Lucas Seehafer PT

Lucas discusses under-appreciated Twins pitching prospect Sawyer Gipson-Long, who may be slated for a breakout 2022 campaign. View full video

Whoa now! I get paid by clicks so, to be clear: Please hate read my articles and share them with your friends;)

Well, top feeding isn't allowed at the moment lol. Got get excited about something!

Many fans of the Minnesota Twins were confused last week when the team claimed reliever Trevor Megill off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs only for them to non-tender him hours later. However, clarity for the decision came this past Sunday when SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reported that Megill had re-signed with the team on a minor league deal. Megill and all 6-foot-8-inches, 250 pounds of him made his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs this past summer, where he appeared in 28 games out of the bullpen. He owns a four-pitch mix, but primarily relies on his four-seam fastball, which can touch 100 mph, and curveball. The fastball has the raw attributes to be an above average pitch, ranking in the 88th percentile in spin rate and possessing good carry; however, big league opponents mashed it for five home runs and three doubles in 71 plate appearances. (It should be noted, though, that Megill likely suffered from a small sample size and a touch of bad luck. The fireballer allowed seven home runs in 23 ⅔ innings, five of which came at Wrigley Field. According to Baseball Savant, had he pitched the majority of his innings at Target Field, he would have only surrendered two. His 24.1% HR/FB ratio at the MLB level was the second largest of his career by far, trailing only the 26.7% rate he posted in 20 innings at Low-A in 2015.) However, the pitch that likely caught the Twins front office’s eye the most is, you guessed it, his slider. Megill threw his slider only 44 times last summer (26 times to right-handed batters and 18 to lefties), but did so with great success. Nine of his 30 strikeouts came via the slider — it had an absurd, and unsustainable, 56.5% Whiff% — with opponents posting an xSLG of .273. Based on previous evidence provided from their approach with other pitchers, it would not be surprising to see the Twins’ pitching staff adjust Megill’s pitch mix by upping the usage of his slider and cutting down on his fastball and curve. (Of note: The pitching staff is allowed to communicate and work with Megill directly as minor league players are not covered by the now-expired CBA. This would not have been the case had they not non-tendered him and kept him on the 40-man roster.) Much like the signing of fellow minor league bullpen arm Jake Faria, the acquisition of Megill is representative of the front office’s approach to filling out their bullpen. Megill has one pitch that could be elite (the slider) and some statistical evidence suggesting that he’s better than what his performance to date suggests. However, what potentially separates Megill from Faria is his high velocity fastball in combination with a positive track record in the minor leagues. (Megill consistently posted K-BB% rates above 22% while in the San Diego Padres and Cubs’ systems.) Megill is unlikely to be the savior of the Twins’ bullpen woes, but he is an intriguing arm that is more than worth a flier, particularly on a minor league deal. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

Lucas discussed LHP and Minnesota Twins reliever prospect Jovani Moran before opening a pack of 2021 Panini Chronicles. Videos can be streamed live by following: https://twitch.tv/seehafer_ View full video

