stringer bell

The performance bar for Keaschall is lower because he has good speed and the potential to be a plus defender. He got hit in the arm and not the head. He has looked very good since his return from the Injured List, but I do think expectations should be tempered a bit.

He’s been hit in the helmet a couple of times, including during or just after his consecutive hit streak. That may well be a factor in his decline. The window is quite small for a bat-first slow-footed, medium power corner infielder. He hasn’t been up to the task since his historic streak.

Johnny Bench made 12 errors as a catcher in 1970 and nine errors in 1971 and won a Gold Glove each year. Judging a fielder solely by the number of errors he makes is like judging a cake by its frosting. Official scorers make decisions that seem much more based on helping infivuals on the home team than reality and we just saw the Angel right fielder fail to make two plays and he was given an error on either one. Yeah, Jeffers and Gasper aren’t elite defenders, but one game and one scoring decision doesn’t make them the worst defenders ever.

Supposedly. He played center almost exclusively for the Dodgers.

Supposedly. He played center almost exclusively for the Dodgers.

Five and fly for SWR?

Lewis now has a.702 OPS. Not great, but approaching average.

Great pitcher, but historically one of the worst hitters to swing a bat in MLB. Chance had a career ERA below 3.00, lower than almost all of his contemporaries who made the Hall of Fame.

Recent transactions involving ex-Twins: Billy Hamilton (17 games in 2022, mostly as a PR) signed a minor league deal with the Cubs and Caleb Boushley ( 2 appearances with the Twins last year) was DFA'd by the Rangers.

Correa has been good, but not crazy good. .290 BA, .342/.413/.755 triple slash. 4 homers and 16 RBI.

The players aren't tanking although when you're behind five in the first inning, it is pretty easy to go through the motions. The active roster is dotted with guys who shouldn't be in the major leagues or shouldn't be in the role they are playing (Tonkin, Sands, Topa, Fundy). If anyone is tanking it is the front office. There are a lot of questions to be answered in the final three weeks. Many of these guys have their future on the line. It's a lot more fun for my team to be in a pennant race, but every game matters to somebody and the numbers put up when the chance for contention is over still go on the back of the baseball card.

With that short porch, Wallner could hit 40-50 homers for the Bronx Bombers. Wells is a good defensive catcher who hits lefty, sign me up! The Yankees have to plan around Stanton like the Twins plan around Buxton--you need to allow that he'll be on the IL for at least a month during a season.

When do you go with "lost cause"? Outman and Keirsey Jr. were born a day apart (28 years old) and Outman had a nice rookie season three years ago. Otherwise both are AAA All-Stars who can't hit in the majors. Yes, now is an OK time to evaluate since the season is lost. I wouldn't be surprised if either of Outman or Keirsey Jr. is bumped off the 40-man roster. OTOH, I think there is a decent chance that either one would get picked up and make a major league roster in 2026.

Regarding Martin’s utility, he really isn’t that versatile. He plays left field and could start in center or second base for a day or two. That doesn’t compare with Castro’s six position versatility. The combination of Clemens and Martin might equal Castro. Martin has hit better since his recall and I will accept that his defense has improved. I’ve seen him make a year’s worth of outs on the bases, so I can’t see him as a base running asset.

I’m enjoying the rare wins and good play when it happens. It could easily happen that not one person in the current bullpen makes the club in 2026. I agree that Outman looks overmatched and that Pereda has shown something in his brief audition. I hope Topa isn’t badly injured. He has almost made it through an entire season active and healthy. Buxton has had a fine season and I hope he can add more career highs to an already gratifying season. Ober can be okay with diminished velocity but each mph more makes him more effective. I suppose he wants to put up higher counting numbers to parlay more $$$$, but it might be better off taking the rest of the season off. The Twins aren’t the first team to disappoint and appear to be at rock bottom Other teams have got off the mat, but ownership and the front office need to commit to improvement and make necessary improvements.

Jeffers to 7-Day IL, Kriske DFA. Ohl and McCusker recalled. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/twins-place-ryan-jeffers-on-7-day-il-designate-brooks-kriske.html

I've found other things to do during Twins games, but tuned in today to watch López pitch. As a fan since 1961 which indicates my age, I'd hate to see Pablo traded. I'm too old to watch a total rebuild.

Jhonny Pereda recalled, Keirsey Jr. optioned. Pereda is in the starting lineup tonight. No transaction (yet) for Jeffers.

I agree that Trevor’s trade value is indeed limited due to his arbitration status and middling numbers. I do believe a trade partner can be found that lacks LH hitting and power. Trading Larnach for someone with a similar arbitration and service time situation who offers a different skill set (speed and defense and probably an infielder) could improve both the team acquiring Larnach and the Twins. Another possibility would be acquiring a bullpen arm.

I'd put Trevor Larnach in there. I wouldn't say his value is at an all-time high, but he has sustained average production for the first five months of the season and stayed reasonably healthy. Trading him for a similarly experienced player with a different skill set makes sense to me since the Twins have a number of lefty hitting corner outfielders who won't make as much money.

Yuck.

I find it interesting that you bring up Wallner in an Arraez discussion because I thought about it too. I agree wholeheartedly that OPS and OPS+ paint an unrealistic picture for guys like Joey Gallo and Matt Wallner. Wallner hasn't had a good year and his comparatively high OPS+ shouldn't hide that. Arraez hasn't been good for two years in a row and his batting average shouldn't paint a different picture. Both guys are extreme examples of one-trick ponies. Arraez hits singles, Wallner hits bombs. Neither guy helps his team much on the bases or with a glove in his hand. WAR and OPS+ probably penalize Arraez too much for his lack of slug and add too much for Wallner, but neither is someone to build a team around. A team can probably thrive with one guy who has one major skill, but too many slow singles hitters with high batting averages and too many "three true outcome" guys won't win. I'll add a response to this post as well. The '77 Twins won 84 games and finished fourth in the AL West despite scoring the most runs in the American League. Rod Carew was the deserved MVP with a season for the ages and the other guys named above were terrific as well. They led the league in both BA and OBP and OPS but were only fifth in OPS due to lack of slugging. By any measure that is an effective offense. The '77 Twins had quite a bit of speed--Carew, Bostock, Hisle--but stole a middling 105 bases but they were second in the league in both doubles and triples. Only winning 84 games shows how important pitching is and always has been. 48 years later, the game has changed quite a bit. With all the hard throwing pitchers who get more than a strikeout an inning, it is harder to string together singles to score runs without extra base hits. A club with too many Luis Arraezes just won't score enough runs especially when they can't take an extra base.

The .316 OBP says otherwise. Arraez is unique in his ability to make contact, but the one skill in which he is elite, actually otherworldly, doesn't make up for the areas where he is lacking. The just completed series with the Twins is a microcosm of his season. He was 3-12 and reached once on a walk. He had a sacrifice (probably was bunting for a hit) and had a sacrifice fly, he didn't strike out once and hit into two double plays. Since the Twins have traded him, Arraez has become more of a statistical anomaly. He has struck out less each year, but also walked less with limited power and he has moved away from second base just about completely, becoming a 1B/DH.

I’ll make my annual statement—as far as I’m concerned, a player isn’t an ex-Twin if he never played in a major league game for the team, so Anderson and IKF are not ex-Twins. A case could be made for guys who were on the active roster but didn’t play—the three I know of are Tomás Telis, Drew Maggi and Jhonny Pereda.

That’s three NL Central teams Slamtana will have played for, along with three AL Central teams. He has been in demand for a long time. I am glad he will be getting another chance with a contender.