Twinsgypsy

The 2024 World Series just ended last night with the Dodgers beating the Yankees, which means moves and transactions are on the horizon. Being a typical MLB fan, I enjoy playing pretend GM and setting teams rosters for the upcoming season. There are certainly some needs with the Twins current roster, and I am aiming to fix them to improve the team for next season. Twins current ownership has already said payroll will be about the same as in 2024 ($130 million-ish), so I will take that into account, but it may be a little high, as it is what I think needs to be done to get the maximum benefit. Without further ado, this is my blueprint.
  
 
Transactions
Trade Paddack, Winder to LAA for Jo Adell Trade Gabriel Gonzalez, Jose Salas to TB for Yandy Diaz Sign Caleb Ferguson - 1 Year, $4 Million  
The Angels have already said they are looking to compete in 2025, and they don’t have a lot of pitching, so the Twins send them Chris Paddack and Josh Winder. Moving Paddack helps clear up some salary, and gives the Angels someone with upside to slot into their rotation at roughly market value. They also add a reliever in Josh Winder, who gives them depth and may end up becoming a solid reliever given a chance, which likely wouldn’t happen with the Twins, as he is out of options. The Twins add the former top prospect Jo Adell, who seems to have fallen out of favor with the Angels. He gives the Twins a right-handed outfielder who can mash lefties, and contrary to popular belief, has become a solid defender. Adell is a good change of scenery candidate.
Next, the Twins add their first baseman in Yandy Diaz. Diaz can crush the ball, finishing with an OPS+ of 157 just 2 seasons ago, while still posting a 116 OPS+ in 2024. His stock is a bit down, but the Rays may be looking to move his contract ($10M in 2025, $12M club option in 2024) in exchange for prospects, because that is the way they do things in Tampa Bay. It is tough to know what the Rays may want in a trade for Diaz, but I propose giving them Gabriel Gonzalez, who was a top-100 prospect as recent as early 2024, and Jose Salas, whose stock is also down, but is still young. These prospects are possibly interchangeable, depending on who the Rays would want. Diaz figures to be a somewhat of a hot commodity this offseason, so the Twins will likely have competition in acquiring him.
Lastly, the Twins add an experienced lefty in Caleb Ferguson. The Twins will need a reliable lefty, and ideally Ferguson can provide that. Ferguson had an okay 2024 season, but carries a solid track record as a middle relief option. This spot is not set in stone, as the Twins just need to add a lefty reliever, which will likely cost $4-6 million on the FA market, depending on who it is. Other names include AJ Minter, Aroldis Chapman, Aaron Bummer, etc.
 
Lineup/Bench
This is pretty self explanatory. You have Jeffers at catcher, with Vazquez as the backup. At first base you have Diaz, but Miranda and Julien can also get some time here. At 2B you have Lee, who figures to show why he is a top prospect, with Julien as a backup. Shortstop is obviously Correa, and Lewis occupies 3B. In the outfield you have Wallner in right, and Larnach in left, with Buxton in center. At this point in the offseason, the outfield seems like somewhat of a certainty. Miranda will occupy the DH spot in this blueprint, but we all know that spot is regularly rotated to give guys some rest. Ideally in 2025 Willi Castro will spend most of his time on the dirt, which seems to be where he is best-suited. He can play in place of Lewis and Correa on off-days, in an effort to keep them on the field for the whole season. Adell acts as your 4th outfielder, and right-handed outfield platoon option when facing lefties. Lastly, Julien fills in when needed, spending time at 1B, 2B, and DH. Infielder depth in AAA includes Michael Helman, Yunior Severino, Luke Keaschall, and Payton Eeles. Outfielder depth includes Austin Martin, Dashawn Keirsey, and top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez.
 
