Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

LA Vikes Fan

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,856

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by LA Vikes Fan

  1. LA Vikes Fan
    I don't think any of us want to give up on Moran. The question is whether he's ready for a steady big league relief role on a (hopefully) contending team. It frankly doesn't look like he is. I would like to see him back at AAA working out his inconsistencies. We just don't have the bullpen depth at the MLB level as long as we insist on keeping Pagan. I just saw that Brock Stewart is up. Let's see how he does since really the AAA relievers worth calling up appear to be Stewart, De Leon, or maybe Shulfer. If he does well, Moran can go back.
  2. LA Vikes Fan
    Nice win. Polanco’s return is key to the lineup. Do we have anyone available in AAA to replace Moran? He just can’t throw enough strikes right now. I know we have 49 man issues. Maybe Winder tomorrow or Wednesday?
  3. LA Vikes Fan
    SWR is probably in only as an emergency long man or for mop up innings since today was his day to start in St. Paul. My guess is that he goes down for Sunday's starter, probably Ober. Having Julien up was fun but he seemed a bit overmatched. It's probably good for him to get a taste of MLB life, and then go and work on some things at AAA. He'll be back before the season is over absent perfect health on the MLB side.
  4. LA Vikes Fan
    If Kirilloff hits in his rehab starts and the wrist isn't a big issue, I think he will come up. This is a team desperate for hitting. So far, so good, 5-16, 1 HR, 2RBI, .313/.421/.500 (.921) - ultimate small sample size. If he hits over he next 2-3 weeks, I would expect to see him at the MLB level.
  5. LA Vikes Fan
    Assuming no injuries, I think the order is easy for a couple of spots and then becomes tough... (1) Gallo for Julien. Nice prospect but presently overmatched at the MLB level. (2) Polanco for Castro. Nice 27th or 28th man, perfect to have him with an option year left. (3) Kirilloff for … Battle to the death between Garlick, Larnach, and Gordon. I think Garlick's lack of defense and inability to hit RH pitching makes him go first. Having said that, Larnach and Gordon better start hitting soon or it could be them. Probably Larnach first since he still has options. Kirilloff will come up immediately if he hits at AAA. We are hurting for bats. Frankly, anyone that hits at AAA has a chance to move up. This all shows how desperately we need the 2019-2022 Polanco to reappear and hit in the top 4 in the order. We also need at least 2 bats from the Gallo, Kirilloff , Larnach. Miranda, and Gordon group to emerge and hit - and I'm talking just a .750-.800 OPS, not at an All Star level. Somebody who can competently handle the 5 or 6 spot in the order. I didn't list Kepler because we already know from experience that he isn't that guy with the bat.
  6. LA Vikes Fan
    Agreed and love this move. A 4 year contract for a quality MLB starting pitcher that can fill the #1 or #2 spot in a contending team rotation for less than $20m a year? Very well done. Injury could derail this of course, but even 3 good years out of the 4 year deal would be an awesome return. Who's next? I would love to see them work out something with Gray - maybe 3 years, $40-50m? He's 33 so there's risk there but that lowers the AAV. Mahle? Not so sure about him. Let's not overrate him just because we may have given up too much to get him. It's great to see that they are trying to maximize the 6 year competitive window of the Correa and Buxton contracts. We might be in for a longish run of competitive teams. Wow, wouldn't have said that 6 months ago....
  7. LA Vikes Fan
    And then after we won 11-2, all I could think was: "We didn't hit after the first inning against the back of the Yankees bullpen. We suck. We're going to get hammered tomorrow". Deflated me completely. I've been miserable all day.
  8. LA Vikes Fan
    Completely agree. I think that once we get all the way to the last return (Kirilloff) the choice is Gordon or Julien. I have to think that Julien goes because he has options and Gordon is likely to be claimed if DFA'd. The other option would be to trade Kepler or Gordon if you could even get a decent AA type return with moderate upside. Most likely though all of this will not be an issue because someone will get hurt. Hey, it beats being in a position where we need to call up LaMarre or Contreras and play them every day.
