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Dman

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Everything posted by Dman

  1. Dman
    The thing is even if they make it to the second worst team it doesn't guarantee they will pick 2nd as the lottery will likely change the order as it has every year so far I believe. Still they do seem likely to manage a top 5 pick. I do think they will go with a hitter rather than arm if they pick that high unless there is an arm dominant enough for them to feel safer picking said arm. Another shortstop wouldn't be terrible. Culpepper can play third very well. Houston may or may not have enough bat to hold onto a starting role versus utility player. They could also move someone to the outfield if needed or trade for what they need if all three worked out. Still I would really like a plus to plus, plus runner for center field. Buck can't stay there forever and it takes time to move through the levels. Hopefully a centerfielder will make sense around their pick. If not then short will do just fine. They took a lot of arms this past draft which I am excited about, but think that means they will focus on bats in the 2026 draft. Most all of their highly rated bats could be off prospect lists as early as next year. While there are some bats behind them a lot of them are higher risk\reward type players in Amick, DeBarge, Winokur, Young, Beltre, Jimenez, and Tait. Whereas after the trades and now this years draft they look more stocked on the pitching side. I know it's always BPA and the Twins like balanced drafts. I just think they will lean hitter early unless there is an arm like Quick that falls. Taking arms high has never really worked out for the Twins. If they have a top 5 pick I don't see them going arm, but will have to wait and see how the board looks closer to the draft to be sure.
  2. Dman
    I'm coming to this party pretty late. For me if the Twins are losing that's great as that just means a higher draft pick. If they are winning that's great as that means the team is improving. If we have bad players now we have younger one's coming up. There's always a positive for every negative. Every year is different. I thought last years (2024) Blue Jays were gonna be even worse this year and they lead the beastly east right now. Young players figure things out. Teams get a little better luck to start the year and confidence stays high can make a lot of difference. I guess I love baseball and my favorite team too much to completely give up on them. I think we just need to ride this out until things turn our way.
  3. Dman
    After that big year Prato had I really thought he was going to make it. I still think he is a good hitter just not a great one. Sad to see him go, but probably time. Lawyerson seems to always have decent numbers, but it's not a great fastball and he can get hit hard at times. It just seems like there are too many better options and I don't think his stuff would translate that well to MLB. Urbina just doesn't appear to have elite hand eye coordination and struggles to barrel things up. I just don't see things changing that much unfortunately. I had high hopes but it just never happened for him. I still think there's a chance for Cespedes but his window is closing fast. He needs to hit better, have a better OBP and up his slugging. Feels like a tweak away, but there are so many guys just as good or better who are younger that I don't really see it. He has had some really strong months where you think he might break through and then it is back to reality. He's 25 now and never had an OPS over .800 that is pretty damning for any prospect. Holland had a breakout year last year but has followed it up by going back to the sub .700 OPS guy he always has been. I like his position versatility and athleticism, but the bat might be bad enough that he never makes it. He is 27 years old now and not much has changed in that time. It seems unlikely he makes it as again there a appear to be better younger options now and in the future. I could see hanging onto Holland and Cespedes for depth purposes, but I don't think these guys are likely MLB players. There's just too many issues with their bats at their current levels to make it at the MLB level. Never say never, but the odds are real long for everyone on this list.
  4. Dman
    Happy to see Genth get some movement in that OPS. It's an interesting story. Seth can you tell us why they Twins have him at AA instead of A ball where most guys start? the A ball team could really use the offense as well. At any rate. I will be following Genth closely.
  5. Dman
    I think that's a good move. No real reason to wait that I can see. All the counting stats look good. He could be at the MLB level next year in his age 21 season if he keeps it going. Twins could use all the help they can get. Hope he can do it.
