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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    This is ridiculous. Polanco was moved off SS to try and keep him healthier, not forced to keep playing a position that would keep aggravating his injuries. Miranda was looked at to play more 1B and DH after injuring his shoulder. Your speculation on Kirilloff is ludicrous: he sustained a significant back injury (ask Aaron Gleeman how much fun it is) and was looking at another arduous rehab with no assurance of success. It wasn't about "not getting a fair shake at DH/1B". You're simply making stuff up to fit your view of things you perceive as wrong with this front office. There's literally nothing to support your conclusions about Kirilloff other than you want to clean house with the front office, manager, and development staff. Miranda's inability to hit after being sent back down to AAA suggests that after the back and shoulder injuries he simply can't swing the way he used to, and hasn't been able to adapt to a new approach at the plate that gives him any success within his current physical status. To me, he looks like a player who is more limited physically now, and simply can't make the same kind of hard contact he used to. He's never been a disciplined hitter, but used to be able to still make hard contact when he swung, and now it looks like he can't cover the same amount of the plate and still hit the ball hard. He needs to hit to be an effective player, and it may well be that the cumulative injuries have taken that away from him with his old approach...and his lack of plate discipline may be impeding his ability to change to a different, more disciplined approach that would allow him to hit better. It looks awful for him. Maybe a winter off, a total reset with rest and strengthening over the offseason could get him back on track...or maybe he's just not going to be able to do it. But I doubt it's about "heart". And it certainly has nothing to do with the situations Polanco & Kirilloff found themselves in.
  2. jmlease1
    Gasper didn't do well behind the plate last night, but I was actually a little surprised he got the error; seems to be almost random when the scorer gives those out for players trying to catch a foul ball. But it wasn't a good day in the field for either team. Outman may have had his best day at the plate since becoming a Twin, but looked like a guy who needs to be moved out of CF. And yet, we still did better than the Angels, who kicked the ball around even more. I'm still nervous about Martin's SLG being below his OBP, but if he can keep getting on base like this and find a few xbhs then he's going to have a role. He's starting to look like a classic leadoff man, so if he can get better with his decision-making on the bases, that might be a real asset. Be nice to have guys like Martin and Keaschall getting on base for big boppers like Buxton. I'm not ready to declare Royce Lewis fixed, but he's definitely looking better. The question is whether or not he can find this more consistently. And I'd definitely like to see him get to a point where he's comfortable taking walks and not hacking so much (still gets himself out too often chasing pitches out of the zone). But this was a good game. And he's had some recently where he's hammered the ball hard and it's just been right at someone. So hopefully he's finding a process that's working better. His play at 3B is certainly encouraging: he's back to looking like a real asset there. Happy to see Adams rack up 4 K's in relief and keep runs off the board. not thrilled to see him walk 2 in 1 2/3, but like seeing them test him as a reliever and not a bulk innings/starting role. Be great if he takes to the transition in role.
  3. jmlease1
    and the fact that St. L offered more years and more guaranteed money than anyone else. It's always about the money first, everything else second. (and I'm not knocking Sonny Gray for it one bit! He took the money and job security and went somewhere that had other ancillary benefits to him. Good for him.)
  4. jmlease1
    I think the headline here has probably overclocked where expectations should be set for Martin going forward. "Integral member" suggests that a) he's going to be a starter in 2026, and 2) that he'll be a significant part of the success or failure of that team as a player that will be counted on to really produce. I think that's probably aiming a little high for what Martin's role will be and should be, unless he keeps improving and heads more towards his ceiling as a player. I've been trying to think of reasonable Twins comps for Martin, and here's where I landed: Floor: Bobby Kielty (inconsistent hitter who got on base and could play a few spots in the OF; good enough to be a backup for several seasons by overstretched as a starter) Ceiling: Shannon Stewart (speedy OF who got on base a lot, hit pretty well and was best in LF; zero all-star appearances but a couple of seasons where you could make an argument and generally was a solid starter for 6+ seasons) Possible: Matt Lawton (speedy OF who got on base a lot but wasn't outstanding enough as a defender to play CF and didn't have enough pop to really play RF, but was a decent starter for several seasons) Possible: Dan Gladden (inconsistent hitter but good OF with solid speed and almost no pop) I think Martin can be better than Kielty (there's more speed and upside defensively), but it's probably a reach to get to Stewart. But if he's a Gladden or Lawton...that's a very useful player, even if they're not a star. We'll see. He's been doing much better this season, battling for walks and showing improvement in the field; even with some shockers on the bases, he's also shown upside there. I'm not ready to call him "integral", but part of fielding a good team is not giving innings to bad players and raising the floor. I think we'll have to look to guys like Jenkins to raise the ceiling, but if Martin can raise the floor by being a Matt Lawton? That will make a difference.
