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LA Vikes Fan

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Everything posted by LA Vikes Fan

  1. LA Vikes Fan
    Agreed. Absent some substantial change, Martin is the opening day LF and an every day player in that position unless he shows he can’t hit like he did in the second half of last year. We want the outfield to get faster and better on defense. Martin was +5 OAA in LF last year. He needs to work on his base running but the 20 stolen base a year profile is there. Admittedly no power. I’m guessing he leads off or hits in the nine hole next year, a.k.a., the second lead off.
  2. LA Vikes Fan
    I would say a 65-75 win team with 70 as the over/under, but I am the eternal optimist.
  3. LA Vikes Fan
    I think you guys are too itchy on the trigger finger for a trade of Lopez or Ryan. The smart time to trade them is at the 2026 deadline more so than now. There isn't a "need" to trade them given our current payroll. the expert speculation is just that; speculation without really any backing. I think teams are calling and Falvey is listening on both but the required return is sky high. He'll get more at the deadline so why move now? I think the more likely scenario is that you are looking at the 2026 team right now except that I could see us signing 1 or 2 low wattage relief types, a backup catcher (Heim or even Vasquez back?) and maybe a 1B. The rotation is set 1-4 with Bradley and Matthews fighting for #5, Bradley winning. The bullpen is the 3 we still have, three from Festa, Prielipp, Raya, and Ohl, and 2 FAs or 1 plus Adams. The lineup is what we trotted out in September except that Larnach is gone, replaced by Roden, Fedko, or GG, in that order. I know that makes for a boring offseason but I think that's the plan.
  4. LA Vikes Fan
    This makes me think - what is our lineup in 2026 assuming no new guys other than relief pitchers and Larnach traded for a reliever or prospect (fairly likely scenario, IMHO). Here's my view of the likely batting order: Martin (LF), Keaschall (2B), Buxton (CF/DH), Wallner (DH/RF), Lewis (3B), Jeffers (C), Clemens (1B), Lee (SS), Roden/Outman/Fedko (RF/CF/DH) Bench: 2 of Roden/Outman/Fedko, 2nd C (Pereda, Cardenas, or the return of Vasquez), Kreidler/Fitzgerald (UTL that can play SS). I need a drink. Wake me up if something happens.
  5. LA Vikes Fan
    Hard to get excited about Clemens as the everyday 1B. Also hard to get excited about anyone in free agency who is in the Twins price range, especially after Josh Naylor signed for 5 years at between $18 and $20 million a year. There just isn't anybody out there in our price range except uninspiring guys like Ty France, Wilmer Flores, and Carlos Santana. Maybe Miguel Andujar ca be a platoon guy/DH (he can't field a lick), but even that doesn't really move any sort of needle. I'm hopeful they will give Fedko and/or Sabato shot at the weak side of the platoon and see if they can hit but I don't see much else. Maybe a trade of Larnach for Mountcastle or Casas could happen - change of scenery candidate for change of scenery candidate - but that seems doubtful. If Clemens could hit even .230-.260 with a mid to high .700s OPs he's be a real asset, but nothing in his history suggests that's likely. I agree with those who day we need someone to hit in the middle of the order. You're right but we ain't going to get that at 1B unless Pete Alonso will sing for $10m a year (he won't). We have one middle of the order hitter - Byron Buxton - and two potential leadoff/#2 types - Keaschall and Martin, both based on SSS. Unless Jeffers, Wallner, or Lewis steps up, all we got after Buxton is a bunch of guys who should hit 6-9 on a good team. I guess we'll try to steal our way into a decent offense, or hope that GG or Jenkins can hit the ground running. I'm not holding my breath.
  6. LA Vikes Fan
    Agree with your analysis but not your conclusions. I think Martin is your starting LF and they will work with him on his stealing. That's why Grady Sizemore is now a coach - to work with guys on their baserunning. I think Roden has a real shot at a staring OF job or 4th OF position in ST - but it's in RF, not LF. Wallner is likely to be the primary DH, 2 days a week OF guy, with Roden in RF or at 1B.
  7. LA Vikes Fan
    Interesting article. We'll see how it goes with Beauregard. The most interesting part of the article was the comment "not to mention apparent bench-coach frontrunner James Rowson" Is that true? I'm thrilled if it is. Would love to see Rowson working as the bench coach with Shelton.
