Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

JD-TWINS

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,522

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Matthews for 2-3 starts in September to rest a guy or two would be huge. Have also broken down on my stance to not add any pitching. Tanner Scott from Marlins as a rental is awfully attractive!!!! …. Assuming major competition for him.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Okert is far from perfect but with a 3.86 ERA as a middle reliever, he’s not really out of line for the norm.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Just about every reliever comes in and brings along a sense of anxiousness for the Fans. If he recently had a bad outing people are nervous that he’s losing it………if he had a good outing, he’s due to give up some hits or maybe a run or two. It’s a tough position from which to routinely satisfy the fans.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Is there a NEED for a reliever or is it just the only plausible flaw? (other than starter depth) Staumont - .86 ERA Alcala - 1.56 ERA Jax - 1.91 ERA Duran - 2.93 ERA Sands - 3.56 ERA Okert - 3.86 ERA Funderburk - 5.61 ERA Thielbar - 5.64 ERA Jackson is gone …… Topa is a Big Maybe, agreed Stewart is a strongly probable in early August Varland is strongly probable by mid-September Paddack is strongly probable in late September Can we really improve with a no option veteran via trade…….that’s going to pitch better than what we have, for sure?
  5. JD-TWINS
    I get the bit of angst with Margot! His defense has not been at nearly a high enough level. Really poor offensive start to the year over most of 6 weeks. I do think that going into the season, CASTRO was the anticipated back up for Buxton …..maybe even at level of being the guy to see equal or slightly more innings than Buxton, dependent on health. Margot was the RH bat to spell Wallner first & Kepler second v. LH pitching. Lefty starter, Castro - Buxton - Margot in the OF makes most offensive sense & did in March. Nobody saw Lewis going down for 58 games after 2 AB’s - this forced Castro into the IF along with Farmer’s continued ineptitude at the plate. Wallner was terrible, enter more & more Margot. Buxton’s knee hurt and Castro was an infielder now, more & more Margot. Team was forced to play him against RH pitching and the results were seldom good. I still think the FO had the right idea with what they knew at the time of Margot’s signing.
  6. JD-TWINS
    Staumont is a FO …..WIN …..probably a bit under the radar.
  7. JD-TWINS
    Martin next year makes sense! The reason they signed Margot or would have signed another guy is precisely because “…..they had no idea how some in the minors would adapt to this season.” …….could have done better - always, but with whom and at what cost - no crystal ball in the FO. Santana has worked out after a really rough start…….Margot has progressed as well, while still being very unstable in the OF. Farmer got hit in the face last year and came back and matched his career output on the nose. Played solid defense and hit .256. Great Clubhouse presence in his first season with the team. No reason to expect regression …….the $$ total in ‘24 being $6.3M v. maybe $4.1M, to me, is just noise in Professional Sports Payrolls……essentially meaningless. Overall, 2 free agent guys are doing what they asked for and one is not……..the one isn’t a key piece, only depth & currently on IL, so they just move forward w/o him.
  8. JD-TWINS
    I agree that the Team is in a pretty good position across the board on depth and capabilities. I do think the concern would be (as with a WHOLE BUNCH of Teams) if a rotation guy goes down or starts to underperform, what do we do? I think stating that the Team has “2 prospects ready in AAA……” is a stretch for most here at TD to buy into as of today. That’s the area of concern…….an underperforming #1 - a 23 year old with limited innings in years prior - a #5 that has never thrown a full starter load and has had 2,major elbow surgeries, with fluctuating velocity over past 6 weeks or more. A bit anxious about this group.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Bostock was my first thought as a guy that could have been listed……it’s WAR based though and probably pretty black & white choices. To be fair to the Pohlad family and their ownership history/legacy, I have to clarify your comment about Hisle’s contract issues. Calvin Griffith owned the TWINS through ‘83 and Bostock - Carew - Hisle & others were let go via trade or a few via free agency due to The Griffith’s cheap $$$ approach to their Team’s Roster. It was terrible to see an Icon like Rod Carew not be a Twin any longer!!
