Brooks Lee's Career is Off to a Rough Start. Can He Be Fixed?

2 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Who is this mystical player that the Twins have failed to give a chance to develop? I keep hearing from people on this website that the Twins are at fault for refusing to give their young players a chance, and for the life of me I can't begin to guess who the hell they're referring to. 

Or is this your "let Larnach hit LHP!" soapbox again? 

You consistently fail to understand my points. And you do so belligerently. Place me on block and stay clear. 

Asking me Who... Is another example of your failure to understand.

Who? Exactly!!! That's my point.

How can an organization with budget issues fail to produce sufficient numbers in comparison with their peers. Who? Exactly!!! You want me to name a player so you can tear them to pieces. I'm sorry I don't trust my opinion on Who? And I certainly don't trust yours. I don't even trust the front office to identify the player or players because here we are talking about Brooks Lee needing to be fixed while Brooks Lee is the only player they are investing playing time in, we are about to sell at the deadline and our budget is maxed out so we can't afford to sign players developed by other organizations. I just know that other teams are producing WHO'S. Therefore WHO IS MY POINT!!! You just keep tearing apart the individuals. 

You want to keep hammering on Larnach... Keep hammering... Your opinion has no interest to me. My point isn't about Larnach specifically... It's about Larnach, Wallner, Kirilloff, Julien and now Clemens over the past 3 years. It's about every left handed hitter to come through these doors in the past 3 years. Why can't we develop a left handed hitter that doesn't require a right handed hitting handcuff? Other teams can do this sort of thing... we can't. That's my point... It's not about Larnach but you want to hammer on Larnach. I have no interest.  

Jonah Bride... I could give a whatever about Jonah Bride... But I didn't give him a roster spot. When I talk about Jonah Bride burning a roster spot... I'm not pro Jonah Bride... I'm talking about the roster spot on a team that is failing to produce WHO's. Bride gets a roster spot because we have failed for multiple years now to develop a WHO!!! Why isn't there a WHO?

Go ahead and continue to lose your mind over Martin. I could care less what your opinion of Martin is... I don't care what my opinion of Martin is. If Martin is not the guy... OK... Fine... THEN WHO IS THE GUY!!! 

According to this article... Brooks Lee may not be the guy either. Which I find interesting because the Twins have clearly chosen Lee as someone to trust. If Brooks Lee doesn't work out... well there goes almost our entire development effort for the past 3 years down the drain. But... Hey Let's pull that plug at the first sign of trouble.

Now please... put me on block.  

I LOVE so much of what our current FO has done. They've brought in analytics that didn't exist previously. They've made catching coaching so much of a priority that they lost Swanson to the Yankees as a coach. (There's a difference between catching and being able to hit out of a paper bag. And that's an entirely different discussion). They've done a hell of a good job taking arms and adding velocity and adding/deleting pitches to create some very good prospects. 

There have been past Twins players, most notably Trevor Plouffe, who have applauded a new approach with hitters not being pigeon holed with too many old school approaches, but treated as individuals with certain talents.

But SOMETHING is missing with MILB and/or MLB instruction. Part of that, IMO, is an IDENTITY of what the Twins are supposed to be as an offensive team. 

OBP and POWER ALWAYS lead to production and a productive offense. Whether you believe in modern day analytics or not, the numbers are there. All you have to do is look them up and grudgingly accept them. That DOESN'T MEAN you want a team filled by Gallo types! And that doesn't mean there isn't room for speed, athleticism and defense, something the current Twins team is lacking. 

FWIW, when the Twins were playing the power game, as iconsistent as they may have been, they were amongst the top 5-10 consistently in total runs scored. ALMOST as if they were listening to a certain segment of TD. LOL, they suddenly K'd far less, and the runs started to disappear.

Again, FWIW, and the players might be different, but the Twins AREN'T devoid of talent themselves, the Jay's are #1 in MLB offensive production with the FORMER Twins hitting coach and the Twins rank 21. Now, I'm not hating on Borgschulte who had a good reputation for the Saints and did some good things initially with the Orioles. 

But depending on who's stats you want to look at, the Twins were around 11-12 in 2024. And in 2023 they were top 5.

That's a HUGE difference from 21 to borderline top 10, and top 5 just 2yrs ago. So is that the players or the coaches or the FO?

Yes,  a COMPLETE lineup gives you a combination of a handful of guys who can run, you have a lineup that has a decent OB%, and you have a collection of XB power including a couple BIG BOPPERS. 

But that's the IDEAL fantasy console game you strive for best you can.

If nobody's noticed, the Twins still draft for power, as you should, but have also been looking for better contact bats and better athletes mixed in.

I really didn't mean to go on a tangent here, but I had to respond to several responses.

#1] Let Lee play daily. He's shown flashes. Let him figure it out! Unless the Twins hitting instructors are incompetent, he's got the mental ability and experience to grow. What does he possibly have to prove at AAA at this point. His glove? His glove is excellent. He's made rookie mistakes while feeling some pressure.

#2] The FO...or the next FO...needs to re-examine some of what's being taught. They are supposedly treating each hitter as an individual? Sounds great! But have too many prospects tanked because they just didn't have the "it" factor? Or are we missing something in our development process?

#3] PICK A PROCESS. I can clearly see from the last few drafts that you are trying to change the approach. You still need POWER, which hasn't been ignored. But you're also drafting more speed and athleticism and looking at basic contact/hitting approach at the same time.

Keaschall ending up with a broken arm and Rodriguez continuing to be injured messes with your plans no doubt. But don't stop with a PROCESS/APPROACH that makes sense.

Of course, that all goes out the window, potentially, when the team sells and whatever the new owners decide to do.

But it doesn't escape the fact that the FO either hasn't found a foundation to stand on, or hasn't had the players to actually do what they want to do offensively. Or that they have reacted too late, or poorly.

*Taylor and Bader brought some of what this team needs. But they were both more Buxton insurance initially. 

Lee should play daily because IDK what defensive metrics say or a few bad games, I've seen him play. His glove and instincts in the field work. Let's forgive a relative rookie figuring it out. And how about less than 500 AB for a relative rookie trying to figure it out batting wise.

I DO THINK the current FO has to answer some questions. THEY pick the MILB coaching staffs. THEY have at least partial control of the ML coaching staff. It's not all on Rocco. Its on the player, Lee in this case. But it's also on the coaches to bring out the best in a player.