Theodore Tollefson

Walker Jenkins and Charlee Soto met with the Ft. Myers media on Wednesday, ahead of their season opener. Here's the exciting insight the Twins top two picks from the 2023 MLB Draft shared on the upcoming 2024 season. Image courtesy of © Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports Walker Jenkins and Charlee Soto met with the Ft. Myers media on Wednesday, ahead of their season opener. Here's the exciting insight the Twins top two picks from the 2023 MLB Draft shared on the upcoming 2024 season. The Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels are beginning their 2024 season with some of the most exciting young talent within the Twins organization. This includes the likes of the Twins' first two picks in the 2023 MLB Draft, Walker Jenkins and Charlee Soto, who met with media members at Hammond Stadium alongside manager Brian Meyer on Wednesday. The top two picks of the Twins' 2023 draft class are both entering their first full seasons of professional baseball. Jenkins got an early start to his pro career last season, playing in 26 games split between the FCL Twins and Ft. Myers and posting a triple-slash of .362/.417/.571 in 115 plate appearances. “It was a ton of fun,” said Jenkins, in audio forwarded to Twins Daily by Mighty Mussels play-by-play broadcaster John Vittas. “Obviously a learning process, learning about a lot of different things, myself, my routine, how I need to go about it. But it just goes back to being fun. You go out and play baseball as a job, it doesn’t really get better than that.” Soto, on the other hand, didn’t throw a pitch in a game last season, and he’ll be making his professional debut on Saturday. Nonetheless, both are still ripe to gain experience and shared their enthusiasm for the upcoming season. “From a young age, I’ve always thrown hard,” said Soto. “I mean just all the work in the weight room. I work a lot on my legs, I think legs are probably the main part of being a pitcher. The transition from high school ball to pro ball wasn’t easy, by any means, but I feel like I truly belong here.” Meyer knows these two top prospects have a long way to go in their pro careers. He mentioned how important the instructional side of Low-A is for players like Jenkins and Soto, and for every other player on his roster. It’s one of the things Meyers enjoys, especially coming from a background in collegiate baseball for 13 years prior to joining the Twins organization in 2020. “Teaching them the fundamentals, whether it be the baserunning, cuts, and relays, getting them to understand the finer points that don’t show up on the stat sheet but can really impact winning not just at our level but at the major-league level too. You bring out the true teacher in a lot of us here, which I really enjoy,” Meyer said. Given the amount of time Soto has had to ease into his first professional game since being drafted last July, he’s worked on upgrading his pitch arsenal, installing two new pitches. “I’ve added a sinker and I’ve added a sweeper. Those two pitches have been added, and I feel like those are two pitches that are going to help me in the long run. The sinker and the sweeper, they’re just two nasty pitches.” Jenkins is entering 2024 with an open mind. Last year's taste of professional action was an experience he doesn’t take for granted, but it was a small sample, and he wants to treat this season as if he is starting from the very beginning, like Soto is. “I have a full season ahead of me. It’s my first time playing probably 100-plus games in a year and I think I am going to learn things I don’t even know I am going to learn. I’m really excited to figure out how I want to go about it; how to be successful, how to keep healthy, do all those things, and just figure out the process,” Jenkins said. The mindset Jenkins has for 2024 has caught the attention of Meyer, who managed Jenkins in the majority of his 2023 games. The baseball lifer recognizes that where Jenkins was selected in the 2023 draft is not just an indicator of the caliber of his talents as a ballplayer. “He’s a special player,” Meyer said on Jenkins. “There’s a reason he was drafted so high, not just for what he does on the field but how he carries himself off the field. And the determination that he has day in and day out, it’s exciting for me as a manager to see how he goes about himself.” Soto does not hold back on his enthusiasm to get his professional career started, but his excitement is shared with his teammates drafted after him in the 2023 draft, Ross Dunn and Tanner Hall, who will be a part of the Mighty Mussels starting rotation alongside him. “We have a lot of guys who are going to go out there and shove. Both guys played on the U.S.A. college team, two guys who are going to go out there and dominate, and the fans should expect a lot of wins this season.” The teenage Soto's maturity shows not only with his work ethic, but in how he props up his teammates and listens to them. “Charlee’s just a workhorse. I haven’t seen a whole lot of him on the mound, but I saw him throw a couple of innings in spring training. But he’s a workhorse in the weight room, he’s very mature for an 18-year-old. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, knows where he wants to go, and understands this is his first step with it,” Meyer said. Jenkins and Soto are the headliners in the Mighty Mussels lineup to begin the 2024 season. They both recognize how much growth they have ahead (as men and as ballplayers) as the season begins. That awareness has kept them grounded, and figures to help them focus on the process of advancing toward MLB in 2024, rather than letting talent or celebrity cloud their vision of the challenges immediately before them. View full article

Yoyner Fajardo is a soon-to-be 25-year-old outfielder with the St. Paul Saints. He's made his name known, hitting a home run and walk-off single to win the Saints' first two games of the season. It's time Twins fans learned a bit more about him. Image courtesy of Grayson Wolfe, Gray Wolfe Media Yoyner Fajardo is a soon-to-be 25-year-old outfielder with the St. Paul Saints. He's made his name known, hitting a home run and walk-off single to win the Saints' first two games of the season. It's time Twins fans learned a bit more about him. Several new faces are starting their 2024 seasons with the St. Paul Saints after successful seasons at Double-A Wichita or elsewhere in 2023, from catchers Patrick Winkel and Alex Isola, to veteran relievers Diego Castillo and Matt Bowman. There’s another new name in the Saints outfield that not too many Twins fans are likely to know, at least beyond the prospect gurus, though: Meet Yoyner Fajardo. Fajardo, who turns 25 on Saturday, is only in his second season with the Twins organization. He was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent on March 9, 2018. Fajardo would go on to to play the next four seasons in the Pirates system. A left-handed hitter, Fajardo put up solid numbers as he climbed the professional ladder, with good plate discipline and speed leading his profile. In parts of two seasons (2021 and 2022) with Pittsburgh's High-A affiliate in Greensboro, S.C., he batted .258/.342/.347, in 418 plate appearances. Despite his contact rate and speed on the base paths, Fajardo has never cracked notable Top-20 or Top-30 prospects rankings for the Pirates system before the Twins claimed him in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in December of 2022. That change of scenery worked very well for Fajardo in his first full season at Double-A. The Dominican native was a consistent bright spot in the Wind Surge lineup, as he was third in the Texas league in batting average (.305) and stolen bases (50) and carried the fifth-best OPS on the team (.821) in a team-leading 123 games. The secret to Fajardo’s success last season? According to him, it’s all preparation. "I think it's the preparation,” said Fajardo through interpreter and teammate Jair Camargo. “I just try to prepare myself the best that I can, so I can execute in the game, have a plan, stick to the plan, and that's what I've been doing in these games." The success Fajardo’s had to start his Triple-A career is still very small, but in two games, he started 3-for-9, with a three-run home run and the walkoff hit in the Saints' 5-4 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Sunday. This early success has left an impression on Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. “He’s doing really good,” Gardenhire said. “He doesn’t strike out very much against lefties, because it’s a big strength of his where he does put the ball in play in those big situations like that. And he has come through for us in those moments.” It's not only Gardenhire who has recognized the hitting abilities of Fajardo. His new teammate Brent Headrick, who started Sunday’s game, knows Fajardo is one of many guys in the Saints lineup who can pick up the pitching staff. “This team is fun, it’s awesome,” said Headrick. “There’s a bunch of talent on both sides of the field and two runs (surrendered) is nothing to these guys. Our hitters, our lineup is incredible, that with the bullpen we have, it’s going to be a good rest of the season.” Last season, Fajardo struck out only 13 times in 76 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers. During