whosafraidofluigirussolo

Wow, not a great look

Not arguing that Arcia won't get the backup IF slot, but I'm curious how the 40-man roster decisions will shake out, the more veterans on minor-league deals that get spots. This roster has (IMO) a large middle tier of players who aren't reliable building blocks but have some upside, and players with a little less upside who have seemed at some point to be in serious consideration as MLB depth. In other words, it's not a great team as built now, but there's not a lot of true end-of-roster chaff. Potentially or likely they need to make room for: one or two relievers, if Chafin and Hendriks show anything even close to old form, or if someone else from the non-roster group (Altavilla et al) steps up; and then Arcia if he's really the best IF backup.... Cuts: Alex Jackson is likely (as covered in the article); Outman maybe, if the team trusts someone else to be the backup CF; Zak Kent was another team's 41st man a couple weeks ago and could probably be dropped. Hard to see a lot of other easy cuts, absent an unfortunate injury or a late trade.

Do they DFA Kent to make room for Altavilla? In the roster projection here, Jackson ends up DFA and Chafin needs a spot, so that series of moves is neutral, but the 40-man is currently full. I could see a late trade changing the calculus, but I'm not sure Altavilla (or any of the non-roster pitchers other than Chafin or a healthy Hendriks) offers enough promise to force a roster decision otherwise.

If one of the team's big bullpen acquisitions gives up a left-on-left grand slam to a minor-league infielder wearing #90 ... Is that good?

Gray is interesting, in that he seems to have some potential to hit enough not to be an offensive black hole for a utility guy, and that raises the floor of the bench. However, I remember talk when the Twins picked up Kreidler that he was capable of playing both SS and CF (he's currently listed as an outfielder on the official team roster.) If they decide in spring training that Kreidler can back up both spots, then I think he starts the year in the backup SS gig. It makes for an efficient use of a bench spot and gives them more flexibility to use corner-only (or corner-mostly) guys like Roden, Martin, Larnach, et al.

Seeing Andújar’s contract, I wondered whether the Twins would rather have done that deal (or, say, beat it by $1M) than Bell at $7M.

If money is truly no object to the Dodgers, I wonder how much of Teoscar Hernández' contract they would eat in a trade...

I'm trying to squint and see this as comparable to acquiring Willi Castro a few years ago (because I assume the Twins imagine Bruján starting out in a role like Castro did with the team.) The comparison doesn't quite work. Castro was a better hitter with the Twins than before, but was also a meaningfully better hitter than Bruján has been prior to joining the team, and was a couple years younger than Bruján is now. Bruján does have just 600-some PAs over 5 years in the majors (Castro had almost 1100 before joining the Twins), if that adds any glimmer of hope for him making real improvements, unlikely as that is. In any case, if the Twins think Bruján can back up shortstop, then I imagine he is ticketed for the Castro role or at least has inside track on a bench spot over Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia. Low bar to clear, but that seems fine.

So under this scheme, Wagaman gains at-bats while Martin and Roden lose them - I still don't get why that's a good thing.

Despite James Outman and Alan Roden being likely to start the season on the 26-man roster, Kreidler could also serve as one of Byron Buxton’s primary backups in center field... If they don't think Outman is the best backup/a necessary backup for CF, I don't see why he needs to be on the roster. Out of options, I know... but trading Stewart for Outman is a sunk cost now, and they're loaded with outfielders. Time to move on.

Even with the defensive shortcomings, Bell adds a legitimate bat to the middle of Minnesota’s order. When he elevates the ball, he does so with authority. Statcast ranked his 96.4-mph average exit velocity on line drives and fly balls 25th among 251 qualified hitters. His isolated power of .507 on fly balls sits well above the league average, even if it falls short of elite territory. Bell’s long-standing issue has been his tendency to hit the ball on the ground. Last season’s 45.7% ground ball rate was actually the second-lowest of his career, trailing only the 44% mark from his 37-homer season in 2019. Even so, that number remains well above the league average. The usual qualifiers about not nitpicking about content on a free site apply, but ... Most of this two-paragraph excerpt is strikingly similar to a section of the MLBTR article on the Bell signing. It's not just the same facts cited (which are relevant, and of course people are bound to cite some of the same stats), but also sentences that are structured the same with a few word substitutions, almost to the point of direct copies in a couple places. This is not to say that this article doesn't read well, but if I were the MLBTR writer happening across it, I might not be pleased...

This is a good question and a very natural comparison to make. Since (IIRC) there were Durán-Mariners rumors at the deadline, maybe it was about the second piece? Like, the Twins may have seen Ford > Taít in value (as lots of us lay people seem to do), but Seattle wasn’t willing to offer another player they valued as much as Abel? Speculating of course.

Recent speculative Twins trade target Harry Ford, the Mariners catching prospect who looked pretty blocked by Cal Raleigh, reportedly is heading to the Nats for lefty reliever José Ferrer. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/nationals-to-trade-jose-ferrer-to-mariners-for-harry-ford.html

“Rumfield is arguably the most talented hitter Minnesota could add to its 40-man roster, while playing a position of need.” The blurb doesn’t say anywhere what position he plays…

I don't always follow the full labyrinth of MLB roster rules, but I don't think (...?) this is the case. The 6 players who were added to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft have their roster spots locked in until spring training, and the Twins aren't going to cut any of the 7 arbitration-eligible players now or they would have done so today. But there are still pre-arb players who could be cut (and those happen to be the guys who most people here complain about being on the roster, anyway); and anyone could still be traded. Any number of still possible moves could clear a 40-man spot before the Rule 5 in December.