Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Rod Carews Birthday

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,727

  • 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 Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Rod Carews Birthday

  1. Rod Carews Birthday
    I find it interesting that people have tremendous amounts of faith in Lewis and Lee fixing their bats going into 2025 as though it’s just a simple fix, while they act like Julien fixing his bad is advanced calculus. He was very good at the plate for his entire career until last season. It seems obvious he knows something about hitting, plus he has hitting coaches to help. I’m taking the over.
  2. Rod Carews Birthday
    If indeed his OPS versus LHP improved from .481 to .611 year over year, that would suggest he’s on a good path and could potentially be more than acceptable against lefties in 2025.
  3. Rod Carews Birthday
    If he isn't going to even hit the field until March 17-20 or so, then he definitely shouldn't be on the opening day roster. Let him go to AA or AAA and get some at bats and play the field to get back to a good comfort level before bringing him back up. While he doesn't have a lot to prove at AA, just easing back in after pretty major surgery is important as well. If he is as advertised, he will force his way to the majors soon enough.
  4. Rod Carews Birthday
    This new team may lack personality, but at least they will hit!
  5. Rod Carews Birthday
    The more I think about it, the less I have major concerns about the position. There are LOTS of options, none of which is ridiculous. If Julien comes back and hits while maintaining the improved defense that he started the year with last year, he’s extremely valuable and the likely second baseman. If he doesn’t hit, then I think it is Lee’s to try to keep or lose, and since it is widely assumed that he has great potential, I think he could easily be that guy. I think Keaschall and Eeles are too far down in the pecking order to factor in at this time. Austin Martin, formerly highly touted prospect (which doesn’t happen by accident, he has some skills), could also slot in the spot if given a chance for regular work. That’s three legit possibilities BEFORE you get to the break glass in case of emergency candidate, Willi Castro. Castro, it should be noted, isn’t the break glass candidate because he’s bad, but because he would serve the team better with a more flexible role. I don’t agree with those who have declared that “these guys all suck.” There is unquestionably a good second baseman in that group, maybe two or three. Figuring out the right mix will be the challenge and may not sort itself completely out until midseason.
  6. Rod Carews Birthday
    Barring a trade, I can't imagine that Festa and Matthews won't be starting some games for the Twins. If they are NOT needed, it would likely mean that they are injured or the rotation is having a season for the record books. Alcala is a real wild card (how many years in a row has that been written?). I could see him stick, sent down because this is their last chance to do so, or just traded. Time will tell. I think Varland will definitely be a part of the bullpen very soon, if not from opening day. I think he will force his way in by pitching well in St. Paul.
  7. Rod Carews Birthday
    He may well be very worth keeping, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a guy you want taking up a space on the 26 man roster for the entire season in 2025. If the coaches see that he has real potential to be good down the road, then a trade would be in order so that he can be optioned to the minors without having to give him back to the Phillies -- assuming that a reasonable price can be agreed upon.
  8. Rod Carews Birthday
    It is indeed a classic look! It also looks to be in the best shape of it's life!
  9. Rod Carews Birthday
    This seems like a welcome development. If his curveball can be dialed up like his fastball has been in the pen, he could really be a terrific reliever. I think we all need to pause and take stock of the fact that a guy like Varland will likely be on the outside looking in (at least temporarily) when the final bullpen group is announced. In many (most? . . . all?) previous years, we would be asking Varland to quickly develop some pitches so that he could be our #2 or #3 guy out of the bullpen. What's fun is that he might become that guy but what's even more fun is that we don't desperately need him to be that guy on day one. With good health, this should be quite a fine group.
