CarpetGuy

Yesterday was a rough day for me. I have been fighting cancer for 5 years and this spring it had metastasized. I continue to fight every day. Up at 4:30 to do my stretch, strength and balance work followed by a 5 mile run. With that fight I feel pretty good and have a high energy level in spite of all the meds. Baseball helps keep me going. There are still many more games ahead of me and they matter so much more than a championship. That final Twins trade of Varland set off a trigger in me. We had Varland through 2030. While at a large family gathering as the news kept rolling that 2030 hit hard. The odds are against me that I will be around in 2030. Thinking of the Twins led me to thinking of my first grandchild due in January. I can handle missing the next championship but I got pretty choked at the thought of what I will miss with my granddaughter.
Byron, Ryan, Kody, Royce, Matt, Trevor, Brooks, Christian, DeShawn, Joe, Pablo, Bailey, Simeon, David, Zebby, Cole and Justin I appreciate your fight. No one can make it to the major leagues without fighting everyday. You have fought through slumps. You have fought through injury. We will need your fight more than ever now. To the rest putting on that Twins uniform. I appreciate you. You have fought hard for this opportunity. Use this opportunity to make your mark in the major leagues. Fight to get better every day.
Mr. Falvey and Mr. Baldelli I need you to put up a fight. Make every day matter. Make every game matter. I am counting on you. To the Pohlad’s, you have stopped fighting. This is a concept that I can’t grasp. Every day I wake up excited to take on the day and fight for the next. You wake up every day as owners of a Major League Baseball team. How can you not be driven to fight for their success? I don’t get it. I do appreciate what Carl did for this franchise and what your family did for the community but you have stopped fighting. Please step aside and let someone else lead this franchise.
We need a fighter because every day and every game matters. I will be watching.

On may 9, 2025 I was in Greensboro, NC watching my grandson's team play in the North Carolina High School Baseball Playoffs.  I met Luke Napleton from Chicago. He had been playing for a semi-pro team in High Point, NC, called The Rockers. (High Point used to manufacture a lot of furniture and has furniture markets every year.) Frank Viola is the pitching coach for the Rockers. Luke told me he had just been signed by the Twins and was going to Ft. Myers this weekend. He expected to either play at Ft. Myers or at Cedar Rapids. He was with the Rockers only a short time, but was hitting .571 (12 for 21) with 2 doubles and 2 home runs. I told him I was the biggest Twins' fan in North Carolina. He played at the University of Louisville in 2024 and hit .320 with 11 HR. 

The Twins reinstated Brock Stewart from the injured list on Saturday. Stewart has been on the injured list all season due to a left hamstring strain he suffered in spring training. He made two appearances in Single A, throwing 1.2 innings while striking out all five batters. He will replace left-hander Kody Funderburk, who was optioned to Triple-A. Funderburk appeared in two games this year, throwing 4.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA.
Stewart only pitched in 16 games last year, mostly due to right shoulder tendinitis. The Twins are hopeful that, now fully healthy and ready, he can return to his 2023 performance, during which he struck out 39 batters in 27.2 innings and had a 0.65 WHIP. That season, Stewart also topped many statistical pitching categories. His fastball averaged around 97 MPH, Whiff% 41.5, K% 35.8, Barrel% 3.4, and Hard-Hit% 31.0. Those are all great stats when you compare relievers, but that was 2023 when he was healthy. Fast forward two years, and now completely healthy, it will be interesting to see how fast he can bounce back.
With a hefty 11.25 ERA and having blown the Twins' last two leads, struggling reliever Griffin Jax will also benefit from his reinstatement. By taking on some high-leverage situations, Stewart could give struggling Jax a breather, with the ultimate goal of Jax returning to his 2024 level. Will Rocco throw him out there right away? That remains to be seen.
Michael Tonkin, back for his third stint with the Twins, has been sidelined all year with a right shoulder strain. He will begin a rehab stint Friday with Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Assuming that goes well and there are no setbacks, I see him back sometime at the end of April. Who will be the odd man out in the bullpen is the bigger question?
Pablo Lopez, who has been out since April 8 due to a strained right hamstring, will make a rehab start on Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul. Assuming no setbacks, Lopez will probably only need one start. Look for him to rejoin the Twins rotation around Wednesday, as that is when he is eligible to return from the IL.
Royce Lewis is probably the farthest away, although reports say he is making some progress. He has been running and doing baseball activities, including hitting, for a while now, but he was scheduled to advance his running progression Thursday with some light baserunning work. Although his return to game action is still weeks away, rather than days, he continues to progress in his recovery from a strained left hamstring.
 With Matt Wallner recently hitting the IL due to a strained hamstring, there's no new information regarding him, Austin Martin, or Jose Miranda. This comes at a bad time for Wallner, as he was one of the Twins' most consistent hitters and an on-base threat. His slash lines look like this: .263 average, .373/.474/..847.  Miranda will likely return in the middle of next week when his stint is over.  Despite his struggles this year, Miranda would provide much-needed depth for the Twins. He was injured while shopping at Target when he dropped a pack of water and strained his left hand trying to re-grab it, yes, that's no joke, Twins fans. He could add some depth if Correa and Castro continue to nurse injuries.
Willi Castro (oblique) and Christian Vazquez (hand) remain day-to-day due to injuries. The Twins will also continue to monitor Carlos Correa, who sustained a wrist injury earlier this week but has played in subsequent games.

