Riverbrian

Especially when Blewett didn't blow it. I think the Twins are just sticking to their plan to rotate through that 8 spot in the bullpen.

Well... then yeah... It would be really questionable to call up a guy only to put him immediately on the IL.

Rankings are fun but... in the end... they don't mean much. Whoever gets the first call will be dependent on who provides the opening. It won't matter if Keaschall is out performing Emma at the moment. If an OF goes down. Emma or Martin gets the phone call. Emma needs to be better than Martin when the call comes. Keaschall needs to be better than Miranda when an IF goes down and it still important to keep in mind that Keaschall is not on the 40 man yet.

Agreed... It's a big issue in my mind. The thing is this: It isn't hard to see how we compare with other clubs in this regard. If we are not signing mediocre old guys to fill roster space. We are filling that roster space with pre-arb players making the minimum instead. Players making the minimum increases the money available to go get a free agent significantly above mediocre. All anyone has to do is go to fangraphs/roster resource and look at all 30 teams and count how many pre-arb players each team has. Once you look at all 30 teams, compare and contrast, anyone can easily see that the Twins are behind in this regard. Low numbers of pre-arb players compared to other organizations speaks directly to development. Some may be wondering what this all has to do with the subject of this thread. It has everything to do with the subject of this thread. The lack of pre-arb players means that we are paying money to players above the minimum. The number of players who we are paying above the minimum drains the available amount of money to spend on more talented free agents with a larger price tag. The bottom line: Every Dylan Bundy and Manual Margot that we spend money on is a neon sign that we have a development issue. If anyone disagrees with that or thinks it's not possible to have that many pre-arb players on a successful roster. I encourage them to go look at the rosters of all 30 teams and count the number of pre-arb players on their roster. The article implies that free agency isn't our friend. It is true... free agency is not our friend but it could be if we just stop paying for low end guys and develop like other teams are seemingly able to do.

It's a disadvantage to be sure. The one thing that big money can afford that teams like the Twins can't afford is to make a mistake. The Dodgers can miss on a big money guy, absorb it and go get another. The Twins can't... If Correa turns into Javier Baez... there isn't another Correa that we can pay for. In my opinion... that is the biggest advantage that big money teams have over us and that advantage is a huge one. I agree with you on our pitching. No we haven't developed a Corbin Burnes yet but we have reached the point where we have stopped filling the rotation with Dylan Bundy innings eater types and that is what our farm system needs to do. It needs to stop our yearly need for low end vet filler. If we ever needed to rebuild... we could at least get some decent prospects for Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan. Hope it doesn't come to that but they are two players with decent value that other teams would want. The pitching is in decent shape and will hopefully get better. On the offensive side. I'm getting concerned if not disgusted. The best prospects to come through our system of late are the oft-injured Royce Lewis. It has been bad luck or something with his injury history that is keeping his value in check so I don't blame the organization for it. However, after Royce, It has been our left handed group of hitters, Wallner, Larnach and Julien who... well... everybody should know by now how I feel about the way we have developed these three players thus far and on that issue... I'm comfortable blaming the organization for the strip mining for parts approach we have taken with them. I'll continue to have high hopes for Lee, Jenkins, Emma and others but remain concerned about the organizational philosophy that has failed to produce Harmon Killebrew after many years in charge.

These major league players are fighting for careers. Congrats to Brooks Lee and his call up to the major leagues. And I feel genuinely sorry for Jose Miranda. I'm happy for Brooks and sad for Jose. Roster spots are limited and there is only one way to be fair to all of the players who want to be major league players. Let the best man win. Jose Miranda will have to move back and make room for someone else to take a shot at being the best man. I feel bad for Jose but it's fair that he is down in AAA right now.

Good News and Bad News The Bad News: We are one tenth of the way through the season. One Tenth of the season is a long enough portion of the season where legitimate concern can be expressed about the offense. This isn't one week... This is 16 games of an almost team wide slump at the plate. The Good News: There is still 90% of the season to play.

