Andy MacPhail

Twins should have traded Ryan, Jeffers & Larnach but I understand why they didn't. Twins' fanbase was at a very low level after the traumatic selloff. They had to do something to give them something to cheer for. I'd have sold them off while getting them some players who can impact the team right away. This has been the best buying deadline that I can remember. I'd rate the Minter trade a B+ because, IMO, neither INFer would contribute to the Twins. For me giving up Jhomnardo Reyes was much more difficult.

IF is a big if, I was a big fan of Lewis, he had a bright future. Now, IMO, Twins should trade him, unfortunately, he's broken, he's a Boras's client, there's no future for him here. Hopefully, he has a great finish. IMO, he'll find success elsewhere at 3B, 2B or 1B. 1B could be his best position, once he gets more acquainted there.

No, let's stop this FA 1B/DH merry-go-round, plug Keaschal in & keep him there.

With the increase in velo, makes Ober more effective.

I advocated, after the deadline, for Gomez & Morris to drop down the pecking order for Minter & Hoffman. I salute their valiant efforts in the 1st half but should surrender to more experience & they were stretched too far & a regression was expected. Tendency should go to Hoffman, but I say the season should dictate how exactly how much to use them. Instead of sticking to preconceived ideas.

IMO, there wasn't any doubt to pick up his contract. As a platoon OFer he got the great lion share, which has a lot of value, As a prospect, Larnach was highly sought after, but as a player he lost his shine. So, they didn't get very interesting offers for him this season. He's undervalued; yet I expect Twins to shop him early this offseason & get more interesting offers.

Although Prielipp hasn't fulfilled his full potential. the Twins' strategy to limit his innings has been a success. As a draftee, many teams passed on him & a few more would have but the Twins took a chance on his arm history. I don't think anyone would have guess that he'd pitched as many quality innings that he's pitched, especially this season. To start the season, there has been many healthy pitchers that haven't done what he has. This proves my premise that if you better manage the pitcher's workload (with arm problems or not), you'll end up with more (quality) innings at the end of the season.

IMO, this hitting philosophy was highly propagated throughout the Twins organization. While having some having MiLB & short-term MLB success (Sano, Wallner & Julien) it had no long-term success & threw off others natural swings which thwarted development. Your highlighting Emma's hitting tendencies, raises concerns for me. Hoping that he can make adjustments before it's too late. If not, then we need to, unfortunately, consider trading him.

I was completely against the trade & wish we'd extended Rogers & he'd get those saves (which would be many) with those extended seasons rather than these pity saves. That'd have move him high up that list.

Caratini is a back-up catcher, Jackson is a #3 catcher w/o options, Lackey is a little way away, they need to step up. I'm not sure that they can. The lock-out could be to their advantage but still we need a promising young catcher with options to fill in when they need a break & either or both go down.

In '19, the Twins were set at catcher. Mitch Garver 4.1 WAR, Jason Castro 0.6 WAR with promising Ryan Jeffers & Ben Rortvedt as prospects. Along with a bad Donaldson contract, the Twins took a nose-dive in catching priority. They devastated the catching position to unload Donaldson contract & put all their eggs in Boras's client Jeffers, IMO, that was a grave mistake that they never rectified until they drafted Lackey, That 5 yrs. wait was too long because '27 & beyond until Lackey is ready, we be really hurting at catching. During that 5yr wait I have suggested many promising young MLB-ready catchers that the Twins should target, Here, are 2 who I suggested this season, Adley Rutschman (BOS picked him up & turned their season around), Ethan Salas (his BTV was a bargain at 20.6 now it's 49.6) both were desperate for SP, Ryans BTV was 49.6, now it's 18.5 & falling. Twins could have picked up Salas & a lot of pitching for Ryan. March 28, 2026 Yankees Name Age Level P1 P2 Availability Years AFV Salary Surplus Low Median High Ryan Jeffers 29 Majors C Low 1 18.4 6.7 11.7 9.4 11.7 14 Adrian Morejon 27 Majors RP Low 1 15.9 3.9 12 9.6 12 14.5 Cole Paplham 26 Minors RP 0 0 0 0.9 0.7 0.9 1.1 Total Value: 24.60 Padres 51 Name Age Level P1 P2 Availability Years AFV Salary Surplus Low Median High Paul Goldschmidt 38 Majors 1B Very low 1 4.4 4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5 Joe Ryan 30 Majors SP Low 2 64.9 15.4 49.6 39.7 49.6 59.5 Ryan Gallagher 23 Minors SP 0 0 0 2.4 1.9 2.4 2.9 Total Value: 52.4 Twins 41 Name Age Level P1 P2 Availability Years AFV Salary Surplus Low Median High Camilo Doval 28 Majors RP Medium 2 8.6 6.1 2.5 2 2.5 3 Jeremiah Estrada 27 Majors RP 4 39.7 22.2 17.5 14 17.5 21 Ryan Weathers 26 Majors SP LRP Low 3 22.8 6.8 16.1 12.8 16.1 19.3 Ethan Salas 20 Minors C 0 0 0 20.6 16.5 20.6 24.8 Bradgley Rodriguez 22 Majors RP 5 1.7 0 1.7 1.3 1.7 2 J.C. Escarra 31 Majors C 1B 5 10.9 5 5.9 4.7 5.9 7.1 Total Value: 64.3

