LA Vikes Fan

These are good points although I have to admit I disagree with your conclusion. I'm in favor of calling up Jenkins but I think the only if you have a good plan for getting him regular playing time, at least 4 days a week. That's really the rub here is much as anything. He could get a day a week in CF but to get much more he either has to displace Keaschall, our best hitter since May 1, Bell, who leads the team in RBIs and has an over 1.000 OPS in August, or Larnach. He's not going displace Keaschall or Bell, and he would not displace guys like that on anybody's team. This is why it made so much sense for the Twins to trade Larnach for a reliever but the Astros owner shot that idea down and apparently there wasn't another option. Larnach was great in the first half, not so great in the second half. Are we ready to bench him and basically play him at most 2 days a week so Jenkins can get regular playing time in the OF? As tempting as I think it is to try that, there may be some serious locker room implications and it is quite possible that Jenkins will be worse at the plate (not possible he'll be worse in the field, he'll be an upgrade). I don't think they're ready to make that call. I would; I would call up Jenkins and play him regularly in RF, move Keaschall to LF, demote Roden, and play Larnach 1 day a week at DH and I day in week in the OF. Unfortunately, I don't think the Twins are going to do what I would do. I think it takes an injury for Jenkins to come up before September 1 and I think on September 1, Emma is probably the call since he is at least theoretically out of options for next season. I think it's the wrong choice but I think that's what's going to happen.

Guys, I think we already know what's going to happen. Next year's Opening Day DH is ... Josh Bell. Not only is that the likely answer, it's the right answer. Absent injury, he's going to finish this year with 20 plus HRs, 90 plus RBIs, and a slash line of roughly .260/.325/.435 (or better). Bell is our best run producer this year, likely to be one of our best next year, and he's already shown us that he will be one of if not the best clutch bat we have down the stretch. He's an experienced bat who can hit 4 or 5 in a contending team's lineup aginst both RH and LH pitching with neutral platoon splits. He's a leader and well liked in the clubhouse. He likes it here. We don't need another bench glove with the versatility of Kriedler and Clemens so we can carry a full time DH who can fill in at 1B in a pinch. There is a mutual option at $10m with a $1.25m buy out so his real cost is $8.75m with the option. The Twins are likely to exercise their half of the option if only to avoid the buy out cost and I doubt if he will get offered much more than $10m anywhere else. Bell just makes too much sense to be gone unless he gets a big money offer elsewhere OR we think all 3 of Keaschall, Jenkins and EmRod are going to hit better than Bell and the DH rotation will provide more than 20 HRs, 100 RBIs, and a .775- .800 OPS. Keaschall looks like a likely yes, but the other 2 - who knows? They are pretty unlikely to have an OPS above .750 in their first year in the bigs, much less the .775-.800 necessary to be as good or better than Bell. And that's before look at what were getting get out of the DH spot with some sort of rotation. We don't need top lose Bell to give plenty of ABs to the OFs. These guys don't have to play 160 games to get a shot, nor should they. No one plays that much for a reason - for most guys it limits their effectiveness because they are playing dinged up or exhausted. The sweet spot for most players is 140-150 games, 500-550 ABS. You also have to add in the fact the Jenkins and EmRod are both LH and haven't really hit LH pitching so well in the Minors so we might want to protect them against quality LHs as they adapt to the Majors. By the way, as young players, watching from the bench occasionally actually helps them learn something and adapt. We don't need to keep the DH spot open so the big 4 OFs get enough playing time. The 3 OF spots give them plenty of playing time, especially with Buxton on the IL for at least 20-30 games a year. DocBauer has identified the most likely 4 OFs with Larnach traded. I think Martin also will be on the team as the RH OF starting against LH pitching and occasional pinch runner. At 4.5ish PAs a spot, there are roughly 730 PAS per OF spot, 2190 for the season. Buxton will play 120 games in the OF if we're lucky. This year has been a good one for him on injuries and he has 375 PAs now and is likely to finish with below 500 PAs, maybe below 475. Martin takes 200-225 as the RH OF. That leaves 1500-1550 OF PAs for the other 3 guys plus an occasional day at DH (Bell won't play very day). In short, there will be 500 plus PAs for Keaschall, Jenkins and EmRod even if they don't ever DH, with another 20-25 from the DH spot the more likely result. That's 550 plus PAs, 500 plus ABs per guy. And that's assuming they earn them or we divide them evenly. More likely Keaschall earns 600 plus PAs, with Jenkins and EmRod earning more like 450-500 PAs in their first year IF things go well. The whole point of this diatribe is that we don't need to starve ourselves of a good hitting DH that we already have to free up ABs for two young guys who may or may not actually perform. What we need to do is play the best players that can help us produce the most runs so that we can take the next step from this year's team into a truly contending team next year. If Jenkins and EmRod each get 450 to 500 PAs next year as their first taste of the Majors and actually perform decently that would be a major development coup for the Twins. They are not going to come up and be high performing everyday MLB players their first year at ages 22 and 24, respectively, unless we are incredibly lucky. People point to Milwaukee as a great development organization. Jackson Chourio is probably better than either Jenkins or Emma but let's say they're even and both play the same way he did in his first year. Wow, that would be great and it's pretty damn unlikely. Chourio had 528 ABs in his first year, 557 PAs, in 148 games for 3.75 PAs per game played. That means he didn't play 148 full games, more like 130-135 or so full games another 10 – 15 where he met Kukla Dr. started but was subbed out against a tough relief pitcher, came in during the late innings, pinch ran, pinch-hit, etc. We can keep Josh Bell as a full-time DH starting 150 games a year, still give BOTH Jenkins and Emma at least that much playing time, AND get 20+ HR's and 80+ RBIs from a guy who can hit in the four or five spot and is making roughly $10 million year. Why on earth wouldn't we do that? This is a no-brainer. Let's not overthink this. We don't need the DH spot to create ABs for Jenkins and Emma. For create those ABs, what we need to do is trade Larnach and either trade or demote Roden. I think a LArnach trade is likely and if we don't trade Roden in the off-season, he will fight it out in Spring Training one of these two spots and either win the spot or get demoted to AAA. We don't need an open DH spot for any of this.