  10. JD-TWINS
    On the pitching side I gotta say Varland & Jackson would fall into the Big Disappointment range for me. I thought Varland could be a 4.50 ERA - .500 type pitcher in ‘24. Hopefully, he can contribute over the last 6-8 weeks of the season………Jackson, while not great, I expected to have situational, shutdown stuff. He was all over relative to results but mostly poor. Not sure how Staumont could have performed any better. Maybe a couple scares with Walks but that’s it for me …….my assumption is you are stating real time ERA’s and his is only 0.86 not the 2.83 you site above. Definitely, Happily Surprised!
  11. JD-TWINS
    VERY encouraging!!…….great news. Seems that after another 5-6 starts (25-30 innings) they’ll have a really good feel for where he’s at relative to being competitive in the Show……can always give him more time but if he’s successful at AAA level there’s no reason not to try him out in September with the big club. Very probable they will all need a break or an additional day of rest a couple times. Look forward to checking back in 3-4 weeks to see how he’s doing. With success, I like the idea of keeping innings down and using him in relief the last 2-3 weeks of the season.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Looks like he’s leap frogged him in the FO’s opinion as well!!
  13. JD-TWINS
    Staumont & Alcala have been excellent! Okert is 1 good - 1 great - 1 bad…..typical “decent middle reliever”. Not reliable. Thielbar & Funderburk have to be nearing the unusable mode. They are 1 decent - 1 bad - 1 mediocre & repeat. Disappointing after ‘23 levels. Jax & Stewart (when healthy) are dominant. Sands has generally filled his role with pretty good results! Duran’s velocity issues are overstated. He’s still got electric stuff. His speed down 1.5-2.0 MPH on his fastball makes him comparable to Cleveland’s closer, Clase’. His pitch choices (guidance on pitches) seem to be off - he try’s to fool people with his breaking stuff and needs to set everything up off his fastball. Would like to see Topa contribute the last 45 days & maybe Henriquez to keep arms fresh.
  14. JD-TWINS
    OPS+ for probable roster when healthy: Martin - 99 Kepler - 98 Castro - 119 Santana - 112 Larnach - 107 Lee - 109 Lewis - 185 Wallner - 132 Buxton - 131 Jeffers - 121 Correa - 151 Miranda - 148 Vazquez - 44 Gotta be as good of 13 as there are assembled in the game, as of July 17. Can they get healthy soon to get these guys assembled at the same time? ……..that seems to be the key.
  15. JD-TWINS
    Seriously? He proved his worth in ‘22 and then it was thought the Twins could never afford him. Things changed with the medical diagnosis. He has a plate in an ankle - that’s my recollection of the injury with long-term risk. You might get Plantar Fasciitis next week. Not connected if plate’s in one leg and he’s had the foot problem on both sides - right? He’s in Top 10 in BA & close in OPS…..probably a Top 10 “leader” in Baseball as well. I’m not a rah rah fan of his, but his signing and the results are extremely positive.
  16. JD-TWINS
    TWINS - best record in A.L. since April 22 at 46-27. …….headed in the right direction to catch Cleveland. The Guardians have some pretty good line-up balance and a couple Stars! Kwan & Ramirez are formidable and will not back up much…….can’t play any better! The 1B & C Naylor bros. help with key hitting. Good up the middle!! I think they’ll figure out a way to improve their staff this month via trade. They have THE BEST record in A.L. and cannot be underestimated. Buxton is hitting .395 over approximately last 20 games - Miranda went crazy for a week - Lee joined the Club on fire……..going to be regression with these guys and with CC up in the air, Twins have their hands full to keep winning 6 of every 10! IMO, Kepler - Santana - Castro - Jeffers staying at current levels or above are the key to driving the offense……..gotta keep line-up long and can’t have dead spots in the line-up. Rotation arm health and ability to handle innings totals will be in question in another 45 days as well………same for all teams.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Kirilloff 2023: 281 AB’s - .270 BA - 26 XBH - .348 OBP - 117 OPS+ - .793 OPS - 41 RBI Castro 2024: ….(at the Break) 339 AB’s - .265 BA - 34 XBH - .352 OBP - 119 OPS+ - .774 OPS - 30 RBI ………ALL-STAR Should we trade Kirilloff knowing he was hurt and knowing Kepler & Santana are gone?
