Handing Out First-Half Awards for the 2024 Minnesota Twins

I think Miranda needs some attention, he could be added to the MVP honorable mentions or the most improved.

LVP award doesn't exist, it's an award you created to keep the social media's Vazquez negative hype train rolling. Most of the players that were acquired who had poor starts were limited to a LHSPs-only diet. Vazquez & Martin have been on an LHSP-banned diet especially since Jeffers had been in a slump. The last LHSP, Vazquez started but it lasted only 1 AB before Twins knocked him out. So stats can be deceiving. 

All hitters who were demoted were best positioned as RF/ 1B/ DH which demands the players to really mash the ball.  I grant you that Vazquez is a poor hitter & give you credit for mentioning that Vazquez is one of the best defensive catchers. But IMO saying that Vazquez is one of the best defensive catchers (at a key position) & listing him as the LVP is an oxymoron. It's almost as bad as listing one of the best SPs as the LVP, because he can't hit.

I know I'll get a lot of thumbs-downs (boos) by social-media hype lovers but I don't care.

26 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I wonder if the FO can admit to making a mistake by signing Farmer for as much as they did. If I was making the decisions Farmer would be DFA'd and sent to St. Paul to see id he can revive himself enough to be a late call up. Lee would be brought up to be the every day 2nd baseman.

If you DFA Farmer, he's NOT headed to St. Paul. He's headed onto another team's roster. That's why your suggestion hasn't happened.

20 minutes ago, arby58 said:

I'm not so sure the advanced metrics all align with the 'Vazquez is one of the best defensive catchers' mantra. 

His WAR, which takes into account defense, is -0.3. 

If he wasn't one of the better defensive catchers his WAR would be much more negative. Think about how bad his bat is. WAR is saying his defense is good enough to cancel out a bat THAT bad.

Julien doesn't deserve to be on the LVP list. He wasn't even the least valuable 2B.

1 minute ago, arby58 said:

A negative WAR means you're less valuable than a replacement player. That is not a good thing, offensively or defensively.

He's not been good, and he's definitely not worth $10M, but there have been several catchers who are worse with a regular job in baseball. It's actually a sign of a pretty good team if their worst player is right around replacement level.

3 minutes ago, arby58 said:

So what? They then pick up the rest of this year's salary. Lee has demonstrated he's ready. 

No. Farmer would pass through waivers and become a free agent. The Twins would owe the entire contract except the league minimum. His job right now is mostly to make sure the bench is warm. Kyle Farmer is the most irrelevant player on the team at the moment. He's hardly playing which makes him an unusual scapegoat. Cutting him would make little impact because he's hardly playing as-is.

If they bring up Brooks Lee he's going to need to be in the lineup every day. They're not going to let him rot on the bench like Kyle Farmer. That means fewer at-bats for Castro, Lewis, Miranda, Larnach or Martin. Those players are all doing quite well at the moment. That's the downside of promoting Lee.

My vote for LVP is Caleb Thielbar. He's the highest paid member of the bullpen and the worst performer. He's been demoted to the 3rd lefthanded reliever and only used to soak up innings in blowouts.

Castro and Miranda have improved and helped save this team in a big way. Also nice to see Buxton and Correa playing to their abilities. If this team is going to seriously make a playoff push, both Vasquez and Farmer need to go, ASAP. Vasquez is on the roster solely for his defense, but his defense just cost us a game. Offensively he's as automatic of an out as you can get. Any replacement at all would be better. And as far as Farmer goes, he's a wasted roster spot. Especially when you consider Brooks Lee is ready to take the everyday second base job. I really don't understand what they're waiting for...

7 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Especially when you consider Brooks Lee is ready to take the everyday second base job.

There's the problem assumption. I don't even know if they want Brooks Lee to play 2B.

Participation awards for Tonkin and Boushley.

36 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I'd still do it. He is hitting poorly, his defense, though OK, hasn't been anything special, and they need to make room for Lee.

Except they don't. Correa, Lewis, Miranda, Santana and Castro are doing a great job in the infield. Austin Martin is earning more playing time, not less, and should probably get some reps at 2B against LHP instead of Farmer. There is no pressing need for Brooks Lee on the major league roster.

For the moment it is perfectly okay for Brooks Lee to play everyday in AAA, move around the infield learning different positions and wait for an opportunity.

Its hard to watch Vasquez, Farmer and Margo. Galloesk unplayable. 
 

without Willi Castro, we would be 10 games under .500 or worse. 
 

Tbar and father time are having a come to Jesus meeting. 
 

its time to make some tough personnel decisions. 

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Castro and Miranda have improved and helped save this team in a big way. Also nice to see Buxton and Correa playing to their abilities. If this team is going to seriously make a playoff push, both Vasquez and Farmer need to go, ASAP. Vasquez is on the roster solely for his defense, but his defense just cost us a game.

Miranda can be blamed for the loss just as much as Vazquez without exception, but Vazquez made a rookie mistake not looking at the ball until it was in his hand.

13 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Julien doesn't deserve to be on the LVP list. He wasn't even the least valuable 2B.

He was not worth much in the Bigs, or in the Minors.

46 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

In agreement with all the LVP comments until this one - I mentioned Farmer as THE LVP earlier, he deserves this, but saying Julien doesn’t deserve consideration is questionable since he has 47 more AB’s than Farmer even after being sent down for 3 weeks. The offensive expectations were higher for Eddie - he had 7 HR’s by April 27 and he never hit another one for essentially 6 weeks. ……If Farmer hits his career average over the next 47 AB’s he’ll surpass Julien’s BA…….certainly not a lofty goal.

Julien was league average for his position for the time he was in the majors. He got on base and made his plays at 2B. Your expectations don't matter when determining his value to the team.