LA Vikes Fan

Well said. This inconsistency between the messaging and action is the thing that it most harming the Twins brand and credibility with the fan base, i.e., it's customers. One would assume that Tom Pohlad understands that as an experienced business person. What is incomprehensible to me is that there does not appear to be any effort to square the team's actions with its expressed intent or to provide any sort of long or even medium term vision to explain how the team plans to achieve the expressed goal of year-to-year competitiveness. Most of this is Business 101 so it's a little hard to understand why we are where we are. As result most fans are going to the negative conclusion that there really isn't going to be an effort to achieve year-to-year competitiveness if that effort requires spending money, which it clearly does, and that management's statements are all simply business platitudes designed to get people to buy tickets. There's an easy solution – make a plan, tell people what it is, and stick to it. If that plan is simply to tear down the existing team and start over with a rebuild, so be it. If the plan is to keep the existing core, augment that core in some way, and try to be competitive in a short term, that could also work. Just explain how the team plans to go forward. If the plan is to simply bring back what we already have and hope for a better result, just explain why you think that better result is likely. The absence of any of these things actually being said is not only killing interest in the team, it is likely killing the effort of the players themselves. As someone who played on a number of teams in high school and college, there's nothing worse than playing on a team that has no underlying belief in its own ability to compete. Yet that appears to be what the Twins are creating here.

I like both ideas, although I agree with other posters that it's hard to see the Mets being interested given their existing pitching depth. Having said that, the description makes it seem like Baty and Vientos play the same basic positions - 3B, 1B, and DH. One of those is now occupied long term on the Mets with Bichette moving to 3B. It almost seems like they should choose between the two and trade one. The obvious one to trade would be Vientos. I would give up Morris, Rojas, or even one of them plus a 20-30 prospect for Vientos. If the price was Matthews or Festa, I would expect a Mets pitching prospect in the 15-20 range or an established 7th or 8th inning reliever to come back with Vientos. To me, Abel and Prielipp are off the table.

I think signing Kopech is a very interesting.... pipe dream. If one believes what you read, he's looking for at least 2 years at $11-15m a year and the Yankees, Giants, and Tigers are interested (the Tigers may be out now after losing to Skubal and signing Valdez). It's hard to imagine (a) the Twins paying him in that range, especially considering his injury history, and (b) him coming to Minnesota when he has teams that might contend interested without the Twins overpaying. Interesting thought experiment and I get that this site has to create off season content, but this is not happening unless every other team drops out. Maybe Liam Hendricks will look good in the WBC and be interested in a nostalgic reunion . . .

Agree here. Trading Jeffers would stink but probably makes sense unless we think there is a realistic hope of signing him to an extension. I do understand the business reasons to at least try to contend in the first half and then trade at the deadline, so maybe that's the plan. Still, it's hard to see a way that Jeffers is still with the Twins after July 30 (or Aug 4 since that's this year's deadline). Waaaay to early to decide that Keaschall is only going to be a bench bat based on analytics. Let's actually give him one healthy season before we chart out his future career with certainty. I believe in analytics, but there's way to much projection from small samples that goes on and this is a prime example of that.

Interesting analysis. In a way, this reminds me of the analysis regarding David Festa. Both Matthews and Festa have a very high-quality non-fastball option. Both, however, suffer as a starter because the fast ball just isn’t quite good enough to go through a major league banning order more than once. Both also have other secondary options, which are not so great but could be improved. The question then is to you move one or both to the bullpen and play to their strength by emphasizing their strong secondary pitch and gain a ticker two on the fastball by throwing it in shorter stance, or do you try to improve that fastball by either improving it’s cut or run or improving It’s control such that these guys can hit corners regularly? I do think the answer is different from the two primarily because of physical health. Festa‘s got a shoulder issue that is going to limit his innings in 2026. I would put him in the bullpen and then decide after 2026 whether to leave him there. I would leave Matthews as a starter, start him in Saint Paul to begin the season, and see if he can either improve the fastball or one of his other secondary offerings enough to be effective at the major league level.

Unfortunately, no options. Maybe we can sneak him through waivers late in Spring Training given that teams will have to add him to the 40 man. Sems like he either has a lights out ST or he's gone/in AAA. Still, not a bad return for Jhonny Perada. Basically a fair "trade" for both teams.

I agree. I think Adams and Klein are just placeholders for now. I'd love Kopech but he's looking for a multi-year deal and the Yankees and Giants are both interested. I except one more FA signing - either Paul Sewald, Tommy Kahnle, Ryan Brasier, someone like that who was once good and is now older or coming back from injury. My money is on Sewald. Evan Phillips would be a good signing but he had TJ in June 2025 and wouldn't be available until the second half of 2026. I expect Dan Altavilla to make the opening day roster - he's good when healthy, but breaks down after 30-40 innings - perfect replacement for Stewart. They will knock out Adams and Klein, both of whom are next men up at St. Paul and both of whom will see MLB action this year.

