chpettit19

While I think there's some truth to this, the (former) X can hold roughly 18,000-20,000 people. That's roughly 1.5 million fans over an 81-game home schedule for the Twins. They do that even when they're bad. I think Minnesotans are more into hockey than baseball, but I think it's a pretty small advantage. I'd say it's Vikings 1. Wild 3 (big gap between Vikes and Wild). Twins and Wolves interchangeable at 3.5 and 4 depending on how good they are at any given time.

I will go out on a limb and take the under on 3 MVPs, 12 all-star appearances, 10 gold gloves, 6 silver sluggers, and 1 Hall of Fame induction.

Oh, this is exactly why I spent all offseason saying they should trade Lopez, Ryan, and Jeffers and that they don't just automatically have those pieces to trade for quality returns at future points. But I don't think I'd describe the situation as "tough." They made their choice, knew the risks, and got burned by the risks as far as their options to trade Ryan goes. I think the possibility of trading Ryan despite all of Tom's words since he took over was a tougher situation than they're in now. Preaching "we're in it to win cuz we care" and pushing the "we're buyers" storylines made doing the right baseball thing with Ryan more difficult. That decision is gone now. It's a bad situation, but not a tough one. Now you just sit back and hope he bounces back next season.

If Joe Ryan wanted out he could've forced his way out pretty easily. I don't buy this for a second. If Joe Ryan demanded a trade last deadline, Joe Ryan would've been traded. If Joe Ryan demanded a trade this offseason, Joe Ryan would've been traded. If Joe Ryan demanded a trade this deadline, Joe Ryan would've been traded. The Twins aren't stubbornly holding a disgruntled player for multiple years. I have no expectation that Joe will re-sign here, but if he wanted out so badly, he'd be out.

I'd argue the opposite. The Twins were in a tough spot, but they have no decision left to make now, and the situation is very easy. A truly rebuilding team would've traded Lopez, Ryan, and Jeffers before this season started. They would've maximized the number of shots they had at adding impact pieces for 2027/2028 and beyond. They changed plans mid-rebuild and decided not to trade those 3 guys. Lopez blew out his arm, Ryan collapsed again, and they kept Jeffers because the AL is abysmal. Lopez and Ryan aren't real trade chips anymore. The decision is easy now. The only way this becomes a tough decision is if the AL is improved next year, the Twins are still hanging around .500, and Lopez and/or Ryan are having success and worth more than a comp pick in trade at the deadline. They have no decisions to make on the "big trade" front until next deadline. The Joe Ryan situation is incredibly simple now.

I looked at going as well, but the prices were outrageous. The Saints game tomorrow has some decently priced seats, though, if you're just looking to watch some baseball in a corn field.

From the reporting out there, it doesn't sound like he's getting another option year. He better be their September call-up to at least get him a handful of ABs this year before he's just on the roster next year.

I know, just saying that he's an interesting piece for a team in the right situation.

Who is he pinch hitting for? The guy you constantly state can't hit and shouldn't be here is now a guy you want pinch hitting if needed? Jackson is out hitting Roden in their respective small samples this year. And he's faster. How is Roden more useful? And we haven't even talked about what happens if Jeffers or Caratini gets hurt this year. It's not all about just having Jackson for next year. Caratini looks hurt right now when he's out there. If one of them goes down this year, who's the catcher you want to come learn the pitching staff and perform in a playoff chase? All so that Allen freaking Roden can backup corner OF spots that have plenty of coverage and pinch hit for an equally crappy hitter if needed?

I'd bet Miller is available in the rule 5 again this offseason. Unless the Dodgers protect him as their Rojas replacement. If the Twins had gone all in on the rebuild and were going to throw a Lee-Houston-Culpepper-Lewis IF out there next year to get the future started, Miller would be an interesting thought as the backup IF for that group. Since that isn't their path, Miller doesn't really fit here as a rule 5 pick. But he wouldn't be the most shocking pick ever for a rebuilding team to throw out there as their utility IF for the 2027 season.