Me too but that's probably the August 2027 or 2028 lineup, not the 20027 Opening Day lineup.

Yup. Gotta hope he fights through this because we got nobody else to play 2B every day. Keaschall can't field the position, Kriedler can't hit, and the pickings are slim in AAA. Morisette and Schobel are old for prospects (26 and 25) and neither can hit at the AAA level. Ben Ross has really hit this year at a AAA (.261/.369/.481(.850)) but he's struck out 26.7% of the time and he's also 26. He looks a lot like a guy who might come to the Majors and strike out 30% plus of the time with an OPS below .700. We should give him a chance but he's a longshot. My fantasy is that for 2027 w trade Larnach and/or Ryan (re-sign Lopez long term), and one of the things we get back is a full time starting 2B.

I'm with you except there is no "insert player here" for RF. Luke Keaschall is our best hitter. Period. Has been since May 1. He has to play, every day, somewhere, and will probably get 600 ABs as the leadoff man next year. I too wish he could play 2B so we could make Clemens a UTl, but that experiment did not work. At all. The only other places are LF or RF. Royce Lewis is the starting 1B for the rest of this decade. Same for Lee at 3B. Locking those 2 spots down is one of the things that's happened this year. I really think next year's roster is pretty close to set already after the try out camp that started Aug 1, 2025. The only open spots are 2B, one starting OF spot, and one or two bench OF spots. The starting IF is Lewis (1B), Culpepper (SS), Lee (3B), and either Clemens at 2B or Clemens as a super UTL if we can acquire a 2B. There's no one in the Minors ready for that job - Houston is at least a season away. Buxton and Keaschall start in the OF. Jeffers is he C if the heavens part and we re-sign him (I could see them offering 3-4 years at roughly $15-18M a year, but he might get more elsewhere), otherwise it's Caratini and Jackson in a time share. Kriedler is the glove first UTL that can play SS. Martin, Roden, Jenkins, ERod, GG and Mendez are either fighting for the 3, 4, and 5 OF spots, or for those plus a DH spot but I bet they bring Bell back as a fulltime DH so it's 6 guys for 3 spots. My money is on Martin as a 4th OF/RH platoon guy who hits RH, Jenkins because he looks like the best of the 6, and then either Roden if he hits well the rest of 2026 and/or EmRod is traded, or EmRod because he's out of options. We either trade for a 2b or there's one more UTL/bench bat spot with Clemens at 2B. Done.

