LA Vikes Fan

I think you can find 2 or 3 games a week for another outfielder, probably not 4. Is that enough? Think it through. Six games a week, 18 "games" a week in the OF. Buxton takes at least 4, probably 5, with one game on the bench and one game as the DH. Bell takes the rest of the games as the DH, maybe ceding one more to Jeffers when Caratini is catching. No more slack at the DH spot other than maybe 1 game a week for the outfielders. Bell leads the team in RBIs and has been hitting well lately. There is absolutely no world in which he doesn't start at DH at least 4 or 5 games a week, most likely 5, and 6 on the weeks without an off day. Keaschall has been our best hitter since July 1 by far. He gets 5 games a week, frankly maybe all 6. They are not going to play him at 2B again because of his atrocious defense unless there's an emergency or an injury. Larnach is slumping right now for sure, but still has an on-base percentage over .360 and a track record of being able to hit RH MLB pitching. Martin has an over.800 OPS against LH pitching this year and it was over .890 last year so he is the platoon guy against LH pitching. All of this compares to two guys who have potential, but neither of whom is tearing up AAA, and have no MLB track record. They are complete unknowns at the MLB level. I would argue that Emma is very likely to initially fail at the MLB level since he has an over 30% strikeout rate in AAA, over 37% this year, so he is likely to be a 35% to 40% strikeout guy or more for a while until he gets his feet wet. He also just came back after 100 days off so he needs at least two weeks to knock the rust off before he's of any likely value at all. I don't think he helps us much at all this year. So where does that leave us? Depends on what you do with Larnach and Martin. You start with 18 available games in the OF and at least 10 of those go to Buxton and Keaschall, maybe 11. That leaves 8 and Larnach gets at least 4 of those 8. So, you could get 4 games a week for another guy if you never play Martin but why would you do that when he has a very good track record against LH pitching and Jenkins and Emma both hit LH and have no track record at all? At most, you would reduce his role and that of Larnach, or play Buxton in CF only four days a week, to give them one of them a 2 or 3, maaaaybe 4 day a week role. There is no way you can find playing time for both of them unless you send Martin down, thereby blowing all of his options rather than saving his last one for next season, or one of the other 3 0Fs is benched or gets hurt. I actually think it might be worth it to try to get Jenkins a few games in mid August just to see if he can be that instant spark kind of guy, but you would have to do that at the expense of playing time for Larnach and Martin. And I am talking about a very short, instant response type of experiment. Give him 20 AB's and if he takes off, he keeps playing. If not, he either goes back down or sits on the bench. As long as we are still in contention for a playoff spot, you can't bring a guy up and start force-feeding him ABs if you have competent options at his positions. It's not fair to the rest of the team because you're basically punting a little on this year unless the new guy hits right off the bat. That doesn't happen very often. Moreover, Buxton is taking Roden's roster spot this weekend so you have to either waive Jackson, which screws you up at catcher for next year unless you somehow magically re-sign Jeffers, or demote Martin who both doesn't deserve it and then will have no options left for next year. So for me, is Jenkins worth a call up and a short-term experiment? Sure, but only if someone goes on the IL to open up the roster spot. And that can be anybody since there is enough positional flexibility to move guys around. Emma hasn't earned it and has been hurt most of the year so he's a hard no less injuries open up a second spot. Otherwise, there is no room at the Inn.

While I might make a different decision since I'm a fan and not a front office guy, I think the decision to keep Jackson on the roster at the likely expense of calling up Jenkins is defensible. Jackson's roster spot depends a little bit about how you prioritize this year versus next year. If we waive him, he's gone and another team will use his arbitration year next year so he's gone for 2026 and for 2027. I suspect the thinking is that we will need him in 2027 two pair with Caratini when Jeffers is gone and he's better than anything we have in the minors or likely to be available on the free agent market, particularly at is likely less than $2 million a year price. So the key question is what's more important, adding a bat Jenkins who could but might not help us more than Jackson for the stretch run in 2026 or having Jackson available in 2027 to be a platoon/backup catcher? Seems to be that depends on whether you think were going to be more of a "contender" in 2027 then we are this year. It seems more likely than not that we will be more of a contender next year when all of the currently injured pitching is assumedly available, particularly Lopez, but who knows. They could all get hurt again. I think the Twins thinking is that the team will be better next year with Lopez and the other injured pitchers back and they're prioritizing having experienced decent quality catching next year over the contribution they think Jenkins can bring for the rest of 2026. I might not make the same decision but I think it's defensible.

