JCT66

Thanks for writing this. I could not agree more and I get so frustrated with the commenters who seem to willfully misunderstand what you are saying. You mention a creative extension. He’s 32 and signed for two more years. I would argue for a 1 year extension with multiple year options after that. That would keep him signed through age 35 with the possibility to keep him through the end of his career if both sides agree. now he may not agree to those terms, but I suspect he might given the loyalty he has shown the Twins to date. Sure he has been injured a lot, but as your article makes clear he still has provided excess value to the Twins despite his injuries (a lot of excess value). He remains one of the fastest players in the league. And he would be a natural candidate to finish his last year or two as a DH given his power. A creative extension could be done that would minimize risk while offering an opportunity to an all time Twins great to accomplish what he has repeatedly said he wants. To finish his career as a Twin.

Sonny Gray received a qualifying offer. i can’t believe this is actually in question. The Twins will obviously make the qualifying offer to Jeffers. I don’t know if he will accept it or not, but I would be absolutely shocked if the Twins don’t make the offer.

You say “They could always give him the qualifying offer, which would be worth roughly $24 million, but it's unlikely. The only scenario where it would make sense is if the Twins knew for a fact that Jeffers was going to turn it down.” Why is it unlikely? And why does it only make sense if they knew that Jeffers was going to turn it down? I don’t know if it is unlikely or not, but it seems imminently sensible to me. If he turns it down you get the compensatory pick. If he accepts you have arguably the best offensive catcher in the league for 1 year at $24 million. Trade Caratini and the cost is only ~$17 million. and in 2028 Lackey is hopefully your new catcher.

I don’t understand the Buxton hate, and I really dont know where you came up with your numbers. here’s a few different numbers for you. Since 2021 Buxton has averaged 93 games per season. He’s also averaged 3.55 WAR. In any given year about 4 to 5% of MLB players hit 3.55 WAR or better. That’s about 60 players a year. The QO for 2026 (which represents the average salary of the top 125 players) was ~$22 million. Buxtons salary since signing his extension has averaged $16 million. Even hurt as much as he has been Buxton has been a huge bargain for the Twins. To say he is a “problem” is just completely wrong.

What team other than the Dodgers is going to have three 4 WAR batters? The Brewers, Braves and Rays are all going to have 1 or at most 2 this year. I would consider them true playoff contenders.

The other recent rule changes were done primarily as a way to offset coaching and strategy trends that had negatively impacted the game (i.e. limiting the shift, limiting the amount of pitcher substitutions, and trying to ensure speed, baserunning, and stealing remained relevant). These changes were very successful because they were helped to return the game to its roots. The one exception to that is the Ghost Runner in extra innings, but that was probably worthwhile in order to end the occasional marathon games that would occur. This proposed change is just idiotic in so many ways. Think of the impact it could have in player statistics, which is one of the great advantages that baseball has over other sports. I wonder how many extra HR's or RBI's Aaron Judge would get in a season if he was given an extra plate appearance every game.

This was a really insightful article. That graph really provides a clear picture of their problem at the plate. I'm just not sure what is driving the September decline. Given the injuries and amount of IL time for so many of our players you would think if anything they should be less fatigued than other teams.

2-2 against Cleveland will leave them in good shape. I think 6-7 over the last 4 series gets them in. If they do that the Tigers or the Mariners would have to go 9-3 which seems unlikely with series against the Royals and Orioles (for the Tigers) and Yankees and Astros (for the Mariners). If necessary, Ober and Lopez can each be able to pitch 3 more times. Any kind of reversion to the mean offensively should allow for 6-7.