The Twins Offense is Sputtering—So Why is Carson McCusker Still in St. Paul?

[NYCTK]

10 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Keirsey is more of a pure hitter

Lol. Lmao even. 

8 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't buy this explanation as a useful one for claiming Clemens instead of calling up Fitzgerald.

Just take a look at their respective AAA careers.

Fitzgerald: 246/335/438

Clemens: 259/331/507

So unless you're looking for a player specifically to back up SS or you have defenseive concerns with Kody, Clemens is likely the better player. No offense to Fitzgerald of course, but he is just an even worse replacement player than Clemens. 

15 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

But instead they've boxed themselves into the Clemens corner.

No they're not. 

[Jocko87]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

The whole idea behind replacement players is they're pretty easy to obtain. Having a lot of bad players isn't helpful. If you need one in a pinch you pay another team cash to obtain one.

And thus the circle is complete. 

They were in a pinch and obtained a couple.  The entire point of the guys at AAA is that they have control over them and use them when the pinch pinches the outside options.

14 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

If you refuse to DFA guys then you don't have 42, you have 40. And if the 2 guys you won't DFA are terrible and are still starting games and your refusal to DFA them is stopping you from calling up a player who may actually help, then it is a baseball decision.

They have already DFA'd 5 guys this year, why are you assuming they won't do it again?

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Lol. Lmao even. 

Just take a look at their respective AAA careers.

Fitzgerald: 246/335/438

Clemens: 259/331/507

So unless you're looking for a player specifically to back up SS or you have defenseive concerns with Kody, Clemens is likely the better player. No offense to Fitzgerald of course, but he is just an even worse replacement player than Clemens. 

No they're not. 

Neither of them are good enough players. But one has options and one doesn't. One they would send back down without thinking twice and one they won't DFA because that's not what they do. I'm not claiming Fitzgerald is an MLB starter. I even said earlier that he's not a long-term answer. But he can come up and hit .105 for 2 weeks like Clemens and the Twins can make changes to the roster as needs change throughout the year without being so afraid of DFAing guys when a player has options.

[chpettit19]

4 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

And thus the circle is complete. 

They were in a pinch and obtained a couple.  The entire point of the guys at AAA is that they have control over them and use them when the pinch pinches the outside options.

They have already DFA'd 5 guys this year, why are you assuming they won't do it again?

They've DFA'd 4 guys, I believe. Matt Canterino, who hasn't thrown a pitch in a real game in like 3 seasons. Scott Blewett. Darren McCaughan. And Randy Dobnak, who's so overpaid no team has claimed him despite multiple DFAs over the last few years. That's 4 pitchers. 0 position players. Let's not pretend they are quick on the trigger to DFA position players. But I have no doubt that Clemens and Bride will be DFA'd at some point. No doubt at all. But they have a lot more than a month and a half worth of history telling us that they'll do everything they can to hold onto them in the name of depth no matter how horrible they play and no matter what anyone in AAA is doing. I don't think that's a controversial take at all.

[NYCTK]

Just now, chpettit19 said:

Neither of them are good enough players. But one has options and one doesn't. One they would send back down without thinking twice and one they won't DFA because that's not what they do. I'm not claiming Fitzgerald is an MLB starter. I even said earlier that he's not a long-term answer. But he can come up and hit .105 for 2 weeks like Clemens and the Twins can make changes to the roster as needs change throughout the year without being so afraid of DFAing guys when a player has options.

True. True. That's why shortstop Diego A Castillo is still on the team. Luplow and Garlick as well. Twins just refuse to DFA position players. 

[NYCTK]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

But I have no doubt that Clemens and Bride will be DFA'd at some point. No doubt at all.

Well then why are you acting like they won't DFA them lol. 

Replacement level player Clemens vs replacement level Fitzgerald is the least important conversation being had today, so that's fun. 

[chpettit19]

4 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

I was okay with rolling the dice on Bride in the spot they were in and with what they currently had as infielders in St. Paul. He'd gotten off to a horrible start this year, but he had a 122 OPS+ last year in 272 plate appearances. 

Less interested in Clemens. I think if Julien hadn't fallen off the map, Clemens would have been booted instead. Something's going to change before this happens, but if Keaschall were magically healthy tomorrow, I'd think Clemens would be gone as well. 

I think they've been more willing to play the churning game on the pitching side (Jay, Staumont, Tonkin, Boushley, Bowman...) than on the position side. 

Yeah, I thought the Bride move made some sense. I don't love any of their moves for position players without options because they're so slow on the trigger to move those guys no matter how much they struggle, but he was a solid hitter last year for the Marlins. He's been awful this year, though. 