Who is that guy? Jackson is pretty close to "real speed." Fedko? He's about the same range of speed as Jackson and those other guys. But he can't hit as well as Jackson is this year. There's nobody else on the 40-man that is clearly faster or would have a clear role in a playoff race. Name a role and a player to replace him with then. Same question I asked you the other day and you couldn't answer. You don't seem to actually have 13 guys you'd like to see on the roster with specific roles you can define, you just don't want Jackson being that 13th guy. Which is fine. But just state it. We went through it yesterday, or whatever day that was, that it's the playoff race. It's August, not April. Alex Call sits on the Dodgers bench and just pinch runs. His sprint speed is 27.8. As already stated, that's .1 ft/s faster than Jackson. Dodgers fools for playing their best 10 (catcher pair) as often as possible while they try to chase down the Brewers and not worrying themselves about their 13th guy? Speaking of the Brewers, they have someone named Brandon Lockridge on their roster who never plays. He is legitimately very fast, though. But their whole team is so he doesn't even pinch run. Has stepped on the field 1 time in the last week. Red Sox are hotter than the sun right now and they play the same 10 guys every day (assuming health, Contreras missed a couple games with an injury/illness recently). The Yankees play the same 10 guys almost all the time. The Twins don't have anyone meaningfully faster than Jackson. And they don't have 13 guys worthy of real playing time in a playoff race. Jackson isn't their problem. Him vs Fedko as the 13th guy, pinch runner type is a wash, so you don't lose a player just because he's a catcher. That'd be bad roster management. Jackson is faster than Roden, so if you added a Jenkins to the lineup, you'd rather have Jackson running than Roden so then Roden is the guy with no role. There is no reason to lose Jackson because there's nobody who fits a real need any better than he does. A 5th OFer who isn't as fast as your 3rd catcher isn't an upgrade to usefulness. It's just you throwing away a player for nothing.

He has the same sprint speed as Royce Lewis. Jackson has a sprint speed of 27.7 ft/s. Lewis has the same. Martin is 27.8 and Clemens and Kreidler are 27.9. Why wouldn't he be an option to pinch run? Just because he's a catcher primarily?

I kind of like this idea. Neither guy is somebody you want as your primary catcher in 2027. And neither has options so they aren't a fit for the 3rd catcher spot that can come up as needed. I'd rather have Jackson for cheaper in 2027 if I was semi-confident that I could get out of Caratini's money.

Welcome to Twins Daily! I hope you're right about Houston. He's certainly proven my concerns about his bat to be misplaced.

Him just blindly being here to stay would be just as big of a knucklehead move as wanting to dump him after 3 games. If he comes up and is clearly overwhelmed and not helping, he should absolutely go back down. If Kreidler is taking his playing time while AAA is still in season, send Culpepper back to AAA. If he can't outperform Ryan Kreidler, he's not helping the team and should be back where he can develop more.

I'm all for under .500 teams giving guys shots. Even if the odds of them succeeding are incredibly low. This .500 team is being run a little differently because the rest of the league is struggling so much, but generally speaking, I am all for giving the Sabato, Fedko, McCusker, Keirsey types shots. They are often overwhelmed pretty quickly, but if you can find 1 guy who surprises you in a lost season it's pretty useful. I don't have high expectations for Sabato, and this team is "going for it," so he's unlikely to get a look this year unless injuries really pile up quick. But if the team's situation was different, I'd be all for seeing if he can surprise us.

CJ Culpepper was drafted in the 13th round of the 2022 draft. @Greggory Masterson is 100% correct that the Twins only drafted 4 guys in 2020. Sabato (pick 27), Soularie (pick 59), Raya (pick 128), and Rosario (pick 158).

Zebby the injury replacement for Ryan? I haven't seen any official announcement that Ryan is hitting the IL, but I have to assume that's what Zebby being back in the bigs means, right?

