Calling up Jackson to replace Martin?

[HarmonK03]

10 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

Well, that's a head scratcher. Is Caratini headed to the IL? Probably not, but a TD poster pointed out yesterday that he's been slumping bad since he hurt his knee in Cleveland. 

He was slumping long before he got hit on the knee.  His OPS in July was .526.

[HarmonK03]

1 minute ago, Saxophone Joe said:

Here's Shelty's reply to Gleeman's question..."It was like, oh hell, I think..." about sums it up. 

The follow up question should have been, what is Jackson's role.

[Riverbrian]

3 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

He didn't pinch hit last time he was up, why would that change.

They had Martin for that role. 

[HarmonK03]

Just now, Riverbrian said:

They had Martin for that role. 

When Martin pinch hit it was also for defensive purposes, he would pinch hit for Larnach when they knew he would be going in for defense.  Totally different situation for Jackson, there were times he could have pinch hit when he was up before and they chose not to.  A totally wasted roster spot.

[Riverbrian]

3 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

When Martin pinch hit it was also for defensive purposes, he would pinch hit for Larnach when they knew he would be going in for defense.  Totally different situation for Jackson, there were times he could have pinch hit when he was up before and they chose not to.  A totally wasted roster spot.

I don't like it either

[howeda7]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

I have no desire to ever watch Luke Keaschall play 2B again for the rest of his life. Well, at least not until he retires and joins a beer league softball team. 

Yes, there are ways to get Jenkins or Emma on this team and play them. But I think people are going through a lot of mental gymnastics to find a way to do it. Martin hitting the IL is absolutely not the straightforward move that opens the door for Jenkins or Emma. 

If you're calling Jenkins or Emma up, it's to play every day. Not 4 days a week. Not 5 days a week. Every. Single. Game. Maybe 2 days off the rest of the year. They aren't guys you're calling up to fill Martin's role.

You aren't sitting Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell once a week during a wild card race just to get a rookie ABs. No matter how good you think that rookie will be long-term. That's the problem. The Twins are "in" this race because nobody else in the AL will pull away and put them to bed. They're 1.5 games back. They aren't going to spend the whole season talking about "meaningful games" in September and then start sitting 4 of their best hitters regularly in mid-August to play rookies. It isn't happening. They aren't changing their story about being competitive now. 

ILing Buxton is very different than ILing Martin. If they IL Buxton and don't call one of those 2 up, fans should burn Target Field to the ground. But they didn't. They IL'd a guy who pinch runs and hits against lefties. Jenkins and Emma don't fill that role. And they aren't going to change the roles of multiple other players that have been key to their "success" to this point in order to force a lefty hitting OF onto the roster. And they shouldn't. Until they're ready to turn the page on 2026.

Defensive stats say Keaschall is less terrible at 2B than the OF. He should split time between DH and 2B.

[DJL44]

41 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The manager told Gleeman he does not anticipate Jackson in the OF. So they called up a third catcher?

So Kreidler in LF. Yuck.

[C-Gangster]

2 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

When you don't call up a potential difference maker of course it won't make a difference.  They made moves at the deadline and then stopped making moves.  That makes them even more inept and they make moves like this and I don't know how much further down the inept scale they can go.

I mean what do people expect it's the Minnesota twins of course we're not gonna make big moves it's apart of our history. I don't like it, none of us do. But we're gonna have to deal with this for quite a bit of time. And what more moves are we gonna make. A DFA pickup? 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

1 hour ago, mrmpls said:

Either the Twins  over valued Larnach or  No other team wanted him b4 deadline,  Same with Jeffers ,  this front office is Lost and moves like todays just make it true

They said they were keeping them to try to win and build the relationship with the players and fans that they were investing in the team. The only way Larnach was traded was for an MLB player.

[DJL44]

Caden Kendle is batting .400 in Wichita…..

[HarmonK03]

6 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

I mean what do people expect it's the Minnesota twins of course we're not gonna make big moves it's apart of our history. I don't like it, none of us do. But we're gonna have to deal with this for quite a bit of time. And what more moves are we gonna make. A DFA pickup? 

Firing Zoll would be a good start.

[HarmonK03]

4 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Caden Kendle is batting .400 in Wichita…..

Should call up Diaw from Wichita, you want to be prepared in case all three catchers get injured in the same game, you need another one to come in.

[mrmpls]

7 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

They said they were keeping them to try to win and build the relationship with the players and fans that they were investing in the team. The only way Larnach was traded was for an MLB player.

