DocBauer

I really appreciate articles like these on the DSL. As closely as I follow the Twins MILB system, the FCL is hard to keep track of except for about half the roster that I recognize from recent drafts, and top performers from the DSL reports like these that help me key in on specific players. Once I read all the various reports on their initial signings, the names just become a blur many months later when we're reading MILB reports and checking out box scores for 16-17-18yo kids that are years away. But again, I really appreciate the work put in here because I begin to hold names in memory for the next season of the FCL.

Right or wrong, the Twins wanted to see what they have in Roden...now injured of course...Martin, and Outman. Poor McCusker gets hus 3rd shot on the roster and is getting splinters in his backside for the 3rd time. For the last month of a disappointing, lost season, why not take a look at McCusker or Fedko in the mix as well? I can understand Rodriguez just coming back from injury and rehab and just letting him finish out the year at AAA at this point. But even though he finally broke out at 25yo, why not give someone like Fedko...pushing for a 30/30 season...a ML looksee? He may or may not make it at the ML level. But there's some OB% ability there to go along with speed and some power, as well as positional flexibility. He just might be a 4th OF for 2026. And if you don't add him to the 40 man, someone will probably grab him in the rule 5 for those very reasons. And what kind of message does it send when a 25yo player having a breakout season doesn't get a shot? He's not a top prospect based on previous history, but how can you afford to just ignore your own internal talent? 25yo is not exactly ancient! But if they would have kept playing Outman and keep Fedko on the bench the way they have with McCusker, I guess I'd just rather just see him play daily at St Paul to finish out the season. But I really don't understand some of the recent roster decisions AT ALL.

Obviously the story of this game wasn't even the win itself, it was the pitching, most notably Prielipp. He's had a healthy and solid season, flashing his vast potential. And he finishes the season with probably the best 2 games of his year...and brief career...at AAA. Now, he just needs to keep working on his new 2 seamer, and continue LEARNING how to pitch. IMO, that's his next big step. In a lot of his starts he threw too many pitches per innings. That may also explain why his BABIP was so high this season. It's one thing to have nasty stuff and be in the zone consistently, but it's another thing to learn how to set hitters up and polish them off more quickly. Good game back for LH Misiewicz. The Twins reportedly like him a little, and he didn't have a bad season for St Paul. I wouldn't mind him back as a non rostered arm for the Saints next season. Parades had an outstanding year! Really though, he's never had a bad one. Other than not being a big K arm, all he does is go 1-2 innings and keep guys off the bases and get outs. Too bad he's only going to get 1-2 games at AAA this season. Another good day for Fedko. I would have cleared a 40 man spot a couple weeks ago and had him up. And now Keirsey is up again to replace the injured Wallner? But if all he would have done is sit on the bench, I guess I'd rather see him playing daily for the Saints. I'll say again, no proof he's going to succeed at the ML level. And I don't care that his breakout came in his age 25 season. There's some talent there and need/opportunity. He needs to be added to the 40 man this offseason. Bride seems to have made some positive adjustments and is closing the season strong. He was pretty solid for Miami in 2024. No way he's a rostered player, but I wouldn't mind seeing him back as a depth piece for the Saints next season as well. But Prielipp is the shiny part of today!

I refuse to use injuries as an excuse for a 2nd collapse 2 years in a row. OK, 2024 was a complete collapse, but here in 2025 the ship seemed to get right around May/June and optimism rose before everything collapsed again. So yeah, 2 yeas in a row of a collapse. But I can't completely dismiss injuries this season, even though I don't lay blame entirely on that factor. There is a difference if your #4-5 SP get hurt vs your #1 and #3. And when your depth pieces of Matthews and Festa struggle with injuries, suddenly the depth you thought you had is also getting hurt, it does have an affect. Again, I'm not making excuses, but if Lewis doesn't pull a hamstring before the season starts...and maybe came back to soon...does that change his season? Does Wallner have a much better season if HE doesn't also have an injury that derailed his season and just hasn't got his timing back and is underperforming? I had forgotten that Correa had a slight back injury until listening to the recent G&G podcast where they and Dan Hayes discussed how his defense suddenly had a turndown. Did that also affect his bat to some degree? But when your offense has 4 major BATS to drive your offense...not that there weren't also solid players on hand...and only ONE, Buxton, was healthy and productive, your offense is in serious trouble. Especially for a lineup that was built shallow due to ownership cuts. The loss of Lopez, IMO, was big. Ober getting hurt just piles on. Then when your 2 young arm replacements have their own issues adds to the issue. I still think the biggest problem was the lineup. When you can't produce runs, the pressure on your staff increases tremendously. When the defense is marginal, that only adds to said pressure. Once again, the injuries the Twins had this season in regard to games missed is not nearly as poor as it's been in the past. Other teams had more games missed. But sometimes, on a roster that isn't deep, a couple key injuries can make a difference. That's what happens when your roster is limited by ownership. When France is your 1B and Bader as a platoon/complimentary piece are your best additions in the offseason you still really need that top 4 to come through. I do think the starting staff is in good shape with Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Sim, Matthews, Bradley, Abel, Morris, and a couple others. Yes, some are still developing, but the talent is there. Borgshulte might be a good hitting coach. I honestly don't know. But it's beyond bizarre to me that Popkins gets burned as the problem in 2024 and gets a job a couple days later with the Jays who have one of the best offenses in the league. And the Twins offense, mostly with the same players, got worse. (Dan Hayes also reports Popkins brought in an assistant coach who was better with in game adjustments). The Twins need the lineup/offense to be better in the field, more athletic, and find more power. They've got a couple guys who have been affected to some degree due to injury. And they have some very good prospects who have debuted, or about to debut. And they can make a difference. But I remain concerned about the coaching staff and the APPROACH that the FO wants put in place. Injuries be damned. Matthews and others should only grow as rookie or young hurlers. But is the coaching staff in place to make that happen? There's a ton of talent sitting at AAA and AA about ready to make their mark. But is the coaching staff in place to make that happen. I honestly don't know. Is the issue the coaches? Or is it the APPROACH the FO has in place that might be of issue?

