Good showing from the Louie Varland return package in today's Twins ST game against the Braves. Kendry Rojas: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K Alan Roden: 2-for-3 with a grand slam

Quick writeup on Joe Ryan being scratched from his first spring start with lower back tightness. The takeaway for now: don't panic. @johnbonnes.bsky.social is on the scene and we'll have more info and updates at @twinsdaily.com as they become available. twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

With Pablo Lopez going down for the season, Mick Abel has a clear runway to take hold of a rotation spot. New @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Been a long offseason but we made it folks. Baseball is back tomorrow as the spring exhibition schedule gets underway. 5 weeks to Opening Day. I don't expect the Twins to be good, but I know I'll have a lot of fun watching and writing about them. See you at the ballpark!

If you're looking for some silver linings in the wake of yesterday's devastating news about Pablo Lopez, here's what I've got: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... @twinsdaily.com

This Andrew Chafin quote 😂 "I know how to get guys out and the computer doesn't understand." via the great @danhayesmlb.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

Solace in the Lopez news, I guess, is that the Twins weren't gonna be good this year anyway. Hopefully he comes back strong in 2027 for a more developed team, and maybe a favorable extension could even be in play.

Pablo Lopez is an unbelievably likable player in addition to being probably the team's best & highest-upside player. This news just really sucks. Quite the early spring buzzkill.

After going thru some injury issues in MIA, Pablo Lopez didn't miss a start from 2022-24. But last year: 3 starts then hamstring injury -> 8 starts then teres major strain -> 3 starts then forearm injury Now he's come up with elbow soreness in his first live BP of spring camp.

Tom Pohlad on whether the Twins would be willing to take on money in a trade after swinging and missing on Framber Valdez: "One hundred percent, one hundred percent." Tom Pohlad has a chance to do the funniest thing.

Not great

Good piece here from @codyschoenmann.bsky.social on Tristan Gray, who's one of the more interesting journeymen vying for a shot with the Twins this year: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... @twinsdaily.com

While the on-field product is troubling, I have to give Twins immense credit for their efforts to bring fans back to the ballpark. Twins Pass and pregame drink/snack deals are legitimately cost-effective ways to enjoy live pro baseball at a time where everything's so expensive.

A few good Twins-related reads on this fine Sunday, with some tidbits and highlights: 🧵

The fact that there are "CHEAP POHLADS! SELL THE TEAM!" people who also continue to fervently defend the Correa trade is very funny to me. A move that did nothing but dramatically lower the team's floor & ceiling while putting tens of millions back in pockets of ownership.

Spring training is officially underway, so I wrote up a quick camp Twins camp primer. Key position battles, health situations to monitor, and storylines to follow over the next 6 weeks: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... @twinsdaily.com

Best bullpen move the Twins have made this offseason. (Not the highest bar but still.)

A great marketing move for Tom Pohlad would be to keep leaning into inexpensive tickets and concessions at Target Field and proudly branding himself "Cheap Pohlad"

I’ve come to terms with the Twins being irrelevant this year, and to an extent the lifting of any expectations is relieving. But it’s frustrating that guys like Ryan and Lopez have to stick around and endure this, and it’ll be really frustrating if anyone gets hurt and spikes their trade value.

I have legitimately never had less faith in the leadership of the Twins

The Twins' bullpen will *probably* be bad this year. What would it take to defy those expectations? Today at @twinsdaily.com I broke down the ingredients in a best case scenario: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Desperately need this to be the year where Matt Canterino stays healthy. Major long-shot at this point, but would be huge in addressing upside question marks in the Twins bullpen.

FanGraphs projects the Twins to rank dead-last in fWAR at the shortstop position this year at 1.7. Carlos Correa is projected to nearly double that figure at 3.2 fWAR (granted, as a 3B).

Spring training is almost here but, as Twins fans have been conditioned to understand, that doesn't mean the front office is done making moves. New at @twinsdaily.com, here are 5 significant moves I could see taking place before Opening Day: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

On August 10, 2024, the Minnesota Twins were 65-51 (14 games over .500) and the Detroit Tigers were 55-63 (8 games under). Since then, the Tigers are 30 games over .500 and the Twins are 34 games under. Quite the divergence.

AI slop is overtaking information feeds everywhere while amazing journalists are losing their jobs and legendary media institutions are being dismantled. Very hard to watch.