Any front office member who would rather take a promotion than quit out of principle amid payroll cuts is no true integritus [Aristotle, 348 BCE].
Let me start with an anecdote. In my youth, I was riding a city bus in Omaha, Nebraska. It was night. A man dressed in all blue walked up to me. “I like your shoes,” said he. I looked down and they matched the blue he was wearing. “Thanks,” I said. “I want them,” said he. “No you don’t; they’re too small for you,” I spake. “Take them off,” he ejaculated. I told him “No, if I take off my shoes how am I supposed to walk home?” I stood up. “You’re right,” he said. I got off at my stop (24th and Douglas) and walked home.
I tell you this story because I’m trying to communicate that I’m a man of integrity. They don’t make men like that anymore nowadays. Certainly not on the Twins beat reporters. Look up and down the lineup and you know what you won’t find? Intgrity. That’s why it’s on me, a brave blogger, to ask the hard questions of the Twins. My first question? “Jeremy Zoll should be fired.” I’m prepared to say it to any Twins executive, staffer, Senor Smokes vendor, or intern.
I am not the first to call for Zoll’s job. Zoll also calls for his job, because sometimes he calls players and other executives, so he calls for his job. But I am the first media member to do so, please let the record show
In 2023 immediately after winning the first playoff game since Pat Borders was a catcher versus Toronoto, cheap pohlad approached the mic and said “no Jhoan Duran I have something to say and that thing is this: we are cutting payroll.” Of course the beat reporters had no follow up questions. I would of asked him “Shut your mouth and change your mind,” but my press pass must of gotten lost in the mail.
And so we set the scene. No self-respecting executive (can you say oxymoron) should of kept their jobs after that. Have you ever seen the movie Radio? When all of the Noter Dame football players give the coach their jerseys so Radio can play. That’s what should have happened. Every front officeman, front officewoman, and front officeperson should have turned in there key card and said “ no sir, I will not work as abusiness such as this. I’m pretty sure that’s what Dick Bremer did but the Pollyanna media in this town won’t investigate and/or is covering it up. Also Dick probably wouldn’t tell us himself because he’s always covering for the Twins. Burinyg his feelings like their Jimmy Hoffa and he’s in that Irish Mob from the movie.
If you remember I started this by talking about integrity. Aristotle came up with the idea and it basically means “Integritus: to be fulfilling ones integrit which is in order with its own nature of doing the right thing.” I’ll forgive you if you forgot that because no one has an attention span anymore with the apps that read reddit to you while you watch Mincraft people jump on trampolines
So Jeremy Zoll should have quit right then and there after cheap pohlad’s declaration. What message it sends that he didn’t is he doesn’t care about winning and if ther’s one thing owners like its winning elsewise why would the purchase the team.
So, day 1, the new owner, which I have it on good evidence that ir’s gonna be Mark Cuban or Alex Rodriguez or Mark Truck (this is America we don’t call them Lorries) or Sam Walton or someone else who’s a billionaire I’ve read many good articles explaining the economics of owning a team some on this very webpage, that first day the first order of business should be to load TC Bear into a trebuchet but the next thing they should do is fire Zoll for not having a competitive edge enough.
I mean, come on, imagine this. It’s the 1991 World Series, Game 7, and it’s the 10th inning. Tom Kelly comes out and tells Jack Morris “Now John (Tom Kelly was a serious man who had no time for newaged fiddlestickery like nick names if it was good enough name for God its good enough for TK), he would say “Now John, cheap pohlad is cutting the payroll and you are the highest paid pitcher in the league and I support it because I’m a company man through and through like Jeremy Zoll or Rocco Baldelli.” Imagine if he said that. Blackjack would take his head off. Thankfully TK has never done a bad baseball thing ever so we don’t have to have it to come to this, but imagine if he would. Probably wouldn’t win in 91 or 87. Kirby would have driven the bus right into him because remember he told the team he’s driving the bus and its time to get on board. Never would have flown (John Madden Reference) in those days when men had integrity and drank some questionable coffee.
Honestly, I don’t know a single true man who would ask to be led by man who wouldn’t quit his job out of principle when ownership cuts payroll. General William Tecumseh Sherman once said “That devil Forrest must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the federal treasury” about the other team’s general manager Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Have you ever heard that song by Deep Purple (not the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’s colors), where they talk about smoke being on the water? Have you ever listened to the lyrics? Of course you haven’t because all this generation cares about is the little riff they play at the beginning which mind you by the way my grandmother could play if given like 5 minutes. Well listen to the lyrics its about a building on Lake Geneva burning down and a man named Funky Claude rescuing children. Do you think Jeremy Zoll would do that? Probably not, given the fact he didn’t quit on principal 12 months ago.
I’ll leave you with this one antidote. When I was 12 the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and it has permanently altered the chemicals of my brain and I can’t feel happiness again for some odd reason. All 25 of those men and the coaches are all my father figures.
Here’s a riddle for you: “Who has four eyes but cannot see?” Need a hint? She’s married. Okay time’s up it’s Mrs. Sippi. Get it? Before modern sensibilities took over and infiltrated corporate America, use to be the lady in the pancake bottle was named Mrs. Butterworth. Notice how I said “in” and not “on” well that’s because the bottle use to be shaped like Mrs. Butterworth. Corporate heads prevailed though and said “No, it costs too much and even though we won’t send the savings on to the consumers we will be doing away with the createive bottle design.” Consumers lost twice in this case between shrinkflation, not getting the savings anyway, and not having a hot mistress shaped bottle anymore. Can you imagine if TK went out to the mound in Game 7 of the World Series inning 10 and said “Blackjack Morris, I am taking away the Mrs. Butterworth bottle design.” Wouldn’t happen but I’ll just say Kent Hrbek would have a new skeetshooting target in the form of TK’s hat they’d take TK’s hat away from him and Kent would shoot it like a clay pidgeon.
And speaking of Skeets I have seen that the buddy buddy media in this town is on Blue Sky. Well, Mr. Blue Sky Please Tell Us Why the beat reporters and columnists are hiding the information over there. We pay their salaries even though I don’t subscribe to the Strib and if you post something behind a paywall I will threaten you. The media is accountable to us. While they pay the players’ salaries we pay the medias’ salaries. You can’t hide the news at a different site that steal our data.
This is just another classic case of Cancel Culture Run Amok, silencing brave truth tellers like myself who have ammased tens of Twitter Followers. You want to know something interesting about the word amok? It’s a word that’s unable to stand on its own, called a fossil word. Have you ever used it without saying “run”? it no longer means anything on its own. Well technically it means “in an uncontrolled manner” but I degress. Other such words are “champing” at the bit, days of “yore” and “bandy” about. They’re stuck in idioms and are unusable elsewhere. The whole “shebang”
Speaking of unusable and shebang’s there was a whole shebang about Byron Buxton finally making it to 100 games and I think that’s what all this trouble comes back to. Talk about a segway. He might as well drive a segway because his knee is bad and theres a loose flap in there that the doctors didn’t remove and still no one in the media will ask any questions of Dr. Camp as to why no one removed it. But If the Twins didn’t have Byron Buxton none of this would happen. The team cannot advance without cutting him and giving a young prospect like DeShawn Kiersey some time to shine.
 

