LambchoP
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Everything posted by LambchoP
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I will admit I was one of the many fans calling for Vasquez's head the first half of the year, but this turn around has been great to watch. If he can hit around .230-.240 with some HRs thrown in, that's all the offense you need in a backup catcher. His real value imo is his defense and ability to call games and work with young pitchers. It's real important for the Twins with our Festa's and Zebby's and SWR's to have a good game caller and defensive minded catcher behind the plate. He seems to get the most out of our pitchers which is very valuable in itself. Is he worth 10 million a year? Probably not, but I like what I've seen from him the last month or two for sure:)
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I'd say if Paddack can come back healthy for the playoffs it'll probably be in relief like he did last year. I'm fine with that, he did great last year. As for 2025, 7.5 million for a SP is pretty cheap. I'd say, if there is a team out there who would take on his contract AND give us something I'd do it. Only if it frees up payroll to sign a 2-3 type SP though. As we've seen year after year, you NEVER have enough pitching. I think our lineup should be fine. I'd like Santana for another year. Our pitching staff could use some help though. I think we're one solid SP and two lefties and another righty in RP away from being world series contenders
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Bullpen is starting to look a lot better since the break. Jax and Alcala are beasts out there, with Duran pitching better lately as well. The two big surprises for me are Sands and now possibly Henriquez. Good two innings for him last night. Hopefully he can build on that and become another dependable late inning arm. I'm guessing Roccos going to try to protect Festa, Zebby and Varland from pitching to lineups the second or third times through, which means a lot of 5 inning starts. Bullpens going to have to pitch a lot of innings. I really wish we could find a lefty or two, either in our system or the MLB waiver wire to replace Theilbar and Okert. Pitching from the left side is our one real bullpen weakness.
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Culpepper keeps on hitting. Good to see Gabby Gonzalez break out a bit and have a good game. It'd be really nice to get an update on E Rodriguez though. Is his season done? I know it was a re injury, but I thought it was just a jammed thumb or something. It's been two months now. Makes you wonder what they're not telling us. I was really hoping he could come back and push for a September call up to AAA, making a MLB call up next year a possibility. Looks like that won't happen now:( Should be fun to see how Morris does in his first AAA start. He's been just as lights out as any pitcher in our system this year.
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- andrew cossetti
- dalton shuffield
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Blewitt didn't impress me all that much in the few innings I saw him pitch for us. Ronny Henriquez on the other hand looked like a potential relief weapon last night against the Rangers. He went two innings without giving up any runs or any hard hit balls. Few strikeouts I believe, hitting 97MPH on the gun. He may not be viable as a starter anymore like he was in the minors. But another good reliever that can go multiple innings would be a great boost for our used and overly abused bullpen. Just wish we could find a solid lefty so we could dump Theilbar and Okert! I've got to believe there's a lefty in AAA or the major league waiver wire that would easily outperform Theilbar and Okert.
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Since he has one more option year, I say stash him in AAA and see if he can find his swing. 1B looks pretty well covered, especially if we give Santana another year. If not, we can use Miranda, Lewis or maybe eventually try Severino. With Kepler leaving, there will be OF at bats available. Give him half a season in AAA to win a corner OF spot or at the very least, play well enough so that we'd get something worthwhile back in a trade for him. I'd take the same approach with Julien. His 2023 success is unfortunately looking like a fluke. Once the book got out on him, he's been an automatic out. With Keaschal being at least another year away probably, Twins might want to look at a free agent 2nd baseman for the short term. I can't see Julien there long term. Castro and Martin have been serviceable, but both are better suited to utility roles. If Lee can get healthy and stay consistent, then we may not need anyone, but I still say a veteran second baseman would do our team good. Even if it's just for next year to give Lee a bit more seasoning, or as injury insurance for Lee.
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I like the idea of grabbing Diaz off waivers. Put him in AAA and see how he does. Probably more of a viable starter right now than Camargo, and he'd be a solid backup catcher if we trade Vasquez for salary relief.