I thought Clemens was a waste of a move, though. I didn't think there was a need for an infielder specifically at the time, but offense. They had an open 40-man spot and just needed offense. Could've gone whatever direction they wanted and I wasn't impressed with that being their choice. And, again, I get nervous that they'll hold him for too long because he doesn't have options and they need/want the "depth" and won't DFA him.

They don't seem to have any problem moving on from relievers, but they are very slow on the position player side. I really don't doubt that neither Bride nor Clemens finishes the season in a Twins uniform, but I do worry that they'll be here well beyond their usefulness. I don't even think it's a complete travesty that McCusker hasn't gotten a chance. But I think Clemens over McCusker was a missed opportunity to give the guy a couple weeks and gather some data on him and see. I think they miss a lot of those opportunities and I think it hurts their team building.

[chpettit19]

Just now, NYCTK said:

Well then why are you acting like they won't DFA them lol. 

Replacement level player Clemens vs replacement level Fitzgerald is the least important conversation being had today, so that's fun. 

Because I don't think they'll do it soon. And I think it's a problem. Because they'll continue to give Bride starts and likely carry him for most of the season. 

You're welcome to not participate in that conversation if you don't find it important or fun.

[chpettit19]

8 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

True. True. That's why shortstop Diego A Castillo is still on the team. Luplow and Garlick as well. Twins just refuse to DFA position players. 

Oh, you got me. 2 players. Because Luplow's DFA was rescinded. I mean, unless you want to count his offseason DFA which is super meaningful to this conversation. 

I'm sorry, I will be nothing but super technical and exact with all my statements from here on out. No more exaggerations. I'm sure you'll do the same.

[IndianaTwin]

53 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Oh, I certainly don't expect them to have legitimate prospects in all positions at AAA. But Will Holland is also a glove first, non-legitimate prospect who plays SS at AAA who was already on their roster when they brought in Fitzgerald. So is Anthony Prato. Fitzgerald was them adding a 3rd SS to the roster (I'm not saying 3rd on the depth chart, just 3rd in counting). 

I understand the idea of org filler. And I get that that's part of Fitzgerald's role. But I don't buy this explanation as a useful one for claiming Clemens instead of calling up Fitzgerald. Once the season starts the org filler argument goes out the window for me. I don't care about the AAA roster anymore. How do you best manage your MLB roster? Fitzgerald has options and Clemens doesn't. Which, to the Twins at least, means Clemens has to stay because you can't possibly risk losing him yet, but Fitzgerald could be optioned down if another player made more sense on the roster at another point. And if you have to DFA Fitzgerald later, whatever. But instead they've boxed themselves into the Clemens corner. It's not the end of the world, but when you're doing it with multiple roster spots, it starts becoming a bigger issue, in my opinion.

(EDIT to add: CHP, I think we were typing simultaneously, so these aren't in response to your last couple posts. And in some cases, I'm echoing what you said.)

I suspect we're not that far apart, CHP. I think it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall in these management conversations. "Let's do this, unless this happens. But if this and this happens, then let's go here. Because of this, let's consider this possibility. Whoops, such and such just got DFAed elsewhere. Let's grab him and see if he can give us a week until this guy comes off the IL. Crap -- that guy got hurt, so now we have to do this."

Sounds like you have a better handle on the St. Paul guys than me. Are Fitzgerald and Prato significantly better than Clemens, for example? If so, I'd be with you that Clemens wasn't worth signing. I've sorta pictured him as even with them, in which case I was (a little bit) okay with signing him, since it basically just nudged Fitzgerald and Prato one spot down the "I hope we don't have to use him, but he's a breathing body for the future" list. 

I think it will be telling to see how Clemens plays into future transactions and how long he lasts. As I mentioned above, it's seemed like the Twins have been more willing to use roster churning on the pitching side than on the hitting side. We're numbed by guys like Margot and Gallo, but they were signed in the offseason with an intentional role on the roster.

We may or may not have agreed with the signing and they may or may not have successfully fulfilled their assigned role. But hanging on to those guys feels different than Clemens. Whatever they are doing now, those guys at some point had some MLB success and there can be some kind of hope (and again, we may not agree on how much hope there was) that they might again.

In Clemens' case (and even Bride's), maybe there have been some, but I can't think of many of these midseason DFA-level pickups, at least those who have overstayed their place on the roster. With Clemens, for example, I think he survived Monday because Julien has stunk, not because Julien had options. If Julien or Miranda or maybe even a Martin -- someone that they've once had confidence in and who's on the 40-man, starts to perform in AAA, I'd hope they would bring him up, even if it means DFAing Clemens. And I'd add that if Fitzgerald or Prato demonstrates a likelihood of outperforming Clemens at some level, I'd say the same. Because of the 40-man issues and no prior record of success, it probably takes a bit more to get the promotion. If one of those happens and they DON'T DFA a crummy Clemens, I'd agree with you in saying they are overplaying that card.      

