I think we'll see him in the majors at some point this year. Be interesting to see how much. I don't think he's more than an emergency type catcher, especially after the Cartaya acquisition. 

And best of luck to Moran with Boston! 

He could be an intriguing option at first base. Would be nice if he was a decent catcher so that he could replace Vasquez, but it sounds like the Twins don't view him as a catcher. ST will be interesting.

Mickey Gasper is your leadoff hitter? Ugh.

First off, he's 29 years old (turns 30 in October), which means he's almost certainly peaked offensively and is likely to get worse defensively. For reference, Manny Margot was 29 last year.

The projection systems are spitting out a .240/.340/.360 batting line for 2025. He's below average defensively at any position other than 1B. He's a below average runner. This kind of player is not an MLB leadoff hitter unless you're an expansion team. If they're going to spend those playing time resources on a player, they're better off seeing if Julien can bounce back.

Every team needs somebody to help catch bullpens in Spring Training. If Gasper isn't gone before April, he is fine as a guy at AAA. If Gasper spends time with the Twins take the under in Vegas for Twins wins.

I don’t believe the splits show inconsistency or necessarily suggest an improved skill level. I think the right handed side is simply the result of the small sample any player would have against a left handed pitcher. It takes a very large number of plate appearances for slash stats to stabilize.

If I only had the BR stat lines to judge improvement of skill level in splits, I think I would track the strike out rate and walk rates over time. They stabilize much quicker. If the strikeout rates showed significant improvement I would be hopeful.

13 hours ago, DJL44 said:

First off, he's 29 years old (turns 30 in October), which means he's almost certainly peaked offensively and is likely to get worse defensively. For reference, Manny Margot was 29 last year.

I don't think Manny Margot fits the typical aging scenario. Margot lost a whole bunch of speed due to knee injuries and is no longer a premium defender. It is not typical for a guy to fall so far so fast and Margot's decline almost certainly is related to his loss of speed. In fact, I suspect some of his bad routes to balls in the gap were the fact that he hadn't quite fully adjusted to having only average speed after having elite sprint speed before his injuries. I also suspect Latin players who age out early might have lied about their age.

That said, I certainly agree that the skill set for Gasper is marginal. I do believe that, unless the Twins make some position player additions, it will come down to keeping either Julien or Gasper and Gasper will have the advantage of being a switch hitter and someone who could conceivably play a few innings behind the plate. 

One of the things I will be curious about when pitchers and catchers report is if Gasper will don the catcher's gear or if he will be considered only an infielder.

Gasper was not projected to have any playing time for catching hungry BOS. At this time he's a AAAA player & break glass option at 1B. But leave it up to Falvey to try to qualify this transaction by giving Gasper every opportunity to prove himself on the MLB level while short-changing our more qualified inhouse players. Much what happened with Margot.

I believe this is Falvey's annual "I'm the smartest guy in the room" foray. They got Gasper to be on the ML roster as a tandem for Miranda. As a 2B option. To play some COF. To catch. To knock Hellman off of the roster. Right now I sense that Gasper is already pegged to make the ML team out of ST. This is the big splash move. The creativity that we have heard about. This is 2025's Margot move. I don't like it. 

Mickey Gasper? This will be an interesting look. I know nothing about him except for the statistics, which means I know absolutely nothing about him. 

On 2/1/2025 at 12:02 PM, tony&rodney said:

Every team needs somebody to help catch bullpens in Spring Training. If Gasper isn't gone before April, he is fine as a guy at AAA. If Gasper spends time with the Twins take the under in Vegas for Twins wins.

exactly!

On 2/3/2025 at 2:15 PM, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I believe this is Falvey's annual "I'm the smartest guy in the room" foray. They got Gasper to be on the ML roster as a tandem for Miranda. As a 2B option. To play some COF. To catch. To knock Hellman off of the roster. Right now I sense that Gasper is already pegged to make the ML team out of ST. This is the big splash move. The creativity that we have heard about. This is 2025's Margot move. I don't like it. 

It stinks.

On 2/3/2025 at 3:15 PM, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I believe this is Falvey's annual "I'm the smartest guy in the room" foray. They got Gasper to be on the ML roster as a tandem for Miranda. As a 2B option. To play some COF. To catch. To knock Hellman off of the roster. Right now I sense that Gasper is already pegged to make the ML team out of ST. This is the big splash move. The creativity that we have heard about. This is 2025's Margot move. I don't like it. 

And to give up on Moran in the trade , a much needed lefthander doesn't make alot of sense when your short on lefthander depth ...

There was probably more upside to Moran than Gasper  , but you'll see his bat in spring training games alot just like France who has to prove his non guarantee contract ...

I understand why this trade was made but I don’t agree with it. LHP is a premium specialty.  Gasper is marginal in every way.