00:00:01
Speaker 1: Well, two of us got the memo that it's a fancy award show today. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2026 Ham and Eggies, the first ever Ham and Eggies, our twins season awards. I'm your host, Zach Pierce, joined as always by Dan Hayes and Tyler Duffy. Dan and I owe the athletic Tyler, of course, the longtime Minnesota twin. Guys, it is not exactly the type of season that people are going to love hearing awards given out for. So I'm just going to warn everybody off the top. This is a This is going to be a fun show. We've got a few months to get into all the issues in the offseason, which we will starting Monday. And we have a little bit already earlier this week as well. But today is all about this season and awarding the top performances from around the diamond with the twins. We have eight different categories. We asked for your help with a couple. Here's how the voting worked. It was very scientific. The three of us voted. I sent the ballots to Ernst & Young. They laughed at me and said, are you kidding? This is just three ballots. I said, good point. I tabulated all the results. If we had a majority for one pick, we went with it. If all three of us pick something different, we put it to a fan vote, which only happened one time. And we'll get to that later. So that's really it. That's all there is to it.
00:01:14
Speaker 2: It was predictable.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: It was predictable. And anything else to add, Dan?
00:01:21
Speaker 3: The suits and the dry cleaners.
00:01:26
Speaker 4: All right.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: For those who are listening, Tyler and I, spruced up for the moment with jackets and, uh, Dan has a hoodie on, but that's okay. That's okay.
00:01:35
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:01:35
Speaker 5: My, my suits in Chicago. Sorry. Sorry. That's all good. Didn't, didn't prepare, uh, well enough. I apologize.
00:01:43
Speaker 2: Uh, what happens happens.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: One other note. Um, twins are obviously they have one series left this weekend, Texas at target field. Um, we're not going to spend much time previewing that they can play spoiler to the Rangers, but obviously their hopes are over. Um, but, One guy we should touch on, who we will right here in the first award, is the person whose season ended on Wednesday with another strong start. That is Connor Prelip. So without further ado, let's get to our first award, which is Rookie.
00:02:11
Speaker 5: Of the Year.
00:02:13
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:02:17
Speaker 1: And it's Connor Prelip. Very nice. That was thanks to Tyler and I. We were the two who picked Prelip. Tyler, what made it stand out for you with Prelip?
00:02:29
Speaker 2: Man, he went wire.
00:02:30
Speaker 7: To wire, basically showed up as a rookie, injury passed, all those things, and.
00:02:38
Speaker 2: Solidified himself as a piece for next year, I think.
00:02:42
Speaker 7: In a lot of ways, he had a little hiccup maybe in the middle there, but he's a dominant lefty, young kid that's still learning to pitch and is only going to get better And it's taken huge steps. And his last two starts were some of the strongest of the year, I felt like. He went, what, his longest outing of the year was the one before in Anaheim and, you know, finished strong in San Francisco. And, you know, enjoy these next couple days. Get you a couple massages. Maybe have a couple beverages during a game or two.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: You know, never know. But, yeah, hell of a year for Connor.
00:03:16
Speaker 7: And I'm sure the Twins and his teammates and everyone involved are very excited to have him around this year.
00:03:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, he tossed the seven shutout innings in his second to last start in Anaheim and then two runs in five and a third in San Francisco. His last six starts were all pretty excellent to have a little bit of a bump. But I think, you know, I looked at Culpepper, but just with only 40 games, it was tough for me to say that was enough there to give it the award. And you're right, with the injury history, the fact that he pitched the whole season basically and finished strong, even if the overall ERA isn't exactly popping off the page. remember our, our pool of candidates for this award is rookies on the twins. So, so you have to, uh, take that relatively, but Dan, uh, Dan disagreed. And, uh, wait for somebody who's okay.
00:04:05
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:04:05
Speaker 2: Let me just say, straight to it.
00:04:08
Speaker 3: He, he, uh, two 36 era over his last five starts. Like he, yeah. 26 and two thirds in ends, uh, in September, you know, at the, at the point where he was like, um, at a career high in innings, he, he thrived. So, I mean, he's a, he's a great choice. I, I chose Andrew Morris.
00:04:26
Speaker 5: I just thought Andrew Morris is fair.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: He was a close second for me.
00:04:30
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: He like, I, I, I thought he had an excellent season out of the bullpen all year. I mean, he, he obviously hit some, uh, hit a wall a little bit, um, especially in August, but he was just such a force for them and a huge development because that bullpen was so unsettled and he came in and did a good job with that, but no, no, uh, No problem with Connor Prelip. I think, you know, obviously the inning count is amazing. The fact that he threw more innings this season than he had basically in the last six years combined, he was outstanding. So very good year for him and something that I think the Twins are excited about definitely.
00:05:08
Speaker 7: It's bad on me for leaving the reliever out to dry per usual. So starters get all the glory.
00:05:16
Speaker 6: All right.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: Uh, congratulations to Connor. We'll move on now to our second category of the day, which is our most improved twin of the year.
00:05:26
Speaker 6: And the winner.
00:05:27
Speaker 8: Is Brooks Lee.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: Congratulations, Brooks Lee. You're going to hear Brooks Lee's name, uh, quite a bit today. It's the first of a few times, at least, uh, and it's a, it's a good choice. I, uh, I didn't go with Brooks Lee. It was you two who picked him. I think Tyler, you picked like seven people for this category, but we went with Brooks as the tiebreaker. Uh, but yeah, no, uh, pretty huge improvement, uh, was in the lineup almost every day, but the statistics certainly bear it out. But Dan, why don't you, uh, why don't you give the induction speech for Brooks?
00:06:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think just the, it was talking to Mike Caruco the other day in San Francisco, the Giants, uh, legendary broadcaster and he said and he's known brooksley his whole life he said he has belief he has confidence now and that's what it really comes down to is that he trusts in himself and you can see it and you know he's taken off to the point where he's hit what 24 home runs 24 yeah yeah second yeah it was very clutch with runners in scoring position you know the ops plus is is solid it's like 105 which means he's just a little bit above average, but the defense at third.
00:06:43
Speaker 5: Base has been spectacular.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: You know, he is top 10 league defensively at third base. And, and I think you just see a guy who, who knows what he can be and looks like a piece now. And that's not something that I was thinking. I didn't, I didn't know if Brooks Lee was going to turn the corner. And that was a question coming into this season last year was, uh, the power showed up, but he was, that wasn't what his game was supposed to be. And he took it and ran with it this year. And, you know, like the other day, Kruko told me he's gonna hit 30 to 40 home runs. He's got TNT in those hands. So, um, I think that's, that's somebody that we can, you know, expect to see more of based off what we saw this year. It's a good kind of real found himself year. And, and, um, building a kind of nice platform or, or base for future success.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: Tyler, you mentioned the games played 153. He was in the lineup almost every day. And crucially for a team that had a lot of players who dropped off and hit the wall has played well through to the end.
00:07:52
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:07:52
Speaker 7: And, and the move early on, you know, the, the little bit of a, I don't know, I won't call it a log jam, but the shortstop dilemma, you know, and, and he, Moved over to third, and we talked about him the other day. Ironically, he just took to it, like I said, a duck to water. It was a smooth transition in season in the big leagues, and early on it was like, okay, what's going to happen? And then by the end of it, we stopped talking about Brooks Lee at third base because he was just making plays. And that's what you want. When a guy makes a move, we hit on Keyshaw before, too. it's when guys make those changes, especially in the big leagues during the year, you never know how it's going to work out.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: And, and he, it went as about as perfectly as it could.
00:08:38
Speaker 7: Um, he seemed to really settle in and, and like Dan was saying, the power, that's something that's big. If he can do, you know, he's got some contact skill to have the power to go along with that and, and to put some balls out of the park. Like that's a big piece to have a cornerstone piece to have in a lineup. And it's a guy, you know, you picked in the first round, it's what you want to happen. And, And that's the one that's going to be fun to see all these guys. You go through the bad years sometimes, but the results are you get players like a Brooks Lee or a Jenkins or whoever it may be that are now in the big leagues. And so it's time now for all of them to get collectively together and hit the ground running come spring training.
