bjorks

Do the Fins want a higher ceiling or more quantifiable stats? Even though it's murky, we can still project an MVP-caliber ceiling for Lewis and IMO we have 2-3 guys in the minors who profile what we THOUGHT Larnach could be. The amount of improvement seems to be a pretty wide gap and that's even if Lewis plays 120 games a year. I'd drive the moving truck to Florida for him if that's "all it took". I'd throw in Mercedes or Schobel if I had to.

I appreciate the data and the article, but the the answer is bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha The Twins get Sasaki only in my wettest dreams. Our only chance would be a Japanese ownership group!

Random opinions... 1) LAD certainly has quality depth at C and would be trading from a place of depth 2) Vasquez isn't getting traded for a prospect or utility player without prospect capital attached as I don't see the FO sending $7M cash along with him. They may as well keep him if they have to send cash. LAD obviously probably NOT in the market for a backup, defensive catcher. 3) There is a LAD prospect I'd take a flyer on if you could could get someone like Rushing/Cartaya. Cartaya IMO would not take as much to get as Rushing. Edgardo Henriquez, 23 next June, and had a cup of coffee in playoffs. TJ in 2023, but he throws gas and has a nasty slider (99+ MPH fastball and a 90'ish hard slider). Only problem is he doesn't always know where it's going. Profiles a little bit as a better version of Alcala or maybe bullpen version of Edward Cabrera(?), but if he harnesses his control, he's a backend/high leverage guy with 3 year control heading into 2024. MiLB - 153.1 inn; 212k (12.44 k/9) against 99w (5.81 w/9); career 4.05 ERA/1.42 WHIP; .213 OBA; '25 LAD Rotation - Glasnow, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Stone, Miller (anyone here a lock for 30 starts?) FA/RET. - Buehler, Flaherty, Treinen, Kelly, Hudon (ret.) '25 Options - Kershaw, Knack, Wrobleski, Ryan, Frasso, Ferris would probably be late summer 2025 if that LAD get ($5.3M in/out): Joe Ryan ($3.7), CJ Culpepper ($800K/MLB), Tanner Schobel ($800k/MLB) MIN get ($2.4M in): Dalton Rushing ($800K/MLB) , Edgardo Henriquez ($800K), and I'd try and grab Nick Frasso ($800K) also. Frasso is a classic bounce back guy after surgery who is cheap and still may have some upside having just turned 26. Maybe get a throw in like Pete Heubeck. Gives another $2M on top of potentially the $17.5 in Paddock/Vasquez. Don't know if this would even be considered by either team. I'd hate to see Ryan go (rather have Ober), but it seems like both teams could deal from a position of strength.

Scott Blewett and Aaron Bummer in our bullpen, why not? If only Grant Balfour was still pitching we'd have the law office of Blewett, Balfour, & Bummer.

Denny Hocking and Nelson Lirano anyone? They're going to be the cheapest.

Twins walk away with SS/SS/3B/HSP and must believe in their "late round pitching development". They must be extremely high on this Hill kid (LHP). Point being Caminiti is there and they draft the same type of player back-to-back when the system is void of a legit LH starter (in true MN fandom, I'm hoping-but-not-expecting much from Priellip). I too am in AZ and saw Caminiti throw 3x and despite his age, he is POLISHED for being 17. I do get the HS pitching was down a bit and college bats/arms were better, but Caminiti has a much higher ceiling than Festa in my opinion and I'd rather draft the "best" HS arm in the draft and walk away with Culpepper or DeBarge at #33. Amick could be steal of the night.

I wanted the Twins to at least "look into" Lane Thomas last year. As much as it pains me to say a .250 is above average-to-great, and (when healthy) a consistent 20/20 threat and most likely almost to the top of his prime is something I'd pay for and probably be cheaper than HK. 1 more year of control and probably not getting a huge raise in arbitration because he's been injured ($5.5 in '24). ANNNNND crushes lefthanded tossers. Don't understand why there isn't more interest, he seems like a quintessential Twin.

Happy to see Keaschall continuing to rake! Works his tail off all day, everyday.

I would blame Falvine for how they presented all of this in the media. Pitching depth was important and they sold us on having LV waiting in St. Paul if someone stumbled. As many mentioned, Topa essentially cost $4M + actual salary and Darren Bowen (throw in) is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG way from helping the big club let alone St. Paul. But you don't get Topa/Gonzalez without taking back a bag of poop. If the message was "We're taking a flyer with DeSclafani and his injury history and we have Varland ready and we're signing someone else..." is a better message than "we're excited about DeSclafani and hope he regains his form". One additional pitcher signing would've made this all much easier to stomach. Michael Lorenzen, Jordan Hicks, or Blake Snell would've been better than trying to sell the public on another reclamation project with a high probability of this result.

All Star level for Gallo

Outside of Rusty Kuntz, Grant Balfour has been replaced as having the worst name in baseball and he pitched today. Ladies and Gents...Scott Blewett. RP, our Minnesota Twins. 1 inn, 2 Ks today.

I may have missed this, but it's funny to see our most grossly underpaid position player (Lewis) and our highest paid "5th" (DeSclafani).

