LA Vikes Fan

We may get the chance to see how these guys perform at the MLB level sooner than we anticipate given that we will need at least 1 or 2 in the bullpen next year. I agree that Raya's highest and best use may be as a bullpen arm, same for Adams and Morris. I also wonder if Festa's recurring shoulder issues presage a switch to the bullpen ala' Duran. Finally, SWR can't seem to go more than 5 innings and is usually better suited to 4 or less so it does make one wonder if he isn't better suited to a 2 inning at a time kind of bullpen role. i hope they use the offseason and ST to sort this out. I'm glad the brought up Adams, let's see if he can be a BP weapon. We need at least 2 of the MiLB "starters" in the bullpen for next year and 3 would be better. Let's try to find them now.

I hear you on the transition but I would make Festa the closer and also move SWR to the pen. The main reason is Festa's shoulder issues make me think he isn't physically cut out to throw 150 innings a year, much like Duran and Stewart both weren't. Festa has the strikeout stuff to close if he has the mental toughness. SWR reminds me a little of Jax, although SWR is a better starter than Jax ever was. Both have some good pitches but neither has the stuff to go around the lineup 3 times, something a starter has to be able to do. I'd like to see both Festa and SWR in the pen next year in important roles. Matthews and Bradley are in spots 4 and 5 in the rotation, with Hatch and SWR in the BP available to spot start or join in in case of injury. AAA rotation is a combination of Abel, Rojas, Klein, Raya, Prielipp, Andrew Morris, plus CJ Culpeper up from AA. Gives us the 5 starters plus 9 deep in realistic reserve. BTW, I'm also concerned about whether Ober will be ok as a starter next year. Hopefully this year is the result of an injury and he'll be back to his old solid #3/#4 starter self in 2026. Still, he always had marginal stuff and he's now had his ERA go up 4 years in a row, Add to that, he's already 30. I hope I'm wrong but it wouldn't surprise me to see him continue to decline. He may be the right guy to trade although I wonder if he has much value any more beyond a 40-45FV prospect.

Very uninspiring except for Adams. Don't really get it unless the idea is to give Davis and Keirsey one last shot before sending them packing this winter.

I’d love to see them make a couple moves to help with some of our problematic positions next year. Bring up Fedko and have him play first in a combination with Clemens. See if that’s a functional situation for next year. I would also like to see them bring up Noah Cardenas to catch. Please God, let’s not have Mickey Gasper as a 30-year-old backup catcher who has an OPS south of .600 next year. We are going to need a catcher pretty soon with Jeffer’s contract situation so let’s find out now if Cardenas can be part of the solution. On the pitching side, we don’t have to limit ourselves to the extra spot since we’ve got some serious chaff in the bullpen. Lopez takes Abel’s spot. Release Cabrera and/or Kriske and bring up some combination of Prielipp, Adams, Baker or Raya. Think hard about moving SWR to the bullpen when Pablo comes back and leave Taj in the rotation. I personally advocate making Festa a relief pitcher given his shoulder issues. I think he could be next year’s closer. Bottom line, let’s use this time wisely to see what we have in positions of need for next year. Find out if you have anyone internally to play 1B and a pitch out of the bullpen. Play Martin in left field and Keaschall at second base pretty much every day and see if they can handle the positions. I’m with the last poster, losing 88 games or 93 games is irrelevant. Let’s see what we got.

I’m always hopeful they trade neither starting pitcher. They should have some financial flexibility since the new limited partners money will remove the cash flow drag from debt service. I personally do not subscribe to the theory that all of this is just going to be a cash dump because of the upcoming CBA negotiations, but I could very easily be proven wrong. I would say that say that Larnach and Jeffers are the two likely trade candidates. Larnach is redundant, there are AAA outfielders who could replace him, and he’s getting expensive. I think the only way he stays is if he moves to 1B and the Twins to decide to stay with Keaschall as the 2B instead of moving him to 1B. I think they would love to keep Jeffers but will not be able to resign him because Boros clients like to go to free agency. The fact he only has one year before free agency though limits the market unless an aquiring team can both sign him and sign him to a longer-term contract. I suspect he will be on the team at the beginning and traded at the deadline unless the twins are in serious contention. At the end of the day, I think the big trade in the off-season is Larnach with Jeffers being traded if they can get some kind of a catcher back in either a three-way deal or in another deal.

