Major League Ready

If the team is performing about the same at the deadline, "being stuck in the middle" won't be a product of an unwillingness to spend. It will be a product of having a team that is not going to become a true contender as a result of adding one player. There biggest underperforming positions are 3B, SS, and back-up catcher. The best chance we have for improvement is Correa playing up to his ability and Royce getting it together.

Hill and Prielipp are the two most intriguing pitchers in the system right now if you consider Matthews as already having graduated. Anyone know when Soto is supposed to be back?

I have always been a supporter of Stewart. He just does not stay on the field enough to be fully appreciated. His K/9 over his tenure with the Twins is the highest on the team at 12.43. Duran 11.42 and Jax 11.52. His ERA 2.45. Duran 2.61 and Jax 3.14 since 2023. Let's hope Stewart can stay healthy.

Not really. Unless my memory is failing me Teel was projected to go 8-10 picks after Jenkins which is what happened.

Good news .... Quite a few great stories among position players this year. The mid-year prospect updates are going to be very interesting. Bad News ...... Marco Raya.

Where are you getting this information. According to Fangraphs, he is not a free agent until 2029?

They are not going to just toss Lewis to the side. He will get every opportunity. It's also not like they won't have someone to take that spot in the playoffs if Lewis does not come around. They have multiple people that could fill that position. I could see 1B but they are going to make room for Keaschall. They are going to have a lot of IF depth when Keaschall comes back and he can play some 1B. France is actually playing very well of late after a couple of weeks of struggling. If Clemmens stays hot he is a possibility as well if France slumps. All of this makes this discussion quite premature. All of this will be much clearer 6 weeks from now.

I was thinking the same thing a couple weeks ago. He has risen from the ashes before so I would not be certain about Miranda. He has struck out once in his last 50 ABs, has a 306 BA and 860 OPS. I think he still has a mountain to climb but I would not bet the ranch against him.

Salas could be a big story this year. I remember there being some hype around him when he was added in the Arraez deal. Then, he was quite bad and forgotten. 892 OPS this year and he can play all over the diamond. One guy that can back-up SS and CF is nice to have. Would love to see him pan out. It would make the Arraez trade look really good. Can you speak to his ability to play SS, Seth?

OK but the question was who do you replace. You are not replacing Bride if you acquire a DH. Last night the DH was Larnach. The most likely DHs are Wallner, Larnach, Buxton, and Jeffers. The gain would be minimal, and the cost would be defensive depth and flexibility. I presume T.O posed this question to prompt a more nuanced discussion that addressed specifics instead of a concept.

Are you suggesting they trade for a guy to replace Bride? I am pretty sure the original post was asking which starter would you replace? Where would the greatest incremental gain be? Obviously, there is a possibility to improve over most of our starters, even Correa. Replacing Bride would be pretty meaningless.

The whole thing depends on another team interpreting the underlying numbers & results and believing he can contribute. Sometimes teams believe. Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong but it does happen. Where I see as the bigger problem is a contender looking for help giving up a good major league player for Paddack. Any team investing in a current team will be looking to trade prospects. The question becomes if we have a suitable replacement such we would not be losing much and is the future value meaningful. Cleveland, Oakland, and Tampa have used these types of trades to sustain success but it's not a popular move with fans. No rule says they can't trade Paddack for prospects and buy a bat with prospects.

How about Holland? 983 OPS in AAA last year. 873 this year. 70 grade speed. Plays multiple positions quite well from what I have seen.

What would have been valuable in writing this article would have been an accounting of the actual impact on the sale. Corporate tax rate (fed + state) is 30.8 percent. How much do the twins have in terms of depreciable assets. I don't know the entirety of the tax code for sports teams but based on what I have read, the salaries of Correa, Buxton, and Lopez are the biggest contributors. The three contract are about $260M after this year which makes the tax break about $80M or 5% at $1.5B. The Pohlad's offers just went down by 5%.

You make a very important distinction. I was thinking in terms players that could stick and I failed to mention that here. This distinction really completely changes the conversation in my mind. Thanks for pointing this out. I have Julien very low and Miranda relatively low because right now I have no faith in them sticking. I have the catchers high because the bar is low being this is a back-up position and there will definitely be an opening. I have the utility guys higher because there will likely be a couple open roster spots for versatile bench guys.