Well, ai covered this a couple of weeks ago in a Forum article I created. And have said the same thing in various OP's since. So I guess might as well go down this path one more time. Josh Naylor is the best fit to take over 1B and add a veteran bat with some power to the lineup. He's also acceptable against fellow LH for his career so he's not an automatic platoon player either. But it's going to cost $15M to get him, IMO. Then, they spend about $3M on a veteran FA catcher to backup Jeffers. If you've got $30M to spend, you'd have about $12M left at this point. Not including som3 MILB camp invites at minimum $, that $12M gets spent on 3-4 pen arms...however you want to spread it around. You're not signing TOP arms. You're signing guys on the rebound from bad years, guys coming off injury, former starters that just never put it together in the rotation but might make really good relievers. That $30M should have the Twins around $120M, which is actually less than they spent last year. You full 1B and backup catcher. You can still keep Lopez and Ryan. And between a few pen arm options on hand, a couple pen conversions, the 3-4 FA arms you sign, and a handful of other fliers, you're trying to build a pen that's not going to be great. But you're looking for serviceable at least.

"His cutter, curveball and splitter probably need further refinement, but he's already killing spin better on the latter and throwing them all harder, too." THAT'S THE KEY IMO. The Rays are a well run organization with a history of producing quality arms, or finding new ways to use them. But even with their smarts, they missed the potential on Ryan. Did they miss on Bradley? Did they promote him too soon on potential and not fully develop him? It's entirely possible. A better, smoother delivery to increase velocity is nothing but a good thing. But that only takes you so far. As the quote from the OP states, work on his secondaries needs work. Pure velocity doesn't make a good pitcher. SWR is starting to refine his splitter to go along with his velocity in his 2nd season, with some injury hiccups interupting. Matthews has the frame, velocity, and pure stuff to be very good. He's still learning a bit about command if his stuff and "pitching" which is different than pure stuff. Honestly, all of this applies to Abel as well.

I think Provus is excellent! I think Morneau is really solid as the color guy. It just takes a little while to understand he has a "twinkle" in his eye and speech as he has a wonderful but dry humor about him. I absolutely love having different previous Twins in the booth, though I have some favorites there. Perk and Plouffe might be the best. But others are good. Caught a bit of Gordon in the booth the other night and was impressed. I seldom listen to the radio broadcast these days with my access to the ML streaming of games. But I think Atteberry does a great job! He does exactly what he's SUPPOSED to do as a radio announcer. That means not only calling balls and strikes, but trying to set the game and atmosphere to the listener. IMO, his only real issue is following ALL TIME GREATS like Carneal and Gordon. Growing up listening to radio, and hearing those voices, they are both right up there with Scully. Atteberry loves the Twins, loves baseball, and paints a complete picture. As he should. But he lacks some of the charisma of those before him. But he's good. And I think more listeners should just appreciate what he's doing. I'm an admitted apologist for Gladden. He's rough around the edges and I'm not really good about how he calls the game at times. I like him a lot more as the color portion of the broadcast. I enjoy his rough edges and playing off whoever was his previous primary broadcaster. You don't listen for Gladden being smooth. You listen for the player he was, and the person and broadcaster he is. A guy who loves baseball, who has stories, who will state things as he sees them, and who won't back down. In a broadcasting world of too many button downed broadcasters, I appreciate his rough edged approach...even though I don't like his play by play.

