All Things 2025-26 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

[Ope3]

Reusse waxes poetic about his boozing days at The Met and then gets to the current state of affairs:

https://www.startribune.com/patrick-reusse-minnesota-twins-pohlad-family-ownership/601566808

 

[GophersInIowa]

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

pretty cool article in The Athletic by a HOF voter who compiled a list of 5 players never associated with PEDs who should be in Hall not named Pete Rose. #5 on his list, but number 1 in your heart


But you asked for only five, so here are the five players I think most deserve to be in the Hall of Fame but aren’t:

1. Curt Schilling — It’s not the Hall of Facebook. It’s not the Hall of X. It’s the Hall of Fame. So it’s absurd to keep out a three-time Cy Young Award runner-up like Schilling, who was a certifiable October monster (11-2, 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts, averaging seven innings a start). If you’re interested, I wrote more about Schilling in my ballot column in 2022, his final year on the writers’ ballot.

2. Lou Whitaker — I’m big on the idea that Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins should go into the Hall together (and then be given plaques right next to each other on the wall). So it would bring me so much joy to see Alan Trammell and Whitaker finally be able to keep each other company in the plaque gallery. Whitaker’s 75.1 career wins above replacement are the seventh-most of any second baseman in history, according to Baseball Reference. Guess what the six above him have in common?

3. Jim Edmonds — Andruw Jones just got elected to the Hall. I think Edmonds actually had a better career. Edmonds won eight Gold Glove Awards, had a 132 career OPS+ and didn’t even make it to a second year on the ballot. Jones won 10 Gold Gloves and had a 111 OPS+. Edmonds’ case has been bugging me since he got bounced off the ballot 10 years ago. Let’s hope he shows up on an era-committee ballot soon. He hasn’t been eligible before now.

4. Lance Berkman — Like Edmonds, Berkman was one-and-done on the writers’ ballot. He might even be our worst one-and-done ever. Do you know who owns the best career OPS of any “clean” retired player who is eligible for the Hall? If you guessed Berkman (.943), you’re my kind of astute reader.

5. Johan Santana — Timing is everything. So if Santana had debuted on the writers’ ballot this year, instead of the overstuffed 2018 ballot, I bet he’d be raking in more votes than Félix Hernández. How about this for a seven-year peak: 106-48 won-lost record, .688 win percentage, 2.86 ERA, 156 ERA+, two Cy Youngs, four top-three Cy Young finishes, three strikeout titles, three ERA titles and four straight years leading his league in WHIP. Wow.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

And 4 on the MLB Top 100 list -

TOP 100 PROSPECTS LIST RELEASED​ ​ ​ My friends at MLB Pipeline -- who, as an aside, are the best in the business at what they do -- dropped their new Top 100 Prospects list on Friday night. The Twins are well represented, with four players ranked. Of course, that also means we now know who the top four names will be when the Twins’ Top 30 comes out a little later this spring. Walker Jenkins comes in at No. 14 overall, remaining the organization’s top prospect. Kaelen Culpepper is No. 52, Eduardo Tait is No. 65 and Emmanuel Rodriguez is No. 74. Jenkins ranked second among all outfield prospects, behind only the Tigers’ Max Clark. Tait came in No. 8among catchers.

 

[howeda7]

And 4 on the MLB Top 100 list -

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ TOP 100 PROSPECTS LIST RELEASED​ ​ My friends at MLB Pipeline -- who, as an aside, are the best in the business at what they do -- dropped their new Top 100 Prospects list on Friday night. The Twins are well represented, with four players ranked. Of course, that also means we now know who the top four names will be when the Twins’ Top 30 comes out a little later this spring. Walker Jenkins comes in at No. 14 overall, remaining the organization’s top prospect. Kaelen Culpepper is No. 52, Eduardo Tait is No. 65 and Emmanuel Rodriguez is No. 74. Jenkins ranked second among all outfield prospects, behind only the Tigers’ Max Clark. Tait came in No. 8among catchers.

Opening Day LF should be a competition between Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez and Walker Jenkins. I fear they will just role with Allen Roden so Falvey can justify his awful Louie Varland trade.

 

[Gophers1992]

pretty cool article in The Athletic by a HOF voter who compiled a list of 5 players never associated with PEDs who should be in Hall not named Pete Rose. #5 on his list, but number 1 in your heart


But you asked for only five, so here are the five players I think most deserve to be in the Hall of Fame but aren’t:

1. Curt Schilling — It’s not the Hall of Facebook. It’s not the Hall of X. It’s the Hall of Fame. So it’s absurd to keep out a three-time Cy Young Award runner-up like Schilling, who was a certifiable October monster (11-2, 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts, averaging seven innings a start). If you’re interested, I wrote more about Schilling in my ballot column in 2022, his final year on the writers’ ballot.

2. Lou Whitaker — I’m big on the idea that Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins should go into the Hall together (and then be given plaques right next to each other on the wall). So it would bring me so much joy to see Alan Trammell and Whitaker finally be able to keep each other company in the plaque gallery. Whitaker’s 75.1 career wins above replacement are the seventh-most of any second baseman in history, according to Baseball Reference. Guess what the six above him have in common?

