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

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

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. 

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. :)

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.

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.

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!

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"

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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

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

2 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

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. 
 

 

I agree with your list except Fundy. No way he gets written in.