Just past 11 p.m. central this past Wednesday evening, MLB’s 30 owners initiated the sport’s first lockout in 26 years after failing to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association. While the work stoppage ultimately falls on the shoulders of both the owners and the players, commissioner Rob Manfred’s public arguments framing the players as the primary culprits are largely nonsensical. “This defensive lockout was necessary because the Players Association’s vision for Major League Baseball would threaten the ability of most teams to be competitive,” Manfred opined in a letter to fans shortly after the lockout began. “It’s simply not a viable option.” Expounding further during a press conference on Thursday morning, Manfred stated, “Things like a shortened reserve period, a $100 million reduction in revenue sharing, and salary arbitration for the whole two-year class are bad for the sport, bad for the fans, and bad for competitive balance.” The three bargaining chips cited by Manfred are among the most coveted by the Players Association during negotiations, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich. (For those curious, ESPN's Jeff Passan outlined "the myriad issues being discussed" between the two sides in a recent column.) Despite his bold claims, the commissioner did not provide concrete evidence to back them up. From an outsider’s perspective, it’s difficult to envision how the Players Association’s proposals would negatively impact the sport, competitive balance, or the fans, in particular. American professional baseball and the fans of MLB would not be impacted directly — and perhaps only indirectly with interventions such as slightly increased ticket and souvenir prices, though the impact would likely be marginal — by a reduction in revenue sharing between the owners. (However, as Passan discusses, decreased revenue sharing would likely negatively impact the owners of small market teams more than those in large markets, but, it should be noted, they're still billionaires.) A change to the arbitration process and a reduction in time before players reach free agency would only end up with them making more money, more quickly while having an opportunity to change teams earlier in their careers, potentially opening up a wider path to regular playing time in the Major Leagues. In reality, the major changes the Players Association is seeking during negotiations would only negatively impact one entity, though it’s important to note that Manfred is technically an employee of said entity: the owners. As such, it shouldn’t be surprising that the commissioner framed the lockout in the way he ultimately did. However, doing so, particularly by saying that the players’ demands are bad for the fans, is misleading at best, insulting at worst, and nonsensical overall. The fans of MLB will only be harmed — and even that is a dramatic way to describe the theoretical effects of the stoppage — if the lockout extends into Spring Training and the regular season, reducing the amount of games to take in. Again, neither party is without fault for the current lockout, but Manfred’s framing of the bargaining chips getting played against the owners as a negative for the fan should not be taken with a grain of salt, but rather thrown away all together. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

The Minnesota Twins announced a couple of minor league signings Wednesday evening in addition to the signing of right-handed pitcher Dylan Bundy to a major league deal. Returning will be lefty reliever Danny Coulombe who appeared in 29 games for the Twins last summer and was recently non-tendered. But perhaps the more intriguing of the two is the arrival of right-hander Jake Faria. Jake Faria was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 10th round of the 2011 draft and spent the first 40 games of his big league career — spread across the 2017-19 seasons — in St. Petersburg. The Rays shipped him to Milwaukee in exchange for Jesus Aguilar at the 2019 trade deadline, and he proceeded to post an 11.42 ERA for the Brewers in 8 2/3 innings. Milwaukee designated him for assignment in January 2020 and ultimately released him in mid-September after passing through waivers unclaimed. (Faria did not appear in an MLB game during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.) He signed with Arizona this past June and appeared in 23 games, including three starts, for the hapless Diamondbacks striking out 32 batters in 32 2/3 innings. Faria boasts a four-pitch mix — four-seamer, splitter, curveball, and slider — though he leans heavily on his fastball, which sits around 92 mph. However, while his fastball is nothing to write home about, his splitter is, inarguably, an above average offering. His splitter helped propel him to a promising rookie campaign in 2017 when he produced 1.3 fWAR, an 81 ERA-, and a 3.43 ERA in 16 total games (14 starts). However, his iffy tertiary and quaternary stuff (i.e. his slider and curveball) have tanked an otherwise promising start to his career. Faria has never produced anything near what he did during his age-23 season. However, bringing him in on a minor league deal represents a zero risk, decent reward opportunity for the Twins. In a best-case scenario, he is added to the 40-man roster and functions in a similar role to that of Devin Smeltzer from past seasons; a serviceable long inning relief arm who has the ability to step up into a spot-starter role on occasion. In a worst-case scenario, he sticks around at Triple-A and provides organizational pitching depth, something that is always in dire need. In many respects, the signing of Faria is emblematic of the Twins front office’s approach to finding bullpen arms. They often look for pitchers who can be signed for cheap (i.e. short-term or minor league deals) and possess at least one offering that displays some signs of being elite. Matt Wisler rose to prominence after a middling career due his high-end slider. The Twins will likely hope to accomplish the same feat by relying on Faria’s splitter. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

Vallimont was among six new additions to the Minnesota Twins' 40-man roster nearly two weeks ago. However, he wasn't as obvious as a choice as his compatriots. This video explains why. View full video

Dobnak could easily be a starter and I don't think this past season is representative of his capabilities. But, Ryan and Ober were pretty dominant for rookies. Dobnak started off hot two seasons ago then dropped off precipitously. With Dobnak, if he doesn't have control he's really going to struggle because he doesn't get a ton of swing and misses. I don't think he's a lock like the other two, but he is a candidate.

