Are Trevor Larnach And Matt Wallner Redundent?

To some extent, yes.

If I were to choose, would keep Wallner over Larnach.  Believe he is under team control a year or so longer.  Larnach also tends to get injured too much.

Whereas Larnach is a solid bat with marginal defense, Wallner could be special in two areas of his game.  Although limited defensively, he has a cannon.  He also has massive power, which gives him the edge in my opinion. 

Personally, would feel much better about the Twins if two of their three outfielders are very good defensively.  That ain't the case if both of these guys are in the corners.

I think one is moved - but which one? Depends on the offers. There are more lefty swinging OFs on the way, some with potentially higher ceilings.

If I had to pick one to keep, I'd probably go with Wallner, hoping to see his arm used off the mound in mop up duty!

Sure they're redundant - but thats OK because we have 2 spots open for them to play (LF, RF).  As long as both of them are making the minimum salary (or close to it), I envision keeping them both around until new ownership decides what their payroll will be looking like.

Wallner's strikeout rate scares me, as does his inconsistent hitting, like the beginning of last year when he couldn't buy a hit. However, I do think he has more potential and a higher ceiling than Larnach. We do need two corners outfielders though. If we trade anyone I'd trade Larnach, but only if we had a plan in place to replace him with a major league outfielder who can hit, preferably from the right side. Castro, Martin and Keirsey are fine as 4rth outfielders, at least until Eros and Rosario are ready, but I wouldn't want any of them as our starting left fielder.

Larnach went to driveline last off season and showed significant better results  , he should be back there again this off season and hone his skill even more , 2024 could have been  his last season in a twins uniform if he didn't show production   ,  he did and he stays another year ...

Wallner had a horrid start to the season and was sent to AAA  to find himself , he needs to go to driveline this off season to hone his batting eye ...

As far as defense  they are both adequate at the corners  , if they work hard they can be better , the FO and Rocco should also try both of them at first base in spring training to give them versatility  , see in spring training if it is possible  one of them could be a decent first basemen  ...

The only thing redundant on the roster is the injuries ...

This is an excellent article, well done. The two are both capable players who can provide a ton of value at the plate. I wouldn't say they are redundant, necessarily. I think one fits in the field and the other is a DH. 

"A team like the Twins, who value defensive chops," - How did you drop this line in your article? Currently the Twins are mostly a team of DH's, with a couple of exceptions. Falvey has drafted bat first guys, signed bat first guys, and looks bat first. When I go to a Twins game or watch them on TV there is a noticeable difference between their opponents glove play and what the Twins offer defensively.

One wonders whether either Larnach or Wallner is capable of playing first base? I would keep both of these guys, but rarely use both in the same outfield arrangement. 

Last I checked we need two corner OFers.  Their presence means the Twins don't need to push Rodriquez.  While I hope we see Rodriquez in June, they can still play all 3 in the OF and DH.  They could use one of them as trade capital if Rodriquez is what we hope, especially if Jenkins continues to look promising as he moves up, but we are not there yet.  It would be great if we eventually produce a surplus.

I want the Twins to make them non-redundant. Either Wallner or Larnach has to be able to hit LH pitching. My problem is that the Twins don't play them enough against LH pitching to find out if they can. Then, when they face a LH pitcher for just a few AB's in a week, of course they fail.

I think we're a season too early for this article. 2026 it'll make more sense to me, especially if Walker Jenkins continues his rise and Emma has been knocking the cover off the ball in AAA and gotten some time in MLB in 2025.

While I'm enthusiastic about Emma's ability and think he'll get plenty of opportunity in the Twins OF in 2025, handing him a starting job seems...aggressive. I like seeing prospects earn their way in to MLB opportunities by destroying their level, rather than being handed a job on scholarship. 

The lineup could use a little more RH thump, but 1B/DH seems to be the most logical place to do that...and even if the team cobbles together the payroll space to add that type of hitter and they play some corner OF, I don't know that it makes Larnach or Wallner redundant yet.

Healthy, Larnach is a pretty solid outfielder, so if his turf toe (which always sounds dumb, but is a really painful injury that makes running challenging) is healed, he's quite capable of handling LF. Wallner is very well suited to RF with that cannon of an arm, and if we have Buxton patrolling CF it will help him for sure.

Wallner has produced in the lineup. Aesthetically, he's going to infuriate a segment of Twins fans for as long as he's on the team, but the stats really don't lie: dude can hit, and can produce like you need a RF to produce. OPS+ of 149 is a serious number. That's better than any player on Cleveland last season.

the reason to move either is if someone makes you a trade offer you can't refuse. not because they're redundant.

