runs, strikeouts, an All Star appearance, and off-field issues. Despite some injuries, Sano did provide a lot of power to the Twins lineup at times, posting impressive hard-hit rates. Within a season, he could be streaky, and the streaks were extreme. He could carry a team for two months, and then he could look like he had never hit a baseball in his life for a month. His 2022 season began with a rough streak, and then he got injured and needed knee surgery. By July when he was approaching a return, Luis Arraez had taken over at first base, and Jose Miranda was coming off of a rookie of the month. How would Sano fit back into the lineup or even the roster? Stop by tomorrow as we look at at some of the Top 10 articles at Twins Daily in 2022. Previous Part 1: 16-20 View full article

As we approach the end of 2022 and look forward to what 2023 will bring, let's take a look back at 2022 and remember what some of the biggest topics were for Twins fans. To do so, we will look at the top 20 most viewed articles this year. 2022 was many things for a baseball fan and specifically fans of the Minnesota Twins. The year began with the players locked out by the owners. They reached an agreement in early March and spring training soon began. The Twins were incredibly busy after the lockout ended, signing players left and right. No one could have anticipated the Twins signing Carlos Correa to a record contract. The season began with some optimism, hoping that the 2022 season was the anomaly. Things started well. The team was fairly healthy and found themselves in first place. They remained in that spot until late August when things went downhill in a hurry and injuries caught up. But, we did starting seeing some quality pitching prospects emerge in 2022. Griffin Jax adjusted very well to the bullpen while Jhoan Duran and Josh Winder made the opening day squad. As the season progressed, we saw more and more pitchers debut. In addition, Luis Arraez got some notoriety. He was the AL Batting Average champion, went to his first All-Star game, was a nominee for a Gold Glove, and won his first Silver Slugger Award. Byron Buxton went to his first All Star Game, started and homered. And finally, the offseason has clearly been frustrating for many Twins fan so far. Fortunately, it can still be salvaged. Things went well for Twins Daily as well. After a few years of Covid, and then a lockout, it was difficult to drum up interest in the club. However, our fantastic writing staff put out a ton of excellent content all year and Twins fans found their way here. We had some nice numbers throughout the summer, but December has been a very good month. So, let's take a look back at the Twins 2022 season by looking at which articles were viewed by the most people. It's not an exact representation, but it does take a look at some hot-button topics, some intriguing questions, lots of transactions and analysis and much more that intrigued us all year long. With that, in part 1 we will look back at the articles ranked 16-20 according to Page Views. Share your thoughts and memories on them below. #20 Louie Varland will Make his MLB Debut for Twins on Wednesday September 5 Seth Stohs Louie Varland was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2021 when he put up great numbers in Low-A Ft. Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids. He began the 2022 season at Double-A Wichita. In early August, he was promoted to Triple-A and had the opportunity to pitch in his hometown, for the St. Paul Saints. He made a handful of starts for the Saints when the Twins had a need for a spot starter. We learned a couple of days ahead of time that Varland would be making his MLB debut for the Twins in Yankees Stadium. We were excited with the news. Twins fans were excited. And Varland came through with a fantastic debut against the Yankees. His first big-league strikeout victim was MVP Aaron Judge. His first big-league home run allowed was to MVP Aaron Judge. All things considered, it was a fantastic debut for Varland. He went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with two runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out seven batters. He left the game with a runner on and one out in the sixth inning. Griffin Jax came on and got Judge to pop out, but Gleyber Torres homered to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. The Twins came back to tie the game and sent it to extra games. Unfortunately, the Yankees won 5-4 in 12 innings. #19 Minnesota’s Return for Berrios Continues to Look Better June 30 Ted Schwerzler As the trade deadline was approaching, Ted took a look back one year to when the Twins traded All Star right-hander Jose Berrios to the Toronto Blue Jays for shortstop Austin Martin and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson. While Martin hasn’t raced to the big leagues as quickly as many thought he might when he was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, but the talent and athleticism is certainly still there. He missed time with injury but made up for it with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Woods Richardson had a strange 2021 season, but after a normal offseason and spring training, he got off to a fast start in 2022. He didn’t give up an earned run for the first month of the season. He missed about a month due to Covid, but he came back strong. Late in the year, he was promoted to Triple-A, and he made one start for the Twins in the season’s final week. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks over five innings. However, he gave up two runs in a rough first inning and settled in well. On the other side of the spectrum, it was a tough season for Jose Berrios. He went 12-7 despite an ERA of 5.23 and a WHIP of 1.46. He made all 32 starts and worked 172 innings. He led the league in both hits allowed (199) and in earned runs allowed (100). That came after signing a seven-year, $131 million extension with the Blue Jays. He will be the team’s #4 starter heading into the 2023 season, but it is likely he will be much better as well. #18 Too Many Outfielders, Another Perplexing Acquisition for the Twins December 8 Sherry Cerny Sherry was writing for herself, expressing her frustrations with a few of the Twins offseason moves so far. Certainly the article resonated with a large quantity of Twins fans who are equally frustrated. First there was the trade of one of the team’s more consistent, productive and healthy players in Gio Urshela. Then they signed strikeout-prone outfielder Joey Gallo for a similar contract while they already have several left-handed hitting corner outfielders. Thankfully the offseason is not complete. It will be interesting to see how the roster looks in early March. But for now, it’s been difficult to see the direction. #17 What’s Next for Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli September 14 Ted Schwerzler It’s one of those questions that some fans feel the need to ask when their favorite team is not winning ballgames? Should the manager be fired? Forget the injuries? Forget the slumps and struggles? The reality is managers probably get too much credit when their team wins, and they certainly take too much blame when the team loses. The Twins were in first place into late August, but at that point their pitching staff was decimated. Max Kepler missed the final month. Byron Buxton was out. Ryan Jeffers was out, replaced by Sandy Leon. Along with Kenta Maeda and Chris Paddack, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle also ended the season on the Injured List. The Twins lineup often included Nick Gordon hitting cleanup. Gordon had a nice year, but that tells you a lot. Again, when things go bad, it’s obviously a question that has to be asked. #16 The Minnesota Twins Front Office Played Themselves December 15 Matthew Taylor No question, the Twins clear top priority this offseason was bringing back Carlos Correa. It sure appeared to be Plan A, Plan B and maybe Plan C. Sure, they were able to sign Christian Vazquez to a three-year contract, but while waiting for the Correa situation to play out, several quality pitchers signed elsewhere. You can question whether or not Scott Boras and Carlos Correa played the Twins, using them as leverage to get a bigger contract. Matthew also thinks that the Twins front office played itself this offseason. Judge for yourself. Hopefully you have enjoyed this look back at 2022. Be sure to check back tomorrow for articles that ranked 11-14th. View full article

