JD-TWINS

Do not see that as an option???

Again, Outman was a flier - maybe he comes in and starts to look more like ROY candidate from 2023………..hasn’t happened. Depth for Buxton for days off. Roden tore up AAA for a couple years but didn’t show much in his time with Twins & hurt as well. Again, Rojas was the central figure in this trade with Toronto …… if Roden forces his way onto the roster, great! Mendez is 22 through the season and doesn’t really relate to one more year of Larnach. AA is highest level to date. Also, potential CF depth at some point. Jenkins is still on the young man’s development path. Gonzalez hits RH. Rodriguez has shown year after year that the Team can’t count on him being available due to multiple health issues. A relatively inexpensive “known” in Larnach trumps a bunch of maybes. He’ll DH 80% of his starts. Can always shift things during the season. EVERYONE is blocked until one beats somebody out with performance!

I know of Outman & Roden …… not sure who the 3rd OF guy “brought in” is? DFAing Outman and keeping Roden in AAA or as the LF while Larnach is the DH v. RH pitching is a solution that’s likely. If Rodriguez or Jenkins or Gonzalez hits their way onto the 26-man, great. Worrying about “blocking Roden &/or Outman” isn’t a real concern for the organization. Outman was a flier trade for the oft injured Brock Stewart…..he threw 3 1/3 for the Dodgers before he was done for the season. Roden was the SECOND piece in the trade with Toronto for Rojas! Larnach’s OPS (as a true platoon) was .771 in ‘24 …….. he had 15 HR’s in a strict platoon with 355 AB’s. Last year they tried “to expand his role” and he had 118 AB’s against lefties (24%) and it dropped his overall OPS to .727. When he goes back to a straight platoon in ‘26 his OPS will rebound. He had 17 HR’s in 503 AB’s in ‘26. Bell at 1B with Carstini at C and Clemens or Roden in LF with Larnach at DH is the probable set of lefties, w/Wallner v. RH pitching.

No offense - this is to everyone who feels the “$$ spent” on Larnach are recklessly spent. The recklessness is an organization that has gotten So So So cheap that their fanbase thinks there is some ceiling or constraint on spending - for some reason other than the OWNERSHIP BEING CHEAP. Larnach makes less than $5M and the total Salary spend is somewhere around $108M for the year. His salary is almost free on 65% of the rosters in the game. $108M spend in ‘26 after spending $155M in 2023 is an embarrassing twist……….$122M in ‘21 & $136M in ‘22. The spending on Larnach not taking place “so the organization could use it elsewhere” because they can’t spend any more, is, or should be, sickening to the fanbase.

Get ready: Lee & Bell, as switch hitters, will be in the Line-up 80% of the time together.

Will Emma be healthy for more than 35 days at a time? ………..if he is great! Outman & Roden & Clemens are not the answer and at $108M for ‘26, how much more does the “Team need to save”? People keep saying the organization shouldn’t have “spent” on Larnach - come on - in real terms across the game, he’s almost free. I like Larnach’s bat v. RH pitching until someone forces him off the roster.

RISP in April - June - August, v. RHP who do you prefer at the plate? ……….. Outman - Roden - Larnach That’s why he was tendered.

Why do guys, that age over years at SS and lose mobility, get moved to 3B routinely? How many times do guys at 3B range 5 steps to their right (ever) and then pick up the ball to make the throw? ……… off a bad plant leg? Distance of throw and quickness needed, once one has the ball, are not nearly as difficult from 2B. Carlos Correa - lost mobility ……now at 3B. Royce Lewis - knee surgeries - lost mobility…… now at 3B.

Agreed on Houston by ‘27 ……. outside sources have suggested the Twins eat the offensive downside in ‘26 and roll him out immediately for his glove.

Not happening after 2 knee reconstructions.

