Dman

As mentioned by many already I just don't see the Twins having Lee starting the year with the MLB team if Jullien, Lewis and Correa are all healthy as there isn't room for him to play everyday. It would go against the Twins philosophy to have him come up and be a bench player. They will want him to get everyday reps and he didn't dominate AAA last year so he needs the reps. I don't think pushing your young players up before they are ready is something the Twins would do or be pressured with by hoping they get another 1st round pick. The roster looks pretty much set so unless things change quite a bit before the season I don't see a spot for Lee to start the season. Once he dominates AAA and injuries mount they can likely find room later in the season.

Do't forget Santana for 1st base

Thanks! It felt like I was missing someone. Too many changes for me to keep track of I guess. That just makes the competition for that last spot even tougher then as only one of Staumont, Alcala and Funderburk can make it. Gotta like having the extra depth though. If you are one of the pitchers the Twins just put on waivers you have to hope to get claimed as there are a lot of guys you would have to beat out or have injuries to get your chance. If Staumont makes the 26 man then the Twins would have brought in 4 new pitchers for the bullpen this year. I'm not sure I buy that on paper they have the best pen in the AL, but this should be the most quality they have from guy to guy that I can ever remember.

True if injured he wouldn't have to use it. And after checking further I see Alcala has 3 options left so he could be sent down. Jax, Duran and Topa have options left as well but they are high leverage arms. So my thinking is wrong after checking. I am assuming only 8 pen arms Duran, Stewart, Jax, Topa, Thielbar, Okurt seem pretty immovable to me unless injured. So that is six spots taken then Alcala, Staumont and Fundreburk fight it out over the next two spots and they all have options left so they could be rotated. Unless I am missing someone that is how I see it. Unless of course the Twins get another rotation arm and use Desclafani in long relief. I just don't see them carrying 14 pitchers with all the platooning they do but I could be wrong there too. At any rate forget what I said earlier, lol.

Yeah it will depend on Staumont but since he has an option left they could start him in AAA as well. It will be interesting to see what kind of shape he is in at spring training. I think there is still competition for that roster spot. All things being equal I would agree that Funderburk starts at AAA before Staumont.

I think this was a necessary trade and am glad the Twins found a way to get something they needed as well as decent value in this deal. With Thielbar getting older and struggling with injuries another left handed reliever sure is nice to have around. I don't love last years numbers FIP\ERA for Okert but everything else checks out. It would have been awesome if he had one more option year left, but he is a better fit for this years team than Gordon so that works for me. I still think Gordon is gonna be a good hitter and I think playing closer to home might help him some as well. I don't know if he will ever be 800 OPS bat, but I think he is a good fit for Miami as well. This looks like another one of those win, win trades these teams like to put together. Feels like there is at least one more move for the Twins. They have enough money to get a free agent starter and it feels like given Paddack\Desclafani have injury concerns grabbing another arm might make sense. Otherwise a right handed outfield bat should just about do it. Things are coming together late as always.

I really like that he mainly swings at strikes. It is generally the skill that separates players that can or cannot make the jump to MLB. It often is a skill that comes later for players. Since Rodriguez already has a good eye he has the potential to be an elite bat IMO. On the other hand players with 30% K rates can have a tough making it as well. Joey Gallo was able to draw walks and hit home runs, but a true 3 outcome player isn't exactly pretty. From what I have read Rodriguez has trouble with certain parts of the zone and I have watched him have some ugly at bats. So i get the concerns. Still I think he adjusts and overcomes some of those limitations. If he hadn't started so slow at High A it would have been another 900 OPS year for him. He sat in the top 5 in his league in most offensive categories and played decent defense in center. So he has been very productive for a player younger than league average all the way up. If he can make a few more tweaks to the approach he will likely be an offensive force. AA will be a tough adjustment for him. Most of the best pitching prospect's hit that level with good to great breaking stuff. I am a believer though and like his chances to be a very good player at the MLB level. This year should tell us quite a bit about where he is at.

This is a great article and sums up my thoughts on Sands. He feels just a tweak away from being a solid bullpen arm. He did well as a starter in the minors but was always hurt so the move to the pen makes sense to me. I agree that the less he throws the fastball the better. He is getting killed on that pitch. His other pitches have nice movement and can produce awkward swings. He proved he has the the stuff at AAA he just needs to prove it at the MLB level now.

IMO the hit tool is the most important tool. Guys that put the bat on the ball all over the zone are hard to find. It seems to be a skill you have or don't have as it is hard to teach beyond a certain point. Lumped in with hit tool is plate discipline, without it you get results more like Austidillo (The Turtle) rather than Arraez. MIranda had the same issues in the Minors and struggled again in the Majors. If Gonzalez is ever going to make it he is going to have to have better plate discipline. Maybe he does just enough like Eddie Rosario did without it, but he has a chance to be a special bat if he can force pitchers to give him good pitches to hit.

