LA Vikes Fan

Fedko is replaced by Jeffers when he’s ready to rejoin the Twins, probably today. I do like Arcia for Gray to give us a UTL who can play SS behind Kriedler but then there’s no room to bring up Roden or Jenkins. I think the OFs may have to wait until a trade or an injury to get a shot.

I see them trying to thread the needle if we don’t bottom out the next 3 weeks. The first move is Jeffers up for Fedko, then Roden for a DFA’d and traded for cash considerations Gray. Roden is CF insurance with Clemens so Kriedler can be the everyday SS. Jeffers is traded for pitching including relief help. Much speculation about Ryan, not even close to a trade unless we bottom out and even then we keep him to the offseason. He just said very nice things about Shelton, Caratini, and Team chemistry. Things a guy angling for an extension would say. Much smoke on Larnach, Bell, and Clemens. No fire, all 3 stay. Wallner moved for an A ball Lotto ticket or as part of a package with a prospect for a AA pitcher.

Pronounced ooh suk go. Seriously. I am not making that up. Dominant closer in the KBO before coming over to the states. Struggled with Miami and SD, released, picked up by Detroit, having a very good year in AA and AAA. Corresponding move not necessary for 40 man because we have an open spot but I understand his contract assignment clause means he has to be added to the 26 man, which is why Detroit traded him. Probably a replacement for Lawyerson if he's added to the 26 man.

Thanks. I had read harder fastball but maybe he slowed things down to improve his control. He was a very sought after guy in 2024 when he came over from Korea. Who knows, maybe there's something there. Worth a shot.

The Twins just acquired a relief pitcher from the Tigers. His name is . . . wait for it .. Woo-Suk Go. I am not making that up. Pronounced ooh, suk go. Again, I am not making that up. Go is a 27 year old RH who came over in 2024 and struggled with the Padres and Marlins. He has rediscovered his form this year in the minors after the Tigers signed him and pitched well in AA and AAA. He has an assignment clause in his contract so the Twins have to put him on the 40 man, not sure if he has to go on the 26 man roster. We have an open 40 man spot so no corresponding move necessary. 95 MPH fastball, touches 98, with a good curve at 78-83 MPH. Late inning power stuff, dominant reliver in the KBO. His weakness? In a huge surprise, sometimes has control issues. If he's coming to the Twins 26 man, likely to replace Lawyerson or Funderburk. I say Lawyerson. Funderburk is LH so he stays until Rojas is ready to take his place. What do you think? Is Woo Suk Go the solution? If he is, name the problem...

By the way, the Twins just acquired a relief pitcher from the Tigers. His name is . . . wait for it .. Woo-Suk Go. I am not making that up. Pronounced ooh, suk go. Again, I am not making that up. Go is a 27 year old RH who came over in 2024 and struggled with the Padres and Marlins. He has rediscovered his form this year in the minors after the Tigers signed him and pitched well in AA and AAA. He has an assignment clause so the Twins have to put him on the 40 man, not sure if they have to keep him on the 26 man roster. We have an open 40 man spot so no corresponding move required. 95 MPH fastball, touches 98, with a good curve at 78-83 MPH. Late inning power stuff, dominant reliver in the KBO. His weakness? In a huge surprise, sometimes has control issues. Likely to replace Lawyerson or Funderburk. I say Lawyerson. Funderburk is LH so he stays until Rojas is ready to take his place.

NO, he won't. There are at least 6 teams trolling the waiver wire for second catchers, all of whom are much worse this year than Jackson. Joey Bart, Matt Thaiss, Gary Sanchez, and James McCann all have MLB jobs, and Sandy Leon did until a few weeks ago. Jackson will last about 2 minutes on the waiver wire. He isn't the one going for Jeffers. Fedko is. That's why Fedko hasn't been sent down go for Roden, They're saving his spot for Jeffers.

As was I. Today was impressive. I still see Ryan as a very good #2 starter, not a #1, but he looked great today.

Absolutely right. Jackson can do as much as Fedko is now doing in the field except play centerfield, and hits a whole lot better. He can be that pinch runner if Martin‘s already in the game. Besides, we waive Jackson someone will take him given how desperate teams are for backup catchers after all the injuries these season. Tomorrow we’ll see Fedco down, Jeffers activated. Just in time for Cleveland.

