Tom Froemming

It's at 47 at this very moment. There are four free agents, so that brings them down to 43. If you expect the options on Margot and Farmer to be declined (which seems likely), that brings them down to 41. But then they have guys to protect in the Rule 5 Draft (covered in that video) and, of course, outside additions. It's crowded. I hesitated to say there was a true roster crunch, but there are definitely going to be some guys removed from the 40 man at some point.

Here is some analysis on five Twins topics that have been on my mind. I ask about Max Kepler's impact on the 2024 team, provide updates to my Twins prospect list, react to the 2024 Diamond Award winners, relay info on the new Twins hitting coach (Matt Borgschulte) and review some of the early returns from the Arizona Fall League. Talking about a dramatic postseason win would be a lot more fun right now, but it is what it is. View full video

The Minnesota Twins have had a busy start to their offseason. Four coaches will not be back. Thad Levine is gone. They're parting ways with Bally Sports. While I was hoping for changes, it's easy to be suspicious if these will be positives right now. That can be said with basically anything regarding this organization at the moment. Also discussed in this video are the Twins projected arbitration salaries and Arizona Fall League participants. View full video

I never thought I'd see the day. The Pohlad family has announced that they're going to explore selling the Minnesota Twins. Here's my reaction to the news, a discussion about the chances of a new owner being motivated to move the Twins out of Minnesota and some speculation on whether it's all that likely the sale will actually happen. View full video

Despite an embarrassing collapse, the Minnesota Twins don't appear to be making any major changes this offseason. Derek Falvey will be back. Rocco Baldelli will be back. My question is this: Why should Twins fans be optimistic things are going to work in 2025 with the exact same leadership and no expectations of increased payroll? In this video, I discuss Falvey, Baldelli and Joe Pohlad. I also react to some of the quotes coming out in the wake of the collapse. From the outside looking in, it seems like we can speculate there may be some friction between Carlos Correa and the veterans and Royce Lewis and the younger guys. View full video

With the St. Paul Saints closing their season Sunday, this also brings the 2024 Twins System Recap season to a close. Thanks to everybody for watching, I appreciate you. To close things out, we take a look at some of Marco Raya's Triple-A debut plus some Payton Eeles highlights. We'll also discuss the Twins a bit, though that's very much a sore subject at the moment. View full video

On Thursday, Cory Lewis delivered five solid innings for the St. Paul Saints in his Triple-A debut. Tonight, it was Marco Raya’s turn. In his first outing for the Saints, Raya impressed with five shutout frames. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 81-73 St. Paul Saints: 70-77 Wichita Wind Surge: 58-80 (season complete) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-63 (season complete) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 66-59 (season complete) FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) SAINTS SENTINEL Indianapolis 8, St. Paul 6 Box Score Prior to tonight’s game, manager Toby Gardenhire was asked about Marco Raya making his Triple-A debut by Saints broadcaster Sean Aronson. “Maybe seeing Cory go out there and do what he did yesterday, maybe that’ll give Raya some confidence, “ Gardenhire said. “I think he’s a pretty confident guy, though, anyways.” Raya not only answered Lewis’ performance, he one-upped him. Indianapolis was threatening in the first inning, but Raya struck out Jack Suwinski to strand a runner on second base. While Suwinski isn’t exactly a contact guy, he does have over 1,100 big-league plate appearances to his credit. Not a bad first feather in your Triple-A cap. Impressive debut. Raya pitched five scoreless innings, did not walk a batter, struck out four men and threw 67.7% of his pitches for strikes (44 of 65). He topped out at 96.2 mph. Raya finishes the season with 97 2/3 innings pitched. I would have loved to see the Twins take the training wheels off Raya sooner. He didn’t complete five innings in a game until his 17th start of the season and eclipsed 80 pitches in a start just one time. On the other hand, their plan did keep him on the mound. Not many pitchers make it through an entire season healthy these days. As far as innings go, Raya logged more this year than David Festa (tonight’s Twins starter) did last season. Festa has stayed healthy, and look at him now. Maybe the Twins are onto something here. Once Raya’s day was done, Justin Topa took over for his first game action since Aug. 7. The Twins bullpen could certainly use help, so it’s great to see the right-hander back on the mound. As for Topa’s outing tonight, uh, it was great that he got some work in. Did I mention he hadn’t pitched in a long time? Topa walked the first man he faced, which was immediately followed by a hit by pitch. It looked like he settled in after inducing a flyout to center field and a strikeout, but then Joshua Palacios smoked a three-run homer. The velo on Topa’s pitches were roughly three ticks down from his 2023 averages. Again, it was just great that he got some work in. Another arm trying to get back to the big leagues, Kody Funderburk, followed. In the fourth outing of his rehab assignment, Funderburk gave up two runs on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three of the nine men he faced, but his velo was also down from usual. Luckily, the Saints lineup managed to tally three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to regain the lead. Chris Williams drove in Jeferson Morales on a homer before Rylan Bannon and Payton Eeles tacked on another run with back-to-back doubles. Indianapolis tied the game at 5-5 in the eighth inning by scoring a run on a Ryan Jensen wild pitch. They scratched across the go-ahead run in the ninth before Jack Suwinski delivered the knockout blow with a two-run homer later that inning. Topa, Funderburk and Jansen combined to give up eight runs over 3 1/3 innings pitched. And you thought the Twins bullpen was struggling … Chris Williams added his second home run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. He went 4-for-4 and hit a double in addition to the two home runs. The Saints still lost 8-6. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. got picked off at first base in the sixth inning before committing an error in center field in the ninth (a ball rolled under his glove, allowing the runner to advance an extra base). It wasn’t all bad, though, as he also went 2-for-4 to push his average to an even .300. Speaking of guys having great seasons, Eeles went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and his 38th stolen base of the season (17 of which have come with St. Paul). TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, Saints Hitter of the Day: Chris Williams, Saints PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #2 Brooks Lee (Minnesota): 0-for-2 (entered the game in the top of the eighth as a pinch hitter) #6 David Festa (Minnesota): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 103 pitches #10 Marco Raya (St. Paul): 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 65 pitches TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Indianapolis, 5:07 pm CT: Randy Dobnak View full article