 

[NYCTK]

Just now, chpettit19 said:

Because I don't think they'll do it soon. And I think it's a problem. Because they'll continue to give Bride starts and likely carry him for most of the season. 

You're welcome to not participate in that conversation if you don't find it important or fun.

I explicitly said it was fun! 

I just don't see why anyone would be concerned that Jonah Bride might remain on the roster instead of a player that is almost certainly worse. 

Now, as it pertains to McCusker, if he keeps hitting he'll get a chance. And they won't hesitate to DFA Clemens to do so once he's earned that chance. It may not seem quite fair, but if your peripherals are bad and you bring no athleticism to the table, it's going to be harder to earn the promotion with your bat alone.

Could that be as soon as this next week? Sure, maybe. But there's just no reason to be concerned about waiver wire pickups blocking a non-prospect with good power but an overall suspect bat on a hot streak. It was the same arguments for Keirsey last season, and Prato...and Severino et al.

I don't think this team is going anywhere, so I'd just go ahead and call up McCusker but if you're most concerned about winning games, there's plenty of argument that Clemens helps the team win more than a bad baseball player with a bat that really doesn't look like it will translate well to major league success. 

 

[NYCTK]

6 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Oh, you got me. 2 players. Because Luplow's DFA was rescinded. I mean, unless you want to count his offseason DFA which is super meaningful to this conversation. 

I'm sorry, I will be nothing but super technical and exact with all my statements from here on out. No more exaggerations. I'm sure you'll do the same.

So, we all watched them DFA an infielder last season. And you're concerned they will refuse to do so this season because...

...I really don't know where this is coming from. 

I feel like too many people here got burned by the Manuel Margot experience, and him alone. And now we see that the organizational depth behind him (Keirsey and Martin) was basically nonexistent so it makes a bit more sense why they refused to just dump him (but still wrong).

[DJL44]

I think they're planning for a July roster that no longer has Bader, Castro or France.

[chpettit19]

13 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

(EDIT to add: CHP, I think we were typing simultaneously, so these aren't in response to your last couple posts. And in some cases, I'm echoing what you said.)

I suspect we're not that far apart, CHP. I think it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall in these management conversations. "Let's do this, unless this happens. But if this and this happens, then let's go here. Because of this, let's consider this possibility. Whoops, such and such just got DFAed elsewhere. Let's grab him and see if he can give us a week until this guy comes off the IL. Crap -- that guy got hurt, so now we have to do this."

Sounds like you have a better handle on the St. Paul guys than me. Are Fitzgerald and Prato significantly better than Clemens, for example? If so, I'd be with you that Clemens wasn't worth signing. I've sorta pictured him as even with them, in which case I was (a little bit) okay with signing him, since it basically just nudged Fitzgerald and Prato one spot down the "I hope we don't have to use him, but he's a breathing body for the future" list. 

I think it will be telling to see how Clemens plays into future transactions and how long he lasts. As I mentioned above, it's seemed like the Twins have been more willing to use roster churning on the pitching side than on the hitting side. We're numbed by guys like Margot and Gallo, but they were signed in the offseason with an intentional role on the roster.

We may or may not have agreed with the signing and they may or may not have successfully fulfilled their assigned role. But hanging on to those guys feels different than Clemens. Whatever they are doing now, those guys at some point had some MLB success and there can be some kind of hope (and again, we may not agree on how much hope there was) that they might again.

In Clemens' case (and even Bride's), maybe there have been some, but I can't think of many of these midseason DFA-level pickups, at least those who have overstayed their place on the roster. With Clemens, for example, I think he survived Monday because Julien has stunk, not because Julien had options. If Julien or Miranda or maybe even a Martin -- someone that they've once had confidence in and who's on the 40-man, starts to perform in AAA, I'd hope they would bring him up, even if it means DFAing Clemens. And I'd add that if Fitzgerald or Prato demonstrates a likelihood of outperforming Clemens at some level, I'd say the same. Because of the 40-man issues and no prior record of success, it probably takes a bit more to get the promotion. If one of those happens and they DON'T DFA a crummy Clemens, I'd agree with you in saying they are overplaying that card.      

 

No, I don't think we're far off. I don't think Prato or Fitzgerald are better players than Clemens. May even be slightly worse. But they offer more flexibility in your roster moves because they have options and they aren't meaningfully different. So, the 40-man issues aren't there. That discussion you described is easier because now you have guys with options so it's a matter of calling a guy up and sending a guy down to make the pieces fit instead of DFAing and claiming and all that. And I don't think you're missing much of anything on the field with them instead of Clemens. None are true MLB players you want to be counting on.