00:09:16
Speaker 2: But Brooks, most importantly, had a great year this year.
00:09:21
Speaker 1: You guys both picked Brooks Lee. I went with Taj Bradley.
00:09:26
Speaker 4: Yep.
00:09:27
Speaker 1: Had a really rough go for the, for the twins portion of the season last year was better in Tampa, but still, even with including the Tampa numbers, a huge jump across the board and has put himself in the conversation to be the guy next year. I mean, depending on how his, his, his spring goes and Pablo and Joe's spring goes, he could be, uh, the front of that rotation pretty quick, or if not, he still pitching well enough to, to be in that conversation. So, we'll hear his name later though, too, as well, uh, as you'll see, uh, actually we'll hear that right now because the next award up on our list is pitcher of the year.
00:10:06
Speaker 8: And the winner is Taj Bradley.
00:10:12
Speaker 1: Uh, this was, I believe our only unanimous selection, uh, Kind of tough to go any other way, I think, guys. Obviously, with Joe Ryan falling off in the second half and spending time on the IL, he was clearly the Twins' best starter throughout the year, and it's probably an award that is likely to go to a starter over a reliever, and there's nobody in the bullpen who put up enough of a dominant season to take it away from him. I don't know what else needs to be said, but it was an incredible year and a deserving honor for Taj.
00:10:45
Speaker 5: He was 200 strikeouts, man. 200 strikeouts, yes. Career high in innings. His war was off the charts. His war was close to three. 4-2? 4-2.
00:10:55
Speaker 2: They're all different.
00:10:56
Speaker 5: 4-2 with baseball reference.
00:10:59
Speaker 2: 4-2 with baseball reference. 2.8 on fan graphs.
00:11:02
Speaker 5: But he was just dominant.
00:11:03
Speaker 2: Gomez, I think, He had a shot.
00:11:15
Speaker 7: Had he finished strong and perfect like he was, he would have been a close call for me. That's a huge add. The back end in a weird bullpen all year, he was good. Taj was just 200 punch outs, 31, 32 starts.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: You take that any day of the week.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: He started 31 games, and the Twins were 18 and 13 in his starts, which doesn't sound... particularly sexy when you say 18 and 13, but it is a 94 win pace. They were, uh, they were a great team when he started, uh, and it, and it showed throughout the season. And while we're mentioning strikeouts, we forgot to mention, uh, Connor Peele's 128 was, I think it was fifth most for a twins rookie. And the names on that list are, are pretty good. Uh, it was Bert, Jim Cott. I forget who all, uh, uh, who all else was on it. Not Tyler Duffy.
00:12:09
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: You know, you got to make 30 starts to have a shot at that, I would say.
00:12:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's also true.
00:12:16
Speaker 1: All right, next on our list is our defensive player of the year.
00:12:23
Speaker 4: And the winner is.
00:12:25
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:12:28
Speaker 1: There he is again. It's Brooks Lee. Congratulations to Brooks Lee. This is your guys' doing on this one. We've already alluded to.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: But obviously, Dan, since the move to third base, he's been one of the best statistical defenders in the league.
00:12:46
Speaker 3: Overall, if we looked at his numbers, his metrics would say this is not the correct choice.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: It's very specific.
00:12:52
Speaker 3: This is Brooks Lee at third base because shortstop didn't go well, and he's talked about that. He knows this was the right move. He said his range plays at third. He feels like he's locked in. I'm going to write something about it here in the offseason. He loves how it feels, and he said kudos to the front office because they called this and it wasn't something he wanted to do.
00:13:15
Speaker 5: But his shortstop, if we look at the numbers, on.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: The year I think he's a minus one or minus two defender because his shortstop play was so bad. But his third base has been spectacular. Again, top ten in the league. He expects to make the plays. He's got the arm. He loves the angles. He loves throwing from different angles. um, it's, it's really allowed him to be creative defensively and, and, uh, really good.
00:13:42
Speaker 1: He, uh, yes, was not very good at shortstop, uh, which is why I did not pick him.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: I was looking at the.
00:13:49
Speaker 1: Overall holistic, um, picture. That's fair. I, who did I vote for? Um, so the other, the other name that Tyler threw out, because again, he cheated and like, like to throw out several, several votes.
00:14:02
Speaker 2: I picked and then I said, uh, you.
00:14:04
Speaker 1: Know, Um, was Ryan Jeffers. I actually went with Victor Caratini, but you could make a, you could make a case for, for both catchers together as well. Obviously they basically ended up splitting time because of how much Jeffers, uh, uh, missed with injury, but. the twins were, uh, first of all, Caratini rates extremely well in a lot of defensive metrics, which I, I still, for the life of me, do not fully understand all of them.
00:14:29
Speaker 2: I was trying to, uh, someone needs to write a book.
00:14:33
Speaker 4: Yes. Yes.
00:14:34
Speaker 1: That would be helpful if, if only there was such a thing, but, um, he, he also, uh, had the, uh, I think 74 successful challenges. It was, which, um, was like fifth most in baseball despite the fact that he's caught a lot less innings than the people the catchers ahead of him on the list they're all catchers of course um he and jeffers together have made the twins the most successful team in abs challenges at least in terms of calls overturned in their favor the percentage is not the highest uh but look for a team that and he also uh very high rating and pitch framing for a team that like needs stuff like that to to win games uh At a very important position, both those guys deserve a shout-out for sure. So they at least made the nominee list.
00:15:22
Speaker 7: We're talking about keeping Jeffers. That's part of the reason right there. They combined this year, did a lot behind the plate.
00:15:29
Speaker 1: All right, we're halfway through our award show. If you like what you hear, please toss us a like, a subscribe. If you don't like what you hear, don't worry. There's only one of these a year. We're back to talking offseason as of Monday. But we will be right back with the rest of our awards.
00:15:47
Speaker 7: So Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon, needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that you know is going to ruin your sleep?
00:15:54
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, definitely.
00:15:55
Speaker 9: I found myself on the golf course a lot lately. And sometimes, you know, it can be long days out there. So I reach in my golf bag. I keep the ultra focus pouch right here with me, keep it in my golf bag. And it's part of my golf bag, as I said.
00:16:09
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker 8: And so what are some of your favorite effects of the ultra pouches?
00:16:14
Speaker 9: Definitely, you know, gives me a little bit of focus, that little bit of energy that I'm looking for and obviously not having any caffeine in it is always a plus for me. So I enjoy those things. Ultra is the ultimate guilt free pouch delivering instant focus and mental clarity without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use code baseball to get 15 percent off at TakeUltra.com. That's TakeUltra.com for 15 percent off with code baseball. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you.
00:16:46
Speaker 4: Okay, I lied.
00:16:47
Speaker 1: There were two unanimous votes from our panel, and here was the second one. This one, we've done most of our player awards. This one is for the moment of the year, our favorite good moment of the year for the Twins.
00:17:04
Speaker 6: And the winner is.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: It is Cody Clemens' ultimate grand slam. It was kind of a no-brainer. There were a few other walk-offs, but you don't get walk-offs like this every single day. Twins were down 3-0. I forget the date. Playing the Royals, I believe.
00:17:25
Speaker 5: It was right before the deadline. It was like end of July.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: Right before the deadline.
00:17:29
Speaker 5: Maybe early August. Maybe August 1.
00:17:34
Speaker 1: Back in those unicorn sparkle days when we thought there was a playoff chance, for this team. So it was a huge hit, a huge win. Twins were down 3-0 in the ninth inning, were just dead in the water. And then all of a sudden with two outs, load the bases and Clemens comes up and hits the home run. Electric moment, Dan.
00:17:55
Speaker 3: It was, and it was a lefty-lefty. I think it was Matt Strom was in there for, they didn't pinch.
00:18:00
Speaker 5: Hit for him. And, you know, I remember the reaction from.
