Tom Froemming

There is a winner picked every year. So far, there's always been someone worthy of honoring. Hopefully that trend continues. Correct, that was the expectation Keaschall himself set during an interview at TwinsFest. Despite not being on the big league side of camp, Eeles could still get into a decent number of spring games and build a case for Sire of Fort Myers. He would really have to make the most of his limited opportunities, but it's possible.

Hear ye, hear ye! ‘Tis time. A new Sire of Fort Myers shall be crowned this spring. Let’s take a look at the history of the award and go over this year’s top contenders for the crown, cape and scepter. Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images This will be the seventh time we’ve crowned a Sire of Fort Myers. Can you believe it!? It feels like just yesterday we witnessed Sire LaMarre go from scrappy longshot to making the Opening Day roster and becoming the Hero In Puerto Rico. As a refresher, here are the past winners of Sire of Fort Myers: 2024 Brooks Lee 2023 Willi Castro 2022 Jhoan Durán 2021 Derek Law 2019 Ryne Harper 2018 Ryan LaMarre Players from all different backgrounds have taken the crown, from top prospects to journeymen reclamation projects. There’s also been an even split between hitters and pitchers over the years. Eligibility Sire of Fort Myers is all about focusing on the guys who have the most to gain from a great spring. How do we define that? Rigidly. To be considered for the crown, a player must either 1) Not be on the 40-man roster, or 2) Never have played in the majors. There are a few players every year who fit the typical Sire profile—guys who have a lot to gain from a great spring—but aren’t eligible. This year’s group includes Mickey Gasper (13 MLB games), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (six) and Jair Camargo (five). Those three are worth monitoring this spring, but rules are rules. They’re on the 40-man roster and have MLB time, so they’re not eligible. Candidates Here are the guys on the 40-man roster who have yet to make their MLB debut: Travis Adams, Matt Canterino, Eiberson Castellano, Marco Raya, Diego Cartaya and Emmanuel Rodriguez. I typically look to this player pool when trying to identify a Sire of Fort Myers favorite, as these guys often get the most spring playing time. Despite that being the case, the only prior winners who fit this description were Lee and Durán. The Sire of Fort Myers often emerges from the shadows of big-league camp to achieve glory. Castro, Law, Harper and LaMarre were all signed to minor-league deals with zero fanfare. Harper hadn’t even pitched in the big leagues, entering his age-30 season. This year’s group of non-roster invitees features some of the top prospects (Luke Keaschall, Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis, etc.) and other familiar names who were already in the system in 2024 (Scott Blewett, Randy Dobnak, etc.), but there are also seven players new to the org. These outsiders might not be front of mind, but it’s possible one of them emerges to take the crown. So let’s get to know ‘em. NRIs New to the Org Darren McCaughan (mih-CACK-en) saw significant MLB time for the first time in what was a busy year for him. There are 27 different transaction lines from 2024 alone on his MLB player page. He was designated for assignment three times, traded twice, claimed off waivers once and signed a minors deal with the Twins, all in the same calendar year. The 28-year-old right-hander logged 42 innings and posted a 6.21 ERA in the majors with the Marlins and Guardians. He’s pitched 101 Triple-A games, all of them starts. The sweeper is McCaughan’s primary pitch, alongside a sinker that sits 89 mph. Anthony Misiewicz (mih-SEV-itch) might have the clearest path to a potential role on the big club of any of these NRI newcomers. He’s a 30-year-old left-handed pitcher with 131 MLB games to his name, though he only appeared in one big-league game last season. He pitched to a 3.90 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 55 1/3 Triple-A innings, with a 29.0 K% and 7.6 BB% in 2024. Lefties hit just .207/.253/.317 off him in the minors. He mainly throws an 88-mph cutter, a 93-mph fastball and 79-mph curve. Erasmo Ramírez is another NRI who has significant big-league time. Entering his age-35 season, Ramírez has 327 MLB games under his belt. He threw 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Rays last season, and in Triple-A, he had a 3.23 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 28.8 K% and 6.8 BB% in 53 innings. Though his starting days appear to be behind him, Ramírez still features a five-pitch mix. His 89-mph cutter and 91-mph sinker are the primary offerings. Alex Speas has had a cup of coffee in the bigs each of the past two seasons, amounting to four innings pitched. He’s a soon-to-be 27-year-old right-hander who was drafted in the second round by the Rangers back in 2016, one spot ahead of Pete Alonso and three ahead of Bo Bichette. Player evaluation is difficult. Speas has electric velo, topping out at 100.4 mph during his big-league time, but his command is basically nonexistent. He’s walked 19.6% of the batters he’s faced in 173 1/3 career Triple-A innings. Huascar Ynoa is a familiar name. He originally signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic, but was dealt to Atlanta before he even got out of rookie ball. That looked like it was going to come back to haunt the Twins, as Ynoa had an impressive 2021 season. He was expected to start Game 4 of the NLCS that year, but suffered a shoulder injury during pregame warmups and has never been the same. He had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and missed time with elbow inflammation last year. Ynoa pitched 29 2/3 innings over 14 games in the minors last year. The results weren’t encouraging (6.37 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 17.8 K%, 10.1 BB%), but he’s still only 26 years old. Armando Alvarez made his MLB debut just shy