Major League Ready

Are you kidding me? Half-truths, innuendo, and misinformation have become standard operating practice for "news outlets". Try fact checking the mainstream media sometime and online sources present whatever drives clicks. It's really effective because people are very receptive to things they want to believe.

I think the problem with selling this team or any small/mid market team is buyers don't see the nearly the same potential for growth in valuation as they did just a few years ago. The return on capital from Operating Income is about 2% so the heck is going to do that unless they believe the asset valuation will grow.

Which dollars would you allocate differently. Correa? It seems the vast majority of posters here sternly preferred to keep him when his name was raised. Buxton? His production per dollar spent is way above the league average for free agents. Buxton's WAR per dollar spent is double Carlos Correa. Vasquez? Nothing that can be done about that one and it was a pretty popular signing at the time. Lopez? He has been our best pitcher. You want to get rid of him? I could actually see that happening in Matthews or Prielipp emerge as top of the rotation arms but that's a big IF. Bader? That money is looking like it was well spent. Paddack? I might agree with that one but there is also plenty of time to reallocate that asset this year.

I noticed a big difference between the Cardinals and the Twins. The Cardinals hitters generally did not swing at “pitcher’s pitches” early in the count. They took a lot of very close pitches early in the count. Even if you make contact on those pitches the results are not good. Several Twins hitters swung at the 1st pitch even when it was a very tough pitch to hit. Same difference when ahead in the count. Some of the Twins hitters seem to just make up their mind they are going to take a hack when they are ahead in the count as opposed to selecting a good pitch to hit. I don’t have the data to substantiate this opinion so maybe my observation is biased but that’s what it looks like to me.

CF depth looks pretty good to me. Our back-up (Bader) is gold glove caliber. Rodriguez is on the horizon and we have three other guys (Keirsey, Castro and Martin) that are decent back-ups in the context of them being a 4th or 5th or 6th option.

The easiest thing to do would be to download the app. That should be fairly easy on any smart TV. If have downloaded apps with a Roku stick and it's very easy. Search Youtube. The videos are only around 2 minutes so it's no big deal. I have cast my phone a few times when I was traveling and once at a friend's lake cabin. That takes a little technically inclination to set-up the app but again, youtube instructions make it easy once you pick the app.

The Twins App is not a standard App on Roku but you should be able to download the app through the search function. You could also just cast your phone or computer to your TV with a variety of different apps that allow mirroring your phone to a TV or through settings in Windows.

I can see a number of reasons why that won’t happen. Buxton would have to prove he can stay on the field over the next 4 seasons. He would need to be one of the few who are not declining significantly at that age. It only makes sense if we don’t produce replacements. We have Emma, Jenkins that are likely replacements. Winokur likely ends up in the OF and Keaschall may as well. Also, any college OFers drafted in the next couple years would also be potential replacements along with a couple other international signings currently in the system. The money is likely better spent elsewhere, starting with extending Ryan or Ober or Lewis or Wallner or an early extension of Emma or Jenkins or Keaschall.

They look like a good not great team to me but here is why I think they could be more than just good. For starters, Nick lead in to this article reminding us this tear was very good for a good part of last year. This is a good reason for optimism. There are also some guys that I might have a bit of a homer view of but Walner seems like a guy that could step up to be one of the best bats in the league. The other guy I really believe has more to offer is Trevor Larnach and both of these guys looked quite good the 2nd half of last year. Bader won’t take Abs away from these guys against RHP because one of them is the DH against RHP. Then, we have Ty Fance. I know it’s just spring training but her was our best hitter this spring by a considerable margin. Is it crazy to believe he has made a sustainable adjustment? IDK but that would be a huge boost nobody is banking on. In the “it wouldn’t surprise me category”, I thought Zebby Mathews looked fantastic this spring. I could see him having an impact in the 2nd half. That moves Paddack to a BP role and gives us even more depth. If Paddack is doing so well we don’t want to move him, that’s a great problem to have. I also would not be surprised if Louie Varland turned out to be this year’s Cole Sands. My total wildcard is Connor Prielipp. I loved the pick when they made it and have hoped for him to get healthy ever year. I sure would love to see that one come together. All of this stuff will make for a very fun year of Twin’s baseball if it comes together reasonably well.

Why would they have "little leverage" because they are out of the race? What if he is pitching reasonably well but Zebby is pitching lights out in AAA? We are not going to get an impact bat from a contender looking to shore up their rotation for the rest of the season but a solid SP likely has more value than an A ball flyer. There are always teams that as a result of injury are starved for starting pitching.

He looked good in spring training and should get a spot in the rotation. Having said this, I hope Paddack performs well but Zebby or Festa or both are just so damn good that they push him to the BP or a trade. If it's Prielipp, that would be fine too, I just don't see him getting a lot of innings this year.

I will take the $15M/year guy that produces 4 WAR in 100 games over the 4 WAR in 150 games. Whatever we get out of his back-up is a bonus and who would you rather have in the playoffs? BTW ... his production per dollar is about double the average for free agents so to complain about his production based on salary makes absolutely no sense.

