JD-TWINS

Keaschall’s first night back on the Roster Tuesday night - starting at 2B - 2 RBI homer ……. RBI single………,,He shouldn’t be playing in front of Eddie though. Eddie lead MLB in K’s looking and the guy that was 2nd had 200 more AB’s in ‘24 …….. if I never see Eddie play again for the Twins, it would be just fine.

Jorge, as disappointing as he can be with the stupidity and lack of focus …….. walks & more walks………he’s waaay better than Noah Davis!!

TWINS let Pagan go & now he’s the Red’s closer …….. they let Ronny Henriquez go and he’s a star in Miami ………. they developed Varland from a low draft pick into a budding PEN star …….. they signed Coulombe as a FA last off-season. They have Matthews - Ober - Ryan - SWR - Festa - Lopez for the core rotation 6 headed into ‘26 ……. could be moving one of those guys ….. they certainly all need to be on a Roster somewhere in MLB in April of ‘26! Bradley - Abil - Rojas - Prielipp ………….. Charlie Soto - Andrew Morris ……. there are plenty of options in the system, along with a couple FA additions to supplement next year’s PEN - they can add velocity and develop pitching - it’s been done repeatedly. They brought Stewart back from the dead. Sands -Topa - Funderburk & 2-3 from above along with a couple FA’s…….I have confidence in what they’ll be working with in Spring Training.

Buxton is a great talent!! He’s been injured an inordinate amount over the past 10 years ……. 107 games & 140 games other than those 2 seasons he hasn’t played 100 games plus in a season ……. this year should change that…….. Saying the Twins (regardless of the deadline) have let Byron Buxton down is ridiculous. I must say, I wasn’t thrilled with Jax being traded (benefit of Bradley is real) & really bothered by Varland’s trade. They got real value back in the trade with Toronto but letting a kid from St. Paul go with control through 2030 seemed short sighted - we’ll see. France - Paddack - Dobnack - Coulombe - Correa (fading performance and injuries have started) - Castro - Bader ……… that’s 7 of the 11 guys moved……..no big deal, seriously, as nobody thought the Team was going to be competitive any longer in ‘25 after July 26th. Duran & his probable $8M salary are gone. Jax and his probable $4M salary are gone. The other guys total, this year, to $58M. That, with what Jax & Duran make currently, frees up $65M in annual salary heading to ‘26. Again, Varland stings but Stewart is an injury waiting to happen. …… I wish them all well BUT them no longer being Twins does not spell doom in ‘26. Lopez hurt - Ober hurt - Keaschall hurt…….etc……..all coming back. Lewis is finally playing well - enough n last 4 games Larnach, Lewis, & Wallner have all contributed in the way they should as central figures in the core of the Team. Buxton has generally been healthy and has performed. at a high level. Keaschall is the real deal and the future at 2B or 1B for years. Bradley - Rojas - Abel all have the talent to step in for guys that were traded, with more years of low cost control. TEAM has flexibility for 2-3 FA adds in the off-season and with the core of Buxton - Keaschall - Jeffers - Lewis - Larnach -Wallner, I see them being very competitive in ‘26.

My wish would be to keep Ryan & Lopez ……and met the other 5-6 arms sort out the other 3 spots. Not sure, with all the talk about more trades after the season, why nobody isn’t 100% promoting the trade price as Lopez. He’s under contract for 3 more seasons s so Team’s have a view of salary & Twins would seem to be motivated to move the $21.75M - right? He certainly should be affordable for MN but sho knows what the attitude might be from ownership based on success rate when he comes back?

The optioning of Zebby, to gain a year, makes great sense……. was unaware.

They could have traded France w/o Varland …… it makes no sense unless they really like the lefty from Toronto a bunch. Who knows Louie may have texted Falvey an emoji after his Penmates were gone or maybe he yelled at the wrong guy in management? Control through ‘30 - most appearance out of the Pen - putting together great year & a local kid made good……………I’m in Cincinnati and assumed their was some local buzz on what happened. I certainly don’t get it - have heard pundits on MLB TV say the pitcher from Toronto has a future. I was not surprised or really bothered by any trade up until Jax - Taj Bradley has some experience and real upside, so I moved on - Varland though???

With Lewis hurt for last 2 years (while often underperforming) and CC hurt a big % of ‘24 …….. with Keaschall (a real Spark) going down almost immediately & with Lopez & Ober out………. there was no “one other guy” that pushes the Team forward and makes them a winner………more competitive, sure, but not 15 games better in ‘25 nor 8 games better in ‘24.

