I think the infield will be in flux next year. I view Lee and Lewis similarly in that they both have some good stretches yet neither can be counted on to be a difference maker at least so far. Defensively Lee kind of is who he is while Royce looks like he will become a good first baseman. The remaining playing time this season is important for evaluating both players. By no means should it be a given that both keep their positions next year. Keaschall- who knows where he ends up. KC will be the SS for a while so it will be good to see what he looks like. If the Twins are going to be a team with real playoff hopes they need to add about three players who are difference makers. You can’t be avg all over the board like they are now (except for Buck). Where are those guys coming from?
This is a valid question to which I have no answer. Seems crazy this wasn’t resolved in some fashion at the deadline. I do know that if you made me choose between $7 million for Caratini or $7 million for player X I’m likely choosing player X.
I assume you were referencing my post. When I said highest value I meant highest value he has left in his team control. As far as when / if you trade players my view is each situation is different. If the Twins were positioned to make a deep playoff run I would absolutely advocate to keep Joe and Jeffers. My view is they are not. Furthermore I don’t believe this current lineup has enough talent to make a run next year either. I also factor in a potential labor disruption in my calculation - perhaps I shouldn’t. I’m optimistic the next wave could be considerably better but that will likely be in 2028 when Joe won’t be here. The players we would have received for Joe and Jeffers could be important pieces in developing a winning lineup. From reading your many posts I understand you feel differently and value the current season more than something down the road. I understand that as I watch nearly every game win or lose.
Hopefully he just has some sort of muscle strain that will heal quickly. I get what Mike is saying: there was risk in not trading Joe at his highest value. The risk that his performance would fall off or that he would get hurt. Neither are far fetched at this point.
The offense will likely need a jolt as the first half production was based on a really high batting avg with RISP. As far as who to bring up? It’s a safe bet KC would produce more than Kreidler with the bat. Ironically the guy who could give us potentially the biggest jolt is Wallner. I know that opinion is unpopular but he has the potential to hit a dozen home runs in the next 7 weeks. He also has the potential to fall flat on his face and I would mostly DH him.
One of the consequences of “going for it” is a whole bunch of roster moves just got a lot trickier. This org is going to prioritize the veterans as long as they think we have a chance. So lots of guys that we need to find out about are not likely to get much of a chance barring injury. If Jeffers, Bell and Larnach had been traded we would be sliding guys in easily and finding out who is going to be valuable to us going forward.
I don’t care about rankings. I’m really excited that Houston is hitting. And it’s consistent hitting with some extra base hits. You never know with prospects but so far so good.
I agree that rebuilds should be avoided if at all possible. A good FO and stable ownership probably means you would rarely have to do them. Where I differ is there are situations where the risk of the rebuild is outweighed by the potential talent influx. I see the Twins as needing 2-3 really good players before they will be better than a 500 ish club. History would suggest we are not acquiring these players via free agency. Could they be Houston and Jenkins? Sure in two years when we don’t have Ryan, Lopez and Ober. IMO the timing was right to reset this team. Having said that I will be watching each night enjoying the games.
Good grief, they were running a $100 million payroll. I didn’t think Toms plan of fooling the average fan into thinking they were some new aggressive organization would be so effective with the Twins Daily writers.
Seems odd to be patting him on the back about taking on payroll when they are running a $100 million payroll to begin with. This is why I wasn’t in the “buy” camp - in order to truly make a difference they would have had to make much bigger moves than they ever would be comfortable with. This deadline is the very definition of a half measure. And I hope it works - I’ll be watching tonight.
This it’s the very definition of a half measure. They tried to fix a problem they created themselves and end up with an even goofier roster than they started the season with.
I wasn’t in the “buy” camp and still feel like the Twins missed an opportunity to really rebuild the franchise. I know others disagree and that’s fine. What this deadline does tell me, based on the roster after the deadline is that Zoll is likely responsible, at least to a large extent for this goofy roster construction both currently and last offseason. My hopes that he would be a different baseball guy than Falvey just took a big hit.
I, for one, would have liked this deal to be done so we could message @Riverbrianevery time he came up to the plate about, you know, how RB would like his pants configured. Would have been one of the best bits in TD history