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What Twins players won't be back in 2027? · Twin Cities Territory

0:01
Speaker 1: I almost went downstairs, got the Halloween stuff out a
0:05
Speaker 1: little early to find the fake blood, the smear on
0:07
Speaker 1: my face, but I decided not to. I thought that
0:09
Speaker 1: was a little over the top. Welcome to Twin Cities Territory,
0:13
Speaker 1: your Minnesota Twins podcast. Here on the Foul Territory Network,
0:16
Speaker 1: the season is over. At last, it's been technically over
0:20
Speaker 1: for a while now, but here we go. The off-season
0:22
Speaker 1: is in front of us. Plenty to talk about. And
0:24
Speaker 1: look at this, we've got new bells and whistles on
0:26
Speaker 1: the show. If you're watching on YouTube, there's a menu
0:29
Speaker 1: on the right side of the screen that shows the
0:32
Speaker 1: rundown of what we're planning to talk about today. Zach
0:34
Speaker 1: Pierce and Dan Hayes from The Athletic, along with Tyler Duffy,
0:38
Speaker 1: longtime Major League pitcher, as always. And guys, Twins wrapped
0:42
Speaker 1: up their season this weekend with a series against the
0:45
Speaker 1: Texas Rangers, and they took two out of three to
0:49
Speaker 1: end it up. A nice way to end the Twins
0:51
Speaker 1: finish eight games under. 500, which was a mark that
0:54
Speaker 1: they touched a lot throughout the season. Actually, I think
0:58
Speaker 1: five times got to eight games under 500 and then
1:00
Speaker 1: won the next game at least every single time. Clawed
1:03
Speaker 1: all the way out of that hole at one point
1:04
Speaker 1: before falling all the way back down and worse in September.
1:08
Speaker 1: But they end 77-85, Dan. It's about right where everybody expected.
1:13
Speaker 1: And as we head to the offseason, plenty of questions,
1:16
Speaker 1: plenty of issues to figure out, but also some reason
1:19
Speaker 1: for hope.
1:20
Speaker 2: There is reason for hope just because you got two
1:24
Speaker 2: and a half weeks of of the future. Obviously, Byron
1:28
Speaker 2: Buxton still will be a prominent member of the outfield
1:31
Speaker 2: in the future, but we got to see what two
1:34
Speaker 2: and a half weeks of Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, and
1:37
Speaker 2: Luke Kieschel looks like. And, I mean, one, the Texas
1:41
Speaker 2: Rangers must be convinced that Luke Kieschel is an MVP
1:44
Speaker 2: candidate because he had like a 500 OBS, or 500
1:47
Speaker 2: on base against them this season. He was ridiculous. And,
1:50
Speaker 2: you know, Walker Jenkins, you saw especially after he got
1:56
Speaker 2: out of the slump. Every bit of why the hit
1:59
Speaker 2: tool is rated where it was. There was power flashed
2:03
Speaker 2: in there. There was flipping the ball to left. There were,
2:06
Speaker 2: you know, nice. He used all the field. And then
2:10
Speaker 2: you saw Emmanuel Rodriguez's tremendous power. But you know what
2:14
Speaker 2: was maybe even more impressive from him was he played
2:16
Speaker 2: 75 and two-thirds innings in left field. And he had
2:19
Speaker 2: four defensive runs saved in that time. We saw him.
2:23
Speaker 2: Rob a home run in Anaheim last weekend. We saw
2:27
Speaker 2: him go high against the wall this weekend and take
2:30
Speaker 2: a double away from, um, a Texas hitter. I can't
2:33
Speaker 2: remember who it was, but I mean like to be
2:35
Speaker 2: plus four for a team that finished minus 20 in
2:39
Speaker 2: the outfield. Um, you understand why. And you, you see
2:43
Speaker 2: Luke or you see Caitlin Culpepper get back and finish
2:46
Speaker 2: off a great season for him. Um, So you have
2:49
Speaker 2: four guys that at one point were top 50 prospects
2:53
Speaker 2: between Kieschel, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins, and they're here now.
2:57
Speaker 2: And there's a lot to like because this team with
3:00
Speaker 2: those guys is a lot more athletic than the team
3:03
Speaker 2: we saw at the start of the year, which just
3:05
Speaker 2: wasn't quite the same. And we talked about before, Brooks
3:09
Speaker 2: Lee sliding the third, paved the way for Kalen Culpepper
3:13
Speaker 2: to be the shortstop. And Brooks Lee is dynamic defensively
3:17
Speaker 2: at third base. Almost got that 25th home run yesterday.
3:21
Speaker 2: Had a great season.
3:25
Speaker 3: He wanted that one.
3:27
Speaker 2: He did. He wanted it bad. But there's a lot
3:32
Speaker 2: to like when you look at it, especially when you
3:33
Speaker 2: know that Mick Abel is coming back. When you know
3:36
Speaker 2: that Pablo Lopez is coming back, that rotation has currently
3:42
Speaker 2: eight or nine guys in it that are in the
3:45
Speaker 2: mix for next year. you're a lot more stable in
3:50
Speaker 2: the bullpen with Jeff Hoffman and Morris and Gomez coming
3:53
Speaker 2: back and having seen what Travis Adams can do down
3:56
Speaker 2: the street. There's a lot to like. The way I
3:58
Speaker 2: tweeted it was at the end of the game, that
4:02
Speaker 2: was a 77-85 season. Clearly you showed some improvement over
4:06
Speaker 2: last year. It looks like there's a lot of exciting
4:09
Speaker 2: core in place. Clearly they didn't go where they wanted
4:12
Speaker 2: to because of the deadline they were aiming to make
4:14
Speaker 2: the playoffs and they missed and it was a a
4:16
Speaker 2: real prime opportunity to get in and that's disappointing. There's
4:20
Speaker 2: no question. Um, but there is a lot to like,
4:24
Speaker 2: now it's up to ownership to go out and spend
4:27
Speaker 2: money and, and put the rest of the roster together
4:31
Speaker 2: because this team can compete, but there will be some
4:34
Speaker 2: growing pains with your young guys. So bring in some
4:37
Speaker 2: veterans to help and, and, and add some depth to
4:40
Speaker 2: this roster because depth is what lap lack of depth
4:44
Speaker 2: is what killed you this year. And it killed you,
4:46
Speaker 2: bad in the second half. Yeah.
4:50
Speaker 1: A weird season. I mean, they, they write about where
4:54
Speaker 1: everyone thought they would be with the preseason projections, Tyler,
4:58
Speaker 1: but also in this strange limp playoff race, uh, that
5:03
Speaker 1: actually ended up like, at least from the wildcard perspective
5:06
Speaker 1: being about normal, uh, 84 and 78 team getting in
5:10
Speaker 1: the last wildcard is not crazy bad, but, um, the
5:14
Speaker 1: AL West on the other hand, different story, different story. But, um,
5:18
Speaker 1: but I think like there's a world in which, you know,
5:21
Speaker 1: if this season had just been played out with the twins,
5:24
Speaker 1: not in any sort of mix at all to be
5:26
Speaker 1: in the wild card, it would have felt very different.
5:28
Speaker 1: And also like to end it with legitimately four or
5:32
Speaker 1: five players that you feel like are maybe just scratching
5:35
Speaker 1: the surface of what they can be. It's, it's not
5:38
Speaker 1: a bad spot to be in headed into the off season.
5:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, and like Dan said, the lack of big league
5:46
Speaker 4: ready depth hurt them early on. And now you're seemingly
5:52
Speaker 4: preparing to have a group of guys that are ready,
5:55
Speaker 4: and then you're not having to worry about rushing a
5:58
Speaker 4: bunch of depth to come behind. Now you can go
6:00
Speaker 4: plug in, like you mentioned, the veteran, the guy that
6:03
Speaker 4: keeps coming to mind. We're going to talk about this stuff,
6:06
Speaker 4: but like a Josh Bell guy The value that I
6:09
Speaker 4: would be willing to bet each guy in that locker
6:11
Speaker 4: room would tell you he added was huge this year.
6:14
Speaker 4: And those are guys that pay dividends. Maybe sometimes you
6:18
Speaker 4: overpay a little bit for a guy like that. But
6:21
Speaker 4: guys like him that you keep around, keep in that clubhouse.
6:25
Speaker 4: A guy like Taylor Rodgers, who had kind of a
6:27
Speaker 4: weird year up and down, but had so much value
6:31
Speaker 4: he added out there in the bullpen with him and LaTroy.
6:33
Speaker 3: Helping those young guys.
6:35
Speaker 4: It's just the step behind the scenes that goes such
6:37
Speaker 4: a long way for me. It's great for them to
6:42
Speaker 4: finish the way they did. They get all the young
6:43
Speaker 4: guys up. The depth is now in-house, so to speak.
6:48
Speaker 4: You've got guys like Kreidler who will still be under contract,
6:51
Speaker 4: things like that. So your core is there. Clemens, for example,
6:55
Speaker 4: he ain't going anywhere. So now you can go plug in,
6:59
Speaker 4: find the one piece that'll fit, And you have something
7:03
Speaker 4: solid to build off of. And then you start hot
7:05
Speaker 4: next year. Then you start making moves early to try
7:07
Speaker 4: and get somebody. And then it just, you know, that
7:09
Speaker 4: train gets rolling.