I agree with all of that except the conclusion that he's a #1. He may be in the top 10-15 starters this year but that doesn't make him fit at least for my definition of a #1. I see a #1 starter as a guy who regularly pitches at least 180 innings a season (the standard is really 200 but the game has changed), ERA/FIP/Sierra all under 3.25, ERA ideally under 3, regularly pitches into the 7th and sometimes the 8th, gives team a real good chance to win 8 games out of 10 and almost always saves the bullpen. They have a clunker here or there but when it happens you're always surprised. There aren't 30 #1 starters in my opinion; there are probably about 10. Most teams don't have a #1. Yamamoto, Cole pre-injury, Skubal, Skenes, Crochet, those guys are #1 starters. Ohtani can be if he's injury free, Brown, Cease and Webb have been some years, deGrom and Sale used to be and may be coming back to that status. Thee are a few others that don't come right to mind. These are guys that when you see them lined up against your team you think, well, that's a loss, hope we can win the other two games. Ryan isn't there yet and probably won't ever be. Lopez was close and could be. That's my view anyway.

September 2026 unless they trade away a bunch of guys at the deadline and make August a tryout camp lie last year. Get his feet wet this year and let him compete for a roster spot during ST 2027. History tells us that its more likely than not that he will have some struggles and have to go back to AA at least once after he comes up. Let's get him acclimated to the pitching this year so he can go through those growing pains in the first half of next year and be ready to really contribute in the back half of 2027.

Well analyzed by Nick as usual. I agree with his bottom line. We basically have two quality relievers in Gomez and Morris, two adequate guys that can be in the back half of a decent bullpen in Orze and Rogers, an unknown in Raya, and three guys who really should be in AAA most of the season coming up only as necessary for injuries. That makes it hard to go on a long winning streak. I think the strategy is pretty obvious. We have a month before the trade deadline. We need to use that time to see whether there’s any reinforcements coming internally. That means getting CJ Culpepper, Rozek, Rojas, and maybe even Rashi up to the Twins. If we have reinforcements, those are probably the only possible guys along with Paredes if Ober comes back to the rotation and nobody else gets hurt.. Then by late July, we have some information about who we have, whether the team has a chance to be a dark horse WC contender, and how desperate the need. Jeffers will be traded if he’s healthy. We have to get one younger established MLB reliever as part of the return. If we can we also want to get one higher ceiling AAA starting pitching prospect that we can put in the bullpan for the rest of the year as well. We also look at some lower level trades that might let us a decent relief pitcher but I don’t hold out a lot of hope for anything more than that because of who we have to trade. Guys like Larnach and Bell might get you a pretty good sixth or seventh inning guy, but they’re not gonna get you quality late inning relief help. We also have to pray that neither Gomez or Morris gets hurt. i’m against trading Ryan before the off-season and I don’t think they will trade Ryan unless we fall out of whatever one defines as contention. And frankly, if we fall out of contention to get to the 85 wins or so it will take to be a wildcard this year, then I don’t think trading for relief help matters. In that case, trade Jeffers, Ryan, Bell, and Larnach for the highest quality baseball players you can get regardless of what position they play.

Good win. Still, two things. Lawyerson is reminding us why he cannot be an MLB pitcher. He simply does not throw enough strikes. He should go back down tomorrow and be replaced by either Culpepper or Rashi, or even Rosek. Gray cannot play shortstop. Gomez should’ve been out of that 9th then in 10 quick pitches. Instead he had to throw longer, work harder, and it’s going to come back to bite us. DFA Gray, promote Alan Roden, and make Kreidler the shortstop. Make those two changes please. Today.

I think the problem is that even if we backdated a 10 day IL stint for three days, Buxton wouldn't be available in York or against Cleveland. They must feel like he will be back and ready to play in one of those two series.

I completely agree with you on Fedko but I think they may keep him until Jeffers is ready to come back so they have someone to demote to make room on the 26 man roster. They can't demote Jackson because he is out of options and he will never survive waivers. With all the injuries to catchers in MLB there are at least 5 to 7 teams desperate for a passable backup or platoon catcher and Jackson fits that role, at least this year. I am with you though. I would send it down Fedko, have Roden meet the team in New York, and play him pretty regularly until Jeffers is ready to come back. I don't think he will be back until after the All-Star break so that gives you at least nine games to see what you have in Roden. Now you know what to do when Jeffers comes back, either demote Martin, send Roden back to AAA, or keep those two, make Kriedler the everyday SS and DFA Gray. I vote for the third option there but why not give Roden some run so you have some data to actually make an informed decision? Here's our chance guys.

I agree. It makes me wonder why we play Gray at SS instead of Kriedler. A good SS and CF elevates an entire defense, and bad defenders at either position drags everybody else down. We have the CF. Kriedler can be that SS; Gray cannot.

