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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    Solid enough effort from Prielipp, and nice to see him get through 6. Back to back solid (if not great) starts got us wins and kept the bullpen from running out of guys already. Pretty important until we get some guys back off the IL. Some good clutch hitting and solid baserunning to help get runs across the plate, and frankly we needed every one we could find. A little fortunate to bunch up hits at the bottom of the lineup; could have used a bit more pop. Mixed bag for Jackson: 2 hits, but also 2 errors. seems to have a good feel for making challenges?
  2. jmlease1
    Encouraging news, but still worried about Abel until he's back in MLB throwing again. Glad to hear Festa is on a path again, but with his initial diagnosis I felt like we simply couldn't count on him in 2026. Wish I'd been wrong, but we are where we are. Hopefully he's able to throw real innings before the end of the season. The real question with Jeffers is what his power stroke will look like when he's back. That's been the biggest drawback for a lot of guys returning from that injury: the power isn't there for a while. And for Jeffers that's an important part of his game.
  3. jmlease1
    Finally, some good news on the injury front. Really hope the issues are past for Soto and he gets to have a healthy second half of the season. He's missed a lot of time, but is a very talented arm.
  4. jmlease1
    it's one of the things that makes this so hard to know right now; Roden has crushed AAA pitching just fine, but looked a little lost in his first exposure to MLB pitching with the Twins last season. Mendez might have similar challenges, you just don't know. The last step is the steepest. The Twins did seem to get quite a bit of value from their deadline deals, but of course they also gave up real assets to get there for some them. The great thing about the deals for Mendez ( and Gallagher) is we didn't really give up much.
  5. jmlease1
    Gallagher is doing a nice job, and if he gets that walk rate back under control he'll have a real chance. The prospect return expectation for Castro was low; Willi wasn't having a great season and was a free agent to be, so getting anything viable in return would be great. Gallagher looks like he could be a contributor soon, which is pretty great business for trading half a season of a utility guy, even if Castro was a guy who did well for us overall and was certainly very well liked.
  6. jmlease1
    Well, it's absurd to suggest that no one is doing more to validate the trade deadline than Mendez, when Taj Bradley has been so good overall as well. (and while Mick Abel's injury is a setback, he was also showing out) In terms of prospect capital that hasn't reached MLB...sure? Tait is doing well, but is still a ways away, but the Twins return was focused on players that already had some MLB experience or were close to coming up (Bradley, Abel, Rojas). Mendez is doing very well so far and as a return for half a season of Bader, it's an excellent return. there's still some concerns about the amount of groundballs he hits and whether or not he'll generate enough consistent power to be a corner OF/1B/DH. But they targeted well and got a real asset in flipping a player that wasn't going to be back.
  7. jmlease1
    Boy i hope the prospects get healthy soon. Tired of seeing so many guys hitting the IL.
  8. jmlease1
    Martin really needed that hit yesterday. Not a great outing for Ryan, who was too casual in his location. Nice to see the offense putting up a pile of runs though. Love it when they're pulling walks, it consistently fires their offense. Nice bit of defense from Larnach in left. Still think they'd be better playing him in RF and Martin in LF, but Larnach has been much much better in the OF this year. I'm sure being healthy has helped a lot, but he's also worked to get in better shape and cover more ground.
  9. jmlease1
    It's hilarious since there's the other article about Lackey where there's much agonizing about whether or not he's really that good of a hitter, etc to see the spec that maybe the ChiSox will actually take Lackey over Roch...
  10. jmlease1
    I'd definitely rather be taking a look at Fedko over continuing to waste time on Outman. While Bell has disappointed and really had a rotten May, there's little chance the Twins cut bait on him and his salary this early. Mendez is doing a fine job pushing for time though, and has the advantage of already being on the 40-man.
