UK Twin

Yes they should be looking to fix the offense. And they've started by hiring new coaches. The Twins have a lot of young, talented hitters. Arguably the most talented of those, Lewis, slumped really badly at the back end of last season. Signing Bader does not hurt the effort at all. Bader hasn't been signed to hit .300 or to drive in 100 runs - if he can replicate his numbers from last year (12 HR's, 51 RBI) Twins will more than take that to go along with what else he offers. Twins can fix the offense by working with Lewis, Wallner, Lee, Julien, Jeffers and further down the line Rodriguez and Keaschall. There's so much potential there.

Unless he's traded of course - a very real possibility.

The way I see it Bader can impact a game in several ways, He can enter the game as a pinch runner, or to provide elite defense when closing out a game. Twins can rest Buxton and not lose much, if anything, on defense. He's still capable of hitting one out of the park. It feels like another MAT signing rather than another Margot to me.

Disagree. Bader hit 12 HR's and drove in 51 last year despite uninspiring stats. IMO he's a better hitter than Martin, especially against lefties.

Wow - 2 days in a row with a free agent signing! Not a move that has me jumping for joy but a sensible signing. RH bat, speedy and good cover for Buxton. Plus can platoon with Wallner/Larnach when a lefty is on the mound for the opposition.

Can't complain with this. Needed a veteran lefty in the bullpen and now we've got one.

The good news is if you look at the standings from last season the only team you would feel confident in improving their record is the Twins. Well, I suppose the White Sox as well, improving from absolutely pathetic to just plain bad. Take KC - ok, Witt is a superstar and will likely produce MVP candidate stats again. But a chunk of their roster is aging. Perez is 34, turns 35 in May. Lugo, their ace from last year is 35 - it's a lot to ask for a 35 year old SP to replicate his 3.00 ERA from last season. Wacha is 33, he's had 3 strong seasons but he could start to regress. Ragans is very good and I like their bullpen. But plenty of questions remain about their rotation and offense behind Witt. Tigers - Excellent 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. Skubal is elite and Flaherty good. But question marks about the rest of their rotation and their bullpen isn't particularly special. Their offence is ok, nothing more. Out of KC, Tigers and Cleveland, I think Cleveland have easily the best shot at equalling or bettering their record from last season. Twins are going to be relying on two things - health (as per usual) and the development of our younger hitters such as Lee, Wallner, Lewis and Julien. The rotation is strong, 4 very reliable and durable pitchers, bullpen needs a lefty but otherwise looks strong and if Lewis shakes off his slump from last season we've got a strong heart of the batting line up. AL Central could be a fun division to watch again. The inter-division games will be so important. We sucked against Cleveland last season, OK against KC and Detroit and beat up the White Sox if my memory is correct. Must improve against Cleveland.

Well his mindset is in the right place - he's said he's aiming to play MLB this year. I think as a top prospect you have to have that self-confidence. Will be very keen to see how he gets on in Spring Training and then AAA. I'm fairly certain he won't spend much time at AA at all.

It really is hardly surprising that baseball players get injured so regularly compared to other sports. They have to play 5 games a week on average for 6 months. Obviously SP's only play 1 every 5 or 6 days and RP's are managed but I still think any baseball player's workload is more than any other sport. NFL - play once a week and have huge rosters so players can rotate. NBA - more off days in a week and players can sub in and out during a game. Admittedly baseball isn't as physically demanding as those sports but the sheer volume of game time takes its toll, particularly for positions like SS and CF. Players get minor injuries but feel they can play through it and it blows up into something more serious and then they miss weeks rather than days or even months rather than weeks. Hopefully Rocco will be proactive in blowout games (both for wins and losses) and take Correa and Buck out of the game when the result is almost certainly a foregone conclusion.

Hardly. That leaves Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschall, as top 100 prospects and then there's younger prospects like Culpepper and Soto who are highly rated.

I would certainly be OK with including Matthews in a deal for Cease. With Festa and SWR in the fold, we can afford to deal Matthews. Even if it's only for a year, a rotation of Lopez, Cease, Ryan, Ober and Festa/SWR would be one of the strongest rotations in MLB.

I would be open to Vazquez plus Matthews for Cease. I would not include Festa (who I assume SD would be asking for). But if we could get Cease for a reasonable price we should go for it. A rotation of Lopez, Cease, Ryan, Ober and SWR/Festa would be right up there with the best rotations in the AL, it not MLB.

I do like where the Twins rotation is right now. After suffering through the 2010's with the likes of Pelfrey and Correia as our BETTER options it's great to have a 1-2-3 of Lopez, Ryan and Ober. I'm still not 100% sold on SWR - I think Festa will overtake him to become the 4th spot in the rotation - his stuff is better and am quite excited to how he will develop. I fully expect Paddack to be traded as we will have Matthews and Varland as depth options. I think the Twins have the deepest rotation along with KC even if Detroit has the best SP in the AL Central.

