LA Vikes Fan

Really? Maybe you and I are looking for different things. I'm looking for a quality bat that can hit 3, 4, or 5 on a consistent top 10 scoring team. I don't see anyone other than Yandy Diaz or, you guessed it, Josh Bell, and he could only hit 5. I think we can get away with just 1 more if Buxton hits 3 and Jeffers hit 5, with a strong left-handed bat at 4. We got the other guys. Let's be honest about what we have. We have guys that can hit 1 and 2, and a whole bunch of guys who can hit 6 through 9. In fact, I think the dream back end of the order would be Clemens at 6, Lewis at 7, and Lee at 8 or something similar, with EmRod/GG at 9 as they get their feet wet. Put Keaschall, Jenkins, and Culpepper at 1, 2 and 3, in whichever order you like better and you might have something. Problem is who hits 4 and 5? Maybe Buxton takes one spot but then you need a big thumper for the other and we just don't have that guy. Jeffers is okay but he really should be hitting 6 or 7. Get a big thumper he can divide the lineup into Keaschall, Jenkins and Culpepper in the 1 – 3 response, Clemens, Lewis and Lee in the 7 – 9 spots, and Buxton plus the FA and hopefully Jeffers 3-5, and maybe there's something there.

This is close to where I see it and I think you're right that this team has plenty of money to give Jeffers a 4 year, 15-18m AAV contract. It'll take at least that; I may be low. Also Keaschall is not going to be a DH. I think they'll either re-sign Bell or rotate that through the 4 OFs and Gabriel Gonzalez. That's why GG's here now, to see if he's ready. Houston is a nice fantasy but nowhere near ready. He's fading big time at AA, although good overall, and he'll get at least a half season in AAA before even being considered and only then if he's tearing it up. He's a September 2027 to mid-season 2028 play. However, I think the exercise is to use guys we have and know we'll have next year, so here's my thoughts. We don't have a great hitter in the lineup so I've empathized speed at the top to create runs: Keaschall LF/DH Culpepper SS Jenkins CF/DH Buxton RF/DH Clemens 2B (Jeffers if re-signed with Caratini dropping out and everyone goes down one) Lee 3B Lewis 1B EmRod LF/RF/DH (GG v. LH starters) Caratini C Frankly, pretty uninspiring. We need to sign or trade for a true middle of the order bat. That player could be a DH/1B like Yandy Diaz, but there ain't much there. The second best available FA bat for 2027 is.... Josh Bell. I hope we can keep Jeffers.

I agree that this roster is missing tent pile elite players to build around. The only guy on the team in the top 10-15% at his position is maaaaybe Jeffers. Move to the very good category, top 25% or top 8 at their position and maybe you could add Lopez as a #1 starter and Ryan as a #2 starter (but not as a number 1). There are a few who may become that who aren’t yet, and Buxton is very good when he plays but he doesn’t play enough to be in the top 10 at his position. Thats why I wouldn’t sign a lot of free agents this off-season. I would rather spend all my money on a true middle of the order band or give opportunity to young players who we think might be that. More average to above average players doesn’t really want the needle when you don’t have those middle of the order guys or lockdown relievers.

Hey, we can all speculate on whether calling up Jenkins earlier would have made a difference. I personally don’t think so because I don’t think lacking an impact bat was the biggest problem we’ve had over the last month. The problem is our starting pitching has completely fallen apart. This year is just like last year in that sense. Ryan has a great first half, nowhere to be seen in the second half and in some ways a detriment. Once he goes, we are kind of in trouble. Bradley is a good solid mid rotation starter, and who knows, might be more by next year. But he he’s not that now. Ober is getting by with duct tape and baling wire, Prielipp is gassed.Matthews is actually pitching pretty well, but by that I mean, he’s an adequate fourth or fifth starter. Everybody else who could help is hurt and that’s not even mentioning that we lost our number one starter before the season even started. The Starting pitching fell apart, the bullpen isn’t strong enough to carry a weak starting staff, the offense fell off, and we hit the pits. Oh well, to next year.

By the way, it's now official. Walker Jenkins contract selected by the Twins. Woo Suk Go designated for assignment. One other unrelated yet interesting note, Simeon Woods-Richardson was just DFA'd by Toronto.

On an unrelated but interesting note, Simeon Woods-Richardson just got DFA'd by Toronto.

By the way, it's now official. Walker Jenkins contract selected by the Twins. Woo Suk Go designated for assignment.

I like your thinking. Let's be honest, this season is over barring a miracle finish and collapses by others. We have five weeks, 28 games left. We have guys we need to reevaluate for the beginning of next season - Jenkins, EmRod, and Houston, plus maybe Roden and Ross. We have guys that are injured, not going to be around next year, or who at least are not expected to be major contributors in 2027 in Larnach, Buxton (sadly), Jackson, and Kriedler. Bell is a ? For next year. Get Jenkins and Emrod up and play Jenkins 5-6 days a week, 4 at least for EmRod. Find a way to get either Houston or Ross on the roster, maybe as the second September 1 call up rather than a pitcher, and play him 2 – 3 days a week. Get Roden some ABs. He actually hasn't been that bad - . 254/.333/.313 (.646) for the year in 67 ABs, and .286/.366/.400 (.766) his last 15 games, 35 at-bats. There actually may be something there. The point is use this time to evaluate guys for next year. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and go on a run. But even if we don't, we will have accomplished something to help next year's team and that has value. Let's not just play out the string.

