Riverbrian

Great post. Not having an answer for a Jeffers injury in 2025 is bad enough. Solving this for 2025 is going to require paying market prices and the market prices for catching have been in place for year at a position that only requires playing HALF of all games. However... there is the desperation thing that occurs when you are NOT GROWING YOUR OWN that forces you to pay those prices. Ashbury refers to it as a stupidity Tax. Ashbury is correct. The Twins are spending significant money at the position when they don't have significant money to spend... just to cover for their failure to develop at the position. In 2026 Christian Vazquez will be gone and Ryan Jeffers will be in his third year of arbitration, therefore a pending free agent, therefore most likely not here in 2027. If we don't have a decent next man up for Jeffers in 2025, we will probably be in shopping in the over priced catcher aisle during the off-season for 2026 and doing it again for 2027. The money that we will spend on catching will be money not available to address the other positions. Meanwhile during the 30 million dollar Vazquez era. Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, Carlos Narvaez, Connor Wong, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Korey Lee, Bo Naylor, Dillon Dingler, Yanier Diaz, Freddie Fermin, MJ Melendez, Logan O' Hoppe, Austin Wells, Ben Rice, Tyler Heineman, Gabriel Moreno, Jose Herrera, Drake Baldwin, Miguel Amaya, Hunter Goodman, Braxton Fulford, Drew Romo, Dalton Rushing, Hunter Feduccia, Agustin Ramirez, Nick Fortes, Francisco Alverez, Jackson Reetz, Rafael Marchan, Joey Bart, Henry Davis, Endy Rodriquez, Patrick Bailey, Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, Yohel Pozo and Riley Adams have reached the major league shore, That's 38 pre-arb catchers easily identified on the rosters of other clubs with one tour around the rosters of all 30 teams and I'm sure I missed a few. And let's not forget that Adley, Cal, Kiebert and William Contreras are in the first year of Arbitration. Bottom Line: I don't want MY Twins to over pay for their failure to develop. I don't want them to over pay in prospects and over paying prospects is what it will cost to acquire a catcher in a trade to play half the games. I'd rather they sleep in the bed they made... take the deserved hit they have coming to them at the catcher position, take the resources that they would need to spend on a catcher to play half time and spend those same resources on a player who plays full time at 1B or 2B, 3B, SS or OF. Anyway... Great Post.

Jeffers on the IL is perhaps the worst news we could experience. We are just too thin at the position. My opinion won't be popular but... they must lie in the bed they made. Don't trade for catching. It's too expensive to acquire for someone who will play every other day at most. Next man up... whoever it is... is the next man up. If the next man isn't ready for what the majors will throw at him... that's on the Twins because they've failed to prepare themselves for a Jeffers injury. Not being ready at catcher isn't something new for 2025. Not being ready resulted in the big contract for Vazquez in the first place.

Baseball seasons are roller coasters so I try not to scream too much on the downs. I assume an up is coming at some point. I'd tend to focus on the roller coaster design. I just want to take this time to point out that the Reds sent 6 pre-arb players to the plate last night and probably will be sending 6 to the plate tonight Friedl, De La Cruz, CES, Benson, Steer and McLain. Some are having great years and some are having rough years. The 9 players they sent to the plate last night cost them 16.025 million dollars total for the 2025 season. The Reds are currently 38-35. The Twins are 36-36.

Roster utilization is going to be interesting with the call up of Keirsay. Interesting probably isn't the right word. Nearly Set with no other options is probably the right words. With the OF healthy... I only see that late inning defense and base running replacement for Keirsay. Bride I imagine will be elevated into a short side platoon role and the only practioner of that role. Jeffers will probably handle a lot of DH duty against left handers. This will knock Clemons out and probably Larnach or Wallner whenever a lefty takes the mound and we got a lot of them coming up this week. Against Right Handers... Rocco will have 9 players to choose from for 8 positions. France, Clemons, Lee, Correa, Castro, Buxton, Wallner, Larnach and Bader. One will have to sit and my guess is that Rocco will probably rotate that one spot.

This is why all 13 roster spots matter. We will see how Keirsay is utilized in his return to the majors but with Buxton and Bader on the healthy along with Larnach, Wallner and Castro he won't be needed to start. This puts Bride and Keirsay on the roster. Both players that the manager has given limited playing time to. This is why all 13 roster spots matter. Keeping Bride on ice (Deserved or Not) did nothing to prepare us for one injury. One injury... not two or three injuries which is not unheard of. Bride will probably be busy this week with all the lefties coming down the pipe as he settles into a short side platoon role. Take the Catcher position out and the limited role being offered to Bride and Keirsay and we are rolling with 9 eggs for an 8 egg carton. Slumps from multiple players out of those 9 players that Rocco trusts? Can't fix it. We are going to offensively rise or fall with their fates. We had a hot streak with our pitching leading the way. If the pitching takes a hit and it has... the offense has to make it up and I'm not sure we have that type of offense to make up the difference. All 13 roster spots matter.

