JD-TWINS

100% with you at Catcher depth……. I do think 2B depth is rich, just don’t see Eddie being part of the wealth……definitely part of the 1B plan…..Julien has 19 innings at 1B over 2 seasons.

Jovani Moran wasn’t putting anyone in the seats at Target Field - right? Why would the front office or anyone care much about the guy we got in trade being a “fan draw”? It’s an organizational depth move at Catcher & 1B. Makes some sense if he can make contact at AAA into May - an option if needed at that point. Team has waaaay too many options at 2B to ever worry about seeing Mickey there! It’s still December - Teams do not have rosters set at this point - if ever. Deep breaths……..

Vazquez Caught & played 2-3 other infield spots in emergency situations only. Still good to have a bit of flexibility……..you’re right, he’s needed as a Catcher!

Obviously, age is a probable detriment in any athlete’s earnings leverage. The QO is for one year. Nothing about my logic suggests a one year deal is something Walker should have considered. He’s getting paid $20M/year for 3 years. IMO, there’s no logic in adding 2 years for $10-$15M more over the 5 years. The 5 year deal reduces his income per year to between $12M-$15M/year …….contracts will be higher paid across the board by 2028 season…..his taking the $60M over 3 years is his best option.

Do the Twins have espionage moles in the FO? How does anybody know what conversations may have occurred regarding Carlos Correa with any other Teams? I don’t get it - must be missing something. The Twins not sharing who they might trade for, or exposing any information to the FANS seems to be, not only frustrating for the fans, but also a prudent way to run an organization. I hadn’t seen any headlines that the D-backs were going to sign Corbin Burnes……..good for them. Why do so many here think the Team/FO owes the fan base a blue print of how they are going to operate and who they are interested in pursuing? Again, I don’t get it………no other businesses tell their competitors who they would like to hire - what direction they want to take their business. Other than marketing a hopeful future and marketing the assets already in play, the FO doesn't need to share any of the “real information” behind running the Club. Why would they?

Can’t trade away stars/core players and expect to draw interest in a sale. That’s just not happening. Seems most everyone here agrees on this. Buying an ongoing business in the range of $1.35 - $1.7B isn’t going to be changed by whether a Team spends plus/minus $15-$20M in the upcoming season. The statement the organization/ownership made about not reducing payroll in ‘25 has been construed that the number is fixed……..not sure why that seems to be locked in all TD follower’s opinions? My assumption is that $130M is the committed to, minimum target spend for ‘25. This, to me, doesn’t mean ownership wouldn’t spend $143M (or whatever) if an opportunity to really improve became available through the FO intel. Having an attractive asset on the field with some competitive momentum is a hell of a lot easier to sell than one that isn’t those things but has a projected bottom line of $23M (fictitious example) better w/o any spending past $130M in ‘25. As the next 2-3 months unfold the buyer’s seriousness should come more into the light…. and hopefully we’ll all be encouraged about the TWIN’s future!

I gotta say (just because I’ve seen Cruz smack a few balls) that Ketel Marte is the outlier here. Isn’t he the D-backs second baseman? I can’t think of more than 5-6 power guys (hard hit balls) that gave played 2B in my lifetime……late 60’s. Kent - Davey Johnson - Sandberg - Grich must be a few more but none come to mind easily for me.

Signing guys in their 40’s with continual injury issues doesn’t seem like a good move. They were 7-10 between them last year with about a 4.70 ERA combined…… and they combined to throw 130 total innings……pretty sad for $30M potential cost and 2 roster spots! The $15M/yr seems to make even less sense than the health issues. Maybe one or two of them decide to sign with Detroit out if sentimentality. I like Casas…….he cannot be worse prospect at 1B defensively than Julien…..Miranda can’t be a bunch better defensively. Vazquez - Paddack - Duran - Miranda for Casas & youth Catcher. Can’t afford to trade Lopez for anything but an impact offensive player - he stays on the roster…….does save $22M. Gotta be a better target than Alcantara……Tommy John is nothing to be assumed to be like a minor cold or something automatically recovered from, easily. Keaschall & Castro for depth……Lee-CC-Lewis-Casas for the IF. Sign Cassalli as a 2nd Cather option with Jeffers. There’s $20M saved from the Boston trade and Lopez is still on staff. Take some spare $$ and figure out how much to spend on a quality lefty, either as a FA or pay him after acquiring through trade.

