LA Vikes Fan

I'm penciling him in for a starting OF position next year, probably LF. I was concerned in July and even suggested a AAA re-set but he's come out of it well in August. He was able to re-set himself at the MLB level and that says good things about him going forward. His defense? Not going to be his calling card, but I think it's good enough for LF. Particularly if Buxton is in CF to help cover the gap. I also think his defense will improve over time. it's not like he's Josh Willingham out there. I see next year's every day OF as Buxton in center, Larnach in left and a Kepler/RH bat platoon in RF. Refsnyder is that RH bat based on results up to now but I'd love to see them audition Miranda for that role. He has been playing a little OF in St. Paul. Kepler as the back up CF with Celestino in AAA as an emergency guy. If Miranda can be the RH half of a platoon, Refsnyder or Cave as the 5th OF.

I completely agree that his year is about evaluating guys. I've been saying that since late May. I just disagree on Rooker and think it's time to move on and evaluate others. He's overmatched and we haven't seen anything that suggests he'll improve. He's getting worse over time. I think we have seen enough to know that he isn't yet ready to compete on the MLB level at the plate. He doesn't provide defensive value so if he doesn't hit, he has no place. Let's keep in mind he hit some but wasn't exactly tearing up AAA before he came up - .239/.362/.546 with 80 SOs in 218 ABs (36%). He got promoted based upon his age and draft position, not so much on his AAA performance. He's probably out as the guy who goes when Buxton is activated. Until then, at least move him down to 7th or 8th in the order. Give the team a chance to be successful. I would bring up Miranda and give him those ABs. Contreras is interesting but we need a RH bat. Miranda has played some OF and his initial shot in the majors is probably on a Utility basis since we have Donaldson, then Arraez, then Sano to play 3B and 2B is taken by Polanco. I say let's see if Miranda can hit MLB pitching. We have to protect him after this year so let's see what we got. Drop Derek Law from the 40 man if we need to. I agree that we need to evaluate guys this year. That doesn't mean we run with them long term if they aren't successful after an opportunity. I just think Rooker has had his shot now twice this year, hasn't hit, and it's time for someone else. Also, let's not worry about a guy leaving and being successful elsewhere. That happens to every team and sometime guys have to leave, and change or get different coaching to be successful. Juan Minaya looks great this year - much better than when he was on the White Sox. That's not because the Twins are brilliant and the White Sox are dummies with relief pitchers because it also goes the other way. Some times it's just situational or coaching approach or frankly, just maturity or blind luck. the only thing we should care about is does the player help us? Right now, Rooker does not and he's getting worse over time, not better, so it's hard to make a case that he will help us in the future. Time for a re-set. Keep the line moving. Miranda is next in that line.

Great update, Ted. I find myself reading the Minor League update almost every day this season. Quick question. Are you going to update the top 20 prospect list to add any of Ryan, Strotman, Martin, etc.? It would be fun to see where they would fit on the list and make it easier to track their progress.

Address starting and relief pitching. Leave Ober and Jax where they are and add either Ryan or Strotman since Winder has shoulder fatigue unless Winder's ready to go later when Pineda breaks down again. Bring up and pitch Moran and Hamilton out of the bullpen. Thorpe replaces Barnes when he's ready. Find out what you have and what you need. In the field, bring up Miranda and see if he can hit MLB pitching. He can have Rooker's spot unless that's saved for Buxton's return. If it is, send Refsnyder, Cave or Astudiilo down. I'd vote for Cave but he only has one option left so it'll probably have to be Refsnyder unless Donaldson breaks down again, They'll want to save Cave's option for next year.

If they were thinking about Polanco or Gordon at SS for next year, they would be playing SS now. Polanco is playing 2B every day and Gordon is playing 2B tonight, and played LF last night. Gordon is auditioning for a Super Utility role next year. In the last 5 St. Paul games he's played SS twisce and once each at CF, LF, and 2B. Miranda is doing the same I might add since he is playing all over the diamond in St. Paul these days. Arraez will wind up at 3B next year 80-100 games while Donaldson becomes a 2/3 time DH. Actually, more like 1/3 DH, 1/3 3B, 1/3 IL. Next year's SS will be another stop gap while we wait for Polacios, Martin and /or Lewis to come up and play SS. My money's on Freddy Galvis or Jose Iglesias as next year's Twins SS, but it wouldn't surprise me if we get another year of Simmons.

