Drtwins

I also think the best defensive setup would be Lee at 3rd, Correa at SS, Castro at 2nd, and Lewis at 1st. However, with France, Miranda, and Julien being limited defensively, the infield would need to be completely shifted whenever someone needs a rest or when an injury occurs.

The lie that is most disheartening imo is #2, the Twins must cut payroll. I only think it's a partial lie though as they knew the TV deal would be worse than 2023. The issue is they were going to end up with some type of TV deal, so to say they had to cut enough to make up for no TV never made sense. I do understand the argument that the Twins have a lot of good young talent so the extra money might not be needed. I believe the Twins were hopeful that numbers 1 and 3 are/would be true. Of course they don't want blackouts and the GM isn't going to intentionally make trades to make the team worse. Even if you believe the Polanco trade might make the team worse this year it will hopefully make the team improved in future years. I love the optimism here, but to think every Twins player is going to be better than last year is ridiculous. You are basically saying Lopez, Ryan, and Ober are all going to have career years? And the guy with glass legs is going to get back to his 2017 form. There will likely be just as many players that pull a Miranda or Gordon as there will that have career years like Ober, Lopez, and Jeffers did last year.

Love the "Allow Kids Into The Ballpark For Free" idea. On a side note, glad to see my Midco bill already increased the first month after seeing the Twins agreement with Bally's. smh

The problem with this logic is if Ober is taking Gray's spot as the clear #2, or even 1b. Who then takes Ober's spot? Let me guess, Ryan? If Ryan takes over as the #3 for Ober, who then takes the #4 for Ryan? Paddock? (I do like Paddock and think he has great stuff so this could happen if he stays healthy.) Then DeSclafani takes Maeda's spot as the #5. I wouldn't disagree that this could potentially happen but using this scenario you're expecting 4 of the Twins starting staff to have better seasons than last year. That's just not going to happen. In 2023, the Twins had an above avg #2, whether you consider Lopez or Gray the #2, Ober put up great numbers for a #3, Ryan put up solid numbers for a #4. Basically moving them each 1 spot up in the rotation makes them no longer great compared to other #2 or #3 starters across the league.

Gordon will be on the opening day roster unless he's injured, Carlos Santana's signing has no impact on him. Santana is a 1st baseman and DH. Gordon will be the 13th man and fill a super utility role. I agree that he'll likely be gone at some point in the season, but they aren't going through arbitration with him currently if the plan was to just let him go.

Relivers are incredibly volatile. Several options make me nervous due to age (Jackson, Thielbar), injury history (Straumont, Stewart), and relatively short periods of success (Funderburk, Stewart, Topa). With that being said I think the Twins have done a great job bringing in depth. The bullpen has significant potential and could be really good if the majority of them can stay healthy and put up similar numbers to last year.

I don't disagree with the belief that the current lineup is superior to what they began with in 2023, but would argue it is worse than what the Twins finished with in 2023. Anyone can say Buxton can be better, Correa can be better, the youngsters will continue to trend up but if you just look player by player. The Twins have effectively swapped Solano and Polanco for Gordon and Santana. IMO Polanco>Santana and Solano>Gordon. Therefore, it's a downgrade from how the team finished 2023. Now, I will admit Santana and Gordon in the field should be better so there is some positives there. The bullpen has some slight upgrades and a lot more options which will help. The starting staff is definitely a downgrade compared to 2023 at this point. I do believe some combination of Paddock, Varland, Desclafani will be as good or better than Maeda, but they will not reach Gray numbers (Gray himself likely won't). Having 3 back of the rotation arms definitely will help with injuries. This team is built to win in the regular season, just not the playoffs. Fingers crossed they can make a move for a 2nd high impact starter at some point throughout the year to push for a World Series appearance.

The Twins aren't going to have Martin on the ML roster to sit on the bench. The 13th player just doesn't get enough opportunities, hence the perfect spot for Gordon. Martin still needs playing time and at-bats. Castro will be the main OF backup with Gordon sprinkled in. If (when) Buxton goes down and is no longer able to play in the field is when Martin should be added to the ML roster if he is succeeding in AAA.

