John Bonnes

Image courtesy of © Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images As Twins Daily's Winter Meltdown has grown in the public consciousness, it's also grown in the number of guests. Today, we're thrilled to announce LaTroy Hawkins will be joining our party, where he'll be interviewed by Aaron Gleeman and John Bonnes, participate in some activities, and stick around to meet our caretakers and their friends. (Sorry, absolutely no autographs.) Plus, we'll reveal our second guest tomorrow! "Hawk" spent over two decades in Major League Baseball, but the core of his career came with the Minnesota Twins. Drafted by the team in 1991, Hawkins worked his way through the organization and made his major league debut in 1995. The Twins used him in a wide range of roles: starter, long reliever, setup man, and eventually closer. That flexibility made him a regular presence on the pitching staff throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, a period when Minnesota was moving from one contending generation to another. Hawkins’ best-known seasons came during his time in the bullpen. Hawkins was a key contributor in the 2002 and 2003 division-winning teams, frequently asked to pitch in high-leverage situations late in games. Hawkins ended up pitching in 366 Twins games over nine years, finishing his Minnesota tenure as one of the team’s all-time leaders in relief appearances and innings pitched by a reliever. He developed from a do-anything contributor to an overpowering reliever who showed up consistently and handled whatever role was assigned to him. After leaving Minnesota, Hawkins went on to pitch for ten(!) more major league teams over the next 12 years, extending his career into his early forties and becoming one of the most widely traveled pitchers in MLB history. Still, his longest stay and most recognizable stretch came with the Twins, where he established himself as a dependable arm and team leader for an organization rediscovering its mojo. After his playing career, he rejoined the franchise, joining the organization as a special assistant in 2016, and will be the team’s bullpen coach this upcoming year under new manager Derek Shelton. We would love for you to get to know him better. It's not too late to get tickets, but you can't just buy them. We hoped to sell some for $60, but we're limited to just 250 tickets, and we need to prioritize our Caretakers, so we can't release them to the general public. But you can become a Caretaker for as little as $4/month, and that gets you a free ticket, AND you can bring up to three more guests for just $20 apiece. Become a Caretaker here! If you are already a Caretaker, THANK YOU. But please do not delay in buying your ticket. We will likely sell out, even limiting them to Caretakers and their friends. So grab them now. Each ticket includes: Two complimentary craft beers An exclusive Winter Meltdown 2026 pint glass Automatic entry into door prize raffles Five hours of premium Hot Stove hangouts with your people Live on-stage interviews hosted by Aaron Gleeman & John Bonnes Face time with special guests who mingle with the Twins Daily community Event Details Date: Saturday, January 24 Time: 4:00 – 9:00 PM Location: Smorgie’s, 508 N 1st Ave, Minneapolis With the Winter Meltdown falling on the same weekend as TwinsFest, the day will be a full, perfectly sequenced celebration of baseball. Spend the afternoon at Target Field soaking in TwinsFest, then make the easy trip over to Smorgie’s to keep the energy rolling – the ideal way to transition from daytime fan fest to an evening surrounded by fellow diehards, cold drinks, and great conversation. And join us tomorrow when we announce our final guest! He’ll be a “first” for Twins Daily’s Winter Meltdown! View full article