the two games against the Clippers to start the season, Fajardo had four plate appearances against lefties and avoided striking out each time. His ability to battle out at-bats with lefties is something at which Fajardo has been working hard for a long while, and he takes pride in the early success he’s seen against them (2-4 with a home run and five RBIs). “I think it’s the preparation I put together in the offseason," he said. "I was working on hitting against left-handed pitchers in the offseason. Last year, I did a good job, but I can do a better job with it and just having the reports. Whenever I get to the ballpark, I try to study what he’s got, what’s his best pitch and what he can throw to me, and then I just work on it." “I’m super happy for him and the early success he’s had at this level,” said Saints hitting coach Shawn Schlechter. “He’s continuing to do for us what he did in Wichita. He's a guy who's always going to give you a competitive at-bat, and we knew that even with the left-on-left matchup, he was a guy who could create some action by putting a ball in play.” The early success for Fajardo has made his name known to those attending the games at CHS this past weekend. Building off his strong season at Double-A in 2023, the 2024 season for Fajardo looks to be one of his best yet in his professional career, and fans can expect many exciting moments, from his speed on the bases to his ability to beating lefties in crucial at-bats. View full article

There's a new hitting coach in the St. Paul Saints clubhouse this season. His name may be unfamiliar to Twins fans, but he is not unfamiliar to the Twin Cities. Burnsville native Shawn Schlechter is excited for his first season coaching professionally back in his home state. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints There's a new hitting coach in the St. Paul Saints clubhouse this season. His name may be unfamiliar to Twins fans, but he is not unfamiliar to the Twin Cities. Burnsville native Shawn Schlechter is excited for his first season coaching professionally back in his home state. Shawn Schlecter spent a long time in Mason City, Iowa, playing and coaching with the NIACC Trojans from 2013 to 2019. Over those years, he didn’t have a clear idea of where his path would lead him. Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The minor-league season was canceled for all levels of affiliates. But where so many opportunities were lost for players, one opened for Schlecter with his hometown team, the Minnesota Twins: to join their player development staff and Play Ball! Minnesota. Schlechter is a 2009 graduate of Burnsville High School, who grew up in the days of Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, and "the M&M Boys" tearing up the Metrodome. Now, as a coach for the next generation of Twins on the doorstep of making the majors, he’s excited for the new role within the organization. “I couldn’t be more excited,” said Schlechter. “From growing up watching Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, and LaTroy Hawkins, some of those guys that I now get to share a clubhouse in with Spring Training. To now be able to help these guys supplement their careers has been a great experience and sometimes I have to pinch myself to come back to reality because it does seem like a dream at times.” The promotion has been a welcome opportunity for Schlechter to continue coaching many of the Twins prospects he’s worked with the last three seasons, including Anthony Prato, Yunior Severino, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. among others. In addition to that, he also gets to coach alongside the son of former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, Toby Gardenhire “Schlech’s been great,” said Gardenhire. “He was down there with my buddy Brian Dinkelman at A-ball, he did a great job [there] and did a great job last year in Double-A. He deserves to be up here and I’m excited to see what he can bring to our hitters up here in St. Paul.” While it’s still very early in the season, Schlechter has brought a great deal of help to the Saints offense, which outscored the opposing Columbus Clippers 13-5 in their short two-game series at CHS Field to open the 2024 season. Of the 11 hitters whp appeared in those two games, nine had previously been coached by Schlechter before he was promoted to St. Paul. The promotion alongside all these players he’s coached is just one of many things that Schlechter says has helped the Saints clubhouse as they settle into the new season. “What we do well is building those relationships. Many of these guys have been on my roster before, whether it was Wichita or Cedar Rapids. We’ve built that out and it’s a better understanding of what makes them click and how they work through some of those ups and downs.” One player who made the move from Wichita to St. Paul alongside Schlechter is Yoyner Fajardo. Fajardo has been the star over the Saints' first two games, going 3-for-9 to start the year. He crushed a three-run homer in his Triple-A debut Saturday and had the walk-off hit for the Saints' 5-4 victory over the Columbus Clippers on Sunday. “We have a good relationship,” said Fajardo through his teammate Jair Carmargo, who translated on his behalf. “He helped me a lot using the reports, he opened my mind to what I am looking for and all that. So I have learned a lot from him on how to break down the reports to myself the best I can and how I can translate those numbers at the plate.” And Schlechter has been all the more impressed with the quick success he’s seen from the 25-year-old outfielder. “He’s a guy who is always going to give you competitive at-bats. We knew that even with that left-on-left matchup, that he was a guy who could create some action by putting the ball in play. In those situations, we trust he’s going to grind out at-bats,” Schlechter said following Fajardo’s walk-off hit. Another player who has spent a full season coached by Schlechter and had success on day one in Triple-A was Alex Isola. Isola wasted no time to get his first home run with the Saints, smacking a three-run shot in his first at-bat on Saturday. He didn’t have a hit the rest of the weekend, but that moment left an impression in the clubhouse. “He’s hit his whole career. It was no surprise to see that out of the gate,” Schlechter said. “I think it helps out a lot when you have a chance to come up through the system and you know the guys before you get them here. It definitely helps out with the familiarity,” said Gardenhire. One of the new hitters Schlechter worked with this Spring Training was Austin Martin. The duo missed the opportunity to work together during a game to start the season, as Martin was called up to the Twins on March 30. Both Shclechter and Martin said prior to his call-up, that their relationship was built on a foundation of trusting each other’s strengths when guiding Martin’s hitting. “Working with him this spring, I love him,” Martin said. “I think he’s a great guy and I think we’ll be able to get a lot of work done here. I think he’s still trying to figure me out, like understand my routines, how I think in the box, how I operate, stuff like that. Right now he’s just watching me, kind of letting me go, and if he has anything for me I am sure he’ll let me know.” Even with the promotion to the Twins and the challenges that will come with facing big-league pitching, Schlechter remains confident in Martin’s abilities. “I think he knows his superpower, and we know his superpower is controlling the zone, making good hitting decisions, and hitting line drives all over the field,” he said. “Which is something I think he has gotten back to--just being able to know his plan and approach and sticking to it and committing to it, and being intentional when he steps in the box.” All in all, the best thing for Schlechter and his return to the North Star State full-time time has been the simplest: being able to see friends and family more frequently during the Saints' homestands. “Those connections are important. I have four siblings here, three brothers and a sister, and five nephews and a niece here. So just being able to see their faces more often will be good, it will definitely help fill my cup on the personal side.” With one of the best work/life balances any Minnesotan minor-league coach can have, Schlechter cannot wait to have his most fun season in the Twins organization, coaching his hitters to the majors and building more memories with his friends and family--ones he's earned the right, in a funny way, to see every day. View full article

