This Will Not Go On Much Longer

[Fire Dan Gladden]

40 minutes ago, David HK said:

The sad part of this is- there probably are teams that can fix him.  Shades of Brent Rooker, or Eddie Julien with his .800+ OPS, or dare I even say David O...  For some reason, the Twins are where promising young hitters go to die.  Royce, Miranda, Sano, and on and on.  Watch us ditch him for some middling reliever, and see him light it up for the Giants or the Braves.  Or the Yanks, God forbid.

The Twins have had their share of success stories of getting the most out of guys as well. MLB is littered with players that needed to go to a different organization to see success. We as fans tend to forget that baseball players are people and that humans can underperform for a thousand reasons that have nothing to do their ability or how they are being taught.

[mickster]

18 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

My frustration is that Martin isn't playing every day. You're right that Outman isn't the problem; Wallner is. Shelton seems to feel obligated to play Wallner a lot if he's on the roster even though there are 3 OFs much more productive so far this year. If he's on the IL or in AAA that opens up the lineup for Martin to play every day. That still leaves the problem of finding time for Emma to play unless Bell plays in the field, because they like to have Martin and Larnach in the OF so Bell can DH and Clemens play 1B. Once again, no room at the Inn for Emma. I think you have to deal with both Wallner and either Bell or Clemens before a spot really opens up for Emma. Bringing him up to platoon with Martin so some combination of Larnach, Bell and Clemens can play is a waste. The thought on Outman was to open up a roster spot for GG but you still have the problem of finding him ABs. 

This roster needs some major reshuffling before the AAA OFs can really get a chance. I'd like to get it started sooner rather than later.     

Wallner to the minors is the easiest way for Emma to be promoted - but as stated, the need to get Martin in the lineup is still there.   For all of the angst against Larnach, I think he is proving his value

[Major League Ready]

14 hours ago, DJL44 said:

They’ll be 10 games under by then 

I can see your point if you think they are a legit contender.  Do you think that they are a legit contender or that replacing Wallner/Outman will make them a contender.  IMO, the sooner they change their decision making away from the fallacy of contending this year and start making decisions to facilitate building a winner, the better.  I agree that moving on from Wallner / Outman  is the right decision but for a totally different reason.  They are not going to contend by moving these players up but it will be more interesting to watch and they will facilitate reconstructing the roster to contend in the not so distant future.

Wallner down / Emma up and share OF playing time between Buxton, Martin, Larnach, and Emma.  Martin and Emma can both backup CF so DFA Outman and bring up Culpepper.

[jorgenswest]

Outman’s WPA is 4th on the team among position players at 0.18. Wallner’s is last on the team at -0.95. WPA does not include a defensive contribution or taking an extra base (it includes stolen bases) so Wallner’s true contribution to wins is likely worse and Outman’s might be slightly better.

Wallner only helps with his bat he needs to hit well above league average to contribute to winning baseball games. He would not help on the bench. Outman’s base running and defense can make a small contribution to winning games in his role on the bench.

I am not sure if the Twins can count on Wallner’s return to the clearly above league average hitter the Twins need. I do think the Twins can count on Outman to be a good defender and base runner. I am not here to argue that Outman is the best use of that roster spot. Just here to notice that he has contributed to wins this year. I was not expecting to see the positive WPA. Outman would be exposed in regular play but I don’t think it will get to that point. I think Rodriguez would be in CF if Buxton does on IL.

[JD-TWINS]

19 hours ago, RpR said:

Skill and talent?

Gallo had more skill and talent and he is no longer a position player.  Too much here of not wanting to let go of the Pie-In-The-Sky bravado they have for players they like; for him it was excess a long time ago.

It would be sad to bring Rodriguez up and watch him do a Gallo, but it is probably time.

Nice potential thought with the Gallo parallel …….. shift Big Matt back on to the mound and he can fill a void in the PEN by August! 😉

[DJL44]

35 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I can see your point if you think they are a legit contender.  Do you think that they are a legit contender or that replacing Wallner/Outman will make them a contender.  IMO, the sooner they change their decision making away from the fallacy of contending this year and start making decisions to facilitate building a winner, the better.  I agree that moving on from Wallner / Outman  is the right decision but for a totally different reason.  They are not going to contend by moving these players up but it will be more interesting to watch and they will facilitate reconstructing the roster to contend in the not so distant future.

Wallner down / Emma up and share OF playing time between Buxton, Martin, Larnach, and Emma.  Martin and Emma can both backup CF so DFA Outman and bring up Culpepper.

I think they aren’t a contender, which is where this gets tricky. I see no benefit to giving Outman playing time. I think Wallner needs to play less often. I think Rodriguez needs to come up, if only to fail and go back to AAA to work on his game. I think they need to move a DH off the roster and add a first baseman. I think Culpepper is challenged in AAA (725 OPS) so it is best to keep him there..