of his 30th birthday last season. He played 16 games for Oakland after hitting .315/.407/.560 in 75 games for their Triple-A affiliate. Alvarez hits right-handed and can play just about anywhere in the field. He got a plurality of his reps at second base last year, but played everything but center field and catcher. Mike Ford is a three-true-outcomes hitter who appeared to have revived his career in 2023. He had an impressive 124 OPS+ with Seattle, slugging 16 home runs in 83 games that season. Ford failed to carry that forward, however, as he struggled mightily in 17 games with the Reds last year. He eventually refused an outright assignment and signed to play in Japan instead. He’s basically confined to DH at this point of his career, but has intrigue as a lefty bat with some pop. There are also several players the Twins signed to minor-league contracts who didn’t get an invite to big league camp, but who may still see some time in spring games. This will be more common when the team travels away from Fort Myers. Among this group of players is infielder Ryan Fitzgerald, right-handed pitcher Angel Macuare and former first baseman turned right-handed reliever Jacob Bosiokovic, among others. The Favorites Who will ultimately become 2025 Sire of Fort Myers is anybody’s best guess, but here’s one name from each player pool I consider the favorite. Matt Canterino I can’t quit Canterino. No matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen him pitch, the memories remain. The stuff is too good. There are several strong candidates among the pool of guys on the 40-man roster who are eligible, but he’s my guy. I realize Canterino has more rust on him than a junkyard Buick Riviera, but the arm talent is undeniable. Despite the injuries, the Twins have remained heavily invested. The front office has kept Canterino on the 40-man roster over the past two entire seasons, despite the fact that he hasn’t pitched in a single regular-season game over that stretch. He did pitch a couple of games last spring, striking out five of the 13 batters he faced. “You get a guy like [Canterino] healthy and on a little bit of a roll, you do not have to squint too hard to see him getting a ton of swing and miss at the big-league level,” Rocco Baldelli told reporters in Fort Myers on Thursday. “He has to get back out there, regain the feel for who he is and what he's doing. Put a little bit of a workload on himself and we'll see where he's at.” Baldelli added that Canterino is a guy “we still have very, very high hopes for.” Any one of the other five players from the pool of guys on the 40-man roster who haven’t debuted would be a logical pick for the favorite. It’s just easiest for me to envision Canterino dominating opponents and turning in the near-perfect spring required to win Sire of Fort Myers. Yunior Severino Call this more of a hunch, but Severino is my pick among the NRIs with whom we’re already familiar. Wait, didn’t the Twins DFA him this offseason? Yes, but they brought him back on a minor-league deal. Though first base is his primary position, Severino got some work in right field with the Saints last year and still plays a little third base. Throw in the fact that he’s a switch-hitter, and Severino is basically a funhouse mirror version of Willi Castro, trading out the athleticism to play premium defensive positions for eye-popping power instead. Severino led the Twins' minor-league system with 21 homers last season, and before that, he was the co-leader in minor-league home runs in 2023. Consistency has been elusive, but Severino is an absolute force when he’s on. In a 50-game stretch from May 22 to Aug. 1 last season, Severino posted a .353/.454/.599 line for the Saints, with 12 home runs. He also had a completely manageable 22.5 K% to go with an impressive 15.9 BB% during that hot streak. Could he pull off something like that this spring? I think it’s possible. Defensive versatility should help Severino get plenty of looks. There’s a path to playing time for a first base/designated hitter option and corner outfield platoon bat. The smart money is on Severino spending another full season in St. Paul, but it’s not difficult to imagine him playing his way back into the big-league picture. Anthony Misiewicz Switching gears to the NRIs who are new to the org, Misiewicz is my pick. This guy has a decent MLB track record, and his pitch data mostly backs it up. Let’s not get too carried away—I understand why he was available on a minors deal—but this is a nice risk-free addition to the thin left-handed reliever group. The Twins brought back former multi-time Sire of Fort Myers honorable mention Danny Coulombe to replace the departing Caleb Thielbar as their primary bullpen lefty. Behind Coulombe, the only other lefty reliever on the 40-man roster is Kody Funderburk, who is expected to start the year in St. Paul. The Twins entered the offseason with Brent Headrick and Jovani Morán in this mix, but both are with new organizations now. While Misiewicz is currently nowhere near in position to break camp with the Twins, the lack of lefty relief depth makes it easy to imagine scenarios in which he makes it back to the majors. Coulombe hasn’t been the most durable guy, and Funderburk hasn’t established himself as a big-league arm yet. Given his relative proximity to a major-league role, I expect the Twins to take a good, long look at Misiewicz this spring. Final thoughts When you boil it down, Sire of Fort Myers is all about adding more substance to spring training games. It’s an additional storyline to follow, another excuse to pay attention. For the vast majority of players, spring is simply about getting in work. While established major leaguers have very little to gain or lose from their spring, some of these guys along the fringes are playing for their baseball lives. A big spring performance can be the spark that dramatically alters their careers. We’ve seen it before. Could it happen again? John Bonnes contributed to this report. View full article