Raya gets some serious movement on his pitches. I think he has the pitches to be a top of the rotation starter, but I do wonder if the arm will hold up. He had some arm issues in fairly limited use in 2021 and they kept him with low pitch counts in 2022 to build up, so it will be interesting to see how he handles a heavier load. Super excited about his potential though and having some home grown top of the rotation starters would help this team a lot.

No question having good vibes in the club house with everyone having each others back keeps confidence up in a sport where failure can run rampant. Having players like Cruz, Correa and Gray and many others say they enjoyed their time in Minnesota and say good things about the Team and organization in general when they leave, makes the Twins a team players like to play for. Guys with good attitudes generally also have a good work ethic and just bring positive energy which is important in a long grueling season. I see the value. I see the importance, but being a nice, team player etc. doesn't make you a good baseball player. You have to have some crazy good talent to get there. Players come from all over the world, have all kinds of different personalities and beliefs about how the world should work. It is the talent they bring that makes them valuable regardless of personality. Sure if you have two players of fairly equal skill and one looks like a better fit for the clubhouse go with the guy that fits. Sure getting a bad apple can really mess up team chemistry, but how many bad apples are out there? It seems about 90% of the players are well liked or at the vary least aren't clubhouse disrupters. It doesn't feel like this a "huge" problem in baseball. Yes having good team chemistry is important and when it creates a band of brothers mentality a team can be greater than the individual talent that makes it up, but it is only one component of many that go into winning. Do I like that the Twins have created a good culture for the team and its employee's? Do I think having a manager who helps create good chemistry is important? Do I think players perform better when there is little to no conflict amongst them? I do think those things are important and that they help. However I still think talent is the most important thing. Great talent is the rarest commodity in baseball and we see how much teams are willing to pay for unique talent because that is what wins games and championships. Intangibles are nice addon qualities, but they only take you so far.

I was wondering about the Braves maybe grabbing Thompson as a defensive depth piece as they have several open 40 man spots. I also was thinking they might be interested in Balazovic as he has been a starter and they don't have much depth, although with him being fairly untested and having control problems they likely could do better with claims out of spring training. They have a lot of spots left and I don't think they have been too active with claims yet, but they can afford for someone closer to MLB quality as well.

I am not sure of anything. I am basing it off this rough reading in MLB trade rumors. I agree I always thought it was when pitchers catchers reported and perhaps I made an assumption No specific date is mentioned in the article but to me it read like 2/8 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-dodgers WOuld be happy to be wrong given the recent DFA's

With no options left and this being a playoff team it was going to be really, really hard to keep Balazovic on the 40 man. I mean if he looked elite out of the pen maybe they would have tried to keep him but IMO it was best to rip the band aide off and do the DFA. Festa, Lee or some other player was going to need that 40 man spot anyway and Balazovic was gonna be the first one to go. At least they got a guy that if they can pass him through waivers will have options left. I will say I was a huge, huge believer in Balazovic, I had him as a future mid rotation starter, but the wheels fell off when he couldn't control his pitches. I still think he will be a good to really good pen arm. He has good velocity and movement on some pitches, but the lack of options makes it a killer for the Twins. Also there are several arms that look better right now in Canterino, Festa, Raya, Ohl, SWR and I even have Sands ahead of him right now. I loved watching him move up, but for this years team I think this is the right decision.

So if I read the transactions page correctly looks like Balazovic, Duarte and Thompson are all DFA'd today.

Yeah I don't know Staumont's injury status, but it seems like the Twins could start him on 60 day and slowly work him in as the season goes on. I thought Desclafani was good to go and not sure who else on the roster could go the 60 day so it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. After tomorrow getting someone through waivers will not be easy because so many spots will open up.

I think that is a fair question. Looking back Balazovic's pitches were rated higher than Festa's and WInder just step below on the fastball. I will say Winder never did seem quite the same after his neck injury and he has been injured since then as well. Injuries can play a big role in development or lack thereof so not sure he is a great comp for this. Sands profile reads similar to Winder's and he was sooo good up to AA and has been more erratic since then. I think moving to relief is gonna work out for him. Hoping for better results this year but I think he is good comp for Festa. It was a while ago but I watched Festa pitch in Beloit and he looked good the first time through the order but he gave up some hard contact after that. That was a while ago, but I have my concerns. All reports from the Twins side say they seem to be really high on the kid. Who knows what the separator would need to be to make Festa different. Jumping to the MLB level is just so darn hard and adjustments need to be made all the time. I'd like to think Festa and Varland are close to making it. I guess we will know more after this year.

Yeah I expect a lot of activity tomorrow for signings when teams can put guys on the 60 day IL. Should be a good hot stove day.