7:13
Speaker 1: Most of the rest of the show, the theme will be,
7:15
Speaker 1: will they or won't they be back in 2027? And
7:18
Speaker 1: we start with Joe Ryan, who, made his last start
7:22
Speaker 1: of the season on Saturday. And kind of surprising that
7:26
Speaker 1: he was even there at that point, given where we
7:28
Speaker 1: were a year ago at this time. I still remember
7:30
Speaker 1: Dan's sort of big tee up the season article this
7:33
Speaker 1: year was basically enjoy Joe Ryan while he lasts here
7:37
Speaker 1: in Minnesota. But now we head to the off season.
7:40
Speaker 1: It seems a lot less likely that he will be moved.
7:43
Speaker 1: But if the twins did decide to shake things up
7:47
Speaker 1: with the trade, he remains one of the most attractive
7:48
Speaker 1: pieces he is under contract for next year, but then
7:52
Speaker 1: a free agent the year after that. But Dan, you
7:54
Speaker 1: spoke to him on Saturday. What's the latest there?
7:58
Speaker 2: He recognized it was his last start of the year
8:01
Speaker 2: and recognized it could be his last start. So he
8:04
Speaker 2: took it in a little bit, but he said he
8:06
Speaker 2: did the same thing last year. You know, he went
8:09
Speaker 2: out there at the end of the 2025 season, having
8:11
Speaker 2: seen 10 guys traded off the major league roster and
8:14
Speaker 2: kind of accepted the fact that, Hey, I might be
8:16
Speaker 2: traded because we might continue this fire. So in the
8:18
Speaker 2: off season, and then they didn't, a month in, obviously,
8:23
Speaker 2: cooled their jets there and said, hey, we're keeping Pablo, Joe,
8:27
Speaker 2: and Buck, and we're going to build off this and
8:30
Speaker 2: try to compete. But it still seemed like, oh yeah,
8:33
Speaker 2: Joe Ryan's going to get traded at the deadline because
8:35
Speaker 2: the Twins will be out of it. I don't know
8:38
Speaker 2: anybody anticipated the American League being as bad as it
8:41
Speaker 2: was for that sixth wildcard spot and the Twins being
8:44
Speaker 2: able to hang around and be a part of it,
8:46
Speaker 2: but all of that kept him here and Now, with
8:50
Speaker 2: the way the team looks, also because of his own
8:54
Speaker 2: second-half performance and his career's second-half struggles, what would his
8:59
Speaker 2: market be as a trade piece with one year to go?
9:02
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's enough to sway the Twins
9:05
Speaker 2: because I don't know that the Twins can get a
9:07
Speaker 2: better starter on a one-year deal than what they're going
9:10
Speaker 2: to get out of Joe Ryan. And so knowing that
9:13
Speaker 2: they're probably going to be– and we'll get a lot
9:15
Speaker 2: more tomorrow from– ownership from the GM about, uh, the,
9:22
Speaker 2: the post-mortem wrap up on the season, but also what
9:25
Speaker 2: the future is going to look like. And I, I
9:28
Speaker 2: don't think that I have a feeling we will hear
9:31
Speaker 2: from them that they want to compete. They see pieces
9:34
Speaker 2: in place. And so moving Joe Ryan, and if that's
9:37
Speaker 2: the case is, uh, going to be something I just,
9:42
Speaker 2: I'm more on the side that they hang on to
9:44
Speaker 2: him for sure. Um, I think he is probably of
9:48
Speaker 2: that mindset too. He saw them do it with Ryan
9:51
Speaker 2: Jeffers this year, and they just hung on to it
9:55
Speaker 2: knowing they were getting a qualifying offer, and most likely
9:59
Speaker 2: a qualifying offer. pick back for Ryan Jeffers. If that
10:02
Speaker 2: doesn't work out, I'd be shocked, but I wouldn't be
10:06
Speaker 2: shocked if they did the same thing with Joe Ryan
10:07
Speaker 2: because Joe Ryan on one year and say he makes
10:10
Speaker 2: $ 12 million in ARB. He made $ 6 million this year
10:13
Speaker 2: going into your last year of ARB. they're not going
10:16
Speaker 2: to find that out there. Now, if there's a package
10:19
Speaker 2: that's intriguing and you get a pitcher for longer than that,
10:24
Speaker 2: you know, longer team control because a team would want
10:27
Speaker 2: to upgrade. Maybe I could see that happening, but you know,
10:30
Speaker 2: Pablo Lopez is an unknown next year coming off of
10:33
Speaker 2: Tommy John. And so it's not like we can count
10:36
Speaker 2: on ace Pablo coming back right away. And, and so
10:40
Speaker 2: having Joe Ryan around to me makes sense. And I
10:43
Speaker 2: think he's in that mind mindset too, but, he's also
10:46
Speaker 2: a guy who's just go with the flow and he's
10:49
Speaker 2: going to be a free agent at the end of
10:51
Speaker 2: next year. And, you know, I being in a spot
10:55
Speaker 2: where he's comfortable, like here is not going to upset
10:58
Speaker 2: him at all. He, he would be like, he, he
11:01
Speaker 2: can do it. He loves pitching at this ballpark. And
11:03
Speaker 2: he mentioned that he loves pitching for these fans. So,
11:07
Speaker 2: you know, that's, that's sort of where I think he is, but,
11:12
Speaker 2: you know, he just said at the moment, he recognized,
11:15
Speaker 2: It could be the last start, so he took it
11:17
Speaker 2: in and also did say, and he's said it before,
11:22
Speaker 2: I wonder what this would have been like if I'd
11:23
Speaker 2: been on the mound and healthy. It took a little
11:26
Speaker 2: bit of the disappointing end of the season on himself,
11:31
Speaker 2: saying it could have been different if he had been
11:32
Speaker 2: out there and was thinking about that a little bit
11:35
Speaker 2: because he was clearly upset by the fact that he
11:38
Speaker 2: started the second half going 0-5 with an 8-49 ERA
11:41
Speaker 2: in those five starts and giving up home runs right
11:44
Speaker 2: and left.
11:46
Speaker 1: The rosiest vision of the twins rotation for next year
11:51
Speaker 1: looks pretty great. Like a lot, a lot of potential
11:53
Speaker 1: talent there. But as we saw this year, like you
11:57
Speaker 1: can never have enough starting pitching because you just never know. No,
12:00
Speaker 1: but like, I, I think we will, I guess we'll
12:02
Speaker 1: hear what they say tomorrow, Dan, to your point, but
12:04
Speaker 1: we'll sit, we'll sit here today operating under the assumption
12:07
Speaker 1: that the goal is to compete next year and would
12:10
Speaker 1: agree that Joe Ryan is on the team is better
12:13
Speaker 1: than not. But Tyler, the second half struggles have become
12:17
Speaker 1: a trend with him. Is there something you can do?
12:20
Speaker 1: Do you ease off and give him some more days
12:23
Speaker 1: off early in the season?
12:25
Speaker 4: I mean, I know with Berrios, they finally had to
12:29
Speaker 4: come to Jesus with him because he was a historically,
12:33
Speaker 4: he ran into the ground. He was doing something constantly,
12:36
Speaker 4: the workhorse, high motor guy, which is great. But they're like, look, man,
12:41
Speaker 4: you're an all-star through the first half every year. And
12:44
Speaker 4: second half, it's like something just happens. And mentally, you
12:47
Speaker 4: may not even notice it. But physically, the results just
12:51
Speaker 4: are not the same. And it is one where teams,
12:54
Speaker 4: we've talked about a few times, the jump test and
12:57
Speaker 4: different readings they can take to kind of gauge your
13:00
Speaker 4: overall strength and all those good things. But at the
13:04
Speaker 4: end of the day, if Joe, obviously his back and
13:08
Speaker 4: his glute have become an issue, That's going to get addressed,
13:11
Speaker 4: whether it's strengthening this offseason, whatever. They've got a plan
13:15
Speaker 4: in place, I'm sure. It's definitely going to be on
13:18
Speaker 4: his mind. I guarantee you, whether it means work out
13:22
Speaker 4: a little harder in the offseason to build up that
13:24
Speaker 4: stamina and to get ready for the long sprint of
13:28
Speaker 4: a season. There's a lot of different things now in
13:32
Speaker 4: the way this world is now. You go into the
13:34
Speaker 4: world of training athletes, you get a dozen different looks
13:38
Speaker 4: at the same thing. and it's so hard to really know,
13:41
Speaker 4: and sometimes it's just blind luck getting the right guys
13:45
Speaker 4: to work with and get you ready, but at the
13:48
Speaker 4: end of the day, that's, you know, the team can
13:50
Speaker 4: make suggestions, but it's on the player ultimately to figure
13:54
Speaker 4: out what's best for them, and by, you know, turning
13:57
Speaker 4: every stone possible, you know, doing as much research as
14:01
Speaker 4: you can, talk to other guys, you know, I'm sure
14:03
Speaker 4: he's got a good group he works out with, like,
14:05
Speaker 4: that is one of those, it's tough, and guys handle
14:08
Speaker 4: it all differently, like, you hear old school baseball was,
14:12
Speaker 4: you know, second half swing, a lighter bat, you know,
14:14
Speaker 4: swing the shorter bat, you know, whatever it is. You know, there's,
14:18
Speaker 4: there's just things that you try and you got to
14:21
Speaker 4: just hope you find one that sticks. Cause you know,
14:23
Speaker 4: having him be all-star Joe for a full season does
14:26
Speaker 4: change this year, like dramatically, you know, that's, that's an
14:29
Speaker 4: extra five, 10 wins, you know, potentially like depending on
14:32
Speaker 4: if he's really hot that's, that's a huge thing. And,
14:36
Speaker 4: Having him healthy for 32 starts is way different than him,
14:41
Speaker 4: kind of what we saw this year. Like Dan said, though,
14:44
Speaker 4: we're going to have to depend on him and Taj
14:47
Speaker 4: most likely and hope that Pablo can settle in and
14:50
Speaker 4: everybody behind him. Joe, at this point, he's the guy,
14:53
Speaker 4: and they need him ready to rock.
