LA Vikes Fan

I think Shelton is doing a terrific job. He’s giving young guys a shot in tough situations, not afraid to bench vets that aren’t performing, and it looks like he’s really put together a tight, unified team. There’s no chance Rocco would’ve moved Lee to third base where he belongs and set up a chance for Culpepper to come up and play short later in the year. Look, this is not a contending team, but if Shelton can get this team to around .500, while giving the young guys a chance to play to see what we have and set ourselves up for the future,that’s a good job of managing. Also, good to see the front office be willing to pull the plug on struggling guys like Wallner and Lewis. Even better, they cut Topa and Garcia so that Rojas, Morris, and Adams can all stay in the bigs and learn their craft. Don’t think that would’ve happened with Falvey still in charge. Good to see.

Looks like Gonzalez in LF, Bell at 1B, Clemens in RF, Kreidler at SS, and Lee at 3B. Trying a lot of new things tonight. Wouldn't surprise me if the new SS/3B combination got a run to see how it works. Probably improves the defense...

Play GG at 1B instead of Clemens or in LF tonight instead of Larnach against the LH starter.

Hey, let's play him tonight against the LH and maybe one other game this weekend against a RH and see what we have. It would be enough to get a good read on whether he's viable or completely overmatched, valuable information going forward. Who knows, there may be an injury, illness, or some other situation that causes a need for him to stay so let's find out in the next three days whether or not he has the ability to help. I know he's been playing some 1B at AAA so a semi-platoon with him playing 2 days a week at 1B and 1-2 days a week in the OF could work. This is very possible given Clemens ability to play 2B, Keaschall's ineffectiveness at the plate, and Larnach's current slump. Let's give him enough of a chance to see if that makes sense in the short term or something to be considered later in the season.

I recognize this is the height of optimism, but I tend to agree with Matthew. Let’s define “competitive“ as 85 wins, which would give us a chance to make the playoffs. The Twins are really only about four players away from that level. The starting rotation is plenty good enough to get us to 85 wins or even 90. The bullpen is getting better, but it’s basically two quality late inning relievers short. The lineup is three guys short, but hopefully we will getting one of them back when Jeffers is ready to play in six weeks. Keaschall could be another. In short, one above average hittter and two bullpen options from the minors could make this team competitive. Yes, and pigs could fly. Told you I was an optimist.

Clemens is fine for now and filling a hole. I actually wouldn’t mind him as one of the four bench players since he can play respectable first, second, and probably third base, and a decent corner outfield. I think the hard issue here is that he really shouldn’t be starting, but we simply don’t have anybody else. I would love to see them bring up Gonzalez as a right handed hitting part tim 1B/OF/DH playing 3-4 days a week and see what he has at this stage in his career. It may be a rush, given that he hit Great last year and not so much this year. If they want to wait with him, maybe Sabato deserves at least one shot before he ages out. I know neither of those sound like great options, but it seems to me that this is the year to find out what we have.

There will be plenty of opportunities for Culpepper this summer. Gray is falling off, Arcia is a complete wild card, and that’s before any possible injuries. Keaschall is also scuffling although a little better lately, and he may wind up being that RH corner OF we need given all of our OF prospects are hurt or scuffling. Also, we need to find out if Lee can be a long term SS this year. I expect that something will provide Culpepper an opportunity in the next 3-6 weeks. I agree with taking the time to let him develop until then. He needs to be up no later than July though

That is an interesting play, although I think the better play might be to put Lee at second base with Keaschall moving over to first. You could almost experiment with something like that now with Kreidler playing shortstop where he looked very good defensively in spring training. That might tell you if Lee and Keaschall can be a decent right side of the infield for you when Culpepper is ready to come up and play short. I kind of hate to do it right now since Lee has really taken to the shortstop position and by the metrics his defensive markedly improved to average over the last month. Unlikely he’ll ever be more than average at SS though.

