Lou Hennessy

Gleeman was dead, to begin with. Well, maybe he wasn’t dead, but he had officially decided to fully buy in to the “never leaves his home” hermit bit, and to end his involvement in his longstanding and ever-popular Twins podcast, Gleeman and the Geek. So effectively, we’ll say he was pretty much dead to us. His longtime podcast partner, Ebenezer John Bonnes, had plans in the works to continue the show with a fully automated artificial intelligence partner, but he hadn’t disclosed this to his adoring fans, or even to his loyal employees with Twins Daily. He had dabbled with the digital dark arts in the past, but this would be a full sell out to the generative demons that have begun to plague our society. Bonnes made his way through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on Christmas Eve, Raycon earbuds plugged into each ear, fully detached from the bustling winter wonderland that surrounded him. “Look, isn’t that Ebenezer John Bonnes? I had heard he skipped town for Costa Rica after his show ended, never to return to Twins Territory again!” cried one of the many Cody-named peasants to another in the street. “Merry Christmas, master Bonnes! May you have a blessed off-season. We miss you dearly!” Bonnes turned to look at the Codies. He scowled and huffed with disgust. “Bah. Hotdog!” the old man shouted to them before shuffling into his posh downtown condo building. “Go bug someone else for once.” As he approached the front door of the lobby, he was startled by the cold, dead, scruffy and disapproving face of his old partner, Aaron Gleeman, staring back at him through the front window. Bonnes fell backward to the ground. He stood up and rubbed his eyes in terror, as he couldn’t believe what he had seen. When he looked back up into the window, the face had disappeared, leaving only his own reflection. “Okay, no more French pilsner tonight.” Bonnes said to himself before scurrying inside. As nightfall crept over the solemn skyline outside of his penthouse apartment, Bonnes lit a fire and sat in his easy chair for his nightly dinner provided by Factor meal delivery service, the sponsor of this holiday parable (use code SPIRIT at checkout for 50% off of your next order of roast goose). His phone buzzed with a notification from the Twins Daily Slack channel, letting him know that one of his annoying stooges, Sweet Lou Cratchit, had submitted an article regarding the Twins recent free agent transaction, one that he had poured hours of hard work into, and it was awaiting approval for the site. “Bah. Hotdog!” Bonnes huffed, yet again. “ChatGPT can do the work of this oaf for a fraction of the price.” He ignored the message and fell into a deep slumber in the fire's warm glow. He was awakened in the middle of the night by the unmistakable smell of Dior cologne and the clicking of metal baseball cleats on the porcelain floors of his hallway. “Ebenezer John Bonnes. . .” a trembling voice howled from the hallway. “I am the ghost of free agency past, and I am here to show you the error of your ways.” A spirit slowly approached through a cloudy haze. Bonnes couldn’t believe his eyes. It was former Twin Carlos Correa. “It can’t be!” Bonnes yelled. “The Twins traded you! You should be in Houston!” The spirit grabbed the old man by the hand and the two soared through time to the year 2022, when Correa originally signed with the Twins. “It was at this moment when you first used artificial intelligence to gather some general talking points for your episode to discuss my signing. It seemed innocent enough, but little did you know that it would start you down a treacherous path of over-reliance on these programs.” Bonnes looked at a younger version of himself, sitting at a pub in Ireland and inputting a prompt and awaiting automated bullet points with notes so that he wouldn’t have to do extensive research on his own. “I hardly remember this,” Bonnes said in confusion. “Honestly, I barely remember any part of that trip after the tour of the Guinness factory.” He was then transported back to the Twin Cities, where he saw Gleeman realizing his partner had sold out, even if just for a moment. A single tear streaked down his cheek, as he was overcome with immense disapproval and disappointment toward his dear partner. “I guess I didn’t realize he knew of my shortcut,” Bonnes reflected. “I guess he did start to seem rather distant from that point on, but I thought maybe he just had gas or something.” Spirit Correa then clapped, creating a thunderous boom that awoke Bonnes, now back in his easy chair in the present day. “Was it but a dream?” the old man questioned, before hearing the doorknob of his front door jiggle. The door swung open, revealing another spirit, but this one was considerably bigger than the last. “Josh Bell?” Bonnes questioned while jumping to his feet. “What on earth are you doing here?” The massive ghost approached and took him by the hand. “I am the ghost of free agency present, and I have come to continue showing you the error of your reliance on AI.” The two soared through the sky now, landing outside of a humble home in St. Paul. They looked through the window and saw a family sitting at the dining room table. “Why, that’s Sweet Lou Cratchit. He’s on my staff at Twins Daily. And that must be his lovely wife and their 6’10’’ adult son, Tiny Gregg.” The lowly peasants sit gathered around a single can of Hamm’s to share between the three of them. Sweet Lou cracks it open and pours it into three small jars and passes one to his wife and son. He raises his own jar. “A toast; to my boss, Ebenezer John Bonnes, who we have to thank for this year’s bounty,” he says with a grateful smile. “It may not be much, but it’s enough for us after a meager year for ad revenue.” They each clink their glasses and take a swig of their paltry feast. Tiny Gregg lets out a wet cough, as he has grown ill in recent weeks without any hope of Sweet Lou being able to afford the medicine for his bout with Kreidler fever. It’s getting worse with each passing day. Bonnes can’t help but feel rotten after seeing the consequences of his decision to opt for AI content rather than paying his staff. “Oh, ghost