Rival Roundup, Vol. 28: Kauffing It Up

The Minnesota Twins are unveiling a uniform/logo rebrand at the Mall of America this afternoon, where a new 60’s-reminiscent wordmark will be fittingly revealed at the site of old Metropolitan Stadium. But that’s not why you came to TwinkieTownBeforeDark.Com, now is it? No! You came for some hard-hitting news about OTHER teams that are related (decreasingly so, given the new schedule) to your Minnesota Twins.

That’s right — once again, it’s:

RIVAL ROUNDUP TIME, BABY!

• Ahead of the Rule 5 protection deadline, there was some 40-man shuffling throughout the American League Central this week. The Kansas City Royals added players as old as 28 to their 40-man, while designating old friend Brent Rooker, a 28-year-old in his own right, who feels like he’s on the doorstep of playing in South Korea (he was claimed by the Oakland A’s on Thursday afternoon.)
• The Tigers DFA’d four, including relievers Kyle Funkhouser and Miguel Diaz, purchasing five minor-league contracts after various corresponding moves.
• The Guardians added some young position players, but it’s the new arms that join their roster that will always scare me the most. However, the biggest news of the week wasn’t regarding the roster — it was regarding the coaching staff.

• If there was doubt that Francona was going to the Hall of Fame, it’s been dealt a crushing blow by his winning of yet another MOTY award. Since coming from Boston (where he won two championships and broke a decades-long curse) to Cleveland, the Guardian franchise has finished with a losing record just once, in an 80-82 season where health issues kept Tito out of the dugout for the final 2 months of the year. He’s taken a perpetually-underfunded club as far as the World Series during his tenure, and the 2022 division champions are showing no signs of slowdown.
• However, this was my favorite Manager of the Year announcement of the week:

• But, I digress... in Guardians moves that ARE roster-related, we get a little offseason outlook from well-respected executive Chris Antonetti:

• The Guardians may be playing it close to the vest, but sources out of the White Sox camp have indicated that Sean Murphy is indeed a potential target for their base. Or, rather, their plate.
• Finally, would you consider Kauffman Stadium a midwest institution? The Royals may be looking to move on, folding in potential renovation costs to the budget for a brand-new downtown stadium with shades of that Oakland waterfront mock-up. Royals Review has more; the project would involve investing in a “stadium district” that’s all the rage these days.

Stay tuned next week for another Roundup, this time sans same-day rebranding. Until then!