Among Twins fans, few players have been given a shorter leash despite showing flashes of solid play than Brent Rooker. While Rooker’s results in 2021 have hardly been inspiring, the underlying data says Rooker may be much better than his weak triple slash has shown so far. 
So what are his “results” so far? Regardless of the metrics you want to use, be it the traditional triple slash or others: .201/.294/.397, OPS .691, wRC+ 91, wOBA .302 or OPS+ 90, Rooker’s offensive production has been below par. In fact, for somebody who is touted as a glorified DH, way below par. Rooker would really be expected to produce an OPS above .750 to remain viable and over .800 to produce good value. Of the 15 players who qualify as “DH” with more than 300 plate appearances in MLB this year on Fangraphs, the median OPS is Josh Donaldson’s .816.
On his way to the triple slash he’s produced, Rooker has struck out 32.5% of the time while walking in just 7.6% of his plate appearances. That’s not a great ratio, but for a power hitter, 32.5% K rate isn’t unusual and it’s also in only 197 plate appearances so far this year. This is, for all intents and purposes, Rooker’s rookie season and his first taste of MLB action after showing far above average production in the high minors for years now. The question at this point is not whether Brent Rooker is too good for AAA, it’s whether or not he’s destined to be labeled a AAAA player.
I’ve seen some other posts suggesting Brent Rooker may be cooked already, but a dive into some of the advanced metrics show a very different set of numbers.
  AVG OBP SLG OPS wOBA Actual .201 .294 .397 .691 .312 Expected* .236 .325 .448 .773 .345 *BaseballSavant has xBA at .237 and xSLG at .449 which result in 41.24 hits and 78.13 total bases. Those aren’t real numbers so I rounded them down to 41 hits and 78 total bases. I used Rookers actual walks and hit by pitch numbers to calculate his new xOBP so I could calculate his xOPS.

So Rooker’s expected batting line numbers are far better than his actual results, but that can be true for a lot of hitters who don’t use the whole field because of the shift; however, Rooker is not the typical dead pull hitter who is helpless against the shift. Of course, Rooker does pull the ball a lot, 44% of the time in fact, but he also goes to the opposite field 26% of the time. Among qualified hitters, Rooker is actually in the top half of hitters going to the opposite field and he’s not in the top 25% in pull hitting. Fangraphs has limited data on Rooker’s plate appearances, but he gets shifted against about 59% of the time vs. say Max Kepler who gets shifted against 97% of the time (yes, 97% is the real number). Another consideration is whether or not the shift should even actually hurt a hitter. Ground ball hitters are hurt the most, then fly ball hitters, then line drive hitters. The shift is less effective against line drive hitters because the balls generally have high exit velocities and hit the ground quickly so even if defenders are “shifted,” the ball really has to be hit directly at the defender in order to have a play. Despite his excellent power, Rooker is more a line drive hitter than a pure fly ball hitter. He very rarely pops the ball up, and Fangraphs has him at 26% line drive and 38% fly ball with Baseball Savant having him at 31% line drive and 31% fly ball. With Rooker’s batted ball profile, the shift should not be highly effective against him.