Tomorrow we'll reveal this year's Winter Meltdown pint glass, available only at the year's Winter Meltdown. It will be the 12th pint glass Brock Beauchamp has designed, and I thought it might be fun to look at the first 11 and how they related to the history of the Winter Meltdown. 2014 - Year One - A New Idea The first year's pint glass is unique - because we had no idea what we were doing. But we knew what had happened the year before, which we now refer to as Year 0 of the Meltdown. We had purchased a keg at Hubert's across the street from the Metrodome, and invited anyone who read Twins Daily to stop by and have a beer on us after Twins Fest. We were swamped. Well over 100 people showed up, and we recognized that all those digital eyeballs that we had seen on Google Analytics belonged to real eyeballs that wanted to connect. So in 2014, we planned ahead a bit. We booked Scott Erickson and Dave St. Peter, Brock designed a pint glass based on a memorable Twins’ moment, 612 Brew provided the beer, and most of us (including Erickson) stayed way too late in the night talking Twins. A tradition had started. 2015-2020 - Years Two Through Seven - The Baseball Years We kept going strong, getting more and more attendees and more prominent guests over the next six years. Alumni like Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, and Kent Hrbek joined us, and we had over 400-600 people attend a few of these events. We decided we wanted different designs for the pint glasses every year, and there were only so many iconic moments that we could capture, so the pint glasses switched their designs to the old-timey Twins playing winter baseball. They captured the Meltdown’s vibe: a mix of winter and fun, which seems quaint given what came next. 2021-2022 Year Eight and ??? - COVID Hits COVID meant no events for the next two years, but the first year we leaned into it with a special isolation-themed pint glass that you could order online, and the proceeds went to charity. The second year we ... didn't. And it looked like the Winter Meltdown might be doomed. 2023 - 2025 Years Eight Through Eleven - Pint Glasses for the Fans But we did not going to go gently into that good night. We bounced back with Glen Perkins and Patrick Reusse in 2023, and started including current players the next year when Minnesotans Matt Wallner and Louis Varland joined us. Since we had already broken the ice on the pint glasses reflecting the mood of the fan base, we kept going down that path, too: the 2022 season ended amid a slew of injuries the 2023 season ended with the Twins breaking the playoff loss streak the 2024 season ended with the team for sale. Which brings us to the 2025 season, a season that ended with a fan base trying to process just what the hell happened to their beloved franchise. We'll reveal that design tomrrow, but you're welcome to give your thoughts below. Or better yet, make sure you get your glass by becoming a Twins Daily caretaker and getting your free tickets, and grabbing up to three more tickets for your crew. See you on Friday for the reveal! View full article

The Winter Meltdown returns bigger and better than ever. New venue. New surprises. New 2026 pint glass. Same electric Twins Daily energy you look forward to every year. This is the offseason celebration built by fans, for fans — and you’ll want to be there when it all melts down (in the best way possible). Fresh details will drop soon right here on Twins Daily. Consider this your official heads-up: mark your calendar now. Sign up to take care of Twins Daily. Tickets sell fast. Memories last forever. When & Where Date: Saturday, January 24 Time: 4:00 – 9:00 PM Location: A brand-new spot in downtown Minneapolis — just blocks from Target Field. And yes, it’s the same weekend as TwinsFest. That means you can soak up the full fan experience at Target Field, then stroll over to the Meltdown to top off the day with the ultimate afterparty. Each ticket includes: Two complimentary craft beers An exclusive Winter Meltdown 2026 pint glass Automatic entry into door prize raffles Five hours of premium Hot Stove hangouts with your people Live on-stage interviews hosted by Aaron Gleeman & John Bonnes Face time with special guests who mingle with the Twins Daily community Past guests have included Kent Hrbek, Trevor Plouffe, Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, LaTroy Hawkins, John Bonnes, Aaron Gleeman, and more — plus rising stars like Simeon Woods Richardson and fan-favorite voice Cory Provus. Who’s stepping to the mic this year? Stay tuned. How/Tickets Hundreds of people have previously wanted to attend this exclusive event, but this year, we only have 250 tickets available. You will likely need to become (or know) a Twins Daily Caretaker to get a ticket. Each caretaker gets a free ticket to the Meltdown. Caretakers can buy up to three additional tickets for just $20 The Caretakers take care of Twins Daily, and we want to take care of them, so to give them the best chance, we're limiting the tickets to them, at least for now. If you want to join Twins Daily's Caretakers, you can do so for as low as $4/month. You get exclusive content, other benefits, and support from our hard-working writers, moderators, and tech guys. We would LOVE to have you join us. Can I Just Buy A Ticket? Maybe? If our Caretakers don't sell this thing out, we'll offer general admission tickets the week of the event. Last year we couldn't. But if we can, they'll be $60 apiece. Become a Caretaker here! If you're already a Caretaker, THANK YOU. We’ll get you your special link soon. But once we do, please don't delay in buying your ticket. We'll likely sell out, even limiting them to Caretakers and their friends. Looking for more details? Great! We'll reveal more about the Meltdown as it approaches, including our guests, special brewery, giveaways, and other sponsors. We'll soon reveal our new location, closer to TwinsFest and Target Field than ever before. You won't want to miss it! So follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Bluesky for more news as it's released. Plus, stop by all week as we reveal details. View full article

