Riverbrian

I'm not much of WAR fan (Fangraphs or Baseball Reference) and I don't pay a lot of attention to it. I think WAR is over weighted by defensive metrics that are over weighted by small sample range stats. Max Kepler in 2022 with a 1.6 fWAR with a .666 OPS is enough for me to put it aside. Perfection is the enemy of good. Most of our players have sub level parts of their game. He also doesn't have to be a regular. He can compete for playing time with the army that is coming behind him.

Bad D... I disagree. His D isn't as good as others but Bad... nope... he is able to catch fly balls. Like you said... It's a dial... not a switch besides DH is always sitting there for use. Baserunning sure seems to have improved team wide following a simple declaration from the manager to go for it so I won't hold that against Trevor. Exactly league average hitting... Well... His OPS is going to come down when lefties are added to the repertoire. Lefties should have been part of the repertoire years prior. I'll show patience in that department and if he can get that LH OPS up to .650 his league average OPS will no longer be league average. 5 million and a limited budget. Budget isn't limited at this point. 5 million isn't a concern like it was when we were already running into a wall at 140 million. He is potentially back the year after and then you can make a harder decision on 8 or 9 million. All of the potential options. They will still be available. We are going to disagree on this one. We got a ways to go here... you don't start by DFA'ing players that are productive when there are many unproductive players that need to go first.

Catcher could be a different thing. I'd like them to punt the position until they can develop catchers. If punting the position... Peredes at age 29 might be a decent punt. Might is the key word but you need information, exposure to deal with the word might.

The only thing that I have to say on the subject is this. Buxton has been through a lot with the injuries he has suffered throughout. This year... he came close to a full season and that makes me happy for Buck. Byron is on my team... no matter what we go through in the next few years. I hope Byron remains a Twin for his entire career. Players that play their entire LENGTHY career for one team is rare. Byron is already a rare player from a talent perspective Playing for one team... would make him rarer than rare. Please don't request a trade... help us out of this hopefully temporary hole.

My post was in support of your post. The only logic with Larnach in my mind... is keep him or trade him. DFA wouldn't be a consideration in my mind. They will probably have to trade an outfielder when you consider the number of outfield considerations that they have and we have rather large holes in the bullpen to fill along with 1B and someone else who can play SS. I have no idea what his trade value is and won't pretend to. If his trade value is non-existent then let him hit the ball for us but just letting him go when he has another year just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I don't like how the Twins have handled him thus far. He finally got to face some left handed pitching this year... It's two years too late but like I've stated many times in my many posts on the subject. Taking a hit against left handers is OK with hope of improvement with more exposure. In the meantime, that dent against left handers is going to drag overall stats down and that happened this year... and it's OK to absorb that dent for overall development to try and lessen the dent in the future. He is still an above average hitter against right handed pitchers who we will face 75% of the time. I'd give him another year of facing both hands. By the trade deadline... the team can look for a right handed hitting handcuff if necessary. In the end... I would be happy to keep him on my roster. He wouldn't be handed anything, He doesn't have to play 6 out of 6 games. Competition for playing time would be in place on my roster. As for right now... He's a good (not Juan Soto) hitter on a team that needs good hitters.

If they don't get serious about development... they are going to regret it... maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but soon and for the rest of their lives. I'm no good at being noble but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of 3 baseball players doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world of rebuilding this roster.

50 million would probably cause revenue sharing complications.

String is one of the most logical posters on this site. He has 13 players cleared off the 40 man. 13! 5 bullpen and 8 position players. 13 is a lot. 13 players that will need to be replaced. Actually 13 is really 14. Since we don't have a full 40 man currently. We are already a player short with 38 on the 40 man and only 1 on the 60 day. So, 13 is really 14, If you trade a player... It's 15... if you trade 2 players... it's 16 spots to fill and so forth. 16 is a lot! Do we have 16 players to protect from rule 5? Do we have 10? Protecting 5 in a given year is a lot? Does anyone believe we will bring payroll back to 140 million? We have cleared a lot of money off the books so his Arb 2 money is not taxing the budget. We have a lot of space to fill... before you even consider Larnach... Lots of things to fix before you get to Larnach. And when you consider Larnach. He's a good hitter. We will need some good hitters.

I don't understand the willingness to let Larnach go.

If they gave up Brock Stewart just to rent Outman for 2 months in a lost season... knowing he is out of options. That would be a little... umm... questionable. I gotta believe that Outman has a 40 and 26 man roster spot waiting for him.

I agree

I agree with you. I don't wanna focus on case by case because all teams make these types of mistakes but the collective is where it gets concerning. 40 man and 26 man decisions make the job hard. Lots of fairly equal players piled up in the middle to decide on. The ticking options clock make already hard decisions time sensitive and therefore much much harder. The job is already hard. What makes it even harder still. Limiting major league AB's, limiting major league innings for those who you need MLB information on before you set that 40 man. Choosing Belisle over Nick Anderson when you need MLB information on Anderson just increases the chances of missing on Nick Anderson. Choosing Nick Anderson over Belisle decreases the chances of missing on Nick Anderson. Choosing Celestino over Rooker because you think you need a CF this year... increases the odds of missing on Brent Rooker. I'd try and get rid of that self admitted age bias. It's OK if they can give us 3 or 2 years or 1 year of decent play at the major league minimum. They don't have to be 6 years productive before we lose them to free agency to be worth it. Keep in mind that most players drafted out of college finally arrive at the major league level at an advanced age. It sure seems like teams are really focusing on college players come draft time. If someone gets his shot at 29, does well and is no longer worth it at age 32. Those productive years while short... are still worth it.

