Make it Official! Twins 3, White Sox 2 (Game Two): Right Back At It

14 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Who replaces him? It doesn't matter. "Not Kyle Farmer." That's the point. He doesn't need to take plate appearances away from anybody. Have a 25 man roster and stop playing guys who make it less likely the Twins are going to win games. Yunior Severino? Payton Eeles? Michael Helman? Diego Castillo? Dashawn Keirsey, Jr.? Who cares? Kyle Farmer isn't helping the team win games.

I don't get the argument here. If it doesn't matter who replaces him, then it also doesn't matter if they keep him.

But, whatever. Where's that dead horse icon that was promised a while back?

4 hours ago, bean5302 said:

It does matter if they keep him.

• Kyle Farmer is reducing the chances Twins win ball games when he plays. He is a known quantity, and since he's becoming a free agent, it's unlikely he has future value for the franchise.
• It doesn't matter who replaces Kyle Farmer because whomever the Twins choose (like from the list I provided) they won't reduce the chances the Twins win by any significant margin more than Kyle Farmer would, but the player chosen might significantly increase the odds the Twins win.

Kyle Farmer is the floor of expectations and production. He's at 0.1 WAR so 0.3 WAR on 150 games. That's AAA replacement level. Matt Wallner and Brooks Lee were recently declared MiLB guys who were not ready to compete at the MLB level in a Manny Margot or Willi Castro thread recently by a substantial number of fans who love Santana or Margot whatever. Turns out... maybe they were ready for MLB?

That's what the Twins are missing out on by keeping Kyle Farmer on the roster and in the lineup. Another potential Brooks Lee or Matt Wallner who are single handedly winning games lately while Farmer is out there losing them by getting TOOTBLAN if he actually does get on base.

I have absolutely nothing against Farmer. I thought he'd be a solid player this year like he has so many years before, but he's not. In fact, if I was Farmer, I'd request an assignment to AAA in the hopes he can turn a corner with some everyday playing time because if he doesn't do something, he's on a guaranteed MiLB contract with an invite to somebody's Spring Training. Or maybe he might actually be tradeable for a org 20-30 prospect to the Marlins if the Twins eat his contract. They're going to be eating it anyway.

I don't know. Isn't a 0 WAR a major league replacement player?. That means it's likely that some scrub from AAA will perform worse.

Eh, that's really all I have to say here. Fundamentally I think we both agree that Farmer's 2025 is disappointing. I personally think that whoever is next in line would be even worse. I think he's vulnerable to somebody pushing him out, but nobody is doing it yet. I don't expect much of the AAA players named. Except Lee, but Lewis needs to come back to force it.

But if Larnach , Wallner, and Kepler wouldn't all suck it up against LHP at the same time it would be a game changer. Castro to 2B more or less full-time (with Julien/Lee/Martin in consideration in some way). Then Farmer gets 1 start per week, instead of 2-3 like now. Or maybe he's out because Martin/Castro/Miranda/Lee can play the whole IF.

The more I think about it, I want the Twins go get a full-time corner outfielder (under contract for 2025), possibly parting with Larnach and Kirillof, and then through the trickle-down, pushing Margot or Farmer out.

Farmer's biggest selling point right now is: in a playoff game that's tied at 1, who would be your defensive sub for Miranda. But Miranda is probably at DH in the playoffs with Lewis or Lee at 3B anyway. 

6 hours ago, Shaitan said:

I don't get the argument here. If it doesn't matter who replaces him, then it also doesn't matter if they keep him.

But, whatever. Where's that dead horse icon that was promised a while back?

Viola