MGX

There have been 14 Twins managers - it would be tough to rank Rocco ahead of any of them. Certainly not in the top 10. Top 3 IMO 1. Kelly 2. Mele 3. Mauch

In 109 games & 350 PA's Clemens has produced 1.4 WAR. I can't imagine any team in MLB has 13 position players who have produced 1.4 WAR so far this season.

Fielding run value for RF - 24 players have more than 500 innings in RF Matt Wallner -2 ranked 14th out of 24 - wOBA .335 Nick Castellanos -13 - wOBA .303 Juan Soto -11 - wOBA .390 Teoscar Hernandez -9 - wOBA .331 Ronald Acuna -8 - wOBA .388 Jordan Walker -5 - wOBA .257 Josh Lowe -4 - wOBA .296 Bryan Reynolds -3 - wOBA .311 Dominic Canzone -4 - wOBA .342 Nolan Jones -2 - wOBA .272 Mike Tauchman -1 - wOBA .332 2 players at 0 11 players with a positive rating Based on some of the comments we should be seeing the Mets, Dodgers & Braves restricting Soto, T Hernandez & Acuna to DH only.

Matt Wallner WRC+ over the last 3 seasons - 142, 155 & 115. On a team that consistently struggles on offense why would we be anxious to get rid of one of the few productive hitters we have.

Clemens OPS with the Twins by month - .985, .625, .805, .536 & after his bag game 1.113 in September. I'm pretty sure every hitter in MLB is inconsistent. The thing I take notice of is his continual improvement since his debut - 2022 - 127 PA's - .505 OPS, 2023 - 148 PA's - .644 OPS, 2024 - 120 PA's - .706 OPS, 2025 - 335 PA's - .741 OPS. Hitting at the MLB level is difficult, improving in 3 consecutive seasons is especially difficult. I'm not advocating he should be the starting 1B in '26, but he absolutely has earned a spot on the roster. He's a solid defensive player at multiple positions, he definitely has value.

So signing 1 player is enough of an investment in the team??? It's not to me, invest to put an entertaining, competitive team on the field consistently & see what happens. When the Twins have had consistent success in the past they've had good attendance. Investing in one player after more than a decade with very little in the way of competitive baseball teams isn't enough IMO.

There is one clear way to fix the issue - sell the team. Anything short of this is problematic. The fans have had enough of the Pohlads BS & I don't see them coming back unless the team is sold. Sadly, I think everything we've seen is only part of the reset. This organization is being fully reset to sell the team. They ran into issues in their attempt to sell this past year(because they're out of touch) thinking new owners would give them the sales price they wanted & take on the debt. This typical of the Pohlads who are completely out of touch with the fan base. The bad thing is they could compete as soon as next season with competent management in place. I mean at all levels, from ownership to the FO to the on field manager. Looking at our current management I hold very little hope they will compete & expect more of a reset next season. It's amazing that they can't see the potential for profits if they would invest in the team. They own an entertainment business & are unwilling to invest in providing the best entertainers they can get. I'd think that should be a priority in this business if you want to maximize profitability. The bottom line for me is the team needs to sold & it can't happen fast enough.

Clemens is a ballplayer, he's versatile & reliable in the field. His offensive production has shown steady improvement. With that said his offensive production is still below average by any measure. He currently looks like a bench player, which is fine & maybe the Twins can use him in that role. He's not an everyday player at this point in his career. He's just over 700 PA's for his career so maybe there is more improvement to come, but next season is his 30 year old season & needs quite a bit of improvement to warrant everyday play. At this point he's not a bat we can rely on.

Good point & yet when Rocco is discussed he now has a built in excuse of we traded away all the talent. Even though we were playing uninspired baseball prior to the deadline.

I don't think a team should ever just decide they need to trade quality players. If we get an offer for either one that blows us away that needs to be considered. If you go into the off-season with the idea that we need to trade one or both you've already given away the negotiating leverage. The FO needs to be able to say "No" to any offers in order to negotiate a deal that would be worth trading either one. One other note Pablo Lopez making 21 million or whatever isn't an expensive contract. Quality SP's in MLB are worth at least that so lets say he's expensive, he's not.

We give up so many hits on grounders where you expect an infielder to be, it's amazing. I don't know who handles IF positioning, but they need to adjust the strategy.

If Baltimore is seeking a return that corresponds with his '22-'23 production then No thanks. If they're valuation is close to his '24-'25 then maybe depending on the direction of the team. As it stands now the Twins need to search for diamonds in the rough more than big name players. Speaking of the Orioles I believe they just DFA'd Roansy Contreras who is still an interesting pitcher & only 25. The bottom line is until there is a plan in place that says we're competing in '26 trading for players like Rutschman seems unrealistic.

The bottom line is we traded a 30 year old inconsistent reliever for a 24 year old SP who already has 350+ solid IP in MLB. Who knows how it will work out, but the Twins need to make that trade every day.

They obviously can compete in '26, but it's hard to imagine it actually happening. The issue is we have the same owners, front office & on field management. Until these things change, I have my doubts we'll see the type of team Twins fans would like. The value of the playoff win in '23 should have been about momentum & building something bigger, but the owners stopped that momentum cold. For decades the Pohlads have proven they have no interest in trying to put a winning team on the field. Under Falvey-Baldelli leadership we've seen no indication that they can bring in/develop enough talent to build a winning team. For me it's not worth it to dive into specifics until these things change.

