Rod Carews Birthday

This is the ultimate in speculative and premature. Take a breath. IF everyone returns healthy. . . AND everyone pitches up to their ability, . . like the most dominant month of their entire career. . . AND nothing else weird happens. . . ETC., ETC., ETC., Many teams have dominant rotations on paper, but it usually doesn't work out that way. In the Twins' case, they have way more question marks than answers a this point. I personally would be thrilled with a top 10 rotation, but fear it is more likely average -- which is actually a lot better than what we are now.

Collapse? I’m not sure that’s applicable here. The Twins have been a slightly below average team all season. They’ve never fallen way back and they’ve never pulled out above .500. It seems a little more dramatic than that because the season has been full of little 3-4 game winning streaks nd 3-4 game losing streaks. So, the real question is “Who’s responsible for the team being consistently mediocre?” I’m not sure pointing fingers is going to change much or that it’s nearly that cut and dried. Everything plays a part and hopefully better decisions get made so that better things can happen next year. In the meantime, I’m still going to root for the Twins to pull a rabbit out of their hat and sneak into the playoffs this year. I’m not proud. I’ll take it any way I can!

He’s 21. He just needs to survive at this point. It’s a “free” get your feet wet moment for a guy who we hope is going to be a star player for the team. Even if he “answers” one or more of those questions, we should have learned in the past that small sample size answers aren’t really answers. Ask future all-stars Julien, Lewis, and Wallner.

This. I think it's interesting that Brooks Lee has outperformed Royce Lewis in every meaningful statistical way -- all while attempting to play out of position/beyond his abilities for part of the season at SS. And yet, we think of Brooks Lee as "adequate" while we sit and dream on what we think Royce Lewis could become. I'm not a Lee fan, but I'll take him 9 times out of 10 over Lewis. Both Royce Lewis and Twins would be well served by a trade in the offseason. His value is much less than high, but he would be worth something/could possibly be combined with another trade candidate like Bailey Ober to get something a little bit worthwhile, like a serviceable bullpen piece.

Unfortunately, I fear that you might be correct. I would suggest that this would be a place for Tom Pohlad to "step up to the plate" and do something that is necessary to compete in 2027, and let's be fair, the QO for Jeffers is an overpay. Help is definitely on the way in the form of Vahn Lackey (and others), so a short term fairly substantial investment would do well to bridge that gap. We're not talking long-term commitment here -- just enough to keep the team competitive in the short-term.

On paper, much of what you suggest looks pretty good. Most importantly for planning purposes, it is easy to see the specific holes in this lineup. Caratini is fine for a backup catcher, but not for a starter/halftimer, that's hole #1. Clemens fits better as a bat off the bench with some pop who can play lots of places. As a number four hitter, he falls pretty far short, that's hole #2. Royce Lewis is likely the next weakest link. He was terrible, then he was excellent, then he was OK, and now he is back to lousy. I would try to find a way to trade him as a change of scenery candidate this winter, but he's hole #3. Emma Rodriguez is an unknown, but a worthwhile gamble to take, with the idea that if he doesn't make it, you can move Keaschall back to LF. I think he'll be frustrating at times with the strikeouts, but OK -- maybe a "rich man's Matt Wallner" because he can play defense. Also (always) unknown is Buxton's status. He's ours. Let's use him as much as possible. If/when he gets injured, we now have a backup fielder in place so that we are not suffering there. Both of these unknowns are worth rolling the dice on. Young players like Culpepper and Jenkins are ALWAYS unknowns, but again, worth rolling the dice on -- although we need to remember how promising we thought Lewis, Wallner, and Julien were back in 2023. I think this could be a pretty good lineup if things line up and there isn't an injury nightmare. Fixing hole #1 -- offer Jeffers that QO. He'll likely take it (hard to turn down that kind of money if you're a catcher). He's not awesome, and he isn't a 130 game a year catcher, but he's pretty darn solid and has a good track record. Then, in 2027, develop develop develop Lackey and the rest of the catcher crop in the minors so that you don't need Jeffers in 2028. Fixing hole #2 -- maybe you don't have to, if you believe that Houston isn't far away and you can move either Lee or Culpepper to 2nd base. There are worse things than "getting by" with Clemens. The bat piece could be fixed with a Bell-like signing, particularly if the signee could play in the field (maybe first base. . . . ) Fixing hole #3 -- Sign a serious hitter that can field the position. 30+ homeruns would make me look past a lot of defensive issues. Trade Lewis for something, maybe some bullpen help. I think this is some addition by subtraction, which probably isn't fair but the churn is a little too much to keep putting up with. YMMV, but I think this could be a way forward/offseason plan for 2027.

Hopefully fans will be patient with Jenkins in the beginning and not jump to ridiculous conclusions about "our next hall of famer" or "latest prospect bust". It would seem that he is destined to do well. Let's hope he stays healthy and becomes the star we are hoping for!

All other numbers being the same, one would assume that he's tipping something out there that is noticeable to people trying to figure it out. This article does a fantastic job of trying to figure out what that looks like. Bravo! I hope the Twins are also doing this (or that they're reading this article very closely!).

Yes. This is absolutely true. . . The struggle to locate other stuff is certainly real though, and the various websites aren't great about telling you where they are broadcast because in most cases they are in competition with each other.

This is really an excellent break down of the changes made for Kremer. Love it! Great article! Let's hope it sticks!

I'm guessing, and that's all I can do, it is likely because the Twins' pitchers are already doing the things that the team has in their toolbox, so to speak, and they aren't working for that player. Therefore, there isn't a next step for them that is readily within the wheelhouse of the coaches or the players (or they would likely have tried it). It is also possible that some of the things that they would like to try just aren't within the physical or mental capabilities of the players. In my (former, I'm retired) world as a music teacher, it was always interesting which students would respond to what coaching and in what way. The buy-in is critical, but that usually isn't a big problem, except in the case of some students who were doing pretty well already and thought they had all of the answers. Some would respond to instruction with "Oh, you mean like this?" and they would do it perfectly almost right away, as though they had never heard of this before. That was fun because it made me look really smart! Others would be confused or would lack the physical skill to carry out the change. In that case, you try another approach, or to say what you mean in another way with the hope that new words or new ways of looking at something would make a difference. Occasionally it did, but sometimes nothing would work, even after several trips back to the drawing board. I'm guessing the Twins' coaches experience the same types of things. Sigh. . .

I’d just be thrilled with “just” a Corey Koskie or Gary Gaetti!

This debate sounds a little like the one that was had back a few years, only the names then were Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. Sano was going to be the next great Twins star and this guy named Rosario somehow usually managed to equal or better his output in the minors without nearly the fanfare (or movies about him). Then they got to the majors and Rosario managed to have more of a career (11.1 WAR vs. 8.0 WAR). He even had more career home runs, albeit in more at bats (which also says something). I'm not saying that either is destined for stardom and/or failure. That could happen to either or both of them. However, there is not some gigantic difference in what they have accomplished in the minor leagues that makes this call that obvious. Being older and out of options definitely does count for something in terms of suitability for roles and call ups. I'm fine with either of them called up, but if it is to be only one, I would choose to promote Rodriguez.

Just call out to the wind, and he will answer. . .

What? No Willians Astudillo reunion? That would be the funniest of all I think.