14:57
Speaker 1: If you like what you hear, please toss us a like,
14:59
Speaker 1: a subscribe, however you watch or listen. If you're on YouTube,
15:02
Speaker 1: there is a QR code. there on the screen to
15:04
Speaker 1: make it super easy for you. Joe Ryan might be back,
15:07
Speaker 1: but there's plenty of others who might not. We'll get
15:09
Speaker 1: to that right after this.
15:16
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15:18
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15:21
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15:27
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15:34
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15:42
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16:03
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16:04
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16:16
Speaker 3: All right.
16:17
Speaker 1: Uh, another major topic this off season is what comes
16:22
Speaker 1: next for Ryan Jeffers, the twins catcher. Uh, He is
16:26
Speaker 1: headed to free agency this offseason, and he certainly sounded
16:30
Speaker 1: like somebody who intends to see that process out. Dan
16:34
Speaker 1: wrote about that on The Athletic recently. You can read
16:37
Speaker 1: it right now. The quote from your story, Dan, I
16:40
Speaker 1: think you have another one too, but that stands out.
16:43
Speaker 1: Jeffers said, I've worked too hard to corner myself into
16:46
Speaker 1: one team or two teams. I love the idea of
16:49
Speaker 1: reunion with the Twins. I also love the idea of
16:52
Speaker 1: going out there and seeing what else is out there.
16:54
Speaker 1: I'm excited for this. I've worked really hard for this moment,
16:56
Speaker 1: and that doesn't mean the chapter here has closed. We'll
16:59
Speaker 1: just see where we go. A diplomatic answer for sure,
17:03
Speaker 1: but clearly he is in line for a huge payday
17:07
Speaker 1: for a lot of reasons, Dan.
17:09
Speaker 2: I'll see him next season in a visiting clubhouse. Ryan
17:17
Speaker 2: Jeffers is our three-time media good guy. He will be missed. Um,
17:21
Speaker 2: three times in a row, media, good guy. He will
17:24
Speaker 2: definitely be missed, but I mean, he's going to get
17:26
Speaker 2: a payday and, uh, the twins. I, you know, it
17:30
Speaker 2: makes sense to me that they'd sign him to like
17:32
Speaker 2: a four year deal and keep him for two and
17:35
Speaker 2: then trade him in a couple of years when Vaughn
17:38
Speaker 2: Mackey's ready. But Ryan Jeffers might, he's 29 right now.
17:41
Speaker 2: He doesn't turn 30 until June. Um, he might get
17:45
Speaker 2: a five year deal. He's got Scott Forrest representing him
17:48
Speaker 2: and there is nobody, uh, on the free agent catch
17:51
Speaker 2: in market and especially nobody with an eight 14 OPS
17:55
Speaker 2: and he challenged, he had the 10th most challenges one, um, which,
18:01
Speaker 2: you know, we're going to figure out, I, I guarantee you,
18:04
Speaker 2: Scott Boris has already figured out a way to turn
18:06
Speaker 2: that into a banger of a stat. Yeah. Yeah. But
18:12
Speaker 2: I mean, for real, that changed a lot of games.
18:15
Speaker 2: Jeffers has that ability. He's a smart guy. He knows
18:18
Speaker 2: the strike zone. Well, And he was good at that.
18:20
Speaker 2: I think he ended up at 60% for the year.
18:22
Speaker 2: But the thing was, more than that he was at 60%,
18:24
Speaker 2: because I don't think that matters. I think it's the volume.
18:30
Speaker 2: And he ended up, he missed 46 games with his
18:32
Speaker 2: hammock on. And he ended up with the 10th most
18:34
Speaker 2: challenges won in baseball. He would have been among the
18:37
Speaker 2: most easily. And yeah, Hamate, correct. I think he would
18:41
Speaker 2: have been among the most easily. And that's the thing. Yeah, okay,
18:45
Speaker 2: you can have a great high percentage and be like
18:47
Speaker 2: a low volume shooter on that. But what's the point?
18:50
Speaker 2: If you're aggressive and you're getting them right, you're making
18:53
Speaker 2: things happen for your team. And I think that that's
18:56
Speaker 2: why I loved what the Twins did with ABS this year.
18:58
Speaker 2: Jeffers was a huge part of it. So was Caratini.
19:01
Speaker 2: Caratini having a one-year deal left with the Twins, and
19:04
Speaker 2: it goes from $ 4 million that he was earning this
19:06
Speaker 2: year to $ 10 million next year. They have a catcher
19:10
Speaker 2: to go with. They're not, you know. And so, yeah,
19:15
Speaker 2: Jeffers would like to come back, and replacing his offense
19:18
Speaker 2: is going to be a big, you know, he was,
19:21
Speaker 2: he was a force. He had 19 doubles and 14
19:23
Speaker 2: home runs despite missing more than a third of the
19:26
Speaker 2: sea or close to a third of the season. Um,
19:29
Speaker 2: but I mean, he's gonna get paid and he's gone.
19:33
Speaker 1: The twins could make him a qualifying offer, uh, which
19:36
Speaker 1: would then attach a draft pick compensation to him. If
19:39
Speaker 1: he still decides to leave, it might dampen the market
19:42
Speaker 1: slightly for him, but, um, still by all accounts, probably
19:46
Speaker 1: on his way out. And, as we sat here all
19:49
Speaker 1: season listening to Tom Polad say like we're going to
19:52
Speaker 1: invest in this team that was mostly in reference to
19:56
Speaker 1: the trade deadline but of course extrapolating it out to
19:58
Speaker 1: this offseason you want to say alright well here's your
20:02
Speaker 1: first test right pay this really good player who's proven
20:05
Speaker 1: himself over and over but Von Lackey is waiting in
20:09
Speaker 1: the wings, Tyler. And this is the, this is why
20:13
Speaker 1: it's a tough job. Like everybody wants the twins to
20:15
Speaker 1: spend and get serious, but is this the right place
20:18
Speaker 1: to do it?
20:19
Speaker 2: No.
20:19
Speaker 4: And that's, we were talking before the show as like,
20:22
Speaker 4: does the, the question you say is, does giving Jeffers
20:26
Speaker 4: five for a.
20:27
Speaker 3: Hundred, you know, I don't know what he's going to get, but.
20:29
Speaker 4: Call it five for a hundred. Does that make the
20:31
Speaker 4: twins significantly better than this year's team? Cause if you
20:36
Speaker 4: signed him to that deal, odds are you're not going
20:40
Speaker 4: to go get another big free agent of any sort.
20:42
Speaker 4: You know, you might go get a bullpen piece or
20:44
Speaker 4: something like that, but then you're, you're handcuffing yourself pretty early,
20:47
Speaker 4: bringing back a guy who, you know, split time, you know,
20:51
Speaker 4: basically a carotene who you have under contract.
20:54
Speaker 3: You know, there's, there's some, some options.
20:56
Speaker 4: And then having Lackey who you took with your big pick,
21:01
Speaker 4: you're assuming he's going to get there fast and be
21:03
Speaker 4: an impact player.
21:04
Speaker 3: You don't want him blocked.
21:05
Speaker 4: And so, you know, yes, yes, Short-term, give Jeffers what
21:10
Speaker 4: he wants, keep him. But you give him his qualifying offer,
21:14
Speaker 4: maybe he doesn't get a great offer anywhere else or
21:16
Speaker 4: one that he really likes. He thinks he can run
21:18
Speaker 4: it back again, be as good as he was, and
21:21
Speaker 4: hit free agency again next year.
21:23
Speaker 3: You never know.