I think they moved Arraez out of the leadoff spot because they want him to be in a spot where he can drive in runs. We're pretty weak in the middle of the order with Donaldson always day to day, Sano streaky or awful, and Garver not playing every day. We should probably remember that the 2-6 middle of lineup this year was intended to be Buxton, Polanco. Cruz, Kirilloff and Donaldson. Only one of those guys now actually is on the team and plays every day. Arraez is the only other player who hits well enough to stay in the middle of the order. Having said that, leading off Kepler makes no sense to me either except that I don't really see anyone else out there other than Arraez and Polanco and they need to hit 3 and 4 or 5. Refsynder could lead off against LH pitching, but Sano, Cave Larnach and Simmons aren't really good enough to lead off vs, RH pitching. I'm not really sure who you put there unless you call up Miranda from AAA or Martin from AA. Hmmm, there's an idea..... As for Rooker, I'm pretty much done. He can't hit well enough yet to be on the MLB roster. Time to recognize that and give someone else the opportunity. Or maybe he gets a few more days of 4-5 ABs and then gets optioned when Buxton is ready. Hmmm, another interesting idea...

Help me guys. I had knee replacement surgery and they gave me opioids for the pain so I may be seeing things that aren't really there. I think the Twins just won 2 straight low scoring games against a 100 win team starting ... Griffin Jax and Bailey Ober? Really? Both saved by Alex Colome? With 6.2 scoreless relief innings from 5 or 6 different guys? Wow, either things have changed or these are really good drugs...

I see Rooker being left off of the 40 man roster in the offseason unless he shows a lot more at the plate in the last roughly 50 games. Frankly I think that's why he's playing so much because we need to make a decision on him v. the younger pitching on the 40 man. My guess is Rooker loses out and that another team is intrigued enough to pick him up.

I'm amazed that JAx actually looks like a legit MLB starter, but I have to admit that he does. Never would have guessed that. I've been on the "why Tortuga on this team" wagon and I have to admit he has shown value as the 25th or 26th guy on a roster. Not a starter but worth having around. To me, the big news other that Jax has been Gant and Colome's recent stretch . Gant looks like the real deal. If he is real and Colome is back to where he was in 2016-2020 we actually are up to 4 pretty good relievers for next year with Rogers and Duffy. Still need to find 3-4 more but that's a lot less than I thought we would need.

While I am sorry that Jax isn’t getting the seventh-inning, I can’t help but be impressed by John Gant. Did we really get him for JA Happ? Really? What was St. Louis thinking?

Hey, nice outing by Griffin Jax. I’d love to see them try to give him the seventh inning. Backend of the order, he’s got 83 pitches, let’s see if he can give ys seven innings. I have to admit I’m a little surprised by how well he’s doing, but he might be real.

Nick Vincent? 35 year old Nick Vincent? I would understand if the goal was to remain competitive. although he doesn't have a particularly good ERA in AAA, but this does nothing for evaluating players for the 2022 roster. No matter what happens, he ain't on it. All I can think of is the issue is putting guys on the 40 man roster and/or bringing guys up and losing a year of control. If either of those are the reason, that's just not smart. Wrong guy, wrong message to the team and the fans.

Simmons needs to go but we're kidding ourselves if we think the Twins will spend the money for Baez, Seeger, or Correa. This team will spend it's money on pitching and either move Polanco back to SS or sign a Freddy Galvis / Jose Iglesias stop gap SS for next year. I think it's telling that Simmons is still playing SS every day with Polanco at 2B. That tells me that the Twins have already decided that they are not going back to Polanco at SS next year and that Gordon isn't a SS option. Otherwise, we'd use the rest of this year for Polanco and/or Gordon to play SS and see if either can play the position well enough to be the SS next year. Get ready for a filler again next year while we wait for Lewis, Palacios or Martin to come up longer term.

