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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Interesting profiles. The bulk of the Twins’ projected best hitters are RH (Buxton, Keaschall, Jeffers Lewis), but the best prospects hit lefty (Jenkins, Rodriguez). Adding a solid hitter to play first would improve the offense measurably. Pintar sounds a lot like Austin Martin, but maybe with a better glove.
  2. stringer bell
    I commented that I had never heard of him and he's got more than three years of service time.
  3. stringer bell
    Pereda turns 30 in April, not exactly what I call a prospect. I see that he has an option year remaining, so he can move back and forth between St. Paul and Minneapolis. It's not an ideal #2 and #3 catcher situation, but compared to some of the Twins other problems, this is pretty minor. My guess is that Jackson is penciled in as #2, but there isn't enough invested in him to give him any guarantees.
  4. stringer bell
    That is the way I understand it. Many candidates for DFA, including McCusker, Pereda, Fitzgerald or Kreider and Gasper.
  5. stringer bell
    BBRef has him positive defensively as well. He's pretty well traveled and I never heard of him.
  6. stringer bell
    I know Eeles got a lot of love at TD, but there can't be much love for him in the front office when they are so woefully short on depth in the infield. This means they will have to take someone off the 40-man as well.
  7. stringer bell
    Better resume than Pereda. I think he's penciled in as the #2 catcher.
  8. stringer bell
    Trevor Larnach is an average hitter with little or no additional value. I would say that he is a proven mediocrity. He's worked hard to be as good as he is, but from his career arc, it looks like this is as good as he's going to get. If the Twins want to be a good team, they need better hitting than that from a corner outfield or DH spot. The 40-man spot he occupies and his looming salary increase are two reasons to non-tender him. I personally think there are others to cut from the 40-man roster but saving $5+M to spend on bullpen/backup catcher/infielder seems to be prudent. To me, the wild card in the roster maneuvers is Alan Roden. His profile is that of an above-average hitter and fielder who can play all three outfield spots and maybe first base. If that is what he is, he should be in the lineup most of the time for the 2026 Twins, giving the Twins yet another corner option and making it pretty crowded in the outfield.
  9. stringer bell
    I’m a sucker for power/speed guys. Hopefully Jenkins or Emma becomes a 30/30 guy. Both guys need to play, especially Rodriguez due to his recent injury history. Give him a month in St. Paul and unleash him on MLB.
  10. stringer bell
    Relief pitchers are so volatile. Previous stats just don't mean much as far as predicting how they will do. I'm sure there are a couple arms that were cut loose that could help the Twins in 2026. Rule V eligible players added to the 40-man can't be designated, so if the Twins need to make roster space, for example trading three guys on someone's 40-man roster for Lopez or Ryan, they would have to DFA someone who wasn't added yesterday. Gasper, Keirsey and McCusker could likely be DFAd, not claimed and kept in the system.
  11. stringer bell
    I guess I see Rosario and Fedko as more valuable and more likely to be claimed than both Keirsey Jr. and McCusker. The only thing that gives those two superior value is that they can be designated if the Twins need more room on the 40-man--free agent signing or trading Ryan/Lopez for multiple players--but I can't really get excited about either of the incumbents. Yesterday's DFAs contain a couple of interesting players. Colorado designated first baseman Michael Toglia, who has almost a thousand career at-bats. He was above-average in 2024, but cratered last year. He's a switch hitter with better splits against lefties and has played the outfield (not well). Houston designated infielder Ramon Urias, who won a Gold Glove for the Orioles a few years ago and has been a decent player until last year. Urias would probably cost quite a bit more than the minimum.
  12. stringer bell
    I'd like to see Gasper succeed and be a productive major league player. He's a switch-hitter who has raked at Triple A and he can fill in behind the plate. He was terrible last year, so there isn't much hope left.
