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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that Super 2 will kick in at 2 years, 140 days. That would exclude Clemens from Super 2 arbitration this winter.
  2. stringer bell
    I just don’t think a coach makes much difference for the great majority of major league players. If a coach works hard doing what they do most can be a small positive in developing and improving players, but 99% falls on the player. Popkins and James Rowson have seen their teams improve and they’ve both seen their teams fail to improve in other seasons. Did they work harder or smarter in “good” seasons? I doubt it. To broaden my point, was Rocco Baldelli smarter in 2019 an 2023? Much of coaches and managers fate is out of their hands.
  3. stringer bell
    The nerd in me eats up these roster and arbitration rules. I wasn’t aware that a player needed half a season of major leagues service time to qualify for Super 2 status in the following off-season. I don’t think arb status is enough to keep him on the 40-man roster, but it does help his cause.
  4. stringer bell
    Historically a lot of guys start their careers with bloated ERAs, despite having good to excellent stuff. I see the same thing in most of the Twins younger pitchers, particularly Matthews. He had a severe two-out problem and his command was questionable, mostly missing his spots with pitches closer to the heart of the plate. It is interesting to me, but not quite a deal killer, that he allowed a lot of soft singles. I would like to see what results with a bigger sample before Matthews entirely changes his approach or repertoire.
  5. stringer bell
    A footnote about the '61 Twins. While there are no position players living from the original Twins, a large number of significant pitchers have survived the 64 years--including four of the five most used starters--Don Lee, Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos and Jim Kaat.
  6. stringer bell
    I agree with your swing and stance analysis FWIW. Of course my opinion isn’t worth much. I say the same thing about Royce Lewis—way too many moving parts, hence ongoing timing issues. Making adjustments isn’t easy. Watch any amateur golfer. When one issue is fixed, two others come to the surface. IMHO, for some reason Wallner was getting beat with both velocity and location, so there is a lot to fix, but the bat speed and exit velocity can’t be sacrificed by whatever adjustments he makes.
  7. stringer bell
    As of now, there’s plenty of room on the 2026 Twins staff, especially the bullpen. I don’t think anyone that debuted this year this year should be ruled out, even if they struggled, but OTOH none of the new guys proved they are a major league pitcher. I like the idea of going with all of the best arms and sorting out roles, but there may be some need to tinker with a small number of guys at AAA. With so many question marks, it is very predictable that there will be a lot of turnover in the coming season and that just about every viable arm will get a shot.
  8. stringer bell
    Bill Pleis, a member of the inaugural ‘61 Twins passed away at age 88. Pleis was a left handed reliever who Halsey Hall called “Shorty”. He spent his entire six-year career with the Twins, winning 21 games and losing 16.
  9. stringer bell
    Some of Lee’s assets aren’t easily measured. He has pretty good hand-eye coordination, his internal clock is good, he has a quick release and decent reactions to batted balls. We have beaten the negatives to death early this off-season. I think he can have a bit better approach—swinging at strikes, getting ahead in the count—and I think he needs to be able to grind through a full season better. He has slumped noticeably in September in both ‘24 and ‘25. I think he needs to be in better shape to maximize his athleticism and he needs to be mentally tougher and not let his offense affect his defense and vice versa. It doesn’t look like he has the tools to be a star, but he has enough skills to be a decent regular.
  10. stringer bell
    Wallner's 2025 season was at least a disappointment, if not a disaster. It is hard to fathom a less productive 22 homer season. For now, I think he will stay on the team and be the primary DH, but he probably has less than half a season to find his '23-'24 form before he is cast aside. I don't think a player should be traded when his value is at a low ebb, so I think the Twins should hang on to him this off-season. I will admit to being wrong on Rooker. I didn't ever think he would hit like he has with the A's. I also think that he, like Wallner, needs to be considerably above average as a hitter to be a team asset.
  11. stringer bell
    I don't know if it was mentioned earlier in the thread, but Berríos is done for the season according to BBRef. Those minor league contracts with opt-outs are a tough call for the signing teams. IIRC, Hoffman looked pretty good in Spring Training, but the Twins pitching staff was pretty healthy and there wasn't room for Hoffman and that was pretty much the same Danny Coulombe when Baltimore signed him.
  12. stringer bell
    I don't mind the idea of choosing a guy who hasn't managed in the big leagues. Guys like Suzuki, Hunter and Punto have spent many years in different clubhouses and have a pretty good idea of what works for teams over a long schedule. As noted by @ashbury, I would hope the interview process reveals what the candidate feels about the Twins organization and what steps he will take to improve the organization. I don't want to be an apologist for either Falvey or Rocco, but the decline of the Twins correlates pretty much with reduction in payroll. Big swings (Donaldson, Correa and to some degree Sonny Gray) and big contracts (López, Buxton) are gone and now the transactions are about role players and prospects. I think Falvey has made plenty of poor decisions on who to get and especially who to keep and Rocco failed to develop guys who were projected to be very good or elite. That is plenty of reason to lose your job, but the rules seemed to be changed after the 2023 season and that is on ownership.
  13. stringer bell
    Lewis is an easy decision to tender a contract for 2026. As noted in the above posts, there is some reason for optimism, but his performance in both the second half of 2024 and for the full season of 2025 hasn't been very good. Having a full healthy off-season could put Royce in position to being the elite player we saw in flashes in 2023 and 2024.
