3 Twins Players It's Time to Move On From This Offseason

[SteveLV]

My bad on Kremer.  For some reason I thought he had another year.  

I can take him or leave him unless the price is modest.

[Andy MacPhail]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

I don't know enough about the last two (nor does anyone else frankly), but this idea that the Twins screwed up by asking an athletic baseball player to play CF is just so insane. The coddling of players needs to stop. 

The Twins were 100% RIGHT to ask their top and super athletic prospect to play CF with his primary position currently blocked. And the retroactive criticism is just plain wrong. 

Apparently, the Twins thought the same way as you do; which is their downfall. Why don't you do us a favor & stick with NYY & tell NYY earlier not to coddle their superstar, Judge & keep him off the IL, keep him in until he drops & wreck him

[NYCTK]

Just now, Andy MacPhail said:

Apparently, the Twins thought the same way as you do; which is their downfall. Why don't you stick with NYY & tell NYY earlier not to coddle Judge & keep him off the IL,

I'm a Twins and Mets fan. Not a Yankees fan.  

Are you also complaining that the Twins have started Keaschall at CF? Austin Martin? 

Do you think Padres fans complain that Jackson Merrill starts in CF instead of SS? Or Tatis? 

The Twins are not at fault for having a baseball player play baseball. Moving players around the diamond is part of the sport. Sometimes it works (Merrill) and sometimes it doesn't (Keaschall). But that's why athleticism is such a valuable tool. 

[terrydactyls]

37 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

If they replace Shelton or anyone on their coaching staff, it could benefit everyone to get an old school coach who will give Royce tough love and hard messages instead of the constant boomer parent affirmation and glass half full excuses he's used to. 

"Boomers" are NOT parent affirmation and glass half full.  Boomers were parents in the late 70s and early 80s.  We were not the "participation medal" parents.  

[MeleMouth]

9 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

"Boomers" are NOT parent affirmation and glass half full.  Boomers were parents in the late 70s and early 80s.  We were not the "participation medal" parents.  

Clearly not all of them. :)

[mnfireman]

Kremer is Arb 3 eligible for '27, same as Ober, they will get about the same $$$ next season.

Kremer has the most fWAR as a pitcher on this team since August 1. Ober has the second most. Tough decisions must be made as a lot of SP that were part of the team's future plans will be coming back from injuries next season. Both may be back, neither may be back.

Royce has 2 Arb years left, he has about 3 weeks worth of games left to see if he should be a part of those 2 years. He won't bring back much in a trade, but as part of the right package, another team may take a chance on him.

Larnach is replaceable yesterday. He has no trade value, but some team will offer a low A player for him.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Yes.  They all need to go.  Period.

Larnach -- we've got OFers that can produce at least as much AND play better defense.

Ober -- eventually the smoke and mirrors routine just won't work.  It's coming sooner, not later.

Lewis -- please stop giving the guy a scholarship based on a few at bats his first year.  He's just not capable of being good enough consistently.

------------------

Solutions. . . 

I'll start with an out of the box one -- put Erod at 1B.  He's much more athletic than Lewis at this point and miles more athletic than most of the team.  He's an excellent defensive outfielder, but I'd bet he could pull it off.  AND he could be a slugging first baseman.  We could use that.

Kremer and Ober are similar players, but I have more faith in Kremer at this point going forward.  Having them both seems like a really bad plan.  There are young guys that need the spot.  

Next year's OF is Buxton, Keaschall, Jenkins.  All are more talented than Larnach and if you put Keaschall in LF, he might be pretty good at defense.  Fourth outfielder could be Clemens or Gonzalez.  

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, Andy MacPhail said:

It breaks my heart too, to see how many promising young Twins players fizzling out. Royce Lewis tops that list. A potential MVP candidate. Twins handled him very poorly, from throwing him in CF, tinkering with his swing, to poorly handling his temperamental personality. There were other conditions but it seems like Lewis is broken. I had big hopes in Lewis, even though Boras is his agent, I thought Lewis loved it here & a reasonable extension was possible. Now, IMO, his attitude has changed, MN is no longer his team. IMO, Lewis would still turn it around but not as a Twin. It saddens me but the sooner we trade Lewis the better.

Royce in Vegas smells like a jackpot. Don't know why but I feel that. Can we maybe finagle Langeliers if we package Royce Kremer and say, Gabby or ERod?

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I am sorry to have to add Caratini - but someone has to catch.  And what about Pablo? I suspect Morris is a sure keeper too. 

I believe Hoffman is under contract too.. 

[RpR]

2 hours ago, Mai.K said:

It’s already been three years...

At this point, I have far more memories of Lewis struggling than playing well, but even so, I’m not ready to give up on him yet.

He can provide some versatility at third base and first base (and maybe even second base or shortstop?), he still has one option year remaining next year, and a right-handed bat is valuable for our team. On top of that, I don’t think his arbitration salary next year will be all that expensive.

