All Things 2024-25 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

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Breakin' The Plane said:
So, are they trying to give the public some assurance that the team won't move even if it's sold, while giving potential buyers some sort of guarantee that they'll have state funding coming in that will help with Target Field maintenance and improvements? Guess that makes sense, but if I was buying the team, that does take away a lot of leverage I'd have in future negotiations.
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Apparently they already tried to do this last year, but the legislature never took it up. I'm not sure what amount of $$ for improvements they're looking for. But if it's reasonable, I'd take advantage and lock them in. The debate over building Target Field was 10 years + and exhausting. Let's never do that again.
 

howeda7 said:
Apparently they already tried to do this last year, but the legislature never took it up. I'm not sure what amount of $$ for improvements they're looking for. But if it's reasonable, I'd take advantage and lock them in. The debate over building Target Field was 10 years + and exhausting. Let's never do that again.
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Agreed, not in my lifetime anyway.
 

the extension of the lease is tied to the continuation of the sales tax that helped fund part of Target Field - but only about 20% of the money generated by the tax actually goes to the Twins. a bigger chunk goes to support health care facilities. (from the Strib)

Hennepin County leaders want lawmakers to continue the 0.15% sales tax that funded Target Field after the debt is paid off later this year. About $40 million in future tax proceeds would be split between HCMC and North Memorial Hospital and more than $10 million a year would be set aside for stadium upkeep and improvements.

as far as the money that goes to the Twins: (more Strib)

Under the ballpark portion of the proposal, $9 million a year would go into a capital fund for upkeep and improvements to the stadium. The Twins' annual rent would climb to $4.5 million a year and would also go into that fund.

Additionally, the ballpark authority would receive $9 million over the next three years into a separate capital fund to maintain and improve the public infrastructure surrounding the stadium. After 2028, that fund would receive $1.25 million a year.

Kenney noted that the team currently pays all operational and routine maintenance costs for the stadium. The Twins have spent $268 million on the stadium since it opened in 2010. (avg of about $18-million a year)

Currently, the cost of major upgrades to the stadium, such as the $30 million scoreboard that debuted in 2023, are split between the team and the ballpark authority.
 

FWIW - Jim Bowden, former MLB GM - now a baseball writer for The Athletic - just put out his off-season evaluations for all 30 MLB teams. Here's what he said about the Twins:

Minnesota Twins​

Grade: C-

Free agents: None

Trades:
• Acquired C/1B Mickey Gasper from Red Sox for LHP Jovani Moran
• Acquired C Diego Cartaya from Dodgers for RHP Jose Vasquez

Key takeaways: The biggest move they made this offseason was promoting Jeremy Zoll to GM and Derek Falvey to team president. Baseball-wise, they didn’t have a lot of major holes, so being largely inactive isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They still need a right-handed-hitting outfielder to mix and match on the corners. But if their young players keep developing and their star players stay healthy for once, they have the best roster in the division and could return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus.

Biggest question: Can their three best position players — Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton — stay healthy together for an entire season? If they can, the Twins will win the division.

Season prediction: Second place
 

Twins news - another player signed as a minor-league free agent. from the Strib:

the club added infielder Armando Alvarez to a minor league deal, which includes an invitation to big-league camp.

Alvarez, 30, made his major league debut last season, coincidentally against the Twins, playing in 16 games with the Oakland Athletics. He had nine hits in 37 at-bats (.243 batting average) with a double, two RBI, two walks and eight strikeouts. He scored seven runs.

Playing primarily first base and third base with the A’s, Alvarez played every position at Class AAA last season except catcher and center field. He was in the extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League at AAA last year and batted .315 in 74 minor league games with 15 homers and 54 RBI.

Alvarez 8 years in the minors. career # .273/.329/.447 (.776) OPS.
 


Unable to agree to terms on a new contract, the Twins released 38-year-old slugger Harmon Killebrew on this date in 1975.

To this day, nobody has played more games in a Twins uniform. The Kansas City Royals quickly signed the Killer eight days later. The Twins officially retired his number 3 while the Royals were in town on May 4, 1975. Harmon homered in the first inning of that game.

On September 18, he hit his 573rd and final home run off the Twins’ Eddie Bane. His 573 homers ranked fifth-most in baseball history at the time of his retirement, behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Frank Robinson.

He hit 84 with the Washington Senators, 475 in a Twins uniform, and 14 in his only season as a Kansas City Royal. Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame on January 10, 1984—his fourth year of eligibility.

IMG_1453.jpeg
 

TRF Guy said:
Unable to agree to terms on a new contract, the Twins released 38-year-old slugger Harmon Killebrew on this date in 1975.

To this day, nobody has played more games in a Twins uniform. The Kansas City Royals quickly signed the Killer eight days later. The Twins officially retired his number 3 while the Royals were in town on May 4, 1975. Harmon homered in the first inning of that game.

On September 18, he hit his 573rd and final home run off the Twins’ Eddie Bane. His 573 homers ranked fifth-most in baseball history at the time of his retirement, behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Frank Robinson.

