LA Vikes Fan

I think Jeffers is really wearing down. A 10 IL stint could really help him refresh and be more productive in September. Problem is that it's hard to do that when half the team is on the IL. I'd like to see them catch Vasquez in 5 of the 7 games on this trip. Add in the off day next Thursday and Jeffers would then catch 2 games in 7 days. I think that kid of break could really help him. I'd like to see Castro get a break since he's also obviously wearing down. Just not sure who would play short.

I think this is the trad-off for next year - Lee for Margot. Castro and Martin are the backup CFs. If Kepler leaves, than there's one more spot where we could get a defense first CF or promote Keirsey.

Agreed with slightly different timing. I think the Twins optioned him on 8/14 to be sure his 15 days were over before the 9/1 playoff roster deadline. He may or may not be on that roster, but getting him up by 9/1 preserves the option. Same for Varland going down on 8/15. It will be interesting to see what happens when and if Richards, Winder, Okert, Henriquez, and Varland are all healthy and there's 3 bullpen spots for the 5 of them. I suspect that an "injury" could resolve it so 4 (everyone except Henriquez) are either on the 26 man or the MLB IL on 9/1.

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that Buxton is going on the IL backdated to Tuesday. Julien is coming up to replace him. Still no word on who replaces Varland. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/08/twins-to-place-byron-buxton-on-injured-list-3.html

Thanks for this, I think a big part of the issue might be that Castro is very tired and needs a break. He is playing more than anyone on the team, primarily because we don't have another SS with Correa and Lee both out. Can Farmer still actually play SS? I mean, that is the reason he was re-signed and made the team. To me, there is a pretty obvious adjustment to be made if Farmer can play SS. Castro plays SS against RH pitching with Famer there against LH starters like tonight until Correa comes back. Gives Castro some badly needed rest and improves our bench versatility in late innings. Farmer is hitting better since he came back off the IL - .222/.333/.566 (.899) since he came back on 8/9. Most of that is against LH pitching. Miniscule sample size but still somewhat encouraging and a whole lot better than Willi has been doing. If Farmer can't do it, how about Martin at SS with Farmer at 2B? He was a SS for a long time in the Minors. To me, the better move would be to pick up Ahmed Rosario on waivers and plug him in at SS with this 2024 .305/.331/.415 slash line. Not the best defender but better that Castro. Alas, I don't think that's going to happen . . .

UPdate - Just saw that the Twins have optioned Louie Varland back to St. Paul. No corresponding move yet announced. Looks like Festa and Matthews are the short term winners for the #4 and #5 rotation spots with Varland as #6 for the time being. Assume he will be back before 9/1 in the bullpen unless there's another injury. I think it's the right move.

Just saw that the Twins have optioned Louie Varland back to St. Paul. No corresponding move yet announced. Looks like Festa and Matthews are the short term winners for the #4 and #5 rotation spots with Varland as #6 for the time being. Assume he will be back before 9/1 in the bullpen unless there's another injury.

I agree with mikelink on Varland. The stats aren't bad, but the stats were more than just a little lucky., The Royals hit Varland pretty hard and he was lucky to escape the 4th and 5th innings. I would call this an ok start at best, and nothing that would make one think that he could be an effective starter every 5th day down the stretch. Most importantly, we have to evaluate how he looked as compared to Festa and Matthews. Festa has looked better with a 2.2 ERA over his last 4 appearances and 18.2 innings. He also has a lot more strikeouts. He was also better than Varland in AAA. Matthews only has one appearance where he went 5 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 5 SOs, and no walks. So far Festa has looked better than Varland and has a big enough sample size to be meaningful. Matthews has also looked better but we need to see at least one more start before ranking. Right now, I would say Varland is number 3 of 3 headed either back to AAA as starter #6 or to the BP but we need to see one more Matthews start before we can be more confident in that.

Agreed. I'm not suggesting we should try to do that, I'm just hoping that's how things wind up.

I have seen some comments about a getaway lineup. I don't think the lineup was a matter of poor choices; the problem is we just didn't have anybody else to put in against a very good LH starter. Correa and Buxton are both out, so there go two RH hitters who hate left-handers well. The only other options would have been to play Kepler or Wallner instead of Larnach, and maybe Vasquez instead of Jeffers. I don't think it was really a getaway day lineup in the traditional sense where you play your reserves on Sunday afternoon. I think this is what we've got to go against LH pitching at the present time. I would have been tempted to sit Castro, and play Farmer at SS with Martin at 2B. Kepler could then have played RF with Margot in CF - that effectively trades Castro for Kepler. Castro is in a major slump and looks gassed. We could've tried Wallner but that would've meant sitting either Lewis or Larnach. Statistically, neither Larnach or Wallner can really hit left-handed pitchers so I think that's kind of a pick your poison situation. I agree with the idea that they should get a chance to hit left-handers to improve but when we do that you have to endure days like today when Larnach wasn't much value at the plate. We really need Correa and Buxton back to go against LH starting pitching PLUS we need Lewis to start hitting. Lewis is hitting .231/.311/.519 in his last 30 games, .250/.308/.417 in his last 7. Not horrible production but not middle of the order production either. Without him hitting like a true #3 or #4 hitter and then without Correa and Buxton, we are easy pickings for a LH starter.