So I’m hoping we give him at least one more year to see what he can do.

We've got a thing that's called Lewis love
We've got a line in the sky
We've got a thing that's called  Lewis love
We've got a thing that's called Lewis love

[stringer bell]

Obviously, the controversial call is Royce Lewis. Under the current rules the Twins have two more years of team control and at least next year his contract will be very affordable. I still have a flicker of belief, but two straight late seasons he has been healthy and failed to produce at a starter's level at an offensive position. I'd sign him for the arb rate and let him compete for a spot (most likely first base), but he would have to win the spot and continue to hit to hold a job. The good thing is that Kody Clemens can play first base and take over there (I think Clemens has earned a full-time job to start 2027). I don't know what the options for second will look like, but there should be some candidates to play second, allowing Clemens to move to first.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

We have 9,  count em 9 MLB caliber starting pitchers.  We don't have enough innings for all of them.  

Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, Abel, Kremer, Ober, Matthews, Priellip, Rojas and #10 is Paredes who acquitted himself quite well.  

That never actually ends up being a problem. At least two will be injured at any given time. 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

"Boomers" are NOT parent affirmation and glass half full.  Boomers were parents in the late 70s and early 80s.  We were not the "participation medal" parents.  

This is true. Boomer parents are noted for benign neglect.

[Twins GFP]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am sorry to have to add Caratini - but someone has to catch.  And what about Pablo? I suspect Morris is a sure keeper too. 

I noted Caratini. The only reason I didn't put Lopez there is the injury. Should have put him in the "probably" category, but your point is true.

[D.C Twins]

5 hours ago, StiltedGopher said:

Lanarch is preventing trying someone who could be a better solution - we wasted time using him this year already.  
 

Competent pitching is hard to find, even if it is low velocity.  I keep Ober until the healing arms show they are back and going.  
 

Royce gets to compete, but it should be a competition. Don’t dump him for a rental scrap heap first baseman.  
 

Loved the old Taylor Rogers - current rendition not so much.  
 

Kreidler - hard to believe we gave that guy over 200 plate appearances.  
 

Martin - okay as a 4/5th outfielder, but rather audition the prospects.   

This covered absolutely everything I came to say.... Chef's kiss!

[D.C Twins]

3 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Sad fact is, despite the results being good, his under the hood performance is significantly worse than his last extended stint in AAA in 2024, suggesting he'd still be likely to struggle back in the majors. 

I shook the magic eightball about his future and it said "Japan"

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Obviously, the controversial call is Royce Lewis. Under the current rules the Twins have two more years of team control and at least next year his contract will be very affordable. I still have a flicker of belief, but two straight late seasons he has been healthy and failed to produce at a starter's level at an offensive position. I'd sign him for the arb rate and let him compete for a spot (most likely first base), but he would have to win the spot and continue to hit to hold a job. The good thing is that Kody Clemens can play first base and take over there (I think Clemens has earned a full-time job to start 2027). I don't know what the options for second will look like, but there should be some candidates to play second, allowing Clemens to move to first.

What player making multiple millions of dollars that season had to compete for anything? It’s a yes or no to accept Royce Lewis as your 1B for all of next year. 

[Patzky]

8 hours ago, StiltedGopher said:

Lanarch is preventing trying someone who could be a better solution - we wasted time using him this year already.  
 

Competent pitching is hard to find, even if it is low velocity.  I keep Ober until the healing arms show they are back and going.  
 

Royce gets to compete, but it should be a competition. Don’t dump him for a rental scrap heap first baseman.  
 

Loved the old Taylor Rogers - current rendition not so much.  
 

Kreidler - hard to believe we gave that guy over 200 plate appearances.  
 

Martin - okay as a 4/5th outfielder, but rather audition the prospects.   

In an unsurprising announcement, the Twins recalled OF Austin Martin from the IL and sent OF Gabby Gonzalez to the Saints.

[Mike Sixel]

The number of people that want to keep this team together boggles the mind. 

Larnach should be benched now, and gone after this year. 

Lewis? To what end? Keaschell or Rodriguez or trade candidate at first next year. 

Ober? So little upside. I'm uninterested in floor. Give me ceiling. But, this is all about the health of Abel and Prielipp and Lopez. And which of him or Kremer returns more in trade. 

[Fred]

8 hours ago, laloesch said:

My two cents and I know it won't be popular, but I'd rather have Trevor Larnach in the outfield than any  maddening combination of Austin Martin, Matt Wallner, Kody Clemens, James Outman, Alan Roden, Ryan Kreidler, Kyler Fedko, or Luke Keaschall (love his bat though), that we've seen this season.  While I'm not a huge fan of Larnach he is FARRRRR from the biggest problem facing this team.  The Twins did the right thing by finally calling up Jenkins who's gonna take a bit of time to get his feet under him, but they should have called up EROD too.  It's clear the Twins aren't making the playoffs, call up EROD NOW!

