Breaking: Twins Call Up Top Prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez

[Mai.K]

28 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

They could've easily sent Kreidler down and kept Ross.  At least give him a few games to see what they may have going into next year.  You know what you have in Kreidler and it is a DFA candidate.

Exactly.

I appreciate everything Kreidler has done for the team this season, but I agree that, with no minor-league options remaining next year, there really isn’t much reason to include him in the plans for next season.

And I feel the same way about Alex Jackson.

Honestly, I think it would have made more sense to move on from those two before Ross...

Feddeco was the same way, and now Ross as well. Despite putting up excellent numbers in the minors, I feel like they’ve been given far too few opportunities.

I really just wanted to see Ross get at least one hit.

[FlyingFinn]

48 minutes ago, Sampson5 said:

They really waited 12 extra days instead of calling him up on the 1st when rosters expanded so they could give Ross 5 ph abs .

And what would you be saying if Rodriguez got just the 5 AB's after being called up on September 1.......................

[TopGunn#22]

At long last this finally happens!  I'm on the "FIRE ZOLL" bandwagon, but I still long for the day when the Pohlad family finally sells and we have new ownership as well.  We have had poor leadership from Twins ownership and FO for quite some time now.  Change needs to happen.

On one hand, a Twins fan could almost get excited about a Twins starting rotation next year led by Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, with Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, Zebby and Ober backing them up.  That's 7 deep and you could throw Dean Kremer in there for #8.  

But you could also make a very compelling case for thinking "enough with the same old same old failures.  It's time to blow this team up and re-tool."  I can see hanging onto Pablo at least until the trade deadline in the hope we're contending and he's rebuilt his value.  I'm not so sure I would hang onto Joe Ryan if I can get a good package back this off season.  

I also think Bailey Ober has rebuilt a certain degree of value back.  I'd rather go with all the young guys and Lopez and Kremer as the stabilizing vets.  It will be interesting to see what they could get for Ober should a pitching depth needy team come calling.  

E-Rod needs to play every day along with Jenkins and Keaschall in the OF.  Larnach can pinch hit.  The fact Larnach wasn't traded this off season or at the deadline is a prime example of why this FO needs to be replaced.  Same with Jeffers.  We were NOT a contender.  Jeffers could have brought something pretty good back.  Wallner has no future with the Twins either.  Package him in a deal and get some other team's "Never Was" guy as a lottery ticket back.  

[Patzky]

58 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

They don’t care about Ross, so they were willing to let him sit on the bench. Rodriguez got at least 40 more at-bats in AAA than he would have sitting on the Twins bench.

That's actually the competent approach. We have gotten used to being surprised when the team takes the competent approach. Calling up Martin the day before is odd.. guessing Luke might need a day off here or there and Larnach will be relegated to PH like last night. Just for today let's try Martin in LF Emmy in Center Luke in Right. Jenkins might need a day to recoup or regroup. 

[ashbury]

Turns out 78 losses was the magic number for the FO to say it's over.   Your sports book will be paying out, for those of you who placed that bet.

[Danchat]

53 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

They could've easily sent Kreidler down and kept Ross.  At least give him a few games to see what they may have going into next year.  You know what you have in Kreidler and it is a DFA candidate.

I don't know if Kriedler is getting DFA'd, he makes a lot of sense to retain as an utility bench bat who can play almost anywhere on the field really well. Ross is the one who is probably getting DFA'd at the end of the year, they didn't treat him like a prospect that needed ABs. If they really like him, it didn't make sense to add him to the 40 man roster when they could have held onto him through next year instead of risking him through waivers.

The kid has over 1000 PAs at AA and was not very good over most the duration of that, which is probably why they don't see him as a prospect. In his few ABs in the bigs he's looked overmatched as well. Probably not much different than Fedko.

[bjorks]

For better or worse (I know they WON'T do it), but Bell and Larnach should probably get a handful of ABs the rest of the way. I've tried to defend (mostly in my head) the roster, but what a waste of 2 weeks as plenty of others have said. I understand rewarding guys, but you don't reward guys in a playoff push. You have to have your best available and Ben Ross and Alex Jackson are not in that convo, no offense to them. Yet I'm also timidly expecting ERod to pull a hammy before the EOS.

[LeatherAntenna]

So could you take this story and switch the names from Rodriguez to Buxton and just backdate the story 10 to 12 years?

[HarmonK03]

14 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I don't know if Kriedler is getting DFA'd, he makes a lot of sense to retain as an utility bench bat who can play almost anywhere on the field really well. Ross is the one who is probably getting DFA'd at the end of the year, they didn't treat him like a prospect that needed ABs. If they really like him, it didn't make sense to add him to the 40 man roster when they could have held onto him through next year instead of risking him through waivers.

The kid has over 1000 PAs at AA and was not very good over most the duration of that, which is probably why they don't see him as a prospect. In his few ABs in the bigs he's looked overmatched as well. Probably not much different than Fedko.

