chpettit19

Yeah, I wouldn't even bet on him being on the 40-man at the end of spring. I think there's room for more than just Castro on a playoff roster, though. They carry 14 or 15 position players for that. And with how they pinch hit and platoon Castro is likely to be used pretty quickly when a lefty reliever comes in. Keirsay is lefthanded, but I agree they're very similar players. I don't know what "just another outfielder" means, but being able to play all 3 outfield positions is a useful talent. I'm not defending this signing or praising it or anything. It's a bottom of the 40-man flier on January 24th. It's not worth having strong feelings about one way or the other. I'm just spit balling ways he could be of use.

I was curious about this too so I looked up the Rangers roster and was reminded that Leody Taveras was their CFer and he's quite good so I'm not sure how we should read that when it comes to his defense. If he's a legit CFer it's certainly better than if he's really a LFer. From what I can find quickly he was given 50 arm grades and 55 fielding grades coming up so there's a decent chance he can truly play CF.

You really think someone like Thompson isn't a better threat to steal a base, thus making the pitcher pay more attention to him, or score on a double from 1st than Julien? And chances are Julien was already pulled, or would be pulled, for a pinch hitter when the other team brings in their lefty anyways. Why isn't Farmer the hitter? Why are we only provided with the 2 worst options on the bench? I'm not saying this is some sort of great signing, or that he's some key piece to a championship run, but when you're carrying 14 or 15 position players in the playoffs there's room for a guy who can swipe a bag whenever you need it. The '04 Red Sox sure are glad they had Roberts.

Best case scenario is Terrence Gore/Dave Roberts type pinch runner for the playoffs. No real value during the regular season because they're just not worth carrying as the 13th guy when you use bench players as much as the Twins do as regular starters.

Would be awfully surprised if he makes it through spring on the 40-man. Wouldn't be as surprised if he makes it through waivers with the Twins as they'll be sending him through at a more chaotic time for rosters than now, but I'll be very surprised if he makes this team. The Twins rotate players way too much to have a speed only guy on the roster. But he is ideal for getting through waivers and then claiming a playoff roster spot to be a late inning steal guy. Or maybe they carry him on the 40-man hoping they never need him during the regular season. But with Rodriguez already on the 40-man you probably don't want another guy who isn't likely to be a real MLB contributor on the 40-man.

Probably a pricey taxi ride there. Maybe Uber has a long distance discount rate?

That's an awfully nice setup! Can I crash at his place in 2026 when I do my 30 stadiums in 1 summer tour?! 😜

A year or 2 too late, but they're one of the worst run franchises in baseball (or maybe all of sports) so that's not surprising. They really need to start building up some pitching prospects. And trade Trout.

The DH rules really change the equation here. Ohtani is doing things nobody has ever done because he's able to pitch and hit fulltime at the same time. Crazy what each of these guys did/are doing. Really interesting thought exercise to think about what Ruth would've done if he had the DH rules Ohtani does. One of the crazier things about Shohei is that he's also really fast. Can push the 29 ft/sec mark which puts him right up there in the top 10-15% or so of sprint speeds. Just a freak athlete all around.

I hope he hits .230 with 45 HRs just because it'd be a fun story and I like the crazy seasons that come out of nowhere. 5 mil is a crazy number to me, but it just goes to show that once the league decides you have big time potential you just keep getting chances.

Standing still is never a good move. The rest of the contenders are moving forward. Don't have to go out and sign $30 million pitchers or anything crazy, but have to do something. Still think they'll make some moves over the next month or so, but am getting more and more nervous that we're more or less looking at what this team will be come opening day.

This phenomenon is super strange to me. It's the same thing that happened with him last year. The Rangers had to trade Cole Ragans (and Roni Cabrera) to the Royals to get Chapman for half the year. Ragans is probably the Royals best starting pitcher now after he ripped off 12 starts in KC with a 2.64 ERA, 1.074 WHIP, and 11.2 K/9. Really weird to me that contending teams don't just sign him during the offseason. Did the Pirates really pay him that much more than the contenders want to to make it worth trading real player capital for him in 6 months? Very weird to me.

I don't expect them to let veterans go regularly, no, but the point is Julien was still 5th in plate appearances for this team. It's not like young guys don't get chances. They just don't clear spots before the season starts for guys who've never seen a major league pitch. Injuries happen and opportunities come every year. Planning your opening day 26 around forcing young guy's opportunities is asking to have Rob Refsnyder, Gilberto Celestino, Tim Beckham, and Mark Contreras playing in the OF during a pennant chase. Austin Martin has had 1 good month in AAA. It's not like he's putting up Kris Bryant minor league numbers and the Twins are playing games with him. Brooks Lee had a 78 wRC+ in AAA last year. Why would a team clear a spot on an opening day roster for these guys when their only option left if they struggle, or when injuries happen, is to move on to a bunch of late 20s prospects who weren't good enough to get claimed in the Rule 5? Overreacting to the Wallner/Gallo situation by forcing unproven guys onto the opening day roster doesn't sound like a great recipe for maximizing results over 162 games to me. In 2022 Jose Miranda started the year in AAA and ended up 4th on the Twins in plate appearances. Nick Gordon was 8th. Gilberto Celestino ended up 10th on the team in plate appearances in 2022. Shoot Jermaine Palacios was 16th on the team in PAs. Guys get chances. Putting too much emphasis on opening day, or forcing young guys chances, is a really good way to find yourself super short-handed by June.

