Dman

Wow they left A ball with no one in the top 30 unless they bring in some of the guys I thought would be short season guys like De Andrade, Cruz, Mercedes, Rodriguez etc. 10 top 30 prospects at high A and 10 at AAA. AA and A are gonna be short on star talent. I wasn't sure what they were going to do with Rosario and Miller since both had borderline results with the bats last year. Given how well Rosario played in spring training and how good Miller is defensively I think it makes sense to keep them moving. Has to be a bummer for Neuse and Perez but they are just an injury away from moving back up. They also must believe in the bats of Ross and Schoebel as I thought they were A ball bound at least to start the season. With Salas that is some pretty amazing shortstop talent they have there. Also wasn't sure where they would start Prielipp but I think High A is a good place to start and if he is as good as the talk this spring then he could move up after the first few months. I am surprised Kyle Jones is the one who gets to jump to High A I had Paredes plugged into that spot. Paredes is no K king but he was consistently good last year. Seemed he deserved a promotion to me but it looks like he will have to wait. I do like the approach of sticking the next big wave of prospects together. Should be a pretty stacked lineup and some solid to elite pitching in high A this year. It is gonna be must see box score watching at that level this year. Could be a tough time for AA and A ball unless those players really step up. Here's hoping for lot's of breakouts this year.

Given the shoulder issues I don't see that they had much choice. If he can become another Jax he still holds a lot of value as high end reliever. I don't know a ton about impingement but once pitchers have shoulder issues it can be the beginning of the end. Hoping shorter stints will help his body\arm recover better. Only way to know is to try.

Was surprised to see Travis Adams on the list as I had him penciled in at High A. Hoping he is ready as the Texas league isn't easy on pitchers. He wasn't exactly dominant at High A and only had 31 innings there. I was also surprised to see Enlow as a reliever now. I thought he had three if not four pretty strong pitches? I take it the Twins think the fastball only plays in small stints? Was happy to see Rucker make the jump to AA but I thought that after Shuffield held his own at AAA that they would at least start him at AA especially given his age. The bat looked like it could be special last year but I guess he can prove it again. It is an interesting list. Lacking the higher end talent depth we saw there last year but there are guys who could rise especially on the pitching side.

It might be SSS but I am going to eat crow anyway (hopefully BBQ sauce will make it taste better). Watching Gallo this spring it sure didn't look like much had changed from last year. He seemed to have trouble getting to balls in the lower part of the zone and he wasn't making much contact. He wasn't looking much better the first two games against the Royals either. Today I got see what I assume the Twins saw when they worked to sign Gallo. A double and two HR;s with 4 RBI's he almost single handedly won this games for them on offense. Still a lot of season left and one good day against a not very good team doesn't mean too much, but it does\did show the impact he can have on a ball game. I hope this is the first of many good days for Joey Gallo. Ryan pitched well his first time out. He did give up some really hard contact on some balls but only one made it out of the park. The strike zone was a bit mysterious at times for both clubs but he got through it and even made it 6 innings. Moran had the same old issues with control and for once it bit him giving up the 2 run HR. Walks can kill you and he walked a guy who generally can't buy a hit. Can't do that and get away with it all the time. Gotta execute there. Hopefully a lesson learned in a game that had some leeway. Pagan still scares the hell out of me. Why they didn't trade him if they had decent offers I do not know. Needing Jax to warmup after giving up back to back hits show just how much they don't trust him either. He only gave up the one run but if KC would have come back I think we all would have lost our minds. They got the sweep but with Cleveland taking it to the Mariners and the White Sox splitting with Houston I am not sure the sweep means as much. Looking like a three team race early but lot's of games left in this marathon baseball season. Hope the Twins can keep finding ways to win games.

Greinke not afraid of Gallo. He must figure Gallo can't hit breaking stuff as he has pretty thrown him all strikes.

Yeah he doesn't give Pablo anything close to the edge and then rings up Larnach for strike three. Really hate that stuff. just call it the same both ways at least

Sands was really good through AA. Nice WHIP, ERA and K rate and that was as a starter. There was concern with his xFIP which has proven to be a more accurate predictor than his ERA, but other that that pretty rock solid. Once he hits AAA suddenly he is giving out hits like crazy and having trouble keeping the ball in the park. For the Twins I guess I see the attraction. Fangraph's gives him an elite curveball and in the pen his fastball plays up to above average as well. He has an average changeup to go with all that so he has solid tools to be a reliever but the results to this point have not been good. I agree with @stringer bellthat he doesn't throw competitive pitches out of the zone and then has to throw cookies around the middle of the plate to compete. I don't get the approach and it hasn't been working. If the curve is that good he needs to use it on the edges and if he can't control it then that is an issue as well. I have seen his fastball barreled up too many times giving up very hard contact. The tools are there but they need to shine through soon or else as others have said Winder and Henriquez will pass him by. I want to be a believer but as @PatPfundstated his spring numbers are even worse than last years numbers so that doesn't give me much confidence things have changed for the better.