There are several articles detailing the tax breaks given to sports teams if anyone wants a summary of the tax breaks, just google it. (see one example below) I can't imagine anyone here would feel bad about owners losing "bonus depreciation" which includes player contracts, goodwill, media contracts. Keep in mind these expenses are deducted from revenue to determine taxable income. Then, they get a bonus deduction. It's simply not fair. Tax Breaks for Sports Teams

Nobody is trading an impact bat right now unless they get waaaay overpaid. That's never smart. We just got Wallner and Buxton back and Keaschall will be back too. Let's see what they look like before we panic. Do we really have an excess? What about next year when Paddack is gone and what if SWR continues to be questionable as a starter? Matthews and either Festa or SWR fill out the rotation. That's not much depth.

Back-up catchers always seem to be available so I would agree it's the most likely scenario. I went about this wondering which position players have a shot. If they promote Cardenas and he continues to hit, I could see them giving him a shot because he has looked good defensively the few times I have seen him catch. Maybe he is not as good defensively as I think from a SSS.

Clemens is not a free agent until 2030. I just don't believe in Camargo at all. I was sitting pretty close to home plate for a game he started last year and he looked absolutely overwhelmed by major league pitching. I have not seen enough of Winkel behind the plate to have an opinion if he can stick. If they promote Cardenas in the next couple months, I can see him getting a shot. I suppose they can just sign a back-up free agent catcher.

You would not have to try real hard to convince me of that one. They are playing Eeles all over the diamond so he is a great candidate to replacement for Castro. Clemens is in the right place at the right time and for now he looks like he belongs. Of course, that could change quickly given the sudden success within a small sample size.

Keep in mind the premise here is by this date next year. One of the catchers seems like a high probability. Keaschall is the most sure thing IMO. One of the catchers seems very likely but who? Camargo looked lost at the plate in his short stint last year and he is not doing much offensively this year. His 577 OPS at AAA does not inspire confidence he can hit at the MLB level. Rodriguez fits a need but he is not really impressing at the moment. Julien and Miranda are also not impressing. One of the players that can handle multiple positions like Will Holland for example would seem to have a good chance to replace Castro . They like bench guys that can cover a few positions which is why Clemens might have a shot to stick.

I was only looking at position players.

Lately, when I am looking at the Milb recap, I am asking myself which prospects have the best chance to be on the MLB roster by this time next year. Guys like Julien and Miranda have fallen by the wayside. Castro will be gone next year. We may or may not resign Bader. When you look at the farm system, which position players do you think have the best chance of being here. I put together a list of 20 prospects (including Clemens). How would you rank them in terms of likelihood of making the roster by 6/1/26 when consider position and performance. 1 AAA Luke Keaschall U 2 AAA Austin Martin OF 3 MLB Kody Clemmens U 4 AA Noah Cardenas C 5 AAA Will Holland U 6 AAA Payton Eeles U 7 AAA Patrick Winkel C 8 AA Ricardo Olivar C 9 AAA Emmanuel Rodriguez OF 10 AAA Mickey Gasper IF 11 AAA Anthony Prato U 12 AA Walker Jenkins OF 13 AAA Jose Miranda 1B/3B 14 AAA Jefferson Morales U 15 AAA Carson McCusker OF 16 AA Dalton Shuffield U 17 AA Kyler Fedko OF 18 AAA Edouard Julien 2B/1B 19 AA Gabriel Gonzalez OF 20 AA Tanner Schobel IF

Why should players demoted on an off-day be the only players paid for an extra day beyond when the team needs them? If these guys are going to get paid for an extra day when they are not needed, shouldn't every player that's demoted get paid for an extra day? I wonder what happens in other businesses when a manager with spending authority routinely continues to pay for resources that are no longer needed?

I know Gasper did not do much within the SSS we saw him at the big league level but damn, the man has been putting up phenomenal numbers. Gasper getting another shot would be another benefit of sending Lewis down.