Twins Need to Decenter Royce Lewis From Their Plans

[Rod Carews Birthday]

My hope is that Lewis can become a solid above average regular for the Twins, capable of starting on a playoff/world series level team -- which would make him a "core" piece but not a guy you build a team around (who is that really?).  I don't really care what it looks like.  Maybe he keeps moving down the slugger road and becomes a 35 home run guy.  Maybe he turns into a doubles machine.  Maybe he's good enough all around to make a few all-star teams.  Take your pick.  What I worry about is that people are grasping onto some VERY small sample sizes (like his playoff stats) as proof that he is an MVP just waiting to happen.  If that's what you're honestly thinking, you should probably prepare to be disappointed.  Let's hope he can get (and keep) himself healthy and productive so the thought of signing him to an extension makes sense for the team and for Royce Lewis.  Right now, it probably doesn't, but the future could change that possibility either one way or the other. 

[Trov]

Right now Lewis needs to be looked as a great to have if healthy, but have a good plan B in place. It will be hard to trade away guys in the depth area expecting health from Lewis for long term.  It also points to no need to sign him to a long term deal because his health is a huge risk and he will want to try to show he can stay healthy and play a full year before looking to sign a long term offer.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

Creative pun there!

Hamming it up.

[KirbyDome89]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm not sure what the suggestion is here. He's an arbitration player playing on a cheap deal. They haven't extended him. I'm not aware of any rumors of them trying to extend him. Fans have become quite upset that the team has had the nerve to move him positions in season (for 2 games) and had him practice playing another infield position over the offseason. The team has multiple other young players ready to play his position.

When Royce is healthy Royce is going to play because he has the potential to be an MVP level bat. When he's hurt he isn't going to play. I don't get what this article is suggesting changing. What else are they supposed to be doing? They aren't trading away Lee or Castro or Miranda because of Lewis. They aren't extending Lewis for 10 years. They're going year by year through arbitration and playing him when he's healthy. What else should they do?

Nothing.

He doesn't hit FA until he's 30 and he hasn't been able to stay remotely healthy through his mid 20s. Diamond hands. 

[rv78]

If the Twins need to decenter themselves from Lewis then they should have done so with Buxton at least 5 years ago and Correa after last season. 

[Dave Borton]

On 3/21/2025 at 2:08 PM, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I get it, but I would maintain that the difference between articles is actually TD doing a good job rather than a bad one by presenting different viewpoints about a subject and letting those things guide the discussion. . .

TD does a good job in objectively presenting a spectrum of perspectives on the Twins.

Are there articles with which I disagree? Many of them. But I can buzz thru the lighter arguments and drill down on the good ones that contain solid items I hadn't considered.

Keep up the good work.

[purplesoldier4u]

TK used to mumble about the need for hitters to accumulate (about) 1500 MLB at bats as young players. After three solid seasons, the players, coaches, and league will have a pretty good idea what a hitter can or cannot do. Sadly, I'm not sure Lewis can reach that in six years. Bummer.

[TheLeviathan]

5 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Nothing.

He doesn't hit FA until he's 30 and he hasn't been able to stay remotely healthy through his mid 20s. Diamond hands. 

I think this is right - you hold and hope.  At the same time, nothing also implies you don't double down either.  We're approaching the point where many organizations would extend someone like Lewis potentially and buy out a few of his FA years with raises now.  That, I think, would also be a mistake.

I think nothing is correct in that you neither invest nor devest in Lewis as an asset to the team going forward. To me that's the takeaway of this article - you can't center your future on him and hope that he can be "The guy" for the core going forward.  At the same time, it'd be foolish to move off of him.

Hold and hope.

[DocBauer]

To be clear, Lewis has never suffered an injury as a Twin playing defense other than the 1 game in CF. And it wasn't him crashing in to the wall. It was an awkward leap and landing that re-injured the knee.

I think any move to 1B is more about the BEST total configuration of the INF and not about keeping Lewis healthy.