  6. Dman
    I have 7 pretty solid adds in: Connor Prielipp Kendry Rojas Andrew Morris CJ Culpepper Christian MacLeod John Klein Gabriel Gonzalez Depending on how you feel about Fedko maybe 8, I have Hendry Mendez, Kyler Fedko, Kala'I Rosario in the next bucket as bats generally aren't taken in Rule V especially older ones in Fedko's case, but being that he is at AAA with a potential 30-30 season I am guess another team could just take a chance and see how he looks at the MLB level. Also the Twins are looking for players with his exact skillset so he has a case to be added, but I wouldn't say it is for sure yet. Mendez is young and a very good hitter but not much of a defender. Hard to say if he would be taken or not. He hits a lot of stuff on the ground but being young for AA could make him a target. I don't think he gets added, but potentially losing him after trading for him might make them think twice. Rosario has really come on and is a better defender than he gets credit for IMO. There's a fair bit of in zone swing and miss though and the K rate is high I don't see them adding him, but we'll see. Next group is wild cards that I don't see being added, but don't have enough inside information to know. Jose Olivaros Noah Cardenas Ricardo Olivar Oliveros has major league pitches, but can't control them. Is Cardenas's defense good enough to interest another team despite the weak bat? Is Olivar even considered a real catcher? I think the odds are low they get added. I can't think of anyone else.
  7. Dman
    Lot's of good games tonight. If I were a pitcher I would never throw a fastball near the strike zone to Kyler Fedko. Was awesome to see both Morris and Klein with great numbers at AAA. Makes the future look a little brighter. Top that off with an impressive outing from Horn who is a lefty and it things seem even better. 4 walks was rough, but with no hits allowed not as big a deal as it could have been. Jimenez still doing his thing. 2 Walks, no K's and another hit to keep his OPS in the 1.000 range. He also more walks than strikeouts at A ball. Kid id on heater right now for a guy that was supposed to be a so, so bat.
  8. Dman
    Lewis seems like the only player on this team that can hit grand slams and or isn't afraid of a big moment. Rough year with the bat, but nice to see the grand slams continue.
  9. Dman
    Yeah I hate to say it, but they are just trying to get into better position to sell the team. Lowering payroll should enable them to help pay down the debt which helps them up their return. There also could be a long lockout and who knows how that will work out and if there truly is no baseball for a year getting rid of older expensive assets makes some sense for teams like the Twins. Also if expansion is included in the CBA and happens it sounds like all the owners will get a cut of whatever the franchise cost is so I'm sure they won't want to sell until that money comes in. It's a business, I get it, but I don't know if my fandom can survive it. I guess we'll find out. Maybe if the young guys can find a way to get it done it won't be so bad?
  10. Dman
    Kind of a disappointing night other than Jenkins. I guess Jimenez and his triple was exciting. I am surprised he is keeping that OPS around 1.000, but it's nice to see. I finally could understand what they were saying about Smith II in the writeups. In one plate appearance he swung at three pitches all out of the strike to get himself out. So I don't think he has the best eye at the plate. Makes sense they kept him a A ball despite his fast start. Dang Gallagher was brutal. It's the second game where his stuff was super hittable. Arm probably wearing down, but that was not a good outing. Still pretty amazing for an arm to reach AA in there first season especially as a later round pick. Eeles came up in a a couple of big spots and killed rallies. He just hasn't had the same magic this year. He rolls so many balls to the second baseman on the ground. It would be nice if he could hit the ball in the air more. Feels like he just isn't healed completely from that knee surgery or he needs to make some serious adjustments. Pretty rough night for most affiliates except Fort Meyers. that is the most offense I have seen from them in quite a while.
  11. Dman
    It's a .900 OPS at AA. It doesn't look like he is having much trouble there. I'd think they let him finish out the AA season and then send him to AAA to get his feet wet there, but we'll see.
  12. Dman
    Yeah I think they don't want to be caught holding onto players not knowing what the lockout might look like. I think they are going to trade those assets and essentially start over with the new CBA. Also with the hitting so bad on this team there isn't much to build around unless the young bats coming up can be difference makers. They broke the pen. It's hard to see a path forward that makes this team better in 2026 especially if the plan is to keep payroll reduced.
  13. Dman
    Great write up Jamie! That chase and lack of contact on breaking stuff is concerning. The home run I saw him hit the other night looked like a fastball slightly low down the middle of the plate. Still for all that chase you would think the walk rate wouldn't be this good. His swing is short and quick so not too surprised the exit velo's might not be great, but it is a quick swing kind of like Keaschall in that regard and he seems to make a lot of contact with it.. I never know what to think about these types of pop up late players. Prato had a great AAA year and never duplicated it. McCusker had two incredible months and has fallen back to earth. Even old Friend Helman had great AAA numbers and looks pedestrian this year. Still Fedko has been steady all year with no injuries to mess with his numbers. I don't know why I fall in love with these type of players. I guess the stats hook me. His defensive versatility and right handed bat should get him his shot. Hopefully he can take advantage of it as he is the perfect fit for this team at this time. There is a glut of outfielders though and Gabby will need to be added the end of this year so someone has to be removed for Fedko to get on. Not sure who that might be at this time, but there isn't gonna be room for all of them.
