A Lowe-Cost Solution to the Twins' First Base Situation

[Vanimal46]

1 minute ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

TTT has to spend some money. He has to swing for the fences. 3/40  ought to get it done with Goldy. 

I am assuming this is sarcasm. Goldschmidt signed for 1/$4 last year he's gonna be a vet minimum signing like Orlando Arcia last year

[Vanimal46]

But yes I absolutely can believe we'll be reading an article on here with the headline BREAKING: 7x All Star Paul Goldschmidt signs 1 year contract 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Playoffs are fine. Platoon all you want. 

Check the Brewers regular season and check how many AB's left handed hitters had against left handed pitching. 

By the time the playoffs. Hit... the manager can take that information and platoon away. 

So you’re okay with trying to win in the playoffs but not during the regular season. What’s the point of a 13 player roster if you aren’t going to use those extra roster spots to complement your starter’s weaknesses?

[sweetmusicviola16]

55 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

But yes I absolutely can believe we'll be reading an article on here with the headline BREAKING: 7x All Star Paul Goldschmidt signs 1 year contract 

Oh boy, now that I see it in print I recant my attempt at humor. This isn't funny anymore. Zoll and TTT might see it and think it's a great idea....

[sweetmusicviola16]

Too much limbo in an article like this one. How Lowe can the Twins go

[Seth Stohs]

Make no sense to me at all to consider Lowe. He's a guy a team signs as a pinch-hitter, part-timer, a veteran bat. Not any sort of answer. His numbers are not close to be enough better to not give Royce another year. 

We've seen this scenario before. Twins draft an athlete high in the first round. He faces a variety of injuries on the way up the ladder. He debuts, shows flashes of greatness, struggles, injuries, and ultimate they become pretty strong players. I'd much, much rather lock him up long-term than lose him for pretty much nothing. 

[Vanimal46]

8 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Make no sense to me at all to consider Lowe. He's a guy a team signs as a pinch-hitter, part-timer, a veteran bat. Not any sort of answer. His numbers are not close to be enough better to not give Royce another year. 

We've seen this scenario before. Twins draft an athlete high in the first round. He faces a variety of injuries on the way up the ladder. He debuts, shows flashes of greatness, struggles, injuries, and ultimate they become pretty strong players. I'd much, much rather lock him up long-term than lose him for pretty much nothing. 

You're arguing to lock Royce Lewis long term? I'm not for that at all. 

[darin617]

Not needed at all. Kody Clemens can do the same thing for less money and better than Lowe.

[Mike Sixel]

56 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

You're arguing to lock Royce Lewis long term? I'm not for that at all. 

No one better be doing that. He's been bad for 2.5 years. 

[Riverbrian]

On 10/23/2026 at 7:14 PM, DJL44 said:

So you’re okay with trying to win in the playoffs but not during the regular season. What’s the point of a 13 player roster if you aren’t going to use those extra roster spots to complement your starter’s weaknesses?

Umm... I don't know... I didn't realize the Brewers were not trying to win in the regular season. Is this the approach you want to take in your gotcha moment. Do we just go round in circles with this crap. 

The Brewers had 699 at bats for the pure left handed hitters against left handed pitching during the regular season. The Twins had 324. The Brewers had a team OPS of .720 against left handed pitching. The Twins had a .678. What is your point? My point is talent. What's yours?

Hamilton had 71 AB's in the regular season against left handed pitchers and he was the one they hid the most. The other 5 pure left handed hitters had opportunity to show Pat Murphy who should be platooned in the playoffs. Bauers, Turang and Mitchell are not platooning in the playoffs. Those 3 have homered 4 times off of left handed pitchers in the playoffs. The team has 10 home runs total in the playoffs. The Brewers have an .800 OPS against left handed pitching in the playoffs. They have a .698 OPS against right handed pitching in the playoffs. They have 6 of those pure left handed hitters on their roster. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Turang had .620 OPS against lefties in the regular season. Led the entire team in AB's against lefties with 176 of them. Still playing against them in the playoffs. How is that even possible? 

The Brewers are only using a 3 man rotation in the playoffs.  Any comments on that? I guess the Brewers don't want to win in the regular season with that 5 man rotation. Did ya trip me up with your cleverness? 

