BREAKING: Twins Option Royce Lewis to Minor Leagues, Will Call Up Orlando Arcia

[djvang]

5 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I think Lewis will turn it around and end up having a nice career. Just likely not here.

Remember this spring when we had the epic Arcia v Kreidler v Gray debate?

Looks like EVERYONE gets their wish!

Is he another David Ortiz? Or Miguel Sano? 

[karcherd]

37 minutes ago, Sjoski said:

Topa had one really poor outing that pretty much inflated his era.....not speaking in his defense.....but....I anticipate he will land somewhere else and possibly performs well.......

It's how the Twins roll.

Anyone remember this sad saga?

2009

The Twins designated Craig Breslow for assignment in May of 2009 to call up fellow left-handed reliever Sean Henn. The Oakland Athletics quickly snatched him up off waivers on May 20, 2009.  

It ended up being a tough loss for Minnesota's bullpen, as Breslow went on to have a fantastic run in Oakland, appearing in 60 games for the A's that season with a stellar 2.60 ERA.

 

Henn pitched a handful ( 11)  of innings and was DFA'd himself. 

Breslow pitched for 12  years in MLB...—not to mention picking up a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013.

 

Topa has had one good year and last year was average and he is 35 years old.  Four of his last 6 outings he has given up runs.  I am not sure, this will be a huge loss to the bullpen.   

[djvang]

No. 1 - get him to stop trying to pull everything.

No. 2 - get rid of the face paint. It looks as ridiculous on him as it does on JJ McCarthy.  He's not good enough to be that cocky.

[karcherd]

38 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

If Arcia is decent, you could give him a cheap 1 year deal to be the 2027 UI. 

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, he hasn't even played a game yet.

[stringer bell]

Getting to this thread after 4:30, so I don't have time to read all of the comments. There is a lot to chew on--first Lewis did have to be sent down. I have wanted to believe in him for a while when the numbers were saying I shouldn't, but there was too much failure and seemingly no way to climb out of the pit. A few weeks in St. Paul might be the ticket for him. One of my favorite maxims is "the true test of a human being is what they do when they get knocked down" I want to say I invented it, but I'm sure similar things have been said forever. Royce now gets that test of his ability and his mindset. A guy who burst on the scene whose only worthy opponent was his inability to stay heathy is now facing a real test.

The Jeffers-Caratini-Jackson shuffle will be interesting as well. It appears that Jeffers will be back in time to show he is healthy before the trade deadline, but it isn't completely certain. Caratini has not thrived as a hitter, but has shown some receiving chops and actually has played a good first base. He needs to hit well over the Mendoza Line and he'll get his chance. Jackson intrigued me with his defensive skill and decent power. I hope he'll be a good backup for Caratini until Jeffers returns. If the Twins had any real hope of contending it would be with a healthy Ryan Jeffers. Losing him for 5-7 weeks might seal the deal that the Twins aren't contenders and it would make it easier to trade Jeffers and Joe Ryan at the deadline.

Finally, the bullpen. The veteran guys must be on the edge. While there aren't a bunch of high-leverage arms waiting to take over the BP, Woods Richardson has been added, Sands and Laweryson are on the verge of returning from the IL and Funderburk can and should be recalled pretty soon. Morris looks to have found a home in the bullpen so there aren't unlimited spots to be filled. The Twins apparently haven't purchased either Bowman or Brebbia's contracts so likely they will lose one or both of those guys to a free agent declaration. 

[JADBP]

7 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

You can try eating it. See if that helps.

Also make sure you record this happening. 

So…what am I supposed to do with my expensive Lewis jersey now???

[MMMordabito]

4 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

That's just made up math. It's -1.4 bWAR, because Topa has really sucked this season. Going into the year it was -0.8 bWAR with GG still to play out. You simply can't honestly count Polanco's second season with Seattle, where he signed as a free agent, against the trade. Hells bells, why not count Polanco's rotten season (and terrible contract) to date with the Mets?!?

OK ... Still need Gonzalez and Bowen to make up 1.4 WAR.  Keep defending the trade. 

[Linus]

Royce needs to go wherever the best minor league hitting coach and start from scratch. The idea that he is going to St Paul for a couple weeks and come back mashing is silly. He needs to rebuild his swing and approach and then apply it successfully in the minors. Done properly this is a multiple month process it’s basically his last chance so do it right. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

51 minutes ago, JADBP said:

So…what am I supposed to do with my expensive Lewis jersey now???

You can try eating it.

[tony&rodney]

Culpepper is a solid shortstop. I watch plenty of minor league baseball and think he is a good ballplayer. When Kaelen has reached a point where the Twins feel his AAA experience has adequately prepared him for MLB, I would expect to see him playing third base. The switch, moving Brooks Lee to 3B and Culpepper to SS would be next season. It seems unlikely that the team would move Lee without time to process and prepare for the move. Occasionally a few folks call for Marek Houston but he is at least 2-3 years away from Target Field.

The Topa move made perfect sense. He is a ground ball machine if effective and Topa was no longer anywhere near ok.

My hope is that Royce Lewis works on some type of stabilization in his legs while swinging a bat. Also his backside bailing on breaking pitches while flailing needs to cease. Using the entire field of play on swings needs to be a focus as well. In sum, Royce has plenty to work on and the results are less important than the corrections.

I was a little surprised to see Matt Wallner doing the same things today as he did with the Twins: blind squirrel swings and half efforts in the outfield. I wish the Twins would just end the outfield experience for Wallner but perhaps they are hoping to trade him (Falvey crapped the bed on that).

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, howeda7 said:

If Arcia is decent, you could give him a cheap 1 year deal to be the 2027 UI. 

We could... however... if he is indeed decent... he resuscitates his value and therefore costs more to retain. And if he doesn't restore value enough to attract interest from others then you have to question if he should be taking up roster space at all. 

I realize Carlos Santana was significantly more value because Carlos is a really really good guitar player...  that aside he's an example of the problem with the expiring contract. I'm the sure the Twins would have loved to brought Carlos Santana back but he went and priced himself out of Minnesota. 

Yes I know... the odds are small to nil that Arcia can get in that kind of conversation. But... Even if he is decent enough to make just one more team take a long look at Arcia. Once you got to compete for his signature... even if just a little bit... then you have to ask yourself... Is this the player that you WANT to bid for? Is this the player that you want to invest your limited resources in. 

There doesn't seem to be a middle ground in these cases. Either way... I'd be shocked if Arcia is back in 2027... he either has value to others or he doesn't... anything he learns here... if his bat comes back... he will take what he learned elsewhere.