LA Vikes Fan

No .Ryan is never a free agent in 2027 unless the Twins release him. He either gets the $13M, but only if both sides agree in that number if it's a mutual option, or he goes back to arbitration. In other words, not much to see here other than the Twins are now committed to 6.1M in 2026 plus 100k in 2027 when one side or the other declines the option..

This. Starting Larnach in LF over the one guy who actually hit last year and is a very good Fielder in Martin is just .... stupid. Larnach is a DH, occasional OF. Martin should be playing LF 5 days a week (or more), with Larnach only in the OF 2 days a week at most and some of that can at Wallner's expense. Outman should be playing for somebody else. One of our biggest weak spots last year was defense. Let's not hurt or defense again this year in search of the elusive perfect matchup.

I'm going to continue to beat the drum for David Festa, closer. I think he's a great candidate - power arm with lots of swing and miss, 2 strong pitches, a in 94-98 MPH fast ball that could tick up in shorter stints and a plus slider, with a developing change up. Shoulder issue that makes 100 innings this year seem unlikely. Perfect candidate for a late inning high leverage relief option. He can build back up and if we want we can convert him back to starting next year. The clincher is he has the perfect closer nickname - "The Slim Reaper". I can see the video and light show now as he strides in to pitch the 9th with (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult or Creeping Death by Metallica playing....

I hope they bring IKF back so I can get some use out of that jersey I bought in those heady 19 hours he was the Twins starting SS. Speaking of which, anybody in the market for a gently used Twins Vidal Brujan jersey? Sure to be a collectors item.

I think you're a little optimistic but I do agree this is more than a 60 win team as is. I think Vegas is right as usual, the Twins are a 70-78 win team as is. We could become a 80-85 win team with another good BP signing and/or improvement or a full year of their good half year last year from at least 3 of the young guys - Keashall, Lewis, Martin, Wallner, Lee, Roden, Culpeper, GG, Emma, Jenkins in order of likelihood. This team is nowhere near as bad as the teams of the 90s. Those were bad teams. All you have to do is remember one thing abut those teams - Ron Coomer, All Star.

I hear you although I don't think it is enough to make Varland or Jax good, and obviously doesn't help Stewart pitch more than half a season. I do completely agree we need to improve our defense, which is why I keep advocating for Martin to play every day and really help shore up the OF defense. I'd really like to see us trade Larnach or Wallner for a relief pitcher/good prospect so that one of them can be more of a DH and we can get a good OF in RF to go with Buxton and Martin. I don't know what we do in the IF, particularly at SS. Maybe Lee comes back as Greg Gagne Lite after an offseason of flexibility training or maybe Culpeper is the answer. All I know is that unless that IF gets better with the glove, pitching for the Twins is going to be a rough go.

While this offseason has been a snoozefest, can we jettison the overhyped and incorrect notion that we traded away "a great, cost-controlled bullpen"? We traded away 1, maybe 2, good relievers - Johan Duran and maaybe Danny Coulombe depending on your definition of great or even "good". By the way, Coulombe is so coveted that no one has signed him yet for 2026. For Duran we got arguably our 2nd or 3rd best starting pitching prospect in Abel (behind Matthews and Bradley maybe), and a catching prospect who's top 5 in our system. What? What about all those other great guys we traded? Well . . . Griffin Jax, he of the 4.50 ERA with an 0 for 5 save record with the Twins in 2025 who "improved" to a 3.60 ERA with Tampa. "Great"? Not a chance. Good? In 2024, yes, he was. Other than that, in 2022 and 2023, he was mediocre at best and in 2025 he was bad. For him we got Taj Bradley who may actually be an MLB starting pitcher, but a real crapshoot. Both Jax and Bradley are crapshoots for 2026 and beyond. Louie Varland? Hmm, ERAs of 7.61 (2024), 4.63 (2023), and 3.81 (2022), but a very good first half 2.02 in 2025 in 49 innings for the Twins, followed by a robust and more in line with previous norms 4.94 ERA in 24 innings with the Jays. "Great". NO. "Good"? Yes for half a season in 2025, but mediocre to lousy for the other 3.5 full MLB seasons. For him we got a top LH starting pitcher prospect in Rojas and a flyer with potential OF in Roden. Hmmm, seems like a good deal. Ah, what about Brock Stewart? Let's see. 2020-2022, injured, not in MLB. In 2023, 27 innings very good innings (0.65 ERA), arm trouble, gone for the season. In 2024, 15 lousy innings (5.17 ERA), arm trouble, gone for the season. In 2025, now we're talking, 34 innings of 2.38 ERA, traded, 4 innings of 4.91 ERA for the Dodgers (who think we traded them an injured guy), arm trouble, gone for the season, shoulder surgery, "might" be back by August. That's probably good since Brock is only good for about 25-35 innings a season so why have him before August anyway. Got James Outman, not good, but hey, you trade not good you get not good. That's it. So let's stop whining that we had a great bullpen that management traded away and now we're building off the scrap heap because they are so stupid. We didn't trade away a great bullpen in 2025 - we didn't have a great bullpen in 2025. We had an OK bullpen in 2025 that looked better than it was because of Duran (and to a certain extent, Sands and Coulombe). Watch, this year's bullpen will be pretty much how last year's would have looked without Duran. Let's retire the mindless trope that we traded away a great bullpen. We didn't because we didn't have one to trade away.