I also think that plays into the McCusker situation because the 40-man issues weren't there for calling him up until they got Clemens. They had an open 40-man spot they could've handed to McCusker but chose not to. And I don't know if he'll be any good. I've watched a lot of Saints games on TV and in person and he can hit the ball a ton but he does swing and miss. But he has a controlled swing and he has a plan at the plate. I'm not a pro scout, but his ABs look different from most. And that's enough for me to want to see what he can do.

[chpettit19]

25 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

So, we all watched them DFA an infielder last season. And you're concerned they will refuse to do so this season because...

...I really don't know where this is coming from. 

I feel like too many people here got burned by the Manuel Margot experience, and him alone. And now we see that the organizational depth behind him (Keirsey and Martin) was basically nonexistent so it makes a bit more sense why they refused to just dump him (but still wrong).

I think they'll dump Clemens relatively soon. But I have very real doubts on how quickly they'll drop Bride. I think they like him. I think they think they can "fix him." And I think they'll sit on him and let him play through him being terrible like they have with more than just Margot. Me saying they never DFA position players is an exaggeration. They do, they are just very slow to do it. And Diego Castillo was a younger guy with very little major league experience while Bride has over 600 career PAs. Bride is the type of veteran they trust to "play through" his struggles and "figure it out" so they'll let him OPS+ 20 for 3 months without DFAing him while he "gets right."

It's not Margot alone for me. It's Farmer. And Gallo. And Vazquez (contract obviously changes the equation some). And Andrelton Simmons. Just off the top of my head. I don't think Martin is an MLB regular at all, but I don't think he's as bad as you do so we'll just agree to disagree on that one. And part of my argument is that the depth isn't just Keirsey and Martin. It's Prato and McCusker and Holland and anyone else in your system.

If they'd have dropped Margot last year and given Keirsey some real run there's no question coming into this year about whether he's an option or not, right? You didn't lose much on the field in going from Margot to Keirsey and you gained a lot in knowledge off the field in your team building for 2025. In this situation you could've gone with McCusker instead of Clemens for that second roster spot after having already brought in Bride to fill the infield hole. Not losing a lot on the field because Clemens is garbage so even if McCusker is garbage too it's garbage for garbage. But you're learning a lot off it for your team building. But if McCusker isn't garbage you're gaining that extra bat you've been in need of all season. And maybe he's a one year wonder and it all falls apart next year, but at least you got a boost this year. But you know Clemens is garbage. And if McCusker comes up and does ok, but shows promise for 2 weeks and then Lewis and Castro get healthy and you want to send McCusker back to work on a couple things you can do that because he has options and there's no extra concerns about having to DFA guys or whatever. There are real benefits to going with guys from your system who have options instead of vets without them when you're hesitant to DFA guys and the vets you bring in aren't good. And it's not just Margot who hasn't been good.

[NYCTK]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I think they'll dump Clemens relatively soon. But I have very real doubts on how quickly they'll drop Bride. I think they like him. I think they think they can "fix him." And I think they'll sit on him and let him play through him being terrible like they have with more than just Margot. Me saying they never DFA position players is an exaggeration. They do, they are just very slow to do it. And Diego Castillo was a younger guy with very little major league experience while Bride has over 600 career PAs. Bride is the type of veteran they trust to "play through" his struggles and "figure it out" so they'll let him OPS+ 20 for 3 months without DFAing him while he "gets right."

It's not Margot alone for me. It's Farmer. And Gallo. And Vazquez (contract obviously changes the equation some). And Andrelton Simmons. Just off the top of my head. I don't think Martin is an MLB regular at all, but I don't think he's as bad as you do so we'll just agree to disagree on that one. And part of my argument is that the depth isn't just Keirsey and Martin. It's Prato and McCusker and Holland and anyone else in your system.

If they'd have dropped Margot last year and given Keirsey some real run there's no question coming into this year about whether he's an option or not, right? You didn't lose much on the field in going from Margot to Keirsey and you gained a lot in knowledge off the field in your team building for 2025. In this situation you could've gone with McCusker instead of Clemens for that second roster spot after having already brought in Bride to fill the infield hole. Not losing a lot on the field because Clemens is garbage so even if McCusker is garbage too it's garbage for garbage. But you're learning a lot off it for your team building. But if McCusker isn't garbage you're gaining that extra bat you've been in need of all season. And maybe he's a one year wonder and it all falls apart next year, but at least you got a boost this year. But you know Clemens is garbage. And if McCusker comes up and does ok, but shows promise for 2 weeks and then Lewis and Castro get healthy and you want to send McCusker back to work on a couple things you can do that because he has options and there's no extra concerns about having to DFA guys or whatever. There are real benefits to going with guys from your system who have options instead of vets without them when you're hesitant to DFA guys and the vets you bring in aren't good. And it's not just Margot who hasn't been good.

