The Twins Have All Eggs in Ryan Jeffers’ Basket

Won't be surprised if they resign Sanchez.

Is the FO right by putting all their eggs in the Jeffers basket?

I've thought of Jeffers as a back up catcher, 1st a back up to Garver and later to Rortvedt. Now with Garver &  Rortvedt gone we have tremendously downgraded our once dominating catching depth. If I had to trade a catcher it'd have been Jeffers. Jeffers is a much more valuable trading chip that could be used injunction for a frontline pitcher, and sign FA Narvaez, to platoon with Garver.

The game is evolving into a more small ball philosphy. That means more stealing bases off of Jeffers because of his arm. Also the robo ump is coming that will negate Jeffers's pitch framing forte'. Both changes will help baseball but will hurt Jeffers. FO should have seen this coming.

Is the FO right by putting all their eggs in the Jeffers basket? IMO they were way off.

22 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I think Jeffers poor results throwing out base stealers is going to get amplified next year. Either they are going to need a strong armed catcher (Sanchez?) or somebody needs to teach our pitchers the fundamentals of how to hold guys better, and we know how this coaching staff is terrible when it comes to teaching fundamentals.

I agree with everything you said, Karbo. We need a strong starting catcher, I don't want Sanchez even if he has a stronger arm.  (FA) Narvaez is still my choice

With the exception of a few players and a few teams, the SB is just no longer a major part of MLB. It's more if a surprise or occasional weapon. 

IMO, the larger bases and limited throws might see an uptick in SB attempts begining in 2023, but I don't expect any huge increase. The game now is about power and launch angle and OB %. 

So while a strong armed catcher is great to have, it's not close to what I believe to be the #1 requisite for a catcher. Above all else, he needs to be able to call a good game, provide a nice target, and have the confidence of the staff. Jeffers has all of that, even if we remove the pitch framing aspect. At one point last year the Twins had something like 20 games where they allowed 3 or less runs in a game and Jeffers caught like 14-15, of them.

His bat potential is still there and he was heating up before his injury. He's not close to old and has room to grow despite having a couple full seasons under his belt. 

Could Jeffers throw better or more accurately? Yes. And I hope he works at it and improves. But he was better in 2021, so I won't get bent out of shape for a 2022 dip.

I don't know who his co-catcher will be, though I have a couple veterans clearly in mind at this time, but I like Jeffers in his role and his offensive potential.

I'm fine with Jeffers.  Key will be which back-up, FA catcher they bring in.

Omar Narvaez, Tucker Barnhart, both bat left-handed (as do Stephen Vogt and Jason Castro but I'm leaving them off this list).  I think Sean Murphy from the A's (who want to get Langaliers more playing time) might be a worthwhile investment and is not yet 28.  We do need depth at that position, so something is going to happen.

Jeffers is not a catch and throw guy. He gets exploited by the better teams. More concerning is that Jeffers really struggles to block balls and pitchers have no confidence throwing the ball in the dirt. The Twins need a starter behind the plate who is defensively strong. The post is correct in that the Twins are all in on Jeffers. Why? I don't know because I cannot understand this position.

6 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Won't be surprised if they resign Sanchez.

I agree.  He seemed to like it in Minnesota and he was average for a C with the bat and at defense.  That is better than most of others available.  

Catchers should be a leader on the field but because the FO ( which is our leader )  likes yes men we are going into the off season in need of a solid catcher  ...

I'm sorry but jeffers is not a solid catcher or a leader on the field  , doesn't block well and can't throw out runners and he is definitely not a leader in the field yet ....

WHO cares about pitch framing  , oh that's right FO and Rocco  ...

Find a solid starting catcher that can call a good game with a good  repor with pitchers , block and throw , hitting would be nice  and be the leader on the team .... 

Alot to ask but as meatloaf sings 2 out of 3 ain't bad ...

We can't put all our eggs in one basket  , it's a sure failure ...

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it  ...

7 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I agree with everything you said, Karbo. We need a strong starting catcher, I don't want Sanchez even if he has a stronger arm.  (FA) Narvaez is still my choice

On a minor league salary  that should  be all he'll get until he re-establishes his hitting ...

