Cris E

Agree. I put Prielipp and even Mathews in the rotation ahead of Abel. He's thrown about 30 innings this year and there's little chance he bounces back immediately and at a higher level than either of those guys has just shown. I like Prielipp a lot, and If Zebby can figure out the home road thing then he'll be a monster (and if he can't you won't like him in the pen any more than the rotation.) But there is no way the Twins throw down what it takes for Jeffers. He gets one shot at a big payday and Boras is going to be certain it's hella more than $23m. On any day a catcher can take one off the mask and be largely done as a top player, so guaranteed cash in the bank is the standard at this point in his career. 4/$75m is way too much to tie up with Lackey this close and he may make more than that. I just can't see it unless Ryan refuses to sign an extension and a CBA floor means they have to reach $170m in a year or two. But mostly I see Jeffers in another uniform next spring.

Amen. There are a lot of voices around here that love the sound of hot takes and shouting. Larnach has no value. Bell should be cut. Gomez is terrible and shouldn't be back in 2027. These are all MLB players with better than average numbers. That is 90 RBI, 22 saves, a 123 OPS+ and so on. They aren't great players, but gracious they are not terrible or bad or even disappointing. They are OK, not terribly expense, apparently nice guys in the clubhouse, and playing to potential. They are who we expected them to be and folks are cranky. If you want to complain about a DH who is a league average hitter then complain about not having any money to spend, because there were better bats out there for more money. You don't like a 4.5 ERA guy who closed a couple dozen games? Well he was free and we refused to spend on the bullpen in the off-season. Larnach isn't good against left handed pitching but he is against the right side but for some reason the Twins are too good to platoon an outfielder? Come on, who else were you going to play in left? (And once again, they did have a trade lined up that was squashed by another bad owner. Tom P is hardly the worst out there.)

I do believe that one year in the near future Lewis is going to have some Road to Damascus moment, suddenly change his name to Paul and start hitting like a professional. That means waiting for his pitch, staying back with two strikes, not swinging for the fences, hitting only what's thrown instead of what's desired, etc. He got his head right for a month or two after his visit to St Paul and hit like a monster, then started back-sliding until he hurt his shoulder. There's a very good hitter in there that will come out, but I don't think it's going to happen here. He needs to hit a bottom somewhere and feel a need for a real rebirth. And when it happens you could see a late-career Molitor emerge, where he stays healthy, plays within himself and provides real value to some lucky team. We need to find the team where this can happen and move him.

(I originally laughed out loud, but I'll try to be more reasonable since I do agree with one of these.) 1. Well let's look at the 2026 closers. Guys like Duran, Vargas, or Megill, where do they come from? Pagan was 24 for 27 with a 3.54 ERA too, and Hoffman is already signed. But sure, go put together a deal to acquire Chapman. Honestly the Twins have traditionally rolled their own closers but maybe you could go get Brock Burke from the Reds for less than all our prospects. 2. So you want a star to go in front of Lopez, Ryan, Taj, Kremer and any of the Prielipp, Mathews, Abel, Rojas crowd? That's already a lot of good starters since it assumes that Ober, SWR, Paredes, Morris are out of the picture. If you're insisting on an ace then there were only 45 that qualified for the ERA title this year and Taj was 26th. But if you insist on famous then you'll have to spend. How about a lightly used Paul Skenes? He's really good and you can spend as much as you want and is as reliable as anyone, except that this year he's slid to a 3.91 ERA which doesn't sound like a $40m guy. How about Skubal, he's still under a 3.00ERA, which is great if you don't mind the odd in-season surgery. 3. Everyone agrees here, and these guys are out there. You likely won't get much for Lewis though. as he's been both healthy and not too good. 4. Eight catchers qualified for a batting title in all of MLB last year. There were only 14 that had 300 AB and had an OPS over league average .722. (Adley Ruschman was the lowest.) So you need one of the eight or two of the others, and that's not reality. In fact before 2026 Caratini was a near or above average hitter and would be one of the guys you would pick up in this scenario. You don't bother with moves like Aroldis Chapman or Tarik Skubal when you have a lineup with massive holes at 1B and C and you are hoping a couple rookies step up to get you an average OF and your bullpen is still shockingly weak and there's no one on the roster to drive in 100 or hit 30 HR or hit even .300. So many other places need to be addressed before a closer becomes relevant, and honestly you'll likely need to trade away at least a few of the youngsters you're counting on to acquire that 1B or C.