The thing about Bride, is there's more reason to believe in him than Austin Martin. So, I'm OK keeping him around at the expense of players like Martin. But if McCusker improves upon his peripherals or just keeps smoking the ball for a longer period and Bride is the odd man out I don't think they'd really hesitate to cut him. 

As for the knowledge about Keirsey last season, I agree. But they also had dopey aspirations of crawling into the wildcard spot so they weren't really wanting to throw playing time at a player they didn't believe in (and now we see why). 

I just don't see a single Twins minor leaguer that was unfairly blocked in recent years because of an existing veteran on the roster, so I think this concern is all moot. I think the front office are bad at their jobs, but not so bad they will just pass on a clear upgrade opportunity. 

McCusker will get an opportunity if and when it's earned. 

[bean5302]

100 plate appearances is not nearly enough to warrant a call up. It wasn't for Brooks Lee last year when he utterly tanked at the MLB level, and it's not enough for McCusker to prove he's ready. He was average at the plate last year in AAA, and he was very raw for a high minors prospect when Twins brought him in out of Indy ball.

The intensity of the judgement of player value based on SSSS around here is a little much. It's like being at the early season Wild games listening to fans screaming "shoot it!" every time a Wild player gets to the blue line. I'd expect these are the same fans are the ones who were screaming for Mickey Gasper and DaShawn Keirsey to get their chance to start on the 26 man throughout Spring Training.

[chpettit19]

20 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

The thing about Bride, is there's more reason to believe in him than Austin Martin. So, I'm OK keeping him around at the expense of players like Martin. But if McCusker improves upon his peripherals or just keeps smoking the ball for a longer period and Bride is the odd man out I don't think they'd really hesitate to cut him. 

As for the knowledge about Keirsey last season, I agree. But they also had dopey aspirations of crawling into the wildcard spot so they weren't really wanting to throw playing time at a player they didn't believe in (and now we see why). 

I just don't see a single Twins minor leaguer that was unfairly blocked in recent years because of an existing veteran on the roster, so I think this concern is all moot. I think the front office are bad at their jobs, but not so bad they will just pass on a clear upgrade opportunity. 

McCusker will get an opportunity if and when it's earned. 

Is there? Jonah Bride's career OPS+ is lower than Martin's. That's how bad the rest of his career has been. His 123 last year in 272 PAs was really good, obviously, but he had 293 career PAs in 2 seasons before that. And his OPS+ in those 2 seasons were 65 and 43. He's at 20 so far this year. Martin hurt himself again last night so it's a moot point on him anyways, but even with his 88 OPS+ last year clearly being bad, it's better than the 81 Bride is currently running with for his career, and the 57 Bride was at after the first 293 PAs of his career (Martin is at 257). Are you sure there's more reason to believe in him?

McCusker earning it is the point of the debate, isn't it? Some of us feel he has and others (including the ones who matter who run the Twins) feel he hasn't. And part of the equation for "earning it" is what other options the team goes with instead. It's kind of the Rooker situation (again, not suggesting he's Brent Rooker). Rooker didn't "earn" his opportunity with the Twins, Padres, or Royals, but, to your point about Keirsey and the wildcard last year, the A's weren't trying to win anything so Rooker "earned" an opportunity with them (despite a K% just 3% worse than McCusker at AAA). And look at him now.

I don't know if McCusker would succeed in the majors or not. Nobody does until he gets a shot. But I've watched probably 2 dozen games of his between last year and this year for the Saints. I won't claim to be a pro scout. Won't even claim to be a better judge of talent than anyone else on this site. But I will say my opinion isn't from just looking at his stat line and his ABs look noticeably different than most of the guys stepping to the plate at AAA. And they've clearly gotten better over time. He has a plan when he goes up there and he takes good ABs. I think the vast majority of us on here know the game well enough to judge that. I don't know if he'll succeed or not, but I think he is worth a shot over Kody Clemens on a team that's been starved for offense this entire season. I don't think it's incredibly outrageous that he hasn't been called up, but I would have called him up instead of trading for Clemens.

[IndianaTwin]

Roster worthiness on Carson aside, the person who deserves a promotion, by the way, is the one who came up with "McCrusher" for the Saints' social media stuff.  

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Is there? Jonah Bride's career OPS+ is lower than Martin's. That's how bad the rest of his career has been. His 123 last year in 272 PAs was really good, obviously, but he had 293 career PAs in 2 seasons before that. And his OPS+ in those 2 seasons were 65 and 43. He's at 20 so far this year. Martin hurt himself again last night so it's a moot point on him anyways, but even with his 88 OPS+ last year clearly being bad, it's better than the 81 Bride is currently running with for his career, and the 57 Bride was at after the first 293 PAs of his career (Martin is at 257). Are you sure there's more reason to believe in him?