Starting Rotation
This is pretty similar to last year. Obviously you have the top 3 of Lopez, Ryan, and Ober. This may not be top of the league, but is very solid and will win you games. By trading away Paddack, I am giving Festa a spot in the rotation, and I think he will eventually flourish. He has the stuff to make him a mid/top of the rotation guy, it is just all about how he grows and develops. Lastly, SWR earned himself a spot in the rotation with his 2024 performance. He is a guy that will throw strikes and keep you in games, which is exactly what you need from a back of the rotation guy. There is also plenty of depth in the high-minors for the rotation, which includes Zebby Matthews, Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis, Marco Raya, Randy Dobnak, Travis Adams, and more. These guys will eventually get their shot and hopefully prove the pitching pipeline is here to stay.
 
Bullpen
Plenty of familiar faces here, and this group has potential to be one of the best in the league. Closing games you have your option of Duran, Jax, and Stewart. In the middle innings you can go to any of Sands, Alcala, Topa, Ferguson, or even Varland and feel pretty good about your chances to keep the score where it is. Obviously bullpens can fluctuate very much from year to year, but if this is the group going into the season I feel pretty confident. Obviously injuries happen, so there will need to be depth in AAA to keep the team afloat. Righties include Ronny Henriquez, Matt Canterino, possibly a converted starter, and veterans on minor league deals the team will eventually sign. As for lefties, you have Kody Funderburk, Brent Headrick, and Jovani Moran. There is not a ton of depth in AAA, but as mentioned before, guys can surprise you, which can be good or bad.
 
Overall, this is a blueprint that I think could lead to the Twins getting back into the postseason. Obviously many things change from year to year, some guys will perform better, and some worse. As we saw in 2024, injuries can ruin a team, which is why depth is important. I’d love to hear any other ideas you all may have. Thank you for reading, enjoy the offseason!
 

I am not sure if there is anything serious with the Kepler injury, but now is the time to make a move.
The Twins schedule has them playing NOBODY over .500 until after the Allstar break!! Now is the time to call up Wallner and Lee, let them continue their string recent offensive surges against AAAA competition to build confidence for the second half.
DFA Farmer, there really is ZERO reason he is still on this club!!  I have hear the veteran presence in clubhouse thing, but we still have Correa, we still have Santana, while he hasnt enjoyed great success we still have Buxton, and who cares about veteran presence with young leadership skills of Lewis. He needs to be gone. plug Brooks Lee into 2B. Use Castro as the super utility guy.
While Kepler hasn't been HORRIBLE, he is obviously no longer a part of our long term future. Best case is he has a minor neck tweak that a IL stint coudl help, this would allow us to bring up Wallner for lightning in a bottle. If he continues hot streak then RF is his, if he flounders then we can go back to Kepler on his return.
While Wallner is tearing it up, he is still striking out about 1/3 of his AB's. against AAA pitching, so if he comes up and continues with the high level K's (and dosent bring power along with it) then as mentioned after DL stint you go back to Kepler.
 
But if ...  IF... Wallner and Lee can bring their potential, and you put them in a lineup with Correa, Lewis,  the resurgent Miranda (.284 avg  & .844 over last 30 games) and the coming around Santana (.305 avg & .920 OPS over last 30 games) now we have a pretty potent lineup.

