KirbyDome89

A baseball "pipeline," is metaphorical. If nothing is being delivered the metaphor begins to fall apart. hence my "within the context of baseball, production is implied," line from the post you quoted.

He had a .278 OBP and a 33% K rate. That 2023 Twins team struggled massively with offensive consistency, and Taylor contributed to that problem all year despite the career high in HRs.

With absolutely zero context, sure, the Twins possess a pipeline, and the flow rate doesn't enhance or diminish its existence. If we're talking about a pipeline within the context of baseball, production is implied. That's a logical connection.

I'd say those numbers are pretty conservative. 11 players (would've been 12 if Vazquez was healthy to end the year) exceeded 300 PAs for the Twins last year. 7 (or 8 depending on whether we count Vazquez) of those guys did so in what amounted to roughly 4 months worth of playing time. 356 PAs (a 55/45 split with Jeffers) went to catchers other than Jeffers, and that was with Jeffers healthy essentially all season and Vazquez being one of the worst hitters in baseball. Jeffers started 80 games last year. 81 the season before that. Alex Jackson, with his .153/.239/.288 career slash, is going to get plenty of run. Arcia and Kreidler will only play SS? So the Twins are going to burn a bench spot, a la Kiersey, and use either of the aforementioned guys exclusively as pinch runners and/or late inning defensive replacements? Culpepper has played half of a season above A ball. If everything breaks right he's maybe with the Twins at or near the deadline. You still need to get through months of baseball without him, assuming you get him at all. Clemens is soaking up utility innings now? He's not a L/R platoon with Wagaman at 1B? You're just gonna set Josh Bell loose there and cross your fingers? Where is there room for Julien on your roster? Ok, so Wagaman rots just like your backup SS. Bell is a switch hitter, so you're not subbing for him vs relief arms and you're not worried about SPs either so the only way Wagaman is getting PAs is the DH role, and only vs LHP. That's now half of your bench that you refuse to play btw, good luck with that. Lengthy injury histories of some of the starters aside, the usage (when healthy) that you're advocating for is what's "laughable," here. The PA numbers I threw out aren't worse case scenario, they're normal bench usage numbers. I'll say it again, bench spots aren't "contingency plans." Those guys actually play, hence the hand wringing over the sheer number of replacement level (or worse) guys this organization seems intent on forcing onto this roster. Yeah, even the best teams are trying to fill holes at times, but bringing in multiple sub replacement level guys to back up a roster that already has too many sub replacement level guys locked into playing time (what the Twins are doing) is downplaying the situation to an insane degree. Is the point to be equally as incompetent at the MI positions as division rivals? Because Cleveland and Detroit got anemic production from their 2B/SS combs it's ok if the Twins are also horrendous? I'm good on the whataboutism.

What? Jackson as the backup C is going to start at least 70ish games, so we're talking about 300+ PAs there. Wagaman, even as the short side of the 1B platoon or emergency corner OF is good for al least 300 PAs and that's assuming Clemens doesn't completely crater. Kreidler and/or Arcia aren't going to exclusively play SS. They're going to get starts around the infield, or in Kreidler's case, potentially the OF. That's another 300+ PAs. This all assumes these guys last on the roster and don't completely flame out, but that's at least 1,000 PAs dedicated to terrible offensive players between the new additions. How low does the bar need to go before people are allowed to "hate," an offensively challenged club piling more terrible hitters onto the roster?

Locking in what you hope is a league average bat at DH isn't adding firepower and it definitely exacerbates the defensive shortcomings that already existed on the roster.

Twins fans massively overrate Taylor.

If he is out of options then maybe? Idk, I still think if Arcia's SS defense is passable they'll take his bat but it doesn't really matter, both of them are net negatives.

Draft/develop has been bad, the "core," is massively flawed, but this FO continues to bring in guys who in the best case scenario hold up a floor that's quickly approaching rock bottom. In a lot of cases they just actively contribute to the losing.

But they weren't, and they're still not, hence the issue with handing outsized roles to marginal at best players. Bader was starting from day 1, no permutation of the above players struggling or getting injured elevated his role. He was brought in with the intention of playing exactly as often as he did, but hey, I guess I don't know ball so... Check the thread(s) if you'd like. I'm not digging back through them. The playoff roster? They didn't release him. I mean Gallo was still starting games through all of August and even played in early September before an "injury," derailed his season, and this was for a team that needed Ws. He had been unplayable since April. He slashed .163/.288/.374 with a 45% K rate from May 1st onward. People keep pointing at him because he spent months chewing up a roster spot and being terrible for a team that wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders for a majority of the season. Ditto for Margot, the fact that the Twins whiffed on Margot's inability to play CF and they couldn't find another sub replacement level corner OF within their own system doesn't excuse them for letting him set an all time record for PH futility and racking up starter level PAs for them, but again, I don't know ball... Yes, and part of the reason this team sucks is that they continue to commit valuable roster spots and playing time to players who suck.

I was a certified "hater," of the Bader signing. His resurgence with the bat proved me wrong, but his usage was exactly what had myself and others concerned. He was billed as the 4th OF/late inning defensive replacement off the bench at the time of the signing, in reality he received starter level PAs whether in LF or filling in for Buxton in CF. We had just watched this team give Gallo and Margot leashes that were infinitely too long, so Idk, maybe I "don't know ball," or maybe this organization has a track record of sticking with vets well past their expiration date. Right now one of Arcia or Kreidler is locked into the active roster. My guess is that Arcia's vet status gives him the inside edge.

