All Things 2024-25 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

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After leading the majors with 239 hits and a .388 average, Rod Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player on this date in 1977.

He was the third of five players in Twins history to receive the award, succeeding Zoilo Versalles in 1965 and Harmon Killebrew in 1969, and preceding Justin Morneau in 2006 and Joe Mauer in 2009.

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TRF Guy said:
After leading the majors with 239 hits and a .388 average, Rod Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player on this date in 1977.

He was the third of five players in Twins history to receive the award, succeeding Zoilo Versalles in 1965 and Harmon Killebrew in 1969, and preceding Justin Morneau in 2006 and Joe Mauer in 2009.

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He was immortalized on this Time Magazine cover during that magical summer.


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Former Minneapolis Millers and Twins manager Gene Mauch was born on this date in 1925.

"I'm not the manager because I'm always right, but I'm always right because I'm the manager."

Fun Fact: Mauch was Roy Smalley's uncle (by marriage).

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If you have a subscription to The Athletic, Evan Drellich has a long but interesting article on Baseball's future plans for local TV rights.

the gist of the story is that MLB is looking ahead to 2028, when all of MLB's national TV deals are up for re-negotiation.

MLB plans to create national packages for major streaming companies to bid on come 2028, the year that the league’s national television deals with ESPN, Fox and Turner are set to expire. The commissioner needs as many of its teams’ local media rights available as possible by then, and all six clubs returning to Diamond Sports Group are on deals that were designed around that goal.

MLB already is handling the broadcasts for an additional group of seven teams in 2025, and will be partially responsible for an eighth team. As of today, close to two-thirds of the league’s 30 teams appear to have their rights available come 2028, if not more.
Bundling all the rights together will be another matter. Producing the changes the commissioner seeks would require some heavy lifting. Manfred wants the league office to take over teams’ local media rights — the traditional, linear TV rights, as well as the in-market, direct-to-consumer streaming rights, both of which currently belong to the individual clubs.

To achieve that, Manfred needs the owners to agree both on that transfer of control, and the way the teams would then share the local TV income, a difficult task because the worth of media rights varies greatly from small markets to large.

He will also need approval from the players’ union. The Players Association does not control how MLB uses its TV rights, but it does have a say in revenue sharing between teams. The current CBA between owners and players expires in December 2026. This ultimately means that 2026 and 2027 will be crucial years when baseball television and labor issues collide.

there is a lot more dealing with how teams share revenue and how that will impact the negotiations for the next CBA. but it lays out a case that the next few years will be very interesting and could bring some significant changes - but also bring significant challenges. BTW, according to the story, 15 of 18 teams that were being covered by RSN's have seen their local TV revenue reduced in recent years due to cord-cutting.
 

TRF Guy said:
After leading the majors with 239 hits and a .388 average, Rod Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player on this date in 1977.

He was the third of five players in Twins history to receive the award, succeeding Zoilo Versalles in 1965 and Harmon Killebrew in 1969, and preceding Justin Morneau in 2006 and Joe Mauer in 2009.

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Gopher_In_NYC said:
He wasn’t a highly touted prospect, if he’s included in a trade for a middling fourth OF.

Sometimes you get lucky; Duran was a throw in the Escobar trade, IIRC.
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Gil hadn't even thrown a pitch in the US when he was traded. He was playing in the Dominican Summer League.
 

Tuesday was the deadline to put minor league players on the 40-man roster and protect them from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. from the Strib:

Righthanders Marco Raya and Travis Adams were added to the Twins’ 40-man roster Tuesday, protecting them from the Dec. 11 draft, which allows teams to pluck eligible minor leaguers from each others’ systems.
Raya, 22, started 24 games for Class AA Wichita and one for AAA St. Paul last summer, posting a combined 4.05 ERA while striking out 103 batters in 97⅔ innings. Taken in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, Raya missed the 2021 season with shoulder fatigue but has made 64 starts in the three seasons since.

Adams, 24, was Raya’s teammate at Wichita for five months, then started four games for the Saints in September. The Twins’ sixth-round pick in 2021, Adams made 22 starts and 26 total appearances, compiling 118 strikeouts and a 4.39 ERA over 127 innings.

The additions of Raya and Adams bring the Twins’ roster to 37. The Twins haven’t lost a player in the Rule 5 draft since 2020, when the Tigers claimed outfielder Akil Baddoo, and the Orioles added righthander Tyler Wells. Both players debuted in 2021 and have remained in those teams’ systems ever since.
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this leaves several players in the Twins' minor league system exposed to the Rule 5 draft including Kala'i Rosario, who was playing in the Arizona Fall League. others now eligible to be drafted include C/OF Ricardo Olivar, INF Jose Salas, SS/OF Will Holland, and INF Rubel Cespedes.

in other news, the Twins have signed minor-league deals with Yunior Severino, Daniel Duarte and Scott Blewett. Severino was recently dropped from the 40-man roster.
 



bring on the robot umpires - at least during Spring Training. details from the AP:

Major League Baseball will test robot umpires as part of a challenge system during spring training at 13 ballparks hosting 19 teams, which could lead to regular-season use in 2026.

MLB has been experimenting with the automated ball-strike system in the minor leagues since 2019 but is still working on the shape of the strike zone.

An agreement for big league use would have to be reached with the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, whose collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1.

Triple-A ballparks used ABS this year for the second straight season, but there is little desire to call the strike zone as the cube defined in the rule book and MLB has experimented with modifications during minor league testing.

The ABS currently calls strikes solely based on where the ball crosses the midpoint of the plate, 8.5 inches from the front and the back. The top of the strike zone was increased to 53.5% of batter height this year from 51%, and the bottom remained at 27%.