With the recent good news that Royce Lewis it's just about ready to start an assumedly short rehab assignment, one's mind turns to what happens when he's ready to rejoin the Twins. You have to think that he'll be playing 3B at least three or four times a week and probably more, and we have Castro as a potential 3B backup. What happens to José Miranda in that scenario?
First, the facts. Miranda is hitting .276/.315/.457 (.772) with 4 HRs, 7 Doubles, and 12 RBIs in 105 ABs. He has 16 SOs and 4 walks, (14.5% SO rate, 3.7% walk rate). He's better against LH pitching – .807 OPS – but still respectable against RH pitching with a .722 OPS. His defense at 3B, once a weakness, has improved to a little below average average, with a -2 OAA at 3B and a 0 OAA at 1B. His Statcast chart is not particularly impressive, above average in some things but very little red other than being on the 74th percentile in whiff rate in the 89th percentile in strikeout rate. In other words, the stats so far indicate a little better-than-average player at age 25 with about 750 at bats in MLB so far. Those latter two facts suggest that there is room for improvement to a solidly above average hitter who is an average or slightly above fielder, but those results are far from assured.
I think the Twins have to keep Miranda on the roster and I think he needs to play. His team needs quality RH hitters in the worst way, and Miranda is really the only reinforcement option. Lewis can obviously hit, Correa is a quality hitter, and both Buxton and Jeffers are streaky. The rest of them? Not much there. Margot and Vasquez are well below average hitters even if you only count Margot hitting from the right side. Santana can hit right-handed but is a black hole left-handed, and from a hitting standpoint should only start against left-handed pitching. Farmer can hit left-handed pitching or at least could in the past but he's nearing the end of his career and it's unlikely he's going to have a big pop during this season. he's also somewhere else next year. I think you have to keep Miranda around for his bat and hope his defense improves.
So where do you play him once Lewis is back to play 3B? I think the answer is pretty simple. Miranda plays 4 to 5 days a week, 3 to 4 of them as the 1B against right-handed pitching, a day or two at 3B for Lewis when he is the DH, and he can be the DH once a week, maybe twice. I would also look at him at 2B as the RH alternative to Edward Julien unless Rocco comes to his senses and starts playing Julien every day. Miranda was a 2B in the minors, he's here for the long term, and he's a better hitter than Farmer. I would suggest trying him in LF, but I know they did that in the minors and I hear it was an unmitigated disaster. So my view is Miranda needs to stay, play regularly, and do it in a combination of 1B and 3B. 
This decision is coming in is coming within the next couple weeks hopefully. What he is everybody think?

The Twins and Dodgers have done a few trades over the past few years, including most recently the trade for Margot.  Of course the one that comes to mind that really benefitted both clubs was the Kenta Maeda trade that brought Graterol to the Dodgers.
Could/should the Twins Dodgers look to make another potential win/win trade?
Take away both teams potential needs for starting pitching.  Dodgers due to injuries, and Twins due to an unproven rotation, and there seems to be a perfect matchup here for a trade.
The Twins thought they "solved" their RH OF issue by trading for Margot, but really that was a dud from the get go. Margot was not significantly better than anyone on the Twins roster or in the Twins system.
There is another player would completely fit, and we will get to that name shortly, but first the Dodgers "need".
the Dodgers love Gavin Lux's bat, so much so that they have moved him to 2B and have moved Mookie Betts once again. This time to SS.  Now Betts very well may make the transition to SS without any issues and not risk injury or any negative impact to his offense, but do you REALLY want to risk that?? For a unproven bat, even with his potential? Plus the kid is already 26.
I would suggest that the Dodgers may be open to acquiring a SS upgrade, even if it means jettisoning Lux.   HMMMM, what team that we all know and love seems to have a middle infield glut?
I COULD say the Twins should involve Correa in a trade if the Twins truly are concerned about their finances, but who wants to have such a major shakeup of a potential contending roster this close to the start of the season? Not to mention I actually like Correa on this team.
Correa then is set at SS.
Lewis is not going anywhere, an he is set at 3B.
Julien is presumably set at 2B (or even a slide to 1B for future infield set up), and he is purely a 2B, Dodgers would  need a SS in this scenario.
That leaves Brooks Lee as a potential option to be moved. Yes, I love Lee as much as the next person, and I think he COULD be a long time Twins great. And there are options fo rhim to get AB's this year, as well as starting next year if we do move Julien to 1B, but there is a bat I love in the Dodgers system, one that fits our needs.
I say we reach out to the Dodgers, offer the Dodgers Brooks Lee in exchange for Adny Pages (plus another player such as Maddux Burns who has a high upside arm).
Pages is near MLB ready, if not MLB ready right now, the only reason he has not made debut yet, was a shoulder injury he suffered last year. which he has shown he is recovered from. The kid has massive power, the most power in the Dodgers system, he has a cannon of an arm equal to, if not better than Wallner, decent to above average speed. Most of all, he is a right handed hitting outfielder.  HE checks every box the Twins need to compliment the lineup, PLUS he is young and can be a core piece in the future, and is ready right now.
Pages would be the PERFECT platoon with Wallner in 2024, and then transition next year to an OF of Pages, Buxton, Wallner. (Walker Jenkins, Rodriguez and Gonzalez are all AT LEAST 1 year away). Both have huge power, and hit opposite pitching well. both have huge arms.
and if we get a pitcher liek Maddux Bruns as well (Dodgers #16 overall) with a big armed lefty with tons of potential (albeit control issues).
 