Happy Father's Day to you and your Dad!

For clarification: The Joke or my comment about purposely not watching news? For a more light hearted topic. Where are you going on Vacation?

News and Politics attack from the bottom, top and sides. The informed electorate is bunched up in a ball. I'm the Sardine in the very middle of that ball. I decided long ago that I'm not going to choose a style of news so I can be manipulated into committing such acts. I'll watch baseball instead.

Agreed I have knowledge about the dangers of watching news these days and therefore don't and therefore didn't have knowledge.

Mike's comment was the first that I heard about it. I had no knowledge and am goofy enough to make a similar type joke.

Agreed In the scenarios you list. Inconsequential for this season. For next season? Bride may be inconsequential... the roster spot will still suffer the consequences.

I used to have no problem with platoons. I felt it was logical use of data compiled by all 30 teams. The Twins have ruined it for me. The strict adherence to anything will ruin anything strictly adhered to. It's been better this year but If the past two years is how they interpret that data. If they are going to weight the data way past the other 29 teams. I'd rather they just stop completely. I'd rather they just look for hitters period and quit looking for handcuffs. I swear to all that is holy that if I hear another off-season rumor that they are looking for a right handed bat with 9 of them already on the roster... I'm going to keep complaining about it. How do the Tigers do it. They platoon... however, they currently have 6 left handers on the roster. How do they survive with all of those left handed bats when they have to face Tarik Skubal? How does Cleveland survive with only 4 right handed bats on the roster? Logan Allen must wipe them out. The Orioles are struggling this year but they sure thrived for awhile with 5 left handers in the regular lineup. Now that Anthony and Meyer are up with the Sox. They got 4 of them with Cases, Abreu and Yoshida on the IL. The Yankees and Mets are sending extra lefties up to the plate. The Dodgers have 6 of them lefties. The Twins... We have 3 of them and we spend the off-season telling the press that they'd like to add a right handed bat. Just go get someone that can hit. Stop trying to create Frankenstein out of parts.

You can make it sound even worse by saying he ended May hitting 1 for 13. Yep since playing himself into an everyday job. He has dropped himself into a current 4 for 38 stretch. However... For two weeks. From May 14th to May 27th. He hit .389 with an OPS of 1.325 I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you were not suggesting that we were better off without that incredible two weeks of baseball because he was just going to tank it eventually. And that circles us back to Bride. Since, Clemens has gone 4 for 38 now. Can Bride have some of his playing time? Some... Not All... Just some. Or is that drop off from Kody to Jonah so great that Kody has to be in the lineup every day in order for us to survive? And if the drop off from 4 for 38 is so great... why is Bride on the roster? With the exception of Keaschall. We are lineup healthy now and lineup healthy has Clemens in a starting role. We don't want competition for him? We just ride this horse to glory or off a cliff. Nothing can be done about it?

If they are worse. You send them down but you gotta give them a chance to prove they are worse. If you don’t give them a chance to compete they are Schrödinger’s Cat. Clemons was once a cat in that box.

I have the same opposites pulling at me. It’s a dial not a switch mitigates that. It’s why I was done after finite and coherence was thrown at me. I’ve done the Math. 8 times 7 divided by 11 is 5.09. That’s 5.09 starts out of 7 games for 11 players for 8 non catcher positions. Now I’m not asking for exactly equal playing time. You can dial up or down each player according to what they deserve or earn. You want Wallner and Buxton in the lineup everyday. Ok… 6 times 7 divided by 9 and 4.66 is the playing time available for the rest. If the dialing up and down creates a system where players producing average or below average require 7 out 7 and you have a player dialed down to 0 out 7. Get rid of that 0 for 7 guy. Because need someone to compete with the 7 out of 7 guy.s. If you don’t you are settling for average or below average. You’ve stopped looking for better. Can’t find an Abraham Toro that way and if you are treating expiring contracts like they not replaceable. Well… they will need to be replaced next year and what have you found? Eventually you have a roster with less pre-arb players and you 4 million dollar yourself to no payroll space. Rotation AAA for the 13th spot is a good idea. As long as they play some when up. If they struggle… send them down… they have options. If they are just going to come up and watch like McCusker and Fitzgerald did. There isn’t much point. in the case of Larnach and Wallner. I don’t mind the occasional seat. If it happens against a left hander it makes sense statistically. It just shouldn’t be all or nothing. Left hander… you are out. We will keep looking for right handers in the off season even though we already have 9 on the roster.

