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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Well, the Twins could drop him before Opening Day (very unlikely) and they only owe him pre-arb money basically. I expect he gets ABs as the RH DH and some starts against right handers. France has had fewer injuries in his career than either Miranda or Lewis and he is five years older, so maybe having him around for the inevitable injury siege makes sense. Unless he shows something like his 2022 form, he shouldn’t be playing every day.
  2. stringer bell
    I think Keirsey is destined for the Saints unless someone gets hurt. They have Wallner, Buxton, Larnach, with Bader and Castro and Martin also capable of playing the outfield. That would allow one of Lee or Julien to make the squad and probably start more often than not at second base. Another way to go is to add a hitter (perhaps Ford or Gasper) and send Martin or Julien or Lee down to St. Paul. I just can't see Michael Tonkin both making the team and staying on the roster for a long stretch. Anybody with options in the bullpen could be sent down including Alcalá and Topa. BTW, I believe the Twins could option Alcalá, but they can't when he accrues eight more days of major league service time.
  3. stringer bell
    It's probably a topic for another thread, but having 30-year-old Carlos Correa and 31-year-old Byron Buxton around for a rebuild, even if you can make it for one year (I doubt it) doesn't make sense. Also, the Twins have what? two more years of Lopez, Ryan, Ober heading their rotation. I don't think you rebuild when you have that as the top of your rotation.
  4. stringer bell
    So, your big picture view is that the club provides the role players, back end starters and low leverage relievers from their system and if they spend money it should be on premium free agents and extensions? As a general plan, I really like that, but it seems that a lot of teams spend on marginal players every year, including the high dollar Yankees, Red Sox and Braves. I think a case can be made that the Twins don't have people in their system to handle the roles that Coulombe, Bader and France might fill. However, I also think a case can be made that what the players offer is pretty marginal and not worth the expense or roster filling. I keep going back to 2023 thinking "where would the Twins have been without Taylor, Solano and Farmer"--the same type of moves as adding Bader and France. It seems to me that on balance adding veteran players can be helpful, but there's no guarantees. In 2024, Santana was fine, but Farmer was disappointing and Margot was close to a disaster. The right guys need to be added. Back to Ty France. Given that Miranda hasn't been able to be a good player for an entire season and given the options behind Miranda, yeah they need to raise the floor there. He's getting pretty close to a pre-arb contract without a guarantee of making the squad so they held the line and won't have a lot invested in case France continues to be below replacement level. Still, I'm tired of seeing bat-only guys come in and get 400 plate appearances and playing a lot in the field.
  5. stringer bell
    I don't see many scenarios where France stands in the way of a prospect or even Miranda for that matter. I do see Bader taking up playing time that might have gone to Martin or Keirsey Jr., but I don't know if either of those guys is considered even a prospect. Later on this year, it is possible that having Bader keeps Rodriguez in St. Paul rather than playing outfield regularly with the Twins.
  6. stringer bell
    Add JT Chargois to the list of former Twins relief pitchers signed to a minor league deal. He's actually pitched pretty well when healthy. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/rangers-sign-jt-chargois.html
  7. stringer bell
    I don't like the France signing. IMHO, he's one injury (or performance disappointment) away from being a full-time player and he is yet another guy that can't beat you with his legs or his glove. He's got to hit A LOT to justify playing time (again IMHO) and he hasn't done that since 2022. He's a poorer version of Donovan Solano and Solano has been a far better hitter than France since Opening Day 2023. There has to be someone somewhere who can help the team more. The contract is bargain basement--low dollars and no guarantee--but that doesn't make it a good signing and losing Headrick in the bargain already means that France needs to produce something in order to justify the deal.
  8. stringer bell
    The Twins are a team that is really slow and suspect defensively, and they added a guy who is really slow and suspect defensively. I can’t like this move and suspect Gleeman is right that France will be a whipping boy for the critics
  9. stringer bell
    Agreed. But having the option to dump him for cheap and only signing a $1M contract mean there isn't a lot invested.
  10. stringer bell
    Lots of moves with ex-Twins. John Curtiss (pitched in 17 games in 2017-18) signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks. Michael A. Taylor will sign with the White Sox and Josh Staumont signed a minor league deal with the Reds. In addition, Ronny Henriquez was claimed by Miami and Brent Headrick was claimed by the Yankees, so they are both ex-Twins. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/diamondbacks-sign-scott-mcgough-john-curtiss-to-minor-league-deals.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/white-sox-to-sign-michael-a-taylor.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/reds-sign-josh-staumont.html
  11. stringer bell
    One key thing is that France's contract is not guaranteed. If he is really bad in the spring, the Twins can cut him loose for a song. Kind of weird that it's not a guaranteed contract, but he is added to the 40-man roster.
  12. stringer bell
    I think there’s recency bias against Julien. Everything went wrong and he lost confidence, but he has the ability to be a fine hitter. Last year at this time, Miranda and Larnach were afterthoughts, but they got their chance and performed well enough to be in the Twins’ plans in 2025. The same thing could happen for Julien in the coming season.
  13. stringer bell
    Not sure if I agree, but it would guarantee a shot for the right handed hitters to pinch hit against a lefty. Going back two years, Solano and Farmer were the primary pinch hitters hitting for maybe Julien and Kirilloff against the first guy out of the BP for the opponents, so probably a marginal talent.
