Major League Ready

It sounder about right foir this team so I ran with it.

Would love to see the bat take a step up in 2027. He would be a great bench guy with all that versatility, speed, and defense if he can somehow get close to an average MLB hitter.

It is abundantly clear there are limitations so that might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. How can you possibly derive a strategy, determine priorities, and determine ideal targets without a budget.

Your examples are all RHH. Their splits would be 2/1 in favor of RHP if used without regard to match-ups. Instead, they are basically 1:1. Their overall OPS is higher because they were used in this way. My conclusion here is not that platoons are ineffective. It's more nuanced. They are ineffective when the rest of the roster lacks the depth that forces that ratio lower. The ratio of ABs has to be lower against same side pitching. It's not a bad idea the Twins just have not had roster construction that resulted in ratios that created better LHP match-ups. Of course, how dominate are they against LHP and how weak are they against RHP. Of course, defensive value also comes into play.

The Twins have generally acted as you suggest. Larnach is being ignored because most of us are tied of this approach and the mediocrity it perpetuates. We all know the twins just might keep him but we are hoping for a plan that raises the ceiling instead of the floor.

I could see keeping Lewis as a bench player but they can't claim to be serious if they don't add a significant bat at either 1B or 2B. That sends Lewis to the bench would be OK given he can play 3 INF positions but he is not above average at any of them. His wRC+ for the last two seasons is 85. Same as Kreidler. How is keeping Lewis an asset to improving this team? Try to trade him and non-tender him if you can't get that done by the non-tender deadline.

Those guys (Larnach / Lewis) are going to be the current day Brian Duensing. The guy with little value that is proposed in many trade scenarios. If they are traded it will be for prospects or perhaps a BP arm.

I went through the entire thread thinking the same thing. Non-tender Larnach. The question becomes what to do with Martin. Trade Lewis or non-tender Sign a good FA for 1B or 2B with Clemmens covering 1B or 2B depending on the FA signing. Keep one of Kreidler / Ross because they can cover a bunch of positions Assuming you don't roster Martin, you still have a bench spot open for another IFer.

Yes, I asked a simple question. Let's not ignore context or nuance if it has value. There is very little appetite here (rightfully so) to try and solve our problems with guys that have never performed because the Brewers happened to fill a hole very cheaply with a guy that was never very good and then performed way beyond expectations. It's also makes no sense to say the Brewers were built in any meaningful way with free agents. They had one free agent that performed and it was a guy that if the Twins signed a guy with the same profile right now we would call it dumpster diving. What the Brewers have proved is success for small market teams means as little dependence on free agents as possible.

He would have to be monumentally stupid to reject $60M because he might be able to make an extra $2M. Free agents take the biggest total amount almost all the time, especially a catcher. My guess is that he rejects for anything less than 3/$45M at which point the Twins should offer something similar.

I agree but let's not use Bauers without context. he did nothing before this year and if the Twins signed a similar type of player this year it would absolutely smacked down here. Hoskins is an example of failure not success. He produced a grand total of 1.1 WAR in 2 seasons. The Rays have done a great job of getting a lot out of modest priced free agents. Nick Martinez signed for $9M which is not much for a SP. He is not the type of signing posters here are looking for the Twins to sign. The point was definitely not that the twins should not sign free agents. I responded to the statement "Every team has to bring in talent from outside the organization to augment what the draft and develop source does not provide, so you must use free agency." I think it's more accurate to say that free agency is a much less effective way to try to put together a roster when you fail to draft and/or trade for prospects.

How many productive free agents did Milwaukee sign in winning the WS?

There were several posters here who predicted his value would be minimal if they did not trade him at the deadline last season given the potential of a truncated 2027 season. This was quite foreseeable.

Kreidler's role was primarily SS and CF so Clemmens is not assuming his role.

You are changing the scenario. In the first post you had Dubon starting at 2B. If the price reflects that of a back-up, I could go along with that but Dubon at 2B does not move the needle and I just don't see Lee at 1B as a good move. A league average hitter at 1B is not a winning strategy. You would have an INF of league average hitters with the exception of Culpepper who will likely be above average. That's if Houston can hit league average. What you have done is ensure mediocrity. We will have to agree to disagree.