The trade added depth, likely raised the team’s floor, and added a solid prospect. It’s honestly about what I would have expected in return for Polanco alone. Do I love it, no. Do I like it, not really. Do I hate it, nah. Topa is the same as any mediocre reliver, he could be solid or completely fall apart. As a weak contact reliant reliver who has unimpressive K rates he’s not a high leverage reliever. He’s just a guy. Desclafani could be a solid 5th SP if all goes well but is he better than Varland. At best Desclafani should be the #6 guy and an injury replacement. Again, this is another move that raises provides depth and raises the floor. The problem with the trade is this doesn’t raise the ceiling at all. It makes the Twins worse if they are to make the playoffs. Once in the playoffs it’s the stars and clutch players that are needed. Topa and Desclafani won’t likely play in a close or important playoff game. Would Polanco, 100%. He is easily a top 9 player whether he’s at 2nd or DH (with Julien at 2nd, DH, or even 1st). All in all it’s not a terrible trade, it will likely help the team get to the playoffs, but won't help them in the playoffs. Here’s to hoping the saved money leads to a Hoskins signing or a trade of prospects for a #1 or #2 SP.

If Hoskins is added for 15 million a year he would not be brought in as a platoon player. The only way this makes sense is if the Twins move Polanco to help clear up DH at-bats for Hoskins and he can play 1st when others need a rest day at DH.

I’m excited to see what Martin can do this year, but don’t expect to see him on the 26-man until May or June. The 26-man is pretty set imo. Wallner, Buxton, Kepler across the outfield with Castro the backup at all 3 positions (Wallner likely switches to RF when Kep rests). Lewis, Correa, Julien/Polanco, Kirilloff will cover the infield and DH spot in some manner with Farmer the main backup. Finally, there is Jeffers and Vazquez behind the plate. That leaves 1 spot. Gordon, Miranda, Larnach, and Martin are all possibilities. Out of these options Gordon is the only one without an option and do the Twins really want to have Miranda, Larnach, and Martin in the majors to sit on the bench. Injuries can change everything though. If Buxton can’t play center, Martin will hopefully be the call. If Wallner or Kepler go down, Larnach can come up. Hopefully Miranda will have a good spring and be ready in case Kirilloff isn’t. Ultimately, how things stand Gordon will likely take the final spot but the Twins appear to have capable replacements for all positions in the minors should someone get injured (cough Buxton, Kirilloff) or gets DFA’d (Gordon) a month or two into the season.

Should have waited until Spring Training and brought him in on a minor league deal. Now when he's injured or deserves to be let go by June the Twins will hang on to him for an extra couple of months.

#1 seems like a lot, #2 seems about right, but it would definitely hurt to lose two starters, and #3 doesn't seem to be enough. If MIA is truly looking for a SS or C, they may value Lee more than projections indicate. If you could do #1 and swap out Wallner for Larnach and/or Vazquez, and have SWR or Culpepper be the prospect to add pitching back to the MIA system maybe the Marlins would consider it.

Hard pass. I'd rather trade Polanco or Farmer for a relief pitcher or prospects then use their salary to sign Harrison Bader.

I feel everyone is on the same page here. The current 26 man projection looks solid with Miranda and Martin waiting in the wings if Kirilloff and Buxton aren't available. Could potentially bring in a cheap veteran CF option closer to Spring Training to compete for Gordon's spot if there is a fear Buxton won't be available in the field as Martin wouldn't likely begin the year in the majors. As already commented, I'm sure a few veteran relief pitchers will be brought in on minor league deals to try and beat out Winder, Sands, and Balazovic for the last couple bullpen spots. The only major hole would be trying to fill a top of the rotation starter spot to push Varland to the #6 starter for depth. Even with the reduced payroll there is still optimism.