Mike, a good idea, and we'll probably get some sort of capsulated report about them at some point. Traditionally, pitchers seldom throw in games other than maybe a couple innings here and there from a couple. (Arbitrary as to who). Instead, the Twins let them rest a bit, then spend time with them at the Ft Myers complex and get them ready for the Instructional/development camp they hold there in the offseason. That's also somewhat true for position players, but they are more inclined to let them see a little action, particularly if they are college draftees. As I'm sure you are aware, Houston has debuted and played in 24G, with an almost even split between Ft Myers and CR. He raked at FM and didn't perform all that well at CR. But let's not a long year for him and K-Pepper did pretty much the same thing last year. Ryan Sprock, 3B/1B and 8th round pick also got in 23G at Ft Myers. Surpringly, he got 3 games at C. Didn't see that coming! And a few games in LF. He hit a little, but with such a SSSS, not sure numbers really matter. JP Smith II, a 1B in the 17th round, also go 24G played at Ft Myers. He started off really hot and then went cold. Agin, SSSS so the numbers really aren't that important. College position players Jacob McCombs/OF/7th, had an 8G debut; Shai Robinson/SS/10th, had 4G; Ryan Daniels/2B/11th, had only 2G. It surprised me somewhat to see 2nd rounder Quentin Young and 6th rounder Bruin Agbayani make their professional debut with 5 games each at Ft Myers. But again, with only 5 games, it's only noteworthy that they got a very small sample of pro ball at all as prep selections. Of bizarre interest to me is 16th round RHP Jonathan Stevens from Alabama...who never actually threw for them...actually threw 6G and 13IP for Ft Myers. It didn't go well despite K-ing a good number in the 13 innings he appeared in. He's a crazy story because unless my memory is worse than I'd like it to be, LOL, he was one of the top Prep players in Alabama coming out of HS. And even his summer league numbers are oy a few IP. So who is this guy? Why was he even drafted? Well, the Twins have a really good relationship with Alabama. (This goes back to Prielipp if not before). There must have been some sort of communication between AL and scouts that this was an underdeveloped but talented arm that the Twins should take a shot at. There's got to be a hell of an interesting story behind him that I'd love to hear about one day. Because drafting him doesn't make sense on the surface. Actually having him throw even a few innings would seem to mean there's SOMETHING there. But that's kind of a limited rundown of the draft class of 2025 barring anything forthcoming from TD.

Hats off to yet another exciting season for the Kernals. It's too bad they couldn't have brought a championship home, but no shame in getting that far and losing to a very good team. CR had a lot of talent flow through this season and they could be excellent next year as well. Kind of feels like they ran out of gas a bit at the end. Great game again by Morris. He's had a solid season overall, but he's been more locked in since coming back from his IL stint. Maybe a better focus? He's definitely in the mix for 2026 at some point. I'm still excited about Macleod's seeming conversion to the pen. I like his potential there. But right after a very nice appearance, he blew up in this game. Of course, he's still new not only to being in the pen, but pretty new to AAA. I think he might end up contributing in 2026 at some point in the Twins pen. Since it was brought up... I think Martin gets 1st crack as the Twins RH OF in 2026...leaving Buxton out of the convention for obvious reasons...as he's really responded with the opportunity given him the 2nd half of the season. He just looks like a different hitter than 2024, and his defense in LF has definitely improved. I'm still not entirely sold due to a lack of pop/power that he can maintain his current HIT and OB ability. And he really needs to improve his CF defense from what we've seen previously in order to be a factor there. He's on a precipice of STARTING LF, or a 4th OF that might not have a job before 2026 is over and done. Personally, I've got Fedko, Gonzalez, and then Rosario behind Martin, and in that order. I understand that Fedko has never been much of a prospect until this year. But he's been kept around for a reason, and making a major jump at 25yo doesn't signal "too old" to me. Fedko has more pure playing time than Gonzalez. More time to just refine the subtleties of the game. He's been primarily a RF so far, seemingly indicating a decent arm. And he's not a stranger in CF. He's probably got comparable speed to Martin, as much or more power, has been learning 1B to increase his defensive flexibility, and has aways had an OB% around 80-100 points above his AVG. LONG TERM, I think Gonzalez has the better bat with more power, and is probably the better prospect. Reports are he's gone from a poor OF with a good arm to at least a solid defender. That makes his potential even more exciting. But at 21yo, I currently rank him below Fedko for the moment. I still believe a lot of people are sleeping on Rosario. He's really worked hard on his K/BB numbers and has shown some real improvement in '23 and this season as well. 2024 was a bit of missed opportunity in his AA debut due to injury. He also has a strong arm and a questionable defensive profile, similar to Gonzalez, but if he can also improve there the same as GG, he's got a very interesting bat profile. While his SB numbers this season probably don't translate going forward, it shows he's not just a statue either. So I wouldn't dismiss him at all as not only is he seemingly ready for AAA, but I believe he ended up finishing in the top 5 of his league in R, HR, SLG%, and RBI. I didn't mention Olivar previously, who had a decent season. But as high as many have been on him, I'm just not seeing him in LF with any stand out qualities. And as a catcher, I'm not convinced yet that he's anything but a #3.