You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link or you can listen to it or watch it below. View full article

You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link, or you can listen to it or watch it below. View full article

You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link or you can listen to it or watch it below. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images The Twins started their offseason by acquiring their likely backup catcher from the Baltimore Orioles in an arbitration-deadline-driven trade. Alex Jackson, a 29-year-old, power-first, defense-capable catcher who has spent most of his career on the fringe between Triple-A and the majors, will join Minnesota. In return, the Twins sent Payton Eeles, a 26-year-old utility infielder who has yet to make his MLB debut. Jackson is a right-handed hitter and the prototypical journeyman backstop: raw power, a strong arm, dependable defense, and plenty of strikeouts. A former first-round pick, he has consistently shown real pop at Triple-A — slugging .517 across his time at that level — but that production has never carried over against MLB pitching. Across parts of five big-league seasons, he’s hit just .153 with six home runs, limited by high strikeout rates and difficulty making consistent contact. That changed for the better in 2025. With Baltimore, he hit well at Triple-A (772 OPS) and briefly filled in behind Adley Rutschman in the majors (763 OPS over 100 PA). But he also qualified for arbitration this winter, and MLB Trade Rumors projected him to earn $1.8 million, making him available. With Rutschman and top prospect Samuel Basallo in the big leagues, and Basallo signed through 2033, Jackson would have only been an emergency catcher. For the Twins, who paid Christian Vázquez $10 million each of the past three years before he became a free agent, that's a relative bargain. Eeles, headed to Baltimore, gives the Orioles some middle-infield depth. At this time last year, he looked like one of the Twins’ most unexpected development wins, jumping from the independent Atlantic League in May of 2024 to Triple-A St. Paul by season’s end. Once in Triple-A, the then-24-year-old slashed .299/.419/.500 with eight homers, 20 steals, and a 14.6 percent strikeout rate over 260 plate appearances. Offseason knee surgery pushed back the start of his 2025 campaign back. He returned to the Saints in early June. His production was down, but he still posted a .379 OBP. But Eeles is just 5-foot-5 and unlikely to grow into much power. He profiles as a pesky, contact-oriented hitter who can get on base, pressure defenses and swipe 20-plus bags with regular playing time. The Twins have several infielders that they are more committed to developing in the organization, a fact underscored when Eeles did not receive a late-season call-up even after the team traded away ten players at the deadline. To make room for Jackson on the Twins 40-man roster, outfielder DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. was designated for assignment. View full article

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images This afternoon, Major League Baseball announced the anticipated new media-rights agreement granting ESPN rights to distribute local games for six teams beginning in the 2026 season—including the Minnesota Twins. While this represents a significant change in the league’s broader TV and streaming strategy, Twins fans can relax; nothing changes about how you watch games. In-market streaming: Twins.TV will continue to carry all in-market games for fans in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Wisconsin and Iowa. Out-of-market streaming: MLB.TV remains the option for out-of-market viewers (with the usual blackout rules). The MLB.TV and Twins.TV bundle will remain available. Traditional TV: The deal does not affect 2026 local television distribution. You should continue watching on the same carrier, same channel, and same subscription tier you used last year. In addition, MLB will gain an additional distribution lane and may choose to stream select games on the ESPN app or related platforms. Those specifics haven’t been announced, but whatever ESPN adds will be in addition to, not instead of, Twins.TV or your current TV provider. In addition, this deal should not affect the broadcasts themselves, as it is a distribution rights deal, and doesn’t affect the production of the broadcasts. After last season’s rocky rollout of Twins.TV (including late carrier announcements and MLB server issues on Opening Day), this stability is a welcome development. Fans will be able to watch exactly as Twins Daily's TV/Streaming Guide directed you to in 2025: Twins.TV for streaming, and the same TV provider and channel for cable/satellite. From that standpoint, the announcement is straightforward, but it represents a much bigger deal to MLB. This is an early step toward consolidating national television and streaming rights, which is an especially important development for smaller markets. Unlike the NFL or NBA, where the bulk of television money is shared, local television revenues represent a major difference between large- and small-market teams in MLB. The hope is that grouping most MLB teams into a single deal will help address that inherent disparity. View full article

