LA Vikes Fan

On an unrelated but interesting note, Simeon Woods-Richardson just got DFA'd by Toronto.

By the way, it's now official. Walker Jenkins contract selected by the Twins. Woo Suk Go designated for assignment.

I like your thinking. Let's be honest, this season is over barring a miracle finish and collapses by others. We have five weeks, 28 games left. We have guys we need to reevaluate for the beginning of next season - Jenkins, EmRod, and Houston, plus maybe Roden and Ross. We have guys that are injured, not going to be around next year, or who at least are not expected to be major contributors in 2027 in Larnach, Buxton (sadly), Jackson, and Kriedler. Bell is a ? For next year. Get Jenkins and Emrod up and play Jenkins 5-6 days a week, 4 at least for EmRod. Find a way to get either Houston or Ross on the roster, maybe as the second September 1 call up rather than a pitcher, and play him 2 – 3 days a week. Get Roden some ABs. He actually hasn't been that bad - . 254/.333/.313 (.646) for the year in 67 ABs, and .286/.366/.400 (.766) his last 15 games, 35 at-bats. There actually may be something there. The point is use this time to evaluate guys for next year. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and go on a run. But even if we don't, we will have accomplished something to help next year's team and that has value. Let's not just play out the string.

OOhh, tough question. I would go with the pre-haircut Keaschall but it's a close call. By the way, Keaschall's hitting has gone down since the haircut. Sampson may be his new nickname.

Agreed. The deadline moves were modest but fine. It's the follow up that will really matter. The big questions are (1) can any of the AAA guys really help us next year and when are we going to find that out, and (2) what is the team is going to do in the off-season follow up on those moves. Getting Culpepper up was a start. Now that Jenkins is coming up we need to play him every day. Same for EmRod after 9/1. We need to find Keaschall a spot to learn in the OF so we can keep his bat in the lineup. I would also give Acton and/or Anderson a shot in the bullpen in place of Rogers and Adams to see if they can help us next year. I personally would like to see Ben Ross come up and get a chance to play a little to see if he can be a bench piece next year but I don't think the opportunity is really there to see him this year. The off-season is where we'll see if this is actually a thought out strategy. If it is, we need to make every reasonable effort to re-sign Jeffers and Minter. They also need to make a decision about Joe Ryan and find out what it would cost to keep him long term. I was in favor of keeping him this year because I think we will actually get as good or better value trading him this off-season as we would have at the deadline because in the off-season we can get MLB or MLB ready assets in trade, not just prospects currently at AA or below. Now we really do need to execute because we will get more this off-season than we would add at the 2027 midseason trade deadline. I personally would not pay him the seven years $30 million AAV that he apparently is requesting because he hasn't shown the ability to pitch more than 140 innings a season. Having said that, I think reasonable minds really can differ when you realize that $30 million in 2033 is really the same as about $25 million now and the gap could even be bigger if the current rate of inflation continues. I would try to sign him for for five years if we can and then I might pay him an average of $30-$32 million a year. If not, we need to trade him and get an MLB Catcher and/or 2B in return, not just prospects. Larnach needs to be traded. For him I would take lower level prospects with upside if we can even get that. I have no idea what to do with Wallner. I don't think he has any real value to anybody else, so it might be that we should keep him, work with him to better cover those four of the nine strike zone quadrants where he can't hit, and see if he can be a serviceable LH DH. Ideally, I would like to trade him to a struggling team that will play him every day in the hope is the next Brent Rooker for a couple 18 or 19-year-old A ball lottery tickets but I'm not sure he can fetch that. Maybe we will get lucky. The point is the strategy at the last two deadlines actually makes sense if you keep following up on it this off-season. Sitting on our hands, watching Jeffers leave after giving him the Q0, watching Minter leave, staying in limbo with Ryan, and still having Larnach and Wallner around in 2027 is not a strategy. It's the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