From San Diego to Baltimore... nearly all the organizations in baseball are waiting for this parade. It's a nice mantra to set a parade goal... Rah Rah but it's not the first step. You got to get past the bouncers in front of this playoffs nightclub before anything happens to you inside. There will be 162 games next year.

It's good to see... However with all the expiring contracts (except one) dealt away. There is no choice at the moment. The vets were dealt. Having no other choice isn't a strong commitment. It is still possible that the Twins sign 6 or 7 low dollar one year deals this off-season. When they choose youth... instead of signing Ty France or Jonah Bride or IKF. That's when we know it's starting to happen. The current evidence isn't heart warming. Only Vazquez's contract is expiring. Back from injury and he's getting the reps. Pereda nope. In other words. The only place they could choose... they chose the expiring vet.

I didn't listen to it. I just read this synopsis. Here's the deal. These things are typically just PR food for the masses.. Just sound bite explanations in what probably requires a 1,000 page document explanation. However, If he is feeding the narrative of growing pains... he isn't helping. From a PR standpoint... that is what has to change. The narrative that links youth and growing pains together. Youth/Growing Pains is stuck inside the majority of fans like Peanut Butter and Jelly and it may require dynamite to get it out. Is Luke Keaschall going through growing pains? Is Cleveland going through growing pains? Is Milwaukee? You are going through a youth movement right now. Are growing pains what you want to promote to run along side of this movement? Is that the message? What about the struggling vet... the below average vet. Are those growing pains? It's the same result... but the growing pains stigma isn't attached to them. Again... I didn't listen to it but I'm hoping that "Growing Pains" is coming from blogger interpretation and not Falvey himself... because if he believes "Growing Pains"... it will just lengthen this thing out because he will just constantly look for ways to avoid it. By saying Growing pains... the impression that is left in the souls of the audiences is... "This rebuild is going to take forever. That's what people think when they hear growing pains. They think... I'll see you in five years and that is complete ********. Players can struggle in April and be doing quite well in June. He just has to commit to youth... not just one ute... but all utes. Commit to players who will back next year instead of giving full 100% commitment to the players who won't be back. They have consistently allowed vets to work through their equivalent of Growing Pains. Choose youth over the cheap one year vet. This is something that they haven't done in many years and it's created this rebuild, reset or rewhatever this is. The ignoring or lack of production from the farm is why we have a lot of lottery balls next draft. There are enough examples around the league of teams thriving with youth. Growing pains have been dealt with quickly and efficiently. There are enough of examples of pre-arb players performing in the same range from bad to good as the vets. Commit to youth and FIX YOUR DAMN DEVELOPMENT NOW and this rebuild will not take as long as we fear. Talk about growing pains... selling growing pains. We will see you in 5 years.

Celestino and Garlick over Rooker? Cano to the Orioles?

Concerning the subject Royce Lewis. I'd keep betting on him. He will be back next year. In a nutshell overall... Royce Lewis and everyone. I'd rather they show patience with all players that will be back next year. I'd rather they show less patience with players that won't be back next year. I think it's quite possible that they have been playing it backwards. And I'll say that the Twins are not the only team that seem to play it backwards. However, teams like Milwaukee and Cleveland tend not to. I'd like them to use April, May, June and July to establish who is getting the job done in order to answer the important time sensitive question. What do we need to do at the trade deadline? How do we shore up the weak points? Can Wallner hit left handed pitching for the stretch run or do we need to rent Grichuk for the stretch run? Will Royce come out of this slump or are we going to play Kody Clemens at 3B or do we need to rent Eugenio Suarez for the stretch run.

I can't declare incompetence but the room smells funny from the outside. In my mind... I am concerned that either A. They are betting on the wrong horses and not betting on multiple horses. B. They are simply failing to breed, acquire nor train successful horses. C. Combination of A and B.

