chpettit19

Isn't your entire complaint that they don't use all their roster spots? That they're "wasting" roster spots by having guys they don't play? I don't follow the logic of then arguing that they're going to play everyone. They've been playing 11.5 guys for most of the recent games. Martin was platooning with Larnach, Caratini is getting 1B (no idea why) and C time, and Kreidler has turned into a utility guy. Roden hasn't been playing much, and as you've been raging against for weeks, Jackson essentially never plays. And you've also been raging about the idea of Roden ever playing for weeks. They haven't been playing. When it comes to the spots that affect Jenkins, the Twins have been playing 5 guys. It's been the LF platoon, Buxton in CF, Keaschall in RF, and Bell at DH. Larnach has a 121 OPS+. I'm sorry, but I'm not sitting him for a rookie who's never seen an MLB pitch.

Just going to have to agree to disagree. There's 36 games left after tonight. You care far more about them using all 13 position player spots than I do. Larnach-Buxton-Keaschall needs to be their OF for every game against a righty between now and the day they either clinch a playoff birth or are mathematically eliminated. And with Gonzalez struggling in AAA, there really isn't a righty bat to pair with Larnach, so he should probably just start every game. No idea what the point of Roden in the OF today is. And Bell should start every game at DH. Those 4 positions are locked in until somebody gets hurt. They're 4 of their best bats. A competitive team doesn't sit any of those guys during the last 36 games. We're just not going to agree on them using all 13 spots during the last 36 games. Play your best 9 each and every game until you're either in or out of the playoffs. DH- Bell C- Jeffers 1B- Lewis 2B- Clemens 3B- Lee SS- Culpepper (unless he struggles for a stretch with the bat and then put the better defender at SS) LF- Larnach CF- Buxton RF- Keaschall Every. Day. Caratini can catcher every 4th or 5th game. Or Jackson. I don't really care. But Kreidler, Roden, Jenkins, Emma, GG, Ross, Wallner, or anyone else people have mentioned on any of these threads have no reason to step on the field for more than an 8th or 9th inning pinch running situation for Bell or Jeffers. Or maybe Larnach. And as we've discussed before, Jackson is actually just as fast as just about anybody they'd use in just a pinch running role. I simply do not care about having the 13th guy play any kind of meaningful role on this team with the current situation. We aren't talking 162 games anymore. It's no longer a marathon. It's a sprint. There's no more rest days. There's no sitting your best players once a week just so you can put a rookie in the lineup. It's your best 9 every day and see where you go. Jenkins plays the wrong position to get himself in that "best 9" scenario. He's waiting for an injury to Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell. It's his only path to the majors before the minor league season ends.

I have no problem with not thinking Gonzalez has earned a callup, but I'm not sure what else you wanted him to do to "impress" during his callup for Gray.

Just going to have to agree to disagree. Luke Keaschall playing 2B is not what is best for the MN Twins. You need an arm at 2B, too. Not every play is to your left and close to 1B. Being able to turn 2 is a pretty big part of playing 2B, and your arm matters in that.

I'm certainly not arguing this is a well-constructed roster or that Jackson is a good move here. I don't expect to see Roden all that often. He's certainly not the ideal fit as a partner with Larnach in LF. I'd have called Gonzalez up even though he's not doing well in AAA. At least he actually plays OF (despite not being a plus there) and hits right-handed to match Larnach's need for a platoon partner. Overall, though, I don't think there's much of a difference between Jackson, Roden, Wallner, or any number of non-Jenkins options. None of it is straight forward as Culpepper in, Kreidler to the bench. Until they give up on the season, Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, and Bell are playing as often as physically possible against righties. And you're not going to call Jenkins up to be a short-side platoon partner or play 3 or 4 times a week. Gonzalez was really the only young guy who fit, and his performance makes it very defensible to not bring him up. Keaschall moving off 2B really changes how this team fits together right now.