In regard to his work ethic, he is a tireless worker who has rehabbed TWICE from major knee injuries. And he worked hard this offseason with a previous trainer to work on flexibility to try and avoid any more muscle injuries. MAYBE this is the last one for some time? We can only hope so.

But it's entirely possible his previous pair of knee surgeries, and all the game action missed, has his body over compensating in an attempt to be "normal" in execution of his playing ball. I mean, even on a much smaller basis, how many of us have hurt a knee or ankle and limped around for a while and felt other parts of our body feeling the affects? Buxton, for example, has had a hip issue flare up at times, probably due to compensating for his knee issues.

Glass half full, Lewis is still young enough that with continued rehab and exercise and his body adjusting to the new norm of having a not quite 100% knee the soft tissue injuries might abate themselves. Our own TD physical therapist contributor...paraphrasing here...has commented in the past about the body adjusting and compensating and adjusting.

MAYBE Lewis never gets right. It's possible. It's also very possible with a little more time and work his body just adjusts to playing daily and he's fine. Considering his attitude, talent, work ethic, and young age, I'm betting on him and his body eventually "settling in" and being more durable going forward. 

I'm a bit confused about the OP. Lewis should be dismissed? Lewis should be granted patience? Or the Twins should already be looking for an alternative?

I can see reasons for looking in to the system for alternatives if things go sideways. But I'd bet real $ that the STILL ONLY 25yo Lewis WILL settle in as healthy and productive. I just wish it was today vs tomorrow.

[laloesch]

I don’t think the Twins have any choice but to roll with Lewis when he’s healthy 

[ddubbl1]

Royce, Im sorry bro, but if you get another injury after this that takes you out for more than 10 days, we're gonna have to let you go. Twins used to have same players in same positions for 150 games a year. I miss the days of seeing the same guys in at least 7 of the 9 positions. Poor Rocco has to do the unthinkable ( great so far), to keep our lineup juggled to the best possible version. You getting hurt EVERY, STINKIN' YEAR, is getting old. You have major health issues if you keep hurting yourself sprinting. I mean, wtf dude??Your bat is the most blessed since Kirby and Herbie.  Concerned fan whose convinced you could be a future hall of famer in Cooperstown. Quit using your calves to run, strain the upper leg muscles instead please. or maybe braces for calves?? Rock on and the wirld will go on!! - Lord Duncan youtube. @derekduncan900

[Bodie]

20 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I am quite certain he does this. He's a professional athlete with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line. The Twins are a professional sports team with a lot invested in him. He's gone through 2 ACL rehabs. He didn't do those on his own. I'm pretty sure he's got some pretty smart people helping him when it comes to knowing how to train.

Lets be honest.  Those are the same people whose sterling track record includes keeping Buxton on the field. And Kirilloff.   

And Brock Stewart.

And the stellar rehabs of the above mentioned. 

And Paddack. 

Or keeping injury prone players healthier than expected.  I'm sure that has happened, but for the life of me I can't think of a single one!

Maybe they are better at  diagnostic/scouting side?  Doing a good job on reviewing medical records and shared reports on prospective Twins?  Correa, d'Scalfini, Paddack or Toppa looking better by the day, medically speaking?

 

Not saying the entire medical staff is incompetent, but the track record needs to be considered as least as much as the "Dr." preceding his name.

You don't take diabetes information to use from your one-footed diabetic friends!

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Bodie said:

Lets be honest.  Those are the same people whose sterling track record includes keeping Buxton on the field. And Kirilloff.   

And Brock Stewart.

And the stellar rehabs of the above mentioned. 

And Paddack. 

Or keeping injury prone players healthier than expected.  I'm sure that has happened, but for the life of me I can't think of a single one!

Maybe they are better at  diagnostic/scouting side?  Doing a good job on reviewing medical records and shared reports on prospective Twins?  Correa, d'Scalfini, Paddack or Toppa looking better by the day, medically speaking?

 

Not saying the entire medical staff is incompetent, but the track record needs to be considered as least as much as the "Dr." preceding his name.

