Speculating on Roster Moves

[stringer bell]

It would appear that there is one more position player move to be made in the last two weeks--Max Kepler could be activated as soon as tomorrow. IMHO, the two possible moves would be putting Trevor Larnach to the IL or optioning Edouard Julien to St. Paul. 

I'm not sure if there is a move to be made to help the bullpen. If not, the Twins are finishing their season with the likes of Scott Blewett, Mike Tonkin and Ronny Henriquez. To be honest, I don't know if there are any better options available in the Twins' system, but the BP is getting lots of innings because of the short starts from the three rookies in the rotation. Louie Varland has miserable numbers after yielding a couple of big innings recently. I don't know if he could or should be counted on to get any key outs in the remainder of the season or in post-season.

[Craig Arko]

Option Julien for Kepler, IL Larnach and recall Kiersey as backup CF.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

I'm not sure if there is a move to be made to help the bullpen. If not, the Twins are finishing their season with the likes of Scott Blewett, Mike Tonkin and Ronny Henriquez. To be honest, I don't know if there are any better options available in the Twins' system

There are rumors that Topa might come up. I will believe that when he's in the clubhouse.

[2wins87]

13 hours ago, stringer bell said:

It would appear that there is one more position player move to be made in the last two weeks--Max Kepler could be activated as soon as tomorrow. IMHO, the two possible moves would be putting Trevor Larnach to the IL or optioning Edouard Julien to St. Paul. 

I'm not sure if there is a move to be made to help the bullpen. If not, the Twins are finishing their season with the likes of Scott Blewett, Mike Tonkin and Ronny Henriquez. To be honest, I don't know if there are any better options available in the Twins' system, but the BP is getting lots of innings because of the short starts from the three rookies in the rotation. Louie Varland has miserable numbers after yielding a couple of big innings recently. I don't know if he could or should be counted on to get any key outs in the remainder of the season or in post-season.

I'd agree with optioning Julien at this point.  Hasn't really looked any better in his second stint this year.  Farmer has been hot lately, so it could be an improvement to get him more at bats, even against some righties.  The question on Larnach is, I guess, will sitting for two weeks make the difference for his hamstring? Is playing through it making it any worse?  He's remained fairly productive playing through it so far and the DH spot is fairly available.  Might be risky but I would prefer to have his bat.

Really don't think there is much help for the bullpen.  I guess the one guy I would consider would be Brent Headrick, who is back from a long absence due to a forearm strain, but he does have a 33% K rate in his limited time at AAA this year.  Having another lefty might be more useful than Blewett, Tonkin, and Henriquez.  I'd figure out which of the back-end righties you trust the least (I think it's probably Henriquez with his 16% K rate, or maybe Blewett who's not a lot better), and maybe hope Headrick can be a hot hand.  Not sure you'd call it bullpen help, but it might be worth a shot.

I don't trust Varland yet.  I'm hoping if he focusses on being a RP next year, refining and paring down his arsenal, he should be a solid reliever with an upper 90s FB.  He's not there yet though.

[Riverbrian]

When Kepler comes back. Right now we are talking about the 15th guy. Come playoff time you will have to tack on one more... the 14th guy to get down to 13. 

My guess is that platoon will be the driving force in the decision. 

It would make no sense to not let lefties face lefties consistently and violently all year long and then all of sudden say... OK... Go do it now.

Because the Twins have done that all year. Margot and Farmer have become essential. 

Julien would require an extra Margot/Farmer type guy. 

Lee doesn't have a job. 

Miranda... Shouldn't be facing lefties based on his splits but he should be in the lineup against right handers based on his splits. 

IMO... Miranda gets the last spot on the roster. 

When does he play? Who comes out? 

 

 

 

[stringer bell]

Reading elsewhere, I see there has been a couple of Justin Topa sightings. The Twins' bullpen might have been considerably better with 2023 Topa in it all season, but that didn't happen. Would he be a better option than Henriquez, Varland, Blewett or Tonkin? Possibly, but he has sat out an entire season with only a handful of rehab innings.

With 13 games to go, I can see Buxton and Correa each getting three or four games off, particularly Buxton. That would mean games and innings are available for Lee at shortstop and somebody in center field (Castro?). Would I rather see and gimpy-legged Larnach at DH with Wallner and Kepler in the corners or would I rather see Willi Castro in left with Kepler in right and Wallner the DH? I dunno, but they need to hit because the pitching is on a razor's edge.

[August J Gloop]

DFA Kepler. He's definitely not better than Wallner or Larnach (even with the bad foot) at this point. The Twins are the deepest team in the ALC next year and unless they have massive regression (or similar injury woes) should be fighting for the division again. These games are a lot more valuable for the players who will be here next year than they are for a guy who isn't going to help them win that much anyway. If they were going to get BombaKep, totally different. But current Kep is not good on either side of the ball. (I know this is not gonna happen and I hope that Kep does catch fire for 14 post season wins.) 

[RpR]

2 hours ago, August J Gloop said:

DFA Kepler. He's definitely not better than Wallner or Larnach (even with the bad foot) at this point. The Twins are the deepest team in the ALC next year and unless they have massive regression (or similar injury woes) should be fighting for the division again. These games are a lot more valuable for the players who will be here next year than they are for a guy who isn't going to help them win that much anyway. If they were going to get BombaKep, totally different. But current Kep is not good on either side of the ball. (I know this is not gonna happen and I hope that Kep does catch fire for 14 post season wins.) 

LOL

Just pray we do not get last years Postseason  Wallner.

[DocBauer]

HOPEFULLY Kepler feels better ENOUGH to go on a mini tear to finish out the season. It's got to be Julien or Lee down to make room, and there are arguements for both to stay or go. Because the suddenly hot Farmer...healthy and productive after reportedly playing hurt a lot of the time...swings from the RH side, Castro and Lee switch hit, and Lee is probably the better backup to Correa, I'd probably send down Julien. 

I have little hope Tops or Paddack ride to the rescue, but it's still possible one of them does. Not banking on it. But in any discussion about the pen, are we talking the remainder of the season? Or are we talking the playoffs? They are different discussions. 

The Irvin signing MIGHT pay off for some extra IP to close out the season, maybe even provide a little rest for Lopez or Ober or SWR, depending how the next 2 weeks go, and if the final series against Baltimore matters.

Extremely disappointed in Varland's last outing. He needs a complete re-set in 2025, and as a pen piece. But for now, he's still one of the best arms the pen has available. So you have to hope for the switch to kick in for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Festa probably sticks in the pen come playoff time, unless you want to hold him back as a potential #4 starter. But for the 1st round, I'd say he's in the pen for sure. 

I think the idea of bringing Headrick up as a LH in the pen is interesting, if a bit desperate, but it's not a silly idea at all. 

Funny, but I like the projection of the pen in the playoffs more than I like the pen to finish out the season. Does that make sense? 

The Twins are closer to things than we are as fans, and see things we don't always see/know. And there's still time to make a decision or two as to who's up and who's down. But right now, they have the issue of who can be trusted for innings. Henriquez has been OK, as has Tonkin, for the most part. Still not sure about Blewitt. Percentages say the Twins make the playoffs unless they just blow the last 2 weeks.

Biggest problem might be the #3 starter, and the depth pieces before we get to the top arms in the pen. But again, i almost like the postseason pen better than I like it right now.