He hit 84 with the Washington Senators, 475 in a Twins uniform, and 14 in his only season as a Kansas City Royal. Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame on January 10, 1984—his fourth year of eligibility.
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Even though I was only 6 at the time, it's still odd to see Harmon in Royal gear and playing on artificial turf.

Those '75 Royals were pretty solid, winning 91 games and finishing 2nd to the Finley A's in the last year of their run. The next year, without Killer, they started their decade of dominance of the AL West.

They won the Division outright 6 times, never finishing worse than 2nd in a full season. Even in the Strike Shortened 1981 season, despite having the 4th best overall record, they finished 1st in the Second Half earning a playoff berth which they lost to the A's.

They were a fun group of professionals to watch year in and year out.
 
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The International Signing Period has begun - and the Twins have the largest pool of money available with which to sign players. Here is a list of players expected to sign with the Twins:

Minnesota Twins ($7,555,500)- bonus pool amount​

Santiago Leon, SS, Venezuela
Carlos Taveras, OF, Dominican Republic
Haritzon Castillo, SS, Venezuela
Teilon Serrano, OF, Domincian Republic
Santiago Castellanos, RHP, Venezuela
Jose Barrios, SS, Venezuela
Joyner Perez, OF, Dominican Republic
Jhomnardo Reyes, OF, Dominican Republic
Aaron Salazar, C, Venezuela

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the top 4 names on the list are supposed to be the best prospects. all 4 are ranked among the top 50 available international prospects by mlb.com. one interesting note - Serrano - the Dominican OF, was originally expected to sign with the Dodgers, but the Dodgers changed their minds (apparently wanting to preserve more $$ for another player) and the Twins were able to reach an agreement.
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disclaimer - these are all 16- and 17-year old players. projecting them is a crap-shoot. it's like buying a lottery ticket.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Gleeman drops his annual Top 40 Twins Prospects.

www.nytimes.com

Twins top 40 prospects for 2025, led by Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez

With two elite hitting prospects and strong pitching depth, this is as well-stocked as the Twins' farm system has looked in a decade.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Top 5 are -

Walker
Rodriguez
Keaschell
Matthews - still considered a rookie, as he didn’t pitch enough innings to break his maiden.
Andrew Morris

Interesting note regarding Twins draft strategy regarding starting pitching inthe article -

Matthews and Festa epitomize the Twins’ draft strategy: They take mostly hitters with early picks and then use the middle rounds to load up on right-handed college starters — preferably tall and/or skinny — from non-power conference schools, believing they can develop velocity through strength training and mechanical tweaks. It worked with Bailey Ober, and more are on the way.

While it may. It be perfect, it is a plan and not the concepts thereof.
As my first sales manager taught me -
“Work your plan and plan your work.”
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Gleeman did a follow up mailbag to his top 40 Prospect rankings and I thought this was Interesting as to which pitchers listed in said rankings could help the big club this year -


Of the pitching prospects yet to debut, who will have the biggest impact on the 2025 season? — Perry L.

Festa is no longer a prospect and “yet to debut” rules out Matthews, so I’ll go with Andrew Morris (No. 5 on my list) or Connor Prielipp (No. 9).

They’re extremely different prospects on opposite ends of the floor/ceiling spectrum, but Morris should be ready to jump into the Twins’ rotation when midseason reinforcements are needed and Prielipp could quickly emerge as a late-inning reliever if his lengthy injury history leads to a bullpen move.

Rule 5 draft pick Eiberson Castellano (No. 22) is also a logical choice here, if only because there’s a realistic path for him to be on the Opening Day roster.
 



Ope3 said:
Even though I was only 6 at the time, it's still odd to see Harmon in Royal gear and playing on artificial turf.

Those '75 Royals were pretty solid, winning 91 games and finishing 2nd to the Finley A's in the last year of their run. The next year, without Killer, they started their decade of dominance of the AL West.

They won the Division outright 6 times, never finishing worse than 2nd in a full season. Even in the Strike Shortened 1981 season, despite having the 4th best overall record, they finished 1st in the Second Half earning a playoff berth which they lost to the A's.

They were a fun group of professionals to watch year in and year out.
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Freddie Patek lives!
 

TRF Guy said:
Unable to agree to terms on a new contract, the Twins released 38-year-old slugger Harmon Killebrew on this date in 1975.

He hit 84 with the Washington Senators, 475 in a Twins uniform, and 14 in his only season as a Kansas City Royal. Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame on January 10, 1984—his fourth year of eligibility.
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Crazy it took that long

Ah, the days when Scott Rolen wouldn’t have received 50% of the vote.
TRF Guy said:
View attachment 35383
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Twins to sign Jose Barrios. Finally a big off-season move. :cool:

 

More (possible) Twins Sale News:

LaVelle E. Neal III has article in Strib where, based on talking to "several sources," he gives his take on the potential sale of the Twins.

(bullet-point version)
1. There have been double-digit inquiries about team - both local and "as far away as California." Sale price expected in range of $1.4- to $1.7-Billion.

2. sources believe the winning bidder will be selected by Opening Day. But final approval process will extend until late May or June before MLB signs off.

