Riverbrian

I agree He has options remaining and that means he can be stored for depth and moved up and down as needed. He has 669 MLB plate appearances and a career OPS of ,695 This is exactly the guy that you send down to the minors when 26 man roster space is needed. If you choose to let him ride out his struggles at the major league level... that would be jerking the team and fans around. I have no problem with Larnach getting opportunities but at some point... Larnach has to stay healthy and hit the ball like Wallner or Kirilloff or Julien if he wants to be in the conversation.

I don't know if Wallner has earned a future spot yet but he has certainly earned a today spot.

Good post. I have always believed that trades are pretty damn equal at the time of the trade. It's really hard to win a trade a day after the trade is made. What happens after determines the winners and losers. If you want to win a trade... you need to work with the players you acquire to make them better. That usually takes time.

Don't forget the Salas and Chourio part of the equation. The inclusion of those two in the trade suggests that the Marlins may have been the pursuer in the trade. A different pitcher included in the trade and perhaps the Twins are giving up a prospect.

It happens often. This year alone at 1B: Bryce Harper Anthony Santander Justin Turner Salvador Perez Spencer Steer Alec Bohm Isaac Paredes Jake Cronenworth Hunter Renfroe Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Tyler Stephenson Brandon Drury Brendan Donovan Ezequiel Duran Mauricio Dubon Yanier Diaz Jake Burger Luke Raley Enrique Hernandez Joc Pederson Yasmani Grandal There's more... I don't feel like typing any more names. Baseball Players... Can play other positions.

They need to behest!!!

If we don't want more Gallo. It needs to be Gallo who makes room. 😉 These types of issues... goes back to something I talk about often and that's preparation for these moments. Solano can't play 1B because of injury. Nobody else has been getting first base reps so now you got to put someone at 1B who hasn't been getting reps and it happens late in the year with the playoffs on the line. You don't let your left handers face left handed pitchers so now you got to let your left handed hitter face left handed pitching because nobody else has been getting 1B reps. You keep Chris Williams type hitters out of consideration early in the year while you let other hitters hit under .200 and you never find out what Chris Williams can give you at the major league level but... now... now you got to see what he can do because nobody has been getting 1B reps and left handers haven't been allowed to face left handers. Early in the year... you see what others can do. Once you find out what others can do... now you can lock in... once the roster is set... platoon to your hearts content... the players have told you what they can do by doing it or not doing it. You don't have to quickly convert someone to first base because earlier in the year you've actually played someone else at 1B. We do a bad job of prepping for these moments and these moments happen every year. Martin Perez stays in the rotation until the very end of the season and then doesn't make the playoff roster and Randy Dobnak is thrown to the wolves to pitch game 2 of the playoffs. Kyle Garlick doesn't face right handed hitting early in the season... ever really... and then come last August... injuries come around and now we need Garlick to hit right handers. I heard somewhere that Julien has been taking reps at 1B. We all knew Polanco was coming back? Why hasn't he been taking reps earlier? We don't prepare for things that happen a lot. We paint ourselves into corners of needing Solano. We paint ourselves into corners of being in dire straits if Michael Taylor gets hurt. I'm not anti-platoon, I don't believe that we should just anyone into any position but early in the year... let's do some prep for late in the year please.

A friend of mine makes Dandelion Wine. It takes a lot of effort to make it. The bending over, picking, snipping, fermenting, ageing. It takes a lot of time (over a year) and effort... and space to store it every step of the way. When you stop by his place... he is going to break open a bottle and give you some. It really doesn't taste very good but I understand the effort he is putting into it so I respectfully drink it. I don't have the heart to tell him that this Dandelion wine he is making is hitting .207 and the space he is using to store it... could be used for a better hitting Penot Noir.

The decision doesn't have to be made today. We all get two more months of regular season and hopefully playoffs to watch him. If the decision had to be made today. There is no way I pick up that option. I am really enjoying his play of late but I'm going to stay consistent. I would have released him in June when the team was crying for someone to hit. I can't forget how he performed in the first half of this season and nor can I forget his performance in 2022 and in 2021. I'm really enjoying his play right now but there is no way I don't exercise that out in his contract. If he keeps doing this for the rest of the year... well... maybe.

Certainly Possible. It seems like a very Rocco approach to his lineup card. Now... regularly would only be 1 out of 5 games but we also still don't know if Keuchel will keep that rotation spot.

It was one game... let's see what happens in his 2nd start and 3rd start. I will be pulling for him. If you look at his career... his best seasons had a ground ball ratio in the 60 percent range and his worst seasons produced a GB% in the lower 50's. If he can keep producing ground balls... he just might be alright. Let's see what he does.

I agree with you. The time for Williams, Prato or Stevenson was June when the offense was searching for answers. You'd want to look at them before the trade deadline to help determine needs at the trade deadline. After the trade deadline. It's a little late to see if they might help. If Williams has a good September does he start in the playoffs? The answer is he won't. This roster is set now. Who we lose becomes a much bigger question than who do we add. Personally... I would have dropped both Kepler and Gallo in June to look at anyone else. Kepler has turned around and now I say... let him roll because he is rolling. While Gallo has gotten worse. Let's hope Kepler stays hot and he hits a 3 run homer in the 9th to knock out the Blue Jays in the first round of the playoffs. This team will be our team from here on out.