McCusker earning it is the point of the debate, isn't it? Some of us feel he has and others (including the ones who matter who run the Twins) feel he hasn't. And part of the equation for "earning it" is what other options the team goes with instead. It's kind of the Rooker situation (again, not suggesting he's Brent Rooker). Rooker didn't "earn" his opportunity with the Twins, Padres, or Royals, but, to your point about Keirsey and the wildcard last year, the A's weren't trying to win anything so Rooker "earned" an opportunity with them (despite a K% just 3% worse than McCusker at AAA). And look at him now.

I don't know if McCusker would succeed in the majors or not. Nobody does until he gets a shot. But I've watched probably 2 dozen games of his between last year and this year for the Saints. I won't claim to be a pro scout. Won't even claim to be a better judge of talent than anyone else on this site. But I will say my opinion isn't from just looking at his stat line and his ABs look noticeably different than most of the guys stepping to the plate at AAA. And they've clearly gotten better over time. He has a plan when he goes up there and he takes good ABs. I think the vast majority of us on here know the game well enough to judge that. I don't know if he'll succeed or not, but I think he is worth a shot over Kody Clemens on a team that's been starved for offense this entire season. I don't think it's incredibly outrageous that he hasn't been called up, but I would have called him up instead of trading for Clemens.

Bride was a better hitter at every level of the minors. It stands to reason that he projects as a better hitter in the majors as well. Bride has more power whereas Martin will strikeout a little less. Close, but fair to say they both kinda suck with the bat. But Bride at least has the benefit that his defense has proven more passable than the butcher Austin Martin. 

Rooker is a very good example of a player that did earn his chance, repeatedly. He kept raking in AAA and kept getting chances as a result. McCusker has only 200 PAs in AAA so far. Let's not all pretend as though he's been sitting down there for years waiting for an opportunity. He's been there two months essentially. If he continues to hit, he'll get a chance. 

Fun little tidbit, he currently has 215 fewer plate appearances in the high minors than Brent Rooker did when he was first given a major league at bat. I'll be joining in the calls to call him if he keeps this up another 2-3 weeks. Right now? Eh, I can't be too bothered. 

 

[chpettit19]

39 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Bride was a better hitter at every level of the minors. It stands to reason that he projects as a better hitter in the majors as well. Bride has more power whereas Martin will strikeout a little less. Close, but fair to say they both kinda suck with the bat. But Bride at least has the benefit that his defense has proven more passable than the butcher Austin Martin. 

Rooker is a very good example of a player that did earn his chance, repeatedly. He kept raking in AAA and kept getting chances as a result. McCusker has only 200 PAs in AAA so far. Let's not all pretend as though he's been sitting down there for years waiting for an opportunity. He's been there two months essentially. If he continues to hit, he'll get a chance. 

Fun little tidbit, he currently has 215 fewer plate appearances in the high minors than Brent Rooker did when he was first given a major league at bat. I'll be joining in the calls to call him if he keeps this up another 2-3 weeks. Right now? Eh, I can't be too bothered. 

 

We don't need projections for Bride in the majors, we have 639 PAs of him in the majors. He's been mostly awful. Like Vazquez level awful. He's slugged .322 in the majors. What stands to reason is that if Bride were a Twins prospect you'd be screaming that he has no business being on the field just like you do with Martin. If Bride debuted at the age of 26 for the Twins and put up an OPS+ of 65 in 187 PAs you'd be all over these boards destroying him like you do Martin. If they brought him back the next year for 106 more PAs and he put up an OPS+ of 43 you'd be losing your mind at any suggestion of him being an MLB player. But the Marlins gave him 272 PAs last year anyway and he put up a 123 OPS+. And now he's back to a 20 OPS+ in 74 PAs. He has more PAs of sub-Christian Vazquez level performance than playable performance, but he's a veteran waiver claim so he gets the benefit of the doubt. And I'm not even a Martin guy. Don't think he's more than a backup utility type. But that's the point here. Bride is a corner infielder, and he's not Brooks Robinson at third. If Martin has no place on an MLB field, neither does Bride. And it's obvious and they should know it and yet he's been in the starting lineup 2 straight days. But not today. Because today Kody Clemens is.

Even if McCusker is terrible, he has to replace a 20 OPS+ hitter who's 1 for his last 13 with 0 extra base hits in 74 PAs. Or a 27 OPS+ hitter with 2 extra base hits in 20 PAs. At least Clemens can say he hasn't had many trips to the plate this year. But, either way, we continue to start a guy we already know can't hit everyday. A guy we know is worse than Vazquez. And sometimes we add Vazquez to the lineup with them. Maybe McCusker can't hit. But we know these 2 can't and we keep running them out there everyday anyways. Let's at least see if McCusker can. It's not the end of the world that they haven't called him up. But another 2 or 3 weeks isn't some gigantic sample size of performance either.

