7 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

I'm unhappy for me - I thought that Arraez might have already given his best season, and that his injuries would flare up again. I liked the trade. Should have known better.

I'm unhappy for the team. He's exactly what the team needs now. Lopez is still important, but not nearly so. Not even close.

But ... I'm happy for Arraez. Great player. He deserves the accolades and the fun he's having in Miami.

Yeah, pretty sure he is thrilled to be out of this organization.

9 hours ago, rwilfong86 said:

I remember getting roasted on social media for thinking the trade stunk. It is what it is, but I thought it was an interesting article.

I was NEVER for it.  Besides being an exceptional hitter this year and last, he has personality that is sorely missing from this group of misfits.

30 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

I was NEVER for it.  Besides being an exceptional hitter this year and last, he has personality that is sorely missing from this group of misfits.

He has a good attitude, fans love him, and he plays the game the right way. The fact he played 1st last year because there was a need and he did so superbly says a lot about him. I love seeing him succeed in Miami but it hurts my heart lol

2 hours ago, rwilfong86 said:

He has a good attitude, fans love him, and he plays the game the right way. The fact he played 1st last year because there was a need and he did so superbly says a lot about him. I love seeing him succeed in Miami but it hurts my heart lol

superbly?

6 minutes ago, RickOShea said:

superbly?

Considering the last time he played first was as a teenager in the Dominican league and was a Gold Glove Finalist I would say yes, superbly. 

Very impressive (for Minnesota)

16 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

I'm unhappy for me - I thought that Arraez might have already given his best season, and that his injuries would flare up again. I liked the trade. Should have known better.

I'm unhappy for the team. He's exactly what the team needs now. Lopez is still important, but not nearly so. Not even close.

But ... I'm happy for Arraez. Great player. He deserves the accolades and the fun he's having in Miami.

Don't sleep on that injury theory just yet.  A LOT of us liked the trade.  Trust our instincts.  Less than half a season is just that--less than half a season.

On 6/21/2023 at 7:02 AM, dxpavelka said:

Hindsight:  20/20

Sorry but 20/20 is perfect vision.  In this case I would say they are blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.  Instead of trading away an MVP they should have loosened the purse strings and paid for  a #3-4 started, but I am afraid no decent pitcher would want to come here while in the prime of his career.  Think that is why we get older and almost broken pitchers.  They need to focus on the minors and get those guys GOOD and ready.  SWR is a perfect example.  IMO they never let them stay for maybe a game or two before they are sent back down.  How to you learn to pitch in the MLB unless you get a good chance.  

See tons of comments on FB praising the Twins for being in first place,  We all know where they would be in any other division.  A year ago the Marlins ended with a .427 and the Twins a .481 and 3rd place in the pathetic ALC.  This year the Twins are .493 and barely hanging onto 1st place the Marlins are .560 and holding onto a Wild Card (they are behind Atlanta with a .644) 

All of the articles and comments re Arraez remind me that I should have bought Microsoft in the summer of 1986.

I'm not aware of anyone who hated Arraez, but he is a Marlin now. It's in the past (Jim Kaat, Rod Carew, etc.).

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

All of the articles and comments re Arraez remind me that I should have bought Microsoft in the summer of 1986.

I'm not aware of anyone who hated Arraez, but he is a Marlin now. It's in the past (Jim Kaat, Rod Carew, etc.).

Agreed, but that is the topic of this blog. The past, as you say is quite important for learning, and I hope we do better in our next trades. I did not like losing Eduardo Escobar - but today we have Duran. Let's hope for some improvement on this roster between now and the end of July!

With the Arraez trade it just kind of feels like the baseball gods are pissing on us.  Look I always knew he was going to be a .300 hitter and I thought there might be a few years in there where he hit .350 or so but never in my wildest dreams did I see him hitting near the .400 mark 3 months into any season let alone the first season.