OOhh, tough question. I would go with the pre-haircut Keaschall but it's a close call. By the way, Keaschall's hitting has gone down since the haircut. Sampson may be his new nickname.

Agreed. The deadline moves were modest but fine. It's the follow up that will really matter. The big questions are (1) can any of the AAA guys really help us next year and when are we going to find that out, and (2) what is the team is going to do in the off-season follow up on those moves. Getting Culpepper up was a start. Now that Jenkins is coming up we need to play him every day. Same for EmRod after 9/1. We need to find Keaschall a spot to learn in the OF so we can keep his bat in the lineup. I would also give Acton and/or Anderson a shot in the bullpen in place of Rogers and Adams to see if they can help us next year. I personally would like to see Ben Ross come up and get a chance to play a little to see if he can be a bench piece next year but I don't think the opportunity is really there to see him this year. The off-season is where we'll see if this is actually a thought out strategy. If it is, we need to make every reasonable effort to re-sign Jeffers and Minter. They also need to make a decision about Joe Ryan and find out what it would cost to keep him long term. I was in favor of keeping him this year because I think we will actually get as good or better value trading him this off-season as we would have at the deadline because in the off-season we can get MLB or MLB ready assets in trade, not just prospects currently at AA or below. Now we really do need to execute because we will get more this off-season than we would add at the 2027 midseason trade deadline. I personally would not pay him the seven years $30 million AAV that he apparently is requesting because he hasn't shown the ability to pitch more than 140 innings a season. Having said that, I think reasonable minds really can differ when you realize that $30 million in 2033 is really the same as about $25 million now and the gap could even be bigger if the current rate of inflation continues. I would try to sign him for for five years if we can and then I might pay him an average of $30-$32 million a year. If not, we need to trade him and get an MLB Catcher and/or 2B in return, not just prospects. Larnach needs to be traded. For him I would take lower level prospects with upside if we can even get that. I have no idea what to do with Wallner. I don't think he has any real value to anybody else, so it might be that we should keep him, work with him to better cover those four of the nine strike zone quadrants where he can't hit, and see if he can be a serviceable LH DH. Ideally, I would like to trade him to a struggling team that will play him every day in the hope is the next Brent Rooker for a couple 18 or 19-year-old A ball lottery tickets but I'm not sure he can fetch that. Maybe we will get lucky. The point is the strategy at the last two deadlines actually makes sense if you keep following up on it this off-season. Sitting on our hands, watching Jeffers leave after giving him the Q0, watching Minter leave, staying in limbo with Ryan, and still having Larnach and Wallner around in 2027 is not a strategy. It's the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

I think this is the most realistic take here. The Twins have a very average team in part because they don’t have a lot of above average players and essentially no elite players. Who on the Twins is an elite player at their position, meaning in the top 10 or 15%, which is the top 3 to 5 players in baseball at that position. Maybe you could argue Jeffers is that, but he is it and he’s probably leaving. If you expand it to very good players, those in the top 25% at their position or the top eight players, arguably Ryan is a top eight number 2 starter, but not a top eight number 1 starter. Maybe Lopez is a top eight number 1 starter but probably not. He more falls into a good category of the top 35–40% of players at that position. That’s it. Nobody else. Injuries count. Buxton could be an elite centerfielder but only if he regularly played 140 a year. He doesn’t. He’s not elite. That leaves us in the position of trying to win with the series of average to good players. Those kinds of teams tend to run hot and cold because average players tend to run hot and cold. They play well for a while, then they slump, hen they play well for a while, etc. You can win that way, look at the Milwaukee Brewers, but you have to have a lot of depth with other at at least average guys to plug in for one in a slump. We don’t have that either. So how do you fix this? Well, we could get ourselves two or three really elite players but we better keep them and they better be constantly elite. We have not had one of those for a while other than maybe Duran. An elite closer doesn’t do a whole lot of good unless you got a team that you consistently get leads. IMHO, the only real option here is to try to get a bunch of good to very good players and develop some depth with a bench of average players. That’s the Brewers model and h that's what all this trading was about, get a bunch of guys and hope that either you improve your depth significantly or that one of their two of them hits big. Same for guys from the Minors. Culpepper looks like he will improve our depth if nothing else. Jenkins should do that and both might hit big. We thought Lewis might be that guy who hits big, but sadly he’s not. Keaschall looks like he’s already in the good to very good category on the hitting side and he could hit big. We have to find him a defensive home because he has to play and be an elite hitter for this team to be successful.. I think the FO is trying to develop depth and keep the very good to elite players we have. The execution of that strategy has been mixed at best, but I think they are on the right path. Were at least a year and maybe more away from knowing if any of this is going to work, but at least they’re trying something.

