Possumlad

Does this mean you think the Twins wanted Reddemann or Brunson but both were taken ahead of them?

To answer that question we'd know to know where the Twins payroll is going. If Tom's committed to winning, it's going to cost him more - he seems to know that, but we'll see. I'm fine paying 35-37 year old Ryan $30MM/per in in the 2031-2033 seasons if the payroll is $200-$225MM (which will be middle of the pack in the MLB by then - currently median payroll is $175MM). Who knows w/ this CBA though - maybe that changes everything.

I didn't suggest any fans won't attend games because Buxton doesn't have a contract for 2029. I suggested that signing both Joe & Buck to extensions would create enthusiasm & send a strong signal that many fans would appreciate - and I do think that signal would help with perception & attendance.

Yes I'm aware of that. Which is why I said "extension." Signing both Joe & Buck to extensions at the same time would send a nice signal.

From the Twins website: OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (Twins' No. 4 prospect) Injury: Left thumb injury IL date: May 6 (7-day IL) Expected return: August Status: Is throwing from 105 feet and has begun hitting off a tee and in soft toss. (Last updated: July 7)

Extending both Buck & Ryan would be a great way for Pohlad to get butts in the seats. If Tom wants to redefine his early tenure as managing owner, extending both gives him a lot of goodwill & flex in other areas.

Updated top 10 from Kiley McDaniel at ESPN this morning. Link: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47684227/2026-top-10-prospect-rankings-all-30-mlb-teams-kiley-mcdaniel#min Minnesota Twins Top 10 prospects Player Previous Trending 1. Walker Jenkins, CF 1 2. Vahn Lackey, C 2026 Draft 3. Kaelen Culpepper, SS 3 4. Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF 4 5. Marek Houston, SS 7 6. Riley Quick, RHP 8 7. Kendry Rojas, LHP NR 8. Eduardo Tait, C 5 9. Dasan Hill, LHP 6 10. Hendry Mendez, LF 9 One thing to know: Lots of near misses on this list, including RHP Charlee Soto, RF Gabriel Gonzalez, C Carson Tinney (2026 second-rounder), RHP Ethan Wachsmann (third round), RHP Brett Renfrow (second round), C Khadim Diaw, and RHP Ryan Gallagher.

I'm confused what your point is here. Should teams be giving more playing time to worse players?

I've heard "Minnie" used plenty of times by Minnesotans. In fact, I've mostly heard it used by Minnesotans when speaking to other Minnesotans. When I'm out of town taking with other Minnesotans, I've often been asked "when do you head back to Minnie?" or "are you guys gonna be in Minnie this weekend?" etc.

Totally agree. If your last 2-4 (skill position) roster spots are getting a bunch of playing time, you've got other issues. Those spots should be reserved for late-inning or spot guys who fit a niche role - speed, defense, positional flexibility, bat skills against lefties, etc. You don't want those spots filled with legit prospects who should be getting regular time in the minors. Should never be anyone you "feel bad" about not getting more playing time.

Current status per Twins: (https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-injuries-and-roster-moves) LATEST INJURIES RHP Cole Sands Injury: Mild right forearm strain IL date: May 2 (15-day IL, retroactive to April 29) Expected return: July Status: Will have rehab assignment moved to FCL Twins over All-Star break to continue build-up. (Last updated: July 12)

Good point... even elite hitters rarely maintain BABIP in that context. Mauer's lifetime BABIP was 0.341%. Since I went down the rabbit hole... highest all-time for a career is Ty Cobb @ 0.381. Aaron Judge was the highest in the league @ 0.379 in 2025. Suffice it to say, VERY unlikely Marek can maintain a BABIP in the mid 0.300s. League average is around 0.300.

I agree with you. Cullpepper will get the call if/when there's an opening at the full-time SS or 2B position. They're not going to call him up for spot starts. Kreidler or Clemens injury would force the issue (although we may just see more Gray in that case). Outside of that, I'd actually prefer they leave both Jenkins & Cullpepper down till 2027.