Aren't you essentially arguing what @Riverbrian has been saying? Jumping Jenkins over the guys you listed while he isn't outperforming them just adds to the problem you say they have (and I fully agree it's a big problem of theirs). Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you seem to be saying the same thing. If Jenkins were absolutely lighting AAA on fire, it would make sense to jump him over everyone and get him into the MLB lineup as they do their best impression of trying to compete for a playoff spot. But he isn't. And the guys already on the 40-man are outperforming him. Handing him a spot "on scholarship" (as folks around here like to say) just because people want him to be good just means the guys already "piled up" at AAA stay piled up at AAA. I don't disagree with this premise. Many of us have been saying for years the Twins need to do a better job at getting answers on guys before they're out of options and hitting arbitration. I'm totally on board with that. But the team is "trying" right now. They just bought at the deadline to at least sell the story they're making a push for the playoffs. You can't do that and then turn around and call guys up just to get answers on them. They need to play their best 9 as often as possible until they've decided they're out of it. For the record, I wouldn't have followed their path and would be getting answers on Roden, Wallner, etc. But it's not the path they chose. And another one of their big problems is not picking a path and following it. Switching paths 3 days after the deadline would be a bad strategy, too. They've picked their path. They need to give it a go for at least a few weeks before they switch to just getting info on guys.

I think the most straight forward response here is that if you're selling the story that you're a playoff contender and you're trying to win a wild card spot or a division title, you don't worry about offseason 40-man decisions. Especially when you're talking about 2 players/spots. A second response is that this team can't get or stay above .500. "We have too many 40-man quality players" is not a real strong argument there. Third is that I count at least 18 guys on the current 40-man that aren't crazy hard to move on from or will be free agents unlikely to sign back here. Acton, Adams, Anderson, Festa if his arm is toast (he'd be 19 then), Funderburk, Go, Kremer, Ober, Orze, Paredes, Rashi, Rogers, Jeffers, Gray, Fedko, Martin, Roden, Wallner, Bell. The Dodgers find a way to fit guys onto their 40-man and they have a little more talent than the Twins. Now, not everybody I listed are guys they'd just immediately non-tender or DFA, but they are guys that aren't crazy to consider. I don't think it is hard at all to add Jenkins and Culpepper to the 40-man. This team is so far away from having to make hard decisions on the 40-man. The Dodgers are dropping guys like Banda from theirs because they have so much talent. I don't even know who Taylor Rashi is. The Twins are lightyears away from having a 40-man problem.

I thought about going to that game but decided against it. It should be a blast, though. Hope you enjoy!

Yeah, we're just going to have to agree to disagree that Roden would get any more playing time, or be any more useful, on a roster featuring Trevor Larnach, Josh Bell, Luke Keaschall, and Walker Jenkins than Alex Jackson. Roden should never see the field over any of those guys. He'd bring nothing to that roster. And neither would Martin. Could Roden or Martin play once or twice a week? Sure. But to what end? Just to avoid having a guy who never plays? Want them to make their lineup worse just because you want to be able to say your 13th guy is useful? Doesn't sound like a great plan for a team trying to win a playoff spot. It's the stretch run. Why would they care about forcing a 13th guy into a game? You're trying to make the playoffs. It's now or never. Put your best 9 out there every freaking day and try to win games. The 13th guy on the bench isn't their problem. It's the top 9 guys that are holding them back. And the 13th guy won't be the problem if they call up Jenkins and Culpepper. And I'm very much somebody who doesn't like wasting roster spots in general. But now is not the time to be getting everybody a game or 2 a week. You're in it. You went and got the mighty Hoffman. Play your best players as much as you can. The 13th guy on the roster isn't the difference between making the playoffs and not. Because the Twins don't have 13 guys worth playing time in a playoff chase.

That is literally my point. That Pohlad told us how much he cared and actually invested. Pushed the payroll to an all-time high. Had everyone excited that the Pohlad's finally got it! And immediately pulled the rug. By all means, believe the new Pohlad. I'm sure he isn't anything like the previous iterations we've been aware of for the last 42 years. Definitely different this time. His first 9 months on the job are definitive proof.

Not even a little. You're actually a great example of how easy it is. You've given me a thumbs down and/or complained about every post I've made about not being convinced anything has changed because the Twins added Nance, Minter, Kremer, and Hoffman over the last few weeks. That's all it took and you're back on board. That is about as easy as it gets. They changed the first name of the Pohlad in charge and made the absolute minimal investment possible and you're back. That is not a hard PR situation. You're example A of why it isn't hard at all.