Assuming Lopez isn’t going anywhere - same with Ryan - Ober, we’ll see how he looks over the next few weeks? Bradley - Matthews - Festa - SWR Prielipp & lefty obtained from Toronto (Rojas?) could be bullpen options along with Abel from Philadelphia…………moving Matthews or Bradley to Closer seems viable to me but probably not well received by anyone else? Somebody, maybe Lopez? (I assume they keep him for stability and to educate by example), may get traded in off-season. He would also, with reasonable performance in ‘26, be very valuable at the deadline next year if Twins are not competitive. The rotation is deep enough to Win right away. Filling Vazquez spot with some positive impact at C shouldn’t be difficult……. & there’s Jeffers. Lewis - Lee - Keaschall all seem to slot in on the dirt and if Keaschall is 75-80% of what he showed when called up this group is solid offensively, as Lewis seems to have turned a corner……..I do think that K. Culpepper will have an opportunity at SS by mid ‘26. Larnach - Buxton - Martin? - Emma? - Wallner? NEW, impact guy via FA or from trading a pitcher……… Wallner is closing in on Julien & Miranda as a one year wonder & potentially not viable in MLB with mediocre defense & 19 singles in 213 AB’s ……. his OBP is good for a guy perpetually hitting .204 but he’s a hole in the line-up that occasionally hits a bomb ……. usually with bases empty. A .455 Slug% with 22 RBI with 25 XBH …….. not very clutch, terrible with RISP!!! 1B & DH ………. Keaschall, to me makes sense at 1B long term with his near-term arm issues. Also, a FA signing for one or both of these slots is realistic. ……..this year’s #1 pick from Wake seems to slot as long-term 2B, IMO. $25-30M budget on (2) FA position players & $10-$14M budget on(3) FA Bullpen ………. with some arbitration increases (most will be neutral) the total spend should be near or less than ‘25. For the record - Lewis hasn’t been an option at SS for at least 4-5 years.

As of 6:00 Eastern Thursday night the Twins had 17 guys on the active 26 Man Roster……..there’s room for Walker! Traded Louie Varland, innings leader in PEN & improving ………under control through ‘30. What’s up with that?

.300 over last 274 AB’s - 1/3 of season to go…….not really that bad. Not complaining about moving him and the contract. Saving $20M/year for 3 years. Took away $11.6M from PEN with a cost of $3.7M to replace 5 spots with young guys…..$7.9M NET savings. Took away $46M with the 4 position players (assuming $11M is Twin’s share of CC) the NET savings w/o replacements is $35M. Paddack & Dobnack is another $10M saved. Total of $53M to be applied to future roster and that’s budgeting the same number in ‘26 as they spent in ‘25. Buxton - Larnach - Keaschall - Jeffers - Lewis - Wallner - Lee ………….along with fresh faces in ‘26.

Hitting .300 over his last 274 AB’s ……. no pop …..not much in clutch either (preaching to the choir) BUT he’s been OK or better on average since May 1. Playing on a winning club mixed in with Altuve & a handful of other capable bats will help the mental outlook a bunch!!

I guess you throw Abel & Bradley into the fire and work on the fixes in off-season & next Spring?? Gotta have somebody in PEN. May be a couple dFA’s available to throw relief😉😉 Gotta watch Prielipp’s innings……PEN is seriously blown up!

Were they able to trade Kiersey? I don’t see his name here and he’s started 2 of 3……..I hope he got thrown into a deal!! Sorry DeShawn but you’re not the answer. Buxton may get some extended rest through last couple months……mental health days!! Jax for Bradley - OK All the others, OK. WHY Varland though????

???????? Target Field is highly thought of throughout MLB……..there’s no connection with the two venues other than sponsor name.

That’s the solution for Matt Wallner? Solution for CC having less than 10 HR? Solution for FO signing Ty France as the solution at 1B? Solution for Ober’s performance and injuries? Solution for Lopez missing half the year, or more, with 2 different IL stints? The Yankees can’t win without Boone managing - Mets can’t win w/o their manager - Phillies can’t win……Dodgers can’t win…..etc. Ridiculous - the players perform at mediocre levels and it has nothing to do with motivation nor direction from the Manager. Fly ball to right and Castro looks like an 11 year old approaching the can of corn …… Lee ends up dropping it ….. leads to big inning & loss. Players have to make plays AND be available.