After an extra day of rest to break away from snowy field conditions. The grounds crew exceeded expectations in expediting the spring thaw at CHS Field and laid the groundwork for these Saints to win their first game of the season. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints After an extra day of rest to break away from snowy field conditions. The grounds crew exceeded expectations in expediting the spring thaw at CHS Field and laid the groundwork for these Saints to win their first game of the season. The St. Paul Saints were the first Twins Minor League affiliate to get their 2024 season started on Saturday. And while it’s still early, many former top prospects and rising names in the Twins system had one of their best Opening Days in recent memory. TRANSACTIONS Infielder Austin Martin recalled by the Minnesota Twins Infielder Dalton Shuffield transferred from Double-A Wichita SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Columbus 1 Box score David Festa made the first start of the season for the Saints. He got through three shutout innings and threw 50 pitches. The first inning was a rough go-around for him as most of his pitches struggled to find the strike zone, with 11 of 18 being called balls. He got out of the jam with a pop up in foul territory caught by Jose Miranda. The second and third frame went much better for Festa as he only allowed one walk after a bad first inning where he had two. He tallied three strikeouts in his last two innings and retired the side to end his day in the top of the third. After the game, Saints manager Toby Gardenhire spoke on the impressive turnaround from the first inning for his young starter. “It’s the first game of the season so you never really know,” said Gardenhire. “I’m sure Festa was a little bit nervous going out there, plus it’s cold, battling the elements a little bit. But once he got in a groove, he was really, really good.” Alex Isola made his Triple-A debut on Saturday and was the man to push the first runs of the season on the board for the Saints in 2024. Ahead of him on the base paths were Yunior Severino and Anthony Prato, who both drew walks to start the bottom of the second. Isola saw a pitch he couldn’t resist and drilled it to left-center field, putting the Saints up 3-0 over the Clippers. But the offense would not stop there for the Saints. They tacked a few more runners in the bottom of the fourth following a one-out walk from Isola and a single by Chris Williams. The moment was set up for Yoyner Fajardo, who made his Triple-A debut on Saturday, and he delivered with the second three-run home run of the day to make it 6-0 over the Clippers. Following Festa’s exit from the game, Randy Dobnak came in for the Saints. Dobnak did everything the Saints could have asked for and more as he threw three perfect innings on 30 pitches, retiring three batters on strikeouts. But no pitcher does it all alone. Second baseman Anthony Prato picked up his pal in the top of the sixth catching a ball that bounced off Dobnak’s glove, bare-handed to retire the first out. “I was able to get ahead of guys today,” said Dobnak after the game. “Just throwing strikes. Last year, I had a little bit of an issue falling behind guys. My game plan was to attack those guys, and I don’t think I walked anybody, so that was the plan going in - just attack them and let my pitches do the work.” Dobnak returned to the mound in the seventh. After retiring the first batter on another strikeout, he gave up a double to Clippers’ left fielder Jhonkensy Noel that just barely stayed fair down the third base line. Two batters later, Clippers shortstop Daniel Schneemann hit an RBI double to end the Saints shutout effort and make it a 7-1 game. While his seventh inning didn’t remain perfect, Dobnak said this was one of the best outcomes to start his season following a slow build-up to his Spring Training. “It was a little bit different than my first start last year, I think I walked five guys. Yeah, I was very mad. But it’s always a good sign for me that my pitches are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Dobnak. Saints pitching coach Pete Larson said he was impressed by both Festa and Dobnak’s performances after the game. But the scoring was far from over in the bottom of the seventh. One player seeking his return to the majors is Jose Miranda. After a double in his second plate appearance, Miranda showed on Saturday the woes of 2023 were behind him as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Saints lead 8-1. “I knew I got it,” said Miranda reflecting on his home run swing postgame. “It was a good swing, it was a slider in the middle. Good contact, good swing when I got the ball and I knew I had it good.” TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak 4 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Yoyner Fajardo 2-4 HR (1) 3 RBI (3), K PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 prospects in this game performed : 6. David Festa: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K What’s next? The Saints will finish out their Opening Weekend at CHS Field against the Clippers at 2:07 p.m. Brent Headrick will be on the mound for the Saints against Connor Gillispie for the Clippers View full article

Austin Martin has officially been called-up to the Minnesota Twins to make his MLB debut. But just two days ago he was still in St. Paul and training with his Triple-A teammates ahead of their season opener. Here what he shared with Twins Daily's Theodore Tollefson ahead of his 2024 season. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Austin Martin has officially been called-up to the Minnesota Twins to make his MLB debut. But just two days ago he was still in St. Paul and training with his Triple-A teammates ahead of their season opener. Here what he shared with Twins Daily's Theodore Tollefson ahead of his 2024 season. Many people, including Austin Martin, knew that his MLB debut would be a matter of when, not if, in 2024. With fellow infielder Royce Lewis going down with a quad injury on Opening Day Thursday, the opportunity came sooner than what Martin had expected as he will be joining the Twins on Saturday afternoon for game two of the season. Back on Thursday, Martin was in St. Paul still working out with the Twins Triple-A affiliate, taking swings in their underground batting changes and chatting with his longtime minor-league teammates. Only two days later, he got the call to make his MLB debut with the Twins. For Martin, the timing of when he’d make his debut was never a focus as that decision was entirely out of his control. “I try to control what I can control,” said Martin at CHS Field on Thursday. “And what I can control is how I come to the ballpark, how I approach my work, and the effort I give on the field. That’s really where my focus is, it’s a day-to-day type of grind, type of mentality, I can’t really be looking too much into the future. Especially when something that really isn’t a decision I can make. All I can do is be on the field every day and perform well.” Luckily in Martin’s case, he wouldn’t have to go on the field once with the Saints to start the 2024 season as Friday’s home opener was postponed due to field conditions. Now he will be with the Twins for the foreseeable future until Lewis returns from the injured list. He finished the 2023 season on a strong note with St. Paul. He hit .286 with a .427 on-base percentage. He knocked home runs, drove in 21 runs, and stole 13 bases in his final 40 games on the year. Martin attributes a lot of this regained success to him focusing on his strengths. “100%, I’m just building off of last season. I think since I made that adjustment in the second half of 23. Whenever I came back from that first injury, I think I’ve seen a lot of progressions with myself, especially on the field. Since I’ve made that adjustment I feel a lot more confident and the results are starting to show,” Martin said. The results may have been their best in spring training games this year for Martin as he had a .208/.321/.250 triple slash in 10 games. But those numbers, like for many players, are just a matter of shaking off the off-season dust and resting their bodies to play every day. He had time to get acquainted with the Saints' new hitting coach Shawn Schlechter, who himself has been with the Twins organization since 2020 and has slowly been promoted from High-A to Triple-A as each affiliate hitting coach. Martin has always been a level ahead of where Schlecter is coaching in the Minors, but the start of 2024 looked to be their first season to work together. “I think he knows his superpower, and we know his superpower is controlling the zone, making good hitting decisions, and hitting line drives all over the field,” said Schlechter. “Which is something I think he has gotten back to just being able to know his plan and approach and sticking to it and committing to it and being intentional when he steps in the box.” Martin has only worked with Schlecter for a short time these last two months but says their relationship built this spring was more than fruitful. “Working with him this spring, I love him. I think he’s a great guy and I think we’ll be able to get a lot of work done here. I think he’s still trying to figure me out, like understand my routines, how I think in the box, how I operate, stuff like that. Right now he’s just watching me, kind of letting me go and if he has anything for me I am sure he’ll let me know,” said Martin. Martin’s main priority in Spring Training wasn’t worrying about his performance in games, but rather adjusting to playing two new positions the Twins wanted him in for the 2024 season; right and left field. “I think it’ll look similar to how it was last year. There will be a lot of bouncing around, probably mostly between second and center field, with some games played in left field and right field as well,” he said. Second base and center field are the positions Martin has become the most familiar and comfortable with since joining the Twins organization in August of 2021. He’s accepted it’s unlikely he will see playing time at shortstop in the Majors, but he is up for the challenge of being in the corner outfield positions. “It is a little different whenever you play in the corners just because the ball comes at you a little differently off of hitters bats whether they’re left or righty. That’s just stuff that with experience you take into account. It’s not really that big of an adjustment, I mean the ball goes in the air and you run and catch it,” said Martin. Now the opportunity has arrived for Martin to make his MLB debut against the Kansas City Royals before the weekend is over. His role with the team has not yet been solidified but as a right-handed hitter who can play second base and any position in the outfield, there’s bound to be an opportunity for him to see playing time before the Twins leave Kansas City and make their way to Milwaukee. “I’m confident in the fact that it’s more of a matter of when not if and I just got to take care of my business. And as long as I do that I’ll be fine.” View full article