Probably going to repeat some of what I said in yesterday's game log, but I was crazily impressed with SWR in that last game. I didn't watch every inning, but he was consistently hitting 94-95 most of the time. The slider and splitter were just NASTY! I think we often forget how bizarre Sims' development path was, or the fact that he's still 24yo. I'm going to agree with others here that I don't believe Ryan and/or Lopez are necessarily on the trading block considering the projected $90-95M payroll the team depending on Larnach's status. Who, I believe, will be moved. Boston called and we listened. Falvey has always been very clear that he will listen. It was erroneously reported there was a deal for Ryan by a reporter. East Coast/Boston reporter IIRC. SWR has still been growing as a SP. Greatness, or very goodness, doesn't happen overnight all that often. Not all that many years ago Berrios looked borderline awful when he debuted. Matthews has the frame and the control and the good stuff to be successful. This season has really been about a full ML debut and development. So I wouldn't be dismissive regarding him at this point. I like some of what I've seen of Bradley. Also very young despite coming to the Twins with 300+ IP. Morris has really been coming on at St Paul the latter portion of the season. And Abel is just way too talented to be dismissive of a couple poor appearances while still working on some changes to his repertoire. Depth is only a word until you see it in action. Still, allowing growth and consistency can take a while, IF the Twins enter 2026 with Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Mathews, Bradley, Abel, and Morris as their top 8 options, I'm feeling really good and optimistic. That leaves Rojas, Prielipp, Klein and CJ Culpepper as options later in the summer. I'm not including Raya, Lewis, or Festa as I think all 3 will move to the pen. Each offers some real intrigue there. *Early, somewhat hopeful, reports are Festa's TOS issue may be minor. It's possible a botox injection and rehab might fix his issue. Beyond that, perhaps only a minor procedure. We'll know more later this month. Keep fingers crossed. I really appreciate the high performance games that Cody included in the OP. I don't believe it's cherry picking to show great performances against good teams for a 24yo in his 2nd season. It simply shows potential. Sim needs to put away hitters earlier in counts. More K's help with that. If he can keep that splitter working, and he can keep his velocity between 93-95 consistently, there's room for him to take another step forward. He might have the potential of a #3 rotation arm if he can do that. Only time will show if he's capable of more than that. But that's true of all young starters.

To be fair, I read the article by Dan Hayes, though I don't have a link to share. The Twins had a 5 man team for advanced scouting and kept 1 of the 5. It was also stated that this is becoming more common place in MLB as teams are using video scouting more and more. Not saying it's good, bad, or otherwise. Just saying the Twins aren't the only teams cutting back in this particular department.

Hill has exceeded every possible expectation I had for him as a rookie this season. THANKFULLY when he was pulled from a recent start where we all feared the worst, it turned out to be nothing but not feeling well and then he went out and had probably his best performance of his young career. Cedar Rapids may have the best rotation in the entire system in 2026, and Hill will be a part of it. Mendez reminds me a lot as a LH version of Gonzalez. Good bat to ball skills, and power potential. (Not sure about arm strength). What concerns me about Mendez, despite some very impressive HIT tools, I've read reports that his ground ball % is around 60%. Hard hit balls that escape MILB infielders is one thing, but doing that against ML defenders is very different. He's not a small kid at all. Bat to ball skills seem to be in place. But unless he can adjust his swing to lift the ball for more XB and HR power, he might end up as a contact only ML player. And that won't go far. But at 21yo, I'm betting the power starts to show up soon. Sorry, but I'm OUT on Urbina. He's been HOT to lead CR in to the playoffs. And I know he's got 5 tool talent, but he's 24yo at AA next April, assuming his strong end to this season makes him ready. Look, I just don't prescribe to the theory that every prospect should debut by age 24, 25 at the latest, or they just won't make it at all. TOP prospects USUALLY do, injury caveats and the such maintained. But it's taken Urbina 3yrs at CR to finally be ready as a 23yo to advance. And if he rakes for Wichita next season I'll champion him as a "not really that old" prospect who just took more time than hoped for. Yasser Mercedes is his clone, but a couple years younger at almost 21yo. Mercedes had a poor 2023 at the FCL level, but a good one in 2024. But basically a horrible season this year at A- at Ft Myers. But if he takes a step forward, equally as talented as Urbina, he might end up at CR at the end of 2026 as a 21yo. Maybe he only gets there in 2017 as a 22yo. Still on track. I wish only the best for Urbina to take a major step forward in 2026 with his strong finish to this season. He's still got a ton of talent. I just don't see him as any kind of high prospect at this time.