Extremely cheap, potentially capable.  The Twins mantra for 2025.

Neither of these guys are going anywhere.

43 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

While I'm enthusiastic about Emma's ability and think he'll get plenty of opportunity in the Twins OF in 2025, handing him a starting job seems...aggressive. I like seeing prospects earn their way in to MLB opportunities by destroying their level, rather than being handed a job on scholarship. 

There are two issues with Emmanuel Rodriguez. He has been injured too often to fully judge what he does in a full season of games. He strikes out a ton. We don't know if the injuries will return or not, but it is likely that EmRod strikes out more than I would like to see. 

Yes, putting him in the lineup would be aggressive. That is what one does with young players who are potential stars. As far as earning a shot, he already has earned an opportunity. Emmanuel has totally destroyed every league. He is a good baserunner, is very good with a glove, has great power, and has a high on base percentage. I'm aware that very few believe EmRod is ready yet. Some are actually down on ER's potential to handle MLB. I think he is ready right now. I also would not be surprised if Falvey chooses to trade Rodriguez.

Sticking Emmanuel in LF, or CF with BB going to LF, would immediately strengthen the defense. Larnach and Wallner can switch between DH and RF. Maybe one of them has an ability to pick up first base, although that seems like a stretch.

35 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I just don't understand the premise of this article at all. 

Me neither. Are Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis redundant? They both hit righthanded and play infield.

Both are LH hitters who had to adjust, both adjusted but in different ways. We could carry both rotating them at DH if needed. We have (LH) hitting Wallner, Larnach, Keirsey & Castro in the OF with Emma on his way. If the team is determined to have another RH-hitting cOF then the best solution is trading Larnach for one.

This was already mentioned a couple times but I have the same thought.  
 

Could Larnach play 1B?⚾️

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

Doesn't need to be like that. Bases empty and/or not a close score, it makes no difference what resources the opposing manager has. But if the other team has a lefty or two they can bring in each time the game hangs in the balance with one of our corner guys due up, it's a disadvantage.

The solution of course is for the new batting coach to figure out what the previous one(s) apparently could not, namely how to bring these lefty hitters to the level of accomplishment they need to be once they reach the majors.  I don't think Keirsey, Wallner, or Larnach showed the extreme L/R splits in the minors like we've seen in the majors (Keirsey being the smallest of major league SSS of course, but he still managed to fit the unfortunate pattern).  It's uncanny how our lefty hitters, possessing normal/small L/R splits in the minors, seemingly all get spooked by LHP when they come up, deer-in-headlights style.

Referring to handedness is of course shorthand.  There's the old cliche that "I don't care which hand he throws with, I want a pitcher who can get lefties out," and the corollary for batters is obvious.  Correa hits righthanders exceedingly well (even if he succeeds even more against lefties).  Lewis is a little hard to figure, given his second-half swoon, but the overall stats for his 2024 show a guy who was playable when facing a right-hander and did better than that against left-handers.  L/R splits are something almost every batter has, and you can live with that, as long as he's playable either way.

The key is, when are they playable.  Correa is totally playable against RHP, and Lewis shows no sign that he isn't playable against them, either.  Wallner and Larnach, just going by results so far, are simply not playable against LHP,  Adding Keirsey to this mix, based on empty results in a mere 4 PA in 2024, threatens to be toxic unless solutions are found pronto.

Or, maybe Buxton can hang in there for 150 starts in CF, and make my concern moot. 😀

There are various solutions to this L/L/L alignment in the outfield, a few of which I've alluded to and there are obviously others.  My point is that I can't simply ignore it, when deciding whether to roster both Larnach and Waller.  They aren't good enough, yet, to let me.

I disagree that Wallner nor Larnach can perform against lh. If health permits they should roll them out there. If the Twins philosophy is to sub out 1 or both at the 1st hint of lh like the past few years then they're not the answer. There are certain lh, guys like Snell and Sale who will twist them in knots. On those days give them the day off. Otherwise, let them play. And before you start calling for Rodriguez and Jenkins, does anyone think they're not going to be platooned as well when their time comes. This will not change until a different group with a different philosophy comes in. I don't understand why the Twins didn't platoon Castro vs lh or Santana vs rh. Yeah they're switch hitters. But Castro numbers are higher from the left side while Santanas numbers were higher from the right side. Explain the difference. Those 2 lead the team in AB even with a significant drop off from 1 side of the plate