I think this is the most realistic take here. The Twins have a very average team in part because they don’t have a lot of above average players and essentially no elite players. Who on the Twins is an elite player at their position, meaning in the top 10 or 15%, which is the top 3 to 5 players in baseball at that position. Maybe you could argue Jeffers is that, but he is it and he’s probably leaving. If you expand it to very good players, those in the top 25% at their position or the top eight players, arguably Ryan is a top eight number 2 starter, but not a top eight number 1 starter. Maybe Lopez is a top eight number 1 starter but probably not. He more falls into a good category of the top 35–40% of players at that position. That’s it. Nobody else. Injuries count. Buxton could be an elite centerfielder but only if he regularly played 140 a year. He doesn’t. He’s not elite. That leaves us in the position of trying to win with the series of average to good players. Those kinds of teams tend to run hot and cold because average players tend to run hot and cold. They play well for a while, then they slump, hen they play well for a while, etc. You can win that way, look at the Milwaukee Brewers, but you have to have a lot of depth with other at at least average guys to plug in for one in a slump. We don’t have that either. So how do you fix this? Well, we could get ourselves two or three really elite players but we better keep them and they better be constantly elite. We have not had one of those for a while other than maybe Duran. An elite closer doesn’t do a whole lot of good unless you got a team that you consistently get leads. IMHO, the only real option here is to try to get a bunch of good to very good players and develop some depth with a bench of average players. That’s the Brewers model and h that's what all this trading was about, get a bunch of guys and hope that either you improve your depth significantly or that one of their two of them hits big. Same for guys from the Minors. Culpepper looks like he will improve our depth if nothing else. Jenkins should do that and both might hit big. We thought Lewis might be that guy who hits big, but sadly he’s not. Keaschall looks like he’s already in the good to very good category on the hitting side and he could hit big. We have to find him a defensive home because he has to play and be an elite hitter for this team to be successful.. I think the FO is trying to develop depth and keep the very good to elite players we have. The execution of that strategy has been mixed at best, but I think they are on the right path. Were at least a year and maybe more away from knowing if any of this is going to work, but at least they’re trying something.

I agree that this team feels different than the normal 78 win team but that has nothing to do with us. Feels different because his seven pennies actually makes one competitive in the AL Wildcard race this year and is somewhat competitive for the Division title. I don't think we can take any credit for the mediocrity which surrounds us. And alas, it appears that brief moment of being competitive is now over. Sale, to me this team feels better for two reasons. First, 78 wins is what I predicted but I thought I was being wildly optimistic. Now, I may be close to the team has improved much more than I expected. Second, while they didn't go for a full rebuild they did develop some players this year that should be roster/lineup mainstays going forward. Keaschall will start in one of the corner outfield spots (hopefully LF), Culpepper is the starting SS unless moved off to 2B by Houston in a year or two, Lee looks to have locked down 3B for the foreseeable future, and Clemens can be a power hitting, adequate fielding 2B until Houston is ready to move Culpepper over to that spot. Great stopgap for now. On the pitching side, both Morris and Gomez look like bullpen stalwarts for the next few years. Bradley has been a revelation – he is a #3 or better starter going forward. I think both Prilepp and especially Matthews have made some big strides this year and give one hope that they can be solid #4 type starters going forward, and both Rojas and Abel have shown high ceilings. There is enough competence in the bullpen for it to be at least average next year. We did see some negatives and still have some real holes, though. We have no 2027 Catcher unless Jeffers is re-signed, Ryan has shown he is capped as a #2 starter because he can't pitch more than 125 innings without breaking down, Ober looks like he is very close to the end, and we are at least one OF short and that only if Buxton could play 140 games. We are really two OFs short. Maybe that's Jenkins and EmRod but we haven't seen them yet so who knows. I think to me this team feels like overachievers because I had such low expectations. Overall, I would say it's a team that made solid progress this year in a rebuild but is still 4-5 players short of being a truly competitive team.