A trade with Dodgers centered around Lee and Pages coudl be another one of those (although tougher to swallow) win/win trades.
 
 
 
 
 

This flashed by on my home page and thought some may want to read. I was caught by surprise and good for him. i'm rooting for him.
Angels All-Star Free Agent Signing Showed Up to Camp Nearly 60 Pounds Lighter (msn.com)

The airwaves have been flooded with all the hysteria of the otherworldly accomplishments of Shohei Ohtani, and rightly so. He is indeed a “unicorn”, a unique baseball player who has taken MLB by storm since coming from Japan to the US.
To be able to hit and pitch with such excellence is almost unequal to any other baseball player ever, especially when you take into account that he is in the upper echelon of both pitchers and hitters at the same time. But is Ohtani not really unique and is he just following in the footsteps of someone who accomplished the same over 100 years ago? Of course I’m talking about Babe Ruth.
Most of us know the story of Babe Ruth, the hitter. But when he began his major league career with the Red Sox he was a full-time pitcher.
He joined the Red Sox in 1914 when the team purchased Babe, Ben Egan (a rather lackluster catcher with a career batting average of .165) and Ernie Shore for $25,000. Ernie Shore would have a great 4 years with the Red Sox (1914-17) where he had a 58-33 win-lost record and never an ERA under 2.63. Ernie and Babe would combine for one of the most bizarre games in baseball history. Babe was the starting pitcher in a game on 6/23/1917 when he walked the first batter. He ended up getting into an argument with the home plate umpire and was tossed from the game. Shore came on to replace him. The batter that Babe walked was thrown out trying to steal and the next 26 batters failed to get a hit or on base at all. It was initially call a perfect game, but with new rules to determine no-hitters and perfect games, it is now considered a no-hitter.
Back to Babe. From 1914-17 Babe would have a 62-34 win-loss record and except for 4 games pitched in 1914, he would have no ERA higher than 2.44. In 1916 he would lead the league with a 1.75 ERA, 40 games started, 9 shutouts, an ERA+ of 158, 6.4 hits/9 and would not give up a home run. He would give up 230 hits in 323.2 innings pitched.
Around that time the team started noticing that not only did they have one of the top pitchers in the league, but this guy could hit.
In the 1915 season he had a batting average of .315 with 4 home runs and 20 RBI’s and an OPS+ of 189 while pitching and pinch hitting (11 times). He was not as successful in the 1916 season but did have a batting average .272 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI’s, to go along with an OPS+ of 122. He pinched hit in 24 games in the 1916 season. For the 1917 season Ruth hit 2 home runs, drove in 14 runs, batted .325 and had an OPS+ of 162.
The big experiment began in 1918, when Babe pitched and also played in the field. He appeared in 95 games in total, and he pitched in 20 of them. As a position player he played 47 games in left field, 12 games in center field, 13 games at first base and pinch hit in 5.
For the 1918 season, here are his pitching stats:
W-L- 13-7, IP-166.1, BB-49, K-40, ERA-2.22, ERA+-122, FIP-2.75, WHIP-1.046
BB/9-2.7, K/9-2.2
The stat that jumps off this chart is strikeouts, Babe averaged 2.2 strikeouts per 9 innings. In looking at the American League pitching stats for 1918, the strikeout leader was Walter Johnson with 162 (326 innings, 4.5/9), Jim Shaw with 129 (241 innings, 4.8/9), “Bullet” Joe Bush with 125 (272 inning, 4.1/9), Guy Morton with 123 (214 innings, 5.2/9), Carl Mays with 114 (294 innings, 3.5/9) and Eddie Cicotte with 104 (266 innings, 3.5/9). Carl Mays would become infamous for an incident in 1920 when he hit Ray Chapman with a pitch fracturing his skull. Chapman would die the following day, being the only play to die directly from an injury received during a baseball game. And Eddie Cicotte would be remembered as one of the players banned for life in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
