IndianaTwin

If Lewis is cooked based on his 45 spring at bats, I assume we can also consider Lee cured based on his 54 at bats with an .817 OPS?

To clarify, that wasn’t directed at you but at the general sentiment on TD that’s wanted to get rid of them. Headed to N.C. this weekend to visit son and DIL in Raleigh area.

I might quibble a bit with the specifics of your 2027 lineup and they might not (probably won't) all arrive by the beginning of the year, but there's enough reality here to make me not understand the desire to trade Ryan and Lopez for even more prospects. The team you describe looks a lot different with Ryan and Lopez fronting the rotation than without them.

Not to mention that he’s had only 68 games at AAA.

He could well be the DFA when Arcia is added.

If you are thinking about pitch counts, Wallner’s 3.93 pitches per plate appearance last year trailed only Julien (4.17), Jeffers (4.03), Bader (3.98) and Clemens (3.94) among those with 200+ plate appearances. So essentially tied for second among returnees.

See: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/03/twins-release-liam-hendriks-opt-out.html As an Article XX(b) free agent (i.e. six-plus years of service, finished last season on a major league roster/injured list) who signed a minor league deal in free agency, Hendriks had uniform opt-out dates written into his contract: one a week before Opening Day, a second on May 1 and a third on June 1. When a player triggers an out clause of that nature, the team has 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or release him back into free agency. The Twins opted for the latter route. ------ And from the OP: [Hendricks] carried multiple opt-out dates, including one a week before Opening Day, another on May 1, and a final date on June 1. Once triggered, the Twins had a 48-hour window to either add him to the 40-man roster or release him back into free agency. Minnesota ultimately chose the latter, ending what had been a quietly intriguing spring storyline. ----- So absent evidence to the contrary, Hendricks did opt out in that he forced the Twins to make a decision. Had he not done that, we don't know if the Twins would have released him from the minor league deal anyway, but Hendricks initiated the process. As did Chafin, per the following: As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted this week, Chafin and Hendriks were among more than two dozen veteran players whose deals contained an automatic opt-out opportunity under the collective bargaining agreement. Infielder Orlando Arcia also fits that bill. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Arcia decided not to trigger the out. Urshela didn’t have an automatic opt-out under the CBA, but Hayes suggests his camp negotiated one into his deal. ----- We also don't know what's happening behind the scenes. It's even possible the Twins said, "We're not ready to add you. As a veteran, you've earned yourself a shot to be signed elsewhere. If no one claims you, there's a spot for you here in St. Paul as we bide more time together." I'd be fine with them doing that for both Hendricks and Chafin. Less interested in Urshela.

As I said elsewhere, I'm a little surprised. And also a little disappointed -- I was rooting for the guy. Hopefully it's an "I'd like to test the water" and the Twins would consider taking him back if he doesn't get picked up, with possibility of starting in St. Paul if it's deemed he's not ready. However, sometimes these opt outs are a case of another team having communicated an interest to the player's agent (in a hypothetical sort of way, of course).

And now Hendricks granted his release. I'm a little surprised. Disappointed, actually -- I was rooting for him.

This article focuses on the offense, but I hope he is playing a corner OF spot at STP three days a week, assuming Buxton doesn't get bumped this year. ERod as well.

Also, the day before you celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with a Royals game, get to KC on Saturday in time to visit the Negro League Baseball Museum if you've not already been there. If you have time for only one baseball-related add-on during the trip, that would be my recommendation. Bonus is that you are around the corner from Arthur Bryant's, one of the original classic KC BBQ spots.

I was able to knock off the last three a few years ago at 47, though I since needed to revisit Texas. I'm trying to decide whether Sacramento counts and whether I'm still in the Every Ballpark Club as a result. There seems an obvious solution, but it's not been discussed with Mrs. IT. PCH: High on the bucket list. I'd actually love to drive it one direction and take Amtrak the other. Pittsburgh: The other place where I'd consider splurging for an upgrade is PNC. The view from behind the plate may be the best in baseball. Of course, a Thursday game with the Marlins ought to be move downable. If not, the usher must be brutal. Milwaukee: Yes, tailgate. Even if it means stopping at a hardware store for one of those little disposable grills. Pike Place Market: Specifically the Pike Place Market Chowder Sampler. And the Daily Dozen Doughnut. The cinnamon, oh my...

Thanks for the stats class primer. Gotta love z-scores and standard deviations. It would be an interesting SABR project to review the scouting scales of the major league pool and see how closely the evaluations match an actual bell curve. Did only 5 percent get a composite 70 or more, for example? Are there actually 30s in the majors? There should be about 36 at that level and below.

Yeah, the LTOGY doesn't roll off the tongue in quite the same way.

What I do like about this year's throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach is that the things being thrown have considerably more talent than prior years' throwage.