This is really good to hear. I’m really glad to see that the organization is taking a good right handed hitting outfielder that doesn’t really have a path to the majors and playing him somewhere where he could actually add value. I would love to see Fedko get some run in September and I’d love to see him get a chance to compete for the 1B job in spring training. Wow, moving guys positions in the minors to try to make them more valuable and stealing a lot of bases in the same week? Aliens replaced the front office? Look, I love me some Luis Arraez, but he’s not what we need other than as Maybe a one year stop gap. He could be an interesting platoon partner/bench bat, but that’s about it at this point.

This is the trade-off. Now, players in their first 6 years make relatively small salaries (for a pro athlete, not a regular human) and then some explode ,some get more modest raises, and some get to work at a used car lot. With a floor, arb and pre-arb players are likely to make more money unless you have a one star team where that guy gets 50% of the floor. The losers in a salary cap league are not the lower paid players, it's the highly paid players. A highly paid player has to take a little less so that better mid level players can be signed to make the team competitive - see Tom Brady in the NFL and Tim Duncan in the NBA, as compared to a Kobe whose unwillingness to reduce salary in his last years was one of the factors making the Lakers uncompetitive. The other losers are the agents who represent the top tier because their % is worth less and they can't compete by making every big contract bigger than the last one. And that my friends, is why Bryce Harper goes off on Rob Manfred about a salary cap. He is protecting Bryce Harper's wallet and Philly's ability to sign other guys with big contracts and still pay him $30m a year. I have no problem with that, but let's not think he's a white knight protecting players as a whole. It's the multi millionaires vs. the billionaires. Hard to get excited about picking a winner there, so I go with what I think will make the sport more fun. To me, that's a more competitive situation with more parity like the NBA and NFL. And what do they have that MLB doesn't have (other than much smarter owners)? A salary cap and floor.

I'd be with you if there were equalized revenues, but they're aren't. I live in LA. It's great that the Dodgers effectively have no spending limit because if their huge TV revenue and the fact they draw 50,000 plus fans a night at prices higher than most of the league. To the Dodgers, that luxury tax payment is simply a cost of doing business that does not meaningfully enter into the calculus of whether or not to acquire a particular player. Now arguably the Dodgers are also consistently good because they have the best farm system and organization, but we can't deny that the financial advantages give them a major leg up. That's also true to a lesser extent for the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Phillies, Red Sox, Astros, and should be true for the White Sox but they are run by morons. I think a salary cap with a hard floor plus "Bird rights" like in the NBA could work. In other words, everyone has the same amount to spend, except that you can exceed the cap without penalty to sign a player that you've developed. There would have to be some guardrails to avoid gamesmanship. The amount of the cap is tied to all MLB related revenues, including local TV money and you have to have better sharing of that local TV money. By doing that, you raise the cap available to play the players outside of the big markets. This could be a little tough for the players at the top end although the salaries in the NFL and NAS suggest that the best players will be seriously paid. Could be better for the players at the bottom by raising the basic payrolls of the Miamis, etc. This doesn't solve all the financial problems because a cap number and the cash spend can be very different depending on bonuses, guarantees, etc. just like in the NFL and NBA, but it would really help level the playing field IMHO. To me, that's the whole point.. You want to level the playing field so there is a more exciting product that raises overall media rights revenue, improves overall attendance, and raises fan engagement. I'm sure this idea has many holes but Baseball has a problem and this might help fix it.

Agreed. By the way, I was just informed that 2026 is Rodriguez's last option year. If that's true, I think he has to be on the opening day roster or up soon thereafter if he isn't hurt again. That probably leaves Emma and Martin as the 4th and 5th OFs if Jenkins is on the team unless Wallner moves to 1B. There is then no room at the Inn for the likes of Outman, Roden, Fedko, etc. , and really no room for Larnach unless he moves to 1B. Should be interesting in the OF - do you stay with guys like Larnach, Wallner, and Martin, do you make the move and roll with guys like Jenkins, Emma and Roden, or do you do some kind of combination? I know what I'd do (trade/non-tender Larnach and Outman, and keep Martin and Emma with the rest at AAA), but what do I know, Should be interesting to watch. .

