jmlease1

It's not that we hate wins, it's just the pitcher wins as a stat don't really tell you all that much about how good they are. I'm perfectly happy to have Joe Ryan rack up win after win, it's just not how I'm going to evaluate his individual season. I'm much more interested in his ERA, his xFIP, his WHIP, his HR/9, etc to compare how dominant he's been in relation to the rest of the league and how successful he's been as an individual.

Listen, I hope you're right. But why on earth should any Twins fan trust that the Pohlads won't stick the knife in us? Ryan is exactly the kind of player the team should be extending and making the foundation of their pitching staff, so I expect he'll get dealt for prospects as the world's most tone-deaf ownership tries to sell us that we should be happy about it. A really nice win. I hate the Yankees. I still hate them more than the Pohlads, but the gap has closed significantly. Buxton is having an excellent season. So fun to watch. Glad he's got a no trade, because they would have sold him and his very reasonable contract off too.

I can't wait to see who the limited partners are. Would love to know who thinks being partners with the Pohlads on baseball is a good plan. And definitely would like to know how much of a stake they're getting and whether any of it will be paying down the debt on the team (seems highly unlikely). This feels entirely like a way for the Pohlad family to get a cash infusion for themselves without having to fight MLB about debt rules while retaining control over everything. There's nothing so far that suggests anything good for the franchise or fans. One of the worst possible results I can think of. Even if Falvey and company get fired...who wants Joe Effing Pohlad hiring the next guy to run the ship? Hells bells that seems like a disaster, especially since it sounds like Joe thinks he knows what he's doing, despite sucking at everything so far.

I believe this is the best outcome for Joe, who otherwise was never, ever going to be a significant player in any MLB franchise ever again. This might (ugh) allow him to essentially stay as the principal decision-maker in ownership. A horrific outcome, and massive kick in the nuts to Twins fans.

Just made it easy for me to not get tickets for next season.

Fedko could certainly be taken in the Rule V, especially if he's had a good run at AAA. Someone like him doesn't get picked when they're in AA or lower because the chance they're ready to contribute is simply lower and without playing a premier defensive position, you can't really commit the roster spot. But if you're a team like the Rockies, you would absolutely look very hard at a guy like Kyler Fedko in the Rule V because you might be able to throw him out in the field to start the season and see if you have something at very low risk. Here's hoping Fedko does enough in AAA to make it a real consideration for the Twins. I'm still not sure he can be a real MLB hitter (the power has been inconsistent until this season and he's historically not had the kind of BA you'd expect to see from a real prospect either) but maybe this is the season he figured something significant out and it's changed his profile. Bohorquez did great. When he's not giving up too many free passes, his stuff really plays. Nice to see him off to a good start in Cedar Rapids. He's still got quite a way to go, but there might be something there, and he'll battle to get on the Twins top prospects list. Nice to see DeBarge get a couple of hits. He's really been scrabbling the last couple of months, with all the pop in his bat vanishing and he simply wasn't performing well at the plate. The SB's are neat, but aggressive runners can rack them up in A-ball. As was noted elsewhere: Ed Julien racked up 34 steals and was only caught 5 times in A-ball, and he's not exactly a speedster. DeBarge needs to hit or the steals won't matter much. Hopefully he finishes the season strong.

Awful game by the Twins. might not have gotten shutout, somehow...but might have been the worst loss of the season. Absolutely dreadful. 11 free passes from Adams and Hatch? That's horrific. 1 hit? That's all we got, 1 goddamn hit? I'm glad I had plans and missed this abomination. Rotten performance against the team I hate the most. Hells, bells it wasn't even over quickly with all those walks (2:52? Ew.) Hope the guys can throw it away and not completely suck in the last game of the series.

I wouldn't mind seeing Keaschall get some time in the leadoff spot; he does seem to have a lot of good skills for it, which would also allow Buxton to drop into the 3rd spot and maybe have more runners on base when he clouts a dinger. Martin is a fair pick, and so is Buxton (who enjoys it and is kind of Rickey-esque in the role). Nice to actually have good options that have some speed, as opposed to ones who are just high OBP dudes. It'd be nice to have a LH or switch hitter that could slot in between Keachall & Buxton in the 2-hole. Maybe someone from the pool of Lee, Roden, Gasper, and Julien will show out in the last chunk of the season. (Clemens feels like a better fit lower in the lineup and Larnach is a DP waiting to happen too often I think, and Wallner should be hitting cleanup I think) Maybe next season it looks something like this: Keaschall Rodriguez Buxton Wallner Lewis Clemens Jeffers DH/OF To Be Named Later Lee Maybe Roden grabs the last spot, maybe Larnach is back, maybe someone else steps up (a resurgent Julien, a bit unlikely but still possible, or Fedko gets a shot...god forbid they sign a real FA) We'd need to see better health from Rodriguez & Lewis (and I'd have no complaints if GG claimed a spot on the roster and pushed Wallner to a DH role, or if Culpepper pushed Lee to the bench, but who knows right now) but if the younger guys are performing it could get to be a difficult lineup to navigate, with good balance and better speed than what we've been used to.