Hey, this year is actually been a fairly successful continuance of the tryout camp/rebuild on-the-fly the Twins have been doing since August 1 of last year. Losing Lopez was a major gut punch as was watching Ryan's second-half fade yet again, and in a huge shock Buxton is hurt again along with about half of our projected starting pitching. Still, despite all this stuff, the team has actually been somewhat competitive and entertaining. 75-78 wins sounds just about right. I do think we've made some real progress. We start next year's infield starting most nights and Kriedler is a perfectly acceptable utility infielder/26th man who can play a good defensive shortstop. You have to have one of those guys. I think were actually going to have a pretty good rotation next year with Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, and two of Prielipp, Kremer, Ober, Matthews, Abel, and Rojas. The bullpen is now respectable, not great but respectable, and could be a strength if we re-sign Minter and don't have a lot of injuries. We still lack bullpen depth but maybe a couple of the starting candidates who don't make the rotation can provide that depth. Catching could be a real weak spot next year if we don't re-sign Jeffers. The Outfield is still very unsettled. I hope we at least give Jenkins and ERod look this year see if they can fill the a corner spot next to Keaschall and Buxton and provide the CF depth we need behind Buxton. I think all things considered, next year's team could be an 80 – 85 win team if these parts all come together and we don't have an extraordinary number of injuries. This team is a work in progress. We made some progress this year and if things keep moving forward, we could easily be an 83 – 87 win kind of team next year. I could also be way too optimistic and we can fall off the table. I think the best news is that we are not dependent on one or two guys stepping up to be decent. There's enough depth that we can actually withstand growing pains from some of the young players, off years, injuries, etc. and still be reasonably competitive in 2027. Now, if we can only find a catcher once Jeffers leaves . . .

Right on, brother. It's time to see if Jenkins and ERod can play. I sort of understood waiting until the brutal 9 game stretch aginst NL playoff teams and road trip was over to see if we were in contention and didn't want to mess with the lineup. Well, we aren't. We went 4-8 over the three tough series and the Sacramento stop. And, Buxton got hurt again. In the "what if" category we easily could and probably should have won 3 of those losses and gone 7-5. We didn't and that tells you as much as you need to know about this year's team. We're toast. Full stop. IL Buxton and keep him there for at least 2 weeks if not the rest of the season. He probably needs surgery. Have him get it if he does. Call up Jenkins today to play CF and ERod on 9/1. Play them both 5 days a week with Keaschall in either RF or LF. Mix in Roden 2-3 days a week. See if that's next year's OF along with Buxton. Decide what you're going to do with Bell next year. If he's gone, either drop him to 3-4 days a week or waive him to get the ABs for the 4 OFs. Replace Adams with Acton. Adams has had his shot, let's see if Acton can help lengthen the BP. Find a kind way to get Rogers on the IL or retired and replace him with Anderson for the same reason. Call up Raya on 9/1. DFA Jackson again in the hope he'll sneak through waivers once more and call up Ross. Get him 2-3 days a week at 2B or at 3B since Lee can't hit LH pitching anyway. Find out if there's anything there or if Ross will strike out 40% of the time at the MLB level. Go to full tryout mode. These last 5 weeks should be to see what we have for 2027. 2026 is done.

Season's over. Cleveland comes back against the Angels, we let the As(!) come back. Hmmm, think bringing up a real CF like Jenkins might be a good idea? You guys have a great rest of the year. See you when we speculate about trades, etc. in the offseason.

This quote has little if anything to do with making personnel decisions. He is working on "earning back the trust of the fans". That is exactly what the CEO should do - big picture customer relations and brand management - but it's far cry from making IL decisions. Remember, he is a CEO, not an absentee owner/controlling shareholder. His job is running the Twins organization, not just sitting back in the owner's suite clipping coupons. None of us shown that they have any idea of how involved he is with day to day decisions. Is he involved in big decisions? Of course he is he's the CEO. Is putting Buxton on the IL a big enough decision for the organization that the CEO is involved in making the decision as compared to just being advised? No one here knows. Look, a know a lot of you hate the Pohlads, And with good reason, I might add. Jim was a mediocrity at running a baseball franchise, Joe was beyond bad, he was a complete disaster. Poor decision maker, zero feel for customer/client relations and communication. Tom is better than Joe and by a wide margin. He gets the "communication thing" and seems at least to genuinely understand that the Twins are nothing without customer loyalty. We don't know if he's involved in personnel decisions but if he is - he gets a B/B- for the trade deadline, an A- for the promotion of Culpepper, and a D or incomplete for the handling of Jenkins. I understand waiting on Jenkins to show you he's ready but he did that 2-3 weeks ago and it's time to get him up. All of those grades are be much better than Joe and frankly better than most of what Jim did, too. We may actually have found the Pohlad who can tell his elbow from a hole in the ground and he's running the team. Let's not let the well deserved scorn for the family's ownership tenure get int the way of giving a guy who has shown some signs of competence a chance.