Add David Festa, closer in waiting. Add Connor Preilipp. Both guys are good but have arm issues that make pitching over 100 innings unlikely. Add a quality RH reliever and we're done. If not, last spot is Ohl.

Can I double like this somehow? Preach on, brother, you're right. Keep the best players and play the best players.

I see two things in that roster projection that puzzled me. First, Martin was probably our best hitter from August 1 forward last year. Why would he start on the bench? The only reason would be to play Trevor Larnach every day in the field, which seems like a huge leap given his poor defensive chops. The second is Clemens starting at 1B. He’s third in the 1B pecking order behind Wagaman and Bell. You have to think Larnach is either traded or a DH. If he stays, the much more likely configuration is Josh Bell at 1B, Larnach /Wagaman as the DH, and Clemens on the bench. If Larnach stays, no room for Outman. The bench is then UTL from that group we’ve accumulated, Caratini, Clemens, and Wagaman, Roden if Larnach goes so still no room for Outman. Batting order/ roster projection IF Larnach stays; Martin LF Buxton CF Keaschall 2B Bell 1B Larnach DH Jeffers C Lewis 3B Wallner RF Lee SS Bench - Clemens, Caratini, UTL, Wagaman. If Larnach goes add one of Roden/Outman/Fedko. You can mix and match Jeffers, Larnach, Wallner, and Lewis however you want as long as there’s at least one guy between Larnach and Wallner.

Agreed. We don't have a bunch of MLB ready guys to throw out there other than Martin and maybe Roden. The plan is to augment the roster and see if you can compete in the first half of next in what is a truly mediocre division. That explains getting guys who have shown some talent but not enough production like Wagaman (.674 OPS in his ONE MLB season), Orze (3.74 ERA with 3 saves in 43 MLB innings, basically 1 season), Brujan (former top 100 prospect), etc. If something hits, you keep running. If not, you sell and now your prospects have another half season of experience before coming up and taking their lumps - it; most likely that none of them will prosper from Day 1.. I know this isn't an exciting way to go but it does make some sense. We could go full youth movement, win 60ish games, and have 1.5m or less in attendance, and maaaaaybe be better set up for the 2027 season, if there is one. I prefer giving it a try for half a season before we do that. Reasonable minds may differ. .

Because he is 2 years younger than Fitzgerald, has better MLB stats in limited opportunities, and pretty similar MiLB stats. In other word, he's pretty much the same guy except 2.5 years younger with better bt speed so there's still hope for improvement. Look, this is hardly exciting news but let's not overreact like losing Ryan Fitzgerald and Nate Baez is somehow a big deal.

I guess my thinking was that Clemens plays a decent 1B, can play 2B, and is a better OF. Now that we have Bell and Wagaman, Clemens won’t be seeing much 1B time. Makes him a lot less valuable to this roster. Maybe the choice really is between Larnach and Clemens after all. If it is, Larnach is the better player…

I like this add. Cararini is actually a decent quality major league catcher. He would go great as the slightly shorter part of a 60/40 catching platoon with Jeffers, with Jeffers catching roughly 95–100 games and DHing another 25–30. I don’t really much care what happens to Jackson. He can either be optioned down to AAA or, if he doesn’t pass through waivers, somebody else picks up his salary. Obviously, more interesting thought is this is the first step in a two step where Jeffers gets traded, hopefully for some high-end prospects or a high-end prospect and a real high leverage relief pitcher. My bet is actually that they won’t trade Jeffers at least not until the trade deadline. He’ll be held, maybe be traded at the deadline, and Caratini winds up being the stop gap to the next generation. All in all, I actually like this one.