The Minnesota Twins had a disappointing home stand, but Brooks Lee managed to save the weekend. The rookie's big game Sunday helped the Twins avoid a sweep against Cincinnati. It's been a tough stretch for the Twins, but this 9-2 win serves as a nice, hot shower. We as a fanbase may still be a bit tired and sore, but that shower sure felt nice. Down in the minors, the Wind Surge closed out their season, and today's recap includes highlights of Wichita pitchers Marco Raya and C.J. Culpepper. View full video

The final weekend of Wind Surge baseball in 2024 kicked off with a great performance by Wichita. Marco Raya turned in one of his better starts of the season while Walker Jenkins got the monkey off his back, recording his first Double-A hit. Those two helped lift Wichita to a convincing victory tonight. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey - Wichita Wind Surge CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 78-69 St. Paul Saints: 68-73 Wichita Wind Surge: 57-79 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-63 (season complete) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 66-59 (season complete) FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) SAINTS SENTINEL Columbus 11, St. Paul 1 Box Score Saints starter Aaron Rozek managed to get through the first three innings without allowing any damage, but the Clippers would not be held down for long. Rozek surrendered two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth before being replaced by Kody Funderburk. The second appearance of his rehab assignment did not go well. Funderburk surrendered six runs on four hits (one of them a homer) and two walks while only recording two outs. The Saints lineup was also quiet. It was a tough night for St. Paul, but Austin Martin played well in his first game back with the Saints since mid-June, going 2-for-3 with a walk. After the game had been blown wide open, Ryan Jensen and Stephen Okert pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively. This marked Okert’s first outing since coming off the temporary inactive list. Not a lot of positives to pull out of this one, but in case you missed it, the Saints social team did share a nice Payton Eeles feature that included some of an interview and highlights. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 9, Tulsa 1 Box Score Marco Raya had one of his better and longer starts of the season tonight, delivering five shutout innings and striking out five batters. Raya struggled with his control at times, walking three batters while throwing 56.7% of his pitches for strikes (38 of 67 pitches), but did a great job navigating out of jams. Tusla put a runner into scoring position with one out in both of the first two innings. Raya induced a 5-4-3 double play in the first inning and his catcher, Andrew Cossetti, gave him a hand by throwing out a baserunner in the second. After being challenged in those first two frames, Raya cruised. He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced. Tonight marks the fifth time in 24 starts this season that Raya completed five or more innings. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Wichita scratched across a run in the first inning before adding four more runs in the second. That rally featured a Ben Ross two-run homer and Walker Jenkins’ first Double-A hit. It wasn’t much to look at — a swinging bunt, essentially — but at least that box is checked. Jenkins also drew a pair of walks and played right field tonight. In addition to helping guide Raya behind the plate, Cossetti was a tough out. He drew a seven-pitch walk, slapped a two-run triple the other way, walked again, smoked a two-run double off the wall and then was finally retired on a groundout in the ninth inning. In addition to Cossetti, there were also multi-hit games from Kala’i Rosario, Ales Isola and Jorel Ortega. Jacob Wosinksi was the first arm out of the Surge pen and provided two perfect innings. Cody Laweryson couldn’t quite complete the shutout, but did keep the damage to one run while covering the final two frames. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, Wichita Hitter of the Day: Andrew Cossetti, Wichita PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #1 Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2K #2 Brooks Lee (Minnesota): 1-for-3, 2 RBI #10 Marco Raya (Wichita): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 67 pitches #15 Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 K #17 Tanner Schobel (Wichita): 1-for-3, 2 BB, 3 R, K TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul at Columbus, 6:05 pm CT: Andrew Morris Wichita vs. Tulsa, 6:05 pm CT: C.J. Culpepper View full article