I agree that he can be a good starter and a dangerous hitter. Who knows where his ceiling can be? He could be a .260/.370/.520 hitter with 35+ HRs and a 25% SO rate. Not likely, but within the realm of possibility. Not to parse words, but that kind of production would make him a star, at least for this team. There are people here and apparently on social media that think he should be traded or released, Now that may have been sad in the heat of the moment, but that's really where my opposition lies, To me, that would be a real mistake.

Interesting analysis. It does tend to go with the eye test of watching Wallner consistently be unable to handle the high strike fastball in critical situations. The elite pitchers have that pitch and can throw it for strikes at 96+ MPH; the average or lesser pitchers do not and cannot. Funny thing is, you can correlate this to his more prosaic, easy to follow stats - pitchers found this flaw this year and he's hitting .215, up from the .200 he was at instead of the .259 he hit last year. He hits .240-.260 he's a middle of the order bat; at .200-.230 he's a part time DH hitting 7th. I will say though that his stats against LH pitching are markedly improved this year so he may be able to play every day. Now I get to the part where I part company with both the "Wallner is the next star" and "Wallner is Joey Gallo, trade him while we still can" crowds. The swing flaw is fixable and the guy has had only 765 MLB ABs. We can also hope that any nerves or similar issue will improve over time, Trading or releasing Wallner, as some would have us do, makes no sense to me. His trade value is in the prospects range, not in the valuable MLB piece range. If release him, he will get snapped up by a bottom feeder team, hit 35 HRs a year for a loser, and be in the All Star game - think Brent Rooker - and we will get nothing for an asset that has some value. Conversely, he's not a middle of the order bat now and may never become one. In fact, he may be Dave Kingman. We know that the continuum ranges from srikeout prone low leverage only slugger to All Star. We just don't know where he will land. I think the next month plus the 2026 season will tell the tale on Wallner. I'm frankly optimistic that he can become a lineup asset in spots 4-6 but then I'm an optimist by nature. He'll never be a defensive asset but he can be average(ish) in RF or at least not a negative and maybe can play 1B. I'd like to se them try him at 1B with our OF MiLB depth. By the way guys, thanks for this series. I found it very interesting. I'd love to see a similar analysis on Lee and Lewis, who I think are the keys to whether this can be a short rebuild along with Wallner and Keaschall. Let's be real, if those 4 plus Buxton aren't above average or better, we're screwed no matter how good the pitching is unless someone else comes us as Keaschall and comes up soon. Maybe Jenkins? Besides, this season is a complete disaster. This gives us something positive to talk about with this sad sack franchise.

I don't have any more information than what I read but I will say that this article makes some sense on two levels. The franchise would be worth more if there was cost certainty through a hard salary cap and revenue enhancement through increased TV revenue and more revenue sharing. What doesn't ring true is the idea that the 2 new "limited partners" don't have a defined path to ownership. A right of first refusal is the next best thing when there's disagreement on value, though. That's a method used when the two parties want to buy and sell but just can't agree on valuation. It wouldn't shock me if here the Pohlads wanted an effective 2.1B valuation (1.7B plus 400M of debt assumption) and the buyers were 100-300M below that number. The Pohlads get a defined amount of time to find another buyer willing to pay more and the buyers have a right to match. If the Pohlads can't find anyone within a defined time, the buyers initial offer becomes the sale price, sometimes at a slight discount to convince the buyers to stay in the game. The key is that the time within which to find a new buyer is defined, not open ended. It would make some sense that the end date is tied to the negotiations for a new CBA since that could really effect the valuation. We also shouldn't discount the impact of interest rates. This is a financed deal. I don't want to get into politics, so I'll just say that the future path of interest rates is at best unclear. We don't know where the economy or the Fed is going and the possibilities range from recession to expansion to stagflation with one able to use the economic indicators to construct any plausible scenario in between. There is a high amount of non-economic pressure that could influence interest rate policy in either direction. The legal issues are beyond complex and could also impact what happens. It frankly might be a better deal for a buyer to pay more in a year or 18 moths but finance the price at a 1-2% lower interest rate. It's all just math leading to a number on a page.

