1985Fan

Keaschall can primarily play DH while occasionally filling in the outfield. Minimize his poor defense to improve the overall team defense. As someone else mentioned, he can get reps in during practices with OF coach and shag fly balls during BP (not sure if they do this anymore). Shelton stated that their goal is to get better defensively. Buxton will probably miss time at the beginning of the season and then DH for a week or so to ease back into it. I say no to FT DH. Are the Twins taking our votes? 😁

Morejon or some other high quality arm is required to rebuild this BP. In today’s MLB a shut down BP is necessary when this group of Twins is ready to enter their competitive window, whether that’s next year or 2028. Morejon has the stuff and is the right age to sign to a longer term deal so he’s around for 3-5 years.

I found the previous “Twins Greatest Players” post that put Killebrew and Puckett (along with Carew and Mauer) in the Inner Circle and Immortals categories. Ok, I can agree with that. I still say Hunter does not belong in the Beloved category.

Puckett and Killebrew left off the list of beloved players?! Hunter does not belong, but Tony O is deserving. Killebrew is the all-time greatest Twin, HOFer, and broadcast Twins games after retirement. I believe he was part of the broadcast team during the 1987 WS season. Puckett won two WS championships for crying out loud. How much more beloved can you get between Killebrew and Puckett? I don’t hate Hunter, but he didn’t do anything special during his time in the Twins uniform. A good player that decided to leave for more money. Came back for one nice season, but big deal.

If they go the trade route to fill 1B, how about Coby Mayo? The Orioles have the Polar Bear locked in for a while, so Mayo could be expendable. They need SP badly. Maybe Ryan for Mayo would work. He’s not shown superstar numbers, but he’s young and has upside. Im ok if they stay internal for 1B. Give Lewis another two months as a last chance. If he doesn’t hit, then be done with him and go with Clemons and Sabato to see how that looks. I think they should see what Sabato can do before moving on. They need some RH power in the lineup with Jeffers on his way out.

Twins 2026 drafted pitchers after catchers Lackey and Tinney, in total 12 pitchers. Further, four of the 2026 pitchers drafted are in the top 25 Twins prospects list. Next year, Riley Quick, #7 ranked Twins prospect, will probably start at AA and I expect will move to AAA. I think there is enough pitching for 2027 with Abel, Prielipp, Matthews, and Bradley. Those young guys to go with Lopez and Kremer should be enough for next year. Rojas and Gallagher should be in AAA at the start of the year, ready to step up. Quick could be at AAA in the second half. Not counting on Ryan or Ober as both should be traded. Festa is also a question mark that can’t be counted on. I think there is enough pitching for next year, and if the current guys keep developing and getting better, the future is bright.

Thats it. Good recall.

Wrong good sir… That is a Groucho Marx quote from his tv show that I cant recall the name of now.

I’m not into projecting numbers and/or results. Not surprised at his struggles on both offense and defense; that’s to be expected. Huge adjustment for prospects when they hit the big leagues. Witness Cooper Pratt for the Brewers. I think the biggest attribute KC and other players have is their mentality. They need the ability to weather the hard times while maintaining confidence, while also able to humbly admit they need to learn and accept help. Some young players haven’t faced a lot of failure, so they don’t handle it well. We’ll see how KC does next season.

Be careful what you wish for. New owner spending big money doesn’t always translate to a well run, winning organization. Lots of examples like Arte Moreno buying the Angels from Gene Autry. They had just won their only WS and Moreno took that org from that high to where they are today. He spent a lot of money though. How about Steve Cohen with the Mets? Great job there, and he spends lots of money as well. The local example of the Wilfs is laughable. They’re no closer to the SB now than when they bought the team. And we the taxpayers gave them a billion dollar stadium that costs a fortune for tickets. I’ve worked with and for companies bought out by investment firms. Not once did I see or experience improvements. It’s usually followed by cost cutting and major changes to extract a quick profit from the business, to the detriment of the customers and employees. Truthfully, every owner has to make money from their investment or at least not lose money. All the talk about the greedy Pohlads is the truth for every other baseball owner. New owners won’t change that. I’ll duck for cover now for all the expected rocks thrown my way 😁

If an alternative approach is to add a 2B and move Clemons to 1B, then maybe look at Volpe from NYY. He’s fallen out of the lineup but still has talent. He looked great against the Twins at TF recently, so he can play, just not at the high expectations Yankee management and fans had when he was primary SS. He might be cheap to get in a trade since he’s fallen out of favor in NY. If they go 2B and move Clemons to 1B, don’t shut out moving KC to 2B when Houston arrives. Something to keep in mind….

I’d like to see some spend on the BP. Matthews, Rojas, and others should be used as SP until that door is completely closed. Adding one or two BP arms via FA would be helpful, instead of spending prospect capital. Spending big on guys like Bednar or Morejohn is premature, so maybe Minter and Abreu are more reasonable.

You might be right, but why not try him out to know for sure? It’s not like the Twins are knocking on the door of the WS next year. Before using assets on 1B, make sure they’re not sitting on an improvement.

If they’re going to make a 1B trade, look at NYY. They have a bit of a logjam at 1B when Judge is healthy. Garcia might be odd man out, even though they just traded for him. He’s young at 26, so he could fit Twins timeline for contending. Bush from Cubs would be a good add as well, but the cost would probably be very high. Not sure how that would look. Im also ok with staying the course with Lewis at 1B to start the season. Give him another two months before pulling the plug on him. Then give Sabato a chance for a month to see if he can stick. If not, fall back to Clemons for the rest of the year.

Lewis has also played 2nd and 3rd base. Lee isn’t going to play every day. Sabato can get a few AB’s as DH . There are more than four OF on the roster. I don’t know how they deal with that logjam other than trades to clean up the roster.