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Will be tough to pull out a win this afternoon. Festa probably won't go too deep and our available bullpen guys are less than encouraging lol. Hopefully Festa can give us at least five, and our lineup slugs in enough runs to scrape out a win. Julien looks like an automatic out at this point. Calling him up rather than an outfielder to replace Buxton made no sense to me. Would much rather have seen Keirsey get his much deserved chance... And as far as offering Santana another one year deal, I say absolutely:)
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Winokur is definitely one of our young prospects to keep an eye on. That new Culpeper also seems like a solid hitter so far in his small sample size. Nice to see Raya get out of the jam, but he needs to seriously work on his control. He's got the stuff to rack up K's, but if he can't limit his walks and find a way to be more efficient, I see a bullpen role in his future.
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- payton eeles
- caleb boushley
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Hard to not be hopeful about our young pitchers coming up. I'd put SWR on top based on the fact he's basically saved our rotation this year. He's put up good numbers and kept our team in the game constantly. Next I'd put Mathews and Festa. Both have great stuff, but still have things they need to develop and work on. Too small of sample sizes to be sold on either of them being ready for the majors. Varland should be in the bullpen. Due to injuries, we're forced to keep him stretched out. I think whenever he gets moved to relief, he can be a great weapon for us like he was late last year, letting it fly at 100MPH. After that, we've got a lot of talent coming up the system. Morris looks like the next man up, Id rather see him start before Varland. Then we've got Raya, Lewis, Prelipp, Culpeper. Canterino could also be a Alcala or Jax type setup man for our bullpen if he ever gets healthy. Really wish we'd get an update on him sometime...
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I'd say Twins won the trade because of Doncon, but Margot himself is saying definitely NO. He was brought in as a center field Buxton insurance and he hasn't done that. His defense has actually been bad out there, even in the corners for the most part. Recent "hot streak" aside, his bat isn't good enough for a starter either. He's mostly a slow singles hitter who doesn't steal bases. He should never be hitting leadoff, even against lefties. Worst part is, I think he's blocking some younger better talents. Both Martin and Castro are better defensively and Castro has a much better bat. Martin probably hits more too. Plus, I've got to believe without Margot, we would've finally seen what Keirsey can do in center field when Buxton went down. Calling up Julien for Buck makes no sense when we already have enough infielders, but no true center fielders. Give Keirsey a shot already, there's plenty of DFA candidates on our team to give him a roster spot.
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Good win, Duran starting to look better. Jax and Alcala are shut down late inning studs. Problem is, they can't pitch every day. If we're winning a close game tonight it'll be who? Richards, Theilbar, Okert trying to get late inning outs. That's a scary thought.. we need Topa ASAP and someone else to step it up. Like what we've seen from Sands lately.
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- matt wallner
- carlos santana
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Sure, offer him a minor league deal. If we're able to sign any starters this off-season, then they need to raise the ceiling of our starting staff. We have plenty of rookies and number 4-5 type guys. I think the bullpen needs some serious work as well. Moving Varland there might help. Other than Duran, Jax, Alcala and Sands, I wouldn't trust anyone. We need one or two good lefties for sure. Theilbar and Okert are probably gone. Do we have Okert another season? I know we have Topa for another year or two. Maybe he finally gets healthy and gives us something.
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I also would have liked to see a Keirsey call up. The guys done everything he needed to at AAA plus he plays all three OF spots, pretty darn good from what I've seen. He'd be a much safer defender out there than Margot, Martin or Castro. And who knows, he could have been a real spark plug for the offense. The Julien call up is a bit of a bummer. I know he was doing a BIT better at St Paul, but until he figured out his strikeout problems, I think he's more of a hindrance than a help at the moment...
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Curious if we give Jeffers an extension and look at him as our long term guy? We don't have any exciting catching depth, Vasquez is gone after next year. Do we look to free agency?
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Castro is fun to watch, a nice defensive guy to have, and is having a career year offensively. That said, he shouldn't have been an all-star and we shouldn't be surprised by his streaky hitting. I think he's a good, quick leadoff guy who can steal bases, hit for ok average and occasionally put one in the seats. A decent spark plug at best, but should never be relyed upon to carry the offense in any way. Bottom line, we NEED Correa and Buxton back. So frustrating to see those guys always missing the most important games, year after year. I seriously wonder how much less injuries there would be to start players if their salary was tied to amount of games played lol?