Eddie lead the Major Leagues in strikeouts looking - the next closest guy had 200 more AB’s …….,that’s more than something minor. IMO, pure conjecture, he needs to spend time with a sports psychologist not just a new hitting coach. He had 7 HR on April 27 (nice month!) - 1 HR the remainder of the year…..I realize he was in St Paul for a good chunk of time (due to poor pert) but 1 HR in approximately 2.5 more months is like falling off a cliff. He hit .199 in 2024. His OBP dropped 90 points from ‘23 - his slug% dropped 220 points - he was an absolute mess at the plate……..I hope he can bounce back but I think it’s not very likely. BTW, Eddie played 17 innings at 1B in ‘23 & 2 innings at 1B in ‘24. Just throwing that out there for many here that view him as a solid alternative at 1B going into ‘24……I just don’t understand that thinking. Keaschall’s 3rd position is 1B - not sure how else to say that. He’s not going to be stunted playing 30% of the time at 1B. He’s a bat first guy - only reason to want him in the mix. He could DH or play one of two other positions. I was only responding to the post - I have no affinity for LaMont Wade - he might work? There are certainly parallel options internally.

IMO, Eddie is in borrowed time. Wade could take his spot in my opinion, without any angst. Keaschall is supposed to be able to play 2B as a more natural position, as well as some LF. I don’t think he gets pigeonholed in a 1B platoon. My concern is that he might not be able to handle many normal reps throwing for a few months after elbow surgery.

It appears that Wade played 55-60% of the time with just over 400 PA’s. Not sure if he was platooned or hurt some? Could Keaschall fit as his mirror guy as needed? Miranda is a reverse splits guy & better v. RH pitching, so not a good option with Wade.

Can’t imagine a resurgence from Jorge at this point. Getting a FA “to try out at 1B” doesn’t seem like much of a plan. Wade could be a nice line-up fit as he hits like Julien did in ‘23. Very selective - little less power - better contact guy though v. Eddie. Wade’s K % is just slightly above Lesgue average. He already plays 1B, so that’s a plus! .380 OBP last year …….could be a nice fit for the #2 spot in the line-up. Hitting #2 & being somewhat protected, he may get more pitches to drive as well. Can’t imagine why SF would trade a guy like that at $4.7M/yr.? He could be a nice fit for Minnesota!

Guarantee he will not be part of the depth chart for 3B - his arm can be 115%. Lewis/Lee/Castro/Miranda are ALL currently ahead of him. Miranda was supposed to be ready in Spring Training this year - wasn’t…….takes time to throw every day with maximum effort coming off an injury with one’s arm. I hope he’s in the mix at 2B!

Meddling has to be better than a catatonic state!

ME TOO on Lewis!!! Just don’t think there will be any pursuit of this path. NEED to get an offensive threat at 1B - commensurate to what’s expected in Pop for the position. Obviously, Lewis fits that profile! Lee - CC - Keaschall - Lewis would be a hopeful infield at some point in the future. If this happened in ‘25 - fantastic. My deal is a framework to show we have guys of value to trade that won’t cripple the Team elsewhere. Can’t trade only Paddack - Julien - Dobnack - etc. (trade value for value) need to trade guys that other Teams want! They need some impact change at 1B - my proposed trade for Casas is to emphasize the Team needs to be taking big swings - don’t offer from a place of hope - get something done! Trading a handful (2-3 guys) to obtain a ready to play Catcher and moving Lewis to 1B would be the best solution in my mind. If Lewis is at 2B & Keaschall plays 1B - fine. Gotta be some change in offensive punch.

Only one trade of note: Duran - Matthews - Vazquez - Miranda to the Red Sox for Tristan Casas ……..Boston takes all of Vazquez contract due to the player value coming their way. Sign FA Curt Cassalli to take the Vazquez spot. Sign Martin Perez for another long reliever/spot starter guy. $7.5M for 1 year. PEN is still solid with Jax as closer and the addition of Varland - Paddack - Perez. C: Ryan Jeffers ($4.70M) 1B: Tristan Casas ($1.00M) 2B: Willi Castro ($6.20M) 3B: Royce Lewis ($2.30M) SS: Carlos Correa ($36.00M) LF: Trevor Larnach ($2.10M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M) RF: Matt Wallner ($0.80M) DH: Luke Keaschall ($0.80M) 4th OF: Austin Martin ($0.80M) Utility: Brooks Lee ($.80M) Utility: DaShawn Keirsey ($0.80M) Backup C: Curt Cassalli ($2.30M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) SP1: Pablo Lopez ($21.50M) SP2: Joe Ryan ($3.80M) SP3: Bailey Ober ($4.30M) SP4: David Festa ($.80M) SP5: Simeon Woods Richardson ($0.80M) RP: Chris Paddack ($7.50M) RP: Brock Stewart ($0.80M) RP: Griffin Jax ($2.60M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.50M) RP: Cole Sands ($0.80M) RP: Justin Topa ($1.30M) RP: Louie Varland ($0.80M) RP: Martin Perez ($7.50M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) Payroll is 1.85% under budget

Yep - I was pretty surprised that Cleveland spent $12M at 1B - not surprised by the player but surprised relative to budget.