It's sad to see Buxton's body failing again, particularly after the first half of this season reminded us how good he is when completely healthy. Still, I can't help but wonder if this latest injury may be a blessing in disguise. He needs to go on the IL. He isn't really helping the team at the plate or in the field, and it's probably too difficult for the manager to do what he should do - drop him in the order to around the 7 hole and move him to LF. I'm hoping that the result here is an IL stretch of at least 2-3 weeks so he can get as healthy as possible, a call up of Jenkins for this weekend to play CF every day, moving Culpepper up in the order, and a September 1 callup of ERod to play LF most days. I'd like to see this lineup now and on 9/1 forward: Keaschall RF, Culpepper SS, Bell DH, Jeffers C, Clemens 2B, Lewis 1B, Lee 3B, Larnach/ERod (starting 9/1)/Roden LF, Jenkins CF. When Caratini catches, everyone moves up one and he hits 8 or 9. Clemens and Lewis switch spots against a LH starter. When Buxton is ready, he can slot in for the LF platoon with Roden demoted if Jenkins is playing well, replace Jenkins if he's not.

I did leave them out, but that was intentional. Kody Clemens is now a 2B/UTL who really shouldn't get more than 400 ABs a season in more of a utility role playing mostly in the IF. He is the only MLB player amongst the group you mentioned. Kendle is having a great year in AA, interestingly after kind of stinking up the joint in A ball, and is at least a year or two out from true MLB shot. Those two are really the only two on your list are likely to have any further playing time for the Twins and Kendle is probably still a bit of a longshot. Wallner is gone after this year, hopefully the result of a trade rather than a nontender. Fedko is out until May with an injury and was completely overmatched in his brief MLB debut. He is likely a AAAA player will get his next MLB shot with a different team. Olivar could be worth a look in a reserve role assuming he is a good enough Catcher to actually play that position, not if he just has to play in the OF or 1B. The bottom line to me is that none of these players clog up anything. Clemens belongs on the MLB roster but really should be the 10th man in a 9 man lineup, playing mostly around the IF. I hope that's what he is next year after we trade for legitimate MLB 2B. Wallner and Fedko should be gone next year to create 40 man spots for others. Interestingly enough, those others are probably Caden Kendle and Ricardo Olivar, both of whom need to go on the 40 man in November. I'm with you on not bringing back Larnach. I would like to see a five-man OF of Buxton, Keaschall, Jenkins, Erod, and Martin to open up next year. I don't think that has anything to do with whether or not you bring back Bell. There will be 500+ ABs for four of those five, especially with the IL time we have to anticipate for both Buxton and ERod based on their histories. Martin can pick up the other roughly 200 ABs. We should keep Bell unless we think we have someone else that we can have DH who is better, but right now we don't, or we think that rotating players through the DH spot will make up for losing the guy who's going to get 20 – 25 HRs, and drive in 90 – 100 runs. Looking at who we got, I just don't see either one of those things but who knows who becomes available in the off-season.

You be right about this. Also, while both Jenkins or Emma has hit LH Pitching pretty well in AAA, but we don't know if they can hit same side pitching at the MLB level. We need 4 starting quality OFs next year, plus a RH hitting 5th OF who can play against LH pitching. That 5th OF will be especially important when Buxton is on one of his IL stints. Is the current projection of Buxton, Keaschall, Jenkins, Emma, and Martin that combination? I'm assuming Larnach is traded. It would be nice to have a better RH hitting option, but Martin isn't bad so I suspect the plan going into to 2027 is those 5 OFs with Roden, GG, Mendez, and Rosario at AAA in reserve. It also wouldn't surprise me if Emma was part of a trade package to a rebuilding team in return for a 2B or pitching.