You know what I want in the playoffs. THE BEST DAMN PLAYERS!!! How do you know who your best players are? You have 162 games to find out? But you can make it really easy to identify them if you just back them up with role players. Players look better than they are when you place them next to a pile of dead fish. Players who make that .650 OPS look irreplaceable. I'm so tired of having no place to turn when someone is struggling/failing but... apparently it's a tradition you'd like to sustain for a longer period of time than the Bobby Bonilla contract. 

It's really not a hard concept but for you... maybe it is. 

It's like a virus. But... we don't know why we are sneezing. 

We got another article about bringing in half ass players. Let's bring in 26 of these half ass guys. Let's load up and go for it.

I'll tell you what. You go ahead and set your pretty platoon combinations up in the off season. You compliment away... go ahead and let's see how long those pretty little platoon combinations last. I'll bet they are blown apart by the end of April but you keep signing lesser players as your strategy for winning baseball games and let's watch Austin Martin get 300 AB's anyway. 

Go sign your Grichuk's for 5 million so Jenkins will never ever be worth 15 million at any point in his career but at least the Twins will go 394-416 over the 5 years that Jenkins will never ever ever have to face a big scary left handed pitcher and we get to trade him for a relief pitcher when we gotta do that rebuild thing. Let's sit and wonder why we can't produce a Schwarber or Freeman. Let's just ask the other teams to do it for us and then try to sign them in free agency with money we have never had in the history of this franchise. I can't see that working because they usually sign with the big boys but no worries though... there will be plenty of Grichuks to sign in the future as we half ass our way to glory. 

Do you want to platoon Lewis with Lowe? Or do we have to sign a right handed dude to pair with Lowe? How many roster spots you got? You want two half ass 1B on your roster?

Regardless... The Twins front office will hire you because you are in lock step with what they religiously do to produce a 394-416 record over 5 years. 

How's the compliment thing working for ya. You compliment all you want. Math this thing together. Bring it home. 

I WANT TALENT! Not bits and pieces of players who end up with 300 AB"s anyway. 

It's really not a hard concept but nice job knocking me down with your stunning gotcha moment. 

 

[CRF]

Nope.

[jmlease1]

Last thing we need is to be signing another LH bat that can't be on the field vs LHP. I don't mind platooning (it's been part of the game since god was a corporal) but we already have too many LH bats that need protection. He's not a good defender, can't hit LHP, why do we want to add that? 

Just say no to Lowe.

[SaintPaulRocks]

I'm all for this. Twins firstbaseman had a .671 OPS. Signing Lowe for strong side platoon is a vast improvement. He has a career. 793 OPS vs right handers. Also will allow more money to sign a couple of relief pitchers. 

[1985Fan]

If they go the trade route to fill 1B, how about Coby Mayo? The Orioles have the Polar Bear locked in for a while, so Mayo could be expendable. They need SP badly. Maybe Ryan for Mayo would work. He’s not shown superstar numbers, but he’s young and has upside.

Im ok if they stay internal for 1B. Give Lewis another two months as a last chance. If he doesn’t hit, then be done with him and go with Clemons and Sabato to see how that looks. I think they should see what Sabato can do before moving on. They need some RH power in the lineup with Jeffers on his way out. 

[bjorks]

20 hours ago, rdehring said:

Unlike many of you, I don't see the Twins going after any first basemen during the offseason.  I expect them to give Lewis a chance, likely his last chance to be an everyday starter.  And first base is the only spot in the Twins lineup that would work.  I also see them taking a hard look at Roden, who played first in college.  Although I don't know how much.  And unlike many, I believe Roden both deserves and is ready for full-time play for the Twins, or someone else.  

If Lewis fails to win a full-time spot, I see him as a backup at first, second and third which would lead to his departure in either July or next winter.  In that case Roden would be their starter.  Come July there is a strong probability that Houston will have arrived, moving Culpepper to second which enables Clemens to move to first either full-time or splitting it with someone.