Bell, I fear that I’ve gone too far with ChatGPT. Surely, it’s not too late for me to change my ways, right?” Bonnes asks the hulking ghost. The ghost claps just as his predecessor did, waking Bonnes yet again. Only this time, he isn’t in his easy chair, but in the middle of a cemetery. He sees a cloaked figure approach. “You must be the ghost of free agency yet to come,” he says. “Who could that be?” The ghost keeps himself concealed, but he’ll probably be a reliever in his late-30s that costs somewhere around $3 million on a one-year contract. Probably a lefty, if I had to guess. I don’t know. The figure nods and points Bonnes toward a couple of headstones at the top of a hill. It’s dark and raining steadily. As the old man approaches the first memorial, he starts to make out the words chiseled in the stone. Tiny Gregg Masterson Beloved Son, Delivery Driver of the Month November 2022 “Should the Twins sign Miguel Sano??” Bonnes hanged his head in shame. He didn’t much care for Tiny Gregg when push came to shove, but he still regretted that his reliance on generative AI led to the young fool’s demise. But his attention quickly shifted to the other tombstone, which was far bigger and more polished than Tiny Gregg’s. “Oh, spirit. Please tell me this isn’t what I think it’s going to be,” he cries before wiping the mud off of the headstone. Twins Daily Once a shining beacon of independent Minnesota Twins coverage. Ultimately replaced in full by artificial intelligence. Bonnes falls to his knees and buries his face in his hands. He can’t believe that the site he helped build from the ground up would perish due to his own cost-saving decisions. His grief is suffocating, and he’s sick to his stomach, worse than the time he tried to do the 9x9x9 challenge on a whim. The ghost of free agency yet to come claps his hands, and Bonnes wakes up back in his easy chair in his home. It’s morning now, and he rushes to his balcony. He sees Cody Schoenmann waiting for a bus. “You down there,” Bonnes shouts down. “What day is it?” “Why it’s Christmas day, of course,” Cody says. “And while I have your attention, I think I’m going to write an article highlighting the top remaining free agents who were born on a Saturday and like long walks on the beach. Would that be alright with you, boss?” Bonnes rolls his eyes. “Yes, yes, that would be fine, son. But before you do that, I need you to run to the nearest bottle store and buy the most fruit-forward Blackstack hazy IPA that you can find, and bring it to Sweet Lou Cratchit and his family,” Bonnes said, tossing a sack of gold coins to the young man. “Then you can go write whatever drivel you have planned.” Bonnes heads back inside and reads the piece that Sweet Lou had submitted the night before. It’s downright awful, and riddles with typos, but he approves it for publishing and leaves his apartment. He walks to the Cratchit house and peers in the front window. He sees Sweet Lou and his wife with happy tears streaming down their cheeks. Sweet Lou hands a beer to Tiny Gregg and kisses him tenderly on the forehead. The behemoth stands up and raises his can. “God bless us, everyone.”

Just as you ready yourself to guzzle down your gravy-soaked plated paean to colonialism, Uncle Donny plops himself down beside you. He knows you like the Twins, and that you’re keenly plugged in to the comings and goings of the club. And now that he has you cornered, he’s going to tell you all of his ill-informed, sometimes problematic thoughts about your favorite club. By the end of the meal, you’ll be begging to talk about something less divisive, like religion or politics. In no particular order, here is a list of items that your least favorite uncle will throw out over the next hour or two. Pour yourself another drink. Lord knows Donny has. Players are too soft in today’s game, and it’s because they didn’t drink out of the garden hose enough when they were kids. Maybe a little lead in their system would stop them from getting plantar fasciitis and “a little bit of brain damage” when they get hit in the head with a 95-MPH fastball. The injured list was created by communists. “To be honest, we pay too much attention to lists these days,” he shouts, as you wince at where this conversation could possibly be heading. “The only list we should concern ourselves with is my Christmas list. I’m asking for the same things I do every year. A poster of Sean Hannity to hang in my garage, and a kit to make my own beef jerky." Has Aunt Lorraine still not gotten him that poster, or is he using the damn things for wallpaper? Target Field should have a Fleet Farm on premises. “Why do we need seven different bars in the stadium, when real Americans get lit in the Salvation Army parking lot before coming in? What if I want to buy a socket wrench, a 20-pound bag of bird seed and some chocolate-covered peanuts that were packaged in 2016?” The pitch clock is an abomination. “Stupid kids these days just want the game to finish earlier so that they can get home to their Rugrats.” That program aired its final episode in 2004, and besides, Hey, Arnold! was better. The Twins should fire Derek Shelton (yes, already) and hire Doug Mientkiewicz to be the new manager. “Dougie Baseball has forgotten more about baseball than the brain wizards upstairs have ever known. He would’ve gotten my vote if I had one,” Donny says while pouring gravy directly from the boat into his mouth. “In fact, I wrote him in with my vote to be the Mayor of St. Paul. Screw you, Carter!” The Twins should trade Byron Buxton (he calls him Brian Buxton) and sign Luis Arraez to play shortstop, moving Brooks Lee to center field. “Arraez never misses time (don’t look that up) and Buxton can never stay healthy for more than 60 games. Lee should have no trouble in center field because he’s athletic and his dad coached him to have good fundamentals.” Hitters are too focused on what he calls “launch velocity.” The ball doesn’t go as far if you hit it too hard. In high school, he was taught to swing slow, because slow is smooth and smooth is fast. The Twins were right to trade away players with hyphenated last names. “Pick a lane already!” Donny shouts