Riverbrian

To be fair... it was just a 100 AB sample with the Mariners but yeah... statistically in that sample size he was the best hitting catcher in Seattle last season.

You always look at all 30 teams to compare and contrast and this makes you a strong poster whose opinions I always pay attention to. Everyone should look around the league and see what is happening at the 1B position to realize just how bad the Twins have been at development for over a decade now. Other teams are cranking out young 1B with ease. We have Royce being force fed. Certain players are given opportunity after opportunity. Thousands of them. Other players can scrape to get 79 AB's... produce a .768 OPS in a small sample and not be allowed to increase that sample. It's a pretty unfair world at times and this unfair world is the result of front offices that get it wrong... frequently.

I want someone better as well but we gotta be sensible on the expense of it. So until we grow our own. And here's hoping for a smooth rocket ride up the ladder for Lackey. I'd rather we try to fix what Provus is talking about and not pay the extra money for offense and get some cheaper catcher who can frame, throw and call a good game. Cory is right... teams were running wild on us but I also wonder how much our pitching had to do with that and I also wonder if that is part of the reason that Maki is no longer employed. If Jeffers takes the QO (dont' like this option). The combination of Jeffers and Caratini is 30 Million. Granted that It's two roster spots but essentially that's 30 million for one catcher position. That's the equivalent of signing Carlos Correa to play SS. After paying 35 million for Correa... the backup SS isn't going to make significant money because that money has to address other needs and let's be honest. After you sign Correa.. or pay 30 million for the catcher position. There isn't much left over to sign anyone at all. Catchers play 130 games at most. 30 Million for the catcher position can't be justified. It just can't. 15 million a year is what the top catcher in baseball makes and those who are paying 15 million a year for a single catcher... certainly don't have a backup making 7 million. Unless you are the big boys with money to burn. The backup is going to be making the minimum or barely over the minimum. We have a budget so I'm perfectly fine with punting the catcher position. By punting I mean... defensive guys who hold the bat upside down and cow handed in the 9 spot until our farm starts producing major league talent. That way we can focus our limited budget on the other needs. Like a power hitting 1B for multi years.

Caratini had some decent years at the plate prior and that got him a two year 14 million dollar deal and we had to outbid the other teams to get him.... But... Yeah... This Year... his performance wasn't so great. Players go up and down all the time... month to month and year to year... so I wouldn't rule the possibility of a rebound next season but I'm guessing that the Twins are committed to his 7 million and moving that one year left at 7 million will cost money since we already had to outbid teams for his services and thereofre won't return anything in a trade. So... I think they have to sleep in the bed they made. Caratini plus some one else... by someone else cheap with defensive ability and that would have to be our 2027 plan with Caratini the primary. Under that consideration... I'm ok with Jackson being that guy. Unless they can find another Jackson like player at lower dollar. Jeffers... I'm a big fan. But, the QO scares me. I don't think it's guaranteed he will turn it down. And I am absolutely opposed to a 30 million dollar investment at the catcher position. We have too many other areas to address if we have money to spend. Ultimately... Get those minor league catchers rising through the ranks so we can stop this hole plugging. Other than Jeffers who was a long time ago because he is becoming a free agent. Our development at C and 1B is nowhere near what the other 29 teams have been able to develop.

I agree... The Twins would have to add him to the 40 man. In order to do so... they would have to clear some space. There are currently 42 on the 40 man with 60 man IR players who will return to duty. There are logical choices for that sort of thing. And all of this makes the way we handled him at the end of the year in regard to the 26 man placement and the repeated exposure to the waiver wire. Well... Kinda Strange.

Well said. Perfect reasoning. Logical.

I'm still the guy who thinks we should leave the catching alone. I'll roll with Caratini and Jackson. Spend resources elsewhere. We signed Caratini for 7 million. Catching has been paid for. Over paid for. We don't want to invest any more cash or trade capital into the position. We had Jhonny Perada and we gave him away in order to spend 14 million for a backup catcher. Hindsight being 20/20... That was stupid. Jeffers will strongly consider taking a QO because 23 million will be almost two years worth of what he will make as a free agent. If he takes it. 30 million spent on the C position is an impossible percentage of budget spent on the position. We could trade Caratini but we would have to eat money to get anything back because we out bid what other teams would pay for someone who under performed. The team either signs Jeffers a 3 year deal at 45 million and they give away Caratini to the club who will require less of the contract to be eaten. Or they stay clear and watch Jeffers finally get the opportunity to choose what team he plays for.