I agree but I do see the logic. It's not about this year, it's about next year. Jackson has been pretty good this year in a limited sample size. Good defense and he's hit. Jackson is the 2027 backup or platoon catcher in the likely event that Jeffers isn't back. He has another year of arbitration left and will be a less than $2 million guy so if we put him on waivers and he's claimed (very likely), the claiming team has him next year. He won't be available for us to re-sign. That puts us back in the very grim FA market for backup/platoon catchers since we have nobody in the minors that is ready to make the jump. I get why they want to have him around for 2027. The price of doing that is to keep him on the roster in 2026. Still, part of me really wants them to call up Jenkins to see if can catch lightning in a bottle for the stretch run. Really, the only way to do that is to either send Martin back to AAA or waive Jackson. Martin has one option left and I suspect they want to keep that for next year, plus he has an OPS of over .800 against lefties this year with a .400 OBP and had a .893 OPS against lefties last year with over .400 OBP. That has value and he serviceable in the OF. That just leaves waiving Jackson. My guess is that Jenkins stays at AAA until there's an injury, especially since he's not exactly tearing it up there. I also guess there will be an injury and he will get a shot at some point this year.

It's really a Martin issue. Roden is gone when Buxton is ready to play, probably this weekend, and he should be. He's had over 50 ABs this year, 188 over the last two and he hasn't hit. Martin is a tougher call. He's hitting .258/.409/.400 (.809) this year against lefties, .346/.404/.481 (.889) against lefties last year. He can at least do that pretty well. That's where the regular playing time is because we aren't sitting Buxton or Keaschall more than once a week since Keaschall has been our best hitter since July 1 by far. Larnach has been great against RH pitching although he is slumping now pretty badly. Can Jenkins be better? Sure, maybe, but his .279/.355/.397 (.792) mark in AAA against lefties doesn't inspire a lot of confidence for a platoon role when you figure that on average in the first year jump to the Bigs, players lose 12-15% off their AAA BA, and 15-20% off their SLG, while their SO rate climbs 5% and their BB rate drops 5%. Hard to see a path to more than 2-3 starts a week with the current roster even if he comes up to replace Martin. Love me some Jenkins and I think he could be a very special player. Having said that, I think it will take an injury to get him up here with real playing time unless Buxton can't go. Maybe it's worth sending Martin back to AAA or more likely waiving Jackson to give Jenkins that 2-3 games a week to see if we catch lightning in a bottle. Hard to see it though.

Ahh, dig deeper my friend. Emma has all of 144 plate appearances this year. He was out for 100 days and just came back literally yesterday. Do you really think he could help an MLB team now? I gotta think he needs at least 2-3 weeks at AAA to regain his timing before he would have a shot at success in the Bigs. But let's assume though that he's not rusty and could hit the ground running. Let's actually look at where that OPS comes from. It's not from a high SLG rate (his is good but not outstanding) or a high BA (his is pretty mediocre at best) it to comes from a high OBP based on a very high BB rate, between 20-21% in 2026 and 2025, 24% plus in 2024. A BB rate that high is unheard of at the MLB level. His could easily drop in half or more and there goes his OPS. Moreover, his SO rate is astronomical. This year Emma has 43 SOs in 144 plate appearances - a 37.% strikeout rate! His SO rate in 2025 was 32.3%, 30% in 2024. All bad numbers with a bad trend. The general rule of thumb based on historical data is that a player's SO rate goes up 5% in his first MLB year, walk rate down 2%-5%, BA down 12-15%, SLG down 15-20%. So if the trends apply, we should expect Emma to run a 35% to 40% plus SO rate when he first comes up (unplayable, see Wallner), with a 12-15% BB rate at best (good), and hit somewhere around .215-.230 with a .375-.400 or so SLG. Generally speaking, that would equate to a .625 – .675 OPS. That's a guy whose primary value is to walk with occasional power. Not pretty. Hard or see who he would replace other than Roden and Buxton or Jenkins replaces Roden. And that's after he ramps back up, likely much worse now after a 100 day layoff. Despite what I just laid out I'm not a huge believer in the predictive power of analytical data. But here, it's just hard to see Emma helping his team this year based on his past performance. He really needs to come up in a lower pressure environment and get 500 plate appearances before he can add a lot of value. I just don't see a reason to bring him up now in a stretch run while we are trying to qualify for the playoffs. His history does not suggest we will catch lightning in a bottle. Much better to bring him up in September if we've completely fallen out of the race to see where he is, or bring him north next spring and slowly feed him into the lineup. I'm with you on Jenkins. I don't really care what the numbers say. He has the chance to be special. He is the one guy where we actually might catch lightning in a bottle and help ourselves this year. The rest of those guys wait until next year unless there's an injury and we need an emergency callup. I'll grant you that Emma may come up before GG, but I just don't see him coming up before Jenkins, Ross, or Mendez if that emergency occurs given he's been out most of the season.