  11. jmlease1
    I'm not too worried about the promotion chain yet; I'll worry if they're keeping guys down in A-ball at the end of June not the beginning. Houston's bat has been fine, but he had a fairly significant power outage in May, so it's worth watching to see if that ticks back up in June or if he's spending more time slapping the ball around than driving it. Winokur has been on a very nice run, but with the slow start it's not crazy to see if he sustains this a little longer. Tait needs more work, and that's fine: he's still super young. McDaniel can get pushed up to AA at any time; I'm not sure how much we learn about him beating up A-ball pitching at his age, even if he did need time in Independent ball to get his career back on track. he's a lottery ticket anyways.
  12. jmlease1
    When you have the 3rd overall pick, you don't draft for need. Pick whomever you think is the best player on the board. lackey seems to be quite good: a strong bat who can also play a premium defensive position, with the athletic ability to move to 3B or elsewhere and still have his bat play. Works for me. Is his bat good enough? Who the hell knows. Will his arm translate into a real weapon at the pro level? who the hell knows. It's a baseball draft, and as William Goldman so wisely said, "Nobody knows anything."
  13. jmlease1
    25% of the top prospect list on the IL again. UGH. Hate seeing that. Nervous about Rojas' elbow situation; it might be minor and preventative, but when was the last time the Twins were that lucky? (the answer is never. they've never been that lucky) Hope they get healthy soon. Winokur is on a nice run right now. He's had these stretches before though, so making sure that he can sustain things without an extended slump is what I'm watching for. He's still only 21 so it's not like he's falling behind or anything, but it's good to see him turn those tools into production. Would like to see him do this for another month or so and maybe earn the promotion to AA. At least there's somebody with a high ceiling who's doing well and playing...
  14. jmlease1
    The only real issue with a salary floor from a Twins fan perspective is if too many teams need to meet it in a single season without enough teams needing to get under a cap is that you could end up with a lot of big contracts going out to players that simply aren't that good. But I love a system where the Twins would have bigger annual budget and incentives to re-sign a pitcher like Joe Ryan rather than deal him. As a general rule, I would rather more money go to the millionaire players than the billionaire owners, but what I really want as a fan is for better revenue sharing so that certain teams don't have massive financial advantages based on their geography. Strong revenue sharing is part of what makes the NFL work so well, and why Green Bay can compete effectively with NY or LA to sign free agents, retain players, etc. Now, the overall model for the NFL is different (fewer games, all tv rights controlled nationally, local revenue less relevant, etc) but it doesn't mean that you can't design one for MLB where most if not all teams can be operating in a similar band of budget for players without gifting the owners millions and millions of dollars in instant profits regardless of how competently they run their franchises. This Twins roster would look so much better if we were sitting at $150M right now; we'd have some real bullpen arms to supplement the young guys we're trying out, the lineup would have added a bigger/better bat than Bell for 1B/DH, Outman never makes the roster, etc. And Keeping Joe Ryan would be a much more realistic option...which also increases his trade value because other teams can't just keep sending lowball offers knowing you need to move him. I'm interested in a cap & floor system. you have to yank the bottom 10 up and find a way to pull revenue off the absurd spend of teams like the Mets and Dodgers.
  15. jmlease1
    I'm ok with him playing 3B as well as OF for now; he could possibly play there. He's got the arm to be impressive and might have the kind of range chasing down pop-ups in foul territory along with a solid enough glove to be really good there with all his athleticism. And the transition from 3B to 1B is a fairly normal one. But middle infield seems like a bad fit.
  16. jmlease1
    He's got loads of physical ability. And he's definitely in a real groove right now. Hopefully he's figuring out a process at the plate that's sustainable and more consistent. I would like the Twins to move him off SS; there seems little to no chance he'll ever play there in MLB and figuring out what his actual position is makes sense to start doing now. Maybe it's CF. Maybe it's 3B. But it's not SS.