  14. stringer bell
    Harmon had a good OPS against righties (.869), but he was better across the board against lefties in OBP, Slugging and OPS. There are few exceptions with players who have substantial careers that they were better against same-side hurlers. I don't know what the criteria for a major league hitter is, but Jeffers put together a fine year in 2023 and the first third of 2024 was also All-Star level. Maybe he was nursing an injury, maybe he hit in bad luck or maybe he just hit a funk. He still was an above-average hitter (especially for a catcher) for 2024. In his career, he has an OPS+ of 104. The questions come next year, presumably without Vázquez, if he should play more and whether he should be extended. Given the dearth of projectable catching depth, I would think the Twins will try to hang on to him.
  15. stringer bell
    Quite a while ago, @Riverbrian started a thread about "five guys" who could be written in ink every day they could run out a ground ball. The Twins haven't had a left hander in that role since probably Arraez, although Kepler played most of the time against lefties coming down the stretch in '23. Having one of the three--Larnach, Wallner, Julien--step up would really help the roster construction and remove a lot of griping about pinch hitting and lineup construction IMHO. I believe Brooks Lee can emerge this year as a regular and I have hopes for Wallner also establish himself as an everyday guy. Add in full-time work for Miranda and the Twins have a much more regular lineup and potential for a good offense despite not that much power and a real lack of speed. Ideally, Castro could become a tenth regular, playing a game or two a week at several positions, but not locked in anywhere until the inevitable injuries. Currently, I guess I see one of Lee or Julien starting the season in the minors, with Castro the ninth regular, starting mostly at third and left field while Larnach or Lewis is the DH. If Julien is the second baseman, Willi could replace him and move Julien to the DH role.
  16. stringer bell
    I think he wanted to use the three batter minimum to his advantage.
  17. stringer bell
    I read the first page of comments and don't have time to read the same thing repeated ad infinitum. I have no problem with Larnach/Wallner not starting when a lefty starts for the opposition. My second thought is that guys like Miranda who have shown that they can hit same-side pitching also shouldn't be hit for. The final thought is that early pinch hitting does take away key moves later and leaves sub-optimal matchups late in games. Platoons work if done properly, but the results are on the margins, not a dramatic change, most of the time. Resting a LH hitting starter most or all of the time against a left handed starter provides protection and rest for developing players, but shielding these players so totally is malpractice as a manager. I don't complain about lineup changes--the Twins haven't had enough hitters for Baldelli to make slots where hitters would stay and I don't think there are many teams that do.
  18. stringer bell
    Which is why I had him at #1 on a "prospect trade" list. I'll say it again here--sometimes one-tool guys pan out (Brent Rooker) so I won't say that he'll never amount to much.
  19. stringer bell
    With the minor league camp just down the block from the "big boys", it really doesn't make much difference who gets a Spring Training invitation any more. I guess if you are in major league camp, you will be seen by the major league coaching staff, but that is about it. Maybe this is saying that the Twins' front office thinks otherwise about McCusker and Eeles.. McCusker and particularly Eeles are good stories, but they're probably both quite a ways from making an impact on the 2025 Twins. I really don't trust partial (or even full) season results at St. Paul. Everyone will have a chance to impress in just days. The move tells me that Eeles isn't going to be the Opening Day second baseman. Everyone will have a chance to impress pretty soon.
  20. stringer bell
    I don’t think the number of games at the key positions is what wore him out. He continued to grind while having a back injury and he played a career high number of games. I would speculate that the poor defensive numbers at short and center were exacerbated by his injury and fatigue.
  21. stringer bell
    I do buy into the overuse angle for Castro slumping in the second half. His full-year stats were not All-Star worthy by any stretch and for him to be named the Twins MVP is a nice nod to a career utility guy. I think Castro is fine filling in at short for 20-30 games and he would have been okay doing the same in center. Yes, he is stretched at either position and a different guy or guys to cover both of those spots would allow Willi to play where he is best suited--second, third and left field. That's still a ton of versatility and his bat plays far better there than first base. Castro was a better, more patient hitter, especially in the first half. Whatever the Twins can do to replicate that performance at the plate should be the biggest priority for Willi. If he hits at an .800 OPS level, Rocco will find plenty of places for him to play.
  22. stringer bell
    I think it is an acceptable risk to pencil in Miranda at first base. He has had longish stretches of being an impact bat in '22 and '24 and his skill set is best used at first. What isn't acceptable IMHO is the options after Miranda if he struggles or is injured. Mike Ford and Mickey Gasper seem next in line and both are long shots to even make the team, neither are regarded as even average defensively. Then come position changes--Julien, any outfielder who is not a center fielder and ..........Willi Castro. With all the bat-first guys the Twins have drafted high, it is surprising that there isn't one first baseman in the mix who could be adequate in the field and hit well enough to be projected for the middle of the order. The disappointment of Alex Kirilloff's career hangs over this trouble spot, as well.
  23. stringer bell
    I'm not ready to give up on Lewis at third base yet. Coming to camp rested and healthy, I expect he'll look a lot faster and more athletic than the end of last year. With no leg injuries, Miranda is already really slow with less than a cannon for an arm. I think he'll never be a candidate to be a full-time third baseman. All of that said, the time might come sooner than later that Lewis gets a first baseman's mitt. Other than perhaps Brooks Lee, I don't see many candidates to push him off third, however.
  24. stringer bell
    With the current roster, Miranda is Option A at first base and probably not as a platoon (given his reverse splits). What is disquieting is that Option B is Mickey Gasper or Mike Ford followed experimenting with Julien or Castro at first base.
  25. stringer bell
    Sure, Castro could fill in there, but slotting him on an everyday basis takes away from his availabity everywhere else and locks in a non-slugger at a slugger's position. Willi's a good hitter for a utility guy, he is not a good hitter for a first baseman.
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