ROTATION is above average and certainly able to help them compete. IMO …… Abel, Morris, Rojas are depth guys behind Bradley in the 5th spot. PEN has 3 guys back that are all reasonable contributors in Topa - Funderburk - Sands ……., Orze offsets loss of Stewart and Rogers offsets loss of Coulombe. Klein - Adams - Raya - Prielipp - Festa - Matthews are all guys that can be involved with filling the last 3 spots. They got 3-4 dumpster FA signings that may net them one reasonable PEN option - at least a few weeks of “OK” at some point in the year? Nobody was going to be pursued to replace Lewis at 3B ………. Lee SHOULD be the Utility guy on the dirt with a better defensive SS option every day, disappointing development for sure. Nobody was going to be pursued to replace Keaschall at 2B ………. Bell at 1B is a shot in the arm offensively and not a huge step back with glove - significant drop off defensively but still an overall plus at the position. Larnach is a solid LH platoon option at DH for 70% of games that are v. RH pitching. Caratini/Jeffers are RH platoon options at DH. Caratini replacing Vazquez is an improvement and coupled with Jeffers, the Catching unit is solid. OF wasn’t going to be an area of adding players v. FA or trades ….. considering Wallner should be capable of some comeback upswing at the plate…….. Buxton is not getting displaced …….. Martin/Clemens/Larnach/Outman/Roden are all in the LF potential mix. Jenkins - Gonzalez - Rodriguez ALL potentially being ready at some point in ‘26 solidified the ZERO interest in pursuing any OF help. A thought: Sign Zack Littell for $18M for 2 years to anchor the 3-4 spot in rotation. ……… trade some combination of existing pitching & and offensive prospect to Nationals for C.J. Abram’s………..OR move up #1 Draft Pick, M. Houston, at SS to lean into his defense and not worry about his .195 BA …… gains some premium defense and no FA signings needed (no $ spent) and current prospects are kept in tact.

Through 50 starts in ‘24/‘25 combined, Woods Richardson is 12-9 (over his age 23/24 seasons - averaging 122 innings/yr.) with a WAR of 2.0 & 2.2 respectively. His blended ERA in those 2 seasons is essentially 4.10………..that equates to 2.43 runs in a 5 1/3 inning outing. I do not understand the continual lack of respect he gets for his proven upside?

Agreed - I thought the “dominant” description was a real stretch! Maybe, “talented with upside”? Monitored innings - able to pitch at full effort - able to contribute in The Show……. are all big positives for Prielipp in the PEN in ‘26.

I’m absolutely shocked that Matt is hurt again!! Seriously, his rate of availability has to be around 10% over his time connected with the organization. Discussing him going forward as a contributor is like hoping Santana comes out of retirement to pitch. Done with Matt…….understood, nothing he can control, have to feel for him, but he’s not helping the club!

Not sure if you agree or disagree with the previous statements? I personally don’t see the rotation as having unanswered questions. Certainly agree though that SS and back end of bullpen are serious areas of concern in February!

Kind of a silly comparative point since they traded 10 people off the 26 man roster with 33% of the games left - right? I doubt that was part of the PECOTA formula. If the FO thought 84 wins would ultimately be competitive in ‘25 they probably would not have made the moves made?

Festa & Matthews “could be effective starters” but the reality is Matthew’s performance history does not denote that he will be effective starting! Festa’s health/arm issues do not denote that he will be effective starting! NOBODY thought Varland “should be given up on as a starter”, ………”give him another shot in rotation….”. All 3 of these guys are lower draft picks that worked themselves into the mix - commendable for them & the organization. Varland is NOW “the reliever we shouldn’t have traded”……after 4 months in that roll with the Twins. Matthews at a minimum, & probably Festa as well, should be in the PEN (backend) by Opening Day.