21:23
Speaker 4: And then at that point, you luck into a guy
21:26
Speaker 4: you didn't have to give a long-term deal. If you're
21:28
Speaker 4: bad next year, you can trade him. There are some
21:31
Speaker 4: wiggling out of that one. But for me personally, you've
21:35
Speaker 4: got guys that can catch. carotene is very effective back
21:38
Speaker 4: there also with the abs like they're both great so
21:41
Speaker 4: it's it's one i don't think short-sighting yourself by holding
21:45
Speaker 4: him long term is the best answer even though right
21:48
Speaker 4: now it's like that's the guy to spend money on
21:50
Speaker 4: it does make a lot of sense there's also going
21:52
Speaker 4: to be some other teams probably willing to give him
21:54
Speaker 4: more than.
21:54
Speaker 2: That right that's that's the part i think like i
21:58
Speaker 2: think the twins could very well And I know fans
22:00
Speaker 2: are going to hate. Yeah.
22:01
Speaker 3: They're going to lose their offer.
22:04
Speaker 2: Right. But I think the twins would make what they
22:06
Speaker 2: think is a good offer for him. I just think
22:09
Speaker 2: that somebody else will blow it away because they see
22:12
Speaker 2: value at a position that is hard to fill. And like, again,
22:16
Speaker 2: two years of Jeffers to me makes absolute sense for
22:18
Speaker 2: the twins. I mean, that gives you a chance to
22:21
Speaker 2: bring Vaughn Lackey along slowly, pair them, pair them together,
22:24
Speaker 2: you know, in two years, pair them or a year
22:26
Speaker 2: and a half, whenever, whenever Lackey gets here. But, I
22:31
Speaker 2: just think somebody's going to throw him five years and
22:33
Speaker 2: it would be crazy if Forrest got him six, but
22:35
Speaker 2: what's he going to look like physically at the end
22:37
Speaker 2: of that too? That's just like, you know, he's 29,
22:40
Speaker 2: but catching is a tough position. The one part, is
22:43
Speaker 2: he going to get paid like a guy that catches 110?
22:45
Speaker 2: Is he going to get paid like a guy that
22:48
Speaker 2: catches 80 or 90? I think he's better as a
22:51
Speaker 2: guy that catches 90. We saw him catch nine in
22:54
Speaker 2: a row early in September in this critical, in the sprint. And, and,
22:59
Speaker 2: His September was bad. He had a rough month. His
23:03
Speaker 2: expected numbers were better than what his production was. But
23:07
Speaker 2: he's a guy that I think is a 90-70 split
23:10
Speaker 2: kind of guy. And is he going to get paid
23:13
Speaker 2: for like 120? You know what I mean? And is
23:16
Speaker 2: the team going to expect 120? He's never really done that.
23:19
Speaker 4: And baseball, for that matter, teams are doing that. So
23:25
Speaker 4: much is platoon-based anyways. You almost have to assume it's
23:29
Speaker 4: not going to be a 160-type role, unless it's to
23:33
Speaker 4: the Royals. They're the only ones that seemingly every year
23:36
Speaker 4: have guys doing it. But, yeah, it's definitely not going
23:39
Speaker 4: to be a full-time gig anywhere.
23:41
Speaker 1: His career-high games caught is 88 last season, 80 this season.
23:46
Speaker 2: 80 this season, yeah. And missing 46. But, yeah, you
23:53
Speaker 2: just saw it. You saw it in the end of 23, too.
23:56
Speaker 2: He caught the entire playoffs and he was physically beat
23:59
Speaker 2: up and doing that a little bit. Him with a
24:05
Speaker 2: solid number two was a good plan.
24:09
Speaker 3: This year, he and Caratini were great tandem.
24:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I liked it.
24:15
Speaker 1: It's always the tail end of these deals, right? I
24:19
Speaker 1: think they will be worse next year. without him barring
24:24
Speaker 1: some surprise replacement that comes in. Maybe not better. They
24:29
Speaker 1: may not be better than they are now, but they
24:32
Speaker 1: could drop off for sure. But do you want to
24:35
Speaker 1: be paying $ 20 million in three years for 80 games
24:38
Speaker 1: of catching when you have another catcher you hope is
24:41
Speaker 1: the next thing? Again, Tyler, you always say this is
24:45
Speaker 1: why I'm not a GM.
24:47
Speaker 4: Because it is impossible to know. All the projections in
24:52
Speaker 4: the world Everyone is supposed to be the greatest player ever.
24:55
Speaker 4: And then just those lights turn on, and sometimes they
24:58
Speaker 4: just don't hit a fastball anymore. Or the curveballs get
25:01
Speaker 4: really hard to touch, and you're just striking out. I mean,
25:06
Speaker 4: you see the guys, now I'm going to blank on
25:08
Speaker 4: his name, the third baseman, Miranda.
25:11
Speaker 3: He was the greatest hitter in the world. And then
25:14
Speaker 3: it was like a switch flipped, and it was just like,
25:15
Speaker 3: what happened? And there was no answer. And it happens
25:18
Speaker 3: to everybody. It happened to me.
25:19
Speaker 4: It was like all of a sudden people quit swinging
25:21
Speaker 4: at a curveball that I've thrown my whole life.
25:23
Speaker 3: And I'm like, well, what do I do now? And
25:25
Speaker 3: so started throwing change-ups.
25:26
Speaker 4: It's just baseball adjusts, and if you don't adjust quick enough,
25:30
Speaker 4: it's a quick game.
25:33
Speaker 1: So Jeffers probably out. That was an easy one. We're
25:36
Speaker 1: going to move on to some other twins who we
25:40
Speaker 1: think may or may not be back in 2027. I'm
25:42
Speaker 1: just going to throw out some names, and you guys
25:45
Speaker 1: can give me your reaction on what you think. And
25:47
Speaker 1: because I picked on him by putting his picture next
25:50
Speaker 1: to this graphic. We'll start. You get to do that one.
25:54
Speaker 1: We'll start with Royce Lewis. Obviously, under contract, no need
25:58
Speaker 1: to move him, but he was moved to first base
26:01
Speaker 1: for much of the season. He was not producing at
26:03
Speaker 1: the plate like a first baseman. He did end with
26:05
Speaker 1: a nice little flourish this weekend, homered on Sunday to
26:09
Speaker 1: maybe put that bug back in your ear. Overall, a
26:11
Speaker 1: really bad slump at the end of the year. Obviously,
26:13
Speaker 1: the bad slump at the beginning of the year. The
26:16
Speaker 1: numbers just haven't been there. Still flashes of that 300
26:19
Speaker 1: hitter from 2023 who was the playoff hero hitting the
26:23
Speaker 1: playoff home runs. Again, if the goal is to compete
26:28
Speaker 1: next year, I don't know what you do to move
26:32
Speaker 1: him anywhere to make yourself better. But his future, if
26:36
Speaker 1: it's not up, the question is at least out there
26:40
Speaker 1: how much longer before the Twins have to move on.
26:44
Speaker 1: Or am I wrong?
26:45
Speaker 2: So first base is obviously one of the areas we
26:48
Speaker 2: could see them upgrade, like numbers-wise, right? This is definitely
26:52
Speaker 2: a spot where you go, we need more than 15 homers,
26:56
Speaker 2: 16 steals. Royce Lewis addressed his season and said that
27:03
Speaker 2: he started down, had a good middle, and then went
27:06
Speaker 2: finish down. And he thought it was because The pitchers
27:10
Speaker 2: adjusted to him and weren't throwing him anything to hit,
27:12
Speaker 2: and he chased way too much. If the Twins believe
27:17
Speaker 2: that his consistency can be fixed, if it's still there
27:21
Speaker 2: to be salvaged, and that they see more upside, maybe
27:25
Speaker 2: we'll see him again. If the Twins think– because the
27:29
Speaker 2: one thing they wanted him this year was to be
27:30
Speaker 2: healthy and on the field. And between the majors and
27:33
Speaker 2: the minors, he played 140 games, which is easily a
27:36
Speaker 2: career high for him. So he proved the health part, right?
27:40
Speaker 2: And they do have a history of a top pick
27:43
Speaker 2: in Byron Buxton where it took him solving health to
27:46
Speaker 2: finally really get going. And Royce Lewis talked about believing
27:49
Speaker 2: that he can do that too, but it just depends
27:53
Speaker 2: on whether or not the twins believe he is capable
27:55
Speaker 2: of making that leap. Um, or if they've tired of
27:58
Speaker 2: it and said, we're going to go, we're going to
28:00
Speaker 2: trade you while you still have a little bit of value, um,
28:03
Speaker 2: and go and find, you know, first base production. I,
28:07
Speaker 2: I don't know where they land on that. Royce Lewis
28:10
Speaker 2: is their guy. He's the number one pick. They've loved him,
28:13
Speaker 2: but also that was Derek Falvey and Thad Levine's guy.
28:18
Speaker 2: Jeremy Zoll has been with Royce the entire way because
28:20
Speaker 2: he's the farm director back then. Everybody loves Royce, but
28:24
Speaker 2: also the people that were around that made Royce the
28:27
Speaker 2: guy are not here anymore. It's hard to say where
28:32
Speaker 2: they stand because the promise is always there. I mean, he, in,
28:38
Speaker 2: in a bad season, 15, 16, you know, he, he
28:42
Speaker 2: ended up as his offensive OPS was below baseline 100.
