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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Gonzalez progression seems to be an every other year thing. He wasn't very good in 2024, very good in 2025 and ordinary (at best) in 2026. Even though he's still young, it would appear that 2027 will be a last chance season, at least with the Twins. The complicator IMHO is that he again is bat-first or bat-only and like Jose Miranda, he will have to be well above average as a hitter to have value to this or any other major league team. The Twins have had too many players like that in the past half-decade.
  2. stringer bell
    I think Martin has value, but probably not for the Twins. I think he could net an unproven relief arm (like Gomez was) or a utility guy.
  3. stringer bell
    I've never been a huge Ryan fan, but he's been a good acquisition for the Twins. I think his struggles and injury in the second half have lowered his trade value. It would seem to be a hard sell to get good value for Ryan this offseason.
  4. stringer bell
    Gotta believe Gray is a roster casualty as soon as rosters are unfrozen. He had his best moments as a big leaguer early in the season, but is substandard as both a hitter and fielder.
  5. stringer bell
    Since he is "out of options" and a left handed hitter, he most likely will get the chance to play regularly next year whenever the season starts.
  6. stringer bell
    Rodriguez (Emma or E-Rod? I go with E-Rod) was known to be highly selective as one of his most distinguishing characteristics. In the minors, this meant a lot of walks. Not so much in the bigs. Swings and misses in the zone are bound to be a bigger problem when the pitchers throw more strikes, especially on pitches with more break and more velocity. I think keeping his average closer to .250 than the Mendoza Line would be a success in the coming year. On the plus side, Rodriguez was an extremely good defender in a small sample size. If he can maintain the outstanding defense, the strikeouts and lack of hits will be mitigated to some degree. Why he played the corners when both he and Jenkins were in the outfield must reflect the preference of the manager and coaching staff.
  7. stringer bell
    0-4
  8. stringer bell
    I'm not overly impressed with Roden's tools--doesn't have plus power or plus speed and this year the Twins only used him in the outfield corners, with a negative defensive rating. As a hitter, he may be able to be a high-contact, high OBP type, but I thought the same for Austin Martin. There's probably a spot open in the infield and if Roden can handle first base and hit closer to an .800 OPS than .700, yeah give him the first baseman's mitt.
  9. stringer bell
    Who ya' got?
  10. stringer bell
    Why not? The metrics are pretty good, he's 30, not 35 or 36. The expected results were better than the actual results. The more opportunites he has gotten to play, the better he has performed. To me, he's a pretty good example of a late-bloomer.
  11. stringer bell
    Won back trust? No, but OTOH, I haven't trusted the Pohlad family to be committed to having a winning franchise for years. I think Tom Pohlad has said the right things and I was encouraged that they spent some money at the trade deadline. Did everything work out? Nope, and the Twins have company in that regard. A lot of teams with more serious playoff aspirations ended up finishing their season in September. Boston, Philadelpia, Houston and the Cubs barely got a taste. I feel better about the talent on the field than I did a year ago. The owner has said they will increase payroll and give the GM some room to work with. If this is true, it will give Zoll a fair chance to show he belongs in the GM chair. I am not as highly critical as most of the posts above, but I still need to be shown a lot more before I'm trusting the ownership and front office.
  12. stringer bell
    Clemens put with 2.7 WAR and 109 OPS+. Tampa won over 90 games and had exactly three position players with better numbers. Kody Clemens was a good major league player last year and if he can replicate his 2026 season in '27, he'll be a regular with the Twins. If the Twins can find three or four or even five better players than him (and play them full-time), they will have a good year.
  13. stringer bell
    At least against right handers and perhaps against lefties as well. I've come around to respecting Clemens and appreciating what he's produced. He starts ahead of Lewis based on his last two seasons without question and if the Twins do bring in a guy (either first or second base) that moves Lewis to competing for a bench or platoon spot barring injury. While ERod may or may not be a regular starter at the beginning of 2027, I don't see the Twins tossing his potential down the drain. Their optimum outfield is the youngsters Jenkins and Rodriguez along with Buxton. Given injury histories and the nicce year that Luke Keaschall ended up having, I think there will be a lot of starts for others.
  14. stringer bell
    There's an underlying current in the Lewis critics that not humble enough or has an attitude problem or something. I guess after all the adulation he received for starting with great success, it kind of makes sense. Maybe I don't pay enough attention to off-field comments or read enough into them, but it isn't like he's a constant distraction or that he's in trouble with the law. He looks like he fits in with his teammates. I don't see a character or attitude problem. The performance hasn't matched the hype or the pedigree. That is fact. The three and four year old heroics are a long time ago and there aren't a lot of signs that he will find it again. .If he wasn't a #1 overall draft pick and hadn't broken in with a splash, he probably wouldn't get as many chances as he already has. Somewhere upthread somebody said he should hit more like Arraez. I think he should hit more like Kirby--use the off field, make contact but punish mistakes. Nah, he won't do it as well as a Hall of Famer, but it might raise his numbers enough to be a major league regular.