00:18:04
Speaker 3: Guys on the bench and just, it was one of those, it was unbelievable to see because that was going to be a disappointing loss in a home series against Kansas City and going on the road. And it's funny because that maybe the twins, they really started their slide in Seattle right after that. They had the couple of tough walk-off losses. So the moment of the year might've masked a little bit of like their struggles because they had lost to Oakland at home in the series ahead of that. It wasn't, it wasn't their best time and he came through. It was awesome moment. It was just, Unbelievable and out of nowhere. It really did feel like it was out of nowhere.
00:18:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, it turns out the lucky walk-off grand slam was actually foreshadowing problems, not good things ahead. Who would have thought? But it was really, I mean, obviously that scenario was astounding regardless, but the Twins, the first two batters of the inning were Larnik and Caratini got out. So two outs and nobody on, down 3-0. Then Jeffers gets hit by a pitch and then Royce Lewis goes 0-2, fights back for a single, Josh Bell goes 0-2, fights back for a walk, and then Clemens goes 0-2, and on the third pitch, 0-2 in a lefty-lefty matchup, did not miss, and Tyler, I forget if this was one of the games that I turned off and gave up on, but.
00:19:23
Speaker 2: It was quite an inning.
00:19:24
Speaker 7: Yeah, it was somewhere around that, yeah, but that way, it's, like I said, all with two outs, lefty-lefty, all the things, you know, everything's against you at that point, and to do that, and it's, You know, it's one of those, I'm sure, when he's done playing, that will stick for him too, which is, you know, it's always so fun. Like, there's big moments of the year, and obviously we all went straight to that moment, you know, picking out for these awards. but, you know, in the fans, it's, that's one that will forever be in a highlight, you know, it'll be on MLB network. I'm sure from time to time, if it ever happens again, you know, it's just, it was one of those things.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: It was as rare as a perfect game.
00:20:03
Speaker 4: Almost.
00:20:04
Speaker 7: It's just such a cool moment for him, for the team. They needed the boost of the time. I think that was the biggest thing. They were kind of going through it, and that was a huge moment, and it gave us all a little bit of hope at the end of the day. Dan didn't appreciate it as much as we did, but we loved every minute of it. It was a thrilling victory. I think it was on a getaway day, too. It was a day game. It was just the perfect lineup of events to happen.
00:20:33
Speaker 2: Congrats to Cody.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Congrats to Cody. The inaugural moment of the year. Ham and Iggy.
00:20:41
Speaker 4: Well done.
00:20:43
Speaker 1: Next up was the best in-season move. The adjustment or the change that we thought was most helpful to the team. Could have been a trade. Could have been a call-up. A position change.
00:20:59
Speaker 4: Really anything.
00:20:59
Speaker 1: This is the one that we were all split on. And We put it to a fan vote last night on X, and the winner is.
00:21:11
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:21:13
Speaker 1: It's moving Brooksley to third base. It was definitely a very solid move defensively. Was this a Dan Hayes nominee? It was.
00:21:25
Speaker 4: It was.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: Take it away, Dan.
00:21:27
Speaker 5: Look, it sets the infield for the future.
00:21:30
Speaker 3: Brooksley at third base allowed Kalen Culpepper to come up shortstop move Royce Lewis to the right side, like first base. I mean, he's looked good at first defensively. We've talked about the fact that Royce Lewis needs to hit more at first, but it really put the rest of the team in place. And, and Luke Kieschel's in the outfield as a result of this now, because Cody Clemens went to second where Luke Kieschel was struggling defensively. And Luke Kieschel has had some struggles out there and right, but that's going to be his position. And they're, they're kind of set on that. And I think this just kind of, set the tone as much as I really liked getting Jeff Hoffman at the deadline.
00:22:07
Speaker 5: I thought that was good.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: It's good for next year because they get him again next year. Dean Kramer has been really solid for them. Um, and, and that's going to give them stability in the rotation for next year too. But, uh, Brooksley really doing that move, uh, making that move just sets a lot of things in motion and, uh, was a big deal.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Uh, the other nominees, Tyler, uh, had mentioned putting Gomez in the closer role.
00:22:33
Speaker 4: Is that right? Yeah.
00:22:35
Speaker 7: Well, I guess that just the process, whatever you want to call it, him, him becoming a twin and then being the closer for, you know, majority of the season was, I mean, without him, that's.
00:22:45
Speaker 2: You know, 20, what do you have?
00:22:46
Speaker 5: 23.
00:22:46
Speaker 2: I think he finished with saves.
00:22:49
Speaker 7: You know, that's a lot of games of tossing up, you know, Morris was so hot to start the year, had his struggles at times.
00:22:56
Speaker 2: And then it became kind of, who is it going to be?
00:22:59
Speaker 7: And he solidified the back end at a time when the rest of the bullpen was kind of scuffling. And, um, I just think that was a big, it's a quiet addition. Um, you know, maybe that as, you know, a non reliever doesn't notice as much, but a guy like me who was out there in the trenches, um, you know, having that guy at the back end helps other guys settle in. And, um, you know, it was just, it's 23 games that he came in and, you know, whether it was a roller coaster or not at times, he's, he's, he got the game closed and finished off and, Um, you know, without him there, who knows that could be a few, few more losses. And we'd have been having this conversation about post-season, you know, after season a lot, a long time ago.
00:23:38
Speaker 1: And I went with, uh, calling up the, the AAA stars. Uh, we, you know, maybe they waited too long, whatever, but the fact that they all ended up getting up here and all three of them really have, have now at this point have something very positive to take into the off season and, For next year, I feel like that eliminates some of those freshman jitters that might happen when those players are inevitably part of the rotation. Talking, of course, about Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez primarily.
00:24:10
Speaker 3: I mean, the team was super aggressive in making those moves. I know Walker or Jenkins took a little while. A lot of clamoring from fans. But, I mean, they brought up pre-lift fast. They did that right away. They showed it all year. They were willing to bring up the rookies. Culpepper on August 7th was huge. The fact that these guys all netted time during the season and have seen Walker Jenkins going through that slump and then coming out the other side is going to be huge for him next year.
00:24:50
Speaker 1: All right. Now the big one. Who is our team MVP?
00:24:54
Speaker 5: MVP.
00:24:56
Speaker 8: The winner is, whatever the hell that is, Cody Clemons.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Congratulations to Cody Clemons. Takes his second ham and eggy, one behind Brooks Lee's three. But he gets the big one, and this was all you guys. Tyler, why is he your MVP?
00:25:16
Speaker 7: He posted, I don't know what games played were, but I know it got to where he wasn't even the matchup guy with the lefties in the game.
00:25:26
Speaker 2: He played left.
00:25:28
Speaker 7: I think he played center at one point, played second, third, first. I can't remember if he got an inning on the bump this year, but the guy literally did everything that was asked. He's leading the team in homers. He's right there in average. He's played good defense. He's a guy in the clubhouse, like the intangibles. He and the Rocket got together at the Field of Dreams game. They did it all this year. Cody had a great year. It's just one, for me, wire to wire. He was just a guy that was always kind of in the mix of doing something. He and Josh Bell comes to mind, too. Those guys were just kind of there. Dependable for the whole season. Without him in the lineup, without hitting the ultimate grand slam, they don't win that game. There's a lot of games where he was getting clutch hits and coming up with guys on base and just making things happen.
00:26:21
Speaker 2: He's a well-deserved award.
00:26:25
Speaker 5: Home runs were just important.
00:26:28
Speaker 3: Like he had 26 of them and I don't know the stat anymore, but you know, it's a high percentage that have tied the game or put the twins in the lead. And, um, he was clutch like that. Uh, he leads the American league with seven triples, which is crazy to me. Um, he, uh, just, it's a 2.4 F or a baseball reference war season. Um, But he's just been consistent. I have a feeling he's going to win the Writers MVP Award too. I mean, he just– 142 games played with three to go. He's put together– he's established himself as a major leaguer for real. And that's two good years in a row with the Twins who got him for cash considerations last year.
00:27:19
Speaker 5: They claimed him. Philadelphia was moving on.