For the 1918 season, here are his batting stats:
AB-317, Hits-95, 2B-26, 3B-11, HR-11, RBI-61,
BB-58, K-58, Avg.-.300, Slug.-.555
OPS-.966, OPS+-192, WAR-4.7
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
These batting stats include games where Babe appeared as a pitcher.
In 1918, Babe was tied for 2nd in doubles, tied for 5th in triples, tied for 1st in home runs (with Tillie Walker???), 6th in RBI’s, 8th in walks, 1st in strikeouts, tied for 7th in batting average, 2nd in OBP, 1st in Slug. Pct., 1st in OPS, 2nd in OPS+, and 7th in WAR. All of this was accomplished with Babe being 43rd in plate appearances and 44th in times at bat. His greatness as a batter was becoming more and more apparent.
For the 1919 season Babe pitched in 17 games over 133 innings. His stats were:
W-L 9-5, IP-133.1, Hits-148, BB-58, K-30,
ERA 2.97, ERA+-102, FIP-3.58, WHIP-1.545,
BB/9-3.9, K/9-2.0
There is no question that there had been a bit of a regression in his pitching performance.
He was now 20th in ERA, 21st in ERA+, 32nd in FIP, 33rd in WHIP, and 33rd in K/9. Obviously pitching in 17 games and appearing in 116 games as a batter was taking its toll on his pitching success. The Red Sox would play 138 games that season and Babe would play in 130 of them (he had 3 games where he pitched and played in the field).
While his pitching was on a downward trend because of pitching or playing the field in practically every game, his batting stats were on the upswing
AB-432, Hits-139, 2B-35, 3B-12, HR-29
RBI-113, BB-101, K-58, Avg.-.322, Slug.-.657
OBP-.456, OPS+-217, WAR-9.1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In 1919, besides pitching in 17 games, Babe played 110 games in LF, 1 in CF, and 5 at 1B, he would also pinch hit in 1 game.
In comparing the Babe to all the other hitters in the American League, he finished: 27th in batting appearances, 43rd in times at bat, he finished 1st in runs scored with 103, 21st in hits, 5th in doubles, 7th in triples, and 1st in home runs. Babe had 29 home runs in the 1919 season, finishing 2nd was George Sisler, Tillie Walker and Frank “Home Run” Baker who had 10 each. There were a total of 240 home runs that year and Babe had 12.1% of the league total. Four of the eight American League teams had fewer home runs as a team than Babe had by himself. His Red Sox teammates hit a total of 4 home runs for the season.
Prior to Babe’s 29 home runs in 1919 the American League record for home runs was 16 in 1902 for Ralph (Socks) Seybold.
In addition to the stats for 1919 already mentioned, Babe let the league in RBI’s, was 2nd in walks, was 2nd in strikeouts, 8th in batting average, 1st in OBP, 1st in slugging percentage (.657 to George Sislers’ .530), 1st in OPS, 1st in OPS+, and he lead the league in WAR with 9.1 with Bobby Veach 2nd at 6.7.
After the 1919 season the New York Yankees received the best Christmas present ever. On December 26th they purchased Babe Ruth’s contract from the Red Sox for $100,000. This began the “Curse of the Bambino” in which the Red Sox would not win another World Series (they won in 1918) until 86 years later when they finally won in 2004.
Ruth’s pitching career pretty much ended with the trade. He did pitch in 1 game (4 innings) in 1920, 2 games (9 innings) in 1921, 1 game in 1930 and 1 game in 1933. Interestingly in those 5 games he pitched 31 innings, gave up 40 hits, walked 16 and struck out 5, but had a W-L record of 5-0!
Babe Ruth went on to have a legendary remainder of his career with the Yankees, but after the trade he would no longer be the “Unicorn”, just one of the greatest, or the greatest hitter of all time.
The one major difference between Babe and Shohei was that when Babe was in the game as a hitter he would play in the field, however in his entire MLB career, Ohtani when not pitching, would only be on the field for 7 games!
Are you ready to call both Babe and Shohei “Unicorns” or are you reserving the title for Shohei only?
 