I don't disagree. As much as I've come to loathe Lewis, he's cheap enough and as a former #1 probably earned another 1/2 season to see what we have. I don't necessarily get excited thinking about Christian Walker in 2027 (as opposed to 2020) let alone Lowe. Clemens is so stinkin cheap I'd rather give him 500 ABs at 1B/2B than if guys like Lowe/Walker are the "best" we can do/afford. 

Again, spend the money on Jeffers.

[Mike Sixel]

30 minutes ago, bjorks said:

I don't disagree. As much as I've come to loathe Lewis, he's cheap enough and as a former #1 probably earned another 1/2 season to see what we have. I don't necessarily get excited thinking about Christian Walker in 2027 (as opposed to 2020) let alone Lowe. Clemens is so stinkin cheap I'd rather give him 500 ABs at 1B/2B than if guys like Lowe/Walker are the "best" we can do/afford. 

Again, spend the money on Jeffers.

How many years does he get? It's 2.5 awful years now. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

37 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

How many years does he get? It's 2.5 awful years now. 

Unfortunately my hunch is that we will see another year of below average to bad play in-between injuries. A. He will come cheap. B. He is still a 1/1 draft pick. C. It is the Minnesota Twins organization that is still owned by the Pohlads.

[bjorks]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

How many years does he get? It's 2.5 awful years now. 

i should've said another half year to see if he can get it back. He's cheap enough and the alternatives aren't a whole lot better based on cost/performance. Clemens deserves 500+ABs and I don't care if they're at 1B/2B/OF/C/RP/player coach. #'s are similar to someone like Walker at 1/20th the cost

[JD-TWINS]

15 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Umm... I don't know... I didn't realize the Brewers were not trying to win in the regular season. Is this the approach you want to take in your gotcha moment. Do we just go round in circles with this crap. 

The Brewers had 699 at bats for the pure left handed hitters against left handed pitching during the regular season. The Twins had 324. The Brewers had a team OPS of .720 against left handed pitching. The Twins had a .678. What is your point? My point is talent. What's yours?

Hamilton had 71 AB's in the regular season against left handed pitchers and he was the one they hid the most. The other 5 pure left handed hitters had opportunity to show Pat Murphy who should be platooned in the playoffs. Bauers, Turang and Mitchell are not platooning in the playoffs. Those 3 have homered 4 times off of left handed pitchers in the playoffs. The team has 10 home runs total in the playoffs. The Brewers have an .800 OPS against left handed pitching in the playoffs. They have a .698 OPS against right handed pitching in the playoffs. They have 6 of those pure left handed hitters on their roster. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Turang had .620 OPS against lefties in the regular season. Led the entire team in AB's against lefties with 176 of them. Still playing against them in the playoffs. How is that even possible? 

The Brewers are only using a 3 man rotation in the playoffs.  Any comments on that? I guess the Brewers don't want to win in the regular season with that 5 man rotation. Did ya trip me up with your cleverness? 

You know what I want in the playoffs. THE BEST DAMN PLAYERS!!! How do you know who your best players are? You have 162 games to find out? But you can make it really easy to identify them if you just back them up with role players. Players look better than they are when you place them next to a pile of dead fish. Players who make that .650 OPS look irreplaceable. I'm so tired of having no place to turn when someone is struggling/failing but... apparently it's a tradition you'd like to sustain for a longer period of time than the Bobby Bonilla contract. 

It's really not a hard concept but for you... maybe it is. 

It's like a virus. But... we don't know why we are sneezing. 

We got another article about bringing in half ass players. Let's bring in 26 of these half ass guys. Let's load up and go for it.

I'll tell you what. You go ahead and set your pretty platoon combinations up in the off season. You compliment away... go ahead and let's see how long those pretty little platoon combinations last. I'll bet they are blown apart by the end of April but you keep signing lesser players as your strategy for winning baseball games and let's watch Austin Martin get 300 AB's anyway. 

Go sign your Grichuk's for 5 million so Jenkins will never ever be worth 15 million at any point in his career but at least the Twins will go 394-416 over the 5 years that Jenkins will never ever ever have to face a big scary left handed pitcher and we get to trade him for a relief pitcher when we gotta do that rebuild thing. Let's sit and wonder why we can't produce a Schwarber or Freeman. Let's just ask the other teams to do it for us and then try to sign them in free agency with money we have never had in the history of this franchise. I can't see that working because they usually sign with the big boys but no worries though... there will be plenty of Grichuks to sign in the future as we half ass our way to glory. 