  8. LA Vikes Fan
    I agree with all of this with one nit - Wallner is a lousy RF. I wish he could play 1B and hope they try him there or he's going to wind up as a primary DH, RF once or twice a week guy. Even then, we would be stupid to trade him unless we get a serious return and even then I would hesitate. Larnach is ok but he isn't as good as his contract. Hopefully we can get something in trade and don't just have to DFA him, even if it's just an A or AA guy with potential. I'd try to trade him with one of our A or AA guys with potential for a bad contract with upside guy like Tristan Casas or Ryan Mountcastle. Otherwise, get a prospect and move on. We have to sign him first to get that done.
  9. LA Vikes Fan
    They're not trading Martin and probably not Roden. Martin was the clear winner in the last two months of 2025 tryout camp. He is your starting LF on Opening Day, will hit leadoff, 2nd or 9th (classic places for a speedy, high OBP guy with no power), and play pretty much every day until he shows he's not good enough. Don't miss the key defensive stat in the post - he went from -6 OAA in the OF in 2024 to +5 in 2025. Staying out of CF helped that but he showed he can be a plus defender in a corner, maybe even elite. You want a speedier, better defensive OF in 2026? Martin needs to be in it. Roden will get his shot in 2026 but he isn't a guy that would bring back much in a trade. He's more valuable to us a possible 1B or RF. He did tear up AAA last year so he should get a shot and let's see what happens. Trading him for some mediocre vet reliever makes no sense to me. He's only tradable if we could get a younger quality prospect in return or if he gets packaged with someone like Larnach for a real player. That seems pretty unlikely.
  10. LA Vikes Fan
    Agreed. I would have Gonzalez ahead of Emma at this point based on their performance. Emma may have a higher ceiling but he hasn't shown yet that he can handle AAA. He's at least half a season away, maybe more. Gonzalez is ready for his first MLB test now. I would love to see Jenkins and Gonzalez on the MLB roster out of ST, or at least by May 15 if we want to play the service time game. Culpepper up by July 1, earlier if there's an injury. Let's also give Martin, Roden and Fedko their shot at regular playing time this year, with Martin playing basically every day. 2026 is all about developing the next core. Let's not waste ABs on stop gap veterans like Carlos Santana, Rhys Hoskins, etc. Those guys fit fine on a team that's close to contention but let's face it, that ain't your 2026 Minnesota Twins.
  11. LA Vikes Fan
    I see at least 7 guys we want to keep. but it should be relatively easy and leave spots to spare. First, you have to focus on pitching and catching. It's much easier to keep a pitcher stashed in the bullpen pitching low leverage (like we did with Santana) and a backup catcher than it is to keep a position player on the roster all year long. Second, you have to think that the following players will get non-tendered or DFA'd - Fitzgerald, Gasper, Keirsey, Kreidler, and McCusker. All may get a MiLB contract shot with the Twins or simply move on. Julien, Outman and Larnach run the risk of a non-tender as well, and all 3 of them are change of scenery trade candidates. I expect the Twins to have at least 11-14 open 40 man spots by the time they need to make Rule 5 decisions. I think they will leave 2-3 spots open for RP FA acquisitions and a backup Catcher signing, leaving 9-11 spots to add guys and protect them from Rule 5 poaching. Given that you start with pitchers and catchers, and next are guys that are ready for big league debuts, I would keep them in the following order - Prileipp, Rojas, Morris, CJ Culpepper, Gonzalez, Mendez, Olivares followed by 2 or 3 of Klein, Olivar, Fedko, Rosario, Cardenas and Lewis. Whomever of those 6 we don't protect are the ones at risk. I think Rosario and Cardenas squeak though either without being selected or coming back after ST so I would protect Klein, Olivares and maybe Fedko but only if you have plans to give Fedko and Klein a real MLB shot in 2026. Let's cut to the chase. We have a lot of flotsam and jetsam on the 40 man and a lot of good prospects. Let's be sure to keep the prospects and if it costs us guys like Julien, Gasper, Keirsey, Kreidler and McCusker, so be it.
  12. LA Vikes Fan
    Based on last yer's results, particularly in the second half, you have to think that the first 3 hitters in next year's lineup are some combination of Buxton, Keaschall, and Martin. Why Martin? Because playing every day starting in August he had a .282 BA with a .374 OBP and 11 steals in 15 attempts in 181 ABs. No power. I know some of you don't like him for reasons that don't make a lot of sense to me IF he plays LF, where he got better as his playing time increased. Classic leadoff hitter profile. Still, we may not want to mess with Buxton since he did so well leading off but maybe he does fine more towards the middle of the order if he's prepped for it. It would be nice to get his power behind guys like Martin (.374 OBP) and Keaschall (.382 OBP in 182 ABs). If you did the lineup just based on their production last year, it seems like it would be Martin, Keaschall, Buxton, LH power hitter (Wallner? Larnach?) Jeffers/Lewis in some order, Lee and pray for rain. An obvious alternative would be to hit Martin 9, move Keaschall and Buxton up, and have a LH hitter in the 3 hole, but I don't think we currently have that LH hitter unless a guy comes up or in as a FA to hit there.