Well, I looked online and amazingly enough, Burrows appears to still be on the team. I thought for sure last night was the "Shoemaker sendoff" when he threw 64 pages in two innings. You know, beat him like a rented mule, DFA him the next day, hope nobody claims him, and then send him to AAA. I guess the last chapter of the Shoemaker sendoff would be for him to complain about how he was used by the Twins and then get released for "baseball reasons" so he could explore "other opportunities", not because he complained about management. Oh well, the day is still young here in California. Hope springs eternal.

Is he still on the 26 man roster? Really? Seriously, he isn't ready. DFA him and chances are no one will pick him up. The send him to AAA or even AA and work with him. If you're afraid someone else will pick him up you can just send him down but I have to say that it doesn't seem likely nor does losing him seem like a big loss. I prefer the DFA but can live with either approach. I can't abide keeping him on the roster. He's now used up for the next few days. Move him off and bring up Hamilton or Moran. If we need a 40 man spot, DFA Burrows or move Law to the 60 day DL.

I agree with most of this (not all), but I particularly agree with the Beau Burrows comment. There seems top be a reluctance to admit an honest mistake and move on. I understand picking him up, I really DON"T understand keeping him on the roster. We need to pick these guys up, evaluate them, and cut bait when we're wrong. Hopefully he's been DFA'd by the time you read this. I wonder if part of the issue is ego or that they're trying not to bring guys up in a bad year and pick up an extra year of control. I hope that's not it because that strikes me a mistake. THIS is the evaluation year. Use it. I have to also wonder a little about those who are suggesting that Terry Ryan was/would have been/could have been as good as the current FO. I just think that flies n the face of reality. This franchise was going nowhere fast when these guys took over. There was little to no chance of improvement. Now we have improved and I think in a way that never would have occurred with Ryan. He was great in the 90s and early 200s, lousy when he came back. He didn't keep up with analytical and technological trends and the team fell behind. We needed new blood. Now, the new FO may not be the long term answer. I get that. Suggesting that they haven't been a huge improvement just doesn't make sense to me.

Hey, just saw the box score from tonight. Has Burrows been DFA’d yet?

Fun week, and I agree there are a couple more moves to make as we evaluate this group. Pitching wise, get Ryan up to take Barnes' place when he's back from the Olympics. Put Thorpe in the bullpen when he's ready. We need to see if he can be effective because he's in his last option year. I would also try to find a way to give Gant a few starts. He's been very effective as a reliever, was a starter and wants to start. Let's see if he can. Worst case scenario, he's in the bullpen next year (still amazed at the trade for him). I also think we need to give Hamilton and Moran a shot in the bullpen. They can take the place of Burrows and Coulombe. I disagree with the posters who want to release Colome. He's been effective for the last two months and we need a back end guy with Rogers on the IL for the rest of the year. Use 2021 to evaluate him We may need him next year. In the field, I think everybody we need to see is already up with the possible exception of Miranda and he's only a Donaldson IL stint from being needed. I suspect they'll keep him and Martin in the minors so the don't have to make a 40 man roster move by releasing someone else and also not burn an option year since they're both in the 23 and under range.

Interesting. Question: Would it make sense that one's barrel rate would go down when the strikeout % went down? The thinking is that instead of missing certain pitches, the hitter makes weak contact thus dropping the barrel %. I'd be curious is there's any information correlating the two measures. BTW, I would say weak contact is much better than no contact since it increases the possibility of a productive out. I think the Twins are going to have a very interesting set of decisions after this year that could really effect Sano. There's basically at least 5 or 6 players fighting for 4 starting spots at IB, LF, RF and DH - Sano, Kepler, Kirilloff, Larnach, and Rooker. I would add in Donaldson since it looks like he can't play more than 80-100 games at 3B so he'll need 30-50 games at DH. Minimum. I wouldn't be surprised is Donaldson and Arraez basically share 3B next year and, if the Twins keep Polanco at 2b (seems like the right move given this year), those two will likely split the majority of ABs at 3B and DH. In effect, there may only be 3 starting spots for those 5, and that's before we think about re-signing Cruz, Refsnyder as more than a bench option (unlikely), or bringing up Miranda or Contreras. The other thing is that none of these guys offer much as a bench option other than Kepler or Refsnyder. Hard to see keeping Sano around if he isn't getting 450-500 ABs a year. I agree that Sano is what he is - high power, high strikeout guy who plays below average defense outside of 1b and is barely average there. A .775-.825 OPS guy with 30 plus HRs and 150-200 strikeouts in 500-550 ABs. Not bad, but not great considering his lack of defense and baserunning. Hard to see where he fits in if he really loses the 1B job to Kiriloff, even harder if Donaldson or Cruz needs near full time work at DH. Sano only really works in three scenarios. One is if we move Polanco to SS, give 2B to Arraez, and have Sano DH 100 games a year, play 1B 20-25 and 3B 15-20. Hurts the middle infield defense. The second is if Kirilloff goes to the OF, and either Kepler goes to the bench or Larnach and Rooker go back to AAA with Resnyder/Cave/Garlick the 4th and 5th OFs. The third is that he or one of the other competitors is traded. I don't think any of these is the plan. It will be interesting to see what transpires with Sano and, for that matter, Kepler. Kirilloff and Larnach are here to stay and Rooker is either with them or gone. I don't think we will keep all 5 at the MLB level.