Agreed, Elite talent isn't the greatest input to success. The development of average to above average talent is also criticial. However, the elite player sure could be the fastest way to fix organizational stress points. The Angels did indeed have Trout and Ohtani and like you point out... The Angels couldn't get them a sniff of the playoffs. However, if the Angels would have chosen to trade Trout during those many years of organizational struggles (Prior to Trout's big contract and injury issues) or chosen to trade Ohtani. They could have (in theory) rebuilt their entire system with the return for that type of elite talent. If they did something like that. They could be one of the scariest young teams in 2025 right now. The Twins have never developed a player of this ilk to even entertain this path to relevance. I don't disagree with the points you are making... however this isn't a bottom half discussion per se. Yes... the bottom half teams have no choice. They have to develop, they have to move assets... on that we agree. However, development is also critical for the upper half teams. There is an impression that the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets just buy their players. They can do that but, they are also developing talent and doing really good job at it. Some of that talent lands on their 26 man rosters and some are moved for upper end talent from other organizations. There are basically 3 ways to build your rosters. Draft and Develop, Trade or Free Agency. You are correct that the A's, Rays and Guardians have done well for themselves over the decades in regards to development and acquiring talent to develop. So have the Dodgers and Yankees and Red Sox.

This is the crux of our biggest problem. Development over shadows Budget as the largest problem in the Twins organization. As you accurately point out. A problem going on decades now. How many superstars have we produced? The definition of superstar is subjective so let's rephrase the question? What kind of value has our farm system produced since Joe Mauer? We can remove some subjectiveness and get a sense of a players value pretty easy. How much are other teams willing to offer them in free agency. How much are teams willing to give to acquire them in trade. Who on the upper end have the Twins produced since Joe Mauer? Have there been any players produced by the Twins breaking the bank when they reach free agency? Long Term contracts for big money is an indication of value. Brian Dozier's one year deal for 9m isn't going to qualify as a superstar contract offer or an indication of player value produced by the system. What player developed by the Twins has signed the largest contract? How does that compare to the other 29 teams? Who have the Twins developed and traded to acquire front line talent? Is Jose Berrios the bench mark? Is Luis Arraez the best we could do? Talented players but... they didn't bring back what converted reliever Garret Crochet brought back in a trade so what kind of value have we developed to bring back upper end talent? Buxton and Lewis have or at least had superstar potential. Are they the best we have produced since Mauer? The value of Buxton and Lewis have been severely compromised by chronic health issues. Is this decent value produced by an organization? How do we compare to the other 29 teams? We don't compare well.

I entertain no thoughts that new ownership will come in and raise payroll to a higher tier. We may get a honeymoon bounce before settling back to the spending levels we are accustomed to. Kyle Tucker types or going to be out of our reach. One year affordable contracts do not produce Kyle Tucker types. If they do by some miracle... they will be gone for bigger money the following year. Leaving you searching the lower end of free agency again. If you want a Kyle Tucker on your roster. You must develop a Kyle Tucker. If you want to trade for a Kyle Tucker in his final year like the Cubs did it's going to take prospects to get that deal done and that means prospects that interest the Astros must be developed. If you want to trade for a future Kyle Tucker... you have to players that other teams want and that takes development. Players acquired via free agent like Carlos Correa can't be converted to a future free agent because they are overpriced through the nature of free agents signing with the highest bidder. One Year Vets signed through free agency will not be enough to acquire a future Kyle Tucker type. It will take a developed player with years of control to acquire a future Kyle Tucker type. It would take a Wallner type and then you have to replace Wallner. We can't afford players developed by other organizations. We must develop our own. Every roster spot utilized by lower tier free agents is additional money beyond the minimum spent against the budget. That additional money beyond the minumum could be combined to play in the upper tier of free agency for one player and remain in under budget. Develop or Die. Free Agency will never be our friend until we starting churning out pre-arb talent to help us pay for an upper end free agent. The Twins are currently in the bottom tier of pre-arb talent on the roster. As a result the Twins are currently spending around 27 million on 7 players who won't be back next year and those players who comprise that 27 million won't have a ton of suitors for their services next season. That 27 million would make them players in the upper end of free agency for 1 or 2 upper end players. In order to direct your resources toward 1 or 2 players. You will need 5 or 6 pre-arb players to fill the remaining spots. An additional 5 or 6 pre-arb players added to the roster to free up the money to chase higher end players may sound like an impossible task... It's not. 5 or 6 additional pre-arb players will put the Twins at a pre-arb level already in place with winning teams like the Red Sox, Brewers, Guardians, Tigers and Rays. It doesn't matter what path we take to get there. It'll take the development of players to free up money to sign bigger name free agents. It'll take the development of players to trade for talented players or future talented players. And it'll take the development players to fill your roster spots internally. Develop or Die.