My gut says... there is a superstar in there somewhere... he doesn't reach free agency until 2029 so keep investing. My gut also says that selling at a low performance point would probably cause Warren Buffett to post negative comments. To your bigger point. I have a couple of thoughts that I just can't shake. A. If you can miss to the downside... You can also miss to the upside. This point gets lost on many but it shouldn't. If the front office can invest 2859 PA's in Sano. If they can invest 997 PA's in Lewis. 1,023 PA's in Miranda. I'll say it... If they can invest 4,722 in Max Kepler and be wrong... If they can be wrong... this wrong ... miles wrong... to the downside... this same front office would also be capable of investing 234 PA's or 0 PA's in (insert name here) and be wrong on players to the upside. Of course... we would never know about those players unless a Rooker can somehow survive the missed assessment at age 28. B. They will show incredible patience with the chosen ones. They will let Lewis slump for a year straight and keep playing him every day because they believe he will come out of it. They will let Kepler slump for 3 years straight because they believe he will come out of it. They will keep riding a slumping Margot through hell and high water. Sorry... that's all the set up to Point B. Here is Point B: They are willing to ride a slumping player into the ground for extraordinary periods of time. Which means that they are willing to suffer through PERFORMANCE PERCENTAGE DROPS for extended periods of time. Yet, they are unwilling to suffer through the performance percentage drops for sporadic periods of time in regards to platoon matchups or players that are glued to the bench because they might hurt the teams chances. In other words... any potential gains they get for these game by game, ab by ab decisions in the short term... are given back by extended faith in the player in an extended slump. All players slump... some are extended longer to the point of damage. That's the loss of quarters in order to gain nickels. It's like the point I've made before... You want to handcuff Margot to Wallner. OK... You can get a platoon split advantage doing that. The short sided platoon facing more right handers than left handers in the end is just giving back those potential platoon advantage gains and ends up a negative in total the end. In the case of a year long slump with no competition for playing time. All minor gains are swallowed up. There is a lot of room between playing 6 out of 6 games and 0 out of 6 games. All roster spots can be accommodated. Slumping player (extended slumping player) could play 4 out of 6 games until he straightens out. Bench player could be in one of his two week hot stretches while he gets 0 out of 6 games. I see no solution for any of this without honest to god competition for playing time. I also see no solution for any of this unless predetermination (while necessary to degree) is limited to who gets a roster spot. Once given a roster spot... get out of the way and let them earn something.

I don't discount the possibility that Vazquez helped Zebby. It is certainly possible... catchers have a role to play working with them. Catchers are important defensively. But... If Vazquez is gone next year... Maybe he is... Maybe he isn't. Someone has to step into the role if he is. Catchers and Pitchers need to learn to work with each other. Let Pereda learn that maybe I shouldn't call a screwball in that situation. Let Pereda learn that Matthews responds to this instead of responding to that. Nobody places much faith in Catcher ERA... Because the pitcher not locating on a given night can really mess up a Catche ERA despite a solidly called game. If anybody does care about CERA... here are the numbers. Vazquez is the best on the team with a 3.71. Pereda is 2nd with a 4.40 ERA. Jeffers 3rd with a 4.93 ERA. Gasper 4th with a 7.01 ERA Pereda seems to be doing pretty good with SWR. He was behind the plate when he struck out 11 and shut out the Yankees. With Funderburk, Adams and Ohl cleaning up the shut out. If Vazquez is wanted back next year because he is a major cog in keeping ERA down. Fine... sign him... Sign him to a 3 year deal again if you'd like. But he isn't necessary in 2025 and I'm really hopeful that the Twins don't act like they simply can't develop a Vazquez so they don't even try.

Certainly... I agree it can't be discounted. The Twins have a gaping hole at the position. However... the implication of that is beyond words. If Vazquez returns at what is assumed a much lower price. The Twins will be heading into 4 years of Jeffers/Vazquez behind the plate and running full speed into 2027 with Jeffers and Vazquez both exiting at the same time. Vazquez returning for 2026 is a sensible solution to the problem and at the same time... the worst possible solution to the problem because it's a really a continuation of the problem. Regardless of his pending return or departure this off-season. He doesn't need this last week of play. He's a 74 year old veteran. Letting Pereda try to continue his fairly decent play in the last week is much more necessary... even if his odds are long. This isn't defense of Pereda... it isn't even stating confidence or belief in the future of Pereda but it is stating that... if a player has a nice stretch... let him continue. The most efficient way to kill a hot streak is to bench or kill the player having the hot streak and prevent the establishment of anything positive.

Credit where credit is due, Vazquez had a really nice game in his return from what was probably a scary injury. While I applaud his efforts to get back... I Can't help wonder why he is back. Since he won't be back. Oh Well... Pereda had his demotion coming since he only managed 32 PA's of .870 OPS. If you want to stay in the majors... you gotta have more PA's than that. He needs to go to St. Paul and not come back until he gets more MLB PA's.

Well... you know me. I'm not interested in one year contracts unless its in the bullpen. . At the same time... I don't have a solution for 1B or SS or C or the bullpen,

Maybe... but the Twins front office chose him. Whatever the reason is only known by the front office. Outman on the roster for two months in a lost season is more insane. Full disclosure... I still like his Power and Speed potential. I assume that's the reason. I hope they unlock it. If they can't unlock him.... He will be over run at some point in 2026 by the players closing in on him.

Maybe... It's possible that the Twins think they can pass him through waivers but regardless... the Twins wanted him and they will want him to pass through waivers. However... I can't see any logic in acquiring him without a level of a believe in him from the front office that stretches beyond the belief in him expressed by the fan on Twinsdaily. If the Twins believe in him... others may as well. They are all looking at the same data. Cautionary tale. Last year... 80% of Twinsdaily... Maybe 90% of Twinsdaily were willing to toss Austin Martin on the scrap heap. Certainly a different vibe a year later.