The math for me was he was likely a high  700 to low 800 OPS player.  He had been that the 4 years prior.  Throw in the fact that his knee's were always giving him problems in MN and if he declined physically he had little to no value left.  The positions that the farm was producing in abundance were utility, 2nd, 1st, DH type players which is right where Arraez played.  Someone had to go and Miami targeted Arraez and only Arraez and the Twins as pretty much proven this year needed one more legit starter and Miami threw in a top 10 prospect and a nice lottery ticket DSL player to get the deal done.

We all loved Arraez there isn't a fan who wouldn't love the hard working blue collar guy he was.  I loved watching him hit we all did and while maybe the Twins couldn't replace all his production it seemed logical that they could come close.  Just look at Donny Solano's numbers right now they are just under what Arraez's were the preceding 4 years.  It didn't seem like the Twins were really giving up something that couldn't be close to replaced OPS wise.  The math made this an almost no brainer trade to me even though I loved Arraez the player

This trade is only three months in and I have to say it has been unbearably bad to this point.  Arraez is off the charts good right now and in his prime for 4 more years and with his skills probably longer.  Still I am not ready just yet to over react as the season isn't over and who knows how this all turns out in the end.  Just look at Baddoo or any player for that matter and things can change from year to year.

For now I am willing to admit it looks like the math didn't work out the way I thought it would and Arreaz is making me look really bad.  Still I don't think he keeps this kind of hot streak up forever and yet knowing Arreaz maybe he will.

I think it's worth noting that the initial Arraez trade rumors started with something along the lines of the Marlins offering just Lopez for Arraez and the Twins rebuffed them, but getting Salas was the deal-maker. We'll have to see how Salas pans out to be able to fully evaluate the trade, seeing as how he was considered to be a top 10 prospect for the Marlins. The third player is a lottery ticket.

10 hours ago, MABB1959 said:

Sorry but 20/20 is perfect vision.  In this case I would say they are blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.  Instead of trading away an MVP they should have loosened the purse strings and paid for  a #3-4 started, but I am afraid no decent pitcher would want to come here while in the prime of his career.  Think that is why we get older and almost broken pitchers.  They need to focus on the minors and get those guys GOOD and ready.  SWR is a perfect example.  IMO they never let them stay for maybe a game or two before they are sent back down.  How to you learn to pitch in the MLB unless you get a good chance.  

I fear you have Arraez confused with someone else.  He finished 13th in the MVP voting.  Highly unlikely that he'll finish in top 3 this year either.

14 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

I fear you have Arraez confused with someone else.  He finished 13th in the MVP voting.  Highly unlikely that he'll finish in top 3 this year either.

 

Sorry meant batting champ but thanks for straightening me out.

20 hours ago, Dman said:

With the Arraez trade it just kind of feels like the baseball gods are pissing on us.  Look I always knew he was going to be a .300 hitter and I thought there might be a few years in there where he hit .350 or so but never in my wildest dreams did I see him hitting near the .400 mark 3 months into any season let alone the first season.

The math for me was he was likely a high  700 to low 800 OPS player.  He had been that the 4 years prior.  Throw in the fact that his knee's were always giving him problems in MN and if he declined physically he had little to no value left.  The positions that the farm was producing in abundance were utility, 2nd, 1st, DH type players which is right where Arraez played.  Someone had to go and Miami targeted Arraez and only Arraez and the Twins as pretty much proven this year needed one more legit starter and Miami threw in a top 10 prospect and a nice lottery ticket DSL player to get the deal done.

We all loved Arraez there isn't a fan who wouldn't love the hard working blue collar guy he was.  I loved watching him hit we all did and while maybe the Twins couldn't replace all his production it seemed logical that they could come close.  Just look at Donny Solano's numbers right now they are just under what Arraez's were the preceding 4 years.  It didn't seem like the Twins were really giving up something that couldn't be close to replaced OPS wise.  The math made this an almost no brainer trade to me even though I loved Arraez the player

This trade is only three months in and I have to say it has been unbearably bad to this point.  Arraez is off the charts good right now and in his prime for 4 more years and with his skills probably longer.  Still I am not ready just yet to over react as the season isn't over and who knows how this all turns out in the end.  Just look at Baddoo or any player for that matter and things can change from year to year.