Neither Wallner nor Julien made the top 100 lists. Miranda barely cracked a top 100 list in one season. It's not a great track record, but you're underrating Wallner and his career 132 OPS+. Larnach is a platoon outfielder. Lewis Royce has tons and tons of injuries, but still looks like he can be a quality starter. Rodriguez is yet to be determined; still plenty young, but also constantly dealing with injuries. notably, Kirilloff, Miranda, Gordon, Lewis, and Rodriguez have all had significant injury issues. The inference here is that the Twins made bad decisions on all these players and/or failed to develop them, but for half the list injury issues have derailed their careers in some way. None of these guys had a discernible history of injuries when selected (none of them were guys like Preilipp...or even Keaschall, who was known to have a elbow issue that would need to be addressed). Are you saying the Twins should have known that these guys would all get hurt?

I think there's some real possibilities here with the lineup, but let's not have blinders on to the risks of making Culpepper the starting SS out the gate, etc. Maybe he's ready to hit in MLB in 2026, maybe not but it's a real risk to go that direction. Clemens is ok as a transition 1B; he's been doing well this season, and you have to like his gamer attitude along with the increased power production, but I'd be concerned that teams are going to be able to put a book on him together after seeing 400 ABs of him swinging out of his shoes to hit homers this year and m=reduce his effectiveness significantly. I'm already kind of Out on Outman, and while Roden might be an acceptable 4th OF if he shows he can handle CF well down the stretch and actually hit like a MLB player...he's not there yet. Basically this bench looks terrible outside of Brooks Lee (who adds much more defensively than offensively at this point, though I still have hope for his bat and his floor is reasonable), which is pretty risky when relying on a lot of rookies + Keaschall and a return to form from Lewis to carry the load. The upside is there, but the risk is high. The pitching staff is where I really disagree. I don't think Matthews, Festa, SWR, and Ober are all getting moved into the bullpen for 2026, nor does it make all that much sense to do so just to slot in Bradley & Abel. (It's also notable this piece has the Twins carrying 14 pitchers, which they aren't allowed to do...) Total agree with above that no team is going to take their 6th-9th starters and slot them all into the bullpen, either. Ober is almost certainly in the rotation next season. The bullpen needs work and reinforcements from beyond just the organization. While Raya might be an option to transition, it's not like he's had a good season in limited innings. Adams is showing enough to suggest that he could be a middle relief type who can give multiple innings, but this team is woefully short on guys that would handle higher leverage. Preilipp has the talent for it, but also has the talent to start. Lewis doesn't really have the pitch mix to make sense as a reliever, outside of maybe being a bulk inning guy. Sands has taken a step back this season and looks like a typical reliever in that you'll never be sure which guy you'll get in a season. And the real issue continues to be ownership, because if the damn Pohlads keep the team, I'm quite certain they'll dump Pablo for salary relief, and I wouldn't be shocked at all if Ryan follows him out the door (even though Ryan should be someone you're trying to extend) because the cheap Pohlads are going to make sure they maximize their profits on their way out the door until they get the price they want. Jeffers probably goes too. They won't be in the Oakland situation of needing to reach a salary floor because even the union will give them a pass for one season; Oakland paid no one for years. They'll let the Twins payroll fall to the bottom for at least one year, especially while the team is being sold. The good news is there's still talent on the roster and in the high minors that could make this a short turnaround. But there's risk in it and as long as the Pohlads have the team, there's even more risk that anyone making over $5M without a no-trade clause could be heading for the door, which takes away guys that have more proven track records to support the younger players. I'm excited by what guys like Culpepper & Jenkins can bring, along with other young/younger hitters, and there's a lot of starting pitching depth, along with high-end talent there. But the bullpen is a disaster zone that will not get fixed by just dropping the possibly worst starters into the 'pen in 2026. Sell the team. Please, sell the team!

It's great to see him doing well at AAA so far, but it would also be the first time he hasn't needed to repeat a level to find success in his pro career. At a certain point you have to ask how much of his success is beating up on younger players? It's great that he earned his way up to AAA, and he might be a useful player who can play corner OF/1B/DH...but it's hard to see him as a prospect at his age with inconsistent power and a relatively low BA in the minors. But maybe he's finally putting it all together? If nothing else, he should be good organizational depth. Let's hope he continues to hit well for the rest of the season at AAA.