Agree with you on Jenkins but not sure where. Emma is not one of the top 26 guys we have. There are at least 3- 4 guys ahead of him in AAA - Jenkins, Ross, Mendez, and maybe Gonzalez - and that's before we even think about Wallner and Sabato. I'm with you, let's have our best 26 guys for this final push. Buxton for Roden is a given. Jenkins for . . . Jackson? Martin? Kriedler? Martin hits LH pitching well (.258/.409/.400 (.809) in 2026, .895 OPS in 2025 against lefties). We likely lose Jackson if he goes on waivers. We need Kriedler's glove, especially if Culpepper can't hold down SS. Maybe for Jackson but then he's likely gone for 2027 because he has an arbitration year remaining so the acquiring team can tender a contract and keep him, probably for less than $2m. Jackson then only becomes available if waived or released by an acquiring team, not real likely given the paucity of catching. Jeffers proably leaves for 2027 so we need Jackson or we're back on the FA catching market in 2027, which is pretty grim. No other spots. Jenkins probably has to wait for an injury and he's next. To me, very doubtful Emma comes up in 2026 unless we fall out of the race and the FO wants to see where he is with the options exhausted.

Good point. I think we've all heard so much about Prielipp's inning limit that we just assume he'll max out at about 100-110 innings. He's actually at 82.2 now with 41 games left, which would be 7-8 starts for him. That's 40-50 innings and if you maneuver it a little so he only gets 6 starts, closer to 35 innings. That he should be able to do without having to be replaced in the rotation. Might be the best solution.

Couldn't agree more. He's the guy we should have traded but I don't think other teams value him very highly with the injury issues and inconsistent performance. Great potential, not so great performance. Was reported out here that the Angels were not interested in him. I'm interested to find out where Gleeman got his info that Emma is unlikely to get a 4th year option. I think the rule is that a player who exhausts his 3 options without yet accumulating five full professional seasons of service time gets a 4th year option. If so, he should qualify (which says a lot about why he couldn't be traded). Has that changed? Anyway, options or no options Roden should go down either for Buxton o`r a AAA guy but not for Emma, he should go down for the player(s) that have performed the best. That's Jenkins first, then Ben Ross, then Mendez, and maybe then GG before you get to Emma. No scholarships, no promotions based upon tantalizing potential. Promotion based upon performance. Roden has gotten over 50 ABs this year, 188 overall, and simply has not performed at the plate and hasn't added a lot in the field. His next shot is next year and it might be with another team. I suspect they're waiting for August 15 for Jenkins or Buck to return. Roden should be gone after this weekend. Emma is not his replacement.

The big questions not addressed in the post is who replaces Matthews in the rotation if Ryan isn't ready, and then who replaces Prielipp when he reaches his innings limit in about 2-3 more starts. We are quickly running out of starters. Rojas could be one to replace or team up with Matthews. He went 4 innings last night, 1 hit, 1 run (the hit was a HR). He only threw 57 pitches. He probably needs at least one more MiLB start to even get to the 70-80 pitches he'll need to cover 5 innings. He and Matthews could be a piggy back and we could to 7 in the BP, with Adams going back to AAA. Ryan could then replace Prielipp after another couple of turns, with Prielipp in the BP. That might work if Kremer continues to be the second coming of Pablo Lopez (or even the second coming of Kenta Maeda) and Ober can somehow get his 87 MPH fastball based arsenal past MLB hitters. There is no more help coming from St. Paul. Roznek got hammered last time out, Gallagher has a 5.50 ERA. and Baker a 5.40 ERA. Jack Anderson looks like the most promising arm after Rojas and he's been pitching short relief. The waiver wire and FA guys are not good, not good at all. This will be interesting to navigate and if we get another injury get ready for a lot of opener/bulk kind of games.