As disappointing as this offseason has been, the news about the sale of the Twins progressing is very good news indeed. If, as has been reported, a sale is completed by opening day there is absolutely no way the Twins should consider trading Correa or Lopez or any other key name. And the longer Alonso goes without signing.....

I wouldn't be that surprised if Jenkins had had his first taste of MLB by then. If he continues on his trajectory, I think at the very least he's a September call up candidate in the 2025 season. He'll most likely still qualify as a prospect unless he does something truly special and skips AAA completely like Soto did. Very unlikely though - but I think he's capable of it. Don't see the Twins being that aggressive with him though.

Very early days, but this would be a complete gamechanger for the Twins franchise. They pretty much check every box for ideal owners - deep pockets and ambitions to match. Too early to get too excited about this, but promising signs.

Twins can be active in the trade market without trading one of their star players. I wouldn't mind us going to the Mariners and dangling Brooks Lee to them for Bryce Miller. Maybe include Paddack if they are worried about losing rotation depth.

It would more likely need to be Wallner instead of Larnach to tempt the Marlins. More team control and more upside. TBH I would still do that - Wallner for Luzardo. With Rodriguez coming in 2025 and Jenkins not long after I do think Wallner could be a trade chip.

If Rodriguez has a monster Spring Training, Twins should just ride with it and include him on the roster from opening day. There's a clear opening on the roster for him with Kepler departing if he can show he's ready.

I think Jenkins could be a superstar one day. His potential is enornmous. But no need to rush his development. He should end next year in AAA if it all goes to plan. Like others have said, I think Rodriguez is the one who will be next up. His bat is pretty much ready for MLB now.

Well that plain sucks. Injuries have ruined a hugely talented baseball player. I really hope he finds something, whether related to baseball or not, that makes him happy. All the best AK!

I definitely think fans should be cautiously optimistic about this news. We don't even know if there are any interested parties at this stage. But the Pohlad's have clearly been thinking of selling for a while now and you'd like to think by making the news public they probably have receieved some interest. I'm trying to determine how appealing the Twins would be to buy - one one hand the Twins are a small to mid-market franchise. However, Minnesota teams are on the rise - Wolves and Vikings doing so well and both having superstars on their rosters so increasing the Twins profile may appeal to a billionaire's vanity. Also, the Twins roster is built for success now and for the future. Twins farm system is as good as its been for a long time. I think if the Pohlad's are serious about selling, they will find a buyer. I'm just hoping they will choose a buyer who has a positive long term vision for the Twins.

The first question Twins need to ask before being open to a trade is how often we sign a player of this caliber in free agency? The answer - virtually never. The injuries he's had while with the Twins are nothing to do with why the Giants and Mets pulled out of their deals - Twins always seem to have such bad luck with injuries. We don't need to do that much to the roster over the offseason IMO - Lopez, Ryan, Ober and SWR are locks for the rotation. Trade Paddack possibly, add another veteran arm. Bullpen needs a bit of work. Need to either re-sign Santana or replace him. Kepler's defense will be missed, not so much his bat. We've still got a play off caliber roster IMO. A dreadful September doesn't change that. Which is why keeping Correa is a no brainer. Yes, his AAV is high, but he's only got 5 guaranteed years left. We have to find a way of keeping him on the field. Buxton - we got a discount on his contract because of his injury history so you accept he has to be managed. Correa needs to be playing 80%+ of the games. But he clearly makes a huge difference when he plays.

If that is indeed the case then Popkins and Maki have to go. Someone needs to be held accountable for this utter farce. Can't blame the Pohlad's for this collapse (well, not entirely). The coaching and managing has been abysmal. The buck should stop with Baldelli. It's his team, he should be the one to be fired. But there are valid arguments for the dismissal of Popkins and Maki (Popkins in particular) instead. The hitting has been largely abysmal with RISP. While the pitching has also gone backwards, Maki may get a pass due to the sheer number of injuries there. Our season was on the line and we lost a home series to Miami. Are you kidding me? That is embarrassing.

It's not just physical burn out. It's mental burn out too. Besides, it's mainly since Ryan went down where the problems have really started - I'd be interested to know the Twins bullpen usage since then compared to the rest of the league. And you're seriously going to compare Cleveland's bullpen to ours? Theirs is the best in baseball so it makes sense to use it as much as they have. Over the last month, the Twins bullpen has been massively overworked - the offense can be partly blamed for that as they've been constantly trying to protect 1 and 2 run leads. But Rocco's not helping either by pulling SWR out early like he did yesterday.