Enough Speculation: The Twins Already Have Their Answer at First Base

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I like nothing about this signing. France hasn't hit since 2022, was an undeserving all-star who rode 2 hot months into getting a nod, isn't a very good defender, and doesn't even profile as a platoon player. Unless Miranda is hurt, I'd much rather have Miranda out at 1B.

I hope he hasn't been promised the starting job (but I'm probably wrong) and if he stinks (which is likely) I hope the Twins are willing to cut their losses on the crappy veteran for once rather than keep running them out there hoping to recoup value. but I doubt it.

Basically, I hope I'm wrong about Ty France. but I don't think I am.

Not a fan of the signing either. I just found it funny that less than 3 hours after the article was posted they signed a 1B. 

[Muppet]

With Ty France (and Bader, Gasper, etc) now more than ever, that crop of youngins better all have a banner year together. This team will win if, and only if, Larnach, Miranda, Julien, Lewis, Wallner, and Lee ALL have breakout years. 

[Western SD Fan]

28 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I haven’t seen an article age this poorly in quite some time. Well done! 

This smells like Logan Morrison all over again. We feel like we needed to fill a spot and one was filled.

[Brandon]

33 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I haven’t seen an article age this poorly in quite some time. Well done! 

I’m guessing Derek Falvey read this article and the first remaining option being Ty France.  Falvey must have thought…. Forgot about him great idea let’s make this happen……

[mikelink45]

And now we have Ty France who is no where near Miranda's ability and just clogs the bench - I hate having dustbin players pushing out prospects. 

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

I’m guessing Derek Falvey read this article and the first remaining option being Ty France.  Falvey must have thought…. Forgot about him great idea let’s make this happen……

Pictured: Derek Falvey after reading this article at 12:07 PM CT

[RpR]

4 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I think there’s recency bias against Julien. Everything went wrong and he lost confidence, but he has the ability to be a fine hitter. Last year at this time, Miranda and Larnach were afterthoughts, but they got their chance and performed well enough to be in the Twins’ plans in 2025. 
 

The same thing could happen for Julien in the coming season. 

He has a lead glove, and probably always will.

[AceWrigley]

So, I send a letter from Paris inquiring about the start of spring training. His secretary says to him, "Hey, we got an inquiry from France." Derek goes and signs the guy. Putz.

[stringer bell]

One key thing is that France's contract is not guaranteed. If he is really bad in the spring, the Twins can cut him loose for a song. Kind of weird that it's not a guaranteed contract, but he is added to the 40-man roster. 

[Vanimal46]

22 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

One key thing is that France's contract is not guaranteed. If he is really bad in te spring, the Twins can cut him loose for a song. Kind of weird that it's not a guaranteed contract, but he is added to the 40-man roster. 

Being added to the 40 says a lot more about the intention of the contract. Let’s not pretend he was signed to be playing in St Paul on opening day. 

[stringer bell]

3 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Being added to the 40 says a lot more about the intention of the contract. Let’s not pretend he was signed to be playing in St Paul on opening day. 

Agreed. But having the option to dump him for cheap and only signing a $1M contract mean there isn't a lot invested.

[Vanimal46]

2 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Agreed. But having the option to dump him for cheap and only signing a $1M contract mean there isn't a lot invested.

We can only hope. But I’d guess even a bad spring training gets him on the opening day roster 

[h2oface]

4 hours ago, stringer bell said:

One key thing is that France's contract is not guaranteed. If he is really bad in te spring, the Twins can cut him loose for a song. Kind of weird that it's not a guaranteed contract, but he is added to the 40-man roster. 

Best news today.

[ddubbl1]

Miranda and France will be fine at 1st/ DH. Julien needs another year in St Paul. Personally i dont want him on the team after last years 6 losses he caused and 47 strike 3s he watched fly by. 

[RpR]

8 hours ago, ddubbl1 said:

Miranda and France will be fine at 1st/ DH. Julien needs another year in St Paul. Personally i dont want him on the team after last years 6 losses he caused and 47 strike 3s he watched fly by. 

