Jeremy Nygaard

The Twins added a right-handed outfield bat to the roster on Monday night and shipped out two minor-league relief pitchers. What does the new acquisition mean for the lineup? And who exactly did the Twins lose? View full video

The Twins traded a fan-favorite... but seem to have done very well for themselves. View full video

The Twins announced 27 more names that will be present when Spring Training opens in a few weeks. Which of these players have a chance to make an early impact with the Twins? View full video

I'm not suggesting tons of tons of extra effort or resources. I'm suggesting sending him to St. Paul to see if he can figure it out on his own. And if not, cut him. He's not blocking anyone. Curtis Terry was their 1B last year. 250/348/429 (777 OPS). 861 career minor-league OPS. The "other players" aren't exactly a high bar to clear. But even if it's not Sano, I'd like the Twins to have some established depth at first base in St. Paul.

Sano has always been a polarizing dude, so I'm not shocked at the responses. I'm not suggesting a big-league deal - and I have no idea about the willingness to either sign a minor-league deal or if he has the desire to still ball - but the Saints aren't going to be trotting out the "next big thing" anytime soon, so there's not downside of getting Sano on a minor-league deal if he's interested (and if he is, a change of scenery would probably be best for him anway). The reality is the Twins/Saints are most likely to sign some random MILB FA to fill the role. In 2022, Curtis Terry was the primary first baseman. In 2021, Tomas Telis, Damek Tomscha and Sherman Johnson each manned first for over 20 games. My point is that if I have to choose between Sano and someone like those guys listed, the choice shouldn't be hard... and there's no risk, yet the possibility of some reward.

There’s little doubt that anything suggesting the Twins should bring Miguel Sanó will be met with eye rolls (at best) or emphatic statements that include some expletives (at worst), but at least hear me out. Miguel Sanó was one of the best prospects in baseball; one of the most highly-touted prospects the Twins have ever had in their organization. Miguel Sanó is one of the biggest Twins disappointments in club history; a global top prospect who never lived up to his billing. Image courtesy of Matt Blewitt, USA Today The Twins paid Miguel Sano over $9 million for only one home run among five hits in 60 at-bats in 2022. And then paid him another $3 million to simply go away. Much has been made of Sanó’s inability to stay healthy or in shape or, simply, not show up a few dozen pounds overweight. Everything above is completely true. So true, in fact, that even those who look for silver linings aren’t going to have much of an argument to make. But I still think the Twins should consider bringing him back into the fold. The expectations surrounding Sanó were sky-high well before he made his major-league debut as a 22-year-old in the summer of 2015. And despite striking out in over a third of his plate appearance, he still managed to hit 18 home runs in 80 games, reach base over 38% of the time and put up an OPS of .916. He rarely played in the field as he was coming off missing the 204 season because of Tommy John surgery, but the vision of being the third baseman of the future was still bright. Of course, we all know what happened the next year: someone got the wise idea that Miguel Sanó could be a right-fielder (while literally every not-as-smart person knew he couldn’t) and Sanó was back to playing third base exclusively by July 1. Getting jerked around caused him to struggle offensively, but still he managed 25 home runs and bounced back to be an All-Star in the 2017 season. The 2018 and 2020 seasons were both really bad, but sandwiched around a 34-home run year in 2019 where Sanó post a career-high .923 OPS. You could take the 2020 season for what it was - short with a lack of time to prepare - add it to the 30 home run season in 2021 and think maybe, just maybe, Miguel Sanó could get back on track in 2022. But that train derailed before even leaving the station. A torn meniscus on April 26 and more knee issues almost immediately after returning in July caused an abrupt end to a short, disappointing season. The Twins paid Sanó more than $34 million as a major leaguer and watched him strike out over 1000(!) times. And when his Twins career ended unceremoniously when they bought out his contract, many were happy to wipe their hands off him. And that’s fine. But as you look at the current construction of the Twins roster, you can’t help but wonder about the health and depth of first base. Luis Arraez - all 5’ 10” of him - is expected to be the Opening Day starter. Arreaz was fantastic in 2021 and led the league in hitting, but is not your prototypical first baseman… and he’s not exactly a model of healthy knees. Jose Miranda played a lot of first base last year… but with Gio Urshela getting traded, Miranda is the primary third baseman. Alex Kirilloff is a solution… if he recovers from having his arm shortened after battling wrist that cut short his last two seasons. Max Kepler and Joey Gallo are both options in the sense that they’re bigger targets, but neither has played a lot of first base recently. But that’s an easy fix. Tell ‘em Wash. And there’s where Sanó should enter the conversation. On a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. If he shows up overweight and out of shape, you can cut him. If he shows up a little overweight and in a shape other than completely round, you can send him to St. Paul to hit bombs and be a call away if the questionable depth fails in front of him. Miguel Sanó doesn’t have to be the #3 hitter. There doesn’t have to be the expectations of being an All-Star or hitting 30 home runs. But any gas that might still be in his almost-30-year-old tank sure beats the idea of rostering the likes of the Curtis Terrys, Roy Moraleses and Tim Beckhams of the world. It does for me anyway. View full article

The Twins have made upgrades offensively this offseason, but have left the pitching staff alone. If the team intends to seriously compete, here are three players the teams could target. View full video

In regards to Silva, I haven't seen anything linking him to the Reds like HrbieFan mentioned. But in fairness, MLB only mentions that the Twins have shown interest. Which isn't a real strong connection. And Carlos Silva is a pretty common name, so it's hard to do a whole lot of internet sleuthing.

