DocBauer

1B will be a rotating player of the day? Jaimie Ferrer was a catcher in HS and was listed on the Future Game roster as a catcher. Was that a misprint or might he be spending some time behind the plate? That INF is going to be fun to watch, but it is crazy it's almost entirely SS. Is this the season Hall finds enough velocity to have a break through? I think Langenberg is at AA by the 2nd half of the season. This could be a really fun team to follow this season!

Darren McGavin played Kolchak, the night stalker in the 70's TV show.

While i appreciate the angst in the OP, Castro is not a black hole at SS. And when healthy again...hopefully soon...Lee is solid at SS as well. How many teams have an All Star caliber SS and can replace him? Maybe the Rangers? If and when Holland is healthy, he might be #4 on the list if needed in emergency. Looking beyond 2024...and I know that's not the point of the OP...DeAndrade will hopefully be ready to go for AA and continue to develop. I think there's a reasonable chance both Culpepper and DeBarge reach AA before seasons end. But for now, Castro and Lee are the fits. It isn't the same for sure, but how many teams could possibly have a 2nd SS of Correa's caliber sitting in wait?

First of all, Dobnak is earning a ML salary this year, and was earning one last season when the same thing happened. His contract not only pays him a great deal of $, it provides the Twins and extra "option" or 2 or 3 or 4 with him as nobody else will pick him up. So he gets to make good $ at AAA and still spend time with the Twins at various intervals. Meanwhile, a 30yo+ veteran like Tonkin gets DFA a re-resigned multiple times in a season because he's valuable in his role, but isn't generally valuable for a team to keep when they need to make a roster move. Do we feel sorry for Adams this season when/if he's brought up multiple times to throw innings and be sent down because he has options? Apparently we don't based on the opinion of the OP. So only an older player out of options being DFA should have sympathy? I truly feel sorry for the journeymen like a Tonkin who bounce around during a season. I'm sure it's difficult to live out of rental spaces and see your family somewhat sporadically. Though that's somewhat true even for a rostered player. And I don't want to bring $ is a cure all, but even journeymen on a team are making just short of $800K per season, if not more, and enjoy the 1st class treatments of the team they are playing for. The NBA has adjusted rosters to go well beyond the 13 man roster to allow for ups and downs on the reserve roster and development league. The NFL is MASSIVELY SILLY with their GAME ROSTER of only 45 players, with a 53 man roster, but they also have developed a pretty flexible plan of allowing practice squad players to go up and down several times during the season. Meanwhile, with all the changes in other sports, and all the changes in MLB over the years, the BIG CHANGE MLB has made was an expansion of ONE roster spot to 26. A couple decades ago, the owners flexed their muscle and instituted a 24 man roster in order to prove a point. But where is the angst for a NFL or NBA fringe player moving around during the year from roster spot to roster spot? I appreciate MLB 40 man roster to allow potential movement in order to prevent prospect hoarding. But the rule 5 draft still favors the "home team" as few rule 5 picks ever stick with their drafted team. I've argued for some time that the way the game has changed, I really liked the 28 man roster during covid. I think it's time to raise roster limits to that level on a permanent basis. It would also allow more ML service time for some players. And it might provide fewer shuttles between the parent club and the minors. But @chpettit19is correct that MLB has rules in place to limit shuttle runs during the season. That's to allow players more ability to become FA and sign elsewhere. If you want to extend that, then allow players extra days of ML service time when brought up. If you have a 10-14 day rule...I forget the exact criteria at the moment for re-promotion...then pay the players for that 10-14 day period and give them ML service time for that duration. Expand the roster to 28, and guarantee pay and service time for that 10-14 day period. That's MY solution for any debate about fairness. NOTE: I am legitimately SHOCKED by a couple comments I've read about how the Twins treat players. Current and former players have NEVER said anything negative about how they are/were treated by the Twins. In fact, many players...even agents...have spoken about the integrity of the Twins and the FO. If you don't like the Pohlad's, FINE. You won't get a lot of arguements. But STOP with false pretense!

