Royce Lewis

[DJL44]

One walk in September

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On 9/22/2025 at 9:05 AM, stringer bell said:

scapegoat

this most of all. Our new Aaron Hicks.

[tony&rodney]

25 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

this most of all. Our new Aaron Hicks.

Excuse me if I am confused by this response. Royce Lewis is easily the second most favored player among Twins position guys. Folks/fans have been loving Lewis since the day he was drafted. He has only just recently received some questioning. I'm not sure how Aaron Hicks was a scapegoat but I'm open to any explanation. Hicks was moved to make way for Byron Buxton with Rosario and Kepler ready to step into the outfield as well. The trade return was, in a word, brutal. 

I have been super encouraged by the manner in which Lewis seems to be getting healthy, running and moving much better. There may still be a good baseball player in that body. I don't give a rip what he says. I have been given a thumb's down by several people because I suggested that the Twins need to explore all avenues for improving the club and that includes a potential trade for Lewis if the return justifies the move. That is fine because disagreement and different voices are important. I also was squashed with thumb's down a couple of years ago when I suggested moving Julien. I'm not the one making decisions and I'm just a fan of the team after all of the moves and non moves, which will continue into next year too. 

Lewis isn't a non-tradable player. I do still believe in Lewis but want the organization to improve in whatever manner works. It won't be by spending piles of money. This we can agree on. Hicks has 2 good years in the majors with the Yankees, which coincided with the emergence of a really good trio of outfielders for the Twins. MLB is a rough business and if a team can improve by trading a Ryan, Lopez, Lewis, etc., it needs to happen. 

[stringer bell]

12 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Lewis isn't a non-tradable player. I do still believe in Lewis but want the organization to improve in whatever manner works. It won't be by spending piles of money. This we can agree on. Hicks has 2 good years in the majors with the Yankees, which coincided with the emergence of a really good trio of outfielders for the Twins. MLB is a rough business and if a team can improve by trading a Ryan, Lopez, Lewis, etc., it needs to happen. 

I agree 100% that Lewis is tradable and if the Twins can get value for him they should consider moving him. I really doubt that this offseason is the ideal time to move him coming off a .240 BA and less than .700 OPS.

The bigger picture here is that the club has failed to harvest prospects to their ceilings. Many have come to the Twins with independent analysts predicting stardom and the player doesn't get there. It would seem to me that this is the fault of either the front office or the field staff (probably both). Lewis is yet another example of this at this point.

We Twins fans have waited and hoped for a whole host of players from Miguel Sanó to Brooks Lee to become stars and been disappointed almost every time. Royce Lewis looked the part of superstar in those brief flashes, but now after finally getting healthy he hasn't taken that step up.

[Riverbrian]

9 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I agree 100% that Lewis is tradable and if the Twins can get value for him they should consider moving him. I really doubt that this offseason is the ideal time to move him coming off a .240 BA and less than .700 OPS.

The bigger picture here is that the club has failed to harvest prospects to their ceilings. Many have come to the Twins with independent voices predicting stardom and the player doesn't get there. It would seem to me that this is the fault of either the front office or the field staff (probably both). Lewis is yet another example of this at this point.

We Twins fans have waited and hoped for a whole host of players from Miguel Sanó to Brooks Lee to become stars and been disappointed almost every time. Royce Lewis looked the part of superstar in those brief flashes, but now after finally getting healthy he hasn't taken that step up.

My gut says... there is a superstar in there somewhere... he doesn't reach free agency until 2029 so keep investing. My gut also says that selling at a low performance point would probably cause Warren Buffett to post negative comments.

To your bigger point. I have a couple of thoughts that I just can't shake. 

A. If you can miss to the downside... You can also miss to the upside. This point gets lost on many but it shouldn't. If the front office can invest 2859 PA's in Sano. If they can invest 997 PA's in Lewis. 1,023 PA's in Miranda. I'll say it... If they can invest 4,722 in Max Kepler and be wrong... If they can be wrong... this wrong ... miles wrong... to the downside... this same front office would also be capable of investing 234 PA's or 0 PA's in (insert name here) and be wrong on players to the upside. Of course... we would never know about those players unless a Rooker can somehow survive the missed assessment at age 28. 