As we ponder the likely Opening Day destinations of the Minnesota Twins' top 30 prospects for 2024, it makes sense to ground ourselves (and take stock of some things) by looking at where the same group from three years ago are now. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports As we ponder the likely Opening Day destinations of the Minnesota Twins' top 30 prospects for 2024, it makes sense to ground ourselves (and take stock of some things) by looking at where the same group from three years ago are now. The Twins' top 30 prospects from MLB Pipeline in 2021 contains many names still floating around the minor leagues, but not all of them will be staying there forever. Here’s where all 30 players are expected to start their 2024 seasons. 1. Royce Lewis Lewis finally arrived in the majors for a long-term stay in 2023, and he delivered for the Twins when they needed him most, hitting two solo home runs in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series to end the 18-game losing streak. His future in 2024 remains on the left side of the Twins infield. All conversations about a return to the outfield, where his second ACL tear took place on May 29, 2022, are on hold. As of now, Lewis has made himself comfortable in the hot corner, and may finally get to see his first season with 100 or more games played since 2019. 2024 Season Start: Twins, Opening Day 3rd Baseman 2. Alex Kirilloff Injuries have been inescapable for Kirilloff since his first regular-season call-up in 2021. When he has been healthy, he has been the All-Star-caliber hitter he was projected to be as a prospect. Between wrist and shoulder injuries coming up one after another, Kirilloff has struggled to stay on the field for even a couple of months at a stretch. The addition of Carlos Santana to platoon playing time at first with him could help balance the workload and increase the likelihood of sustained health for Kirilloff. The platoon could prove to be vital for Kirilloff’s ability to stay on the field. His career high in games played across his first three seasons is 88, in 2023. With less pressure on him to play first base full-time, maybe he can stretch that to triple digits. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Designated Hitter 3. Trevor Larnach Larnach frequently shuttled between St. Paul and the big-league club in 2023. His 58 games with the Twins showed some promise, with a career-high .727 OPS in 212 plate appearances. He still had a stellar season with the Saints in 72 games as he had 15 home runs, 47 runs batted in, and an .888 OPS in 323 plate appearances. Larnach, like many others, crushed Triple-A pitching, but inconsistency of playing time in the majors translated to a lack of success. With Matt Wallner surpassing Larnach on the depth chart last season, Larnach will start the season in St. Paul and receive a full-time role in their outfield. The biggest question surrounding Larnach this year will be if he can find a way to grow past his struggles against MLB pitchers. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A St. Paul Saints 4. Jordan Balazovic All cards were on the table for Balazovic in 2023. Following an incident in Ft. Myers shortly after Spring Training began, he had to prove everything anew, from his temperament to his performance as a pitcher. When Balazovic was called up to make his MLB debut on June 18, everything turned for the better. In his first 11 relief appearances, Balazovic allowed only two runs in 14 innings of work. The league eventually caught up with him across the next seven outings, but he proved himself a valuable reliever when the Twins' options looked bleak mid-summer. Balazovic’s performance in Spring Training wasn’t impressive, following a winter demotion off the 40-man roster and becoming a non-roster invitee in camp. Like last season (but more so), Balazovic will have a make-or-break season with the Saints to keep himself in the Twins organization. Without 40-man roster crunches to worry about, though, his short stint and success in the Majors last summer will keep him from being the first man cut off the Saints roster. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A St. Paul Saints Bullpen 5. Jhoan Durán What can’t Durán do? Big-league hitters are trivial troubles for him; getting (and staying) healthy are his only real challenges. Durán built off his successful rookie campaign in 2023, posting a 2.45 ERA in 62 1/3 innings and leading the league with a 101.8-MPH average velocity on his fastball. But his fastball wasn’t the pitch hitters whiffed at the most. That was his curveball, which stumped them 45.9% of the time. But just a week ahead of Opening Day, bad news came from the Twins’ camp, as Durán will start the season on the injured list due to a moderate oblique strain. The good news is it isn’t his throwing arm, but the bad news is the Twins will have some time to start their season without their flamethrower in the bullpen. 2024 Season Start: Injured List. 6. Ryan Jeffers Jeffers finally had his breakout season in 2023. As his playing time increased, so did the offense, as he led all catchers across MLB in OPS+ at 134. He is set to get the majority of starts for the Twins behind the dish going into 2024, following a disappointing 2023 season from Christian Vázquez. The biggest area Jeffers can improve upon offensively is his patience, as he drew just 33 walks (against 93 strikeouts) in 2023. With many of the Twins' starters returning from the roster from last season, many eyes will also be fixed on how Jeffers works alongside his starters and what the difference is in their numbers when he’s behind the plate. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Catcher 7. Aaron Sabato Sabato has been one of the more disappointing draft selections by the Twins over the last five years. He spent all of 2023 at Double-A Wichita, which was a slight improvement from his 2022 season. Still, in 77 games, he had only 12 home runs, 45 RBIs, and a triple-slash of .221/.329/.430. Sabato shined this autumn, as he played 18 games in the Arizona Fall League and hit seven home runs and a .905 OPS. If Sabato can build off the success he had there, there’s a solid chance he could be playing in St. Paul by the end of the summer. But only time will tell if the short-term success turns into longevity in the Minors. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 8. Matt Canterino Before Tommy John surgery truncated his 2022 and obliterated his 2023, Canterino was a high-ceiling prospect. While some still speculate he could see time as a starter in 2024, he’s only logged a total of 85 innings since the Twins drafted him in 2019. His future is in the bullpen, if it remains viable at all. Many eyes will be on him this spring to see how he’s healed from his surgery but Canterino will be an exciting pitcher to keep track of in the Twins organization--both in St. Paul and, possibly, at Target Field later in the year. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A St. Paul Saints' Injured List 9. Gilberto Celestino After being rushed up to the majors for two straight seasons as the Twins' center field depth splintered, Celestino spent the entire 2023 season in the minors. He still dealt with injury throughout the season and was limited to 59 games with the Saints. The Twins moved on from Celestino this offseason, sending him into minor-league free agency. The Pirates signed him to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. When camp began, Celestino appeared to have a shot to break camp as part of the Pirates' Opening Day roster, given their depleted outfield. The team's signing of Michael A. Taylor on March 16 effectively killed those chances. The two biggest things for Celestino to prove this season are his health and maturity with his hitting abilities. His bat-to-ball skills fell behind when the Twins rushed him to the majors in 2021, but now, he can start the second phase of his career in his third organization. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Indianapolis 10. Keoni Cavaco The Twins' first-round pick from 2019 has had an underwhelming professional career, and his 2023 season was no different. Cavaco had a lackluster 63 games in the minors last year, mostly at High-A Cedar Rapids. He had a .203/.270/.304 line across 238 plate appearances. Power was supposed to drive his profile, but he only hit five dingers in the Midwest League. This could be a make-or-break season for Cavaco, as he turns 23 in June and will be starting the year at High-A once again. Cavaco will have to surpass his 2023 numbers by a mile to ensure his tenure with the Twins organization doesn’t end before the season is over. 2024 Season Start: High-A Cedar Rapids outfield 11. Misael Urbina 2023 is a season Urbina would like to put far behind him; he had his worst year in pro ball. Across 102 games with the Kernels, Urbina posted a triple-slash of .180/.289/.282. The soon-to-be 22-year-old is entering his sixth year in the Twins system, and will have to prove himself to ensure this isn’t his last within the organization. 2024 Season Start: High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfield 12. Blayne Enlow Enlow split his 2023 season between Wichita and St. Paul and saw mixed results. At Wichita, he looked to be on the right track to return from injury, posting a 3.17 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 54 innings of work. At St. Paul, he was tagged with an ERA just below 8.00. Opponents batted .294 in 45 ⅓ innings of work. This led to Enlow electing free agency in the offseason and landing a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants. In four appearances this spring, Enlow has thrown nine innings and posted an ERA of 4.00. He will likely start his season in the minors again, but with a change of scenery, he may finally have the opportunity to make his MLB debut this season. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Sacramento River Cats 13. Brent Rooker Last season was Rooker’s year to show teams what they’ve missed out on. Unfortunately for him, the Twins didn’t have the roster spots to keep him and get consistent playing time. Two organizations later, the Oakland Athletics did, and he didn’t disappoint. During his first month with the A’s last April, Rooker crushed pitchers, leading the American League with a 1.245 OPS for the first month of the season. While he cooled off as the season progressed, Rooker still hit 30 home runs, led Oakland with a 130 OPS+, and made his first All-Star team. He remains one of the few bright spots in a continuously depressing time for Oakland fans, as their owner continues to ignore their pleas. But at least these fans can hope for Rooker to build off his 2023 and light up at the plate for the Coliseum faithful. 2024 Season Start: Athletics Opening Day Designated Hitter 14. Matt Wallner The Forest Lake native made his mark with the Twins in 2023, as one of the best-hitting three-rookie class the franchise has seen in a long time. With raw power at the plate and an electric arm that can gun down any cocky base runner, Wallner has solidified himself as a full-time outfielder with his hometown team. The next step is an improvement in his defense and cutting down on the strikeouts. Wallner has a great chance to make these improvements in his first full season in the majors and to keep the excitement going for young Twins fans who hope to have the same opportunities as him in the future. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Left Fielder 15. Josh Winder Winder became the Twins go-to long reliever when he was in the bullpen last year. He wasn't often there, though, dividing his time between the parent club's staff and that of the Saints. This offseason, the Twins stocked themselves with bullpen arms, pushing Winder down the pecking order and winnowing his chances to make the Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, he was the first player on the 40-man in spring training to land on the injured list, rendering that question moot. Winder isn’t expected to return until late May, at least. With his season behind schedule, it’s hard to predict how he will best be utilized once his right scapula stress fracture heals. 2024 Season Start: Injured List 16. Cole Sands No player on the Twins roster had a higher service time-to-playing time ratio in 2023 than Sands. Though he only pitched in 15 games, he accumulated 73 days' worth of service time while going as long as a week and a half on the active roster without appearing in a game. Sands did open last season on the Twins roster, and with injuries mounting to his fellow relievers, he has a chance to do so again in 2024. With Durán and Thielbar down and Justin Topa seemingly so, the opportunity to add a long reliever to start the season is there. With Winder out, Sands is next in line. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Roster 17. Alerick Soularie Soularie had a stellar June in an otherwise dull 2023 season, hitting .390 with 3 home runs and 11 runs batted in across 17 games. There is still some shine in Soularie as a hitter and the second season in Wichita could see signs of improvement to attract his attention toward St. Paul later this year. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 18. Edwar Colina Colina was out of professional baseball all of 2021 and 2022 following his short-lived MLB debut in 2020. He made a comeback in pro ball in 2023 in the Texas Rangers organization, spending all season at Triple-A Round Rock and posting a 4.65 ERA across 31 innings in 26 relief appearances. Those numbers didn't inspire anyone enough to get him another look in affiliated ball this spring. 2024 Season Start: Out of professional baseball 19. Travis Blankenhorn On Jan. 13, Blankenhorn re-signed with the Washington Nationals, who had outrighted him in October. He still plays the role of a utility bench player and pending injuries or underperformance from guys ahead of him in the pecking order, he could see more playing time with the Nationals in 2024. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Rochester Red Wings 20. José Miranda Miranda spent the majority of 2023 battling a shoulder injury and looked like a shell of the hitter he was the previous two seasons. His first 36 games with the Twins to start the season were dismal, as he had a .220/.275/.318 triple-slash. Many questions loom over Miranda as he enters the 2024 season. Can he remain healthy? Can he regain his power? Will he find a way back to the majors and recapture the success from his rookie year? Not all will be answered immediately, but he will start the season in St. Paul to play every day and have the chance to answer some of these questions as the season goes on. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A St. Paul Saints 21. Emmanuel Rodriguez Rodríguez now finds himself one of the top three prospects in the Twins system. He is the only player in the entire system who can give Edouard Julien a run for his money with his strike zone judgment. His tiny strike zone drove his strikeout totals to a career-high of 134 with the Kernels last season. However, he balanced the high strikeouts with a Midwest League-leading 92 walks. There is still plenty of excitement surrounding Rodríguez’s abilities at the plate and in center field for 2024, and the question will be how well he adjusts to his abilities as he makes the hardest jump in the minors to begin the year. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 22. Chris Vallimont In May 2022, the Twins placed Vallimont on waivers, and he was later acquired by the Baltimore Orioles. Over a year later, he made his MLB debut with the team for a quick cup of coffee, giving up one hit but striking out his first batter. Shortly after his debut, though, he was back in the minors, and then got ping-ponged over to Cleveland's system. Many Triple-A pitchers fell victim to crushing numbers in 2023, and Vallimont was no different. His short time in the Guardians system did not bode well, as he elected free agency in October and had no offers this offseason. It's looking as though he may be out of professional baseball completely. 2024 Season Start: Free agency 23. Wander Javier Javier was in camp with the San Diego Padres in 2023, but was released before the start of the season. He never signed elsewhere, and his current whereabouts in the baseball world remain unknown. 2024 Season Start: Remains out of Baseball 24. Will Holland Like a few other Wind Surge players on this list, Holland’s 2023 season wasn’t spectacular by any means. He had a triple-slash of .197/.300/.306 across 341 plate appearances in 101 games. His upside remains his versatility to play, primarily up the middle at second base, shortstop, and center field. Holland turns 26 on April 18, and like many other career minor leaguers on this list, he will have a lot to prove as a hitter to keep his time with the Twins organization alive. 2024 Seasons Start: Double-A Wichita 25. Bailey Ober The biggest question surrounding Ober is whether he will be able to maintain success if he sets a new career high in innings pitched. He could be pushed toward 180 or 190 innings in 2024, as long as he stays healthy. But will his numbers remain similar to what they were in 2023, or will we see more damage as he faces more hitters this year? 