00:27:22
Speaker 3: They didn't have enough at-bats, and the Twins were like, we have opportunity and Cody Clemens has seized it and been very good. I, uh.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: Because I went with Taj for most improved, I actually gave this one to Brooks Lee. Uh, he's right there at the top of just about every, every metric maybe didn't have the memorable moments as much, but I think also just the, the willingness and on the move to third base and taking so well to that position, uh, as Dan pointed out earlier has unlocked some things for this team, going forward and has been a great defensive move as well. So most reliable player just in the lineup, best defender, and the best hitter argument is sort of.
00:28:06
Speaker 4: Up in the air.
00:28:07
Speaker 1: So that's where I went with that one. All right. We have one final award to hand out. It's near and dear to our hearts. We asked for, well, first we voted internally on what we're calling the Hammonager of the Year, which is your favorite Twin Cities territory, either host or guest. So the eligible candidates were the three of us, the unknown stranger that has been on the show a couple of times. We still don't know who he is. Or Pablo Lopez, who of course was a guest early.
00:28:40
Speaker 4: In the season.
00:28:43
Speaker 1: Unknown stranger was unanimously winning this award until I realized really it should be an award for the people who watch the show. So I put it out on X and Dan retweeted it and Pablo Lopez surged to the lead.
00:28:58
Speaker 2: Go figure.
00:29:00
Speaker 1: So now that I've taken all the drama out of it, your winner of the Hamminger of the Year is Pablo Lopez. Congratulations. One appearance on the show, but what an appearance it was. We really do Appreciate him coming on. I'm telling you, Dan, you should go tell these guys they won these awards. See if they want to record a little acceptance speech for us.
00:29:23
Speaker 3: I'll see what I can do. What are we giving them? Are we giving them a plate of ham and eggs? I just walk up with a hot plate of ham and eggs in the clubhouse.
00:29:34
Speaker 7: Go get a pound of boar's head and just stop at Whole Foods on the way and just go to the, you know, self-serve and here you go.
00:29:44
Speaker 1: It was, it was a disappointing result for Unknown Stranger. And thankfully he agreed to come on and talk about it. Finishing, actually he didn't even finish second place, Dan, because, you know, shrewdly you, tweeted it to your followers. You surged into some place in the voting. So well done there, but, uh, unknown stranger.
00:30:06
Speaker 6: Welcome.
00:30:06
Speaker 1: It's gotta be kind of a tough break, huh?
00:30:11
Speaker 4: Yeah. Thanks for having me on. I mean, I'm a little pissed off to be honest. Like you're telling me I was winning the vote and then some mysterious late ballots unverified come in from nowhere. And suddenly Pablo Lopez is the winner. I mean, This is ridiculous. He was in one episode.
00:30:29
Speaker 1: I mean, you were only in two.
00:30:32
Speaker 4: Okay, maybe. But still, you know, you put a lot of effort into something. You make an ass of yourself by walking out, giving up on the Twins. Then you prove vindicated. They don't make the playoffs. And you think you're going to have something to show for it. And this is ridiculous. I demand to see the voting machines. Give me the voting machines.
00:30:48
Speaker 2: All right, all right, all right, all right.
00:30:50
Speaker 1: Enough of that. Enough of that.
00:30:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, get him out of here.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Disgruntled, but.
00:30:53
Speaker 2: You guys have been drinking already.
00:30:54
Speaker 5: Zach, how were you in two places at once? How were you... That was impressive stuff.
00:31:00
Speaker 1: Don't really know what you're talking about, actually.
00:31:02
Speaker 7: Maybe we'll get him a new shower.
00:31:06
Speaker 2: We'll find a good handyman in town and get.
00:31:09
Speaker 5: Him hooked up.
00:31:09
Speaker 1: Get a TV in there so he doesn't have to turn off the game.
00:31:12
Speaker 2: One of those cool mirrors.
00:31:16
Speaker 1: Twins have Texas this weekend. Last chance to get out to a game if you want. I actually might make it on Sunday because they're handing out mystery squishies.
00:31:25
Speaker 2: It's all about that.
00:31:27
Speaker 1: I should try SeatGeek. I'm assuming they're still a sponsor. Dan, anything we need to know about the team?
00:31:34
Speaker 3: We could just say real quick, bringing the mood down, the twins parted ways mutually with assistant GM Daniel Adler yesterday. That was something that I don't think it's really that shocking because Daniel Adler, his new role was more like a COO. where he was doing business and baseball ops and had done less and less on the baseball ops side.
00:32:01
Speaker 5: He gave up international scouting to move over there. And it was really tied to Derek Falvey.
00:32:06
Speaker 3: And I think when Derek Falvey left, that made him realize his time was probably coming to an end. He's still under contract with them. So he started looking. And I think that, you know, both sides agreed it was time to move on.
00:32:21
Speaker 5: So.
00:32:22
Speaker 3: Not much on the baseball side. We're going to see Kalen Culpepper Saturday and Sunday. Derek Shelton, he was supposed to run the bases Thursday, I believe, and Friday, but was progressing well. They seemed pretty confident he was going to be back, so we'll see him, I think, activated Saturday unless something went wrong the last two days. And so we'll get a chance potentially to see that trio, Culpepper, Jenkins, and, uh, Emmanuel Rodriguez.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: And, and obviously Luke Kieschel should be out there too.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: So for, you know, top 50 kind of players on the field at the same time.
00:33:06
Speaker 2: First round picks we can get on the field at once.
00:33:09
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker 5: There's a lot of those.
00:33:12
Speaker 1: Uh, Friday night tonight is a seven, 10 star Joe Ryan and Jacob de Grom. I see here Saturday, uh, Bailey Ober in a 3-10 start against TBD Sunday. 2-10 start, Dean Kramer and Mackenzie Gore. It was originally going to be Ryan Kramer-Matthews. I guess they decided to give Ober another start in there.
00:33:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, they wanted to give him a final start at the weekend just because he's a vet. He means a lot to this team. Now they need to win two, and they need to get Tommy Nance and Zebby Matthews' saves. so that they can tie the all-time record for most pitchers with a save this season. We thought Tommy Nance was getting the save in San Francisco on Wednesday. He stood up for a second, but they went with Andrew Morris. I think I win two more now and do it that way.
00:34:04
Speaker 1: Nothing for the Twins to play for, but pride, of course. If they sweep, Dan, you will finish one game off on your prediction at the beginning of the season. I went back and watched. You said 79-83.
00:34:15
Speaker 5: I was 79, yeah. I was optimistic. I was optimistic. Did you say 78?
00:34:21
Speaker 1: I said 82 and 80. I was super optimistic. So, but regardless, uh, you know, I think 75, which they're at now was about the highest prediction. Anybody, anybody had most were lower 70. So, um, they will at least meet, if not exceed that a little bit, but they can also play spoiler to Texas. They enter in a virtual tie with Houston. They're both, they're both 79 and 80 top the AL West.
00:34:45
Speaker 2: Um, The playoff push.
00:34:46
Speaker 3: Houston has the tiebreaker, and they're playing at Sacramento. It was close last night.
00:34:52
Speaker 2: But unhoused.
00:34:55
Speaker 1: Is there a game 163 for a division title?
00:34:57
Speaker 4: No, there's not. No, there's not. Okay.
00:35:00
Speaker 1: So even one Twins win might be very, very bad for Texas.
00:35:05
Speaker 4: We'll see.
00:35:05
Speaker 1: But final series, we'll be back with you on Monday. Another reminder that starting next week, we're going to two shows a week for the offseason. Those will likely be Mondays and Thursdays going forward, but we will update you as we know. So we'll see you all on Monday. Have a great weekend. If you like what you hear, please toss us a like or subscribe, however you watch or listen. If you're on YouTube right now, there is a QR code on the screen to make it super easy. Tyler and I are going to get out of these jackets and get on with our day. Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend. See you Monday. Thanks for listening.
00:35:39
Speaker 9: Bye-bye.