while slapping the table, scaring the children sitting across from him. “The smartest thing ‘Failvey’ ever did was trade Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Simeon Woods Richardson should be next. I know his name doesn’t have a hyphen, but it’s so long that it looks like a rainbow on the back of his jersey.” Trust me, you don’t want to hear his opinion on rainbows. Birds aren’t real. This isn’t Twins-related, but it does catch your attention. His birder phase doesn't seem that long ago; this feels like an about-face. As you finish your meal and start making your way to the front door for a Minnesota goodbye, Donny pulls you aside. “Hey kid, thanks for listening to your grumpy old uncle. I know we don’t see eye-to-eye much anymore, but it means a lot to be able to catch up with you at these things every year,” he says as he gives you a rather tender one-armed side hug and sneaks a crumpled piece of paper in your hand. “This is for you. Enjoy it, and let me know if you ever want to throw rocks at the Union Pacific trains that run behind my condo.” You unfurl the paper in your hand. It’s a coupon for a free car wash that expired three years ago.

Luke Keaschall made a fantastic first impression in 2025—enough so that he placed in the top-10 in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He was never going to catch up to Nick Kurtz of the A’s, who won the award unanimously after having one of the all-time great rookie campaigns, but the young Twins infielder mustered an impressive .302/.382/.445 batting line. He also missed significant time while recovering from a shattered forearm that he suffered in April, and played through a continued recovery from Tommy John surgery in August 2024. In 49 games with the Twins, the 23-year-old firmly staked his claim as the club's best option at second base going forward. While his defense wasn't spotless, he showed that his athleticism was enough to handle the day-to-day responsibilites at that position, and his mix of on-base prowess and impressive speed make him an ideal option to pencil in near the top of the lineup. Keaschall was firmly among the top 100 prospects in baseball coming into last season, but he was in no way a favorite to secure top rookie honors. He seized his opportunity when the team needed him in April, and was able to return to his impressive form upon returning in August. All that is to say, anything can happen for an electric prospect when they run with their opportunity and turn some heads. Here are some names to keep an eye on for next season’s voting. Obvious Candidates Of course, we have to start with 20-year-old phenom Walker Jenkins (No.1 on Twins Daily’s top prospect rankings). He started 2025 as a top-15 global prospect on most lists, but his season got off to a late start due to a left ankle sprain. He returned to action in early June, and was quickly promoted to Double-A where he had a gaudy .913 OPS across 52 games. The Twins then sent him to Triple-A St. Paul, where he continued to show impressive signs—albeit with a lower .720 OPS in a small (23-game) sample against much older competition. Look for Jenkins to knock on the door to the big leagues in the early going of 2026. If all goes as expected, Twins fans could see him make his highly anticipated debut before the All-Star break. Emmanuel Rodriguez (No. 4) is another favorite to get some action for the Twins next season. He was limited to just 52 games for the St. Paul Saints in 2025, but in that time, he showed flashes of bieng an electric player with a very odd collection of tools. He’s going to play some high-quality defense in the outfield. It's most likely to be in the corners, but he has a ton of experience as a center fielder. Rodriguez will pair that with plus power at the plate. His passive approach contributed to a 32% strikeout rate. However, he somehow found a way to make up for all of that swing-and-miss by walking at an extremely high 21% clip. He also has the ability to swipe 15-20 bases, if he can stay healthy for the whole season. Like Jenkins, if Rodriguez gets the call in the early months of 2026, he would almost certainly get national attention. Outside Chance Casual fans may not realize it, but Mick Abel (No. 5) will still be a rookie in 2026. He only accumulated 39 innings pitched at the big-league level after debuting in 2025; you need 50 to graduate from rookie status. One of the returning pieces from the Jhoan Duran trade, Abel will need to display far better command than he had in 2025, wherein the 24-year-old routinely fell behind in counts, leading to a 10.1% walk rate and lots of hard contact on the way to a 8.36 ERA with his new club. However, he did show much more promise at Triple A, where he had a 2.20 ERA (with a strong 28.6% strikeout rate) across 98 ⅓ innings. There could be ample opportunity for Abel to get a shake in the rotation, and if he can finally evolve into the product that many thought he could be as a high-end draft prospect out of high school, he could realistically grab some ROY votes. Gabriel Gonzalez (No. 9), the centerpiece in the Jorge Polanco trade in January 2024, erupted across three levels of the minor leagues in 2025. He showed significantly more power than many expected, belting 15 home runs and 38 doubles in 123 games played. Upon reaching the highest level of the minors, he more than held his own for the Saints, where he had a .316/.358/.504 line. He doesn’t have much of a defensive home, but if his bat is legit, the Twins could give him plenty of reps as their designated hitter and rotate him into the corner outfield from time to time. Look for him to start the year at St. Paul, but anything can happen for the dynamic 22-year-old. Long Shots Kala’i Rosario (unranked) quietly had one of the better seasons at Wichita as a 22-year-old. He smacked 25 homers and stole 32 bags for the Wind Surge in 130 games. He could start the year at Triple A, but that’s starting to look like a very crowded depth chart, and his prospect pedigree is not as distinguished as that of Jenkins, Rodriguez or Gonzalez. Kyler Fedko (unranked) had a similarly flashy year split between Double A and Triple A, where