Theodore Tollefson

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 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 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. 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 all 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 had the first start of the season for the Saints making it through three shutout innings and throwing 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 fly ball in foul territory caught by Jose Miranda. The second and third 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, Festa said… Alex Isola made his Triple-A debut on Saturday and was the man to get 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 Yonyner Fajardo, who made his Triple-A debut on Saturday, and he delivered with the Saints second 3-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 on the mound. Dobank 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 as second baseman Anthony Prato picked up his pal Dobnak in the top of the sixth catching a ball that bounced off Dobnak’s glove bare-handed to retire the first out. 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 Schneeman 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. 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. 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 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

2021 is already three years behind us and many prospects from that time have gone on to get their full-time rolls in the Majors. MLB Pipeline's Top 30 prospect lists for each team give us a look back on where current MLB and MiLB players where ranked within the Twins system at that time and we look back on where they are now to begin the 2024 campaign. The Twins top 30 prospects from MLB.com Pipeline in 2021 still have many names 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 at 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 to be in the infield. All conversations for his 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 for the Twins at third base, and may finally get to see his first 100-plus game professional season 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 his wrist and shoulder injuries coming up after each other, it’s been hard to see Kirilloff remaining on the field for over 60 days. But the addition of Carlos Santana to platoon playing time at first with him could help balance the workload and longevity of health for Kirilloff. The platoon time could prove to be very worthwhile for Kirilloff’s ability to stay on the field. His career high in games played across his first three seasons is 88 games in 2023. With less pressure on him to play first base full time, there will be a good chance for him to eclipse over the 100 games played mark for the first time in his career. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Designated Hitter 3. Trevor Larnach Larnach saw a lot of up-and-down time between the Majors and Minors 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 a .888 OPS in 323 plate appearances. Larnach, like many others, crushed Triple-A pitching, but the inconsistency in 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 and receive a full-time role. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A St. Paul Saints 4. Jordan Balazovic All cards were on the table for Balazovic in 2023. Following a brawl in Ft. Myers shortly after Spring Training began, he had to prove everything he had from his temperament to his performance as a pitcher. When Balazovic was called up to make his MLB debut on June 18, everything turned around for him for the better. In his first 11 relief appearances in the Majors Balazovic allowed only two runs in 14 innings of work. The league eventually caught up with him across the next seven relief appearances, but he proved himself as a valuable reliever when the Twins options looked bleak mid-summer. Balazovic’s performance in Spring Training wasn’t all too impressive following his demotion off the 40-man roster and becoming a non-roster invitee in camp. Like last season, Balazovic will have a make-or-break season with the Saints to keep himself in the Twins organization. But unlike last year, his short time 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 Duran What can’t Duran can’t do? His biggest obstacle for 2024 is to ensure the league remains behind on his fastball, which he could see eclipse the 105 MPH mark on more occasions this season. Duran built off his successful rookie campaign in 2023 posting a 2.45 ERA in 62.1 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, it was his curveball that got hitters 45.9% of the time. But just a week ahead of Opening Day bad news came from the Twins’ camp as Duran will start the season on the injured list due to tightness and cramps on his side. 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 with the Twins in 2023. As his playing time increased so did the offense as he led all catchers across MLB with a minimum of 300 plate appearances 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 Vazquez. The biggest area Jeffers can improve upon offensively is his patience as he had a .355 strikeout-to-walk ratio drawing 33 walks to 93 strikeouts in 2023. With many of the Twins starters returning from the roster from last season, many eyes will also be gazed on how he works alongside his starters and where 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. But in 77 games he had only 12 home runs, 45 RBI, and a triple-slash of .221/.329/.430. Sabato’s upside was shown this autumn as he played 18 games in the Arizona Fall League hitting seven home runs and managing a .905 OPS, but only had ten runs batted in. If Sabato can build off the success he had in the Arizona Fall League at the start of Spring Training, 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 Canterino is finally making his return to professional baseball after missing the entire 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Before the surgery, Canterino was speculated as a late-season bullpen option with the Twins in 2022 as he had a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings of work. While some still speculate he could see time as a starter in 2024, Canterino has never eclipsed 100 innings in his Minor League career as he’s only logged a total of 85 innings since the Twins drafted him in 2019. 