Should The Twins Look to Upgrade From Kyle Garlick?

[Nine of twelve]

2 hours ago, MTV said:

have an opening day outfield roster of Buxton, Gordon, Kirilloff, Larnach, and a righty who can hopefully play CF 

This should play, as long as Kirilloff and Larnach are healthy. I still have hopes that Celestino can be that righty. He's young enough for us to expect improvement, but the improvement has to be there before I'll be convinced.

[D.C Twins]

Alas, the fact that this is a topic of discussion shows how far we are from being a true contender 

[Brandon]

I don’t see a problem going into the offseason of having Garlick on the roster as a floor.  I also wouldn’t have an issue upgrading the OF and letting him go either. But due to cheapness and other needs This will be further down the priority list I think.  

[Rosterman]

Yes. Garlick is a minor league depth signing. Celestino should start the season again at AAA, as backup for Buxton. The twins have to make hard decisions out of spring training on Larnach, Kiriloff and especially Kepler. Wallner may not be ready. So nice if they would sign, at least, a worthy right-handed bat who can play the outfield and DH.

[tony&rodney]

On a second look at the title of the post, we should look to upgrade  at nearly every single roster spot. I mean, it seems doubtful that Correa returns. Joe Ryan and Jhoan Duran were strong all season in 2022. Buxton is pretty much a part time option realistically, although all Twins fans wish and hope he can somehow play 145 games in CF. That leaves more than 20 upgrades for the roster. Some could be filled by miraculous healthy returns, such as Polanco. Nevertheless, it looks like there are plenty of spots to upgrade for 2023.

[rv78]

Even considering Garlick on the roster is a mistake. If he's there everyone knows he'll start against a LH pitcher, because that's what Rocco's spreadsheet tells him to do. It won't matter if there is someone better in the dugout. We saw it way too often in 2022 when he wasn't hurt. If the Twins can't see past all of the part-time supposed specialists and start fielding a competant lineup of 8 regular guys who can play everyday and hit both right and left handed pitchers they will never get where they need to be. Committing to the 1 outfielder that is going to be a part-time player for the next 6 years is bad enough. The other 2 spots have to be good and productive from both sides of the plate or you'll just see a repeat of this past year with 3 outfielders providing little to nothing. Veteran guys like Garlick and Cave, who provide nothing more than AAA production, need to go. Celestino, Contreras, Wallner should be your starting AAA outfield in 2023. Larnach, Buxton, and a new right-handed hitting outfielder via trade or FA signing should be starting in the majors with Gordon on the bench. Kepler needs to go too.

[Jeff D.]

The Twins have surplus problems in the OF. Buxton has been injured nearly every year. As a result, we have learned that we can live without him. Yes, he hits for power. Yes, he is gifted in the field. That's it. He cannot play if injured and that is a massive amount of time. So let's just move on from him.

Cave, Kirilloff, Garlick and our other OF members need to play regularly. Most of our players are injury prone to patrol the field. It's a 50/50 call. Personally, I would see where Buxton would like to play, trade him and then find three guys that can bring physical health to the team while being able to hit above .260 with some pop. Kepler might hit better with the shift gone, but his lifetime average is .240's. Our Forest Lake rookie needs to improve his fielding, but that will come. As of now, I would go with Garlick, Kirilloff, Walner in the corners and Celestino in center. Celstino only hit .240 and that should improve with another year. He showed speed, a good glove and consistency.

Not the best of solutions, but it works with the outfielders we have and would get us something in return, which is needed by trading Kepler and Buxton. Time to move on from those guys. Thank you for your service. Remember, only my opinion. There are a variety of other ideas from out Twins fans out there that might be better or just as good.

Twins geezer..............out!

 

 

[stringer bell]

After considering this for a day, yes the Twins need to upgrade over Kyle Garlick. His age, lack of durability and extreme platoon splits profile him as a RH hitting specialist and the Twins need more than that. The rest of the outfield contingent also presents serious durability issues. In each of the last two years Larnach, Kirilloff and Buxton couldn’t finish the season, Max Kepler has faded in the stretch the last three years and has been impacted by injuries. Mark Contreras and probably Matt Wallner never should have seen a major league field. They need a (near) full-time outfielder and it would be desirable if he had some speed and center field capabilities. 

[beckmt]

I think Garlick will stay on the roster until a better option comes along.  He is not that expensive and I am hoping we use our extra money somewhere else.  Kepler is the same unless we get a decent offer for him.  Closer to moving Kepler as we might get something we can use in return.  Too many outfielders and prospects close to use Kepler as anything but a 4th outfielder at this time who can play center field, and perhaps we use Gordon there. 

[dxpavelka]

Kind of depends on whether we can get 300 games out of Buxton, Larnach & Kiriloff.  Don't want Garlick to be lead our OF in games played but don't want Celestino to do so either.  Would also prefer to see Gordon get more action in the infield than outfield, especially if Correa leaves and Lewis isn't ready for the opening bell.

[gman]

I wouldn't keep Garlic on the 40 man roster. Of our other 2 right handed outfielders Buxton is only part time and Celestino needs to complete his training in the minors. Our other minor league options are also lefthanded except someday possibly Martin. Anybody know why Rucker was pushed so fast to St Paul?

[WilliesWorld24]

Not a ton of options on the FA market. I would prefer Correa at SS to Judge for big $$$ - much more important position and system gap. Mitch Hanigar would look good playing a corner at Target Field in a Twins uniform. Could also see Wil Myers, Jurickson Profar, or Garlick. Best bet is Garlick and then Royce Lewis in LF/3B rotation. 

[wavedog]

Short answer, I hope so - he does have the skill of hitting left-handers but falls short on hitting right-handers and playing defense.  Plus there are the age and injury concerns that have been brought up.   Ideally I would like to find a Right-Hand (real requirement is an OF that can hit Left-handers) good-fielding OF that can play CF-RF.    That way they can start in RF spelling Kepler and also back up CF when Buxton is out to provide a Right-hand option.  I really wanted that this past off-season but we did not acquire an asset like that and kept Garlick.   If we keep Garlick it should be on a minors deal and he should be removed from the 40-man roster.  

[Trov]

We should dump Garlick.  He is a one trick pony that cannot seem to stay healthy enough to be all that reliable for that.  I mean when you are on the team to hit just left handed pitching, you need to do that at such a high level to warrant taking up a roster spot on both 40 man and 26 man to justify it.  I mean, how much of a difference does his very few at-bats against LF pitching does he make over the full season versus just about anyone else?  I doubt it is that big of a difference to say he needs to stay. There is a reason he was available for us to begin with.