I think the offseason strategy is pretty obvious. They ae going to maybe pick up one or two more relievers to go with acquiring Orze, try to get something for Larnach, and otherwise stand pat. Martin, Roden, Keaschall, Bradley, SWR, Lewis, Adams, Ohl, and Lee will get significant first half playing time to see if they can be long term solutions. We might even see one or more of Culpepper, GG, Jenkins, or Emma to see where they are. Maybe the new manager instills life in a few guys. We'll play the first half and see if we are at .500 or better. If so, we'll try to add at the margins and hope for contention. If not, fire sale time, Everybody, and I mean everybody, will be available and we'll make at least 4-5 trades of big leaguers for prospects. The second half then becomes try out camp for the guys listed above plus Abel, Klein, Raya, etc. YOu have any promise at AAA? You all get a shot. I think the odds are 60/40 we're in try out camp mode by August but I do think there's a chance we'll be better. It all depends on how Lewis (in particular), Lee, Keaschall, Wallner, SWR, Bradley, the new bullpen, etc. play. They don't all have to hit but most of them do. Hold on tight, bumpy ride a comin'. But hey, could be fun. Besides with the Dodgers now signing Kyle Tucker, aren't we all playing for runner up or Miss Congeniality any way?

I think there is a difference between relief pitching, back end starters, and top 3 in a rotation staters. You almost always get more for relievers at the deadline as teams replace injured guys or think they're just a better bullpen away. Same for back end starters most of whom are acquired to fill injury holes or as starters today, playoff relievers tomorrow. The high end starters are are worth more in the offseason because of more market participants but sometimes you can get just the right fit at the right time at the deadline. My view that its usually better to wait on most guys and guys like Ryan are worth a kings ransom regardless of when you trade them. I don't see any need for urgency.

Agreed. Martin was actually a very good left fielder last season based upon OAA, borderline elite. He’s got the tools, just needs some coaching. I would love to see Taylor work a lot with him. I see similar potential in Roden, albeit with a lower ceiling. I think bringing in Taylor to work with those two specific guys and our current crop of AAA outfielders is a very smart move that could actually have some real positive consequences.

Oh, is that what it is? I thought I saw a piano on his back when he was running.

While I would like to see the Twins trade for at least one or two established relievers, I do support the idea of making some conversions from existing starters. David Festa is the most obvious example. High velocity guy, one good secondary pitch, arm problems. Classic conversion, and he could be closing by midseason. Connor Prielipp should absolutely be in the bullpen for the same reasons, John Klein is clearly headed there as well, and probably Andrew Morris wI’ll join them. Leave Matthews as a starter along with Abel, and Rojas. I would like to see Festa and Prielipp in the opening day bullpen and used in relatively high leverage roles right out of the gate. I get that starters make a lot more money than relievers overall, but the path to a starting pitching job in Major league baseball is a difficult one where most people fail. Show you’re good enough to be a starter and you’ll be a starter. Show you’re not good enough to be a starter, like Varland and Jax, and you’ll be a reliever. If you’re not a dominant starter at the AAA level your chances of being a number three or number four starter or better in MLB are pretty small. Grab the opportunity, get the bullpen, and show everybody what you can do.

Forgetting the baseball for a minute, as someone who lives out of state I just wanna say hang in there, Minneapolis. This can’t be fun to go through regardless of your politics. Just remember that this too shall pass.

Agreed. Based strictly on the numbers, Cardenas looks like the one we should be looking at to make an MLB debut this year if there’s an injury. Are there some holes in his bat or defense, or other problems that make that unlikely?