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 became scattered, 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 off-season sending him into free agency. The Pirates took a bite signing him to a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training. When camp began things appeared to be in favor for Celestino to break out of Spring Training and join the Pirates Opening Day roster in their depleted outfield. The Pirates' signing of another former Twin Michael A. Taylor on March 16 creates slim chances for Celestino to break a spot out of Big League camp. 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 have a new start to the second phase of his career in the Pirates organization. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Indianapolis 10. Keoni Cavaco The Twins' number-one overall pick from the 2019 draft has had an underwhelming transition into professional baseball and his 2023 season was no different for him. Cavaco had a lackluster 63 games in the Minors last year between four games at rookie ball and with High-A Cedar Rapids. He had a .203/.270/.304 with a .574 OPS across 238 plate appearances. Back in 2021, Cavaco’s best hitting grades were his power at 55 per MLB Pipeline, but his .574 OPS this last year was only accompanied by five homers on the season. 2024 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 season 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 Kernels outfield 11. Misael Urbina 2023 is a season Urbina would like to put far behind him as he had his worst season in pro ball. Across 102 games with the Kernels Urbina had a measly performance at the plate posting a triple slash of .180/.289/.282 with a .571 OPS. The soon-to-be 22-year-old is entering his sixth year in the Twins system and will have a lot 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 Double-A Wichita and Triple-A 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, like many pitchers who reach the gauntlet of Triple-A hitting, he fell victim to inflated numbers. Enlow was tagged around for an ERA just below 8.00 with an opponent's batting average of .294 in 45 ⅓ innings with the Saints. This led to Enlow electing free agency in the off-season 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 with the Giants this season. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Sacramento River Cats 13. Brent Rooker 2023 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. But the Oakland Athletics were the team to give Rooker the playing time he deserved finally 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. Rooker looks to remain one of the few bright spots in a continuously depressing age 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 season and light up at the plate for the Coliseum faithful in 2024. 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 three best-hitting rookies the franchise has seen in a long time. With raw power at the plate and an electric arm that can gun any cocky base runner down if they try, 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 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. His up-and-down journey both in the Majors and Minors pitching in a total of 40 games between the Twins and Saints. This off-season the Twins stacked themselves up with bullpen arms pushing Winder down the pecking order and having his chances to make the Opening Day roster slimmer. However, he was the first player on the 40-man in Spring Training to land on the injured list. Winder isn’t expected to see a return until late May. With his season behind schedule, it’s hard to predict how he will best be utilized once his right scapula stress fracture heals fully. 2024 Season Start: Injured List 16. Cole Sands No player on the Twins roster accumulated more service time than playing time in 2023 than Sands did. Having only pitched in 15 games he accumulated 73 days worth of service time while going as long as a week and a half being on the active roster without appearing in a single game. Sands did open last season on the Twins Opening Day roster and with injuries mounting to his fellow relievers, he has a chance to do so again in 2024. With Duran and Thielbar down, the opportunity to add a long reliever to start the season is there for the Twins. And with Winder out, Sands is next in line to have the opportunity to be the innings eater. Whether it’s on Opening Day or later in the season, Sands will be serving the long relief role for the Twins this season and he’ll continue to improve upon his numbers as he has over his first two seasons in the Majors. 2024 Season Start: Twins Opening Day Roster 17. Alerick Soularie Soularie’s name has gone further down in system prospect rankings since the 2021 season. He spent all of 2022 in Cedar Rapids and 2023 with Wichita and both seasons turned into lackluster performances at the plate. The silver lining in this is that Soularie saw greater success in Double-A (triple slash of .231/.356/.409 in 270 plate appearances) than High-A (triple slash of .227/.334/.382 in 389 plate appearances). 