I agree that this team feels different than the normal 78 win team but that has nothing to do with us. Feels different because his seven pennies actually makes one competitive in the AL Wildcard race this year and is somewhat competitive for the Division title. I don't think we can take any credit for the mediocrity which surrounds us. And alas, it appears that brief moment of being competitive is now over. Sale, to me this team feels better for two reasons. First, 78 wins is what I predicted but I thought I was being wildly optimistic. Now, I may be close to the team has improved much more than I expected. Second, while they didn't go for a full rebuild they did develop some players this year that should be roster/lineup mainstays going forward. Keaschall will start in one of the corner outfield spots (hopefully LF), Culpepper is the starting SS unless moved off to 2B by Houston in a year or two, Lee looks to have locked down 3B for the foreseeable future, and Clemens can be a power hitting, adequate fielding 2B until Houston is ready to move Culpepper over to that spot. Great stopgap for now. On the pitching side, both Morris and Gomez look like bullpen stalwarts for the next few years. Bradley has been a revelation – he is a #3 or better starter going forward. I think both Prilepp and especially Matthews have made some big strides this year and give one hope that they can be solid #4 type starters going forward, and both Rojas and Abel have shown high ceilings. There is enough competence in the bullpen for it to be at least average next year. We did see some negatives and still have some real holes, though. We have no 2027 Catcher unless Jeffers is re-signed, Ryan has shown he is capped as a #2 starter because he can't pitch more than 125 innings without breaking down, Ober looks like he is very close to the end, and we are at least one OF short and that only if Buxton could play 140 games. We are really two OFs short. Maybe that's Jenkins and EmRod but we haven't seen them yet so who knows. I think to me this team feels like overachievers because I had such low expectations. Overall, I would say it's a team that made solid progress this year in a rebuild but is still 4-5 players short of being a truly competitive team.

Hey, this year is actually been a fairly successful continuance of the tryout camp/rebuild on-the-fly the Twins have been doing since August 1 of last year. Losing Lopez was a major gut punch as was watching Ryan's second-half fade yet again, and in a huge shock Buxton is hurt again along with about half of our projected starting pitching. Still, despite all this stuff, the team has actually been somewhat competitive and entertaining. 75-78 wins sounds just about right. I do think we've made some real progress. We start next year's infield starting most nights and Kriedler is a perfectly acceptable utility infielder/26th man who can play a good defensive shortstop. You have to have one of those guys. I think were actually going to have a pretty good rotation next year with Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, and two of Prielipp, Kremer, Ober, Matthews, Abel, and Rojas. The bullpen is now respectable, not great but respectable, and could be a strength if we re-sign Minter and don't have a lot of injuries. We still lack bullpen depth but maybe a couple of the starting candidates who don't make the rotation can provide that depth. Catching could be a real weak spot next year if we don't re-sign Jeffers. The Outfield is still very unsettled. I hope we at least give Jenkins and ERod look this year see if they can fill the a corner spot next to Keaschall and Buxton and provide the CF depth we need behind Buxton. I think all things considered, next year's team could be an 80 – 85 win team if these parts all come together and we don't have an extraordinary number of injuries. This team is a work in progress. We made some progress this year and if things keep moving forward, we could easily be an 83 – 87 win kind of team next year. I could also be way too optimistic and we can fall off the table. I think the best news is that we are not dependent on one or two guys stepping up to be decent. There's enough depth that we can actually withstand growing pains from some of the young players, off years, injuries, etc. and still be reasonably competitive in 2027. Now, if we can only find a catcher once Jeffers leaves . . .

Right on, brother. It's time to see if Jenkins and ERod can play. I sort of understood waiting until the brutal 9 game stretch aginst NL playoff teams and road trip was over to see if we were in contention and didn't want to mess with the lineup. Well, we aren't. We went 4-8 over the three tough series and the Sacramento stop. And, Buxton got hurt again. In the "what if" category we easily could and probably should have won 3 of those losses and gone 7-5. We didn't and that tells you as much as you need to know about this year's team. We're toast. Full stop. IL Buxton and keep him there for at least 2 weeks if not the rest of the season. He probably needs surgery. Have him get it if he does. Call up Jenkins today to play CF and ERod on 9/1. Play them both 5 days a week with Keaschall in either RF or LF. Mix in Roden 2-3 days a week. See if that's next year's OF along with Buxton. Decide what you're going to do with Bell next year. If he's gone, either drop him to 3-4 days a week or waive him to get the ABs for the 4 OFs. Replace Adams with Acton. Adams has had his shot, let's see if Acton can help lengthen the BP. Find a kind way to get Rogers on the IL or retired and replace him with Anderson for the same reason. Call up Raya on 9/1. DFA Jackson again in the hope he'll sneak through waivers once more and call up Ross. Get him 2-3 days a week at 2B or at 3B since Lee can't hit LH pitching anyway. Find out if there's anything there or if Ross will strike out 40% of the time at the MLB level. Go to full tryout mode. These last 5 weeks should be to see what we have for 2027. 2026 is done.

Season's over. Cleveland comes back against the Angels, we let the As(!) come back. Hmmm, think bringing up a real CF like Jenkins might be a good idea? You guys have a great rest of the year. See you when we speculate about trades, etc. in the offseason.