I agree that Wallner tends to be undervalued. Having said that, hitting around .200 tends to get one moved down in the order. He's now up to .215 with a .321 OPS and has been moved back up since the fire sale. He's also batting .235/.361/.602 in his last 30 games (98 ABs). I will note he's also hitting .222/.319/.460 (.779) against LH pitching for the year, up from a .665 OPS against lefties in 2024. He's better than most of the swing and miss profiles from the past, and he's definitely a better hitter than Larnach. Wallner can be an important piece going forward. Whether that will be as a guy hitting in middle of the order or in the 6/7/8 holes depends almost entirely on his batting average and, by extension, his OBP. If he can hit .240-.260 with an OBP above .350 while keeping his SO rate under 30% and without sacrificing power (he hit .259/.372/523 last year in 220 ABs (SSS)), he can be that #4 hitter we really need hitting behind Keaschall. I'd love to see him moved to 1B but I did hear the other poster who says he has the agility of Lurch from the Addams Family. He ain't wrong.

Cardenas makes the most sense to me for the extra spot, assuming one will go t a position player and 1 to a pitcher. I would like to see Fedko and Gonzalez get a shot but I just don't see it happening. As an earlier poster pointed out, the guys you might send down are the same guys you have to evaluate for 2026 (Julien, Outman, Martin). Question, I think that any call up, even September call ups, have to be on the 40 man roster. Is that true? If so, another barrier to someone like Cardenas, Fedko or Gaonzalez, although there's lots of chaff on our 40 man to dump.

I didn't see that next year is Rodriguez's last option year. If that's the case, he's got to be the 4th/5th OF next year behind Buxton, Jenkins, and Wallner, and it's a fight between Martin, Outman, and Fedko for the other backup OF job with Martin probably winning that job. On the catching side, I'm influenced by the change in Ryan's performance after losing Vasquez who kind of became his personal catcher. My point is we need a backup, can't be Micky Gasar (shudder), and Vasquez has the history and rapport with these pitchers. You're right that Genesis Cabrera and Blake Kriske at the very least should not be gracing a big league mound and that's the root problem. Still, I want a good catcher to team with Jeffers next year like Vasquez or Austin Hedges, not a good bat who also catches like Danny Jansen.I wh ishwe had someone ready at AAA but I just think we don't.