@Nick Nelson, is there a summary of relief pitchers coming? For those of us who haven't been at spring training and with the number of moving parts, it would be nice to have a current summary of who's still in camp, who's hurt, etc.

From the OP: “The Twins were great, super supportive with a really good plan the whole time,” Ryan said. “They really wanted me to go. It wasn’t up to us at the end of the day.” ------------------- Selfishly, I don't mind that Ryan was able to have a 68-pitch outing on Monday as a result. Also, such a response doesn't contribute to the "Joe Ryan wants out of town as soon as possible" narrative. If that was the case, it would have been easy to provide a pretty ho-hum response toward the Twins.

I'd lean to Arcia EXCEPT for the fact that it means adding him to the 40-man roster. But then I realized that Gray is on the 40-man roster and easily DFAed.

The likelihood of Fairleigh Dickinson defeating Iowa in Saturday's NCAA women's basketball opening round is far, far greater than the likelihood of all four lefties being healthy and effective for more than a month, so having four lefties in the system isn't really a problem in the long term. So the question is whether it's an issue in the short term. If Chafin and Fundy are both better than the fifth-best righty, keep them both, start the season with four lefties and let the issue resolve itself when one of the lefties gets hurt or fails to perform and is replaced by a righty. If they are not both better than the fifth-best righty, use Fundy's option for the week or two until one of the other lefties gets hurt or fails to perform. Or if you really think you need five righties, another option is send both Abel and Matthews down for the first eight games until one is needed on April 5. Also, remember that all the starting pitchers are righties, so the opposing lineup will almost always tilt toward the left. Plan that one of the lefties will typically be the first one out of the pen, and he will either have the platoon advantage over the lineup or force the opposing manager to use pinch hitters sooner than they intend. -Really IOWATwin (Go Hawks)

After becoming just the seventh AL team to lose 100 three years in a row, I'd be glad to see them join the 1961-64 Senators as just the second team to do it four years in a row.

Are you referring to April off days? Discounting the possibility of weather issues, there are fewer off days in early April this year than is often the case. They have two off days in the first six days, but then launch into 15 straight. But, one viable option is to recognize that with those two early days off, they don't "need" a fifth starter until April 5. They could choose to send them both down and go the first week and a half with an extra guy in the bullpen, both in recognition that starters tend to go shorter earlier and that there is also some sorting out that needs to happen in the bullpen. Whichever is deemed as the "winner" of the 5th spot could start the St. Paul opener on March 31 and be brought up for the April 5 start.

Yep. It would require not only reverting to rookie year form but probably taking a step forward AND grabbing the position early enough to get the plate appearances. Not impossible, but significant challenges for either. And that's okay. He could be a significant contributor by reverting to rookie year form in 300 plate appearances and serving as a 4th outfielder behind three others who are flourishing. That only seven guys have done 20/20 (and never two in the same season) speaks to how challenging it is. (And I loved seeing the Larry Hisle reference. Even as a kid, I knew it would be hard to keep Carew, but having Hisle leave really hurt my 11-year-old spirit.)

I know that Outman is already persona non grata on TD, but he was actually 23/16 in the 2023 rookie year that created some intrigue. I didn't realize he ran that much, but it probably shouldn't have surprised me given his defensive reputation. Hopefully, if he gets playing time, it's because he's hitting, and if he's hitting enough to get playing time, he could be a candidate for 20/20.

Post All-Star Game, Lewis started all but five games and played at a 27 HR/29 SB clip. Of his 12 steals on the year, 11 were after the break. If Byron has the Buck Truck, I'm in on the Lewis Lorry. (Cool -- Google just introduced me to a new word, and it has a better flow than the Lewis Pantechnicon!)

I've found it a fun exercise from time to time to create a spreadsheet and try to plug in how I'd try to start the season in game allocation. (Queue the "spreadsheet manager" comments, but I think every team does some version of this going into the season, knowing it's going to change with injuries and performance. The Dodgers know how many games they are targeting getting from Ohtani, the Brewers how many they are targeting for Yelich, etc.). So yeah, I'd slot the catchers at 108/54 between Jeffers and Caratini and add a couple dozen to Jeffers at DH so he gets to about 130-135 total. I think they'll use a regular pattern rather than trying to match platoon situations. They were very systematic in alternating Jeffers and Vazquez. To me it makes sense to have Caratini catch the second game of every series. There will be a few cases where Jeffers starts back to back days, but with off days between series, he'll often have a day off between starts. In that pattern, maybe Jeffers then DHs in a lot of the Caratini games with a LHP for the opponents. I was going to suggest a dozen or so for Lewis, but in the five games after last year's All-Star Break that he didn't start, they gave him the whole day off (or maybe pinch hit him, but he didn't start as the DH), so maybe not.