tony&rodney

So, I happen to like Austin Martin's game for the most part. The times when he forgets he has two strikes and takes a pitch down the middle or does something confusing on the bases aside, Martin hustles and plays as hard as any other guy. He is a tough out. Austin is the best corner outfielder and yet he is barely average out there. This is quite a commentary on the fellows the Twins play in the corner outfield positions. It is an area for clear improvement going forward.

The Twins do have some interesting decisions to make before the start of the 2027 season. The 21st century crew is ready: Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Mike Paredes, Connor Prielipp, and Kendry Rojas. The veterans are all solid pitchers: Dean Kremer, Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, and Joe Ryan. I left Andrew Morris off of the lists because of his value in the bullpen but he could easily be a decent starting pitcher. The truth is that starting pitching is always a need and the balance between experience, youth, and talent makes putting together a starting five one of the more difficult and also most tenuous tasks for any club. My guess is that the final decision will be affected by events that occur this winter. Assuming health is always problematic as the Twins found out on their first day of Spring Training this year. In no particular order, foolishly assuming all are completely healthy and ready to go, I will put down Abel, Bradley, Prielipp, Kremer, and Lopez as the starting five. No particular order or reason, just wild guessing.

Today is August 15, 2026. Am I the only person who finds comments (online where everyone can say whatever comes to their mind and shockingly often by Twins tv and radio announcers which would seem to be an offense that should cost that person their job) that reference how a person looks to be extremely dated? How does one even come to be offended or put off by appearance when watching sports?

The constant complaining about money does nothing to explain how the front office signs and develops players. Most years the free agents available are either not as good (Jordan Montgomery/Rhys Hoskins) as what is already in house or beyond realism (Aaron Judge). The problem of reasonable revenue sharing was created exclusively by the owners. The Dodgers are reviled by people today but it is only the hiring of Andrew Friedman in 2014 (away from the Tampa Bay Rays) that boosted the fortunes of the Los Angeles franchise. There have been moments when it would have been nice for the Twins owners to spend more money but none in recent memory. It is worth a reminder that the Twins spent more money on players than each of their AL Central foes during the entirety of Derek Falvey's tenure. Building a winning team is quite complex. There needs to be a star or two and also a few talented support players. Most importantly is that clubs use a number of average guys who make valuable contributions through their consistent play. How a team is constructed is difficult to carry out. Each winter since October of 2023 there seemed to be opportunities for gamble type trades. The problem with these transactions is that a team can come out on the short end of such a deal. The wholesale dismantling of the bullpen last July (2025) seemed to portend a couple (or at least one) of moves last winter. Then ..... crickets. The recent deadline displayed the Twins interest in winning now. We shall see how the club navigates through the remainder of the schedule. When I look over the Twins 40 person list I see an unbalanced roster on the position player side. There are too many solid players or prospects who fit best as a DH. I don't have anything against any of these players. Josh Bell is firmly the current DH. All of Gonzalez, Keaschall, Larnach, Mendez, and Wallner are DH types, and the two catchers (Jeffers and Caratini) as well as Byron Buxton on occasion can serve as the DH. Finally, the Twins have Tristan Gray, Austin Martin, and Alan Roden as decent athletes who cannot be counted as stellar defensive players. While I have not gone through the rosters of each MLB team, it seems like the Twins have some work to do to change the roster. How the switch occurs will be the job of the front office but spending a ton of money doesn't look like a forward moving plan. Randy Arozarena and Ryan Jeffers appear to be the most attractive free agent bats available this coming winter. Both are not noted for their gloves. They fit in the DH slot. Is that where the Twins spend the big money? It has been an easy click to constantly moan about the Pohlads and people have made a living (financially) doing exactly that, but the work of the front office will determine if the Twins have sufficient talent to compete. Recently a few folks have bemoaned the missed opportunity that perhaps existed with the mythical trade (Ryan for Tolle, Arias, and another player) in July of 2025. There will be another opportunity to gamble. Will the Twins take that chance to alter their roster?