Speaker 1: Well, two of us got the memo that it's a fancy award show today. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2026 Ham and Eggies, the first ever Ham and Eggies, our twins season awards. I'm your host, Zach Pierce, joined as always by Dan Hayes and Tyler Duffy. Dan and I owe the athletic Tyler, of course, the longtime Minnesota twin. Guys, it is not exactly the type of season that people are going to love hearing awards given out for. So I'm just going to warn everybody off the top. This is a This is going to be a fun show. We've got a few months to get into all the issues in the offseason, which we will starting Monday. And we have a little bit already earlier this week as well. But today is all about this season and awarding the top performances from around the diamond with the twins. We have eight different categories. We asked for your help with a couple. Here's how the voting worked. It was very scientific. The three of us voted. I sent the ballots to Ernst & Young. They laughed at me and said, are you kidding? This is just three ballots. I said, good point. I tabulated all the results. If we had a majority for one pick, we went with it. If all three of us pick something different, we put it to a fan vote, which only happened one time. And we'll get to that later. So that's really it. That's all there is to it.
00:01:14
Speaker 2: It was predictable.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: It was predictable. And anything else to add, Dan?
00:01:21
Speaker 3: The suits and the dry cleaners.
00:01:26
Speaker 4: All right.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: For those who are listening, Tyler and I, spruced up for the moment with jackets and, uh, Dan has a hoodie on, but that's okay. That's okay.
00:01:35
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:01:35
Speaker 5: My, my suits in Chicago. Sorry. Sorry. That's all good. Didn't, didn't prepare, uh, well enough. I apologize.
00:01:43
Speaker 2: Uh, what happens happens.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: One other note. Um, twins are obviously they have one series left this weekend, Texas at target field. Um, we're not going to spend much time previewing that they can play spoiler to the Rangers, but obviously their hopes are over. Um, but, One guy we should touch on, who we will right here in the first award, is the person whose season ended on Wednesday with another strong start. That is Connor Prelip. So without further ado, let's get to our first award, which is Rookie.
00:02:11
Speaker 5: Of the Year.
00:02:13
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:02:17
Speaker 1: And it's Connor Prelip. Very nice. That was thanks to Tyler and I. We were the two who picked Prelip. Tyler, what made it stand out for you with Prelip?
00:02:29
Speaker 2: Man, he went wire.
00:02:30
Speaker 7: To wire, basically showed up as a rookie, injury passed, all those things, and.
00:02:38
Speaker 2: Solidified himself as a piece for next year, I think.
00:02:42
Speaker 7: In a lot of ways, he had a little hiccup maybe in the middle there, but he's a dominant lefty, young kid that's still learning to pitch and is only going to get better And it's taken huge steps. And his last two starts were some of the strongest of the year, I felt like. He went, what, his longest outing of the year was the one before in Anaheim and, you know, finished strong in San Francisco. And, you know, enjoy these next couple days. Get you a couple massages. Maybe have a couple beverages during a game or two.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: You know, never know. But, yeah, hell of a year for Connor.
00:03:16
Speaker 7: And I'm sure the Twins and his teammates and everyone involved are very excited to have him around this year.
00:03:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, he tossed the seven shutout innings in his second to last start in Anaheim and then two runs in five and a third in San Francisco. His last six starts were all pretty excellent to have a little bit of a bump. But I think, you know, I looked at Culpepper, but just with only 40 games, it was tough for me to say that was enough there to give it the award. And you're right, with the injury history, the fact that he pitched the whole season basically and finished strong, even if the overall ERA isn't exactly popping off the page. remember our, our pool of candidates for this award is rookies on the twins. So, so you have to, uh, take that relatively, but Dan, uh, Dan disagreed. And, uh, wait for somebody who's okay.
00:04:05
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:04:05
Speaker 2: Let me just say, straight to it.
00:04:08
Speaker 3: He, he, uh, two 36 era over his last five starts. Like he, yeah. 26 and two thirds in ends, uh, in September, you know, at the, at the point where he was like, um, at a career high in innings, he, he thrived. So, I mean, he's a, he's a great choice. I, I chose Andrew Morris.
00:04:26
Speaker 5: I just thought Andrew Morris is fair.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: He was a close second for me.
00:04:30
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: He like, I, I, I thought he had an excellent season out of the bullpen all year. I mean, he, he obviously hit some, uh, hit a wall a little bit, um, especially in August, but he was just such a force for them and a huge development because that bullpen was so unsettled and he came in and did a good job with that, but no, no, uh, No problem with Connor Prelip. I think, you know, obviously the inning count is amazing. The fact that he threw more innings this season than he had basically in the last six years combined, he was outstanding. So very good year for him and something that I think the Twins are excited about definitely.
00:05:08
Speaker 7: It's bad on me for leaving the reliever out to dry per usual. So starters get all the glory.
00:05:16
Speaker 6: All right.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: Uh, congratulations to Connor. We'll move on now to our second category of the day, which is our most improved twin of the year.
00:05:26
Speaker 6: And the winner.
00:05:27
Speaker 8: Is Brooks Lee.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: Congratulations, Brooks Lee. You're going to hear Brooks Lee's name, uh, quite a bit today. It's the first of a few times, at least, uh, and it's a, it's a good choice. I, uh, I didn't go with Brooks Lee. It was you two who picked him. I think Tyler, you picked like seven people for this category, but we went with Brooks as the tiebreaker. Uh, but yeah, no, uh, pretty huge improvement, uh, was in the lineup almost every day, but the statistics certainly bear it out. But Dan, why don't you, uh, why don't you give the induction speech for Brooks?
00:06:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think just the, it was talking to Mike Caruco the other day in San Francisco, the Giants, uh, legendary broadcaster and he said and he's known brooksley his whole life he said he has belief he has confidence now and that's what it really comes down to is that he trusts in himself and you can see it and you know he's taken off to the point where he's hit what 24 home runs 24 yeah yeah second yeah it was very clutch with runners in scoring position you know the ops plus is is solid it's like 105 which means he's just a little bit above average, but the defense at third.
00:06:43
Speaker 5: Base has been spectacular.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: You know, he is top 10 league defensively at third base. And, and I think you just see a guy who, who knows what he can be and looks like a piece now. And that's not something that I was thinking. I didn't, I didn't know if Brooks Lee was going to turn the corner. And that was a question coming into this season last year was, uh, the power showed up, but he was, that wasn't what his game was supposed to be. And he took it and ran with it this year. And, you know, like the other day, Kruko told me he's gonna hit 30 to 40 home runs. He's got TNT in those hands. So, um, I think that's, that's somebody that we can, you know, expect to see more of based off what we saw this year. It's a good kind of real found himself year. And, and, um, building a kind of nice platform or, or base for future success.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: Tyler, you mentioned the games played 153. He was in the lineup almost every day. And crucially for a team that had a lot of players who dropped off and hit the wall has played well through to the end.
00:07:52
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:07:52
Speaker 7: And, and the move early on, you know, the, the little bit of a, I don't know, I won't call it a log jam, but the shortstop dilemma, you know, and, and he, Moved over to third, and we talked about him the other day. Ironically, he just took to it, like I said, a duck to water. It was a smooth transition in season in the big leagues, and early on it was like, okay, what's going to happen? And then by the end of it, we stopped talking about Brooks Lee at third base because he was just making plays. And that's what you want. When a guy makes a move, we hit on Keyshaw before, too. it's when guys make those changes, especially in the big leagues during the year, you never know how it's going to work out.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: And, and he, it went as about as perfectly as it could.
00:08:38
Speaker 7: Um, he seemed to really settle in and, and like Dan was saying, the power, that's something that's big. If he can do, you know, he's got some contact skill to have the power to go along with that and, and to put some balls out of the park. Like that's a big piece to have a cornerstone piece to have in a lineup. And it's a guy, you know, you picked in the first round, it's what you want to happen. And, And that's the one that's going to be fun to see all these guys. You go through the bad years sometimes, but the results are you get players like a Brooks Lee or a Jenkins or whoever it may be that are now in the big leagues. And so it's time now for all of them to get collectively together and hit the ground running come spring training.