Clemens is a solid player for this team, more because of his glove than his bat. He can hit 6 or 7 on a good team playing 3-4 days a week as a super UTL. He's been exposed at the plate this year and last) because we don't have enough middle infielders and good glove OFs so he has to play every day. We also have needed him to hit in the middle of the order, which he really isn't good enough to do. If he were a good glove guy playing multiple position and hitting 7 we all be thrilled with what he provides. As an everyday player hitting 4 or 5, he's adequate at best. And the man needs to learn to take his walks. They're there for him but he insists on swing at stuff in his eyes rather than taking the walk. I'm hoping that we find an everyday 2B for next season, maybe through a trade of Larnach or as part of a Ryan trade. Then Clemens can be what he' best suited for IMHO - a UTL that's an above average fielder at 1B, 2B, LF, and RF and adequate in CF, getting 350-400 ABs a year, hitting .240/.290/.450 with 15-20 HRs mostly against RH pitching. and a good LH bench bat/pinch runner for the Catcher. That's a valuable guy who plays on your team as long as he can provide that value. He's the 10th guy on a contending team's 9 starters. With Clemens, Kriedler as the glove man UTL who can play SS, and Martin as the 4th OF, we'd actually have a bench that can accommodate a full time DH or just a big bat, no field guy. Unfortunately, we are at a least a 2B away from that now so Clemens has to be more than he really is.

Interestingly enough, Shelton started Roden last night against a LH and sat Larnach. Maybe he's taking the Austin Martin spot. Hey, he went 1-3 and had a very good sacrifice bunt. He could be the other half of the LF platoon and also play once a week when Buxton needs to sit and once a week for Keaschall. By the way, Roden is in RF tonight against Mahle, a rightie, with Buxton on the bench, He's going to get 3-4 games a week. That's enough to see what he can do.

Hey, the midst all the negativity I really like two things about today's lineup. Keaschall is actually leading off. Should have happened a couple of weeks ago, really glad it's happening now. Keep him there for the rest of the season. Second, I like that Roden is playing even though we are seeing a LH. Maybe it's just because we didn't really have anyone else and Larnach can't hit LH pitching. Still, I hope that Roden is basically playing every day for the next two weeks. It's time to give the young guys a shot. He isn't the guy would've given the shot to but he's the guy the FO chose the let's give him a real shot. This team is cooked absent a miracle run. Time to find out what we have.

I grant you the question on Mendez, but not the other two. Gonzalez is not having a very good year at AAA and didn't impress in his extremely brief weekend when Tristan Gray was on paternity leave. I do not understand this obsession with Matt Wallner. Yes, he hits a lot of home runs and has had some real moments for the Twins. He also strikes out more than 35% of the time at the MLB level and over 40% of the time in 2026. Moreover, he simply cannot play in the outfield. At all. Keaschall in right field is a huge improvement over Wallner and we all know how well that is working. In my view, Mendez is probably a 2027 issue if he continues to hit. Same for Gonzalez if his hitting comes back to what it was last year. Neither is really a 2026 option. I really think the choice right now is Roden or Jenkins, with maybe Emma in the conversation if he wasn't hurt all the time and hadn't missed most of the season already. I would've chosen Jenkins over Roden but I think you can make a principled argument to give Roden the first shot.