You don't take diabetes information to use from your one-footed diabetic friends!

As opposed to all the other teams with no injuries because their Drs and trainers have solved the great mystery of sports injuries?

Can't believe the Twins couldn't solve Kirirloff's genetic disorders. Such failures. So incompetent. 

You named 7 players. Do you feel that is a large number? The Twins are about average when it comes to the amount of injuries they deal with. It just feels like more because they're who we focus on and are emotionally attached to.

The Dodgers couldn't keep Stewart healthy either. And the Padres couldn't keep Paddack healthy. And the Mariners couldn't keep Topa healthy. Multiple teams couldn't keep DeSclafani healthy. That doesn't make the Twins medical staff incompetent, it makes the front office overly reliant on injury prone players because they're cheaper.

Why should the expectation be that the Twins medical staff can do what nobody else can do? Why should they be expected to keep bodies with genetic reasons why they don't stay healthy healthy anyways? Seems like an unreasonable expectation. Why is the standard "healthier than expected" for injury prone players? Is the standard for development that the coaches get average players to be above average players or they're failures? 

Alex Kirilloff retired at the age of 27. He had to have his wrist bones surgically shortened. That's the trainers and Drs faults? They couldn't teach him how to lift and stretch his way out of genetic problems like extra long wrist bones and spinal issues? Man, such incompetence over at 1 Twins Way! I see your point.

[Whitey333]

I agree with the premise of this article.  I am surprised they haven't already signed him to a 100,000,000 7 year contract Ala Byron Buxton.  After all isn't that the going Twins rate for playing 100 games or less for the Twins?

[Major League Ready]

8 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

I agree with the premise of this article.  I am surprised they haven't already signed him to a 100,000,000 7 year contract Ala Byron Buxton.  After all isn't that the going Twins rate for playing 100 games or less for the Twins?

I will take the $15M/year guy that produces 4 WAR in 100 games over the 4 WAR in 150 games.  Whatever we get out of his back-up is a bonus and who would you rather have in the playoffs?  BTW ... his production per dollar is about double the average for free agents so to complain about his production based on salary makes absolutely no sense.

[FargoFanMan]

Sign him to a Buxton type deal right now. At this point you can lock him up as a 90 game player and put incentives in if he reaches more. Time to call it what it is. If we’re excited when Buxton plays 100 games why can’t we be excited when Lewis does the same. Some guys are what they are. Maximize the value you know and hope for more. He’s never gonna be an MVP type player as he’s going now cause he’s never gonna play 140 games but he can be very solid for 90 games for many more years. Jump on that.

[Linus]

20 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

First base? The position that requires sudden, full out stretches in almost any direction after a quick sprint to the base? I'm not sure that's a good idea for a guy with hamstring and other soft tissue leg concerns. Actually, I think it's actually possibly the second worst position behind catcher for Royce Lewis.

Not to mention the potential collisions with base runners when fielding poor throws, runners stepping on his foot etc. There is no “safe” position on the field but third base would likely be the closest to safe.

[Nashvilletwin]

20 hours ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I get it, but I would maintain that the difference between articles is actually TD doing a good job rather than a bad one by presenting different viewpoints about a subject and letting those things guide the discussion.  If they were just eternal pessimists or hopeless cheerleaders, that would be a much bigger problem in terms of honest journalism.  And, as Twins history has taught us, players do go from essential cog to part time player to out of baseball (and sometimes back and forth) pretty quickly.  It's not fun for fans or players, but it certainly happens all the time.

There are certainly articles that aren't very good or are just bad clickbait (I think that's the nature of the beast these days), but there are plenty that are filled with good information and analysis as well.  If people can have a reasonable (not without disagreement!) discussion, then that's the way people broaden their ideas and have stronger information to draw from when making their own decisions. 

I agree for the most part.  Lots of good pro and cons articles.