I have no idea what his trade value will be... he has one year of service and a final year of arb salary to be paid. This is going to lower his value. I have no prediction to offer what his production will be in 2027 either because baseball is just a little to bouncy to try and predict such things. But... I'll say it again. The guy can hit the baseball. A down August is a down August. I'm trying not to read too much into it. There might be numbers that suggest that the 2nd half is a better indicator of the following year. I'm not aware of them and I won't argue their existence but I can't imagine that the numbers would be powerful because there are too many examples that are the opposite. We all watched Max Kepler hit rather poorly in 2022. Come out of the 2023 gates with a .207/.276/.412 pre all star break and then explode into a .306/.377/.549 after the all star break. Right back to suffering in 2024. His hot streak didn't indicate much for the following year. I've just seen too many slumps and too many hot streaks appear and disappear to be a little distrustful of predictive nuggets that tumble out of them. We probably don't want to be buying stock on a lot of players who dropped at the end of 2026 if it is something to follow. Sal Stewart, Yandy Diaz, Jose Ramirez, Murakami, Matt Olson, Albies, Schwarber and Jordan Walker really took a tumble as the season came to a close. There are more. I get it... some don't believe in him. I do... I think he's a hitter. But I also think it's time to let him go. If you are right and he has no trade value. He has no trade value. But I'm not going to cut the man down.

I spent all last off-season defending Trevor Larnach against nearly everyone on this website and I'd do it again. This year... with all due respect to Trevor... it's time to move him. Trevor Larnach requires a right handed handcuff. With Jenkins and Emma being strong candidates to be on the 2027 roster. We don't have enough roster space for all the handcuffs that the Twins will need to keep doing what they are doing with every left handed hitter we have rostered. Therefore he must go or one of the other left handed hitting OF will have to wait. However... Please keep in mind. Using a filter of at least 200 AB's against RH pitching. Trevor Larnach ranked tied for 53rd in the majors. He is in pretty elite company and somehow we have a large group of people on this website that don't want to recognize that. Arizona will want him. Make a deal.

The platoon advantage is absolutely real. It is proven year over year for decade after decade. However... will they lose more games is an honest question? We assume that they will but will they? The difference between .100 OPS is 1 run per 7 games. If 28% of pitching is left handed it will take some time to even reach that 1 run per 7 games. Also consider that Alan Roden who they clearly want to turn into another Larnach picked up 8 hits in 17 AB's against left handers this year for a very small sample 1.147 OPS so he has to turn south quick to even discuss the .600 OPS or lower that he is supposed to deliver. Or... the .670 that was the MLB Average last year for left handed hitters vs left handed pitching. It takes time to produce the numbers that we all react to and it isn't linear. In the meantime... that time is development, exposure, the opportunity to get better and the need to eventually not need the Austin Martin's tagged to him. As long as you are OK with platooning prospects out of the gate. We will need two right handed outfielders to attach to Emma and Jenkins. Martin is one. Keaschall is the other? Play this out over time and there is no question why this club can't develop a superstar. We are too busy trying to survive today and taking little chunks out of players for what is ultimately a 1 run per multiple game platoon advantage.

I'd hope for more AB's than 10 a week but if he is going through a rough patch it's OK to slow him down. You don't have to bench him entirely... just slow him down some So I agree. Actually I agree with one big caveat. "Break players in against pitchers they are like to succeed against". In Twins vernacular... this typically means platoon. I'd rather they face their challenges. With the Twins... If they start shielding they won't stop. The expand it later part doesn't happen with the Twins. You platoon him in April... they will platoon him in August. If they platoon him in April and August... they will platoon him in 2028. If they platoon him in 2027 and 2028 they will platoon him in 2029. They will strip mine him for parts, dip him in cement and if he is successful in this role... his trade value will never bring back anything significant because we made the decision to cap his potential future value day one for marginal gains today. Another thing... If they start shielding Emma... Martin will be rostered. If Martin is rostered... He needs a host to attach to because Martin needs to be shielded from right handers. He needs to shield someone to justify his roster spot so he will move him to Jenkins just like a virus if Emma gets hurt. Martin is a rostered lesser player who will search for a left handed hitter to infect. If Martin gets hurt... they will find a right handed hitter to replace him because they are not going to start letting Emma or Jenkins just start hitting left handed pitchers all of a sudden in August.