he combined for 28 homers and 38 steals. He is 26 years old, and the Twins passed on giving him a look in September last year, which could give some indication about their faith in him. Perhaps they were trying to avoid putting him on the 40-man roster in a lost season, as they could’ve had to expose him to waivers at the end of the year had they given him a look. Noah Cardenas (unranked) is also on the older side for a prospect, but the 26-year-old catcher is the closest thing they have to a minor-league catcher who is ready to make their MLB debut in 2026. He had a solid year, with an .825 OPS between the two highest levels of the minor leagues. He may seem like an extremely dark horse, but Drake Baldwin—who just won the NL Rookie of the Year award for the Atlanta Braves—had a nearly identical Triple-A clip in 2024, and was a good but not elite prospect in their system. Anything can happen for a player who runs with their opportunity, and right now Cardenas has as good of a shot to get playing time as a backup catcher to Ryan Jeffers as anyone. That role could increase, depending on Jeffers’s performance or his presence on the roster at all. What do you think? Who excites you the most on this list? Did we forget anyone who could get Rookie of the Year consideration in 2026? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and as always, stay sweet.

Let’s not pretend the split-finger fastball is anything new. It’s been part of baseball’s lexicon for decades, and it’s been a talking point seemingly every postseason for years now. But 2025 was different. Thanks to two World Series juggernauts making deep runs in the playoffs, the splitter was featured more in this year’s postseason (1,047 times) than in the last four combined (1,035). That’s bound to happen when splitter-heavy starting pitchers each make five-plus starts. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Trey Yesavage, and Kevin Gausman combined to make 22 appearances on the mound, and the latter three each threw the splitter at least 25.4% of the time during the regular season. All four leaned on the pitch even more under the postseason lights. And it’s easy to see why. A good splitter can effectively miss bats when tunneled with a high-velocity fastball, and it can produce weak contact even when tracked by the hitter. Eno Sarris of The Athletic noted in a recent article that damage was limited in this year’s playoffs even when contact was made, and advancements in the pitch’s development have been significant in 2025. “While the slugging was up on the split-finger over the last few years, it was still only .250 for the postseason,” he said. “Our understanding of how the seams create movement took a step forward with Seam-Shifted Wake, and that's part of why Yesavage's splitter is so effective. So teams can create better splitters more effectively now than they could in past years.” With that in mind, teams should look to develop better splitters or add arms that already feature the pitch, as several clubs were lacking in that department in 2025. Minnesota Twins There are plenty of areas where the Twins need to improve as they head into 2026. While their pitching corps isn’t their most glaring need, it could benefit them to find arms that can throw an effective splitter. They’re known for developing significant velocity within their pitching pipeline—now they need to find a way to pair that heat with a true off-speed weapon. The best splitter on the 2025 team belonged to former closer Jhoan Duran before he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Among likely returning pitchers, reliever Cole Sands owned the best version, throwing it 21.6% of the time and allowing only two extra-base hits all season. Simeon Woods Richardson added the split to his repertoire in 2025, throwing it 10% of the time and limiting opponents to a .137 batting average. He could increase its usage going forward in hopes of replacing his lackluster changeup. Joe Ryan was the team’s best overall pitcher this year, but his splitter results dipped; he threw it 11% of the time and allowed a .478 slugging percentage with a notable drop in whiff rate. San Diego Padres Yu Darvish will miss the 2026 season after undergoing elbow surgery this week. He was the only starting pitcher on the roster who featured a real splitter, and even he had mixed results with it. The good news is that Jeremiah Estrada and Yuki Matsui are both set to return to the bullpen, and each threw the splitter at least 23% of the time. Estrada, in particular, found great success with the pitch in 2025, holding hitters to a .127 batting average and just two extra-base hits while using it as his primary put-away offering. Matsui’s splitter was serviceable but led to four home runs and four doubles—far less effective than in his rookie season in 2024. The Padres will surely look to bolster their pitching staff if they hope to remain in contention behind the juggernaut Dodgers. There will be intriguing splitter-heavy arms on the free-agent market, led by Shota Imanaga, who could draw interest depending on price. Milwaukee Brewers The team with the best record in baseball did it without a standout splitter. Shelby Miller and his splitter came over at the trade deadline but failed to make a real impact, posting a 5.59 ERA across 11 appearances with the Brewers. He’s now a free agent and set to miss the entire 2026 season while recovering from UCL surgery. Tobias Myers added a splitter entering 2025 and found success, allowing just a .108 batting average and two doubles. He could have a shot at cracking the Opening Day bullpen. Rob Zastryzny also has a splitter in his arsenal, but he didn’t use it often. If the Brewers hope to build on their 2025 success, it would make sense for them to identify more arms capable of throwing split-finger fastballs—particularly in the starting rotation, where the club is stocked with young, high-octane pitchers. What do you think? Is splitter usage going to continue to grow league-wide? What else should these teams do to be proactive as these trends continue? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section, and as always, stay sweet.

