StiltedGopher

Let’s give Lee credit for incremental improvement though it has been a bit painful the past years having that development happen at the mlb level. The Twins probably pencil Lee into third base next year. He is satisfactory at that position. The Twins need to figure out a lot of other needs that are not satisfactory. However, there are options that may not fall off much and have an higher ceiling. Assumption that Culpepper eventually moves off short for Marek Houston. I hear 2B for Culpepper but he had a couple seasons at 3B in college. Ben Ross was a 20/20 guy in St Paul - once settled in MLB wonder if he could exceed Lee. The Morrisette guy at St Paul is interesting at 2nd - wonder if he could push Culpepper towards third rather than second. Fine if Clemens plays some second, I would not make him ‘the’ second baseman. I started this thinking Lee isn’t the Twins worry right now. But thinking through this - they have options that would likely hold steady and possibly provide upside. I certainly would consider trade options that might help other spots (bullpen, 2B, short term catcher), but wouldn’t give Lee away. And if he is 3B to start next year, maybe he keeps on the incremental improvement.

The rest of the world expected the Rays to finish very low in the AL and East. Their organization didn’t accept that. Everybody aiming for 73-76 wins needs to go. Exceed expectations, good grief. Start having expectations

Does he have a limited laundry budget? Is this like a CPA firm saying they want their accountants to be a bit more accurate with their math. Maybe like bakers wanting their products to be a little more aimed at tasting good? Defense is not a nice to have. A manager better be able to have conversations with players about where they best fit, if at all, for the organizational goal which happens to be winning games. Maybe, Shelty can also kindly ask the players to get a little more competitive minded. You know, if it doesn’t strain them too much worrying about the other team’s feelings. At some point, someone needs to be more accountable. Guess fans need a big thank you card for Shelty, too. Thanks for noticing that a little defense is nice to have. You know, at times. We fans could bring some laundry detergent, let the team know it is permissible to get their uniforms dirty.

Wouldn’t cost them Jack sh&t to play their prospects right now. I don’t care if a lefty is pitching, Jenkins should be in the line up.

Wow. What will the Twins do without having Alex Jackson on the roster. Guess they are really throwing in the towel now.

Jack of all trades, master of none. Give him one position, the one he is most likely to improve in. Drill him hard. As a young athlete, there should be improvement.

Guess Zoll got tired of reading our Twins Daily suggestions. What else should we recommend, this might be our window.

I don’t understand what the organization is trying to do. They aren’t a contender now (in hindsight, they never were contenders with the holes in the roster, disregard for defense, and injuries.) So play for the future, play your prospects and stop wasting MLB time on marginal players that will not be the future.

Lanarch is preventing trying someone who could be a better solution - we wasted time using him this year already. Competent pitching is hard to find, even if it is low velocity. I keep Ober until the healing arms show they are back and going. Royce gets to compete, but it should be a competition. Don’t dump him for a rental scrap heap first baseman. Loved the old Taylor Rogers - current rendition not so much. Kreidler - hard to believe we gave that guy over 200 plate appearances. Martin - okay as a 4/5th outfielder, but rather audition the prospects.

I was unaspiring when they hired him. It would be uninspiring to retain him.

What is reasonable contract for Jeffers on the market? Number of years might be more important than the dollars per year. I don’t think Jeffers matches Cal Raleigh. Younger but a bit less accomplished than JT Realmuto. $15-16 MM for 5 years? I’d like to hear others speculate on the contract size. You need more than one catcher and catchers do have future trade value - some team is always looking to add a catcher down the stretch so signing him has future options as well. Twins said they want to compete. They are worse in 2027 without Jeffers.

How does having Alex Jackson on the roster support giving it all? Injuries clearly have hampered the Twins’ season. However, the personnel management has been slow to respond to performance results.

Can a team start playing higher quality ball late in the season? They are mediocre at best because they aren’t sharp enough. They make more mistakes than their opponents. They don’t make the right play, they throw a fat pitch. They take a poor at bat. Perhaps I have a selective memory, but didn’t seem like TK or Gardy put up with as much failure at fundamentals.

Tom, is that you?

Fans should be clamoring to resign Jeffers. It is not just wanting to see him through the rest of 2026. The team is worse in 2027 without him (blah blah Victor Caratini- yeah no). if the Twins want to prove they are here to win - now or 2027, they build around Jeffers as their #1 catcher.

Make best offer possible to Jeffers right now. Jeffers is a high quality catcher and while we can be optimistic about our catcher prospects, realistically they are a couple years out. I realize there is no chance the Twins will sign Jeffers, but this would be the strongest commitment they could show to the team and fans that they are committed to 2027, 2028. Now for reality under the Pohlads, Jeffers is gone after this year. Trade him now get something, hopefully a useful player for 2027/28. Aim to be incrementally better in 2027. It is a fine line between where the Twins are now and being above the playoff line. Hard to fathom how much more enthusiasm there would be if the team was three games over .500 rather where they are at three under. So aiming to be slightly better in 2027, rather not dump Ryan as hard to lose him and improve much (Lopez back - maybe a wash but question marks there). However, remain open to a sweet deal for Ryan but should be an important piece for 27/28. Larnarch, Wallner, Bell, Clemens, - maybe just about anybody but particularly those who are blocking the future stars - not just available to move but go get something for the future even if lottery tickets. Again, want to put pieces in place to be better in 2027, so maybe high upside relief prospects, third base, first base, never say no to a legit good starting pitcher prospect. Make 2027 about being incrementally better and opening door for the next wave of stars (fingers crossed). Signing Jeffers would say 2027 is fully in play. Losing Jeffers suggests 2027 will be like 2026 and hoping the team can be a couple games better.

Trade him, even if only to allow one of the prospects a roster spot. Maybe we can get a new mascot for him - something to replace TC or that target dog.

Why isn’t Keaschall figuring it out in St Paul? I’m not sure his bat is playing enough to have him audition for a spot in the major leagues.

Produce and play. Don’t produce, open a new roster spot. Twins leadership appears to be slowly applying that approach.

Core?

Pray for health for the starting pitching as that group looks okay. Excited to see Keaschall get extended time. Hope Royce gets back on track. Buxton is a true professional. A couple of the bullpen should pan out. But really, a bunch of sadness. Unless they over perform quickly, that roster is not going to sell many tickets or streaming TV packages.

From a distance getting a former first round pick catcher who has MLB experience (Jackson) for a undrafted utility player who hasn’t reached the majors (Eeles) seems like a nice deal. But damn, Eeles is one of those potential marketing home runs. If he can reach the big leagues and do anything at all he will be a fan favorite- the kind of player that keeps you interested in the team when there is no other reason to be interested in the team.

Joe Pohlad, poster child for the estate tax.

Number 1 to 5. 1. Pohlads sell. 2. Pohlads sell. 3. Pohlads sell. 4. Pohlads sell. 5. Pohlads sell.

Is that you, Joe?