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and a quick reminder - these are the 3 laws of robotics - according to Isaac Asimov:
  • First Law: A robot must not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm
  • Second Law: A robot must obey human orders, unless those orders conflict with the First Law
  • Third Law: A robot must protect itself, unless doing so conflicts with the First or Second Law
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Didn’t know that and one never knows if he would have developed that way in the Twins or any other system, unlike a can’t mis guy like Skenes.
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I don’t think he was an unknown by any means but he was young and very inexperienced at the time.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don’t think he was an unknown by any means but he was young and very inexperienced at the time.
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To clarify, I didn’t mean he was an unknown, but rather that as a young player, without the pedigree of a Skenes, there’s no guarantee he would have developed in the same way in the Twins or any other organization.

Just like Big Papi, likely wouldn’t have developed into a HOFer in MN. Sometimes the player needs the right fit to flourish.
 
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Royals trade Brady Singer...

Jon Heyman (@jonheyman.bsky.social)

Nine stars who could get traded this winter. One is already gone as India goes to KC for Singer: @nypost.com.web.brid.gy https://nypost.com/2024/11/21/sports/top-names-the-orioles-have-eyes-on-in-trade-market/
bsky.app bsky.app
 

Happy 50th birthday to the Twins' all-time saves leader Joe Nathan (260).

Altogether, the former minor league shortstop saved 377 games over his 16-year career, good for 10th-most in MLB history.

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From an article in The Athletic the two playas added to our 40 man roster ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. We now have 37 of our 40 roster spots filled.

Minnesota Twins: Marco Raya, RHP​

Raya, 22, has dealt with injuries during his pro career, but he offers plenty of upside in his 6-1 frame. His fastball sits mid-90s and he has a plus slider. That combo helped him post a 103:44 K:BB in 97 2/3 innings this past season, including his Triple-A debut, when he fired five shutout innings. He can struggle with command at times and had a 4.27 ERA in 92 2/3 Double-A innings.

The Twins also added Travis Adams, 24, who posted a 3.90 ERA in 127 innings with a 118:35 K:BB. He reached Triple A for the first time in his career during the final month of the season.

Adams isn’t on the MLB Top 30 Prospect List, but Twins Daily has a nice article on him -

twinsdaily.com

Who Is Travis Adams? Meet Minnesota's New 40-Man Roster Addition

The right-hander was a somewhat surprising addition to the 40-man roster.
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Additionally. He’s Back after being outrighted to St. Paul earlier this month -

11/18/24Minnesota Twins signed free agent 1B Yunior Severino to a minor league contract.
 

if you missed it:

The Twins have agreed to contracts with three of their arbitration-eligible players - all relief pitchers.

Michael Tonkin signs for $1-million. Brock Stewart signs for $870-thousand. Justin Topa's new deal has him getting $1-million in 2025 and a club option for 2026 at $2-million. If the Twins don't pick up the option, Topa gets a buyout of $225-thousand.

for the other arbitration-eligible players, the Twins have made contract offers. that list: pitchers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan, catcher Ryan Jeffers, infielders Willi Castro and Royce Lewis and outfielder Trevor Larnach.

The Twins may still negotiate deals with those players before arbitration hearings are held in January.
 

Huge offseason news - Twins sign Relief pitcher Alex Speas to a minor-league deal.

Speas is 26. He was drafted by Texas and played in their minor-league system through 2023. Appeared in 3 MLB games with Texas. Then in 2024, he bounced around between 4 minor-league systems with Oakland, Houston, Boston and the White Sox. pitched in 1 MLB game for Houston.

Supposed to have a big arm. in 7 minor-league seasons, he has 267 K in 173 IP - BUT also has 162 BB. (I suspect some control issues....) Had his best season at AA for Texas in 2023, posting an 0.64 ERA in 23 games - with 47 K & 13 BB in 28 IP.
 

MLB preparing for Tampa Bay to be playing its games outdoors in Florida this summer - where there is heat, high humidity, and frequent rainfall during the Summer. they have adjusted the schedule, including for games between the Rays and the Twins.

The Twins & Rays have flipped the dates on two series. The Twins will now play at Tampa Bay in a 3-game set from May 26-28. Tampa will play at MN for a 3-game series July 4-6. All things being equal, I suspect the Twins are happy to have a home series on the 4th of July weekend. (Fri-Sun)

in a similar move, a 3-game series between Tampa and the Angels will now be played in Florida on April 7-9. the two teams will meet in California on Aug 4-6.
 

The Washington Senators officially changed their name to the Minnesota Twins on this date in 1960.

The Twins were the first professional sports franchise to use the state name rather than city. The Vikings soon followed suit.
 

update on Tampa Bay Rays schedule - to try and avoid the worst of the Summer weather in Florida, the Rays will do the following:
through May 28, Tampa will play 37 Home games and 17 Road games.
after May 28, Tampa will play 44 Home games and 64 Road games. 8 home games in July - 8 home games in August.

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in other news........get ready to shed a tear........Jake Cave has signed with the Doosan Bears in the KBO (South Korean) baseball league. it's a $1-million deal.

An official from Doosan Bears said, (translated) `Cave is an MLB-level outfielder who has the advantage of fast bat speed from strong wrist strength. He also introduced that he has outfield defense and sensible running ability to cover Jamsil Baseball Stadium.'
 

TRF Guy said:
The Twins were the first professional sports franchise to use the state name rather than city. The Vikings soon followed suit.
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I never knew this...pretty cool.

Only MN has all four (4) of their major pro teams using the state in their team names.
 


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