Greglw3

We agree to disagree! From an article by Seth Stohs [ https://twinsdaily.com/profile/19-seth-stohs/ ] on Keirsey Jr. during 2023 season "Through 63 games this season, he is hitting .312/.367/.494 (.861) with 12 doubles, three triples, and he’s already got nine home runs. He has been successful in 24 of 28 stolen base attempts. All the while, he has played great centerfield defense. He has made some spectacular diving plays but often catching balls that others might have to dive for look easy." Next shot, sourced to MLB.com, quoting none other than Baseball America

I'll take your word for it and watch the clips again. I have to admit, I’m old school and don’t trust any of the new SABR inspired defensive metrics. I’d much prefer to see write-ups or interviews with a few MLB scouts, using the 20-80 scale for range, arm, errors, etc. One thing we agree on is he has a boatload of athletic ability. I also like that he makes a lot of contact, which will get runners in from 3rd on an out sometimes vs. K and spraying singles around can create a lot of 1st and 3rds. I’m still very hopeful on him but would still get Hays, Laureano, Profar and Winker. The offense needs a big infusion and much more depth.

As I wrote to another poster, to say Keirsey hasn’t produced in AAA like he belongs in MLB, he did everything a leadoff hitter should do and then some, this is an absolutely splendid season! Keirsey had a .300 batting average, .368 OBP, .476 SLG Pct and not an .800 OPS but an .845 OPS. Plus he had 14 HRs and 81 RBIs batting mostly leadoff. That’s unheard of. And he’s an ace defensive center fielder. He also stole 36 bases in 43 attempts. Nothing about this premium season in 2024 suggests that he should be pigeonholed into any generalizations like, subtract 150 or 200 on base points for MLB.

Keirsey had a .300 batting average, .368 OBP, .476 SLG Pct and not an .800 OPS but an .845 OPS. Plus he had 14 HRs and 81 RBIs batting mostly leadoff. That’s unheard of. And he’s an ace defensive center fielder. He also stole 36 bases in 43 attempts. Nothing about this premium season in 2024 suggests that he should be pigeonholed into any generalizations like, subtract 150 or 200 on base points for MLB. Some players are better in the majors than they were in the minors. I lived in Toledo when Kirby Puckett played for the Mud Hens and he was struggling along in the upper .230s to lower .240s, got called up, went off and the rest is history.

You said the HR robbing clip shows his slow reaction time, destroying his range and he made one of the best over the fence HR robbing plays I’ve seen? And how does a player with destroyed range make the second spread out diving catch? You’re asking a rookie to step in and not have slumps in the field, where you wouldn’t ask Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis to go slump free at the plate in their first year.

The only one I’d consider is Austin Hays. It’s a myth to say that all the Twins need in the outfield in a RHH batter. The whole outfield is question marks. Larnach still hasn’’t cracked .250, Buxton is injury prone and very hot cold when playing as in chasing bad pitches and going on HR and Double binges. Hopefully Wallner is the Wallner of 2nd half 2024 but you never know. The player you left out is Ramon Laureano who hit .296 for the Braves with an over .500 slugging percentage. I think you missed the mark on Austin Martin by calling him an underpowered hitter and lousy defender. I have two clips of Martin catches. It’s my contention that a lousy defender could never have made either of these plays in a million years. Did Martin make some mistakes? Yes, but he’s young and these two clips show his potential. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVVcsXyfpU https://www.mlb.com/video/nolan-arenado-lines-out-to-center-fielder-austin-martin As for the underpowered hitter, Martin hit .253, and the American League average in 2024 was .243. As far as power, he doesn’t need to be a power hitter. Further, he absolutely should not be a power hitter. Twins fans have witnessed enough strikeouts in the last few years and the results are apparent. Very inconsistent offense. The Twins almost ruined Martin by trying to turn him into a power hitter and it went poorly. When he went back to his old approach, he started hitting again. My contention is to measure success of a player, you have to look at the role they play on a team. One can’t legitimately say, Wallner had a higher OPS than Luis Arraez, 3 consecutive batting titles, and high on base for the leadoff slot, so therefore Wallner’s the better hitter. I would sign Hays and Laureano. Then, I’d go out and sign Jurickson Profar to play LF and Jesse Winker to DH. I did that in my roster building plan and came in under $130 MM. We’ve seen what lack of quality OF depth can do from the day we first said hello to Jake Cave and a long list of Buxton backups. I do think DaShawn Keirsey Jr. can fill in in CF. I’m one of his biggest fans after watching lots of his offense and defense on Tom Froemming’s podcasts.

