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Cris E

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Everything posted by Cris E

  1. Cris E
    Jackson is not just a third catcher on most rosters. He would have been claimed as several teams are hurting at catcher. The White Sox actually traded a DFAed player to get the desiccated remains of Joey Bart because Bart was significantly better than their other catchers. And now Bart is hurt and it matters more than it ought to. Jackson gets claimed if he's made available.
  2. Cris E
    Agree. They tried saving some money and tending to the books at the expense of the on-field product and fans noticed, so this week wasn't so much a change in philosophy as an acknowledgement that they've been below the line and need to start spending and acting like an MLB team again. Also, if Crane hadn't vetoed the Larnach deal it would have represented yet another sort of change (spending MLB talent rather than prospects, and not taking on money) so I'm not certain how much credit to award for intent here.
  3. Cris E
    With Chicago losing their new catcher a day after the deadline they would grab Jackson immediately, assuming he even got to them at all. Functional major league catchers are in short supply these days.
  4. Cris E
    I was there too (first 2026 game!) and Gonzalez looked like he got his foot stepped on during the collision, needing help off the field. Also, he is somehow listed as 165 pounds, and there is no possible way that is right. The Bats' player he hit was a taller, lankier guy and he went down too, but Gonzalez was obviously heavier than him.
  5. Cris E
    Thank me too. I went last night and got Jenkins going. BTW, in that game Gabby Gonzalez was playing 1B and got into a collision while running a ball over to the base. He's not a fast man, so when it looked close he just ran through the base to get the out rather than slow to reach out a toe, and it appears he got his foot stepped on. He left the game helped by trainers, but no news this morning.
  6. Cris E
    I went back and forth on Neto. In the end I have seen enough of Houston to believe his bat will advance enough to reach the majors, at which point getting a proven 20 HR bat paired with a glove that's at least average with plus durability in exchange for a pretty good glove that might be a pretty good bat and has had injury problems. Culpepper is a very good prospect, but he hasn't seen the elephant yet and we won't know how he hits until he hits. What he has proven is that he breaks, and also that his glove is only going to last at SS until Houston comes and takes it from him. In that light he and Neto are similar, with the huge difference of Neto having shown he can play. I'd send out Culpepper with some other youth to get that certainty.
  7. Cris E
    Liked this post, with a couple caveats: Hill will probably be a good pitcher eventually, but the Twins have not had great luck at adding control to good arms. They do much better when taking a command guy and adding velo. Hill was going to be a challenge and being a trade piece was probably the best value they were going to get from him. Klein is one of those arms they added speed to, but it's a hittable 96 (if anyone could have imagined such a thing years ago!) He was found talent, and again might be most useful as a trade piece. Best of luck, thanks, etc. I remember wondering what was wrong with Hoffman when he wasn't kept, but be fair and don't confuse spring 2023 Hoffman with the guy that was handed the ball in the 2025 World Series. He improved quite a lot, which is something to keep in mind when discussing any developing pitchers. They can be a very volatile lot, and there's absolutely no reason to expect that Klein and Varland could be exact copies or complete opposites of one another. I liked the deadline work. it was good to accept more payroll. I will remain skeptical of Kremer's health until he proves everyone teeing off on that 4 seamer is not a sign of injury, but whatever, he's in the 4/5 hole. I would have guessed that taking as much of Hoffman's due would have saved some on the prospect cost, but whatever. I wish we could have pulled Detmers or Hancock, but whatever. I'm surprised no one pushed harder for Jeffers, but whatever. It'll be a fun fall and we should be lined up pretty well for 2027.
  8. Cris E
    Kirillof was looking good in 2023 until his wrist completely failed him. That was too bad because we really could have used a decent 1B the past couple years. I'd certainly have traded Ty France's Gold Glove and 89 OPS+ for a better hitter who was an average glove over there.
  9. Cris E
    Astros were out on Larnach once they picked up Varsho. They only needed one OF and that one plays D too.
  10. Cris E
    Lackey makes Jeffers look like a short timer in MN. Even if they give him the QO and he stays he shouldn't be here more than a couple years. But really a 29 year old who is at the top of his game needs to have one serious payday, and at a high-injury, short career position like catcher his chance is now. No problem with that, but this org has too much young catching coming up to tie up resources like this. Best of luck, thanks for the memories, love the QO compensation pick, stay in touch.
