MikeNC

Larnach, who hasn't hit squat for a month. At least until the next BucksTon trip to the IL. (like a week from now).

Why . . .is Roden . . .on the . . . roster???

1. No. That stat is 7 of 40, 18%, 9th worst in MLB. LY was 11%, 3rd worst. He is decent as pitcher handler, framer, blocker and decent if somewhat inconsistent hitter. We hope he is the backup or at least a mentor to a youngster with talent. 2. No. His BA is some kind of miracle that is likely not sustainable, if the Twins thought so he'd be the DH. His career BA over a bunch of years is sub .200. 3. Yes. His option for next year is waaaay too much money. He will be missed but there are replacement candidates. 4. Yes, if they could actually get anything. He is in a terrible slump and even when doing well was strictly a platoon hitter vs RHP as well as a substandard defensive player. 5. When Buck is healthy he is amazing. Aye, there's the rub! His range is diminshing and it would make sense to move him to RF which, they say, will prolong his career. Bring on the Walker!! 6. Maybe, hard to say what Ober-wan will come up with. I can easily count at least 10 starter candidates for next spring. 7. We are really counting on him to come back and lead our young starters. Would be nice if he and Ryan would be 1&2 aces to take the pressure off. 8. Certainly a miracle. He is my current exhibit A that Maki is a genious! Reminds me of Rick Aguillera, didn't blow everybody away, but somehow got the job done. I miss DuranDuran. 9., Abel looked really really good before he got hurt, great stuff that's hard to hit. I'm not quite as sold on Festa but he will likely be in the mix next year. Zebby has had some great games, and some bad games, he needs to gain consistency to avoid being the swing guy. 10. I think they are done with Wally. Despite his rocket arm, teams run on him becasue 2/3 of throws are inaccurate. His SO% isn't getting better. No idea where Fedko really is, was a total deer in the headlights at the plate during his cup of coffee. Gonzo is gonna have to hit like a maniac because he's not quite as good at D, however, he is out of options and so may get a now or never shot. 11. Why in the world is a LHB who is hitting .196 vs RHP still on the roster!!!!!

I love the kid! Am just as excited as when Lewis came up. Newsflash: very very few step onto the MLB field and instantly have star skills at all facets of play. A few growing pains comes with the territory. But OMG say can you see the potential!!! Unlike some other recent rookies/acquisitions he does not look like a deer in the headlights at the plate. The DuranDuran at bat being a very obvious example: that at bat looked like something you'd see from Jeffers, or Clemens, or Lee. I'm a pepper!! Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?!

Wow. What remarkable resiliency this team shows! After the Philly debacle I was hoping they'd win 1 vs the MLB elite Braves. So glad I didn't bet the farm against the sweep! But don't be too upset with comments about calling a bush play for what it is. That is just truth. This is MLB and it's ok to expect MLB performance and to call it out when it isn't. Bring up the new guys because we might upgrade to complete ballplayers who can hit AND play defense? Like we used to, remember? Look at our new SS! I rest my case.

I first noticed in 2023 that the Twins were successfully revamping castoff pitchers. This was new, for so long Twins were good hit, no pitch team-except for 2 great starters (twice) that won them WS. Sure enough Pete Maki joined the team in summer of 2022. I think the guy is a pitching genius.

On a team LY that suddenly had ALL LH OF and two more such top prospects in AAA it made no sense whatsoever to pick up The Rodent. I believe he was just a throw in they wanted to get rid of. He has often looked competely lost at the plate. I'd rather see one of our prospects learning that way than a guy who has no demostrated upside.

Step back a second folks. A complete MLB player has 4 key attributes: 1. Hit (vs both LHP and RHP), 2. Defense 3. Baserunning 4. Durability. Of the current Twins who checks all 4 boxes? Brooks Lee, maybe Clemens, maybe Caratini. All the others are platoon hitters, can't play D, or can't stay on the field. Why are we clamoring to bring up the young guys? Because you have 6 holes in the lineup.

Meh, bring them both up on Sept. 1. Just bump a guy off the 40-man. I don't think we'd miss Mr. Go if he went.

The Rodent finally hit a fastball! Two of them in fact for 2 doubles, clocked at 94 and 97. This is new. I was totally ready to ditch the guy. Maybe they have fixed him and he deserves a longer look. The obvious choice would be to send down a 3rd catcher (Jackson) who is not playing - but possibly Jeffers isn't 100% yet and they want to keep him readily available. Sept. 1 is not far away, we'll surely see Walter Jenkins then.

I have an other theory that I've been saying for 2 years. It is that Joe Ryan is human. News Flash: JOE DOES NOT WANT TO BE HERE. If you read carefully every word he said LY it was clear he wanted to be traded to a contender last year at trade deadline. Didn't happen, pitching goes lethargic. Then he's expecting to be traded this offseason. Nope. But he figures this team is a disaster, and will be a seller at TY trade deadline and so he pitches well hoping again to be traded to a contender. No again. Pitching immediatly goes lethargic. Have you noticed that when one of his teammates makes an error his next pitches tend to go right down the middle until one lands in the seats? Oh, I know, Owners don't like players saying where they will or won't play. But they have dangled him for 2 years now. It's just another Owner/GM mismanagement if you ask me.

They are burning up Gray's options because he isn't in the long term plan. They are conserving the options of the young guys for after the deadline so they can go up and down if needed to work on issues that will appear at the MLB level. In a week or so, when the trade potentials is over and the roster stabilized, you will see the young stars come up.

The Game is afoot! -Sherlock

Which is why, if I'm the Yankees, I've already talked to Jeffers agent (with Twins permission) and will have a 5 yr $75mm contract ready to sign.

Hmmm, Jeffers is an established, elite hitting Catcher who at age 29 should have a number of good years ahead. In a current market where competing available Catchers of his calibre are non-existant. All we get is a prospect? Not a top 100 even? Yeah, if we can't get a decent MLB or a AAA-MLB ready bullpen arm then pass, keep him for the rest of the season. Yankees have the WORST production at Catcher in all of MLB, pony up dudes or watch Jeffers beat you down the stretch run.