Beyond Rooker being somewhat shielded from the shift, there are other things to consider when it comes to hitting. Exit velocity, launch angle, hard hit and barrel rates are extremely important when trying to figure out whether or not a hitters bad luck is actually bad luck and not a function of just a lot of weak contact. Rooker’s average exit velocity is very good at 90.9mph (top 82% in baseball). His launch angle is 12.8% this year which reflects the high line drive rate, but it’s not quite high enough to be “optimal” for a hitter with Rooker’s power. There’s a hard core, in depth article on Fangraphs if you’re interested in getting into the deep end of the pool (I’m not, haha). https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/lets-talk-about-launch-angle-generally/ Rooker would probably experience better slash lines and an increase in home runs with a launch angle closer to 20* because of his power, but he should be very close to having his optimal batting average where he is. What about hard hit rate? Fangraphs says Rooker is 35.5% hard hit rate based on Baseball Info Solutions algorithms, which is good for the top 37% of hitters with 300 plate appearances, but BaseballSavant has Rooker with a higher 47.6% hard hit rate (different definition at 95mph+) and puts him in the top 15% of hitters with 100+ batted ball events. When it comes to barrel rate, Rooker is showing up as 11.8% putting him in the top 16% of hitters for Fangraphs and BaseballSavant. Btw, think of barrel rate as absolutely crushing a ball. The baseline is a launch angle of 25-31* and an exit velocity of at least 98mph. For every 1mph of exit velocity you add, you get about 2 degrees more leniency in the launch angle. Like 100mph gets you to 24-33*. It’s that no doubter home run or absolute rocket off the bat where no amount of shift makes any difference because the ball is in the outfield before the infielders even know what happened.
Some charts to help folks who don’t follow metrics closely. This data was pulled from Fangraphs using Statcast numbers for the 252 players with at least 300 plate appearances this year prior to today. Rooker himself was not included as he only has 197.
 


Now we can discuss his plate discipline. Does Rooker have the hit tool to play at the MLB level? How do opposing pitchers view him? BaseballSavant shows pitchers have become wary of testing Rooker, throwing him fewer fastballs and more breaking balls while avoiding the strike zone as much as possible. Interestingly enough, Rooker has better results against the breaking balls than fastballs, but according to the expected data, it should be the exact opposite. Rooker against the fastball is batting just .177 with a SLG of .375, but his xBA is 80 points higher at .256 and his xSLG is .487.  Rooker’s performance against breaking balls is closer to where it should be with a .245 AVG vs. xBA of .225 and a SLG of .434 vs. an xSLG of .418. His bat is not a black hole against breaking pitches in practice or theory and his bat looks like it should be downright dangerous against fastballs and changeups. In regard to plate discipline, Fangraphs shows his O-swing% (swing percentage of pitches outside the zone) at 30.6-32.3% depending on the source, but that’s not bad at all. His PitchFX data shows Rooker swinging outside the zone at 32.3%, which would rank as better than 43.5% of MLB hitters with more than 300 plate appearances so far this year. A tick below average. His contact rate on balls outside the zone does need some work suggesting he can be completely fooled a bit too easily. His Z-swing% (swing percentage of pitches inside the zone) rates are a little lower than they should be and Rooker takes too many called strikes because he’s not aggressive enough when he gets a pitch in the zone. Again, based on players with 300+ plate appearances from PitchFX data on Fangraphs.

Lastly, something pretty interesting to me. Defense. While Rooker carries with him the expectation he’s a lost cause at the corners, BaseballSavant hints at Rooker not being a guaranteed waste in the outfield. Rooker’s sprint speed is above average. Yes. You read that right. His sprint speed on BaseballSavant shows 27.3 ft/sec, above average for an MLB player or left fielder for that matter. His defensive metrics show Rooker is above average when it comes to route running, but his reaction is terrible (feet in 0 to 1.5 seconds) with Rooker’s acceleration in sprint speed being iffy. The combination of Rooker not recognizing the ball off the bat quickly enough and his mediocre acceleration is what is hurting Rooker defensively. Some of that can be improved with work and experience, though it’s a little bit late for Rooker to take an active role in becoming a better fielder.
In summary, What does all of this mean? Well, for starters, we don’t have a ton of data on Brent Rooker. He’s only at 197 plate appearances this season and a paltry 21 from 2020. At about 200 plate appearances in a season is where the first set of luck metrics just start stabilizing and they move quite a bit to 300 plate appearances where things start to get pretty stable. Rooker shows adequate plate discipline, his batted ball profile suggests he’s having terrible luck, but he’s frequently shown off his power. Opposing pitchers have formed enough respect for Rooker that they’ve made the adjustment to try to avoid throwing him anything decent to hit and Rooker hasn’t turned into a strikeout machine in the process. Rooker is primarily a pull hitter, but he’s gone to the opposite field enough to keep defenses semi-honest on the shift. Rooker also hits the ball much harder than the average major leaguer, he barrels up the ball well enough and doesn’t make a lot of weak contact. It seems like Rooker needs to be more aggressive when he gets a strike rather than waiting for a meatball because MLB pitchers are definitely being extra careful not to give him something easy to hit and MLB pitchers do not make mistakes like MiLB pitchers do. An MLB hitter might see 1 mistake pitch per game vs seeing several in the minors. Defensively, he waits a little too long to make a jump on the ball and he could work on improving his running technique to get better off the line acceleration, but he has the speed to cover a corner outfield position. With a little opportunity for his luck to even out and some minor adjustments, Rooker may turn into a real force at the plate with adequate corner outfield defense. Despite his limitations, it’s too soon to pull the plug on Rooker as he’s definitely got the potential to be a legitimate every day starting MLB player.
 