A regular who is average is a valuable player. Yes, clubs need a few better players and all teams covet the all star types, but if Lee can be average in the field and at the plate it is ok. Coming out of college Brooks Lee was identified as a player capable of moving quickly through the minors and providing average play as a third baseman. Scouts did not see him holding down shortstop and he also does not project well at second base due to limited range. There is plenty of room for Lee to improve at the plate and in the field but he is not a big concern. Lee batting in the bottom of the order is a good idea.

After today (August 14), there is no clock. That reason has evaporated as of midnight tonight.

Talent plays. Mookie Betts has played CF, RF, 2B, and is now a SS. He does ok. When a team is a little short on talent they must scramble and make the best with what they have on the roster.

How many plate appearances have you watched of Walker Jenkins in game action? Highlights and videos tell us only so much. Appreciate that people are fascinated with numbers. College Calculus and Statistics was fun for me too. Wondering how many times people have watched the players in action. Curiosity killed the cat.

The bullpen has gone from being a nightmare to solid. While we can all see that Gomez is not a dominant closer, he has navigated through most situations which is a positive note. Can he continue? We don't know. I do know that great defense is often the difference as is a consistently solid offense. Right now, I'm more worried about the gloves and bats than the pitching. Gomez may be lucky but luck is a skill at times.

No doubt that Emmanuel Rodriguez creates angst to some extent. His K-rate and inability to stay on the field are barriers. EmRod would need to go on a real heater to get more love and the thing is, it could happen. Dan Hayes has suggested or opined that Jenkins is not in the loop for being called up. I have no knowledge on that. What Jenkins brings to the table is much better defense and at least similar production to those currently populating the Twins outfield. Jenkins has hit a number of line drive outs and hasn't really benefitted from many weak base hits. Roden had a great day yesterday but has often looked overmatched. He hustles and plays hard but it just doesn't look like he has the talent to be a regular. That sounds harsh and I actually hope he goes on a real tear at the plate. I don't think he can cover the ground to make plays nearly as well as Jenkins. As usual I would choose the defense - Jenkins plays 5-6 times per week. Kendry Rojas has looked good in his last two outings for St. Paul. Rojas is on a steep learning curve but I do expect he is the pitcher recalled in September, if he isn't back up sooner to replace Matthews. No matter what, we tune in and hope for the best.

The Twins have 15 games against AL Central clubs. These series should decide the division. Some team should get relatively hot. The White Sox, by virtue of leading now, are the favorites. Hopefully the Twins play well in these next tough games versus the NL squads. Zebby Matthews is supposed to be a pitcher who has both command and control. He left too many pitches in the zone again today and his misses were often noncompetitive pitches. Matthews did make it through five innngs, so we can say he battled. I'm guessing Zebby loses his starting spot if he continues to need 90-100 pitches to finish five innings and give up four runs. Kendry Rojas has looked good in his last two Saints outings. One of Matthews or Rojas needs to pick up the Twins by putting up quality starts.

The Twins have to decide if Alex Jackson is a catcher they want to retain in their organization for next year. He doesn't play very often and losing him will be a only slight problem if Jeffers or Caratini goes down with an injury. The Twins could call up a AAA guy or even Khadim Diaw without much of a problem because the reserve would only play once or twice a week. 100%, Alex Jackson would get claimed. Baltimore had a shell of a catcher playing today that is no longer any better than Jackson and their backup was removed from the game last night because of injury. The Dodgers and Yankees would also love to have Jackson. The idea of sending down Ryan Kreidler may be a possibility but would be ill conceived. Kreidler can rotate in on defense as needed in both the infield and outfield. When Buxton comes back (who knows because the press and announcers always make it sound like he will hit the ground running tomorrow) it seems like one of Martin, Roden, or Jackson are the choices. Whatever I was surprised the Twins did not trade Ryan Jeffers.