To celebrate this release, here's a look at my top 10 Twins prospects for 2025 and some of what I wrote about them. The list in the zine goes all the way to 50 and includes profiles on each player. There are also articles from Lou Hennessy, Greggory Masterson, Cody Schoenmann and Theodore Tollefson. View full video

The Twins signed Ty France to a big league deal worth $1 million, though it's not a guaranteed contract. Is this a move to compliment the other options they have at first base and designated hitter? Or is the starting first base job France's to lose. Here are my thoughts, let me know what you think. View full video

I can tell you he was touching 97 mph late last year in Triple-A. Results were not encouraging and he wasn’t missing many bats, but it can take time for command to return post-TJ. It’s more than likely he’s cooked, to be completely honest, but it’s essentially a no-risk signing.

Good question. It's not usually especially significant, it's mainly just where you're getting your work in. But I do think it says to a player "we view you as MLB depth, and while we hope we don't need you, be prepared if things go wrong." Part of being mentally prepared to contribute to the big club might be getting some experience around the rest of the guys, coaching staff and trainers. There might be prospects you want to push into thinking about themselves as being on the cusp of the big leagues and there might be other prospects you don't want thinking that far ahead yet. There is no limit to the number of NRIs you bring to spring training, but at a certain point you just physically run out of room for guys and there's only so many players your big league coaches and trainers can be focused on at any given time.

My guess, and this is complete speculation, is they felt like sending him to minor league camp was best so 1) He could focus on the things they'd like him to improve over potentially trying to impress the big league guys, and 2) So they could devote the maximum amount of time and attention to him. Basically, it feels like there's a better chance he can focus solely on what he needs to do and the staff can invest more focus on supporting him in minor league camp. That's my guess. He is not on the roster. I was surprised he didn't get an NRI too until I remembered this is Eeles' first spring training in pro ball. It seems they think he can have a more productive spring over on the minor league side. I could still see him getting into a ton of major league spring games, we'll see.