Deep breath! "Come on Byron, 4 disappointing games to begin the season but 158 more to go. This offense isn't THIS BAD. The offensive talent isn't THIS BAD. This team isn't THIS BAD. A 4 game losing streak sucks at any time, but we've got a long way to go. Deep breaths! Don't panic." That's all I got at the moment.

I'm a little late so whatever I say may be glossed over. But Winokur is one of my favorite prospects to follow. Up until a couple years ago, young prospects often played in Florida, for rookie ball, sometimes Elizabethton, then went to the Midwest League at low A ball then went back to Florida for high A ball. Offense is harder in the humidity and heat in Florida. But the way it used to be. If you could hit there, you're probably ready for AA ball. NOW, it's "if you can hit in rookie and low A ball in Florida, you're ready for high A in the Midwest League. And maybe that's better for prospects? Winokur is a tremendous athlete with tremendous potential. That doesn't mean he's going to "make it". But a 19yo kid in FL being amongst the leader boards in various categories is exciting. If I'm not mistaken, his K % lowered as the season went along. He's ONLY 20yo and probably opening with Cedar Rapids this year at high A ball. Hopefully, we'll see graduall improvement with overall contact and recognition. The power is there. The speed is there. The athleticism is very apparent. I watched the Futures Game and he made a nice stop and pick deep in the hole and threw the ball away. A little later, he made almost the exact same play and made an amazing strike to 1B to get the out. I can see him continuing playing SS because MAYBE he can stick there. But I think his length is just too many moving parts to be consistent there. I think his future is CF. I've said before that if his bat plays as hoped for, I can see him as the future CF for the Twins with Rodriguez in LF...covering a lot of ground...and Jenkins in RF. Both Rodriguez and Jenkins can cover CF, but with Winokur's speed and build, he can gain some additional muscle/weight, and still maintain his speed, IMO. He's got a long road ahead of him. He's a good 2 seasons away from a debut. He has to prove he can hit at a higher level. He's got to get better at recognizing pitches outside the zone to reign in his K rate. But what he did in A ball as a 19yo can't be ignored. BUT, even if he reaches the ML level with a 28-30% K rate, can he maintain a .250 ish AVG and a OB% in the .320 range with 20SB ability with 20-30 HR potential? With good range in CF he would be a stud player. That's a lot to ask for I know. MAYBE he's even better than that. Maybe he washes out. But I have a hard time betting against a kid with the tools and ability he has to not succeed at this point.

A well written article Cody. But does it matter if one may or may not have passed the other? They are both very exciting young arms. Matthews needs to learn to pitch out of the zone a little more as your zone control can be "too good" and ML hitters will wait to tattoo a ball. But the pure stuff and control is there to be very good. His body types would seem to indicate the potential to maintain velocity. Festa has good enough stuff to do OK with 3 pitches. But a 4th offering takes his game up another notch. And the new sinker, and some arm slot adjustments, just might be what he needs. ST was about trying those new things. I think some forget that at times a pitcher, especially a young one working on changes, might be told to throw a certain number of a certain pitch a certain number of times in an appearance, or even an inning. The staff isn't worried about winning the game, they're wanting to see the new pitch, or arm slot, or both. It's the building up, not immediate results. Festa had a great debut, but I don't know what he was throwing. Ideally, both are performing to expectations and who comes up next/first is likely to be determined by their slot in the Saints rotation. It's a tremendous "conundrum" as to which top young arm you bring up first. But still, let's not forget how good of a 2024 Morris had, or how good his ST was, even in SSS. And let's not forget Lewis was actually the MILB pitcher of the year in 2023, but was slowed early in '24. And then there's Adams, on the 40 man, possibly destined for the pen, but coming off a really good 2nd half of '24. ALL of them might be up before Raya simply due to the slow and dutiful build up he's going through. This is a nice "problem" to have that i can't recall happening any other time in all my decades of watching the Twins.