Guys, I think the reason for this is pretty obvious. The Front Office believes that Alan Roden is the best choice to get additional ABs over the next two weeks until September 1, or maybe even for the rest of the season, as compared to Jenkins or Rodriguez. I suspect there is more than just baseball potential in the decision matrix with Rodriguez just getting back from 100 days on the IL and Jenkins not yet on the 40 man. Still, we may be overthinking this. To be fair, Roden is actually coming on a little. His overall line isn't good at .236/.323/.291 (.614). Still, in the last 15 to games where he had 34 at-bats, the line improves to .265/.350/.353 (.703), which is not too bad, and in the last 7 games were he had 16 ABs, it's .313/.400/.500 (.900), which is an incredibly small sample size but is pretty damn good. He also has an 8:9 at BB:SO ratio, also pretty damn good, so he's not a strikeout machine like Kyler Fedko was. Calling Jackson back also allows Shelton to keep Jeffers in the batting order as either a DH or 1B when Caratini catches every third day. It's not hard to see the baseball justification if you believe that Roden is as ready as or more ready to get a full MLB tryout than Jenkins or Emma. That's a case you can actually make. I can see them having a conversation where someone said something like "Let's give these additional at-bats to Roden so we can really see what we have. We can always call up Rodrigues on September 1 get his feet wet and evaluate his MLB readiness since he is out of options next year. We can evaluate Jenkins in spring training, if there is a spring training. That also leaves open the option of starting Jenkins at AAA if there is a strike or lockout." Look, this is not what I would do. I would call him Jenkins and play him every day. I'm much less enamored of Emma than some of you guys are but he can come up September 1. Like I said, this is not what I would do but I do think it's defensible.

You missed one other reason to keep Jenkins and Emma in AAA - to see what Roden can do. I think we're going to find out. In today's news; Martin goes to the IL and Jackson is back. That leaves open playing time for Roden AND gives us a chance to see Keaschall in LF, his likely 2027 home, or even back to 2B, God help us. Hey, Roden is hitting 236/.323/.291 (.614) overall in 55 ABs. But, hold on a minute, he's .265/.350/.353 (.703) in his last 34 ABs, and .313/.400/.500 (.900) in his last 16 ABs. I could see the FO thinking, "Why rush Jenkins or Emma up, maybe there's something there with Roden. Let's give him 75-100 more ABs in the last 37 games and see what we got. We can bring Emma up for a taste in a couple of weeks and see Jenkins in ST, if there is a ST. If there isn't, at least Jenkins get AAA ABs while we wait out the strike/lockout." Not what I would do, but defensible.

Cris E - The Jackson recall tells us that the FO either thinks Roden is a better bet than Jenkins or Emma or at least wants to find out. With Martin down for at least a couple of weeks , and probably more with a hamstring, I expect to see Roden starting a lot days. Maybe it will be Roden in RF, Buxton in CF, Keaschall in LF some days and Larnach in LF, Keaschall in RF on some others. Some days Bell will move to 1B and Clemens to the OF to get Jeffers DH ABs or maybe Jeffers will play 1B with Lewis moving to 2B some days. Bottom line is more ABs for Roden the rest of 2026. This his big shot at showing he belongs in MLB. He either hits now or starts to wander team to team. Hope he makes it.