There isn't a thing I care less about in baseball than "defensive stats." They are flawed to the point of meaning nothing. Luke Keaschall can't play 2B. He doesn't have the hands for it. He has far more likelihood of becoming a passable, or even good, outfielder. They should tell him to spend his entire offseason learning LF and leave him there until they have a better option or an open DH spot. He's not going to DH on this team this year, though. Which is the point. They aren't taking Bell's bat out of the lineup. And they aren't putting him on the field with a glove. Josh Bell is the DH every game from now until they give up on 2026, which, based on the narrative they're trying to sell, won't be until they're mathematically eliminated. If they hadn't spent February through now selling "meaningful games in September" this would be a different discussion. But they have. And they aren't benching the guys who've been their best bats all season to give any other OF or DH playing time on an everyday basis. They simply aren't going to do it. Plenty of us have wanted them to be using this season as a transition year for 2027 and beyond from the beginning. But that isn't the path they chose. And they should stick to the path they've chosen until it falls off a cliff. Even if some of us don't like that path. This team needs to get much better at picking a path and sticking to it. Switching to "get the kids experience" mode while they're 1.5 games back in the wild card after not selling Jeffers, Ryan, and Lopez during the offseason or at the deadline would be an awful decision. Tom picked his path. Wasn't the path I'd have chosen, but it's the one he chose, and they need to stick with it now. Jenkins and Emma aren't coming up until there's an everyday OF job available. Keaschall isn't going back to the IF after being moved to the OF. Bell isn't getting benched. This is the "competitive" team they've been selling all year and they aren't benching anyone who was key in getting here to call up Jenkins or Emma. And they shouldn't.

I don't think this is the case at all. They are trying to sell this "we're playoff contenders and care about winning" storyline. They didn't trade MLB pieces away because they didn't want to hurt their PR story of "going for it." They've been selling the story of "meaningful games in September" since spring training. They weren't going to turn around and sell 2 of their better hitters at the deadline and ruin that narrative. Jeffers especially was never really on the table.

There's a very big difference between not playing 162 and sitting once a week. Sitting once a week over the course of the season would be automatically limiting a guy to 136 games. Nobody is doing that with Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell. Nobody. But, the bigger difference in this conversation is that we're not talking about 162, we're talking about 37. There is 0 reason to sit any of those guys if it isn't injury related for the rest of the season. They shouldn't miss another healthy game. I hate the "spark" and "jolt" talk. The deadline was supposed to be a spark and a jolt. They're going for it! They believe in the clubhouse! Get excited and play well! Then Culpepper coming up was supposed to be a spark and a jolt. Emma and Jenkins getting called up doesn't make the guys in the clubhouse suddenly go "oh, now we should go, we got this kid here and he's going to carry us to the promised land!" And they shouldn't be expected to outperform Clemens or Larnach from the jump anyway. I think that's a huge thing that's ignored. Many of you want them called up because you think they're just going to take the league by storm and carry this team or something. The other guys in the clubhouse don't care if Jenkins is a top 15 prospect. The lineup isn't going to be better just because they called up a kid fans are excited about. That isn't how MLB clubhouses work. You only call Jenkins or Emma up now if you're going to play them every day, and you expect them to outperform somebody on the MLB roster. That's a big ask of either of them. Look, I want to see them, too. I would've had Emma on the opening day roster and Jenkins up by mid-season if I were running things. But the idea that they're doing anything crazy right now by not calling them up when there's no every day OF spot open doesn't make sense to me. They were never going to be the responding move to Martin on the IL. Buxton to the IL? Definitely. But they aren't going to start playing the guys who got them here less just to hope Jenkins or Emma is an immediate success.