I'd say I agree with the majority of comments in here. I don't think that the Rodon or Swanson contracts were some great deals that the Twins should have tried to top. I think Bassitt is the one contract listed that I think they maybe missed out on that is a decent deal... And that came with a Qualifying Offer.

The Twins absolutely offered 10 and $285M. They absolutely believed they were in it until that last day. There are reports saying that he was telling people on Monday that he was heading back to Minnesota, but then the Giants blew the other offers away. That's when there was an agreement... pending a physical. That's where the Twins were. If he would have accepted the Twins offer, it would also have been pending a physical. Now, who knows what the Twins doctors would have seen or found in the physical. But after the Giants brought up concerns, then the Twins absolutely would have needed to re-evaluate where they were at, and it would be crazy to increase how much you would pay a guy when there are question marks. And, as others have said... Boras being in a rush to get him signed would make me really nervous too.

My Waking Up to this News initial thoughts: - My first reaction yesterday was that the Giants looked bad, issuing the postponement but not providing much else. Of course, they really can't say anything about the physical, and this is a great example for why teams don't like when news breaks of a player agreeing to terms (PENDING PHYSICAL)... in most cases, failure of a physical would stay quiet, private. - But with this news of him heading to New York within about 5-6 hours of the Giants news, it now looks more like Correa wanted out of the Giants deal. He wants to play for a winning team. he looks at the Mets roster, the incredible starting pitching, adding bullpen arms, and the lineup, along with teaming with long-time friend Francisco Lindor and wanted to be there. Oh, and that Cohen guy is just going to keep spending. In this case, I think Correa is the one that kind of looks bad. If that's the case, he just shouldn't have committed to the Giants. However, he hadn't signed yet. Just a really weird situation.

Not sure why they would want to add two left-handed relievers. Not sure if Smith or Hand is better than Thielbar. And does this mean we would want Moran back in the minor leagues?