Have to pretty much agree with most of what you have written. The point about Jenkins not making "the 2026 Twins significantly better" makes sense. I will just point out that Jenkins plays a quality outfield and runs the bases well in addition to being a tough out at the plate. The changes the Twins have made this year are all about small defensive differences: Bell to DH, Lee to 3B, Lewis to 1B, Keaschall to RF, Clemens wherever needed, Kreidler to SS, and recently calling up Kaelen Culpepper. I don't believe Jenkins will make a big difference but he is likely to make enough small differences to be an improvement on one outfield position. Rookies are tough calls as we see with KC, but talent plays. I'm ready for another addition and see a small change making a difference.

Go 5-4 or 4-5 in this next stretch of 9 games against tough opponents and then attack against the 3 versus the As and then the important season-defining run where there are 15 games in a row versus AL Central foes.

I was just curious how one comes up with their ideas. There is such an incredible amount of reference to statistics and analytics that were devised by individuals for measuring players and those people are doing the work for pay. Earning a living by making various statistics is a common field, especially in baseball in the 21st century. So, where is the work that neatly combines offense and defense? As a manager/coach I devised my own systems which were simple to record but took about 30-45 minutes in the evening to sort out and record. I never shared them and I won't. My idea was to remove as much bias (or whatever one wants to call it) as possible from my thinking and decision-making process. The goal was fairness to all athletes and reasonable playing time, efficient usage of the roster, and to be as competitive as possible. The ultimate goal was for everyone to have fun and have fond memories of their teammates and experiences. Clearly I wasn't in professional baseball, where development and winning is the goal, dependent on level.

I guess I wondered if you would drop the OPS of several Twins and/or some Saints players who are less than average in the field. Say someone in MLB has a 750 OPS but is a poor fielder, does that (theoretically) drop the OPS to say 650?

I think I saw you or someone else mention this in another thread. I thought it was interesting. I also wondered if poor fielders lost 200 point of OPS. When one considers the balls that leak, drop, or get in the gaps when poor defenders are in the field, it might make sense. Since you, in this case, identified a means of comparison between AAA and MLB, can you make a similar case that incorporates fielding to drop the OPS? Just wondering.

Wondered if those people who are taking 200 OPS points off of AAA numbers have considered dropping 200 points from guys in MLB that cannot field? Not saying this should be done but wondering if that could be a thing?

This seems predictable but not necessarily a done deal. Kendry Rojas will replace Zebby Matthews if Matthews cannot pitch 5-7+ innings due to injury. Prielipp is good to go for the remainder of the year if he keeps looking like he has in the past month. There is zero sign of fatigue. Prielipp is learning as he goes along. The Twins will continue to skip a day for him when the schedule permits. It looks like the longest stretch coming is 13 games in 13 days in September just before the last series of the season at Target Field. In September the Twins get a 14th pitcher. By then, either Matthews issues with his feet have cleared up or he becomes a relief pitcher as the 14th pitcher.

Matthews needs to be able to go 5-7 innings. If he is removed or ineffective due to the injury today, he will be replaced by Kendry Rojas next time his spot comes up in the rotation.

You must know something that the Twins organization does not know. Is Keaschall getting an arm transplant?

So, people like to use OPS but think RBI is useless. One wonders if the players subscribe to that thinking as well? It would explain yesterday. It is just one game. The Twins play today. It might be getting late early. The games versus CWS, DET, and CLE will be huge.

Kendry Rojas looked good. He was working on his breaking stuff. Ross put a good swing on a pitch that was labeled hit me. Sounds simple but others missed. Jenkins was smooth in center and had good plate appearances. Walker also stole two bases against a catcher with a big arm. Houston and Winokur are slumping; they look tired.

EmRod is already on the roster (40) that includes players who would be locked out, if that were to occur.

Well put ..... essentially what I mentioned above. Further, I'm confused how the writer came to their viewpoint. Perhaps that can be explained or did I miss something.