The career minor league numbers for Ross and Kriedler are actually very similar.  And Kreidler with his .181 batting average in the majors has shown he isn't a major league player.  Why aren't you giving the same opportunity to Ross.  I am not saying he will be successful or a bust, but if you are going to compare minor league numbers as the basis of comparison than Ross deserves as much of a chance as Kreidler. 

But for this FO, they perceive Kreidler as a vet and give him preference even though he has not done anything that says he has earned it.  This is why we keep riding the mediocrity train.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

5 minutes ago, bjorks said:

For better or worse (I know they WON'T do it), but Bell and Larnach should probably get a handful of ABs the rest of the way. I've tried to defend (mostly in my head) the roster, but what a waste of 2 weeks as plenty of others have said. I understand rewarding guys, but you don't reward guys in a playoff push. You have to have your best available and Ben Ross and Alex Jackson are not in that convo, no offense to them. 

I want to see what Jackson has ahead of Caratini.

back in August when they DFA’d Jackson and snuck him through waivers, he should have stayed in AAA. But now that he’s up?

Caratini is clearly not the answer for 2027.

good for Erod, he and Jenkins need to be on the outfield every day

[Rod Carews Birthday]

1 hour ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

This sees the forest for the trees, or Occam’s razor… or whatever…

bad wording to say, it was obvious that there’s no conspiracy, just waiting for the AAA season to wind down

This.

In the greater scheme of things, there is almost no difference between calling him up two weeks ago instead of now, EXCEPT they got him more at bats in St. Paul than he probably would have been able to get with the Twins. We all need to remember that the idea is long term viability, not short term results (see Wallner, Matt). There are plenty of things to be frustrated about with the owners and front office, this probably is a pretty low on the list.

[Nashvilletwin]

Except for Buxton as DH, ideally for the next couple of weeks we see our 2027 (whenever we have baseball in 2027, lol) starting lineup:

Outfield: Keaschall (LF), Jenkins (CF), ERod (RF)

Infield: Lee (3B), Culpepper (SS), Clemens (2B), Lewis (1B)

Catcher: Jeffers (re-signed)

DH: Buxton (platooning as the 4th outfielder)

Lewis is the most at risk not to be part of that lineup. Ideally the Twins upgrade at 1B over the off-season.

When Houston is brought up late in the season, Culpepper moves to 2B and Clemens either gets innings at 1B (Lewis stays) or is the primary utility player (infield and outfield) along with Martin.

Future looks bright fellow TDers.

[HarmonK03]

8 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

This.

In the greater scheme of things, there is almost no difference between calling him up two weeks ago instead of now, EXCEPT they got him more at bats in St. Paul than he probably would have been able to get with the Twins. We all need to remember that the idea is long term viability, not short term results (see Wallner, Matt). There are plenty of things to be frustrated about with the owners and front office, this probably is a pretty low on the list.

There were AB's available the last two weeks.  They chose not to give them to ERod.  Larnach and Bell could have easily rotated at DH.

[HarmonK03]

4 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Except for Buxton as DH, ideally for the next couple of weeks we see our 2027 (whenever we have baseball in 2027) starting lineup:

Outfield: Keaschall (LF), Jenkins (CF), ERod (RF)

Infield: Lee (3B), Culpepper (SS), Clemens (2B), Lewis (1B)

Catcher: Jeffers (re-signed)

DH: Buxton (platooning as the 4th outfielder)

Lewis is the most at risk not to be part of that lineup. Ideally the Twins upgrade at 1B over the off-season.

When Houston is brought up late in the season, Culpepper moves to 2B and Clemens either gets innings at 1B (Lewis stays) or is the primary utility player (infield and outfield) along with Martin.

Future looks bright fellow TDers.

Clemens is not an outfielder, they just keep trying to force it.

[ashbury]

11 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

back in August when they DFA’d Jackson and snuck him through waivers, he should have stayed in AAA. 

I still want to see an explanation for that one.

Roster management, at least on the fringes, has been an issue for several seasons.  With the awkward timing of Falvey's departure, I was willing to give Zoll the benefit of the doubt, even on matters like the OutMan.  But this slapstick comedy involving Jackson is entirely a self-own by the GM and I just don't understand it.

Jackson in AAA, ready on a moment's notice if an injury occurs to a catcher, and we could have any of the other 40-man guys up for a look-see these final weeks.

I. Just. Don't. Understand.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Clemens is not an outfielder, they just keep trying to force it.

Keaschall as well, he’s a DH, maybe he can play 1b and not be a liability

[HarmonK03]

52 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

At long last this finally happens!  I'm on the "FIRE ZOLL" bandwagon, but I still long for the day when the Pohlad family finally sells and we have new ownership as well.  We have had poor leadership from Twins ownership and FO for quite some time now.  Change needs to happen.

On one hand, a Twins fan could almost get excited about a Twins starting rotation next year led by Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, with Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, Zebby and Ober backing them up.  That's 7 deep and you could throw Dean Kremer in there for #8.  

But you could also make a very compelling case for thinking "enough with the same old same old failures.  It's time to blow this team up and re-tool."  I can see hanging onto Pablo at least until the trade deadline in the hope we're contending and he's rebuilt his value.  I'm not so sure I would hang onto Joe Ryan if I can get a good package back this off season.  

