chpettit19

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.

Who are these quality options you speak of? That's kind of my point. You want to get rid of Jackson, Roden, Gray, etc. do you really have quality options to replace them all? Martin isn't a quality option. Wallner isn't a quality option. Jenkins and Culpepper are at least exciting. No, everybody doesn't have to play 7 days a week, but Wallner in the outfield a couple days a week isn't a "quality option," in my opinion. That's no different than Jackson or Caratini being squeezed into 1B a couple days a week. I don't think the Twins have 13 "quality options." They have varying degrees of "everyday" players and bad options. You just don't like this particular bad option because it says C next to his name. Even though he has cOF and 1B time on his resume. He's the same as the other guys. Only difference is that you have to completely lose him, unlike the other bad options that you can send up and down.

Who? That's my question. What is the roster and lineup makeups you'd like to see? Who's the defensive replacement type? Who's the pinch runner type? It's easy to say Jackson isn't providing any help, but what is the change you'd like to see. This article suggests Wallner for Jackson. That doesn't do it for me. I'm not losing one of our 2 catchers for 2027 to get Matt Wallner back. And that's as somebody who has defended Wallner more than the vast majority of people on this site even coming into the season. Martin? Jackson is just as fast as him and Martin isn't a defensive sub type. Roden? Aren't we dropping him to get Jenkins up because Roden doesn't provide any value? Gray is obviously out. Mendez? Awful defender. How many games you going to start him at DH? Worth it instead of playing daily for St Paul? Fedko? I guess he'd be your defensive replacement type, but I personally wouldn't want him on the bench the rest of 2026 at the cost of Jackson for 2027. Gonzalez? Similar to Mendez. Better defender, but certainly no defensive replacement type. Not a pinch runner type. Not hitting great in AAA so not really a bat type. I don't see what 13th guy they have that makes any sort of meaningful difference over Jackson right now. But I'd like to see what people think the roster makeup should be and who would be playing when.

I apologize profusely!

Does this mean you're hoping and praying for these moves today? The Saints are playing as we speak and Culpepper and Jenkins are both playing. These moves aren't happening today.

What is Jackson actually blocking? What are the lineups and bench situations you'd like to see, and when is everybody playing? There aren't catchers available right now. It's why Ben Rordvedt returned an arm with MLB time under his belt already. If they were going to lose Jackson, they needed to trade him. Losing him for nothing 2 days later is awful roster management. But my real question is, what is he actually blocking? I assume you aren't hoping Jenkins or Culpepper are platooned, so they're everyday guys. What is the bench role that Jackson is blocking?

When is Martin playing in this scenario? Assuming you aren't platooning Jenkins, Bell DHs for Larnach against lefties and Kreidler plays 2B for Clemens. Pinch running is a thought, but the sprint speed for Martin is 27.8 f/s (60th percentile) while the sprint speed for Jackson is 27.7 f/s (58th percentile). Martin would never be a defensive replacement. Are you ready to lose Jackson for .1 f/s sprint speed? I just don't think Jackson is actually blocking anything meaningful.

What bench function are they missing by having him? 3 catchers are absolutely not ideal, but what could the Twins be doing differently with a different bench piece? To stick to the moves suggested here, are these reasonable lineups? Vs RHP Larnach- LF Jeffers- C Bell- DH Clemens- 2B Lewis- 1B Lee- 3B Keaschall- RF Jenkins- CF Culpepper- SS Bench- Wallner, Martin, Caratini, Kreidler Vs LHP Martin- LF Jeffers- C Lewis- 1B Bell- DH Clemens- 2B Keaschall- RF Lee- 3B Jenkins- CF Culpepper- SS Bench- Wallner, Larnach, Caratini, Kreidler Those are their current most used lineups against righties and lefties with Jenkins and Culpepper added. What regular moves are they making with that team instead of having Jackson for Wallner? How often are you benching Bell, Jenkins, Larnach, or Keaschall for Wallner? When is Wallner playing? This assumes you don't plan on having Jenkins be a platoon player. But, even if you did, Wallner isn't playing against lefties, Kreidler is. What is Jackson really stopping them from doing? Again, 3 catchers is not at all ideal. But what is he stopping that is so bad they should just DFA him and essentially guarantee he's claimed?

The last one apparently understood it in 2023, right? This family has been in charge of this franchise for longer than I've been alive. At 1 point in time or another, every head owner guy has said something very closely resembling this line. They got the city (taxpayers) to build them a brand-new stadium by saying this stuff. Hasn't been true yet.

I won't be upset if they call them up. I don't think they're any sort of saviors at this point. I'd give Jenkins the better odds there than Culpepper. He hasn't looked great in the couple games I've watched him since he's returned (granted, super small sample size). I'm on the 8/15 train. All for calling them both up that day. Especially because I don't expect Kreidler or Roden to suddenly pick it up. Buxton is the X factor here. If he's back and Bell is hitting a little, they aren't going to put Jenkins in the OF to move Bell, Larnach, or Keaschall to the bench. Culpepper replacing Kreidler is a much more straight forward move. Or Jenkins replacing Roden if Buxton isn't back. But I don't expect either to be some sort of savior from the jump. And them providing a spark or boost in energy is a nice thought, but that's what the additions at the deadline were supposed to be. Hoffman was supposed to walk in and the guys were all supposed to go "we're in it now, boys! Strap in tight because we're going for a ride!" Didn't exactly have that effect yesterday. If they need rookies to provide a secondary boost 2 days after the deadline, I'm not sure I really buy this boost or spark hypothesis.