C'mon guys, this shouldn't be and frankly isn't that hard. Starting with the basics, here are Luke Keaschall's hitting stats since May 1: Batting Average - .292 - since June 1 - .301 On Base Percentage - .387 - since June 1 - .390 Slugging Percentage - .415 - since June 1 - .436 OPS - .802 - since June 1 - .826 That guy plays and he plays every day, somewhere. Remind me, who are our other OFs or even other players who have hit like that for the last 3.5 or even 2.5 months? Oh, that's right - NOBODY. Closest is maybe Lewis since his June recall - .278/.340/.475 (.815), or Ryan Jeffers since he came off of the IL on July 10 - .268/.365/.425 (.790). No one else is even on the same planet as those 3 and Keaschall is ahead of the other 2. And, he's done it for 3.5 months, not just a few weeks. Conclusion, he has to play. Every Day. Those who say his offense isn't good enough to play him with his defense are smoking something I wish I could buy a pound of, and are smoking too much of it. So where can we play the guy and where should he hit in the order? 2B didn't work out very well, that's for sure. Lewis is now the 1B and between he and Clemens, that position is spoken for. RF? So far, not so great but not horrible for a guy who has literally almost never played there professionally until this year. Why not LF which is easier and would be less of a team burden? Oh that's right we have the lumbering Trevor Larnach, pretty good hitter but not as good as Keaschall and can only play against RH pitchers, and Austin Martín, good OBP against LHs, doesn't hit RHs very well, and looks like Keaschall in the field holding down LF. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Keaschall is faster and a better base runner/base stealer than either of them. Wait, what's wrong with this picture? Pretty much everything. The answer is relatively simple but probably won't and can't be implemented until next year given the roster we have. Keaschall plays LF for 120-130 games and DHs for 40 games, and hits 1 or 2, every day. Larnach either plays RF, is a primary LH DH/occasional OF or is traded, most likely one of the latter 2. Martin is the 4th or 5th OF behind Buxton, Keaschall and 1 or 2 of Jenkins/Emma/Roden if only so we have a RH bat either for LH starters or on the bench. Bell is playing for somebody else. Part of me frankly wants to call up Jenkins, put him in RF, put Keaschall in LF, and roll with those two plus Buck as the OF every day for the rest of the year. Martin and Roden can spell those 3 with Jenkins sliding over to CF when Buxton sits. Larnach and Bell can alternate at DH and grab some bench as a pinch hitter/bench bat when not starting. If we aren't going to do that then Keaschall plays RF every day. He's got to learn the OF somewhere because he's going to be there for the next few years. See, told you this was easy. There it is. Done. What else you got?

I agree except I wouldn't put those 3 as checking all 4 boxes either. Lee can't hit RH, Clemens is "up" to .230 this year so I wouldn't say he's mastered the hit category, same for Caratini. I would say the one guy who meets the criteria you gave is actually the guy we are going to lose - Jeffers. He's missed part of this year but pretty durable before then at a demanding position. Your point is well taken. We do not have any position that couldn't be upgraded.

That's a tough one because you may be right, and I think you probably are, but there isn't anyone out there to get. The best projected FA this offseason after Jeffers is Tyler Stephenson. He's good, hitting .251/.333/.425 with a 1.8 WAR so far this year, and an average defensive catcher. Sporttrac says his "value" next year is $7.5m. I'm guessing the market will value him at 2 years, roughly $20-25M or, since he just turned 30 yesterday, 3 or 4 years at an AAV of $10-15M. I don't think we're in on him at that price with Caratini's contract. After him, the quality falls off sharply to 36 year old Kyle Higashioka, 32 year old Carson Kelly, 34 year old Austin Hedges, and downhill from there. I'm glad we kept Jackson because I honestly think he's as good as any option presently scheduled to be available other than Stephenson and maybe Kelly.

This. Geez, the guy has played a total of 43 games in the OF in 2026 after playing all of 16 games there in the Minors. Add to that he's all of 23 years old in this first full season in the Bigs. Yet now we're able to say with certainty that he will always be a defensive liability, and seems "overmatched" at every position? Wow, I'm glad you guys were never my supervisor doing my evaluation. I guess perfection from game 1 is the standard. We all need to chill and give the guy a chance for Chrissakes. The eye test ells me that he is plenty athletic enough to be an above average corner OF. with LF the best because he's had TJ surgery and now has an average arm at best. We all talk about developing players. This is what developing players looks like, guys. Don't say you want to develop talent and then complain that it actually takes time to develop. Give him time to learn how to play the position. I completely agree with you on his position in the BA. Keaschall is our best hitter when you factor in his speed and baserunning. Not one of our best, our best. Hitting him 6 or 7 makes no sense to me. I understand Shelton when he says that they put too much on him by hitting him 3 early and he has produced better towards the back of the lineup. All true, but that was then and this is now. He's comfortable now. He has a .400 OBP since May. Move him up. My preferred spot would be 1 or 2 depending on where you want to put Buxton, with Lewis, Bell, Larnach, and Jeffers in the 3 -6 spots depending on who's hot and who isn't. Lee and Clemens (if we must play him every day, get Ross up and see if he can play) hold down the 7 and 8 spots depending on the handedness of the starter, and Culpepper hits 9. If Martin plays, he hits 9 and everyone moves up one. If Martin's hurt, then Roden and Jenkins hit 8 or 9 with Culpepper unless they break out and show they should move up. The season is getting away from us. The offense is in the tank. Shake it up and shake it up TODAY. Move Keaschall up. That's the easy move and it should actually help. Remember, he has a .400 OBP since May, has hit .301/.420/.452 OPS in his last 30 games (who says he has no power), and he had a .909 OPS in July, 1.017 so far in August. Why the heck is he hitting 6 or 7???? There may be other smart moves, like moving Buck down to 5 or 6 or permanently installing Lewis at 4, but let's at least grab the low hanging fruit. Keaschall should hit in the 1 or 2 hole starting NOW.

