Twins Minor League Report (8/10): Gabriel Gonzalez Crushes First AAA Home Run, Leads Saints to Win

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

IMO, Larnach is being a bit undersold. As a LH bat, he's pretty solid...around a .740 ish OPS...against RHP. He's only average defensively...with a good arm...but I don't think he's as bad as others believe. But I think he's traded in the offseason...possibly with a prospect...for help elsewhere. I believe there are teams that could use/want his bat LH bat as a platoon option at DH and occasionally in the OF.

I've been a Larnach stan for a long time, but...he's not really getting it done. He's purely a platoon bat, and when you have that limitation a .740 OPS doesn't really cut it. That's competent, but not good and I think you need to have good when you can't hit the other side basically at all. And he's below average defensively at this point, having already gotten slower. The arm is fine, but not plus, so he's basically a one-tool player whose tool ain't that sharp. Maybe he murders RHP the rest of the season and lines himself up better, but unless he's got an OPS over .800 against RHP...

Someone will take a chance on him next season, but not for $4M, I bet, so trading him away means giving something else up, which seems like a mistake. He's gotten his chances and hasn't progressed. I'm sure injuries held him back; he's only been healthy 2 of the past 5 seasons, and the missed pandemic year in 2020 right when he was looking his most promising probably didn't help either.

He's not bad or anything, but the twins clearly need more.

[bunsen82]

46 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You left out Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach who are both still around. I expect they will trade Larnach but doubt they do the same with Martin. I would also bet they give the LF job to Walker Jenkins before they give it to Fedko. They will need 6 guys for 4 spots between OF and DH. They have options but I doubt they start the 2026 season with Gonzalez, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Fedko or McCusker on the 26-man roster. AAA could have a very interesting outfield with Gonzalez, Jenkins and Rodriguez. I think the OF they have tonight is your likely outfield in April.

Right now I think the plan was to give it to Rodan if they traded Larnach.  So far that hasn't played out.  Martin still has the possibility to be the 4th outfielder.  Jenkins has no likelihood of starting on the team next year in my opinion.  You have Gonzalez and Rodriguez who they would try out ahead of that.  Fedko and Mccusker only get an opportunity if major underperformance or injury.   

[jorgenswest]

Depending on the arb progression for his salary Larnach may not be tendered. He may not have excess value beyond his arb2 salary. It would be in his best interest to put up an OPS north of 800 these last two months. The Twins have several pre-arb options for the outfield.

[DocBauer]

49 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You left out Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach who are both still around. I expect they will trade Larnach but doubt they do the same with Martin. I would also bet they give the LF job to Walker Jenkins before they give it to Fedko. They will need 6 guys for 4 spots between OF and DH. They have options but I doubt they start the 2026 season with Gonzalez, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Fedko or McCusker on the 26-man roster. AAA could have a very interesting outfield with Gonzalez, Jenkins and Rodriguez. I think the OF they have tonight is your likely outfield in April.

No one Larnach. I stated I expect him to be moved elsewhere, possibly with another prospect, for help in 2026 elsewhere. Maybe a solid pen arm?

I left Martin off deliberately as I think he's an athlete, not a baseball player. For reasons of brevity, I just never stated that.

Jenkins is a potential STUD. But I left him out because he's still only 20yo and at AA. Plus, he's LH. I referenced Rodriguez and Roden as one is at AAA...and a top prospect...and one is 25yo and playing at the ML level currently. So I put them ahead of Jenkins for NOW due to those factors. 

And Jenkins has no affect on Fedko OR Gonzalez. The Twins NEED another RH OF besides Buxton. Other than adding a veteran FA on a 1yr deal, Fedko and Gonzalez are far more ready than Olivar or Rosario. Fedko is a bit of a late bloomer, but not OLD, and has a nice all around game and good versatility. Gonzalez is restricted to a corner OF spot or even some time at DH. They each offer something different in their profile/projection, but they don't have an affect on a LH OF for LF, which, again, I'm saying has Rodriguez and Roden ahead of Jenkins for NOW.

[DocBauer]

16 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I've been a Larnach stan for a long time, but...he's not really getting it done. He's purely a platoon bat, and when you have that limitation a .740 OPS doesn't really cut it. That's competent, but not good and I think you need to have good when you can't hit the other side basically at all. And he's below average defensively at this point, having already gotten slower. The arm is fine, but not plus, so he's basically a one-tool player whose tool ain't that sharp. Maybe he murders RHP the rest of the season and lines himself up better, but unless he's got an OPS over .800 against RHP...

Someone will take a chance on him next season, but not for $4M, I bet, so trading him away means giving something else up, which seems like a mistake. He's gotten his chances and hasn't progressed. I'm sure injuries held him back; he's only been healthy 2 of the past 5 seasons, and the missed pandemic year in 2020 right when he was looking his most promising probably didn't help either.

He's not bad or anything, but the twins clearly need more.

I think we're in general agreement, other than I think he's a little better defensively than you.

I think he's done as a Twin. They need to commit to Roden, Rodriguez, Jenkins, Gonzalez, and possibly Fedko for the OF and mix of younger, generally more athletic players with upside.