There's a handful of FA out there still waiting for deals that the Vikes could steal move on. And there will be more later as teams move on. And the second wave of FA might still offer up some interesting options, even as depth options. That's part of the reason things are so quiet right now. As far as the draft, there are real reasons to just stay status quo and grab the VERY BEST players you can get in round 1 and 3 and grab a couple hopeful steals with the last 2 picks. With a great FA signing period and at least a little more $ to spend, maybe that makes the most sense with a deeper 2026 number of picks. But I can easily see other teams looking at the Vikings as an opportunity to move up. Almost TOO MANY draft projections to count have them moving down a couple spots for an additional 3rd and 6th, for example. OR, even moving down TWICE, and getting out of the 1st round but getting 2nd and an additional 3rd or 4th/5th rounder for doing so. IMO the worst thing Kwesi could do is mortgage the 2026 draft for the 2025 draft. But in a semi best scenario, he would drop down a couple of spots for an additional pick or two, unless there is just someone they just have to have. And they'd be pretty good at that point to still grab a solid #1 with another later pick. Would it be crazy, based on some draft profiles that they would trade out of the 1st round? Not saying they should. I'm just wondering if ultimately trading out of the first round and gaining even more picks makes sense

Part of the 30 invites is "if we stay here". Part of the invites is projecting guys in the middle rounds they really like and might even move up for, though that would be really hard to do this year. But there's usually a collection of late round picks who might even become UDFA they want a closer look at to make a final examination of before they select them, or offer an UDFA contract to. There's probably a little of "if you aren't selected we're really interested in offering you a good deal" conversations taking place.

Fun! Not actual. A dream is 120 games from Buxton. Lewis playing 120 games changes things and offsets Buxton's missing games. Lee being healthy and improving takes the Twins up a notch. Rodriguez and Keaschall debuting and taking the Twins up another notch, or two, makes a difference. It's fun talk. But it's too few iterations of the season to really mean anything.

I absolutely love Ober. He's damn good. But he's more consistent than dominating. (He does throw dominate games fairly often). Lopez is the best option for a possible Cy Young winner. After a somewhat slow/mediocre start to 2023, he was a Cy Young candidate and receieved votes. He was less dialed in for 2024, but threw almost as well for about half the season. If he can be the 2023 version of himself, with a little earlier peak in performance, he could be a real contender. Ryan just has a "something" that's hard to define because he's increased his velocity, tweaked his secondary stuff, offers up a weird delivery level that confuses batters, CAN dominate, but then had a couple clunker games where his location is off. A FULL SEASON of Ryan COULD put him in the Cy Young candidacy. What befuddles me is those who look at the top 3 and call any of them #4 starters, or worse. Based on the last 2yrs and the numbers presented of rankings across MLB, the Twins have a front 3 that all rank amongst the top SP in MLB as a collective. On most any teams each is a #2 starter, and a #3 at worst for almost any team in the league. And all 3 throw like a #1 at times. Personally, any Cy Young worthy season is AWESOME. But all I care about is wins, and getting to the playoffs. I've always said, give me 3 #2's and a couple good #4-5 starters and a solid pen and lineup and I'm good. Awards don't mean ultimate success of the team.

Wow! So the season is over after 2 games huh? I never want to place blame on anyone in particular for any loss, but Pablo really had a pair of mental errors in game 1...though he really might not have committed a balk from what I hear...that might have been the difference in the game. And the pen was just fine. Ryan throws a great game, Alcala gets drilled by a 95mph comebacker, and things just kind of went off the rails. The bats were silent. What was that sound? The sky is falling? Nope. Just a snow shovel not hung up well and crashed to the garage floor. Maybe it's just me, but I've never panicked over 2 games to start a season.

I like the way he calls a game and handles the staff. I like his better than league average bat, way better than average for a catcher. And he's only 28yo? He's just entering his prime physical years and he hasn't been worn down by overuse at all. And you don't often find quality catchers with above league average offense available. I'd absolutely do 4yrs and $40M. Maybe front load the first couple of years and throw in a 5th year option with a buyout? I think he's worth $10M. More than that I have to at least pause for a moment.. but if he strokes 20HR every year for the next 4-5 seasons, he'd absolutely be worth $12M per.