Any word on an IL stint for Martin? Agree with you on Jackson. He's the #2 catcher next year assuming Jeffers is gone. I hope he and Caratini can hold down the fort until Olivar, Lackey, and/or Tait is ready. They ain't much else out there to get.

Looks like this might be easier than I thought. Martin has a hamstring strain that one would think means at lezas 10 days on the shelf. Buxton does not look recovered from his injury. Il them both. Call up Jenkins out play CF every day. Call up Ben Ross to play 2B and make Clemens the UTL/4th OF. It's a start. Now get Rojas up and put him in the rotation, maybe in a piggy back with Matthews.

I’m right with you. I just did a blog post about getting some of our young guys some playing time this year. If Buxton and Martin are hurt, put them on the IL and call up Jenkins and Emma. DFA Kriedler and call up Ben Ross. Put Ross at second base and make Clemens the UTL. Sit Bell and give DH ABs to one of the young guys or to Clemens so Ross can play. Bring up Rojas, put him in the rotation, and put Ober in the bullpen. This team made a nice run by playing above their talent level, but that is now over. They are going to go, 1 – 5 or 2 – 4 against Atlanta and San Diego. Let’s get up these other guys and see if they can play.

I freely admit that I was one of those guys clinging to the hope that this year's Twins could not only make the playoffs; they could actually win the Central Division! Well, a 4-9 start to August and the unmasking of our deficiencies by getting swept at home by the Phillies has made the opposite point to me. We just aren't good enough, at least not with the current group. Our starting pitching is falling apart due to injury, and the offense is pretty futile. Doesn't leave one with much if any hope for 2026. So what do we do? I think we use the rest of 2026 to try out guys who could shore up positions for 2027. That means sitting or even cutting guys who will not be on the team next year where we have somebody to look at and playing the guys who we are going to need to start next year. That includes guys learning a new position.. Starting with what I think is next year's Opening Day lineup, Lee (3B), Culpepper (SS), and Lewis (1B or 2B) play every day. Pick a lane with Keaschall. Either he's a corner 0F or a 2B. DH is not a lane for a highly athletic, 23-year-old player. Anyone who suggests that needs to find a day job. Keaschall may in fact be our best hitter, he certainly has been the last two months, and he needs to play in the field every day somewhere. I'd prefer 2B despite how poorly he played there earlier because that's where the opening is, but I respect anyone who says he has to be a corner OF. Regardless of where you put him, call up Jenkins and give him some time to see if he's ready. Same for Roden, he's starting to come around. Give him some fairly consistent ABs. Unless you are going to move Keaschall back to 2B, call up Ben Ross. He is tearing up AAA, and is 25. Let's use the last six weeks to find out if he can be a UTL or even the starting 2B on next year's team. On the pitching side, call up Rojas and put him in the rotation in place of either Ober or Matthews. Ober can go to the bullpen as the long man with Adams heading back to AAA or Matthews can either go back to AAA, go to the bullpen, or go on the IL until his foot gets better. Work hard to sign Minter for at least 2027. Keep throwing Funderburk out there in high leverage situations, and keep Prielipp and Kremer in the rotation as long as you can. How would we create space? I think it's time to DFA a couple guys and bench a couple others. Kriedler has been a fun story but his ceiling is a good glove, no bat UTL. He probably passes through waivers and if he doesn't, no big loss. Much as I hate to say it, same for Taylor Rogers. In a sense, we might be doing him a favor by making him available to other teams. Maybe he'll get picked up by contender get a chance for another playoff run in this, his last year in the majors. Sit Bell and Larnach 3 days a week unless you're committed to bringing them back next year. Sit Clemens at least 3 days a week. I want him back next year as a very versatile UTL but his bat is way too streaky and inconsistent to give him a starting position. Sit or DH Buxton 3 days a week with the other 3 in CF. His body just isn't going to let him finish strong. I would recommend playing a young Catcher regularly but we don't have one ready to play yet. Let's create opportunity now while we can. There may be no spring training next year. I think if you do these things you can create find 4 plus days a week for Jenkins, Roden, and Ross, 5 days plus a week for Culpeper, and time for Emma when he comes up on 9/1. If you want to change out Roden for Emma, I'm fine with that. We also create a spot every fifth day in the rotation for Rojas. Time to find out if these guys can play. Now, not next spring, NOW. Who's with me?

