All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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How is that a pitch clock violation when the hitter was nowhere close to ready at 8 seconds?
 




GophersInIowa said:
How is that a pitch clock violation when the hitter was nowhere close to ready at 8 seconds?
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I wasn't aware of the rule that a pitcher may not request a new ball with 9 seconds or less.

I guess it makes sense as it could be used as a loophole to reset the clock.
 


Ope3 said:
I wasn't aware of the rule that a pitcher may not request a new ball with 9 seconds or less.

I guess it makes sense as it could be used as a loophole to reset the clock.
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Sure that makes sense but it should have never gotten that far as the hitter has to be in the box and looking at the pitcher at 8 seconds. Should have been a strike on the hitter first.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Sure that makes sense but it should have never gotten that far as the hitter has to be in the box and looking at the pitcher at 8 seconds. Should have been a strike on the hitter first.
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It was a rather odd sequence.
 


I'm just astonished at this snapshot of the standings. The Whities mathematically eliminated well before Labor Day and 48.5 games out of 1st.

They are nearly 40 games out of 4TH Place Detroit for that matter.

Screenshot_20240902-204819.png
 




GophersInIowa said:
My point was they are not going to replace Margot with another left handed bat. They're going to want a right handed bat either to replace Kepler or have a backup like Margot. I find it unlikely they'd go with a Buxton, Wallner, Larnach and Rodriguez outfield only.

With the DH and how often guys get days off, you really have four OF that can get regular playing time.

Edit: I forgot, Soto is a free agent so he'll probably be Kepler's replacement.
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look, this is all speculation. but - working on the theory that the payroll is not going up next year - and may even go down, this is my idea for the 13 position players on the roster:

LF- Larnach
CF - Buxton
RF - Wallner
3B - Lee
SS - Correa
2B- Lewis
1B - Santana (if he returns) or Miranda
C - Jeffers
DH - Miranda / Julien
-------
backup C - Vazquez (unless they find a way out of the contract)
Castro (backup all over including CF)
Martin (backup at 2B & OF)
Julien (backup at 2B/1B)

IF Santana does not return, Miranda is 1B (maybe platoon with Julien) and they need another bench player. for salary purposes I think a younger player like Severino or Keirsey. Rodriquez joins the team mid-season or sooner depending on how he does at AAA.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
look, this is all speculation. but - working on the theory that the payroll is not going up next year - and may even go down, this is my idea for the 13 position players on the roster:

LF- Larnach
CF - Buxton
RF - Wallner
3B - Lee
SS - Correa
2B- Lewis
1B - Santana (if he returns) or Miranda
C - Jeffers
DH - Miranda / Julien
-------
backup C - Vazquez (unless they find a way out of the contract)
Castro (backup all over including CF)
Martin (backup at 2B & OF)
Julien (backup at 2B/1B)

IF Santana does not return, Miranda is 1B (maybe platoon with Julien) and they need another bench player. for salary purposes I think a younger player like Severino or Keirsey. Rodriquez joins the team mid-season or sooner depending on how he does at AAA.
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I'd be pretty frustrated if they rolled with Martin as an everyday player against lefties (even before injuries occur). It's too bad Keaschall got hurt as he might have been an option.
 



GophersInIowa said:
I'd be pretty frustrated if they rolled with Martin as an everyday player against lefties (even before injuries occur). It's too bad Keaschall got hurt as he might have been an option.
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Keaschall has only played 58 games at Double-A. If he has a gangbuster season in '25, I could maybe see him at a late-season callup, but the Twins generally don't rush position players. they'll want him to start at AA and work his way up to AAA.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Keaschall has only played 58 games at Double-A. If he has a gangbuster season in '25, I could maybe see him at a late-season callup, but the Twins generally don't rush position players. they'll want him to start at AA and work his way up to AAA.
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If he doesn't get hurt and continues to play well, he probably starts next year at AAA. He wouldn't have been an option right away but it's possible for a May or June call up.
 

GophersInIowa said:
If he doesn't get hurt and continues to play well, he probably starts next year at AAA. He wouldn't have been an option right away but it's possible for a May or June call up.
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Helman might also be in the mix for that spot as well. He hit.302 last year and .282 this year; he’s has some untimely injuries, or may have been called up previously, per a Gleeman note.