Fair, but the two moves aren't a 1:1 comparison. As time went on, it became pretty obvious that Berrios wasn't going to re-sign with the Twins. In that case, it makes some sense to trade him and at least get something in return. (And they got more of a prospect haul than anyone expected.) In the case of Buxton, it seems as though he's more than willing to re-sign, but the Twins are the ones balking. Giving him an offer well-below his production value only to trade him gives a false sense of trying.

Let me go out on a limb and be among the first to declare that Byron Buxton is no longer an enigma. He’s one of baseball’s most dynamic talents on both sides of the ball, possessing an ultra-rare blend of speed, power, and defensive instincts that rival — and, in many cases, surpass — those of the sport’s elite. However, Buxton’s body, which has blessed him with his many talents, is also his greatest curse. Since becoming the Minnesota Twins’ full-time center fielder in 2016, Buxton has appeared in a mere 447 of a possible 870 games (51.3%) due to myriad injuries. And yet, over that span, he has produced 12.8 fWAR, has averaged 133.3 wRC+ since 2019, and won one Platinum Glove. In short, when healthy, Byron Buxton has performed like an MVP candidate. But the Jekyll and Hyde nature of their star player — who is due to become a free agent after the 2022 season — has placed the Twins in a profound predicament: Do they try to extend Buxton and build around him, or trade him as part of a greater re-tooling project (one that was arguably initiated with the shipping of Jose Berrios to the Toronto Blue Jays)? For all intents and purposes, it appears as though both Buxton and the Twins have interest in inking a long-term deal. However, recent reporting by The Athletic suggests that the two sides remain at an impasse. The Twins reportedly offered Buxton a 7-year, $80 million deal laden with incentives in July, but the star center fielder and his agents rebuffed as they are more interested in a contract nearing $100 million in value. While it may seem a touch insane for the Twins to cave and submit a nine-figure offer at first blush, consider that Buxton has produced $102.8 million worth of value over this 5.160 years of service time, according to FanGraphs. Assuming he is able to keep pace for the foreseeable future, a 7-year, $100 million deal would be right in line with his production value, even if he remains unable to keep his body from betraying him. If he does find a magic elixir that keeps him healthy, well, then the deal would be a steal (pun intended). But perhaps the most pertinent question facing the Twins isn’t so much, “Is re-signing Buxton the correct move?”, but more, “Would trading him be the wrong one?” Minnesota is coming off a disappointing 73-89, last place finish in the hapless American League Central, 2021 campaign and find themselves with only two pitchers — righties Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan, both of whom were rookies last season — slated to be in the starting rotation next summer. They already shipped away Berrios at last summer’s trade deadline and figure to be interested in offloading Josh Donaldson and a healthy chunk of the $77.7 million remaining on his contract. Trading Buxton either during the offseason or prior to the 2022 trade deadline would likely net the Twins a significant return of high-level prospects to further bolster their already deep farm system. These nebulous prospects could then be swapped for more veteran MLB talent or developed to form the foundation for the next iteration of the Minnesota Twins. But the world is an uncertain place, often rendering the most logical hypotheticals moot. Trading Buxton may make the most sense at this specific point in time from a long-term team building perspective, but doing so also introduces far more uncontrolled variables into the equation that is the Minnesota Twins than simply re-signing him would. Byron Buxton is an oft-injured MVP-caliber talent; the amorphous prospects could be anything, even a boat. (Or, more than likely, a boat that requires a healthy amount of time in the shop to reach its full potential.) Both moving on from as well as re-upping with Buxton present benefits and pratfalls that could either push the Minnesota Twins back into the contender’s race or further into baseball purgatory. But the talent that Buxton possesses is the kind that many teams blatantly lose for and spend years trying to acquire. If you’ve got a boat, you may as well use it, even if it requires spending quite a bit of dough on spare parts. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

If you enjoyed this conversation, let me know if there is anyone else you'd possibly be interested in reading about!

