LA Vikes Fan

I think if they go with a 4 man rotation everyone gets at least 4 days rest through the 25th. Ober on the 15th, Maeda the 16th (both on 5 days rest), Lopez the 18th (5 days rest), Gray the 19th (5 days rest), and then, next Sunday the 20th, Ober is back on 4 days rest. Maeda on 5 days rest on Tuesday the 22nd, Lopez and Gray on 4 days rest on the 23rd and 24th, Ober on 4 days rest on the 25th. We really don't need the 5th guy until the 26th. Makes one wonder if a Keuchel DFA as a way to open up a spot for Lewis on Tuesday might make sense. He doesn't get claimed, we outright him to AAA, and he can be depth again. We go with 12 pitchers for the next 10 days. Might make a lot of sense.

Brooks Lee looks like a great prospect but I got $20 he opens 2024 in AAA. He isn't tearing up AAA yet, after taking 3 months to get to tearing up AA. He needs more time; he's not a short term starter for next year. He's not an impediment for next year's Opening Day IF. Two hot takes- 1) Let's make Polanco a part time 1B when Lewis comes back. He can actually play infield, is a veteran who can separate defensive issues from his at bats, has pretty good hands (his arm is the issue), and needs to play. Good experience for his super utility role next year. He's the better choice. 2) Why do people want to trade Julien? The guy can hit. He's struggling in the field in his first year in the bigs. He can learn to be a decent infielder or maybe even a decent LF. Two good examples - Corey Koskie and Justin Morneau. Both were poor fielders when they came up who could hit, Both became good infielders with a lot of work. Maybe it's Canadian thing. Give Julien the same chance. Way to early to give up on the guy or pigeon hole into a DH spot.

This is the key. Work Julien hard on D in the offseason at 2b in the hope he can play there 65% of the time. Work Polanco at 1B so he's the answer when Kirilloff is hurt or sits. Polo becomes a super utility playing 2 days at 2B, a day or two at 3B, a day or 2 at 1B, 2 days at DH, and he's great injury insurance in the IF. 10m is a lot for that guy but the IF next year will have 3 pre-arbitration starters in Kirilloff, Lewis, and Julien so you can afford a higher priced bench guy.

Is Balazovic an option? If not, and I can't believe I'm typing this, Pagan. Jax looks like he needs a 15 day IL stint with a tired arm.

I agree with Craig Arko. Castro will go on the IL on Monday or Tuesday backdated to Saturday to make room for Lewis. Luplow and Gallo will stay with the team. Keuchel is a tough one. I could see them giving him one more shot against a poor team like the Pirates since he's had one good outing and one bad one, unless Ryan is ready to go. I could also see them dropping him for Ryan or for Varland, or making him the long man out of the bullpen. I would prefer they DFA him with Varland up if Ryan isn't ready or Varland in the bullpen if Ryan is ready. I don't think I'm right though; I think Keuchel gets at least one more start. Doesn't make sense to me short term and really no sense long term but I just can see it happening that way.

I think DocBauer is right on. This is exactly what the FO should do. If this works, rotation in 2024 is Lopez, Ryan, Maeda, Ober, Paddack/Varland, with Mahle back in 2025 when or if one of those 6 is hurt or gone. Love it.

