Whom Should Brooks Lee Replace on Twins Roster?

[Karbo]

58 minutes ago, miller761 said:

Lee better show he can hit first,

 

That is the question

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

In regard to Brooks Lee getting every day playing time, I'd rather not hand the keys to Matt Tolbert 2.0.

I think they need to give him regular playing time now to help them make decisions on what to prioritize when they sell at the deadline. This is a rebuilding team, whether they know it or not.

[Patzky]

Yes please 

[LA Vikes Fan]

46 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Can't hit. Except he's hit everywhere he's played. Weak defensively, except he's the second best infield defender anywhere near the 40 man behind Correa. Lack of athleticism or a back injury?

Did his dad cut you at some point?

He comes up and plays second base full time. Hits low in the lineup. Will be a stabilizer just with the glove.

Hope you're right, but we haven't seen Lee's bat play at the MLB level. He was affirmatively BAD at the plate last year with a .585 OPS in his 179 ABs. Does his defense make up for that on a team that can't score? Wouldn't it be better for him to spend 2-4 weeks at AA, show he can hit there and has knocked the rust off, and then call him up? Defense is important but hitting is much more important for a team that's 28th in BA, 29th in OPS, and 28th in slugging %. 

There's a better option - call up Luke Keaschall. He hit in Spring Training, hit last year in AA, and is hitting well in AAA so far.  Give him a chance and give him a chance NOW. We'll know if he's overmatched by the time Lee is ready to come up. If he's hitting, find him ABs at 2B and DH after Lee comes back up. If not, he goes back down for Lee.   

What this article really shows is that there is room for anybody at AAA that the team thinks can hit MLB pitching. We have at least 4 available spots - the 3 guys mentioned plus Keirsey. I'd love to see Keirsey can a chance to play and hit, but if he isn't going to get that chance bring up Martin and give him a chance to play. 

The bottom line is that what we're doing now is not working and there isn't much evidence to suggest that's going to change much. Harrison Bader is not going to OPS above .900, he'll wind up much closer to .700. Wallner may stay where he is and Buxton, Larnach, and/or Correa may come back to hitting like a #5 or #6 guy in a good lineup, but what else is there? Miranda and Julien may re-set at the MLB level but are more likely to need a AAA reset. We have no hitter who needs to play every day clogging up the DH spot. We don't need a new lineup order, we need new guys.  Lee might help, but the stats from last year suggest Martin might help more since he hit better. Keaschall has shown well in the Minors, give him a chance. I'm not thrilled with basically sorting out during the regular season but I think that's exactly what we need to do now.  Gaspar, Julien and maybe even Miranda have had their chance and failed. Get Martin and Keaschall up for Gaspar and Kiersey and give them a real shot.  If Keirsey is going to stay, play him, and bring up Martin for Julien. 

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  That's what we're doing. By the way, Albert Einstein didn't say that. It was first from a Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet published in 1981. I find that ironic - Addiction to the status quo may indeed be the problem.  

[$tryf4Life]

1 hour ago, miller761 said:

Lee better show he can hit first,

 

 

[DJL44]

22 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Gaspar, Julien and maybe even Miranda have had their chance and failed.

We're still dealing with way too small of sample sizes to say anyone "failed". Do you want to keep churning the roster every 10 games sending players up and down? Ryan Fitzgerald has the highest OPS in AAA - should the Twins bring him up?

Julien has been able to get the barrel on the ball. His expected stats on baseball savant are tops on the team. Gasper is at the bottom, below Vazquez.

 

[Whitey333]

Lee needs to be here and play everyday to see if he belongs in the majors.  He hasn't shown much so far and with chronic back problems I'm guessing his baseball career is short lived.  But the Twins have this thing about bringing up prospects then platooning them thus only playing half the time they are used to and half the time they need to develop into major league players.  My candidate to get rid of is Ty France.  His total lack of hustle is only surpassed by Baldelli's laid back, no sense of urgency philosophy of managing.

[Whitey333]

Remember folks yes it's only 11 games. Yes overtime they lose that number increases.  Also since the start of last years collapse, and the continued lackluster play this year the Twins are 15-35 in their last 50 games.  Is that acceptable?

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

In regard to Brooks Lee getting every day playing time, I'd rather not hand the keys to Matt Tolbert 2.0.

OK, this bit has officially jumped the shark.

 

[$tryf4Life]

Put all three names on a dartboard and throw a dart. 🎯 

any of them. 
 

some have mentioned he needs to prove he can hit first. I would think sending a message is more valuable. The others haven’t proven they can hit anyway. 
 

 

[Jocko87]

43 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Hope you're right, but we haven't seen Lee's bat play at the MLB level. He was affirmatively BAD at the plate last year with a .585 OPS in his 179 ABs. Does his defense make up for that on a team that can't score? Wouldn't it be better for him to spend 2-4 weeks at AA, show he can hit there and has knocked the rust off, and then call him up? Defense is important but hitting is much more important for a team that's 28th in BA, 29th in OPS, and 28th in slugging %. 