00:09:16
Speaker 2: But Brooks, most importantly, had a great year this year.
00:09:21
Speaker 1: You guys both picked Brooks Lee. I went with Taj Bradley.
00:09:26
Speaker 4: Yep.
00:09:27
Speaker 1: Had a really rough go for the, for the twins portion of the season last year was better in Tampa, but still, even with including the Tampa numbers, a huge jump across the board and has put himself in the conversation to be the guy next year. I mean, depending on how his, his, his spring goes and Pablo and Joe's spring goes, he could be, uh, the front of that rotation pretty quick, or if not, he still pitching well enough to, to be in that conversation. So, we'll hear his name later though, too, as well, uh, as you'll see, uh, actually we'll hear that right now because the next award up on our list is pitcher of the year.
00:10:06
Speaker 8: And the winner is Taj Bradley.
00:10:12
Speaker 1: Uh, this was, I believe our only unanimous selection, uh, Kind of tough to go any other way, I think, guys. Obviously, with Joe Ryan falling off in the second half and spending time on the IL, he was clearly the Twins' best starter throughout the year, and it's probably an award that is likely to go to a starter over a reliever, and there's nobody in the bullpen who put up enough of a dominant season to take it away from him. I don't know what else needs to be said, but it was an incredible year and a deserving honor for Taj.
00:10:45
Speaker 5: He was 200 strikeouts, man. 200 strikeouts, yes. Career high in innings. His war was off the charts. His war was close to three. 4-2? 4-2.
00:10:55
Speaker 2: They're all different.
00:10:56
Speaker 5: 4-2 with baseball reference.
00:10:59
Speaker 2: 4-2 with baseball reference. 2.8 on fan graphs.
00:11:02
Speaker 5: But he was just dominant.
00:11:03
Speaker 2: Gomez, I think, He had a shot.
00:11:15
Speaker 7: Had he finished strong and perfect like he was, he would have been a close call for me. That's a huge add. The back end in a weird bullpen all year, he was good. Taj was just 200 punch outs, 31, 32 starts.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: You take that any day of the week.
00:11:36
Speaker 1: He started 31 games, and the Twins were 18 and 13 in his starts, which doesn't sound... particularly sexy when you say 18 and 13, but it is a 94 win pace. They were, uh, they were a great team when he started, uh, and it, and it showed throughout the season. And while we're mentioning strikeouts, we forgot to mention, uh, Connor Peele's 128 was, I think it was fifth most for a twins rookie. And the names on that list are, are pretty good. Uh, it was Bert, Jim Cott. I forget who all, uh, uh, who all else was on it. Not Tyler Duffy.
00:12:09
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: You know, you got to make 30 starts to have a shot at that, I would say.
00:12:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's also true.
00:12:16
Speaker 1: All right, next on our list is our defensive player of the year.
00:12:23
Speaker 4: And the winner is.
00:12:25
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:12:28
Speaker 1: There he is again. It's Brooks Lee. Congratulations to Brooks Lee. This is your guys' doing on this one. We've already alluded to.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: But obviously, Dan, since the move to third base, he's been one of the best statistical defenders in the league.
00:12:46
Speaker 3: Overall, if we looked at his numbers, his metrics would say this is not the correct choice.
00:12:51
Speaker 5: It's very specific.
00:12:52
Speaker 3: This is Brooks Lee at third base because shortstop didn't go well, and he's talked about that. He knows this was the right move. He said his range plays at third. He feels like he's locked in. I'm going to write something about it here in the offseason. He loves how it feels, and he said kudos to the front office because they called this and it wasn't something he wanted to do.
00:13:15
Speaker 5: But his shortstop, if we look at the numbers, on.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: The year I think he's a minus one or minus two defender because his shortstop play was so bad. But his third base has been spectacular. Again, top ten in the league. He expects to make the plays. He's got the arm. He loves the angles. He loves throwing from different angles. um, it's, it's really allowed him to be creative defensively and, and, uh, really good.
00:13:42
Speaker 1: He, uh, yes, was not very good at shortstop, uh, which is why I did not pick him.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: I was looking at the.
00:13:49
Speaker 1: Overall holistic, um, picture. That's fair. I, who did I vote for? Um, so the other, the other name that Tyler threw out, because again, he cheated and like, like to throw out several, several votes.
00:14:02
Speaker 2: I picked and then I said, uh, you.
00:14:04
Speaker 1: Know, Um, was Ryan Jeffers. I actually went with Victor Caratini, but you could make a, you could make a case for, for both catchers together as well. Obviously they basically ended up splitting time because of how much Jeffers, uh, uh, missed with injury, but. the twins were, uh, first of all, Caratini rates extremely well in a lot of defensive metrics, which I, I still, for the life of me, do not fully understand all of them.
00:14:29
Speaker 2: I was trying to, uh, someone needs to write a book.
00:14:33
Speaker 4: Yes. Yes.
00:14:34
Speaker 1: That would be helpful if, if only there was such a thing, but, um, he, he also, uh, had the, uh, I think 74 successful challenges. It was, which, um, was like fifth most in baseball despite the fact that he's caught a lot less innings than the people the catchers ahead of him on the list they're all catchers of course um he and jeffers together have made the twins the most successful team in abs challenges at least in terms of calls overturned in their favor the percentage is not the highest uh but look for a team that and he also uh very high rating and pitch framing for a team that like needs stuff like that to to win games uh At a very important position, both those guys deserve a shout-out for sure. So they at least made the nominee list.
00:15:22
Speaker 7: We're talking about keeping Jeffers. That's part of the reason right there. They combined this year, did a lot behind the plate.
00:15:29
Speaker 1: All right, we're halfway through our award show. If you like what you hear, please toss us a like, a subscribe. If you don't like what you hear, don't worry. There's only one of these a year. We're back to talking offseason as of Monday. But we will be right back with the rest of our awards.
00:15:47
Speaker 7: So Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon, needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that you know is going to ruin your sleep?
00:15:54
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, definitely.
00:15:55
Speaker 9: I found myself on the golf course a lot lately. And sometimes, you know, it can be long days out there. So I reach in my golf bag. I keep the ultra focus pouch right here with me, keep it in my golf bag. And it's part of my golf bag, as I said.
00:16:09
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker 8: And so what are some of your favorite effects of the ultra pouches?
00:16:14
Speaker 9: Definitely, you know, gives me a little bit of focus, that little bit of energy that I'm looking for and obviously not having any caffeine in it is always a plus for me. So I enjoy those things. Ultra is the ultimate guilt free pouch delivering instant focus and mental clarity without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use code baseball to get 15 percent off at TakeUltra.com. That's TakeUltra.com for 15 percent off with code baseball. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you.
00:16:46
Speaker 4: Okay, I lied.
00:16:47
Speaker 1: There were two unanimous votes from our panel, and here was the second one. This one, we've done most of our player awards. This one is for the moment of the year, our favorite good moment of the year for the Twins.
00:17:04
Speaker 6: And the winner is.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: It is Cody Clemens' ultimate grand slam. It was kind of a no-brainer. There were a few other walk-offs, but you don't get walk-offs like this every single day. Twins were down 3-0. I forget the date. Playing the Royals, I believe.
00:17:25
Speaker 5: It was right before the deadline. It was like end of July.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: Right before the deadline.
00:17:29
Speaker 5: Maybe early August. Maybe August 1.
00:17:34
Speaker 1: Back in those unicorn sparkle days when we thought there was a playoff chance, for this team. So it was a huge hit, a huge win. Twins were down 3-0 in the ninth inning, were just dead in the water. And then all of a sudden with two outs, load the bases and Clemens comes up and hits the home run. Electric moment, Dan.
00:17:55
Speaker 3: It was, and it was a lefty-lefty. I think it was Matt Strom was in there for, they didn't pinch.
00:18:00
Speaker 5: Hit for him. And, you know, I remember the reaction from.
