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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Unless there is something someone knows about Lowe that caused him to tail off noticeably in 2025, I would think that he would get a lot more than $6M even for a one-year deal. He also won a Gold Glove. Buy now on that. The Twins top projected hitters are Buxton, Lewis, Jeffers and Keaschall, all RH hitters. Having a fifth guy who plays every day and hits lefty actually gives some balance.
  2. stringer bell
    I would certainly like the team to be faster and better defensively. Keaschall has good speed and I'd like to give him a bit more run at second base before moving him down the defensive spectrum. Luke hasn't gotten a lot of reps because of the injuries he suffered in both 2024 and 2025. While the Twins seem to be perennially searching for a RH outfielder, I would hope that the trio of Gonzalez, Jenkins and Rodriguez fills the corners and backs up in center field. I'd rather see Keaschall stay on the dirt. Given his tools (or lack thereof), second base should also be the place that Lee should settle. However, He seemed pretty lost at second base when he played there last year, probably in part because he hadn't played second much at all in college or the minor leagues. Lee has good hands and a quick release. Maybe he can hold on at short for a while longer. I'd give him April and May to see if he can hold his own as a shortstop. It would be great for Culpepper to force his way into the infield, moving Lee off of shortstop and maybe to the bench. Lewis, Keaschall, Culpepper, Lee or Keaschall, Lee, Culpepper, Lewis?
  3. stringer bell
    All three are better hitters than Clemens. I could see Josh Bell as a DH most of the time and occasionally at first base. I think O'Hearn will end up out of their price range.
  4. stringer bell
    Keirsey and McCusker were both guys who weren’t highly regarded but put up good numbers in the minors and got a (limited) chance in the majors. Fitzgerald and Gasper are two more guys whose story is way better than their results. I wouldn’t be upset if either or both were DFA’d. The upside is very limited.
  5. stringer bell
    Regarding Wallner and Julien--they never appeared to be more than hitters. Royce Lewis was a #1-1 draft choice with athleticism off the boards when chosen and still was thought to be a potential five-tool guy when he debuted in 2022 and returned in 2023. I was heartened that Lewis improved markedly at defense and seemed to regain most of his speed. His hitting was subpar, but did improve after the All-Star break. I think he is a fairly good bet to achieve numbers comparable to his post-All Star stats in 2026 and that projection would make him a pretty good player, but not a star.
  6. stringer bell
    A deeper dive into Julien's 2025 indicated he was pretty unlucky for the season. A look at his statcast profile says the same. Outman really doesn't offer much hope other than his 2023 season, but he is regarded as a decent defender while Eddy seems to have washed out with a mitt on his left hand.
  7. stringer bell
    Disagree. Arraez is a unicorn, Martin is above average at making contact. Keaschall was not "tearing it up" at St. Paul. He had looked very good in Spring Training and took advantage of an opportunity at the major league level.
  8. stringer bell
    It's about value. Yes, Ryan and Lopez are very valuable to the Twins, but prospects to replace them are plentiful with a bunch of upside. If the Twins are trying to improve their roster from today and beyond trading an established pitcher for a big haul is certainly in play.
  9. stringer bell
    I don't think Jeffers was as good behind the plate in 2025 as he was in '23 and '24. What I do know is that when he and Vazquez alternated behind the plate, the difference in pitching results was almost zero. So, for whatever Jeffers' flaws are as a receiver, they are minor compared to what he offers as a hitter over 90% of catchers in MLB. Jeffers has been nicked for poor framing numbers since that stat came in vogue and that should be helped by the challenge system put in place this year. It's probably a bit harder to predict performance by catchers as they age, but he's still pretty young and has been comparatively durable in the last three years. Without another true major league catcher in the system, it is a terrible bet to lose him hoping that someone will step up, unless there is no real effort to contend in 2026.
  10. stringer bell
    Jeffers has real value, but he is also very valuable to the team he is currently on. Unless the Twins get back a catcher in return, they are essentially tanking the season by trading him. Long term, trading him could help if they get enough back. Short term, if Jeffers is traded, the Twins are almost certainly a poorer team without him.
  11. stringer bell
    Options available should be the tiebreaker if a competition is close, but shouldn't be the be-all and end-all. Outman's rookie year looks like a fluke, much more so than Julien's IMHO. If Roden is his equal or better on defense (I think he is), then he should get the nod over Outman.
  12. stringer bell
    I think Baldelli is neutral as far as team wins goes. I also expect that he'll get another job before Opening Day 2027. Where Rocco fell down was developing position players and Shelton will have to deal with that. Perhaps a couple of guys will break through, which would be essential in getting to 82 wins.
  13. stringer bell
    The handedness of the position player roster is interesting. The Twins have a bunch of left handed corner OFs, some of whom are likely to do a lot of DHing. The projected starting lineup has four guys (Buxton, Keaschall, Lewis and Jeffers) who would be the primary players at their position no matter who is pitching and they are all right handed hitters, so the Twins aren't heavily left handed in fact. In addition, Austin Martin has a decent chance of establishing himself as a regular in left field and Brooks Lee is a switch hitter. If that happens, there are only three positions where some type of platoon could occur. It would be great if a left handed hitter would develop into a full-time player, but I don't think Wallner, Larnach, Roden, Clemens or Outman is that guy.