[NYCTK]

7 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

We don't need projections for Bride in the majors, we have 639 PAs of him in the majors. He's been mostly awful.

That's fair. But so has Martin. I think they're both bad. I think Bride is marginally better due to his more impressive defense but he's still just a textbook replacement level player. 

 

[jkcarew]

I have no problem giving him a shot.

My expectations would be heavily tempered. As we’ve learned, International League offensive…especially power…numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. For instance, he’s K’ing way more at AAA than he did in AA…yet his HR rate is nearly double at AAA from what it was in AA. Initially, I think you’re likely to get the AAA K rate with the AA HR rate in the majors. Wouldn’t need to improve much to be better than some of the alternatives, though.

[Blyleven2011]

8 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I'm not sure I understand why you would question mccusker. Until we give him a chance. It's all speculation. And we have seen what the waiver wire pickups look like. So let's try something new. If it doesn't work, what have we lost?

Bringing up a prospect  or a player developed on the farm excites fans alittle more than players that were  waived ...

Keaschall is a good example of a prospect and mcusker is a feel good story with 3 years in the twins system  ...

[DocBauer]

6 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

They've DFA'd 4 guys, I believe. Matt Canterino, who hasn't thrown a pitch in a real game in like 3 seasons. Scott Blewett. Darren McCaughan. And Randy Dobnak, who's so overpaid no team has claimed him despite multiple DFAs over the last few years. That's 4 pitchers. 0 position players. Let's not pretend they are quick on the trigger to DFA position players. But I have no doubt that Clemens and Bride will be DFA'd at some point. No doubt at all. But they have a lot more than a month and a half worth of history telling us that they'll do everything they can to hold onto them in the name of depth no matter how horrible they play and no matter what anyone in AAA is doing. I don't think that's a controversial take at all.

Just wanted ro Blewitt to your list od DFA RP.

[DocBauer]

I get the Bride move as he's got a decent glove, can move around some, and showed a solid bat in 2024.

I didn't understand the Clemons get. I would have probably promoted Fitzgerald instead because we're probably talking a similar player that's already on hand. That is, IF they really wanted/needed another INF option. Of course, Clemens can play some OF as well, so maybe that had some impact on the decision.

I DON'T understand ignoring talent on hand vs grabbing DFA players to fill in.

Devil's advocate for the FO?

1] More worried about INF depth that kept McCusker from being an option.

2] McCusker has seemingly grown as a hitter and is slowly bringing his K and BB rates closer together. They wouldn't mind seeing him continue to grow/develop as a hitter.

3] IF another OF had gotten injured, he might be up already.

I DON'T excuse the way the FO often seems to ignore talent on hand. I sorta get being more worried about the INF at the moment.

But isn't offense the biggest problem so far?

What if McCusker only hits .225 with a 35% K but BB once in a while and destroys a few pitches for some doubles and HR every 12-15 AB with the occasional single? That's a difference maker who bats in the lower 3rd of the lineup as a dangerous hitter.

Ignoring what you have is a HUGE mistake that other teams don't ignore and take advantage of.

[Riverbrian]

21 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

I'm not sure that signing Bride/Clemens is a fair comparison to not bringing up McCusker. The infielders on the roster when they signed those two were France, Julien, Correa and Gasper. They didn't need "a body" when they traded for/signed Bride and Clemens. They needed "a body who can passably play several infield spots." That's not McCusker. 

With a three-man non-catcher bench, you can't have a player short of Nelson Cruz who is a full-time DH (and we'll see, but it seems likely that Lewis may well be doing a lot of DHing). So a position is needed. The question then needs to be why Kiersey is up rather than McCusker. I don't know whether McCusker's defensive chops or his speed are anywhere close to Kiersey's, but it seems likely Kiersey's what's keeping McCusker in St. Paul.

I think the moves the Twins made can be justified. I'll concede the need for Bride at the time. I don't necessarily agree but I can concede Bride. 

Clemens I just can't. We didn't need Clemens... we needed a bat.

We just added a couple of infielders with Lewis and Castro coming off the IL. We sent down a couple of infielders in Julien and Gasper. Infielders Bride and Clemens are still here. We were flush with infielders at the time of adding Clemens and we still are. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

21 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I agree with your big picture view and the pre-arb numbers do tell a story about development and the current roster. I am much less convinced that McCusker is the poster child for the Twins problems and that not promoting him is why they have failed to build a solid offense. 