However, one thing in particular - there is very little in the way of critiques of our manager as a whole. From our utter (and embarrassing) collapse last season to our complete failure to turn legit prospects into regular major leaguers, basically nothing gets laid at the feet of Rocco on the DN. Why that is, who knows  

The TD is fun, generally positive and rah rah, most of the articles are interesting and insightful, and the banter among the critically thinking capable commenters (who comprise our vast majority) generally keeps things real. And all that is how it should be.

[Otaknam]

Keaschall, EROD, and Jenkins have also started their careers with injury histories. Is it just coincidence that the Twins best position players and top minor league position players are all injury susceptible to soft tissue injuries? It makes me wonder about their training and injury prevention routines. I believe they did hire a new head trainer last year, but the results don’t seem to be any better. 

[tony&rodney]

The Twins have Lewis up until his year 30 season or 3 more after this year. There will not be cause to commit for more than a year to year salary for Royce. In the meantime one can hope Royce finds a level of competence as a corner infielder and can become a good bat for the #5 or #6 slot in a lineup.

[stringer bell]

42 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins have Lewis up until his year 30 season or 3 more after this year. There will not be cause to commit for more than a year to year salary for Royce. In the meantime one can hope Royce finds a level of competence as a corner infielder and can become a good bat for the #5 or #6 slot in a lineup. 

I bolded the portion of the posting by @tony&rodney that illustrates to me what the recent injuries (after the two ACL surgeries) and the struggle have done to the fan's perspective. Lewis is no longer thought of as one of the coming megastars. Twins fans are hoping he can be a good regular player who is on the field most of the time.

As far as the back and forth about training and injury prevention, yup every franchise suffers injuries and the Twins are no exceptions. If there is some blame to pass, I would say the FO has been willing to take risks on guys (Mahle, Paddack, DeSclafani) who were obvious injury risks and sometimes double down. Correa was re-signed because two other teams thought the risk for injury outweighed his talent and the Twins chose to downplay that risk (correctly, so far) but he's come up with injuries to both feet. I consider that bad luck. They also signed Buck to an extension despite his being on the IL every year, in large part because the terms were favorable.

We Twins fans see "our" team's injuries and want to shake our fist at the sky. Most, if not every, other team has the same response. Every team runs into injuries and finding guys, like Carlos Santana, who never get hurt is pretty doggone difficult. I doubt training methods are much different through all the major leagues. Probably the most successful trainers and medical staffs success is more about communication than it is about methods. 

[JD-TWINS]

On 3/21/2025 at 9:42 AM, LambchoP said:

I think a mid-market team like the Twins can probably rely on one, maybe two injury prone guys in the lineup. Three, definitely not. If every single year we have Lewis, Buxton and Correa missing half the season it's going to cripple the rest of the roster. I say get whatever production we can out of Lewis until he's a free agent while also looking for our third baseman of the future .

Making a conscious decision to move him to DH & 1B & emergency 3B is a way to handle time missed without disrupting the IF. Shifting to this type of “decentering” helps stabilize the defense while still maximizing Lewis bat potential when healthy.

Future with Lee/Miranda - CC - Keaschall/Julien - Lewis/Miranda is a good infield at the plate and middle of the road defensively.

[Bodie]

6 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

As opposed to all the other teams with no injuries because their Drs and trainers have solved the great mystery of sports injuries?

Can't believe the Twins couldn't solve Kirirloff's genetic disorders. Such failures. So incompetent. 

You named 7 players. Do you feel that is a large number? The Twins are about average when it comes to the amount of injuries they deal with. It just feels like more because they're who we focus on and are emotionally attached to.

The Dodgers couldn't keep Stewart healthy either. And the Padres couldn't keep Paddack healthy. And the Mariners couldn't keep Topa healthy. Multiple teams couldn't keep DeSclafani healthy. That doesn't make the Twins medical staff incompetent, it makes the front office overly reliant on injury prone players because they're cheaper.

Why should the expectation be that the Twins medical staff can do what nobody else can do? Why should they be expected to keep bodies with genetic reasons why they don't stay healthy healthy anyways? Seems like an unreasonable expectation. Why is the standard "healthier than expected" for injury prone players? Is the standard for development that the coaches get average players to be above average players or they're failures? 