100% agree with the article. Trading away Farmer, Vazquez, Polanco, or Kepler would bring nothing of equivalent value to this year’s team. As the Twins still appear to have excess infield talent, Julien would be the player to move imo. He is young, had success in the majors, and has multiple years of team control. Polanco could continue to play second with Farmer the utility infielder. If Polanco goes down Lee is waiting in St. Paul, or Farmer takes over if Lee doesn’t appear ready. Not sure the Mariners would go for something like this, but if the Twins could trade Julien and a couple minor league pieces to the Mariners for Gilbert or Kirby that would be ideal.

I’m not opposed to trading Kepler or Polanco, but the question becomes what fans are expecting in return. Rebuilding teams aren’t looking for 30 y.o. position players, so there goes 1/3 of the possible trade partners. Next, competing teams which are more likely to trade for a Kepler or Polanco type player aren’t going to trade away major league level starters, especially top of the rotation pitchers. The only reason that would make sense to move Kepler or Polanco would be if the Twins are willing to use that money to sign a Snell or Montgomery caliber starter. If this is the case, I’d prefer to move Polanco as the Twins seem to have more established infield commodities.

I like Florimon, I feel a better option may be Escobar. Although they have both played well defensively, I will admit Florimon appears better on defense. I think Escobar's batting this spring has more than made up for Florimon being better on defense, but when Gardy makes up his mind before spring he doesn't change it, even if one player is outplaying the other in an "open competition."

Although I agree you can't argue with the price it will cost the Twins to have Florimon, "if he is as good defensively as we saw last year" he probably wouldn't be worth keeping on the roster. Comparing his fielding percent to other shortstops that played in at minimum 40 MLB games at short last year he ranked 38th out of 45. (Out of the same 45 players he only had a better batting avg. than 6 of them and OPS better than 5 of them) You may say well he got to more balls then other shortstops and those harder balls make for more errors, however, Florimon's dWAR was 1 which is consider to only be a below average starter/reserve quality defensive player.

I still don't understand why everyone says we don't need a 5th starter until the 10th? We need one on the 7th unless all of them are going to go 1 day short on rest from the 7th through the 10th as the 2nd is the only off day. April 1st: SP1 April 2nd: OFF April 3rd: SP2 April 4th: SP3 April 5th: SP4 April 6th: SP1 (on regular rest bc day off on the 2nd) April 7th: SP2 (on 3 days rest, 1 day short of regular rest) April 8th: SP3 (1 day short rest) April 9th: SP4 (1 day short rest) April 10th: SP1 (1 day short rest)