Yes, the signing period is just delayed. It may help a little bit for some kids, but you're talking a few months.... and many of these kids were likely reaching agreements a few years ago. So good for teams, but also more times for teams to weasel out of verbal deals. I'm only speculating, but I think it's probably easier to identify traits of hitters at a young age than pitchers. The Twins have *always* spent more on hitters than pitchers and done well, for the most part, with hitters. But Huascar Ynoa was one of their big signings a few years ago and he was a success story... just for another team. As far as catchers go, they've swung on a number of them... and missed. Again, it might be that it's harder to identify traits of catchers at a young age. Heck, the success rate on 18 year old catchers is low. So it would make sense to not throw a ton of money at a catcher. I've always been of the mind that when you're talking about 15, 16, 17 year olds, I'd rather sign 50 at $100,000 than 5 at $1,000,000, but I just don't think that's feasible with roster limits and where to house everyone. So identify a few of the real big names and then take a shot at lower number guys. The Twins previously had a lot of success in Australia (less lately). Plucked Kepler from Germany. And signed other Europeans as well. They're always active in the Dominican and Venezuela. And they even signed a kid from Curacao a few years after I had wondered if they ever would. So if they're missing any opportunities, I would guess they're off-setting it with taking other chances elsewhere.

The Twins will add talent to the organization starting on January 15 through the international market. Here's what you need to know about the new process and how international free agency works. View full video

The Twins have failed to add much talent to the organization since the end of the season, but that is about to change. Just not necessarily in a high-end signing like Carlos Correa. Instead, the Twins will add over a dozen 16- and 17-year-olds and we'll spend the next handful of years hoping they realize their potential. No one was ever sure we'd get to this point with International Free Agency again, if we're being honest. It was the last sticking point in the CBA negotiations. But instead of letting it cause the lockout to continue, they added a summer deadline to continue to discuss an International Draft. An agreement would have ended tying the signing of some free agents to the loss of draft picks, but there was no agreement. So here we are. We've transitioned from a July 2 start date of International Free Agency to January 15 because of the mess COVID created and it has stayed this way. It's less complicated as deals are completed out of season and players can get into action when the season starts. Any players who are not draft-eligible (players in the US, Canada or Puerto Rico) are subject to International Free Agency. The signing period will run from January 15 to December 15. If you're 16 and turn 17 before September 1, 2023, you are eligible to sign. The Twins have had success in International Free Agency. Never more than in 2009 when they landed Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano. If you can sign one 16-year-old in a year and develop him into a big leaguer, that's a win. But when you do it three times, that's unbelievable. Currently, the Twins group of IFA-acquired prospects is led by Emmanuel Rodriguez, an outfielder who is a Top 100 prospect in baseball. Jamie Cameron previewed the top names in the next projected Twins crop in October. While the whole system is relatively complex, what you need to know is simple: The Twins have almost $6.4 million to spend on teenagers in the next eleven months. They're sure to add some talent to the organization. But what talent are they going to add to the major league roster remains to be seen. View full article

Now that Carlos Correa has left for the Bay Area, the Twins may be looking at additional moves to finalize their infield. What are some alignments they could be looking at? Who else would fit on the roster? View full video

Rooker became a major leaguer and Enlow, despite injuries, made it to the 40-man and still has a shot. Hard to consider either of those to be big misses, even if they weren't home runs. I'm not suggesting not taking the best player. But the best player at 5 > best player at 13. Money left from 5 + plus Comp pick > money left from 13 + comp pick.

One thing I didn't mention, but as important is jumping from #5 to #13 is the added draft pool money that comes with that jump. The teams also received a Comp A pick, so you're looking at a team who should have middle-of-the-pack spending money instead having one of the highest draft pools in the entire league. You get so much added flexibility. The Twins can take the bat they like best at #5, pay him under slot and then turn around and use that savings to take a falling pitcher. That might sound like a familiar strategy... but wouldn't work nearly as well drafting at #13.

In a stroke of luck, the Twins were able to leap into the Top 5 of the 2023 MLB Draft thanks to the new lottery system that was designed to help deter tanking. While the Twins were competitive throughout most of the 2022 season, their late-season slide led them to miss the playoffs and enter the inaugural lottery. And it worked out for the team so far. We had all the lottery details for you last night. Today, we're going to take a very early look at some hitters who the Twins might consider with this new Top 5 pick. Of course, these players will need to play their junior seasons. Scouts will watch more games and have more data points to assess their tools and talents. Conversations will be had. High school players may emerge. But it's never too early to put together a list of names for Twins fans to start getting excited about. The name that you see at the top of almost every early prospect list is LSU outfielder Dylan Crews. It would be tough to see him falling to the Twins, and I'm sure you'll hear more about him as winter turns into spring. Wyatt Langford has a great bat and the Florida Gator has played all over the diamond. Fitting the Twins mold really well is Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez. A high-contact, low-strikeout college player who is a shortstop now, but may outgrow the position. Sound familiar? Brock Wilken is another college bat who has impressed. Massive exit velocities and enormous power coupled with lots of swing-and-miss, the third basemen has a big season ahead of him. Enrique Bradfield is the most exciting player in the nation, but the Vanderbilt outfielder doesn't hit for much power. Max Clark and Walker Jenkins are both prep outfielders who could sneak into the top 5. There are tons of other players that will enter the conversation. Who would you like to see the Twins target at 5? View full article