Alex Kirilloff retired at the age of 27. He had to have his wrist bones surgically shortened. That's the trainers and Drs faults? They couldn't teach him how to lift and stretch his way out of genetic problems like extra long wrist bones and spinal issues? Man, such incompetence over at 1 Twins Way! I see your point.

The Dodgers didn't sign Stewart to his latest contract. Same with Paddack and the Pads.  And the M's gave away d'Scalfini. Somehow this "everybody does the same" argument looks like a lot a small wins for everybody who does business with the Twins, while the Twins just keep signing people others won't. 

And don't act like I listed every injury.  That is being purposefully obtuse (or being a Minnesotan, maybe not purposefully...).  

The "core" of today's (Correa, Buxton) stars are unmovable from the Twins roster.  Few teams would clear a roster spot for either if we gave 'em away. Tomorrow's stars (Lewis - who'd be a star if he wasn't injured- and Jenkins) look to be following the same career path as Buxton's. Worse, actually as Buxton didn't have that BIG of red flag entering the majors as either of these to do/will.  For thier sake, I hope they get his contract before anyone wises up!

The only team that can compare to the Twins' catastrophic injuries,  AND injury history is the Angels.  And that is 95% missing Micky Mantle.  I mean Mike Trout. 

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Bodie said:

The Dodgers didn't sign Stewart to his latest contract. Same with Paddack and the Pads.  And the M's gave away d'Scalfini. Somehow this "everybody does the same" argument looks like a lot a small wins for everybody who does business with the Twins, while the Twins just keep signing people others won't. 

And don't act like I listed every injury.  That is being purposefully obtuse (or being a Minnesotan, maybe not purposefully...).  

The "core" of today's (Correa, Buxton) stars are unmovable from the Twins roster.  Few teams would clear a roster spot for either if we gave 'em away. Tomorrow's stars (Lewis - who'd be a star if he wasn't injured- and Jenkins) look to be following the same career path as Buxton's. Worse, actually as Buxton didn't have that BIG of red flag entering the majors as either of these to do/will.  For thier sake, I hope they get his contract before anyone wises up!

The only team that can compare to the Twins' catastrophic injuries,  AND injury history is the Angels.  And that is 95% missing Micky Mantle.  I mean Mike Trout. 

Brock Stewart is making 870k this year. That's 110k over the league minimum. Really breaking the bank on that one! The Mariners paid DeSclafani last year. They had already traded for him that offseason. The Dodgers traded for and then extended Tyler Glasnow who has never made more than 22 starts in a major league season in his 9 year career. Not once. And he's only made 20 starts twice. Only cracked 15 starts those 2 times as well. Only gotten over 11 starts 5 times. They gave him $135+ million.

Pretending the Twins have an above average injury rate is being purposefully obtuse. It's why I responded in kind. 

The Twins could trade Buxton or Correa today without question. Of course it's a more limited list for Correa as there's a number of teams that wouldn't take on 30+ a year for multiple years, but they could easily move him if they wanted to. Carlos Correa played 136 and 135 games his first 2 years here. 

Walker Jenkins has a twisted ankle. What are we even talking about?

Corey Seager, Ronald Acuna Jr, Mike Trout, Walker Buehler, Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Pedroia, Tulo, Nomar, David Wright, Grady Sizemore, Giancarlo Stanton, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey. And those are just the names I can come up with off the top of my head over the last decade or so who had careers ruined or significantly altered for long stretches because of injuries.

Acuna and Sale are on the same team now. Same with Seager and deGrom. deGrom, Syndergaard, and Harvey were all on the same team. Stanton and Judge being hurt at the same time in 2023 caused the Yankees to miss the playoffs for just the 5th time in the 21st century. 

EVERY team deals with injuries. Yes, Buxton and Lewis getting hurt as frequently as they do is an anomaly and absolutely brutal. It's not because the training staff is incompetent. The Twins as a team are just about average nearly every year even with those 2 when it comes to the number of injuries and days spent on the IL as a team.