Please stay healthy. That's my biggest hope on all three of these guys. (especially Jenkins, who has gotten dinged a couple of times already in his career) Wouldn't mind at all seeing Culpepper and/or Jenkins get some run in AAA to finish the season: the performance has merited it for sure. I think both are in spring training next season and not just to get a taste of what big league spring training is like, but as guys who can earn a spot. Regardless of how that goes, I'm pretty confident we'll see them at Target Field in 2026 before midseason. An OF of Buxton, Wallner, and Jenkins is pretty exciting to think about (and E-Rod or GG pushing Wallner to DH through performance would also be exciting) and an infield featuring Culpepper, Lewis, and Keaschall is also exciting. Here's hoping the team is sold soon.

I mean, he struck out looking. Better trade him. :rolls eyes: I hate the Yankees. Sick of losing to them all the damn time. They're not even playing that well, and they smoked us last night. Ugh! Zebby...did a lot of good things, but 3 dingers, even if they're solo shots is not great. One of the things I'm looking at with the young starters is what they're doing when they get to a 2-strike count on a hitter and what they're doing to finish them off. My frustration is when it's 0-2 or 1-2, a pitcher's count, and our guy throws an uncompetitive pitch. Saw that a few times from Zebby where he had them on the ropes and let them off the hook and gave them a chance to reset and grind the AB by throwing a breaking ball that was nowhere near the plate. Feel like that has to be the next step to correct? Offense was pretty somnolent. Warren looked like he was going to rack up a bazillion K's early and it set the tone.

I've been a Larnach stan for a long time, but...he's not really getting it done. He's purely a platoon bat, and when you have that limitation a .740 OPS doesn't really cut it. That's competent, but not good and I think you need to have good when you can't hit the other side basically at all. And he's below average defensively at this point, having already gotten slower. The arm is fine, but not plus, so he's basically a one-tool player whose tool ain't that sharp. Maybe he murders RHP the rest of the season and lines himself up better, but unless he's got an OPS over .800 against RHP... Someone will take a chance on him next season, but not for $4M, I bet, so trading him away means giving something else up, which seems like a mistake. He's gotten his chances and hasn't progressed. I'm sure injuries held him back; he's only been healthy 2 of the past 5 seasons, and the missed pandemic year in 2020 right when he was looking his most promising probably didn't help either. He's not bad or anything, but the twins clearly need more.

I wish, but the Mauer Experience is instructive to how some people behave. Same with Buxton. two of the most gifted Twins of my lifetime and people seem itching to crap on them. (I'll never forgive Dan Barreiro and his ilk for leading the charge against Mauer because he took too many walks and didn't have enough RBIs. 🙄)

If you're a MN Twin and you make a big contract, you'd better perform, not just up to the value of the contract but above and beyond it because there's nothing that will turn MN Twins fans on a player faster than making a ton of money and not performing like it every single night. Injuries will be treated as personal failings and the player will be pilloried for their contract (as if it wasn't market rate when signed) as if they player had somehow blackmailed the team into to paying them. I loved having Correa here and was thrilled when they made the move. It didn't end up working out, and the "trade" they made was a fairly embarrassing salary dump, but I loved watching Correa. Healthy, he was the most complete SS we've probably ever had in a Twins uniform, and even when his metrics were sliding defensively he was still a delight to watch in the field. The arm, the positioning...loved it. The "let's hate Correa" nonsense some are doing now is just silly, and I hope Twins fans don't boo him when he returns to Target Field. I certainly won't.

It is a fair point: filling the SS position for more than a year or two has been a big issue for the Twins over the last 30 years. It's partly why the Twins keep drafting SS every year. Even if Brooks Lee is passable at SS we're still putting a lot of faith in Culpepper (which may be warranted) because Marek Houston may not hit enough, they're moving De Andrade off, and Winokur probably can't stick there which continue to show the challenges of finding a SS who can be at least average and hold down the position for more than 1-2 seasons. I'm probably a little more hopeful than you about Brooks Lee being able to be an acceptable solution for the next 1-2 seasons beyond this, but it's a real issue. Having terrible shortstops sucks.

If they're having those guys working on pitches right now it might make more sense to have them do it in AAA rather than MLB. Bradley is trying to find his change/split again, which he needs to be effective and consistent and might need more game reps with it. Abel seems to be working on deploying a sweeper. They might get beaten around if they try it in MLB and it's certainly easier to tell a guy (and the catcher calling the game) to keep throwing something whether it's working or not in the minors than the majors I would think? Not sure it's a big deal.