Toronto has three catchers that need to play next year, so they're in a spot where there's  pressure to trade someone. It's likely be Jansen, and they'd probably want at least a *big* young arm back since they are a solid 92 win team and he's both young and still improving. 

Yikes. Catcher is a huge problem, and so is the farm for them. Not great management of prospects. I hope they fill this black hole with a starter that performs and move Jeffers to back up,

The whole idea that the umpire is influenced by what the catcher does is so flawed. They are just poor umpires that happen to be behind the catcher while he is catching. Pretty random. Framing my arse. The catcher ridiculously moves his glove quick to inside the zone is a real fooler? Right. Jeffers moves it drastically even when it is already a strike. All the time. Silly. The way you get the call is to NOT move it, and show them it was a close strike. Umpires call balls strikes all by themselves all the time. 

Jeffers hits .195 and can't throw anyone out. He's been in the big leagues for 3 years. Am I missing something? What crazy world are we living in that this is considered OK? He's not even putting up backup numbers. 

I realize we're in the offseason, but I can't believe it's October 17th and we're already getting this "All Hail King Jeffers" propaganda. 

It's insanity. 

Mediocrity is what the Twins seem to wish for. If we head into the season with Jeffers as #1, we will continue this. 

Go Twins!

Twins Geezer.....out!

Yes the bar to play on the Twins is getting low.  .200 hitters considered good major league talent?  Let's get serious here.  Jeffers would be lucky to be a backup on most major league teams.  As for the ball and strike umpiring and pitch framing:.  Watching catchers move their glove several inches to try to get a call is so sophomoric.  The umpires call it as it's crossing the plate.  We just have very poor home plate umpiring.  In fact the framing is strange.  Wouldn't it seem more likely that on a close pitch if the catcher moved it into the strike zone that an umpire would think it must have been a ball.  I think the umpires are just that poor and very inconsistent.

Pitch framing is more about the direction the catcher has to move his glove ( toward the strike zone or away from it) to catch the pitch.The glove moving back to strike zone does make a borderline pitch look better than it might otherwise. Try umpring, its not always so easy.

The Twins have plenty of eggs to find a primary catcher for next year. I expect Jeffers will be on the short side of a platoon. 

4 hours ago, Karbo said:

How is he at throwing runners out?

Good question, he does have a good arm and has shown ability there but he could improve his pop up time overall. Plus he has greatly improved his pitch framing, for what that's worth.

As I looked more intensely, Toronto has 3 excellent catchers, They'll keep Kirk but maybe they'd be open to deal Jansen or Moreno, they still have some good prospects coming up, Maybe if they like someone from the Twins we could swing a trade or get creative & do a 3 way trade.

FA or trade either way we need another catcher.  I do not care for Sanchez as I think he strikes out too much and although better this year, is not the defensive catcher that we need.

Get a good defensive catcher, LH preferred, via FA or trade that needs to be equal to or better than Jeffers and let them platoon based on that day's pitcher.

14 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Get a good defensive catcher, LH preferred

Of all players in major league history who fit this description, we were fortunate (and spoiled) to have had the best ever.

I like Jeffers but like a few others see him as a back up catcher. With no standout catching prospects we need to pay or trade for more catching. The Twins have a lot of LH everyday (if healthy) players. I get a LH catcher platoon but wonder it another RH bat is more important to the line up. Jansen or Contreras make the most sense to me.

I'm with Cris E on this one.  Toronto has THREE (3) !!!  catchers and even with a DH can't possibly satisfy all of them in terms of AB's and playing time.  Jeffers is nothing more than a career backup.  We need to get on the phone and call the Blue Jays.  Gabe Moreno is their prized prospect.  That means he's not going anywhere.  It comes down to Kirk or Jansen and either would be a massive upgrade behind the plate for the Twins.

I mentioned in an different thread that with Austin Martin blistering the AFL could one of the options for him be a trade once his value ticks back up when the AFL concludes.  Might the Blue Jays be interested in Martin in a deal for either Kirk or Jansen ?