After a long, harsh Minnesota winter, Spring Training offers and a glimpse of green grass and the hope of a successful Twins season. The Twins’ time in Florida is like any trip to the Sunshine State—some visitors leave with a golden tan, others depart with bad sunburn. As the team prepares to head north, here are my winners and losers from the Twins’ Spring Training. Let’s start with the guys who got burned.
Losers
1. Kenta Maeda
Spring Training stats should never weigh heavily in player evaluations, but when a veteran pitcher like Maeda returns from 19 months of Tommy John rehab, his performance will be scrutinized. Despite a solid outing today, Maeda’s spring has been mediocre. He has posted a 4.91 ERA in 14.2 innings, issuing 10 walks, striking out 14 batters, and showing inconsistent fastball velocity. These numbers aren’t awful, yet with Bailey Ober, Louie Varland, and Simeon Woods-Richardson all seeking a spot in the rotation, Maeda’s grasp of the fifth starter role grows looser. King Kenta will need to regain his pre-injury form quickly or risk being relegated to a diminished role.
2. Trevor Megill
Megill’s arm talent is undeniable. His fastball consistently touches 100 MPH and advanced metrics show that his breaking pitches are competent. Unfortunately, the on-field results never seem to match the underlying metrics (much like his bullpen mate Emilio Pagán). Megill entered the spring with a shot at a bullpen role with the Twins, then struggled to a 10.80 ERA and 2.10 WHIP before being demoted to Triple-A on March 19. Twins fans will probably see Megill again this season as he will be one of top relief options available in St. Paul, yet it’s fair to wonder how many second chances Megill will receive.
3. Gilberto Celestino
2023 is the most important season of Gilberto Celestino’s career. That is a strange statement considering Celestino played 122 games with the Twins last season and will likely spend most of 2023 in Triple-A. However, given Celestino’s limited minor league experience (only 75 career games above High-A), this season at Triple-A is critical for his maturation as a player. The thumb injury Celestino suffered early in camp required surgery, putting his development plan on hold while he is out until late April. Missing one month isn’t catastrophic, but finger injuries can linger. If Celestino rushes back or suffers a setback, his long-term development will pay the price.
Winners
1. Edouard Julien
Despite all the praise that top prospect Brooks Lee garnered in Fort Myers, Julien is undoubtedly the Twins prospect whose stock has risen the most this spring. Across seven games with the Twins and four games with Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, Julien is hitting .394 (13 for 33) with five homeruns and six walks. His advanced approach at the plate looks MLB-ready, mixing patience with power. The Twins’ infield depth and questions about Julien’s defensive home created a roster crunch that resulted in Julien being optioned to Triple-A on March 14, but Julien’s performance this spring shows that he is ready to contribute at Target Field.
2. Kyle Farmer
Farmer’s solid Spring Training—an OPS of 1.052 and four homeruns—has flown under the radar as health questions about Alex Kiriloff, Jorge Polanco, and Jose Miranda have dominated Twins infield storylines. The 31-year-old Farmer is a six-year veteran, so a good month of March doesn’t change his projected upside, but he is a “winner” here because he will leave Fort Myers poised to parlay his hot bat into important at-bats for the Twins. His infield counterparts Polanco and Kirilloff are starting the season on the Injured List, meaning Farmer will play a critical role in the Twins’ early-season success. If Farmer keeps hitting, the Twins offense will get a massive boost and Farmer could become a valuable trade chip to fill an everyday role on another team.
3. The Twins Front Office
There are plenty of valid questions about the Twins’ offseason moves. Will Joey Gallo rebound from his terrible 2022 season? And did the team need another left-handed hitting outfielder? How will the offense replace the bat-to-ball skills of Luis Arraez? etc. Regardless, one thing is clear this spring: this Twins roster is deep. Yes, Jorge Polanco and Alex Kiriloff are starting the season on the IL, however the Twins have starting-caliber replacements in Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, and Nick Gordon. Typically, exclusively DH-ing a Platinum Glove winner like Byron Buxton would wreck a team’s defense, but the Twins adding recent Gold Glove winners in Michael A. Taylor and Joey Gallo minimizes the defensive decline. And Bailey Ober, probably the odd man out of the Twins’ early-season starting rotation, has yet to allow a run this spring and continues to look like a fourth starter in a competent MLB rotation. Not to mention the prospect reinforcements waiting at Triple-A. All said, Spring Training has shown that this front office deserves credit for building the deepest Twins roster in recent memory.
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Thanks for reading! I'm interested to hear your thoughts and your winners/losers of the spring.