So: Festa - SWR - Ryan - Ober - Lopez Lewis - Adams - Matthews - Morris - Raya FA’s: Martin Perez? - Andrew Heaney? - DeSlafani on Minor League deal???…….all of those 3 push one back to sticking with youth! How long will it take to realize that Paddack is the “100 inning swing guy” to pitch long relief and 6-8 spot starts through the year? $7.5M is pretty affordable……they know what they got with him!

How many more weeks until they sign DeSclafani to a Minor League deal???

Both Prielipp & Canterino need to pitch 30-40 innings (all in the same season) before any talk of them being promoted to MLB Pen. I like the potential of Prielipp - Canterino - Morris - Raya (1 or 2 of these guys) joining the Pen in September!!

Keaschall had elbow surgery late summer…..he will not play 3B anytime soon. I think his bat plays at 1B…….he could make sense for the platoon against LH pitching at 1B (since Miranda has good reverse splits v. RH pitching). He’ll need major reps this Spring!! No trade nor FA infield: (starter/depth) Lewis/Lee/Miranda - CC/Lee - Castro/Lee/Keaschall - Miranda/Keaschall 6 guys for infield - Same 2 Catchers - Larnach - Martin - Kiersey - Buxton - Wallner = 13 guys Trade Paddack - Duran - Matthews - Julien for some help somewhere ……..lump in Vazquez and get some more $$ available for one splash signing.

I know this probably doesn’t need to be said but Falvey’s job is to build the best club he thinks he can within the budget constraints placed upon him - he has at least a broad plan…….it’s flexible based on what happens, weekly/daily - it’s not his job to make quick moves so the fans feel better. Going into Spring Training there will be 25 teams that aren’t completely comfortable with how they are constructed - everyone isn’t done making moves nor satisfied with their roster by Christmas………Falvey has to be creative and look for leverage not only to be able to shed payroll to gain flexibility but to get back the right guys that he thinks will help!! Get ready to be patient.

Sounds like a reasonable last resort type of move in a month.

There are no $$$ to spend. Right? How is a GM going to sign guys that are getting whisked away with no ability to spend? I agree, after trades are made - there could be some $$ available but being aggressive to trade guys that everyone knows you need to trade quickly to free up $$ isn’t a very good bargaining position. IMO, they need to be patient and figure out who has needs and how they can help fill Twin’s needs. Tough to do, with any good clarity & bargaining power, in December. Trading guys later in the offseason to free $$ that can be spent as part of facilitating a trade (being able to pay a guy coming over) at the deadline is a strategy. It’s not popular but maybe effective?

Trade Vazquez or Jeffers to a team they fit and that can afford them….. a contender looking for a complimentary Catcher. Consider trading Duran - Castro - Paddack- Matthews - Henriquez - Julien. Goals: Trade for a young Catcher that’s nearly ready not a hopeful prospect. Trade for an offensive first baseman. i.e. Duran - Paddack - Matthews to Red Sox for Tristan Casas. We get an offensive guy at 1B that’s inexpensive short term. Boston gets a REAL closer to replace Jansen. They signed Chapman, but he’s no longer an anchor for their, or any PEN. They get an upside arm that’s tasted MLB and they get an affordable flex arm. Twins shed around $12M. Boston isn’t doing this unless they sign a FA offensive aid. They have high hopes for their top end prospects and they want pitching. ALL 3 of these arms could help them through parts of ‘25! Focus on Vazquez to a contender in need of a veteran and pay $4M of his salary - add a prospect arm like Culpepper - Henriquez - Castro (valuable guy for a contender!) ……..get a youth Catcher that’s inexpensive short term & will be ready in ‘26. Sign Curt Cassalli for this year at $2.25M. Team gets Catcher compliment to Jeffers going forward. Team sheds another $10.25M after paying for Vazquez and Cassalli. To me, any team still needing pitching (competitive team) will be open to Paddack as an option to help get them 100-115 innings through the year. Essentially, a Nick Martinez type of guy that can float between spot starter and long reliever. Paddack is cheap for his value on any team not extremely financially constrained. 2-3 of these guys would need to be combined to bring back any single player of interest. There’s no good Vazquez trade nor Paddack trade as individuals. With the Team for sale, spending isn’t real. With Team for sale, trading big contracts isn't real. Having a few $$ to spend on an upgrade via trade at the deadline is a strategy…..risky, but a strategy.