Roster Crunch? Who stays, who goes?

[Riverbrian]

53 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm all for finding some .900 OPS guys. You're talking a top 10-20 hitter in baseball. I, unfortunately, don't think the Twins are sitting on any surprise top 10 bats, though. Buxton is their best bet, but his body doesn't seem to want to let him be a full season top 10 guy if he also plays in the field.

If Wallner is sufficient depth I'd be good with moving Kepler now for a lottery ticket (maybe Yanks want him with all their injuries?) to get Kirilloff up. But I'm not willing to destroy their defense by running Kepler or Gallo in CF. We'll see what the FO is willing to do to get him up here.

[stringer bell]

47 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

How soon before Farmer is ready and activated?

He is supposed to go on rehab assignment this week. Might be activated as soon as next Monday. 

[ashbury]

43 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

3. 🏳️

[Riverbrian]

Never!!!

[SirLoin]

Henriquez to the 60 day?

[big dog]

Moran taking the option train back down?

[Squirrel]

1 minute ago, big dog said:

Moran taking the option train back down?

That doesn’t mask room on the 40-man, though

[Squirrel]

54 minutes ago, SirLoin said:

Henriquez to the 60 day?

Henriquez was just sent on a rehab assignment. 

[Rosterman]

Rodriguez, interesting. Henriquez is starting a rehab assignment, so the Twins need to do something with him in a couple of weeks. 

The pain with making an add like Rodriguez is that if they decide to demote him, he CAN go elsewhere.

Imagine they might take Garlick off the 40-man. Doubt another team will claim him.

[rikker49]

Canterino to the 60?????????????????????????

[big dog]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

That doesn’t mask room on the 40-man, though

Understood, but I'm assuming we won't remove anyone on the 26-man from the 40-man, so there have to be two moves. Perhaps that's not the case?

[stringer bell]

19 minutes ago, rikker49 said:

Canterino to the 60?????????????????????????

Can’t do that. 

[rikker49]

I say Canterino to the 60, but I know that starts his service time?????

Or Garlick DFA

Or Pagan DFA 

[Puckett34]

15 minutes ago, rikker49 said:

I say Canterino to the 60, but I know that starts his service time?????

Or Garlick DFA

Or Pagan DFA 

Pagan has blackmail on the front office so no way he gets DFA'd.

 

I joke...maybe

[stringer bell]

36 minutes ago, rikker49 said:

I say Canterino to the 60, but I know that starts his service time?????

Or Garlick DFA

Or Pagan DFA 

They can't gain a 40-man spot by putting Canterino on the 60-day list. I posted something about this earlier. 

[LonelyseatinMOA]

2 hours ago, Rosterman said:

Rodriguez, interesting. Henriquez is starting a rehab assignment, so the Twins need to do something with him in a couple of weeks. 

The pain with making an add like Rodriguez is that if they decide to demote him, he CAN go elsewhere.

Imagine they might take Garlick off the 40-man. Doubt another team will claim him.

They may want Garlick for Saturday game against CLE LHP Logan Allen 

[adjacent]

The other question is why Rodriguez? Long man? That would mean Winder down?

[Jocko87]

There's the first shoe dropping.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/twins-select-dereck-rodriguez-recall-alex-kirilloff.html

[stringer bell]

I presume Rodríguez is the long man and Winder moves to a multi-inning relief role? Caleb Thielbar going on the IL is a surprise. I hope he recovers quickly. 

[Danchat]

Well, Kirilloff is finally up. Larnach going down isn't a huge surprise with how poor he's been at the plate recently.

At some point, one of our first rounder hitters has to step up. Larnach's not looking good, Kirilloff's wrist can't stay healthy and will probably sap his power, and Wallner deserves a shot but it looks like he's gonna strike out a lot. Not to mention Sabato, who may not even reach the majors with the Twins.

[Robert Floren]

Larnach seemed to be striking out a Lot.  Maybe he can fix it in AAA (assuming he was sent to AAA).

[stringer bell]

Kirilloff recalled today and probably won't play until Sunday unless he pinch hits. They face a lefty tomorrow.

[stringer bell]

I'm having a hard time with the sequence of events for the transactions yesterday. It was known that Dereck Rodriguez was being recalled with his contract purchased in the afternoon. Meanwhile a lineup was posted with Trevor Larnach starting in left field and hitting eighth. Eventually the transactions were Kirilloff recalled for Caleb Thielbar and Rodriguez recalled for Larnach. That couldn't have been the original transaction. 

I suppose Rodriguez was originally slated to come up for one of the optionable relief pitchers (Moran or Winder), but then took Thielbar's place when Thielbar couldn't go either Thursday or Friday. The injury to Thielbar also opened the door to bring Kirilloff up earlier, since he could technically replace a player going on the IL (again Thielbar).

Larnach is the roster casualty. He has 124 plate appearance and a .686 OPS, yielding a below-average OPS+ and a negative WAR. I still think Larnach can be a staple in a good lineup, but the strikeouts are high and the power is not.

[Squirrel]

12 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I'm having a hard time with the sequence of events for the transactions yesterday. It was known that Dereck Rodriguez was being recalled with his contract purchased in the afternoon. Meanwhile a lineup was posted with Trevor Larnach starting in left field and hitting eighth. Eventually the transactions were Kirilloff recalled for Caleb Thielbar and Rodriguez recalled for Larnach. That couldn't have been the original transaction. 