3. only interested party publicly identified so far is Justin Ishbia.

4. Twins have positives -good ballpark and a competitive roster. but there are issues - TV money, revenue disparity, and possible work-stoppage in 2027 as CBA expires.

5. Expect a former Twin to be a limited partner in any new ownership group. possible names include Mauer, Morneau and Torii Hunter.

5a. Will new owner spend more on payroll? We won't know until they take over - probably by mid-season.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
More (possible) Twins Sale News:

LaVelle E. Neal III has article in Strib where, based on talking to "several sources," he gives his take on the potential sale of the Twins.

(bullet-point version)
1. There have been double-digit inquiries about team - both local and "as far away as California." Sale price expected in range of $1.4- to $1.7-Billion.

2. sources believe the winning bidder will be selected by Opening Day. But final approval process will extend until late May or June before MLB signs off.

3. only interested party publicly identified so far is Justin Ishbia.

4. Twins have positives -good ballpark and a competitive roster. but there are issues - TV money, revenue disparity, and possible work-stoppage in 2027 as CBA expires.

5. Expect a former Twin to be a limited partner in any new ownership group. possible names include Mauer, Morneau and Torii Hunter.

5a. Will new owner spend more on payroll? We won't know until they take over - probably by mid-season.
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Best hot stove 🗞️ we could hope for; I’m just going to enjoy this season, especially our young rotation for what it is: a bridge to the future. If those young arms took a cumulative leap, albeit a quantum one, and we get some timely hitting, maybe there’s a Jokers Wild Card in our future, Wink (best game show in the world from that era, with Let’s Make A Deal a close -the golden age of broadcast 📺.

I yearn for a 32 oz cup of milk in my Twins souvenir cup, with my bologna sandwich’s - featuring way tooooo much Heinz ketchup and mustard, sitting Indian Style, err crosslegged three feet from our beloved Panasonic).
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Best hot stove 🗞️ we could hope for; I’m just going to enjoy this season, especially our young rotation for what it is: a bridge to the future. If those young arms took a cumulative leap, albeit a quantum one, and we get some timely hitting, maybe there’s a Jokers Wild Card in our future, Wink (best game show in the world from that era, with Let’s Make A Deal a close -the golden age of broadcast 📺.

I yearn for a 32 oz cup of milk in my Twins souvenir cup, with my bologna sandwich’s - featuring way tooooo much Heinz ketchup and mustard, sitting Indian Style, err crosslegged three feet from our beloved Panasonic).
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Bologna and ketchup is a crime against humanity.
 


this makes two reports now (Dan Hayes and LaVelle) with very similar information. I suspect that some of the sources for these reports are overlapping.

but bottom line - it does seem as if the ownership question will be settled in less than 3 months. (season opener March 27 at St. Louis; Home opener April 3 vs Astros).

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for me, the biggest story of the off-season is the TV situation. the 1st Spring Training game is February 22nd - 5 weeks from now- and we still have no idea how or where the Twins will be televised.

in case you missed it, in recent days, both the Brewers and the Reds announced that they have signed new 1-year deals with FanDuel Sports. both Milwaukee and Cincy were among the teams that were initially going to work with MLB on a broadcast plan, but they decided to go back to Main Street Sports (formerly known as Diamond Sports) to be broadcast on FanDuel (formerly known as Bally). in each case, reports suggest that Main Street offered the teams more money for their rights.

I am NOT suggesting or predicting that the Twins will do the same. but the clock is ticking and people want to know what the bleep is going on.

BTW - Texas just announced a deal to stream their games at $100 for the season. Texas has not announced any plans for cable/satellite or over-the-air broadcasts. Texas is making its own arrangements - they are not working with an RSN or MLB.
 










short ornery norwegian said:
this makes two reports now (Dan Hayes and LaVelle) with very similar information. I suspect that some of the sources for these reports are overlapping.

but bottom line - it does seem as if the ownership question will be settled in less than 3 months. (season opener March 27 at St. Louis; Home opener April 3 vs Astros).

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for me, the biggest story of the off-season is the TV situation. the 1st Spring Training game is February 22nd - 5 weeks from now- and we still have no idea how or where the Twins will be televised.

in case you missed it, in recent days, both the Brewers and the Reds announced that they have signed new 1-year deals with FanDuel Sports. both Milwaukee and Cincy were among the teams that were initially going to work with MLB on a broadcast plan, but they decided to go back to Main Street Sports (formerly known as Diamond Sports) to be broadcast on FanDuel (formerly known as Bally). in each case, reports suggest that Main Street offered the teams more money for their rights.

I am NOT suggesting or predicting that the Twins will do the same. but the clock is ticking and people want to know what the bleep is going on.

BTW - Texas just announced a deal to stream their games at $100 for the season. Texas has not announced any plans for cable/satellite or over-the-air broadcasts. Texas is making its own arrangements - they are not working with an RSN or MLB.
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The Twins have already announce they not going back to Fan Duel. Even if they wanted too they couldn't as they has until Dec 31st of 2024 to decide. It been all over the net and been confirm by many Twins beat writers.

 

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