“fading fast” ……. .300 over last 274 AB’s - defense is similar to last 2-3 years…………..that said, I have no issue moving him to free up $20 plus million, assuming they’ll still have to pay $10M/yr. Trading him, generally, will not alienate the fans IF they’ll still $$ freed up get spent on new talent or extending current “key” talent. Worrying about how other future “free agents” see the organization due to trading long-term FA’s is silly………new ownership in the way …… clean slate with MLBPA viewpoint. CC has a NO trade clause, so if he gets traded it’s approved by him - IMO, that buys credibility with future FA’s

Hey genius - Skenes was the #1 pick in the draft - he’s started the All-star game his first two years - Z. Matthews was like a 16th round pick. Glavine & Maddux are in the HOF (top 1%) ……..Festa was sometime after round 10. Expecting Twin’s two guys to be on the level of all-time Freaks in the game doesn’t make a hell if a lot of sense. My point is Glavine and Maddux pitched for 3-5 years in pro ball…….in the Show, by the time they were 25. Nobody is providing the instruction nor competition at bumble f… university for Matthews & Festa to reach their potential by 25. It’s not just the Twins organization with this reality it’s all of MLB. Ober and Ryan didn’t show **** until they were 27……..

Keaschall was very success in a 7 game stint at MLB level …… 5 steals - .388 BA - etc. ……… he got knocked out with a broken forearm on a pitched ball. Can’t control that. Emma is continually hurt.

Maddux was 8-18 in his first 2 seasons ……. Glavine was 9-21 in his first 2 seasons. Guys of yesteryear were drafted young and brought into Majors as 20 - 21 - 22 year olds…….the guys like Festa, Matthews, & Ohl are being coddled in college and then drafted as 22 year olds so they don’t reach MLB for 3-4 years after guys like Glavine & Maddux did 35 years ago.

…….a good team & they traded away Rafael Devers!! I do see on MLB Network this a.m. that Houston has interest in re-uniting with Carlos Correa 🤞🤞🤞……….not sure why or where he’d play? If TWINS could get $25M of salary relief and a minor league prospect of any kind (even a couple of doughnuts) hopefully, a Catcher, it would be a huge move. Immediately extend Castro for Utility and take a flier on Lewis - Lee - Keaschall on the dirt with 1B TBD for ‘26. Trade Harrison along with a pitcher for a “real player” & maybe re-sign Bader in off season if desired. Still leaves $15M for improvements within same budget as ‘25.

I trade somebody (Jax - Sands/Coulombe - SWR/Sands) for Catcher/1B Rushing of Dodgers. They are in “win now” mode, big time! They need competent relievers!! Sands/Coulombe really lengthens their PEN ….. Stewart/Coulombe is also an option. Twins could try to re-sign Coulombe over the Winter if desired. …… Maybe we flip the Catcher prospect from Detroit & Stewart &/or Coulombe for Rushing? To me, seriously considering moving Jeffers to 1B & have him be the 3rd Catcher (10% of starts) makes a bunch of sense. Rushing as primary Catcher ….. a Vazquez type for 30% of games for $4.5M is probably realistic. Clemens seems to be a stretch for ‘26 if offensive upgrades are sought, but Lee & Clemens cover a bunch of spots as Utility guys. Lewis - CC - Keaschall - Jeffers - Rushing (IF) Larnach - Buxton - Wallner (OF) Need to spend on DH & RH hitting OF (via off-season trades potentially)…..FA🤞 Have to come to realization that Lee may be a lifer back-up and Wallner may be a wash out. These two, along with Martin are the Poster Boys for why a Team can’t give up contributors for other team’s “valued prospects.” Tough to get opponents to trade good players and there aren’t many worthwhile in free agency year over year. One guy here just wants team to sign 3 guys hitting .275-.300 (no problem???) ……..not many teams that have 2 guys hitting .275 in today’s game!

OR, hang on to him and sign him under new ownership at $9.5M. With Wallner & Larnach almost certainly coming back with the potential of Emma being pretty serious contender, that’s 3 lefties with Buxton in OF going forward……..maybe Keaschall but I think he’s the new (more limited) Willi Castro, playing 2B & corner OF. Bottom line is they’ll be looking for a RH hitting OF. Could trade Bader AND try to re-sign him? Seems he has a player option for ‘26 (team option, maybe not?) that would travel with him. I see him declining at the plate over the months (expected) and am not stuck on him but he does play good defense and brings an upbeat attitude to the yard every day…..that’s a big deal IMO. Kiersey, along with Adams, need to be given to another team in trade or more realistically, DFA’d. Can’t see Kiersey as any kind of option in the Show in ‘26 or even August of ‘25! If they trade Bader & Castro, Buxton gets way more days off unless there’s some unforeseen 7 game win streak in the near future………these events put Kiersey in position to start ballgames through balance of the year. Sure hope that doesn’t happen!

Churio of the Brewers is another possible target……..seems Castro would fit there very well, with maybe Sands and a young arm, & hang on to Jax?

Bader/Paddack package with The Sheriff going into the Dodger pen (a definite need) isn’t terribly far fetched. Bader/Jax nets Rushing and somebody else from their system?