We had good players, but we were going in the wrong direction. I wasn't against selling at the '25 deadline, but I was against Falvey heading it. I didn't trust his player evaluation or ability. There were players I wish we kept, Players we obtained we didn't need & if lucky we broke even on trades when we should have made a killing. Our team was gutted. This season there were players, IMO, that should have been traded that we lost out on. I'm always in favor to trade away surplus to strengthen our weak points. The direction we need to go is focusing on better player evaluation (which leads to better drafting & trades) & development. When was the last time that MIL rebuilt? They don't have to because they know how to run a team. IMO, by shaking up management is the right direction, Can Zoll lead us down the right path? I sincerely hope so. But Tom Pohlad will be the judge of that.

It was so frustrating when Twins, drafted those players & develop them with big holes in their swing.

The expensive FA merry-go-round always kept us from growing at 1B. I was a very big Lewis fan but the Twins broke him. A long with him being a Boras client, IMO, we unfortunately need to move on from him. We need to trade GG before his hype wears off, We have an abundance of quality defensive OFers, where we are much better off with Keaschal moving to 1B. They moved him to 1B in the MiLB, they should have kept him there.

Any time you beat NYY, it's a great game. Zebby was great. IMO, they should have moved inexperienced Morris & Gomez down the leverage pecking order after the trade deadline. Gomez blew a win for Zebby. Adams went through 3 extra innings purgatory, which I don't wish on anyone & Nance did 1, to their credit.

We had RPs that should not be in the MLB, we had mid-leverage RPs who should be pitching low-leverage, we had high-leverage RPs who should have pitched mid-leverage. Varland would have easily upgraded the BP by better rearranging the leverage. I'm not a betting man but I'll put money down that this Twins win more than 73 wins.

There were so many close games that the BP gave up that Varland would have won especially in the 1st half, Twins can win 74 or 75 games easily even w/o Varland.

I had high hope for Raya to figure into the MLB BP. I had envisioned him as a lesser Duran RP. I was disappointed of his AAA performance but IMO, it was because they used him more in long relief when they should have used him more like they'd used Duran.

What if Varland wasn't traded? That would have gone a long way. What if they started cleaning house with Falvey a year earlier? What ifs doesn't do us any good. What is done is done & try to learn from the past.

Although our future looks good; Next season even if they offer Jeffers a QO, I don't think he accepts. Jeffers is gone. So, next season looks pretty bleak & will be a need that needs to be addressed. Caratini/ Jackson could be OK for part of the season but for the whole season, IMO, could get pretty bad, especially if one or both goes down for any amount of time. Tait is more touted as a hitting catcher, yet his experience at A+ hasn't produced the offense that was expected. Yes, his trade value might have gone down a bit, still his hype is still there. So, I'd take advantage of it while we still can. He'd be one of the trading bait, I'd dangle out there

Here I congratulate Shelton, about how he here managed Ober, The way he did helped him have a better season. Ober has become a better pitcher while still hope he can gain more on his FB & stuff. I would not trade him (as some indicate) unless you get something back.

At the end of last season, I campaigned for Hunter to be our manager. Now, I'm not saying that he'd be a better manager than Shelton; I'm just saying that with Hunter, more likely we'd get his good friend, baseball INF guru, Ron Washington injunction. Still, there were much better candidates at 2B than Keaschal that Washinton could spend his time with. Yet Washington could devote his time to help Keaschal at 1B. We have much better OFers than Keaschal, so let's focus on them.

Keaschal was moved to 1B/DH after his injury & that was where he should have stayed. Falvey's idea of hiding players at 2B, just shows how absurd his defense philosophy was. Quit experimenting with him & keep him at 1B & let him finally learn the position. Being a Boras client, I'm ready to move on from Lewis.

Twins should have traded Ryan & Jeffers last offseason for young MLB ready players that'd help them this season & see if they could compete after that. Instead of keeping them. IMO, the team would have done much better.

I don't blame Maki for Twins' pitching woes. I didn't like them pitching Ober & Simmy when it was obvious that they were too sick; they weren't the same since. & later the DFAing of SWR. But I think it was more a managerial mistake than pitching. Twins can do whatever they deem fit but I hope he stays. As far as I'm concerned, he hasn't done anything wrong.