Dan was kind enough to chat with me for 30 minutes recently. We discussed how he got into journalism, why he wanted to become a baseball beat writer, the role of anonymous sourcing in sports journalism, and much more. The following conversation was lightly edited for clarity and, believe it or not, brevity. Lucas Seehafer: I want to start kind of broadly. When and how did you decide you wanted to get into sports journalism? Dan Hayes: It’s funny. I was three units short of a full-load of classes in junior college and a buddy said, “Hey, why don’t we take journalism?” And I always liked reading the newspaper, but I’d never done anything with it. I was like, “Okay, sure”, expecting to go in and the teachers going to teach us how to do journalism. And, basically, you arrive and the professor’s like, “Welcome to the college newspaper.” You’re just on staff at that point. It was kind of shocking, but I needed the units. I was like, “Alright, cool. I’ll try this out.” I ended up in sports and made friends with the sports editor. I can’t remember if I covered baseball that first semester, but that was it. Three months later or six months later I had an internship with the newspaper in town, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, which was a New York Times company. And in 1998 I was making $11 an hour as an intern for this newspaper. I was like, “This is great!” All of a sudden I was doing high school sports, getting to write like a football game a week, that kind of thing. It all just kind of took off from there. So, basically, because I needed health insurance, that’s how it all happened. LS: Hey, fair enough, everybody needs a reason, right?! So, once you kind of got more experience in the field once you graduated, why did you settle on beat writing? DH: I wanted to cover baseball and that was the route. I didn’t know that I was ever going to get a chance to. I mean, I stuck with the paper throughout college and I really just enjoyed it. I think the first couple of beats I did were college football. Actually, my first beat was women’s volleyball, but I knew, like, the way I reported on it that I really liked the job. It was something I wanted to pursue and so, even after I graduated and I didn’t have a job right away, I was freelancing for the San Diego Union Tribune and working full-time as a bank teller at a credit union. I just knew I liked it. It didn’t feel like work. I was going to this office job as a bank teller everyday and dreading it. Instead, when I covered games, it was just the highlight of my week, essentially. I started to take more and more assignments even when it was meaning I was working two jobs, essentially. You stick in the field and some people are lucky enough to get a beat right out of college. That wasn’t going to be me. I had to go to a small newspaper first in northern California and work high school beats. Then I went back to southern California for a community sports reporting job, which I did for three years before I ever got on beat. I just knew that that’s what I’d wanted, to do one thing full-time and be dedicated to it because I liked building relationships with the people that were on the team and that kind of thing and getting information from sources that you developed a report with. So, I knew that’s what I wanted. It just took awhile to get there. LS: Yeah, and, I mean, your story of not having a job straight out of college, that’s something that I know is fairly common. Do you think that your experience in other fields and also in other sports has helped make you a better baseball beat writer? DH: Oh yeah. The thing that’s great about all those other experiences is, you know you’re not doing exactly what you want to do, but you learn to do it and do it at your best level anyway. That alone, I was covering community sports events, which meant I was going to — I’m not a morning person at all, that’s one reason I like baseball — I was going to, like, marathons or half-marathons. You needed to be there to get on the media truck at 5:30 in the morning and that’s miserable for me. But, you throw yourself into the stuff and you work really hard and that’s the stuff you don’t want to cover. I feel like that really helps you just prepare for everything. There were times this year where I didn’t want to cover the Twins. They were boring, they only had two pitchers going every five days that I was really interested in watching at the end, and that’s not the easiest place to be, you know? With 50 games on the schedule and not wanting to watch the team you cover, but I think it teaches you to kind of persevere and be there and that definitely helps in some situations. Especially, I’ve covered I think four or five winning teams out of 15 seasons. So, there’s a lot of baseball, bad baseball, when you’re covering a beat that you don’t necessarily be there for, that, I think, the perseverance that you learn at other areas of covering helps a lot when what you are covering isn’t exactly what it cracks up to be. LS: You had mentioned that you have kind of always wanted to be a baseball beat writer. Why baseball? Where did your love for the sport pop up? DH: My dad and my cousins and my uncle. The five of us loved it. I was not very good at baseball. Like, I sucked at baseball. But my cousin played at a pretty high level and my dad and my uncle always talked about it. Their passion translated to me. I always saw my dad reading the newspaper growing up and I thought that was cool and I wondered why, so I started reading the paper. I didn’t know that that was going to be my route, but it doesn’t surprise me given how I was raised. Reading the newspaper every day and being up to date. I just loved it. I loved knowing everything about the team and absorbing as much information [as I could]. LS: You’ve worked now for three very different sports media outlets: The Athletic, NBC Sports Chicago, and The North County Times. How has your role as beat writer evolved at each place? DH: The great part about The North County Times, the Padres were very good my first season. They went to Game 163, so I got really well versed in knowing what daily was like and finding interesting angles, even when you’re writing 120 times per year. That was helpful, but by, like, 2008-09, the Padres were awful, so you’d become big picture much earlier in the season. You’d be looking at, like, Cameron Maybin had this awesome, great game. Is he the everyday centerfielder of the future for the Padres? I learned to be big picture early on, but that’s pretty much what I am now. We do daily stuff at The Athletic, for sure, I mean we definitely focus on analysis, but a lot of it is big picture. I think that’s where I’ve changed. I’ve gone from being super focused on daily to looking for the big picture items, which is really important with a team like [the Twins] because it’s a team that we know that they have a few guys that they commit to long-term and because of their self-imposed budgetary limitations, they only can select a