Agreed... Real interesting. Extremely interesting. Typically there will be future injuries that uncloud the picture but if this team gets to full health on the offensive side. Lewis, Buxton and Kirilloff will need spots. Luplow is easy so there is one. After that? Gallo would be my choice... that's two. Wallner is a much much much better Gallo. #3 ??? I have no idea. Someone with options I assume. I don't want it to be Julien or Wallner. Lewis and Kirilloff shouldn't be considerations much like Julien or Wallner shouldn't be considerations. I think Castro has become necessary. Jeffers of course not. That leaves Farmer who has an option remaining and it won't be him. Solano or Taylor won't be cut. Solano better not be cut because he has been one of our more consistent hitters. I agree with you... Real Real Interesting and I haven't even mentioned Nick Gordon. I know most fans want to throw him away but he was a decent ball player for us last year. In addition to my above thoughts... Lewis looks like the first one back. Julien may need to start getting some reps at 1B in anticipation of the arrival of Lewis. Lewis may need to shag some balls in the OF while rehabbing in St. Paul. And then when Buxton returns... Buxton may need to play on the grass because we are going to need that DH spot back.

Very enjoyable game to watch. The game had a lot of baseball in it. Two crafty starters, defense, stolen bases and the long ball. It was certainly a win to be enjoyed. The lineup which is normally kinda predictable... had some curveballs in it and I couldn't have been happier with it. I'd high five Rocco if I could. I would have bet my washer and dryer that Julien would DH this one with Keuchel the hopefully ground ball pitcher on the mound. With Arizona tossing a right hander. Julien DH, Gallo 1B and Polanco 2B would have made more defensive sense with Keuchel. Rocco seemed to go with the hot hand instead. Jeffers has been one of our hotter hitters and he just had a two dinger day... So Jeffers gets the DH spot which puts Julien at 2B. Gallo has been one of the coldest hitters on the planet and Gallo sits despite: Arizona throwing a Right Hander, ground ball pitcher starting for us... and... and... We are about to face a bunch of left handed starters with the Tigers... which means that Gallo sat against the last right handed train leaving the station for a while. To me it was an indication that Rocco could get off the script. I Loved it because I needed to know that he could.

We all know why he was signed and we all know the role he is going to play. He will start against left handed starters and pinch hit for our left handed hitters late in the game when someone comes out of the bullpen with a glove on their right hand. They have consistently adhered to this strategy to the point where nobody should be surprised by this signing. This strategy followed faithfully has led to the Twins being currently ranked 30 out of 30 teams against left handed pitching. If the strategy worked... you'd figure that they should be at least ranked 29 out of 30 teams against left handed pitching with all of the protection being offered to our left handed hitters. 😁 In the case of Ludlow... there is nothing he can do to keep a MLB job with the Twins. His sample size won't expand... he will be the first guy to create space when roster space is needed. He won't be enough to move the needle from 30th to 29th with limited AB's in the short time he will be here. I'm all for giving someone else a shot. He won't be given a shot.

The lack of in-season adjustment to players and concepts that were not working.

It's easy for me to say that no action at the trade deadline was a huge mistake. So... Easy for me that I believe that I have actually said that. However... I have no information on who they tried to acquire, if they tried at all or the ask from the other teams. In my head, I imagine that discipline would be very important attribute that major league front offices must have.

What if they do step up?

I didn't research the money. I am sure you are correct, I was dry humoring my way through the back and forth between Chpettit19 and myself. You would have to read back a few posts to follow the conversation. Rosario was brought in by me... to simply point out that Kepler could be jettisoned this off season because of the price much like Rosario was. For the record... I wasn't one of those who complained about the the loss of Rosario after the 2020 season and I am still not complaining. It certainly wasn't my intention to hijack this thread with a Rosario discussion. I intended to hijack this thread with a discussion about Kepler. 😁

I know what you mean. My doctor says I need to eat more veggies but I'm not convinced either. Rosario was tossed over 7 million bucks after a .792 Covid shortened OPS.

I was sleeping during optometry school but I wonder if it was a case of contract blindness. Contract blindness is a temporary condition curable with proper treatment. If it is still happening in 2024 that would mean it wasn't treated properly. It should run it's course in a couple of months.

Pencil Please! With a functional eraser that doesn't rip holes in the paper.

You say this is a flawed team. You say that we need this flawed team to become unflawed. The best pitching staff we have had in decades and there is nothing that we can do because the flaws need to be unflawed first? Trade deadline is for addressing flaws and I really hope you are not going to respond with this .500 team is too deeply flawed while the .500 Cubs are not flawed? There are levels in between a Paul Goldschmidt acquisition and a Joey Gallo subtraction. Buyers buy and seller sell. Anything else is standing still.

I gotta say... I really hate this last sentence. This is what Kills a team. Who would play SS if Correa was hurt? That's the guy that you are going to play ahead of Correa. If that guy can't top .200 AVG .600 OPS. Then you gotta get a different guy. That justification of saying you don't have anyone else is what kills a team and if the front office hasn't produced or found players who could at least hit .210 with a .630 OPS... I'm not sure what to say. There are levels in between Playing every day and sitting on the bench every day. What kind of playing time does that .200 AVG .600 OPS earn you?