Do you want to platoon Lewis with Lowe? Or do we have to sign a right handed dude to pair with Lowe? How many roster spots you got? You want two half ass 1B on your roster?

Regardless... The Twins front office will hire you because you are in lock step with what they religiously do to produce a 394-416 record over 5 years. 

How's the compliment thing working for ya. You compliment all you want. Math this thing together. Bring it home. 

I WANT TALENT! Not bits and pieces of players who end up with 300 AB"s anyway. 

It's really not a hard concept but nice job knocking me down with your stunning gotcha moment. 

 

Deep breaths…….,

[SE23]

Nowe.

[ashbury]

17 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Turang had .620 OPS against lefties in the regular season. Led the entire team in AB's against lefties with 176 of them. 

Lots of interesting points to ponder but life is short, or maybe my attention span is, so I'll respond to just this. 

Turang is indeed an interesting case to consider because the Twins in 2026 had no one like him.  He OPSed .901 against right handers.  No one with more than 50 PA against one side of the pitching platoon or the other had an OPS like that for our team.  (Alex Jackson with 48 PA against righties achieved .950 but his BABIP was an insane .500 so his contribution was a fluke.)  BTW b-r.com shows Turang with 202 PA against lefties in 2026 so maybe you are working from late-season but not-quite-final stats?  Not that it changes the conclusions you are drawing.  Anyway, it's a lot easier to put up with .619 (Turang's final OPS vs lefties unless I'm misreading b-r.com) when taking him out forgoes any chance of another RHP matchup later in the game where he could dominate.

Versus lefties, the Brewers had 3 hitters with 100+ PA carrying a .900+ OPS.  Again, the Twins had none.  Three guys in the lineup like that also can help take a bit of the sting out of one black hole in the lineup that becomes an asset if a righty comes back in to pitch and has to face Turang.

The other side of the coin is that when you platoon, you do it on the assumption, hope, and expectation that your LHB will murderize the RHP, and likewise RHB will tattoo the LHP.  Larnach led the Twins lefty hitters at .819 versus right handers, and Jeffers was the only righty above .800 (just over, at .802) against lefties, and there were few highlights below these guys.  When the best L/R split of any variety is our excellent righty Buxton against RHP (.865), the manager can only tear out his hair in frustration.

Speaking of Larnach, it's painful to remember that he was drafted ONE spot ahead of Turang.  Argh.

My point being mainly to agree with you: it's about the talent.  Get the Twins a few Turangs of their own, some way and somehow, and see if their strategery doesn't shift a little bit on them.  Get some lefty bats that can cook against those plentiful RHP, and the platooning plan suddenly doesn't seem quite as pathetic.

I forget which manager it was, maybe Stengel or Berra, who said "I managed great but they sure played lousy."

[Riverbrian]

12 hours ago, ashbury said:

My point being mainly to agree with you: it's about the talent.  Get the Twins a few Turangs of their own, some way and somehow,

Thank you for your entire post. You are a breath of fresh air because I'm stuck in the mud with Milwaukee is platooning in the playoffs and apparently that means sacrificing the regular season. It's frustrating so Thank You.  

The juncture is here... the hour is critical. It's the next wave. It's here. What do we want Jenkins and Emma to become? The decision is RIGHT NOW! 

It's not later... it's right now.

We can go down the Lowe path. It's the same path we've been travelling. Are we going to focus on little gains for today at the expense of tomorrow... AGAIN.

Are we just going to continue doing what we have absolutely 1,000 percent committed to the past 4 years. Do we want to carry on and just throw Jenkins and Emma and Roden and Sanchez and Tait into the same grinder that spit out Larnach, Kirilloff, Wallner, Julien. The hour is now.

Are we sending Jenkins down to the minors so we can roster a lesser player in Austin Martin just so we can attach Martin to Emma? Does Roden wait behind Gonzalez due to handedness? Is Gonzalez fated to become Martin because of the presence of Jenkins and Emma? The hour is now. We blew the last wave... will we blow this one? 