Lee's value is his glove and accurate arm at 3B. He does not have a big arm but the exchange and delivery is quick so he is effective. I think you are going backwards where his utilization is concerned putting him a 1B. He also is just not enough offensively to hold down 1B. Plus or minus depending on your perspective, we know Dubon is weak offensively. Culpepper has more upside so why spend the money on Dubon. Spend it on 1B and I believe you have a stronger INF and you still have Clemmens in a value role backing up 1B / 2B and corner OF spots. Get a guy with a good enough offensive profile to DH if we are so fortunate as to have good health. In that scenario, you can have Clemmens play some 1B if his bat is going.

Culpepper was a bit rough defensively with the Twins. However, I watched a lot of his games with the Saints and he looked pretty darn good. He is a far better defender than Keaschall. It's not even close.

There are no guarantees, but I would bet he will be better there than Arraez and a better all-around player. The combination of Culpepper at 2B, Houston at SS and a player like Bauer at 1B with Clemmens in a utility role is more productive end result than signing Arraez.

No. I am not assuming they will have perfect health. I am suggesting they can add a more impactful player that is a better long-term fit. Arraez makes us better opening day but does not build a contender. They need a bat with some thump and they need good up the middle defensive. Arraez does nothing for those two needs. Fitting Houston in should also be a consideration and retaining production from Clemens by putting him in his best role should also be considered. The logic of signing Arraez seems to be he would be better than Clemens. I think the gain is very marginal. Therefore, I would just keep Clemens at 2B until Houston comes up. We could get a greater net gain spending the money elsewhere. Houston would really change the depth of this team because Culpepper becomes the back-up SS and Lee is the 3rd string SS. Clemens is the back-up 2B and Keachall can play there in a pinch. Kriedler becomes a versatile 26th man.

Kriedler was primarily an injury replacement for SS and CF so I don't know how Kriedler is relevant to this conversation. Arraez is not playing in his place. The basis of comparison should be can we find a more impactful player to replace 2B or 1B. I would rather get Bauers or maybe even France. Way more impactful bat and then I slide Houston in at SS mid-season with Culpepper going to 2B and Clemens playing the utility role which would be his best usage.

Batting average is a pretty meaningless stat by itself. Arraez raked 154th in wRC+ last year. He was not even that high (114th) in OBP. Power matters and he does not have much which severely limits his upside. He has to hit 350 to be as impactful Over the past two years, his average is 301, his OBP is 336 and his wRC+ is slightly above average at 107. We should be more concerned with what he is likely to do going forward than what he did in his best season ever.

Not a good example. The way that deal worked out is that they paid $30M to have Correa play for Houston.

If you go back and read my post .... I said prospect or unproven MLB player. I use that distinction because we would all view trading for a proven player quite differently than a player that has never produced at the ML level. Regardless, of this distinction, 80% of their pitching staffs were not home grown.

I would love for the Twins to draft and develop. However, I don't understand the fixation on being home grown given the success of the rays and Guardians who have not produced homegrown talent. Listed below are 3 teams that produce 99-102 wins. Among their top 25 pitchers by WAR, 5 were drafted. One of those was an International draftee. 18 of them were acquired as prospects or unproven MLB players. One (Andrew Miller) was acquired as a proven player and one (Eflin) was a FA acquisition. Seems to me like we should be more worried about our inability to create value by acquiring prospects the way these organizations have been successful. 2017 Indians (102 Wins) Corey Kluber AaP 7.2 Carlos Carrasco AaP 5.4 Trevor Bauer AaP 2.8 Andrew Miller Trade 2.3 Danny Salazar Intl 2.1 Mike Clevinger AaP 2.1 Josh Tomlin Drafted 2.1 Bryan Shaw AaP 1.5 Cody Allen Drafted 1.4 2021 Rays (100 Wins) Tyler Glasnow AaP 2.6 Shane McClanahan Drafted 2.5 Collin McHugh AaP 1.8 Andrew Kittredge AaP 1.5 Drew Rasmussen AaP 1.4 Ryan Yarbrough AaP 1.3 2023 Rays 999 Wins) Zach Eflin FA 4.8 Tyler Glasnow AaP 3.2 Shane McClanahan Drafted 1.9 Drew Rasmussen AaP 1.4 Shawn Armstrong AaP 1.3 Pete Fairbanks AaP 1.3 Kevin Kelly AaP 1.2 Robert Stephenson AaP 1.2 Zack Littell AaP 1.1 Colin Poche AaP 1.1

I sure hope not. He is not nearly a big enough bat to be kept as a DH. You might be right, this sounds like something the Twins would do.