It’s hard to get excited about the Minnesota Twins. They could easily be an exciting team by next spring but that’s beside the point. The Twins just never seem to command any respect.
They’ve been around for sixty years, have won two titles and plenty of divisions. No one blamed them for getting Sandy Koufax’d in 1965. They had a historic home run hitter in Harmon Killebrew, a spark plug who could carry a team in Kirby Puckett, and the Jack Morris ten inning shutout. They don't limit payroll to criminal degree like the Pirates or Reds, and they don't make laughable front office decisions like the Rockies or Royals. They've won more than teams like the Rangers, Diamondbacks, Padres and Cubs. But they remain the “Twinkies.”
They probably became underdogs in 1987, when an 85 win team defied all odds and beat a Jack Clark-less Cardinals team. 1991 was as deserved as can be, but in baseball, teams get branded and it’s up to the team to shake off the label. Instead the underdog designation was leaned into with scrappy players who were taught to de-emphasize power, much to the chagrin of one D. Ortiz. Not too long after the core of the 1991 team went their separate ways did other teams start to exploit this philosophy. They realized they could just lean on their strengths and pulverize a cute team with some nice players-If they were a good team- the Twins from ’91 on could usually beat the so-so and bad teams. The way the Twins have been historically, they’re a good barometer for teams to know if they are true contenders or not.
But the “put the ball in play and pitch to contact” mantra was pretty dated by the time the 90s rolled around. The Twins kept using it, especially under Tom Kelly. Under Ron Gardenhire they evolved into a more stars n’ scrubs kind of pesky, where as an opposing team you pitch around Mauer and Morneau only to get burned by Nick Punto.
The team has operated in a more modern way since the new Falvey and Levine regime rolled in after 2016, but the lack of credibility isn’t helped by the shameful playoff losing streak, or the declining ticket sales.
Sure, they have new uniforms, a bunch of quality players returning from injury and have made big splashes in free agency two of the last three offseasons, but good luck convincing anyone to jump on the bandwagon.
Going anywhere near that bandwagon is a bitter blend of Lucy pulling the ball back from Charlie Brown, a dash of Bill Buckner, a little hubris, that meme of Michael Scott saying I’m ready to get hurt again, the Timberwolves, and a general aesthetic of being both old-fashioned and a little brother. Imagine a toddler wearing a baseball uniform from 1910 and just getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly. If you’re new to the Twins, that’s kind of where we’re at.
This may be a controversial take, but I think 2022 was something different. To the untrained eye, a middling team got hot in April and let it slip away due to regression to the mean and some key injuries. The starting pitching was mediocre and the bullpen often struggled to get the game to superstar ace reliever Jhoan Duran. The lineup needed another right-handed bat. But I saw flashes of a complete team with correctable flaws and most importantly, a different feel about them. Maybe it was the media getting to go back into the clubhouses and seeing the human side of the players once again. Or maybe something changed when Correa was brought in.
The easiest difference to pinpoint was that the Twins certainly seemed like a more serious team. A lot of that may have come from Correa, which I think is why the front office appears to be making a real play to bring him back. Getting a dedicated, serious, superstar player who is bilingual and wants to lead seemed to make a big difference. Arraez went from being sillier than Juan Soto in the box, to looking almost menacing at times, and played meaningless games down the stretch on a busted hamstring just to say his batting title was legitimate. Tom Kelly would have hated that. Buxton was a warrior- he’s played through injuries before but nothing like what he tried in ’22. Duran had one of the best reliever season in Twins history and I don’t think he smiled once. Ditto for Sonny Gray. Even Rocco Baldelli letting his inner-Rocco out from time to time on the umpires was a welcome change.
That isn’t to say having a funny moment from time to time is what led to eighteen straight playoff losses, but with that streak and the somewhat stunning implosion of 2021, it made sense to raise the standard for professionalism a notch. They still struggled against the very best teams but had a winning record against the AL East and played competitive games for the most part, including a few more add-on runs, an Achilles heel of the 2019-2021 teams. Eventually the lineup got overmatched with the system fresh out of right-handed corner guys, Sandy Leon catching half the time, Arraez playing hurt, Gary Sanchez watching his career slip away and Miranda looking gassed. I don’t blame the injuries to the star players; I blame the injuries to the first layer of depth; Royce Lewis’ injury was the most devastating, but Alex Kirilloff’s was a close second. Trevor Larnach looked like he was starting to figure out breaking balls before he tried to play through a hernia. Kyle Garlick going down ended up being a big loss when Jake Cave and Mark Contreras were sent to replace him. How does Jordan Balzovic’s season go if he doesn’t hurt his knee? Those guys were the reinforcements, and the third string options weren’t there, as would be the case with most teams. For example, if the Dodgers top four outfielders all got hurt, that would open holes for them, as well. James Outman looks like a decent prospect, but the thought of him with his sixteen career PA and Joey Gallo being your best options out there is pretty rough. And if you include Kepler’s toe, the Twins had five outfielders (six if you include Lewis) with significant injuries, with all five of them either healthy or “about to be” healthy at the trade deadline. Either Target Field was built on an ancient Native American burial ground, or that is some garbage luck.
My point isn’t that the 2022 team was amazing, it’s that they were respectable. Sometimes the best laid plans get you kicked in the stones. Running it back and expecting different results goes against conventional wisdom, but sometimes a group needs to experience a good stone kicking. 2001 was the last time Cleveland chased down the Twins and ended up grabbing the division by a good margin and we all remember what happened after that.
And here we are, with 50M to spend and no gaping holes, with a lineup that could look like this:
DH Arraez
CF Buxton
3B Miranda
2B Polanco
1B Kirilloff
RF Larnach
LF Gordon
C Jeffers
SS Farmer
Bench:
Celestino
Sandy Leon or something
Eduoard Julien?
Kepler/Wallner/Gordon
 
And a rotation that looks like this:
Sonny Gray
Tyler Mahle
Kenta Maeda
Joe Ryan
Bailey Ober
 