Choosing Gonzalez over Emma for a short period of time isn't a huge deal but the mechanism that led to choosing a lesser player even if it was a short peiod of time is a huge deal. We should all know that Gonzalez was chosen over Emma because of Larnach needing Martin and Martin being hurt. This was set in motion 4 years ago when we created Larnach by insuring that he would ultimately become reliant upon a lesser player for the entirety of his career. In the process we are also crating the cancer that attaches to it. Austin Martin and Gabriel Gonzalez are being developed to be that short side guy that will attach to the host and make the host sick. Development isn't what we do. We develop specialists and it's not working.

This was all set in motion 4 years ago with Larnach, With Kirilloff, With Wallner, With Julien. Will we be in the same place with Jenkins and Emma and Roden 4 years from now? By turning them into Larnach. My guess is yes they will do exactly that. The hour is now for what should be a no. Just change today... Right now.  

It's about talent... All that meaningless mundane research that I did that very few care about or understand... That was all about talent. Are the decisions designed for today and today only even helping today. Does it help enough to justify the damage to tomorrow? Yet we are still getting beat by the teams that are a little more tomorrow focused like Cleveland and Milwaukee or Chicago. 

If people want role players to fill out your 26 man you are not serious about talent. Injury will drag the role players into the light. If you want Jenkins strip mined for parts... you are not serious about talent. You are just diminishing the future value to survive today and hindsight is showing that we did not survive previous today's and we are well into the future now with very little to show for it. Are we going to do the same thing with Jenkins and Emma? The time is now. 

Talent isn't just expensive realized talent that we can't afford to buy. It's also about talent that needs time to become expensive realized talent or even average talent at a lower price point. Does the player have talent realized like Schwarber or unrealized like Jenkins. Either way it's Talent. We want Talent not role players who will never become that type of talent. 

Being an advocate for specialists to round out the roster... That is not a commitment to talent. It's just more crap that will be dragged into the light. Some want those specialists and then bitch about the lack of talent when we are forced to deploy them.  It's the same path that led us nowhere. It's the path that in the words of Bob Dylan... Just kinda wasted our precious time".

I've thought twice... It's not alright. 

Short Side Specialists as a plan is a BAD PLAN and we've tried that... we know the result. Looking for right handed hitters when you already have 9 of them is a BAD PLAN and we've tried that... we know the result. Being the leader of the left handed hitter phobia club... being the 30th out of 30 teams alpha dog is a BAD PLAN and we've tried that and we know the result. 

Thanks for your post and the honest discussion. The reason I only quoted the section I quoted is because it needs to stand out. 

"Get the Twins a few Turangs of their own"

Exactly... However... 

The Twins have refused to even attempt to develop a Turang. 

They haven't even attempted. 

The Brewers will develop Turang fully and they will trade him after 4 or 5 years for players who will reload the system. 

But the Twins will pick up Nathanial Lowe he will be average with no trade value if he works out and we will once again sell our future for today... meanwhile we are still getting beat by the teams with all those developing youngsters... not selling their future for today. How does the future focused team beat the team focused on today... TODAY? Every today for the past how many years? It's about Talent. What we are doing isn't working. We are treading water. the kids across the street are swimming and beating us. 

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

BTW... Some response to other thoughts in your excellent post. I used AB's not PA's therefore the 202 compared to 176 and you are right... it doesn't change the discussion.

The three players you mention who are killing left handed pitching that the Twins don't have are: Jackson Chourio who is a right handed hitting still developing 22 year old uber prospect who will feed the Brewers into the future. Jake Bauers who is LEFT HANDED and Andrew Vaughn who also had a .768 OPS against right handed pitching and is considered depth on a 103 win team. Vaughn played primarily 1B just like Bauers did but Vaughn also played 3B for a 103 win team. Bauers also played OF for a 103 win team as Pat Murphy was able to figure out how to get them into the lineup while Twinsdaily would cry out LOGJAM!!! 