I’m very interested in seeing the younger hitters develop and seeing as many of the younger pitchers get a shot as is possible in the confines of our 40 man roster issues. Specifically, I hope to get the chance to watch 3 things and am watching another: (1) I want to see Joe Ryan get at least 5-6 MLB starts. He can take the place of Barnes who isn’t ready. (2) I want to see Ian Hamilton and Moran each get 10-15 MLB relief appearances. They can takes the spots of Beau Burrows and Danny Coulumbe. Burrows isn’t close to MLB ready; Coulombe had a nice half season and is now returning to the older mediocrity he’s always been. (3) Give Gant 3-4 starts. See if he can do it. If not, we still have an effective reliever. (4) I’m watching Kepler and Sano. Are they starters going forward or journeymen guys? Recent results are sort of encouraging but not good enough. Key decisions on each coming soon. Fun times.

Good Sesame Street post. I looked at the lineups and I’m wondering why Jake Cave is playing two days in a row. I guess he has an option left so keeping him on the big club all year gives us some more flexibility in spring training to send him down and keep him as depth for one more year. I also guess that if we’re evaluating players for next year he probably deserves at least a chance to show what he can do. Still, he has that “automatic out“ look to him every time he’s at the plate. I would love to see them play Refsnyder more and not go to some sort of a platoon between him and Cave with Refsnyder on the short side.

I like it! You could also still have a National and American League for the All Star game.

You're probably right there. It looks to me like we have about 9 and as many as 12 guys for 8 spots next year - LF, RF, 1B, 3B, DH and then 3 4th OF/UTl/Backup INF spots, one of whom has to be able to play SS if Polanco moves there. The guys are Donaldson, Arraez, Kepler, Sano, Larnach, Kirilloff, Rooker, Refsnyder and Gordon for sure. Bring back Cruz and we're up to 10. Add in Astudillo and Miranda and we're up to 12, I don't count Cave but others might. Move Polanco to SS and you now have an everyday spot for Arraez at 2B and maybe a spot for Gordon as one of the UTLs. Will Martin be ready next year? That's 12 or 13. How about Contreras? That's 13 or 14. I think the only way to figure this out is to play as many of these guys every day at as many spots as they can play. Playing Miranda in LF is a great idea. Sending Gordon to AAA with instructions to play a lot at 3B and SS also makes sense. Playing Refsnyder in CF until Buxton is ready and not playing Cave makes sense. Is Refsnyder for real? We need to find out because right now he's one of our top 3 hitters. Let's see if Larnach can improve against LH pitching so play him in games like last night against quality LH starters. Play Sano and see if he can get back to .240 BA/.820 OPS form and cut his SOs to 25-28%. Let's find out if Arraez can cover 3B when Donaldson is hurt or DHing next year (like half the games). Give Rooker lots of ABs and see if his bat forces him into a spot. There's probably less need to play Kepler and Astudillo since they are what they are at this point, although maybe Kepler has another jump up in him. Bottom line is that this is what using the rest of the year to evaluate looks like. It ain't pretty but it is necessary.

Sounds like we're getting him ready to audition for a super utility role on the big club. Very interesting. He'll need that flexibility if we keep Donaldson and that looks likely.

You don't. There is no separate Al and NL under my proposal. Just one MLB.