I'd think if a team could get both Luzardo and Alcantara in the same trade they'd both be dealt by now. The Yankees would take that in a heartbeat. The Red Sox would love to have those 2 guys. Not sure why Sandy wouldn't throw a full season in 2025 when he'll be 17 months removed from surgery. He'll be ready opening day with likely no limitations. I think the Marlins would get an absolute haul of talent for those 2. TJS just doesn't scare teams anymore. Tyler Mahle just got 22 mil from the Rangers for 1+ years of pitching coming off TJS and he's never won a Cy Young and is a year older than Sandy. I think you're way overselling how scared teams are of Tommy John.

FYI, Festa doesn't throw a knuckler, that's Cory Lewis. Festa has the more traditional fastball, slider, curve, change repertoire.

I think you probably have the timeline of strategies pretty close to how things played out. And I don't think "do nothing right now" is a terrible strategy at this point. But I think if the original plan included the idea that there were holes to fill, and a plan to fill them, then "do nothing right now" probably isn't something we should be thrilled about even if it may make sense. Going from "we need X number of players that are good at Y skills" to "we don't need anyone right now" and being good with option 2 is probably some cognitive dissonance driving us to find a silver lining. I do agree it's not the end of the world if they don't make some drastic move. But it was option 3 for a reason.

Edouard Julien was 8th on the Twins in games played last year. 5th in plate appearances. He's played 38 games total at AAA in his life. I think you're overselling the idea that he just languished in AAA forever.

Rhys Hoskins has a career 23.9% K%. League average is 22.1%. He's actually one of the better sluggers at not striking out. The Twins had a 26.6% K% as a team last year. He'd help their K problem, not hurt.

For what it's worth, in 2022 his expected HRs in Philly was 36 and 33 in MN. Not much of a decline there. And it was an ACL surgery so I don't think we should expect it to effect his power now that he's fully healed.

Nobody has Wallner's arm (he was 100th percentile in arm strength last year), but Hicks has a cannon still (95th percentile).

Super embarrassing for MLB. But I hope it's what has to happen. I hope Oakland tells them "thanks, but no thanks" to extending their time there beyond this season.

While I agree with the general idea here, "ace" relievers don't cost that much less than "ace" starters. Hader is getting 19 per year guaranteed with a chance at an extra mil every season if he wins the best reliever award. Starting in 2025 Pablo Lopez is going to be making 21.5 mil per year. Edwin Diaz is getting 20.4 per year. Kenley Jansen is 16. Ryan Pressly is 15. Shoot, washed up Craig Kimbrel is getting 13. Relievers are not so cheap anymore. The Astros top 3 reliever contracts will run them 45.5 million in 2024. Hader at 19, Pressly at 15, and Montero at 11.5. That's not exactly cheap. Add in 8 for Graveman who won't pitch at all, 3.6 for Stanek, and 1.75 for Abreu and that's 6 guys making a combined 58.85 mil for 5 roster spots. Give me Snell and Montgomery for the same amount over 5 pen pieces.

I watched a segment on him on MLB Network sometime last week. His HR rate doesn't match his barrel and hard hit rate type of stats because he gets too much topspin. I forget the exact numbers, but basically balls he hit at a certain velo (or above) and in a certain launch angle range (very much like barrel%, but I don't think they just used barrel%) were compared to the rest of the league. The rest of the league averaged something like 385 ft on those balls while he averaged something like 372 ft. So he smashes the ball, but doesn't get the carry likely because he gets too much top spin and it pulls the ball back down as it flies. He's an interesting hitter who should be better even though he's already really good.

I'm sure the Mariners would try to make that argument, yes. But it's not one I'd be sold on if I were the Twins FO. I mean using 2019 as the cutoff is a little misleading in that he didn't miss anytime in 2020 due to injury so you're skewing data there. He had 2 major knee injuries for sure, but then using his injuries as the reason he's less valuable is saying you believe he's likely to suffer a 3rd torn ACL in the same knee. That's not an argument I'd be swayed by if I were the Twins FO, and I'd demand more in return for that extra year of control. I'd argue Gilbert is every bit as likely to blow out an elbow as Lewis is to blow out his knee. If they're willing to trade Gilbert for Lewis they're already admitting they aren't worried about the injuries. You wouldn't trade your top trade piece for someone you don't think can stay healthy.

Much like the Arraez-Lopez trade, Seattle would have to kick in more to account for the extra year of control. But I can't imagine the Twins care so little about fan morale that they'd follow up a payroll decrease with trading their homegrown face of the franchise that just won them their first playoff game (and series) in 19 years. That'd just be adding insult to injury to an already annoyed fanbase.