Bracky

I didn't get to watch the game but had the same question. What direction were the base runners getting from the 1st and 3rd base coaches?

I have been high on Clemens since he started to playing for us last year (Despite literally knowing NOTHING about him before). But either way, he has become a favorite for me on the team. I just appreciate that he seems to hustle and bring it every day. He plays solid average to above average defense everywhere he gets played. The fact he has been on a hot hitting streak now for a bit doesn't hurt. I don't see him as a long term fixture of the team necessarily but I really hope we do keep him for a few years at least. He is a great utility asset and right now you really can't complain about his contribution at 2B in terms of both defense and offense. I don't see a big reason for him to play anywhere but as starting 2B at this point until we have someone work up through the minors to be able to take over eventually.

I may need to found the Church of Clemens as an alternative option to the Church of Kreidler

As always, DocBauer with the great post. I feel about the same with most of your takes on this and like your overall post. Unless we crater, I feel the same on Ryan. I get he potentially has some of the highest value for trade but he also could anchor our starting pitching lineup for years. So even if we want to do some rebuilding and re-fill our farm system, I still think you need some veterans as a part of it. Agree with Larnach and Bell (as you noted, even if we are potentially still playing well) since they don't seem like long term parts of our building a team. Biggest question I think there is just what value would we be able to get back for them. Also agree on Clemens. Maybe he has a market but between Larnach, Bell and Clemens I definitely see Clemens as having more value to the Twins compared to the other two. He really has been a good player for us and you can't complain about his defense overall. He seems like a great teammate too. (Disclaimer: I have been a Clemens fan since he started with the Twins so may be biased, Also Disclaimer: I may need to move along the lines of the Church of Kriedler and start the Church of Clemens myself) Love Jeffers game but I feel like with the performance from our two catchers since he has been out makes it seem like moving him makes sense. Try and get value where we can there (unless the front office is convinced to extend him). But as noted, our two catchers have looked good enough I feel like Jeffers could be our best trade piece (if we keep Ryan as noted above). So all in all, agree with the thoughts. Ideal situation is we can get above .500 throughout the year then I think it would be great to see us try and do some smart buying and selling.

How on earth does Caratini not challenge a close pitch that could end an inning?

I feel like that would have been a good spot to have challenged that by Caratini

The final out to end the game was also a nifty little play from Clemens. I would like to see him stick with the Twins for next season as a utility guy. He has value for the Twins in playing pretty good defense wherever he is at. Ideally we long term get guys that would be starting in place of him but he definitely has value as a utility player for the team.

Agreed. We definitely have some guys that we should look to trade for value. Clemens is worth more to us as a reliable utility guy than he likely is for another team.

That play from Keaschall to 1st (well the dugout) was definitely odd. Unless I missed something, given the location of the play was there any reason for the pitcher to have really been running much to 1st? It seemed like Royce stayed on the bag since the play was towards the 2nd baseman already. Obviously potential for Keasch to have made the play but also seemed like the pitcher and 1st base needed to communicate also. Royce is still relatively new at 1B also which could have contributed. Still not giving up on Keaschall potentially at 2nd or Royce at 1B with continued development. However I do think it may be worth still giving Clemens some time there as he does seem to be a defensive upgrade at both 1st and 2nd. Not everyday for sure but he does play consistent defense.

Agree on Keaschall. He has the athleticism. He still isn't that far removed from his injuries/surgery in the grand scheme of things. I still think he is a contributing component of our line up for the future and should be kept up to keep working. With how much we want the guys from AAA to come up to the big leagues I think we need to be willing to be patient with them. Same when hopefully Cullpepper comes up.

Definitely think Buck has been a leader this year. I also do think Shelton is doing a better job with the players than Rocco. Take it for what you will but I have read that Bell has contributed leadership this season as well. Works well with Buck I believe. We do have a couple guys I think that are helping lead the team this year.

I would like to keep Jeffers but if they aren't willing to pay to extend him OR feel like they want to ride with Jackson and Caratini behind the plate (which to be fair they have been serviceable over the last few weeks especially) then I agree they should trade him. However I would only want them to trade him for actually enough value. Also agree with your take on Larnach. His salary isn't bad and he has been good enough at the plate and generally fine in the outfield. You make a good point in that all of our supposed AAA OFs either can't stay healthy or haven't been great when brought up. Ultimately I am more hoping for some smart competitive trades both ways this year. I am not as down on this team as many seem to be. They have been playing fun to watch baseball. Maybe I also just don't trust our FO to do a big selloff and ACTUALLY get anything worth it in return.

Really liked your whole post a lot DocBauer. I was actually reading this whole thread trying to sum up what I wanted to say or how to say it then read this take and realized it was all exactly what I wanted to say too. Great take on all this.

Really appreciate your take. Sometimes (especially this year) many of us seem to have an obsession with trading for “prospects”. But there is zero guarantee trading for a prospect no matter how highly touted amounts to anything. Some of this feels like we want to make a trade or sale for the sake of trading or selling.

Suddenly the game feels way to close lol