  9. LA Vikes Fan
    I sort of agree with you. Gallo really replaces Kepler and is an upgrade on defense - Gold Glove winner - and an upgrade on offense if he's the Gallo from 2017-2021, not the 2022 Gallo. Both are essentially on 1 year deals since we aren't picking up a $10m option for Kepler next year. A strong RH OF is a real need. I say "sort of" because I don't think Garlick is that strong RH OF. He's ok at best. He's fine for now but I think he loses his spot when the injured players are ready to come back. Maybe he stays if we trade Kepler but there doesn't seem to be much of a market for Max. Best guess is absent season ending type injuries, Kepler returns and replaces Wallner, Gallo returns and replaces Julien or Garlick depending on which one hits, Polanco replaces the other of those last 2, and Farmer replaces Castro when he's ready to come back. Who does Lewis and Kirilloff replace? Probably an injured or traded player.
  10. LA Vikes Fan
    Wow, Garlick already and it isn't even May 1. The even sadder thing is he will probably stay on the roster if he hits at all over Wallner and/or Julien until everyone else is ready to come back. Our depth is already being tested. Thank goodness that Solano can play a little.
  11. LA Vikes Fan
    The new guys have helped keep the offense at a subsistence level rather than completely falling off a cliff due to injury. still, we need Polanco and Correa back and hitting in the worst way. Miranda, Larnach, and Gordon are nice to have but they are that portion of their careers where they are going to be streaky and may not make it. Frankly, if 2 of those 3 become solid above average MLB hitters with the 3rd average, we will have hit a jackpot. We need the big 3 of Correa, Polanco, and Buxton anchoring this lineup on most days or we are going to have trouble scoring runs.
  12. LA Vikes Fan
    I think Gordon is at least potentially "on his way up" because of his 674 plate appearances. Tom Kelly used to say that it takes 1000 MLB at bats to really see what a player can be. Gordon still has about 300 or so at bats to get to that level. Unfortunately, he is 27 because of previous illnesses and injuries.
  13. LA Vikes Fan
    Also because Gordon is a much better hitter. 2022: .Gordon - 272/.316/.427(.743), Castro - .241/.285/.357 (.651). Career: Gordon (673 PAs) .257/.303/.396 (.699), Castro (1100 PAs) .243/.290 (.668). Castro may indeed turn out to be valuable, but Gordon is already the superior hitter and on his way up, while Castro has most likely plateaued where he is after 1100 PAs. But how about defense - Castro- career -1.6 dWAR, Gordon -0.7. Gordon slightly better, in essence a wash. Bottom line, Gordon is the better player now and has more room to develop. That's why we keep Gordon over Castro.
  14. LA Vikes Fan
    The problem that manifested itself the last 2 says is the problem many if not most of us saw coming - the lineup isn't long enough to withstand injury. Yes, the bench players we have are better than those last August or September but they are still bench players who should only be used sparingly and then hitting in the 8 or 9 holes. I agree with the Arraez trade - we needed a horse high end starter like Lopez - but it did exacerbate the weaknesses of what was not a great offense to start out with. We are at least 2 bats short, and that's with guys like Larnach, Miranda and Gordon actually clicking. We need Polanco back as his old self pretty badly. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks. We also need Miranda and Gordon to hit like last year, Buxton to stay healthy and hitting, and Correa just to be at his career norms. All of this possible and perhaps even likely. Kirilloff hitting would be nice but not something we can even project, much less count on. Its' too early to panic but not too early to see the potential problem.
  15. LA Vikes Fan
    I kind of like this idea. The problem then is who hits 6? You go Polanco, Correa, Buxton. Larnach, Miranda and ?? I guess it would be Gallo, then Vasquez/Jeffers, than Kepler, then the 2nd base platoon? That could work....
  16. LA Vikes Fan
    Polanco may wind up leading off but I hate to waste his RBI productivity at that spot. How about the 2nd base platoon in the leadoff spot? Farmer can fill that role against LH pitching. He's a career .286.,344/.490 against LH pitching, Gordon is .291/.331/.454 against RH pitching in essentially one year sample size. Neither is great, but both acceptable. Lewis may have that spot by July. How about that group leading off, with Polanco on the 6 hole when he returns, and Kepler moving to #8 or #9?