No need to panic early on Ryan. The hearings are at least 2 to 3 weeks away. It is pretty standard practice for teams to exchange numbers with players and then find something in the middle. I suspect that will be what happens. As for Larnach, I agree with the rest of you guys. The likely thing is to trade him for a not so great relief pitcher or someone coming off an injury who was once good. Hey, that’s better than this releasing the guy if you can pull it off. Guys, Austin Martin was one of our best players the last two months of last year. That doesn’t mean he will be this year, but that should earn him the chance to try. He should play every day in the field, where he was above average and improving to way above average, and hit in the top of the order as long as he can maintain that .370 OBP. We need an on base machine at the front of the order and he is the closest that we have to it. Start him, play him every day, and see what you got for 6 to 8 weeks.

This all sounds like classic speculative, hot stove, rumor with no real basis. The Phillies need a catcher so a writer looks around to see who might be available and then speculates that the Phillies would be interested. Doesn’t look very real.

I think the trashing of Wagaman here is a little overblown. Yes, this is not exciting but the play here is pretty obvious. Wagaman hit .268/.319/.425 (.744) last year after the ASB, and hit .283/.321/.462 (.783) against lefties last year. He also has 3 options. The hope is he hits like last year's second half, not the first, and then he's actually a better than average MLB hitter. If not, he could still be a platoon bat or be sent down. We gave up very little for him, a guy whose ceiling appears to be a fungible bottom of the pen reliever. The transaction makes sense. Losing Fitzgerald is no big deal - he'll be 32 in June, hit .196 in limited ABs, and has never made it in the majors. I too would rather lose Gaspar but it's like getting bad or really bad seats at a game, i.e., hard to care. What wouldn't make sense to me is to move Keaschall to the OF so either Clemens or Julien can play second base. Both frankly are not good unless Julien an re-harness 2023 which seems unlikely. Keep Keaschall at 2B and give him a shot to see if he can lock down the position in the field. Whatever you do, don't use him to replace Martin - Martin actually looked the part of an above average LF for 2 months last year. He plays every day until he shows he can't. If Keaschall goes to the OF it's to replace Wallner, with maybe Martin moving to RF. That makes no sense to me with Bell on the roster to DH, so effectively moving Keaschall so Clemens and Julien get time at the expense of Martin (and Roden) is a big time dumb move.

Agreed. This obsession abut RH power is puzzling to me. Jeffers, Buxton, Lewis, and Keaschall all hit from the right side among the everyday players and all have 15-20 HR potential or better. Josh Bell is a switch hitter, pretty good against lefties until last year, and is likely to play 1B or DH 5 days a week. Martin is also RH, and will probably start every day in LF at least to start the season - albeit with no power. In other words, we got plenty of RH bats. What we need is is better hitting overall from pretty much everybody except Buxton. The lineup makes the point even more starkly. Where is this mythical RH power hitter going to hit if we want to avoid an almost all RH lineup? Right now, here's the opening day BA - Some combination of Buxton, Martin, and Keaschall (all RH) in spots 1-3, Bell (S) as #4, some combo of Lewis, Jeffers and Wallner in the 5-7 slots, Lee (S)#8, and whoever makes the lineup at either RF, 1B, or DH to go with Wallner and Bell. I think it's Alan Roden to start the season in RF unless we trade for a 1B and leave Wallner in RF instead of moving him to a DH/2 days a week in the OF guy. In short, the likely starters are 2 switch hitters, 5 RHs, and 2 LH IF Roden starts. The two LHs are likely to hit 6 or 7 and 9. If we trade for a RH hitting 1B, it's already 6 RHs in the lineup. Another RH hitter isn't what we need. What we need is another 2-3 Good Hitters, no matter from which side they hit. The 2026 Twins are NOT a well balanced lineup looking for a specific piece; they are a lineup 2-3 cards short of a full deck that needs to find those cards wherever they can. We can worry about perfect construction once we actually have 9 guys who should be in the everyday lineup of a good MLB team. Right now, we got 3 by my count - Buxton, Bell, and Jeffers, 1 more who could solidify that status this year early in Keaschall, 2 intriguing should bes/may bes in Lewis and Wallner, 1 guy who showed pretty well for about 70 games last year in Martin, and a whole lot of may bes but more likely nots. We don't just need RH power hitters, we need hitters period. Let's either trade for a couple or get our AAA guys like Roden, GG, and even Fedko up here pronto and find out of they can help and if they can't or others fail, get Culpeper, Emma and Jenkins up.