I think how things worked out with Coulombe and Hoffman were based on having flexibility with the long reliever position. They needed a spot where arms could be sent up and down without needing to "hopefully" clear waivers. They have some quality depth they can use as needed this year in Winder, Henriquez, maybe Headrick or Funderburk and or some other candidate might appear as the season moves along. So they have options beyond just trusting Sands in that spot. I don't think they expected to lose Coulombe and he would have been depth for Thielbar or Pagan if he stayed. Turns out the O's robbed us yet again but he wasn't a long term fit for this team anyway so maybe it was for the best. I think Hoffman was a tougher choice. I think they would have loved to keep him as depth in the minors but again I think it came down to flexibility and they also kind of have a Hoffman type pitcher in Megill and it looks like they decided to stick with Megill. Also with all these young arms on the 40 man you need to figure out at some point who can play at this level and who can't as new guys need to be added every year. Best to find out in hopefully low leverage situations if Sands is worthy of a 40 man spot or not and work your way down from there in Winder and Henriquez etc. The one thing the FO has to face with these decisions is Pagan. His track record is not good and we all seem to have some PTSD from watching him last year. I know he showed improvement at the end of the year but if he keeps giving up long balls and the FO did nothing to upgrade that position they are going to hear about it especially if the talent given away works out for other teams. It is risky but I am on board with Sands for now. Hopefully he turns a corner and helps this team win some games.

Interviewer has really nice voice and demeaner and Kody has such an easy going manner it is a fun watch. I really liked where Kody explained about pitching with lower velocity. Very nice descriptions. Lot's of great content. Thanks for sharing!

I like your sleeper pick. Funderburk has been really good the last two years. Granted he hasn't been in AAA yet and the K rate is a bit less than ideal, but his overall numbers are not that much different than Varland's and he is a lefty. I know the fastball might not be as hard but his Homerun suppression has been really good to this point. Will know more when he gets to AAA but so far he has been an under the radar good performer that could be a really good bullpen arm if he doesn't quite make it as a starter. Given what I have seen so far I like his chances but AAA and MLB are big jumps to make.

Not sure if you read the article but Seth posted the following (See below). It is not like Coulombe was an elite reliever. He is on the fringe of pretty much any teams 26 man roster. Hate to lose a lefty as we don't have a ton, but they have guys who can fill that roll. "That potentially means two veteran relievers with a lot of big-league service time lost. However, that doesn't mean that the Twins are in a bad place in terms of depth. Cole Sands is starting the season as the long reliever (pending any deals, of course). Josh Winder and Ronny Henriquez will start the season on the Injured List but could be ready for a bullpen role in the near future. Trevor Megill is at Triple-A as are non-roster options such as Jose De Leon, Randy Dobnak, Austin Schulfer, Aaron Sanchez, Oliver Ortega, Brock Stewart, Patrick Murphy, Dereck Rodriguez, Blayne Enlow, and several of the starting pitchers in Triple-A if needed. As for left-handers, the options would include Sean Nolin and Jordan Brink, as well as a sleeper contributor for 2023 (in my opinion), Kody Funderburk. Brent Headrick could get bullpen looks if needed."

I wasn't sure about Farmer coming in but he sure impressed me this spring. He just seems pretty rock solid and if used primarily against lefties should be able to shine with the bat. Love his make up and attitude. He was a really good addition for this years team. I hope he continues to shine.

Happy for Danny. He earned a spot IMO. I was never a huge fan but the last few years he has pitched well enough to be in the big leagues. Hate to lose another solid lefty arm but glad he found a 26 man spot. I think the O's will be happy getting him. I sure hope Pagan works out or the FO is going to get blasted. As noted system still has lot's of good arms for the bullpen so not the end of the world but he sure would have been a handy depth piece.

Nice article! Can't say I disagree with much. I do think Kenta deserves some time to get his groove back and cold weather can be tough on arms as it can be harder to grip the ball so it might be bit before the Twins know where he is at. Coming back from TJ is never easy and it often times seems it takes a full year of pitching to "really" be back. We'll see how he Maeda does but he is a competitor and I wouldn't bet against him.