  5. jmlease1
    It's why I'm skeptical about Sabato! Historically, Sabato has done better at taking walks than he's shown so far in AAA, but it's a huge question mark and a reason why he's not getting a look I'm guessing. But he's at least got the unknown factor going for him and hits RH. I'm certainly skeptical about him, but I'm pretty convinced about who Kody Clemens already is, and it shouldn't be starting at 1B for the Twins.
  6. jmlease1
    More like 98% money, 2% closer to home, 0% anything to actually do with anyone at the Twins. He hasn't been used any differently with St. L than he was with the Twins when healthy 2023 - 5.75 innings/start 2024 - 5.93 innings/start 2025 - 5.64 innings/start So if he really has a beef with Rocco, he's having the same fight with Marmol. (more likely? Sonny Gray has never wanted to come out of any game he's started in his pro career whether he's getting shelled or not)
  7. jmlease1
    A silly story. Losing Gray wasn't the reason the Twins collapsed: losing Gray and not using the money saved by not re-signing Gray to shore up the squad is why the Twins have collapsed. Remember, Gray left and the Twins cut payroll. If they had brought Gray back they would have had to dump money somewhere else, because ownership mandated a payroll reduction. Now, the Twins were never going to offer a contract like St. Louis did, and they were almost certainly right not to. Gray was fine last season (not great, but a decent starter) and this season he's been more like SWR than a leader of a rotation. I guarantee people around here would be losing their minds at him getting paid $25M for what he's producing. Gray has been healthy, but he hasn't been great. I certainly wouldn't feel very good about being on the hook for $25M for Sonny Gray for 2026! It's all about "right-sizing" the payroll and pulling the rug out from under everyone by ownership. Not losing Sonny Gray's so-called "leadership".
  8. jmlease1
    right. McCusker also plays OF and Sabato doesn't. I have zero interest in seeing any more of the unfortunately named Outman, but I don't know if it makes that much difference getting Fedko a cup of coffee at the end of this gross season or not. I guess I'd rather make sure there's no doubt that guys like Outman aren't around in 2026? I don't really believe in Sabato either, though I respect how he's ground his way up to AAA after having real struggles to adapt. But I'd rather take a look at Sabato at 1B than waste time with Clemens, who is a truly inconsistent player and has such a dreadful OBP that I doubt the occasional home run barrage is worth it in the end.
  9. jmlease1
    I would drop both from the 40-man in the offseason; at this point I don't know if Outman gets picked up, frankly, but what do we lose if he does? His defense has slipped, he can't hit MLB pitching, and we have younger prospects with much more ceiling at this point. Same with Keirsey: he can't hit. His defense is excellent and his got nice speed, but he's a defensive replacement/pinch-runner, and that's simply not good enough. How many teams can afford to carry a 13th man with that limited of a role? I don't think either sticks on a MLB roster in 2026; they might land on the 40-man but neither has shown anywhere near enough to be a serious contender for a 26-man roster IMHO. Quad-A players.