Mike, don't take this the wrong way but you are not going to see it unless you try to see it. Forgive me but you are not trying. You have to get past 162 games for 9 players. Just let it go. It's not going to happen. It never has. 162 games for 9 players has never happened. And if it has never happened and it has never happened. Why would you staff your roster short on purpose. If you avoid staffing your roster short with specialists. Bring in actual talent to compete for playing time. You hopefully have the answer in house if Royce Lewis goes all Royce Lewis on you or if Royce Lewis gets hurt. It's really not hard but you'll never allow for it if you don't get past 162 games for 9 players. So bring in better options. Sign Bauers and trade for Lawlar. 6 players on the infield with talent with potential. Accumulate talent. Let's see who wants to play better in 2027. Do the math. Take the catchers out. That leaves 11 players for 8 positions. It's really simple math. Nobody has to sit extensively. Nobody. Unless they earn the extended bench time. Earned it by performing like Royce Lewis in 2026 and 2025. The injuries alone should tell you it's a bad idea to go 162 with 9. If the injuries are not enough to point out the need. Not having anywhere to turn with Royce Lewis playing like he has should be enough to point out the need.

Have patience with him, We don't always have patience. I remember the end of July and we had a bunch of posters giving up on Roden with his .451 OPS. They were saying it's time to move on after 37 AB's. 40 AB's later from August 1 onward he produces a 1,031 OPS and nobody cares. We actually send him down while he was on a 7 for 15 stretch. Emma does not have options. We need to be patient. He will need more patience than the patience Roden got from us and we had no patience for Roden. Do not strip mine him for parts. If he is paired with Martin on a platoon split... his future won't matter much.

I believe he would.

Nobody has to be benched. Have a good day as well.

For Lawlar I'm looking at the infield. 3B, SS and 2B.

You should never make decisions on spring training. There are 4 infield positions and there are 6 players. Plus there is a DH position that can be utilized. Who has to be benched?

If he has any defesive ability in the infielder. Doesn't have to be elite. He'd be my choice. Actually he is my choice but if Shelton is just going to use him to pinch hit. I'll pass. Yes, there will be times to pinch hit and pinch run but... Shelton would have to understand. He's coming in to compete.

Ok But... if that's his utilization. I'm passing on the deal.

And they deployed him at SS when he reached the majors at age 20. Where he played 13 games. Perdomo has played in 157 and 161 games in the past two seasons so it's a small sample size at a very young age. The other consideration. Perfect players are expensive. He's 23 years old. We pay those coaches to do something. And the other consideration. He's an example. You can pick someone else and let's see if we can acquire that guy.

I haven't checked the numbers but I really wouldn't check the numbers. His sample size has to be less than 100 innings.

