tony&rodney

Meant to ask this question last year and again earlier this year - Did Royce Lewis always step back with his right foot after his left foot came down on his stride?

Follow the money.

Martin Maldonado has caught over 1,000 games and been an important part of some really good teams. I respect the hell out of his work behind the plate just as I had enormous respect for Molina. No way is Molina above Joe Mauer as a catcher unless the criteria is the number of games caught. Buster Posey was really good, but he was no Joe Mauer. I'm not sure how a player like Mauer became so under-appreciated.

Think Cal Ripken. ARod too. There are different circumstances in every case but SS to 3B has been a thing. I don't see Correa moving off of shortstop until sometime in 2027. He still is easily the best guy available. Lee is not an option at this time. As far as the bat goes. Correa is as good as what the Twins have used at third base unless someone is missing Bride already. Lewis? TBD. In any event moving Correa off shortstop is a valid thought, but the time is in the distance. The same can be said for moving Buxton to a corner outfield position or is that article out next week.

Winokur is really strong, built and still loose. I actually doubt he puts on much weight at all. He is a wee bit like Max Kepler in being blessed with a classic natural frame that he could hold a similar weight for the next 50 years. He might gain 5-10 pounds but I really totally doubt he becomes the muscled up guy. One thing worth noting is that Winokur can hit a baseball out of any park in any direction right now with an easy swing. There is zero reason for him to add muscle. He already has it. It will be all about his bat to ball improvement. The only real barrier for Winokur is a very large hurdle and that is his bat playing on a consistent basis. He will need a minimum of a year at AA and another year at AAA after next year. Culpepper is moving fast. He had quite a positive experience in college and seems to have his head together with the everyday challenges already. Often college players struggle for a while after moving to full time baseball. I agree with chpettit19 that Culpepper will be up next year. Kaelen is 22 now and pretty mature. I'm pleased with how aggressively he has taken to the shortstop position and to his plate appearances. The Twins have to be pretty happy with their 2024 pick at this time. A side note is that Winokur is 2 years younger than Kaelen Culpepper but also faces longer odds due to his bat to ball skills. If there is a better athlete than Winokur anywhere in the Twins organization, I haven't seen him. Pause here to exclude Byron Buxton. Sorry for the run-ons.

Actually if you watched Winokur on a consistent basis you would be both pleased and surprised. The talent is through the roof: range, arm, quickness, and speed. He can play above average defense at both centerfield and shortstop. The problem is whether he will ever gain control of those long arms and hit on a consistent basis. Contact can be an issue. He is my favorite minor league player to watch despite the woeful contact. If I had to choose a shortstop only from the Twins organization and the bat doesn't count, I would choose Winokur.

I can agree that the offense has struggled but it usually is middle or middle lower half. The areas that are a real concern are base running and defense where the Twins are about as poor as possible. The solution is to roster a team of athletic players who can run, hit, and catch the ball. Then everything will be fixed.

The roster construction has been confusing.

Buster Posey was a really good catcher and hitter for an extended period of time (45.0 WAR). Molina was a fantastic defensive catcher whose longevity behind the plate justifiably earned him massive praise (41.7 WAR). Joe Mauer? 55.6 WAR. Fans or pundits who favor Posey or Molina could argue all day about this topic. Consider the pitching staffs of the 3 teams, the relative support financially from the clubs, and the injuries. For me Joe Mauer is hands down the best catcher there was in all of baseball during his career.

This was an article that was justifiably bound to surface given that Carlos Correa has had foot problems, is slower, and the demands of shortstop are constant. I have definitely noticed that Correa has reduced range. I also notice how efficient he is on getting off spectacularly accurate throws to first base and how easily Carlos completes the routine plays. The movement of Correa to a corner infield position will not happen until the Twins have someone to play shortstop. Brooks Lee has looked increasingly better at third base, which is where he should be. Lee is better than Castro at shortstop but that doesn't make him a shortstop. The same applies to second base, but the Twins don't have anyone there at this time. For now, Correa is all the Twins have for the shortstop position.

Late at night I have been replaying the Tampa Bay games. For a baseball fan the Rays are about as good a team as there is to watch. The Twins have a few more doubles and home runs than TB, but have scored 47 fewer runs than the Rays. The Rays play a ton of younger players and their consistency can be lacking.

How healthy is Royce Lewis? Will we see Christian Vazquez inserted as a pinch runner for him late in a game when the other options have been exhausted?

