Roster Crunch? Who stays, who goes?

[stringer bell]

2 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Ah that’s right. He got robbed by Vladdy Guerrero Jr. 

Wasn't he nominated in the utility player category? That's what he won the Silver Slugger for. 

[Vanimal46]

1 minute ago, stringer bell said:

Wasn't he nominated in the utility player category? That's what he won the Silver Slugger for. 

No it was for 1B between Arraez, Guerrero Jr. and Rizzo. 

[Riverbrian]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Love it. Agree with it all. And, to add to it, Julien was taking reps at 1B on his own, not at the behest of the team.

They need to behest!!! 

[RpR]

37 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I would argue just about any professional baseball player can pick up a 1B mitt and ramp up quickly to play passable defense. We just witnessed it last year with Gold Glove award winning 1B Luis Arraez. 

On fantasy island maybe.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, SwainZag said:

The quicker everyone realizes that Gallo isn't going anywhere until AK comes back to this team the better.  The team isn't going to DFA Gallo to field a team without a player on the roster who doesn't have much playing time at 1B.  Farmer with his 171 innings at 1B isn't some huge upgrade against RHP than Joey is.

I know every post must include DFA Gallo somewhere, but it's really not going to happen until AK is back on the roster.

Sad, but true. Wouldn't surprise me if Gallo si on the roster for the season. 

[chpettit19]

53 minutes ago, SwainZag said:

I am tired of seeing him in the lineup as well, but almost every topic is being over-run with DFA Gallo.  It's almost worse than the Kepler talk of May-June.  Just trying to be realistic about it.  If they haven't gotten rid of him yet for an inexperienced AAA player yet, they aren't going to do it now when the rest of the 1B depth is banged up.  It also isn't a video game where any player can pick up a 1st baseman's glove and be fine defensively out there.  

Hey, my guys in The Show boot low throws at first all the time when I put them there out of position. Don't lie to the people about video games!

[Riverbrian]

22 minutes ago, RpR said:

On fantasy island maybe.

It happens often. This year alone at 1B: 

Bryce Harper

Anthony Santander

Justin Turner

Salvador Perez

Spencer Steer

Alec Bohm

Isaac Paredes

Jake Cronenworth

Hunter Renfroe

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 

Tyler Stephenson

Brandon Drury

Brendan Donovan

Ezequiel Duran

Mauricio Dubon

Yanier Diaz

Jake Burger

Luke Raley

Enrique Hernandez

Joc Pederson

Yasmani Grandal

There's more... I don't feel like typing any more names. 

Baseball Players... Can play other positions. 

 

[Musk21]

Sorry for continuing the DFA Gallo discussion, but get Kyle Garlick up here!  He's played 158 innings at 1B in St. Paul and his defense seems to just fine.

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, Musk21 said:

Sorry for continuing the DFA Gallo discussion, but get Kyle Garlick up here!  He's played 158 innings at 1B in St. Paul and his defense seems to just fine.

That doesn't feel like it helps this team at all. They're the same guy they just hit from opposite sides of the plate. Neither has any future with the team. I wouldn't want to see Garlick hitting against righties anymore than I'd want to see Gallo.

[Vanimal46]

I don’t understand why Garlick is getting the 1B reps in St Paul over Trevor Larnach. 

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I don’t understand why Garlick is getting the 1B reps in St Paul over Trevor Larnach. 

Better first base skills?

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I don’t understand why Garlick is getting the 1B reps in St Paul over Trevor Larnach. 

Terrible management by the Twins. It really is baffling. 

[Vanimal46]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Terrible management by the Twins. It really is baffling. 

I mean, they have an immediate need for a 1B, and they give the reps to a guy who needs to be put back on the 40 man over another perfectly capable player already on the 40 man. You’re right, it’s baffling. 

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Vanimal46 said:

I mean, they have an immediate need for a 1B, and they give the reps to a guy who needs to be put back on the 40 man over another perfectly capable player already on the 40 man. It’s baffling. 

Not to mention Garlick just isn't good. And has no real future here. As you may know, I'm done with this FO. This is just exhibit Z. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

3 hours ago, RpR said:

Better first base skills?