28:46
Speaker 2: He was not, you know, it's clear that it was
28:50
Speaker 2: a disappointing season and I, he acknowledged that. But, you know,
28:54
Speaker 2: also like, I don't know, it's a tough call. He
28:57
Speaker 2: ended up like at one war for the season. So I,
29:02
Speaker 2: you know, if I'm, if I'm guessing that, I'm going
29:06
Speaker 2: to go that they'd move on, but who knows this
29:10
Speaker 2: off season, but he's affordable. I mean, he's affordable. So
29:15
Speaker 2: you can take the chance. It's just, is he going
29:17
Speaker 2: to take a back seat? If you bring somebody else
29:19
Speaker 2: in and just say, Hey, we're going to move you
29:21
Speaker 2: to first, second and third and move you around. I don't, I,
29:25
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know.
29:27
Speaker 4: Like a bench, like a, you know, fifth infielder, fourth
29:31
Speaker 4: outfielder or whatever.
29:33
Speaker 2: That's not fair to him too. You know, like that's
29:35
Speaker 2: the thing. no um you you got what you wanted
29:39
Speaker 2: from him in the games played and that was a
29:41
Speaker 2: huge deal to them um he showed them he can
29:44
Speaker 2: be healthy but now he has to adjust and he
29:47
Speaker 2: had time to adjust this year and it didn't happen
29:50
Speaker 2: and i just wonder if they say hey let's let's
29:54
Speaker 2: let's find solid because that's the one thing i think
29:57
Speaker 2: this team needs If you have Byron Buxton, you know
29:59
Speaker 2: Byron Buxton might play 80 to 100 games, and you're
30:02
Speaker 2: going to get amazing production from him in that 80
30:04
Speaker 2: to 100. The one thing this team missed this year
30:07
Speaker 2: with Byron out was a steady second guy that maybe
30:11
Speaker 2: hits 30 and drives in runs. Josh Bell was awesome,
30:16
Speaker 2: but he also went into slumps. Josh Bell, I know
30:20
Speaker 2: we're going to mention him in a second, but he's
30:22
Speaker 2: DH only. You're going to need to save that DH
30:25
Speaker 2: spot for one of your four outfielders next year. Um,
30:28
Speaker 2: so I don't think it's going to be bell either.
30:30
Speaker 2: Like it's, it's the one area where they can get better. Um,
30:34
Speaker 2: and I wonder if they will.
30:38
Speaker 1: Tyler, yes or no Royce back next year.
30:42
Speaker 4: I don't think you, you, I think they, you know,
30:44
Speaker 4: cause he's in our, but I think now, you know,
30:46
Speaker 4: he's not going to make a huge amount of money.
30:49
Speaker 3: Um, I do think they, they, you know, tender him.
30:52
Speaker 3: I think he's a guy. And I think I said
30:54
Speaker 3: this before at spring, it's like, Hey, you got to
30:57
Speaker 3: make this club.
30:58
Speaker 4: He's got to show up, do the things that they
31:00
Speaker 4: need him to do, and at that point, whichever position
31:04
Speaker 4: they have him working in at, whether it's, I don't
31:08
Speaker 4: know where you'd stick him at this point, depending on
31:10
Speaker 4: where they land with Clemens as far as position goes,
31:15
Speaker 4: it's like you better show up and be that guy
31:18
Speaker 4: who is hot for that stretch because otherwise what will happen,
31:22
Speaker 4: and it will work out well for him, is a
31:24
Speaker 4: team who needs a guy to just play every day
31:27
Speaker 4: they need to fill a spot.
31:28
Speaker 3: We'll, we'll take him from the twins.
31:30
Speaker 4: You know, but I think like Dan said, you know,
31:33
Speaker 4: and we've mentioned many times, you know, he's, he's just a,
31:37
Speaker 4: he was a big pick for the team. He's a
31:39
Speaker 4: face that people know and love, you know, the fans
31:41
Speaker 4: are all about him and, and he's had those moments
31:44
Speaker 4: where it's like, there's Royce, you know, that's our guy.
31:48
Speaker 3: And that's great.
31:49
Speaker 4: But baseball at the end of the day is about
31:52
Speaker 4: winning games and business. And does, does having him there
31:56
Speaker 4: instead of, X, Y, or Z player, um, change things.
32:00
Speaker 4: And so I think it's one, I think they keep
32:01
Speaker 4: them for the, through the off season. I think he
32:04
Speaker 4: comes to camp and gets a shot to make the
32:06
Speaker 4: team versus showing up on the roster.
32:10
Speaker 1: I'm just skeptical. They can do anything definitively better in
32:15
Speaker 1: the off season than, than him, wherever they end up.
32:18
Speaker 1: And like, what are you going to get for him?
32:20
Speaker 1: If you try to shop him and like, is the
32:23
Speaker 1: goal really to compete next year? I, you know, if you're,
32:25
Speaker 1: if Jeffers walks, uh, Does next year kind of become
32:28
Speaker 1: a grooming year? I know no one wants to hear this,
32:31
Speaker 1: but does.
32:32
Speaker 3: Next year become a bridge year?
32:34
Speaker 2: Right.
32:35
Speaker 1: So there's just so many irons in the fire. I
32:36
Speaker 1: just have a feeling he'll end up back on the team.
32:39
Speaker 1: And where he fits or how he fits is a
32:42
Speaker 1: big question. But a segue there. Teach him how to catch.
32:49
Speaker 2: It wouldn't shock me. by the way, wait, wait real quick.
32:53
Speaker 2: That wouldn't shock me that he comes back. You could tell,
32:56
Speaker 2: you could tell how much I was thinking about that.
32:58
Speaker 2: And like, I just, I just wonder if they're, if
33:02
Speaker 2: they are ready to trade and move on and figure
33:05
Speaker 2: out a way. I don't know. I agree with you.
33:08
Speaker 2: I don't know how you get, I don't know. I
33:10
Speaker 2: haven't looked at free agent first base market.
33:12
Speaker 4: Logistically will be interesting.
33:14
Speaker 2: There's no Pete Alonzo. There's no Pete Alonzo, man. Pete
33:17
Speaker 2: Alonzo would look great in the middle of the signup.
33:20
Speaker 3: Um, Well, you're.
33:24
Speaker 1: Paying Josh Bell a $ 10 million mutual option next year
33:31
Speaker 1: to hit 129 games as the DH. So if you're
33:36
Speaker 1: looking to free up at bats for Royce Lewis, that
33:41
Speaker 1: might be a way to do it. What about Josh Bell?
33:43
Speaker 1: Back or not, Dan?
33:45
Speaker 2: No, he's gone. He's gone, and it's– the value he
33:52
Speaker 2: brought this year was through the roof um because he
33:55
Speaker 2: ended up with what 96 rbis and he is real
33:59
Speaker 2: close to 100 whatever it was yeah he was clutch
34:03
Speaker 2: with two outs and runners in scoring position it was
34:06
Speaker 2: one of my favorite things all year was just to
34:08
Speaker 2: see him dump like dunk a center uh like A
34:15
Speaker 2: little too out single in the center. The absolute pitcher killers, right?
34:22
Speaker 2: That he could just do it every time. I was like,
34:24
Speaker 2: I'm going to throw my bat out there and it's
34:26
Speaker 2: going to drop in over the second baseman's head. I
34:28
Speaker 2: almost would have with him put one of the outfielders
34:31
Speaker 2: right there in shallow center because it was so inevitable.
34:35
Speaker 2: He had like 380 with two outs and runners in
34:37
Speaker 2: scoring position this year. It was incredible. And again, his
34:41
Speaker 2: clubhouse presence was immeasurable. so many guys cited him as
34:45
Speaker 2: one of the reasons they found their comfort at this level. And,
34:51
Speaker 2: and he really helped establish a great, you know, they have,
34:57
Speaker 2: they have chemistry. They have this clubhouse, you know, just
35:02
Speaker 2: it's in order the way you want it to be
35:05
Speaker 2: guys enjoying coming to the ballpark. And I think he
35:08
Speaker 2: set that tone very early, but I also think, He's
35:11
Speaker 2: a DH, and they really need that spot. And I
35:14
Speaker 2: just don't see how it fits unless he is willing
35:18
Speaker 2: to come in and take a lesser role. And Josh
35:20
Speaker 2: Bell doesn't want a lesser role, man. Look at him.
35:22
Speaker 2: He had a good year. It wasn't an amazing year,
35:26
Speaker 2: but he had a good, solid year. And, like, why
35:29
Speaker 2: is he going to want to take a backseat? He
35:31
Speaker 2: ended up with a 106 OPS plus, so just above baseline.
35:35
Speaker 2: But the clutch stats were amazing. And I think he's
35:38
Speaker 2: going to want to– Would he enjoy coming back? Yes.