Go look at the Dodgers and Braves IL from last year. Far worse than the Twins. The Twins catchers and starting rotation have been incredibly healthy for years now. This idea that the Twins are hurt far more than other teams is provably false. Buxton and Lewis are anomalies. It sucks, there's no denying that. But, as a team, the Twins do not have an injury problem. 

[PuckettProtector]

On 3/21/2025 at 11:25 AM, Nashvilletwin said:

It’s hard to keep up with the TD. One minute, player X is our future mainstay, the next he no longer has a future as a dependable Twin.  Player Y should be in St. Paul one minute and the next he will save our season. Player Z is now one of our cores, but yet in reality he can only be counted upon to play five innings because he’s really a platoon player (in Rocco’s eyes). Sheesh,  I’m getting whiplash. (And, btw, there are multiple Twins who fit each category, lol).

Yes, the potential for Lewis IS there. He’s a great kid too.  But let’s face it, at this point he is a well below average fielder as a third baseman and his bat, albeit occasionally remarkable in spurts, is inconsistent at best over a longer period. He’d probably be SO much better with 500 more ABs and 160 more innings under his belt. Sadly, though, his injuries compound this somewhat bleak assessment.

Get him healthy, give him as many innings and ABs as possible and see where it takes him.  I still believe in him. He can still be a mainstay (and fan favorite). 

It's almost like there are different people with differing opinions that react to individual situations and that no teams fans are a monolith or something. Sheesh. 

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Brock Stewart is making 870k this year. That's 110k over the league minimum. Really breaking the bank on that one! The Mariners paid DeSclafani last year. They had already traded for him that offseason. The Dodgers traded for and then extended Tyler Glasnow who has never made more than 22 starts in a major league season in his 9 year career. Not once. And he's only made 20 starts twice. Only cracked 15 starts those 2 times as well. Only gotten over 11 starts 5 times. They gave him $135+ million.

Pretending the Twins have an above average injury rate is being purposefully obtuse. It's why I responded in kind. 

The Twins could trade Buxton or Correa today without question. Of course it's a more limited list for Correa as there's a number of teams that wouldn't take on 30+ a year for multiple years, but they could easily move him if they wanted to. Carlos Correa played 136 and 135 games his first 2 years here. 

Walker Jenkins has a twisted ankle. What are we even talking about?

Corey Seager, Ronald Acuna Jr, Mike Trout, Walker Buehler, Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Pedroia, Tulo, Nomar, David Wright, Grady Sizemore, Giancarlo Stanton, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey. And those are just the names I can come up with off the top of my head over the last decade or so who had careers ruined or significantly altered for long stretches because of injuries.

Acuna and Sale are on the same team now. Same with Seager and deGrom. deGrom, Syndergaard, and Harvey were all on the same team. Stanton and Judge being hurt at the same time in 2023 caused the Yankees to miss the playoffs for just the 5th time in the 21st century. 

EVERY team deals with injuries. Yes, Buxton and Lewis getting hurt as frequently as they do is an anomaly and absolutely brutal. It's not because the training staff is incompetent. The Twins as a team are just about average nearly every year even with those 2 when it comes to the number of injuries and days spent on the IL as a team.

Go look at the Dodgers and Braves IL from last year. Far worse than the Twins. The Twins catchers and starting rotation have been incredibly healthy for years now. This idea that the Twins are hurt far more than other teams is provably false. Buxton and Lewis are anomalies. It sucks, there's no denying that. But, as a team, the Twins do not have an injury problem. 

I agree with your general sentiment, but I believe in 2022 the Twins were #2 in missed man/games and the players missing were high impact guys. They have gambled more than most on the health of guys with long injury histories IMHO, but every team gets hit hard by injury. As sobering and disappointing another Lewis injury is for the Twins, the Yankees starting staff led by their ace Gerrit Cole has suffered a devastating bad run early in 2025.

