Rosterman

Now that the minor league season is over, have to think about who is added to the 40-man. The only major keepers have to be Rosario and Culpepper. Twins currently have 46 folks on the 40-man roster. Free agents Bell, Jeffers, Rogers and Minter will depart. The Twins have fluff in Kriedler, Acton, Orza, Grey and Anderson. All could be readily replaceable. I do wish Caratini was also a casuality, but he is signed. Will the Twins bring back Jackson? Olivar didn't return soon enough to get 40-man consideration. And the other "prospect" choice could be Diaw. Paredes could also be on the bubble. If you think Adams will improve, you keep him. Not needing to add Rule 5 guys means the Twins can still hold onto names like Larnach, Wallner, Sands, Lewis, Roden and give another year of development to youngsters Mendez and Gonzales. Can you afford the arbitration saalaries? Would any be tradable this winter or into spring training? Or do you cut and run.... giving away a bunch of guys for nothing in return, or throwing good money down the drain by keeping them around. The Twins rotation is more than set. The question there is the need to keep Paredes, and do you take a chance on removing Festa, hoping no one claims him, and pushing him into relief. The bullpen isn't aall that bad. Hoffman, Banda, Nance could all be back. Gomez, Funderburk, Morris are keepers. Raya is in the wings. Can Ober become a bullpen guy? Culpepper is on the cusp. Can the Twins find room to give Rozek at least a looksee? Is COry Lewis and his knuckleball a possibility?

Wish both Raya and Rojas got the call for the last week. Just to make a couple of appearances and cement, more, what they need to do to be major league guys entering spring training. Rojas is one of ten depth pieces for the rotation on the 40-man roster. Little doubt that he could start at AAA and see if he can be a lefty starter, rather than transitioning to the pen. Still has options.But jsut by being a lefty, he can have a long career... and hopefully with the Twins.

The Twins will also have Banda returning, so Fundy and Banda could be the main lefties. I wish Rozek got an end-of-the-season shot just to see.... Sands will still be cheap. I picture the Twins keeping Larnach, Wallner, Ober, Lewis beause they will have the roster spots. The only decision is do they wish to throw away money on folks that may be... untradable. You have to always judge arbitration guys against what else is in the marketplace. The only minor league bullpen arm is Culpepper at the moment. Nowlin was a possibility but had a bad season as a lefty. Gallagher, Villimont, Armstrong might still be in the mix, Cory Lewis and Ty Langenberg are not far behind. There are aging dark horses, too - the next Paredes. Sands, age wise, is on he wrong end of things. Is he still viable. Maybe at $1.3m. Will the Twins pay Minter, to go with the expensive Hoffman contract, for them to be the top two guys next season?

Nope. The Twins could still keep Wallner or Larnach, find space for Sabato, and still have Gonzalez and Mendez taking up 40-man roster space looking for a chance. Buxton may be pushed out of the outfield, so he would DH more, too.

I hope he can impress in his 20 at bats, and also play first. A right-handed bat that could replace Wallner (no one can be that bad, right) and maybe even Josh Bell on the roster in 2027. Raya already here. Next up, Rosario next season from that class, who also needs to be rostered to escape the Rule 5.

currently on the 40-man. They have 8 outfielders and need to add Rosario. There are probably 7 servicable bullpen arms you wish to keep. Mix in a half-dozen infielders. The Twins will need to add 3-4 guys only from the minors to protect from the Rule 5. Lots of fluff getting arbitration salaries.

What to do with Sabato. A #1 daft pick. Hitting for power the last couple of seasons. Can he play first? Would he replace Bell as the DH? He can pretty much walk wherever he wants after this season. Could he match Lewis and his middling .225 average and 15 homers? Roster spot could be made via erleasing Gray or sending down Jackson.

He should or he shouldn't. It would be nice if the Twins found space on the roster for Rojas and Raya as the season winds down. And even a look at Rozek (who can walk anywhere) after this season and is a lefty who has probably earned a chance. Would mean the Twins need to **** down for the season an arm or two (Morris), send someone to the minors (Adams, who redeemed himself somewhat this past weekend) or release someone NOT in next years plans (Rogers). You need to egt a look at anyone, give them something to work on ion the off-season. Not just play an old-timers game.