Stats at this level don't always tell an accurate future for pitchers at this level. There's a really good collection of 21-22yo arms scheduled to throw for CR Rapids in 2026 that are ahead of Garcia. Still, those are some good numbers and the progression made during the season is what matters. But just for interest sake, if nothing else, Xavier Kolhosser was the 13th pick in the 2024 draft. As is traditional following being drafted, he did not throw until this season, where he was a 22yo rookie. While he did start some games, he was mostly used out of the pen. He was almost 50-50 between the FCL and A- Ft Myers. Great K numbers at both levels, surprisingly higher K numbers at Ft Myers, but the WHIP increased. Possibly a closer for Ft Myers who could fast track to the CR pen with a good start next season? Xander Hamilton was a 14th round pick in the 2023 draft. Unlike most drafted pitchers, he actually threw some some in '23. In SSSS he had a crazy 16 K per 9 and a 4.9 BB per. But we're only talking 7 IP between the FCL and Ft Myers. He began 2024 at Ft Myers and while his ERA was high, and his BB per 9 was high at 4.3 per, he threw 50 IP while allowing only 39 Hits, and K'd at 10.9 per. He got 6.2 IP for CR with an even higher K%, but the rest of his numbers cratered. But we're only talking 6.2 innings. I can't recall exactly, but I do remember something about an injury. That's why he was back in the FCL this season and got a late call up to CR just recently where he has 3 appearances and 6.1 IP of nothing good to report. While he's going to be 24yo next year in the CR pen, let's not forget 2025 was mostly a lost season.

Sims FB was clocking consistently in the 94-95 range as I watched. (Didn't see every frame). His slider and splitter were working as well or better than I've ever seen. While isn't a GREAT Yankees team, they still have a hell of a lineup. Gotta be SWR's best game ever doesn't it? I think we often forget how weird Sims' MILB career arc was and the fact that he's STILL only 24yo. To his fans, I'm still not SOLD on Martin yet. But the way he began the year at AAA before injury, and the way he's hit since brought back up is impressive. His bases loaded double battle was very impressive. And that catch was tremendous hilight kind of stuff. Can he keep it up? Every time I get excited about Lee's bat, he goes in to a slump. And then he has games like this with a HR, and a Dbl, and a really nice backhand play and strong throw to 1B in what, the 8th inning? His penchant to swing at crap down, down and out, down and in, and K or make weak contact drives me nuts. And then he openly states he understands that's not his hitting ZONE and he's trying to adjust. Well, at least he understands that. Will he make the adjustments necessary? He's a decent, solid ML SS. That works for now. The 15 Dbls and 15 HR and 60 RBI tells me there's a better hitter inside of him waiting to come out. Like SWR, he's still only 24yo. The ML rookie minimum is 130 AB. He came in to 2025 with 172. So he is virtually a rookie this season. A COUPLE SIDE NOTES REGARDING THE BULLPEN: While he didn't pitch tonight, Sands has looked much more like his 2024 self until the past week where he as really bad. Can he rebound to finish strong? I had decided to give up on Funderburk several weeks ago. Goodness knows he hasn't been outstanding, but I'd say he's been good to very good in about 75-80% of the games he's pitched since the deadline thrust him in to a more prominent role. Maybe my perception is completely off base, but in my eyes, he's been generally solid and looking like he's actually DEVELOPING finally toward the next step. Adams and Ohl AREN'T ML caliber SP. That's the reason they were part of the pilot program this season to take "not quite good enough" arms and use them for multiple innings every 4 days. I still like the idea in principle and think it might be worth pursuing in the future. But for the remainder of this season, and for 2026, the Twins need to be focused on arms that can go ONE good IP. Adams and Ohl have both had some very good appearances, and some very bad ones. Tonight they both had good games. For the remainder of this year, let them both go hard for 1 IP, and let someone like Hatch cover bulk innings. Adams and Ohl can both sit in the mid 90's for a single inning. Ohl in particular has a really nice change. Either, or both, might surprise given a chance. The opportunity starts now. (Should have started in August).