  10. jmlease1
    This is going to be fun. Martin is exactly the kind of player a lot of people around here have been demanding that the Twins get in here for several years, and now that he's here I'm going to sit back and watch as the comments fly picking him apart. It'll be a long run of "I want this kind of player, but not THIS player". Martin looks like he could be a decent 4th OF to me, with the added bonus of being able to play 2B in a pinch. That's not quite super-utility levels but there's some positional flexibility. He's certainly looked better defensively in the OF, but has a ways to go on his route-running. That said, it's the kind of skill that he should be able to improve on and he has the tools for it. The baserunning has been...inconsistent. Tools are there, but training is not. Considering how bad of a 3B coach Tommy Watkins seems to be...is he getting any help with improvement? The speed is at least there when he should be able to be above average. Martin is not going to hit for power. That's clearly been scrapped. But he makes a lot of contact, can leg out the occasional swinging bunt, and takes his walks, so there's some viability there, especially if he starts getting plunked with regularity again like he did in the minors. He's showing that he can get on base. But with almost no pop in his bat at all, there's a real limit to his ceiling at the plate. I'd rather have Martin than Outman or Roden, which seems to be the competition right now. I'd prefer Martin to Clemens and his sub-.300 OPS too. But he should be a bench player, not a starter. He'd fit just fine if the primary starting OF was Buxton, Jenkins, and GG.
  11. jmlease1
    Rojas should not be in AAA. There was little reason to move him in there (especially with so many starters already as options) and all he's done at AAA is get his brains beat in. It's not like he'd proven mastery over AA; dude only had 4 starts there for Toronto before they called him up for 1 start. To me, this screams of "we need to prove that we were right about trading away Varland!" rather than doing what's best for his development...and one thing this front office has shown is that they're not great at admitting that they've made an error. He's got great talent, but needs real work. He should have gone to Wichita from the jump and if they wanted to see more of him this season he could have finished in AAA since the season runs longer. or send him to the AFL if they want him to get some additional work. But this has been dumb. Walker Jenkins is ripping it up and I'm not the least bit surprised. It's why there wasn't any reason to panic by the slow start as he got acclimated. That said, I don't see any good reason to call him up to MLB for the last dregs of this wasteland of a season. All we'd be doing there is a PR stunt, and I doubt it would do anything for his development. Keep the stink of this season off our best prospect. (and frankly don't give the short-attention span fans any reason to turn on him if he doesn't immediately smash it) Start him with the Twins in 2026 and give him a shot at Rookie of Year and give us all some hope, but he doesn't need to be part of the dumpster fire of 2025 to save a flailing front office and an embarrassing ownership.
  12. jmlease1
    Hunter's durability matters, but he's never had the ceiling that Buxton has. Torii never put up an OPS+ over 130; Buxton has done it 4 times. (as noted elsewhere: Torii was a better hitter in CA than in MN) It's not just about WAR. Hunter was a very good and occasionally great player who was durable and remarkable for staying consistently very good well into his 30's. Buxton is a great player who has battled injuries for his entire career. Hunter also piled up Gold Gloves during an era where they were still struggling to evaluate defense and kept giving it to the same guys year after year. Or do you really think Torii deserved all of those? Remember this was the era that Jeter won a bunch of GG's, and he was literally never the best defensive SS in the AL by any standard other than "he's the famous Yankee"
  13. jmlease1
    I think that's fair for low-A, but they're playing with their peers for the most part at High-A. Is AA a bigger and better test? Sure. Amick has done fine, but not staying on the field has put him behind a bit. Think he's shown enough at 3B to keep getting reps there, and I have no problem with him splitting time between 3B and 1B while we see if his bat plays. He's got a lot more value if he can be passable at 3B even if he's likely to be primarily a 1B. Overall he's done fine for his first full season as a pro, just wish he hadn't gotten hurt. Hate seeing prospects getting set back by injury.