00:18:04
Speaker 3: Guys on the bench and just, it was one of those, it was unbelievable to see because that was going to be a disappointing loss in a home series against Kansas City and going on the road. And it's funny because that maybe the twins, they really started their slide in Seattle right after that. They had the couple of tough walk-off losses. So the moment of the year might've masked a little bit of like their struggles because they had lost to Oakland at home in the series ahead of that. It wasn't, it wasn't their best time and he came through. It was awesome moment. It was just, Unbelievable and out of nowhere. It really did feel like it was out of nowhere.
00:18:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, it turns out the lucky walk-off grand slam was actually foreshadowing problems, not good things ahead. Who would have thought? But it was really, I mean, obviously that scenario was astounding regardless, but the Twins, the first two batters of the inning were Larnik and Caratini got out. So two outs and nobody on, down 3-0. Then Jeffers gets hit by a pitch and then Royce Lewis goes 0-2, fights back for a single, Josh Bell goes 0-2, fights back for a walk, and then Clemens goes 0-2, and on the third pitch, 0-2 in a lefty-lefty matchup, did not miss, and Tyler, I forget if this was one of the games that I turned off and gave up on, but.
00:19:23
Speaker 2: It was quite an inning.
00:19:24
Speaker 7: Yeah, it was somewhere around that, yeah, but that way, it's, like I said, all with two outs, lefty-lefty, all the things, you know, everything's against you at that point, and to do that, and it's, You know, it's one of those, I'm sure, when he's done playing, that will stick for him too, which is, you know, it's always so fun. Like, there's big moments of the year, and obviously we all went straight to that moment, you know, picking out for these awards. but, you know, in the fans, it's, that's one that will forever be in a highlight, you know, it'll be on MLB network. I'm sure from time to time, if it ever happens again, you know, it's just, it was one of those things.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: It was as rare as a perfect game.
00:20:03
Speaker 4: Almost.
00:20:04
Speaker 7: It's just such a cool moment for him, for the team. They needed the boost of the time. I think that was the biggest thing. They were kind of going through it, and that was a huge moment, and it gave us all a little bit of hope at the end of the day. Dan didn't appreciate it as much as we did, but we loved every minute of it. It was a thrilling victory. I think it was on a getaway day, too. It was a day game. It was just the perfect lineup of events to happen.
00:20:33
Speaker 2: Congrats to Cody.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Congrats to Cody. The inaugural moment of the year. Ham and Iggy.
00:20:41
Speaker 4: Well done.
00:20:43
Speaker 1: Next up was the best in-season move. The adjustment or the change that we thought was most helpful to the team. Could have been a trade. Could have been a call-up. A position change.
00:20:59
Speaker 4: Really anything.
00:20:59
Speaker 1: This is the one that we were all split on. And We put it to a fan vote last night on X, and the winner is.
00:21:11
Speaker 6: Whatever the hell that is.
00:21:13
Speaker 1: It's moving Brooksley to third base. It was definitely a very solid move defensively. Was this a Dan Hayes nominee? It was.
00:21:25
Speaker 4: It was.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: Take it away, Dan.
00:21:27
Speaker 5: Look, it sets the infield for the future.
00:21:30
Speaker 3: Brooksley at third base allowed Kalen Culpepper to come up shortstop move Royce Lewis to the right side, like first base. I mean, he's looked good at first defensively. We've talked about the fact that Royce Lewis needs to hit more at first, but it really put the rest of the team in place. And, and Luke Kieschel's in the outfield as a result of this now, because Cody Clemens went to second where Luke Kieschel was struggling defensively. And Luke Kieschel has had some struggles out there and right, but that's going to be his position. And they're, they're kind of set on that. And I think this just kind of, set the tone as much as I really liked getting Jeff Hoffman at the deadline.
00:22:07
Speaker 5: I thought that was good.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: It's good for next year because they get him again next year. Dean Kramer has been really solid for them. Um, and, and that's going to give them stability in the rotation for next year too. But, uh, Brooksley really doing that move, uh, making that move just sets a lot of things in motion and, uh, was a big deal.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Uh, the other nominees, Tyler, uh, had mentioned putting Gomez in the closer role.
00:22:33
Speaker 4: Is that right? Yeah.
00:22:35
Speaker 7: Well, I guess that just the process, whatever you want to call it, him, him becoming a twin and then being the closer for, you know, majority of the season was, I mean, without him, that's.
00:22:45
Speaker 2: You know, 20, what do you have?
00:22:46
Speaker 5: 23.
00:22:46
Speaker 2: I think he finished with saves.
00:22:49
Speaker 7: You know, that's a lot of games of tossing up, you know, Morris was so hot to start the year, had his struggles at times.
00:22:56
Speaker 2: And then it became kind of, who is it going to be?
00:22:59
Speaker 7: And he solidified the back end at a time when the rest of the bullpen was kind of scuffling. And, um, I just think that was a big, it's a quiet addition. Um, you know, maybe that as, you know, a non reliever doesn't notice as much, but a guy like me who was out there in the trenches, um, you know, having that guy at the back end helps other guys settle in. And, um, you know, it was just, it's 23 games that he came in and, you know, whether it was a roller coaster or not at times, he's, he's, he got the game closed and finished off and, Um, you know, without him there, who knows that could be a few, few more losses. And we'd have been having this conversation about post-season, you know, after season a lot, a long time ago.
00:23:38
Speaker 1: And I went with, uh, calling up the, the AAA stars. Uh, we, you know, maybe they waited too long, whatever, but the fact that they all ended up getting up here and all three of them really have, have now at this point have something very positive to take into the off season and, For next year, I feel like that eliminates some of those freshman jitters that might happen when those players are inevitably part of the rotation. Talking, of course, about Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez primarily.
00:24:10
Speaker 3: I mean, the team was super aggressive in making those moves. I know Walker or Jenkins took a little while. A lot of clamoring from fans. But, I mean, they brought up pre-lift fast. They did that right away. They showed it all year. They were willing to bring up the rookies. Culpepper on August 7th was huge. The fact that these guys all netted time during the season and have seen Walker Jenkins going through that slump and then coming out the other side is going to be huge for him next year.
00:24:50
Speaker 1: All right. Now the big one. Who is our team MVP?
00:24:54
Speaker 5: MVP.
00:24:56
Speaker 8: The winner is, whatever the hell that is, Cody Clemons.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Congratulations to Cody Clemons. Takes his second ham and eggy, one behind Brooks Lee's three. But he gets the big one, and this was all you guys. Tyler, why is he your MVP?
00:25:16
Speaker 7: He posted, I don't know what games played were, but I know it got to where he wasn't even the matchup guy with the lefties in the game.
00:25:26
Speaker 2: He played left.
00:25:28
Speaker 7: I think he played center at one point, played second, third, first. I can't remember if he got an inning on the bump this year, but the guy literally did everything that was asked. He's leading the team in homers. He's right there in average. He's played good defense. He's a guy in the clubhouse, like the intangibles. He and the Rocket got together at the Field of Dreams game. They did it all this year. Cody had a great year. It's just one, for me, wire to wire. He was just a guy that was always kind of in the mix of doing something. He and Josh Bell comes to mind, too. Those guys were just kind of there. Dependable for the whole season. Without him in the lineup, without hitting the ultimate grand slam, they don't win that game. There's a lot of games where he was getting clutch hits and coming up with guys on base and just making things happen.
00:26:21
Speaker 2: He's a well-deserved award.
00:26:25
Speaker 5: Home runs were just important.
00:26:28
Speaker 3: Like he had 26 of them and I don't know the stat anymore, but you know, it's a high percentage that have tied the game or put the twins in the lead. And, um, he was clutch like that. Uh, he leads the American league with seven triples, which is crazy to me. Um, he, uh, just, it's a 2.4 F or a baseball reference war season. Um, But he's just been consistent. I have a feeling he's going to win the Writers MVP Award too. I mean, he just– 142 games played with three to go. He's put together– he's established himself as a major leaguer for real. And that's two good years in a row with the Twins who got him for cash considerations last year.
00:27:19
Speaker 5: They claimed him. Philadelphia was moving on.