Estimated future payroll commitments per Sportrac As much as RL is the current/future face (along with Jenkins) we all want, until the TV deal and streaming package is settled, it may be difficult to estimate future payroll limits. We're committed to $105.5M in 2025 already with (potentially) DeSclafani, Kepler, Santana, Thielbar, and Staumont UFAs and Castro, Jeffers, Kiriloff, Topa, Okert, Stewart, Ryan, Ober, Larnach, Jax, and Duran all arbitration eligible. The Twins are in great position with only 3 total guaranteed deals in 2026 and 2027 and 2 in 2028 (Lopez will be 32 at the end of his deal in '28). There's no rush IMHO. RL needs to prove he can stay healthy as much as we have a number of guys who need to prove they're long term building blocks and I argue we have quite a few guys who need to prove it. Jenkins is potentially the guy the buyout and that's 3-4 years away. There's no rush to do anything unless Boras and RL are pushing for it, which I doubt. RL is worth substantially more than $20M/year if averages 135+ games a year through '28. If he's got franchise type numbers he's probably worth double that at the peak of his prime. Obviously if you're the Twins you start having talkings after NEXT season if that's the precedent you want to set, but unless there are health concerns from the RL camp we don't know about, I'd bet on myself. Buying guys out is a risky proposition. I wish I had the decision of $200M now or $350M later! lol

Such a loaded class. Hard to think between Langford, Crews, and maybe Clark, any of them were/are consolation prizes and it would be an interesting if the FO would've been disappointed in any of them or even if Skenes fell to 5. With Lewis and Jenkins taking the Twins into the 2030's, is it too early to think of what to call them?

Puckett was old in 1991! I had no idea he played in 378 All Star games!

Got to watch Keaschall quite a bit at ASU and he's just a grinder. I'm pretty sure he was a decent wrestler in HS, but he's a little bit of an old school guy who works hard and you know what they say, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. I've been trying to think of who I'd compare him to as someone like Castro isn't quite it. Keaschall has a better bat than Castro and Keaschall IMHO has a great understanding of the situation at the plate. He doesn't try to do too much with RISP and he seems clutch, but the #'s don't necessarily reflect. At times with Correa last year, you just had the gut feeling this was a GIDP or Ron Davis was going to blow a hold, you don't ever get that feeling with Keaschall. He's athletic enough to be a super utility - great at nothing, good at everything and his home is probably up the middle, maybe LF. Depending on your preferred metric, he's good enough to start for a non contender or close to contending team as the floor. I hope he just keeps grinding as he I think he could be a valuable guy. Not saying he's Farmer, but that type of role and that's an asset.

4 years of control (including this year) before he's a UFA in 2028. IF he's a #2 or #3 I think because he's going to be cheap and he would hold more trade value as a starter I'd guess you make that move. Finding a Tier 2 closer or doing it by committee is easier than finding a bonafide #2. Of course he'd be open to it as he heads into arbitration after this season. Submitting as a starter vs a closer is still a wide gap. He'll have almost the same service time as Bednar did heading into his first year of arbitration and he landed at $4.5, but Bednar has a better WAR. Seth suggested $4M in 2025 for Duran, but it appears it may be a tad low. Duran as a viable #2 or #3 at $5M/yr + Josh Hader at $16M/yr is still better than Duran at $5M as a closer and having Giolitto at $18M.

IF Prielipp was included in any trade and he maxed his potential. Milwaukee would have a potential heckuva top of the rotation with Misiorowski and Prielipp every bit as strong as Burnes and Woodruff for a fraction of the price. Chourio, Quero, Tyler Black are Top 100 guys along with Misiorowski. Sal Frelick was a top prospect as well. They have a nice core of controllable and affordable players, which for small market teams is the name of the game. It's interesting some are hesitant to include Festa/Prielipp in this scenario, would you feel the same if Soto or Raya were substituted for one or both? Are we that "excited" about Festa because he made the Futures Game and created some buzz? Winder, Balazovic, Thorpe, Jharel Cotton, and Berrios all played and Berrios is the only impactful pitcher. I had a similar argument with the whole Mauer over Prior draft and I will go to my grave believing Prior would've gotten us to WS in '02. You take the guy who gives you the best chance to get to the WS today vs the guy who has the potential to do it 3 years down the road. Although...I doubt the Twins would've called up Prior that year regardless of how well he was pitching (sigh).

While Burnes would most likely be a rental, there's a lot of comps of high ceiling pitchers who don't pan out because of injury or other. Point being is while Priellipp's potential is there, but he may never be the pitcher we think he could be. The compensatory pick would most likely be in Round A, so you're trading Festa for a pick. Clearing salary, whether it's used for a Lewis extension, a splash move on someone like Hoskins, a high leverage bullpen arm, is an easy call regardless if it's a rental or not. Just because Burnes has said he wants to test FA, I'd argue the chances of resigning him are every bit as high as Festa becoming a front line starter and/or Priellipp reaching his. For a chance to get to the WS and maybe win with Lopez/Burnes as our 1-2, I'd take those chances especially when the worst case scenario is we get a 1st round talent to replace Festa if he walks.