Dman

As others have stated for 2M what's not to like. Will be interesting to see what 40 man moves get made to make this work.

It is Culpepper for me as well. Given what he did last year he seems like a solid player all around with a chance to be a great hitter. Could be plus defense and offense as a super important position. It is impressive to be 18 and at High A with a solid batting line. That being said there is a fair bit of chase in his game and he needs more defensive refinement, but as things stand today he certainly has a claim to number 2. We'll know more after this year as he'll either improve or stall out there with his current approach. Emma has good power and great patience but his in zone swing and miss makes me very nervous. He has been hurt a lot and we haven't seen many full seasons from him. He also doesn't seem to have a super high ceiling as defender in center. He is more established than the other two as a hitter, but he could have a really hard time moving to MLB with his current approach. Instead of Prielipp who is older I would have Hill as a potential number 2. He had elite K rates and made it to high A as 19 year old. He also is a lefty which is valuable and his stuff looks like it could be elite. Hard to say this early, but with being so dominant so young he could be number 2 if you squint.

His bat was really good at High A last year and he showed power, but he was old for that level. Given his inability to throw out runners catcher doesn't seem likely, but if the bat does catch fire 1st base or DH could work, Still he has never made top 30 Twins list and is quite a longshot IMO.

Yeah can't "plan" on him looking good enough for MLB this year, but given the moves made it sure seems like they are creating ways to give him chances if he looks ready. They can move Kreidler or Gray up and down while giving Culpepper chances at the MLB level if injuries or ineffective play occur. A lot of things have to go right for Culpepper to make it, but given how things turned out for Keaschal it certainly could happen for Culpepper.

Thanks!!! I missed that. Still had him in my spreadsheet. So many players move in the offseason. They really don't have much for short or third then in the high minors.

This move appears to be a way to be able to fill in at short or third if an injury occurs. They don't have much beyond Culpepper at AAA unless they want to go with Will Holland and I don't think he plays short all that well. Since Gray has an option left it allows them to move him up and down. It likely is also protection for removing Brujan since he has no options left he won't be easy to move up and down. They are short on 40 man space so will need to make another move. I'd guess that would be removing Brujan or some type of trade. They should have just kept Fitzgerald on the 40 man. They should only need a stopgap until Culpepper is ready.

It feels like that Javiaer signing cured them from going all in on just one guy so to speak. There have been some notable top tier signings that have worked out quite well for other teams, but it seems like we see just as many or more of the medium to low end guys work out as well. It doesn't seem to cost much to go after arms and I don't know the success rate for arms, but it seems like for 100K or less you could grab a bunch of those guys and see how they work out. Colorado went after some of the higher end arms in this class as did a few others. I wouldn't mind the Twins allocating more money there, but then maybe they just haven't identified them soon enough to get them to sign with them. Last year 4 of their signings were in the top 50 for MLB.com. All in the 1.5 to 1M type of players. That seems to be the range where the Brewers like to target their guys and they have had decent success. One thing I can't argue with you about is their relative lack of success on the international signings for quite some time. Maybe Bohorquez can break that streak and become something or Oliveros? I like DeAndrade but there's quite a ways to go there. Maybe Beltre and his big forearms can find more in zone contact? Olivar is a good hitter, but is he good enough and he has no good defensive home. So to your point whatever they are doing hasn't been working well. Hopefully the 2025 and 2026 classes can right the ship as it sure hurts to waste that pool of talent every year. They have thrown enough darts that they should hit some something soon, right?

Thats what I have as well. Top 12 players where we see salary numbers is about 5.8M add in Ozuna and that puts it at 6.3M with 8 more players to sign. I'd say they are spending it all. Can't imagine there would be much left after they sign the rest.

I don't see Angel Ozuna on the list. The Twins were rumored to be the team signing him. That would be likely another $500,000 to the total if true. I like that they signed more arms. Position players haven't worked out that well recently and it seems like they might have better luck at least turning some of these arms in bullpen guys., At any rate nice to see a more balanced class in that regard. Merlot seems to have nice potential. I will be watching his stat lines this year. So hard to know how these young men will develop and we know 90% of them won't make it. Still fun to dream on their tools and hope to find a star player in there somewhere. It will be a long 6 year wait though.

I can't think of an offseason where I have questioned this many moves. Not saying what I think matters, but usually the moves while often underwhelming do feel logical. I do think getting Caratini is a really good move and protects them if they decide to trade Jeffers now or in the future. It also helps them next year while they wait for their young catchers to develop. They can't afford to keep 3 catchers on the 26 man so something has to give there. Pereda they can move up and down because he has options so it seems unlikely they chance him getting through waivers and still in the end they need to move on from one of those guys. Kind of the same deal with a left handed hitting outfielder. They have too many. Someone needs to go. On top of all that they need some relievers with MLB experience. At minimum one and likely two. I don't know what the budget is, but it seems like 110M is the upper limit of where they want to be. I'm sure they could over that a little, but likely not much. That seems to mean that one of Larnach or Jeffers needs to go to make room for some relievers. There's a lot of time left for these moves to make some sense. I presume the Twins thought they would be outbid for Caratini thus the Jackson move. They could just dump Jackson as the cost was a player they didn't even draft from the independent league who was going to be a tough to fit on the team anyway. I like the signing now let's see what else they do to fix the roster.