Louie Varland
Simeon Woods-Richardson
Josh Winder
Jordan Balazovic
 
And a bullpen like this:
Duran
Lopez
Jax
Thielbar
Alcala
Moran
Pagan (the unseriousness is still strong here)
Henriquez
 
Not a lot of holes, and you don’t have to squint hard to see this team easily outperforming its 81-81 projection. Another factor is that the Twins front office is even more desperate now, with their jobs very much on the line. They signed the number one free agent last offseason and had the most aggressive trade deadline in Twins history last year (albeit not a high bar to clear). They are going for it more than any Twins team I can remember, and if they can put the payroll space they have available to any sort of good use, this could be a championship club. Don’t let your past trauma and embarrassment convince you otherwise!
If they get Carlos Rodon with that money, they have the best rotation in the Central with incredible depth and can match up with any team in a short series.
If they get Correa with that money the lineup is a force and the depth is similarly incredible if Royce Lewis is able to come back and/or Brooks Lee, Austin Martin and Edouard Julien arrive.
If they get Willson Contreras with that money the lineup goes eight deep and leaves 30M or so left to continue adding or to add a huge piece at the deadline.
It’s interesting stuff, and thanks to this front office’s frugality outside of the handful of big free agent signings, there is a chance for some sustainability here. Mahle, Maeda and Gray are likely gone after this year… and that’s it, unless you’re a big Max Kepler fan. The teams of the 2000s, by comparison, were capped by an astounding lack of quality depth, with massive holes not addressed, or filled with Tony Batista types. Sift through any of the 8-20 batters on a Twins baseball-reference page in the 2000-2010 era and you will be met with the absolute dregs or organized baseball: Brent Gates, Luis Rodriguez, Juan Castro, Brent Abernathy, Brian Buscher, Jason Repko, Matt Tolbert, Luke Hughes, Brian Dinkelman, Rene Tosoni, Clete Thomas- and some of those guys got 300 at-bats. If Gordon and Celestino are paired with Lee, Martin, Lewis, Wallner and maybe even Jeffers, the difference is clear to see.
I don’t want to overstate this, because the Astros are on another level with incredible depth that looks to be getting even better, but the Yankees finished second in the AL last year, and if they don’t sign Aaron Judge they are still well into the luxury tax penalty with a lineup consisting of:
1. Whatever is left of D.J. LeMahieu
2. Gleyber Torres unless he is traded
3. Anthony Rizzo
4. The declining and increasingly cringe-swinging Giancarlo Stanton
5. Josh Donaldson and his sub .700 OPS
6. Aaron Hicks
7. Harrison Bader
8. Jose Trevino (That all-star nod is looking a little Bryan LaHair-ish)
9. IKF or a rookie (Volpe and Peraza do look pretty good)
 
My guess is the Yankees would still make a significant signing, but even if it’s Bogaerts or Correa they have a problem here. For the first time in thirty years, I think I would prefer to be in the Twins boat right now.
The future is bright, you just have to let yourself see it. For fifteen years or so the Twins were, more or less, embarrassing to be a fan of, alternating between bad, scrappy, and sorta good but always accompanied by a certain unseriousness, whether that be Gardenhire not knowing how to utilize the number two slot in the lineup or how the internet worked, extending Phil Hughes for no reason, or discouraging lifting the ball to the pull side. Thankfully, the roster construction has evolved from a stars and scrubs team (2000’s), to a team full of three WAR guys (2019-2020), to a stars and three WAR guys™ team provided they spend even 30M of the money they have left to reach last year’s payroll, with a front office desperate to make that happen. Becoming a powerhouse is the best way to shake off decades-old narratives and restore the credibility/respect needed to have any intimidation factor come playoff time. Any of the following scenarios work for me:
Correa and Tucker Barnhart, 40M AAV
Dansby and Narvaez, 40M AAV
Rodon and Danny Jansen, 35M AAV (minus some combination of Larnach, Wallner and Kepler, maybe David Festa or someone similar)
Bogaerts and a trade for Brandon Woodruff (minus Arraez, RIP, plus a top ten org prospect) plus Mike Redmond out of retirement, 40M AAV
I think it will happen in some combination, but these things tend to not work out the way you imagine. Last year we as fans thought they would trade for a starter after Sonny Gray- we didn’t think it would involve Taylor Rogers and now he's at a career crossroads. Trading Donaldson and IKF was beyond my level of creativity, and I would say that trade was a resounding success.
The division is terrible, and just as the Twins can probably count on fewer injuries next year, so too can Cleveland count on having some. I cannot stress enough how obnoxious it was that they dealt with no significant injuries the entire year. Their pitching is overrated, their lineup is underrated, but somebody crucial will deal with injury next year. The Twins adding seven WAR via free agency gets them to an 88 win total in theory, and one of their young guys busting out gets them to 91. Then there is the Buxton wildcard- if he misses time but gets healthy for the stretch run, the true talent level goes through the roof. If Kirilloff’s bone shaving operation works (it did for a young Kirk Gibson) he becomes one of the highest upside bats on the team.
The Guardians are the division champs for now, and give them credit. But the Twins are no longer the team that accommodates Nelson Cruz’s mid-afternoon naps, Brian Dozier’s Rubix cube prowess or Michael Cuddyer’s magic show then has no idea what intensity is in the playoffs. Even if Correa leaves, his impact has been felt and with a few good signings and a couple in-season breaks, this team will strike fear in teams in ways it hasn’t since Killebrew and Carew. Now return to your regularly scheduled refreshing of MLBtraderumors.