  14. Dman
    Maybe I'm just a rube, but I am a Hatch believer. I generally trust stats to make predictions or decisions, but with such a small sample size to work with I'm not sure we are getting a great idea of how effective he could be. I am going to cherry pick in a pretty bad way but since I only see three starts from him this year it's all I have. In his two starts against Detroit where he went a total of 9.1 innings he only gave up 1 earned run. Yes the 4 walks were still too many and the 7 K's a little shy of what you'd like to see. Still he was pretty effective in two out of his three outings. In the Yankee's game he gave up way to many walks, but had only given up 2 runs until he left with the bases loaded and the relief pitcher allowed some more runs to score. It wasn't a great night and while I generally feel like Rocco pulls guys too early in this case it seemed like he left him in too long to try and protect the pen. The numbers from that game really skew his overall stats. I'm not saying I see a mid rotation starter or elite closer in Hatch, but I do think he could be an effective arm for them in the pen and as a long man or spot starter if needed. So yeah kind of Willie Castro in that he can help the team in multiple roles as an arm with solid, but likely not great production. I think that's pretty valuable. He looks like the best arm they've picked up so far to me., I'd like to see how he does the rest of the way before giving up on him or crowning him the next great arm, but I see the potential and hope he fulfills that potential.
  15. Dman
    We've all been talking about him and he hasn't slowed down much. Man Fedko is on a heater. I watched a couple of his at bats and he is just dialed in and that bat on the home run moved so fast it was just a blur, bang, bang and gone. It's a short hard stroke. 25 Home Runs already this year more than McCusker granted Fedko got most of his at AA. Still 5 for 5 is rare. The kid can hit. Didn't get to watch Prielipp, but for a AAA Debut I'd say he did well. He's got great stuff, but it also can get squared up too often IMO. Glad they have him in AAA. Langenburg with a couple of nice outings in a row. He should be ready for AA next year. I was starting to get worried he wasn't going to improve, but it looks like he's got his groove back. Nice to see him doing well. Bat's were hot all over. Too many to name this time out.
  16. Dman
    For all my hand wringing about his bat I think he has the best OPS out of the 1st round picks except for Holliday who looks like he might be a monster. Granted it is a small sample size and pitchers don't pitch and a lot of the high school hitters haven't played. Still it's a good start for Houston. I hope he just keeps rolling and stays on the heals of Culpepper. I wouldn't mind seeing Culpepper at third as he looks really good there as well. I'm still not expecting a ton of power from Houston, but I do like the swing.
  17. Dman
    I think he is saying the "-" means he was referring to the kitchen not the coaching staff and nutritionists. In the Yahoo sprots article they add the following which seems to indicate what @chpettit19 was saying. "But, while Paddack expressed how this change of scenery is something he's still trying to manage, he also took a jab at the Twins. He essentially called out the Twins for their facilities by praising the Tigers' versions, and showing amazement at the difference."
  18. Dman
    Correa said he would only wave his no trade clause to go to Houston if things were so bad wouldn't he say I'll go anywhere just get me the heck out. He wanted to stay in Minnesota if things didn't work in Houston. That doesn't seem to point to bad culture, chemistry accountability issues IMO. Duran didn't think he would be traded and there was an article where it intimated he\his family were sad about leaving Minnesota. Yeah I think he would come back in a heartbeat. Most of his teammates and friends are here. Jax said he didn't want to leave until that odd sequence of events and after they traded Correa. Ryan's on the record as saying he would prefer to stay in Minnesota. Varland didn't want to leave. Guys know it is a business and all, but beyond Jax are you aware of anyone that desperately wanted to leave? and specifically leave because chemistry\culture issues? They looked like a band of brothers until the trade deadline, but even with all that great chemistry they still lost a ton of games.