[chpettit19]

35 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I agree with your general sentiment, but I believe in 2022 the Twins were #2 in missed man/games and the players missing were high impact guys. They have gambled more than most on the health of guys with long injury histories IMHO, but every team gets hit hard by injury. As sobering and disappointing another Lewis injury is for the Twins, the Yankees starting staff led by their ace Gerrit Cole has suffered a devastating bad run early in 2025.

Yeah, that's why I said nearly every year. Every team is allowed to have a spike year. The Braves shouldn't be expected to have Strider, Acuna, Riley, Harris, Albies, and Murphy hurt every year, and them all being hurt last year shouldn't be an indictment on their training staff. Acuna blowing out his ACL twice isn't a failure on the training staff. They took a risk on Sale who'd been a disaster with Boston and it turned into a Cy Young.

The Twins take way more risks than I'd like on low ceiling players with major injury concerns. Mahle, Topa, and DeSclafani are not Sale. If Sale stays healthy he wins the Cy Young. If those other 3 stay healthy they aren't winning awards. Buxton is a nice risk, in my opinion, because he's paid as a half-season player with incentives if he plays all year and wins awards. 

Lewis wasn't a gamble, he's just turned into a guy who hasn't stayed healthy. Not sure what is supposed to be done about that. Same with Kirilloff. Did other teams think he was likely to retire at 27 from injury problems? I don't think that's realistic. Jenkins pulled a hammy once and twisted an ankle once. Not sure why his name is being brought up. Lee is an interesting one depending on what info they had about his back before the draft. I know he was praised heavily by a lot of industry folks at the time of the draft, but there were other options for that pick that would've been reasonable as well if they had real medical concerns. Neto, at this early stage in their careers, was clearly the better SS pick.

There's always things to criticize for every team. And teams that can't spend as much have to make fewer mistakes. But I think the Twins get too much criticism for the injuries they suffer compared to the rest of the league. It appears to be mostly a symptom of following one team so closely and being unaware of what's actually happening around the entire league, in my estimation. 

[KirbyDome89]

21 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I agree with your general sentiment, but I believe in 2022 the Twins were #2 in missed man/games and the players missing were high impact guys. They have gambled more than most on the health of guys with long injury histories IMHO, but every team gets hit hard by injury. As sobering and disappointing another Lewis injury is for the Twins, the Yankees starting staff led by their ace Gerrit Cole has suffered a devastating bad run early in 2025.

I'm pretty sure I remember that number being fairly contentious. I know Ober was still struggling to stay healthy during that time and injuries were starting to creep into the picture for Polanco but I'm also certain I recall a lot of fringe guys and non factors racking up time on the IL. 

[KirbyDome89]

On 3/21/2025 at 7:10 PM, TheLeviathan said:

I think this is right - you hold and hope.  At the same time, nothing also implies you don't double down either.  We're approaching the point where many organizations would extend someone like Lewis potentially and buy out a few of his FA years with raises now.  That, I think, would also be a mistake.

I think nothing is correct in that you neither invest nor devest in Lewis as an asset to the team going forward. To me that's the takeaway of this article - you can't center your future on him and hope that he can be "The guy" for the core going forward.  At the same time, it'd be foolish to move off of him.

Hold and hope.

Yep, long term commitment doesn't make sense for either side right now. They've got years to figure something out, there's no reason to rush it right now. 

[Billthebill]

I can’t wait till,the kid smashes the season with 30 plus homers and 100 RBI’s to lead the team to the playoffs.  You “reporters” I use that loosely, are the biggest front runners it ridiculous.  First off you pop off how,bad last season was the last few months while every other guy threw up,on themselves as well, he’s 25 young.  This type of coverage will have him aching to,get back to Southern California and leave the snow and front running reporters behind.  He is going to be one of the best if not already.  We’ll see,how much the twins want to “decenter” when he dominates, and I’ll,love it when he rejects the twins contract offer shoves it in your faces.  2023 the guy lead you to,first series win in the playoffs in a loooong time you ungrateful no talent hacks.  He doesn’t blow,his,knee that first season but for the idiot manager putting him centerfield.