Doesn't matter. AAA is to groom guys for the MLB roster. Garlick is unlikely to ever be on the MLB roster again. Larnach might be. He gets the reps at any position of need over Garlick. 

[RpR]

33 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Doesn't matter. AAA is to groom guys for the MLB roster. Garlick is unlikely to ever be on the MLB roster again. Larnach might be. He gets the reps at any position of need over Garlick. 

 

33 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Doesn't matter. AAA is to groom guys for the MLB roster. Garlick is unlikely to ever be on the MLB roster again. Larnach might be. He gets the reps at any position of need over Garlick. 

Only to you.

Gents running the Saints want to win just as much as the gents running the Twins, so best players play where they play and Larnach isn't it.

[Mike Sixel]

12 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Doesn't matter. AAA is to groom guys for the MLB roster. Garlick is unlikely to ever be on the MLB roster again. Larnach might be. He gets the reps at any position of need over Garlick. 

This. 100%.

[wabene]

15 hours ago, RpR said:

 

Only to you.

Gents running the Saints want to win just as much as the gents running the Twins, so best players play where they play and Larnach isn't it.

The saint job is to prepare MLB players, not to win. 

[insagt1]

I don't think either guy has any real future with the Twins. They have been up and down a lot and neither one of them can sustain any momentum. Might be off base here, but Twins may need to move on from both. Like Celestino before this season where he has been injured, Twins kept running him out there but he isn't a major league hitter and they need to do better than these guys. (but probably not this season)

[chpettit19]

16 hours ago, RpR said:

 

Only to you.

Gents running the Saints want to win just as much as the gents running the Twins, so best players play where they play and Larnach isn't it.

This isn't true. The Twins absolutely have a say in who plays where for the Saints. They're not out there dictating every lineup or anything, but they absolutely are the ones telling the Saints to play Martin at 2B, LF, and CF. They're the ones telling them not to catch Williams everyday, but to get him 1B reps. They're the ones who told the Saints to play Lewis at 3B. 

The Saints are absolutely not free to simply play who they want where they want. That isn't how the minors works. The coaching staff gives the Twins info on how guys are looking, but the Twins are the ones who decide where to get guys reps. And who to prioritize in getting playing time.

[terrydactyls]

16 hours ago, RpR said:

 

Only to you.

Gents running the Saints want to win just as much as the gents running the Twins, so best players play where they play and Larnach isn't it.

Nonsense.  The minors are a training ground for the majors.  Minor League players play wherever the major league administrators need them to play.  Winning is secondary.

[DJL44]

17 hours ago, RpR said:

Gents running the Saints want to win just as much as the gents running the Twins, so best players play where they play and Larnach isn't it.

If that's true they need to fire the gents running the Saints.

[Riverbrian]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

This isn't true. The Twins absolutely have a say in who plays where for the Saints. They're not out there dictating every lineup or anything, but they absolutely are the ones telling the Saints to play Martin at 2B, LF, and CF. They're the ones telling them not to catch Williams everyday, but to get him 1B reps. They're the ones who told the Saints to play Lewis at 3B. 

The Saints are absolutely not free to simply play who they want where they want. That isn't how the minors works. The coaching staff gives the Twins info on how guys are looking, but the Twins are the ones who decide where to get guys reps. And who to prioritize in getting playing time.

You should add that the Twins pay the contracts of the minor league players. 😎

 

I was just indirectly lending a hand.  

 

[RpR]

3 hours ago, wabene said:

The saint job is to prepare MLB players, not to win. 

To you.

[Craig Arko]

Perhaps a helpful compromise: it’s the job of AAA affiliates to prepare MLB players to win. Sometimes winning at AAA can carry over; in fact, one might hope that it does.

[wabene]

10 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

Perhaps a helpful compromise: it’s the job of AAA affiliates to prepare MLB players to win. Sometimes winning at AAA can carry over; in fact, one might hope that it does.

Good point

[RpR]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

This isn't true. The Twins absolutely have a say in who plays where for the Saints. They're not out there dictating every lineup or anything, but they absolutely are the ones telling the Saints to play Martin at 2B, LF, and CF. They're the ones telling them not to catch Williams everyday, but to get him 1B reps. They're the ones who told the Saints to play Lewis at 3B. 

