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Last night, Rawlings handed out this year’s Gold Gloves. No current Twins took home the hardware, but very recent Twin Ty France won for his work at first base. Congrats to him! Starting the spring with a non-guaranteed contract and finishing with a Gold Glove and a trip to the World Series is a hell of a turnaround! France’s win means the Twins have made history (in a positive way for once). The Twins become the first team in MLB history to have different first basemen win Gold Gloves in back-to-back seasons. They are only the seventh team to do so for any infield position. Teams with different consecutive Gold Glove infielders Team Position 1st Gold Glover Season 2nd Gold Glover Season Pirates P Harvey Haddix 1960 Bobby Shantz 1961 Phillies SS Bobby Wine 1963 Ruben Amaro Sr. 1964 Reds 2B Bret Boone 1998 Pokey Reese 1999 Braves P Greg Maddux 2002 Mike Hampton 2003 Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong 2020 Tommy Edman 2021 Astros SS Carlos Correa 2021 Jeremy Peña 2022 Twins 1B Carlos Santana 2024 Ty France 2025 Hopefully, free agent first basemen are begging their agents to get them to Minnesota for their free Gold Glove then, immediately depart for a playoff-bound team the next season. Hell, that may be the only thing Falvey can offer a free agent this winter!

Would it be exaggerating to call 2025 the most frustrating finish to a season in Twins history? I am a bit too young to remember those terrible late 90s seasons. But I do remember 2011 and the death of that competitive window was devastating especially with how horrible the team was in the season’s final days. That team went 22-51 after the all-star break, a win percentage of .301, and was the worst second half since the Senators moved to Minnesota. The 2025 team went 23-43, a .348 win percentage, the second worst post all-star break record of that period. To make it even more frustrating it was also the third largest drop in win percentage compared to the first half. The 2011 team had a .461 win percentage in the first half that fell .159 points in the second while the 2001 team saw a .632 first half percentage collapse by .232 points to a .400 second half win percentage. Judging only by wins and losses this year’s team has been worse than only one of the worst teams in team history and that’s before factoring in the Pohlad penny pinching, prospect stagnation, trade deadline annihilation, or attendance declines. Also in a horrible preview for next year, the Twins 6 worst post all-star break records have all come since the Pohlad failsons took over from Carl. SELL THE TEAM

Darren McCaughan MLB starter is a possibility too terrifying to think about

With Helman, Henriguez, and now Headrick all off the roster in the past few days it is dangerous for players on the margin with a last name starting with H. Don't hate the France signing, probably won't add anything but at a million they can move on pretty quickly if someone else in the org makes a strong push at first.