I wouldn't go this far but the grade on this one should be "incomplete". Sam for the Duran trade. Abel and Rojas were not expected to significantly impact the team until 2027. Both had a least a limited impact this year. We won't know until at least 2028 whether there were good moves. The Varland trade was a win if Rojas is a #3 starter or better, or our closer, by 2028, otherwise it's a loss and the size of the loss depends on whether he winds up a back of rotation starter, bullpen piece other than a closer, or out of baseball. Same for the Duran trade - it's a good trade if Abel is a #3 starter or better by that same year, or the closer. A good mid rotation starting pitcher is worth more than any relief pitcher, including a closer. The Duran trade also has other upside as Tait's all of 19 years old so we won't know about him for four or five years. Really, the only ones we can grade at this point are Jax for Bradley (we win), Correa for Milikuski (we didn't spend the money, so we lose), and Stewart for Outman (everybody loses).

I think that's they way things have played out this year. Remember, Ryan was never the #1 on the staff before Lopez got hurt; he was always a strong #2. Next year, Lopez is the #1 again, assuming he's the same guy he used to be before the surgery. Bradley may be the #2 .

I couldn't agree more. For some reason I can't understand, a lot of people here seem to root for Lewis to fail. Maybe his sense of humor falls flat and I'm just more used to it being in California. The "I don't do slumps" comment was in jest, as is a lot of what he says. And we wonder why some many athletes won't talk to the press or only speak in meaningless platitudes. I lot of folks also seem to want Keaschall to forever be branded as a bad defender only a DH, Martin as overrated or dumb, all Pohlads are the same and Tom is just a cheap SOB, etc. I can be just as bad because I keep saying how Wallner has little value to a competitive ballclub. C'mon now, Baseball is supposed to be fun to follow and this team is a lot more fun than last year. I'm enjoying this season. I just don't get the negativity. Bottom line, I think if this team makes the playoffs and wins a round (their ceiling IMHO), it will be in large part because of contributions by Lewis and Keaschall. I'm glad to see Lewis turn it around and I think he has a high ceiling. Who knows if he'll ever reach it but I'm rooting for him.

Can't bring Wallner up because he can't play in the field and we actually have a competent DH. I like the guy and hope he gets a chance but I think it will have to be with another organization.

Agreed. I think Culpepper is the primary starting SS for the rest of the season if he shows anything at the plate. We need to know if he can be the SS next year. This won't be his only shot if he fails, but this is his best shot to grab that position before Marek Houston forces things. I really hope he takes advantage.

I'm right with you. I understand why they gave Roden a shot given his age and AAA production but it's time to end that experiment. If Buxton DHs once a week in place of Bell (Bell is another guy to keep off the field), now we're getting closer to 3 games a week for Jenkins AND he can play CF when Buxton is the DH. Definitely improves the CF defense when Buck is out and you have to believe Jenkins can at least match Kriedler's offensive output. I have to admit I'm warming up to the idea of a Jenkins for Roden switch. I'll bet what's happening behind the scenes is they're waiting until the end of this week to make the call. That way, we know more about what Buxton can and can't do and when, we've got more data on whether Roden can hit MLB pitching (not looking great sovfar), we know a little about whether Culpepper is ready and thus how badly we need Kriedler to play SS, we've waited on injuries, and we still preserve Jenkin's rookie status. I would like to see Jenkins up this year. Lots of ways that can happen.