To answer this or any other question regarding the Twins current or future status you have to look at how this team is managed from Ownership, to front office to the on field manager. The way things look right now nothing is changing with those three areas so the type of team that is put on the field won't change either. Sadly until those things change we'll see the same type of team as we've seen for roughly the last 10 seasons. To answer the question - Will payroll be over or under 100 million. The Pohlads haven't changed in decades so why would they change now. I'll guess under 100 million.

This team could easily compete in '26... If the Pohlads had sold the team & the new owners were invested in building a good team. Since that didn't happen we have a lot of question marks... while I like the Starting pitching we have currently the speculation that Lopez will be traded feels like a very real possibility. It's possible maybe even Ryan. Another part of that is will Falvey actually push other teams for the absolute best offer & most importantly if he doesn't get that offer be willing to say no. The lineup has plenty of questions starting with SS - Brooks Lee is getting every chance to claim that spot, but his offensive production is lacking at this point. Royce Lewis is an even bigger question mark to me. He has a long swing & yet he still tries to pull everything. That is correctable, but why is it still an issue when he's been in the organization this long. There are other big questions to - who pairs with Jeffers behind the plate? The bottom line is the position player group needs plenty of work. With all that said it's possible that they could still be competitive in '26, but there are a lot questions to find the right answer between now & next spring & nothing has changed with the management of this team from the Owners to the FO to the on field manager so it makes it hard to imagine things changing much.

As much as I'd hate to see those trades, if it meant the Pohlads were gone I'd be ok with it.

How is Gasper in the game.

It's easy to tear into someone when there gone. Here are some facts about the 4 seasons Correa spent here... - in 2 of the 4 seasons he was the most valuable player on the team in terms of WAR - in 2023 when he had a down season we won the division & he hit over .400 in the playoffs Everyone is entitled to their opinion & can blame Correa if they want. For me the owners, front office & the manager are more responsible for the lack of team success over the last 4 seasons than any one player could be.

You wrote - "We knew the lineup would be less than the sum of its parts—and I’d argue that’s been a defining feature of the Correa era." I would offer the following edit of this line - We knew the lineup would be less than the sum of its parts—and I’d argue that’s been a defining feature of the Falvey-Baldelli era.

When your talking about a young player with less than 600 PA's at the MLB level the numbers aren't the only thing that matters. I'm certainly not going to say Lee is the starting SS going forward & that's it, but he is the starting SS for the rest of this season. We don't have to guess at how he'll do, we're going to see it everyday. If there isn't a noticeable improvement on offense the issue will take care of itself. Someone else will step up & take the job from him whether it comes from inside (Culpepper) or outside.

I'm not going to say Lee is the answer at SS, because has a lot left to prove, but lets give the guy a chance. I agree with what you said about his lack of athleticism & yet when you watch him at SS he looks solid. The Lee - Keaschall double play combo has looked surprisingly good in there limited time playing together. That being said the bat hasn't produced to this point & that needs to get better. For now there really isn't another option so lets see what he does with this opportunity. If the offense isn't better by the end of the season then SS is a question mark for next year. Either way many may be surprised that the post deadline Twins are more entertaining than the pre-deadline Twins.

I can agree with you on the Stewart trade, just doesn't fit. The Varland trade looks like a good trade & the Jax trade could be a very good trade. A 24 yr old SP whose held his own in MLB since he was 22 for 30 yr old reliever who first found success as a 27 yr old after not cutting as a starter sounds like a deal I'd take every day.

The only trade that was questionable was the Stewart trade since Outman (I follow the Dodgers & I liked him when he debuted) seems to be a poor fit. I don't think we should have expected a big return for Stewart, but we should have found a better fit in that deal. The other deals all look good to me. I've seen a lot of complaints on some of the deals like the Varland deal, but that looks like a good trade for the Twins & the Jax deal seems to be a very good trade for the Twins & yet you see many complaints about that as well. I think many on this site were unrealistic about what relief pitchers were going to return. In the Duran trade Falvey could have held out for Painter & he gave in when he should have had the leverage, but I like our return in that deal. Painter could end up being great, but he's already had an arm injury & his comeback hasn't gone to plan for the Phillies. In the spring Dombrowski said he expected him to be up by July & he is still in AAA struggling with a 4.88 ERA. Meanwhile, Mick Abel seemed to be out of the Phillies plans after tough '24 & wasn't going to be given anything. He went out & dominated at AAA got a promotion to the show & had a few good outings before getting hit a bit & needed to back down to work on some things. Since then he has been pitching great at AAA. We also received a legit prospect in Tait who we wouldn't have gotten if Painter was in the deal. In the end all that matters is do we like the trades & for me that is a Yes, with the exception of the Stewart trade.

There were some trades that didn't seem to fit. With that said one of the trades that people seemingly dislike is the the Jax for Bradley trade. IMO that is a win for the Twins. If you can trade a 30 yr old reliever (don't get me wrong I liked Jax) for a 24 yr old SP who has already in his young career has 100+ IP in each of the last 3 seasons for a total of 354 IP & has been a solid SP at the MLB level, that is a win. There is still every reason to believe he can be even better, but even the results he's produced to this point is more than fair value for Jax IMO.