Varland looked shaky but put up a decent line - 6 innings, 3 earned runs, 8 hits. Survived would be the word that I would use - never felt comfortable but kept us in the game. Ragans was dominant for KC. 7 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, 8 SOs, no walks Lewis' ground out with the bases loaded and 2 outs was the game. It was 3-1 at the time and the failure to score really ended it. Miranda and Santana looked pretty good at the plate. Everyone else mostly flailed away. Jeffers and Castro both looked bad in particular - gassed, and clueless at the plate. I think Castro badly needs a day or two off or maybe even 3 or 4. He's wearing down big time. Farmer has got to give us innings at SS or we have to find someone else unless Correa is back in the next day or so. Jeffers also looks beat down. Might be a good idea to give him a little breather by having Vasquez catch 5 of the 7 games on the road trip. Decent homestand at 4-3. One more against Cleveland and it would have been a great homestand. Problem is we are just a couple guys short from being able to sustain a long winning streak and I don't see a lot riding to the rescue except for Correa. Good news and bad news. The good news is that we're still exactly on track to win 90 games (actually at 67-52, we are on track to win 90.45 games). The bad news is that probably won't win the division. Probably will get us the 2nd or 3rd Wild Card. The 2nd gets us a matchup against the Yankees or Baltimore, and then probably Cleveland. The 3rd gets us a series in Seattle or Houston, then probably Baltimore. I'm hoping for either a Cleveland collapse that gives us the division or a fade to the 3rd wild card.

I thought I was wrong to call for Varland out after 5, but I wasn't. Look, we got 6 innings 3 runs from Varland. That's as good as it gets from him. Not horrible, kept us in the game. I guess it just feels like we have a chance of a much better outing from both Festa and Matthews than we do from Varland.

On paper, looks good, On paper. He was very lucky in the 4th and 5th to get out. That was probably the best we can expect from him.

Someone else needs to play SS for a game or two to give Castro a break. He's gassed and it's killing him (and us) at the plate. I know Farmer's range isn't the best any more but his shoulder should be ok since he had the IL stint. Get him in at SS and sit Castro. He's getting dominated.

Well, I stand corrected. Varland did make it through5 innings. Staggering with blood on his shirt, but through. Let's get him out of there now and keep ourselves in the game.

I hate to agree, but you're right.

Well, maybe this is why Varland doesn't throw as many strikes as he needs to be an effective starter. His strikes get hit too hard. I'm rooting for the guy but every time I see him pitch I can't escape the thought of "wouldn't this guy be a good late inning reliever pitching one or maybe two innings at a time?". Gotta think that is his future unless there is some way he can take one more step. Famous last words but I don't think he will last five innings today.

Garland did a good job getting through a tough first inning, especially one where Farmer should have made the play on the first "hit". Having said that, the huge difference between he and Matthews is jumps out at you. Matthews consistently throws strikes, Varland does not. I don't know if the answer is to back his velocity down a mile per hour or two so he can have more fastball command, or whether he just isn't going to get there, I like his stuff but until he throws more strikes he is a bullpen pitcher. I suspect the plan here is to give best at another start against the Rangers in Arlington, and Matthews another start in San Diego against a very good team, and see how they do. Maybe Varland gets one more start in the second game in San Diego depending on whether we can last that long with the seven man bullpen. Hopefully at least two of them perform well. Then we go back to the five-man rotation and one of the three is either in AAA as the sixth starter or in the bullpen. My bet is that Varland will be the odd man out.

Varland's biggest problem is showing up again. He just doesn't throw enough strikes. Even if he can get through trouble, he has to throw so many pitches that he has trouble getting through even 5 innings, much less 6.

Rosario is a different situation. We need a SS until Correa comes back. Castro is trying his best but he can't really field the position and his bat is going into the tank by playing every day. Rosario can not only play SS he's hitting .305/.331/.415 (.746). He's a clear upgrade over Martin. Rosario is worth a claim. By the way, the blogs for the Cardinals, Guardians, and Yankees are all making cases to pick up Rosario. We need to make a claim if only to avoid Cleveland picking him up.

To add to that, Castro needs a break. He's overexposed and has a mid .600s OPS over the last 30 plus games. He needs to get back to playing 4 days a week, not 6 or 7.

Agreed. Signing Hill means taking starts away from at least one of Festa, Matthews, and Varland. Hill doesn't help your bullpen at all - he adds to the strain because he is a 5 inning tops guy at age 44. You don't expose him a third time through the order. Those starts are much bettter used on the young starters who we will need next year.

