John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about David Festa joining the Twins' rotation in place of Chris Paddack, Byron Buxton reminding everyone how good he can still be, Carlos Correa's scary-looking hit-by-pitch, and how Brooks Lee could work his way into the second-half lineup. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or click this link. View full article

I just came here to say the same thing as Hrbeks Divot: I loved this story.

What if Willi Castro is not just an over-achieving utility guy? What if he’s an everyday starter? (Also, he already is.) Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports We know we should be paying more attention to Willi Castro. For the last year and a half, he has consistently been one of the most valuable Twins players, whether you’re measuring by new-school (WAR, WPA) or old-school (at-bats, defensive flexibility) metrics. But the fact that he’s been in a utility role and that this breakthrough performance was (mostly) unexpected means he tends to be overlooked, even when we don’t mean to. That may be ending, at least for 2024. With Edouard Julien in Triple-A and Brooks Lee’s season getting a late start due to a herniated disc, we know where we’ll find Castro for the foreseeable future: playing second base. Maybe more importantly, we’re also now finding him and his .350 OBP in the lineup’s leadoff spot. So, for the next few weeks, the Twins will have a defensively proficient second baseman and leadoff hitter who has posted 113 OPS+ over the last two years. He also leads the Twins in games played over that span. He is also 27 years old. That doesn’t sound like a utility player. It sounds like a regular, and maybe even one a team builds around. If you—and the Twins—are ready to see Castro as an everyday starter, several twists regarding the Twins’ future lineup emerge. Castro Has Leapfrogged Four Prospects If Castro secures the leadoff spot, regardless of the position he plays, he’ll need to stay in the lineup. That means the Twins have four highly-regarded (or formerly highly-regarded) prospects in St. Paul who are all competing for one spot this year. Matt Wallner, Alex Kirilloff, Julien, and Lee are all competing for a semi-open spot in either left field or at second base. Castro can take whichever spot is left over, but he won’t be replaced or lose at-bats when he does so. His switch-hitting bat at the top of the lineup is the priority. Will the Twins Leave Good Enough Alone? Baseball teams and players don’t like to mess with something that is working. So, if Willi Castro continues to thrive while playing a solid second base, especially while hitting leadoff, how tempted will the Twins be to leave him there? That could be especially true if Wallner finds his way back to a corner outfield spot and recreates last year’s success. Or, if Austin Martin shows the capability to hold down a corner outfield spot on a regular basis. Once the left field corner spot is secured, where will the Twins’ leadoff hitter play, if not at second base? Where Does This Leave Julien and Lee? The Twins clearly believe in Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee, and for good reason. But in the near term, do they rank higher than Castro? Does that near-term thinking end after the 2024 season, or does it extend to the 2025 season? Or beyond? While we’re on a roll with question marks, let’s see how many more we can stuff into this section. Given the glut of prospects fighting for a single spot on the roster, at what point do the Twins start to view some of that depth as redundant? Or, if "redundant" is too strong a word, when does it at least allow them to loosen their grip a bit during trade deadline talks? Do the Twins believe enough in Castro to consider trading away some of their top infield prospects? (Do you?) Those questions also become a little more complicated when looking forward to the 2025 season. Additional lineup spots will be open next year, when Max Kepler and Carlos Santana are likely no longer on the team. Plus, there could be another open spot in 2026, because Castro will become a free agent after the 2025 season. Which raises perhaps the biggest question… Does a Contract Extension Make Sense for Either Side? This year, the Twins will have their final chance to offer Castro arbitration, where we can estimate he’ll make roughly $5-7 million. That’s a fair amount of money for a utility infielder, but a bargain for a second baseman hitting atop the batting order. The Twins should be very interested in signing that player to an extension that pays him through the balance of his prime years. Especially because those prime years are right now and in the near future, not in the past. Castro is only 27, which is great news for the Twins but even better news for Castro, as he’ll hit the free market as a 28-year-old, providing a golden opportunity to sign a multi-year deal. It’s hard enough to get a contract extension done with a player a year before free agency. Given his age and breakthrough success, Castro would likely be advised to drive a hard bargain, rather than miss his shot at hitting the open market. On the other hand, he may have the same perception problem with the rest of the league with which we’re wrestling: he’s “only” a utility player. Given his journey so far, four years of guaranteed money might be appealing. Whether or not this is a possibility is a major factor in most of the questions above. If Castro is determined to be a free agent at the end of 2025, his future value is limited, compared to the various prospects in question. In addition, keeping Castro in his utility role and slotting the prospects for a full-time position makes a lot more sense. One key input into the decision to prioritize Castro over some of the above (or not) is the extent to which they view him as keepable beyond 2025, and projectable over the first few years of that span. How Far Should the Twins Go? It’s one thing to say “we all should be paying more attention to Willi Castro.” It’s another to unpack what that means, and to adjust one’s thinking about where he fits into the Twins’ future lineup. Committing to that future with a contract extension or trading away a prized prospect is a big step farther down the path. But Castro has earned that consideration. Perhaps our expectations and the traditional “utility infielder” label are blinding us to his value. The Twins (and Twins fans, and Twins Daily) pride themselves on recognizing market inefficiencies in MLB and taking advantage of them. It's not a coincidence that Castro is about to set a new benchmark for positional flexibility within a season, previously approached only by two other Twins super-utility guys. It looks like the Twins have a doozy of a blind spot within their own organization, and need to explore pivoting accordingly. How far would you go? View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins being carried by Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis on absolute heaters, sending down Alex Kirilloff but not calling up Matt Wallner, and the added dimension Austin Martin can bring to a lineup. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about Royce Lewis' imminent return and the Twins' many different ways to make room for him, Joe Ryan's rising velocity, Jorge Alcala and Diego Castillo giving the bullpen a new look, and Simeon Woods Richardson's future. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about trying to make sense of the Twins at the one-third mark, Jhoan Duran's missing velocity, positive rotation trends, lagging attendance, the lack of left-handed lineup thump, and stretching the definition of "pleasant." You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' latest depressing series vs. the Yankees, how much the return of Byron Buxton could help a sloppy defense, why the same lineup can be so good and so bad, what to make of Alex Kirilloff's extended struggles, and lessons to be learned from the Timberwolves. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