Congrats to the Twins for finding a way to manipulate a defensive metric and feign defensive improvement. Ty Fance had a .678 OPS for the Twins last season. That's not remotely close to an average bat for 1B.

I think that's downplaying how bad this roster really is. The Twins were legitimately the worst team in baseball post deadline in 2025.

Fungible reliever > lotto ticket by definition, but I'd stop far short of proclaiming Bragg to be the former. Yes, you can find back end fodder anytime you want, the same way you can find a 1B who can't get on base, hit for power, or play defense anytime you want. That was the point. Yep, Keaschall looked choppy at 2B at times. I can see the athleticism playing well in a corner OF spot, and yeah, I think the opportunity for OF assists happen less frequently than fans realize. That said, guys are going to take extra bases on him. If Keaschall is an absolute stud as far as range goes, he can get away with a noodle arm. I mean Toronto started Varsho in CF during the WS, but Keaschall would have to be elite. I'm willing to buy into the "injuries create opportunities," theory and I wouldn't be shaping my 2026 opening day roster specifically for Jenkins/Gonzalez/Rodriguez, but that trio is pretty damn close, and they'll need PAs just like Keaschall. Keeping Keaschall in play on the IF, whether it's 2B or 1B is almost necessary with the way this roster is currently constructed. I don't see Clemens as anywhere close to a plus with the bat no matter where he's playing.

I don't think there's any amount of defense that can justify his bat. Culpepper on the 26 man to start probably isn't best for his development but yeah, he almost literally couldn't be worse than Kreidler.

Zero chance Wagaman is a AAA "depth," signing. Zero. Concur on Keaschall. I keep hearing about how he looked so much better in LF (Idk I didn't watch him play in the minors) but he struggled making throws from 2B so who knows what that looks like in the OF, plus the grouping of prospects you mentioned. My guess is Keaschall stays at 2B, Clemens/Wagaman platoon at 1B, and Bell is locked in at DH. I hate that. $7M of your limited budget for a DH who isn't a good hitter on a roster full of DH candidates is terrible resource allocation/roster building. Another platoon where both sides struggle, even in "favorable," matchups is a disaster waiting to happen without even accounting for the poor defense. Keaschall looked awkward at 2B. You could've given him 1B and used the money/roster spots to actually improve the team, maybe even beyond this year.

"It's not hard to see what the Twins see in him." Eh, it kinda is. Doesn't get on base, doesn't hit for power, and doesn't play defense. Oh, and they gave up a lotto ticket for him when they could've just claimed him (or some other version of him) off waivers. Wagaman hits from the right side so they can deploy another awful platoon; can't wait to watch that.... I think subtracting Larnach to guarantee Kreidler a roster spot and moving Clemens to 2B for a Bell/Wagaman platoon (if that's the sequence of events that plays out) actually makes this team worse. Kind of impressive when you consider how bad the roster was to begin with.

Brooks Lee the AS? Can we get a season where he isn't sub replacement level before we start comparing him to guys who were actually productive?

Brooks Lee might not even be a decent utility IF off the bench if he can't figure out how to at least be a passable hitter. He looks stretched at SS, Idk about 2B. No team remotely serious about competing is giving up a roster spot for that profile.

People don't seem to understand how talent deficient this roster really is. The Twins were legitimately worse than the White Sox for the last 2 months of 2025, that doesn't happen just because you sold the top end of your bullpen.

Chicken or the egg I suppose. I'm happy to cede that if Falvey continues to insist on wasting what FA dollars he has on quantity over quality I'll start rooting for high pre arb numbers too

Yeah, I believe this team can and should spend more than the 2026 payroll they're tracking towards. Also, yes, spending should be trending upwards just to stay in that 17-20th range. A sub $100M payroll a la Cleveland or TB is embarrassing, and the notion that this ownership group can't support a below average payroll is total bull****. Trevor Larnach at $4M isn't a problem. Trevor Larnach, the plodding defender who is best situated to be a DH but lacks a consistent enough bat to use him at DH is a problem. The arb status of Lewis, Lee, Wallner, Miranda, Julien, Martin, ect isn't nearly as concerning as their regression or outright failure to produce. To me that's the difference between 2023 and last season, not 7 vs 10 pre arb players.

Which massively contradicts the claim that the debt is a result of baseball operations (despite ownership insisting that's the case) and the notion that payroll at that level can't be supported.

Eh, I just disagree that the lack of FA success drove the club to stagnation. Vice versa I'd say. I'm not fixated on the number of pre arb players. Guys like Lee, Wallner, or even Lewis might not make it through arbitration, not because the Twins can't afford them, but because they might not be deemed worthy of even their modest salaries a la Larnach. Inexperience or youth doesn't necessarily correlate with production or actual talent. Agree to disagree at this point.

Concur that BBTV needs to be taken with a massive grain of salt. The swap(s) felt like quality for quantity and the As need quality, YMMV. I too dislike the Bell signing, and I feel that a third attempt at competing with this "core," is poor decision. Falvey couldn't sustain/supplement and open contention window that he was essentially handed. I have zero faith in his ability to oversee a rebuild. Idk if there was a third option in that poll but I fully understand why some would choose the status quo over a rebuild with the current FO calling the shots.