35:44
Speaker 2: Would he enjoy it? He wants to be here. But
35:46
Speaker 2: he's also conditioning himself to move on. It's been his
35:49
Speaker 2: career MO. He goes to a new town every year
35:52
Speaker 2: and helps out. $ 255, 000 was the average. $ 255, 000? It is
35:57
Speaker 2: what it is.
35:59
Speaker 3: For $ 10 million next year, I don't think.
36:10
Speaker 4: It works for Minnesota, but there are a lot of teams.
36:13
Speaker 4: I guarantee you we'll be calling him, you know, December
36:16
Speaker 4: 1st or whatever.
36:17
Speaker 2: Sorry.
36:17
Speaker 4: When I have the day after the world series, like
36:20
Speaker 4: he will have interest. And yeah, assuming, assuming we've already
36:24
Speaker 4: been locked out.
36:25
Speaker 2: Yeah.
36:26
Speaker 4: It's, it's like Dan said, he's such a valuable guy.
36:28
Speaker 4: He won't, I would love to see him back, but
36:32
Speaker 4: there just isn't like, there aren't the at-bats. There's not
36:34
Speaker 4: the spot for him, especially with Byron. He's going to
36:37
Speaker 4: be DH-ing a lot next year. We're just going to
36:40
Speaker 4: call it what it is. He's going to play the outfield,
36:42
Speaker 4: but he's going to DH a lot. You just can't
36:46
Speaker 4: have two guys duking out for DH. We kind of
36:50
Speaker 4: ran into that during the Bomba Squad years at times,
36:53
Speaker 4: where it's like, who do we not let hit today
36:57
Speaker 4: kind of thing.
36:59
Speaker 3: For the money, there's no way.
37:02
Speaker 1: It's also like... You might need that spot to give
37:04
Speaker 1: Royce some at-bats if you keep him because that's the
37:07
Speaker 1: most important. You don't care about his glove at first base.
37:09
Speaker 1: You care about him figuring out his bat.
37:11
Speaker 2: Right.
37:12
Speaker 1: So you can't have him sitting out. So, yeah, with
37:15
Speaker 1: Buxton back too, it gets super crowded. I'm going to
37:19
Speaker 1: go no as well.
37:22
Speaker 3: Loved having him clutch. Yeah, it was a great year.
37:25
Speaker 3: I mean, all year there was just those– He's so
37:29
Speaker 3: big and strong. I don't know how it works.
37:31
Speaker 1: The short arm swings, but somehow they just.
37:36
Speaker 4: When you're 6'5, 250 or whatever, the ball goes a
37:40
Speaker 4: little further off.
37:40
Speaker 3: Of your bat.
37:44
Speaker 1: Next on my list, Bailey Ober. Signed a one-year, $ 5. 2
37:47
Speaker 1: million deal to avoid arbitration last year. We're back in
37:51
Speaker 1: that same boat this year. That price tag is going
37:53
Speaker 1: to get higher. Dan... Not optimistic, I think, on a
37:59
Speaker 1: Bailey-Ober return?
37:59
Speaker 2: It pains me to say I don't think it'll happen
38:04
Speaker 2: because he's a consummate teammate, another good dude who's been there.
38:09
Speaker 2: You just look at the usage down the stretch. They
38:13
Speaker 2: were quick hooks for him. We know the reduced velocity
38:17
Speaker 2: is a factor. The injury costs him. Early in the year,
38:23
Speaker 2: he looked great. Early in the year, he looked... Like,
38:27
Speaker 2: very solid. He had a rough one the other day again, too. Look,
38:34
Speaker 2: there's four guys with one-year contracts left. Him, Joe Ryan,
38:38
Speaker 2: Pablo Lopez, and Dean Kramer. Dean Kramer came in and
38:41
Speaker 2: finished with a. 348 ERA. And in his 10 starts
38:46
Speaker 2: with the Twins. Something tells me that Bailey will get
38:49
Speaker 2: squeezed out. Especially because.
38:51
Speaker 3: Pre-lib, Zebby.
38:53
Speaker 2: Pre-lib, Zebby... You know, you've got Abel coming behind. You
38:58
Speaker 2: have Abel, Prelip, Zebby. I know I'm missing somebody there. Lefty.
39:05
Speaker 3: He got hurt, pulled his oblique. Yeah, Henry Rojas is there.
39:11
Speaker 2: I mean, there's lots of options. And obviously there's Taj Bradley.
39:19
Speaker 2: And there's Taj Bradley. Sorry. We got the most important guy,
39:22
Speaker 2: pitcher of the year.
39:23
Speaker 1: Pitcher of the year, ham and eggy.
39:26
Speaker 2: But but um like i just looked at that picture
39:29
Speaker 2: especially with rojas there as the ninth guy and i
39:32
Speaker 2: think it just the way that derrick shelton used him
39:36
Speaker 2: at the end they skipped the start they put him
39:38
Speaker 2: in the bullpen as long relief for two days he
39:41
Speaker 2: got the save that was cool but i just don't
39:44
Speaker 2: think i don't know i i bailey i know put
39:47
Speaker 2: in a ton of work invested in himself in the
39:49
Speaker 2: off season to try and gain that velocity back. I
39:52
Speaker 2: think he's going to do even more work like that
39:54
Speaker 2: this off season. I don't know if it's going to
39:57
Speaker 2: be showing up for the twins or somebody else. It's,
40:00
Speaker 2: it feels like it's going to be showing up for
40:01
Speaker 2: somebody else.
40:03
Speaker 1: The starting pitching depth is all well and good until
40:06
Speaker 1: you start looking at the price tags for everybody. And then,
40:08
Speaker 1: you know, are we going to pay that much money
40:11
Speaker 1: to somebody who might not even crack the rotation, you know,
40:14
Speaker 1: depending on how things go. So yeah, By the way,
40:19
Speaker 1: none of this conversation is to say that we want
40:22
Speaker 1: these people to leave or think they should. It's just
40:24
Speaker 1: a matter of realities of the business being what it is.
40:29
Speaker 2: The first three guys we talked about are three of
40:33
Speaker 2: the best dudes in the clubhouse to deal with. Royce
40:37
Speaker 2: is one of the nicest human beings that I've ever met.
40:42
Speaker 2: Royce goes out of his way to say, hey, I'm sorry.
40:45
Speaker 2: to keep you waiting for an interview. And he thanks
40:47
Speaker 2: you for the interview at the end of it. He
40:49
Speaker 2: like that, that dude is just on another level. People pleaser.
40:54
Speaker 2: Josh Bell is like, just do that guy was awesome.
40:59
Speaker 2: He was awesome. And Bailey over and Bailey over last
41:02
Speaker 2: year went through the worst year of his life last year.
41:05
Speaker 2: Like to the point where his wife got a death
41:07
Speaker 2: threat from a gambler in the middle of like his
41:10
Speaker 2: bad start in June. And he had the worst month
41:14
Speaker 2: in major, like, third worst month in major league history
41:17
Speaker 2: most home runs allowed uh 14 home runs allowed and
41:20
Speaker 2: he was a consummate pro through all of it and
41:23
Speaker 2: just like never as bad as it was never was
41:27
Speaker 2: like any different like that's the kind of guy you
41:30
Speaker 2: want setting examples for your teammates because as horrible as
41:34
Speaker 2: that was he was the same guy and that's what
41:37
Speaker 2: everybody wants the consistency and he is that and he
41:41
Speaker 2: will if he goes somewhere else he's gonna be great
41:43
Speaker 2: for another team but i You just look at the
41:47
Speaker 2: tea leaves because this is all speculation that we're doing
41:50
Speaker 2: right now. This is not even informed speculation.
41:53
Speaker 3: At this point. This is cold hard facts.
42:00
Speaker 1: You guys are making me feel bad about having Royce
42:01
Speaker 1: Lewis's picture on this segment, so I changed it to
42:04
Speaker 1: Josh Brown, but now I feel bad about that too.
42:08
Speaker 1: A couple more. I know we're running longer than we
42:10
Speaker 1: usually do, but a couple of free agent bullpen pieces
42:14
Speaker 1: to be AJ Minter and Taylor Rogers.
42:18
Speaker 3: Tyler, what are your thoughts?
42:19
Speaker 2: Yeah.
42:21
Speaker 3: I mean, Raj, who knows, you know, he, we, I've
42:25
Speaker 3: known him a long time. We've talked a lot.
42:26
Speaker 4: You know, I know there's roles that he's probably going
42:29
Speaker 4: to be able to pick and choose exactly, you know,
42:31
Speaker 4: how he's going to get used by a team and,
42:33
Speaker 4: you know, what they see for him, things like that. But,
42:36
Speaker 4: you know, mentor was a trade piece that we went
42:38
Speaker 4: out and got, you know, I think they, it sounds
42:41
Speaker 4: like yesterday I saw a little blurb of him speaking,
42:44
Speaker 4: you know, how he's enjoyed his time there. And, you know,
42:46
Speaker 4: he seemed to fit in very well and pitch well
42:49
Speaker 4: and got with the pitching group and all those things.
42:52
Speaker 3: That you want to hear. And, you know, I know
42:54
Speaker 3: he's probably got other suitors as well.