They said they were keeping them to try to win and build the relationship with the players and fans that they were investing in the team.-   Hows that working out for us ,  !!   They Said  ?  dont believe 90% of  word they say !

[mnfireman]

Most of you people on here must have been real fun to be around when your kids were playing little league and the coach took little Johnnie out to put little Billy in.... (I do understand that this Forum is about an MLB team, but the comments....)

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Most of you people on here must have been real fun to be around when your kids were playing little league and the coach took little Johnnie out to put little Billy in.... (I do understand that this Forum is about an MLB team, but the comments....)

Not even close to the same thing. Seriously. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

5 hours ago, Danchat said:

Huh, strange move. You'd think Wallner would be the choice since they don't seem to want to call up ERod or Jenkins yet. I guess that implies Roden isn't hurt? If he is, feels like they need another OF.

Guys, I think the reason for this is pretty obvious. The Front Office believes that Alan Roden is the best choice to get additional ABs over the next two weeks until September 1, or maybe even for the rest of the season, as compared to Jenkins or Rodriguez. I suspect there is more than just baseball potential in the decision matrix with Rodriguez just getting back from 100 days on the IL and Jenkins not yet on the 40 man. Still, we may be overthinking this.

To be fair, Roden is actually coming on a little. His overall line isn't good at .236/.323/.291 (.614). Still, in the last 15 to games where he had 34 at-bats, the line improves to .265/.350/.353 (.703), which is not too bad, and in the last 7 games were he had 16 ABs, it's .313/.400/.500 (.900), which is an incredibly small sample size but is pretty damn good. He also has an 8:9 at BB:SO ratio, also pretty damn good, so he's not a strikeout machine like Kyler Fedko was. Calling Jackson back also allows Shelton to keep Jeffers in the batting order as either a DH or 1B when Caratini catches every third day. It's not hard to see the baseball justification if you believe that Roden is as ready as or more ready to get a full MLB tryout than Jenkins or Emma. That's a case you can actually make.

I can see them having a conversation where someone said something like "Let's give these additional at-bats to Roden so we can really see what we have. We can always call up Rodrigues on September 1 get his feet wet and evaluate his MLB readiness since he is out of options next year. We can evaluate Jenkins in spring training, if there is a spring training. That also leaves open the option of starting Jenkins at AAA if there is a strike or lockout." Look, this is not what I would do. I would call him Jenkins and play him every day. I'm much less enamored of Emma than some of you guys are but he can come up September 1. Like I said, this is not what I would do but I do think it's defensible.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, howeda7 said:

Defensive stats say Keaschall is less terrible at 2B than the OF. He should split time between DH and 2B.

There isn't a thing I care less about in baseball than "defensive stats." They are flawed to the point of meaning nothing. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning LF and leave him there until they have a better option or an open DH spot.

He's not going to DH on this team this year, though. Which is the point. They aren't taking Bell's bat out of the lineup. And they aren't putting him on the field with a glove. Josh Bell is the DH every game from now until they give up on 2026, which, based on the narrative they're trying to sell, won't be until they're mathematically eliminated.

If they hadn't spent February through now selling "meaningful games in September" this would be a different discussion. But they have. And they aren't benching the guys who've been their best bats all season to give any other OF or DH playing time on an everyday basis. They simply aren't going to do it. Plenty of us have wanted them to be using this season as a transition year for 2027 and beyond from the beginning. But that isn't the path they chose. And they should stick to the path they've chosen until it falls off a cliff. Even if some of us don't like that path. This team needs to get much better at picking a path and sticking to it. Switching to "get the kids experience" mode while they're 1.5 games back in the wild card after not selling Jeffers, Ryan, and Lopez during the offseason or at the deadline would be an awful decision. Tom picked his path. Wasn't the path I'd have chosen, but it's the one he chose, and they need to stick with it now. Jenkins and Emma aren't coming up until there's an everyday OF job available. Keaschall isn't going back to the IF after being moved to the OF. Bell isn't getting benched. This is the "competitive" team they've been selling all year and they aren't benching anyone who was key in getting here to call up Jenkins or Emma. And they shouldn't.

[Mike Sixel]

13 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Guys, I think the reason for this is pretty obvious. The Front Office believes that Alan Roden is the best choice to get additional ABs over the next two weeks until September 1, or maybe even for the rest of the season, as compared to Jenkins or Rodriguez. I suspect there is more than just baseball potential in the decision matrix with Rodriguez just getting back from 100 days on the IL and Jenkins not yet on the 40 man. Still, we may be overthinking this.