While I think we certainly all hope there's no reason for all of these guys to debut at any point in 2025, what a great collection of young talent that is so close. Sooner or later, Lewis and Lee will be back and we'll cross our fingers for better health. Add in slightly older players like Larnach. Wallner, Miranda, Jeffers, Julien, Ober, Ryan, etc, etc, things look really exciting going forward with depth and options. Just a small side opinion, I think there's a reasonable chance Culpepper and DeBarge finish at AA this season. That could them fast tracking toward the ML level.

A little surprised to not see Lewis or Nowlin on the roster. I thought Lewis was ready and you could run some piggyback games early in the season. It appeared in ST that Nowlin is now a reliever, which i think is the right move. Having so much depth that a couple guys are crowded out isn't a bad thing though. I like the look of the Saints, but Eeles and Holland back provides a spark and increases depth. But as previously mentioned, is Cerda injured? Thought he'd make the roster for sure.

I really like this team, despite a few question marks and the lack of ownership providing the means to address those question marks. I like the rotation and depth, I like the bullpen and depth...(Let's just drop the "best pen" arguements, that's pundits, not the Twins saying that)... and I like the POTENTIAL of the offense. But as much as I like this team, I like it better with Lewis, Lee, and Stewart healthy. Not going to break down EVERYONE individually. Buuuutttt....read at your own risk, LOL. ROTATION: Lopez just needs to get loose/warm earlier than he did in 2024. In 2023 he was damn good after about the 1st month. Ryan just needs to be healthy for a whole season. I stated before 2024 we hadn't seen the best of Ober yet. Other than a couple games, he was even better in 2024. Not sure he can raise his game another level, and not sure he needs to. SWR got better and better, and more and more confident as the 2024 season went along. Then he hit a wall. Yes, he could have a sophomore slump. But he could also improve. He's not a front of the rotation arm, but he's got room to raise his ceiling. Are we sleeping a bit on Paddack? He was up and down in 2024. He's refined his breaking stuff with the Twins, but lost his change. If he can keep his velocity consistently this season and re-discover his change, he could surprise. It's CRAZY to think/realize 2-4 kids at AAA have better pure potential than the current 4-5 starters on the roster. BULLPEN: I don't have worries about Duran. He was still really good last year, but was a victim of a bad BABIP. He still throws damn hard and has 2 wicked breaking balls. He's trying to add a 4th offering. He might need a few adjustments and some different sequencing, but let's not pretend he wasn't still good last year. Jax is a stud. Sands could actually regress some and STILL be very good. Stewart is excellent when healthy. His cleanup in the offseason has him saying he hasn't felt this good in years. He looked good in ST. His current injury is a slight muscle issue. Rightly, he's being nursed along. In reality, all he needs is 40 healthy innings, used judiciously, to raise the pen. 50 innings would be gravy. After BARELY throwing anything for 2yrs, Alcala was lights out to begin 2024. But for inexplicable reasons other than "someone has to fill innings" he was throwing 30-40 pitches early last year despite barely throwing the previous 2 years. No wonder he wore down. I don't know if his new curveball will make a difference or not, but the previous Alcala has been pretty good. Varland has a real chance to take his stuff to a different level as a full time reliever. He could easily follow the path of past and current converted arms to being good to very good. Hopefully, Coulombe is ready to maintain what he's done the past few seasons and just be that solid LH arm he's been. Topa, IMO, is a 7th or 8th arm despite what he did in Seattle in 2023. But that's still valuable if he's healthy and ready to contribute. Tonkin just shouldn't be dismissed based on his past couple of seasons as a middle man. And there are options at AAA to help. LINEUP: EVERYTHING changes with Lewis and Lee back. With all the hard work Lewis has put in, EVENTUALLY, you hope his body just adjusts to a pair of knee injuries that has to have thrown his body out of whack and the muscle injuries subside. Based on defense and offensive potential, I'd play a healthy Lee every day and let him figure his bat out at the ML level. Miranda just needs to be healthy for a full season. We've seen what he can be. Julien has performed in college, in the minors, and in 2023. He has an opportunity now to prove 2024 was an illusion and he's ready to be a quality bat again. I just can't let one bad year dismiss the potential of a young player. IMO Wallner is a stud who has more than established himself despite his poor begining to 2024. He might or might not continue to be a streaky bat. All players have hot and cold steaks. But his production can't be denied. I understand him being one of the best bats in the lineup. He could do major damage in the #1 slot. I hold out hope that Julien or Keaschall will provide a really good #1 option for Wallner to slide down to cleanup. Larnach slides down with Lewis. It's a POTENTIALLY a good lineup when healthy. It's even better better with better health.