  15. stringer bell
    Couldn’t agree with you more @Riverbrian! Unlike Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and yes Kody Clemens, Lewis has not earned a roster spot and playing time for 2027. I am pretty confident that if Lewis makes the team he’ll get opportunities somewhere (1st, 2nd or 3rd) to show he belongs. Maybe his competition is Alan Roden or Keaschall or maybe it’s someone brought in, but making him earn his chances should be the proper course. Ty France came back from near oblivion to be a top 10 first baseman this year, maybe a 27-28 y.o. Royce can make the adjustments to do something similar.
  16. stringer bell
    While you never know for sure, Hoffman and the tesm both indicated the injury was minor to be addressed by a couple of extra days of rest.
  17. stringer bell
    I say again that first base for a non-slugger is not optimum, but giving Luke a first baseman's mitt might be a decent backup plan if Lewis or anyone else doesn't do the job there. The Twins don't have many good internal options at first base and adding Keaschall to that mix makes sense. Kody Clemens has put together two years for the Twins where he hit 45 homers and provided above average offense. If he maintains that level of production, it is good enough to be at least a strong-side platoon starter. Right now, he looks like "the guy" at second base. +
  18. stringer bell
    Another pitcher to comment on IMHO is Matthews. More than any starter, he was inconsistent, but he had several starts where he breezed into the late innings and against some good lineups. Those 7 and 8 inning starts provide such a relief for the bullpen that I think the Twins should keep using him as a starter and try to find ways to help him be more consistent. Zebby was very good for the whole month of August, when just about every other pitcher struggled mightily. I think he has multiple plus pitches, but needs to find a way to limit both big innings and home runs. If the guys rated D or F were removed from the mix, the remainder of the Twins' staff was decent. I would hope that particularly the bullpen is much more set whenever play starts in the coming season.
  19. stringer bell
    I'd say that Morris was the barometer of the bullpen. He looked overmatched early, had a nice run in the middle and faded at the end. If he could have sustained his nice run, he would have been a revelation. I think a C+ is a bit high for his entire season. Fundy had an interesting year. He pitched himself back to Triple A by walking a ton of hitters, but came back and pitched well in the second half, as he had done in '25. He did enough to be around next year IMHO, but not enough to be assured high leverage status. I also think it's a stretch to give this Kody a B+.
  20. stringer bell
    For his first two seasons (really a season and a half), Lee had a better OPS against left handed pitching. He was significantly better against righties this season, but that is the way splits play out. Equally stark were his home/road splits this year, so should it be said he can’t hit at Target Field?
  21. stringer bell
    Lee has has improved in each of his last two seasons. He appears to be healthier as well and his sprint speed has increased from ‘24 to ‘25 to ‘26. He looks like a good fit at third base. I don’t think further improvement is guaranteed, but most players peak years are in their mid to late 20s. Despite the meh metrics, I think Brooks is a good bet to be a solid player for the remainder of the decade.
  22. stringer bell
    Tough break for Mario! Mickey Gasper to have bieps surgery and will not play for the Red Sox in postseason. Gasper had a nice run with the Sox and almost certainly would have been on their postseason roster. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/09/mickey-gasper-to-undergo-biceps-surgery.html
  23. stringer bell
    Moreno is the D-Backs catcher. I hadn't noticed him among the leaders and thought Arraez was a shoo-in to win the NL batting title. Arraez won't be playing in the first round of the playoffs due to an ankle injury.
  24. stringer bell
    I think Lewis will have to win a spot in ‘27. His performance the last three years is not good enough to have earned a starting position. If he makes the roster, he’ll get chances whether he’s a starter or not. Gleeman and the Geek suggested that he ran out of gas after playing close to a full season. Maybe so, but the numbers are the numbers and he was a below-average hitter for the third year in a row.
  25. stringer bell
    My hopeless faith is almost gone. That was a lyric from a song, I think. That said, I'm not ready to non-tender Lewis or trade him for a suspect. He does need to further adjust his approach as a hitter--slap some balls to right field and then take advantage of hanging breaking balls and batting practice fastballs.He played two unfamilar positions and looked decent at both and offered value on the base paths. I said when Lewis returned from the minors that with all of the moving parts in his hitting, he would be prone to slumps and that proved to be true. I don't know if it also might have been exacerbated by fatigue in playing the longest season he has played, but I wouldn't discount that. This may be all he is capable of, and if so, it's not enough to be a full-time major league player making eight digits a year. I still think there is more there that can be tapped, but the numbers say he has plateaued a a less-than-average hitter playing at positions where much more offense is expected.
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