As the Twins head into the offseason, the catcher position is one of the biggest glaring needs. In Ryan Jeffers, they have a strong top option, but there's little else in the upper levels of the organization that inspires much hope. Mickey Gasper and Jhonny Pereda each stumbled in their month-long auditions at the end of this season, and the catchers at the higher levels of the minor leagues don’t seem to be knocking on the door. Jeffers could represent a good starting point as a bulk catcher, with Christian Vázquez hitting free agency (and the team giving away his jersey number to new skipper Derek Shelton). The Twins could look to complement Jeffers with another veteran option, likely on a cheap one-year deal. It could also behoove them to look into multi-year options, in the event that Jeffers is traded or leaves in free agency next year—but that feels unlikely at best, and might even be a better path to explore on the trade market. With that said, here are four free-agent options that could be in the Twins’ wheelhouse, based on the resources they have available and the fit on the depth chart. Victor Caratini The veteran backstop is coming off two solid years with the Houston Astros, wherein he hit a combined .263/.329/.406 and accrued 2.7 fWAR. Caratini’s bat was roughly eight percent better than league average, which is nearly identical to Jeffers’s production over the last two seasons. He’d fit as a solid option to split time with the incumbent, and he could certainly handle full-time duties in the event of an injury. Caratini is also a switch-hitter with relatively neutral splits against righties and lefties, making his fit as a platoon option with Jeffers even more enticing. The 32-year-old has had mixed results over the last few seasons when it comes to his defense, but he was a pretty strong blocker last year. He came up short when it came to pitch framing, though that may be less essential in 2026 with the automated strike zone coming into play. Caratini’s next contract could be the X-factor here. He just wrapped up a two-year deal with the Astros that paid him just over $12 million. But he’s also two years older now, and teams remain hesitant when it comes to giving out multi-year deals to backstops in their mid-30s. Could a one-year, incentive-laden contract with an option for a second season make sense for the Twins? Would Caratini accept it to come to a team that is coming off a 90-loss campaign? James McCann He’s been a popular target for the Twins over the last few years, and McCann once again finds himself on a list of free-agent targets for the club. He was limited to just 137 plate appearances at the big-league level in 2025, but held his own in those 42 games, with a .755 OPS and average defense for the Arizona Diamondbacks. McCann is a career .242/.294/.383 hitter who hasn’t been a starting-caliber catcher since 2020. Understandably, that isn’t going to excite Twins fans. But this list isn’t “which free agent catcher has the best chance to take the Twins to the next level”—as much as we all wish it would be. McCann makes the list as a target for the Twins due to his minimal contract requirement, as he squeezes the last bit of juice out of his nearly 11-year career. He would be a clear backup to Jeffers in this scenario, and that might be the appeal at this point. Look for the 35-year-old to get a contract worth $1 million or so over one year, whether it’s from the Twins or any other team looking for a backup catcher to start 35% of the team’s games. Danny Jansen The 30-year-old Jansen was coming off a lackluster 2024 campaign when he signed a one-year, $8.5-million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. He went on to hit a respectable (if unexciting) .204/.314/.389 across 73 games, before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers at the deadline. Jansen then went on to have a .779 OPS with the Brew Crew, catching 23 games down the stretch for the eventual NL Central Champions. His bat was 18 percent better than league average in that time, which could give him a boost as he explores free agency for the second consecutive year. Jansen is likely to seek a similar deal to the one he ended up signing last year, though he may try to hold out for a multiyear pact this time around. Who knows what the market will dictate for a soon-to-be 31-year-old veteran catcher with a high floor, but limited ceiling? His initial asking price, while still likely to be modest, might cause the Twins to move on as they pursue backup options. But there’s always the possibility that the club will try to sell somewhat high on Jeffers in a trade, meaning they’d have room and payroll capacity for a new primary option behind the dish. If the price tag is similar between the two, the Twins would most likely choose to stick with the guy they know. If his market doesn’t materialize as Jansen hopes, though, he could fall into the Twins preferred price range: a short-term deal for less than what they paid Vázquez. If the right trade opportunity arises for Jeffers, meanwhile, the team will have to seriously consider it. There are a few other interesting free agent names that many fans would love to see in a Twins uniform next year, but who will not be in the cards for the hometown nine. J.T. Realmuto is the cream of the crop, but his price tag will almost certainly be more than what the Twins could stomach. Old friend Mitch Garver once again finds himself exploring free agency, but he may prefer to stay away from his former club after they “picked their guy” in Jeffers and traded him to the Texas Rangers after the 2021 season. His performance has also cratered in the last two seasons with the Seattle Mariners. And as for Willians Astudillo? Well, let’s hope he’s having fun wherever he is, but it will not be with the Minnesota Twins in 2026. What do you think? Do these three do anything for you on relatively inexpensive deals? Who else makes sense for the Twins to pursue this offseason? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section, and as always, stay sweet.

