Seth Stohs

Image courtesy of © Jim Rassol-Imagn Images In 2012, four Minnesota Twins bloggers consolidated their websites to create Twins Daily. Some of you may have even been around since the mid-00s when Twins Geek, SethSpeaks.net, Nick's Twins Blog, and Over the Baggy, and the Battle Your Tail Off forum were among dozens of sites for Twins fans. Just recently, we have added a ninth MLB organization to the DiamondCentric family. Here are those nine sites and nine organizations: Twins Daily - Minnesota Twins Brewer Fanatic - Milwaukee Brewers North Side Baseball - Chicago Cubs Talk Sox Baseball - Boston Red Sox Jays Centre - Toronto Blue Jays Fish on First - Miami Marlins Padres Mission - San Diego Padres Royals Keep - Kansas City Royals Grand Central Mets - New York Mets That's nine out of 30 MLB teams, 30% of the organizations in the league. We have five National League teams and four American League teams. We have some big spenders, and a few of the organizations with the smallest payrolls. Five of these teams participated in the 2025 playoffs. 1st Team Preseason All-DiamondCentric Team (Hitters) Catcher William Contreras, 28, Milwaukee Brewers The younger Contreras made the All-Star team in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves. After the season, the Brewers acquired Contreras as part of a crazy three-team, eight-player trade. He has been remarkably consistent and been able to stay healthy. He has averaged 4.1 bWAR and 149 games played, and he will spend the 2026 season at 28 years old. First Base Vlad Guerrero, Jr., 27, Toronto Blue Jays Vladdy Jr is entering his eighth major-league season and just turned 27 years old. Last year was the first season of his half-billion dollar contract, and he was the leader of the American League champion Blue Jays. A solid hitter all-around, Guerrero gets on base and slugs. In addition, after playing all 60 games during the Covid-shortened 2020 season, the Canadian-born Guerrero has played in at least 156 games or more in each of the past five seasons. Second Base Brice Turang, 26, Milwaukee Brewers Guerrero is the son of a Hall of Famer. Turang's father, Brian Turang, also spent time in the big leagues. Milwaukee made the California prep star the 21st overall pick in 2018 draft. He made his debut in 2023. In 137 games, he hit just .218 and had an OPS+ of 61. In 2024, he played 155 games and bumped his OPS+ up to 86. Not great, but he won his first Gold Glove and also received a Platinum Glove award as well. In 2025, it all came together. He hit .288 and his .794 was 21% better than league average. Third Base Manny Machado, 33, San Diego Padres Machado was the third overall pick in the 2010 draft out of high school in Miami. An elite talent, Machado debuted with the Orioles about a month after his 20th birthday. He became a free agent after the 2018 season and signed a 10-year, $300 million with the Padres. He had an opt-out after the 2023 season and now is his Year 4 of a new 11-year, $350 million deal. He is a seven-time All Star including three of the past five years. He has played in at least 138 games each of the past 11 seasons (I'm counting the 60 games he played in 2020's 60 game season) and at least 150 games in 10 of the 11 seasons. He's good for 30-35 doubles and 20-25 homers a season. Shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr., 25, Kansas City Royals One of baseball's most exciting young stars, Witt is another son of a big leaguer. His father, Bobby, won 142 games over his 16-seasons in the big leagues. The elder Witt was the third overall pick of the 1985 draft. Junior was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft. Few people in the game fill a box score the way Witt does. He debuted in 2022 and in 150 games, he posted a 0.9 bWAR. Since then, he's had bWARs of 4.3, 9.4, and 7.1. He has led the league in hits the last two seasons. His 47 doubles in 2025 led the league, and that came after 45 doubles in 2024. He has averaged 8 1/2 triples per season. In four years, he's got 105 home runs and 148 stolen bases. He's won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards at shortstop the past two seasons. 2026 will be Year 3 of his 11-year, $288,777,777 contract. Left Field Juan Soto, 27, New York Mets 15 years and $765 million. It is crazy to think that Juan Soto is already 27 years old. Just as crazy is that 2026 marks his ninth season in the big leagues. He debuted with the Nationals in 2018 was provided 3.0 bWAR in 116 games. With one exception, the lowest bWAR that Soto has put up in a season was 5.3 in 2023 with the Padres. The exception was a 2.3 bWAR Soto accumulated in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. That year, he led the National League in batting average (.351), on-base percentage (.490), slugging percentage (.695) and OPS (1.185). He has had six seasons with more than 100 walks. In his career, he has 896 walks and 833 strikeouts. You like to see players continue to add pieces to their game. Almost out of nowhere, Soto led the National League in 2025 with 38 steals (in 42 attempts). He had never had more than 12 steals in a season. He's got power. He's hit more than 40 homers the past two seasons. Soto is a four-time All Star. He has finished Top 10 in MVP voting six times (five times Top 6). He has won six Silver Slugger awards. He hit .333 with three homers in helping the Nationals to the 2019 World Series championship. Center Field Byron Buxton, 32, Minnesota Twins The career of Byron Buxton has been filled with ups and downs, injuries and web gems. The second overall pick in the 2012 draft debuted as a 21-year-old in 2015. He was a 5.0 bWAR player in 2017 when he played in 140 games and hit .253 with 14 doubles, six triples, and 16 homers. He was 29-for-30 in steal attempts. He also won his only Gold Glove and Platinum