Most baseball fan’s favorite part of spring training is projecting your teams opening day roster. With new free agent acquisitions and minor leaguers with dreams of making it to the show, both players and fans are excited to get things going. Halfway through spring training do we really know more now than we did 3 weeks ago about projecting the opening day roster? With more rounds of cuts on the way and the possibility of signing another player, or two, there are a variety of opinions and here is mine: Starting Lineup: Aaron Hicks, CF Brian Dozier, 2B Joe Mauer, C Josh Willingham, LF Justin Morneau, 1B Ryan Doumit, DH Chris Parmelee, RF Trevor Plouffe, 3B Pedro Florimon, SS Nothing has changed since before camp began with the starting lineup from my perspective. In many opinions, including mine, Hicks has widened his lead for the starting center field position. However, he could still relinquish the position if Mastroianni finishes the spring strong and Hicks falls apart as Benson has done to this point. Keep in mind that if Hicks were to be demoted to AAA Rochester and didn’t make his debut until May it would save the Twins a year of service time. Other possible changes to the starting lineup could include Parmelee and Plouffe with their nagging injury situations as well as Dozier and Florimon with their inadequate hitting. Bench: Darin Mastroianni, OF Jamey Carroll, IF Eduardo Escobar, IF Chris Colabello, 1B What do you know I threw in a surprise, Colabello. With Gardenhire possible on his way out after this season it appears he may be pushing for a bat on the bench, Colabello could be just that. Batting .333 this spring with zero home runs, Colabello has taken off for Team Italia with a .429 avg, 2 HR, and a 1.324 OPS. Leading to speculation of possibly keeping an extra bat is Gardy trying to get Escobar time as an emergency third catcher, as he was in Chicago. If Colabello doesn’t make the roster as a strong bat off the bench I will go with the obvious assumption that Butera will be on the roster opening day. Carroll is his old durable self, solid in the field at multiple positions, capable at the plate, and won’t start because he is too valuable as a utility player. He will still play over a hundred games with Plouffe having nagging injuries, like last year, and Dozier and Florimon’s inconsistencies at the plate. Escobar is the wild card to me. I believe he still has the possibility to be the starter at 2nd or short with his slick fielding, and quite frankly he is actually hitting the ball (.367 avg.) compared to Dozier (.226) and Florimon (.222) who aren’t. Starting Rotation: Vance Worley Mike Pelfrey Kevin Correia Cole DeVries Samuel Deduno This is where most of you are going to think I’m crazy. The obvious starters are Worley, Pelfrey, and Correia. Diamond is not going to be ready for the start of the season. Some fans feel the Twins may start the year with a four-man rotation as they don’t necessarily need a 5th starter until April 7th, but with Pelfrey and Worley coming off injuries and unsure when Diamond will return I believe they will still go with five guys. Although not sexy options in many fans minds, DeVries and Deduno have looked better this spring than Hendriks and Gibson. Gibson will also be on an innings limit this season and would be better off starting the year in AAA where he can be limited (This would also keep him from acquiring service time and keep him under team control for an extra season). DeVries has pitched well this spring given up only 2 hits in 7 scoreless innings. Strictly from a numbers standpoint he was one of the most effective Twins starters last year as well with a 4.11 ERA (2nd among starters) and a 1.21 WHIP (1st). Deduno outperformed Hendriks at the major league level last year and looked good in his lone start this season in the WBC against Spain, pitching four shutout innings to go along with 5 strikeouts. Thursday will be a great test for Sameul pitching against Team USA. Finally, Diamond, when ready, will take over for whoever is less effective between the two. Bullpen: Glen Perkins Jared Burton Brian Duensing Alex Burnett Casey Fien Josh Roenicke Ryan Pressley Perkins, Burton, and Duensing are locks barring injury. Pressley has looked good and as a rule 5 draft pick would have to be sent back to the Red Sox if not on the roster (unless the twins traded for him). Roenicke has pitched solidly this spring and is out of options. The final bullpen spots are coming down to Alex Burnett (almost a lock before spring, not so sure now), Casey Fien, Tim Wood, and Anthony Swarzak. Burnett was solid for the Twins last year and I expect him to turn things around by the end of spring. Swarzak will probably start the season on the DL, or rehabbing in extended spring training (as will Rich Harden and Rafael Perez). Wood, who is out of options, may overtake Fien just because he has an option remaining. Although the first 3 weeks of spring training have made a few players standout, Aaron Hicks, and have made others fallout, Kyle Gibson, not much has been settled. The remaining 3 weeks are sure to have a more significant impact on the opening day roster as the players fighting for spots will see more time.