The Saints are absolutely not free to simply play who they want where they want. That isn't how the minors works. The coaching staff gives the Twins info on how guys are looking, but the Twins are the ones who decide where to get guys reps. And who to prioritize in getting playing time.

The Twins now have a minority ownership stake in the Saints,

 

Does Winning Matter?

Fans and front offices alike have long questioned whether winning at the minor league level has any effect on a player’s career and have failed to come to a consensus. Some say that winning in the minors is just for pride’s sake and causes no tangible change. Others insist that winning is enormously important.

Josh Norris explored this very topic a little more than a year ago and heard some really intriguing feedback.

We polled several front office members for their thoughts and received answers ranging from “no significant impact” to “winning definitely matters”. Yet despite the disagreement, one thing everyone mentioned was that the role of the minor leagues is a tricky balance between player development and winning.

A baseball operations analyst with an AL team said: “You’ll get a lot of different answers. I think that it does (matter), especially at the higher levels. The difficulty is, a lot of successful Double-A or Triple-A teams aren’t always prospect laden. A lot of Quad-A types populate winning high-minors clubs. So not over-prioritizing winning at the expense of having youth at those levels, even if they struggle a little, is the balance.”

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/quantifying-the-effects-of-winning-in-the-minor-leagues-on-player-development/

[RpR]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

If that's true they need to fire the gents running the Saints.

Bottm line, owners are there to make money, losing teams do not make money.

Saints are no different than the Pohlads and Twins.

[LA Vikes Fan]

18 minutes ago, RpR said:

The Twins now have a minority ownership stake in the Saints,

 

Does Winning Matter?

Fans and front offices alike have long questioned whether winning at the minor league level has any effect on a player’s career and have failed to come to a consensus. Some say that winning in the minors is just for pride’s sake and causes no tangible change. Others insist that winning is enormously important.

Josh Norris explored this very topic a little more than a year ago and heard some really intriguing feedback.

We polled several front office members for their thoughts and received answers ranging from “no significant impact” to “winning definitely matters”. Yet despite the disagreement, one thing everyone mentioned was that the role of the minor leagues is a tricky balance between player development and winning.

A baseball operations analyst with an AL team said: “You’ll get a lot of different answers. I think that it does (matter), especially at the higher levels. The difficulty is, a lot of successful Double-A or Triple-A teams aren’t always prospect laden. A lot of Quad-A types populate winning high-minors clubs. So not over-prioritizing winning at the expense of having youth at those levels, even if they struggle a little, is the balance.”

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/quantifying-the-effects-of-winning-in-the-minor-leagues-on-player-development/

Really interesting article. Help explain why teams keep some AAAA players on their AAA teams to help foster a winning culture even if they are highly unlikely to make a meaningful contribution over time at the MLB level. Good Twins examples are Kyle Garlick and Andrew Stevenson. Each of them helps the Saints win but neither is likely to every really help the Twins going forward, especially since Garlick is 30 and Stevenson 29 and each has been below average in their MLB shots. Still, you only want a couple of those guys on the field and in the pitching rotation because they aren't going to feed your big league club. Better to play a Martin, Severino or Keirsey over yet another Garlick even if they initially struggle so you can see if they might have a longer term impact at the MLB level.

Bottom line is that it is a balance, but it's balance that is dependent on the needs of the MLB team, not the needs of the AAA or AA team to draw fans. The MLB clubs' needs are paramount. Any AAA or AA owner that prioritizes winning success in the Minors over development for the Majors isn't going to have a very long affiliation with the MLB club. So, the fact that Larnach isn't playing 1B and Garlick and Williams are tells me that the Twins are committed to Kirilloff as their long term 1B, with Julien as Plan B. A bench RH 1B bat is the need that's being developed, not an alternative to Kirilloff and/or Julien. 

[DJL44]

42 minutes ago, RpR said:

Bottm line, owners are there to make money, losing teams do not make money.

Saints are no different than the Pohlads and Twins.

I hope nobody who buys a Saints ticket cares about the score at the end of the game. It's minor league baseball, which is VERY different from the Pohlads and the Twins. Most people go to Saints games for the sideshows (ball pig, ushertainers, Mudonna, corny promotions) and the beer.