Jump to content
Can the Twins escape Cleveland with a split? Join our game thread! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Road trip

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    661

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

24,361 profile views

Road trip's Achievements

First Round Pick

First Round Pick (4/14)

  • Gettin' Noticed Rare
  • Junior Analyst
  • Fortnighter
  • Let's Talk
  • Chatty

Recent Badges

1.7k

Reputation

  1.    rdehring reacted to a post in a topic: Is Zebby Matthews's Future in the Rotation?
  2. Road trip
    Well, he's a starter the rest of the year due to rotation attrition. I suspect, assuming he is healthy, that he will still be a starter in 2027 due to rotation attrition. Such is the nature of MLB pitching...guys get hurt, and every MLB team needs about 8 or 9 possible starters. I think he will be out of option years though, which may complicate a decision about his place in the rotation in April. In his favor, he has some length. He has shown an ability to go 6 or even 7 innings in a start (9 out of 12 starts this year). Compared to many of the starting pitchers the Twins have used this year he is a real innings-eater. This helps take some load of an always-overworked bullpen. That's actually really valuable for a #4 or #5 starter, which might be his ceiling. This length is also a dramatic improvement over last year, where he hit the 6 inning mark only 5 times in 16 starts. That's encouraging. Would he perform better as a reliever? Probably. You could also say that about almost every MLB starting pitcher. It's simply an easier job.
  3.    1985Fan reacted to a post in a topic: Why is Luke Keaschall Playing So Damn Deep?
  4.    Hunter4848 reacted to a post in a topic: Why is Luke Keaschall Playing So Damn Deep?
  5.    Cris E reacted to a post in a topic: Would Tom Pohlad Really Trade Joe Ryan?
  6.    DJL44 reacted to a post in a topic: Why is Luke Keaschall Playing So Damn Deep?
  7.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: Why is Luke Keaschall Playing So Damn Deep?
  8. Road trip
    Agree, he's not good at this point, but that's a tall standard for a team that recently rostered Edouard Julien. And Sano. And tried to hide La Tortuga on defense. And Delmon Young. And (unfortunately) I could go on... back to Todd Walker and Willie Norwood and the immortal Bombo Rivera... so it isn't just a recent Twins thing.
  9. Road trip
    I'd keep Ryan until the offseason when I'd either try to sign him or trade him, but.... IF and only if the Twins want to trade Ryan, I'd be calling up Milwaukee. The Brewers need a starter with Woodruff now out for the year. They are in their World Series contention window, but they don't project to have a very good chance against the Dodgers in the playoffs unless they upgrade their rotation. Their minor league system is loaded. Could the Twins work out a deal involving Ryan for Jesus Made? Maybe throw in another player as needed? As good as they are, the Brewers have some holes in both their lineup and starting rotation and they really should be in "win now" mode.
  10.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: Guardians 5, Twins 2: Another Lackluster Performance
  11.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: 4 Twins Prospects Who Should Be Untouchable at the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline
  12.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: The Twins Need to Make Room for Walker Jenkins Before the Trade Deadline
  13.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: The Twins Need to Make Room for Walker Jenkins Before the Trade Deadline
  14.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: Why Another Twins Trade Deadline Selloff Doesn’t Make Sense
  15.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: Why Another Twins Trade Deadline Selloff Doesn’t Make Sense
  16.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: Why Another Twins Trade Deadline Selloff Doesn’t Make Sense
  17.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: How the Twins Can Maximize Their Playoff Chances in the Second Half Before Adding Anything
  18.    Road trip reacted to a post in a topic: How the Twins Can Maximize Their Playoff Chances in the Second Half Before Adding Anything
  19. Road trip
    IDK... Arraez is on a pace for a 5-6 WAR season and is owed less than 6 million for the rest of the year. That contract is a bargain. Getting out of PETCO seemingly resurrected his career. He will bring a decent haul from some contender that needs a 2nd basemen and some offensive help (which, at the moment, isn't really the Twins).
  20. Road trip
    Yup...typo on my part :)
  21.    Dman reacted to a post in a topic: New Twins Prospects Vahn Lackey, Carson Tinney Mute Concerns Over Eduardo Tait’s Development
  22.    Hashim reacted to a post in a topic: One Year Later, Who Would You Rather Have: Griffin Jax or Taj Bradley?
  23. Road trip
    Young prospects remind me of seed corn, if you will bear with a farming analogy. My neighbor likes to say that seed corn is all 300 bushel an acre potential when it is still in the bag. You plant it, and perhaps conditions aren't ideal in April, chip away 10 bushels. You have some soil fertility issues apparent in May, chip away 15 bushels. Weeds in June, -20 bushels. Doesn't rain in July, -30 bushels. Pretty soon that 300 bushel an acre potential dwindles down to 220 or less. Same thing happens in the minors. Young or newly drafted players haven't seen much adversity yet. They look great "in the bag". Tait isn't "in the bag" anymore, and has struggled with some adversity. Next year it will be apparent that Tinney has some weaknesses as well, as all players do. It doesn't mean that Tait, Tinney, or any other prospect won't eventually yield well, but many of them won't look as good a year or two after the Twins acquire them. Like you I cringe a little when brand new guys are ranked well above players who have already performed well in the low to mid minors. I'm excited about Tinney like everyone else, but ranking him near or equal to a guy like Jenkins who has already made it to AAA seems premature.