Taylor Rogers was born on December 17th, 1990 in Denver 30 seconds before his twin brother, fellow MLB pitcher Tyler. He played his high school ball at Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colorado and was drafted by the Orioles in the 37th round of the 2009 draft but instead chose to pitch for the University of Kentucky. Rogers played for the Wildcats from 2010 through 2012 and was a weekend starter for all 3 seasons. In summer ball his crowning achievement was earning the start and the win in the 2011 Cape League all-star game at Fenway Park. Rogers collegiate efforts resulted in him being drafted by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2012 draft. After a few seasons spent climbing the minor league ladder, Rogers made his debut and went 1-2-3 on April 14th, 2016 in the 9th inning of the Twins’ 3-1 loss to the White Sox. An excellent debut that set the tone for his first few seasons with the Twins. His first three seasons for 2016-2018 saw a 3.21 ERA in 185.1 innings pitched across 198 games with 188 K’s, a WHIP of 1.171, and 2.9 fWAR/4.0 bWAR. He also had better run prevention numbers each season Starting with a 3.96 ERA in 2016, that dropped to 3.07 in 2017, then 2.63 in 2018. Despite his success out of the pen the Twins had neither elected to move Rogers to the rotation or given him a shot at the primary closer job. That ended in 2019 as previous primary closer Fernando Rodney was dealt to the A’s in an August 2018 deal that left a void the Twins elected to fill in-house for 2019. Rogers had earned his first and second career saves in 2018 after Rodney’s departure in August 2018 and earned the job for 2019. He got to work immediately, closing out a 2-0 win over Cleveland with a four-out save that included 3 strikeouts and a weak Jose Ramirez flyout. Rogers' entire 2019 was excellent, he finished his first season as primary closer with 30 saves, tied for 9th in MLB, a 2.61 ERA, and 2.6 bWAR (8th among relievers in 2019). Not only had he continued getting better each season he recorded career bests in: bWAR (2.6), fWAR (2.1), ERA (2.61), saves (30), innings pitched (69.0), BB/9 (1.4), K/9 (11.7), and ERA+ (174). One final example of his great performance was his finish of 8th on the team in bWAR, a team that won 101 games! Unfortunately his, and the Twins’, season ended in game 3 of the ALDS to the damn Yankees with Rogers allowing an RBI single to Twins killer Didi Gregorious in the 7th that would prove decisive in a 5-1 Twins loss. Rogers entered the shortened 2020 season entrenched as the Twins’ top bullpen arm but struggled in just 20 innings pitched. He did earn 9 saves and had a 2.84 FIP but his ERA and WHIP were an ugly 4.05 and 1.500 respectively. He pitched in both of Minnesota’s wild card games against Houston, pitching a 1-2-3 8th against the heart of the Astros’ order in game 1 but left Game 2 after allowing 3 baserunners without getting an out to cement a 3-1 season ending loss. Rogers had an up-and-down 2021, he was no longer the primary closer as the Twins transitioned to a more intense closer by committee approach than previous seasons. But he was named an all-star (as injury replacement for Yusei Kikuchi). However, his season ended just two weeks after the all-star game after he suffered a middle finger sprain against the Tigers on July 26th that ultimately ended his season. He finished the year with a 3.35 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched, 9 saves, 59 k’s, 0 HBP (the only season of his career he didn’t bean a batter), and a FIP of 2.13 that suggest he may have finished much better had he not missed the final two months. That was it for Rogers’ time in Minnesota. He was dealt the day before Opening Day 2022 to the Padres with Brent Rooker for a package of Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, and rookie ball arm Brayan Medina. He pitched an uneven 41.1 innings in San Diego that saw him save 28 games but blow 7 saves and was dealt at the deadline to the Brewers as part of a package that brought Josh Hader to San Diego. He blew as many games as he saved with the Brewers, 3, and was granted free agency after the season. He went on to sign a 3 year 33 million dollar deal with the Giants and joined his twin brother Tyler in the bullpen where they have both remained for the past two seasons. He has faced the Twins twice, the first on May 24th, 2023 at Target Field where he pitched a clean 8th in a 7-1 Giants loss. His second outing added his name to a little bit of history as he allowed a 6th inning homer to Carlos Santana that earned Santana the distinction of homering in every active MLB park. Rogers remains in San Francisco entering 2025, the final year of his contract. Sources Cited https://ukathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/player/taylor-rogers/ https://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/07/22/2011-cape-cod-baseball-league-all-star-game-rosters/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2019-pitching-leaders.shtml https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-season-finder.cgi?request=1&order_by=p_war&year_min=2019&year_max=2019&games_started=60&role=reliever&games_relieved=80 https://www.mlb.com/news/fernando-rodney-traded-from-twins-to-a-s-c289664222 https://www.mlb.com/news/inbox-who-will-twins-closer-be https://www.mlb.com/news/yusei-kikuchi-replaced-on-all-star-game-roster https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-taylor-rogers-named-winner-of-twins-2021-carl-r-pohlad-award-for-o https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/carlos-santana-home-run-oracle-park/1755664/ https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/carlos-santana-home-run-oracle-park/1755664/ https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-11-2022-twins-tyler-and-taylor-rogers-pitch-in-the-same-game-as-padres-beat-giants/ https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/leaders_pitch_50.shtml View full player

Journeyman catcher for the A's, Cubs, Mets, and Braves from 2011-2017. He was stuck in AAA for the Twins in 2017 then let go after the season. Played for the D-Backs AAA affiliate in 2018 and has been out of the game since. He's done some TV work on Mets broadcasts the past few years now.