  10. Rod Carews Birthday
    While you always want your team to be #1 at every position possible, middle of the road is an OK place to be if it works in the scheme of the rest of your team. That makes me comfortable with this year's catching situation. Cartaya and Camargo may or may not be the future of catching with the Twins, but we will learn a lot in the next few months of play. As the third option, I think they are fine for now, and I hope they develop further. The catching situation after this year definitely needs to be addressed, but I don't see any reason to panic about it. Yes, we should probably draft a catcher, but that only helps for a few years down the road. This is something that could likely be addressed in trade or by taking a band aid approach in free agency. Yes, they are on the clock to find the next solution, but that clock isn't really that close to zero that panic needs to ensue.
  11. Rod Carews Birthday
    Wait! You mean if I get rid of my 1987 Yugo I can hit my way back to the majors instead of independent ball???? Time to go shopping!
  12. Rod Carews Birthday
    I would agree with this entirely. We as fans don't really know all of the things that are going on inside the clubhouse and who people really look up to. People require different types of leadership. For some, the best leaders are fiery and public, but others respond better to the good friend or the quiet approach. We also only know the outside things that are public, and sometimes, that's probably best. I do agree that Buxton has the accomplishments, seems like a good guy, and has seemingly bonded well with CC, which would certainly speak well to his potential as a leader. I would be curious what the crossover is in leadership between the hitters and pitchers, or if they pretty much operate in their own worlds.
  13. Rod Carews Birthday
    Fun article and a good reminder of why we are fans to begin with. Go Twins! Let's win some games!
  14. Rod Carews Birthday
    I think that the Julien renaissance probably looks like something a little bit south of his rookie season offensively, but likely north of it defensively. As has been written about by many, he needs a change in approach to adjust to the major league pitchers' adjustment to him. I think that's doable. It's not like he hasn't hit in the past at every level, as well as (briefly) at the majors. His "passivity" at the plate frustrates many a fan, but would you rather have a Max Kepler weak pop up or weak ground out? The strikeouts and the weak contact are both outs and neither are going to do anything for the scoring situation, and yet we scholarshipped Kepler for years. For Julien, a little more aggressiveness early in the count might lead to more of the 131 OPS+ player that we saw in 2023. I would be very pleased with a solid hitter at the 115-120 OPS+ level. If you assume that his defense is never going to improve (except it did) then he is destined only for the land of the DH, but I would maintain that the improvement that we saw for a while at the beginning of last season (before he turned into a real mess everywhere) is probably more indicative for what we can expect. If you've already made up your mind about his defense, there are plenty of other productive players in Twins history that you would have missed out on. The combination of a near .800 OPS hitter with a near average defender would certainly play. Now if he can just get back there!
  15. Rod Carews Birthday
    I think it is in order, because what we are expecting of him is so much greater than Julien. For the most part people have Lewis’ name written in the lineup in pen and are expecting him to be one of the top offensive forces on the team. That means his success or failure have much larger consequences for the team’s outlook overall. So, while we may think his floor is higher than Julien’s at this point (maybe), but if he is sitting on his floor the Twins are in trouble.
  16. Rod Carews Birthday
    It does seem like this is probably the year for Julien to either do it or not. My money is on him to put it back together and play well. I don’t think he’s going to be a big slugger or defensive wizard, but in his best form he has enough power to be very valuable and enough glove to hold his own at second base. Because of the number of players available at second and first, I’m not excessively concerned about him putting it together (or not). I think the position will get covered, even if it gets a little messy in the short term. I’m actually at least as concerned about Royce Lewis at third base. Between injuries and fatigue, he was a pretty big mess last year and we are not expecting him to be merely the good version of Eddie Julien, we’re expecting him to be a star and a vital cog in the offense and defense. The let down for the team is much more serious if Lewis crashes and burns than if Eddie Julien does. Both of them on the upswing will really help this team offensively.