Glove Awards. Unfortunately, between 2018 and 2023, he never reached 100 games played. When he did play, he was terrific. In just 61 games in 2021, he had 4.9 bWAR. He was an All-Star in 2022, but he ended up playing 92 games and had 3.9 bWAR and 28 home runs. 2025 was a huge breakout season for Buxton, and he was able to play in 126 games. He hit .264/.327/.551 (.878) with 21 doubles, seven triples, and 35 home runs. He also went 24-for-24 in steal attempts. He played in his second All Star Game and won his first Silver Slugger. Right Field Fernando Tatis, Jr., 27, San Diego Padres You've got it. Another star player on our list with big-league genetics. The elder Tatis played for five big-league teams and spent parts of 11 seasons in the big leagues between 1997 and 2010. His best season (3.0 bWAR) came in 1999 when he hit 34 homers and drove in 107 runs for the Cardinals. He totaled 6.3 bWAR. The younger Tatis debuted in 2019, and in 84 games, he had 4.0 bWAR. In just two of his six seasons, Junior has had a bWAR below 2.8. In 2024, he played in 102 games, was an All-Star and was worth 2.6 bWAR. In 2020, Tatis posted just 2.8 bWAR, but calculated to a 162-game season (instead of 60 games), it would be 7.8 bWAR. Of course, Tatis Jr. was injured in 2022 in a motorcycle accident. Later, he was also suspended for failing a PED test. Before the 2021 season, Tatis signed a 14-year, $340 million contract. In six seasons, Tatis has two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, three All Star appearances, and three Top 10 finishes in MVP voting. Designated Hitter George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays The old man on this list, Springer had a huge resurgence in 2025 after a couple of more disappointing seasons. Springer spent the first seven seasons of his big-league career with the Houston Astros. It began with some really bad teams, and Springer was one of key players that led the Astros to the playoffs and even a World Series title. He was a three-time All Star in Houston. After the 2020 season, Springer signed a six-year, $150 million with the Blue Jays. He's play alright, but he's been hurt at times, and he's moved from the outfield to DH over the last couple of seasons. After posting a 1.1 bWAR in 2024, Springer rebounded with a 4.8 bWAR season in 2025. After posting a .674 OPS in 2024, Springer hit .309/.399/.560 (.959) with 27 doubles and 32 home runs. He was also 18-for-19 in stolen base attempts. He will be a free agent at season's end. Can he put up another big season and get another nice payday? 2nd Team Preseason All-American Hitters Catcher - Alejandro Kirk , Toronto Blue Jays First Base - Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals Second Base - Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs Third Base - Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals Shortstop - Francisco Lindor, New York Mets Left Field - Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers Center Field - Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs Right Field - Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs DH Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox 3rd Team Preseason All-American Hitters Catcher - Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals First Base - Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs Second Base - Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays Third Base - Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs Shortstop - Otto Lopez, Miami Marlins Left Field - Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox Center Field - Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres Right Field - Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox DH - Moises Ballesteros, Chicago Cubs What are your thoughts on the preseason hitters? In the comments, be sure to leave your preseason team. It will be fun to look back at season's end to look back and see how we did. View full article

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Over the weekend, U.S. forces attacked Venezuela, seizing President Nicolás Maduro and killing dozens with bombs dropped on the capital city of Caracas. Venezuela has a rich baseball history and is baseball-mad. How might strikes on Venezuelan soil affect the landscape of the 2026 season and beyond? Venezuelan Baseball History In 1939, the Washington Senators called up Alejandro (Alex) Carrasquel. He was the first player from Venezuela to play in the big leagues. The second Venezuelan was Chico Carrasquel, Alejandro’s nephew, in 1950. He was the first Latin American player to start an MLB All-Star Game, in 1951. Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio debuted in 1956 and won nine Gold Glove awards. Carrasquel and Aparicio began a long line of shortstops to come to the States from Venezuela over the years. Over time, more and more players have been signed out of Venezuela. Exactly 500 players from the country have played in the big leagues, and in 2025, there were 93 active Venezuelan players in the majors alone. This action will have sweeping ramifications for those players, and for the day-to-day experience of baseball fans at several levels in the months (and perhaps years) to come. Let's explore a few of them. International Signing Period The 2026 international amateur free agent signing period begins on January 15. Will MLB teams be willing to send their scouts to Venezuela to sign players? Will Venezuelan players be able to get to the Dominican Republic to sign contracts? Most of the deals teams will sign this month are already agreed to, and they're likely to be duly executed. Even if it does not affect the 2026 signing period, however, this destabilization has major implications on a longer time horizon. Will American scouts want to continue traveling to Venezuela to decide if 10- or 