If Chief means "who is most likely worse right now in August 2023", I think he's probably right. Love me some Willi C but Castro's current slash of .241/.322/.371 (.693), 91 OPS+, is right in line with his career slash of .244/299/.379(.678), 88 OPS+. The only real difference is a few more walks and a lot more steals because Rocco has let him loose on the basepaths. Yes, that's right, Rocco has developed a base stealer. Who knew that could happen? Anyway, Castro is a nice player as a backup UTL guy, hopefully playing 3-4 times a week. Tops. Not an every day starter. I think Martin could be a lot more than that. You know what I think could be fun? Let's be honest guys, I don't think I'm the only one who gets bored of this 2023 team. Jordan Luplow, Joey Gallo and Dallas Keuchel? Why? Not really helping much now, not back in 2024 if there is a God. Let's use this year to really jump start 2024 even more than they already are. DFA Gallo, Keuchel, and Luplow. Call up Lewis, Martin, and Varland (first to take Keuchel's spot or give Ober a turn off if we go 4 man rotation with the off days coming up, then to the late inning bullpen when Ryan comes back). Option Winder or Sands to AAA when Ryan is ready to come back. Trot out this everyday lineup, and I mean every day hitting the young LH hitters against LH pitching: Julien 2B/1B Lewis 3B Correa SS Kepler RF Polanco 1B/2B (replaced by Kiriloff when he's ready, Polo becomes the INF UTL/part time DH, plays 4-5 days a week) Jeffers C (Vásquez hits 8 when he plays and Wallner and Castro/Taylor move up one) Wallner DH/LF Castro/Taylor CF (Castro starting a little more and Taylor defensive replacement as well as sometime starter) Martin LF Or hit Martin leadoff and move everyone back one. Varland starts until Ryan is back, then move Varland to a 7th/8th inning role out of the BP. Back end of the bullpen is Duran, Jax, Varland, and Pagan. Thielbar is the high leverage fireman. Balazovic and Floro handle the 5th and 6th, Sands, Winder, and Headrick are on the AAA shuttle filling the long man spot. Farmer and Solano play only against LH pitching. When Kirilloff is ready, either end the Martin experiment, send Castro down, or DFA Solano (need Farmer's glove and Solano is 35 and gone next year). Buxton replaces either Castro or Martin with the winner playing LF. Even better in a weird way, if Kirilloff and/or Buxton comes back 9/1 or later no one goes down. Then you have a very flexible group of 15 fielders from which to pick your 13 man playoff roster. What do you think? Looks to me like a much more fun team to watch and cheer for. Also helps you figure out 2024. Can Martin play at this level? Can Castro play CF well enough to be the guy if Taylor isn't back in 2024? Can Lewis and Kirilloff stay healthy for a 6 week run in September and hopefully October? Will the extra speed help us score more runs, particularly against LH pitching? Can Varland hold down a rotation spot and/or is he a real force out of the bullpen? If this works we've found 4 young starters for 2024 - Lewis, Kirilloff, Julien, and Martin - found out if we need a Taylor type as Buxton CF insurance for next year or if Castro can handle that job, found out if Varland can be a high end reliever as well as a starter if Paddack shines when he comes back, eased Polo into the role he's likely to have in 2024 if he's retained, potentially identified replacements for Kepler if he isn't retained, and freed up some payroll for a FA starting pitcher. Let's find all this out and have some fun along the way.

I agree that it's time to get Varland up to the Twins. He can replace Keuchel in the #5 hole if Ryan isn't ready. Or with 3 days off in the next 10 days we could go with a 4 man rotation or use Varland to skip Ober's next start to give him some time. Ober looks like he's hitting a wall. No more starts for Keuchel. I'd really like to see them bring Varland up to pitch out of the bullpen, maybe even in short mid to late inning stints. He's got the fastball to be effective and it might play up from 95 to 97-98 in shorter stints. He walks too many guys so that's a worry but we need back end help. Varland could be that help. Stretch him next year to go back and start.

He Doesn't. What we saw last night is what Kuechel is against a good lineup. He's gone after this year, maybe even before his next start. He only stays the rest of the year if they decide to keep him as a long man in the bullpen.