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Varland may have technically pitched a quality game, but he was very lucky for most of the day. He must have thrown at least a dozen meatballs right down the middle that the Royals didn't capitalize on. I've got to believe if it was the Yankees or Orioles, he would've given up six runs plus, easy. Our bullpen is a real liability now. Richards and Theilbar both are clearly DFA candidates, but Twins won't because we have no replacements. Either call someone up from minors or search the waiver wire. Rolling with these guys is going to cost us too many games. In a playoff chase, it's unsustainable:(
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I don't see the Rangers just dropping these guys just to shed payroll, but even if they did, I'm sure most would get claimed by the time the picks got to us. Also, if the Twins wouldn't add payroll at the deadline, why would they add now. I'd love to see it, as we're more desperate for pitching now than we were then, I just don't see anything happening. Ownership basically said roll with what you got after the deadline. Who knows, maybe they'll surprise us. A veteran starter or another bullpen arm could help our playoff chances big time!
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While it's really nice to see Lewis and Soto finding some second half success, I think they both need to show more consistency before talking about promotions. Like a lot of young pitchers, they've got great stuff and can rack out the strikeouts. But they can also rack up the walks due to poor command. If these guys can limit their walks a bit more, then next year should be a big development year for them, getting to the high minors. I'm starting to like the look of our pitching depth lately. That doesn't mean we shouldn't look for upgrades in free agency.
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- carson mccusker
- jorel ortega
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Jax is definitely our best reliever this year. He seems to be pretty durable as well. Without him, our bullpen would truly be screwed...
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I like Lewis and Miranda covering 1b/3rd base. Either can DH as well. Having both of them in the lineup at the same time should be priority. If we give Santana another year, which is an idea I like, then he'll cover first. Lee/Julien at 2nd. Correa at SS. Lewis and Miranda cover 3rd and DH. Wallner will be our starting right fielder so he'll get less DH at bats. As much as I like Castro and to a lesser extent Martin, I hope Twins go out and get a good left fielder. Even if it's a one year deal until E Rodriguez is ready. Plus, we need a Buxton backup. Which is why I'd like to see if Keirsey can stick in the majors...
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There is Help on the Waiver Wire - Should We Try to Grab It?
LambchoP commented on LA Vikes Fan's blog entry in LA Vikes Fan
I'd take Rosario, even if it's temporary until Correa gets back. Who knows how much longer he'll be. It was only supposed to be like two weeks and here we are over a month later. And now Buxton probably going on the IL too. I'd love it if they'd call up Keirsey to take his spot, but they'll just have Margot play center. Scary... Diekman could be an option. We are that desperate for relief lefties. Give him a minor league deal and try him at AAA for a bit. If he shows something, give him a shot in the bigs. If he sucks, no harm done. -
It's been very fun and encouraging to see our young pitching prospects rise so quickly and find success. I just hope this short, small sample size success doesn't deter them from looking for pitching upgrades in the office season. As we've seen this year, depth is incredibly important. I think we could use a TOR veteran pitcher to pair with Lopez and help carry the innings load and help coach all our rookie starters.
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With Zebby, Festa and Varland already forced into MLB action, we are screwed, and not likely to even MAKE the playoffs if any of our top 3 starters go down. I'd guess Morris would be next in line, but after that, it's pretty bare. Both Raya and Lewis show promise, but they've got a lot more development to do before they can be considered a solid starting option in the high minors. Maybe if Headrick can get healthy he can be our lefty out of the bullpen? Then we wouldn't have to worry about Theilbar every time we need to get tough lefties out...
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Why can't the Twins have nice things? If we could EVER just get all our stars healthy and playing at the same time, we'd have a very formidable lineup and be so fun to watch. Correa, Buxton, Lewis, Miranda and Wallner in the same lineup would be scary! Unfortunately it just never seems to happen. One or two guys are seemingly ALWAYS hurt with some kind of nagging injury:(