I think that fact that Gomez was 21 for 23 says more about how hard many saves are than his transcendent ability in 2026. Honestly you can allow a run in any chances that are more than a one run lead and still sneak away with the win, and Yoendrys only had a half dozen one run saves. Maybe anyone average can kind of do this job adequately? Discuss. Whatever his role, he's still a valuable arm. He throws hard, gets strikeouts and isn't tentative on the mound; he does not shrink from the moment. You need more than one of these guys, and he's proven that he won't wilt (though it will likely be a tightrope walk of a performance.) Let them all thrash it out next spring and the order will emerge.

I'd especially emphasize the edge guys. Jenkins and his ilk are always going to get extended looks, but I'd play Ross ahead of Kreidler every chance I get, for example. In fact from here on out Kreidler and Martin and Ober should only play in the event of a bus accident or mass food poisoning.

In fact it could do him a great disservice if he gets torched a few times indulging some condescending tribute when he may really not have the stuff to convert the chances. "We know Rogers is cooked and we want this for him anyway." That's just a slap in the face to everyone who either wants to win or to see what the kids can do. One, maybe, near the very end at Target Field, but not two. It's just not a good look.

Kreidler is not a starter, he's a defensive replacement. He'll get ABs when other guys need a rest or some in-game lineup shenanigans are occurring. If there's an injury for more than a few days then the player should go in the IL and a real substitute should be brought up. But we do need a second SS just like we need a backup catcher, except that he plays far less. EDIT: OK I said should and you said should and the reality is that he'll play more than that in today's MLB. Guys get rusty and managers need to foster team inclusion to sustain a clubhouse for 6-8 months.

Um, you don't "use up a winter" to decide if a guy can play in the majors. You play him in the majors, as they are now, and then you decide if he was good enough. You've seen most of a season with Royce at 1B, how does he look after how many hundred AB? How would thinking about it over the winter change your answer?

When Larnach is put in a role where he can succeed he's an above average MLB hitter. That has value. But at this point in his career he's got enough seniority that he gets paid like an average player, and he's not a well-rounded enough player to quite be worth it to any team watching their pennies. Houston was dancing along the edge of the luxury tax this year and didn't want a $5m LF to cost tens of millions more by crossing that line. Larnach is headed to arb again this winter, so he can still be traded to someone. I expect that to happen sooner rather than later.

The next good 1B is not in the org right now. I just don't see that guy out there yet. Mendez is a spectacularly bad fielder. Gonzalez could maybe make it work. Sabato would get eaten up Fedko-style by MLB pitching. The best idea here is moving one of the young catchers if they stall behind the plate, but that call is at least a year away and then they have to mature to be able to hit at the top level. Trade for an Eldridge or sign a real FA 1B that can hit. If we'd needed to spend $50m last winter then a Pete Alonso would have looked good, for example.

For decades that's how the Yankees treated LF. It can work if your temps are good.