Well, after today's debacle the season is pretty close to officially over. It really is time to start planning for next year. To me, that means getting Jenkins a chance at the expense of Kody Clemens or Josh Bell. I would even think about benching Laranch or maybe putting him in a platoon as a DH with Bell. Bottom line, we really have to start planning for next year at this point. If we do that and still do something this year, bully for us, but it's not looking good. We are doing the right thing in a couple of spots - playing Culpepper pretty much every day at SS, same for Lee at 3B, and Lewis at 1B. That's 3/4 of next year's Opening Day IF. We need to decide what were going to do for next year at 2B. I don't think Clemens is the answer there given that he's already 30 and an incredibly streaky hitter, even for next year. I think he's a great, very versatile bench piece for 2027. Is it back to 2B for Keaschall? He's a key. He has shown himself to be quality MLB bat, maybe even an elite one with some experience. He has to play every day and DH is not the spot. If Keaschall's going to stay in the OF, he plays there every day so he gets experience and will be better in the field next year. If so, then find yourself a young 2B, or a 1B and move Lewis to 2B. Ben Ross has hit really well in AAA this year, maybe he needs a look at 2B. If Keaschall goes back to 2B, that opens up at bats for Roden or Jenkins. If that's not the case and Keisha was going to stay in the OF permanently, then think seriously about cutting back on Larnach's playing time in favor of Jenkins, Emma, or Roden, whoever you need to look at in the next six weeks. My point is we gave this a shot and made some low to medium wattage trades (all of which I thought were good), but the schedule got tougher and now we're 4-9 in August. We improved the bullpen but the starting pitching has fallen apart due to injury and the offense's fallen apart due to guys no longer playing over their heads. Let's admit what we are and use the rest of this year to evaluate guys for next year. Don't wait until spring training next year because there may not be one and because you have the opportunity now you a real evaluation against teams trying their best. We can create roster spots. Kriedler could be DFA'd. I like the guy but he is at best good glove UTL with a weak stick. He will probably pass through waivers and if he doesn't it really isn't that big a loss. That allows us to call up either Jenkins or Emma and see what they've got, with the other one coming up on September 1. Decrease the playing time for the guys unlikely to be on next season's roster like Bell and maybe Larnach and for the guys unlikely to be starting players next year like Clemens. Sit Buxton a little more so he can actually recover from injury. Like will be done on the pitching side in the bullpen. In the rotation, find a place for Rojas to start every fifth day. Either sit Matthews think about what to do with Obver. He can't be in your rotation next year with an 87 mile-per-hour fastball. It just doesn't work. Make him a long reliever and send Adams down or do something we all see coming, retire Taylor Rogers. Look, I was one of the ones with hope at the All-Star break even at the trade deadline. But now I see what many here have been saying; we just aren't good enough to even make the playoffs in a bad year like this one. Sometimes you just need to admit what you are and then you can move forward. Let's admit this group is not going to make the playoffs and audition a few guys now.