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You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link or you can listen to it or watch it below. View full article

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Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images During Twins President Derek Falvey’s wide-ranging, season-ending sit-down with the media on Tuesday, he was asked what the Twins' payroll would be in 2026. He didn’t answer, but we’ll find out. And when that number is released, I want you to understand what it means. So I’m going to give you five payroll levels and what they mean for the future of your Minnesota Twins. That’s because there was also one inadvertent admission during that session: payroll matters. Falvey was also asked how he viewed the Twins roster for the 2026 season. He replied that it depended on ownership. “Specifically working with ownership around exactly what the vision is for this team going forward and opportunities and the markets and things like that.” That’s an interesting and backwards response, because usually ownership would lean on, say, their President of Baseball Operations to evaluate the current level of the team and the free agent market. But you know what ownership can dictate? They can dictate a payroll budget, which was the very next question. “I think that’s a conversation that we’ll continue to have, certainly with the Pohlads and whatever conversation they’d like me to have with the limited partners”, replied Falvey. So Falvey doesn’t know what we can expect from the Twins next year until he talks to ownership. And he doesn’t know what he has to spend until he talks to ownership. Well, of course. It is well-documented that the decline of the Twins' payroll has influenced the decline of the Twins over the last two years. However, it has also been the primary limitation of the team since its inception. For that matter, it has been a critical factor of every baseball team throughout their history, and while we’re at it, for the vast majority of other businesses as well. Listen, I love underdog Disney movies, too. But our love of underdog Disney movies doesn’t change the way the world works. In fact, our sad understanding of the way the world works is what makes us love underdog Disney movies. Payroll matters. So let’s look at the five levels at which the Pohlads and their new limited partners could reasonably be expected to fund payroll for 2026. They correspond with five grades fans should give them. But before we get to that, you have to know one number: 95. $95 million is roughly what it will cost the Twins to retain the team they have. Below is the 2026 roster and rough estimates for players' salaries. I’d encourage the baseball geeks to check my work, and more casual fans to peruse what the lineup and bullpen look like. If $95M is the baseline, here are the five levels (and grades) that Twins fans should reasonably expect. $80M - Grade: F At this level, ownership is telling you that the historic trade deadline fire sale still wasn’t enough to satisfy their money-lust. To get to this level, the team will either need to trade away some combination of Pablo Lopez, or Joe Ryan AND Ryan Jeffers, or Byron Buxton (who has a no-trade clause). If the knife cuts this deep, there’s a decent chance that $80M would be the lowest payroll in MLB, behind the Athletics, Marlins, and Rays. The Twins’ win expectations (and likely, attendance) would reflect this. $100M - Grade D At this level, ownership is fielding the same team that went 19-36 after the trade deadline, or they’re trading away one of the names above to free up some cash to add some minor free agents, like a couple of low-leverage relievers or a Ty France-level bat. This is a below .500 team. (Maybe well below .500.) $120M - Grade C This was roughly what the team’s payroll was this year. They would have about $25M to spend, which is either enough room to add one big bat, or to add a couple of semi-decent bats at first base and designated hitter, and maybe a bargain reliever. The Twins would be projected to be a .500 team and a wild-card also-ran. $140M - Grade B This was roughly what the team’s payroll was going into 2025, before they traded away $25M in payroll at the trade deadline. They would have about $45M to spend, which is definitely enough to add two middle-of-the-order bats and a decent reliever or two. They would be projected to be a wild-card contender. $160M - Grade A This is about the Twins' payroll in 2023, when they beat Toronto in the Wild Card round. It is also $20-30M below the average MLB payroll in 2026. However, it provides $65M to spend, which can be allocated to a combination of two or three big bats, two lockdown relievers, and possibly some complementary pieces. They would be an AL Central contender or Wild Card team. So, there you have it: five payroll levels, five grades, and five expectations. The fact that Falvey is entering an offseason claiming not to know which level we should expect is alarming, because surely that would be revealed if he knew it was good news. Whatever the news, he’s going to have to find a way to make the best of it, because payroll matters. And we Twins fans will have to do the same. What will the payroll level be? What should it be? Let us know below. View full article

You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link or you can listen to it or watch it below. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, GleemanAndTheGeek.com, click this link or you can listen to it or watch it below. View full article