Over the past five years, the Minnesota Vikings have had two "Minneapolis Miracles." In a playoff game against the Saints, a Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs play turned into one of the craziest game endings in NFL history. Then on Saturday, the Vikings fell behind 33-0 after halftime and used another miracle to win 39-36 in overtime, the biggest comeback in NFL history. Now it's the Twins turn. At this point, the team needs a miracle to turn around what has been an incredibly disappointing first half of the offseason. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings fell behind the Indianapolis Colts, 33-0 at halftime. The team was frankly very bad in all aspects of the game. The defense bent and broke. Special teams allowed a blocked punt and a few long returns. The offense didn't get much going at all, and when they did, it ended in either a fumble, or a wide receiver just stopping a route that led to an interception. It was really, really bad. Twins fans, does this sound familiar? The first half of the Twins offseason has not been good for the Twins or its fans. Let me count the ways: Carlos Correa and Scott Boras did a great job of maximizing his value over the course of the offseason. The Twins felt really good about their chances of signing the All Star shortstop. Last Monday, there were reports that he was starting to tell people he was heading to Minnesota. Then on Tuesday, the Giants offered 13 years and $350 million, and he signed. We can't know everything that went on behind the scenes, of course, but no question the front office had to be disappointed. Many fans are still going through the coping process. Before Correa signed, one fallback plan, Xander Bogaerts, signed with the Padres for 11 years and $180 million. That came a few days after Trea Turner signed an 11 year, $300 million deal. Those contracts, of course, bumped out the value of a Correa contract. It also bumped up the value of the Twins remaining fallback option for an impact shortstop. While the Twins had several conversations over the past week with Dansby Swanson, the former Vanderbilt Commodore and Atlanta Braves star, he ultimately signed this weekend with the Chicago Cubs. While Kyle Farmer is a solid MLB player and shortstop, he probably won't set a lot of tickets. Obviously the Twins weren't going to be involved in negotiations with free agent starting pitchers Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Adam Wainwright, but for whatever reason, they were involved in negotiations with Carlos Rodon and his agent, Scott Boras. As we know, Boras used the contracts of those big deals, specifically the deGrom deal, to request seven years and up to $30 million. While the Twins and Cardinals stayed involved in discussions, the lefty signed with the Yankees for six years and $162 million. And again, while those conversations were happening, the Twins saw the likes of Chris Bassitt signed with the Blue Jays (3 years, $63 million). Others who signed that would have fit the Twins goal of acquiring pitchers that are at least as good as Sonny Gray: Jameson Taillon (Cubs, 4 years, $68 million), Taijuan Walker (Phillies, 4 years, $72 million), Jose Quintana (Mets, 2 years, $26 million), Andrew Heaney (Rangers, 2 years, $25 million), Sean Manaea (Giants, 2 years, $25 million), Zach Eflin (Rays, 3 years, $40 million), Ross Stripling (Giants, 2 years, $24 million), At this time, there is literally one remaining free agent starting pitcher that could be argued would be the Twins top starter. That's Nathan Eovaldi, who throws gas and can be very good, but he hasn't been a beacon of health himself. And to make matters worse for Twins fans, reports have come out over the past couple of weeks that the Twins would certainly consider trading Luis Arraez to acquire pitching. No matter how good the pitcher the Twins got, losing Arraez would be painful for a lot of fan. Another fan favorite, at times, has been Max Kepler, and his name has bounced around in trade rumors. As with Arraez, there may be good reason to look to deal Kepler, but many fans will be greatly disappointed. On Friday afternoon, it was announced that the Twins had a deal with outfielder Joey Gallo for one year and $11 million. As @Nick Nelson noted this weekend, Gallo hit Rock Bottom in 2022 (I know, I know... at least he made contact! <rimshot>) when he hit just .160 between the Yankees and Dodgers. However, in 2021, between the Rangers and Yankees, he hit .199/.351/.458 (.808) with 38 home runs, and that's even after he really struggled over the final two months if New York. Gallo was an All Star in 2019 and 2021. He won Gold Glove Awards in 2020 and 2021. He's one year removed from a very nice season. However, because of a terrible 2022, the low batting average and the massive strikeout count, it isn't a signing that makes many Twins fans happy. And, in an article about Twins options following Correa's signing with the Giants. The Athletic's Dan Hayes mentioned several options for how the Twins offseason could go. One of the ideas was to take a step back by trading some veterans for prospects, essentially throwing the towel on the 2023 season, and hoping to compete again in 2024. While it is unlikely, it certainly isn't something any Twins fan wants to hear. To be fair, the Twins did get their top choice at catcher when Christian Vazquez signed last week to team with Ryan Jeffers. They didn't lose anyone in the MLB Rule 5 draft. They moved from #13 to #5 in the 2023 draft thanks to MLB's first draft lottery. Back to the Vikings... Down 33-0 coming into the second half, the team was incredible and almost inexplicably mounted the biggest comeback in NFL history and won 39-36 in overtime. It was a second Minneapolis Miracle. Kirk Cousins use all of his weapons (Justin Jefferson, KJ Osborn, Adam Thielen, TJ Hockenson, Dalvin Cook) to throw for over 400 yards. The defense actually got aggressive and got pressure on Matt Ryan. They also stopped the run. And sure, a little luck was involved, but that's OK. Huge win, and it clinched the NFC North division title. The Twins offseason is just a little over two months in, and spring training will start in about two more months (and the WBC, if you're into that). This is about halftime of baseball's offseason. Right now, the Twins offseason has been rough. 33-0 rough? I would say more like 31-7 rough, but that's probably just semantics. It has not been good for Twins fans. And as @Melissa Berman wrote last week, it might just be difficult to get fans back into the seats at Target Field if this continues. However, since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have been in charge of the Twins Baseball Operations group, halftime is often when they really start moving and shaking. We have seen them make deals in late January, throughout February, and even after spring training has started. Whatever we have guessed their budget might be (and this year, it should be somewhere between about $140-$155 million), they have managed to hit that number. They are smart guys. Certainly they had contingency plans for if Carlos Correa signed elsewhere. And certainly Plan B options have been lost too. However, there is time, so don't give up completely on the offseason. Aside from Eovaldi, free agency will likely not be the means to quality acquisition. Instead of just giving up money for players to sign, they will now have to trade players to acquire players. Can they trade for a quality starting pitcher, like Pablo Reyes from the Marlins, or one of the Brewers aces? Speaking of the Brewers, could Willy Adames be available? It's really hard to know which players are available, or how that will change over the course of the coming month or two. (For more on Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, Christian Yelich, Brandon Woodruff, Gus Varland, William Contreras, and the Brewers, check out Brewer Fanatic.) The Minnesota Twins will need another Minnesota Miracle to turn around what has been a rough offseason so far for the team. In a market that includes teams from all four major professional sports leagues, a soccer team, a Big 10 school (U of Minnesota) and a second Division I college in St. Thomas, dollars can only be spent in so many places. And with half of the market or more unable to watch the Twins on TV, they need to find ways to compete. Ultimately, it will be Winning that brings fans to the stadium. That is always the case. Sure, when a player of the caliber of Carlos Correa signs, some season tickets are sold, but sustained winning is what keeps fans coming back. Whether fans are excited about the offseason, what matters most is what happens on the field in the season. View full article