  14. stringer bell
    It's become very hard to trust that the current front office will make moves to improve the product on the field. The optimistic me goes back to 2019 when Falvey put together a 100 win team with a few career years and some solid veteran pickups. Things haven't gone well since 2021 or so. Is it because ownership has slashed payroll, has Falvey lost his touch? Bad luck? A lot of things would have to go right for the Twins to be a factor in post-season in 2026. It seems the front office is going to try to beat the odds and rebuild on the fly using mostly players from their system. I hope there is enough money in the budget to acquire a couple of legitimate major league players and that a number of guys break through. The trading deadline again could be another watershed moment where the long-term trajectory of the team is clear.
  15. stringer bell
    Yep, good players should be out there 140+ games. The problem is that the Twins haven't had nearly enough good (or better) position players. Who was the Twins last left handed hitter that was good enough to play every day? Mauer and Morneau? I know Kepler got a lot of PAs against lefties, but it was because they didn't have anybody who was better. Maybe that guy will be Jenkins or maybe it'll be Emma, but right now I can't argue with sitting the lefties against a left handed pitcher. The Twins don't have a Freddie Freeman or Shohei or even a Steven Kwan who should be playing every day, even against lefties.
  16. stringer bell
    From BBRef, Andujar appears to be in the normal range as an outfielder, but brutal at third base with about equal time at both positions. He hasn't played much first base, but again the numbers they've provided are okay, but a miniscule sample size. Andujar as a 1B/DH looks like he could help the club if he can stay on the field.
  17. stringer bell
    I fully expect that at least two of the four high-profile players (Jeffers, Buxton, Lopez, Ryan) will be traded and that the fangraphs analysis will then go down to a mid 70s projection. Honestly, if a real haul is obtained, I don't mind it. Buxton has been a good soldier, but if the team isn't going to contend for several years, he should get a chance to win a ring. There are several high end young guys who might actually be as good as Pablo or Joe in the coming years and Jeffers would be very likely to walk after this year with the Twins getting nothing back for his exit. There isn't a team in the AL Central that has depth and salary flexibility to be a lock to be good next year or beyond. If things go right the Twins could contend soon. I do think it is a stretch to do so in 2026 because so much is up in the air, but beyond that there is opportunity (IMHO).
  18. stringer bell
    Agree with @Riverbrian. One thing to consider when comparing to Houston and Baltimore, none of the other teams in the AL Central are big spenders who will put out deep experienced rosters capable of dominating for years. If the Twins “hit” on a couple players, they should be able to compete in talent and payroll with anyone else in the AL Central.
  19. stringer bell
    Coming off a very nice season, Emilio Pagan re-signed with the Reds for two years and $20M. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/reds-to-re-sign-emilio-pagan.html
  20. stringer bell
    Kreidler is a plus glove at shortstop. He is younger, faster and has more ML experience than Fitzgerald. I think he wins a utility job over Fitzgerald if no others are added to the competition, especially since Fitzgerald has options and can be freely sent back and forth when injuries occur, as they always do. On the pitching side, I think there definitely will be a trade of one of the Twins' established starters. Trading Ryan should get the most talent in return, trading Lopez would get salary relief plus talent. I'd rather see more talent returned, plus I like Pablo as the veteran leader of a young pitching staff. I've said on other threads that having the best arms in the majors and sorting out roles on the fly makes sense for this team, but I think there are at least eight guys who will be primarily starters on the 40-man roster so maybe Abel, Matthews and Festa spend some time in AAA and stay stretched out. If the Twins have six or seven guys who are legitimate big league starters and this is more reason to trade a high value piece to add talent where the Twins are currently lacking.
  21. stringer bell
    Taylor played exclusively in center field, so talking about him as a left fielder makes no sense. Martin missed most of the first half of the 2025 season due to injuries. I don’t think him not being in the majors was an indication of either Baldelli or Falvey not liking his game.
  22. stringer bell
    Scoring runs is often collaborative, especially for a singles hitter. The August/September Twins were without three starters after the trade deadline, so it was pretty tough for Martin to score that many runs. A guy with limited extra base sock needs to excel at getting on base, playing defense and running the bases. Martin struggled at all three in 2024, but was much improved in all facets in 2025. The margin for Martin is small. I’m confident that he will get a chance to show what he can do in 2026, if he stays healthy.
  23. stringer bell
    Martin plays one position well—LF. I expect he could be passable in center and adequate at second base. That isn’t the utility that Castro provided. Further, I would think Keaschall should get 90% of the innings at second base. I think Rodriguez, Jenkins, Outman and Roden could all be equal or better to Martin in center, so Martin playing CF, with or without Buxton on the roster could be a rare event.
  24. stringer bell
    I believe when they both played in St. Paul, Jenkins played center.
  25. stringer bell
    Lots of candidates. I can’t see how all will get a chance with the Twins. I like both Rosen and Martin as players and their skill sets fit with areas where the Twins need improvement. There will be injuries and players will disappoint, but with the number of options, productivity in left field should improve over last year.
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