Been to 26 of them with plans to knock out the last 4 in August. (St. Louis, Cincinatti, Washington and Philadelphia) I also plan on Yankee Stadium on this road trip... Twins will be in Town at that time. I also planning on another visit to Pittsburgh and another Visit to Wrigley on the way back home. I do a lot of hit and run tourism on my road trips... trying to squeeze as much into each visit as possible. When I make my list of musts... I tend to center my musts on local food. When I get a little time later I'll list the stadiums I've been to along with things that I ate.

I think he can hit. Depends on how messed up he gets and how long the being messed up lasts.

IMO it was offense that primarily killed us last year. It is the OFFENSE RIGHT NOW!!! September 2024 Team OPS was .623. We all remember September... the team in complete free fall during the epic collapse when we were caught from behind by a team full of pre-arb players after they sold off all of their veterans. The same team coming to town with 16 pre-arb players and currently 3rd in team OPS. Through 13 games... this team would have to improve to reach the level of performance in September of last year. The offense could not have started the season worse. START HITTING THE BALL GUYS!!! I'm looking at Buxton and Correa specifically. Plenty of time to turn this thing around but the players will cost people jobs if this thing goes on for too long.

Buxton sitting for the 2nd straight day? I haven't heard of any injury. Anybody heard anything?

I am happy. I have no complaint with when he has utilized a pinch hitter, I have no complaint with when he didn't utilize a pinch hitter. I have no complaint with his pinch running or defensive replacement moves. And I really love the spacing of left handers on the lineup card. The removal of this simple philosophy has opened doors. After two years of complaining about the utilization of left handers. I currently have no complaints. Just a lingering lament of the two years of development lost in regards to Wallner, Larnach and Julien. This much needed adjustment can pave the way for Emma and Jenkins in the future. Paving the way for Emma and Jenkins will pave the way for not needing a Margot in the future. Not needing a Margot in the future can pave the way to signing a significant free agent in the future as opposed to the low level free agent. This adjustment can curb the urge to looking specifically for right handed bats in a right handed pitching world. It can open the doors to having more left handed hitters on the roster.

It's good to see. Taking the extra base gets runners in scoring position and produces runs. When your power isn't there, it's good to have another club in your bag for run production. The roster still isn't built for this sort of thing and still requires some adjustment but the progress is noted and appreciated. Going to 1st to 3rd is probably bigger than stolen bases but stolen bases are now a thing after many years of not being a thing. In 2022 before the rule changes. The Rangers led baseball with 128 stolen bags. The Twins were last with 38. In 2023 the first year of the rule change. The Reds led the league with 190 Bags. The Twins were 23rd with 86 bags. Willi Castro was the primary difference with 33 stolen bases. Last year... the 2nd year of the rule change. The Nats led the league with 223, The Twins were last with 65. Willi Castro is the primary reason for the rise in 2023 and the drop in 2024. He stole 33 bases in 2023... Just 14 in 2024.