This is a strange article to write without acknowledging that the new CBA could increase our spending a lot, and that could easily change the value of a guy like Ryan to the team when he no longer represents as huge a slice of the payroll. On to some notes on names mentioned above: Buxton is only being paid for 80-100 games, so he's only eating up a 40 man slot when he's not available. Enjoy his game while he's on the field and then enjoy the kids in CF when he's out. His play and the $15m he's earning is not what's standing between the Twins and the World Series. They kept Jefffers because they know he needs a 3-4 year deal in his first real chance at a Big Contract so he's absolutely going to reject a QO (barring a massive injury in the last days before a QO must be offered.) That move was predicated on a calculation that the QO rules wouldn't change too much in the new CBA, so there is risk here, but the pick before round 2 holds a lot of value to the team. It'll be offered and he'll get more than 3/$50m from someone. Lewis is a mercurial player, and while that means he can carry a team for stretches it also means that he needs to be carried some months. That's fine at a defensive spot, or even a more middle-of-the-spectrum position like 2B, but good MLB teams need more from 1B. Royce starts getting more expensive next year (signed a $5.7m extension) and his production is barely average. The best you can say is he's avoiding injury much better, he's stealing bases pretty well and his hot streaks are magical. I'd spend the winter pretending he's the second coming of Don Mincher, a great 1B and the future of the franchise, and then I'd trade him to the first team that thinks they're fleecing me. I think Shelton is the one with a man-crush on Bell. To be honest Josh has been who he always is, a good DH and a very good veteran teammate. I wouldn't mind seeing him back again in such a young clubhouse, but there are just too many DH gloves on this roster to leave much room for him. I could see this one go either way. Wallner's bat has slowed and he's getting devoured by top velo in St Paul. He might get a minor league deal with another team, but his future here is dark. I would like to call out the team for their poor handling of him once they gave up on him as an MLB player. He should have been moved to anyone for anything or even non-tendered back when he could have changed rosters. As much as this franchise gets lauded for being so player-friendly it really did Matt a disservice this summer. Ober is a non-tender that would survive to sign a smaller deal with the Twins. He's not a bullpen guy, he's not going to make our rotation, and other teams are not going to trust his eephus stuff. Taylor is a retirement candidate, so thanks, good luck, here's your gold watch. Swing by the booth when you're in town. Larnach has to go, and I think they've learned their lesson on signing a guy with the assumption that he can be traded later, so I expect a non-tender. Jenkins can fight for a role in spring training but he'll have to beat ERod soundly to take his spot, given the options situation. Martin's only claim on anything is as a RH platoon bat. He's not a good a fielder as the kids and he's not going to beat them as a hitter.

Glad the specific defensive numbers were added, as it adds some nuance to the discussion. But it does introduce another topic that overlaps this one pretty firmly. Those numbers are based on types of plays, and they definitely reward some types of plays over others. When Ty France came here his in 2025 defensive numbers had never been great and he talked to Correa about it. Carlos showed him how the defensive stats were built and specific things France could do to improve his. Similarly, Arreaz spent last winter with Ron Washington getting ready for 2026 and has sparkled, showing real improvement in his defensive stats and passing the eye test as well. (OK he was outstanding in April and above average the rest of the season, but it's a real improvement.) So I guess that's two points (work toward the metrics, or just work to improve) that both support a larger discussion of how much, how often, how difficult it is to improve defense. It's been a while since this franchise put much emphasis on defense, even at glove-first positions, so the discussion has to include both do we have the right people and are we teaching them effectively? Keaschall is having more than just trouble with the metrics like France was. He's legitimately not passing the eye test as a fielder. (I personally think he can be improved at either LF or 2B if he spends the winter grinding like Arreaz did last winter. It's a bad year for a work stoppage in that regard.) But have we improved anyone's fielding lately? Is the org teaching well? ERod looks really good in the OF, Culpepper at SS seems OK but could fine tune the little things, and so on. But has anyone gotten better beyond a "teach to the test" improvement like France?

It's premature. There's not enough new data to separate this thread in Sept from one you might have had in March. And that one would have come down to nice glove vs good athlete, let's see how they do at higher levels. This is just trying to stir up discussion about something that can't begin to be answered. There's not nearly enough statistical data to make an informed opinion, at least 90% of the people here have never seen Houston play (other than curated clips). Let me ask you: why was this written now? What kind of insight were you hoping for? Do some Low A vs Dominican Summer League next.