This is a test this week. Miami has been hot and Tampa Bay has an argument as the best team in baseball. The Rays have the best record in baseball against teams above .500. Will this benefit the Twins who will enter the series below that mark? Seems like the Lewis addiction will kick in again this coming week. I wish the Twins would use this time from now until after the All Star Game to get his body strengthened. He is very unsteady in the box and in the field. He cannot run yet. Maybe these AAA problems are all just a mirage and his activation will make him a major league player again. I just want him to play at full strength .... maybe run the bases. Hopefully the starting pitchers can snap back to consistency. Paddack did fine today. Ryan, SWR, and Festa are pitching well right now. Keep the team in the game with 4 runs or less per game. The next two weeks should be interesting.

The consensus among many is for the sale of the team to be completed asap. It seems unlikely that a new ownership group would spend significantly. I would expect changes but an increased payroll would not be among the changes. As far as change goes, the manner in which the 2nd half of this 2025 season unfolds could ignite conversations within the management and development employees regarding basic ideas related to roster construction and winning baseball. It could happen. However, as the article states, inaction and a continuity of The Plan is a more likely outcome.

Miami has been playing well in the last week with a 7 game winning streak. They swept San Francisco and Arizona. Good chance for the Twins to move forward into a new month. So much talk about selling at the deadline or resigning Bader, Castro, or others. The team is for sale, so I highly doubt there will be much going on until something gets decided. That could be taking the team off the market. Either way, there will need to be some cuts given the lack of media revenue and declining attendance. I'm done with thinking about this issue. What I am looking forward to is a resurgence by the starting pitchers, led by Ryan, and some better plate appearances and more runs from the offense.

If the front office believes in the team, which has been repeated often by Falvey, why would they make changes?

Wail until the player has 1,000 plate appearances. Can I remind folks that Julien was 7th in AL ROY in 2023? Patience.

I'll join the chorus in saying thank you for the concise report of your observations. While I did not watch any games yesterday I do watch a ton of minor league baseball via milb.com. This is not the same as attending games though. The way that Miranda and Julien approach/play baseball is more or less who they are at this point. I have had the exact same conclusions about efforts and style with those two guys. It might be that they are working hard but their mannerisms and sense of the game is off. Even at their best I struggle to watch them play and I attempted to defend them as learning last year. The bottom line on those two is that the optics of style magnifies their lack of talent. I doubt either resurfaces in MLB as anything other than 13th roster spot players for brief times here and there. I could see the Twins recalling Julien if France continues to plummet. Maybe he can provide a couple of weeks of play. Long term? No. Sure hope the Twins allow Lewis to fully heal. Until he returns to health the Twins are better off with their current choices.

Baseball is hard. The winning teams make the plays. The losing teams do not. Whether it is routine, running, or leaping in combination with good jumps - stuff happens. Last night Brooks Lee made a great play to get out #1 in an inning. Huge. There is another game tomorrow. We get Skubal on national television.

Royce Lewis looked better than he did in his last stint with the Saints. He still doesn't have his legs totally under him. I remain hopeful for the Twins to let him heal this time.

In the meantime while the rain falls, the Cedar Rapids Kernels just scored 5 runs after 2 were out in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The rally was punctuated by a line drive opposite field grand slam by Danny De Andrade. Good stuff.

Let his play for St. Paul make the decision when to end the rehab assignment. Last time, he was about the lowest performing player on the Saints team. He looked crippled and he was totally dominated by the AAA pitchers. In the last few games with the Twins he did look like his swing was improving but he still was losing foot races to Vazquez and struggling with anything not directly hit to him. If Royce is limber, on time, and able to sprint bring him back. I'm not sure why any team wants a player whose ceiling is a ,200 hitter due to injuries. Lewis can do much better if he is healthy. Why not allow him to become whole again?

Twins should not be messing with Festa. He should start the game.

Easy to agree with that statement. However, a broad look at the organization and gaging interest in any player to fill holes, even while creating another, is still worth examining. Personally, I have zero idea what appetite any team has for trading a player for Joe Ryan. I'm a really huge fan of Joe Ryan as a starting pitcher. Would I trade Ryan plus other minor pieces to the Athletics for Nick Kurtz if they were interested? I don't know but probably yes because the gain is strong on defense and offense. However I can also see the objection. Moot because the Athletics aren't listening in any event.

The lack of transactions by the Twins will have less to do with money than it does to how the front office views the organization.