The Twins will officially welcome Derek Shelton back into the organization as the team's new manager with a press conference on Tuesday afternoon at Target Field. Members of the credentialed media will file in and hear about his selection, and the new skipper (plus club president Derek Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll) will take questions from the press. The veteran corps of beat writers and members of the media will surely have plenty of their own inquiries, but we want to know what YOU, the fans, would like to ask, if you were given the opportunity. Let us hear your questions in the comment section. In the meantime, here are some good topics that we'll use as starting points. The Interview Process Fans will surely want to know why Shelton was the right pick, and how he stood out over the other candidates. There was a mix of old friends who have already been on the coaching staff—such as Shelton and former hitting coach James Rowson—as well as other familiar faces from their days as players, such as Nick Punto and Torii Hunter. Nelson Cruz and Ehire Adrianza were also speculated to be intriguing options in fan circles, but like Hunter, neither were confirmed as actual candidates for the job. What did the interview process look like? When did the list of interviewees materialize? How big a factor was the swimsuit competition? Okay, we're just kidding with that last one, but clearly, fans will want to know more about the search and the interview process as a whole. Shelton's Fit Many are assuming that the club's familiarity with their former bench coach played a vital role in his selection. Shelton appeared to be beloved by the organization when he was with the team in 2019, and his friendly connection to former manager Rocco Baldelli has many fans wondering if his hire will mark a continuation of the same philosophies as those of his predecessor. What is it about Shelton's experience and perspective that makes him the right manager for this moment in Twins baseball? What do they see as his strengths as a leader, and why didn't those strengths translate into more wins with the Pittsburgh Pirates under his watch? The Rest of the Coaching Staff There are bound to be questions about the coaching staff that will surround Shelton upon his hire. The last time they hired a new manager, they surrounded him with many first-time coaches at the big-league level, and enjoyed immediate success. Are they going to do the same with Shelton's staff? Who will have the ultimate say when it comes to determining the other members on the bench? Will the Twins look to hold on to anyone from Baldelli's coaching staff? Will they look at other faces within the organization (whether that's in the front office or in the minor-league ranks) to make the transition to the MLB coaching staff? Investment From Ownership and the Front Office We can safely assume that it'll be difficult to get answers on this topic, but that doesn't mean the questions shouldn't be asked. After the significant payroll slashing over the last two years, fans want some indication of the direction the club will take over the months ahead. What are the Twins expecting the payroll to look like in 2026? How will Shelton's performance be evaluated within the context of this investment? Will players like Byron Buxton, Pablo López and Joe Ryan be at the core of their plans, or on the way out the door? Like we said, this is just a starting point. It's inspiration for some of the other questions that we'll want answered at this introductory press conference—whether they offer a suitable answer or not. With that said, what do YOU want us to ask? Let us know in the comment section, and as always, stay sweet.

MINNEAPOLIS—After a weeks-long hunt to find their next skipper, the Twins have officially narrowed their search to four finalists. Now, it is believed that the job will be offered to whoever nails the fabled swimsuit competition. “All four have shown that they could be great leaders for the clubhouse in 2026 and beyond,” said Twins President Derek Falvey, as he dusted off bedazzled score placards while preparing for the competition. “But this is their chance to really let their star shine with some extra pizazz.” The finalists are former Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, former Twins hitting coach James Rowson, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and veteran manager Scott Servais. Each would bring quality insight to the position, but they’ll have a big Speedo to fill when it comes to the swimsuit competition. “This is really where Rocco wowed us in October 2018,” said an unnamed judge (who may or may not be Target Field’s organist), in reference to outgoing Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “I mean, come on. The guy was a former standout volleyball player. He barely took two steps across the stage before I reached for my ‘10’ spot. Thad [Levine] wanted to give him a ‘9’ but I jabbed him with my pen under the table.” It’s unclear which of the four finalists may have a leg up as they head into the contest. Rowson brings a hulking, powerful presence, which goes for his approach to the team’s offensive identity as well as his own physique. Flaherty, at 39 years old, has the youth factor on his side. Servais has the most experience, both as an MLB manager and as a greased-up veteran on the swimsuit circuit. But Shelton may have the ever-important “daddy vote”, thanks to his rugged salt-and-pepper beard and fatherly tendencies. Time will tell who will become the next head of the Twins clubhouse. But one thing is already certain: they are following a long list of legendary managers who were able to land their jobs thanks to this admittedly outdated practice. “You should have seen Tom Kelly’s swimsuit portion of his interview,” said Twins curator Clyde Doepner as he admired the legendary manager’s Zubaz-branded Speedo, hanging in a shadow box in Target Field’s Champions Club. “That guy knew two things better than anyone in Twins history: when to leave his pitcher in the game, and how to oil his body like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