  19. Dman
    But how bad is the culture on this team when the guys they traded didn't even want to leave? Who are these bad apples affecting team chemistry? I haven't seen or heard about any. Keaschall just said the young players are energized to play well. To prove that they belong. I've seen teams with great chemistry, but they didn't have much talent and didn't win much. Fun teams to be on, but not winning teams. It would be one thing if there was just some huge divisive person or issue dividing the team, but I'm not aware of any. In the grand scheme chemistry just doesn't impact much. I would say the teams that I was on that were most successful were full of competitive guys that wanted to one up the other guy. They wanted bragging rights. I guess that's a form of chemistry if done right. Competition or the iron sharpening iron approach is far more valuable than chemistry or accountability. Maybe there could be some accountability issue's but if you're a pro player and having those kinds of issues how long will you be in the league? Likely not long. These articles only come up when the team is losing I think that is the correlation for poor accountability and chemistry issues. In general they seem to be some sort of scape goat for players poor performance. If you don't think these guys aren't trying as hard as they possibly can to be successful I don't know what to tell you. Some have the talent to make it some don't no matter how hard they try and team chemistry and accountability have little to do with it.
  20. Dman
    It's a toss up between Culpepper and Tait for me. Keaschall doesn't play an up the middle position so I feel there is less value there. Rodriguez is just so tough evaluate being hurt all the time and its an odd high K\walk rate. Just too much uncertainty there. If pressed to make a decision I think it would be Culpepper. Tait might have more potential to be elite if he stays at catcher so I could certainly see putting him at number 2 as well. I just have a hard time seeing him reach all that potential so I like Culpepper better.
  21. Dman
    It seems like we have this discussion every year. When the team is doing great the culture is great. When they aren't the culture is toxic. Before the deadline I remember Bader hitting a home run and getting hugs from teammates and high fives etc.is that a show of an uninspired team? They pan the camera to the dugout and guys are chatting with each other smiling etc.is that display of bad culture?Just a week ago Keaschall was saying how much energy all the young guys were bringing and that is was a fun atmosphere. Talent wins baseball games period., Culture is a nice talking point, but in the end means very little. These are pro ball players fighting to stay relevant in the game the have trained their entire lives for. Culture's not the problem.
  22. Dman
    I agree with you. If the Twins are top 5 I think they will go with a position player. Depending on what they do in the offseason I also think they might target HS players with their first three picks. My reasoning is that currently the farm is pretty stacked at the upper levels. Then if they get rid off one, two or all three of Pablo, Ryan and Ober the farm and the MLB team will be stacked with lot's of young talent. So I think they will want or have the luxury of taking risks on high upside high school players to help with the next wave of talent. I think they'll go more future based early and then do their college arms, bats etc. later on in the draft. If they don't sell in the offseason then likely a different strategy for next years draft. It is going to be an interesting year next year regardless.
  23. Dman
    I don't think the Twins chances of tanking worse than other teams is that great. When Pablo comes back they are going to have good starting pitching and the Twins schedule isn't as hard as some of the teams they are currently ahead of in the reverse standings. Even with those two teams out it might be hard to stay at number 8 IMO. Maybe if the pen continues to stay really bad and the bats don't do much they could do worse, but as things stand they look like the least likely of the ten bottom teams to be able to tank effectively enough to get to a top 5 pick. We'll see what happens, but getting to a top 5 pick slot a lot would have to go right\wrong IMO as they just seem to be setup better to win more games.
  24. Dman
    Yeah but in the end they lost to higher revenue teams. So I'm not sure what that really means other than they were closer than other revenue sharing teams, but still couldn't overcome the odds of losing to a higher revenue team. I'm not looking to pick a fight or anything. You have great posts. I think we just disagree on this one. All things being equal I'd rather the Twins had the Dodgers payroll so I could Watch Otani and win my division every year for the last ten years in a row. I'd like my team to go shopping for the best players in free agency. I just don't see parity there or any way the Twins can do those things without the revenue. You can say hey, but the Brewers and while they are having a great season they have never won a world series ever and they have had to endure really bad teams at times in their history for a really long time. Sure every now and then a Royals type team rises up, but mainly teams that spend more win the big one more. I believe that is the reason they spend more else why not do what lower revenue teams do and spend less?
  25. Dman
    For all that parity you would think that more than two revenue sharing teams would have won the world series in the last 20 years. The Royals were the last one before the Marlins in 2003. Maybe the Brewers can make it 3, but they'll have to get through the big teams to do it.
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