handful of guys. So, you have to kind of always look for who’s going to be the core and that kind of stuff. I think that is probably the way I’ve changed the most. I still do [daily analysis], but I use it on my social media feed as opposed to writing about it. The way I’ve written, they way I write, has shifted significantly in that time. LS: I think the biggest questions people want to know from sports journalists, particularly beat writers, regards sourcing, especially now with the recent journalistic missteps of insiders such as ESPN’s Adam Schefter. So, I’ll start here: How does a beat writer go about developing sources? DH: You just talk to people. A lot. The way that I think it works really well is just develop trust because, look, there’s certain things that someone will tell you that wouldn’t necessarily be a story, but they’ll say something to you and [it’s] how you handle that, I guess. I just want the person to know that they can trust me. That they can talk to me and I’m going to quote them accurately, I’m not going to take something out of context. Someone can express a concern about a player, just in the portion of the conversation, and if you want to tilt that. Think about, in the average conversation, what you might say to someone and how many things can be taken out of context? The way that you develop a great rapport is by having the proper context and not trying to be salacious with everything. That helps a lot, you know what I mean? It’s not like, the pitching coach says six good things about the pitcher and then says one lukewarm thing and you jump on that one lukewarm thing and turn a conversation that was wholly good about the pitcher into this little part. You can explore that part as part of the conversation, but if your conversation was largely positive — it has to be if it was valid, you don’t just run with positive because the guy was saying positive things if he’s blowing smoke — but if what he is saying is valid and you choose to run with that one crappy part, I think that definitely is something that can hurt you. And, basically, just do good work. I think the more people see that, they trust you and that’s where you get real information. You know what to use, what not to use, you know when things are pertinent to use, when not to. The more you do that kind of stuff, the more the people around you work with you. Your sources know that they can give you a sense of what is going on with the organization and I think that’s really helpful because not everything that you talk about is immediately needed. It’s good to bank stuff for down the road. An observation on some player is good six months later because you can go back and make it a topic when it becomes more relevant. That’s really important, is not running with everything right away because some of it is irrelevant at the time. I think that perspective is key and it really helps with trust. When people see how you operate and that you’re professional, they become more likely to trust you. There’s certain things that, I don’t know, it’s complicated. In that way, I think that trust is so important. I feel like that’s something I’ve gotten very good at over the years. When I first started, any little scrap of information I would turn into a story right away and it was so, like, people would get scared of talking in front of you because they’re afraid of what they might say and it might end up in the newspaper article. And it can be the most minor, throwaway thing that has no significance, and all of a sudden it’s a big story. Well, a big story in The North County Times, which has 40,000 readers, but I think that that patience has helped me a ton over time because not only is it weak reporting to run something so quickly, but giving stuff time allows you to offer way more nuance and insightful reporting and that’s what the whole goal is. LS: And I can imagine the way social media runs these days that those concerns that you just talked about are probably even more rampant, particularly among people who are trying to make a name for themselves and get their careers going. DH: Absolutely it is. And social media certainly leads to a lot of, you see people say a lot of things where you can’t really tell what they’re saying in their quotes because they’re very guarded. And that, I think, has a lot to do with social media. LS: In other fields of journalism, anonymous sourcing isn’t uncommon, but it is more rare, often saved for occasions when an individual's well-being is at risk, but it’s commonplace in sports journalism. What do you think is an appropriate role for anonymous sourcing? DH: Well, I wish that people that were, like, in charge would just attach their name. It’s funny because you only use anonymous sourcing for a handful of people and they’re all the people that run the team, essentially. There’s nobody above them that is going to come down on them. This is the way it is with every team, with every GM, with every President of Baseball Operations. You almost wish they would attach their name because it’s not like somebody up above is going to fire them for their comments. But, I mean, that’s just how it goes. It’s a weird function of things, but, maybe, you start with someone lower level and you respect their being anonymous because they’re giving you information. You never run with just confirmation from the lower-level person, unless that person is directly impacted, like they’re the player that’s being moved. But if a lower-level person tells you something, then you need to go an take it to be confirmed by higher-level people. I wish we didn’t have to do it, but I understand why. You just better make sure the person that you’re using to ultimately confirm the story really knows their stuff and what they’re talking about and is sort of the authority on things. You have to be very careful about what you choose to use from anonymous sources. I think if you do that, if you go in with your eyes open, it really helps the process LS: In your mind, what makes a good beat writer? DH: Be there. It sucks that you have to, some of the sacrifices you have to make because baseball’s played in the summer and, obviously, a lot of it is at night, a lot of it’s weekends. Being willing to make the sacrifice and consistently being there it’s so key because that’s just how you get the trust of people. Being there, showing your face, being there for the big moments, being there for the throwaway moments. Being there and [being persistent]. Establishing trust so that people know that you are who you are, essentially, and get a sense for what way you’re coming. Having a rapport helps so much when you’re asking tough questions and I think that it gets you better responses because they know you’re not just coming out of left field. Not just being the best writer, but having the most thorough information, getting the best quotes, and having that trust to get you insight that maybe other people don’t get. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