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Rotation 26. Marco Raya Raya’s story has been one of caution by the Twins. No pitcher in their system has as many limitations on his workload as Raya. The 21-year-old has only thrown a total of 127 ⅔ innings between 2022 and 2023, 29 of those coming from his time with the Wind Surge to end 2023. Those 29 innings were far from good, as he had a 5.90 ERA in 11 starts, averaging 2 ⅔ innings per start. Raya currently sits as the Twins' second-best-pitching prospect, behind David Festa. But the question remains if he can overcome his workload limit and perform better at Double-A for a full season. The fortunate thing for Raya and the Twins is his age. He will not be turning 22 until August. Maybe now is the time to let him off the leash and see what he is capable of without limitations on workload. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 27. Seth Gray Gray spent all but one of his 85 games played in 2023 in Double-A. He had a short call-up to Triple-A with the Saints in June, where he went 1-for-4 with a double. The rest of Gray’s season was solid, as he played the majority of his games at third base and batted .260/.366/.400 across 337 plate appearances. While third base was the position he played most, Gray’s another player in the Twins system who can move around from position to position. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 28. Luis Rijo The Twins released Luis Rijo over a year ago, following a poor 2022 season wherein he had an ERA of exactly 6.00 in 30 innings of work across 12 games. Since then, he’s pitched the last two seasons in the Venezuelan Winter League, hoping to attract the attention of major-league teams. This season, he showed great progress as he converted into a full-time reliever, posting a 2.95 ERA across 18 1/3 innings in 16 games. No affiliated team has offered Rijo a deal yet, but he is only 25 years old. There’s a possibility he will be signed as roster spots open up for teams in the coming weeks. 2024 Season Start: Minor Leagues with TBD team 29. Ben Rortvedt Rortvedt remains the only player from the Twins and Yankees trade two years ago that is still on either of the teams. His 2023 season with the Yankees wasn’t anything eye-catching at the plate, as he had a measly eight hits in 68 at-bats, adding to a triple slash of .118/.241/.221. Despite these dismal numbers as a hitter, the opportunity has opened up for Rortvedt to make his first Opening Day roster. The longtime backup catcher, Kyle Higashioka, was packaged in the deal to get Juan Soto from the Padres. Alas, spring training has not been as glamorous for Rortvedt, compared to young catcher Austin Wells, and pending the health of Wells and José Trevino, he will likely be starting another year in the minors. 2024 Season Start: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Triple-A 30. Danny De Andrade Back in 2021, De Andrade’s name was unfamiliar to many outside of Twins prospect gurus, but he’s landed on the radar for more fans and writers going into this season. De Andrade spent all of 2023 with the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels and put together a solid season with his glove at shortstop. He developed more power, having career highs in home runs (11), runs batted in (67), and OPS (.750). Entering the 2024 season at only 20 years old, De Andrade still has a way to go to reach the majors. With the Twins trading away Noah Miller for Manuel Margot, De Andrade (who is a better hitter than Miler) has a slightly clearer ladder to climb. 2024 Season Start: High-A Cedar Rapids shortstop 2024 Season Starts Total On MLB Opening Day Rosters: 7 On MLB Injured Lists: 3 In the Minors: 16 Out of Professional Baseball: 4 With only four players without a contract or out of professional baseball to start 2024, there’s still a good chance a majority of these current or former top-30 prospects for the Twins will see MLB playing time in 2024. The three injured players (Durán, Canterino, and Winder) do not have massive setbacks that will keep them out of action for long. Durán is guaranteed to pitch with the Twins once he returns from the IL, but Canterino and Winder will take some time in St. Paul before seeing their time with the Twins come around. It’s a bit easier to look into the all-seeing crystal ball and predict where these players will begin their 2024 seasons, but looking beyond that can be a fool's errand as baseball has often shown the 162 season is anything but predictable. And that will be the case for all of the 2021 Top 30 Twins prospects per MLB pipeline, as it will be with the current top 30 in a year or three. View full article

No. They're artistic bats with MLB, MLBPA, and Baseball Hall of Fame licensing to incorporate team logos and player likeness to create commemorative bats for special occasions. For example, they had this one for Albert Pujols and fans following his entry into the 700 home run club, And here's an older article that gives much more clarification. https://www.postbulletin.com/business/winona-bat-company-strikes-a-deal-with-major-league-baseball

The 2024 draft is still four months out but Jeremy and JD lay out the blueprints on names to know in the draft as well as where it ranks to previous draft classes. View full video

The hype is real surrounding Charlee Soto despite him never throwing a pitch in a professional game after the Twins drafted him last summer. Theo warns caution against his hype from a prospect who once garnered the same notoriety but Jamie and Jeremy remain more optimistic. View full video

Manuel Margot is the final addition to the Twins roster, but how well does he fit both in his role as the fourth outfielder and his cost? Image courtesy of Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Manuel Margot is the final addition to the Twins roster, but how well does he fit both in his role as the fourth outfielder and his cost? Payroll. It’s been the topic of endless discussion for Twins fans this offseason and now it appears to be locked in for Opening Day 2024. Manuel Margot was the last addition to round out the Twins' needs for the coming season: a right-handed hitting outfielder who can platoon at each outfield position. The best part of the deal for the Twins front office though? The Twins will only have to pay Margot $4 million of the $10 million he’s owed in 2024 and are free of the $2 million buyout in his contract. This final addition puts the Twins payroll for Opening Day at approximately $129 million, down $26 million from the franchise record-high payroll of $155 million in 2023. The Twins were never shy about their payroll going down this season, the main source – as they claimed – being the loss of revenue from their TV deal with Diamond Sports. They are back with Diamond again in 2024 but the amount of money they receive in this one-year deal is unknown. What is known is the Twins' self-imposed budget is in full effect. Twins owner Joe Pohlad doubled down last week in an interview with WCCO Radio's Jason DeRusha. “We're not going to go out and spend $30 million on a player right now," Pohlad said to DeRusha. "So, the players that are out there right that a bunch of fans are talking about, we're not in the market for those players. But there are players that can have a positive impact on our team that Derek, I'm sure, is looking at. I'm not involved in those so I'm not going to say this player or that player." And Derek Falvey did deliver in finding a player the front office believes will positively impact their team. Margot arrived in camp from the Dodgers Spring Training in Arizona faster than any player has made the journey before according to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “I’ve never seen someone make the Phoenix to Fort Myers trip that quick,” he said to beat reporters in Florida on Tuesday. The more positive upside with Margot on paper is the Twins front office will only have to pay a portion of his $10 million owed this season, and it’s within the budget. The $4 million the Twins will be covering in Margot this season freed up the exact amount the Dodgers resigned one of their own alumni the Twins had conversations with this off-season; Kiké Hernández. Just days before the trade the Twins were listed as a finalist for Hernández in his free agency pursuit. Hernández is still considered a super-utility defender, playing over 20 games at shortstop, second base, and center field in 2023. His offensive numbers on the other hand have been in decline for the last two seasons going from a 108 OPS+ with the Red Sox in 2021 to a 75 OPS+ in 2022 and 74 OPS+ in 2023. Hernández has no true defensive home and his offensive promise did not fit in as well with the Twins' needs as it does the Dodgers. Margot, on the other hand, fills their needs and platoon roles much better than Hernández could. While both have a combined OPS+ below league average over the last three seasons, Margot’s sits at a 97 OPS+ compared to Hernández 87 OPS+. The results speak for themselves between Margot and Hernández at the plate and with the plethora of infield prospects currently in the Twins system, Hernández’s playing time would have been much more limited than it will be with the Dodgers this year. Margot is the Twins fourth outfielder to start the 2024 season. He will likely see starts in center field at least once every series pending the health of Byron Buxton to start the season. So far Buxton is looking as healthy as he’s ever been in Spring Training over the last five years, offeirng reason to believe Margot will not see too many starts in center to start the year. Margot will certainly come in as a late-game defensive replacement as needed between Buxton and Matt Wallner in left field. While the addition of Margot does fall under Twins fans' criticism of ownership and the phrase, “Cheap Pohlads,” his playing caliber is not equal to the cheapness of his salary. He’s a player worth $12 million that the Twins essentially only have to pay a third of. The criticisms will still be heard throughout the year but Margot’s role and highest ceiling of performance can quiet down the conversations of payroll that remained at the forefront of the Twins offseason. Where do you stand on the Manuel Margot acquisition? Is he a solid budget-friendly pickup or do you wish the Twins would've invested more to address this need? Share your thoughts in the comments! View full article