Really interesting article. Help explain why teams keep some AAAA players on their AAA teams to help foster a winning culture even if they are highly unlikely to make a meaningful contribution over time at the MLB level. Good Twins examples are Kyle Garlick and Andrew Stevenson. Each of them helps the Saints win but neither is likely to every really help the Twins going forward, especially since Garlick is 30 and Stevenson 29 and each has been below average in their MLB shots. Still, you only want a couple of those guys on the field and in the pitching rotation because they aren't going to feed your big league club. Better to play a Martin, Severino or Keirsey over yet another Garlick even if they initially struggle so you can see if they might have a longer term impact at the MLB level. Bottom line is that it is a balance, but it's balance that is dependent on the needs of the MLB team, not the needs of the AAA or AA team to draw fans. The MLB clubs' needs are paramount. Any AAA or AA owner that prioritizes winning success in the Minors over development for the Majors isn't going to have a very long affiliation with the MLB club. So, the fact that Larnach isn't playing 1B and Garlick and Williams are tells me that the Twins are committed to Kirilloff as their long term 1B, with Julien as Plan B. A bench RH 1B bat is the need that's being developed, not an alternative to Kirilloff and/or Julien.

Hilarious. The 2005 Vikings were one of the epic failures in sports history. The Whizzinator, the Love Boat? Classic. they probably still talk about that in opposing locker rooms - "things are going south, whose got the Whizzinator?". Looking back on it, has to be one of the funniest teams ever. If it wasn't so sad.

Doesn't matter. AAA is to groom guys for the MLB roster. Garlick is unlikely to ever be on the MLB roster again. Larnach might be. He gets the reps at any position of need over Garlick.

Hard to watch. Having said that, it's hard to be consistent on offense when 3 of your top 6 hitters likely in the 3, 4, and 5 spots (Kirilloff, Buxton, Lewis) aren't playing. My view is get Lewis on a plane to Philly and get him in the lineup Friday night. He can DH for a couple of games to lessen the potential for re-injury. This team cannot score enough if we have to rely on Julien, Wallner, Kepler, and Castro to consistently deliver. They are either young and/or complimentary pieces - they can't be the engines. Add to that playing Gallo and Taylor most nights and Vasquez half the games and it's a recipe for stinkers like today. We can't bring back guys that are hurt but we can bring back guys who are playing. Bring back Lewis.

Wallner is showing well enough so that you have to think he is in the Twins plan as a 2024 starter in the OF. I'm pretty sure the FO manipulated things so Larnach still has an option left after this season. Whether or not the team keeps Larnach for at least another year or tries to trade him depends a lot on what they think about guys like Prato, Castro, Keirsey, and Martin (although he's playing IF in St. Paul). In a perfect world, you'd have Wallner or Laranch in one corner OF spot and someone with a more speed/high OBP profile in the other, hopefully hitting RH. That's especially true if CF is going to be manned by a power guy in Buxton who needs a lot of DH ABs, with a defense first CF backup. You can't really carry and start 3 guys in the OF who all have high SO/high power profiles. My bet is that they start 2024 with Wallner and Kepler manning the corner OF spots, with Castro as the primary 4th OF and Taylor has the backup CF. Larnach stays in AAA unless there is a killer deal out there for either a young pitcher or young catcher. Assuming he still has an option year, there might be a way to get real value for a combo of Larnach and a AA or A+ pitcher. By mid-2024 Larnach is either on the Twins due to injury or just great AAA performance (then he replaces Kepler or Wallner if he regresses), or he is traded for younger prospects. No reason to force a decision on him until then. If the FO thinks he's been passed as the best prospect OF by someone else, he gets traded in the off season. That's part of the reason Prato, Keirsey, and Martin are in AAA with Contreras released and Garlick moved to 1B/DH. Now through the end of the season or maybe mid-2024 is the OF evaluation period before the shakeup.

Sad, but true. Wouldn't surprise me if Gallo si on the roster for the season.

You called it. That's tonight's lineup. Probably don't make a decision until later tonight or tomorrow on Solano depending on the MRI. Call up for Friday's series in Philly if he goes on the IL.

Mike, if the choice is bring up Williams and DFA Gallo, I am right there with you. I would do that TODAY. I just think the question is who plays 1B for the next 2-5 days before we bring back Lewis. I'd rather it be Polanco or Julien than Gallo or Williams. If Solano goes to the Il (I think likely), I'd be most happy with a Gallo DFA, Williams call up, Lewis call up and Polanco or Julien at 1B.