You make an interesting point about 4 years of control (140 innings/yr) traded for 2 years of control (75 innings/yr)………that is not only opposed to Tampa’s thinking, it’s against nearly every other organization’s thinking, if not in “built to win now” mode. Could be Taj is a head case with a very straight fastball and Rays had the opportunity to get some value? Pitch mix …….. if he throws more curves and splitters, his fastball will have more effectiveness w/o a doubt. Easier said than done, but it appears his “sinker” should generally displace his 4 seam and he bumps his curve up to 25-30% of his offerings - he could throw 4-seam 10-15% of the time and surprise guys with it in the zone. I get it’s not video game baseball but somehow getting him more mentally engaged and interested in getting his pitch mix refined, to promote effectiveness - that’s key to him reaching his ceiling. If Bailey Ober can make his 90-91Mph fastball effective via pitch mix and location, there’s hope for Taj!

No offense but how about he pitches 15-20 innings before he gets ANY attention. Discussing his physical therapy and his throwing results “on the side” are very empty to me. I’ve seen Matt in the mix here literally for years and he never actually pitches before getting hurt again. Sorry, I just don’t need to hear more “lofty potential results” from a guy that cannot stay healthy more than a month at a time. He makes Brock Stewart seem durable.

The TOP 2 guys still need to be identified from my perspective. Sands - Funderburk - Topa - Rogers - Orze are all very reasonable guys found in bullpens across the game for 5th - 6th - 7th & occasionally spilling into the 8th innings, depending on workload of the back end guys………..potentially, none of them makes it through the year w/o some minor injury. Klein - Adams - Raya - Lewis can be added to this mix of 5 guys as depth…….maybe one can be the “6th guy” in the mix? Matthews - Prielipp - Festa - Morris need to fill the back end void. I’m not a talent expert, but it sure seems that nobody left on the FA market has better talent than these guys - just experience, with just as much risk of mediocre results. Trading for a guy that would actually be an “upgrade” just doesn’t seem likely as all other 31 Teams need reliable arms as well.

In what world does Ryan Jeffers get a HUGE return? He’s a slightly below average defender and above average at the plate, for a Catcher. He’s under control for ‘26 only. Not sure how that works into TWINS getting real benefit? I guess maybe you were saying J Ryan as a single trade piece? Jeffers and Ryan ……. sure…….. for Duran and a solid reliever or young arm from Boston…….just a thought. Trades are mostly abstract thoughts from the Fan’s perspective with no real idea of what may be possible or considered, IMO. i.e. …… The Polanco trade got Team DeSclafani - Topa - some low level pitcher & GONZALEZ. Topa has been better than letting Jorge just walk - Gonzalez looks, today, like he could be in the OF mix for next few years. Jeffers “could” bring that type of return but I don’t think this mix of guys is of any interest to Team v. selling Jeffers at the deadline with a Team in the mix & with a real/desperate need. The Team’s payroll is currently so low that I don’t see value in not keeping Ryan in ‘26 & potentially to at least the deadline in ‘27, and paying him.

His OBP is solid BETWEEN being sent down to AAA to try and not strike out 2 AB’s per game.

2.7 WAR “average” for Wallner is about as misleading as a stat could be…….. his 4 year real numbers are -.3 ……2.2 …….2.2 …….. .6. Twisting those 4 totals into an average of 2.7 WAR per year is creative “over 162 games”. The bad news is he’s hit so poorly in at least 2 of those seasons that he was sent AAA for big chunks of each summer. This past year he didn’t hit & he was hurt.,,,, 18 - 76 - 75 - 104 are the total games played per year in MLB over the past 4 seasons. Projecting numbers over 162 games per year is fictitious.

Is Matthews, with his pedigree and level of success over ‘24 & ‘25 at MLB, a better bet than Taj Bradley? How does he stack up with Abel’s stuff and probable capabilities ……& age? I get he’s a sentimental favorite but ESSENTIALLY EVERYONE here thought Varland should continue to get endless shots at being a starter as well. It’s time for Zebby to move to the PEN & trim his 6 pitch offering to 3-4 that work.

I get it, but a Team (staff) needs 5 starters with 2-3 alternatives in a typical rotation for a season…….while they need 8 relievers and 3-4 alternatives in the PEN for a typical season. Plenty of room for guys not in the first 3 rounds to be developed into real assets!