  13. LA Vikes Fan
    I was a little surprised they let Lawyerson go, but probably shouldn’t be. He is pretty fungible and already 27. I think Thomas Hatch actually has some potential. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was resigned on some kind of minor league deal. The next shoe to drop will be the interesting one, who do they add to the 40 men roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft? Pitchers tend to get drafted. more than hitters, so I would expect some of the young pitchers that have to go on will take at least three or four of the open seven spots. Losing Prielipp, Rojas, Klein, Morris, and/or Culppeper would be organizational losses, so I expect at least some if not all of them to be added back on. That may explain why Laweryson was dropped; they had to make space for these guys coming up behind him and still leave a couple open 40 man spots for relief pitchers they’re going to sign in the off-season
  14. LA Vikes Fan
    I like the Roden idea. I didn’t know that he could play there. I know they want to give him a chance to play regularly, so put him at 1B, bring up Gonzalez or Jenkins in RF with Wallner playing in RF a couple days a week and the primary DH. Not a bad look.
  15. LA Vikes Fan
    Interesting list, but I would take O'Hoppe off of it. He ahd a down year in 2025 but he had a good 2024 and the Angels publicly see him as their solution to the C spot for the next 5-8 years. He's not going to be available. Rortvedt should be, on the other had. He and Jonah Heim would be interesting possibilities.
  16. LA Vikes Fan
    Agree on Festa given his shoulder issues. He seems much more likely to be sent to the BP than Matthews or Prielipp. Matthews is close ato being an MLB starter and another year will tell us if he can be a viable near top of rotation starter or not. Prielipp has injury issues just like Festa but he's a high octane guy and a LH starter, a rare breed, so I think the Twins will stick him as a starter option for at least one more season. Another possible conversion is Marco Raya. He hasn't shown starter potential at AAA, so I would expect him to be sent to the BP and it looks like they tried that at the end of the year in AAA. It wouldn't surprise me if Andrew Morris and John Klein got some bullpen run in 2026. Finally, it will interesting to see if the Dodgers keep Brock Stewart on their very crowded 40 man roster. There might b a reunion possible there similar to the Thielbar, Rogers, and Coulombe possibilities.
  17. LA Vikes Fan
    I agree with this, and I think you and I are talking about different types of free agents. Josh Naylor gets paid and starts wherever he goes so he isn't coming to MN given the current state of the team. Same for closers like Kenley Jansen and Ryan Helsley. On the other hand, a promising or formerly good player who has hit a rough patch or someone coming off of injury might take a pillow contract or welcome a trade to MNM to get the chance to play and establish value. I would look into Devin Williams, Taylor Rogers and Phil Maton for the bullpen for example. Ryan Mountcastle or Tristan Casas might welcome a trade to MN where they have a chance to play 1B every day. There will be other guys non-tendered who are decent but haven't quite made it who will be available, much like Trevor Larnach. That's the kind of FA or trade candidate that we have a chance at IMHO.
  18. LA Vikes Fan
    I don't agree. With the good FA it will only come down to money if the Twins offer a significant over pay. Good players get paid wherever they go. If you're Josh Naylor and you get roughly the same offer from 3 or 4 teams including the Mariners, Astros, and the Twins, why on earth would you go to Minnesota? You wouldn't. You would go to the team that gives you the best chance to win and be in the playoffs. That isn't the Twins. In fact, you would probably take less to stay in Seattle because they actually competed for a WS berth in 2025 and might again in 2026 and probably take less to go to Houston and compete for the playoffs. Sorry, but I think your take that "money is the only thing" is way too cynical and not in line with the way things actually work.
  19. LA Vikes Fan
    I agree and that's the type of free agent for whom the Twins are attractive. They aren't attractive to high end players who will get paid regardless of where they go and will prefer to go to a team competing for the playoffs at the very least. That ain't your 2026 Minnesota Twins unless we catch lightning in a bottle multiple times. So forget Josh Naylor, think Miguel Andujar or a trade for Ryan Mountcastle. Forget Kenley Jansen or Ryan Helsley, think Devin Williams or Taylor Rogers. Forget Realmulto or even Danny Jansen, think Elias Diaz or, dare I say it, a reunion with Christian Vasquez. Those are the type of free agents we can get, assuming we can get any at all
  20. LA Vikes Fan
    I agree completely with this post. If you look at who’s available from the left side, these are really the three best options in our price range. We need at least one more left-handed bullpen piece, preferably two, to go with Funderburk. It really doesn’t matter whether they’re familiar faces or not, all three of them can be quality mid to late inning relievers. They also add some experience to a team that going to be very young on the position player side. All three will be easy flips at the trade deadline unless they’re injured or completely ineffective so the are low risk and provide some stability while we are developing some of the younger pitchers into MLB relievers. I’d be in favor of getting two of the three and would lean towards Coulombe and Rodgers, but Theibar would be OK.. I’m just worried that Father Time will get Caleb soon.