To be fair, Roden is actually coming on a little. His overall line isn't good at .236/.323/.291 (.614). Still, in the last 15 to games where he had 34 at-bats, the line improves to .265/.350/.353 (.703), which is not too bad, and in the last 7 games were he had 16 ABs, it's .313/.400/.500 (.900), which is an incredibly small sample size but is pretty damn good. He also has an 8:9 at BB:SO ratio, also pretty damn good, so he's not a strikeout machine like Kyler Fedko was. Calling Jackson back also allows Shelton to keep Jeffers in the batting order as either a DH or 1B when Caratini catches every third day. It's not hard to see the baseball justification if you believe that Roden is as ready as or more ready to get a full MLB tryout than Jenkins or Emma. That's a case you can actually make.

I can see them having a conversation where someone said something like "Let's give these additional at-bats to Roden so we can really see what we have. We can always call up Rodrigues on September 1 get his feet wet and evaluate his MLB readiness since he is out of options next year. We can evaluate Jenkins in spring training, if there is a spring training. That also leaves open the option of starting Jenkins at AAA if there is a strike or lockout." Look, this is not what I would do. I would call him Jenkins and play him every day. I'm much less enamored of Emma than some of you guys are but he can come up September 1. Like I said, this is not what I would do but I do think it's defensible.

And Wallner, Gonzalez, and Mendez? 

[Danchat]

40 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

There isn't a thing I care less about in baseball than "defensive stats." They are flawed to the point of meaning nothing. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning LF and leave him there until they have a better option or an open DH spot.

He's not going to DH on this team this year, though. Which is the point. They aren't taking Bell's bat out of the lineup. And they aren't putting him on the field with a glove. Josh Bell is the DH every game from now until they give up on 2026, which, based on the narrative they're trying to sell, won't be until they're mathematically eliminated.

If they hadn't spent February through now selling "meaningful games in September" this would be a different discussion. But they have. And they aren't benching the guys who've been their best bats all season to give any other OF or DH playing time on an everyday basis. They simply aren't going to do it. Plenty of us have wanted them to be using this season as a transition year for 2027 and beyond from the beginning. But that isn't the path they chose. And they should stick to the path they've chosen until it falls off a cliff. Even if some of us don't like that path. This team needs to get much better at picking a path and sticking to it. Switching to "get the kids experience" mode while they're 1.5 games back in the wild card after not selling Jeffers, Ryan, and Lopez during the offseason or at the deadline would be an awful decision. Tom picked his path. Wasn't the path I'd have chosen, but it's the one he chose, and they need to stick with it now. Jenkins and Emma aren't coming up until there's an everyday OF job available. Keaschall isn't going back to the IF after being moved to the OF. Bell isn't getting benched. This is the "competitive" team they've been selling all year and they aren't benching anyone who was key in getting here to call up Jenkins or Emma. And they shouldn't.

I don't have a problem with giving Roden more chances, it'd just be nice to have a RH hitter to replace Martin who could play somewhere in the field other than C. And I guess he can play 1B but I doubt they'll put him out there.

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, Danchat said:

I don't have a problem with giving Roden more chances, it'd just be nice to have a RH hitter to replace Martin who could play somewhere in the field other than C. And I guess he can play 1B but I doubt they'll put him out there.

I'm certainly not arguing this is a well-constructed roster or that Jackson is a good move here. I don't expect to see Roden all that often. He's certainly not the ideal fit as a partner with Larnach in LF. I'd have called Gonzalez up even though he's not doing well in AAA. At least he actually plays OF (despite not being a plus there) and hits right-handed to match Larnach's need for a platoon partner.

Overall, though, I don't think there's much of a difference between Jackson, Roden, Wallner, or any number of non-Jenkins options. None of it is straight forward as Culpepper in, Kreidler to the bench. Until they give up on the season, Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, and Bell are playing as often as physically possible against righties. And you're not going to call Jenkins up to be a short-side platoon partner or play 3 or 4 times a week. Gonzalez was really the only young guy who fit, and his performance makes it very defensible to not bring him up.

Keaschall moving off 2B really changes how this team fits together right now.

[LA Vikes Fan]

35 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

And Wallner, Gonzalez, and Mendez? 