12-year-olds might grow up and develop into big-league talent? Will teams have the same success engaging local scouts and coaches to discover and develop those players? World Baseball Classic A huge part of the increasing popularity of the World Baseball Classic is the passion it showcases among both players and fans from Latin American countries. Venezuela has been a perennial underachiever in the tournament, but they're a thrilling and important draw, especially when (as is true this year) much of the action takes place in Miami—a city home to many, many Venezuelan and Venezuelan-American immigrants. Will Venezuela want to have a team participating in the United States? How safe will their players and representatives feel, or even, how safe will their opponents feel? Will the country even be allowed to field a team? Sources with multiple teams in the majors couldn't tell us. Right now, that's all up in the air. Immigration and the 2026 Season Foreign players (majors or minors) usually have P-1A (athlete) non-immigrant visas. Their teams and/or agents petition U.S. Customs and Immigration Services to receive the work visas. They are valid for the length of the season or event, and extensions are possible in one-year increments. Teams provide proof of the athlete working, which could be as simple as a signed contract. The team also sends the schedule and itinerary for the player. It is also possible for spouses and children to join the player. Currently, a presidential proclamation has limited which types of visas Venezuelans can use to visit the United States. P-1A visas are not included in this list of restricted types, but all visas face increased scrutiny. How long will this conflict last, and how long could there be travel bans between the U.S. and Venezuela? Would a player be able to bring his family to the States with him, and if not, could there be players who won’t leave their family alone in Venezuela? Will Venezuela’s leadership (when, indeed, it even becomes clear who will comprise that group) allow players to travel to the U.S.? An attorney familiar with the specific processes involved in non-citizen players coming to the States each year told DiamondCentric that most well-established players have green cards (which confer permanent resident status, and make both international travel and maintaining residency much easier), but family members are often a different story. Minor-leaguers, as outlined above, face huge new levels of uncertainty. How Will Major League Baseball Respond? In 2019, MLB banned players from participating in the Venezuelan Winter League because the U.S. had sanctions against Venezuela. Until about a decade ago, many teams had academies in Venezuela, and there was a Venezuelan Summer League (like in the Dominican Republic) in the 1990s, but by the early 2000s, teams began leaving Venezuela and doing all of that work and development in the Dominican. It was deemed unsafe in Venezuela. Even teams are still waiting to hear more, and the league has yet to issue guidance on whether players previously slated to play winter ball there can or should do so. Response by Players Without knowing too much detail yet, it will be interesting to see the thoughts of players from Venezuela. Most players will want to remain quiet on the topic, but when pressed, what will players or coaches say? Did some support the Maduro regime? We know that some—most famously, former Cubs closer and current Mets reclamation project Adbert Alzolay—fiercely opposed the highly anti-democractic Maduro. Alzolay tweeted several times about the illegitimacy of Maduro's reelection in mid-2024. As we know, though, opposition to Maduro is not tantamount to support for the U.S.'s heavy-handed action against him, and since the attacks, Alzolay's only tweet affirmed his safety and kept the focus on his rehabilitation and preparation for the coming season. Speaking of which, how will this affect Venezuelans' play on the field? It would certainly be understandable if this proved a forceful distraction for many players, whose homeland is in a greater state of upheaval than ever and who might have a harder time either seeing or communicating with their families. Each of the DiamondCentric sites' teams could be affected to varying levels by this. For instance, the Minnesota Twins have 31 players of Venezuelan descent. A couple of their prospects (Jose Salas and Bryan Acuna) were born in the United States, but grew up in Venezuela. They are dual citizens. Pablo López is from Venezuela, but he isn’t the only player on the Twins' 40-man roster. Catcher Jhonny Pereda and outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez are his countrymen. Newly signed Orlando Arcia is from there, too. The Twins (along with multiple other teams) say they've been in touch with their Venezuelan players to ensure their safety, but for those much less firmly attached to a team than the above-mentioned notables, it's too early to know what comes next. There could be other important issues that go above and beyond this initial list. Please feel free to respectfully discuss the baseball aspects of this situation. With Maduro and his wife arrested, maybe things go back to “normal.” We can certainly hope so. Best wishes to the citizens of Venezuela and all of those in the States with family in Venezuela. For now, though baseball is an interesting and disproportionate part of a huge story, it's still a relatively insignificant one. Much larger things are at stake. View full article

Birdsell is intriguing. He's got good stuff, but there are certainly injury concerns. (though that might make it easier to justify putting him on the IL several times throughout the season to get him past the # of days on the active roster) For the Twins, it'd be fun as he and Andrew Morris were roommates at Texas Tech.