  14. stringer bell
    If Royce is the dreaded "clubhouse cancer", yes his demeanor, or more generally off-field behavior, is a reason to show him the door. I don't think that is remotely close to the actual situation. Lewis has said some things that might be true, but come off as both me-first and immature. That is unfortunate, but from what I can tell, those around the team don't view him as a bad guy at all. No team wants to go to arbitration and the Twins in the Falvey era have done a pretty good job of avoiding those hearings. It is counterproductive to diss a player publicly and then have him on a team.
  15. stringer bell
    Sometime in September, Glen Perkins provided some month-by-month sprint speed numbers for Lewis, in which he was above average in August and September. I can't find such a breakdown, but I believe Perkins' comment to be factual. The eye test and his twelve stolen bases in the second half of the season tell me his sprint speed is not declining as he has recovered from all of the leg injuries. According to Baseball Savant, Lewis went from the 28th percentile to the 34th percentile from 2024 to 2025, so his speed actually increased over the full 2025 season. I don't think Lewis will ever again have elite speed, but if his legs stay healthy, he can and will be an above-average runner who can steal a base.
  16. stringer bell
    Honestly, I won't like it, but he will probably get major league service time next year and if he stays in the organization, he might get some run as the 26th man.
  17. stringer bell
    Competition for Fitzgerald for a utility spot (at this point). He's younger, faster and he can play in the outfield. It looks like he can't hit as much as Mickey Gasper.
  18. stringer bell
    We know a number of things about the 2026 pitching staff: 1) The 13 that start the season will not be the 13 that finish it. 2) There will be injuries and at least one pitcher will be lost for the season by May 1. 3) Guys who are being counted on will not meet expectations and 4) guys that aren't even on the horizon will get their chance with the Twins. With all of the uncertainty in the Twins' pitching staff, it seems prudent to get as many good arms as possible and sort out the roles, which might take much more than spring training. A couple of starters could end up in the 'pen--I've seen it suggested for Bradley, Abel, Festa and Prielipp to name a few. I would surmise that the Twins will keep a couple of potential starters in St. Paul to start the season and wait on converting many guys until there is a better idea of who is going to be effective. On the three guys listed in the OP, Festa has injury concerns plus a noted inability to go deep into games. He might be the best candidate to move to the bullpen of guys who have been starters. I think Ohl is pretty much a one-trick pony--his change-up is pretty nasty, but he doesn't have much else. Adams may also benefit by converting to a shorter relief role. It is possible that his stuff will play up in shorter stints. The Twins need to hit on a pretty high number of question marks to have a representative bullpen and they still probably need to bring in a couple of experienced guys from outside the organization.
  19. stringer bell
    I’ve seen comments that the Twins have bullpen arms in the minors who have upside. Who are they? I don’t see any reliever in the Twin’s minor league system that is anywhere close to being ready to help in 2026, at least for the first half of the season. To have any chance of competing, the Twins need to fill out a bullpen and setting the floor with Topa, Sands and Funderburk would seem to be the very least they should do.
  20. stringer bell
    If Wallner were to hit like he did in '23-'24, I think we would all put his "bad defense" in the back of the priorities list. According to BBRef, Wallner was -6 both in DRS and Total Zone with an annual rate around -12 since he only played about half a season in the outfield due to injuries and occasionally DHing. He certainly could make up the runs "lost" with his hitting, but didn't last year. I also think he can and should be a better outfielder than he showed in 2025. He has a great throwing arm and enough speed, but the routes were poor way too often last year. Wallner had a historically unproductive 20+ homer season in 2025. I hope he's better next year, but I think his runway is much shorter after a disappointing 2025.
  21. stringer bell
    Agree with @jorgenswest that some risks can be taken with position players because it is so difficult to keep them on the major league roster. Even though there is a good chance they’ll break in to the majors some time this year, it is likely Rosario and Fedko can be left of the 40-man roster this winter.
  22. stringer bell
    The last guy who got an extra option year that I remember was Lewis Thorpe (LH Aussie pitcher) who had dealt with injuries prior to making the majors. I think it is pretty rare to get an additional option year.
  23. stringer bell
    Fangraphs say that Rodriguez has one option remaining. 2026 may well be a make or break year for him.
  24. stringer bell
    Easy choice to offer a contract. Tougher choice for his role next year. Sands’ velo was down for a large portion of the season and as mentioned he had a rough stretch late which threw his numbers off. 2026 will be a big year for him.
  25. stringer bell
    How many veterans are needed to guide the team through the retooling? The bullpen could have a free agent plus Topa plus Tonkin. Is that enough? On it's face, my vote would be for non-tender. Tonkin is in his mid-thirties and is not a high-leverage guy. He also has veteran status and can't be sent back and forth to St. Paul without going through the DFA hamster wheel. The money for Tonkin's salary is negligible. If having Tonkin on the staff helps the other guys in the 'pen, there is a case to keep him. I really don't see it and he's probably not going to be as good as he was in the last two years. Side note: it seems like a million years ago when I sat next to Tonkin at a minor league scrimmage in Spring Training the day after he was sent to the minors by the Twins. To his credit he made it back and logged a couple more years of service time. Good for him.
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