  13. stringer bell
    Too many outfielders and Mendez hasn't played first base much if at all in the minors, so it is pretty hard to consider him an infielder. Also, top prospect Jenkins (not on the 40-man) could be the first call-up and he's yet another outfielder.
  14. stringer bell
    Not counting Julien and Larnach, there are four or five guys who can be DFA'd who probably won't be claimed by anyone and then could be outrighted to St. Paul. Gasper, McCusker, Keirsey Jr., Fitzgerald and/or Kreidler. Many other teams made room by DFAing players previously on the their 40-man rosters. I wonder if there would be someone that the Twins could pick up (cheap). The biggest name let go today was Nathaniel Lowe, but there might be a Willi Castro-like pickup to be made.
  15. stringer bell
    I think Ober will be the Twins' problem unless he is non-tendered. No organization wants to take on a guy who has lost velocity and effectiveness unless there is evidence that he can get the velo back. Ober finished the season with a fastball that couldn't get to 90, so I don't think any team will want him. He's also expected to get a nice bump in salary despite his ineffectiveness last year.
  16. stringer bell
    Don't trade players when their value is down. That would apply to every one of these players.
  17. stringer bell
    Given recent history, if Clemens is the Twins’ first baseman, he should be the odds-on favorite to win a Gold Glove.
  18. stringer bell
    Gulp! That's a tough one to swallow. I think Clemens earned a roster spot for the start of '26 with his versatility, power and defense, but handing him a starting spot at first base is committing to mediocrity at best unless there is more to unlock from a 29-year-old. If he is the primary starter at first, having a platoon partner for him does make sense because his numbers against lefties were dreadful last year in his first fairly substantial sample. It just doesn't sound like there is any real plan to be competitive in 2026.
  19. stringer bell
    BABIP in conjunction with hard-hit rate might explain and predict success for players. Hard hit balls in play should work for a higher batting average. Keaschall's .340 BABIP coupled with only a 31% hard-hit rate should predict regression to the mean. Woods Richardson coupled a below average BABIP with an above average hard-hit rate, so he too would look like his runs allowed numbers would get worse in 2026.
  20. stringer bell
    I don't have SWR's velo numbers. but I from memory I disagree that he is only good for 60ish pitches. In September after he recovered from an intestinal parasite, SWR went at least five innings every start with at least 80 pitches. Again, from memory, Sim looked like he could go longer than he was allowed. I do agree that with his stuff his margin is small. He needs to have command plus near maximum velo and break on his pitches to be successful. To me, that is not the profile of a relief pitcher
  21. stringer bell
    Oops, you've traded Brooks Lee and kept him to be a utility infielder.
  22. stringer bell
    I am resigned to the conclusion that the Twins will trade at least one starting pitcher before Opening Day 2026. The last headline I saw was that the most likely is Lopez (i hope not), but it wouldn't surprise me. I just don't see SWR as a bullpen piece, particularly not a late-innings, high leverage guy. He doesn't have one outstanding pitch, but he has a good pitch mix with several pitches in the average range. That sounds like the profile of mid-rotation guy, not a setup guy or a closer. Also Woods Richardson has stayed pretty healthy, outside of illness, and durability as a starter is another reason to keep him in a rotation.
  23. stringer bell
    I think some measures like sprint speed and arm velo give an indication of tools, but not the whole picture. Some guys go from bad to good while in the majors, although their basic tools don’t improve. Two of the Padres outfielders moved there because the infield was full, not because of defensive inadequacies—it does happen.
  24. stringer bell
    Many sources said that France’s defense was awful and he won a Gold Glove. Defensive evaluation still seems more art than science IMHO.
  25. stringer bell
    It's not the end of the world to lose a player in the Rule V. The player that gets more opportunity because someone in the system leaves might be just as good or better. That said, I hope they don't lose anyone of substance since the team last eleven players to trades on 7/31. I expect some more roster trimming by the November 18 deadline, so adding six or seven minor leaguers is probably doable. They will probably go heavy on adding pitchers by the deadline.
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