I think the plan is to have Lewis up for next Tuesday against Detroit after a week in AAA. I don't see it being a rush if we wait through tomorrow to see if Solano recovers and if not, we back date his IL stint the 3 days and he goes on effective today. We then call up Lewis for Friday in Philly. He'll have 3 days in AAA instead of 6. He' is going to play every day regardless whether it be in AAA or with the Twins. In the interim, please no Joey Gallo at 1B. Polanco or Julien, please. Let's at least see if that works.

Chris Williams has a 37.5% strikeout rate in 2023, 35.7% in the AAA potion of 2022. Average at AAA is 23.2%. That percentage generally goes up when they move to the MLB level by about 5%. In short, Williams is presently a AAA whiff machine liley to become a MLB SO king. Having Williams and Gallo share 1B will lead to a minimum of 2 SOs a game from that position, usually 3. Love the guy, hope he matures to cut that SO rate down below 30%, but right now he isn't likely to help, he's more likely to make our SO problem worse. Better call is to move up Lewis early, and have Polanco or Julien move to 1B.

Well, now what do we do with Solano spraining his knee? Hard to believe that's a day to day thing. By the way, "sprained knee" is often the diagnosis until the MRI shows a torn meniscus or ligament damage. So what do we do? God help us if the answer is play Joey Gallo every day. I say we we cut Lewis' rehab stint in AAA short and get him back up. Lewis plays 3d, Polanco goes to 1B most days, with Gallo there only occasionally. I can already hear the chorus of "move Julien to 1B, he stinks at 2B". I hear that, but moving a guy who's never played 1B over there when he just got to the MLB level is playing with fire. Polanco is a veteran, he's played all over the IF, and he's seasoned enough to not let the transition effect his hitting. He's been around and a good bet to pick up the basics at 1B pretty quickly, He'll make mistakes but he'll make the routine plays most of the time and be in the right position most of the time. It's also a good audition for next year when his highest and best use may be as the super UTL guy who plays 5 days a week at a combination of 2-3 days at 2B and 1B against LH starting pitching while Julien DHs or he or Kirilloff sit, a day or two as the DH, and a day at 3B to spell Lewis. Hey, I think an IF of Correa, Lewis, Julien. Kirilloff, Polanco, and one of Castro, Famer, or Gordon, is exactly where we need to be at the beginning of the 2024 season. There aren't any IFs breaking down the door at AAA (Lee may get there in 2024, but so far in AAA he's 2-18), I say let's get there now.

Well, now what do we do with Solano spraining his knee? Hard to believe that's a day to day thing. By the way, "sprained knee" is often the diagnosis until the MRI shows a torn meniscus or ligament damage. maybe we cut Lewis" rehab short and get him back up?

Look, we signed Kuechel off of the scrap heap and got 5 decent innings in a win at home in a start against an average MLB team. That's a big win for the Twins. He'll probably get 2 more starts, one in Philly and one against Detroit. If we can split those games, another big win. At that point it's definitely time to stop tempting fate and get him out of the rotation. Kuechel reminds me of Dylan Bundy. He's not awful, has veteran moxie (whatever that is), and can give you a few decent 5 inning starts. Remember April 2022 when Dylan Bundy was a legit Cy Young candidate? Over time, he kills your bullpen because he can't go that 3rd time through the order, and his ERA/FIP/Sierra start creeping higher and higher until it's over 5. Hats off to the FO for getting him since we don't really have much else at AAA. He's better than watching SWR, Varland (best of the lot), or Headrick flail around at the MLB level while we hold our breath that they can keep us in the game for 5 innings. Still, Kuechel just is not even a back end MLB starter on a good team. He is classic veteran depth for a few starts here and there. Nothing wrong with that but let's not go crazy here.