  21. LA Vikes Fan
    I’ve read that Washington wants to manage again and expects to be available by Spring Training.
  22. LA Vikes Fan
    Rowson with Ron Washington as his bench coach. Rowson develops hitters and sets culture of accountability. Wash teaches infielders and helps with in game strategy. Good blend and helps Twins their two weakest areas, hitting development and infield defense improvement.
  23. LA Vikes Fan
    Why would we sign Hoskins? He is over 30, below average with the bad, albeit with some power, and below average in the field. I get he’s better than Kody Clements, but there’s nothing about his profile that suggests he’s gonna do anything more and get us another win or two. Moving a team from 72-75 wins to 75-77 wins is effectively irrelevant. I just see zero reason to do this. I think we either have to move someone like Wallner to first base, sign a real first base as a free agent, or promote someone from the minors. Signing a mediocre at best veteran does absolutely nothing good for this team unless it’s a gold glove no hit mediocre veteran and I don’t want Carlos Santana back. Looking are real options, I’d love to see them try to sign Naylor, but I don’t think they’ll pay the freight and even if they offered it, why on earth would he come to the Twins? He’ll get paid wherever he goes, he’ll want to go to a contender. That ain’t likely to be the Twins in 2026. We could promote that hot shot first baseman in the minors we have… Oh, that’s right, we don’t have that guy unless it’s Fedko. So a free agent signing of a real quality player seemed very unlikely, and we got nobody coming up from the minors. So what’s the answer? This may be one of those situations where the answer is the least bad alternative. One alternative - We do have at least one good middle in fielder in the minors in Culpepper, so play him and move either Keaschall or Lee to first base. A second alternative would be to move Wallner out of right field, since we certainly have potentially hugh upside candidates in the minors to replace him there and see if he can play first base. Certainly not ideal, but probably as good an alternative as we have. After all that, I guess I’m in the move Matt Wallner at first base camp. It isn’t going to be pretty, and it may not work at all, but what is the other realistic alternative? Signing a quality 1B FA it’s just very unlikely for the simple reason that they won’t come here, and there is no minor league alternative. 2026 is a Development year anyway so let’s see if Wallner can play that position and, by the way, do it while hitting over .220.
  24. LA Vikes Fan
    You may be right, but can he hit enough to make it worthwhile even for 2026? The problem with playing him at second and Keaschall at first is you don’t develop Keaschall. Clements at best a stop gap, so that might help for 2026 but doesn’t get you going in the right direction longer term. This team is not likely to be a contender in 2026.
  25. LA Vikes Fan
    So here’s the conundrum. First, let’s identify the problem. Lewis was actually above average defensively at third base last year. The big below average player was Lee at shortstop and, to a lesser extent, Keaschall at second base. Keaschall absolutely can hit it and needs to be in the lineup basically every day. Lee, not so much. 1B is open, but Wallner is a statue in right field and Larnach can’t play defense anywhere.and neither has ever played 1B. So what do we do? Keaschall has to play and we don’t have anyone to replace him at second base. Still, I would think about moving him to first base but that doesn’t work. That leaves a gaping hole in the middle of your infield because Lee stunk at second base last year and you’d rather he was more of a utility player. That means probably going out into the Marketplace for two middle infielders or promoting Culpepper to the majors to start the season to fill at least one of the spots. I don’t think that’s likely because theyveill want to keep his service time open by waiting till at least May, and he hasn’t really played much at AAA yet. Eeles is completely unproven, and Fitzgerald can’t hit.There really is no internal solution to this problem. Given the lack of an internal solution, I think we’re going to see Lee at shortstop and a Keaschall at second base with some sort of fill-in at first base to start the season. I’m hopeful that Culpepper will be the starting shortstop by June with Lee a more utility type player. Keaschall needs a season at second base to see if he can actually play there. The only other option I see is to pick up a defense first veteran shortstop but the guys out there can’t hit.. No real good options here so I think this is the way to go. Unfortunately, that don’t help ground ball pitchers.
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