Minnesota Twins 2024 sixth-round pick Derek Bender has been released. ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel reported that, while catching, Bender was tipping pitches to opposing Lakeland Tigers hitters and told teammates it was because he wanted the season to be over. His Mighty Mussels team was fighting Lakeland for a playoff spot in a race that was decided in the final weekend of the regular season. Tonight's recap includes my reaction to that news, updates on the health Emmanuel Rodriguez and Byron Buxton, as well as highlights of Carson McCusker and Kala'i Rosario. View full video

The Minnesota Twins continued a poor stretch of baseball by scoring only two runs the entire weekend series at Kansas City and getting swept by the Royals. Rocco Baldelli called his team's play unprofessional. On a brighter note, top Twins prospect Walker Jenkins is being promoted up to Double-A Wichita. Cedar Rapids ended its season tonight, but Jenkins will have the chance to play another week with the Wind Surge. Prospects featured in tonight's highlights include Emmanuel Rodriguez, Connor Prielipp, Khadim Diaw and Kyle DeBarge. View full video

It’s been a banner year for the Twins in terms of prospect development. While the org ranks among the best in the league in terms of talent, unfortunately, that hasn’t necessarily translated into victories in the minors. With Fort Myers being eliminated from playoff contention today, none of the team’s affiliates will qualify for the postseason in 2024. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 76-65 St. Paul Saints: 65-70 Wichita Wind Surge: 55-75 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 66-62 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-59 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 8, St. Paul 4 Box Score Andrew Morris had a nice outing going, but pitch count limitations cut his night short. Saints broadcaster Sean Aronson reported Morris was to be on around a 65 pitch count. He made the most of it. Morris struck out six batters over his 3 2/3 innings while holding the I-Cubs to one run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter. Tonight’s outing brings him up to 123 innings on the season, a healthy jump up from last year’s 84 1/3 frames. Morris now has a 3.04 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 23 2/3 innings since being promoted to St. Paul. Emmanuel Rodriguez had the day off, so Payton Eeles made his first professional start in center field (and just his 11th overall in the outfield). Eeles had a nice game at the plate, because of course he did. He hit a two-run home run, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. The Saints also got home runs from Jair Camargo and Chris Williams, but all three were solo shots. It was a tough night for the Saints bullpen, as Ryan Jensen gave up a grand slam and Diego Castillo surrendered a pair of runs. But Steven Okert, in his second outing since being sent to St. Paul, pitched a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. WIND SURGE WISDOM Frisco 2, Wichita 1 Box Score Marco Raya was on his game tonight. While he only tallied two strikeouts, the 22-year-old was efficient, needing only 62 pitches to cover five innings. He nearly turned in a scoreless performance, but ended up surrendering one run. With two down in the fifth inning, Frisco got a hustle double followed by a bloop single. The runner scored on an aggressive send. Center fielder Jorel Ortega’s throw beat the runner home by about 10 feet, the problem was it also sailed about 10 feet over the catcher’s head. Cory Lewis followed Raya and also held Frisco to one run. He gave up a pair of hits and walked one batter while striking out three in his three innings of work. The Wind Surge lineup struggled, combining to collect more double plays hit into (four) than actual base hits (three). Ortega had the only extra-base knock, a triple, and scored the only Wichita run on a Kala’i Rosario single. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score The Kernels lineup couldn’t get much of anything going in this one until the eighth inning. Gabriel Gonzalez led things off with a single (his third hit of the night), which was followed by a Rubel Cespedes double. After that were three consecutive groundouts, which managed to plate those two runners, but wasn’t enough to fully fuel a comeback. Darren Bowen closed his first year in the Twins org with an outing that pretty closely mirrored his season. There were positives, as he struck out five of the 16 batters he faced, but there was also something left to be desired. He needed 75 pitches to complete just three innings, giving up three runs on four hits, a pair of walks and a hit batter. Bowen finishes with a 6.07 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 72 2/3 innings this year. Walker Jenkins was 0-for-2 but drew two more walks. He has a .373 OBP during his time with Cedar Rapids. Kaelen Culpepper had the day off. The Kernels wrap up their 2024 season on Sunday. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers is ending its season with a massive series against Lakeland, the Tigers affiliate that they’re also battling for a playoff spot in the Florida State League West standings. Their Thursday game was suspended due to weather, meaning a massive doubleheader would take place today. The Mighty Mussels led 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning of the game that was to be continued. They only scored one more run in the 14 innings played today. Lakeland swept, eliminating Fort Myers from playoff contention. Game 1: Lakeland 7, Fort Myers 3 Box Score The 2-0 Fort Myers lead evaporated quickly, as Lakeland tallied a run in the bottom of the second inning (where the suspended game picked back up again today) and then a pair of runs in the third to take the lead. There was no looking back from there for the Flying Tigers. Those runs were scored off Jose Olivares, who got knocked around a bit in his three innings, but did strike out five of the 16 batters he faced. He was followed by a couple of new faces to the org, Logan Whitaker (2024 19th-round pick) and Tyler Stasiowski (2024 undrafted free agent). Whitaker gave up a solo homer, but that was the only hit in his two frames and he struck out three batters. Stasiowski gave up a pair of runs in his inning of work. Byron Chourio was the only Mussels player with a multi-hit game. He was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Brandon Winokur had the only Fort Myers extra-base hit, a double. Game 2: Lakeland 6, Fort Myers 0 Box Score Things didn’t go any better in the night cap. Mussels starter Ross Dunn only recorded five outs and surrendered four runs. The Fort Myers lineup could muster just two hits, a Jose Rodriguez double and a Khadim Diaw single. Christian Becerra, a 2024 12th-round pick, impressed in his second pro appearance. The right-hander out of Cal pitched two scoreless innings while striking out three batters. He did not issue a walk and threw 20 of his 28 pitches for strikes. Perhaps it’s fair that Lakeland should be the team to go onto postseason play. They have the best overall record in the Florida State League West by 13 games on the full season, but missed out on being the first half winner by a half game in the standings. Like the Kernels, the Mussels will also be done for the year on Sunday. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, Wichita Hitter of the Day: Payton Eeles, St. Paul PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #1 Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #2 Brooks Lee (Minnesota) 0-for-1 #5 Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 89 pitches #7 Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) 3-for-4, R, E #10 Marco Raya (Wichita) 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 62 pitches #11 Andrew Morris (St. Paul) 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 66 pitches #12 Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) 1-for-7, 2B, 3 K, E #13 Cory Lewis (Wichita) 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 45 pitches #15 Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) 1-for-4, RBI, K #16 Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) 1-for-8, RBI, K, 2 E #17 Tanner Schobel (Wichita) 0-for-3, K TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Iowa, 6:37 pm CT: Aaron Rozek Wichita at Frisco, 7:05 pm CT: Pierson Ohl Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT: Connor Prielipp Fort Myers at Lakeland, 5:00 pm CT: Adrian Bohorquez View full article

The Minnesota Twins picked up a win over Tampa Bay behind a strong outing from Pablo López and a three-run homer from Edouard Julien. In the minors, Walker Jenkins reached base safely four times and swiped a couple bases for the Kernels while Kaelen Culpepper flashed his impressive arm. Also, Anthony Prato delivered another walk-off hit for the Saints. View full video