Well, this season's over except for the crying (like after last night), so a young(ish) man's thoughts turn to next season. What should that Opening Day roster look like? Here's my take. Couple of rules - you have to use guys we now have or, if you put in a trade or FA placeholder you have to identify who will be traded and you have to assume that the FA will be $8m a year or less. No signing Pete Alonso or William Contreras to fill the 1B or C hole. That's just a fantasy. Also, take out the idea that guys will be in AAA for a few weeks to suppress service time for this exercise or, if you think that's likely, your roster should be as of May 15 to take that out. My philosophy is to push young players quickly now while we're in a rebuild (and that's what this is). I completely reject the idea of signing guys like Harrison Bader, Jesse Winker, or Kiner-Falefa to fill holes to raise our floor so we're mediocre rather than bad. This team isn't a contender looking to patch a few holes; this is a speeded up rebuild. Now is the time to push the chips we have in and see what we got. For example, I love the idea of Walter Jenkins starting next year in LF. Let's see if he's ready in ST and if he shows well, which I think he will, play him now. My thought of the "push ahead to build quickly 2026 roster": OF - Buxton, Jenkins, Wallner, Martin, Fedko/Gonzalez/Rodriguez/Outman - I think it will be Outman to have the true backup CF but I don't think he lasts long. I'd give Fedko the first shot, then Rodriguez (if he's ever healthy), then Gonzalez. IF - Keaschall (1B), Lee (SS), Lewis (3B), K Culpepper (2B), Clemens (1B/2B/OF), Eeles/Holland (UTL). Same deal with Culpepper, if he shows in ST, he's the starting 2B with Eeles, Clemens, Martin, or Holland as plan B. Keaschall fills the 1B hole; he's stretched at 2B and is a bat first guy. C - Jeffers, Vasquez (yup, the team ERA since he got hurt shows his value) or vet glove first FA (say Austin Hedges, not Danny Jansen). This is the one area where I value glove and handling the staff/calling the game over bat because of the pitching staff changes. We also don't really have anyone else ready other than maaaybe Noah Cardenas and the FA list is either really expensive or really bad. SP - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Matthews, Bradley. Zebby and Taj get the first crack with the AAA guys listed below up next. Too much talent there to give up or move either of them to the bullpen yet. Both have #2/3 starter potential and Zebby could be a #1 in time. RP - Topa, Sands, Hatch, Funderburk, Festa, SWR, Coulombe, Ohl/Lawyerson/FA/RP acquired by trading Larnach. Festa and Topa start as co-closers, Festa is closer by mid-season. On the FA front, I would definitely sign Coulombe and would shoot for our old friends Tyler Rogers and Zack Littel. I would also be talking to Jacob Junis and Kyle Finnegan. Devin Williams might be an interesting reclamation project after pitching great for Milwaukee and flaming our in New York if we can get him for $5-8M a year on a 1 year deal. Gone (or in AAA as Depth) - Larnach, Julien, Tonkin, Kriske, Cabrera, Gaspar, and Fitzgerald; Outman unless he hits or maybe right away if Emma comes up. AAA rotation - Abel, Prielipp, Rojas, Klein, CJ Culpepper, Morris, Raya. These guys plus Adams, Ohl, and Lewis are the AAA bullpen depth as well; Mike Peredes and Cade Bragg move up to AAA and could be callup candidates depending on how they do. No more throwing guys like Genesis Cabrera, Erasmo Ramirez, or Darren McCaughen into the bullpen. This team is more athletic, faster, but inexperienced and the bullpen is a question mark. Rotation is a real strength without injury and has real depth. On offense, run wild like they are now. Buxton and Keaschall should have 20+ stolen bases, Lee, Lewis, Martin, Wallner, Jenkins, and Culpepper should have at least 10. We're going to need to manufacture runs and now you have the pieces to do that. Help the bullpen and starters with a number 2 catcher like Vasquez or Hedges; Jeffers is the DH when he doesn't catch. Put Culpeper at 2B because Lee has come alive since becoming the starting SS. Really try hard to trade Larnach (plus prospect(s) if necessary) for an established average or better reliever or sign one as a FA. Hatch and SWR are 2 plus innings at a time guys. They cover the 4 or 5 inning starts and start on short notice when necessary. No more inning at a time in the middle innings. Bring back Coulombe and/or Taylor Rogers as the second/third LH. Topa, Sands, Festa, Funderburk, Coulombe, and the FA handle the late innings - bring your antacids. This team could win 85-90 games; it could win 70-75 games. Wide variation but more fun to watch and better positioned to get better as the year goes on. What do you think?

Sending my support from SoCal brother, keep up the fight. My prayers are with you. Great sentiments and puts things in perspective. We sometimes forget how important it is to keep up the struggle. Fight on!

Anyone that says Wallner should be released or DFA'd doesn't know very much about baseball. He gets snapped up immediately and we will see him as the Oakland/Miami/Colorado/CWS All Star game rep hitting 35+ HRs a season.