Here are some newly available players who would be low cost and could help the Twins. Recently non-tendered or released players I’d be interested in for the Twins: Austin Hays (previous 22 HR season), Ramon Laureano (hit .296 w > .500 SLG for Braves), Cal Quantrill and Cody Morris, who I saw pitch a dominant gem at Cleveland in person against the Twins and have never forgotten it! That being said, my nice tidy 129.xx million dollar blueprint for the Twins brings in Jurickson Profar at 3/45MM and Jesse Winker. I still think Laureano would be a cheap and good signing and Hays too. Twins have learned you can never have too much depth and the OF still has a lot of ???. Of course if Falvey wants to sign Teoscar Hernandez to a 3/71 contract as a Fangraphs writer floated and multiple articles were written about, I won’t complain! Credit for Feature photo: Baseball Reference

Somebody needs to simply ask him, what is his source or for what reason he listed the Twins as a Blake Snell destination. As it is now, we can only guess.

Agree. That’s why in my blueprint I added Profar for LF and Jesse Winker, a pretty good hitter and high on base guy just last year. Plus .333 hitting Jose Iglesias as C4 insurance.

I did the Twins project article on Eddie Bane because of his unique position in Twins history! Good "trivia" question!

I would do the same.

The story goes that Calvin Griffith saw that Texas drew 34,000 fans for David Clyde’s debut so Calvi, who drew only 8,000 fans soon some nights had the light bulb go off and said, "Let me do the same thing with Eddie Bane" I’m actually old enough to remember Bane’s callup!

Very creative! I like this ne a lot! You have several things in common with me in that I brought in a new LF (Profar) and traded Larnach. I also signed Iglesias and have been eying Amed Rosario for months now! We’re both using Keirsey Jr. and added two bats, you with O’Neill and Westburg and me with Profar and Winker. Your Marlins trade is plausible and likely a good pickup. Did he have injury issues last year? He seems to have had two terrific seasons in ’22 and ’23 and his "peripherals" last year were good. I added a guy but went for the gold in Sasaki, with the Twins and a few other teams having the most at 7.555 MM to spend on him. Then I brought Jax into the rotation, which could move Pablo Martinez to #3 but if all healthy, maybe a WS winning rotation. I’m all for your plan, it would be exciting and lead to a better record, I think!

It seems like a lot to give up for Crochet but it’s a trade that would be hard for Sox to pass up on and pitching of that caliber is ultra important. If they could pair that with using their whole int signing pool for Sasaki, Twins could be hard to beat! I like Miranda at 1st base. It’s good for the payroll and I still like his upside. Not too many players, much less a sophomore, have stroked 12 consecutive hits! I also like E Rod in a place where he would probably get 400 AB, minimum. I, too, had Lewis at 2nd and Brooks Lee at third. I think it’s probably better suited for their respective arms.

This is a good idea and a fun project to undertake for Twins fans, at least this one had fun with it and learned a few things, like all the rules surrounding Sasaki’s posting and the Twin’s advantage in 2025 international signing bonus money. Thanks for the work to put this together!