I really like your Sands assessment. I agree this is his big chance and he needs to make the most of it or he is gonna lose his 40 man spot. He has pitches with good movement but a penchant for giving up home runs and not finishing off batters with 2 strikes. If he can fix that (easier said than done) he has an important spot on the team. If not then I fail to see a role on the team for him. I can see why the Twins don't want to give up on him but Ober and Coulombe are better options IMO. Maybe Coulombe isn't set for long relief work but I always underestimate the guy and he has been pretty solid most of the time. Have to wonder that with Polanco not quite ready if the Twins pivoted from using that last 40 man spot for Hoffman and are going to give it to Castro. Hoffman didn't look great this spring to me not that I saw him a lot but he also didn't look worthy of taking up a 40 man spot and making the pen less versatile for sending arms up and down. I wish he would be willing to stay in AAA as the Twins would likely be using him at some point but I think we have enough young bullpen arms that losing him doesn't hurt that much. Castro has had a good spring and the Twins played him like a starter through the Spring. Most of his hits were hard contact and he hit his fair share of HR's (3) but watching him he looks like a guess hitter more than a hitter with a good eye at the plate. He had 18 K's in 47 plate attempts this spring which is nearly a 40% (38%) K rate. That is Gallo-esque and yet the SSS .973 OPS does offset some of that noise but the .389 BABIP also says not sustainable. Seems like a fair bit of work to do at the plate for Castro but he is an amazing athlete and if he can even maintain a .700 to .750 OPS at the MLB level would be an excellent utility player. I think Jullien is a much better bat than Castro but also likely a negative defensively at 2nd so I can see why they would want to start with Castro. Castro better hope he can hit or the Twins have better options IMO. Hopefully all these moves work out well and the Twins win a lot of games early.

Many of us have been high on Moran for years now. It is simply the walks and untimely hits that were his kryptonite. If he has control of his pitches when he comes in he looks elite but when he starts walking guys things can get out of hand. Hopefully the consistency is there this year as we need him to make this a better than average pen.

I don't necessarily disagree but they essentially already lost Santana in favor of Hoffman so I have to believe they are going to give him first crack. DeLeon doesn't have an opt out so guessing they stash him and see what Hoffman has. Otherwise he will opt out and they will get no shot. I haven't been overly impressed to this point but the metrics paint a nice picture. Hopefully more chances to see both this spring and see if one or the other can separate themselves.

I am going off of this article on Twins Daily\ So somebody is wrong.

I sure hope Deleon is back to his old self. He could make the Twins bullpen really good. I think Hoffman has the inside track though as I believe he has an opt out. DeLeon was a little wild early this spring and gave up a HR would need to see more especially against MLB bats to see where he really is at. Out of the list I like him best as the arm to make it.

Gonna be some tough decisions for the final roster. Jullien sure looks about as ready for MLB as he can be. Takes good at bats, has power only thing maybe holding him back is defense. Larnach has looked good at the plate too. Making a lot of contact a 4 for 4 day at the plate the other day with a homerun and nearly a second one that ended up a double. If these young guys keep this up gonna be hard to send them back down. Nice to see Rodriguez getting the HR off a somewhat gassed MLB pitcher. He hung in there with 2 strikes and forced a good pitch which he hit out of the park. Excited to see him move up this year. Lee has a had a tough time at the plate. For a guy that was supposed to be a contact hitter I believe he is K'ing at 35% rate this spring. He looks overmatched at the plate right now to me. He is gonna need more time to get ready for MLB IMO. Defense looks real good though. He needs to get handle on the breaking stuff.

I'm sure I don't completely understand the numbers but it seems like in years past most teams in our division tried to stay below the 130M threshold. Even the Twins tried not to go over that number until recently. If they are 30M over where they need to be it sure seems like they might have painted themselves into a corner to some degree. I mean they have the Correa and Buxton salaries tying up a good chunk of payroll the next 6 years or so. Player salaries in Free agency appear to only be going up. If the current level of payroll is not sustainable they are really gonna need the farm to produce. I know for owners this isn't a zero sum game they are in this to make money but there were a lot of lean years during the rebuild with much lower payrolls where the team had to be making good money. It is nice to see them "overspend" to make this team stronger. In the past I said I was fine with lower payrolls as long as they spent to the max once the team was a winning more. It looks like they are doing that. I think that is noteworthy. I am no Pohlad apologist as I am certain they are making money on the team one way or another but they appear to be decent owners IMO. They took a loss like most of baseball during the pandemic and paid their minor league players for the full season when some teams did not. They appear to treat their employee's well and are loyal to them giving them the tools to succeed. The organization as a whole is well thought of by any player that comes to play for the team so they have built a good culture. Both Cruz and Odorizzi wanted to come back if given the chance I believe and both had great things to say about the organization. Those things along with increased payroll make me feel like ownership has put the team in a decent spot. I went to a game with my little girl and she got picked to run around the field during the 7th inning stretch so that was a great fan experience for her. It happened to be her first time in the park and that was the highlight for her. So they do try to engage young fans when and where they can. For as much as I am willing to complain about ownership I think they should be recognized for at least trying to go above and beyond profit\lose statements to create a winning team. Not sure this level of payroll will last long but to me I like that they are least trying to make my favorite team better despite not making as much money as they would like.