[LA Vikes Fan]

12 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I agree with all of this LA, except I would keep Bell.

I like Bell too, I just can't figure out how to roster him, Martin, and Larnach, play the first 2 regularly and Larnach against LH pitching, and still give ERod or someone like him (GG?) a shot at regular playing time. Bell just isn't much of a 1B.  Maybe the real bullet to bite here is to DFA Clemens, play Bell everyday at 1B, and leave Larnach as a DH/4th OF. Then the Wallner for ERod switch is pretty straight forward. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

I can see your point if you think they are a legit contender.  Do you think that they are a legit contender or that replacing Wallner/Outman will make them a contender.  IMO, the sooner they change their decision making away from the fallacy of contending this year and start making decisions to facilitate building a winner, the better.  I agree that moving on from Wallner / Outman  is the right decision but for a totally different reason.  They are not going to contend by moving these players up but it will be more interesting to watch and they will facilitate reconstructing the roster to contend in the not so distant future.

Wallner down / Emma up and share OF playing time between Buxton, Martin, Larnach, and Emma.  Martin and Emma can both backup CF so DFA Outman and bring up Culpepper.

Interesting idea. Can Culpepper play 2B? Keaschall also may need a reset if things don't improve by May 15 to June 1. If he's still struggling, then bring up Culpepper, play him at either 2B or SS with Lee manning the other.   

[jkcarew]

It’s not just the rubes…the fascination with mediocrity is alive and well here on TD.

Who cares if turning the page on Wallner…or, literally ANY of the veterans who’ve had time to prove who they are…makes the team marginally worse in the short term??? This goes for the “good” veterans who could return value, as well.

Why does winning 75-80 games instead of 60-70 mean anything to anyone? And how can you think (it’s not thinking, it’s hoping) that excellence can ever even possibly occur when mediocrity is the GOAL…Every. Single. Year.

Any honest effort to build a team with a high ceiling (mid-market, primarily from prospects and prospect capital) means accepting the risk of a low floor at some point.

 

 

 

 

[Craig Arko]

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

Any honest effort to build a team with a high ceiling (mid-market, primarily from prospects and prospect capital) means accepting the risk of a low floor at some point.

 

 

 

 

The class of ‘82 comes to mind.

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, Craig Arko said:

The class of ‘82 comes to mind.

In 2000 the Twins lost 93 games. They had 24-year olds Eric Milton, Torii Hunter, and David Ortiz (oops)…23 yo AJ Pierzynski and 21 year old Johan Santana (86 ip; 6.49 ERA). They had Cuddyer, Morneau, Neshak, Kubel in the minors and were about to draft Mauer with the number 1 overall pick.

[Major League Ready]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I think they aren’t a contender, which is where this gets tricky. I see no benefit to giving Outman playing time. I think Wallner needs to play less often. I think Rodriguez needs to come up, if only to fail and go back to AAA to work on his game. I think they need to move a DH off the roster and add a first baseman. I think Culpepper is challenged in AAA (725 OPS) so it is best to keep him there..

I have to admit the bring up Culpepper part was a knee jerk reaction.  He needs to prove he is ready and he is not quite there.  I also understand why they might hold Rodriguez back for a while.  His approach is quite different (much more aggressive) this year which I am guessing the AAA coaches are working with him on. Adjusting his approach would be a lot harder at the ML level so I am guessing that's why Erod is still playing in  St. Paul.

Gonzalez played 1st again last night and he looks like he can make the transition but he is not tearing it up either.

[Major League Ready]

4 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Interesting idea. Can Culpepper play 2B? Keaschall also may need a reset if things don't improve by May 15 to June 1. If he's still struggling, then bring up Culpepper, play him at either 2B or SS with Lee manning the other.   

He has played 2B twice this year and 5 games last year so SSS.  However, I think that's a viable option but it might be a dip your toe in the water kind of experiment since he has been pretty average offensively so far in 2026. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

15 hours ago, Wizard11 said:

Shades of Jose Miranda.  He couldn’t or wouldn’t make the adjustments and it is unlikely Wallner will either.  DH was the best position for both of them and no one needs a DH who can’t hit.

Disagree. Wallner is known to be a swing tinkerer, and the article said his swing is flatter. He’s trying to change. Typically hitters flatten their swing to speed it up and reduce Ks, sacrificing power.

his Ks went up, and sacrificed power.

some of this is coaching (maybe his personal hitting coach).

I think he’s tinkering too much and lost his identity, or just wearing down physically younger than I would expect.

[jkcarew]

10 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

LH pitcher .139 BA with .225 OBP & .475 OPS

RH pitcher .186 BA with .305 OBP & .609 OPS

 

Nice. We have his struggles narrowed down to…pitchers who throw with one of their hands. Seems like they should be able to work around that. No?

[HerbieFan]

Why hasn't he just been put on IR?