What's the Twins’ Long-Term Answer at First Base?

[mluebker]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Hits like DaShawn Keirsey, plays defense like Miguel Sano.

Ouch! But not much to argue with…

[mluebker]

2 hours ago, h2oface said:

…there are currently NO long-term answers for the Twins at ANY position.

Yeah, but other than that, they could be contenders next year.

[mluebker]

4 hours ago, Coach said:

Cody Clemens should be the first choice within the Twin's organization.  He's under control through 2029, made a base salary of $800K this year, as of the end of May he led all of MLB in Runs Saved at 1B, he's a ballplayer, a good club house guy, and hit for power. 

I like Clemens, but right now he’s the best second baseman they have. Keaschall is probably the worst, and there aren’t really any viable choices in between. Unless they want to rent another veteran for a year, I gotta think 1B is Keaschall’s destiny. Might as well get him over there and learning to play there ASAP.

[Coach]

3 minutes ago, mluebker said:

I like Clemens, but right now he’s the best second baseman they have. Keaschall is probably the worst, and there aren’t really any viable choices in between. Unless they want to rent another veteran for a year, I gotta think 1B is Keaschall’s destiny. Might as well get him over there and learning to play there ASAP.

With all due respect, I truly believe with Keaschall's athleticism he will be great in the outfield (someday).  Plus, a first baseman has gotta pick it, based on his 2B, I don't know if he can.

[Parfigliano]

5 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

To suggest that we have to have a big power hitter at first is laughable.  The Twins and other teams have had light-hitting first basemen before.  The Twins have had Kirilloff, Mientkiewicz, and Ron Coomer.  Even the Yankees have had Greg Bird, who was not known for his power, in the lineup.  Whether a first basemen hits the ball over the wall or into the gap still drives in the run.  I'll take a full lineup of Lewis's, if they consistently hit the ball into the gap over a lineup of Joey Gallo's, who has light tower power, provided he can find the ball with the bat short of hiring Sherlock Holmes.

As for figuring out whether Lewis is the long-term answer at first, this could have already been addressed by now had they done this last offseason, which was move Lewis off of 3B to first or second.  Because they failed to address this last offseason, we need to use up another offseason to see whether the Lewis experiment will work or not.  I could also make the argument that they could have addressed this in the 2024-2025 offseason when all the comments were flooding in about Lewis refusing to play second in September of 2024.  

I could be intrigued by Keaschall at first.  Mainly because we just have too many OF that will need playing time and are better fielders, even if they move Larnach or not offer him arbitration, and I'm not even including Wallner, who probably needs a Julien type of trade out of Minnesota at this point.  Lewis could then move to second with Clemens being the LH Swiss army knife that gives a platoon advantage.

A full lineup of Lewis would lose 100 games.

[Parfigliano]

5 hours ago, PuckettPond said:

If Royce Lewis does not accept coaching & continues to do it his way he may not be in a Twins uniform for long.

Lewis gone next year works for me.

[Parfigliano]

5 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

To suggest that we have to have a big power hitter at first is laughable.  The Twins and other teams have had light-hitting first basemen before.  The Twins have had Kirilloff, Mientkiewicz, and Ron Coomer.  Even the Yankees have had Greg Bird, who was not known for his power, in the lineup.  Whether a first basemen hits the ball over the wall or into the gap still drives in the run.  I'll take a full lineup of Lewis's, if they consistently hit the ball into the gap over a lineup of Joey Gallo's, who has light tower power, provided he can find the ball with the bat short of hiring Sherlock Holmes.

As for figuring out whether Lewis is the long-term answer at first, this could have already been addressed by now had they done this last offseason, which was move Lewis off of 3B to first or second.  Because they failed to address this last offseason, we need to use up another offseason to see whether the Lewis experiment will work or not.  I could also make the argument that they could have addressed this in the 2024-2025 offseason when all the comments were flooding in about Lewis refusing to play second in September of 2024.  

I could be intrigued by Keaschall at first.  Mainly because we just have too many OF that will need playing time and are better fielders, even if they move Larnach or not offer him arbitration, and I'm not even including Wallner, who probably needs a Julien type of trade out of Minnesota at this point.  Lewis could then move to second with Clemens being the LH Swiss army knife that gives a platoon advantage.

I saw Julien play for COLO AAA team Tuesday.  Hit a 2 run double.

[mluebker]

18 minutes ago, Coach said:

With all due respect, I truly believe with Keaschall's athleticism he will be great in the outfield (someday).  Plus, a first baseman has gotta pick it, based on his 2B, I don't know if he can.

You may be right. I was predicting first base was Royce Lewis’s destiny a year or two ago, and he hasn’t stepped up and taken ownership yet and maybe never will. On the other hand, the outfield depth chart already is pretty crowded with actual outfielders. At some point the question with Keaschall is going to be, “Where can they park him where he won’t cost them more runs that his bat generates?”

[HarmonK03]

6 hours ago, PuckettPond said:

If Royce Lewis does not accept coaching & continues to do it his way he may not be in a Twins uniform for long.

Where has it been said that he doesn't accept coaching, just because you may not agree with his comments, doesn't mean he doesn't accept coaching.  If I recall he talked about how he tried the different stances and swings they wanted him to before he got sent down.  And they weren't working for him.  The Twins and Falvey did this to Buxton also, to the point that some former players were telling him go up there and do what you are comfortable with.

[HarmonK03]

Lewis has gotten better throughout the year defensively, give him time, everyone expects him to be a natural over there.  It took Mauer time as well to get to the level he did over there.

If they are going to replace him, they need to do it with a clear upgrade.  And I do not believe it is Clemens, who still can be streaky and will he repeat this year, no one knows.  Put Clemens in a super utility role and upgrade the roster so he is in a more valuable for the team.

I like Keaschall in the outfield, again give him some time, they played musical chairs in defensive positions this year, give the players time to get comfortable.