Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

GNess

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    687

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by GNess

  1. GNess
    Fans are not partners with ownership they are brand loyal consumers. Lack of star quality players has been a product recently of suspect drafts, development failures especially on defense, poor trades and lack of purposeful participation in free agency. That's a formula for sustained mediocrity or worse. It isn't what the Twins FO does so much as it is mostly how they do it. Optimistically, the Twins need some of the current crop of youngsters Jenkins, Rodriguez, Culpepper, Lackey et al to emerge as above average and the Twins will have to get better at things listed above that successful teams do. Realistically, not confident. they can draw to an inside straight like will be needed for short term success. Not sure if Ryan and Lopez are up to carrying the club. One caution. - the Chisox have been held up as a rebuilding model once in a while here on TD. They are now just 1 or 2 games above .500 and the Guardians (ugh) have passed them in the division. The Guardians seem like the most consistent winner in the division for quite some time now. They have figured it out - hopefully the Twins can and will.
  2. GNess
    A lot of comments which put Jenkins as the starting CF next season. So far he is not hitting at all - I would think he would need to show some improvement in the final games of this season and have a decent spring training for him to start the year in MLB..
  3. GNess
    There are some similarities in the question around a position for Keaschall like there were for Arraez. Arraez was as a Twin and is now a better hitter than Luke. Of course, the Twins traded away Arraez despite his obvious prowess at the plate for Pablo Lopez. Players who are all hit no field become problematic in finding them a defensive position - perhaps it makes them seem more expendable as well.
  4. GNess
    Emma's enthusiasm was a highlight!
  5. GNess
    Better late than never applies here. It's only going to be a glimpse of ERod vs MLB pitching as a very limited data point.
  6. GNess
    It's indicative of the issue that in two of the three collapses noted were teams below .500 at the break. The Twins at this time, simply don't have much of a winning/championship mindset - that is at the base of Twins' franchise culture..
  7. GNess
    Hard to assess this list unless we could see how other teams' lists of top picks for context. But on the surface this list doesn't look very good.
  8. GNess
    Yes, five of those seasons they won 90+ games, but it didn't translate to postseason success as they only made to the ALCS one time. But I agree those were some pretty good years and the Twins had some real talent.
  9. GNess
    The last two seasons weren't surprising results for a Twins franchise that lacks a good enough organizational approach to drafting/developing talent, making smart/productive trades, participating in free agency and being fundamentally sound. The facts are clear - the Twins haven't been good enough for most seasons for the last three+ decades. Having shared that view - the Twins are not alone. It is really hard to advance to the world series which is the ultimate litmus test for MLB. The Twins last world series appearance was 35 years ago - 10 other clubs are riding 20+ year streaks and another 6 are between 10-19 years. That's over half of the membership in MLB. The margin of error for most teams is thin. So who is to blame? The entire franchise has been unable to develop and execute on any plan that puts a highly talented, sound team on the field most years.
  10. GNess
    I agree with both of you - super old guy not awesome. But the Twins have had some success over the years with the super old guys - Davis, Thome, Cruz in addition to Baylor all come to mind.
  11. GNess
    Outlook for the position players: The short and medium term success of the team at this point rests with the young core who look like they have some upside to grow in to: Lee. Keaschall, Jenkins, Culpepper and one-two from the minors - ERod, Gonzalez, Houston (?). Lewis, Clemens, Caratini, Buxton all seem pretty much what they are already. This leaves a need for at least one big bat to be sure. Will they pay for such - seems possible Plus SS and C need to be addressed. I suspect they will deal Larnach for whatever he can fetch. Jeffers - can they resign him? Lackey and/or Tinney almost certainly will not be ready. Would Houston be ready out of Spring Training - possible, but not likely.
  12. GNess
    Not to be adversarial, but many on TD have seen the weakness of the Division as a manner to diminish the Twins state of quasi-contention because it was such a low bar. (Twins are now almost certainly out of contention.) But the Chisox who rebuilt are now to be admired as contenders by leading the same crappy division and with a gaudy record in general. vs sub .500 teams. 46-29. I don't think rebuilds can't work - clearly they can, but they are difficult to pull off and require excellent player evaluation and development. In trying to remain optimistic that the Twins can find a path forward, I am reminded that the Twins teams that crapped out two years in a row were well stocked with early round (1st or 2nd) Twins draft picks in central roles - Larnach, Lewis, Lee, Buxton, Preilipp, Keaschall, Jeffers et al.
  13. GNess