Wow, I'm always amazed at how quickly people like to put players in a box as though they can never improve. I do get it, it beats actually thinking and is a whole lot easier. Keaschall is young and athletic. There is a real chance that he will improve enough to be viable as an outfielder, perhaps even get to neutral or slightly above. We won't know that for at least another year. Give the guy a chance for Chrissakes. Bottom line though is he plays every day to get his bat in the lineup and he is not going to DH at age 23 with perhaps the best speed on the team now that Buxton is slowing down. There will be plenty of plodding, bat first types (think Bell or Larnach) on the team would need to be the DH. Keaschall will play every day because he can hit and he will play somewhere in the field. We all just need to accept that as a given moving forward. The other thing that amazes me is how so many have decided that our best outfield next year consists of a declining Buxton in center and two rookies who have never had an at bat at the MLB level. I am all for trading Larnach and giving Jenkins a shot and also trying to find at least some playing time for Emma to see what he can do. I'm also a realist; I think the chances of both being average to above average MLB hitters out of the box in 2027 is less than 50%, probably less than 35%. We will be thanking our lucky stars if one of them is an above average MLB bat in 2027 and get really lucky if Emma ever gets to the point where he can play more than 100 games a year without getting injured. The outfield next year is Buxton center, Keaschall in one corner, and probably Jenkins in the other with Emma and Martin on the bench. One of the latter three will get 500+ at bats, the other two probably 400 or less. I'd like to contend next year and I think we have a good enough team to do it. I don't want to derail our season by force-feeding rookies into the lineup.

What the Padres example shows us is that you have to take risk to get reward. The Pads took risk and sometimes got burned. They shook it off and kept trying. That's what you have to do; keep trying. Act like you care if the team wins or loses. Fans will reward effort. They'll will get in the trenches with an owner who lives and dies with the team and really cares. They won't reward bottom line watching hand wringing like Joe P. did. Best comment made many times here is the way we learned how much this team cares is when they went from a $150m payroll, winning a playoff series, to a 30M drop in payroll. Nothing says I don't care better than following up success by turning to the accountants for advice. Is Tom Better? We'll see. He's starting from behind. The best thing he can do is show that he cares. I will say that the day the former players were handing out $20 bills to fans in the OF to pay food and beer on their own volition and Tom P. showed up with what - MORE 20s TO HAND OUT - gave me some hope. Maybe he does get it. We'll see.

I agree with the decision not to trade Ryan, question the decision not to trade Jeffers, but your point is well taken. If posters here want to follow the Tampa Bay or Cleveland model, we need to be trading guys at their highest value before reaching free agency. That certainly meant trading Jeffers this year. Ryan is a little more debatable, at least to me, because I personally think we will do just as well in the off-season as we would have done at the trade deadline but the point remains. Tampa Bay and Cleveland developed their pitching pipeline by making frequent trades of established MLB players for well scouted prospects, including pitchers. If we want to follow that blueprint, we need to be doing the same by trading guys like Jefferson Ryan for young pitchers to develop. We can't have it both ways.

You may be right. You hate to see a guy who apparently was worth Abreu walk away for nothing, but that may be the verdict on his off season value. I would hope we could at least get a 40 or 45 prospect or two for him. I either event I agree with you that there's no place for him on the 2027 roster Same for Wallner. A new corner OF era is about to start.

Larnach represents a real conundrum for the rest of 2026. I think it’s highly unlikely he is on the team in 2027. I hope that’s accomplished via trade and I think that’s what the Twins intend to do in the off-season. The problem is that the more he plays the more he tanks his trade value, but sitting him on the bench effectively accomplishes the same thing. I don’t really think that there’s a solution to this other than Larnach going on a hot streak and the odds of that don’t look very good. I think at this point the rest of this year and the 2027 roster has to have a much higher priority than getting Larnach going to keep his trade value. I think you’ve got a demote Roden, call up Jenkins, and reduce Larnach’s playing time to two, maybe three games a week. Maybe he rebounds and Jenkins doesn’t hit, maybe Buxton has to go back on the IL, or maybe both Jenkins and Larnach both hit or don’t hit. You can deal with all of those situations. What’s hard to deal with is playing a guy 4 to 5 days a week who simply isn’t Performing. It would be so much better if we had a right handed hitting outfielder in AAA to bring up and be the right handed hitting side of a platoon, but we don’t. Bring up Jenkins, give him four days a week at the expense of Larnach and one day at the expense of Buxton, see what you got, and hope Larnach comes around to make a contribution down the stretch. There’s nothing else that really makes any sense.