Aaron Gleeman is trading in his podcast microphone for one behind the stand at the Minneapolis Courthouse. On Wednesday, the Senior Writer for The Athletic, who also hosts the Gleeman and the Geek podcast, decided to take Twins Daily to court for intellectual property theft. He argues the site has gotten away with stealing his talking points for their own benefit for years now, and enough is enough. “Don’t tell me it’s some coincidence that we’ll put out an episode and 24 hours later three guys named Cody will put out three different articles, all surrounding my main talking points from the day before,” Gleeman said to a gaggle of media members waiting outside the courthouse on Tuesday morning. “If these guys are going to be making money off of my thoughts, then they should pay me. Well, they should pay me more than they already do (join now at patreon.com/gleeman - that’s P-A-T-R-E-O-N slash Gleeman. Okay, back to the proceedings).” Gleeman’s representative from the law office of Robinson, Dangerfield and Dice Clay says that Twins Daily has operated under shady business dealings for nearly 15 years, and the public deserves to have their team covered by polished, dignified professionals who have class. When asked to name which members of the current beat contingent fit this description, the attorney pretended to get a phone call and rushed off. It’s a particularly interesting development, given the fact that Gleeman’s podcast partner, John Bonnes, happens to be one of the owners of Twins Daily. “I’m going to be honest, when Aaron starts complaining about something, I almost always tune out for a few minutes,” said Bonnes. “He very well could have brought this to my attention years ago. There’s really no way of knowing.” Twins Daily is known as one of the premier independent sources of Twins coverage, and often finds themselves central in online conversations surrounding the club. Gleeman argues their coverage has become somewhat predictable, among other complaints. “Want to know what Twins Daily is going to write about tomorrow? Listen to Gleeman and the Geek today,” said the disgruntled media personality before turning into the courthouse. “And don’t get me started on their half-baked parody articles. In order to write effective satire, you need to be able to throw s*** at the wall, and you need to be able to make people laugh. Aside from Randballs Stu, everyone at Twins Daily has shown they’re capable of doing exactly one of those things.” There’s been a notable increase in the parody articles that Gleeman is referring to, which is bound to happen at this point of the year when there’s little else to cover surrounding the team. Asked what a Twins blog ought to do about the unavoidable overlap of topics between a podcast and a website dedicated to the same baseball team, Gleeman's attorney declined to comment. Stu, for his part, has been the premier satire writer for the site for years, and is starting to feel the weight of the hardly chuckle-worthy content that he has inspired. “Part of me feels like Oppenheimer after he witnessed his actions leading to the first atomic bomb,” Stu said while combing through the latest drivel in Twins Daily’s Just For Fun tab. “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of comedy.” You can find more of Gleeman’s thoughts on the Gleeman and the Geek podcast multiple times per week, and make sure to visit Twins Daily for all the post-podcast rehashing you can handle.

It’s been a hell of a week for Rocco Baldelli. On Monday, the now-former skipper of the Minnesota Twins was dismissed from his position. On Tuesday, he decided it was time for some R&R. And on Wednesday morning, he bumped into someone he wasn’t expecting to see, so soon after the end of the season. Just as he sat down in his crammed aisle seat, Baldelli looked up and saw (who else?) Carlos Correa, stuffing his oversized Dior rolling suitcase into the overhead compartment. Needless to say, it was an awkward moment for the two. “I wouldn’t say there was any bad blood between us going into that flight. Carlos made the choice at the deadline that he thought was best for himself and his family,” Baldelli said, while sifting through the carousel of streaming options on his in-flight entertainment device, eventually landing on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. “But I didn’t realize he’s the kind of guy who spreads his own baggage across three different stowaways. Didn’t love that.” Baldelli was in a modest, coach-level seat, ironically similar to the position he may need to accept when he’s ready to continue his career. Correa, on the other hand, was in a first-class seat, just a few rows ahead. It’s nothing short of poetic that these two would have such different winding roads, both through the course of their careers and through the course of the 2025 season—only to end up on the same departing flight. It’s like the ending of Furious 7, when Vin Diesel and Paul Walker shared that touching nod before splitting at a fork in the road. Only this time, it’s like they shared that tender moment, and then wound up next to each other at the same toll booth a mile down the road. “I really hope Carlos and his family have a great trip,” said Rocco as he downed his third ginger ale before the flight even took off. “I wish I could’ve snagged one of those first-class seats, but it looks like the Lynx are on this flight, too.”