There's a better option - call up Luke Keaschall. He hit in Spring Training, hit last year in AA, and is hitting well in AAA so far.  Give him a chance and give him a chance NOW. We'll know if he's overmatched by the time Lee is ready to come up. If he's hitting, find him ABs at 2B and DH after Lee comes back up. If not, he goes back down for Lee.   

What this article really shows is that there is room for anybody at AAA that the team thinks can hit MLB pitching. We have at least 4 available spots - the 3 guys mentioned plus Keirsey. I'd love to see Keirsey can a chance to play and hit, but if he isn't going to get that chance bring up Martin and give him a chance to play. 

The bottom line is that what we're doing now is not working and there isn't much evidence to suggest that's going to change much. Harrison Bader is not going to OPS above .900, he'll wind up much closer to .700. Wallner may stay where he is and Buxton, Larnach, and/or Correa may come back to hitting like a #5 or #6 guy in a good lineup, but what else is there? Miranda and Julien may re-set at the MLB level but are more likely to need a AAA reset. We have no hitter who needs to play every day clogging up the DH spot. We don't need a new lineup order, we need new guys.  Lee might help, but the stats from last year suggest Martin might help more since he hit better. Keaschall has shown well in the Minors, give him a chance. I'm not thrilled with basically sorting out during the regular season but I think that's exactly what we need to do now.  Gaspar, Julien and maybe even Miranda have had their chance and failed. Get Martin and Keaschall up for Gaspar and Kiersey and give them a real shot.  If Keirsey is going to stay, play him, and bring up Martin for Julien. 

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  That's what we're doing. By the way, Albert Einstein didn't say that. It was first from a Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet published in 1981. I find that ironic - Addiction to the status quo may indeed be the problem.  

Except Keaschall isn't healthy yet.  We will have a similar thread for him in 6-8 weeks.  Book it.

I'm not worried about Lee last year.  Injuries certainly played a factor but he's also had an adjustment curve at every level.  Look at his month to month minor league numbers.  Its a repeat at every level-get promoted OPS 650 for a month 800 the next month, 950 the next two and get promoted.  Rinse, repeat.  His glove is valuable enough and he is mature enough to continue the adjustments at the bottom of the order. 

If he's healthy, he needs to be up. 

[Mike Sixel]

If it is France, with Larnach going to first base, I'm ok with that also......

[Jocko87]

4 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

If it is France, with Larnach going to first base, I'm ok with that also......

That will be covered in the forth-coming E-Rod thread.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Someone needs to bring Keirsey into this discussion.  3 PA in 11 games shows how much value he has to this team.  Castro would see more OF.

Keirsey's 3 PAs or a bunch of PAs from Julien & Gasper is a player evaluation problem not a player problem. How can you hit with so few PAs? But as long as Baldelli is around, he'd be better off with a different club, that'll give him a chance. He could be a better player than Rooker.

[KirbyDome89]

2 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

They just need the glove. Plenty of others around to not hit either.

And Gasper is the answer. Did we get any comments that they preferred him over Julien at second? Could also be a little bit of a continued try out for him or a lineup anomaly.

I see no reason to think he's better at second than Julien. Julien is just below average, Gasper is actively bad.

2B or 3B defense isn't enough. Half your roster can't be a black hole offensively. 

I don't care about Gasper, make the swap, but if Lee isn't hitting the hook needs to be equally fast. 

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

That will be covered in the forth-coming E-Rod thread.

Concur. Maybe even the Keaschell one.

Really? I didn't want these washed up/never was veterans here in the first place. Bring on the youth.

IF I was the owner, the youth hitters would determine if the FO keeps their jobs at this point.....because so far, yuck. 

[Doctor Gast]

Both Julien & Gasper need to go down. Miranda is an easy fix. Move him to 1B & give him a chance to learn 1B, he'd be better than France. The rare times I saw Miranda at 1B, he was adequate.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Doctor Gast said:

Both Julien & Gasper need to go down. Miranda is an easy fix, move him to 1B & give him a chance to learn 1B, he'd be better than France.

I endorse this post. You putting Castro or Keaschell at 2B, until Lewis returns (I assume Lee is your 3B?)?

[MinnesotaTwins26]

He should replace Rocco Baldelli 😜

[Fire Dan Gladden]

8 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Keirsey's 3 PAs or a bunch of PAs from Julien & Gasper is a player evaluation problem not a player problem. How can you hit with so few PAs? But as long as Baldelli is around, he'd be better off with a different club, that'll give him a chance. He could be a better player than Rooker.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.... I want to make sure I am understanding you correctly:

You are saying that the main, possibly only thing stopping DaShawn Kiersey from being a 5.6+WAR player is Rocco Baldelli and his unwillingness to play him more?

I understand the current hate for Rocco, but this?  Really?

[jorgenswest]

55 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

If it is France, with Larnach going to first base, I'm ok with that also......