He needs time in some other teams AA club.

[twinstalker]

Keaschall at 1B is interesting, but I don't think he's a bad fielder and should probably be the eventual 2B.  He obviously had to played bad-armed positions last season and may well start this year that way, but I think he'll be fine in the end at 2B.  We'll see.  So much depends on Brooks Lee.  As for Lewis, he'll be gone in four years (so should be traded in two).  Moving him to 1B will not optimize his trade value.

[RpR]

On 2/11/2025 at 2:26 PM, jmlease1 said:

It's interesting how quick some people are to give up on Julien. Dude was 7th in RoY voting in 2023, and deserved it. He's hit at every level of professional baseball, including a longer period of success in MLB than failure. One poor year (and it unquestionably was poor) and it seems like there are a lot of people ready to throw him on the scrap heap. I mean, people get mad about the Twins letting Rooker go, and he was worse than Julien, having shown far less MLB success than Julien, and couldn't stick with 2 others teams (including KC, who desperately needed a power-hitting corner OF/DH type at the time). And people still use him as an example for why the twins decision-making is bad.

But we're supposed to give up on Julien?

Absolutely - he never was and never will be even average.

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

Absolutely - he never was and never will be even average.

you're kidding right? you don't think he was even average in 2023? so everyone who voted for him for AL Rookie of the Year (he know he finished 7th, right?) was just wrong? 

Maybe he'll never be good again, but pretending Ed Julien has never been good in MLB is borderline crazy

[RpR]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

you're kidding right? you don't think he was even average in 2023? so everyone who voted for him for AL Rookie of the Year (he know he finished 7th, right?) was just wrong? 

Maybe he'll never be good again, but pretending Ed Julien has never been good in MLB is borderline crazy

His glove has always been an impediment to twins defense.

Roy votes mean nothing; he has done no better than Jake Cave with his bat.

His glove is a  horrid failure.

They let Cave go and should do the same with Julien only not wait so long.

[jmlease1]

14 hours ago, RpR said:

His glove has always been an impediment to twins defense.

Roy votes mean nothing; he has done no better than Jake Cave with his bat.

His glove is a  horrid failure.

They let Cave go and should do the same with Julien only not wait so long.

the Cave comp is just weird, but also demonstrably wrong. Julien had an OPS+ of 130 in 2023. Cave has never gotten close to that. Julien has a career bWAR of 2.5 (including his bad sophomore slump); Cave has a career bWAR of 1.7 in 5 more seasons.

I think RoY votes do mean something, unless you believe there simply weren't 7 good AL rookies in 2023, which if that's the case then I really can't help you.

I really don't understand the Julien hate. It's as if people want him to be bad so they can point at the people in the organization they don't like/want fire and say "see!!! I told you!!!" It's as if you need him to be bad because you don't like the way he plays?

He might not bounce back, but the talent is there. I'm rooting for him to crush it. That's way more fun than trashing one of our own.

[ddubbl1]

Tell him to lose the Joan of Arc haircut and learn how to wear his damn hat pulled all the way down to his ears. He wears it like Joey Cora.  looks stupid . we have other reasons to despise him

 Like the 6 games he alone caused us to lose from fielding errors last year and the 47 times he stood at the plate and watched strike go flying by. Good riddance..go back to minors for some other team.

[ddubbl1]

On 2/12/2025 at 11:38 AM, twinstalker said:

Keaschall at 1B is interesting, but I don't think he's a bad fielder and should probably be the eventual 2B.  He obviously had to played bad-armed positions last season and may well start this year that way, but I think he'll be fine in the end at 2B.  We'll see.  So much depends on Brooks Lee.  As for Lewis, he'll be gone in four years (so should be traded in two).  Moving him to 1B will not optimize his trade value.

FYI..If Royce stays healthy and starts playing above his potential, he will be here for 15 more years. Twins drafted him with him being their new face of the franchise for many years to come. If he stays healthy and gets his bat going, he should prove to be a generational talent. Future Hall of Famer. His talent is beyond SICK!!