Not worried about Lee being out nearly as much as Lewis. We have a number of players that can replace Lee's production. Castro can provide comparable defense and a better arm at 3B and probably better offense. Miranda can provide a better bat / Less defense at 3B. Castro / Julien / Gasper and Martin are all equal options at 2B. Lee is probably the best option if Correa goes down long-term but as FGD points out, the difference between Correa and Lee is a lot bigger than the difference between Lee and whoever replaces him.

Lee is a better / more versatile defender. However, Julien has much better offensive stats A+ through AAA. BB% K% BB/K AVG OBP SLG OPS wRC+ Brooks Lee 10.20% 15.70% 0.650 .281 .355 .459 814 113 Edouard Julien 20.10% 26.10% 0.770 .285 .437 487 924 148 It takes a grossly superior defender to make up for 100 points of OPS.

Totally agree on Lee. Very smooth but very limited athletically and his Milb numbers never indicated he would be an impact bat. He did have good AAA numbers in 2024 but that was 25 games. I see him as a utility player once Keaschall gets here. Disagree on Jenkins. He looks like the real deal but it's early so like you, I concede I could be totally wrong. Rodriquez is the one I just don't know about. The contract rate and injury history scares me but everything else about him is exactly what we need. I love that his splits are pretty equal and the ability to at least back-up CF adequately is a big plus given Buxton's propensity for injury. I really want this guy to step up because his profile is exactly what this team needs.

If we think in terms of the areas of the roster (SP, RP, IF & OF) there is room for optimism. We have SP pitching depth and a good BP. That's always a good place to start. I also think too many people don't see beyond Buxton, Correa, and Lewis. Wallner and Larnach established themselves last year. Sure, they need to follow-up with another good season but we are looking good in the OF now and we have two darn good prospects not too far off. The infield some question marks that need to get sorted out. It would sure help if Lee steps up and we should all be pulling for Keaschall to crush it in the minors and get here ASAP.

I agree Kiersey could be that guy now but there is an even better solution on the horizon. What if the develop an above average starter who can play corner or CF (Rodriguez) who is a left-hand hitter with relatively equal splits? Then, develop Buston's replacement (Jenkins) and move Buxton to a corner the last year of two of his contract. Walner becomes a DH / 4th OFer or maybe he learns to play some 1B too. I am pulling hard for Rodriquez because he would perfectly and end the need for a MAT / Bader type player or at least minimize their role.

Adding to your point, Buxton produced .6 less WAR than Correa last year for less than half the money so if Buxton is a problem, Correa is a huge problem. Looking longer term, Buxton has produced 12.9 WAR the last 4 years which is under $5M per WAR which is much better than league average. If we get last year's production out of Buxton and Bader that's 5 WAR for $21M. What's the problem in terms of money and I want Buxton on my playoff roster.

Here are the stats. Spring Training Stats

Maybe Rocco is just giving him every opportunity to prove he is better than his very poor level of play last year, especially the 2nd half of last year where his wRC+ was 62. His OPS for spring training is one point from the lowest of any Twin this spring. Should he just be granted the position if this continues the rest of the spring? We all know spring training performance does not get much weight but his performance last year does not inspire confidence. It would be understandable if they gave someone else a shot.

There are a few internal options I could see happening... Walner or Larnach when one of Rodriguez and Jenkins arrive or both, Lewis when Culpepper arrives. Julien when Keaschall gets here if Julien can learn to pick a throw. He has terrible hands for an infielder. Miranda steps up this year and earns the job going forward. They could trade Larnach for a 1B or Catcher if Rodriquez works out.

Winokur at first would be a waste of athleticism and a great arm. Playing him at 1B would devalue him.

If he made the team by the half-way point, he would mirror Brian Dozier from an age standpoint. Their birthdays are 2 days apart. Morales would be 26 years and a couple months of age which is almost identical to Brian Dozier. He might be a nice replacement to Castro next year. Can someone tells is if there any chance this guy can play a back-up catcher role even if it's a 75/25 split with Jeffers? How is he behind the dish?

Seems more likely that Bader would take PAs from Miranda than Larnach or Wallner . If Wallner or Larnach is not in the OF, they will be the DH against RHP and Miranda against LHP.

This is a very good point. We don't see Cleveland signing nearly as many of this type of player. I do think we are improving in this regard because THANKFULLY we no longer need to sign warm bodies for the back of the rotation. With reasonable health we should be able to avoid these types of pitchers for the next several years. I also do see the need for low-rent OFers for quite some time either with Rodriguez / Jenkins on the horizon and Keaschall probably will play some OF as well. Martin might be kept around as well. 3B and SS are covered for the foreseeable future as well. That leaves us with 2B and 1B which are the easiest two positions to fill. IDK who ends up there but it seems likely they fill 2B with either Lee, Julien or maybe even Gasper until Keaschall is here. That leaves Miranda or maybe Julien for 1B. I also think we will trade one of Wallner or Larnach next off-season or when Jenkins is ready. This assumes Rodriquez works out at least reasonably well. That trade could be used to fill a need. Tampa and Cleveland have been great at getting major league ready guys in this type of trade. I went through this exercise to ask this question ... Are we at the point where the type of player you pointed out won't be needed starting next year? I think the vast majority of us would like to see the system produce enough that we can move on from these low-rent players. Some of them have been good as you point out but it sure would be nice to simply not need them.