Meanwhile... the Brewers beyond Bauers and his exceptional 160 PA's against left handers were able to survive an additional total of 604 left handed PA's against left handed pitchers from Turang, Yelich, Mitchell, Frelick and Hamilton and the best OPS amongst the group of 5 against left handed pitchers was Mitchell at .668. They survived but the Twins have limited left handers religiously and didn't survive. It isn't working. We are loading up the right handed batters box... placing 9, 8 or 7 in the right handed batters box and it isn't working because this is a talent discussion and we search for lesser talent on purpose just to feed a machine that doesn't appear to work. 

I really like your point about the platoon assumption... hope... expectation as the why we platoon. I believe you are correct... that's why we do it. The platoon splits are real. 

However...  It takes time for the numbers that feed the assumption... hope... expectation to accumulate. A .640 OPS is developed over time. A .640 OPS can still hit a home run on any given day. The time that it takes to create distance in the overall splits doesn't add up to much in one individual game or individual AB. I'm pretty sure that Garrett Mitchell did some things in those starts against left handers that helped win a game or two. Players need to be allowed time to have a hot streak to stabilize a cold streak or vice versa. We don't know what 30 PA's even means but we limit to 30 right out of the box. 

That amount of time it takes to create the numbers that we all react to is the exact thing that we are taking away from our developing left handed hitters. It takes time to create the disparity and we are taking away time from them to lessent the disparity. They need time... we say they can't have it. Time to improve... time to adjust... time to show that they don't need to be platooned. Time to become Schwarber or Freeman instead of just denying the opportunity by not allowing the time and setting a Joc Pederson sized ceiling or a Larnach ceiling. The Brewers are consistently beating us and our answer to that is to sign lesser players and create more Larnachs. It's not working. 

Turang drafted one spot behind Larnach is interesting. I'll say this about that. Turang was lucky the Twins didn't draft him. Larnach is unlucky that the Brewers didn't draft him. The Twins could have taken Turang and they would have killed him. Because that is what we do. 

You see it... It's about talent, and it's about the money we have to work with and the most reasonable path to talent. A budget that demands that we develop our talent or we die or subsist on garbage. 

If the Twins were not pinch hitting before a batter even has his first AB, if the Twins were not calling up Gonzalez over Emma even for a short time. If the Twins had produced anything of trade value from a farm that is consistent highly ranked for decades. If the Twins were not consistently plugging the same holes over and over with the same Nathanial Lowe type players. If the Twins were not bending over backwards to find more right handed hitters when they already have 9 of them. You are correct... the platoon discussion would not be such a big deal because all teams platoon. But... the Twins do this crap unlike all other teams. So it's a huge deal and I'd just rather they stop. 

The Twins are just doing it wrong. Talent... accumulate it and don't diminish it on purpose. Right handed or left handed I don't care... I want talent... but if you want a tiebreaker... Grab the lefty swinging guy because of all the righty throwing guys. We limit our lefthanders on purpose. Cleveland, The White Sox, the Brewers... they have more left handed hitters than they can platoon. And look... they have actual left handed hitters developing against left handed pitching and they are winning today and they have been winning today year after year. 

Until the Twins just stop doing this... I'm going to keep saying... Look... Everybody Look... until people actually see what I'm saying and hopefully I have less "So you're okay with trying to win in the playoffs but not during the regular season" responses while discussing a team that WON 103 GAMES in the regular season.  

No to Lowe... Get BAUERS!!! He doesn't need to be platooned. Get Talent. Create Talent. If Tom Pohlad wants to commit to something. Commit to talent. Commit to not committing to lesser players.  

[bjorks]

Turang's dad played MLB for like 7 years and I put a lot of value in that. I've been a basketball coach for 25 years and with my boys, you're dang right I've focused on my weaknesses with them!

MOST of the prospect services had Turang as a 60 grade hitter with ELITE pitch recognition. The Twins have nobody since maybe Arraez that has that skill. If you look a bit deeper though, Turang has sold out for HR in exchange for K's as evident by his increase in both #'s. Turang was I believe a 40/45 grade on power. I don't think anyone saw him consistently being a 20+/100+ guy with his early approach. 

Maybe a bad example, but imagine of Keaschall over the next few seasons saw the ave drop, but all the sudden he was a 20/100 guy, we'd all be shocked. That's what Turang has done. 

You don't find Turang's on trees who have the pedigree and can change through the minors to majors and go from a hard contact hitter into a power guy. He's rare.