42:57
Speaker 4: I mean, lefty with the heartbeat, someone's always looking for those.
43:00
Speaker 3: So, you know, there'll.
43:02
Speaker 4: Be probably more on his plate than the Twins, whether
43:04
Speaker 4: he wants to stay or try to get something done
43:07
Speaker 4: before free agency starts, things like that. But, I don't
43:11
Speaker 4: foresee him being back, but I think he would be
43:13
Speaker 4: a great addition to keep looking for next year. Between Hoffman, Gomez,
43:19
Speaker 4: and him at the back end, that's a pretty solid
43:22
Speaker 4: group to start with as building a bullpen.
43:25
Speaker 2: He had the lat injury. He came off the Bonda.
43:28
Speaker 2: He came back this year. Bonda is still there on
43:33
Speaker 2: the 40-man on the 60-day. Prior to suffering that lat injury...
43:40
Speaker 2: Mentored at two years and $ 22 million. I don't know
43:43
Speaker 2: that the Twins are going to pay him $ 11 million.
43:47
Speaker 2: It's possible because they paid $ 3 million for him this season.
43:50
Speaker 2: They assumed all that salary. But I don't know if
43:55
Speaker 2: that fits. I actually think they will spend on one
43:59
Speaker 2: relief pitcher. They have Hoffman back and you have Morrison
44:05
Speaker 2: Gomez coming in. You have some real good pieces. Add
44:09
Speaker 2: in one more big arm in there to just give
44:12
Speaker 2: Derek Shelton options. Cause this is going to be a
44:14
Speaker 2: team that relies on defense and speed and, you know,
44:18
Speaker 2: like athleticism. And that to me sounds like a lot
44:21
Speaker 2: of one run games. And you don't want to kill yourself,
44:25
Speaker 2: you know, losing those one run games. So I just
44:28
Speaker 2: don't know if it'll be him that they spend on
44:30
Speaker 2: or if it'd be somebody else. I also don't know
44:31
Speaker 2: that he'll get two and 22. It's possible because he's
44:35
Speaker 2: a lefty, but you know, Oh, yeah. Taylor. Taylor, I don't– yeah.
44:44
Speaker 2: He came in and served his coach role this year.
44:46
Speaker 2: He was great in that. But I think– that's another guy.
44:53
Speaker 2: It's like every guy you mention, Zach, you're just– you're
44:55
Speaker 2: a jerk.
44:56
Speaker 3: Pulling his heartstrings across the board here.
44:59
Speaker 1: Yes, there is that.
45:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.
45:01
Speaker 1: Just again, practically speaking, the bullpen is always the area.
45:06
Speaker 1: No offense, Tyler.
45:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, the revolving door.
45:08
Speaker 1: You can find somebody, right? Like Andrew Morris was a revelation,
45:12
Speaker 1: obviously had some struggles there at the end. So if
45:16
Speaker 1: you're going to mess around somewhere and try to avoid
45:18
Speaker 1: spending big, that just seems like a logical spot to be.
45:22
Speaker 1: So I'm going to put them both in the no
45:24
Speaker 1: category that they won't be back.
45:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's fair.
45:29
Speaker 1: I hope I'm wrong, but we'll see. Or maybe I don't.
45:32
Speaker 1: I don't know.
45:34
Speaker 3: Last one.
45:36
Speaker 1: We have not addressed in all this yet the left-handed
45:39
Speaker 1: hitting outfield logjam, and it seems pretty clear that Trevor
45:43
Speaker 1: Larnik remains the most likely candidate to head out to me,
45:47
Speaker 1: but Dan, disagree?
45:50
Speaker 2: No, I agree. I think he does. I think he
45:52
Speaker 2: has trade value, even with his last couple months.
45:56
Speaker 1: Because he's good.
45:57
Speaker 2: Not great. That's why. Because he's good. He finished with
45:59
Speaker 2: 120 OPS plus this season. And it was more important. Nice. No,
46:09
Speaker 2: I think he has some value, uh, more than he
46:12
Speaker 2: did last year. Um, and he probably can get them.
46:16
Speaker 2: I don't know what it gets them. It won't be
46:18
Speaker 2: any more than the, uh, like middle tier prospect is
46:21
Speaker 2: my guess, but I don't, you know, who knows, but
46:24
Speaker 2: I think last year they couldn't get much for him.
46:27
Speaker 2: They brought him back and it turned out great. Uh,
46:29
Speaker 2: but you know, look, Walker Jenkins is left-handed. Alan Roden's left-handed.
46:34
Speaker 2: Emmanuel Rodriguez is left-handed. Walner. Matt Walner's left-handed. Yeah. You
46:40
Speaker 2: have nine outfield candidates for next year for probably five
46:44
Speaker 2: spots and five of them are left-handed.
46:46
Speaker 1: I mean, like he almost reportedly almost got them a
46:51
Speaker 1: bullpen piece at the deadline. That could be a way
46:54
Speaker 1: to improve there without spending a ton of money too.
46:57
Speaker 1: So we shall see. Um, I'm sure there's others we
47:01
Speaker 1: didn't mention who may find different pastures this offseason, but
47:06
Speaker 1: that's our list. Let us know what you think in
47:09
Speaker 1: the comments. Hope you're enjoying. Like, subscribe. We have two
47:11
Speaker 1: more items that we need to get to despite the
47:14
Speaker 1: length of the show because they happened this weekend. You're
47:18
Speaker 1: not going to cry, are you?
47:20
Speaker 2: You're not going to cry.
47:22
Speaker 3: I've got it all out already. Don't worry.
47:24
Speaker 1: My reason for putting these things on here was because, oh,
47:27
Speaker 1: it's the offseason. We're going to have time to mess
47:30
Speaker 1: around and talk about other topics, and here we are
47:31
Speaker 1: at 47 minutes already. Justin Verlander played his last MLB
47:36
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, and if you follow me on X,
47:41
Speaker 1: you may have been one of the three million people
47:43
Speaker 1: to see my tweet. It's just the MLB's video of
47:47
Speaker 1: him reacting when his daughter came out to get him
47:50
Speaker 1: off the mound, which was just an awesome moment.
47:53
Speaker 5: Rumble.
47:54
Speaker 1: You can see him in this, obviously the video isn't
47:56
Speaker 1: playing if you're watching on YouTube, but from this angle,
47:59
Speaker 1: you could see him kind of standing there, soaking it
48:01
Speaker 1: all in as AJ Hinch, the Tigers manager came out
48:04
Speaker 1: to pull him. Then he sees his daughter running out, smiles,
48:08
Speaker 1: and then just instantly like goes into a puddle of tears.
48:11
Speaker 1: And Tyler and I probably hit, hit us in the
48:14
Speaker 1: dad feels right there for sure. But, um, obviously a
48:18
Speaker 1: twins killer, his entire career, um, Two-time World Series champion.
48:23
Speaker 1: I don't even remember how many All-Star games, a billion
48:25
Speaker 1: of them. I think they even picked him this year
48:28
Speaker 1: even though he didn't play to be like a legend. Yeah,
48:30
Speaker 1: he was like the committee pick or the legend. And
48:34
Speaker 1: it's just worth a note. So long, Justin Verlander. Tyler,
48:39
Speaker 1: you had a nice sentiment too just about how he
48:42
Speaker 1: is the kind of player that you all dreamed of being.
48:46
Speaker 3: And it was weird.
48:47
Speaker 1: I just thought that was interesting because, you know, as
48:50
Speaker 1: somebody who aspired to be a major leaguer period and
48:53
Speaker 1: obviously never got close, I look at any of you
48:56
Speaker 1: and go, holy crap. But then there's that other tier
48:58
Speaker 1: of you. You look at a guy like him who's
49:00
Speaker 1: legendary in the sport.
49:02
Speaker 2: Yeah.
49:02
Speaker 4: And it's, you know, in clubhouses, in locker rooms, you know,
49:07
Speaker 4: the talk, you're trying to find a Verlander. Like that's
49:10
Speaker 4: like a phrase that's thrown around because he is the
49:12
Speaker 4: guy that the prototypical starting pitcher. And he's done it,
49:16
Speaker 4: you know, I think he did it for 21 seasons
49:19
Speaker 4: or whatever it was. like it's just absurd what he's
49:22
Speaker 4: able to do and and to have so much health
49:24
Speaker 4: throughout all of it you know he finally had some
49:26
Speaker 4: dings here in the last few years but like the
49:28
Speaker 4: guy was a workhorse and he did everything the right
49:31
Speaker 4: way you know you never heard him say anything too
49:35
Speaker 4: reckless in the media you know he's he's as polished
49:38
Speaker 4: as they come, like I'd comp him with Joe at
49:40
Speaker 4: that point. Uh, it's just kind of that, that spotless
49:44
Speaker 4: career and, you know, a unanimous hall of famer. I,
49:47
Speaker 4: you know, I'm sure someone won't vote for him whenever
49:50
Speaker 4: the time comes because that's what they do.
49:53
Speaker 3: Um, but it's just like Dan, the guy.
49:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
49:55
Speaker 3: You did you, Dan, your friends.