B. They will show incredible patience with the chosen ones. They will let Lewis slump for a year straight and keep playing him every day because they believe he will come out of it. They will let Kepler slump for 3 years straight because they believe he will come out of it. They will keep riding a slumping Margot through hell and high water. Sorry... that's all the set up to Point B. 

Here is Point B:

They are willing to ride a slumping player into the ground for extraordinary periods of time. Which means that they are willing to suffer through PERFORMANCE PERCENTAGE DROPS for extended periods of time. Yet, they are unwilling to suffer through the performance percentage drops for sporadic periods of time in regards to platoon matchups or players that are glued to the bench because they might hurt the teams chances.

In other words... any potential gains they get for these game by game, ab by ab decisions in the short term... are given back by extended faith in the player in an extended slump. 

All players slump... some are extended longer to the point of damage. That's the loss of quarters in order to gain nickels.    

It's like the point I've made before... You want to handcuff Margot to Wallner. OK... You can get a platoon split advantage doing that. The short sided platoon facing more right handers than left handers in the end is just giving back those potential platoon advantage gains and ends up a negative in total the end.

In the case of a year long slump with no competition for playing time. All minor gains are swallowed up. 

There is a lot of room between playing 6 out of 6 games and 0 out of 6 games. All roster spots can be accommodated. Slumping player (extended slumping player) could play 4 out of 6 games until he straightens out. Bench player could be in one of his two week hot stretches while he gets 0 out of 6 games. 

I see no solution for any of this without honest to god competition for playing time. I also see no solution for any of this unless predetermination (while necessary to degree) is limited to who gets a roster spot. Once given a roster spot... get out of the way and let them earn something.  

[tony&rodney]

9 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I agree 100% that Lewis is tradable and if the Twins can get value for him they should consider moving him. I really doubt that this offseason is the ideal time to move him coming off a .240 BA and less than .700 OPS.

The bigger picture here is that the club has failed to harvest prospects to their ceilings. Many have come to the Twins with independent analysts predicting stardom and the player doesn't get there. It would seem to me that this is the fault of either the front office or the field staff (probably both). Lewis is yet another example of this at this point.

We Twins fans have waited and hoped for a whole host of players from Miguel Sanó to Brooks Lee to become stars and been disappointed almost every time. Royce Lewis looked the part of superstar in those brief flashes, but now after finally getting healthy he hasn't taken that step up.

What I take away from your comment is that the Falvey regime is incompetent. Maybe that isn't what you mean, but together with Riverbrain's follow up comment and my own conclusions formed while I waited and hoped for players to evolve, I come to  - Falvey's methods and philosophies of baseball are fundamentally flawed. I have no grievance with the Pohlads save one, they don't really care for baseball and thus have seemingly formed a bond with Falvey. The Twins are doomed unless something major changes. I will add that Falvey can change. That is all I have, the hope that he does change. 

[Riverbrian]

5 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

What I take away from your comment is that the Falvey regime is incompetent. Maybe that isn't what you mean, but together with Riverbrain's follow up comment and my own conclusions formed while I waited and hoped for players to evolve, I come to  - Falvey's methods and philosophies of baseball are fundamentally flawed. I have no grievance with the Pohlads save one, they don't really care for baseball and thus have seemingly formed a bond with Falvey. The Twins are doomed unless something major changes. I will add that Falvey can change. That is all I have, the hope that he does change. 

I can't declare incompetence but the room smells funny from the outside. 

In my mind... I am concerned that either

A. They are betting on the wrong horses and not betting on multiple horses. 

B. They are simply failing to breed, acquire nor train successful horses. 

C. Combination of A and B. 

[Riverbrian]

27 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

What I take away from your comment is that the Falvey regime is incompetent. Maybe that isn't what you mean, but together with Riverbrain's follow up comment and my own conclusions formed while I waited and hoped for players to evolve, I come to  - Falvey's methods and philosophies of baseball are fundamentally flawed. I have no grievance with the Pohlads save one, they don't really care for baseball and thus have seemingly formed a bond with Falvey. The Twins are doomed unless something major changes. I will add that Falvey can change. That is all I have, the hope that he does change. 