So, I've been tracking where free agents have signed, including minor league signings (cuz I'm just that cool)... the teams that have been signing the most minor-league deals this offseason are the Yankees and Dodgers. The Mets have signed a bunch. I would say the Twins have signed much fewer than most at this point...

It's always been Jair Camargo. Never was Johan Camargo, no matter what the MLB transactions page says. I can verify that it was Jair.

Yes, the Twins signed Vazquez. @Ted Schwerzler wrote this article on Sunday. The idea is obviously always to go back into articles to make sure they are up-to-date.

Twins fans, we held out hope as long as we could, and we konw that the Twins made a more-than-fair effort, but shortstop Carlos Correa (and his agent Scott Boras) are in an agreement with the San Francisco Giants on a 13-year, $350 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Image courtesy of Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports Twins fans held on to hope, but late on Tuesday night, those hopes were dashed as Jeff Passan announced that free agent shortstop Carlos Correa had agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants. While it is absolutely clear that the Twins were very interested in bringing back Carlos Correa, it is frustrating to have lost out to a big-market team. As you know, the top three markets in the US are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Philadelphia comes in at number four with Dallas-Ft. Worth at number five. Number six is where we find San Francisco-San Jose. Minneapolis-St. Paul comes in at #14. We know that the Twins put up a "massive" offer to Correa and Boras this week. The Twins front office clearly wanted to keep the All Star shortstop. But when Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts signed 11-year deals for arguably more than we expected, Scott Boras pounced. According to Jon Heyman, the Twins were at $285 million over 10 years ($28.5 AAV). His AAV (Average Annual Value) on the 13-year deal is just under $27 million, but he gets the extra three years. The Giants thought they had a chance to sign Aaron Judge earlier in the offseason, but he signed with the Yankees. They are believed to be in a two-team race for the services of LHP Carlos Rodon, though most believe he will wind up with the Yankees as well. The Giants clearly wanted to make a splash after seeing the Padres making big signings and needing to make up a lot of ground on the Dodgers. This is their move. So, what is the pivot for the Twins? First, it is theoretically possible that the Twins could sign both SS Dansby Swanson and Rodon for about $350 million. I don't see it. But the Twins will certainly pivot to the former Braves shortstop as their fallback. How much will Swanson want? Rumors are all over the place. It could be anywhere from six years and $140 million to eight years and $200 million. However, Swanson is coming off of a great season with Atlanta. The Vanderbilt product has been on a lot of winning teams and may bring many of the same traits that Correa brought to the Twins. So while it is disappointing to not sign Correa, the Twins can salvage the offseason by showing fans they're serious and spending the money they were planning to spend on Correa. The other fallback plan, of course, is using Kyle Farmer at shortstop. The Twins acquired him after the season for RHP Casey Legumina. And then we await the return of Royce Lewis or the arrival of Brooks Lee, or both. We will have much more analysis on the news that Carlos Correa will be signing with the Giants coming, but share your initial thoughts here. View full article

Nope... it's inexplicable how the Brewers got Contreras, a reliever, and a relief prospect for Esteury Ruiz. https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-acquire-catcher-william-contreras-r632/