Just given the lean build and long arms I thought Hill was going to be a long term project. Was very surprised at how he did his first pro season. I don't think I have ever seen a high school arm perform like that for the Twins in their first year. Outstanding K rate and if the changeup is a weapon already that bodes well for his future. It's nice to see the Twins going after these young arms. They have Hill, Soto and Barr as 20 year old arms. If Hill and Soto can make it to AA at just 20 years old that would be huge. Bohorquez (aka the Bazooka) is only 21 and at High A and Carpenter while not as Dominant is an interesting Lefty and only 21. They need to stay healthy and add innings, but they could line up to be difference makers by 2027. Add in the 2025 drafted arms taken in the top 5 rounds with Quick, Ellwanger, Rietz, and Barr along with typical late round arms the Twins always grab and it looks like there could be another large wave of arms ready to tap into by 2027 or 2028. Still, Hill with the good fastball changeup feels like the arm with the most potential as things stand today.

That's kind of my thinking as well. I mean they have to find a way to get at least one veteran reliever if not two right? Maybe they will be willing to spend more than we think? Still it seems like trading Jeffers solves a lot of issues (money and player wise). Not that losing Jackson would be the end of the world, but it would be odd asset management. They also could hold onto to Jeffers and see how this team looks at the deadline and if bad which is most likely, trade him then. Still given the reliance on the young roster and now that they have Caratini it sure seems like they could trade Jeffers whenever they want. I'll be surprised if he makes it out of spring training with the team.

Could be wrong but it feels like a Jeffers trade is next up. He is a good offensive catcher and it seems like teams have been enquiring about him. They just said they were making Jeffers the primary catcher so seems odd to get Caratini after all the things they've said and done. Certainly they could still hang onto Jeffers, but if they want any real value from him they need to trade him sooner rather than later. We'll find out soon enough.

I'm a little surprised Mendez isn't on there or does he not count since on the 40 man? Given he seems to have no positive defensive value 1st base seems like a good spot for him. Strictly 1st base guys seems in short supply given those names, but lot's of players get moved to the position as needed IMO. While The Twins have a few high end bats at AAA they could use more top level high end hitters in the system from AA on down IMO. I presume that will be the focus of this years draft.

I think those are all good points though I think they can get about as much at the deadline as they can right now. If Ryan can stay healthy and with arms that is no sure thing. IMO their decision to hold onto these guys plays into Ticket sales. While given the current construction of this team there seems little hope they do well this year. At least there is hope and or reason to come and see games. Lose Ryan, Pablo and Maybe Buxton and I don't know if you can keep enough interest in this team as a bottom feeder. Also ownership has a huge perception problem and giving up before the season starts is just gonna hammer the narrative of cheap owners who don't care about the fans into stone. They have to at least give the perception they are trying to go for it this year. Granted the lackluster acquisitions are already hurting that perception. If it were me I would try and trade Ryan before the start of the season. His value will never be higher with two full years of control and at a low cost coming off an All Star caliber year. You don't have to risk poor performance or injury waiting for the deadline. It hurts this years team, but if they get the right pieces back it could move them forward in future years. I'd keep Pablo. He is coming off a season of being inured and it would be selling low. I'd risk keeping him to the deadline. Same for Buxton. I'd wait until the deadline. That may be purely sentimental on my part as I just can't see this team not having their one true star player. If he'll stay I'd keep him as long as he is willing to stay. There's a lot of offseason left, but things still do look a bit grim to me. This is a very hope based team that is lacking statistical proof that it will be a winner. So many things have to go right it feels like it would take a miracle, but baseball is weird so who knows.

It's going to be an interesting season. With so many young players it seems unlikely the Twins get off to good start, but as those players develop they could in theory be a decent team around June. This whole season is dependent on the young players stepping up and making the team stronger. The issue is it just seems unlikely. If they can't get it together the return for Pablo and Ryan will never be better than at the deadline. If they can't get this team winning enough to compete for the second half of the season it seems they would almost be forced to sell high at the deadline and start a team with all young players. We'll see how it plays out, but it seems like this is gonna be a big decision year for this franchise.