Would you really put someone with no college or professional experience at 1B mid season? You probably can do it with an infielder. I might do that with a catcher. They at least have good feet and hands to play that position as well as managing balls skipping in the dirt. I can’t see how that would work with a corner OF mid season.

How about Keaschall at 1B? 

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Would you really put someone with no college or professional experience at 1B mid season? You probably can do it with an infielder. I might do that with a catcher. They at least have good feet and hands to play that position as well as managing balls skipping in the dirt. I can’t see how that would work with a corner OF mid season.

How about Keaschall at 1B? 

I suggested earlier moving him to first.....I'm still good with that, unless they feel he can stick at 2B. 

I wanted Larnarch moved to first in the off season, and not to sign France.....but yes, risky. No idea how much practice he'd need at first to make it viable. That said, I'm good with him at DH (though I'd consider Lewis at first of Dh also, for the games he's healthy). 

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

Except Keaschall isn't healthy yet.  We will have a similar thread for him in 6-8 weeks.  Book it.

I'm not worried about Lee last year.  Injuries certainly played a factor but he's also had an adjustment curve at every level.  Look at his month to month minor league numbers.  Its a repeat at every level-get promoted OPS 650 for a month 800 the next month, 950 the next two and get promoted.  Rinse, repeat.  His glove is valuable enough and he is mature enough to continue the adjustments at the bottom of the order. 

If he's healthy, he needs to be up. 

I don't think you're right about Keaschall. He's playing every day in St. Paul, about half the time at 2B and about half at DH. I understand but disagree with the argument that it's too early but I don't think health is a legitimate reason to hold off a promotion. 

I'd be thrilled if Lee went .650, then .800, then .900 in OPS at AAA. But isn't that an argument to wait at least 2-3 weeks so he can adjust? I'm talking about what we should do now, not May 1.  

I think we can all agree that Gaspar doesn't bring enough to the table to be on an MLB roster. I think Keaschall is ready enough now to get an opportunity. That doesn't stop Lee from coming up even as soon as a week or two from now. He can replace Keaschall if he hasn't performed, Keirsey if we've decided not to play him (Castro becomes the 5th OF) or whichever of Julien or Miranda is still in the dumps. This isn't an either/or choice. We have a guy in Gaspar that is 1-30 career and a poor IF. His primary value appears to be as a 3rd catcher which would have value if we had 2 good hitting catchers that we might want to occasionally get in the lineup together or regularly pinch hit on their days off. We don't. Vasquez hasn't hit much in now in 2 plus years. I feel bad saying this but Gaspar provides no real value to this team. Let's get someone up who might.  

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, $tryf4Life said:

Put all three names on a dartboard and throw a dart. 🎯 

any of them. 
 

some have mentioned he needs to prove he can hit first. I would think sending a message is more valuable. The others haven’t proven they can hit anyway. 
 

 

Pretty sure he can field throw and catch.

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, miller761 said:

Time to change up the batting order. Wallner needs to be dropped to 3 or 4, How about Castro or Lee hitting leadoff?

And Keirsey is in the game tonight; Buxton off, as is Gasper and Miranda.

[Patzky]

Something different.. can't hurt.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

We're still dealing with way too small of sample sizes to say anyone "failed". Do you want to keep churning the roster every 10 games sending players up and down? Ryan Fitzgerald has the highest OPS in AAA - should the Twins bring him up?

Julien has been able to get the barrel on the ball. His expected stats on baseball savant are tops on the team. Gasper is at the bottom, below Vazquez.

 

"Failed" may be hyperbole but you have to admit neither Julien or Mirnada has provided much offensive help. Neither of them has or is likely to provide much defensive help either. 

I not surprised about Gaspar. Time to cut bait on him for now. Fun story but he's now 1-30 in his career with 14 SOs in 30 ABs, 37 PAs. He has made a critical error last night as has looked rough defensively. I would argue that Julien is a better 2B, a low standard indeed. This team isn't good enough to win other than at the margins. Keaschall and Martin might help at the margins, Gaspar is hurting us at the margins. I just have a hard time understanding why you would keep him on the roster.   

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

IF I was the owner, the youth hitters would determine if the FO keeps their jobs at this point.....because so far, yuck. 

This is truly the biggest issue facing the organization, including off field items like a sale, attendance etc.

Making major league hitters in house is upstream of almost everything else (other than in-house pitching) 

[Jocko87]

35 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I'd be thrilled if Lee went .650, then .800, then .900 in OPS at AAA. But isn't that an argument to wait at least 2-3 weeks so he can adjust? I'm talking about what we should do now, not May 1.  

He already did that, AAA months highlighted.  It’s been the same at every level and he was on a nice trajectory in the bigs before he got hurt. 

I’m not down on Keaschall, but he is still rehabbing the arm.  He still has to be able to play outfield before he can go full strength.  It will be a conversation in a month or two. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

Flip a coin between Gasper and Julien. I would have no objection to both going down and calling up a second player. I liked the spark that Martin showed when he was called up last April. I know many have given up on him but I haven't, imo he brings far more to the club than Julien does.