Riverbrian

Seemingly but not really. I haven't seen Kiersay or Severino play other than a couple of games that I attended in St. Paul. I make no predictions on what they would do at the major league level. That's why I have no idea who they are. I see the stats that they have accumulated at the AAA level and those stats are decent but I make no predictions on what they would do at the major league level. When I say that I won't take my eye off the entire roster. I'm talking about the major league roster. Future health and future needs are yet to be determined. Those 26 man roster curve balls could be thrown at the last moment as we enter the playoffs. I want the Twins front office to plan for the possibility constantly and the best way to plan for it... is not to settle for below average play... ANYWHERE on the 26 man roster. I don't look at 9 players on the offensive side of ledger and assume we are set. I look at all 13... because if you have a couple of players on the 26 man roster who are below average. You are an injury or two away from needing below average average to perform in the playoffs. I may not know who Keirsay or Severino are but I do know who Margot and Farmer are.

In my opinion... Julien can hit. I have high hopes for him and I'd be willing to bet on him. I'd like to see his patience uptick a notch or two toward the aggressiveness side of the ledger. It's Ok to wait on your pitch for a couple of strikes but once he has two strikes on him... I'd like to see him stop looking at those called third strikes a little. Young players can go through bad stretches and old players can go through bad stretches. Unless you are a superstar and there are only a handful of those guys in the league... I don't see much difference between a young player and vet when it comes to the ups and downs of a season or career. Young players with options can be sent down and we assume that it is some sort of being too young to adjust thing. Old players can't be sent down so they are allowed to work kinks out at the major league level and we assume that it's just a vet doing what a vet was supposed to be doing. When October hits and we are in the playoffs. I'd place my bets on Julien over others currently on the roster.

The Error from Santana slash Zebby was a pretty key moment in the game. It should have been two outs and nobody on... Following that error with two walks resulted in a crooked number. That crooked number was the difference in the game. Strap it on... Another game tonight.

I have no idea who Kiersay is. Or who Severino is for that matter. But... I'm not afraid of youth. I am absolutely afraid of locking in with below average players with the assumption that we can't do better than below average at any major league roster spot. We have two players on the Twins roster with an OPS against Right Handed Pitchers that are under .600 I understand that they are on the roster to face Left Handed Pitchers but I want to be clear that they are mere injuries away from being asked to hit right handers in the playoffs and to this date they have both faced an equal amount of Right Handers. Teams need to constantly pressure the floor of the roster because you never know when the floor will be needed. I like the roster we have... I think we have been performing offensively better than a large majority of teams in MLB. I really don't have any complaints. However... I'm never going to take my eye off the entire roster and I'm never going to assume we will stay healthy and I'm never going accept injuries as an excuse when they happen if we remain static with under performing players. I am also never going to assume that the front office or (I for that matter) knows what players will do with opportunity provided. The only thing you can do... is deal with those who are not performing when opportunity is provided and provide opportunity to someone else.

Assuming all are healthy - My playoff lineup would be. Vs. RH 3b - Lewis 1b - Miranda DH - Wallner SS - Correa LF - Larnach CF - Buxton 2B - Castro C - Jeffers RF - Kepler Extras: Santana, Martin, Julien and Vazquez VS LH 3B - Lewis 2B - Castro SS - Correa 1B - Santana CF - Buxton LF - Wallner C - Jeffers DH - Miranda RF - Kepler Extras: Larnach, Martin, Julien and Vazquez Margot and Farmer are not on the roster. This is a playoff roster... If they remain on the roster... they are an injury away from starting against Right Handers in the playoffs. They are gone. Julien and Martin will be on the roster in their place, they may be in the extra catagory but they will be given playing time through out September and allowed to compete for playoff playing time. Allowed the opportunity to get better and compete. If they fail to earn it... they can be sent down. But... I am choosing Julien and Martin over Margot and Farmer and I'm not thinking twice about it. Wallner will not be platooned. His OPS is currently .954. I'm not going to accept any logic that Wallner can OPS .998 against right handers yet still has no chance against left handers like his OPS against lefties is frozen in place no matter how well he is swinging the bat against righties. Like hotness against right handed pitchers will only happen against right handers and show no improvement against lefties. His OPS against may be lower against left handers but seeing the ball well is seeing the ball well and I'm willing to bet that Wallner can out perform Margot and Farmer against lefties if he is crushing right handers like he is. Kepler is barely hanging on. He gets the last spot in the starting lineup against both Right Handers and Left Handers. Ultimately a lineup that has Kepler hitting in the 9 hole is pretty good.