And give ERod all of Larnachs at bats to see what they've got. Larnach is (as a platooning outfielder) a slightly above average hitter with defensive liabilities. Let ERod platoon, and it's my opinion they will have improved the ballclub.

[Fred]

41 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The number of people that want to keep this team together boggles the mind. 

Larnach should be benched now, and gone after this year. 

Lewis? To what end? Keaschell or Rodriguez or trade candidate at first next year. 

Ober? So little upside. I'm uninterested in floor. Give me ceiling. But, this is all about the health of Abel and Prielipp and Lopez. And which of him or Kremer returns more in trade. 

What's that tongue-in-cheek definition of insanity? I question why anybody would be eager for more of the same.

[RpR]

9 minutes ago, Fred said:

What's that tongue-in-cheek definition of insanity?

Blind optimism that AAA players will be better.

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

8 hours ago, RpR said:

Blind optimism that AAA players will be better.

I would say older players at AAA get better is blind optimism, young prospects got there for a reason, and  the expectation is they become good or better players, doesn't always work out, but it works more often then guys on the wrong side of 25. 

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

15 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

We have 9,  count em 9 MLB caliber starting pitchers.  We don't have enough innings for all of them.  

Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, Abel, Kremer, Ober, Matthews, Priellip, Rojas and #10 is Paredes who acquitted himself quite well.  

Keep them all on ice until next season starts ... hopefully by June or July. 

[Whitey333]

Buxton should be on the listless.  Talk about someone blocking prospects playing time?  Ridiculous.  He has only played 2 "full" seasons out of 22 years.  And those really weren't full seasons.  Here's like Lewis just clog cup the system.  The problem is the twins unwillingness to trade any of them at better times to get optimal return.  Now people talk about releasing them or not offering them a contract.  Wasteful use of of resources.

[Patzky]

9 hours ago, RpR said:

Blind optimism that AAA players will be better.

Nobody knows that they will. But almost everyone agrees that they have to be given the opportunity to try.

[HarmonK03]

13 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Buxton should be on the listless.  Talk about someone blocking prospects playing time?  Ridiculous.  He has only played 2 "full" seasons out of 22 years.  And those really weren't full seasons.  Here's like Lewis just clog cup the system.  The problem is the twins unwillingness to trade any of them at better times to get optimal return.  Now people talk about releasing them or not offering them a contract.  Wasteful use of of resources.

As things stand now Buxton is here for two more years, might as well accept it until he publicly says something or they make a trade.  I doubt there will be any announcement if anything changes.  If you want to discuss what his role should be, that is a fair discussion.  But they still consider him the face of the organization so he is going have more say in his role than many would probably agree with on here.

Lewis is blocking no one right now, we have no other options at 1B currently.  In the offseason they could move somebody like Keaschall or bring somebody new in, but for this year he is blocking no one.

 

[mluebker]

19 hours ago, PuckettPond said:

Addition by subtraction is what a small market Twins team needs to become a World Series contender. Dead wood limits a forest's growth

Say goodbye to Lewis and try Keaschall at first to open up an outfield spot. Maybe he’s less of a defensive liability there. I hate to see the position turning into the last chance for ex-prospects to prove that they can play somewhere, but whose bat would you rather see in the lineup, Lewis’s or Keaschall’s?

 

Ditto for Larnach. Too many potentially better outfielders stacking up behind him. Buxton moves to one of the corners, Jenkins plays center, and it’s a competition for the other starting and fourth outfielder slots.

 

But keep Ober. I keep dreaming he’s going to evolve into the Twins’ version of Greg Maddux, more about control than heat.

[mluebker]

42 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Lewis is blocking no one right now, we have no other options at 1B currently.  In the offseason they could move somebody like Keaschall or bring somebody new in, but for this year he is blocking no one.

I’m kinda surprised they haven’t tried him at catcher or attempted to teach him to pitch. Seems like he’s had a chance everywhere else

[LA Vikes Fan]

18 hours ago, Twins GFP said:

This article needs to be re-written:

Players currently guaranteed roster spots next year:
Luke Keaschall
Kody Clemens
Byron Buxton
Brooks Lee
Taj Bradley
Joe Ryan
Yoendrys Gomez

That's it. A few more are in the "probably" category (Culpepper, Caratini), but everyone else is subject to salary, proving it, or the Twins finding someone better.

I think this is the right approach, but I would add 4 names to the guaranteed list - Culpepper, Hoffman, Morris, Lopez - plus 3 guys in the probable category - Caratini, Funderburk, Prielipp. That’s it. Basically 5 position players, 3 starting pitchers, 3 relievers guaranteed, 1 more of each in the probably group. Lot of work to do here.