From what I know, McCusker is another bat-first or perhaps bat-only player and he's older (27) and was previously not thought to be a prospect. What would his role be on the current Twins roster? Would he be starting only against left handed pitching and would he be DHing? Is it worth the 40-man manipulations to get a guy like him to the majors to perform a limited role? 

Given the resumé, it is tough to believe McCusker would amount to more than a role player. I can't think of many, if any, guys that broke into MLB at 27 or later and became solid everyday regulars or All-Stars, especially when they were non-prospects to start with. You mentioned Rooker, but he was a first round draft choice. Pedigree is another filter IMHO.

Filling the position player roster with non-athletic "if you're not hitting, you're not helping" type players is what I see is the biggest flaw in the Twins roster. They can't be 100 OPS+ types and help the team. Putting and veneer of positional flexibility over that doesn't really help, but it's kind of necessary if the 40-man has 23-25 pitchers. 

I don't know for a fact but I suspect there are red flags in McCusker's hitting overview. The strikeout numbers must be showing something that makes it difficult to impossible to translate his success at Triple A to the majors. Good luck to him and I hope he keeps raking. Maybe he's the exception to the rule and has a solid major league career. 

I always appreciate you String.

What would his role be? He's an Outfielder. He can DH. We have a team full of players not hitting decently enough. Why would you limit his role if he's hitting? You send him back down if he's not. Start against left handed pitching? You know how I feel about that. I'm really against strip mining players for parts. Would Rocco? Well we just added Clemens a left handed hitter instead and he isn't starting against all right handers. 

In regards to his age of 27. You'd be surprised how many 27 year olds become productive MLB players. I can think of Nelson Cruz and Joe Nathan off the top of my head. But... I hope this isn't some expectation that McCusker has to become Nelson Cruz or he isn't worth it. A prospect doesn't have to have a 6 year career with us to be worth it. Anyway... you'd be surprised... especially with organizations moving toward drafting college players over high school players. To find more of them... beyond the Cruz, Nathan, Encarnarcion, Justin Turner examples. Just take a tour around Roster Resource and look at each team and count them. From Yennier Cano to Jarren Duran to Connor Wong to Daniel Schneeman to Ben Lively to Zach McKinstry to Christian Walker to Ronel Blanco to Freddie Fermin to Seth Lugo to Lucas Erceg to Taylor Ward to Mitch Garver to Donovan Solano to Yandy Diaz to Jonathan Aranda to Kameron Misner to Adolis Garcia to Jacob DeGrom to Nathan Lukes to Ernie Clement to Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. We still have the National League to go through and I got to get to work. 

Rooker being a first round draft pick and McCusker coming from the Frontier league doesn't matter to me at all and it shouldn't to you either. 

I don't claim to know what McCusker will be but I have had enough... let's take a guy who has proven to be what we are worried McCusker might be. 

 

[Riverbrian]

23 hours ago, DJL44 said:

It's a symptom of trying to be an 85 win team every year. That means your draft position is not that great and you never deal vets for prospects at the deadline.

This is something that I fight with in my head. 

Are they struggling to develop even average talent. Forget the superstar... are the struggling to develop average talent or even slightly below average talent or are they just simply choosing to go with a low cost vet because they can milk just enough out of them to keep them floating. Either way... it's a problem with a bill to pay in the future. 

Draft position... That doesn't matter to me. The Dodgers draft late every year and out develop other clubs. We have all witnessed Dave Dombroski get fired from the Red Sox after he stripped the minor league system bare only to see the Red Sox explode past the Twins in terms of development. The Red Sox went from cupboard nearly bare to more pre-arb players on the Roster than the Twins do and two of the top prospects in baseball basically ready right now. And that's after trading a good chunk of upper end prospects to get Crochet from the White Sox.  

The next project that I'm going to work on is the International Free Agent. How have the Twins done in that department? I don't know... but I'm going to compare and contrast the Twins with the other 29 clubs and look into it when I get a chance.  There are a lot of players who got paid a million and did nothing coming from IFA but there is also a high percentage of the games superstars that came from IFA. The Twins compare with the other 29 teams? I don't know but I have a suspicion that the answer will be not good.  

 

[tony&rodney]

Am I the only person amused by the comments that 27 is old? Even in baseball, McCusker is not an old man. By the way, he is 26 for a couple more weeks and younger than any Twins outfielder. Age is a funny thing for some people. Is Aaron Judge too old? 

Also I want to encourage people who have an mlb.com subscription to tune into a few minor league games via milb.com. The stat lines can often be deceiving. Last night Andrew Morris had a couple of balls squared up against him but he mostly controls the hitters; he is tough to barrel up. Soft hits are still hits but mostly outs in MLB, so looking at stats could go a different way on a different level. The Saints top 3 guys are working on different pitches in preparation for the next level as opposed to simply getting outs.