Updating Narratives Surrounding the 2026 Twins

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Paul DeJong plans on opting out of his Yankees contract in a few days.

And he's a good defensive shortstop? He last played SS regularly for the White Sox and was double digits negative run saved.

[DJL44]

21 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

And he's a good defensive shortstop? He last played SS regularly for the White Sox and was double digits negative run saved.

I hadn’t checked in a while. It looks like he is more 3B/2B now.

[Linus]

Ironically the bullpen might be easiest to fix. The hitting and fielding problems can only be fixed by inserting new players in the lineup. We all thought that would be the up and comers in St Paul but none of them are hitting enough to be an improvement offensively. Several would provide immediate defensive help but they won’t get the chance if they can’t hit. With the bullpen you could insert Rojas, Festa when he comes back, and some combination of SWR / Preilipp / Mathews. That would be a marked improvement over the current pen. Of course that assumes the Twins are still in it and trying to win. 

[Greglw3]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Just how bad do you want the defense to be? I think that would be worse than Bell.

E Rodriguez defense in LF over Larnach is a big improvement and Austin Martin in RF over Wallner in RF is a big improvement plus Gray over Lewis at 3rd would represent some def. improvement and Culpepper would likely be an improvement def. over Keaschall at 2B.

Plus the offense would improve markedly with Martin full time over Wallners .180 avg and avalanche of strikeouts, and E-Rod instead of Clemens would be an offensive advantage.

So is all that defensive and offensive benefit outweighed by what Larnach may offer defensively at 1B?

 

 

 

 

lF

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

It's easy.

• Bell: his best position is probably DH. Install him there.
• Wallner: he profiles more as a DH going forward.
• Larnach: I guess you could DH him.

Oh wait. I think I'm beginning to see the problem.

 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Paul DeJong plans on opting out of his Yankees contract in a few days.

Mets took Wagaman. 

They're selling like hotcakes. Better hurry.

[RpR]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

It's easy.

• Bell: his best position is probably DH. Install him there.
• Wallner: he profiles more as a DH going forward.
• Larnach: I guess you could DH him.

Oh wait. I think I'm beginning to see the problem.

How does Wallner striking out as Designated Hitter help?

[karcherd]

The solution will not come from Gray, Arcia or Kreidler, they are only band-aids.  Gray is not a defensive upgrade over Lewis.  And he will exposed quickly if he plays every day.  He is the Kody Clemens of 2026, he has a few timely hits and everyone thinks he will do that on a daily basis.  Lewis needs to play this year, if he can't improve than they need to make a decision before next season on whether to move on or not.  Keaschall has 68 games at 2B in the major leagues, give him time to see if he can improve his defense.  Other players have improved after coming up, not everyone is a finished product especially with the Twins philosophy of anyone can play anywhere.  This is not helping the players develop in the minors be ready when they come up.

I am frustrated with the hitting and the defense but unless you have clear upgrades for the infield and not AAAA types, you need to ride with Lewis, Lee and Keaschall.

[RpR]

5 minutes ago, karcherd said:

The solution will not come from Gray, Arcia or Kreidler, they are only band-aids.  Gray is not a defensive upgrade over Lewis.  And he will exposed quickly if he plays every day.  He is the Kody Clemens of 2026, he has a few timely hits and everyone thinks he will do that on a daily basis.  Lewis needs to play this year, if he can't improve than they need to make a decision before next season on whether to move on or not.  Keaschall has 68 games at 2B in the major leagues, give him time to see if he can improve his defense.  Other players have improved after coming up, not everyone is a finished product especially with the Twins philosophy of anyone can play anywhere.  This is not helping the players develop in the minors be ready when they come up.

I am frustrated with the hitting and the defense but unless you have clear upgrades for the infield and not AAAA types, you need to ride with Lewis, Lee and Keaschall.

Rather than putting in band-aids that can make things better to continue to use players that are just plain lousy is stupid.

If you wish to watch a clown show, you idea will work.

[karcherd]

26 minutes ago, RpR said:

Rather than putting in band-aids that can make things better to continue to use players that are just plain lousy is stupid.

If you wish to watch a clown show, you idea will work.

I am not interested in 10 or 15 games maybe being a little better.  I want them to get better this year and going forward.  Playing Lewis, Lee, and Keaschall will provide information if they can be part of the team going forward.  And if not they can hopefully make better roster decisions for next year for replacement players.  It is way too early to give up on these three players completely.

[Vanimal46]

18 minutes ago, RpR said:

Rather than putting in band-aids that can make things better to continue to use players that are just plain lousy is stupid.

If you wish to watch a clown show, you idea will work.

Have you noticed that we’re on pace to miss the playoffs in 5 out of the last 6 years? In an era of baseball where literally being slightly above .500 punches your ticket to the big dance. 

We have been relying on these 1 year band aids that don’t do anything but keep an organization in purgatory. You may not like it but we have to get worse in order to get better by playing younger players. We’re stuck in sports purgatory otherwise winning 75-80 games not accomplishing anything. 

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, karcherd said:

I am not interested in 10 or 15 games maybe being a little better.  I want them to get better this year and going forward.  Playing Lewis, Lee, and Keaschall will provide information if they can be part of the team going forward.  And if not they can hopefully better roster decisions for next year for replacement players.  It is way too early to give up on these three players completely.

Some people can’t be reasoned with. RpR would have benched rookie Tony Oliva for 29 year old Jim Snyder in 1962. 

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The AAA guys are mostly struggling in AAA. Roden looked ready before he injured his shoulder. Rodriguez is hitting for power and drawing walks but batting .239 while striking out 1/3 of the time. Everyone else is a mediocre AAA batter.

I agree, they aren't performing as you'd like, but the manager that watched them succeed last season is waiting at Target Field to (hopefully) unlock that potential we've seen.