This is exactly what teams should do. When a player has the combination of expiring contract and a 73 OPS+. It is exactly what teams should do with that player. The Tigers sold at the deadline and are currently 9 games back of the last wild card spot. Torkelson, Jung and Sweeney have been called up from the minors. Those who are not playing well with expiring contracts should be thrown overboard.

Right now... I'd guess we have two players Julien and Martin who could be sent down to AAA but those two are keeping the seat warm for Correa and Buxton and hopefully their eventual returns. After Julien and Martin... I'm not sure who Kirilloff would replace on the roster. Miranda certainly shouldn't be sent down since he has been performing. They are not going to cut Margot or Farmer for Kirilloff so they could sit on Kirilloff until Santana or Wallner or Larnach or Kepler gets hurt or goes into a Kirilloff sized funk. Until then... I'm not sure the Twins are in a hurry to get Kirilloff ready to go.

That's good new for Alex and the Twins. With that information... I'd say that the wall this article refers to does not have writing on it. There would be no need to make a hard decision on him prematurely unless there is a 40 man crunch this off-season and the organization would have to be pretty down on him for him to not survive a roster crunch. The key is going to be what happens the rest of the season. Is he done for the year? If he is not... where does he report to when he comes back? That option remaining makes it less likely that we trade him to Miami for Okert. If it gets burned this year... people can start writing on the wall.

On June 13th... It was announced that Alex Kirilloff was sent to AAA. On June 18th... 5 days later it was announced that Alex Kirilloff was not going to St. Paul but going onto the injured list. I've seen quotes from Alex admitting that he understated the severity of his injury because he wanted to keep playing. I've seen quotes from Rocco stating that Alex needs to do a better job of communicating his health status with the club. Question #1... I assume because he never played for St. Paul that his one option still hasn't been used up but I have to ask... announcing that a player is reporting to St. Paul doesn't burn the option. That question is important because if he runs out of options his situation with the club change drastically. If his back improves this year and he's ready to go this year. Where does the team send him? Does he burn that option and report to St. Paul or does he report to Target Field for major league action? If he burns that option... his standing with the club in 2025 is threatened. His clock has run out. There is no more space to maneuver. He has to perform or put on waivers.

I look at it a little different. I was excited about the depth. I thought that our depth had the potential to protect the team from the things that test a team every year ... things like injuries and poor play. The way I see it. When you have depth... that's when you add top end players... not trade them. I don't see depth as something to remove. I see depth as something to relentlessly pursue. True depth is the only thing that can make your team bulletproof. A starting 9 and 4 guys on the bench is not depth because that is 4 guys that you don't want to play. Mainly... I just don't see Polanco and Julien on the same roster as a problem. I see it as something to strive for. I was excited about that depth. I wasn't looking for more depth. Adding more depth doesn't make sense. That's why I questioned if it was a good idea to take a Polanco type talent and replace him with what I thought was 3 lesser players. I am not going to use hindsight to change my position. I recognize that Santana has out played Polanco thus far in 2024. It was my opinion that the Twins should have been adding this off-season not subtracting. I get budgets... if the team has to cut... they have to cut. However... they took the Polanco money and spent it on 3 lesser players. We didn't need more depth... we needed top end players like Polanco. Out of all the players Seattle sent to the Twins and all the players that the Twins added to the roster after Polanco was traded to Seattle. Polanco was clearly the best player changing teams. The Twins should have been adding Polanco types not subtracting them. Polanco was the best player changing teams and it wasn't really close. As for JD Martinez... I have a bad habit of throwing out specific examples when making a broader point which causes people to look at the specific example. It isn't worth discussing JD Martinez... I was just throwing a 12 million dollar example out there. The broader point was that the Polanco money could have been spent a number of different ways that didn't involve Santana. I was only making that point because some jerk was calling me disingenuous for listing both sides of the discussion and accusing me of ignoring something that I pointed out. The bottom line in regards to my thoughts are this: 1. At the time... I questioned if it was the right move to to turn Polanco into three lesser players. I have been forced to defend that position which has turned me into a stronger advocate for keeping Polanco that I probably intended to be. I still question if it was the right move and the reason I still question it is because it's a process related question. Santana has outplayed Polanco thus far so in the end. It worked out. 2. If Polanco was still on the team... I'd probably be complaining about his poor play and expiring contract. I don't deny this. Yet at the time of the trade... no one would have been able to convince me that we didn't have room for Polanco and Julien on the roster and no one would have been able to convince me that Santana was better than Polanco. 3. No matter my opinion... the Twins have done very very well offensively this season. 4. We are mere injuries away from Margot starting in the playoffs against a right handed pitcher and that's why it matters. It's also why I'd probably be complaining about Polanco on the roster right now while still saying that I think he shouldn't have been sold for what I felt were lesser parts.