  24.    Cris E reacted to a post in a topic: Which Twins Prospects Are Next in Line?
  25. Road trip
    I think I agree. This is where it is trending in my mind. The Twins are underwhelming, but the AL as a whole is so very, very bad this year that they are contenders. It feels absurd to type that, but here we are at the All Star Break. FanGraphs has them at 34% to get a playoff berth. It'll depend on how things progress through late July, but I could see ownership deciding to gamble on the current roster and trade none of the current 25-man. Maybe they trade a spare minor league outfielder for immediate bullpen help? Beyond that, prospects will likely have to earn a promotion until the Twins drop out of contention, or get promoted due to injury. And who knows.... 1% chance that the Twins can replicate the 2006 Cardinals, win 83 or so games, and make an irrationally wild postseason run.
  26.    Cris E reacted to a post in a topic: What Should the Twins Do About Their Bullpen?
  27.    AlLagoon reacted to a post in a topic: 2026 Minnesota Twins MLB Draft Day 1 Thread
  28. Road trip
    Prior was great as a 23 year old.... and finished at age 25. Knowing the Twins of that era, they would have wasted Prior's few healthy seasons teaching him to "pitch to contact" in the minors.
  29. Road trip
    It's early to judge, but right now it looks like a very good trade for the Twins. In two years Bradley will hopefully still be an important member of the Twins rotation. Jax will have gotten significantly more expensive and will be pitching somewhere other than Tampa.
  30. Road trip
    There are several playoff contending teams that have negative WAR at DH. I suspect someone will offer a minor leaguer for Wallner by the end of the month. He needs a fresh start elsewhere and the Twins can pick up a lower level pitching suspect/prospect. Wallner might be done, or with new coaching and a new environment he might regain his former ability to hit a fastball and become the next Brent Rooker.
  31. Road trip
    The likely solution for immediate help this season will continue to be DFA pickups from other teams. You hope to find another Gomez, knowing that you will have to sort through a variety of unsuccessful claims. Sometimes it works. It'll be an assortment of guys with injury histories (think Brock Stewart 2.0), control problems (Gomez 2.0), or maybe a failed starter they think they can convert. It isn't an exciting strategy... you could even call in depressing, but if they can find another Gomez that is controllable I'll call it a success.
  32. Road trip
    I kind of have similar recollections as well. Or maybe that was an excuse because he got in Gardy's doghouse somehow? Hardy wasn't fast, but in my recollection had everything else you would want at SS. Gold gloves aren't a perfect measure, but Hardy went on to win several in Baltimore almost immediately after getting traded. And I think it came on the heels of the infamous Nishioka signing. Quite an avalanche of bad decisions..
  33. Road trip
    Yes, shortstops matter. JJ Hardy. Sigh. Traded for absolutely nothing in one of Bill Smith's most inglorious trades, a year after Smith had paid a king's ransom to get him (trading a soon-to-be-a-star Carlos Gomez). Not a coincidence that the Twins totally fell apart the next year.
  34. Road trip
    Truth 6: Twins offense has been incredibly "clutch" thus far. https://www.baseball-reference.com/tools/split_stats_lg.cgi?full=1&params=bases|RISP|ML|2026|bat|AB| As much as we like to complain about players hitting with runners in scoring position, this year the Twins as a team are hitting .288 which easily leads MLB (Philly is a distant 2nd place at .266). You can look at OBP, 1st. Slugging, 2nd. BABIP, a thoroughly out of character .340! Can it continue? Possibly not, but the stats back up the performance so far. We can certainly point to the failings of individual players, and I think everyone *feels* like the Twins need to upgrade offense at several positions, but as a whole the Twins offense has performed well beyond expectations.
  35. Road trip
    I agree, he was a golden child for TD. Perhaps it was justified though... back in 2024 he was highly ranked in MLB Pipeline, ESPN, and various other prospect sites. I think hope for Brooks Lee was justified given that pedigree and his high draft slot. Most of us had never seen him play, other than a few highlight reels. I agree generally though that TD writers/readers pin some hopes on many less highly thought of prospects, often later round draft picks. Names like Balzazovic, McCusker, Helmen, and Keirsey come to mind. None of those received the national press that Brooks Lee got, and needless to say none of them worked out in their brief chances in MLB. The Twins are, by any objective measure, an unsuccessful franchise this century. Most of us were born into fandom by geography. When the present is bad, people tend to hope for the future or else dwell on the past... but Kirby and Hrbek aren't coming back.
×
×
  • Create New...