But I maintain Larnach has value on the market.

There were rumors the Astros were interested in Larnach at one point. And I'm sure there are other teams that might be short of LH bats that see him as a LH DH who can help in a corner OF spot once in a while and hit 5-7 in a lineup. He's not yet 30yo, is mostly proven though not great, and a projected $4-5M for 2026 is not expensive for a lot of teams not named the Twins.

You add a decent #20-ish prospect and you might get back a a pretty solid young RP to help in the pen re-build. Any idea of being a DFA candidate...as some have mentioned...is absurd. Even the Yankees might be tempted...with a park MADE for LH bats...might be tempted to grab him as a DH/bench bat.

I think he's gone. But I think he's still got some value.

 

[DocBauer]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Teams don't put elite players into utility roles. They give them a position and let them run with it. There's likely good reason for that. I've said my piece on him at SS......

@dman sort of addressed this, but let me take it a step further.

If Lee, a 1st round pick, #7 overall IIRC, and a former top 100 prospect turns out to be a utility player, it might be considered a real disappointment. 

BUT, let's look closer at what that might actually mean for 2026 and beyond for the Twins.

Lewis is a solid 3B and ONLY 26yo. Nobody is going to give up on him and his potential at this point. Keaschall is going to lock down 2B for the next several years. If Culpepper is what we all think and hope he can be....that might leave Lee as a utility player.

BUT, let's have some hope that Lee figures out his bat and is suddenly the .270-ish hitter we expected and has a .330-.340-ish OB%, and looks like a consistent 30+ Dbls and 15 HR bat. That's a starter, not a utility player. But Keaschall has the ability/potential to also play some LF/CF in a reserve capacity and against LHP. Royce should be learning to play some 1B for depth and possible play there against LHP as well. EVERYONE needs days off once in a while regardless. The Twins prefer half days off for the DH spot And don't we know as Twins fans that injuries happen. So Lee might be a utility player, but he also might be a 400-450 PA appearance and productive utility player.

THAT could be a hell of a great INF once 1B is figured out. I'd never apologize for having too much depth or too many good players.

[Mike Sixel]

27 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

@dman sort of addressed this, but let me take it a step further.

If Lee, a 1st round pick, #7 overall IIRC, and a former top 100 prospect turns out to be a utility player, it might be considered a real disappointment. 

BUT, let's look closer at what that might actually mean for 2026 and beyond for the Twins.

Lewis is a solid 3B and ONLY 26yo. Nobody is going to give up on him and his potential at this point. Keaschall is going to lock down 2B for the next several years. If Culpepper is what we all think and hope he can be....that might leave Lee as a utility player.

BUT, let's have some hope that Lee figures out his bat and is suddenly the .270-ish hitter we expected and has a .330-.340-ish OB%, and looks like a consistent 30+ Dbls and 15 HR bat. That's a starter, not a utility player. But Keaschall has the ability/potential to also play some LF/CF in a reserve capacity and against LHP. Royce should be learning to play some 1B for depth and possible play there against LHP as well. EVERYONE needs days off once in a while regardless. The Twins prefer half days off for the DH spot And don't we know as Twins fans that injuries happen. So Lee might be a utility player, but he also might be a 400-450 PA appearance and productive utility player.

THAT could be a hell of a great INF once 1B is figured out. I'd never apologize for having too much depth or too many good players.

I was talking about Keaschell, and people saying they should groom for utility. That's just not what teams do with guys they think might be elite. 

But, sure, we can hope on Lee hitting.....I haven't given up at all.

[DocBauer]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I was talking about Keaschell, and people saying they should groom for utility. That's just not what teams do with guys they think might be elite. 

But, sure, we can hope on Lee hitting.....I haven't given up at all.

Sorry, I thought the post was about Lee.

My bad!

I like a versatile lineup. If his arm comes back to full strength, I can see Keaschall being in the lineup here and there as a LF/CF depth option against LHP at least. 

But I totally agree he's the primary 2B for the next several years no doubt!

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

Sorry, I thought the post was about Lee.

My bad!

I like a versatile lineup. If his arm comes back to full strength, I can see Keaschall being in the lineup here and there as a LF/CF depth option against LHP at least. 

But I totally agree he's the primary 2B for the next several years no doubt!

Ugh. I literally meant to type Winokur. By the sixth or tenth post I'll be clear. Sigh. Sorry!

[ashbury]

15 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

I believe I remember hearing the TV announcers saying Jenkins will not be participating in the AFL.

Then neither am I.

As a spectator.

[HrbieFan]

On 8/10/2025 at 8:20 PM, Dman said:

Winokur had an .800 OPS in July and so far he is doing the same in August.  I wonder if that will be enough for them to move him up AA next year.  Hopefully this is his break out with the bat.

Nice to see Gabby with the long ball.  AAA seems to have been a challenge for him at least at the start here. It's hard to keep a good bat down though.

If Abel is wondering why he is still in AAA he just needs to look at the 4 walks in the Box score.  I don't know what it is going to take for him to find some consistency, but that seems to be the only thing holding him back. It's impressive stuff but if you want to get guys to chase you have to through strikes as well.

Haven't walks been Abel's problem for awhile?