I'm with you on his abilities but I see Martin a tick higher, a good 4th OF on a good team. Starts a couple days a week when starters get a day off, can play for a week or two when someone is on the 10 day !L, defensive sub for a bat first guy, etc. He's got to learn to play a competent CF to be the true 4th OF but I think he's capable of that with work and opportunity. He's the 4th OF now and if a starter gets knocked out for the season we call up or trade for someone to replace that starter and Martin is still the 4th OF.

Agree with all of this, but I think you have to let this play out a little longer. You expect younger players to have peaks and valleys in their first full season. Having said that, Martin had a very high peak last two months of 2025 and the first month and 1/2 2026, and has had an incredibly deep valley until about a week ago. In the last seven games, he's had 16 ABs and is hitting .313/.353/.313, with only 1 strike out but only 1 walk. I think what really happened is that pitchers have realized that even if they throw him a mistake, he's not going to hurt them too badly. A middle middle fastball might get hit for a double but not a homerun, and most other hittable pitches are singles. If I am pitching to him I go ahead and challenge him, particularly if no one is on base. That's going to limit his ability to walk, which limits his OBP, and limits his value. Still, he is getting better again so I would let this play out a little longer. Keep in mind he is the second demotion from the outfield, Fedko goes before he goes since Fedko has shown to date that he cannot hit major league pitching. I think the timing is dependent on when and if Jeffers is coming back and how long we intend to keep him when he does before he is traded. Fedko is still on the roster give us someone to easily demote when Jeffers is activated. Jackson is out of options and will not survive waivers given how many catching injuries there have been and how desperate teams are for passable backup catchers. Sandy Leon had an MLB job for a month for goodness sakes. We want to keep Jackson to be the backup catcher once Jeffers is traded. I do think it's a fair question whether we should demote Martin in favor of Alan Roden. I suspect the team is waiting until they have a better read on when Jeffers will be ready and on whether we have any significant injuries before the ASB that would create an opportunity for Roden. My view would be DFA Gray, move Kreider to the full time SS spot, and call up Roden to play RF against RH pitching and CF every day Buxton sits. Fedko almost never plays until Jeffers comes back and then he is demoted to AAA. By then, hopefully we have some read on whether Roden is ready and can contribute and at what level, which then makes it easier to know what to do with Martin. Martin can be anything from a a guy who takes the old James Outman pinch runner/defensive replacement role, to that with a little more occasional OF start and pinch-hitting duties, to a short side platoon player, to a guy you make a longer run commitment to to work through his slump. Yes, then we don't really have a backup SS other than Lee but he was as good at SS as Gray is now so that really isn't a downgrade. What about Wallner you say? He comes up if and only if Bell is gone. Wallner is a DH who occasionally plays in the field. That role is currently taken.

I thought the original post reached accurate conclusions but I disagree with some of the things stated. Joe Ryan has been an very good #2 starter. He has not pitched like a #1 because he hasn't consistently pitched into the 7th inning and he has been too inconsistent. Last night was a very good example of both and not the only example. A #1 given a three run lead before he steps on the mound ruthlessly shuts down the other team, crushes their dreams, and go seven innings giving up one or two runs. I hope he stays but we really miss Pablo Lopez. Bad. He's a #1. The good news is the starting pitching has been much better than expected with all of the injuries. Bradley and Matthews have been revelations and it looks like Preilipp and Paredes may be MLB starters at a #2 or #3 and #4/5 level respectively. The offense has been better than I expected and I think that will continue and could even improve if a guy like Roden, Culpeper Emma, etc. comes up and hits. The bullpen stinks, although it is improving at least a little. The starting pitching injuries killed any chance of internal improvement. I think the plan all along was for two of Prielipp, Festa, Abel, Rojas, and Matthews to be in the pen covering late innings with the other 3 as the 5th, 6th, and 7th starters. Instead, those 5 are all either injured or rotation stalwarts and we're scrambling. Bad on the FO for not getting more depth for sure. Thank god they found Gomez. Some national outlets suggest he should be traded. Makes sense if you're rooting for another team or if you think he's a mirage. I see a 26 year old hard thrower who has shown he could be a closer and has multiple years of control left. Trading him for anything less than a proven middle of the order bat with multiple years of control left (good luck with that) would be insane. We need more Gomezes, not trade the one we have. The defense we started out with turned out worse than expected. I understand trying to see if Lee could handle SS and Keaschall 2B. Some had doubts, me included, but I don't thank anyone thought they would be this bad at those spots. At least we pivoted, although more slowly than one would like. I think the defense in its present configuration will be average in the second half, a big step up, and could be better than average if we would just install Kriedler at SS and leave him there every day. For Christsakes, he's far and away the best fielding SS we have and he can hit a little at least so far. Quit getting cute and playing matchups to get Gray in the lineup. He's a guy hitting .238 with a .631 OPS who can't play short. Play him, why exactly? WTF? Play Kriedler until Houston or Culpepper is ready. Set it and forget it. Finally, I think the biggest improvement made in the first half that will really show in the second half is the replacement of Rocco and Falvey with Shelton and Zoll. The latter two have shown much more flexibility, much more willingness to change and experiment, and Shelton seems to be able to run a cohesive team where the guys genuinely play hard for each other. This team is a work in progress and will be for the rest of the season. To be successful, Shelton has to adapt day-to-day and week to week, and Zoll has to be willing to promote aggressively, take chances, and ruthlessly cut and run when those chances don't work out. Luis Garcia wasn't going to work out and we knew it after he'd been in the team for a week, yet he stuck around for a month. Now Falvey wouldn't have cut him and Rocco would still be pitching him in high leverage situations so what we did is an improvement of sorts. It's just not enough of improvement. We can't do that and have any hope for success. Overall, we are what our records says we are – a slightly below average team with aspirations and the possibility of being a slightly above average team, but with the possibility of sinking to a well below average team. Starting pitching B+, hitting A-, defense D- improving with a C possibly in sight, Bullpen a D- hoping to someday be a C-. Manager A. Front office the B- but with a little tutoring and improvement, could be a B to B+. All adds up to a team that's gonna win between 75 and 85 games, and which could be anywhere in between. Hey, better than I expected.