I wasn’t complaining about the role Keirsay had.with us as much. I had the usual what could he do with real opportunity thoughts in my head that grew louder as we crawled out of the gate offensively sucking as a team to start the season. But I understood the value of a guy with speed coming into the game late. With Bride that doesn’t exist. We have a guy who faces left handers at most and robs Larnach or Wallner or Clemens of opportunity against lefties. Bride can either stand on his feet and compete or he can’t. His utilization thus far suggests that Rocco doesn’t believe he can. The day will come when Rocco will have no other option and Bride is going to be needed just like Keirsay and Clemons were needed. He will either sink or swim. If he sinks… well Rocco… you were right and if you were right… why did we keep him for so long since you knew. If he swims… well Rocco… You were wrong. Why did he spend so much time on the bench?

I always appreciate your posts because I know you look beyond the Twins. I spend a lot of time on roster resource looking at the utilization of other teams. The Twins are not alone in regards to that last spot on the bench. All teams have a last spot on the bench. Most teams set up platoons just like the Twins do. Not to the degree that the Twins were doing it but yeah roster utilization is a challenge for all teams and the pressure to win is high. Jobs, attendance and revenue are on the line. For me... and I understand that I am against the grain. I'm just plain worn out using precious roster spots on specialists because the time will come when we need more from them. Keirsay was utilized as a specialist... nothing more. Kept on ice for 44 games to merely play OF in the ninth or pinch run when we needed something to happen on the base paths. Many here will nod their head in agreement. Yep makes sense. That's all Keirsay is good for. THEN BOOM... Buxton and Correa collide and Keirsay is in the lineup every game. Didn't trust you then... but we need you now. Are you ready? We expect immediate results. I'm just plain worn out settling for average... Settling for OPS+ in the 90's or 80's or worse and acting like they can't take a single day off. I'm just plain worn out from of the chain of players from Logan Morrison on forward through time who can't be removed from the lineup for a single day and won't play a single inning for the team once the season is complete. I'm just plain worn out spending precious roster space resources on specialists who are on the roster to face 25% of the pitching but end up facing more right handers than left handers because of injuries and the 75% throwing from the right handed side that just compromise the development of young left handed hitters in the process. Many say... why does it matter? I don't see it. Well... An example is standing right in front of us all. Kody Clemens. Nothing in his past stats suggest 130 OPS+ for any significant stretch. None of us have any idea what he will level off to in the future (near of far). Most of us would have been OK if Clemens was glued to the bench forever. We quickly attach AAAA labels on players to diminish them. The Phillies couldn't find time to utilize him. Rocco wasn't that interested until he ran out of options and then BOOM. Did Rocco not know that Clemens could go off like that on a stretch? I assume not or he would have been in the lineup quicker than the two weeks it took to get him in the lineup when he ran out of options. I get that Kody is a rare occurrence. In consideration of 13th man utilization it's amazing that anyone ever breaks through and surprises us but we can take a tour around the league and find Kody Clemens surprises on other teams. Did anyone have Tyler Heinemen on their Bingo Card? Wenceel Perez? Mike Tauchman? Abraham Toro? I get it... I'm sure Clemens, Heineman, Perez, Tauchman and Toro will turn back into the pumpkins at midnight but for 100 AB's in the morning of this baseball season they helped win games... they didn't cost wins. You can deal with midnight later. It's only 10am in the morning of this baseball season. Competition is important. Pre-Determination is a killer to competition and pre-determination is how you lose Brent Rooker. Anyway... I could care less about Bride... but that 13th roster spot. I Care deeply. You have a device that can handle 13 players at a time. Why would you only utilize 9 of them?