On Thursday afternoon, all 30 MLB owners collectively announced a new housing policy for minor league athletes, which is slated to go into effect during the summer of 2022. According to the press release, the policy will “provide more than 90% of assigned Minor League players across every level with furnished housing accommodations at each Major League club’s expense.” The announcement piggybacked off of another made in mid-October in which Major League Baseball stated that they would require teams to provide housing beginning next season, though a specific plan was not provided at that time. The owner’s press release went further, specifying requirements that each team must meet, including, but not limited to: Housing must be “located at a reasonable, commutable distance from the ballpark” (A specific distance range was not provided) Each bedroom must contain at least one bed per player with no more than two players per bedroom Housing must be furnished and basic utilities (per Baseball America’s Josh Norris: electricity, water, and WiFi) must be paid for by the MLB team Hotels may be utilized if apartments, rental homes, and host families “are not feasible” Further reporting from Norris, who obtained a memo distributed by the owners to all major front office personnel, revealed that players “will not sign any lease or utility agreements” as leases “are not permitted” and the MLB club will be paying utilities. Additionally, this policy will apply to all minor leaguers who 1. Do not possess a major league contract and 2. Make less than $20,000 per month (i.e. the remaining 10% of minor-league players or disqualified). The owner’s decision to provide housing for their minor league athletes is a move that was much needed, but not one that should earn them any modicum of praise. There was never an acceptable reason for why housing was not previously provided and the decision was conveniently made only after minor league players started speaking out about their mistreatment at the hands of billionaires en masse. Additionally, while a near-doubling of salary may appear like a dramatic improvement, the average minor-league payout improved by only a couple hundred dollars per week, with rookie ball players bringing in approximately $20,800 before taxes last season and Triple-A players earning $36,400. In short, most minor leaguers will still earn a barely livable wage despite the previously installed pay bump. Reducing travel and providing a roof over the athletes’ heads not only should improve the overall quality of play in Minor League Baseball but are also humane actions, even for professional athletes getting paid to play a game. However, work will remain to be done until the athletes’ average salary increases even more, at least to the point where they earn anything close to their valuation. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