  11. Cris E
    Ober is the one who is on the bubble next year. His Jamie Moyer shtick may work out in the long term, but he's got to be nearly perfect for that to happen. Meanwhile the kids are all throwing 97 with more room for error. It'll be an interesting spring to say the least. I wouldn't be surprised to see the big man traded this winter.
  12. Cris E
    Yes, but that makes the QO a better strategy. He may make more in 2027 by accepting the QO, but this is the time for him to get the huge mutli-year deal. He's far more likely to get a five year deal now than a year from now when he's 30, so he'll take the larger guarantee and leave us the draft pick as a parting gift.
  13. Cris E
    $5m is chump change when they're still this far below what the league is giving them. They've got many millions to go before I feel like Pohlad is reaching for his own wallet. Serious isn't just a matter of money, but it's certainly a decent measuring stick and these trades do indicate that right now the org values talent more than money. That's a good sign. Keep rolling.
  14. Cris E
    The value of this move depends on if Kremer becomes Kremer again and his 2026 injury clears up. The old Kremer is very much worth Reyes, but right now he's not well, throwing poorly and getting knocked around. The team has to have seen the medicals and felt he could come back soon, because everyone has seen the rough numbers from his recent outings and they went ahead with it anyway. They better not be done, though.
  15. Cris E
    Wow. something is wrong with Kremer, as his 2026 is way out of line with the rest of his career. So far seven starts, 36 IP, 12 HR. But if you go back two starts where he gave up 14 ER in 10 IP and he was at 4.15 ERA, but even that's bad. His Baseball Savant page shows that his 4 seamer, which he throws 21% of the time, is getting tattooed at a .897 SLG. It's only expected at about .630 xSlg, but he's thrown 128 of them and it's looking like Top Golf. Not confident this is something they fix quickly. EDIT: Just read the article. Maybe they just shelve him for a week or three and let the bicep heal? Still not loving it.
  16. Cris E
    I don't know, Rogers hasn't been bad with the walks the way Funderburk has. I think limiting the free passes is sort of required to be a serious team.
  17. Cris E
    Those are some funky numbers for Anderson. But hey, good news, with pitches in the 80mph range those exit velo numbers are going to stay low too. And check out those Chase numbers! Seriously, this is maybe not sustainable, but like Ober his well-executed Jamie Moyer impression might be unique enough to sneak by for a few months. However in the playoffs the bar is raised and better teams with a bye week are going to spend some time preparing for these guys and it could get rough. More room for error at 97+.
  18. Cris E
    He's not the guy from a couple years ago. That velo drop makes everything more vulnerable, and in the playoffs the good teams with sharp scouting are going to sit on the cutter. He'll need a second pitch that's not a 4 seamer on a tee. The control is good and he's going to move a lot of weak lefty innings out of the end of games, but he's not the difference maker Zoll is looking for. Keep going.
  19. Cris E
    I like Anderson and think he'll keep growing into a bigger role. I think Preilipp has to end up in the pen next month to manage his innings, which could solve my biggest gripe with this group: the lefties are not good enough. Travis Adams may some day end up making the same jump as Morris, but he'll need to be moved back to a one inning role where he can just attack. Those guys in the in-between multi-inning space seem to have more trouble than those in a locked down single frame role. They need one starter to replace Connor and another guy in that Tier 2 space. Those guys are out there in controllable forms (ie Angels) and picking them up would not break the bank. And if that somehow leaves us with "too much pitching" (ha!) it's an easy problem to fix over the winter.
  20. Cris E
    Not your average walk off, Clemens was literally skipping down to first. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. Hit a game ending slam and you can waltz for all I care.)
  21. Cris E
    We're scoring runs in weird and inconsistent ways with important guys dropping off the face of the earth for weeks at a time just as a new name catches fire. Half a dozen guys have completely remade themselves this year and it's nearly impossible to see how this keeps working. Don't get me wrong, it's been a fun ride, but so many surprises so far. As far as this goes, I'd have hoped to see a power hitting 1B on this list since we don't have any coming up. Maybe Mendez or Gonzalez heads that way by next year? Neto is not a place to spend our prospects given who is on the way. Arreaz works if the rest of your lineup is fully formed and you just need OBP, but we already have Keaschall hitting near the top without power and there aren't enough thumpers to move him around. I'd get another starter, move Prelipp to the pen to save his innings and try to get a real late innings reliever.