He's not a downward plane kinda pitcher, more like Cole Sands in that his whole delivery seems to happen down low. Louie Varland looks legit to me. When I saw his compact delivery, it reminded me a little of Bartolo Colon, who looked like a converted catcher. The tight snap from behind the ear, no big, loopy wind-up, is a style that works well for some good pitchers, like Grienke. The quick delivery and up-tempo pace will help him surprise some hitters, who are accustomed to a more relaxed pace. Less time between pitches means less time for the hitter to process the pitching sequence and predict the next one. That and the compact delivery also means less time for a runner to read the pitcher's move to home...or not. 
One thing that really impressed me was his K of Judge in the first. Got him with a beautiful diving change that caught the inside corner. He could throw a dozen of those to Judge, and I bet the guy still couldn't straighten that one out. Especially if he also can zip a heater high in the zone just previous. Point is, it looks to me like Varland can do just that. His command of several pitches is better than Joe Ryan's, not counting Ryan's heater, which is his one great pitch. Varland doesn't appear to have one great pitch, but he's got several very good ones, which bodes well. 
If his arm doesn't fall off, keep this young stud in the rotation. Twins have found themselves another good young pitcher. 

I am not a handyman. I am a jack of no trades. When it became time to prepare my snowblower for storage, I took it as a threat to the peace and harmony of my weekend. Sure enough, I managed to stretch a small chore into two days of choking back cuss words because my daughter was in earshot. It's ready now. Probably.
The nice part is I didn't suffer alone. I had Cory Provus and Dan Gladden to keep me company. I listened to the Twins play in the garage. It felt right, somehow. Baseball and small engine maintenance. I'm typing this with grease and oil on my hands. My wife seeded the lawn while I labored. Typical home-owner stuff, with baseball keeping us company. Same as it ever was, as long as fans have had radios and things to do.
Cory Provus was being harassed for not being an athlete, but I don't think he's the only non-athlete in the world of baseball. There are lots of different ways of being one of the gang. Baseball already sports a stark dichotomy between its jocks and its nerds (both terms used with love). But that's not all. There are those of us who love the sport for its history and storytelling, present company most definitely included. 
You don't have to be a five-tool all-star to join the screaming hordes of Twins territory. Baseball, I believe, can be an outlet for healthy masculinity. Masculinity is a style of being that doesn't have to be tied to men. It doesn't have to be exclusive and punitive. Masculinity can be a rough and tumble ride for everyone. Yell. Pump your fist. Become a part of the howling crowd. Let out the beast in you where it's safe to be free. 
In an extra-innings game in the Dome, I remember what happened when Joe Crede hit a walk-off grand slam. I screamed. We all screamed. Some dude standing next to me screamed with me. We hugged hard after slapping hands in a high five. Masculine, but without toxicity.
The Twins made Saturday and Sunday worth my time. Solid pitching and runs galore. I yelled and pumped my fist by myself, except not really. Other people are out there, yelling with me in their own garages and houses. It's a safe place to be a part of the team. Correa and company gave me plenty to yell about, too.
In college, one of my roommates bought another roommate a Green Bay hat and told him he liked the Packers now. It worked. What a simple gesture with to bring someone onto the team. At a time where people complain about masculinity (and baseball) losing traction, what are we doing to bring people to share their voices in the roar of the crowd? 

The Twins go all offseason barely touching on the rotation, then they make a move for Sonny Gray. Ok a decent move, but again trading away Chase Petty is only a good move if they make other good moves. Then with abotu a week or so to go before real games they sign Chris Archer.  OK, doesnt really move the needle, but isnt a move that will hurt you. Now on the Eve of what would have been the Twins Opener there are strong indications the Twins are trying to get Chris Paddock from the Padres.
NO.  FULL STOP!!
I don't care if you get him for a bag of used batting practice balls. He brings ZERO added value above what we already have available to us!!!
It is crazy to say we are already flush with pitchers, BUT... we are already flush with THAT KIND of pitchers!!!
We have 3 quality starters a 4th with potential and a 5th starter we can easily replace with Winder after his first few horrible starts.
 
Top 3:
Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.  Quality pitchers, 2 of the 3 unproven over the long haul, but still quality.
4th = Archer. yes a reclamation project a bit, but if you are selling hope, he can be a decent #4 with "flash games" where he dominates.
5th = Bundy is a joke. he will be out of the rotation and off the team by the end of May, but that will allow Winder to step right in. and we have a couple other potential starters who could use the first month to get in pitching shape as well.
SO what does adding Paddock do?  He doesnt replace the top 3, or even top 4. so that means Bundy goes. and even with all of the afore mentioned Bundy Bashing, he has been good in Spring. so you gonna replace him now??
 
It makes ZERO sense to bring in another pitcher unless it is a marked improvement over another pitcher. And Paddock simply isnt. 
By every single metric he is a pitcher who had a good rookie year and has gotten progressive worse each year after. PLUS has injury concerns with his pitching arm!!!
What is even MORE alarming are the reports that we would consider moving Taylor Rodgers!!!!!  Seriously???  I understand Jhoan "Splinker" Duran could be a bullpen stud, but to move Rodgers in a package for Paddock???  This could be rampant speculation, but if this happens the Twins better get some SERIOUS other compensation for Rodgers.