I agree with your theory of pushing players now while we're in a rebuild (that's what this is). Love the idea of Jenkins starting next year in LF. I can't agree on Rodriguez. He's not ready and isn't ever healthy. My thought of the "push ahead to build quickly 2026 roister": OF - Buxton, Jenkins, Wallner, Martin, Fedko/Gonzalez/Outman IF - Keaschall (1B), Lee (SS), Lewis (3B), K Culpepper (2B), Clemens (1B/2B/OF), Eeles/Holland (UTL) C - Jeffers, Vasquez (yup, the team ERA since he got hurt shows his value) or vet glove first FA SP - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Matthews, Bradley RP - Topa, Sands, Hatch, Funderburk, Festa, SWR, Coulombe, Ohl/Lawyerson/FA/RP acquired by trading Larnach. Festa and Topa start as co-closers, Festa is closer by mid-season. Gone (or in AAA as Depth) - Larnach, Julien, Tonkin, Kriske, Cabrera, Gaspar, Fitzgerald, Tonkin AAA rotation - Abel, Prielipp, Rojas, Klein, CJ Culpepper, Morris, Raya This team is more athletic, faster, but inexperienced and the bullpen is a question mark. Rotation is a real strength without injury and has real depth. On offense, run wild like they are now. Buxton and Keaschall should have 20+ stolen bases, Lee, Lews, Martin, Wallner, Jenkins, and Culpepper should have at least 10. We're going to need to manufacture runs and now you have the pieces to do that. Help the bullpen and starters with a number 2 catcher like Vasquez; Jeffers is the DH when he doesn't catch. Put Culpeper at 2B because Lee has come alive since becoming the starting SS. Really try hard to trade Larnach (plus prospect(s) if necessary) for an established average or better reliever or sign one as a FA. Hatch and SWR are 2 plus innings at a time guys. They cover the 4 or 5 inning starts and start on short notice when necessary. No more inning at a time in the middle innings. Bring back Coulombe as the second LH. Topa, Sands, Festa, Funderburk, Coulombe, and the FA handle the late innings - bring your antacids. This team could win 85-90 games; it could win 70-75 games. Wide variation but more fun to watch and better positioned to get better as the year goes on.

Well put. There really isn't any question that Wallner is a better player than Larnach. I would say that even if their salaries were reversed. Wallner is a guy you keep longer term, and even experiment with a position change (1B?) to make sure you keep him in the everyday lineup. By the way, Wallner is hitting .222/.319/.460 (.779) in 63 ABS against LH pitching this year, up from a .665 OPS against LHs last year, so he in fact may be an everyday player. I do have two nits though. First, you call Wallner a "middle of the order bat". Can't agree with you there. The man is hitting .215 with a .321 OBP. That is NOT a middle of the order bat unless this is the 70s in Chicago and Dave Kingman is what you got. I think it's a good bet that Wallner can become a middle of the order by raising his BA and OBP by 25-30 points or more to at least .240-.260/.350-.375. He went .259/.372 in a smaller sample size last year so I think he can and I really like the fact the Rocco has him in the #4 spot most days, but he ain't there yet on a consistent basis. Second, on a more positive note, I think he can be an above average base runner. I love that Rocco has changed his ways and we're running all over the place. Wallner can be part of that. He has the speed and instincts to steal 10-15 bags a year and consistently go from 1st to 3rd on singles. Wallner is a keeper. We should be looking at everyone on the roster and decide whether they can be part of a contending team. That's the standard; not whether they are the best you got at a position, whether they are good enough to play on a contending team and in what role. Wallner hits well enough to play on a contending team but he needs a different role as a 1B/part time OF/DH. I could even live with him in RF if he raises that BA and OBP 25 points, but only if you have a Buxton type in CF and an above average fielding LF. Can't play Wallner in RF and a Larnach type in LF.

What do you think about Keaschall at 1B and a combo of Martin, Clemens, and eventually Culpepper at 2B for 2026?

Was his sidekick Roundhouse Rodney? If that's true, I am really dating myself. Good thing since no woman would date me. Thank God I'm married.

Lauer is also . . . not good. Seriously though, how did this guy come in with an 8-2 record and ERA under 3? He's throwing batting practice.

Hey, you may be right about SWR. As a starter though, he can't go more than 5 innings on a good day and has too many games like tonight. In other words, we get a realtively low ceiling on a good night and a really low floor on a bad night, Add to that there are too many bad nights. I wonder if 6th starter long man is his best role. Either that or trade bait . . .

Wow, SWR is just . . . not good. Time for Thomas Hatch to come in piggyback style. I still like SWR in the bullpen better than the rotation.