Concerning the subject Royce Lewis. I'd keep betting on him. He will be back next year. 

In a nutshell overall... Royce Lewis and everyone. 

I'd rather they show patience with all players that will be back next year. I'd rather they show less patience with players that won't be back next year. I think it's quite possible that they have been playing it backwards. 

And I'll say that the Twins are not the only team that seem to play it backwards. However, teams like Milwaukee and Cleveland tend not to. 

I'd like them to use April, May, June and July to establish who is getting the job done in order to answer the important time sensitive question. What do we need to do at the trade deadline? How do we shore up the weak points? Can Wallner hit left handed pitching for the stretch run or do we need to rent Grichuk for the stretch run? Will Royce come out of this slump or are we going to play Kody Clemens at 3B or do we need to rent Eugenio Suarez for the stretch run. 

[stringer bell]

5 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I can't declare incompetence but the room smells funny from the outside. 

In my mind... I am concerned that either

A. They are betting on the wrong horses and not betting on multiple horses. 

B. They are simply failing to breed, acquire nor train successful horses. 

C. Combination of A and B. 

I was going to use the exact same term. I go back to two trades that Falvey/Levine made a while earlier in their tenure. 1) They traded LaMonte Wade Jr. to the Giants for a run at a power arm (Shaun Anderson). The situation was that the Twins had several left handed hitting OFs with more on the way and they opted to keep Jake Cave and move on from Wade, mostly because Cave could stretch into center field. Wade became the better player by a considerable margin. 2) They traded Spencer Speer and CES in the package for Mahle. First of all, Mahle is a fine pitcher if healthy, but he just doesn't stay healthy, but I would assume the Twins could have substituted Miranda for Speer. Speer has been a much better player than Miranda. In both cases Falvey/Levine chose the wrong person to hold on to. On the pitching side, the Twins have kept questionable arms and lost Jeff Hoffman and Danny Coulombe to upward mobility clauses as well as losing younger pitching arms Brent Headrick and Ronnie Henríquez to DFAs, to name a couple of examples.

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I was going to use the exact same term. I go back to two trades that Falvey/Levine made a while earlier in their tenure. 1) They traded LaMonte Wade Jr. to the Giants for a run at a power arm (Shaun Anderson). The situation was that the Twins had several left handed hitting OFs with more on the way and they opted to keep Jake Cave and move on from Wade, mostly because Cave could stretch into center field. Wade became the better player by a considerable margin. 2) They traded Spencer Speer and CES in the package for Mahle. First of all, Mahle is a fine pitcher if healthy, but he just doesn't stay healthy, but I would assume the Twins could have substituted Miranda for Speer. Speer has been a much better player than Miranda. In both cases Falvey/Levine chose the wrong person to hold on to. On the pitching side, the Twins have kept questionable arms and lost Jeff Hoffman and Danny Coulombe to upward mobility clauses as well as losing younger pitching arms Brent Headrick and Ronnie Henríquez to DFAs, to name a couple of examples.

Celestino and Garlick over Rooker?

Cano to the Orioles? 

 

 

[stringer bell]

11 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Celestino and Garlick over Rooker?

Cano to the Orioles? 

 

 

Yeah, most personnel decisions can be picked over. Any one decision can be defended I think, but overall Falvey has way too often bet on the wrong horse.

I have personal biases I guess. I don’t trust RH hitting left hand throwers (Celestino) and I want to see more lefties on the pitching staff (Headrick) and I distrust older prospects (McCusker, Eeles, Keirsey Jr.). It seems to me that Falvey/Levine took hit tool and power over athleticism and speed. They’ve wasted options on guys like Henriquez and Headrick and then lost them to DFA. If their use of retreads is keeping options in play for some guys, I can accept that, but the result has been a mish-mash of poor talent and leftovers that didn’t have a chance after the trade deadline. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On 9/25/2025 at 6:56 PM, tony&rodney said:

Excuse me if I am confused by this response. Royce Lewis is easily the second most favored player among Twins position guys.

I owe you an apology and a correction. Yes, Royce Lewis is much more popular among the general fan base than he is inside this unventilated little corner of the Internet. So, sorry about that.