I say we bench Clemens (.186 BA for the last month, even worse lately), send Roden back to AAA, call up Jenkins, and move Keaschall back to second base. Defensively scary on the infield, but Jenkins improves the defense in the outfield. We need the bat. By the way, this also works with Roden - he’s also outhitting Clemens. I’d also re-organize the lineup so the guys that are actually hitting move up. Here’s my thought for the lineup starting Monday against RHs: Larnach LF Buxton CF Keaschall 2B Jeffers C Bell DH Lewis 1B Lee 3B Jenkins RF Culpepper SS I think you could put the 4, 5, and 6 hitters in any order depending on who’s hot and who’s not. The real point here is to get Keaschall’s bat and speed higher up in the lineup so you can run more and create more opportunities for the guys behind him. He has a .429 OBP the last 30 games and over.400 for the last 50. Against LHs, Martin starts but hits 9. Everyone else moves up one. Clemens and Kriedler are the UTLs and cover every position between the two of them. Caratini is the backup C, only plays that position and only two days a week. The other bench spot is the not playing half of the LF platoon. The offense is in a funk. It needs to be shaken up. Putting Jenkins in the lineup in place of Clemens is one thing and adjusting the order a little is another, one of them may actually help. Can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.

I think this is the issue. Who do you sit to get regular playing time for Jenkins? It’s not one of the current OFs. I think the answer is one a lot of folks here won’t like - bench Clemens, move Keaschall back to 2B, and play Jenkins in RF. That would be a major hit on the IF defense, but if Jenkins hits better than Clements, which seems like a real possibility given Clemens is hitting about .180 for the last 6 weeks, it would give the offense a shot in the arm. It would also improve the outfield defense so maybe it’s close to a wash defensively? Yeah, I know, not really, but the way we’re hitting we need the offensive boost right now more than the defensive boost.

I think we keep him on the roster to preserve that last option and to be the RH hitting side of the LF platoon. He's picked it up lately so I don't think the situation is as dire as the post suggests. He's .246/.384/.386 (.770) over his last 30 games (57 ABs), .250/.342/.438 (.780) over the last 15 (32 ABs), and .316/.409/.579 (.988) over the last 7 (19 ABs, SSS). It looks more like he had a really bad stretch from mid-May to mid-July and is coming out of it. His month OPS tracks that - .971 in March, .892 in April, .588 in May, .507 in June, .766 in July, and .761 so far in August. That wide variation in performance is kind of standard from a player in his first taste of MLB. The real problem is he has a pretty narrow path to success - that .384 OBP over the last month is really what we need from him over a full season. This is his first full season in the Bigs and his overall .355 OBP for the season is some cause for optimism. You have to add to that the fact that there isn't anyone dominating in AAA and/or able to be the RH hitter in a LF platoon with Larnach. It seems to make more sense to send down Roden if we want Jenkins or Emma up to play regularly, or to wait and bring one of them up as the extra player on 9/1 if the goal is to just get their feet wet this year.

This could work. I think you've really identified the core question - can Jenkins provide a spark to the offense playing at the expense of Clemens and is it worth putting Keaschall at 2B 2-3 days a week to find out? I agree that Clemens has been the weak spot in the batting order for the last 5-6 weeks, albeit with an occasional key hit. I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's worth a shot. Get Keaschall reps at 2B today (an off day) so he remembers the basics, call up Jenkins tomorrow 8/15 and send down Roden (preserves Jenkins rookie status), and be ready to juggle a little so that Jenkins gets 4-5 days a week the next 2 weeks. Then play the hot hands. Emma can come up 9/1. Might be worth a try. Question is does this have better odds than playing things out with who we got? Tough call but that's why Zoll, Shelton, and the others get paid the big bucks. as for me, I'm willing to give this a try.