1-Trade Willi Castro for prospects 2-No contract for injury ? Topa 3-Profar 15MM 3/45MM 4-With Twins, Tigers, Ms, As, Rays having most International bonus pool money at 7.555 MM, pay Sasaki entire 7.555 million. 5-Trade prospect (15-20) w Vazquez instead of eating money 6-Sign JessevWinker for 2/7 7-Sign Jose Iglesias 2/4.5MM Trade Larnach for LHP to replace Funderburk, if possible Iglesias .333 avg. last yr .381 OBP, Winker .360 OBP last year, traditionally solid hitter, above average. Iglesias is quite plausible replacement if Correa misses time. I’m pretty high on Austin Martin, lost in the disappointment of 2024 was that Martin, as a rookie, had a well above average batting average. Plus, he’s very fast and they may be able to get a little running game around Profar, Martin, Buxton?, Keirsey, Jr. I like DaShawn Keirsey as Buxton insurance and he can serve as a 5th OF and play CF on Buck’s days off. With Jax in the rotation and an aggressive run for Sasaki, the Twins Rotation could be WS capable. Advantage to smaller market (per little birdie) and MAX that any team can offer. Under team control for 6 years. C: Ryan Jeffers ($4.70M) 1B: Jose Miranda ($0.80M) 2B: Royce Lewis ($2.3M) 3B: Brooks Robinson Lee ($0.8M) SS: Carlos Correa ($36.00M) LF: Jurickson Profar ($15.00M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M) RF: Matt Wallner ($0.80M) DH: Jesse Winker ($3.5M) 4th OF: Austin Martin ($0.80M) Utility: Jose Iglesias ($2.25M) Utility: DaShawn Keirsey ($0.80M) Backup C: Jair Camargo ($.8M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) SP1: Roki Sasaki ($0.8M) SP2: Griffin Jax ($2.60M) SP3: Pablo Lopez ($21.75M) SP4: Joe Ryan ($3.80M) SP5: Bailey Ober ($4.30M) RP: Jhoan Duran ($3.70M) RP: Funderburk ($0.8M) RP: Simeon Woods Richardson ($0.8M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.50M) RP: Cole Sands ($0.80M) RP: David Festa ($0.8M) RP: Louie Varland ($0.80M) RP: Danny Coulombe ($3.0M) Payroll is 0.77% under budget

By backloading the real money on Bieber, they assume new ownership is in place by 2026 and the $17 may be just fine.

That’s a good and very thoughtful plan, creative and with a will to win. I especially like the signing of Bieber, who my brother and I were just talking about for the Twins yesterday! He’s a Guardians fan. I think the cherry on top would be to use their entire international signing pool on Sasaki. Now you have a contender!

I wouldn’t trade him. His ceiling is too high. 1B is most logical.

To be clear, I would be dumping 5MM for Vazquez. Another catching needy team could have him for 5MM. WHat’s your solution? How can we win 90 games next year or make a jump remotely close to KC this last season?

All garnered from Fangraphs/MLBTR so not my predictions. I took the numbers that were printed. Perhaps there will be higher updates. Do you like this rotation and concede that I’ve wildly improved the backups for SS & 2B and have a better lineup than 2024 and Grichuk vastly better than Margot?

Career 118 OPS+ career .804 OPS, career .367 OBP in well over 2000 AB. Which other Twins have a lifetime BA over .262 with a lifetime OBP over .367??? Winker would be a proven steady bat and he’s hit 24 homers in a season as well.

With a quality new ownership group dedicated to excellence, those 4 moves are entirely possible. Salary could be in the 160 or 170 range. In addition to Vasquez or Jeffers, farmer, Kepler, Margot also include Santana’s 6MM. I’d be inclined to trade Paddock for prospects. Lopez, Ober, Manea, Kikuchi, Richardson and Festa and maybe later Matthews, Andrew Morris should do well.

Profar and Winker would have lifted the Twins toward the +16 just themselves. Two players I’ve lobbied for on here and/or Twins twitter. Both available free agents now.