I also think Bailey Ober has rebuilt a certain degree of value back.  I'd rather go with all the young guys and Lopez and Kremer as the stabilizing vets.  It will be interesting to see what they could get for Ober should a pitching depth needy team come calling.  

E-Rod needs to play every day along with Jenkins and Keaschall in the OF.  Larnach can pinch hit.  The fact Larnach wasn't traded this off season or at the deadline is a prime example of why this FO needs to be replaced.  Same with Jeffers.  We were NOT a contender.  Jeffers could have brought something pretty good back.  Wallner has no future with the Twins either.  Package him in a deal and get some other team's "Never Was" guy as a lottery ticket back.  

Kremer needs to be the first one out the door, not the one kept around.  He is a #6 starter at best.

[HarmonK03]

2 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Keaschall as well, he’s a DH, maybe he can play 1b and not be a liability

I still would like to see if an offseason of work would help him in the OF,  With his athleticism, it should offset some of his shortcomings and I just don't like putting a 23 year old at DH with his profile.

[bean5302]

Why are people worried about the feelings of players who are not good enough? Yeah, it sucks for them. I'm sure it's heart breaking, but it's the business. You have to produce in professional sports, and baseball is just about the easiest sport to analyze actual production.

Larnach, Bell, Kriedler, Jackson, Martin. None of them should have been on the roster on September 1st or later. They shouldn't be part of this team's future plans.

The front office's job is to put together a clear plan for 2027 and beyond. There are plenty of players who could potentially have a role in the future, but instead of focusing on that, the Twins played guys who should not be a part.

[HarmonK03]

1 minute ago, bean5302 said:

Why are people worried about the feelings of players who are not good enough? Yeah, it sucks for them. I'm sure it's heart breaking, but it's the business. You have to produce in professional sports, and baseball is just about the easiest sport to analyze actual production.

Larnach, Bell, Kriedler, Jackson, Martin. None of them should have been on the roster on September 1st or later. They shouldn't be part of this team's future plans.

The front office's job is to put together a clear plan for 2027 and beyond. There are plenty of players who could potentially have a role in the future, but instead of focusing on that, the Twins played guys who should not be a part.

And Martin is in the lineup today for Jenkins.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

12 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

There were AB's available the last two weeks.  They chose not to give them to ERod.  Larnach and Bell could have easily rotated at DH.

Two weeks of AB's are not going to be career altering one way or the other for Erod.  This just doesn't rise to that level.  FWIW I would have broken camp with Erod in the majors, but since his season got shredded shortly after that with injuries, I don't find this to be bizarre at all.  

[HarmonK03]

1 minute ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Two weeks of AB's are not going to be career altering one way or the other for Erod.  This just doesn't rise to that level.  FWIW I would have broken camp with Erod in the majors, but since his season got shredded shortly after that with injuries, I don't find this to be bizarre at all.  

In the big picture it was a bad decision, the more AB's up here, the better the benefit for next year because ERod will be up here next year.  Yes I do agree he should have broken camp.  

It feels almost like Zoll is using a dartboard in making his moves, there is no plan to them at all.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

5 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

It feels almost like Zoll is using a dartboard in making his moves, there is no plan to them at all.

Yes.  From the outside it looks like that.  We do need to remember that the front office has information and analysis that we don't have.  That can sometimes color their decisions, and sometimes they're right (and other times they're not).  I think that they have screwed up too often, but I don't think it's from a lack of seriousness at all.  

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Yes.  From the outside it looks like that.  We do need to remember that the front office has information and analysis that we don't have.  That can sometimes color their decisions, and sometimes they're right (and other times they're not).  I think that they have screwed up too often, but I don't think it's from a lack of seriousness at all.  

The opening day bullpen flies in the face of this assertion 

Relief pitchers (8): Justin Topa, Cole Sands, Eric Orze, Zak Kent, Cody Laweryson, Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, Kody Funderburk

[jkcarew]

Glad. Excited to see what happens. I honestly don’t know what to expect. If I were to guess, it’d be spectacular success, or spectacular failure…but it seems it must be spectacular.

[weitz41]

Somebody in the FO must have been rummaging through canned goods in the back of the cupboard last night and said HEY WHAT about this one!

Congrats E Rod.

NO headfirst slides into any bags! That's right NONE. 

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, jimbo92107 said:

Congratulations to E Rod. Hope he bangs a hit in his first game!

Hope his 1st game is today

[ashbury]

6 minutes ago, weitz41 said:

Somebody in the FO must have been rummaging through canned goods in the back of the cupboard last night and said HEY WHAT about this one!

Congrats E Rod.

NO headfirst slides into any bags! That's right NONE. 

When he pops up with a twisted ankle at second base you are getting the blame for the jinx.   😄

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Hope his 1st game is today

Right-handed starting pitcher.   No excuse I can think of, not to.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, StiltedGopher said:

Guess Zoll got tired of reading our Twins Daily suggestions.  What else should we recommend, this might be our window.   

Seppuku.