Ben Noble

Polanco being a better career LH batter aside, what change do you propose? Have him start hitting RH pitchers as a RH batter, something he’s never done before in a pro game?

I see Morneau as a tv personality a lot like a promising young hitting prospect who's made a few appearances but hasn't exceeded his rookie status yet. He's got all the tools to succeed, but he needs some time and experience to put it all together. Hopefully we'll have the chance to watch him grow into the role and make it his own over the long haul, because I think he could be a good one.

Arraez makes the most sense to me, but I wonder if there’s something deep in the data that shows Kepler leading off actually makes the most sense for the lineup as a whole.

We’ll see, he still might be coming back, I suspect he’ll have to settle for a MiLB/split contract. Twins could be a fit for that second utility role, at least to start the season.

But they called up Rooker ahead of Kirilloff, and I sincerely doubt they would’ve started Kirilloff in that lone playoff game if Rooker wasn’t injured. I’m a big believer in Kirilloff, but I also think the team would be totally justified in giving Rooker first crack at LF to start the season.

Romero is set to play in Japan this year. As to speculation around Simmons, it seems like there’s at least one MLB/MiLB player in the org every spring whose arrival is delayed due to visa issues, but Romero is the first Twins player that I can recall where the visa was straight denied due to attempting to enter the US with marijuana. Also, I believe that Simmons has been pretty open in stating that his issues at the end of last season were mental health-related, exacerbated by covid concerns, so I think it’s fair to assume that his visa issues are purely procedural.

Pretty sure teams are still capped at 13 pitchers on the 26-man roster until September 1st, unless they changed something for 2021. Edit: Sorry, my bad, just read that they DID change that! Fourteen pitchers just seems like madness, but with pitcher workloads thrown off last year, I’m sure we’ll see some teams doing it. You’re right, those options just became a lot more valuable.

Nope, Kirilloff is the first to START a playoff game for their MLB debut. The other position players debuted as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement IIRC.

Trading a highly valuable asset for the Cy Young runner up is a dumpster diving move? I mean, I have mixed feelings about LA as a place to live and work, but I wouldn’t call it a tent city. And that Dodger organization that won the World Series last year and is gearing up for another run isn’t a dumpster.

No need to mince words, naan of us want an Herb Washington on the team.

Twins had to DFA someone once they pressed Garlick onto the 40-man.

They’re way off. Only thing that’s happened to him is he’s gotten better since the Twins traded for and started developing him. I’m totally unbiased btw.

Agreed on all counts, and after a year without MiLB I desperately need a refresher of who’s in the system and how close they are to The Show. Can’t imagine a better group than the team at TD to provide that!

OP: “For reference, Hernandez has appeared at every position except for catcher and pitcher.“ Hernández actually pitched to four batters, recording one out, in one appearance against the Phillies in 2018.

For those worried about competition for attendance, it’s about 50 miles from Cincinnati to the Reds’ Class A affiliate in Dayton, and the Dragons have repeatedly broken their own attendance records year after year since becoming a Reds affiliate over 20 years ago, including the longest sellout streak in US professional sports.

And since our cooking skills have improved, we can eat well at home while saving money (Kirilloff, Larnach), and afford the surf and turf when we do go out to eat. I want Bauer.

Bradley Jr or Pillar, please. With Buxton on the roster, we need three other legit outfielders, one of whom can play above average defense in CF. It just makes our pitching staff so much stronger, especially the way it’s currently constructed. Kepler works in a pinch, but I don’t want to see him in CF for an extended period.

I’d like to see Duran up in one role or another, and sooner rather than later.

Like others, I expected to see Blankenhorn and would’ve picked Celestino over Whitefield. I don’t really know much about Whitefield other than that I think he played softball at the international level before making the switch to baseball. That alone should make him a fun player to follow!

As a big fan of making road trips to check out Twins prospects, I’m hoping and praying that this is also a small step towards the Saints becoming a Twins affiliate once minor league ball starts back up.

Good call on Cavaco and Javier, guys with great tools who really need to learn how to transition that raw talent to in-game situations. On the pitching front, I hope Landon Leach can get going at some point. Second round pick in 2017, great frame, Canadian player, think he transitioned from catcher to pitcher his junior or senior year of HS and hasn't pitched much since then. Dude needs to play.

I know FanGraphs tabbed Sabato as a bat-only player and weren't super high on him. It's certainly a high bar, but there were plenty of people on here that were initially unhappy that the Twins signed a bat-only player in Nelson Cruz. Then again...Tyler Austin. Here's to hoping Sabato's bat is more Cruz than Austin!

I'm really interested to see how this all plays out as well. It will be uncharted territory, and I expect that we'll see vastly different strategies and outcomes across the league when it comes to signing undrafted players.

Here you go!

I'll echo the above comments that Mienkiewecz and Morneau are obvious omissions, but I had no idea until reading this article that Carew spent so much time at first, had always thought that he played the vast majority of his career at second and only moved over to first in the twilight of his career.