This is an interesting take about moving Clemens to 2B, where he would likely be better than Keashall in the field. The problem is we then have no 1B and there is no one in the Minors likely to help. Clemens is 2 OAA and Bell is a butcher at 1B. Besides, Keaschall is only 23 and could/should improve with reps. So overall, interesting idea but I don't thank it works right now. Something to think about come mid-season if Keaschall still isn't playing well and GG starts to hit and play 1B every day in AAA. By the way the "league average OPS" by position at Stat Muse (https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/what-is-league-average-ops-this-season-by-position) is .777 at 1B, and .684 at 2B. Clemens is .739. Comparison of Twins "starters" with this average by position - Jeffers .941/Caratini .520 - C avg. .671, Keaschall .600 - 2B avg. 2B .682, Lee .720 - SS avg. .710, Lewis .559/Gray .676 - 3B avg. .674, Larnach .779, LF avg. .719, Buxton .899, CF avg. .675, Martin .883, RF avg. .730 (Wallner was .551), Bell .607, DH avg. 736. Sure shows the weak spots -DH, 1B, 2B, 3B. Also shows how well Jeffers and the OF is playing, especially when you consider all 3 OFs are even or positive in OAA -Buxton +4, Larnach +1, Martin +1 (surprising, thought he would be higher).

We aren't going to score here, are we?

Do you guys like Adams? 7.47 ERA in the Bigs with a 1.71 WHIP? I've watched him pitch on TV and I don't think he's very good at all. I get and support dumping Garcia for a younger player, but I don't think that guy is Adams. I'd much rather give Klein a shot although I know they have to wait to recall him since he just went down May 7. Boy, you look at the St. Paul bullpen and there doesn't seem to be much there. Maybe Peredes, Culpepper, or Gallagher? Matt Bowman is the only reliever having a good year in AAA and he's 34. I think he has an opt out on Sunday (as does Brebbia), so get ready for Bowman coming back.

Funny, but old joke out here in LA. People used t say that about Steve Sax after he mysteriously lost his ability to throw to !B from 2B.

You are 100% right.

Overdue move, glad to see it made. Kreidler is just a placeholder for now, up because he's a good fielder, hits right handed, and can play SS or 3B once a week in addition to the OF. Once Emma or Roden is healthy and has his stroke back, the issue will be Kreidler or Outman for the 26th man/defensive replacement/pinch runner/occasional play guy. Hard to care who wins that competition but it's probably Kreidler based on what we seen. It was nice to see mentioned in the article that the Twins would've already brought Emma up had he not gotten hurt. I'm really hoping to see a standard starting outfield of Martin, Buxton, and Emma come July 15 with Larnach as the DH/4th OF. I also hope I to see an IF with Culpepper at either SS or 3B. I would project a different 1B, but I think that is going to have to wait until GG or Mendez establishes that they can both play the position and hit at the AAA level or Lewis starts to hit and forces a reshuffle of the IF. Look, I was a bigger fan of Falvey that many here. I think he modernized the Twins operations in a way that was long overdue, had a pretty good eye for prospects in trades, and did substantially improve pitching instruction and development. His big blind spot though it was obvious - he had a very hard time moving on from players that he acquired or in whom he believed, even when the empirical evidence showed that they were not able contribute at the MLB level. It looks like Zoll is much more willing to cut bait, perhaps because of a push from Tom as the owners rep. I see this as a very good thing. My hope for every day lineup/batting order by July 15 - Buxton (CF), Larnach (DH), Martin (LF) Jeffers (C), Emma (RF), Lee SS/3B, Keaschall (2B), Clemens/Bell (1B), Culpeper (SS/3B). Bell either hits and plays first base or he's a rarely used 1B/DH against LH pitching and/or traded. Lewis either hits and pushes Clemens out of the IF by playing 1B or 3B (with Culpeper going to SS or 2B and Keaschall to 1B in the latter case), or he's gone. Caratini is the classic second catcher who catches about 30 to 35% of the games, with Jeffers catching the rest and getting another 10 or 15% play at DH. Kreidler is the classic utility man playing OF, SS, 2B, and 3B to cover for minor injuries and give rest days to starters. Gray the same for the IF guys. Now don't get me started on the bullpen . . .

I agree with that and think it's perfectly consistent with my earlier stated approach. It's all in how you approach people - the best approach is we have confidence in you so you have should confidence in yourself. I'm not talking about coddling Lewis and Wallner - I think they should both be sent to AAA - It's all about HOW you do that and the message you send. Telling them you're disappointed in their performance or kicking them in the ass on their way out the door is a mistake. It's much more likely to be successful if you tell them that you're giving them the tools to succeed, that you're invested in their success, and that you have confidence they will succeed.