I have no desire to ever watch Luke Keaschall play 2B again for the rest of his life. Well, at least not until he retires and joins a beer league softball team. Yes, there are ways to get Jenkins or Emma on this team and play them. But I think people are going through a lot of mental gymnastics to find a way to do it. Martin hitting the IL is absolutely not the straightforward move that opens the door for Jenkins or Emma. If you're calling Jenkins or Emma up, it's to play every day. Not 4 days a week. Not 5 days a week. Every. Single. Game. Maybe 2 days off the rest of the year. They aren't guys you're calling up to fill Martin's role. You aren't sitting Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell once a week during a wild card race just to get a rookie ABs. No matter how good you think that rookie will be long-term. That's the problem. The Twins are "in" this race because nobody else in the AL will pull away and put them to bed. They're 1.5 games back. They aren't going to spend the whole season talking about "meaningful games" in September and then start sitting 4 of their best hitters regularly in mid-August to play rookies. It isn't happening. They aren't changing their story about being competitive now. ILing Buxton is very different than ILing Martin. If they IL Buxton and don't call one of those 2 up, fans should burn Target Field to the ground. But they didn't. They IL'd a guy who pinch runs and hits against lefties. Jenkins and Emma don't fill that role. And they aren't going to change the roles of multiple other players that have been key to their "success" to this point in order to force a lefty hitting OF onto the roster. And they shouldn't. Until they're ready to turn the page on 2026.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I also think assuming Jenkins or Emma would be any better than "average ones like Bell and Clemens" in the immediate future is assuming a lot. There are actually not a lot of teams that sit each of their 3 starting OFers and DH once a week. There's actually like 0 teams that do that. Do you have an example of a team that would openly sit Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, and Bell type players once a week just to play a rookie in what they claim is an attempt to make the playoffs in August and September? You seem to care more about not "wasting" roster spots than actually playing to win. Which is fine. But the Twins are 1.5 games out of the wild card and have spent the entire season saying they're good enough to compete and make the playoffs now. You don't sit Keaschall, Buxton, Larnach, and Bell (who has a .933 OPS this month) once a week just so you can call up Jenkins or Emma and hope they're good right out of the gate. They're trying to make the playoffs whether anyone likes it or not. You don't sit 4 of your 5 best hitters once a week if that's the case. I want to see Jenkins and Emma as much as anyone else does, but I don't know why they'd sit everyone at the top of their order just to force one of them in there right now.

Dang, I knew that and totally forgot. Good call. Thanks for the reminder.

I guess I should've listed Fedko, too. He's probably the one who's really the most slighted here. They could argue they don't want GG in that small of a role, but it's likely the only role Fedko will/could ever fill in his career. And they went with a catcher who can maybe kinda play OF, too, instead. This was Fedko's death blow. But I don't think it's crazy to not replace a part-time, short-side platoon player with Emma or Jenkins. Unless you're going to truly move to the 2027 and beyond emphasis. Which I wish they would. But they aren't calling those guys up for a part-time role. And they aren't sitting Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell on a regular basis for either of them. Jackson is weird, but I don't think Jenkins or Emma not coming up is what makes it weird.

Jackson is a confusing move, but GG is the player I think that should most be slighted by this. The Twins are either still selling the "this team is good enough to compete" narrative, or at least acting like they believe that. Larnach is going to start in LF vs every righty. Buxton is going to start in CF more often than not. Keaschall is going to start in RF every day. Bell is going to DH every day. Whether we agree with any of that or not, that's what the Twins are going to do. And in that case, Jenkins and Emma aren't a fit. Gonzalez was the fit as a short-side platoon partner with Larnach. Emma and Jenkins don't have a role on this team until an everyday OF job opens up. Whether that be by injury to Larnach, Buxton, or Keaschall, or by Bell no longer being an everyday DH. The Twins simply aren't going to play either of those guys over any of those other 4. Kreidler may be taking that platoon partner role with Larnach now. Or Jackson, who was drafted as an OF. But GG was the prospect that would've fit the current roster. Until Larnach, Buxton, Keaschall, or Bell lose their place on the roster, Jenkins and Emma are staying in St Paul.

Kreidler is interesting. Best defender on the team, but can't hit. Do we think Ross is as good defensively or has a real chance to be an actual MLB hitter? I don't, but others may disagree. I actually bring Kreidler back for next year for his last pre-arb year. Give Ross another year in AAA with maybe the September call-up next year to see if he's just completely overwhelmed at the majors or what. But, I wouldn't use his option years already. He's likely not somebody who's going to be worth paying any of his arb salaries (like Kreidler) so you want to maximize his options and pre-arb years. I'd start 2027 with Kreidler as my defensive utility guy who rarely ever actually plays because he can't hit and the young guys should be in the lineup everyday. That's the process I'd like to see them start now. I don't think Ross is good enough to put on the 40-man until late next year.

Taking naps...