Not sure how I feel about this one. Kind of hate losing a guy with options for a guy without options, but Gasper doesn't really fit this team all that well. He's not a great catcher and the Twins don't seem to view him as a future first baseman. He hasn't been able to hit Major league pitching to this point, but he has the AAA numbers that make you think he could\should make it at the MLB level. I'm guessing he'll get claimed. Brujan clearly has more versatility than Gasper, but with no options left I can't see them keeping both him and Kreidler on the 26 man. Kreidler does have an option left so if Brujan looks like the better bet maybe they send Kreidler down? Or maybe they plan to try and sneak Brujan through at a later date. Not sure how to view this one other than it would have made more sense to keep Fitzgerald IMO.

I tend to agree with you. It took Sands a while to work his way in. Other young arms didn't make it, thinking Winder and Henriquez as a couple examples. There's no guarantee the arms they have will make the jump and certainly not instantly. So there could be some pain as they put this pen back together with young arms. The payoff if they can get two or three young arms established would be huge though as they would have pre-arb arms with options to keep a cost controlled pen. After that they could go back to slowly working in more young arms in later years. There is a lot of up in the air stuff for this year. The starting pitching is about the only set thing. Hopefully these young players develop quickly.

Twins have a lot of young pitching hoping to debut this year. I don't think there is any reason to rush him. That being said Gallagher easily made it AA his first pro season and he was a 6th round pick. I don't think AA is out of the question for Quick and that would be a very good first year. Still as mentioned there is no hurry. If he dominates keep moving him up. If not then keep working on stuff. Bottom line he has three plus pitches and decent control so it looks like an arm that could move fast if he stays healthy all year. I'm just happy they have at least one arm that looks like a fast mover and difference maker.

I get the thinking as he made the All Star team in 2024, but his bat is just so unreliable the Twins could just as well go with a young guy there and build toward the future. Kreidler was their pick for Shortstop and Center as he is the perfect no hit bat they seem to prefer in that spot. The outfield is full and other than short the infield looks covered. I'd just move on at this point.

I noticed some of the same things. His in zone contact rate isn't great either. There are warts in the profile but he is very young, so plenty of time to try and iron things out. Will be fun to watch him this coming year and see how he does.

Fitzgereld was never going to be a long term solution for this team so not a huge deal, but I just don't get the Kreidler love. I must be missing something. At any rate the Twins were one team away from having him slip through, but the pesky Dodgers have him for now. Sometimes I wonder if Friedman just likes to stick it to Falvey. Anyway I wish Fitzgerald the best. He was fun to watch at AAA and the majors last year. I think he is a good defender and found some power in his bat which makes him a nice utility option. I'll be watching the Kriedler, Fitzgerald stats closely this year.

I tend to agree. I was plenty high on DeAndrade, but he repeated high A with a similar OPS of .700 which isn't that great. I get he has been young for levels but he has never had an OPS over 750 yet. There's still time for improvement and I am not writing him off, but it looks like utility player is his ceiling and the bat has a long way to go. Still only 21 but for what he has shown so so far I don't see him making it. Even MLB.com has him as their number 30 prospect so he is just hanging on. This year is gonna be a big year for him. The bat has to get better or as you mentioned he will be irrelevant given the other options the Twins will have.

Glad they got that done and they can make it work if they keep him as they can technically keep Gonzalez, Mendez, Rodriguez and Roden at AAA as they have options left. Martin has an option left as well, but since he had a 150 OPS+ against lefties they are going to need him on the 26 man. That leaves Buxton, Wallner, Outman and Larnach to battle it out. Not sure if they will want to carry 5 outfielders, but they have ways to work around it if needed. Larnach sure does look like the odd man out. It makes more sense to get Roden in there and see what he can do and Rodriguez isn't far behind. Somethings gotta give and he looks like the most likely candidate.

Well stated OP! Not much to argue about. I was going to say the following (now in Italics) but I see Rodriguez only has one option year left. So as you stated he likely is next man up as soon as he solidifies himself at AAA. Still I think Jenkins has a chance to press the issue with good numbers at AAA. The only nit I might pick is Jenkins versus Rodriguez. Honestly I view those two as neck and neck for the next callup. Which ever one performs best should get the next shot. Jenkins makes better in zone contact. He runs, and throws as well if not better than Rodriguez and while I give Rodriguez the slight in edge in power right now in time there likely won't be much difference. Jenkins has never had a K rate over 20 percent until AAA where in a smaller sampler sample he hit 25%. Rodriguez has had K rates hovering around 30% most of his career. I get that E-Rod has the advantage of a 40 man spot, but if Jenkins is out performing him they could easily remove Outman, Larnach, Jullien, Gasper for the guy who likely will be there long term. There's a reason Jenkins is rated higher in top 100 lists than Rodriguez as his underlying numbers just look better. Rodriguez missed a huge opportunity last year to get reps at the MLB level and establish himself. I don't see him as having the inside track on Jenkins with them being at the same level, but with only having one option year left that might change things.