Tom Froemming

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

My dream of the Minnesota Twins signing Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki is still technically alive. He's met with some teams, seen some presentations, but nothing has motivated him to sign quite yet. That's where we come in. Here are some incentives offered up from Twins fans to the 23-year-old fireballer. View full video

There are gifts wrapped under the tree and they're going to be surprised. I feel like I checked the important boxes. 1) Yes, Mickey Gasper has 3 options. So that's nice. He can go down to St. Paul and be depth, if that's the way things work out. 2) Based on the way Boston used him, I'd guess the answer is no, Gasper probably can't be an adequate catcher. He played 105 games and only caught 20 times last year, zero in the big leagues. The guys the Twins have used in this manner (Chris Williams, Alex Isola and to a lesser extent Ricardo Olivar) aren't very good behind the plate. So my assumption is Gasper is usable back there but not particularly useful. Maybe he'll surprise and clear that bar, but that's my expectation. I'd take a deeper look for myself if 1) There was more to see, and 2) It wasn't X-Mas.

This was a tongue-in-cheek attempt to poke fun at Gasper being our X-Mas present from Falvey. There's nothing in the article that suggests I didn't think the actual trade was fair. I barely even wrote about Morán, and certainly didn't gas him up when I did. If I thought this was a terrible trade or that Morán was some kind of prize this would have been much different and not nearly as light-hearted. If my main goal was to stir up **** and flame bait, I wouldn't waste my time writing on X-Mas Eve about an insignificant trade. There would be much easier targets and more convenient times to do that.

Maybe “Wild Horses” is the Stones song we’re looking for?

Derek Falvey is not a deadbeat who forgot Christmas. He swears Mickey Gasper wasn’t a last minute-panic gift. He just figured a Quad-A catcher with on-base skills was what we always wanted. Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports I have an embarrassing confession to make: I forgot to buy gifts and was forced to resort to my only Christmas Eve shopping option: 24-hour pharmacies. The kids are getting athletic tape that I’ll try to pass off as being all the new-age arts & craft rage. The misses gets a candle. You can never go wrong with a nice candle, right? Oh, and everyone’s also getting a knee brace. I did it, gift checklist complete! I’ve never found Derek Falvey more relatable than in this moment. With the Twins handcuffed by their own payroll limitations yet again this winter, all the front office has provided is a Rule 5 pick and a bunch of minor league signings. Stocking stuffers at the absolute best. Twins fans know better than to expect anything too fancy, but surely Falvey and Co. had something, anything for us wrapped up and under the tree. Well … in reality, Falvey had to run to Walgreens and find a way to make something work for us. “Uh, another minor league signing? No, they already have dozens of those. I know, sign somebody! Shoot, that’s right, Joe has my wallet. Uh, um, I’ve got it! A minor trade!” So Falvey called up the Boston Red Sox, scoured through a list of their available players and blindly landed on the guy he thought had the best baseball name: Mickey Gasper. Nothing against Gasper, a 29-year-old who made his Major League debut in August. If he was the Lifesavers Candy Gift Book that accompanied some bigger, more exciting gifts, that would be perfectly fine. Instead, he’s basically the centerpiece of the Twins offseason thus far. Gasper's cup of coffee with the Red Sox was basically empty, but he’s been interesting in the high minors. The switch-hitting Gasper has a .422 on-base percentage in 70 career Triple-A games that’s backed up by a .401 OBP in 176 career Double-A contests. There’s also some intriguing defensive versatility here, as he has experience not only behind the plate but also at both first base and second base. Gasper received an honorable mention in the Red Sox Minor League Hitter of the Year voting at our sister site, Talk Sox. He was also selected as one of the Minor League All-Stars in Boston's system by SoxProspects.com. While you're not going to see him on any prospect lists, Gasper has been a strong performer in the minor leagues, boasting a .275/.392/.449 line (.841 OPS) over 407 career games down on the farm. With Gasper joining the Twins 40-man roster, it leaves just one empty spot. It’s always possible to create more space, of course, but Gasper feels like exactly the type of guy you designate for assignment in a situation where you need to clear space. The player going to Boston, Jovani Morán, was no longer occupying a spot on the 40 man. He also arguably ranked third on the Twins left-handed reliever depth chart, behind Kody Funderburk and Brent Headrick. Given this is such a role of need for the Twins, we're essentially left to assume the Twins expect Morán to look more like his 2023 self (5.31 ERA, 1.78 K:BB ratio) than his 2022 form (2.21 ERA, 3.00 K:BB ratio). Morán, still only 27, missed all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Morán always had command issues and that's typically the last thing to come fully back post-TJ. It’s an interesting swap if you’re the type of person who enjoys digging deep into rosters and analyzing how the final few spots of a big league team may shake out, but this is most definitely not what we asked for. Did you not get our Christmas wish list, Derek? P.S. Special shoutout to Matthew Lenz, who mentioned Gasper in an article here at Twins Daily a couple weeks ago. If you want to know what underwhelming piece the Twins may add next, we’ve got you covered. View full article