Yeah those are the reason's I haven't been as high on him. There is a reason exit velocities matter. Harder hit balls are just harder to defend and drop in more often for hits and extra base hits. I see Martin's value, but pitchers will be happy to pitch to contact if his batting average is .256. No reason to walk a hitter like that in the big leagues and if he lacks power the worst outcome for the pitcher is giving up a hit as he isn't going to hit many HR's. I think improvements need to be made for him to be setup for success at the MLB level. He's a bit too much like Celestino for my taste and Celestino is gone. Hey Maybe this year he smacks the ball around and looks real good, but given what I have seen 6 seems far to high for me. Martin didn't even crack the 800 OPS mark at AAA where they had the auto strike zone and 900 OPS's were rampant. I mean Anthony Prato looks like a better hitter than Martin at this stage as he had a 990 OPS and better walk rate and OBP at .450 and he's not even in the top 30. I am not trying to be down on Martin but it looks like there is work to do to me.

I am hoping his second half was for real and that he can improve even more. The Stuff+ is exciting as it means his pitches work well together forcing a batter to guess at what is coming. It is the lower fastball velocity that makes his whole repertoire vulnerable IMO. A little more velocity there and he looks like a 5th starter or better. Hoping SWR, Canterino, and Festa have great AAA seasons and are ready to be promoted to the MLB team. That would be great depth to have for the 2024 season.

Given what I have seen Buxton become I would be very hesitant to go real long term with Lewis. I don't see the Twins extending him, but playing a full year would go a long way toward making a deal more realistic. We will have to wait and see how the legend of Lewis turns out. I do love what the Royals did extending Witt. It is not going to be fun playing against them with him in the lineup. KC has some pieces but they don't seem to have the pitching that the rest of the central has so it might take some time before they get there. This season should be interesting.

I agree with you. I think in time Balazovic can be good to really good in the pen it just doesn't feel like that might be this year yet and with no options left it makes it incredibly difficult to slowly work him into a spot at the MLB level. The FO has always seemed to feel they can find pen help when needed and that it is fungible. Given that philosophy if they could trade Balazovich for a prospect that doesn't need to be added to the 40 man that would be helpful IMO. Just looking down the road a short ways it looks like one of Canterino, Festa, Ohl, SWR, Raya could replace him on the 40 man anyway. Might as well cut the cord early as the odds of him being better than any of those 4 seems slim and there are even more arms behind those guys. It's going to be hard for a playoff team to trust that once he is up he can stay up then hang onto a job. Saying all that it could be a mistake to cut him or move on from him too early. He was getting guys out at the MLB level, but once the wheels fell off things got bad in a hurry. Still if there is another team out there that believes in him I think a trade would be a good idea. I think you stated this before, but Gordon doesn't really have a spot on this team and he needs to stay on and clog the 26 man. What is Gordons potential? Can he be an 800 OPS bat? He is a contact type swinger and he was tapping into some power, but he just doesn't seem like more than a 4th outfielder utility type to me. I do think he can be a good MLB player, but is this a guy you keep and can't replace down the road? For this years team it feels like it would be better to have Thompson or even Keirsey instead of Gordon as they can be sent up and down, play elite centerfield and can steal bases late in games if needed. Again I don't like the idea of just giving him away but if they could work out even a marginal trade I would do that. The Twins have enough young up and coming players that they can afford to lose Gordon and or Balazovich and replace them with young players with options that have as much or more potential than they do.. IMO if they can move on from them they should.

I know this Twins pen is getting more love than normal but to me it feels like there are plenty of arms to worry about making it through an entire season. Thielbar and Stewart spent some serious time on the IL Staumount is coming back from thoracic outlet surgery. Jackson is 36 and has past arm issues. Alcala and Winder have had lot's of arm issues as well. I like the depth the Twins are building and this sure beats what they did last year, but I still have my concerns. With this level of depth I assume any talk of Varland or Canterino to the pen is a mute point as it looks like they won't be needed there at least not early.

This is my take as well. They have 45M to 50M per year attached to Correa and Buxton. They have arb raises to deal with and they will want to extend some of this younger talent like they did Polanco and Kepler back in the day. I don't see investing what few dollars the team has in Kepler as something they would want to do. I still think Max has a good year this year. Likely not as good as second half Kepler but still a very good one. He is going to want to try and get a three to four year deal in a price range that squeezes out the Twins IMO. Maybe he turns back into the old middling Kepler whatever the case I don't see the Twins extending him.

Jay Jackson looks like Matt Wisler version 2. I guess this is the Twins mea culpa on giving up on Wisler back in the day. His fastball is the weak link but slider appears to get the job done. I guess I don't understand why the Jays didn't try to keep him? Some kind of bad blood there? At any rate for that price given his recent results it looks like a good pickup. With Jackson and Santana likely taking Thompson and Duarte off the 40 man it looks like the low hanging 40 man fruit will be gone. I still think they sign a right handed bat for the outfield and maybe another starter in the Odorizzi range. If you are Balazovich or Gordon you have to wonder if you are coming off the 40 or traded. At 6M is Farmer safe from being traded? They might want that money for a right handed outfield bat using Castro and eventually Lee to fill infield spots. Just wondering what the Twins might do. Maybe with the TV contract a done deal they have the money to keep him and add. Hard to say but this roster could be real interesting all the way through spring training.