I've been beating on this drum for awhile now. Festa's shoulder issues and fastball issues all point towards him going to the Bullpen in a short relief, late inning role. He's also a guy whose batting average and SLG against goes up significantly the second time through the order. I think you've identified the real issue - his fastball isn't good enough to be a starter. But, add a couple of ticks to it and it may be good enough to be a strong reliever in combination with his change up and slider. I'd like to see Festa either break with the team in the bullpen and slowly work up to a late inning role or close at St. Paul for a month. I really think that's his best and highest use. By the way, I don't think he's the 6th starter - he's a least number 7 behind Matthews at 6 and may be 8 behind Abel at 7. that's another good reason to think about putting him in the BP to start out with.

You have to wonder what Dereck Shelton is thinking. The guy who he knew in 2019 and who hired him now just got fired. Is he safe and if so, is that just for now? this could rapidly spin out of control unless someone does some serious triage. Here's looking at you, Tom.

What the !? Falvey first, now Kwesi? Is this really happening or a parallel universe?

Agreed. Neither package paid by Texas or the Mets is particularly impressive. Both were all prospects all "hope", no substance. That's the kind of package you look for and take on July 31 (Aug 4 this year) when you're 10 games under .500 and out of contention. I cling to the belief that the plan is to see how things play out and if the first half shows a complete rebuild is necessary, then you trade off guys like Ryan, Lopez and/or Buxton, plus Bell, Caratini and Jeffers. I'm pretty confident that we can get a package as good or better than those two teams got at the deadline, especially for quality starting pitching with a year plus of control remaining like Lopez and Ryan. The risk is injury. It's a real risk but to me one worth taking to see if this team can perform for the first half.

Hey, you may be right but the man did well in the traditional counting stats last year - .280/.374/.365(.739), 11 steals in 15 attempts. In other words, he performed on the field. If he can raise the SLG to .400 he's a borderline All Star. Maybe he was the same guy in 2024 and 2025 but it's 2024 that's the production outlier, not 2025. Remember, the metrics you cite are intended to be predictive of actual production, they are not actually production stats themselves. As a result, like all predictive stats they can be misleading or simply not accurately predictive. You don' get extra wins for leading the league in Z-Swing rate. Martin is young and improving so give him some run. Let's not forget that he can actually field in LF. His primary competition - Larnach and Wallner - cannot. If any team needs to improve their defense it's your Minnesota Twins. This is the year to give Martin his make or break it shot. That means playing 5 days a week and facing both RH and LH pitching. If he performs and continues to play well in the field, we have a 27 year old starting OF at a minimum salary - the Holy Grail. If he craps out, we send him to AAA and hope to get him right or trade him. The dumbest thing to do would be to force him into a short side platoon role and miss the opportunity to see if he can be more. The first half of 2026 is all about finding out what we have. I mean, really finding out what we have by playing guys on the cusp every day. Martin, Lewis, Lee, and Keaschall should play every day. If they don't perform then go to the next guy like Jenkins, GG, Emma, or Culpeper. That's how you build a team - not by platooning guys with average MLB vets so you can to win 75 games instead of 70. Let's Build A Team!

Hard to justify spots for Larnach, Wallner, Wagaman, Matin, Bell, and Roden/Outman/Fedko. The others all have something we need - RH hitter, plays 1B (Wagaman), strong hitting track record, switch hitter (Bell), young on the way up, conquered AAA, with speed and defense (Roden), had a strong second half at MLB level, plays good defense (Martin), and 30 homer power with MLB track record (Wallner). Larnach is redundant to at least some of those skill sets, number 2 in those he has. and simply doesn't have any speed or defensive chops. Nice player but redundant and doesn't really add anything we don't already have. That's why he's the logical trade candidate. There is a logjam at least theoretically. Now someone could get hurt, not perform at all in ST, be traded, or step off the curb and get hit by a bus. It seems like at least one of those things should happen - except the last one of course. My guess is that the Twins will want to see where guys like Martin, Roden, Fedko, etc. are, and then decide on the odd man out unless and until a good trade opportunity arises. This actually makes sense from a roster building prospective. Nothing is set in stone (ever) and certainly not in February. Keeping options open is the best course. Larnach is a solid MLB player, at least at the plate. No reason to make a hasty decision on his future with the Twins yet.

A platoon at a position means that you have two guys there that aren't good enough to start. Martin looked like he is good enough to start in LF in August and September last year. No need for a LF platoon. Martin had a .374 OBP last year and 11 SBs in 15 attempts (73.3%) over 156 ABs. His career stats are a .341 OBP and 29 SBs in 40 attempts (72.5%). Admittedly, no power. I say we give him some run in the #1 or #9 hole and see if he can have an OBP over .350, steal 20 plus bases with a 80% or better steal rate, play above average LF defense, and actually help us score more runs. Larnach, on the other hand, looks like a LH DH getting about 300-400 ABs a year who only occasionally plays in the field (unless they're teaching him 1B), with some power. When he is in the filed he plays it poorly with a -4 OAA.. He and Wallner (also -4 OAA) can't be allowed to both be in the field at the same time. They could both play RF but neither hits LH pitching much so I don't know how that would work. Larnach is in a platoon all right (.758 OPS vs. RH pitching) - it's a DH platoon with Eric Wagaman (.783 OPS vs. LH pitching). Ah yes DH, there's a position where you can and should platoon.,

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. .