  17. LA Vikes Fan
    Tough question. If Larnach hits, you have the right 3 from which to choose. As they say, good problem to have. Most likely a Castro release/demotion or an injury will provide the opening for Polanco. Kirilloff will probably have to crush AAA for a couple of weeks before he gets a shot and even then may need an injury to move up. When Polanco and Kirilloff are both ready, to me the right answer is to option/release Castro and then either trade either Kepler or Gallo or release Solano. I would do the former if there is any value in trading Kepler. The problem is that no one really wants him and the Twins aren't going to release him or Gallo until at least June or July and then only if they really stink. It may take an injury for Kirilloff to get back to the MLB level. All of this is interesting, but let's be honest - someone is going to get hurt and we'll be glad we have all of these guys...
  18. LA Vikes Fan
    You said it brother! It's ok if he he takes ABs away from Kepler. Gallo is just as good in the field and both are very iffy at hitting to say the least. But if Gallo and Kepler both don't hit by mid-May (most likely result based on track record) but both play and take away ABs from Larnach, Kirilloff or Gordon, then something is very wrong in the FO and the dugout.
  19. LA Vikes Fan
    Agreed. He gets 100 PAs before appearances before making a decision. By the way, so should Kepler but not more than that. I think the big question is what do we do in the likely event that it's May 1, Kepler and Gallo each have had roughly 100 PAs, neither one is hitting even .220, and neither has even 5-6 HRs? Maybe its time for Kirilloff to go to 1B or the OF, leave Larnach in LF, put Polanco at 1B with Gordon and Farmer platooning at 2B and bring up Julien to be a 1B/DH. Kepler and Gallo go to the bench. I have a feeling that the Twins are going to be quicker with the hook this year on non-productive veteran players. We've got some guys who may be ready; it's the right thing to do.
  20. LA Vikes Fan
    Right on, brother. I don't get the complaining about Lopez "only" throwing 85 pitches. It's March. Starters need to ramp up. I've been watching baseball since the 60s and this is very typical in a starter's first 4-5 starts. Start at 70-80 pitches, ramp up to 90, then 100, then 110. We should all hold our complaining about "short starts" until at least mid-May.
  21. LA Vikes Fan
    I was also glad to see Rocco put some trust in the younger players to hit in the middle of the order. Rather than cram Kepler and Gallo in there, he went with Larnach, Miranda and Gordon in the 4, 5 and 6 spots. I think they've earned a shot at those spots, and we know from experience that Kepler and Gallo aren't likely to be middle of the order bats. The Twins need help on offense in the RBI spots. Giving these three guys a shot is the best way to find out if we have those guys or need to find them at the deadline. Add in Polanco to lead off and maybe Kiriloff in the top 7 and the offense might be good enough.
  22. LA Vikes Fan
    By the way, it was Larnach who singled in Buxton not Correa. Good pace to the game. Much better on TV. You actually have to focus more, can 't just occasionally look up from your phone.
  23. LA Vikes Fan
    Sorry to see Hoffman and Coloumbe go but understand the decision. Question on Hoffman - any reason we can't re-sign him if he doesn't get a 26 man roster spot somewhere else? Maybe the thing to do is to go to him with a minor league deal at major league money and an opt out if he isn't on the MLB roster by May 31. I know only a possibility if he can't find an MLB spot but those spots are hard to find once you clear waivers.
  24. LA Vikes Fan
    I think Maeda looks close to ready but no way he goes 25 plus starts and 150 innings. He's 19 months from pitching in an MLB game. I think we'll be lucky to get 90-100 innings, 15-17 starts from him. Ober will get the other "half" of that starting spot. Or more likely, an injury or two happens and Maeda, Ober and Varland all get 15 plus starts at the MLB level. My prediction is that by August, Ober will be in the starting rotation and Maeda will be in the bullpen - just like the dodgers used to pitch him over the course of the season. worked pretty well, too.
  25. LA Vikes Fan
    That's too bad. Would have been nice to keep him. Sands as the last man in the bullpen?
×
×
  • Create New...