Most baseball fan’s favorite part of spring training is projecting your teams opening day roster. With new free agent acquisitions and minor leaguers with dreams of making it to the show, both players and fans are excited to get things going. Halfway through spring training do we really know more now than we did 3 weeks ago about projecting the opening day roster? With more rounds of cuts on the way and the possibility of signing another player, or two, there are a variety of opinions and here is mine: Starting Lineup: Aaron Hicks, CF Brian Dozier, 2B Joe Mauer, C Josh Willingham, LF Justin Morneau, 1B Ryan Doumit, DH Chris Parmelee, RF Trevor Plouffe, 3B Pedro Florimon, SS Nothing has changed since before camp began with the starting lineup from my perspective. In many opinions, including mine, Hicks has widened his lead for the starting center field position. However, he could still relinquish the position if Mastroianni finishes the spring strong and Hicks falls apart as Benson has done to this point. Keep in mind that if Hicks were to be demoted to AAA Rochester and didn’t make his debut until May it would save the Twins a year of service time. Other possible changes to the starting lineup could include Parmelee and Plouffe with their nagging injury situations as well as Dozier and Florimon with their inadequate hitting. Bench: Darin Mastroianni, OF Jamey Carroll, IF Eduardo Escobar, IF Chris Colabello, 1B What do you know I threw in a surprise, Colabello. With Gardenhire possible on his way out after this season it appears he may be pushing for a bat on the bench, Colabello could be just that. Batting .333 this spring with zero home runs, Colabello has taken off for Team Italia with a .429 avg, 2 HR, and a 1.324 OPS. Leading to speculation of possibly keeping an extra bat is Gardy trying to get Escobar time as an emergency third catcher, as he was in Chicago. If Colabello doesn’t make the roster as a strong bat off the bench I will go with the obvious assumption that Butera will be on the roster opening day. Carroll is his old durable self, solid in the field at multiple positions, capable at the plate, and won’t start because he is too valuable as a utility player. He will still play over a hundred games with Plouffe having nagging injuries, like last year, and Dozier and Florimon’s inconsistencies at the plate. Escobar is the wild card to me. I believe he still has the possibility to be the starter at 2nd or short with his slick fielding, and quite frankly he is actually hitting the ball (.367 avg.) compared to Dozier (.226) and Florimon (.222) who aren’t. Starting Rotation: Vance Worley Mike Pelfrey Kevin Correia Cole DeVries Samuel Deduno This is where most of you are going to think I’m crazy. The obvious starters are Worley, Pelfrey, and Correia. Diamond is not going to be ready for the start of the season. Some fans feel the Twins may start the year with a four-man rotation as they don’t necessarily need a 5th starter until April 7th, but with Pelfrey and Worley coming off injuries and unsure when Diamond will return I believe they will still go with five guys. Although not sexy options in many fans minds, DeVries and Deduno have looked better this spring than Hendriks and Gibson. Gibson will also be on an innings limit this season and would be better off starting the year in AAA where he can be limited (This would also keep him from acquiring service time and keep him under team control for an extra season). DeVries has pitched well this spring given up only 2 hits in 7 scoreless innings. Strictly from a numbers standpoint he was one of the most effective Twins starters last year as well with a 4.11 ERA (2nd among starters) and a 1.21 WHIP (1st). Deduno outperformed Hendriks at the major league level last year and looked good in his lone start this season in the WBC against Spain, pitching four shutout innings to go along with 5 strikeouts. Thursday will be a great test for Sameul pitching against Team USA. Finally, Diamond, when ready, will take over for whoever is less effective between the two. Bullpen: Glen Perkins Jared Burton Brian Duensing Alex Burnett Casey Fien Josh Roenicke Ryan Pressley Perkins, Burton, and Duensing are locks barring injury. Pressley has looked good and as a rule 5 draft pick would have to be sent back to the Red Sox if not on the roster (unless the twins traded for him). Roenicke has pitched solidly this spring and is out of options. The final bullpen spots are coming down to Alex Burnett (almost a lock before spring, not so sure now), Casey Fien, Tim Wood, and Anthony Swarzak. Burnett was solid for the Twins last year and I expect him to turn things around by the end of spring. Swarzak will probably start the season on the DL, or rehabbing in extended spring training (as will Rich Harden and Rafael Perez). Wood, who is out of options, may overtake Fien just because he has an option remaining. Although the first 3 weeks of spring training have made a few players standout, Aaron Hicks, and have made others fallout, Kyle Gibson, not much has been settled. The remaining 3 weeks are sure to have a more significant impact on the opening day roster as the players fighting for spots will see more time.