I was hoping you would mention someone else but you're right with maybe one exception. Rashi has a low ERA, but not a great or even much of a MLB track record. I've never seen the guy pitch. Is there anything there?

Sadly, I think you're right. Larnach probably needs to be a 4th OF/DH playing 5 days a week but 3-4 of them as the DH. Of course then what do you do with Bell now and, if he's traded, Wallner? Bottom line is we need his bat in the lineup so we gotta play him somewhere. LF or maybe RF is the logical and maybe only available spot

YOu may be right about Culppeper. I would also like to see Rozek get a shot in the bullpen. He's already 30 and is not in anybody's plans as to future rotation piece so let's see if he can help us now. You mentioned there are two relievers performing well in St. Paul. Who are the? Where they are, let's get them appear and see if they can perform well at the major-league level.

I completely agree. One of the refreshing things about this season has been Twins' willingness to change when things aren't working, something that Rocco and Falvey always seemed unwilling to do. We tried Lee at SS. He couldn't cut it in the field, so we moved him to 3B where he may turn into an above average regular. Same with Keaschall. Paredes showed more than we expected so now he has a rotation spot, not just a bulk role after an opener. We've brought up players, we've sent down players who aren't performing. We went on the waiver wire for relief pitchers and actually found one (out of about five) who can actually perform and be an important part of the bullpen. We have moved guys around the diamond to improve the defense. Shelton and Zoll are trying to make the team better; they aren't just sitting back and hoping that doing the same thing will lead to different results. I think the big take away from the first half of the season is that this team could actually compete for a Wild Card spot this year if they can even just get to having an average bullpen. I don't think we can get there just with calling up guys may have or just when Sands returns. We are going to have to make trades for bullpen guys. I wonder if it's worth doing it because teams are going to want some of our better prospects for older bullpen pitchers. I'm a relentless optimist but even I don't think we have a chance of doing anything in the playoffs even if we could miraculously sneak in. Any trade for bullpen piece should be for a guy under 30 with a future if we're giving up a decent or better prospect. Still, it's been a lot more fun to watch than I expected.

Guys, it sure looks like 85 wins gets you into the postseason this year. 83 wins might be good enough. 85 wins means going 45-32 starting Monday for the rest of the season. Right now we're 1-0 on that quest. So I'm saying there's a chance ... In all seriousness, there still is a chance IMO. I think Cody's right, the 25 games from yesterday through July 31 will tell us if we can seize that chance. If we go 15-10 to get to .500, we have a shot. If we can't even do that, it's over. Play the young guys around Buxton, Bell and Clemens, promote relievers until you find at least one who can actually throw strikes coming out of the pen, and see if there's a shot. If there is, trade for a reliever or 3. If not, shut it down and use Aug 1-3 to trade the short term spare parts like Bell and Rogers, trade Larnach if you can get value for him, and see if anybody will give you even a 40-45 rated AA guy for Wallner. Shot or not, you still trade Jeffers for a real starting pitcher prospect, plus relief pitching help and/or an MLB ready 2B. Keep Ryan to potentially trade in the off season.

I have to agree on Adams. He’s just not good enough at this point in his career. I say send him down and call up CJ Culpepper or even Rashi. He might not be any better, but it would be hard for him to be worse.