3. Jim Edmonds — Andruw Jones just got elected to the Hall. I think Edmonds actually had a better career. Edmonds won eight Gold Glove Awards, had a 132 career OPS+ and didn’t even make it to a second year on the ballot. Jones won 10 Gold Gloves and had a 111 OPS+. Edmonds’ case has been bugging me since he got bounced off the ballot 10 years ago. Let’s hope he shows up on an era-committee ballot soon. He hasn’t been eligible before now.

4. Lance Berkman — Like Edmonds, Berkman was one-and-done on the writers’ ballot. He might even be our worst one-and-done ever. Do you know who owns the best career OPS of any “clean” retired player who is eligible for the Hall? If you guessed Berkman (.943), you’re my kind of astute reader.

5. Johan Santana — Timing is everything. So if Santana had debuted on the writers’ ballot this year, instead of the overstuffed 2018 ballot, I bet he’d be raking in more votes than Félix Hernández. How about this for a seven-year peak: 106-48 won-lost record, .688 win percentage, 2.86 ERA, 156 ERA+, two Cy Youngs, four top-three Cy Young finishes, three strikeout titles, three ERA titles and four straight years leading his league in WHIP. Wow.

I'm biased but Santana's prime was so dominant I think he should be in. Modern day Sandy Koufax in terms of career arc.

Schilling is a piece of shit, and technically voters are allowed to consider character, but in my view he's in, just too great of a career not to be.

Whitaker might be the most head-scratching omission that exists.

Edmonds is a really tough call, I could be convinced either way.

Berkman was a fine player but has neither the peak nor the cumulative WAR to be in IMO.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Opening Day LF should be a competition between Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez and Walker Jenkins. I fear they will just role with Allen Roden so Falvey can justify his awful Louie Varland trade.

The plan is to start with Roden, but they’ll get a chance.

I’m not averse to more seasoning

 

[GophersInIowa]

 

[coolhandgopher]

I'm biased but Santana's prime was so dominant I think he should be in. Modern day Sandy Koufax in terms of career arc.

Schilling is a piece of shit, and technically voters are allowed to consider character, but in my view he's in, just too great of a career not to be.

Whitaker might be the most head-scratching omission that exists.

Edmonds is a really tough call, I could be convinced either way.

Berkman was a fine player but has neither the peak nor the cumulative WAR to be in IMO.

Not only is it a head scratcher that he's not in the HOF, but that he never made it to the second ballot is astounding (meaning Whitaker).

Besides Puck, Santana's my favorite Twin (from the time I began watching, roughly 1979 to now). Watching him during his prime here, feeling there was a guaranteed victory every time he took the mound was what Red Sox fans must have felt when Pedro was at his prime.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I'm biased but Santana's prime was so dominant I think he should be in. Modern day Sandy Koufax in terms of career arc.

Schilling is a piece of shit, and technically voters are allowed to consider character, but in my view he's in, just too great of a career not to be.

Whitaker might be the most head-scratching omission that exists.

Edmonds is a really tough call, I could be convinced either way.

Berkman was a fine player but has neither the peak nor the cumulative WAR to be in IMO.

If Sanatana isn't robbed of the 2005 Cy Young (Colon and Rivera finishing ahead of him is laughable), he would have had a good shot even with the exact same career stats. Three straight Cy Youngs would have been quite the accomplishment.

 

[Gophers1992]

If Sanatana isn't robbed of the 2005 Cy Young (Colon and Rivera finishing ahead of him is laughable), he would have had a good shot even with the exact same career stats. Three straight Cy Youngs would have been quite the accomplishment.

Great point, that voting still bugs me. If anyone ever needed proof of why pitcher wins are a terrible stat for evaluation look no further.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Great point, that voting still bugs me. If anyone ever needed proof of why pitcher wins are a terrible stat for evaluation look no further.

If it was kinda close with most of the other stats, I can see wins being somewhat of a tiebreaker. But Santana beat Colon in pretty much every other significant category by a good margin. Rivera finishing 2nd was equally stupid when considering he only threw 78 innings.

 

[GophersInIowa]

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

The fact that I don’t have to ever witness Pepe take beautiful pitches down the middle with the bat on his shoulder EVER AGAIN makes me deliriously happy and gives me hope for humanity

 

[GophersInIowa]

The fact that I don’t have to ever witness Pepe take beautiful pitches down the middle with the bat on his shoulder EVER AGAIN makes me deliriously happy and gives me hope for humanity

I am gonna miss watching his helmet fly off after every swing though.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Julien looked so promising in 2023, then just fell off the cliff. Kind of like James Outman.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Julien looked so promising in 2023, then just fell off the cliff. Kind of like James Outman.

They got the book on them after their first season.

 

[howeda7]

Tommy John. Falvey was sold the moment he heard that.

 

[Ope3]

Julien looked so promising in 2023, then just fell off the cliff. Kind of like James Outman.

Before Julien was called up (might have already had a cup of coffee) I witnessed him play in St Paul. I was pretty convinced his best defensive position would be Designated Hitter.

 

[Slim Tubby]

Tommy John. Falvey was sold the moment he heard that.

It's #2 on his Acquisitions Agenda behind only "Cash Considerations".

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Before Julien was called up (might have already had a cup of coffee) I witnessed him play in St Paul. I was pretty convinced his best defensive position would be Designated Hitter.

Writing was on the wall when he got a shot at 1B last year and they brought in 3 guys who can play 1B this offseason.

 

[howeda7]

It's #2 on his Acquisitions Agenda behind only "Cash Considerations".

He knows how to keep his bosses happy.