{"id":81024,"date":"2025-08-22T02:01:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T02:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=81024"},"modified":"2025-08-22T02:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T02:03:50","slug":"future-over-past-twins-set-to-make-room-for-rising-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=81024","title":{"rendered":"Future Over Past: Twins Set to Make Room for Rising Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Five<\/p>\n

3. Matt Wallner, 27. <\/b>Wallner has hit 16 home runs but has managed only 27 RBI, which seems impossible to do. As Wallner approaches 1,000 career plate appearances by the end of the season, he has become an enigma. He has a .801 OPS, which is good. His walk rate of 12.7 percent is a career high. His strikeout rate of 29.2 percent is a career low, down from 36.4 percent last season. He does a few things right, but there\u2019s no production to show for it. The Twins lineup is begging for a basher. Wallner can be that guy. Right now, he\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. David Festa, 25; Zebby Matthews, 25; Simeon Woods Richardson, 24: <\/b>The Twins now have 10 starters who could be a factor in 2026, eight with major league experience. Festa, Matthews and Woods Richardson are in their second major league season, but nothing is promised to them with so much nearly-ready talent lined up behind them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Taj Bradley, acquired by the Twins from the Rays at the trade deadline, is only 24 years old and has major league experience. (Charles Krupa\/The Minnesota Star Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Brooks Lee, 24.<\/b> Wait. Lee has hit a two-run triple, a grand slam and an impressive opposite-field homer in the past week. How can he be on this list? His body of work is concerning. He\u2019s been adequate in the field. His career OPS is below .700. And his hard-contact rate is among the worst on the team. Maybe the last week is a sign he\u2019s turning a corner. But Luke Keaschall looks like the second baseman going forward. The Twins aren\u2019t giving up on Royce Lewis at third. And the Culpepper train is chugging down the tracks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Lewis was a candidate for this list but just missed it. He gets a year to relearn how to hit a ball hard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Twins haven\u2019t shared their vision of how they will compete once the league approves the restructuring of the ownership groups. Since the funds could help pay down the $400 million in debt the club is carrying, they should go after quality free agents during the offseason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Regardless if they do that or don\u2019t, this remains a midsized market. The Twins need a continuous flow of prospects to the majors \u2014 either to help the major league team or to be trade chips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among position players, Trevor Larnach, Edouard Julien, Matt Wallner and Brooks Lee must show why they should stay. Three starting pitchers face the same challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":81026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nFuture Over Past: Twins Set to Make Room for Rising Prospects - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=81024\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Future Over Past: Twins Set to Make Room for Rising Prospects - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Among position players, Trevor Larnach, Edouard Julien, Matt Wallner and Brooks Lee must show why they should stay. 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