Signing Jeffers to play first AFTER the Lewis experiment is over. Of course, would like to see Keaschall also given the first base bag. Golly dang, they had Jackson thru waivers ane 40-man, or we might lose him.d sitting in St. Paul. Adding him abck to the 40-man in the off-season could've happened to keep him. But, no. Sit him on the bench to do... nothing. Caratini cannot throw out base stealers. Fine if you never walk anyone. Olivar was also a possibility of a 2027 backup coming out of spring training. Might still be. He, too, needs to be added to the 40-man. or we will probably lose him. Lackey cannot come fast enough, but chances of him even arriving by mid-season might be jsut a pipe dream. The money spent for two years of Caratini could've been spent on Jeffers.

Seems a lot of low level guys going to a competitive off-season league. You always think of Arizona being home to guys on the cusp of being added to the 40-man next off-season, and most always get at least a cup-of-coffee in the majors, it seems.

We all were waiting to see where current core was going to take them. Larnach, Jeffers, Ober, Wallner Ryan, Sands are the leftovers from that group. Lewis is a part of this group, too. No team pulled the plug on trading for Jeffers, and didn't see the interest that we all expected for Ryan. I was surprised the Twins didn't make Larnach to the Astros work by also dangling some minor league guy as an add on. Buxton is the holdover from the group that once included Berrios. The question you always ask is will the Twins extend the guys and for how much. They had a chance tyo extend Ryan or Jeffers in the last two seasons, but they didn't seem wporthy. I ask, would you sign Lewis right now for 3-4 years? You have to start tackling the signing issue sooner rather than later. Bradley needs to be discussed as a longterm Twins commitment or do they just let him play thru arbitration. The next group of Twins is pretty slim. Lee, Martin, Bradley. You can write the aging Clemens iunto that mix. Three bench bats, but one still very young rotation arm who should just get better before he hits free agency the downside of 29. The future is bright. Picture Lackey as the catcher. Tinny should be at first. Tait/Jimenez/Diaw would all be in mix. Picture Culpepper at second. Houston at short. Winkor at third. Outfield of Jenkins Rodriguez, Keaschall. You also have Mendez and Rosario or consideration plys any number of other under-the-radar prospects - Kendle, Thomson. Is Ross still in the bench mix. That's quite a core that hopefully will field better than anything the Twins put on the field this year. Pitching is also strong considering Ober, Lopez, Kremer, Ryan can all walk.

Raya is from the COVID class of 2020. He did get a taste of the majors, and I don't know why he isn't back here right now, in September. Send Adams back down as you don't need to worry about bringing him up again. Who shut down Morris. There is a way to get some innings for someone with promise. Raya is still developing as a bullpen arm, a decision they should've pushed mroe last season instead of waiting to do it during this season. Three of the four guys only rafted in 2020 are in decision mode. Twins must protect Sabato or lose him. He has torn up powerwise AAA ball. He should also have been given a look here in September. Rosario also needs to be protected or lost. They have invested good money in these three guys.

Luke field first base? He's a big guy. I would think his coordination is good. Catch the ball, keeping the foot on the bag. At first questioned his bat, but he is showing power on par with Doug Mientkiewicz and equal to Lewis. Who do the Twins have in the pipeline, unless it is one of the many catchers, who are still a couple of years away.

I would add Sabato to this list. Twins could easily send back down Gonzalez and Ross, waive Jackson, and also option out Adams. Rosek is an aging LEFTY that they already lost in the minor league draft last year, but resigned. Give the guy a couple of innings. I like Morissette. Shows that you don't need to keep Gray on the 40-man. And no need to keep Kriedler into next season. You can find guys to be the spare parts. If you like them, sign them to a minor league contract that is beyond the norm. Two weeks is plenty of time to give a few more guys exposure to the major leagues, see if they in any way should be considered in plans for 2027. Heck, switch out Raya with maybe Morris. Let Morris have the rest of the season off. He seems a bit off in the last couple of weeks.

So many factors. Overwork. General summer fatigue. A batter who is sharp will notice if one of the pitches isn't working, which means it won't be a viable piece of the arsenal for him and others. Like Mauer, who would say that he would watch the pitcher from the bench, as well as at bat, and eliminate pitches the guy mnight throw in a certain sequence. The prep some players do, which doesn't override the actual situation of a game, is amazing these days, especially with so many coahces on staff. And batters can program pitching machines that will somewhat show what a pitcher will throw. Hoffman is anotehr example. He has that classic swing-and-miss pitch, but it also tends to be out-of-the-zone if a batter isn't fooled to swing. So he shouldn't use it more than once or twice in an at bat, at best.