I see your overall point here and completely agree with you on Caratini. The man should never see any position other than catcher. I think where you and I disagree is that I want Buxton and Keaschall playing pretty much everyday and I'm not enthused about Keaschall at 2B. I also want Martin in the lineup against LH pitching. So let's say there's 6 games a week, 18 OF games a week (6x3) to go around. If you give Keaschall and Buxton 11 of those games (they each sit once every 2 weeks) and Martin 2, there's really only 5 games a week in the OF left, 6 if you only give both Keaschall and Buxton 5 games a week. That's 2 or 3 apiece for Larnach and Jenkins (Roden goes to AAA for Jenkins). I guess that's not too bad and it's more like 3 or 4 if Martin sits. Workable, I guess, but less than optimal in my view. To me, the optimal allocation is Larnach and Martin in a platoon that takes 6 games a week, and Buxton and Keaschall taking 10 or 11 of the remaining 12 OF games. That only leaves 1 or 2 games in the OF for another guy unless Jenkins takes some of the platoon games allocated for Larnach. Maybe you could find 1 more game by sitting Bell once a week but it's hard to find IF games because Clemens would become a full time IF with Kriedler backing up 3 of the 4 spots. You really have left the 12th spot for a 5th OF playing 1 or 2 games a week (now Roden) and then the 13th spot for the 3rd C/pinch runner/pinch hitter now occupied by Jackson. I'm fine with Roden as the 5th OF since I don't have really high hope for him but I'd rather not have Jenkins in that role. That's why I think Buxton's health is key, and whether there is an injury is important. That's what would open up real playing time for Jenkins. I do want to echo what others have said. All of the OFs are hitting pretty well. Rookies often struggle when first coming up - see Roden and Culpepper so far. It's a big leap to say that Jenkins will definitely hit better than anybody we currently have, even Roden. He might be worse. It's a fair question whether the gymnastics necessary to get him in the lineup is going to improve or degrade the offense. The odds are he will make the offense the same or worse, not better. I do think he will improve the defense.

Me too, but I'll bet Bell is back. He's well liked in the clubhouse, leads the team in RBI, and looks like he'll hit 20 plus HRs. Plus, he's realtively cheap with a $10m option for 2027, $1.25M buy out if they don't exercise the option. Effective net cost of $8.75M. He'll be back IMHO.

This is tempting. I'm not sure you're right about "not replacing anyone who has performed at a high level". What this really means if you want to play Jenkins even 4 days a week is that Larnach will see much more bench time. IF (and it's a big if) Buxton really is healthy by the weekend/early next week, he plays pretty much every day. Keaschall has been our best hitter since July 1, by far, with a .909 OPS in July and .915 so far in August. He's hit at a high level and plays 5-6 days a week. Martin has hit LH pitching at a high level with an .809 OPS with a .400 OBP against LH pitching (.258/.409/.400), so far this year and is second on the team with 12 stolen bases playing only part time. He's a great leadoff hitter against lefties and starts all of those games. The only OF hole left is to bench Larnach against RH pitching. Maybe it's time, he had a .918 OPS in July, .836 in July, but a .182/.280/.455(.738) slash line so far in August, and give those 20-25 ABs a week to Jenkins. Still, tough to bench a guy who's hitting .276/.365/.442 (.807) on the year for a guy who's hitting .259/.388/.500 (.888) in the MINORS. Even if you bench Bell twice a week, tough to do to a guy who leads the team in RBIs and has a 1.132 OPS in August, you only find maybe 8- 10 PAs a week. Remember, with all of this Clemens moves to the IF as the every day 2B, no ABs in the OF. That part I agree with, make Lewis the regular 1B and Caratini is only the 2nd C with no time at 1B. Caratini isn't hitting. He carried us in June so it was right to see if he could break out of his slump but he's had that chance and hasn't hit at all since July 1. My view is that if that's what you got to do to give Jenkins 20ish ABs a week, and I think it is, at least wait until August 15 to preserve Jenkins' rookie status. An injury may provide your answer by then or Buxton may not be able to come back. Then you have a place for Jenkins to play at least semi-regularly. If not, tough decision. If we wanted to give Jenkins a real shot, the thing to do was to trade Larnach. They tried that and by all reports Houston's owner shot it down. Now I thank we need to wait one more week and then decide.

Much as I would love to see Jenkins play, it look like Buxton will be back this weekend or early next week at the latest. Buck will play CF every day. Where do you play Jenkins? Can't sit Keaschall, he's the best hitter on the team since July 1 (30-95 since July 1, .909 OPS in July, .915 in August so far), and we need his speed on the bases. Larnach had an .918 OPS in June, .836 in July, .738 so far in August, so while he's trending down he still needs to play. There's no place to play Jenkins unless we move Keaschall back to 2B, have Lewis play 1B, and make Clemens a UTL. Not a bad idea until you remember what a butcher Keaschall was at 2B and we're losing Clemens bat. You don't want to bring up Jenkins to sit on the bench. Right now, Roden can have that 5th OF/plays twice a week at most spot on the bench when Buck comes back. Looks to me like it will take an injury for Jenkins to come up.