Last year, the Minnesota Twins enjoyed their healthiest season from two catchers in nearly 30 years. Was that a mere stroke of luck, or is it a replicable feat, thanks to their unique usage of them? Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Last year, the Minnesota Twins enjoyed their healthiest season from two catchers in nearly 30 years. Was that a mere stroke of luck, or is it a replicable feat, thanks to their unique usage of them? For the first time in almost three decades, the 2023 season saw Twins have only two catchers on the roster for the entire season. Ryan Jeffers exceeded expectations, but Christian Vázquez did not meet the ones set by his three-year free-agent deal. Through good and bad, though, Jeffers and Vázquez posted every day of the campaign. The last season the Twins saw that happen was back in 1995, when the likes of Matt Wallbeck and Matt Merullo shared the bulk of catching duties. That shows what a rarity it is to have two healthy catchers all season in baseball, especially in today’s game. It’s doubtful the Twins will see Jeffers and Vázquez remain healthy all season again in 2024, which is why the 40-man roster now has a third catcher: Jair Camargo. Camargo provides the third, stabilizing leg of the team's catching tripod, but by using an extreme alternating approach to keep each of the primary backstops fresh, the Twins will hope to run the whole of their marathon on just two legs once again. Ryan Jeffers Jeffers put back-to-back disappointing seasons at the plate behind him in 2023. He and former teammate Mitch Garver led all catchers in MLB with a minimum of 300 plate appearances, with a 134 OPS+. Jeffers stood alone as the best-hitting catcher for batting average on balls in play, with a .359 BABIP good for third-best on the Twins, behind Edouard Julien's team-leading .371 and Donovan Solano's .366. These numbers are just small indicators of the massive leap Jeffers took for himself in 2023 and where he’s set himself up to be in 2024. A year after the team spent $30 million to push him out of the primary gig, Jeffers is (if the Twins will have such a thing) the starting catcher, at a quarter of Vázquez's annual salary. Of course, injuries can always change this up at some point in the season. Still, the 27-year-old has finally landed himself in the role he showed the potential to seize when he first broke into MLB. The hope is for Jeffers to keep climbing the offensive ladder with more playing time and a fully healthy season. With more plate appearances expected to come his way, there's every reason to believe Jeffers can reach 20 home runs on the season and hit for a slightly better average. The one part of his hitting approach that can still see growth in 2024 is his ability to draw walks and cut down on his strikeouts. Jeffers fanned in 27.8 percent of his plate appearances last year, which hardly made him an outlier in the team's whifftastic mélange but did temper the enthusiasm of advanced metrics and projection systems. Following his 2023 performance Jeffers is likely to be the Twins' Opening Day catcher for 2024. Christian Vázquez Vázquez’s story in 2023 was the complete opposite of Jeffers's. He arrived in Minnesota fresh off a World Series championship with the Houston Astros, the second ring of his career. He also had a solid season at the plate (for a catcher) in 2022, posting a .274/.315/.399 slash between the Astros and Red Sox. Those numbers would have been a delight to see, compared to his actual 2023 results: .223/.280/.318. His OPS+ was second-worst among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the league, at a measly 65. Vázquez arrived at camp in what he’s claimed to be “the best shape of his life”, as he told reporters upon his arrival. He spent the offseason training at Driveline’s facilities in Washington, retooling his approach at the plate and improving his conditioning. There is reason to believe his time with Driveline over the winter will permit a turnaround from the veteran's worst season in the majors. The time he put in at the Mecca of baseball training facilities will effect changes in his approach, but time will tell how these changes to his swing and routine pay off in the 2024 season. The edge in playing time behind the plate will favor Jeffers to start the season. Manager Rocco Baldelli believes in keeping his catchers fresh and healthy by balancing their workload; that's unlikely to change. Jair Camargo Camargo’s on the doorstep of making his MLB debut in 2024, and it’s more a matter of 'when' than of 'if'. He had his best professional season with the St. Paul Saints in 2023, playing in a career-high 90 games, hitting 21 home runs with 63 runs batted in, and posting an .826 OPS in 368 plate appearances. His bat speed caught some momentum in 2023, leading to more power at the plate. Having a hitter-friendly ballpark for half the games at CHS Field was another helping hand in getting more power established. The one area at the plate where Camarago could still see growth while he’s getting more at-bats is drawing walks. He only had 29, to his 119 strikeouts Camargo has not had the opportunity to show if he can replicate these numbers in the majors yet. His role with the Twins in 2024 will be that of the third-string catcher, waiting at one end of the Green Line for the call from the other. Camargo will begin 2024 with the Saints, and as long as his performance is similar to last year's, he'll be the first call-up if Jeffers or Vázquez misses time. The big question is whether that will happen, or whether these two durable vets will continue to show up ready for work each day, thanks to an aggressive style of catcher time-sharing. All three of these catchers present strong outlooks for their 2024 seasons. If all goes as it did for the Twins behind the plate a year ago, they shouldn’t need more than these three all year. View full article

The 2023-24 MLB offseason has been one of the slowest-moving in recent memory. Fans of almost every franchise had seen few signings before the New Year, and only recently have things begun to pick up momentum, as Spring Training begins this week. Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports The 2023-24 MLB offseason has been one of the slowest-moving in recent memory. Fans of almost every franchise had seen few signings before the New Year, and only recently have things begun to pick up momentum, as Spring Training begins this week. A slow-moving market isn’t unfamiliar to baseball fans, who are just two years removed from an offseason that included a 90-plus-day lockout. Nor is it the first offseason where top free agents expecting deals north of $100 million each don’t know where their Spring Training will begin. The last time that the hot stove burned as slowly as this one was the 2018-19 offseason, when four out of the top five free agents per MLB Trade Rumors were unsigned at the start of Spring Training. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado signed their $300-million deals a couple of weeks into the Phillies’ and Padres’ camps. Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel both remained unsigned until the 2019 season was a third complete. That may not be the case for the big four names still out on the market, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery. But their markets have not moved much in the last month-plus. While players of these four’s calibers are all still candidates to earn deals north of $100 million, it’s players who’ve been holding out for their biggest paydays at lower costs who will be getting hurt the most by the slow-moving market. The players in whom teams had the most proactive interest are gone, by now. So is much of the money teams budgeted to spend on their 2024 payrolls. For example, Michael A. Taylor had a sturdy 2023 season with the Twins. He hit 21 home runs, stole 13 bases, and had a .720 OPS. Taylor has never had a season where he earned more than $4.5 million. His performance with the Twins this last season had experts projecting him to earn up to $10 million on a one-year deal, or to find a multi-year commitment somewhere. Taylor and Bellinger remain the only two everyday center fielders on the market. No matter what contracts they end up on, they’ll be vastly different. Bellinger still has some chance to get his massive payday of $200 million over eight or more seasons. Taylor, on the other hand, could still see his highest career earnings, but it may be just a dream to believe it’ll be eight digits. Taylor is just one of 