My irrational love for players like Lewis happens when I see myself in them. Not so much the athleticism but the personal side, Royce being a generally nice guy, who runs his mouth sometimes, over explains, apologizes too much, and has a tendency to ask questions (why are you moving me to second base in the middle of a pennant race?) instead of just following orders. That feels like Royce to me to a T. Plus, all that charisma.

I know you don’t think well of Lewis’s ability to play shortstop. You may be right, but problem is, the fans never got to see it happen. Twins scouting and development had Royce as a shortstop. Twins leadership closed the door on Royce at shortstop with the second Correa signing in January 2023. 

Maybe if fans had seen Royce struggle at short, or if Royce hadn’t hit those big home runs in the 2023 postseason, he wouldn’t be as popular here. Oh well. 

[Mike Sixel]

34 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I owe you an apology and a correction. Yes, Royce Lewis is much more popular among the general fan base than he is inside this unventilated little corner of the Internet. So, sorry about that.

My irrational love for players like Lewis happens when I see myself in them. Not so much the athleticism but the personal side, Royce being a generally nice guy, who runs his mouth sometimes, over explains, apologizes too much, and has a tendency to ask questions (why are you moving me to second base in the middle of a pennant race?) instead of just following orders. That feels like Royce to me to a T. Plus, all that charisma.

I know you don’t think well of Lewis’s ability to play shortstop. You may be right, but problem is, the fans never got to see it happen. Twins scouting and development had Royce as a shortstop. Twins leadership closed the door on Royce at shortstop with the second Correa signing in January 2023. 

Maybe if fans had seen Royce struggle at short, or if Royce hadn’t hit those big home runs in the 2023 postseason, he wouldn’t be as popular here. Oh well. 

Not one draft analyst saw him as a SS. He struggled at third until later this year. I have no issue with that decision. I hope he returns to stardom. I have doubts. 

[Riverbrian]

On 9/27/2025 at 9:50 AM, stringer bell said:

Yeah, most personnel decisions can be picked over. Any one decision can be defended I think, but overall Falvey has way too often bet on the wrong horse.

I have personal biases I guess. I don’t trust RH hitting left hand throwers (Celestino) and I want to see more lefties on the pitching staff (Headrick) and I distrust older prospects (McCusker, Eeles, Keirsey Jr.). It seems to me that Falvey/Levine took hit tool and power over athleticism and speed. They’ve wasted options on guys like Henriquez and Headrick and then lost them to DFA. If their use of retreads is keeping options in play for some guys, I can accept that, but the result has been a mish-mash of poor talent and leftovers that didn’t have a chance after the trade deadline. 

I agree with you.

I don't wanna focus on case by case because all teams make these types of mistakes but the collective is where it gets concerning.

40 man and 26 man decisions make the job hard. Lots of fairly equal players piled up in the middle to decide on. The ticking options clock make already hard decisions time sensitive and therefore much much harder. 

The job is already hard.

What makes it even harder still. Limiting major league AB's, limiting major league innings for those who you need MLB information on before you set that 40 man. Choosing Belisle over Nick Anderson when you need MLB information on Anderson just increases the chances of missing on Nick Anderson. Choosing Nick Anderson over Belisle decreases the chances of missing on Nick Anderson. Choosing Celestino over Rooker because you think you need a CF this year... increases the odds of missing on Brent Rooker. 

I'd try and get rid of that self admitted age bias. It's OK if they can give us 3 or 2 years or 1 year of decent play at the major league minimum. They don't have to be 6 years productive before we lose them to free agency to be worth it. Keep in mind that most players drafted out of college finally arrive at the major league level at an advanced age. It sure seems like teams are really focusing on college players come draft time. If someone gets his shot at 29, does well and is no longer worth it at age 32. Those productive years while short... are still worth it. 

[USAFChief]

On 9/28/2025 at 11:25 AM, Mike Sixel said:

Not one draft analyst saw him as a SS. He struggled at third until later this year. I have no issue with that decision. I hope he returns to stardom. I have doubts. 

The Twins invested the first three years of Lewis's minor league career at SS. 275 games. 

He had 20 minor league games at 3rd prior to MLB. 12 of those were AFL games where another team supplied the manager.

 

 

[Linus]

Watching Hunter Greene. I’m thinking we missed on that one.