It seems like the Twins are always looking for starting pitching at the deadline and in 2017 they got it with the acquisition of Jaime García from the Braves. On July 24th, a week prior to the deadline, García and catcher Anthony Recker were sent to Minnesota in exchange for pitching prospect Huascar Ynoa. García had been an average starter for the Braves, he left Atlanta with an ERA+ of 101, but even his ERA of 4.30 represented an improvement for a Twins' staff that sported a team ERA of 4.84. García was a wily veteran with over eight years of big league experience who was a nice boost for Minnesota as they entered the stretch run. García's first start was scheduled for July 28th against Oakland at the Colosseum. When Minnesota acquired García they were just 2.5 games back of Cleveland for the Central lead and in the thick of the AL's second wild card race. Despite the ineffective pitching, there had been reason to buy as the deadline neared. After García's trade though, fortunes quickly reversed. The Twins had been swept by the Dodgers and entered the series opener against the A's six games back of the division lead. They needed to turn things around in the worst way. García more then did his part as he held Oakland to three runs across six and two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts. The offense did their part to delay Bob Melvin's 1000th career win as they scored 6 runs in the first 5 innings and held on for a 6-3 final (2). García earned the win in his Twins debut and as expected looked dependable. Unfortunately the Twins continued their slide in brutal fashion as Oakland hit back-to-back walk-offs to win the series. The Twins fell to 50-53 and were seven games back of the division lead. The series loss turned the Twins from buyers to sellers and they shipped García off to the Yankees on July 30th. The return was future focused as a pair of pitching prospects in Dietrich Enns and Zack Littell made their way to Minnesota. Ultimately the Twins still made the playoffs but were beaten by those damn Yankees in the Wild Card game. García didn't appear and only found his way into one game of the Yankees' October run, 2.2 innings of relief in game 1 of the ALDS against Cleveland, and his career was on its last legs. He signed with the Blue Jays in free agency but was released with a 5.93 ERA in 25 appearances, although he pitched 5 clean innings over two relief appearances against the Twins. After his release he signed with the Cubs and made eight appearances in September for them but was not selected to the postseason roster and was out of baseball after the season. García is barely a footnote in Twins history but he still played a role in their history. He pitched a quality start and every one of those in 2017 were treasured. Littell put together a solid season as a reliever for the Bomba Squad. There's not much to García's legacy here but no one can say it was a negative one. Sources Citied 1 "Braves trade LHP Jaime Garcia to Twins for pitching prospect" ESPN July 24th, 2017 2 "Jaime Garcia wins in Minnesota debut after trade from Braves" Associated Press July 29th, 2017 Baseball Reference View full player

Technically, Travis Lee was never a Twin. Although selected by the club second overall in the 1996 MLB Draft Lee was declared a free agent on September 25th of that year by MLB's executive council. Rule 4(E) of the CBA dictated that teams must send their draft picks written contract offers within fifteen days of their selection. These offers could be negotiated afterword provided the initial offer arrived within the fifteen day window. Teams had skirted the rule for years often issuing verbal offers instead and the Twins had elected to postpone contract negotiations so Lee could focus on his preparations to play in the 1996 Olympics. Unlike past years however agents decided to challenge the enforcement of the rule. Scott Boras challenged on behalf of his clients John Patterson, Bobby Seay, and Matt White while Jeff Moorad challenged for Lee (1). All four were found to have not been tendered contract offers and were declared free agents able to sign with any team. After receiving 13 contract offers Lee chose to sign with the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks for a contract that included a bonus of ten million (1). Lee flashed potential in Arizona, finishing third in 1998 Rookie of the Year voting, but was shipped to the Phillies at the 2000 trade deadline along with three other players for Curt Schilling who proved vital to the D-backs 2002 World Series title. Lee played six more seasons after that. His career peaked in 2003 in Tampa as he slashed .275/.348/.409 for a WRC+ of 112 and led the Devil Rays in fWAR with 3.4. The Twins meanwhile received a compensation pick in the 1997 draft that they used to select catcher Matt LeCroy. Sources Cited 1 "Travis Lee's 1996 draft saga and how an amateur's true value was briefly exposed" The Athletic April 16th, 2020 Baseball Reference FanGraphs View full player

Could also have a sore back

I just don't think you can justify him much longer. His numbers are horrible and his baseball savant metrics don't indicate he's a much better pitcher who's just getting unlucky. He's pitched 8 big league seasons and had a career to be proud of but his time in Minnesota should be over the second they get a better arm for the pen.