A worthy head to wear the crown! Alas, I never got to see him play any 2B in ST, but he looked solid in LF, even saw him battle the sun and wind and make the necessary adjustments. As a prospect, I'd like him better if he had stuck at catcher, or had more power. A couple years younger would be nice as well. But the MILB career OB% of .372 and OPS of .806 is very interesting. Considering the dearth of RH hitting OF anywhere close to the ML level...Rosario and Gonzalez are about it beyond Martin right now...I don't think we should sleep on him as a possible option. I'm uncertain about him at 2B, or the opportunity to play much there, but as a RH OF/DH option who CAN play some 2B fits if he continues to hit as well as he did in 2024 and ST.

After 50 years of following the Twins and MLB, I've learned a couple of things. One is that ST records...while it's fun to see your team win...don't matter. Just today, the Twins beat the Rockies, who have a better ST record. Does anyone believe the Rockies are a better team? Lopez, with all his talent, has often started that ST is just working on stuff and sometimes playing with and trying stuff. Spring training IS important for the more fringe players, and that's NOT a knock against them. Two years ago, Castro proved his worth. Julien is trying to prove his worth after a bad year. And guys like Gasper and Keirsey are also trying to prove they are legitimate ML players. ST records just don't matter for most. But you get the Castro fliers on your team because of opportunity. Due to injury and opportunity, you get a Gasper and Keirsey to make the opening day roster...FWIW...and then it's a whatever happens opportunity to see what you can do. The bitch and the beauty of the opening day roster is there are always a couple surprises. What happens next is TBD.

Take it for what it's worth, but various rumors over the offseason had multiple teams asking about him in trade. As the OP stated, there were some surprising offers made to pitchers. Some teams saw/see his contract and potential value as an under 30yo arm with some upside. So do the Twins. And the FO has stated they didn't like the returns offered vs his potential so they declined to move him. To be clear, I think the Twins have a couple arms that will end up better than Paddack...possibly also SWR...at some point. And I'm NOT a Paddack apologist. But he was kept for reasons other teams were interested. [They COULD HAVE just DUMPED his contract if they wanted to]. 1] From a Twins perspective, like Ober in 2023, you maintain early season depth to allow your top, young pitchers to continue to work and prepare. They WILL be needed. 2] When Paddack arrived in MLB he was primarily a 2 pitch pitcher with a FB and change. While with the Twins, he has developed a pair of decent breaking balls. His high quality change, from what I've heard, got lost. In 2024, he had a few quality starts with decent velocity, but had games where he struggled and couldn't maintain his velocity. 3] So far removed now from his 2nd TJ surgery, the hope is he can not only maintain his velocity, but he may gain a better feel for his changeup. Remember when Maeda was only semi good/productive in 2023 before some rest and a re-set and then was pretty good the rest of the season? Well now picture a harder throwing arm 5 years younger. I have no illusions of Paddack being a surprise stud arm. And really, there's no reason to expect another major injury at this point. But it's very possible he's going to throw 5+ successful innings per with around 9K per and a high 3 or low 4 ish ERA as a solid back end starter. It's also possible he's just one of those arms with great talent that never matches reality due to injury. But with the little we've seen of him, some development, seemingly good health, with experience, I don't think he's going to disappoint, even if he's not great. But how crazy would it be if arms like Festa, Matthews, and others would be looking so good Paddack MIGHT be tradeable at the deadline?

Actually, a 5th ML starter with a 4.50 ERA wouldn't be far off from average.