I don’t think he holds either one back if Laranach is gone. There are plenty of games for four outfielders to play regularly in the three spots, particularly with Buxton getting a DH or off day each week. I think this narrative that we have to get rid of Bell to play Jenkins and Emma is a false premise. We can and should have all 3 plus Buxton and Keaschall on the roster and there’s plenty of at bats for all those guys. They can all get 500 to 550 at bats a year, more if they can hit left-handed pitching and we don’t need to give Martin much time.

I think this is actually a fairly simple question with a very difficult answer. The only spot available is to play instead of Larnach. Keaschall has been our best hitter since May 1. Bell has been clutch and hitting very well since July 1. Buxton is the one guy we have that can carry the team and is unlikely to ever sit more than one day a week. The open spot is in LF. So that’s the question. Do you bench Larnach or at least drop him to two games a week so Jenkins or Emma can come up and play regularly?. If you do that, Jenkins or Emma could come up and play five days a week, one in CF and four in LF (or RF if you want to move Keaschall to where he’s likely to play next year). It’s a very tough call because although he’s slumping now, Laranach has hit well all year and if you bench him any trade value he might’ve had is gone, and I think they will trade him in the off-season. Also, there’s no guarantee that the co-op would hit any better than Larnach is hitting now. Most guys really struggle with their first shot at MLB pitching.. Still, despite all that, I would send Roden back to AAA, call up Jenkins (not Emma) and play him five days a week in the outfield with Larnach grabbing some pine. Emma can come up on September 1.

I agree and wonder if you are right about Bell not coming back. I would not at all be surprised if that $10 million mutual option was one of the few that actually got exercised by both sides. Bell starts as DH and if the young guys actually show something, we trade him at midseason. In the more likely scenario that we call up Jenkins and Emma and only one of them can actually hit major league pitching in his first year, Bell provides a great security blanket. I think the team is poised to be a division title contender next year, with 2027 not another developing team year, and I think Bell actually has a position on the team.

Right on. I would make re-signing Minter a priority for next year. He, Banda and Funderburk form a solid to very good LH side of a bullpen. Add in RHs Morris, Gomez, Hoffman, and Nance, and we have everything except a long(ish) man with several existing guys to choose from and to create depth. Hey, Adams was bad to start the season but much better lately. He could be that guy. So could Matthews. I'm with you, if we can re-sign Minter we don't have to spend any FA money on the bullpen and can go into 2027 with the bullpen as a strength. We can spend any FA money we have on another need, like Jeffers or another starting Catcher, a RH OF with pop, or a starting 2B. What a change from last off season.

Wow, we actually have a lights out bullpen now. One where if we can get a lead after 6 innings, you feel like we should win 80-90% of the time. All without giving up a lot other than Dasan Hill (that may bite us later). Actually, pretty impressive work by the FO.

I never suggested Bell was irreplaceable and wasn't clear if that was what you got from my post. My point is we don't need to get rid of Bell or another guy like him so that we can get available ABs for both Jenkins and Emma next year. Bell is definitely replaceable with another guy will give us 20+ HR's and 80+ RBIs from the middle of the order with a strikeout rate below 30% (Bell's is 28%). We do not have that guy on the current roster and it is very unlikely that any of the guys currently in AAA will be that guy in 2027. I do not subscribe to be frothy belief that some appear to have that both Jenkins and Emma will come up next year and hit better than Bell. That certainly could happen, but it's not likely that even one of the two will do that, and it's highly unlikely that both will. I saw another post where people suggested replacing Bell in 2027 with Yandy Diaz. That would be great! I'm all in favor of getting a bat better than Bell to be the primary DH. I don't see a whole lot of them out there other than Diaz but maybe there is someone who could come in and take that spot. I'm fine with jettisoning Larnach for Jenkins over the winter, and wish they had done that at the trade deadline like they tried to do. I'm just not in favor of jettisoning a productive player to try to create ABs for a guy in AAA on the blissful assumption the new guy will be as good or better. They're usually not as good, and are often times much worse. Besides, if we trade Larnach over the winter there will be spots for two of Jenkins, Emma, and Roden on next year's roster. The two that make it will get significant opportunities with the major league club in 2027.