105 free agents remaining, per MLB Trade Rumors’s list. That’s a high number of men who don’t know where they’ll be starting their 2024 seasons in camp; some clearly will not end up receiving any deal at all. The level of anxiety this puts on players, especially those still wanting another year to salvage their careers, is considerable. This is why some guys we think of as obviously deserving of a big-league deal take a non-guaranteed minor-league one instead. Taylor has not shown any signs of wanting to retire if a deal cannot be made, but just last offseason, MLB vet Chad Pinder went unsigned and did retire. Pinder spent his entire seven-year career with the Oakland Athletics and spent his playing time between the outfield, second and third base. His versatility wasn’t in high demand, and the best offers he could work up were minor-league deals. Pinder was only entering his age-31 season last year. He ended up signing a non-roster deal with the Cincinnati Reds to start Spring Training, but he was cut on March 24 ahead of Opening Day. He then took on short stints with the Nationals and Braves and retired shortly after the Braves cut him on May 28. While Pinder was not seeking the highest amount of money in the world, he was an established veteran who had arguably earned himself at least a one-year deal in the $3-$5 million range. It just didn’t materialize. Taylor will not be the Pinder of this offseason, but players still offering their services to teams could end up in the same boat. Names such as Kolten Wong, Brandon Crawford, and Nick Ahmed fit this sort of bill with their current markets and teams’ need for their positional depth. Market dynamics ensure that overpays happen early in the winter, and underpays happen late. Players have just one career in which to maximize their earnings and their legacy, and the closer spring training draws, the more pressure teams are able to apply to them on that basis. Players and their families also have to wrestle with the stress of uncertainty about where they will go for spring training and where they'll live when the season begins. Those are key reasons why we've seen the trend toward later signings, in general. Teams are making more rational decisions, and front offices like the Twins' feel that they can only justify getting involved in free agency once time takes the yeast out of market rates. We'll see how this particular version wraps up, but while the remaining Boras stars are still in line for big money, the deflation that hits free agency as January drags along and February dawns remains a real and unavoidable phenomenon. View full article

Hey Twins fans, If you're in the Southeast Minnesota or Northern Iowa territory, I'd love to hear from you on how you plan to watch Twins games this season. We are stuck in the same situation as last year and more people have likely cut the cord, but I want to know if people are continuing cable just for Twins games, or if there's a bar or restaurant in your area you're going to so you can still watch games since streaming options are still limited with Bally. If you have any interest in leaving a comment on this, I'd gladly take an interview with you for my news story I am putting together on this tomorrow for ABC 6 News. Leave a reply if you're interested.

Though it was a small trade, Sunday brought the latest maneuver in the Twins' effort to secure their status as AL Central favorites, and it represented a good match between teams facing roster fit questions. Image courtesy of © Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports Though it was a small trade, Sunday brought the latest maneuver in the Twins' effort to secure their status as AL Central favorites, and it represented a good match between teams facing roster fit questions. When Twins fans woke up Sunday morning, the team was still littered with fringy infielders on their 40-man roster, including Kyle Farmer, Austin Martin, Jose Miranda, and Nick Gordon. By mid-day, that all changed. Gordon was dealt to the Miami Marlins for left-handed reliever Steven Okert. Okert’s name has been one writers had advocated for the Twins to pursue as far back as the summer of 2022, long before Gordon has garnered similar interest from the Marlins. Now both players are being traded to fill in the remaining holes on their new teams’ depth charts, just days before the start of Spring Training. Taking a glance at both the Twins’ and Marlins’ 40-man rosters, this trade made a lot of sense for both teams. The Twins have a plethora of relief arms but (until now) a dearth of left-handers in the bullpen. The three left-handed pitchers on the Twins' 40-man were Caleb Thielbar, Kody Funderburk, and Brent Headrick. Funderburk and Headrick are coming off their rookie seasons and have only thrown a combined 37 2/3 innings in the majors in 2023. The two had different outcomes during their first year in the bigs, but no matter how either had looked, their inexperience makes it hard to stack them behind Thielbar, the only lefty guaranteed to be in the Twins bullpen on Opening Day. Thielbar is entering his age-37 season, an age at which players typically see regressions in their performance. There is no clear indication this will be the case for Thielbar in 2024, but if he does end up regressing (or continuing to battle injury issues), the Twins need another lefty outside of Funderburk and Headrick to back him up in the bullpen. Enter Okert, a 32-year-old, six-year veteran who is under team control for three more seasons. Okert, like Thielbar, has had two separate stints in the majors, separated by a lacuna of multiple seasons. His first shot came with the Giants from 2016 to 2018, for whom he made 70 relief appearances but only completed 48 innings of work across the three campaigns. In 2021, Okert made it back from the brink of obsolescence. The Giants had let him languish (with ugly surface-level numbers, although still-impressive peripheral ones) for all of 2019 in Triple A, which opened the door for him to become a minor-league free agent that winter. He didn’t sign with anyone before the world and the league shut down in 2020, and only signed a minor-league deal—without even the near-standard courtesy of an invite to the big-league camp—with Miami the following February, He threw 15 games with the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and posted a 1.80 ERA. The Marlins called him up on June 30, and he stuck in their bullpen for the following two and a half seasons. Okert will be a good contrast to Thielbar in his primary pitch types on the mound. Thielbar is known for his four-seam fastball and curveball, while Okert’s main pitchers are a sinker and slider. The Twins have been well known for pursuing pitchers who make heavy use of sliders. Okert fits that bill, having thrown his slider 625 times in 2023. Before acquiring Okert on Sunday, the Twins had only pursued right-handed relief arms to bolster their bullpen this offseason. They have added a considerable number of arms this winter compared to others, but Okert is the first left-handed reliever the Twins have traded for or signed on an MLB deal since Zach Duke in 2018. Amid the slow-moving offseason, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, and company have not hesitated in adding relievers who will serve a short or long-term role in the bullpen this year. Okert’s arrival, coming just when we might have surmised that the pen would be complete, underscores their commitment to getting the reliever mix right. The Marlins had eight outfielders, but their everyday center fielder, Jazz Chisholm Jr., has only played 95 games in the outfield in his career. Gordon played 166 games in the outfield between center and left in his three seasons in the majors, and acquitted himself well there. Before this trade, the Marlins lacked a solid fourth outfielder who can play multiple days in a row at multiple positions if need be. Avisaíl García is limited to a right field/designated hitter-type role at this stage in his career. Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez had solid 2023 seasons that have earned them full-time roles in the corner outfields, but neither is yet a sure thing. Gordon comes in as the first man to fill the void for any of his new teammates if they are either hurt or in need of a day off. Plus, he will see more playing time at second base than he would have if he stayed with the Twins, as he returns to serve as a backup to old friend Luis Arráez. Arráez will still see playing time at both first and second base in 2024, and the Marlins do have a budding prospect at second base in Xavier Edwards, who had a .295 batting average with the team in 30 games in 2023. Gordon being added to the platoon mix will give Arráez more time off his feet (as necessary) and allow Edwards more time to grow into a full-time major-leaguer. While Twins fans and teammates of Gordon will miss his role as a clubhouse hype man in 2024, he will have a fresh start in Miami—a chance to break away from a 2023 season that brought a frustrating combination of struggle, setback, and as far out as a curse put on by a fan. Okert may not be able to fill that excitement void, but the role he fills is one at which the Twins have had a longtime need: a second left-handed reliever capable of being on the team all season. View full article