Hot streaks start and stop on a dime for all 30 teams. Cold streaks and start and stop on a dime for all 30 teams. You will drive yourself crazy thinking teams with a lesser record are winnable games and teams with a better record are difficult games. They are all winnable games. They are all difficult games. Direct competition against the teams you are chasing or fending off like we just concluded with Cleveland and Kansas City are the ultra important stretches because you can knock them down while rising up. With that said... Yes Texas and San Diego will be an important stretch of games for us. So will St. Louis and Atlanta and Toronto and so on. Go Twins!!!

Context will determine where Lewis needs to play. Future context is yet to be determined. I think locking him into a position is a mistake because he can play multiple positions. If we have the opportunity to trade for Nolan Arenado are we going to say no because Lewis locked into third base. Of course he can move to another position if needed. Royce Lewis is an athlete and a superstar. Utilize him wherever the context of the team needs him to be.

I'm not sure you know what disingenuous means. I have been sincere and candid. You accuse me of being disingenuous because "I admit" Santana was signed with the savings". Presenting the opposite side shows consideration of both sides. I also admit that Santana has had the better year because it would be disingenuous to not do that. Mike Sixel can thumbs down my post. You can use big words that you don't seem to understand. I can block a poster because he belligerently and continually distorted my thoughts on the trade. Let me simplify my position. When the trade was made... I felt Polanco was the best player involved and it wasn't really that close. I felt the 2024 team should be adding the best player involved in a trade not trading it. I wasn't interested in prospects. I was interested in making the 2024 team better. Polanco had been a solid hitter every year that didn't need to be platooned. I realize that some will claim that they saw this drop in production coming from the 30 year old Polanco. I'm sure that some will claim that they saw this the meteoric rise to slightly above average from the 38 year old Santana. Yes... Santana has been better than Polanco but let's be clear... while Santana was indirectly signed by freeing up Polanco money along with others. They could have taken that money and spent it on (For Example) J.D. Martinez instead so Santana doesn't get to be included in the trade. And no matter what Polanco has done to this point. He could still help the Mariners in August, September and the playoffs. Will Desclafini, Topa, Gonzalez or Bowen? The Twins only win this trade in the future if Gonzalez or Bowen turn into something around 2026 which I admit is possible.

This is how it needs to work. Rather see a Festa on the mound over an innings eating vet.

I will continue to say what I said before. I questioned the trade at the time and I still question it regardless of the 2024 numbers. You might ask. How RB can you continue to question it? Simple. When the trade was made and the off season complete… nobody would have been able to convince me that Polonco wasn’t the best hitter of all the moving pieces directly or indirectly involved. i don’t care how Polonco hit this year or Santana hit this year. In March I didn’t think the trade helped us in 2024. I felt Polonco was the best hitter of the bunch and he didnt need to be platooned. They spent the Polonco Money on Desclafini, Santana and Margot. I questioned that. Santana has done very well but I felt Polonco was the best hitter of the bunch at the time. They needed two roster spots in Julien and Farmer combined to take up the one spot Polonco would have occupied. And of course the log jam argument. I laughed at it then and I laugh at it now. Who won the trade? That depends on the development of the prospects. Right now…in 2024… the Mariners won the trade because Polonco is the only player active at the MLB level.