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. Colina made a comeback in pro ball in 2023 in the Texas Rangers organization spending all season at Triple-A Round Rock posting a 4.65 ERA across 31 innings in 26 relief appearances. While his numbers were decent for a reliever making a comeback after a two-year absence, Colina elected free agency in November and no team has taken a bite to sign him since then. Leaving the future of making his return to the Majors in question. 2024 Season Start: Out of professional baseball 19. Travis Blankenhorn Blankenhorn spent the 2023 season in the Nationals organization, playing in 108 games with Triple-A Rochester hitting 23 homers, 75 RBI, and posting a .877 OPS. A solid performance with the Red Wings earned him a short call-up with the Nats in September. On January 13, Blankenhorn resigned with Washington following being outrighted by the team in October. He still plays the role of a utility bench player and pending his performance in 2023, he could see more playing time with the Nationals in 2024. 2024 Season Start: Triple-A Rochester Red Wings 20. Jose Miranda Miranda spent the majority of 2023 with a shoulder injury and when he was healthy, he 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 very dismal as he had a .220/.275/.318 triple slash and OPS short of .600. Miranda also played through 24 games without hitting a single home run but his first two of the season came against the Yankees in a 12-6 loss on April 26. 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 show the same 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 Rodriguez now finds himself among one of the elite three top prospects in the Twins system. He will start the season at Double-A for the first time in his career. He is the only player in the entire system that can give Edouard Julien a run for his money with his strike zone judgment. But it’s how tight he keeps his strike zone that had his strikeout totals mount 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 Rodriguez’s abilities at the plate and in center field for 2024 and the question will be how 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 of 2022, the Twins placed Vallimont on waivers, and was later acquired by the Baltimore Orioles. Over a year later he made his MLB debut with the team on July 3, 2023, for a quick cup of coffee giving up one hit but striking out his first batter. Shortly after his debut, he was sent back down to Triple-A and three days later his contract was purchased by the Cleveland Guardians. Vallimont’s time with Triple-A Columbus was far from glamorous as he had an ERA of 6.52 in 29 innings of work. 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 minor league offers this off-season looking as though he may be out of professional baseball completely. 2024 Season Start: Free agency 23. Wander Javier Wander Javier was in Spring Training camp with the San Diego Padres in 2023 but was shortly released before the start of the season. He never signed elsewhere after being let go by the Padres and his current whereabouts in the baseball world remain unknown. He remains the only member of this former prospects list who is completely out of baseball going into 2024. 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 with Wichita in 2023. His upside remains his versatility to play multiple positions, 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, 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 Ober finally filled the role of a full-time starter with the Twins in 2023 and didn’t disappoint. Starting the season at Triple-A was no fault of his own but now in 2024, he projects to be the middle man in the Twins rotation for Opening Day. The biggest question surrounding Ober is whether he will be able to maintain success if he sets a new career high in innings pitched. Ober’s 144 ⅓ innings in 2023 was his highest ever in professional baseball and possibly going over the 150 or even 170 innings thrown mark in 2024 looks to be a real possibility as long as he stays healthy. But will his numbers remain similar to what they were in 2023 or will they 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 Minor League system has as many limitations set on him with his workload as much 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 and 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 show a better performance 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, even so, the time maybe not 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 hitting a double in his Triple-A debut. The rest of Gray’s season in Double was solid as he played the majority of his games at third base posting a triple slash of .260/.366/.400 across 337 plate appearances. While third base was the position he played at most with 52 games at the hot corner, Gray’s another player in the Twins system who can move around from position to position. The fact he doesn’t have a primary position on the diamond could help him see his return to St. Paul later in the season but for now, with many infielders on their roster, he will begin 2024 with the Wind Surge. 