tarheeltwinsfan

I wonder if Devers were on the Twins and if he were told he would not be playing 3B, would Devers take his glove and go home?

I would not take Devers and his $225 million contract over the next 7 years if he were given to the Twins. That is an average of $32.14 MILLION a year for the next SEVEN years. Whoa Nellie !

Watching the playoffs makes me want more flame throwing lefties for the Twins.

Then I take it that you agree Fangraphs was way off its predictions of 3 of the 4 teams remaining in the playoffs? Please allow me to defend myself. You may be correct that I would make a good GM. I have an economics degree from the University of North Carolina and also a law degree from UNC. As the senior partner of my law firm, I learned to hire good people and to let them do their jobs. I learned a lot by practicing law for 52 years, negotiating with attorneys, learning who I could trust and who I could not trust, creating solid contracts, handling labor problems, fighting insurance companies, avoiding court when it was to my client's benefit and, when court was necessary, I learned go fight like hell, which I learned first by serving with Charlie Company, 3/23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division in and around the Korean DMZ in 1968 & 1969 in the US Army, where I was awarded an Imjin Scout patch after my first 20 missions into the dangerous Korean DMZ. I was a North Carolina Bar Association Citizen Lawyer of the Year and was awarded the Charlotte Observer Hero of Democracy Award for getting the Department of Defense to admit that Agent Orange was sprayed around me and my buddies in 1968 and 1969 and getting the VA to grant coverage to Korean DMZ vets of the late 1960's and early 1970's for Agent Orange exposure. The Department of Defense and the VA had denied that Agent Orange had been sprayed around our positions. Our government lied. I fought our government and I won. My poem, "The Flak Jacket," won the Southern Prize for Literature in 1995. I started a Sunday School class for mentally challenged adults who lived in several group homes and I taught it for 20 years. However, I am 81 and have retired to the beautiful Pinehurst/Southern Pines area of North Carolina, where I just completed my manuscript titled: "Poems From My Foxhole". I appreciate your suggesting that I apply to be a GM or to write for Fangraphs. However I must restfully decline. I am having too much fun being retired. I rest my case.

Bradley, Prielipp, Abel, Mathews, Quick, Festa, Bohorquez, Rojas, Wachsman, Soto, Renfro, Ellwanger, Gallagher, LaPour and Murdock. All are young and half of them will improve and advance by 2028.

Last 4 teams standing today were ranked 29, 24, 19 and 1 by fangraphs.com. Not much credibility in this ranking.

Zoll is still only 36 years old. At age 28 he was the Twins Director of Minor League Operations in 2018-2019. He then was promoted to Assistant to the GM, Thad Levine, from 2020 to 2024, when Levine left and Zoll became the GM at age 34. His college degree was in East Asian Studies at Haverford College, a small (1,400 students), highly ranked college. My point is that Zoll's fingers have been all over the Twins' development, successes and failures since 2018...8 years. Levine left Minnesota in 2024 and was out of baseball until he was hired by the Brewers as a "special advisor" in January 2026. His "special advice" specialty is unknow to me. Falvey and the Twins organization "mutually parted ways" two weeks before spring training began this year. He has been out of baseball, as far as I can tell, until two weeks ago when he , like Levine, became a "special advisor" , what ever that means, to the woeful New York Mets. Looking at the Twins front office and the poor results which the Twins have had the past several seasons, the "fire sale" of relievers last year, the inability to replace these outgoing, outstanding relievers, some really poor draft choices, the double - speak coming out of the front office for years now, and the resulting dwindling attendance, I would give the whole front office of Falvey, Levine and Zoll, a big fat F.

Strong up the middle is sooo important.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this.

At the same time, assuming that revenue sharing is going to increase significantly, and assuming that increased revenue sharing will increase the value of the Twins, then a savvy, interested buyer for the Twins, should make an immediate offer to buy the Twins at a price that is a guaranteed sale to the owner, but lower than the buyer thinks the future value will become shortly after this savvy buyer becomes a savvy owner. Many times I have seen sellers start thinking of all the ways that they could spend this money, even though a sale price hasn't been yet agreed upon. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so to speak. The Pohlads have already been willing to sell as recently as last year, so they have already crossed the thresh hold of "Do I want to sell or not?" I imagine that some of the Pohlads had already made plans on how to spend their sale proceeds last year. Now that they have had another year of turmoil and criticism, poor attendance, and headaches, with nothing to show for it, they may be even more ready to sell, especially at a price higher than what was discussed last year. My advice to a savvy buyer is that now is the time to buy the Twins. Make an offer the owners can't refuse.

