Richie the Rally Goat

Saying Zoll had “months” is accurate but also a bit unfair. The top spot was removed from above him January 30, two weeks before pitchers and catchers report. Not a lot of quality left in free agency past the middle of January. the guy had meddling and indecisive leadership for 95% of the active offseason. He did make some trades to improve during the season, but also had several roster spots that he punted on 3rd down and two from mid field. very much a below average to bad first season.

Falvey drafted catchers every year of his tenure except 2023. He drafted 20 some of them, many of which late round, but not all. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/draft/team-draft.php?t=MIN Khadim Diaw was drafted in ‘24, is 22 in AA and is getting some attention.

I had them in the 60s for wins. My rationale was why would a team that got actively worse win more games than 2025. little did I know that the entire AL got much worse, to the point where I wonder if we have a modern black sox. hopefully we get to watch better baseball next year.

Caratini had a slightly below career average year as 33 year old catcher, that is to be expected. His FG projection was 90 wRC+, he hit 79. He’s hit 74 and mid 80s several seasons. Kriedler had a career year, by a wide margin. He’s a terrible hitter. Career 52 wRC+ projected to 80, and he hit 85. What is to be expected from these two?

With the team dressed like Paul Bunyon It had better be a cold summer!

The Milwaukee Brewers already have the brewery angle pretty well covered. The NFL can do cold, the boys of summer need to refrain from the White Out uniforms. There’s already a Prince team in town, and a Loon team in town. i like the Minnie and Paul handshake, and feel like that’s unique to The Twins and The Twin Cities that could be better emphasized. elements of the stone arch bridge, the walker art center, cathedral hill, Minneapolis is the Mill City, more bread than beer.

Can both The Pale Hose and The Statues lose?

I understand and share the skepticism of PE ownership of the team, but George Hicks is “one of us”. He’s from and lives in Minneapolis, came out of the Cargill financial restructuring in the 90s. how much worse could Varde be than the Pohlad’s?

Royce had an 85 wRC+ for the season, at 60 plate appearances that ranked him 48th. 17 teams (over half) had two first baseman who hit better than he did. Ryan Kreidler hit 85 wRC+ and he’s a backup SS who actually fields the position well and he’s a marginal major leaguer. its a bigger risk to include Royce in their plans at all.

Keaschall hit 123 wRC+ in 2026. Were he a first baseman that would rank him in the 10-15 range of qualified 1b. He hits well enough to be a 1b. My question is if he can field the position adequately. I’m curious, and he’s too young to DH. this move would free up DH/corner OF for Larnach, and Buxton to rotate through. i can see a path to 2 step Larnach because he hits well enough in a platoon, and isn’t a terrible fielder, that he could be an asset for this team even with all the outfield depth. If the trade doesn’t workout, he’s still a good player. Lewis, gotta non-tender. No one will trade anything for a player with a $5m roster spot they can sign to a minor league deal after the lockout ends.

Is Royce MLB talent?

Loved that with Lewis too!

Love watching Rodriguez’ enthusiasm and aggression. I hope next year to see him in the CF mix and a bit more selectivity at the plate

Shelton made a large scale infield position rotation mid-season to improve the fielding quality. Starting Kriedler at SS cost his team hitting while Shelton waited for Culpepper to get called up. It takes years to change the minor league development program, but it appears Shelton, at least, prefers to field a crisp game.

I have too many good catchers! said no MLB GM ever