Monday Morning Minnesota: The “Alan Roden Hype Machine” Edition

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 14: Alan Roden #19 of the Minnesota Twins bats against the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning of the game at Target Field on August 14, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The first rule of spring training is not to get too excited about spring training stats. That being said, Alan Roden is maybe making the Louis Varland trade look like a better deal, as he has eight hits in 22 at-bats, with one homer and a steal. For sure, a positive after he finished last season with a .191/.261/.294 slash line with two home runs and one steal in 153 plate appearances. Mick Abel is also doing his best to take the sting out of the Jhoan Duran trade, as through three starts, he has a 39% strikeout rate and a 0% walk rate and has yet to give up a single run through 10 innings. Of course, he did finish last season with a 6.23 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP through 39 innings, so let’s not get too excited. But hope does somewhat spring right now, and we’re going to need all the positivity we can get for this long season.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• With spring training underway, game threads are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we prepare for Opening Day.
• Brandon Brooks gives us Vol. 80 of the Rival Roundup.
• James Fillmore recaps “Stop Making Sense” for the Twinkie Town Movie Night. We only have two more movies left, starting with 42 this Friday.
• Ben Jones provides his second roster projection of spring training.
• Apparently, they played baseball in 1926. Zach Koenig has another addition to the Twinkie Town Book Club.
• After looking at the shortest-tenured Twins in team history, Matt Monitto reminds us of another one-hit wonder in Twins history.
• We’re onto Round 19 in Zach Koenig’s list of the Greatest Twins Moments and Performances.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• La Velle E. Neal at the Star Tribune looks at how the Twins’ business and baseball operations may clash this season.
• Patrick Reusse and Jim Souhan at the Star Tribune look back at some fond memories of Kirby Puckett.
• After a rough start to spring training, Matthew Leach at MLB.com recaps Bailey Ober’s most recent outing.
• Ricky Ganci at Zone Coverage provides a guide for Twins fans to the World Baseball Classic.

In the World of Baseball:

• The MLB.com beat writers identify one position battle still undecided for each team.
• The ESPN staff comes together to rank baseball’s top 100 players.

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