  17. Rod Carews Birthday
    Maybe, but I don’t think it’s that cut and dried. Correa will obviously be fine. Lewis has throwing issues but he’s young and athletic and I think will figure it back out. He looked fine there initially before his problems developed. Second base is a little messy — but it has been messy for a while. Castro would be fine for sure. I think Lee’s glove will play well there, even if his bat isn’t there yet. The drop off from a gold glover in Santana to France/Miranda/Julien will be noticeable, but again, I think the relatively inexperienced Miranda/Julien and the no longer injured France have the potential to be average. Julien/Miranda look to me like they will play a lot of DH anyway. In summary, if everyone plays their worst, they will be terrible. But, if everyone plays to potential, they will have an approximately average infield defense. It’s not a slam dunk but it’s not the end of the world either. If we can live up to potential scoring runs, it won’t be a problem. If we can’t score runs, the defense won’t matter.
  18. Rod Carews Birthday
    Agreed. I remembered his offensive game going poorly, but those really were brutal numbers. I wonder if he would be better off making adjustments in St. Paul, where the pitching is less scary and the pressure is less. It’s easier to do that when you’re not facing guys like Tarik Skubal.
  19. Rod Carews Birthday
    Perhaps the cure for this is also “more cowbell” (la sonaille?).
  20. Rod Carews Birthday
    I think it’s a combination of knowing they needed to add a little bit to ensure that the team remain competitive, both for fans and for ownership sale marketing purposes, and an optimistic awareness that the sale might bail them out of paying the bills before they are all due.
  21. Rod Carews Birthday
    Fascinating read! I don’t know that it helps fans much to know the specifics of this, but it certainly illuminates some of the high level analytics that teams, coaches, and players have at their fingertips. Back in the day, managers would only have the eye test to say “well I think that’s a pretty fast swing,” which is nothing if not biased and a wild guess filled exercise. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!
  22. Rod Carews Birthday
    There is also the "battle" at first base. Miranda would seem to have earned it, with Julien thrown in there as well. However, the Twins have signed several first base options in the off season to seemingly create a competition -- Ty France being the latest (and likely best). IF Lee takes over second base (a big if at this point), that leaves one of Julien/Miranda/possibly France as the potential DH (with certainly much more rotation unless someone is just burning it up). I happen to think that any of the three will be able to hit, (with Julien still a little bit of a question mark). It probably boils down to which one can play a respectable first base defensively.
  23. Rod Carews Birthday
    Agreed. Nathan to me is the real candidate among the three. He was dominant for a pretty long time and compares very favorably to HOF relievers. Loved Hunter, but while he was exciting in many ways for a long time, just didn’t have the really big peak years that position players need for selection. Santana just didn’t have a long enough career. Even a couple more seasons that were just “good” might have done the trick. I think EVENTUALLY Nathan may get in through the eras committees. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long as it did for Olivia and Kaat.
  24. Rod Carews Birthday
    It's not quite that simple. The bulk of any projection is based on what MANY members of your team will accomplish. So, even though it is unlikely (at best) that Gasper will replace Santana's output, it is likely that some or all of that will be made up for elsewhere. I think one of the reasons for the somewhat optimistic projection is that almost no Twins hitter had a high quality offensive season AND a relatively healthy season (played a lot of games) at the same time. Buxton and Correa were pretty good, but they didn't play that many games. Will they play more games while keeping their rate stats similar? Possibly, maybe even probably. However, the amount of potential growth to come from guys like Larnach, Wallner, Lewis, and Miranda is pretty substantial, which accounts for the likely loss of impact at 1B. I would personally take the over on whether at least 3 of the 4 will have a better 2025 than 2024 and that's without factoring any potential rookie contributions which likely also move the bar forward. YMMV.
  25. Rod Carews Birthday
    While there are certainly a few more complicated interactions than those listed, this article does a great job of boiling down individual player needs/goals for each to have a good year. In fact, I have a hard time mustering much of an argument against any of the points. The success or failure of the team will be dependent on how many of these players make these strides. If it is 25%, it will be good for those players, but it won’t matter much and the team will be pretty bad. If it is 75%, there will be much joy in Mudville and the team will be exceptional. 100% is unachievable, but it’s nice to dream.
×
×
  • Create New...