Hopefully this is a good trend towards good consistent defense from Royce at 3B. Overall he seems to be passing the eye test over there, so it's good to see some statistical information that lend credence to it. It's been much less concerning to see Royce charging in on a ball this season and then unleashing a throw to 1B; in 2024 we really needed Carlos Santana over there! (while France was disappointing overall, I do think he did a nice job at making scoops) But it's still less of a feeling you're in the line of fire for anyone sitting up the 1B line this year? At the end of the day, Royce is going to have to hit to stick, but he's starting to look like a quality defensive option at 3B again after a very wobbly defensive season in 2024.

I'm consistently baffled by the people who run down Wallner and act like he's not a quality bat. I get that aesthetically the K's might not be pleasing to people, but the dude murders RHP and his power production in the heart of the lineup makes this a much more dangerous team. Even in a down season he's posting a 121 OPS+ and he has a career OPS+ of 133. That's really really good. I don't mind Gasper being on the squad right now; let's find out definitively if he can play or if he's a Quad A guy. I suspect he's a Quad A guy, but with Vazquez out if he can be ok behind the plate and hit a little he might actually have a role here if he can hit. Maybe he can't, but give him some consistent run and let's find out. (also? Hope the recovery goes well for Vazquez. an infection spreading is kind of scary stuff. Seems like a good dude too who will immediately step into a coaching role if he wants it) Remarkable start from Keaschall. Just amazing. Eventually he's going to slow down and have some 0-fers, but this is a fun ride, and he's looked fine at 2B. The arm is a little wobbly so far; he's gotten it done but he's had some easy throws be off target, hasn't shown a lot of arm strength, etc. Hopefully that irons out with reps and as he builds up strength after the injuries and long layoff. But his range looks pretty good so far and the glove looks plenty good enough. Brooks Lee is a key question going down the stretch. Right now, he's the only qualified SS on the roster (with all due respect to Fitz) and expecting Culpepper to be ready to take over in 2026 is a high-risk proposition. Culpepper might actually be ready at that point, it's certainly possible with how well he's shown out in his first full professional season...but no one should be shocked if he ends up needing more development time. If Lee can show better offense and solid defense at SS down the stretch it puts the team in a much better position to bring up Culpepper on his schedule rather than out of desperation, even if Lee is ultimately better suited to being a utility player.

I think this is right. Jenkins missed a bunch of time early in the season but he's been playing consistently since with no trouble. He'll get over 75 games in, so I don't think the Twins are going to look at it as necessary that he go to the AFL just to get game time in. (If he was going to finish the season with only 30, they might feel differently) I'm increasingly of the opinion that Larnach gets non-tendered as well; he simply hasn't developed enough as a hitter, and a LH platoon bat with no real defensive value simply isn't worth a lot. And with the Pohalds possibly still being in charge of payroll, it's also not where you want to spend $4M... In conclusion, Eff the Pohlads and Sell the Team!

well, this is the sort of story that comes out after a trade where someone throws a little dirt on a guy so the deal looks better. It also might be true, and a reminder that just because a player might have a public bulldog image where they "only care about wins" and will do anything for the team...they also still might care a lot about their stats, especially behind the scenes.

This is the sort of thing people "find" when they've already decided they don't want a player on the team. Suddenly the body language is bad, they don't hustle, blah blah blah. Never heard anything bad about Julien as a teammate. And of course everything looks great on Keaschall's intangibles: he can't miss at the plate. When was the last time you saw bad body language on a player hitting .400?

Was watching the Saints game, since I couldn't watch the Twins. GG absolutely murdered that ball, a no doubt HR that out of the park everywhere. nothing wind-aided or band-boxy about it. Like it. Abel was interesting: you could see the arm talent, but he just wasn't locating consistently. Battled pretty well. Miranda looked bad at the plate IMHO, hitting those weak grounders, and basically looking lifeless. Even the announcers are like "Jose Miranda just wants this nightmare season to end". Keep on rolling Walker Jenkins. And stay healthy, please!

Is it possible for a player to win Rookie of the Year only playing about 2 months or so of the season? Luke Keaschall sure seems to want it, lol. Heck of a start to his MLB career. Whatever happens, happens, but why not enjoy the ride? Sure is fun. Urena is a pitcher I'm uninterested in seeing again. (well, appearing again, since I couldn't watch the broadcast anyway because the Twins are awesome at dumb business decisions) Pure luck he didn't bury the team from the jump and I don't want to bet on luck. KC is going to be kicking themselves; they drew 8 walks and only scored 3 runs. Oof. (I'm sort of amazed that Sal Perez didn't destroy us; even if he's on the downside of his career, even if he's in a bit of a slump, I just sort of assume he's going to come up big against us. As a baseball fan, you'd want him to stick around forever, but as a Twins fan I can't wait for him to retire. Dude terrifies me) Congrats to Fitz on the dinger.