Short answer? I sure hope not! Longer answer.... Gasper is a very good AAA hitter. While he only has around 90 AB with the Twins thus season, I just don't see a ML hitter. The fact that Boston just quit playing him at C in MILB doesn't give him a ringing endorsement. Also, for his MILB career, he's at 14% CS. Pareda is not ad good of a AAA hitter as Gasper. But he's not been poor. At least for a C. He seems to be a more natural fit defensively. And his MILB career CS% is 33%. So he's got the better arm, and hasn't been told to hang up his mit by anyone at this point. I'd like to aim higher. Exactly who that might be as I haven't taken time yet to review all the FA options, much less what kind of season they had. But just for reference sake, Elias Diaz has had a decent, solid career as a backstop...nothing special...and sat for months last offseason before signing with SD for $3.5M. Unfortunately for him, he had a poor season. So I'll just use him as a 2025 example for the moment. Noah Cardenas is not a great HITTER and probably never will be. His career MILB AVG is only .241, though that is somewhat skewed by his one and only terrible season in 2024. But he has a MILB career OB% of .385! Pretty outstanding. That tells me he'll take some BB, stay within the zone, not K tremendously, and at least make the pitcher work some. He also doesn't have much power. He stroked a career high 10HR this year, with 7 coming at St Paul. Is that development of the league? I've generally always heard...going back to when he was drafted...that he's solid behind the plate and calls a good game. His 28% CS is pretty solid as well. I see an inexpensive veteran signed to catch about 35-40% of the games. It might even be Vazquez on a much smaller deal, though I don't think any of us are all that keen on that idea. If they want to keep Gasper around as a AAA bat at 1B/DH/C that's fine. But he shouldn't have a 40 man spot. A veteran like Pereda at St Paul makes sense, but again, not on the 40 man. With a little more AAA time to just polish up his hitting skills a bit more, I think Cardenas might be the #3 guy for 2026. I think Jeffers sticks around for all the obvious reasons, which have already been stated. Personally...while I don't think it will happen...I'd love to see him signed through 2028 for around $8-9M per. That bridges the time needed for Diaw, Tait, and maybe even Jiminez to be ML ready. And the $ number wouldn't/shouldn't be a hinderence in trading him before that to a team in real need of an experienced backstop with a good bat before that.

Turner gets the opportunity to step up, and he needs to. Van Ginkel out hurts for sure. But the way Flores mixes and matches and mixes up his defense, it might not matter so much for 1 game. Metellus is a Swiss army knife that's used as a quasi LB and pass rusher at times. They may blitz more from the ILB spot for this game. Good bet Murphy comes up from the PS and he and Richter see a few depth snaps. So for 1 game, we shouldn't feel overwatch. But Skule needs a better game at LT this week for sure.

Despite some bizarre struggles this year, maybe due to his hamstring injury just throwing off his timing, I'm a believer in Wallner. I believe he's a much better HITTER based on his previous numbers. The good OB% and major power are real pluses. He's even improved against LHP over time to not completely stink in that area. I like Larnach. But I like him more as a lower in the order bat. And he's shown time and again he's a platoon only hitter. He's also older and going to be more expensive. I still believe he, or packaged with a prospect, might be of interest to a team short of LH power and might bring something of decent value back. The Twins aren't short of LH OF. They are short of QUALITY LH OF. While he wasn't used in any sort of capacity that might allow him to get in to any sort of hitting groove, Keirsey just isn't a ML hitter, or the Twins have already made up their mind. Outman is a 1 good year ML player. The jury remains out on the injured Roden. He's young enough...only a rookie this season with a couple hundred AB...that his good MILB numbers might yet translate. Jenkins should be very good, maybe even a star. Rodriguez has the talent to be very good as well, if his patience can be balanced with more aggressiveness...when appropriate...as ML pitchers will be far less forgiving than those in the minors. And there's also a few RH OF who might just about be ready to take the next step. There's also a CHANCE Keaschall ends up in LF, even though that's not the expectation at this time. You make room for a Jenkins type of prospect. You hope Rodriguez takes the next step, but you also have to give him an opportunity. Wallner is, IMO, the better player than Larnach, younger, cheaper, with more upside. Ideally, he soon becomes the primary DH and a reserve corner OF. But yes, changes are coming. And I believe Larnach is the one going out.