  14. jmlease1
    He deserves it, but the team's El Stinko could leave him out of it. Sadly, if he hits more bonuses, I'm sure the Cheap Pohlads will use it as an excuse to lower the payroll more. ("We have to make sure we have room to pay Buxton's incentives! We can't possibly increase payroll with this expense hanging over our heads!" - Joe Pohlad, probably)
  15. jmlease1
    The formula for Bohorquez is pretty simply: command your pitches well enough so you don't walk 3-4 guys and let your stuff carry you and he has success. Nice to see him continuing to develop. He's done pretty well since hitting Cedar Rapids, and hopefully they'll be able to stretch him out a little more next season. Kaelen Culpepper definitely looked like he might be hitting a wall in August; it was easily his worst month, with everything going in the wrong direction: less contact, more K's, fewer walks, no power. Good to see him having a good week and hopefully finishing strong. If the biggest thing he has to work on in the offseason is building up stamina and learning how to handle the grind of the long season, I think we're in a great place. I'm hoping Rosario can keep raking and finish up Sept strong as well. Needs to make sure he keeps taking his walks; he seems to be a player that gets out of whack when he starts swinging at everything, but he's done a good job this season of pulling himself out of slides and his august was awesome. I'd rather see him on the 40-man than a retread like Outman. Happy to just see Amick back playing, but the homers are a nice bonus. Hopefully he's feeling good and can get some ABs in. Have to wonder if he might be a candidate for the AFL, since he missed a big chunk of time?
  16. jmlease1
    I hope he never leaves and plays his full career in MN and goes down in Twins history as a beloved player. (I think he should go down in history as a beloved player even if he leaves, but some people get mad about it. what's crazy is it seems like equal numbers seem mad that he keeps saying that this is his home and he never wants to go anywhere else) Regardless of what happens, I'm going to remember Buck for the unbelievable catches, the thrill of him legging out a triple, the awesome homers, and watching opposing defenses panic as he turns on the jets for a "routine" play and makes it into something more. Love watching that dude play. Was at the game last night and it sucked having them blow the game in the 9th...but Buck was worth watching all game. Made hard catches look easy. Made a ton of catches. racked up another triple (the most consistently exciting play in baseball), and tried to give us hope with a double in the 9th.
  17. jmlease1
    I was referencing all MN pro sports owners, not just the Twins. I mean, Norm Green may have been a far bigger a$$hole, but I don't recall him screwing the fans and then acting like he was doing us a favor...
  18. jmlease1
    He looks great, and he's the best reason (and one of the only reasons) to watch the Twins finish out this depressing season. I love Byron Buxton. I'm thrilled that he's finally able to play healthy and pain-free and do all the things that have made him one of the most exciting Twins in franchise history. Last night's game ended in disappointment once again, but watching Buck cruise for a triple and double was delightful. He can make the awesome look easy.
  19. jmlease1
    Nothing like a disaster season with the most tone-deaf ownership in MN history to put Twins fans on tilt. Buxton has been great all year and anyone who is turning on him at this point needs a nap.
  20. jmlease1
    Because people have forgotten how good he was in his rookie season. it may well be that teams have a book on him and that he won't be able to adjust his approach to overcome it, but this is the perfect time to make that call once and for all. There's nothing more to learn about him in AAA, he's healthy, and might be capable of playing a position that has been a revolving door since Mauer retired. He's only had 17 starts and 62 PAs since coming back up: let him play the rest of the season and see if there's anything there, and if not we can move on knowing we gave him a legit chance. It's the same thing with Gasper. Give them enough run and regular time to make an informed call. Has Gasper been bad at the plate so far? Sure. But he's got a career total of 105 PAs, which is meaningless and the fact that they've come in 48 games shows he's never gotten any real run. Dude crushes AAA (for longer and as well as if not better than both Fedko and Sabato) and we'll learn nothing about him there. Give him enough run the rest of the season to see if he can be a backup catcher and hit enough in MLB to be useful. And if he plays all Sept and stinks? Call him a Quad-A guy and move along in the offseason and open up the 40-man for prospects. It's fairly likely that neither change anyone's mind, but I'd much rather guys like Fedko or Sabato or GG or Walker Jenkins get a chance in 2026 when hope springs eternal than for them to get picked apart by an angry and reactionary fanbase over 3 meaningless weeks in Sept. And I'd rather settle the case once and for all on guys like Gasper, Outman, Julien, and even Larnach.