  17. jmlease1
    You have to feel great about Mendez so far this season. It's early days in AAA, and the leap to MLB is the most treacherous of all, but he's doing great so far. If he keeps rolling in June he'll be knocking on the door and I love it when prospects are trying to push their way on the team through performance. Mendez can play some 1B too, even if his best position might really be "hitter". Not a bad pickup for a rental trade. Love seeing Tait, Diaw, and Mercedes all have multi-hit games at the same time like that. Those are 3 position players in Cedar Rapids that I find intriguing and will be following all season. Lots of talent, lots of upside there IMHO. Klein will be in the 'pen sooner rather than later, IMHO, but I'd like to see him hand out fewer free passes and long balls. But I think he can be a useful high-velocity arm in the 'pen in the future.
  18. jmlease1
    well, let's see where Jax is when he actually starts handling a starters load for more than 3 outings before declaring the TB experiment a "success". His K-rates have dropped back down a ton and his FIP suggests he's been getting some good luck so far. It's also only 28 innings on the season, who knows? The move to the bullpen was an excellent one for Jax; he quickly went from being an unimpressive starter that didn't appear to have a lot of upside to a guy who could be trusted to lock down games late & close. He upped his velocity and really developed the slider into a weapon (and anyone who thinks that Jax did all that on his own and the Twins staff were the ones holding him back somehow need a reality check). Can he maintain that velocity over the course of a season? Can he hold up throwing 30-40 sliders in a night? Can he get his walks back down to a more reasonable proportion? Is he going to be giving up lots of longballs again now that he's starting? (he's been more homer-happy over the past 2 anyways...) Is Jax starting because TB really believes in him as a starter, or is it because they don't have 5th starter they're happy with? (notably, they have 5 pitchers on the 60 day IL) Regardless, Bradley has been great for the Twins and Jax is going to have to pile up a bunch of good starts to match him, even with Taj missing some time with an injury. Trade is still working out just fine for the Twins.
  19. jmlease1
    As a backup catcher, he seemed like he could be useful, and as an insurance policy in AAA a real asset. Until Tait and other options in the minors are ready, we'll likely need a guy like Jackson. It'll be interesting to see how he does on challenges; that's been a real plus from Jeffers and Caratini IMHO.
  20. jmlease1
    I think the basic idea here is correct: Royce should be open to playing other spots as he works his way back to MLB. While 3B might still be his best position and where he can add the most value if he's hitting, he would be wise to should an openness to working at 1B or 2B as well, where there is opportunity for playing time. (not sure I'd send him to the OF since there's likely less opportunity there once Roden, Rodriguez, and Jenkins come back and with Mendez & GG pushing forward and Fedko trying to prove he deserves a shot, but YMMV) Royce has the skillset to play 1B well and we don't have a long-term answer there or a good platoon for Clemens. Keaschall has had enough of a sophomore slump to not have a hold on 2B, and while I think Lee's best position is probably 3B, he might be best in a utility role that moves around the diamond. Royce should show openness to trying it. Hopefully since he's at AAA he will; I do agree that his prior comments are likely being overstated. (and I can't blame a guy for worrying that he's going to embarrass himself and harm the team trying to slide to a very unfamiliar position on short notice in MLB) This is ridiculous, though: Lewis most certainly does have 20 homer power; even with his slumps his 162 game average for his career is 27 homers. He's just never been healthy enough to get in enough games...
  21. jmlease1
    Just because Sano struck out a lot doesn't mean he had no eye at the plate. In fact, he had an excellent eye at the plate and was quite selective, which is part of why he got into so many deep counts and both struck out a lot and walked a lot. I get that most everyone around here hated Sano and he's used as a talisman for everything that's gone wrong with Twins hitters, but let's not just make stuff up, eh? A recent failure for the Twins as a hitter with no eye at the plate was someone like Miranda, who swung at everything, especially when he was either on a hot streak or a cold streak.
  22. jmlease1
    I'd rather ride with Travis Adams in the bullpen than guys like Luis Garcia or even Justin Topa. Let's find out what we have with some of these younger guys who might be part of the future. Maybe it doesn't happen for Adams and he ends up just being a marginal guy, but let's see what happens when he pares down the repertoire, works on refining those pitches, and maybe gets a tick more velo from throwing 1-2 innings instead of trying to pace for 5+ There's some possibilities here.