This story is a beaut!

One fact Kris Atteberry pointed out in the ninth before Kepler's single is that after the fourth inning, the Twins had only seen 42 pitches between their 14 straight retired batters. And Toronto's bullpen has not been very good (though some of the guys the Twins saw have been better). The bullpen will be blamed, but this was a team loss. The lineup absolutely flailed about after the 4th.

FWIW, Jamie Cameron has a story on Matthews that is running early tomorrow, so stay tuned. 🙂

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' lineup and rotation stepping up to keep rolling against better competition, Ryan Jeffers and Max Kepler crushing everything, the latest on injuries to Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Brock Stewart, and Justin Topa, and why some bullpen blowups are inevitably in a stretch like this. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' winning streak turning their season around, Carlos Correa and Jhoan Duran returning as Byron Buxton and Brock Stewart go on the injured list, windows opening for Jose Miranda and Austin Martin, and the latest on TV drama that always seems to hurt Twins fans. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

If you’re a Twins fan who can’t watch your favorite team on cable in the Twin Cities starting today, you probably have some questions. Here’s our best shot at the answers. Image courtesy of © Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Q: Why the hell can’t I watch the Twins on cable, suddenly? A: Bally Sports, the network that owns the Twins’ 2024 TV rights, no longer has a contract with Comcast, the cable provider for most of the Twin Cities. They haven’t been able to agree on a new one for all of Bally Sports’ 15 regional networks, including locally-based Bally Sports North, so now they’re pointing fingers at each other. Q: So, how the hell do I watch the Twins on TV? A: Switch to a cable provider or satellite network provider that Bally Sports North is still on. These include Direct TV or Fubo. Q: I thought all this garbage was solved in the offseason? A: There was a different dispute in the offseason. In the offseason, the Twins didn’t have a deal with anyone for their TV rights. They came to an agreement with Diamond Sports Group, who owns the Bally channels. This is different. Now Diamond Sports (Bally) can’t come to an agreement with Comcast to have their television channel on Comcast’s cable package. Q: Can’t the Twins do anything about this? A: They have been quick to point out that they can’t, but that conveniently ignores that they voluntarily slapped some big golden handcuffs on themselves. They were in a position to influence this just a couple of months ago, but instead, they took a big wad of money from Bally for their TV rights, giving up control of how it would be brought to consumers. (Then, by the way, they pocketed that money and still decreased the team’s payroll by $30+ million, anyway.) Q: That’s it! I’m cutting the cord! How can I stream the games? A: You can’t, or at least not if you’re in the Twins’ market. Part of the Twins’ current TV rights deal with Bally includes a provision such that they can’t give streaming rights to be sold in-market. In fact, that provision is one of the reasons they were able to get the deal done with Bally. If you’re not in the Twins’ market or can trick MLB into thinking you’re not with a VPN (virtual private network) or similar tech wizardry, you can subscribe to MLB TV to watch all the games. Q: So, I’m just screwed? A: Either you switch providers, or you hope that two large companies resolve this pretty massive face-off. For what it’s worth, both companies should be feeling a fair amount of pain, too. It sounds like Bally was getting paid $8-10 per month per subscriber previously from Comcast, so they’re likely losing millions per month in revenue just from the Twin Cities market, and they’re still on the hook for paying the Twins for the TV rights. Meanwhile, Comcast, amidst a challenging environment where more and more people are cutting the cord, just dropped the one reason a big chunk of their market still has cable. Those are subscribers who may never come back. You can also multiply the pain in those companies by roughly 15. This dispute affects all of Bally’s Sports’ 15 regional sports networks, not just Bally Sports North. Q: Any other ideas? A: No, but maybe someone will offer up good ones in the comments. We’re navigating this, just like you. View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins digging a deeper and deeper hole, Matt Wallner's demotion and Trevor Larnach's latest chance, what to make of Louie Varland and Chris Paddack struggling in the back of the rotation, and the pros and cons of fighting ham. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article