That sounds about right for an arbitration result, and about right for his value if not even a little light. He's probably a $25m a year guy for 4-5 years on a long term contract. He's not a $30m a year guy because of his history of second half injuries/swoons and he's really a #2 starter, not a #1 IMHO. He's already going to be 31 next June so he's not a guy any team can afford to give a 6-7 year deal other than the Dodgers or the Yankees. I think the likely trade return is basically Skubal light. Instead of 2 top 100 prospects, he probably brings one top 100 prospect with a likely MLB trajectory so Hope or River Ryan, not both, plus a competent MLB bullpen arm or decent prospect (think a Minter or Nance type, or a Gallagher if it's a prospect), plus the high upside lottery ticket. I think that's probably what he's worth this offseason assuming there's a new CBA at some reasonable point. I say we offer him 4 years, $100M staring in 2027 to buy out his last arb year, with a willingness to go 5 years at the same level or maybe a little higher. Remember that a $25m pitcher in 5 years is equivalent to a $20m pitcher today with inflation and the way baseball salaries keep rising. If that's not enough, trade him for the kind of return I outlined. If we can't get that, get his usual great first half in 2027 and then at the 2027 deadline choose between the available return or keep him and give him a a QO in 2028 and collect the draft choice.

We're basically trying to cover 4 positions here until Buxton is back- 1B, 3B, LF, and RF - if you assume that Culpepper is the primary SS. So just for fun, here are the slash lines for the affected players against LH pitching: Caratini - .195/.314/.287 (.601). Ugh. Larnach - .154/.267/.308 (.575). Double ugh. Kreidler - .189/.286/.284 (.570). Not getting any better. Lee - .198/.268/.302 (.570) - Kreidler without the glove. although his line v. LH pitching last year was .266/.298/.379 (.677). Maybe some hope there? Roden - .429/.429/.429 (.858). All of 7 ABs, SSS. Still, better than any of the rest. Martin - .248/.404/.363 (.767). Done in 113 ABs 2026, last year hit .346/404/.481 (.885) in 52 ABS against LHs. Bottom line is the guy can hit LH pitching pretty well. Clemens - .239/.293/.467 (.760). There you go, that's the ticket... Jenkins (AAA) - .254/.338/.349 (.687). Highish OBP, but no power. Would power come with time? So, to me it's pretty clear that Clemens and Martin should play against LH pitching given the choices. I would say that the best batting lines correspond with the best defense for the other 2 spots, you play Roden and either Lee or Kriedler, not Caratini or Larnach. Interestingly, a call up of Jenkins might help against LH pitching. Jenkins would have to replace Roden, really no other way to get him consistent ABs. My basic lineup vs. LH starters - Martin (LF), Jeffers (C), Bell (DH), Lewis (1B), Keaschall (CF), Clemens (2B), Lee/Kreidler (3B), Roden/Jenkins (RF), Culpepper/Kreidler (SS). Feel free to switch 7 and 9 around depending on who plays such that Kreidler is always the #9. Caratini is the backup C playing 1 game of 3, Larnach is an available LH PH as is whoever is not in the SS/3B mix that day, Jackson is the 3rd C, RH PH, pinch runner. Against a RH starter, Lee always plays 3B, Larnach takes Martin's spot, Clemens and Keaschall flip flop in the order, everything else stays the same. Caratini plays C one game a series and you time that for a RH starter. Works for me.

We have to play him somewhere. Keaschall has been the best hitter on the team since June 1, hands-down. Only Bell is even close. He has to play every day. I prefer right field over centerfield for obvious reasons, but he’s got to play somewhere.

This inning is a lineup construction problem. We went with this lousy defense on the right side so that we could get Caratini in the lineup. He isn't hitting - at all - and should only be playing C 1 out of 3 games to give Jeffers a rest. Lewis plays 1B, Clemens 2B. Clemens much more likely to make that play. If that means Larnach has to play LF or Roden RF against a LH starter, you do it. OPS vs. LHs - Caratini .670, Larnach.575. Roden .858 (SSS). This one is on Lewis first, the coaching staff second.

You may be right. Do you think Ben Ross could fill the same role and hit more? He might be the alternative.

I wouldn't go that far. Kriedler has a viable MLB role - he is the classic UTL IF who can also play CF, Perfect 12th/13th guy on the on the field roster IF he can hit even .225 with occasional power. Jury's out on the bat. We've seen great hitting for 2 months and horrible hitting for the last 6 weeks. He's got that job for the rest of 2026 and probably for 2027 unless Ben Ross takes it from him. i see him starting 1-2 games a week to give guys rest playing SS, 2B, and 3B, with an occasional start in CF.