  23. jmlease1
    It's great seeing Lewis hit bombs against AAA pitching, but that's not going to get him an immediate bounce back call-up, and I think the Twins staff will have explained that to him. He's got to show that he is addressing the things that ruined him in MLB: not being able to hit fastballs in the zone, flailing at breaking pitches away, showing poor pitch recognition, and so on. It's great for his confidence to murder a mistake, but the process matters as much as the results for him, and the difference between AAA pitching and MLB pitching is substantial. But if he can do a re-set in Saint Paul, find his smile again, and come back ready to roll then that's excellent news. I remain baffled by the people who seem to prefer that he fail? Quick is fascinating. He hunts K's like nobody's business and can just overpower guys, which is very fun. 10 BBs in 20 1/3 innings says he needs some work, though. Upside feels very high, and the floor is pretty dang high too, so looking forward to seeing where he is in another month. Just want to see him get a full season and at least another 50-60 innings innings in, even if he stays at Cedar Rapids the rest of the year.
  24. jmlease1
    There's a very sticky belief around here that Polanco had a lot more value than he actually did in 2024 too. Did the Twins make a great trade? No, because DeScalfani was a bust who ate up payroll while providing nothing. But they did get a good asset in GG who has real ability as a hitter, and while Topa imploded really badly this season (extremely disappointing; while the injury issues were predictable, him stinking up the joint like a week old dead fish was much less likely) he'd been useful before. Polanco's injury history, salary, and questions about his defensive position made him harder to trade than people thought and the value prospect around the league just wasn't what people expected in his walk year. It's notable that after a meh season in Seattle he re-signed at a pay cut in his first chance at free agency. What's fairly unbelievable is that after a bounce back season he got such a stunner of a deal from the Idiot Mets. I mean, good for him: good dude, and he's set up his family for generational wealth if he's careful but he would have needed to stay healthy and hit like prime Jorge while fielding an actual position beyond DH for that deal to be worth it. What insanity. GG needs to get his bat on track, but I think he can get there again. He's definitely showing he can punish LHP, which is certainly something the Twins need to be getting from the OF. Would love to see him be a guy who can play some OF/1B/DH and give the Twins the ability to mix and match more with their hitters. Bell won't be here next season, Outman might be gone sooner rather than later, Larnach seems unlikely to get re-signed, Wallner has opened the door for someone to take his job, Caratini isn't going to be playing much 1B in the future (JMO) so there is real opportunity for someone like GG to go out and win a job. Glad he got a start with this cup of coffee.
  25. jmlease1
    I think that's right. As much as they want to see Royce have success, they want to make sure his process is in a good place, not just that he's crushing AAA mistakes. Results alone won't get him back up. There's enough guys in AAA that throw real gas, and they're going to want to see that he can catch up to it again and hit fastballs, not just punishing a hanger. Get into a repeatable swing doesn't vary from game to game let alone AB to AB. But probably good for his confidence to crush a couple. I'm not going to get excited about Quinn McDaniel until he gets up to AA and starts doing this; this is his 3rd spin at high A as a college bat and he struggled mightily at the plate the last two seasons. Good for him if he's unlocked something, but right now it's a good 2 weeks for a dude beating up on younger pitchers. Pretty happy with what we're seeing from Amick, though; this is much more like the guy we saw before he got hurt in 2025 and it's nice to see the power coming through. Wouldn't mind seeing more contact right now, but the walk rate is good and he's doing what he needs to do. The other key for him will be showing he can hold up over a full season, so we'll see. But a nice re-start for him after a brutal AFL. Impressed with Mendez taking 3 walks. Easy for a guy who is hitting like he is to start swinging away, thinking that he'll nail whatever it is, so maintain a good approach and taking the walks on offer is a good thing. Would love it if he turns out to be a real guy for this franchise. He's definitely taken a step forward since coming over here from Philly...could it be that the Twins developmental staff actually helped him improved? (gotta be careful about saying anything nice about the Twins developmental staff; it's basically all people from the Falvey Era...)
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