Max Kepler is in his age 31 season hitting .266/.341/.400 (.716) with 7 HRs. Very unlikely that he gets 3 years/$60m no matter who well he hits the last 2 months of the season. It also seems very unlikely he gets 3 years at this age. Teams just aren't willing to give that kind of years for ages 32 – 34 anymore, nor frankly should they unless the player is an Aaron Judge type. I think that $12 million a year is probably a little high and I don't see a team on the West Coast that needs Max's profile. The Dodgers, Padres, and Mariners don't need a corner outfielder, particularly one who is pretty average at the plate without much power. I see Max kind of going the Eddie Rosario way unless he stays with the Twins; a series of one-year deals, may be preceded by one 2-year deal, at somewhere between $8 and $12 million a year. I actually wouldn't mind if the Twins gave him one more year since I'm not sold on Wallner or Larnach as everyday players. I actually think Max is worth more to the Twins then he is to another team. I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in Minnesota on a two year, $20-$24 million kind of deal. But given the other payroll raises that are coming up, I think it's more likely he either retires or winds up playing on a series of one-year deals for various non-elite teams.

You're absolutely right that the young pitching will determine this year and next. It's encouraging to see the baseball community ranking our pitching prospects as well as they do. Let's remember though that this is what we hired these two guys for; to create a minor-league system that constantly replenishes the MLB pitching staff since the organization either can't or won't spend the free agent dollars necessary to do so. That's what has been happening in Cleveland the last few years and that's the model we need to emulate. I get it that all of these guys are suspects until they appear in the Bigs and perform. Still, I actually have hope that some of these guys will get to the Bigs and perform. In the old days, my most optimistic view of most of our pitching prospects was that they could pitch in the minors for a few years before seeking other employment outside of baseball. If this works, this is the economic model that can keep us competitive. We spend our money on position players like Correa and Buxton, who salaries drop or drop off in a few years to be replaced by high salaries for Lewis and others, have two max starting pitchers making reasonably big dollars but who get locked up early so the dollars are little less ala Lopez, have maybe one bullpen guy with a decent sized salary closing, and have the rest of the pitching staff at least still in arbitration. It's a tough line to walk but having good pitching depth in the Minors is an absolute necessity to make this kind of a structure work.

In classic Twins fashion, we saved our run of poor injury luck for just after the trade deadline (not that we would've traded for anybody any good anyway), leaving the team short at some important positions. It's August, the time when a young Front Office's heart turns to that classic rebound refuge – the waiver wire. I thought it might be interesting to have a place where people can put in the names of anybody they think is available on waivers that would actually help the Twins either as AAA depth or on the current 26 man roster. I actually have three candidates: Ahmed Rosario - The Dodgers just put Rosario on waivers after trading for him due to a roster crunch when Mookie Betts came back. Rosario is actually hitting .305/.331/.435 (.746), and plays a decent shortstop and very good second base. I love me some Willie Castro at the plate playing second base or in the outfield, but he is no shortstop and we don't have one with Correa out. Rosario will get claimed on waivers with only $387,000 left on his contract for the year so we may not get a chance but I think he is definitely worth a claim and would make this team better this year. Martin can go back to AAA to make room on the roster. Also, having Castro go to centerfield may help us if Buxton is down for a couple of weeks with "right hip soreness". Jake Diekman - Left-handed relief pitcher waived by the Mets. Not having a good year this year, 5.63 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, but had a 3.34 ERA last year in 56 innings. He's 37 so maybe he's just falling off a cliff, but it's worth finding that out. He's passed through waivers so would only have to be paid the prorated share of the veterans minimum. I think he's definitely worth a call, particularly if you will go and pitch at AAA for a week or two for evaluation. We need a left-handed reliever – Okert is mediocre at best, Theilbar may be cooked, and Funderburk has yet to show his MLB worthy. I don't think Richards is going to solve the problem as a reverse split pitcher. Brad Keller - Boy, do we need starting pitching death desperately. One more injury and we are toast if we aren't already. Keller just opted to become a free agent from the Red Sox because they optioned him back to AAA when a couple guys came off the IL. He is only 29, and his history shows a guy who's a started a lot of games with a 4.5 - 5.10 ERA, doesn't walk very many guys, but doesn't strike out a lot either. Pretty Meh, but the Twins have taken guys like this and upped their velocity to make them better. I think he's definitely worth a try at AAA and would be a better sixth starter than Randy Dobnak. If you believe MLB Trade Rumors, there are several other veterans who could hit the waiver wire in the next couple of weeks as teams falling out of contention pare salary. Their list is of course behind a pay wall but if last year is any indication, we could see some prominent names whose contracts are expiring out there and available. I would expect some DFA news coming out of Texas, Toronto, Tampa, Miami, Oakland, and maybe even from Washington, the Angels, or the White Sox involving guys on expiring contracts that the team doesn't expect to have next year. We are frankly rapidly running out of players, particularly in the rotation, bullpen, and at shortstop. There ain't much at AAA that we haven't already brought up. Let's leave no stone unturned and try to find guys. I'd love to hear any other suggestions