@tony&rodney mentioned the possibility of trading for Jordan Lawlar. I like that Idea. He would be perfect for us. Not that Lawlar is the missing piece. Far from it. But that mention alone has got me thinking about 2027 and 2028. With Tom Pohlad promising commitment of some sort because there was no clarity on how much commitment nor type of commitment ever defined. That is not a slam on Tom Pohlad because there is no reason that he should ever publicly state static plans in an extremely fluid world. I'm ok with his simple PROMISE to support the franchise. With that... people are going to yell at me for this. However... I think the Twins might as well take another run at this thing one more time but this time really go for it. 2028 is when the Twins the rotation is gone. The 2028 rotation will most likely be young. The 13 players on the position player side are going to mostly young. Why? Well... they kind of committed to this last off-season when they didn't finish what they started at the 2024 deadline. The amount of trade value they lost from last-season to this off-season kind of suggests that the players that they kept... has possible more value to us. Let's break it down into sectors. Starting Pitching: Sign: Trevor Rogers 3 years (20 million). I know this is a momentary place of depth and therefore an odd place to commit limited funds. But, the Twins should maintain that depth while upgrading significantly with one key signing. Obviously Skubal is out. Shop the Trevor Rogers aisle. Lopez has very little trade value with his price point while coming off of injury so you might as well keep him. Ryan has decent trade value but it has diminished from last off-season to the point that you might as well put him in the mix with Lopez, Bradley and a decent free agent of anyone's choosing. I'm choosing Rogers. Trade Chips: Ober Starting Staffs need to be deep and this staff will be deep. We can't just look at it from a 5 sized lens. I understand that there isn't Tarik Skubal in the bunch but being deep is half of the battle, Add Rogers at age 29 and they have a chance to be (on paper) pretty strong 1 through 4 with a new left hander added. With Ryan, Lopez, Bradley, Trevor Rogers and Kremer, Plus Abel, Prielipp, Matthews, Rojas making up a pretty nasty rotation in St. Paul. The team will keep it's deepness. I'm hesitant to include Festa. Shoulder's scare me. Starting pitching is half the battle. On paper we could be alright. Estimated investment for 2027: 70 million for the top 5 and 4 solid minimum making arms in St. Paul. Bullpen: Sign Morejon 4 years 48 million. I have no idea what he will cost to sign. I have no idea what it would cost to sign Rogers or anyone. Just estimating. No matter the cost... This is a gamble... it's a huge gamble. 3 or 4 year deals for pitching is always a gamble. But... if the owner wants to commit... here's a commitment that somebody in the major leagues is going to make and it bring a power arm to your bullpen from the left side. Trade for: Some young 100 mph reliever with control problems that our new pitching coach can work with. I don't know who he is but I'm pretty sure he is out there. I will call him Ted Danson for example purposes. We know that we will have Hoffman, Gomez, Morris, Nance, Funderburk and Banda? Sands? Plug in Morejon and Ted Danson. The bullpen is a little longer with some 100 mph punch added along with more late game options possessing a little bit of talent. Yes the bullpen is longer (on paper) but when you consider that a couple of these arms will probably be hurt as soon as spring training... it still needs more depth. However, as we noticed a little bit last year. You can find some folks for lower value and give them an audition and trip over some more. Trade Chips: None Estimated Investment for 2027: 32 Million The Outfield: No Free Agent Signing that costs Money - Yes, sign some non-roster invites type depth of course. I don't want to read anything suggesting that the team is looking for a "Right Handed Outfielder" If they are... we all know it will be for short side work and that will be to the detriment of the development of Jenkins and Erod... Do not strip mine them for parts. You look for talent. Jenkins and Erod... Show some patience. Have other options to play if the patience is a harder to pill to swallow. The Outfield: Buxton, Keaschall, Jenkins, Rodriguez and Wallner. St. Paul depth... Roden, (maybe Martin) Gonzalez and Mendez Trade Chips: Larnach and Maybe Martin. Whatever value Larnach has and I believe there is some value. It's time to cash it in. I think there will be a team that would take Larnach to be a part of a DH platoon. It might be worth that Ted Danson arm I seek. If Larnach isn't enough by himself for Ted Danson. Add to the deal within reason. Austin Martin... I like Austin. I think he has more progress yet to made. But, his presence on the roster will just be a temptation to diminish the future value of Jenkins or Erod so I'd just trade him so we don't screw this up. If you don't trade him... he has one option left. Send him to the minors and tell him not to come back until he can hit right handed pitching but I'd just trade him. Estimated Investment for 2027: 30 Million. I'm going to give Buxton 25 million for all of the bonuses he will hit next year to drive. Without the total bonuses it's 15 million and around 20 million. The Infield: Bauer, Clemens, Culpepper, Lee, Lewis and Lawlar. Houston charging hard, After that... Kreidler should still be in house. Gray I suppose. Ross? Trade for Lawlar: I don't know what he would cost but his value is probably at a low point while still somewhat high. He has speed athleticism and the ability to play multiple positions. Sign Jake Bauers: 2 Years (30 million) The farm still needs a 1B seed to rise from the ground and it doesn't appear imminent. It's not Lewis... at least not yet. He hasn't earned 1B or any steady deployment in the past 1,000 PA's. He has to earn a full time job back somewhere on the infield and that'll be up to Royce. So we got to go get a 1B. Get someone multi year and get a BAT in capital letters. I'll recommend Bauers. You don't have to platoon him. His splits were incredibly neutral last year. Most teams have a decent 1B option. There may not be many teams searching. I don't know anything about this Soto from Japan. It sounds like the big boys will be the ones breaking out their checkbooks since he can also play 3B and OF. But again... I don't know anything about him. Bauers... I've seen and he can hit. The rest of the infield. All of them have a decent amount of talent but none of them have earned 162 game consideration and none of them are sure things. You need insurance and Lewis and Lawlar are decent insurance options. Lee could stagnate or even drop in production or get hurt at 3B. Lewis will provide competition. Insurance. Culpepper... we all want to believe that he will be amazing but we all know that players don't develop in a straight line. You have to prepare for the possibility that Culpepper may need to be slowed down or even sent back to St. Paul. Or the possibility that he gets hurt. Lawlar will provide competition. Insurance. Clemens... He was great... I'm not knocking him at all. I have no problem placing him at 2B but he wasn't great enough to not have competition for his playing time. Or it's possible that he gets hurt. Lawlar or Lewis will provide competition and Insurance. Bauers: I'd place him on the play everyday list along with Buxton. However, I don't care how much we pay for him. It'll be up to him to keep that everyday lineup job and of course stay healthy. And the risk of him getting hurt is always something important to consider. Lewis and Lawlar can provide that competition. Whoever is performing the best gets more playing time. Whoever is performing the worst gets less playing time. We don't need to suffer through anyone trying to get their act together. Trade Chips: None Estimated Investment for 2027: 26 Million Catcher: Don't touch it. Leave it alone. Do not offer Jeffers a QO because he might take it. Place your resources elsewhere. You spent your 7 million on Caratini and we still have Jackson hanging around somewhere. Tell your catchers to call a good game guys, frame up them pitches and throw out some runners. If you provide anything offensively... Great we will take it. If anybody gets hurt. You call up the whoever from St. Paul or you shop the bargain bin for a defensive catcher when the need arises. And get those young catchers ready. If Lackey gets on a rocket ship don't let Jackson or Caratini slow down the ride. It's not a bad team... The batting order can be whatever. We have threats one through 8. Estimated Investment for 2027: 8 Million Total 156 Million plus 14 million more with the Correa and other buyouts. Keaschall: DH/LF Jenkins: RF Bauers: 1B Buxton: CF Clemens: 2B Lee: 3B Culpepper: SS Erod: LF Caratini and Jackson: C Lewis, Lawlar and Wallner can be plugged in regularly. Ryan, Lopez, Bradley, Rogers and Kremer is a decent rotation. Morejon, Hoffman, Gomez, Morris and Ted Danson could be a fairly strong bullpen. Trades are Trevor Larnach for a young bullpen arm. Send some money if you need to improve the deal, add prospects. Ober and Martin for Lawlar. Send some money or add prospects if you have to. $170 Million would be my guess. it all depends on Ted Danson.