  22. Cris E
    At this time of year I am not one to jump on odd roster states too hard, especially in a year where we've stated we're going to be active. If they bring in a couple new 25 man roster guys there will be churn and guys moving in and out, so Grey is likely just an easy one to DFA when the time comes. Plus there's a lot we don't know (eg Lewis or Lee is quietly playing through something and could use a day off?) and this lets them rest during the week of chaos. So it probably won't be a full week and thus won't matter that much. All that said, I'd have showcased Wallner or brought up a young 40 man name like Gonzalez. (Just noticed that mlb.com still lists Keaschall as a 2B. Whatever...)
  23. Cris E
    Jeffers has only made about $16.8m in his career. He's 29, he's on top of his game, he's one of the best available catchers on the market this winter and he hired Scott Boras to make him some money. Even with a QO there's no way he forgoes the 5 year deal this winter for whatever he can get. And with the CBA open there's no guarantee that the QO compensation remains as lucrative as it is now (ie between rounds 1 and 2.) Between that and Caratini playing well enough during the hamate injury, I think most folks are comfortable trading him now in ways that they cannot see trading Joe Ryan. So we send him out. That leaves Joe Ryan and a couple other pieces in play that might draw a real return, like a solid hitter in Larnach or *maybe* a Josh Bell or Austin Martin. The rest will not bring back much at all unless paired with prospects, and so we should mostly consider them as roster spots to be managed (or guys we like that could benefit from a change, eg Wallner.) I keep Ryan because I really think some form of floor or minimum payroll tax is coming and he's a guy I'd prefer to pay now as family rather than try to replace on the free agent market. I send Jeffers out and I pair some others like Martin or Lewis with youth to get controllable SP and bullpen arms. I keep an eye open for a good young 1B that can thump. They can win at the deadline by making room for the incredible talent they have backing up in St Paul, by not throwing away this gift of a terrible AL in 2026, and by building on what they've learned in 2026 as they go into 2027: Keaschall is an OF, Taj is a front of rotation guy. Morris will be really good in the pen. Lee is not your SS. Lewis is not your 3B. Wallner seems done. Larnach is a good platoon OF. Not all of these are news, but they were hypotheses that needed proving this year. There's still time to write the book on Martin, Rodan, Lewis at 1B, and get a read on more kids.
  24. Cris E
    Well sure, but there was no line of teams fighting to grab Bradley. The trade was people hoping to get Jax, not people hoping to get Taj, When Tampa gives up on a pitcher the league usually respects that, especially given the track record of their trades at the deadline. But the question asked was what's the difference between Bradley and Lewis, and the difference was that people still saw untapped potential in Taj and Royce has burned a bunch of his good will in stumbling thru months of mediocre hitting. I hope there's still a market for him so we can trade him or I hope he takes advantage of the hole our org has at 1b and seizes the job. But right now a reliever would be best case for any return, not even one nearly as good as Jax.
  25. Cris E
    When first acquired, Taj was quoted as saying things like "I never read scouting reports" and the like. It was bizarre to say the least. But the Rays' org giving up on him was new, and the Twins more or less saying You're An Idiot and walking him through some scouting reports and showing him how that info could inform his pitch selections got him to try new things. He'd shown flashes but never the full potential, so there was clear room to grow and specific things to teach. Royce has had great stretches of play, but also some long droughts. He's taken advice, has been sent out and adjusted and changed coaches and yet he cannot stay productive for long without pooping out. He's shown his peak and then repeatedly retreated from it. And he's older at an age where the extra years show up in maturity rather than simple skills development. Lewis has enough of a track record where an exec either sees untapped potential or a 27 year old with a couple flashes of awesome. Bradley was the same, but younger with a lot less track record and fewer glimpses of the peak. The Twins picked up Taj for a reliever and there's probably someone out there that'll toss a little something our way to take Royce.
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