Personally, I rather like Rocco and think he's an OK manager. NOT great one, but an OK one. I don't like all the moves he makes, but I think he generally does an OK job. But the same is true of Falvey and his assistants. I truly appreciate Falvey and his fellows bringing the Twins SYSTEM in to the 21st century. I like a lot of moves they've made, and there's a lot of moves I really don't like. I've often said I would like to see what Falvey and company could do if they weren't hamstrung by the Pohlads after 2023 when fan interest was peaking, and the team was on an upswing and the promise for 2024 and beyond was looking pretty bright. But all the promises and speculation from Joe Pohlad about moving forward, getting better, and even saying he could see the payroll continuing to grow proved to be empty rhetoric. We'll, unfortunately, never know how 2024 would have gone had the payroll stayed at $150M, or even grown a little more to add an important piece or two. The FO, growing payroll or suddenly shrinking payroll, are the ones who actually build the roster, and the depth. Not the manager or coaches. From that perspective, Rocco hasn't always had the tools/players he'd probably like to have to run the team the way he'd prefer to. But crap rolls down hill. When the owners don't care and mismanage the organization, it affects the FO. From there, the crap continues continues downhill and ends up the manager's feet. Rocco wasn't responsible for Shoemaker in his rotation. He wasn't responsible for the addition of Margot. He also wasn't responsible for adding Lopez or Cruz. When he's had more talent, his teams have done pretty well and won. They've failed when they had less talent. I still see BLAME going up the chain of command to the FO, which goes to the TOP which is the owners. But the Pohlads aren't going to fire themselves. And Falvey isn't going to fire himself. I can see Rocco back because the Twins seldom make changes. And I'm generally neutral on brining him back or replacing him. I do think a new voice might be necessary at this time of roster overhaul. Again, I don't blame him for poor roster construction or poor choices by the FO. But I have a growing concern for some of the GOOD talent he's had not being maximized. Not everyone! There have been successes as well as failures. Disappointment usually leads to remembrance of the bad, with forgetfulness for the good. But the voice in charge gets old after a time. It just might be time for a new guy in charge who might bring some different ideas on lineup construction, or work with new/different coaches for a new approach/plan to the players on hand. I'm pretty neutral on Rocco ultimately being to blame and fired because he's somehow responsible for the past couple of years. But I believe he does bear at least some of the responsibility. So a change might be in order, and I'd probably lean that way. Who that might be I have ZERO ideas. Maddon was considered great but then got fired. Torre was considered mediocre, and then was considered great when he went to the Yankees. So I really have no answer as to who would be a better replacement.

Rodriguez has some definite risk in his bat not translating to the ML level. Some of his vaunted patience might have to be sacrificed as he might have to be more aggressive than he has been in the past. The best pitch might be one you'd let go by at AAA. But at the ML level, you might pass up that best opportunity and not get another one like it in a bat.

OK, you got me on Julien a bit. The AVG and OB skills and approach definitely are similar. But Julien doesn't have the speed Rodirguez has and nowhere near the power. So I guess I'm talking so much of the 3 true outcome and his OVERALL ability.

I want to add a 4th player to @stringer bell list. And I really should have brought this up earlier. Despite draft pedigree and college production, and scouts speculation, etc, sometimes they just get it wrong. Martin is an ATHLETE, but not a polished baseball player. And when you look at his college career, lack of power, lack of a definitive position, somewhere along the line scouts and FO just got it wrong. He HIT in college and had a great OB%, and he stole some bases. But 57 XBH over THREE YEARS in college just isn't much power. And while he spent most of his time at 3B, he was used all over. In retrospect, he was a HITTER, with a good OB%, and speed, with little power, and NO defensive HOME. That's the definition of a utility player...with potential to be sure...and not a TOP prospect. No wonder the Jays put him at SS initially just to see if he might surprise. No wonder the Twins tried to add some pop/power to his game in an attempt to not make him the next Ben Revere. His debut with the Twins in 2024 was mediocre at best. He didn't even hit LHP especially well. In fact, he actually hit RHP in '24 slightly better than LHP. BUT, with a SSS, he's reversed that trend here this season. He's suddenly got more even splits over 2 seasons in what is STILL a SSS. He's mediocre at best as a 2B, not even his dominant college position. He's been mediocre at best in CF, again, not his dominate college position. And he's been so-so in LF. But it does look like his OF defense has improved currently while the team has been giving him a consistent run. He's suddenly hitting .290 with an OB% of .388. That sounds really good. But his SLG% is still only .380. That's a SLG% of a utility INF or poor catcher. The ONLY way he can maintain an OPS of .768 is to be a faster version of Arraez. I don't think he's on the level of Wallner, Lewis, or Lee for many reasons. But he WAS part of a debatable trade a few years ago that still brings up conversation to this day. And he's got a load of OF talent breathing down his neck. So I think he'd be a good #4 to debate. I can see him rostered, or simply not at this point.

The contention was come stretch time in September, with playoff spots on the line, MLB decided it wasn't FAIR for some teams to play teams with good records and other teams to play teams with poor records that were out of contention, and offering up a lineup of prospects that might make them EASIER to defeat. I've ALWAYS HATED this rule. Not only has the draft lottery worked against "tanking teams", but if the ML schedule...prepared before the season began...offered up a WINNING team to face the A's, the Rockies, the Dirty Sox, or even our current Twins team that played a few more prospects in September with poor records, what kind of competitive advantage does that really provide? You're either playing a team that's good, or a team that's not good. The EXACT SAME THING could happen in August, or July, etc. Just make it 30-32 and let teams either reward career guys at the end of the season, or let them get a handful of prospects a chance to get their feet wet. Or is it just better to have more 12-3 games against losing teams because that SOMEHOW increases the INTEGRITY of the playoff chase in September. Hell, a couple prospects late in the season might actually make a losing team more competitive.