I read somewhere on Twins Daily that the MVP for the Twins in 2023 was depth. After losing a lead in 2022, the Twins added several depth pieces to their roster along with keeping Carlos Correa after it appeared that he would leave due to free agency. Adding to the starting pitching staff by acquiring Pablo López wasn't directly adding depth to the rotation, but adding a solid starter moved Bailey Ober out of the rotation temporarily, so when injuries eventually occurred, they had Ober and Louie Varland ready as the sixth and seventh guys to take the ball. The Twins traded for Michael A. Taylor and with Byron Buxton's inability to play center, that depth piece became a regular. Correa's signing meant that Kyle Farmer, pegged as the regular shortstop, could assume a utility role and the Twins signed Willi Castro, a speedy guy with the ability to play several positions, as another depth piece. Nick Gordon had flourished in the latter part of 2022 and was another player capable of manning several positions. Finally, the Twins signed Donovan Solano late in the winter. He proved to be a vital hitter with the ability to fill in at three different infield spots. 
Many, including myself, lauded the front office for the foresight to be ready for the inevitable injuries and underperformances. As mentioned, Buxton never got to center field and only played in 85 games as the DH, José Miranda, coming off a nice rookie year was both disappointing and injured and only played in 40 games, Projected starters Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff both started the season on the IL and went back on the injury list later in the season. Every position player starter spent time on the IL, one rotation member (Mahle) was lost for the season before the frost was out of the ground and yet the depth (and reinforcements) kept the Twins above water and finally carried them to a comfortable division flag. 
So, this year seems to be totally different. While the Twins appear to have a pretty solid 26-man roster, they have only added a lottery ticket to their bullpen. I know it's only January, but the lack of activity seems telling. There hasn't been any speculation that the Twins were in on a substantial free agent. The club has announced they will be cutting payroll, perhaps to the point that any payroll additions would have to be countered by subtractions. There hasn't been a replacement added for either of the two rotation members who left by free agency and so far no activity to bolster the center field mix minus Taylor. It looks to me like the Twins are going to try to fill these gaps internally, a complete departure from 2023. 
I have belief that players on the roster or in St. Paul can fill those gaps. I think Austin Martin will be a capable outfielder with good speed and bat to ball skills. I think Miranda will come back and capably fill the role that Solano handled so well in '23. I think Brooks Lee will be a future star as soon as this year.  I expect that the current five-man rotation will be among the best in the American League. However, beyond those just mentioned, my confidence is not nearly as high. There will be injuries to the pitching staff and to position players. Most everyone on the 40-man roster will be on the major league roster at some point in the season. I don't see the proven depth to step in when the inevitable rash of injuries occurs. 
I guess the front office is gambling that a) injuries will be manageable and b) the internal options will adequately fill the gaps in the Opening Day roster. I am not so sure, but do understand how tough it is to acquire the help needed with the payroll constraints.