I grant you the question on Mendez, but not the other two. Gonzalez is not having a very good year at AAA and didn't impress in his extremely brief weekend when Tristan Gray was on paternity leave. I do not understand this obsession with Matt Wallner. Yes, he hits a lot of home runs and has had some real moments for the Twins. He also strikes out more than 35% of the time at the MLB level and over 40% of the time in 2026. Moreover, he simply cannot play in the outfield. At all. Keaschall in right field is a huge improvement over Wallner and we all know how well that is working. In my view, Mendez is probably a 2027 issue if he continues to hit. Same for Gonzalez if his hitting comes back to what it was last year. Neither is really a 2026 option.

I really think the choice right now is Roden or Jenkins, with maybe Emma in the conversation if he wasn't hurt all the time and hadn't missed most of the season already. I would've chosen Jenkins over Roden but I think you can make a principled argument to give Roden the first shot.

 

[mrmpls]

1 hour ago, mnfireman said:

Most of you people on here must have been real fun to be around when your kids were playing little league and the coach took little Johnnie out to put little Billy in.... (I do understand that this Forum is about an MLB team, but the comments....)

Coached young kids for 30+ years ,    cant compare  and when i did and a Parent complained i would tell them where Practice was and time ,  and that would shut em up !!!

[mrmpls]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

There isn't a thing I care less about in baseball than "defensive stats." They are flawed to the point of meaning nothing. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning LF and leave him there until they have a better option or an open DH spot.

He's not going to DH on this team this year, though. Which is the point. They aren't taking Bell's bat out of the lineup. And they aren't putting him on the field with a glove. Josh Bell is the DH every game from now until they give up on 2026, which, based on the narrative they're trying to sell, won't be until they're mathematically eliminated.

If they hadn't spent February through now selling "meaningful games in September" this would be a different discussion. But they have. And they aren't benching the guys who've been their best bats all season to give any other OF or DH playing time on an everyday basis. They simply aren't going to do it. Plenty of us have wanted them to be using this season as a transition year for 2027 and beyond from the beginning. But that isn't the path they chose. And they should stick to the path they've chosen until it falls off a cliff. Even if some of us don't like that path. This team needs to get much better at picking a path and sticking to it. Switching to "get the kids experience" mode while they're 1.5 games back in the wild card after not selling Jeffers, Ryan, and Lopez during the offseason or at the deadline would be an awful decision. Tom picked his path. Wasn't the path I'd have chosen, but it's the one he chose, and they need to stick with it now. Jenkins and Emma aren't coming up until there's an everyday OF job available. Keaschall isn't going back to the IF after being moved to the OF. Bell isn't getting benched. This is the "competitive" team they've been selling all year and they aren't benching anyone who was key in getting here to call up Jenkins or Emma. And they shouldn't.

. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning 2b   .  best for the team       no arm for outfield

[chpettit19]

16 minutes ago, mrmpls said:

. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning 2b   .  best for the team       no arm for outfield

Just going to have to agree to disagree. Luke Keaschall playing 2B is not what is best for the MN Twins. You need an arm at 2B, too. Not every play is to your left and close to 1B. Being able to turn 2 is a pretty big part of playing 2B, and your arm matters in that.

[chpettit19]

45 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I grant you the question on Mendez, but not the other two. Gonzalez is not having a very good year at AAA and didn't impress in his extremely brief weekend when Tristan Gray was on paternity leave. I do not understand this obsession with Matt Wallner. Yes, he hits a lot of home runs and has had some real moments for the Twins. He also strikes out more than 35% of the time at the MLB level and over 40% of the time in 2026. Moreover, he simply cannot play in the outfield. At all. Keaschall in right field is a huge improvement over Wallner and we all know how well that is working. In my view, Mendez is probably a 2027 issue if he continues to hit. Same for Gonzalez if his hitting comes back to what it was last year. Neither is really a 2026 option.

I really think the choice right now is Roden or Jenkins, with maybe Emma in the conversation if he wasn't hurt all the time and hadn't missed most of the season already. I would've chosen Jenkins over Roden but I think you can make a principled argument to give Roden the first shot.

 

I have no problem with not thinking Gonzalez has earned a callup, but I'm not sure what else you wanted him to do to "impress" during his callup for Gray.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 hours ago, mrmpls said:

They said they were keeping them to try to win and build the relationship with the players and fans that they were investing in the team.-   Hows that working out for us ,  !!   They Said  ?  dont believe 90% of  word they say !

Actually this is one of the few times I trust what they say, not that I agree with it. Say what you will Tom had a vision for this season and has stuck with it the entire season. 

[Czelgert]

The Twins would rather waste a roster spot with a third catcher that they rarely play then promote a promising position player.  This team has done a terrible job of developing talent and cares more about MLB service time chicanery than producing quality big leaguers.  Ugh