The Twins announced 16 non-roster invitees to spring training Monday, with the list featuring a few top prospects and a handful of minor-league signees who’ve had major-league success. One position player stands out most clearly. Image courtesy of MiLB.tv screenshots (from left to right: Keaschall, Morris, Lewis) Luke Keaschall is the team’s No. 3 prospect and a top-100 overall prospect in affiliated pro ball. That status alone makes him noteworthy, but his inclusion is also significant because it seems to be a positive sign that he’s close to fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. He went under the knife in August, but luckily, position players require less rehab time than pitchers. At TwinsFest, Keaschall told reporters he expected to be ready to play the field and throw without restrictions in mid-March. Pitching prospects Andrew Morris and Cory Lewis are also among the most noteworthy invitees. Lewis was the Twins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2023. Morris would have taken that award in 2024, had it not been for Zebby Matthews. Both Morris and Lewis ended last season at Triple-A St. Paul. Other Twins position-player prospects joining Keachall are Alex Isola, Patrick Winkel, Yunior Severino and Jeferson Morales. Joining them are a couple of guys with big-league time in other orgs, Armando Alvarez and Mike Ford. Alvarez, a right-handed-hitting utility player, made his MLB debut for Oakland last season. He has a career .837 OPS in 412 career Triple-A games. Ford is a left-handed-hitting first baseman with 251 MLB games under his belt. He made a splash as a rookie with the Yankees back in 2019, hitting 12 homers while posting a .909 OPS in 50 games. Ford impressed again with Seattle in 2023, slugging 16 homers in 83 games. He’s struggled outside of those two strong showings, however, and has a career .700 OPS and 26% strikeout rate. On the pitching side, there are some familiar names joining Morris and Lewis. Scott Blewett and Randy Dobnak, who both pitched for the Twins in 2024, are back. Ryan Jensen is another arm who was in the org last year. He made 44 appearances for the Saints last season. Another returnee is Huascar Ynoa, but it’s been quite some time since he’s been with the Twins. Ynoa was dealt to Atlanta in 2017 for Jaime García. He had a strong 2021 for the Braves (4.05 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 9.9 K/9 in 91 IP), but an elbow injury sustained the next year derailed his career. Rounding out the arms are Darren McCaughan, Alex Speas and Anthony Misiewicz, who all have MLB experience. Misiewicz (pronounced mih-SEV-itch) appears to have the clearest path to cracking the Twins bullpen, given how thin the Twins are on the left side. He has a 4.67 ERA in 131 games, most of them coming with the Mariners. Misiewicz made one appearance with the Yankees last season. Here’s the full list of NRIs: C/1B/OF Alex Isola C Patrick Winkel 2B/3B/LF Armando Alvarez 1B Mike Ford 2B/CF Luke Keaschall 1B/RF Yunior Severino LF/2B/C Jeferson Morales RHP Scott Blewett RHP Randy Dobnak RHP Ryan Jensen RHP Cory Lewis RHP Darren McCaughan RHP Andrew Morris RHP Alex Speas RHP Huascar Ynoa LHP Anthony Misiewicz The only top prospects who won’t be in big league camp are either very young (No. 1 Walker Jenkins, No. 4 Charlee Soto and No. 7 Brandon Winokur) or very new to pro ball (No. 8 Kaelen Culpepper). But remember, players from minor-league camp will still get some looks in official big-league spring training games. Most importantly (at least to yours truly), all of these non-roster invitees will be eligible for the most prestigious award in all of sports, Sire of Fort Myers. They will all get a chance to become the Hammond Hammer; to Lead in Lee County. So, let's see who seizes the shot. View full article

The Minnesota Twins finally signed some big league contracts. Left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe is back with the club after spending the past two seasons with the Orioles. The team also signed stud defensive center fielder Harrison Bader, who spent last year with the Mets. Here are my thoughts on each signing, what do you think? View full video

It's a sad day. Despite my best efforts, the Minnesota Twins were not among the teams listed as the finalists for Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki. I guess there was some other stuff happening in Minnesota sports that was sad, too. Anyway, today's Twins 5 also includes discussion on Baseball Prospectus' Top 101 prospects list, 2025 ZiPS projections for the Twins, the slow moving free agent market and realities regarding the state of payroll for the Twins. View full video

Adam Dunn with more athleticism.

Here are a handful of Minnesota Twins topics that have been in the news and my reactions. The Twins agreed to 2025 deals with all of their arbitration eligible players and came in a little under what they were projected to spend. That's great for the front office, but I'm not so sure Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan and Royce Lewis are going to be thrilled to make under what they were projected. In a recent interview, Twins GM Jeremy Zoll made it sound like they have some spending flexibility. That could be huge because some big name free agents are entertaining the idea of taking short-term deals. Also, the Twins are showing interest in old friend Nick Anderson, but they're facing a roster crunch. With the 40-man roster full, who would you cut if it came down to it? View full video

The Minnesota Twins acquired catcher Diego Cartaya from the Dodgers. A top prospect of his international class and former consensus top-20 prospect in all of baseball, Cartaya was recently DFAed by Los Angeles. The Twins sent over minor league pitcher Jose Vasquez to complete the deal. Here is my reaction to the trade and some analysis on what this could mean for the Twins catching situation. View full video

Happy New Year! The Minnesota Twins remain quiet, but things may start to pick up as we turn the calendar. Either way, we have something to get excited about regardless of any activity: Walker Jenkins. He's perhaps the best hitting prospect in the entire league and I think we'll see him on the Twins in 2025. Other topics discussed are the recent acquisition of Mickey Gasper, trade talks, spending expectations and Kyle Hart, a free agent lefty the Twins have expressed interest in. View full video