I want to be clear. I could give a rats butt about Jonah Bride. I'm not going to declare him anything. I don't care about Bride at all. What I care about is the roster spot and I don't want to get bogged down in others opinions about Bride. In a discussion about Bride on a different thread. I had the word finite thrown at me as in finite number of at bats and playing time. I ended the conversation. Long long before Bride was a glint in Derek Falvey's eye and long before finite was thrown at me. I knew and have typed on this website that there are around 6,000 plate appearances for a major league baseball team over the course of 162 games. I understood long ago that there are around 1300 starts over 162 games for 8 positions(not including catcher). I have divided those numbers and know the averages. I understand how much playing time is available. But, Let's forget all of that... There is one number that matters. Let's forget about your individual opinion of Bride... there is one number that matters. It's the most finite of all numbers. 13 Like the article states. You are limited to 13 roster spots. You can only fit 13 players through the gates. 13 incubator spots, Only 13 players can attempt to make your team better. If anyone thinks it's ok to just waste one of those 13 spots. We will never agree. If anyone is OK not playing someone because he might waste 4 PA's out of 6,000 and simultaneously OK wasting one of the 13 available roster spots. We will have nothing to discuss. I don't care about Bride but let's be clear... we do not have a team that is good enough to keep anyone on the bench.

Unless someone else gets hurt before Keaschall comes back. And if two more get hurt he's suddenly getting starting. But,,, who am I kidding. That would never happen. I'm sure the Twins will release him because they have a strong track record of releasing vet players who are out of options.

First off... Depth is momentary. Injuries can erase that definition in a heart beat. It wasn't long ago that we were talking about our pitching depth and could we move starting pitching. True Depth... Multiple guys who can play the game is what every team should strive for. If we got 5 guys who can play the game and right now it appears that we do... that's a good thing. Second off... Come trade time... Are we in contention or not in contention? If in contention we shouldn't be moving major league talent to acquire major league talent. We would move minor league talent to acquire major league talent. If not in contention... then we could move major league talent to acquire young talent. Buyers Buy and Sellers sell. Third off... If we do find a trading match so two team can shore up weak spots... what contending team is actually willing to trade decent pitching for decent outfielder... are our OF options actually enough to acquire a difference maker even if you found a team willing to move HEALTHY pitching. Buxton is probably the most tradable piece with a decent contract and his hopefully new found health could probably fetch a decent pitcher. Trading the face of the franchise is a pretty ballsy move. Castro is a free agent next year and would be the most likely candidate to be dealt. It would actually make sense to move him if we are not in contention. He's a two month rental... What kind of value does he break back? Can Castro be enough to actually acquire a starting pitcher with talent. I doubt it, all teams like the flexibility that he offers but how much will they pay for it. Is Castro the type of player that puts another team over the top for the stretch run that they will give up anything significant for a 2 month rental? You trade Castro if out of contention... if in contention... you utilize his flexibility abilities to mitigate this OF depth issue and that will help us get the best lineup on the field for the stretch run. Bader could be moved. He won't fetch a big name by himself but he's playing well enough to get thrown into the pile of other outfielders available at the trade deadline. Larnach and Wallner will be back next year. They have been strip mined for parts which minimizes their value to other clubs. The other 29 teams will not be giving up a truck load of talent for a player that only plays 75% of the time. If they were willing to pay a lot for them... it'll be because they feel the Twins were wrong in how they handled them the past two years. And if a team is willing to pay lot... how much would they be willing to pay if allowed to develop facing both right and left arms. We compromised those two and the other 29 teams are not going to come bail us out of that.

The Phillies decided that Bryson Stott would get nearly all the playing time at 2B. Stott produced a .671 in 2024 and has a .631 OPS thus far in 2025. Oops

But getting better... rising steadily against right handers. Yet not getting better against left handers during the same time. A possible reason for that is?

No need to continue this any further.

Your eyes are not deceiving you. My eyes are wondering why would anyone quote the slash line of 21 and 22 scattered AB's over the course of 162 games in two straight years and bang the gavel? After being HELD BACK by organizational philosophy to 43 AB's for two full seasons. Why would anyone then take 54 AB's over 60 some games and condemn him with it after two years of non-exposure. And If 2023 and 2024 were included in their small samples to condemn Trevor. Why couldn't the 47 AB's he had against lefties in 2022 be included or is that .277/.333/.383 slash line to small a sample. I also wonder what conclusion could possibly be drawn to explain how his OPS vs Right Handed Pitchers has steadily risen from 2022 to 2025 over 100 points from .711 to .815. Yet... against left handers? He's what... getting Worse is the apparent conclusion. Even if that was true... and I don't believe it's true. If true... Is it possible that strip mining him for parts for two years and not allowing him to grow his game against left handers while his right handed game has risen 100 points is a problem? OK... Trevor... Here ya go. We've kept you from left handers for two years. Go get em... Immediate results please. If he is struggling a bit and I don't think he is. The Twins caused it. Give him a beat or two. Trevor... If you are reading this... I got your back.

It's a dial not a switch. There is a lot of room in between playing every single day and not playing at all. That goes for the entire team not just Bader.