Jurickson Profar May be Suspended for 2026. What Does This Mean for Trevor Larnach?

[Riverbrian]

19 hours ago, Greggory Masterson said:

This is feeling weirdly personal, so I'm going to respond and then let it be.

Trevor Larnach is a solid piece. He's probably been a league-average or slightly below-average option in left field or at DH, but starting-caliber. In many other permutations of the Twins, he'd be pencilled into a role without discussion. But this season, they have many left field options (Martin, Outman, Roden, Rodriguez, potentially Gonzalez and Jenkins) and have Wallner entrenched in right. They also have a few DH options (Bell, Caratini). There's a lot of redundancy on this team. Even waiving Outman doesn't clear up the picture.

And so there have been a lot of questions about how to clear up the roster construction, and it often comes down to moving Larnach to make room for Roden, Rodriguez, Martin, etc. That's not lynching him.

If you've concluded the smart move is to trade Larnach, you have to find a team where he fits, which is limited. If he's a low-end starting player, most other teams have someone better in that role. The Braves losing their DH/LF presents a possible trade partner.

Some of the "cheap shots" you've highlighted are just laying out the scene. It's worth asking whether the Braves would be interested in a player if they already have a player in camp who could be seen as an equivalent hitter. It's also worth noting that Larnach's return probably wouldn't be great, because there are a lot of players in the league who would qualify as a low-end but starting-caliber DH. It'd be disingenuous for me to say "The Braves would certainly want Larnach" or "Larnach could probably fetch a top-10 organizational prospect." A low-end prospect or a middle reliever is probably what he would fetch, if the Braves were interested.

And it's not disrespectful to say that the 4.475M Larnach is getting this year could have been better used elsewhere. The team has a half-dozen left fielders and big question marks in the bullpen. Spending 4-5% of the team's budget on a right-handed reliever seems to be a better use of that money than on another redundant left fielder--even if that left fielder is marginally better than the other options. But at this point in the offseason, the money really isn't a big concern, because free agency has dried up. Acknowledging that isn't an insult.

Personal? Maybe a little but not really. I have stood up in support of Trevor and I will continue to and I have unwavering faced the onslaught of those who feel differently. On the other hand... I have also issued trade proposals involving Trevor to acquire a reliever. Of course not knowing if the trade was sensible or not but I understand there are multiple ways to head down the path. 

Bottom Line for me:

He is not an expiring contract. He is potentially returning to Minnesota next year or traded or looking for a minor league deal... but he is potentially returning to Minnesota. If the coaches, analysts and his pure hard work can get him improving this season... we can utilize what he learned... what he discovered... any improvement is available to us in 2027. Then this is all a different discussion. 

Am I going to bet against him? No... Am I going to bet on him? No. Could it just be consistent sameness that hasn't been terrible? 

He has been a part of this organization since he got on that boat out of Corvallis Oregon. He has never been a terrible player for us. Never. 

He was one of 5 professional hitters on the club last year. I worry less about those 5. They can be the best players on the team or they can be the 13th best player on the team but they can hit and it would be nice to have a 13th player who can hit... or a 6th player who can hit... it deepens the lineup.

The other 8 to 15 players who were not professional hitters is what needs to be addressed. A Trevor Larnach mixed into an improving 8 to 15 players is good.

Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee are going to continue to get opportunities. I think they should continue but they are much more concerning than Trevor is. 

I don't care if we have 13 left handed hitters on the roster. I don't' wring my hands and pray that they sign Grichuk to protect us from all these lefties. 72% of pitching is right handed. Everyone is capable of doing the math on 72% compared to 28% Everybody is capable of looking up the league averages of L vs L, R vs R, L vs R and R vs L and taking those numbers and doing the math of 72% vs 28%. If anyone does that... the math is going to tell you that you need more lefthanded hitters. 

.759, .784 ,766 are Trevor's numbers against the 72% the past 3 years. 

I didn't spend the limited funds on a backup catcher who hits good for a catcher and therefore need to utilize him at the DH spot. Caratini produced .723, .726, .745 against the 72%. Bell. .804, .734, .697.  We spent 14 million for that at the DH spot... If those numbers replace Trevor... We are treading water at best. If Trevor remains... Offensively we added two additional Trevor's at best. 

The allocation of funds is absolutely head scratching. 

In the meantime. His trade value might be low. If that's the case. We are just giving away one of 5 professional hitters by trading him. 

But... Yeah... I apologize for the strong response. But... Uff Da. The Trevor attacks? Really? 

Good Luck Trevor... I got your back.