Getting the catching spot out of the way. The Catching position has been a strict 50-50 rotation between Jeffers and Vazquez occupying one spot in the daily lineup. With the other 8 spots: In the 8 games since April 1 when Julien was healthy enough to play. The following 7 players have started at least 7 out of those 8 games. Wallner, Correa, Buxton, Larnach, France, Castro, Julien. At this point... I'm going to assume that they are primary starters that get an occasional day off. Larnach and Correa have started all 8 games, the rest have started 7 of the 8. With those 7 identified as primary starters and the two players dedicated to the catching position. That will account for the utilization of 9 of the 13 players and primarily cover 8 of the 9 daily lineup positions. That leaves 4 players (Bader, Miranda, Gasper and Kiersay) for 1 open lineup spot plus fill in work. One open spot per game creates 8 starting opportunities for those 4 players. 5 of the primary 7 resting one game creates 5 more starting opportunities for those 4 players for a total of 13. Those 13 starting opportunities for those 4 have been divided up this way: Bader 6 (This makes him one start short of the group of players I have in the primary 7). MIranda 4 (Trusted Back Up) Gasper 2 (not trusted yet) Keirsay 1 (Pinch Running Defensive OF specialist) At this point... I think we have a severe curbing of the strict platoon philosophy and this makes me very happy. The platoon philosophy has been replaced by a primary starting lineup that has Bader the #9 guy and therefore the most likely to yield some playing time for Miranda and the others.

It certainly leaves questions behind. Is this why he was acquired? Is this why he was rostered? Is this Gasper utilization an example of the adherence to the platoon dictating roster construction?

You guys did notice the "...rightfully so". part? I know that they are not going anywhere... that was the point. These are the players that the team is sending up to the plate. This isn't a 1 game thing... this is an 11 game thing. The players we are primarily utilizing are the ones that got to fix this. Pointing fingers is not pointless. That would make it just fingers.

No I'm not suggesting that. I'm simply posting. What are you suggesting?

I knew that Gasper was going to be taken to task this morning on Twinsdaily... and... well... rightfully so. He hasn't impressed thus far. Not really close to impressing actually. No hard contact that I've noticed at the plate thus far. It's early yet but he really hasn't come close to impressing thus far. However... Perspective is necessary. Gasper has only had 15 Plate Appearances. 15 PA's is not the reason we are struggling right now. Let's be clear... Buxton, Correa, France and Larnach lead the team in plate appearances. Those 4 total 168 plate appearances. Those 168 plate appearances have produced 29 hits and 9 walks. That's a collective .182 average. That's a collective .226 OBP. 10 Extra base hits and only 1 home run. The highest batting average of the group is .229 (Larnach). The highest OBP of that group is .300 (Larnach). The highest slug of the group is .293 (Buxton). Right now Harrison Bader is the only player who looks like he was ready to start the season and he is in a rotation of sorts. Wallner and Castro have been decent. Everybody else... Not so much. It's been a bad group slump to start this season. Anyway... I'm not looking at Gasper right now. I'm looking squarely at Correa and Buxton. Those two need to get it going before 3 wins and 8 losses turns to 4 wins and 12 losses.

Just plain ole bad baseball being played by our local 9. This team has to get this team out of of this thing. This isn't an individual problem... this is an entire team that has played bad baseball for the first 11 games of the season. Only this team can determine how the next 11 games are going to go. Would you like to make a couple of errors and survive? Sorry you can't make a couple of errors and survive because there is no margin for error being created by our offense. The offense is really really bad right now. I understand that Ragans is pretty good... when I say the offense has been bad... it has nothing to do with Ragans... It's been 11 games bad. Power? Nope we are tied for last in team home runs. 6 of them total. Harrison Bader has half of them. Speed? Nope... 5 stolen bases. OK... no power... no speed. Then we must be a station to station team full of vets who know how to keep that line moving and produce runs. Nope... tied for last out of all 30 teams with a team OBP of .264 This team came out of spring training playing bad baseball. They and only they can pull themselves out of this. I hope they start pulling.

I was thinking the same thing. Another interesting lineup note from tonight. Brooks Lee playing 2B for St. Paul.

Interesting lineup today against the talented lefty Cole Ragans. Both Larnach and Julien in the lineup. Gasper at 2B over Julien in the DH spot. Wallner, Castro, Keirsay and Vazquez start on the bench. Haven't heard of any injury reports regarding Castro.

I appreciate this article. Right or Wrong... the Twins will tell us how they rank players by utilization. It's important to watch. After watching utilization for the past few years... I'm pretty sure that Rocco locks in for the long haul. We will learn as the season progresses if he is still locked in. Typically... there isn't much a higher ranked player can do to lose time and there is very little a lower ranked player can do to gain time... change adjustments are typically injury related.