00:27:22
Speaker 3: They didn't have enough at-bats, and the Twins were like, we have opportunity and Cody Clemens has seized it and been very good. I, uh.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: Because I went with Taj for most improved, I actually gave this one to Brooks Lee. Uh, he's right there at the top of just about every, every metric maybe didn't have the memorable moments as much, but I think also just the, the willingness and on the move to third base and taking so well to that position, uh, as Dan pointed out earlier has unlocked some things for this team, going forward and has been a great defensive move as well. So most reliable player just in the lineup, best defender, and the best hitter argument is sort of.
00:28:06
Speaker 4: Up in the air.
00:28:07
Speaker 1: So that's where I went with that one. All right. We have one final award to hand out. It's near and dear to our hearts. We asked for, well, first we voted internally on what we're calling the Hammonager of the Year, which is your favorite Twin Cities territory, either host or guest. So the eligible candidates were the three of us, the unknown stranger that has been on the show a couple of times. We still don't know who he is. Or Pablo Lopez, who of course was a guest early.
00:28:40
Speaker 4: In the season.
00:28:43
Speaker 1: Unknown stranger was unanimously winning this award until I realized really it should be an award for the people who watch the show. So I put it out on X and Dan retweeted it and Pablo Lopez surged to the lead.
00:28:58
Speaker 2: Go figure.
00:29:00
Speaker 1: So now that I've taken all the drama out of it, your winner of the Hamminger of the Year is Pablo Lopez. Congratulations. One appearance on the show, but what an appearance it was. We really do Appreciate him coming on. I'm telling you, Dan, you should go tell these guys they won these awards. See if they want to record a little acceptance speech for us.
00:29:23
Speaker 3: I'll see what I can do. What are we giving them? Are we giving them a plate of ham and eggs? I just walk up with a hot plate of ham and eggs in the clubhouse.
00:29:34
Speaker 7: Go get a pound of boar's head and just stop at Whole Foods on the way and just go to the, you know, self-serve and here you go.
00:29:44
Speaker 1: It was, it was a disappointing result for Unknown Stranger. And thankfully he agreed to come on and talk about it. Finishing, actually he didn't even finish second place, Dan, because, you know, shrewdly you, tweeted it to your followers. You surged into some place in the voting. So well done there, but, uh, unknown stranger.
00:30:06
Speaker 6: Welcome.
00:30:06
Speaker 1: It's gotta be kind of a tough break, huh?
00:30:11
Speaker 4: Yeah. Thanks for having me on. I mean, I'm a little pissed off to be honest. Like you're telling me I was winning the vote and then some mysterious late ballots unverified come in from nowhere. And suddenly Pablo Lopez is the winner. I mean, This is ridiculous. He was in one episode.
00:30:29
Speaker 1: I mean, you were only in two.
00:30:32
Speaker 4: Okay, maybe. But still, you know, you put a lot of effort into something. You make an ass of yourself by walking out, giving up on the Twins. Then you prove vindicated. They don't make the playoffs. And you think you're going to have something to show for it. And this is ridiculous. I demand to see the voting machines. Give me the voting machines.
00:30:48
Speaker 2: All right, all right, all right, all right.
00:30:50
Speaker 1: Enough of that. Enough of that.
00:30:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, get him out of here.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Disgruntled, but.
00:30:53
Speaker 2: You guys have been drinking already.
00:30:54
Speaker 5: Zach, how were you in two places at once? How were you... That was impressive stuff.
00:31:00
Speaker 1: Don't really know what you're talking about, actually.
00:31:02
Speaker 7: Maybe we'll get him a new shower.
00:31:06
Speaker 2: We'll find a good handyman in town and get.
00:31:09
Speaker 5: Him hooked up.
00:31:09
Speaker 1: Get a TV in there so he doesn't have to turn off the game.
00:31:12
Speaker 2: One of those cool mirrors.
00:31:16
Speaker 1: Twins have Texas this weekend. Last chance to get out to a game if you want. I actually might make it on Sunday because they're handing out mystery squishies.
00:31:25
Speaker 2: It's all about that.
00:31:27
Speaker 1: I should try SeatGeek. I'm assuming they're still a sponsor. Dan, anything we need to know about the team?
00:31:34
Speaker 3: We could just say real quick, bringing the mood down, the twins parted ways mutually with assistant GM Daniel Adler yesterday. That was something that I don't think it's really that shocking because Daniel Adler, his new role was more like a COO. where he was doing business and baseball ops and had done less and less on the baseball ops side.
00:32:01
Speaker 5: He gave up international scouting to move over there. And it was really tied to Derek Falvey.
00:32:06
Speaker 3: And I think when Derek Falvey left, that made him realize his time was probably coming to an end. He's still under contract with them. So he started looking. And I think that, you know, both sides agreed it was time to move on.
00:32:21
Speaker 5: So.
00:32:22
Speaker 3: Not much on the baseball side. We're going to see Kalen Culpepper Saturday and Sunday. Derek Shelton, he was supposed to run the bases Thursday, I believe, and Friday, but was progressing well. They seemed pretty confident he was going to be back, so we'll see him, I think, activated Saturday unless something went wrong the last two days. And so we'll get a chance potentially to see that trio, Culpepper, Jenkins, and, uh, Emmanuel Rodriguez.
00:32:58
Speaker 5: And, and obviously Luke Kieschel should be out there too.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: So for, you know, top 50 kind of players on the field at the same time.
00:33:06
Speaker 2: First round picks we can get on the field at once.
00:33:09
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker 5: There's a lot of those.
00:33:12
Speaker 1: Uh, Friday night tonight is a seven, 10 star Joe Ryan and Jacob de Grom. I see here Saturday, uh, Bailey Ober in a 3-10 start against TBD Sunday. 2-10 start, Dean Kramer and Mackenzie Gore. It was originally going to be Ryan Kramer-Matthews. I guess they decided to give Ober another start in there.
00:33:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, they wanted to give him a final start at the weekend just because he's a vet. He means a lot to this team. Now they need to win two, and they need to get Tommy Nance and Zebby Matthews' saves. so that they can tie the all-time record for most pitchers with a save this season. We thought Tommy Nance was getting the save in San Francisco on Wednesday. He stood up for a second, but they went with Andrew Morris. I think I win two more now and do it that way.
00:34:04
Speaker 1: Nothing for the Twins to play for, but pride, of course. If they sweep, Dan, you will finish one game off on your prediction at the beginning of the season. I went back and watched. You said 79-83.
00:34:15
Speaker 5: I was 79, yeah. I was optimistic. I was optimistic. Did you say 78?
00:34:21
Speaker 1: I said 82 and 80. I was super optimistic. So, but regardless, uh, you know, I think 75, which they're at now was about the highest prediction. Anybody, anybody had most were lower 70. So, um, they will at least meet, if not exceed that a little bit, but they can also play spoiler to Texas. They enter in a virtual tie with Houston. They're both, they're both 79 and 80 top the AL West.
00:34:45
Speaker 2: Um, The playoff push.
00:34:46
Speaker 3: Houston has the tiebreaker, and they're playing at Sacramento. It was close last night.
00:34:52
Speaker 2: But unhoused.
00:34:55
Speaker 1: Is there a game 163 for a division title?
00:34:57
Speaker 4: No, there's not. No, there's not. Okay.
00:35:00
Speaker 1: So even one Twins win might be very, very bad for Texas.
00:35:05
Speaker 4: We'll see.
00:35:05
Speaker 1: But final series, we'll be back with you on Monday. Another reminder that starting next week, we're going to two shows a week for the offseason. Those will likely be Mondays and Thursdays going forward, but we will update you as we know. So we'll see you all on Monday. Have a great weekend. If you like what you hear, please toss us a like or subscribe, however you watch or listen. If you're on YouTube right now, there is a QR code on the screen to make it super easy. Tyler and I are going to get out of these jackets and get on with our day. Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend. See you Monday. Thanks for listening.
00:35:39
Speaker 9: Bye-bye.