The front office will need to make some phone calls and I'm sure they have made them to gauge his remaining value. While his value has to be certainly diminished. I can't help believing that Ober would retain some trade value for the simple reason that all major league teams need 8 to 11 starting pitchers just to get through the season and there are some teams that have question marks just finding 5. Somebody would plug him into the back end. Kremer had a distressed ERA when we traded for him. The Orioles go their current 17th ranked prospect in the deal. The Twins are one of the few teams that have the necessary depth as they stand today. The Twins currently have 4 arms in their final year. Ryan, Lopez, Kremer and Ober. Taj is the only projected starting 5 arm that will remain with the club after 2027. Prielipp, Matthews, Abel, Festa, plus Quick is coming quick and this Bohorquez kid is making some noise. However, there is a wall coming when 2027 concludes. You can't just watch 4 arms depart without a wall on the other side of it. Those 4 arms are a wall. No matter how average (below average) Ober and Kremer have been. The Twins have to decide if they are going to run full speed into that wall and that means take those 4 arms plus Bradley plus the stockpile of arms in St. Paul and see how far they can take you in 2027... or... do they mitigate the crash by replacing one or two of those final year arms via trade. If Tom Pohlad wants to spend some cash. They could dive into free agency and get a 2 or 3 year contract arm like Trevor Rogers for example at (just guessing... I have no idea) 20 million a year. This would soften the collision with the upcoming wall. Bradley and Rogers (For Example purposes only) can go down on a spreadsheet as potential 2028 arms. That softens the blow. You can all insert your favorite FA starter and replace Rogers if you'd like. It's for example purposes. A rotation of Ryan, Lopez, Bradley and Rogers in the first 4 slots would be a pretty decent top 4. Starting depth is maintained. 2027 rotation upgraded. 2028 wall blow softer. That would leave Ober or Kremer available to trade. You could package an outfielder with Ober to try and increase value (Not Jenkins or Erod) and maybe land a really decent young bullpen arm or a desperately needed infielder. I think it was Tony/Rodney somewhere suggesting Lawlar. Let's go with that... If Lawler can still play SS and other infield spots. What will it take to land him. Ober plus?

I agree with what you are saying. You perfectly explain the context. No argument from anything you posted. I'll add to your context. In the case of Jackson specifically. His rostering wasn't going to be a big deal because Shelton had locked in his lineup. Jackson was going to join Ross and Ggon and Kreidler of players who were not going to play in the stretch run. I just think it's a mistake to roster specialists period because 13 player utilization is simply better than 9 player utilization. There are going to be failures with 13 player utilization and there are going to be failures when you 9 player utilization. However the failure rate isn't what you focus on. The success rate is what you focus on. 13 players through will produce more success than 9. It's what? 60% more input. That's significant. You give up that advantage when your bench (I hate using the term bench) consists of players that are specialists for playing time only during very specific situations. You are choosing lesser players on purpose for roles. When you choose lesser players... you will have lesser players not capable of taking over for a Caratini who has an OPS of Crap and a wasted roster spot. You waste all 4 of your roster spots on lesser players. You go down with the Royce Lewis ship.

I'd think 100% of the roster has to prove it.