I think this is a smart move. The theory is Dobnak may only be around for a couple weeks while Stewart...and Tonkin...get ramped up. You don't want a Festa or Matthews being used sporadically out of the pen to begin the season. And they want to "save" someone like Blewett, who they seem to like, for later, because Dobnak is almost like having an arm with options you can send down considering his contract. Dobber has had a rough go of things the past couple of years not because he doesn't have some ability, but because he had a major finger injury that required surgery and rehab and may never be right again. So he's had to work around that and adapt. He was pretty solid, for the most part, in 2024 at AAA. He looked solid in ST in brief appearances, and reportedly looked good in MILB camp once sent down. Baseball is filled with guys who flashed and are never heard from again. But it's also filled with guys who get hurt, re-invent themselves, stick with it, and become at least useful players at some point. And who knows how well, or how poorly, Dobnak will perform in his probably limited time. But if he's throwing well, has ML experience, and is on hand vs a waiver wire pickup, why not use him in this role for now? It makes sense. Hopefully he does well but isn't needed much.

I'm with you 100%. France is by no means a savior OR a permanent solution. But he was good in 2021-22, mediocre in 2023 at best, and was off to a good start last year before getting hurt. He's still only 30yr. I don't put a lot of stock in ST numbers, but he's looked good! All I'm saying is if we get something resembling the 2022 version of him, he's going to hit behind Wallner, Correa, Buxton, Larnach, and Lewis eventually. He and Jeffers make for a pretty good 6th and 7th place hitters. Obviously there will be some mixing and matching in the lineup. But that's POTENTIALLY a decent and fairly deep lineup 1-7 at least.

Good call on Dobnak as the 8th man in the pen! I kinda makes sense to me. He's that long guy already on hand, can be DFA as soon as necessary, and then sign back with the team for additional depth at AAA.

I do think Kwesi has SLOWLY been a little better each draft. And that's not exactly paying tribute. They did better in 2023. The awful and tragic loss of Jackson skews last year's draft somewhat. But in theory they have their new, young QB. They got an awesome talent in Turner who flashed at times and is really young. And they got a damn fine young kicker and a pair of OL who show some real potential, plus a talented sleeper DL in LDR. What's been oddly strange to me is how many solid looking UDFA and waiver wire players they've picked up. Maybe they've "too cute" with some of their picks, trying to outsmart everyone else? I'd be fine if they just kept the 4 pick they have and just make good choices. If you draft smart, you can get a really good #1, a really solid #3, and then a couple developmental guys with the last 2 picks. With all the FA moves, that could still be a decent draft under the circumstances. The last thing I want to see them do is trade away 2026 draft pick depth...where they have the potential to double down at multiple positions...but I could see them moving down a few spots in the 1st round for an additional 3rd round pick if the board sets up well. That extra 3rd rounder while still staying in the 1st round could be one more really solid player for now and the future.

While i understand the intent of the OP, I can't really embrace the overall concept. A full time, day 1 Wallner is the replacement as the every day RF. Finally. Bader is the replacement for Margot, who was the replacement for Taylor. The Twins brought in Taylor to provide an actual, bon-a-fide CF option for Buxton who could also play some corner OF. His AVG, OB%, and K rate was bad. But he played phenomenal defense and provided some timely power. It was the first time they had a real CF to fill in for Buck. ON PAPER, a healthy Margot, coming off a bad ankle I believe it was, was a solid idea to replace Taylor. Again, ON PAPER. But he got OLD virtually overnight. It was a bad fit and a bad add. Bader is a solid option for 2025, even though I'm not a tremendous fan. He's still an elite defender at CF who can cover the corners as well. He's got some speed and some pop/power as well. POTENTIALLY he's a solid bat against RHP, but he's been inconsistent in that regard year to year. I'd much rather have Rodriguez storm out of the gates and be brought up to "crowd" the lineup with "too many good LH hitters". But even then, Bader is probably on the roster due to his RH bat...if he hits at all. But for now, he's actually the replacement for Margot, who was the replacement for Taylor.