Marek & KC as the long-term SS/2B duo would be a lot of fun & solve a lot of problems! Here's hoping they both stay healthy & continue to perform. We need some good prospect luck.

Article from the Twins site today re: the draft: https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/twins-2026-draft-preview Really leans in to the "clear top 3" narrative, with a brief mention of Lombard & Flora at the end. Maybe I'm assuming too much, but to me it would be odd to me if the Twins website posted an article from their own beat reporter about the the top 3 being such a clear group if they were considering anyone outside of that. Could be wrong of course. But would be an odd bait & switch for the fanbase. Then again maybe there's no coordination whatsoever between team & MLB.com reporters.

Weird argument. The Twins deemed his hip healthy enough for him to play CF & steal bases. So he did. He aggravated the injury, and now he's not healthy enough to play. So he's on the IL. If his hip injury were worse two weeks ago, he would have been on the IL then. But it wasn't. Maybe they should just put players on the IL at random to avoid aggravating past injuries? Or maybe even to avoid new ones?

Trade Jeffers, keep the rest. We're not trading Buxton (can't), and no on else outside Ryan is gonna net enough return to make much difference one way or another. I don't think anyone's giving up much for Larnach. Ryan would net a huge return, but you've lost a lot of fan goodwill in the meantime.. which is touch going in to what will already be a tough offseason & potentially locked-out 2027.

I believe Jhomnardo Reyes is now the most highly regarded of the bunch. Fangraphs has him as the #10 prospect in the Twins system. In terms of other Rookie ball players, Miguel Caraballo (C), Haritzon Castillo (2B), and Enmanuel Merlo (3B) are all ranked 21-23. The next highest ranked rookie ball outfielder is Yovanny Duran. All are 17 or 18 years old at this point.

They're playing the vets who have earned it. Outman's gone, Wallner got sent down, Martin's been pushed more in to spot time.

Jhomnardo keeps it rolling. OPS of almost 1.000 now with 125 ABs in the Florida Rookie League. (0.912 OPS across ~300 career rookie league at-bats including last year). Any sense of whether he'll be promoted to Fort Myers soon? Doesn't turn 19 until October, but his performance is very much worthy of a quick promotion. Would love to see him in Fort Myers the rest of this year.

Roster logjams tend to work themselves out. Some combo of the IL + Trade deadline will give Roden an opportunity soon.

Drafting Roch wouldn't end discussions of Marek Houston as the Twins shortstop of the future. Marek's glove is as strong as Roch's (both are potential Gold Glovers), but neither player projects as a strong middle-of-the-order bat. Roch's hit tool projects as average to slightly below average. Given his early showing in the minors, Marek's proven more at this point. I'll point out Cullpepper is a better prospect than either of them right now. From Fangraphs draft profile of Roch: "He identifies and adjusts to breaking stuff and moves the barrel around pretty well, but middling plate discipline and Cholowsky's lever length combine to keep his hit tool projection a little south of average. He should still be able to access pull-side power with regularity because of his style of swing and good (for a shortstop) power."

Luck doesn't seem to have much to do with it - unless you just mean "luck" in the sense that our guys are playing better than they "should" be. Our runs scored this year align pretty nearly with expectation & other hitting measures. Runs can be be quirky, but we also lead the AL in OPS. On-Base & Slug are both strong - neither is making an outsized contribution to OPS. Our Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) is 13th in the MLB, right in the middle of the pack. No real luck there.

Short answer is we genuinely have a good offense. Some situational luck notwithstanding, we're 20 runs ahead of the next best team in the AL this year (448 vs. WSox at 428). #1 in in the AL in Team OPS as well, and 7th in the MLB. The other half of the Box Score is killing us. Team ERA is 4.78, good for 13th in the AL & 27th in the MLB. WHIP looks very similar. We can make a run if trade bats for pitchers at the deadline (looking at you Jeffers & Larnach)

I think by next year Buxton will be ready for a move to a corner spot.