One week ago, Twins Daily discussed the need for the Minnesota Twins to get more out of their first basemen next season if they wish to return to the top of the American League Central. This week, we look at another position that vastly underperformed relative to the rest of MLB: Left field. Left field was one of the Twins’ most noteworthy question marks entering the 2021 season and to say that they experienced a merry-go-round of talent in the left corner would be a bit of an understatement. Unfortunately, the performance of said talent was rather lackluster, to put it lightly. In total, 10 athletes made at least one appearance in left — led by Trevor Larnach’s 60 games — and compiled an fWAR of -0.1, which ranked 28th overall in baseball. Luis Arraez (1.8 fWAR) began the season as the primary position holder — one that he had never played before — driven by the desire to keep his bat in the lineup but lacking a home after Jorge Polanco was transitioned from shortstop to second base. However, myriad injuries — including a Josh Donaldson calf strain prior to the first game of the season -- projected him from the outfield and into more consistent roles at second and third base. Larnach (0.2 fWAR), who took up the mantle left following an Alex Kirilloff injury and subsequent move to first base, displayed great promise during the early portions of his premature rookie campaign before an inability to meet ball with wood reared its ugly head. Brent Rooker (-0.2 fWAR) and Jake Cave (-0.3 fWAR) struggled mightily both at the plate and in the field, leaving their future roles on the team — particularly Cave’s, who is a prime candidate to be cut from the 40-man roster — in question. The Grand Left Field Experiment failed to such a degree that it gave rise to one of the most unproductive positions in all of baseball. The following are a select few statistics that put the Twins’ ineptitude on full display: 32.2% K rate (30th) 23.9% K%-BB% (30th) .658 OPS (28th) 82 wRC+ (t28th) .361 SLG% (27th) Minnesota enters the current offseason in virtually the same position as they did the last: With a big ol’ question mark in left field. Chances are that the position remains Larnach’s to lose, at least in the long-term, despite his continued struggles (33.9% K rate; .696 OPS) in Triple-A following his demotion. Few players in the Twins’ system possess as much raw power as the former Oregon State Beaver, who absolutely mashed fastballs as a rookie (.667 SLG and .362 BA) However, Larnach floundered mightily against any and all pitches with movement. Still, Larnach figures to be a key member of the future and is by all accounts a hard worker who is dedicated to his craft and willing to make adjustments to his approach. The Twins will likely have new hitting coach David Popkins work extensively with Larnach in an effort to cut down on his strikeouts and tap into his full power potential. The Twins could also seek to address their left field woes in either free agency or the trade market. Oakland’s Mark Canha (2.6 fWAR) and New York Mets’ Michael Conforto (0.8 fWAR) are both coming off relatively disappointing seasons and may be open to a change of scenery. Coupled with a trade of Max Kepler — one of the Twins’ most valuable trade pieces, according to FanGraphs — signing either Canha or Conforto would cover for the need in left while maintaining room for Larnach in right (or in the case of Conforto, he could take over in right while Larnach stays in left). Regardless of the path they ultimately take, the Twins need to address their lack of productivity from their left fielders this offseason. Doing so should be right up there with upgrading their production from shortstop, first base, and the starting rotation MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article