I don't think there's any real option of trading Ryan anymore. Obviously, in the technical sense they can. But not for anything worthwhile. They went from 2 top 100 prospects plus to maybe a borderline top 100 guy on his way down after stalling a bit in the high minors? At this point, their best path forward on him may be to try to spin this into a "cheap" extension. If they're really willing to spend more, trying to get another 2 years (on top of next year) at discounted rates from him and Lopez may be their best option. The likely result is they get a comp pick for each of them, and maybe Jeffers. Tried to play both sides of the fence like many of us complained about them doing during the offseason and got hit with just about the worst-case scenario. Went from 4 or 5 top 100 prospects plus to 3 comp picks and a sub-.500 team anyways. Brutal.

While I fully expect this story to be a large part of the CBA stuff, I have to give Tom credit to this point that he hasn't said anything like that, to my knowledge. He's actually been pretty good at saying they just need to spend more.

I can sort of answer the "who the heck are we kidding" question. A lot of fans. Their PR move didn't flop. And we'll have numerous posters on this site praising them for the rest of the season. There were a number of articles written on here in the days following the deadline how Tom Pohlad "proved" things. How we should believe this Pohlad is different. How we have owners who truly care and want to win now. All that garbage. And many fans ate it up. The power of expectations is carrying a lot of weight this year. People have spent most of the last few months talking about how they're "overachieving." How they're playing much better than the offseason projections and predictions thought they would. But they weren't. Not by record. Most fans on here and the projection systems had them in the mid-70s for wins. Which is what they've been on pace for most of the year. But since they weren't on pace for 60 wins the idea that they were overachieving landed. Mix that with the anti-analytics sentiment of not caring about predictive stats that say they're going to regress and the business department/Tom Pohlad was handed a PR gold mine at the deadline. All he had to do was say they're contending, have Zoll make minimal investments in the team, and the fan morale went up, Twins focused websites sang his praises. We were back, baby! And they'll continue to sell the story until some other AL team gets good and breaks away in the wild card race. The fact that there's any sales pitch needed to convince people this team was never really contenders says it all. Fans are starved for any crumb of hope. And the AL sucking handed it to them.

I agree with the general sentiment here, but I don't know that September will be irrelevant. Well, no more irrelevant than the rest of the season. The situation hasn't really changed since the bad investments you referred to went down. The challenge at the deadline was always whether or not they'd take an unbiased, hard look at the talent on the team and make a decision on the best baseball path forward to being the best team they can be. I'd argue they didn't do that but instead looked at what they perceived the best PR move would be. But the situation between then and now hasn't changed. The pitch then was "we're playoff contenders! Ignore us being below .500 and just focus on us being 1 game back in the wild card and 4 out of the division." The situation is essentially the same. Still a below .500 team that is now 6 out of the division but still only 1.5 back of the wild card. They're just as "relevant" now as they were at the deadline. They'll keep selling the "we're contenders" storyline the rest of the year.

It'll end up being 6 trips total.

The intention was to do a series of articles throughout the summer, but life had other plans. I'll do one at the end of the season summarizing all my adventures. I'll get to all 30 this summer. Did spring training and the WBC as well. Has been quite the adventure.

Average bat, too slow and too weak an arm to play SS, is about where I saw his most likely ceiling coming up. I think that's playing out so far. Expected numbers show he's likely maxing out his performance to this point. Maybe he finds a way to be a guy who consistently outperforms what he "should" do. Maybe he goes back down to what the data suggests he should be. He's a useful player if he can perform to this level. Not the star many were hoping for, but a legitimate major leaguer who can hit at the bottom of a good lineup is a perfectly fine result. I think his RISP numbers make it feel like he's doing better than he is. That emotional spike carries more weight in our minds. Similar to how the team feels like it's overperforming even though it's performing almost exactly how the projections and many fans predicted. The league is just down so they're "in contention" and it feels like they're performing better than they are. If the Twins can back into playoff contention every year and Lee can outperform most every metric every year, we'll mostly be happy. But both should be looked at with a healthy level of skepticism until they start doing things in a more stably sustainable manner.

Yes. I think every team would argue they "need more" Hall of Famers.

I think these are all pretty good if these players are going to be who we hope they are. If Vahn Lackey is the star we hope he is, he should absolutely blow through a couple levels next year and put himself in play for an early 2028 debut. I don't have a big problem with any of them in the sense of their timelines if they are who we hope they are.