Houston and Lackey can.

I sent him a Christmas card.

Agree 100%. Clemens needs to play 1B for the Twins in 2027. He has proven himself offensively, defensively and in the clubhouse.

Interesting article. I was fortunate that my hometown friend, Mark Davidson, was the 4th outfielder on this team. Mark and I worked out together during the off season. The workouts humbled me. In late July or August 1987, I enjoyed attending a 4 game sweep of the second place Oakland A's in 1987 at the Metro Dome. I got to know Wally the Beer Man well. Mark introduced me to Tony O, Harmon Killebrew (who signed my glove), Rod Carew and other old timers who were there for the Equitable Old Timers Game. I had a blast. Mark got me seats with the Twins players' family members. Mrs. Kirby Puckett and Mrs. Greg Gagne were sitting with me, plus Mark's beautiful fiancé, now wife, Linda. It was a wonderful time in beautiful Minneapolis.

If Ryan is such a great pitcher, why is his projected arbitration value so low?

Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan are two of my all time favorite Twins pitchers for a variety of reasons. What are the pros and cons of trading Lopez vs. trading Ryan? Lopez is owed more than twice what Ryan is owed. But coming off injury and surgery, would Lopez command as much of a return in a trade as Ryan? More money could be saved by trading Lopez than by trading Ryan. I feel the question of which pitcher would be more valuable if pitching for the Twins in 2027, is quite the conundrum. In view of the money owed differential, I suggest the Twins pursue trading Lopez now, even though his trade value may be lower due to his injury. I do want to say that Lopez has passed Camilo Pascual as my favorite Twins' pitcher, due to Lopez being such a good human being. Also, speaking of money owed, Carlos Correa continues to be an albatross around the necks of Minnie and Paul on the large outfield logo at Target Field. What a failure by all concerned.

I would non-tender Banda, Ober, Larnach and Lewis. Each will go to another team and have brief flashes of success and some brief flashes of failures, and we will have to read posts saying, "We should have kept him", but Lewis and Larnach have had multiple chances and are owed too much in arbitration at their respective positions, to justify another season with the Twins. Plus it will be a message to the other Twin players. That message is: "Veterans who have been given multiple opportunities, but who can't play defense, must produce offensively at a very high rate, (i.e. Keaschall) or move on." Banda and Ober, while potentially in 2027, need to step aside for higher ceiling, more talented and younger pitchers with more potential. For every Brent Rooker, there are a dozen Dave McCarty's and Anthony Slama's. That's the nature of professional baseball.

Three things must happen in order for Jeffers to consider signing a qualifying offer with the Twins. These 3 things must happen for it to be to Jeffers' financial advantage to sign a qualifying offer with the Twins 1) If Jeffers and his advisors are pretty confident there will be a lockout in 2027 and 2) that Jeffers could not get a long term contract that pays him for 2027, even if there is a lockout and 3) his qualifying offer will pay him even if there is a lockout.

$9,000, 000 won't sign Bednar for 2027. I just think the amount of money needed to sign Bednar, whether 1 year or several years, could be better spent elsewhere. There is a reason that right-handed reliever is the lowest paid position in baseball. They are also the most easily replaced. I am an advocate for throwing a bunch of potential relievers, emphasizing young, flame throwers, against the wall and seeing what sticks.

I quit reading this debate because was getting a headache. No mas.

Well the off season bickering and negativity has begun. Hurry spring.

Thanks for the good article Nick. I was surprised to see Rogers led the team in appearances. Maybe Rogers and Hawkins should be the pitching coaches next year.

Bell was not signed to play a defensive position. He should not be rated low just because he played DH. There must be a DH in every game. He was very, very productive as a DH. Also if some players are rated lower because they were unavailable to play due to injuries, then Bell should be rated higher, for playing every day and for being tied with Lee for the most at bats on the team. He was the batter I wanted to see hit in critical situations. He delivered at a high rate with runners on base and with two outs. He should get some credit for being a switch hitter also. Bell's 96 RBI's were the 5th most in the whole American League ! Then there is the mentoring which he gave to the many younger players. Bell is an A in my book.

Go Bell. Have a day!