Is Brooks Lee Ready?

[C-Gangster]

There is one short answer and that answer is yes. We could use a backup 2nd baseman this year  and there is a chance of him winning rookie of the year. last year he slashed 2.75/ 3.55/ 8.14 wich are great numbers for a minor leaguer. also he is 23 years old wich is  older than Royce Lewis when he first came to the big leagues. Also  he has been really good lately in spring training scoring some RBIs and he was meant to be good even tho the twins will never agree to this this year he is meant to be in a  Twins uniform he also he is really good because last season in 501 at bats he scored 83 runs had a 138 hits hit 16 home runs had 84 RBI and 7 stolen bases so yeah he is definitely  meant to be in a twins uniform if the twins would ever call him up.

[4twinsJA]

I am big Lee fan but can't see him getting the call until he is a starter. Twins will not call him up to only play a couple times a week.

[DJL44]

Is he hitting lefthanded pitchers?

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Of the Twins’ shortcomings, depth at 2nd base is absolutely the least of them.  That’s actually part of the reason that he ISN’T going to break camp with the Twins.  Both Farmer and Castro are perfectly acceptable second basemen and would likely be starters on lots of teams.  Julien, meanwhile, is a budding star who has proven that he belongs in the majors and there is no need to supplant him at the position.    

As to Lee’s hitting in the minors.  He’s been solid, not great.  Great minor league numbers are OPS’s in the .900 to 1.000 range or even higher.  If he were in the majors with his current numbers, that would be excellent for a rookie, but he’s not there yet. Be patient.  

If the Twins are in search of a Rookie of the Year award (which they shouldn’t be, because that’s not always what’s best for a prospect), they should leave him in St. Paul all year and (hopefully) watch him really rake while getting more experience all over the field and learning to hit left-handed pitching.  Then, next year when they bring him up, he will be fully ready and actually have a chance for that to happen.  Most of all, I want him on the Twins team when he is ready, when there is a place for him to play on a daily basis, and when he will be able to be successful and not sent back to minors for more seasoning.  

[Mike Sixel]

Nope. I am a huge fan, but nope. 

[C-Gangster]

14 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Of the Twins’ shortcomings, depth at 2nd base is absolutely the least of them.  That’s actually part of the reason that he ISN’T going to break camp with the Twins.  Both Farmer and Castro are perfectly acceptable second basemen and would likely be starters on lots of teams.  Julien, meanwhile, is a budding star who has proven that he belongs in the majors and there is no need to supplant him at the position.    

As to Lee’s hitting in the minors.  He’s been solid, not great.  Great minor league numbers are OPS’s in the .900 to 1.000 range or even higher.  If he were in the majors with his current numbers, that would be excellent for a rookie, but he’s not there yet. Be patient.  

If the Twins are in search of a Rookie of the Year award (which they shouldn’t be, because that’s not always what’s best for a prospect), they should leave him in St. Paul all year and (hopefully) watch him really rake while getting more experience all over the field and learning to hit left-handed pitching.  Then, next year when they bring him up, he will be fully ready and actually have a chance for that to happen.  Most of all, I want him on the Twins team when he is ready, when there is a place for him to play on a daily basis, and when he will be able to be successful and not sent back to minors for more seasoning.  

You guys dont understand he is ready royce lewis was younger then him when he started

[Squirrel]

10 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

You guys dont understand he is ready royce lewis was younger then him when he started

Age has little to do with it. And for that matter, ready, too. He is one of our highest ranked players. Years of control matter. Unless there are injuries to Farmer, Castro, Julien and probably Martin, and the rest of the infield, Lee won’t be breaking north with the team. Ready or not. That’s the reality. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

14 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

You guys dont understand he is ready royce lewis was younger then him when he started

 

What I understand is that his age has nothing to do with it.  By that measure it’s already too late because Mike Trout and Bryce Harper debuted at 19.  Even Butch Wynegar was up by 20.   Davey Lopes debuted at 27 and was an all star.   He will be ready when he is ready.  There is no hurry here.  

[C-Gangster]

18 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

 

What I understand is that his age has nothing to do with it.  By that measure it’s already too late because Mike Trout and Bryce Harper debuted at 19.  Even Butch Wynegar was up by 20.   Davey Lopes debuted at 27 and was an all star.   He will be ready when he is ready.  There is no hurry here.  