Really?! I would be shocked if there is even 1 solid MLB starter for 2024 in that group and if there is, it's probably Larnach or maybe Prato. We're talking about a 1 year option for Kepler so the real question is which of those guys will be a solid starter in 2024, not beyond. Stevenson is almost 30 and previously failed with the Nats, Kiersey is 26 and just got to AAA (where he isn't hitting), Williams is now hitting at age 26 but has an over 33% SO rate in AAA, and Camargo is a catcher with an over 33% SO rate in AAA. Laranch has been spotty in previous tries and regularly injured, and Prato just got to AAA. If the question is do we keep Kepler in 2025, maybe one of these guys can be the replacement if they show well in 2024 during the inevitable call ups for injuries like Julien has or as a bench OF. For 2024, no way would I put trust in the idea that one of them will be a starting caliber MLB OF for a full season. And if they aren't, much as it pains me to write this, you gotta keep Kepler if the goal is to contend.

I agree that Polanco is the tougher call. He's still cheap - I think his 2024 salary is set at 5.15m. IF, and it's a big IF, he performs over the rest of the season like his career average of a little worse - say .265/.325/.425 with a solid to good glove- it's hard to replace that production for $5m. He's also a team leader and has been a clutch hitter. So where do you play him? I agree that in 2024 Julien will be the 2B, with Kirilloff at 1B and Lewis at 3B. Could Jorge learn 1B and the three of them basically share those 4 spots with some DH appearances if Buxton can actually play in the OF? That way one of those 4 is on the bench most games with Castro, Taylor or some other backup CF, and a catcher. Could Polanco learn to play LF? I think he could but given his leg issues, I'm not sure the OF is the best choice. If he could, solve the search for a RH hitting OF but now you take ABs away from Wallner unless Kepler sits against most LH pitching. Still, I think they will keep Polanco for at least one more year and work him out at 1B as insurance against injury or performance issues from Julien, Lewis and/or Kirilloff. Again, the issue is we really don't have any one else knocking down the door for a spot at the start of 2024. Lee is more likely a June callup if he performs at AAA. By then all kinds of things could happen that would make having Polanco a very good thing.

I've long been in the dump Max crowd but I do think they will pick up his option, particularly if there are metrics that suggest this recent resurgence might be sustainable. Why? Because WE GOT NOBODY ELSE FOR 2024. Your 2024 Twins OF without Kepler - it's uh, well, uh, hmmm, here are the options: Buxton - maybe but for no more than 100 games in the field, likely less. Wallner - has looked great in 82 ABs, classic small sample size but I say he starts in 2024. Larnach - maybe, but a career MLB slash line of .223/315/.380(.695) suggests we at least need a fall back if he doesn't work out. Taylor - nice 4th OF, not an everyday starter on a contending team. Pending FA who may want to go to a team where he can start if Buxton is going to play CF. Lewis - maybe, but last time in the OF, he tore his ACL. Not sure the Twins want him out there again. Gordon - maybe, but so far a half year wonder, hardly an established OF. Castro - nice UTL guy, hitting almost exactly where his career lines are - .247/.331/.376 (.706), 96 OPS+ this year, career .681 OPS, 89 OPS+. Sounds like a 4th or 5th OF to me. Gallo and Lupow - please no. IFs maybe turned into OFs - Polanco, Julien, Miranda - doesn't seem like a good bet. Maybe Polanco could do it? Other AAA OFs - Celestino, Garlick, Keirsey, Prato, Stevenson - a lot in their mid-late 20s (not a good sign for a "prospect"), high SO rates all around. Best slash line is Stevenson and he'll turn 30 in June, 2024. Hard to see a 2024 starter in that group. Frankly, hard to see a 2024 bench player there except maaaybe Celestino, with Keirsey and Prato an outside chance. The rest are AAAA depth. Free agents - does anyone really think the Twins will commit $15m a year plus to a free agent OF? I don't. To me, the Bottom line is that I hope Kepler's second half is who will be next year. Heck, I would take .240/.310/.440 next year from Max. We need to hope, because the Twins will exercise the one year option for a very simple reason - because we don't have anyone else we can count on to replace him. And, it's only one year so we can trade him at mid-season if someone else takes his job.