AAA: Abel, despite his 2 brief poor ML appearances for the Twins, has really improved his control/command at the AAA level. And the Twins are mixing up his repertoire. It would be silly to give up on his potential based on a couple bad appearances. 3 good IP tonight show the potential. BUT...NOT to do what I just said...with the number of arms currently in play for 2026 and beyond...this changes if Lopez or Ryan are moved...I can still see a strong back end arm for the bullpen. Just saying. I sure wouldn't go there yet. I think the move of MacLeod to the pen is permanent. And it makes sense. He hasn't mastered AAA yet after a good AA season, but a few more appearances like tonight...and he's had a couple of them so far...he might be in play for a 2026 pen spot at some point. SIDETRACK (with apologies): With all due respect to the "Jenkins Watch", I'm more focused on Rodriguez over the next few games available. 0-1 with 2R scored and 3BB and 1K is indicative of his career profile. I've just NEVER seen a CAREER profile like him before. Somewhat like Sano, he gets a lot of K's because he's almost TOO patient looking for a good pitch to hit. Thus not a great HIT profile where it's often debated he should swing earlier. But he also has an AMAZING .420 OB% for his MILB career that again, I'm not sure I've ever seen! His .488 SLG% and .908 OPS% are equally outstanding. His career 74% success rate on SB is very close to being worthwhile, but needs work. He's also a legitimate CF defensively with an arm that's good enough for RF. His best position, down the road at least, might be LF with his speed and arm to cover Target Field and still backup CF as needed. But what to make of his 3 outcome potential as a 23yo when 2026 begins? His CEILING is a 30/30/30 year between Dbls, HR, and SB. A more reasonable ceiling is 30/25/25. Both ceilings obviously have a little give and take. But with his current approach...again, I've just never seen a profile like his...if he could continue to play good defense, provide some speed on the basepaths...and only HIT in the .220-.230 range and lower his incredible OB% to around .330-.340 and crank 30+ Dbls and 20+ HR and steal a consistent 18-22 bases, he becomes a difference maker. He's got 2 options left, I believe, and is a couple years younger than Jenkins, and should end the season with more AAA PA. I'd almost be more inclined to focus on HIM beginning 2026 in the Twins OF for everything stated here. That's why I'm actually watching him more than Jenkins right now. AA: Mendez has another good game and even cranked one of the fence. I love that he's going to the AFL. He might get a chance to play some 1B there. If he can tweak his approach to get more lift in his batted balls, he might be a LH Gonzalez. The size and natural power seem to be there. Rosario keeps coming through. Has Bowen moved to the pen permanently? Or is this a temporary IP situation? His best opportunity for a ML staff might be in the pen. Whitaker, Parades...and Hoopes who only recently got promoted to AA...have had outstanding seasons as bullpen options. We might actually have a handful of RELIEVERS...not just SP converts...that might be fast tracking to the ML level. Wichita just REFUSES to quit on their playoff chances. But I'm worried it might be too little too late. A: Really disappointing and unexpected start by Bohorquez. Can't help but wonder what might have been the remainder of his appearances if a 3rd out came from somewhere. Houston came through with a really good game. Tremendous game from Urbina. Good for him! But he, J Rodriguez, and Mercedes are a handful of international signings that have really disappointed the last couple of years. But a great TEAM WIN and on to the finals!

For the most part, Sands has thrown pretty well since the deadline. But this was the 2nd or 3rd time where he just blew up. Completely hot and cold. There's still a live arm there and someone who we might be able to count on in 2026. But he's got to settle down and find more consistency because at times he looks like his '24 self. Clemens isn't great. Never has been and never will be. This might even end up being his career season. But he's shown enough defense and position flexibility, and power to be brought back as a LH bench option. He won't be expensive and he's low risk with solid help potential.

I don't mind their initial tactic, which was a combination of needing ANYONE for a couple weeks just to actually have 8 arms in the pen, and then grabbing a couple of waiver arms that at least had SOME stuff that they could unlock. MAYBE. What I DON'T agree with is how LONG they auditioned some of those guys. If you want to keep Hatch as a middle/long guy fine. But Ohl and Adams should be getting 1 IP to see if they might be part of 2026. Laweryson should have been up September 1st, not waiting for someone to get hurt.