Year after year, the last couple of home series are marked by the Twins as “Fan Appreciation” games. This September, though, it’s hard for fans to feel valued, given the state of the franchise. The main contributor to the bottomed-out fan morale is obviously the on-field product, but it goes far beyond that. The damage has been done for a large contingent of fans, who want to be excited about the current iteration of the team. Worse, I’m worried that the effects of their decision to strip down their investment in the ballpark experience will cause irreversible harm to the next generation of Twins fans. So what’s the answer? The easy response (that will surely flood the comment section of this article) is that ownership should invest in better players this offseason, or find a time machine DeLorean, gun it to 88, and go back in time to 2023, where they can reverse their decision to cut payroll when the club was at its high point. Then maybe the image of tomorrow’s Twins fans won’t fade away, like the photo of the siblings in Back to the Future. Sadly, both options appear about as likely to occur at this point. So, putting away the very valid notion that investment needs to be made on the field for a minute, I have an idea for how the Twins can build attention and excitement in their product—but it might sting for a little bit. The Twins need to allow kids into their games for free with a paying adult, at least for the next few years. That would surely affect the bottom line, when it comes to ticket sales, but it would start to repair the deep wounds that have been made to the goodwill between the club and the fanbase. They need to make going to a Twins game accessible to everyone. That isn’t the case right now. Nor will it become so simply by way of the Pohlads emptying their closets filled with cheap hats and BOGO coupons for Caribou Coffee. I became a fan of the Twins in the mid- to late 1990s—hardly a high point, when it came to the on-field product. But I was lucky enough to have parents who could afford to take me to a few games a year, stick an affordable Hormel hot dog in my yap and teach me about our beloved pastime and all that the beauty that the ballpark can hold, even with an ugly stadium and a team with an ugly record. Those memories fostered a love for Twins baseball in me, far more than a leftover giveaway jersey ever could. Not everyone could afford to do that for their kids, and they certainly can’t in today’s climate. I just checked the get-in price for next Friday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, and the cheapest option runs $18 per seat. That doesn’t include parking, or the exorbitant prices of concessions. Taking into account these figures for, let's say, a family of four, the overall tab of the experience quickly prices out many families. Imagine being able to offer that same experience to a family for nearly half the price. That gets more butts in the seats, more eyes on the product, more money in through concessions and merchandise sales, and most importantly, more treasured memories of Twins baseball in the hearts of the next generation of fans. And guess what? Those kids who would get in for free would grow up to be adult fans, eager to spend their money on their beloved ballclub, all because the team had the guts to get them invested early on—even if it meant temporarily losing out on the bottom line. Current promotions like 612 Saturdays (where they offer $6 beer, $2 food and $1 snacks before first pitch) are a good start, but maybe the Twins need to show their fans that they value them in that fashion for more than two hours a week. So here’s my plea to the franchise that won me over even when the on-field team wasn’t winning. Stop making it harder for kids to fall in love with your product, and they’ll reward you in the long run. Keep your leftover giveaway items, and make a covenant with the next generation of Twins fans that promises you’ll invest in them now, and they’ll invest in you for years to come. Years from now, there isn’t going to be some DeLorean that you can hop in and travel back in time to win back a generation of Twins fans that you’re currently daring to tune out of your product. What do you think? Would this idea help build goodwill between the club and the fans? What other ideas do you have that could help re-engage the young fanbase? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, stay sweet.

MINNEAPOLIS—As the club welcomed the Athletics to Target Field on Tuesday night, an ongoing battle between two factions of Twins fans continued to ring out in the streets of downtown. On one side: a group of Twins fans that are fed up with the state of the team, especially in light of the owners recent decision to pull the organization off the market. Opposing them are fans who have grown tired of the constant bellyaching and childish tantrums being thrown.. “What, I’m just supposed to be happy with how things have shaken out and pretend like nothing happened?” questioned Bryan Douglas of Burnsville. “That’s it! I’m done spending my hard-earned money that I got from my Hardee’s settlement on a team owned by such cheapskates.” Douglas’s frustration is understandable, given the Twins’ disappointing season—which comes on the heels of an epic collapse in 2024, and dwindling payroll support from ownership. And while most can acknowledge that fact, there is still a large portion of the fanbase that has simply grown tired of constant complaints. “Look, I get it. I would also like to see my favorite team get more support from ownership,” said Carl Miller of Robbinsdale, before rolling a smoke bomb down the stairs by Target Field Station. “And guess what, I understand why a baby cries on an airplane. It doesn’t mean I can’t find it annoying as hell.” The battle between the two sides came to blows a few weeks ago when a group of radical Twins’ apologists captured one of the protesters calling for a coup of the team, and hung him from the flag pole in right field by his underwear. It took three days to get the imprisoned man down, as all of the Pohlad detractors had already vowed to not enter the stadium until the team was sold, leaving him isolated behind enemy lines. “If I could talk to Joe Pohlad right now, I’d tell him the exact same thing I told Hardee’s,” Douglas said while painting a fake mustache on the statue of Eloise Pohlad. “If you don’t want to hear me whine about your overpriced, lukewarm food, you shouldn’t have put a liquor store right next to the building.” It’s unclear how that applies to the current conflict, especially given the fact that there isn’t a registered liquor store within a half-mile of Target Field. Nevertheless, Douglas’s passion for fighting for his beliefs would be commendable if he weren’t so downright unpleasant on a constant basis. “Oh no, poor little baby is sad because the team he watches once in a blue moon doesn’t sign enough free agents,” Miller said mockingly in a baby voice, while paying $27 for one (1) hot dog and one (1) small Pepsi. “Just be an adult and accept mediocrity for your entire life like the rest of us.” It’s unclear what will end this brutal battle between these two factions of Twins fans, but the club is planning to take advantage of the conflict with a new ticket promotion. Fans from either side can purchase a package for $84 that includes a ticket to the game (standing room only, of course), a hat that displays their chosen side (but the anti-ownership hats will mysteriously go missing on the day of the game) and a BOGO Biscuit and Gravy bucket at the nearest Hardee’s.