2024 Season Start: Double-A Wichita 28. Luis Rijo The Twins released Luis Rijo over a year ago following a poor 2022 season where 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 innings in 16 games. No MLB has offered Rijo a minor league deal yet but with his solid comeback season back home he is only 25 years old. There’s a possibility he will be signed as camp opens 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 one of these 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. But his Spring Training has not been as glamorous for Rortvedt compared to young catcher Austin Wells, and pending the health of Wells and 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 the 2024 season. De Andrade spent all of 2023 with the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels and put together a solid season with his glove at shortstop and 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, the Twins can take their time with De Andrade before providing the next step in his path to the Majors. With the Twins trading away Noah Miller for Manuel Margot, De Andrade, who is a better hitter than Miler, will likely see his opportunity sooner than he would have if Miller were not traded, to make it to Central Iowa. 2024 Season Start: Low-A Ft. Myers Might Mussels 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, Duran, Canterino, and Winder do not have massive setbacks that will keep them out of action for long. Durna is guaranteed to pitch with the Twins once he returns from the IL, but Canterino and Winder will take some time to be 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. 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 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

The Twins saw their healthiest season from two catchers in nearly 30 years in 2023 but how does the position look in Spring Training and can the same stroke of luck occur again in 2024? For the first time in almost three decades, the 2023 season saw Twins have only two catchers on the entire roster for the entire season. Ryan Jeffers exceeded expectations, but Christian Vazquez did not. But despite expectations and flip-flopping results based on said expectations, both Jeffers and Vazquez remained healthy all year. The last season the Twins saw that was back in 1995 when the likes of Matt Wallbeck and Matt Merullo shared the bulk of catching duties. It 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 Vazquez remain healthy all season again in 2024, which is why the 40-man roster now has a third catcher on it; Jair Camargo. As Spring Training begins, these three make up the depth at catcher on the Twins' 40-man roster. They’re all aiming with higher aspirations on what they can do for the Twins as they look to repeat as Central Division champs in 2024. Ryan Jeffers Jeffers put back-to-back disappointing seasons behind the dish and at the plate behind him in 2023. He and former teammate Mitch Garver lead 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 league-leading .359 BABIP and third-best on the Twins behind Edouard Julien's team-leading at .371 BABIP and Donovan Solano at .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. As Spring Training begins, Jeffers is set to split the catching duties with Vazquez at a 65% to 35% split on start time. 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 prospect evaluators and rankers had him projected to be four years ago. 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 isn’t any reason to think Jeffers cannot reach 20 home runs on the season, raise his batting average into the .285 to .300 range, and get into the 60-75 RBI range. 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 had a .355 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2023 good enough for 10th best on the team, but the totals show more room for improvement as he only drew 33 walks to his 93 strikeouts. Following his 2023 performance Jeffers is set to be the Twins Opening Day catcher for 2024. Christian Vazquez Vazquez’s story in 2023 was the complete opposite of Jeffers's. Vazquez arrived in Minnesota fresh off a World Series championship with the Houston Astros, the second ring of his career. And he had a solid season at the plate for catchers in 2022 posting a .274/.315/.399 triple slash between the Astros and Red Sox. Those numbers would have been a delight to see from him in 2023 compared to what they were as his triple-slash was slated at .223/.280/.318 with an OPS just below .600. His OPS+ was also second worst among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the league sitting at a measly 65. Vazquez has 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 off-season training at Driveline’s facilities in Washington retooling his approach at the plate from his worst performance. There is reason to believe his time with Driveline over the winter will show a turnaround from his worst season in the Majors. The time he put in with the Mecca of Baseball training facilities will show changes in his approach, but time will tell how these changes to his swing and routine pay off in the 2024 season. The majority of playing time behind the plate will be Jeffers to start the season, but Vazquez can earn his way back into more of a starting role pending his Spring Training performance and health. The playing time between the two may be more balanced in starts during April but by Memorial Day, things could look different for Vazquez than how they project now as Spring Training games kick-off. Jair Camargo Camargo’s on the doorstep of making his MLB debut in 2024 and it’s not a matter of if but when in his case. He had his best professional season with St. Paul Saints in 2023 playing in a career-high 90 games, hitting 21 home runs, 63 runs batted in, and posting a .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, even so, his role with the Twins in 2024 will be that of the third-string catcher, pending no serious injuries to either Jeffers or Vazquez. Camargo will no doubt begin 2024 with the Saints and as long as his performance from a year before maintains, he could see anywhere from 10 to 40 games with the Twins this season. All three of these catchers present strong outlooks for their 2024 seasons. If all goes as it did for the Twins behind the plate as it did a year ago, they shouldn’t need more than these three men at catcher for the 2024 season. 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 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 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