The Twins announced the 2026 pricing for TwinsPass, which grants SRO entry to every home game. Cost is down almost 30% from last year ($4/game to $2.86/game). Clearly they recognize the challenge in front of them for drawing fans to Target Field this summer.

The low points of Derek Falvey's tenure, IMO, all revolved around the trade deadline. - Acquiring Sam Dyson in 2019 - Whiffing on Tyler Mahle and Jorge Lopez in 2022 - Inactivity in 2023 - Trevor Richards and nothing else in 2024 - The brutal 2025 firesale

In an alternate reality where the Twins did not sell at the deadline last year, this is what the Twins roster would look like right now heading as spring training approaches. Am I wrong or this a pretty clear-cut AL Central favorite?

Derek Falvey's departure from the Twins appears to have been driven by Tom Pohlad's differing vision for the team's short-term outlook. Only one of these two is being realistic, though. New from me @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

A point that's probably worth considering given Tom Pohlad's bottom-line sensibilities: Twins made 3 of their most expensive FA signings ever under Falvey (Correa, Donaldson, Vazquez). In each case they were pretty much desperate to get out of the contract 1-2 years later.

👇 If you check this place out, you'll love it

I would consider Falvey's tenure to be a relative success. Made playoffs 4 times in 9 years, winning record overall, modernized org infrastructure, pushed ownership to spend at record levels (for a time). 3 playoff wins in 9 years is disappointing. But careful what you wish for.

Falvey was placed in a ridiculous spot by ownership. Green-lighted to dismantle at the deadline last year, leaving team with no real chance to compete this year. Then Tom Pohlad steps in with essentially a mandate to compete (but not to spend). I'd be pretty fed up if I was DF.

My confidence in Derek Falvey has certainly diminished over the past couple years, but given the timing, it's hard for me to view his sudden departure as anything other than another disastrous development for the Twins.

What would is your prediction for the makeup of the Twins bullpen on Opening Day, as things currently stand? I'll go: Sands, Rogers, Funderburk, Topa, Orze, Adams, Festa, Prielipp

After the deadline purge last year, Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl were among the only legit bullpen candidates to get auditions. Ohl outperformed Adams, as he did in the minors, but was first out the door. Why? I dug into that question today at @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

After tearing it up his rookie season, Edouard Julien posted a 1.043 OPS in the 2023 playoffs. He gave the Twins a final gasp of life in G4 of the ALDS with a 6th-inning HR to cut their deficit to one. I was so certain he was legit.

Here's @matrueblood.bsky.social and @johnbonnes.bsky.social on the latest Twins move: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Good landing spot for Julien. Hope he gets an opportunity and takes off. It wasn't going to happen here. I'm personally kind of baffled the Twins prefer Adams to Ohl, but we'll see. Kaminska is definitely an intriguing return.

Watching Chris Finch's impassioned, heartfelt response to a question about what's happening in MPLS, in contrast with the mealy-mouthed “I wouldn’t want to pick sides” answer from Tom Pohlad at TwinsFest, makes me ashamed as a Twins fan. It shouldn’t be hard to say wrong is wrong.

Yall should see the replies to this on Twitter lol

Feeling extremely proud of Minneapolis today ❤️

If Pablo Lopez is indeed going to play in the WBC, that means all three of the Twins' top veteran cornerstones will be absent for much of spring training. Seems less than ideal given the circumstances.

Really feels like the best-case scenario for the Twins this year is that the rotation and offense are good enough to build leads for the bullpen to regularly blow. Which is perhaps more annoying than simply selling off parts and being straight-up bad.

With 24 days left until spring training officially kicks off, I ran through 24 questions the Twins need to answer heading into a season full of uncertainty: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... @twinsdaily.com

If the Twins are serious about building from within and letting their system fuel their success, they should give their prospects a chance to win jobs this spring.

 These 5 have a chance to make their MLB debuts on Opening Day: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... @twinsdaily.com

Perplexed yet fascinated by the Twins’ offseason strategy so far. Mostly a bunch of low-wattage trades and waiver claims, but then also their two biggest free agent signings in 3 years. Still no legit reliever acquisitions. No real shakeup of status quo.

Another year, another great Winter Meltdown pint glass design by @brockbeauchamp.bsky.social. This one highlights the commiseration of Twins nation during some tough times for the ballclub. Check it out, and grab your ticket. Guest announcements coming next week! twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Vidal Brujan: Ranks 487th out of 492 hitters with 600+ PA since 2021 🙃