I suppose Rodriguez was originally slated to come up for one of the optionable relief pitchers (Moran or Winder), but then took Thielbar's place when Thielbar couldn't go either Thursday or Friday. The injury to Thielbar also opened the door to bring Kirilloff up earlier, since he could technically replace a player going on the IL (again Thielbar).

Larnach is the roster casualty. He has 124 plate appearance and a .686 OPS, yielding a below-average OPS+ and a negative WAR. I still think Larnach can be a staple in a good lineup, but the strikeouts are high and the power is not.

Yeah, first of all, the flurry of moves was confusing, And I didn’t even know Thielbar was hurting, so that was a surprise. And Larnach the casualty, which is really too bad. But what was the solution? Maybe not add/bring up Rodriguez and go one pitcher short for a small bit? Send down Castro and use Gordon as the backup SS? Then who gets playing time and who sits? Just rotate Larnach, Kirilloff, Kepler and Gallo? Every 4th game one of them sits? Or keep Kirilloff at AAA until someone gets injured or traded or DFA’d? When Farmer comes up I’m guessing Castro goes down. Maybe we could have sent Castro down now, if they are reasonably sure Farmer is up soon, but we still then would have to make a choice. And we won’t be going short a pitcher for for more than a game or two, so something had to give. So, what is the solution?

[stringer bell]

1 minute ago, Squirrel said:

Yeah, first of all, the flurry of moves was confusing, And I didn’t even know Thielbar was hurting, so that was a surprise. And Larnach the casualty, which is really too bad. But what was the solution? Send down Castro and use Gordon as the backup SS, Then who gets playing time and who sits? Just rotate Larnach, Kirilloff, Kepler and Gallo? Every 4th game one of them sits? Or keep Kirilloff at AAA until someone gets injured or traded or DFA’d? When Farmer comes up I’m guessing Castro goes down. Maybe we could have sent Castro down now, if they are reasonably sure Farmer is up soon, but we still then would have to make a choice. So, what is the solution?

I think keeping Castro has a lot to do with Miranda and his struggles. They ran for Miranda (with Castro) last night in the seventh inning after Miranda made a suspect throw to first in an earlier inning. It was a two-hopper from deep third, but not close to the line. Also, Miranda isn't hitting right now and really looks lost at the plate. When Farmer returns, he will be Option A to back up Miranda and might get a lot of at-bats as a third baseman. 

[Squirrel]

3 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I think keeping Castro has a lot to do with Miranda and his struggles. They ran for Miranda (with Castro) last night in the seventh inning after Miranda made a suspect throw to first in an earlier inning. It was a two-hopper from deep third, but not close to the line. Also, Miranda isn't hitting right now and really looks lost at the plate. When Farmer returns, he will be Option A to back up Miranda and might get a lot of at-bats as a third baseman. 

I’m wondering if it will be Miranda sent down for Farmer (and think it should be), but, that still doesn’t resolve the Kirilloff and Larnach problem.

I wonder if they are trying to work a trade in there somewhere. They will have to do something with Lewis knocking on the door in the not-so-distant future.

[Craig Arko]

Larnach will be back; he needs some time to sort things out and gain confidence. I can see the same for Miranda when Farmer is activated.

As far as when everyone is up together? It’s likely there will be activity at the trade deadline, and it may take that long.

[stringer bell]

3 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I’m wondering if it will be Miranda sent down for Farmer (and think it should be), but, that still doesn’t resolve the Kirilloff and Larnach problem.

I wonder if they are trying to work a trade in there somewhere. They will have to do something with Lewis knocking on the door in the not-so-distant future.

The long view is that Gallo and probably Kepler will be free agents in 2024. The Twins will have Larnach, Kirilloff and Wallner as candidates for two or three positions--all LH hitters and none a center fielder. Injuries will happen and I doubt Larnach, in particular, or Wallner will spend the rest of '23 in St. Paul. All three of these guys were born in the same year. It is getting late for any of them to be a prospect and they need to be relied on to perform.

[tony&rodney]

Tough to see Larnach optioned to St. Paul, but mechanically (and perhaps mentally) he was a mess. Pitchers were torturing him with breaking balls and putting fastballs right down the middle too. I expect Larnach will be back after a reset.

Kirilloff arrives a bit sooner than I expected. He has not torn up MLB pitching in 387 plate appearances. Injuries have interrupted his career thus far. He looked like he was swinging freely for St. Paul and is ready to take a regular lineup spot. AK can hit any pitching when he stays disciplined. I'm hoping he is in the lineup today versus the lefty Logan.

[Squirrel]

4 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The long view is that Gallo and probably Kepler will be free agents in 2024. The Twins will have Larnach, Kirilloff and Wallner as candidates for two or three positions--all LH hitters and none a center fielder. Injuries will happen and I doubt Larnach, in particular, or Wallner will spend the rest of '23 in St. Paul. All three of these guys were born in the same year. It is getting late for any of them to be a prospect and they need to be relied on to perform.

I get that and that’s all fine for 2024, but I’m thinking now, 2023, maybe give Gallo and Kepler less playing time now because they aren’t in the plans for 2024? Maybe one of them will be moved at the deadline. But that doesn’t help the situation today. It’s unfortunate for Larnach. He didn’t draw the short straw, he was left with it. But, I think the reset will do him good. But more of this is coming, it’s just a crowded roster, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is a constant jigsaw puzzle.