When it comes to Maeda I would say I am concerned but not panicked just yet. Spring training makes it tough to gauge where guys are at. I believe every starter except maybe Pablo had a tough spring outing and couldn't finish innings and had to come back in later in the game and or let more runs score than they would have liked. Right now Mahle has had the same control\velocity problem as Maeda and he isn't in this article. When real games start they will have a detailed plan for how they want him to attack hitters etc. I just think it is too early to draw any "major" conclusions on Maeda. I will say I agree with others that TJ takes time to come back from so concerns are legit but let's wait until the season starts and he airs it out more before getting too bent out of shape. He gets one more spring start and it looks like the pitchers are honing in for the season as both Gray and Ryan had really good games their last time out. Let's see how he does in his last spring start. The thing I like about Maeda is he is someone willing to bet on himself and fair minded enough to only want to get paid for the production he provides. He knows he needs to perform to reach those incentives and you know he is going to work hard to get there. Will his body\arm cooperate? That is the unknown right now but I know he will do everything he can to succeed. I for one am not gonna bet against a very disciplined and detail oriented player even if the odds might not be in his favor.

Shuffield was the surprise performer for me. A 5' 9" senior sign that looked like a money saving move and was an after thought for me. His first year in pro ball he puts up a .305 average and 915 OPS. Those numbers would have been good in rookie ball but the majority of his at bats came at AAA. While there he hit 271\314\542 for an OPS of 856. That seems pretty amazing for a guy fresh out of college playing against near ready MLB pitching. Pitchers with good breaking stuff usually hand cuffs less experienced bats but Shuffield held his own. He is older though at 24 and it would be nice if they dumped him at AA so he could be a potential legit prospect for a year or two but we will see where he starts out. At any rate he played extremely well for an after thought and if he has a good to great season this could be a case where a 10th round pick makes it. From what I understand he has the defense to stay at short but likely a utility player unless his power does play then he can probably play just about anywhere. I also like pick number 17 Alec Sayre. The batting average was only .244 but the OBP was .448. I am a big believer in guys who have a good eye at the plate as they work their way into favorable counts they usually get something good to hit and if not are not making outs swinging out of the zone. Not much power so that is something he will need to improve on but for pick 17 there are things to work with and I will be watching him this year. I like both catchers but the sample size is too small to know much. Same with most of the pitchers just didn't do enough so nothing much I can say other than I hope they all work out. Should be a fun A ball team to watch and it will be interesting which players excel this year.

Not sure why we would be hot to get Tyler O'neill who has more 700 OPS years than the one elite 900 OPS season? Other than he is right handed but Nick Gordon can probably give us a 700 OPS there if that is who O'neill is. Skubal is a good pitcher but giving up 6 years of a potential All Star player for him? That seems pretty risky to me. If the Tigers would do Ober, Paddack and Kepler for Skubal I could maybe see that. I mainly wouldn't want to see Rodriguez in this deal.

I think if the Twins can get him to throw strikes he looks very interesting to me. He managed a 1.41 WHIP last year which is the lowest it has ever been in his entire career. You start getting that WHIP into the 1.5 area and bad things generally happen to a pitchers ERA so needs to better limit contact and find solid control. Guessing that is why Cinci didn't take him back. So far this spring he looks pretty much the same as he has in his career granted his K9 of 18 is elite but the two walks and two hits in three innings work is what has given him an ERA of 6. All SSS but still pretty much in line with what he has always done except K rate. Like this well written article states a little improvement could make him a solid middle relief option and maybe top end if he really refines his stuff. Nice to project positive vibes but he still has to perform. Will be interesting to see how his spring shakes out. I agree with the article though that the Twins were hoping Santana would clear so they could have their cake and eat it too but with the Mets down a reliever and maybe in some need for some Correa payback grabbed him instead. All these fringe guys are wild cards though as they have weaknesses to overcome. Here is hoping the Twins find a way to help Hoffman be the best pitcher he has been in his career thus far.