    Not to be harsh, but the idea that trading Larnach, Jeffers and Ryan at the deadline would push the Twins closer to being a "real" contender has some serious flaws in it. How do we know the prospects garnered from such trading would be players good enough to improve the team in the short, medium or long term? In MLB the last team with a payroll in the bottom half of MLB to win the World Series was the Royals in 2015. That's not a ten year fluke - if the Twins, like most teams to be a consistent "real" contender are going to have to spend money and compete in free agency and/or pay their own top players such as Jeffers and Ryan to keep them around. MLB needs a salary floor and cap to decrease the financial gaps which lead to teams unwilling to spend at levels closer at which serious contenders do.
  14. GNess
    With the benefit of hindsight everybody can be good decision-makers. When the Twins made a few modest moves they were definitely in the race. But the team faltered in August nonetheless. In fact Kremer has pitched well. Minter and Hoffman have been less effective but not terrible.. The moves made didn't cause the losing record in August. Kremer and Hoffman are under contract for 2027. Maybe they should have traded Ryan given his history of 2nd half failures which of course other MLB teams must be aware. Jeffers - maybe a decent return. Larnach - please. If Larnach, Roden Martin, Gray ,were so called blocking / delaying the call ups of Culpepper, Rodriguez and Jenkins - that seems to be more suspect than the failure of trades made at the deadline.
  15. GNess
    The chaotic nature of the 2026 season is a fun change keeping more teams in the mix and no teams dominating the field (like in the NL Brewers and Dodgers.) Hopefully, the Twins will seize the opportunity and put together a few 2 game win streaks as they fall forward.
  16. GNess
    Nice breakdown, but it always concerns me when. a team's chances to succeed are linked in any meaningful way to SOS as opposed to a team ascending by is performance.
  17. GNess
    The Twins need to develop a few all-star caliber players for which to build around. (Oliva, Killebrew, Puckett, Gaetti, Hrbek, Hunter Mauer, Morneau, Santana, Radke, Blyleven, Viola etc.) Buxton had he been able to play more games would be on this list. Not sure if any of these three reach that level although Lewis provided some hope in the past that he might climb to that status.
  18. GNess
    Yes, the post deadline bullpen is doing great. I'd sure like to see the Twins invest more in. the BP in the offseason. There is a decent core already in place for 2027 - Gomez, Hoffman, Morris, Funderburk, Nance.
  19. GNess
    For whatever its worth the Twins promoted the following with stats for the season of promotion noted: Buxton .272 .787 OPS Larnach .271 .888 OPS Roden .271 .909 OPS Jenkins .292 .864 OPS
  20. GNess
    Now that he has had a recovery break, Ryan returning soon with form roughly = to his first half of the season performance is the best case scenario for improving the rotation. Although Rojas is quite intriguing right now and seems to have significant upside as a future consideration.
  21. GNess
    The Twins need to keep finding ways to win - the schedule in September is less daunting. The American League from top to bottom is absent an elite team. There is a path forward in the postseason for every team that qualifies.
  22. GNess
    The defensive struggles of Keaschall are on the entire organization (Keaschall included). The Twins went into the season fully aware of LK's shortcomings at 2B and started him there regardless. Then they shifted him to the OF and on top of that placed him in CF, which is the most difficult to play. His bat shows good promise and has value. The Twins need to develop a higher standard defensively for all players in the system so they aren't facing these decisions of how to keep promising hitters in the lineup. This is also why I don't accept the argument that Jenkins is being blocked by such an array of defensively-challenged OFers including Keaschall.
  23. GNess
    Tough to know the motivations behind the Twins not promoting Jenkins despite the value of such thoughtful speculation. Another more basic concern arises. If Jenkins is what we all hope/project. The Twins will want him to be one of the pillars of the franchise so keeping him in the minors despite his appearing genuinely ready for a promotion he has earned through performance is not a very wise way to treat him.
  24. GNess
    The argument that ERod gets the call up before WJ is sound, but hey both have the tools to be successful MLB players. I can imagine a Twins outfield group in as soon as 2027 of Buxton, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschall and a 5th TBD. Concerns remain about Rodriguez's K rate and injury woes and Jenkins' tepid (but improving) power production so far. Virtually all prospects have hurdles to overcome to make it as a major leaguer.
  25. GNess
    Lewis has something of a long swing, which puts him in the position of having to begin his movement earlier than most batters. This causes him at times to look like he is lunging and off-balance. It also causes a lot of swing and miss. But this long swing is a source of power that he demonstrates fairly consistently. He can really punish the ball. There is always room for improvement and growth, but on the whole what the Twins are getting from Lewis is pretty decent. Unmet expectations are a primary source of unhappiness. Lewis had a lot of hype driving up people's expectations and fostering disappointment which at times seems a bit unfair.
×
×
  • Create New...