49:57
Speaker 2: I make my ballot public every year, sir. Thank you.
50:00
Speaker 4: But it was just, yeah, it's something, you know, growing up,
50:02
Speaker 4: you know, I mean, he was a big leaguer when
50:04
Speaker 4: I was still in high school. And so it's like,
50:07
Speaker 4: to fast forward, I played my, you know, parts of
50:10
Speaker 4: 10 year major league career, tried to keep going to
50:13
Speaker 4: Mexico and he's just now finishing. And it's just like,
50:16
Speaker 4: Holy hell, dude. So it's a hat tips around, you know, good,
50:20
Speaker 4: go get you a nice bottle of wine. I'm sure
50:22
Speaker 4: he's on a student, something really cool today.
50:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.
50:25
Speaker 1: Well, he, he and Maurer, um, he was born six
50:30
Speaker 1: months before me. Maurer was the same year as me
50:32
Speaker 1: in high school. So similar age to, and like, I
50:35
Speaker 1: remember reading about them when they were like getting drafted
50:38
Speaker 1: and coming up and like, yeah, that's when it starts to,
50:41
Speaker 1: you know, I was probably 14, 15 when I had
50:45
Speaker 1: to admit to myself, it wasn't going to happen for me.
50:48
Speaker 1: And not very long after that, you start reading about
50:50
Speaker 1: these guys who were the same age as you like, Oh,
50:52
Speaker 1: this is, this is the difference. Like ESPN is talking
50:55
Speaker 1: about Joe Maurer and no one even knows who I am,
50:57
Speaker 1: but he's like, like my generation is now, we're all retiring.
51:02
Speaker 1: Like he was one of the last ones, like him
51:04
Speaker 1: and LeBron are like the last two that are still around.
51:06
Speaker 3: And obviously Max Scherzer as well.
51:08
Speaker 2: It was crazy. The, the recognition even at the park
51:11
Speaker 2: yesterday was great because they played the clip. They didn't
51:14
Speaker 2: play that clip. They played a different version of the
51:16
Speaker 2: Tigers broadcast. And Jason Benetti, who's excellent, did a really
51:20
Speaker 2: good job with it because he let the moment play
51:24
Speaker 2: out without talking over it. Like there's like 40 seconds
51:26
Speaker 2: of silence and, which I did text him and say,
51:29
Speaker 2: I like it more when you're quiet anyways. But he, he,
51:33
Speaker 2: he like recognized the moment and let it play out.
51:35
Speaker 2: And like the fans were watching this, the fans that
51:40
Speaker 2: showed up for the last game are watching it. And like,
51:42
Speaker 2: there's a cheer through target field, which he dominated along
51:46
Speaker 2: with the Metrodome for years. And Justin Verlander was hated.
51:49
Speaker 2: It was like, when he came to the mound, you
51:50
Speaker 2: knew you were losing if you were a twins fan.
51:53
Speaker 2: And yet like, it's just universal. the recognition. It was
51:57
Speaker 2: a cool, it was a very cool moment.
51:59
Speaker 5: Yeah.
52:00
Speaker 1: He was the last active pitcher who played at the Metrodome.
52:05
Speaker 2: Isn't that crazy?
52:06
Speaker 1: And I, I believe Andrew McCutcheon is the only other technically.
52:09
Speaker 2: Still active player. He's probably gone. Yeah.
52:12
Speaker 1: He did play this season, but, um, might've been it.
52:15
Speaker 1: So that was, uh, uh, I saw the clip online.
52:18
Speaker 2: It was like 2009.
52:18
Speaker 3: What was the one I saw?
52:20
Speaker 4: He faced Julio Franco who was born in like 1956
52:23
Speaker 4: or something ridiculous. And then Connor Griffin, who was born
52:27
Speaker 4: in 2006. That's great.
52:30
Speaker 2: That's great.
52:32
Speaker 3: And obviously, like... 50 years of player.
52:34
Speaker 1: You know, him and Scherzer, who also, shout out to him,
52:37
Speaker 1: because he had his last start on Sunday.
52:39
Speaker 2: That was a great moment, too. Man, he went seven.
52:42
Speaker 3: Scherzer went seven. Well, he was trying to chase Verlander.
52:45
Speaker 3: He needed 10 punch-outs to match him.
52:47
Speaker 5: Yeah.
52:48
Speaker 2: And he got eight. And he got eight.
52:50
Speaker 1: Obviously, they were both with the Tigers for a while. Like,
52:52
Speaker 1: just what a nightmare that was.
52:54
Speaker 2: But.
52:58
Speaker 1: They didn't get to 300 wins, either of them, but
53:00
Speaker 1: that's just not going to happen. They were the last
53:03
Speaker 1: of that sort of workhorse breed of pitcher. I think
53:07
Speaker 1: Randy Johnson is still the last one to win 300 games,
53:10
Speaker 1: like 17 years ago or something. So just a little
53:16
Speaker 1: piece of the sport goes with those guys as they leave.
53:19
Speaker 1: And then finally, God, this was... This was wild this weekend.
53:24
Speaker 3: Do you think it was a HIPAA violation?
53:26
Speaker 2: Is it a HIPAA violation?
53:27
Speaker 3: It had to be. It's a something.
53:29
Speaker 2: P.J.
53:30
Speaker 1: Fleck, Gophers football head coach, who you can see on
53:34
Speaker 1: the screen with a smear of blood over his shirt
53:37
Speaker 1: and face. He did not get injured. After their win
53:41
Speaker 1: over Washington late, late, late Saturday night, or Friday night,
53:45
Speaker 1: I forget, he went up to a player whose name
53:49
Speaker 1: is Maverick Baranowski, which is just an A-plus name, saw
53:53
Speaker 1: him bleeding from the mouth, hugged him, grabbed his mouth,
53:58
Speaker 1: and then wiped Maverick's blood on his face. It was just.
54:03
Speaker 2: I hope he didn't get any in his eye.
54:05
Speaker 3: So much for rowing the boat, you know? Yeah.
54:08
Speaker 1: And the Fox broadcaster, Jack Kaiser, had a great line.
54:12
Speaker 1: It's 1.30 in the morning in Minnesota, and PJ Fleck
54:14
Speaker 1: has gone insane.
54:16
Speaker 2: But.
54:17
Speaker 1: But this is this paragraph on the screen.
54:19
Speaker 2: Can you go insane if you're already there?
54:21
Speaker 3: I don't know.
54:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point. It's continued to be insane
54:25
Speaker 1: might have been the better. Point of no return. But
54:29
Speaker 1: this paragraph from the story in athletics says Fleck embraced
54:32
Speaker 1: several players and staffers. When he approached the Gophers fan section,
54:36
Speaker 1: he pointed and shouted, you're the effing best before running
54:38
Speaker 1: off the field. I'm sure he didn't actually censor himself.
54:41
Speaker 1: When Fleck arrived in the Gophers locker room, he leaped
54:43
Speaker 1: above his players and crowd surfed as the players chanted, coach, coach, coach.
54:47
Speaker 1: His players caught him and bounced him up near the ceiling.
54:50
Speaker 1: I covered them a bit in the 2019 season when
54:54
Speaker 1: they were so good and were like in the college
54:55
Speaker 1: football playoff mix for a bit. And this guy just,
55:00
Speaker 1: he does not rub a lot of adults the right
55:03
Speaker 1: way with his slogans and his energy and just everything
55:06
Speaker 1: about him. but those kids love it. And like, there's
55:09
Speaker 1: also a quote in there from Baranowski about how he
55:12
Speaker 1: like flex spent hours talking to him about life and
55:15
Speaker 1: personal stuff. And like it, it works. Is it sanitary? No,
55:21
Speaker 1: it's not. And I hope he, I hope everybody's okay. But, um,
55:24
Speaker 1: they just, that he's one of a kind for better
55:27
Speaker 1: or worse. And man, that was, that was something I
55:30
Speaker 1: don't recommend doing it at home, but something, something, something. Well,
55:37
Speaker 1: I think that's, I mean, I don't know. I can't
55:38
Speaker 1: top that today. So let's, let's call it. It will
55:41
Speaker 1: be a reminder.
55:42
Speaker 3: We are two shows a.
55:44
Speaker 1: Week now in the off season, unless, you know, if
55:46
Speaker 1: there's breaking news or something, we may, may hop on
55:48
Speaker 1: for a special, but we will be back Thursday. We're
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Speaker 1: gonna try to do Mondays and Thursdays from now on.
55:54
Speaker 1: Sorry for the wonky ticker with the scores that are
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Speaker 1: not happening. I don't know what's going on there. I'll
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Speaker 1: fix that for next time, but appreciate you listening.
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Speaker 2: Buckle up.
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Speaker 1: It's going to be an interesting offseason, and we'll be
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Speaker 1: here with you for it throughout. If you like what
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Speaker 1: you hear, please toss us a like, a subscribe, however
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Speaker 1: you watch or listen, and we will catch you next
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Speaker 1: time on Twin Cities Territory.
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Speaker 2: Thanks. Bye-bye.