  18. JD-TWINS
    Sure seems to me that Correa should got to the 10 day IL retroactive to last Saturday, the 13th. Julien comes up to play 2B and Castro plays SS with Lee at 3B for a week…..and Correa comes back. Castillo seems to have earned a shot. Not resting Correa to stay healthy for longer term doesn’t makes sense to me - particularly since he said in hindsight he wished he rested more last year soon after his foot diagnosis. I’d have Eddie play 2B and see if they notice any improvement and when Miranda comes back I’d option Castillo. I’ve been hard on Julien but I feel better about him after 5 weeks in St. Paul than I do with Castillo.
  19. JD-TWINS
    I’m not trying to make this an issue with you - I get your slant - the MLB Twins 40-man doesn’t have him on IL ……he’s “in the minors” so my assumption is he has to take up space on 40-man and can’t remain on IL anymore?
  20. JD-TWINS
    Appreciate the note/information. The reason I asked was because I was looking at the 40-man roster and it shows he’s “in the Minors” and not on the IL any longer……….if he went on IL 4/23, does he have to come off automatically on 6/23?
  21. JD-TWINS
    Am curious, I can’t determine when Headrick made his starts in St. Paul this year…..I see he’s started 2 games and is not on IL. His ERA is 2.08 and he has 15K’s in 8 2/3 work. Not sure if that’s recent or 2 months old? Seems encouraging - need to see more volume but encouraging. Any timing on these outings?
  22. JD-TWINS
    I surely hope Larnach stays no lower than where he is now and starts to climb again at the plate! ………I have no idea what Matt Wallner may do moving forward……..he may hit 6 HR’s or he might be hitting .195 by August 10th - maybe both? Anyway, one of these 2 guys could fold up just as Kirilloff did in May/June. For depth sake, I don’t see a big enough upside in moving Kirilloff at his current value. If they package him with another guy or two in the offseason, fine, assuming some decent return.
  23. JD-TWINS
    As a contrast……Kirilloff, per reports, was struggling with a wrist problem in ‘21 & ‘22. If we believe reports over the last month, he had a back problem this year and didn’t share the info with the club. Real, I guess so? Kirilloff in 2023, coming off major wrist surgery and healthy for first time in a few years: 281 AB’s - .270 BA - .348 OBP - .793 OPS - 117 OPS+ - 26 XBH……….not an “Average hitter”. An elite defender, but these numbers mirror Willi Castro’s offense as of today for ‘24 & he’s going to the All-star game. With Santana gone and Kepler gone, as pointed out above, seems to kick the door wide open for Kirilloff to get one more shot as a healthy guy in ‘25. His lack of sharpness on defense is offset a bit by his flexibility to play either corner or 1B - right? He was everybody’s hero after 3-4 weeks in April with 3 triples already. When did back become an issue???? Maybe gotta take a deep breath and give him one more shot.
  24. JD-TWINS
    Agree on the Duran curves. He turns OK hitters into threats by not establishing his velocity and then pitching off that. He does have a habit of, or the Team has decided with him, to throw mostly 2 pitches per outing……at least many times that’s been the case. Assuming opponents pick up in this. If he throws a curve……he’s probably throwing another one in next 2-3 pitches. Best option is to just sit on that because they can’t typically deal with his fastball. I watched one game and all he threw were splits & curves……,I wonder how much comes back to pitch calling from bench and catcher……..,Duran obviously likes the swing & miss he has in his curve but maybe it needs to be located better or just set-up better?
  25. JD-TWINS
    If he doesn’t suck. he’ll help drive the offense. If he hits like Julien did for 2 months it will be a problem for theTeam’s success. Not asking him to hit .280 or else……he’s part of the engine though……if he’s not providing offense yet he should be in St Paul instead of on a Team trying to win a Division.
×
×
  • Create New...