My bet is with Rocco.

I understand the splits both historical and small sample. In all of my arguments I have always acknowledged the numbers of left vs. left. In this particular discussion. If a batter is hot like Wallner is hot. Would that hotness only apply to right handers? Could he be seeing the ball good… swing feeling good to the point where he just might hit some homers against left handers.

Dear JD-Twins I’m Happy about the sweep. My comment is about Wallner who is ****ing hot. Manual Margot has a .726 OPS against left handers. I think Wallner can beat that if given the chance. What is your definition of crushes?

Dear Rocco. First of all. Loved the sweep… keep it going. Proud of you. Second of all. I am willing to bet that Wallner will end up with a higher OPS than Margot against lefties if you let him hit them. When a player is hot… There is no way his OPS is going to fall .500 points. The bet is a dollar an OPS point but you have to let Wallner play against lefties.

Just an addition to this post. On August 7th just 7 days after doing nothing at the deadline. Joe Ryan suffers a long term injury. Ladies and Gentlemen… this is why Buyers Buy. More injuries to come.

I'm the Bag.

This is a beautiful post. One sentence and right on point. Hindsight is the key word to me. It shows that I don't know, You don't know, All the Fans don't know and most importantly the front office doesn't know. Using hindsight... Willi Castro was the choice for 2B all along. In the offseason when the roster was constructed... Castro was barely a consideration. It was Julien and Farmer as the 2B platoon with Castro available for 2B along with many other positions. The front office certainly didn't know that Julien would be sent down to the minors when they traded Polanco. They certainly didn't know that Farmer would crash to the point of little bits of Glass Farmer lying on the floor when they traded Polanco and I assume that they didn't know that Jorge Polanco was going to struggle as badly as he has in Seattle this year when they were able to get a top 100 prospect in return for him. They probably assumed in the off-season that Brooks Lee would be called up at some point this year but preceded to give him a grand total of 9 innings at 2B in St. Paul so it's not like they were lining him up to be insurance at 2B and they probably knew that his debut had a chance of starting out below average like it has. Martin didn't get a lot of prep work in 2024 at 2B either. Just 3 games for a total 26 innings. He was spending his time in the OF. I say these things not to attack the front office. I say these things to illustrate how difficult it is to predict the bouncing ball of major league performance and all 30 front offices miss in this fashion ALL THE TIME. Injuries and disappointing performance happens every single year and they these things lay waste tot he best laid plans... so I laugh at the mention of a log jam. 26 guys WHO CAN PLAY is what I will always ask for. Cull from the bottom until the bottom is raised. I recognize that Polanco has been a disappointment this year. But... I'm not going to use hindsight and apply it to what I was thinking in the off-season. When Polanco was traded... I questioned the logic of it. I felt he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned. It's August now... I still question that logic even after review of his current performance because they didn't pull a fast one on Seattle. They bargained with Seattle like he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned and Seattle traded players in return that suggest that they though he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned. Anyway... Great Post... It simply says what needs to be said. If the Front office had this evaluation thing down to a science. Castro would have been named the starting 2B on Day one and Julien would have started in St. Paul.

In the off-season Twinsdaily posters and writers speak of log jams. At the trade deadline the front office speaks of liking this team and not really needing anything. We have an article here that talks about players returning which is great yet injuries to come are going to come and these injuries will negate the gains of this group of returning. On August 3rd Last year... 3 days after not doing anything at the the trade deadline. The contract of Dallas Kuechel was selected and on August 4th... just 4 days after not doing anything at the trade deadline. Jordan Luplow was signed off waivers.

Small list. I think you ignored everybody else on the roster.

I have always taken them seriously. For anyone just starting to take them seriously. Uff Da