Age has everything to do with it you there is a rush we need him now 

[Muppet]

Looks like he has had 1 full year in the minors. My guess is that it would be better for his psychological and physical development to have another great year in the minors rather than a terrible year in  the majors (which would be a distinct possibility). 

If Julien and Lewis continue to crush it in 24, and Lee has a better year in the minors, perhaps he is the piece that brings us our ace starter for the postseason. After all, it is hard to deny he is being blocked by three potential all star, hopefully MVP caliber infielders. 

One thing that I do seem to notice, though, that would support bringing him up early is that players don't seem to have a lot of time in the majors before people start talking about them as aging race horses. If he has his rookie year at 25, sophomore slump at 26, starts hitting his stride at 27 and 28 then by the time he should be in his peak he'll already be in the 'he's slowing down' 'his glove won't be as flashy anymore' or 'if he can stay healthy' category. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

Age has everything to do with it you there is a rush we need him now 

We may need to rush a pitcher this season if we have some injuries.  Let’s hope that’s not the case.  Since Brooks Lee probably isn’t an immediate upgrade over who we have playing in the infield currently, (which is unrelated to whether he will become a good player on the team in the future), it is better to save the service time, and continue the learning curve in St. Paul.  We need to wait until the player is truly ready so that we don’t stunt his development.  See Gomez, Carlos.  He was rushed.  We played him for a while unsuccessfully and then he left and became a star.  Some additional time in the minors would have been useful, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  These are not desperate times. 

[C-Gangster]

2 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

We may need to rush a pitcher this season if we have some injuries.  Let’s hope that’s not the case.  Since Brooks Lee probably isn’t an immediate upgrade over who we have playing in the infield currently, (which is unrelated to whether he will become a good player on the team in the future), it is better to save the service time, and continue the learning curve in St. Paul.  We need to wait until the player is truly ready so that we don’t stunt his development.  See Gomez, Carlos.  He was rushed.  We played him for a while unsuccessfully and then he left and became a star.  Some additional time in the minors would have been useful, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  These are not desperate times. 

[Squirrel]

57 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

Age has everything to do with it you there is a rush we need him now 

No, we don’t. Farmer and Castro are the back ups. Austin Martin will get a call this year, too. I bet Brooks will get a call up this year. But until there is a legit opening, and there isn’t, he won’t be up with the team when it breaks north. 

[nicksaviking]

I don't see the rush or the position for him. Only spot is if the Twins push Julien to 1B, and I don't see that happening until Kirilloff gets injured.

And Miranda is making more a claim to get a call up than Lee is so far in spring training.

[Schmoeman5]

Lee=not yet. If you think he's ready. Where does he play. Explain. Does Julien DH or move to 1st? If you say he goes to 1st. Where do Santana and Kiriloff play. Explain where Stagger Lee plays right now. 3rd 2nd or AAA. My bet is AAA.

[Puckett34]

2 hours ago, C-Gangster said:

Age has everything to do with it you there is a rush we need him now 

The kid has played all of one game in the Cape Cod league at 2B in 2021, and has not played there at all in spring training this year (all reps have been at either SS, 3B or DH).  I'm excited to see him at Target Field too, but I'd put the odds at about 0.1% pending any injuries.

[Craig Arko]

Soon, where soon is not well-defined.

[Doctor Gast]

I think Lee might have a better shot at the ROY next season.

[akmanak]

Can we please pump the brakes a tad at wanting to call up Lee immediately? Give the kid a year in the minors so he doesn't go the same route as other prospects who have been called up too soon.

[Squirrel]

Nice article on Lee in the STrib today. Sorry, don’t have the link. Basically said he’ll do well but will be in AAA

[The Mad King]

On 3/8/2024 at 10:56 AM, 4twinsJA said:

I am big Lee fan but can't see him getting the call until he is a starter. Twins will not call him up to only play a couple times a week.

Yeah he's not coming up to be a backup anything. If they don't have a place for him they'll end up having to trade him or someone else for pitching. He won't be riding the bench

[cHawk]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:55 AM, C-Gangster said:

Age has everything to do with it you there is a rush we need him now 

First, although the Twins roster has issues, the second base position is not one of them.

Second, Lee is definitely not ready. Last year, his only season at the AAA level, his batting stats were below average across the board and he had a wRC+ of 78 in 38 games.