  21. jmlease1
    Because Sabato hasn't been that good since coming up to AAA? The recent explosion is great, and what we want to see from him, but the .305 OBP is not good enough at all. He's shown a significant dip in production since moving up to AAA including a decent slump. AAA is the right place for him to be showing whether or not he's earned another promotion. They're not going to cut Clemens (even though they should move on from him in the offseason) and they should be seeing whether or not Julien has a chance to be at 1B and give him enough games now (when it doesn't matter) to determine his fate. Fedko has been great since getting called up to AAA, but it's been only 26 games and this is the first time in his career he hasn't struggled upon promotion. It's not crazy to think that he's better off getting regular PT through the end of the season and proving that he belongs while the team is making decisions on guys like Outman and Larnach in the OF for next season. Sure, you could have promoted him instead of Keirsey, but a cup of coffee for Fedko in MLB in September won't tell us much. What's the point in adding either of those guys to the 40-man so you can add them to the (now) 28-man for 3+ weeks?
  22. jmlease1
    Sands is a legit MLB arm. And he did the job last night. They just don't have anywhere near enough other options. But this is what happens when you trade away your top 5 bullpen arms and don't bring back anyone who is ready for high-leverage roles in the bullpen (and frankly they didn't really bring back any immediate relievers). I don't really blame Rocco for the loss last night; they sent Coulombe out, so he's stuck with Funderburk in that role and with the season lost you have to see whether or not he might be an option. He suggests he's not going to make it. Topa was probably the best remaining choice, and he should be pitching middle relief not closing games, but he's at least been a MLB arm. They had a 2-run lead and couldn't hold it, entirely because they traded away Duran, Jax, Stewart, Varland, and Coulombe. Down a run in the bottom of the 9th, my friend and I decided the most 2025 Twins thing that could happen was for Buxton to hit another triple and then not score. We almost had it...
  23. jmlease1
    Miserable end to the game on a chilly night in a nearly empty stadium. I was one of the few that was there (paid for these tickets back in Feb, so might as well use them). Really sucks to lose to this @$&*# franchise. and the 9th inning was miserable. A very 2025 Twins loss. There were some good things going on too: Martin made a lovely running catch at the wall in LF. Buxton, Lewis, and Jeffers all looked good at the plate, and Zebby pitched quite well (even the homer he yielded was of the "excuse me" type). Even the much maligned Julien made a really nice fielding play at 1B. And then the bullpen melted down in the 9th to throw the game away. Blech. We estimated the crowd at no more than 5,000 (it was hard to judge since people were primarily gathered in spots where they could stay warm...) Can't blame anyone for not wanting to go see a Pohlad-owned team.
  24. jmlease1
    Cuddyer gets punished a little because defensive stats struggle to effectively show the true value of a strong and accurate arm in the OF. And he certainly played positions over the years that the team knowingly accepted that his defense wouldn't be good, just because they needed someone to give it a go and Cuddy was willing and at least had a chance to be passable. I'd rank him lower on this list than someone like Delmon Young, who consistently sucked, never added any value defensively, and also never improved anywhere. I suspect if Cuddy had landed in RF at 25 he might have ended up with better numbers overall. Kubel is another guy who wasn't a butcher out there, but after that awful knee injury was slow and limited. He played more games at DH than any other position because he simply couldn't play the field very well any longer. It's sorta like saying Tony Oliva was a crappy OF from '72 on, you know? The only reason Kubel was still in the OF in 2010 and 2011 was the Twins had added Thome to DH. When I think of the truly bad defenders in Twins history I think of guys like Willingham (who could only cover about 20 ft) or Delmon who took some of the worst routes I've ever seen. Appropriate to see them here. Sano is reasonable as well: he had the arm for 3B but not the mobility, and that arm didn't mean much at 1B (and nothing at DH). I have trouble blaming him for sucking in RF; that was always a stupid idea and set him up for failure.
  25. jmlease1
    Pretty good start for a guy we got in the Paddack deal. He's definitely still a catcher...it'll be interesting to see how they manager Jimenez and Tait going forward and if they end up playing at the same level next season. But he's been raking in the FSL and that's not easy to do. Still a pretty small sample size, but it's encouraging that in his first taste of A-ball he hasn't flinched at all at the plate. Wouldn't be a shocker if he started next season back in Ft. Myers, but I don't think that's a knock on him. He'll only be 20 and this is his first experience above rookie ball.
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