Thinking he gets the start tonight vs. Springs a lefty.
 

over the next couple of years, the front office will have some decisions to make.

do they move some veterans to make way for the prospects, or keep the veterans and trade some of the prospects to fill holes in the roster?

but as you look at the farm system, it gets interesting:

OF: Jenkins, Rodriquez, Gonzales
IF: Keaschall, Winokur, Severino, Culpepper
C: Olivar,

of the current roster, Lee, Lewis, Miranda, Wallner all figure to be around for a while. Buxton and Correa - who knows with the injuries. but in another 2 or 3 years, this could be a very different looking team, with a young and relatively home-grown pitching staff.

(but the bullpen will still be a problem, because the bullpen is always a problem......)
 




Poor play by Martin

Keep it on front of you, Cambanerra’s got 🐢 🛞, he ain’t scoring on that flare
 
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Gopher_In_NYC said:
From my insomnia to this thread via Gleeman @ The Athletic -

Info on Mayonnaise
Helman ranked No. 34 on my preseason Twins top prospects list, and he’s bolstered his standing since then by hitting .283/.367/.508 with 13 homers and 10 steals in 63 games for St. Paul. Much like Castro, he can play essentially anywhere, starting Triple-A games at every position but catcher and seeing extensive action at shortstop, center field and third base this season.

Where’s Varland
Notable by his absence is Louie Varland, who was not called up. For now, at least. Varland will almost surely end up in the Twins’ bullpen at some point this month, like last September, but that move isn’t being made yet. He’s still needed as rotation insurance after the starter depth was wiped out by injuries to Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack.

One possibility would be to bring up Varland to make a spot start in early September, giving everyone in the rotation extra rest when the young arms are at risk of wearing down, and then transition him to the bullpen for the final two or three weeks. Maintaining rotation depth for as long as possible is important, but the bullpen has been running on fumes.
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@From the Parkinglot

See above regarding Helman.
 
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From MLB, Top Ten teams with outfielder prospects - we’re third.

www.mlb.com

Here are the 10 farm systems with the best outfield prospects

Last week, we looked at the top farm systems based on infield talent. This week, let’s go from the dirt to the grass. Below is a ranking of the top 10 organizations when it comes to those who patrol the outfield, using a combination of top-end Top 100 talent and
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com


3. Minnesota Twins
Another team that has landed in both top 10s, the Twins have a pair of exciting outfield prospects in 2023 first-rounder Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez, giving them two prospects in the top 21 of the overall Top 100. (Like with Campbell above, we didn’t include Luke Keaschall here because he was part of the infield group.) Gabriel Gonzalez’s star has faded a bit, but he’s still an intriguing outfield bat in the team’s top 10 and Minnesota has a total of six outfielders in its Top 30.
 

Per Dan Hayes’ article regarding Festa’s outing last night -

Since he rejoined the Twins on July 24, Festa’s provided Minnesota with plenty of good opportunities to secure a victory. For the seventh time in the eight games he’s appeared in during the stretch, Festa allowed two or fewer runs Tuesday.

He generated 16 swings and misses on 90 pitches and finished with seven strikeouts, walking just the one hitter.

Since rejoining the club, Festa has a 3.13 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched.
 

Regarding today’s tilt, pitching wise (from the same above mentioned column)-

Louie Varland will officially rejoin the Twins on Wednesday and is likely to be the team’s bulk pitcher.

Baldelli said the Twins plan to use Henriquez as the opener for Wednesday’s contest.

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My note:

Thinking either Tonkin or Castillo will be DFA’d to make room for Varland
 

I realize that this is the new term, but the "bulk" pitcher should be a large person.

so, what do you call the pitcher who follows the opener - the seconder?
 


Unregistered User said:
The Pepsi - even though I far prefer Pepsi to that syrupy coke crap.
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back in the day, if the Twins lost the first game of the season, a buddy of mine would always go to the same joke

"The Twins won't be serving beer at the stadium this season. They lost the opener....."

(for benefit of younger readers - back in the day, beer came in a bottle and you needed a bottle opener to pry the cap off the beer. you had to be in shape to be a beer vendor, hauling a case of bottled beer up and down the stands.)
 

short ornery norwegian said:
back in the day, if the Twins lost the first game of the season, a buddy of mine would always go to the same joke

"The Twins won't be serving beer at the stadium this season. They lost the opener....."

(for benefit of younger readers - back in the day, beer came in a bottle and you needed a bottle opener to pry the cap off the beer. you had to be in shape to be a beer vendor, hauling a case of bottled beer up and down the stands.)
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When I was really young, I remember at the Met they still had some cans without the pop tops that would require a can opener to gouge them open and pour into a cup.
 

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