Activating Lee is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency solution, and as other posters have stated, he won’t be activated unless the Twins suffer significant injuries to their infield.

[old nurse]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:35 AM, Rod Carews Birthday said:

 

What I understand is that his age has nothing to do with it.  By that measure it’s already too late because Mike Trout and Bryce Harper debuted at 19.  Even Butch Wynegar was up by 20.   Davey Lopes debuted at 27 and was an all star.   He will be ready when he is ready.  There is no hurry here.  

Some people have a notion that age impacts talent. That is why they make such a big deal of comparative age to level of play. 

[old nurse]

Last year Brooks played in 125 games. The year before it was 88. Maybe he learned he had to get in better shape as his performance tailed off at the end of the year.  

[Linus]

I think he will break camp with the Twins………in 2025. We don’t need him right now so let him get good and ready before we start the service time. 

[Rosterman]

He is NOT on the 40-man. Even if someone goes on the IL, unles it is 60-days there is no spot.

So, he will start the season at AAA and play everyday. At what position, not sure. That's the name of the game. No spot for him on the roster. No need to rush him to the majors as the roster and next-in-line is pretty much established for the half-season.

[dxpavelka]

I see many assuming that he would not be an upgrade over guys currently projected to be on the roster.  However, it IS possible that he just might be better.  And even MUCH better.  That's why you have to consider taking a chance.  I spend every off season listening to Twins fans whine because we never go out and spend big on free agents.  This guy has a chance to be something we've rarely seen around here from day one.  We have a chance to have a 1-2 punch of Lewis & Lee that few other teams can match.  Yes, guys like Castro and Farmer are "adequate."  They are NOT going to be superstars.  This guy might be.  But not in St. Paul.

[dxpavelka]

7 hours ago, Linus said:

I think he will break camp with the Twins………in 2025. We don’t need him right now so let him get good and ready before we start the service time. 

Sure.  Guys like Castro & Farmer are adequate.  Adequate gets you an early October tee time.  We don't need adequate.  This guy might be special.  Not in St. Paul.

 

[dxpavelka]

8 hours ago, old nurse said:

Some people have a notion that age impacts talent. That is why they make such a big deal of comparative age to level of play. 

Talented guys tend to get to the big leagues sooner not because of their ages but because of their talent.  This guy is a little older because he played college ball.  So was Larnach.  Hope to hell he's not another Larnach. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

9 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

I see many assuming that he would not be an upgrade over guys currently projected to be on the roster.  However, it IS possible that he just might be better.  And even MUCH better.  That's why you have to consider taking a chance.  I spend every off season listening to Twins fans whine because we never go out and spend big on free agents.  This guy has a chance to be something we've rarely seen around here from day one.  We have a chance to have a 1-2 punch of Lewis & Lee that few other teams can match.  Yes, guys like Castro and Farmer are "adequate."  They are NOT going to be superstars.  This guy might be.  But not in St. Paul.

First of all, Castro and Farmer are backup players.  They are neither assumed to be nor projected to be stars.  They are, however, experienced and have proven ability to cope with inconsistent playing time across multiple positions while still maintaining solid offense and defense.  That’s why they are valuable and currently a better fit for the team and actually, comparing Lee to them is a red herring, as they aren’t calling him up to sit on the bench.  That would be short sighted and shameful.   

Second of all, what is it about Brooks Lee’s performance so far in the minors that makes you think he is ready to be “a superstar”.  I like Brooks Lee.  I think he might be really good at some point.  I can’t see why he would have a giant breakout in the majors this year.  Let’s compare:  Eduard Julien had an OPS of .839 last year in the MAJORS.  His career OPS in the minors was .924, including .932 at AAA St. Paul.  Brooks Lee has a career OPS in the minors of .814 with an .808 OPS at AAA St. Paul, or more succinctly, lower in AAA than Julien had in the majors..  Lee has never sniffed a .900 OPS, while Julien’s lowest OPS at any minor league level was .891 over a half season at Cedar Rapids in his first taste of pro ball.  Lee will improve.  Give him time to do it so that he can be truly ready when he hits Target Field.  If he comes up, rakes, and becomes the star we all hope, then someone will either need to find a new position (maybe him) or be traded for starting pitching (also maybe him).