For now I am willing to admit it looks like the math didn't work out the way I thought it would and Arreaz is making me look really bad.  Still I don't think he keeps this kind of hot streak up forever and yet knowing Arreaz maybe he will.

 

It looks much worse the way the Twins are hitting and obvious that his bat is SORELY missed.  It also seems like all the trades done in the last few years have not been in the Twins favor.  What makes me mad it they can't or won't go sign and pay a top level pitcher.

6 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

Sorry meant batting champ but thanks for straightening me out.

Big difference.  Batting champs can finish 13th in MVP voting.

3 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

It looks much worse the way the Twins are hitting and obvious that his bat is SORELY missed.  It also seems like all the trades done in the last few years have not been in the Twins favor.  What makes me mad it they can't or won't go sign and pay a top level pitcher.

You mean like Carlos Rodon?  Or Jacob DeGrom?  Justin Verlander do anything for you?

Played 144 games in ‘22……played 70 of 75 games so far in ‘23. 46% of the way through the year he has 15 doubles - had 31 doubles in ‘22. He has a WAR of 3.1 at this point in ‘23.

Really difficult to justify trading elite hitting talent. 

Prior to ‘23 a career (over 4 years) .314 BA!

”No pop - no position - slow - injury prone……” B.S.

On 6/21/2023 at 3:46 PM, Muppet said:

Didn't like the deal then and I don't like it now. But I get it. The pitching depth is terrible. One more starting pitcher goes down and we're stuck with a bullpen game. Arraez may be the best hitter in baseball for the next 12 years, but he will spend so many of those years with the Yankees or Dodgers that when he enters Cooperstown, nobody will have remembered him as a Twin anyway, regardless of this trade. 

Correa, Buxton, Larnach, Vazquez, and Miranda weren't supposed to be this terrible. We'd still be headed for a sub .500 season even with Ted Williams on this team. 

All that said, I'd prefer to watch the next 2 years of sub .500 baseball with Arraez on the team instead of Doyle Alexander Lopez. 

That's really the key.  Correa, Buxton, Larnach, Vazquez, and Miranda have ALL been just brutally AWFUL offensively.  It's actually kinda a miracle that this team is .500 given how bad the offense has been.  Lewis has been a bright spot recently, but there isn't a whole lot else to cheer for on offense besides Farmer who's had a good season to date.  The before mentioned guys need to really step up big time especially Correa, Buxton and Vazquez.  Those three are seasoned veterans, no more excuses.

I did not like this trade at all.   Anybody who follows baseball knew Arraez would increase his batting average this year with the banning of the shift.   But this pales in comparison to the Mahle trade which is going to go down as one of the worst in Minnesota sports history when it is all said and done.  Just an epic fail that even the most novice fan recognized early on.

On 6/22/2023 at 1:04 PM, Danchat said:

I think it's worth noting that the initial Arraez trade rumors started with something along the lines of the Marlins offering just Lopez for Arraez and the Twins rebuffed them, but getting Salas was the deal-maker. We'll have to see how Salas pans out to be able to fully evaluate the trade, seeing as how he was considered to be a top 10 prospect for the Marlins. The third player is a lottery ticket.

Not looking good so far but there is still time

7 hours ago, Five minute major said:

I did not like this trade at all.   Anybody who follows baseball knew Arraez would increase his batting average this year with the banning of the shift.   But this pales in comparison to the Mahle trade which is going to go down as one of the worst in Minnesota sports history when it is all said and done.  Just an epic fail that even the most novice fan recognized early on.

I hadn't see anyone say that, ever... wasn't Arraez one of the least shifted against players? I thought defenses didn't bother to shift because of his ability to spray the ball around the field.

I know many/most won't agree with me but Arraez on the team would not make that much of a difference imo. This isn't basketball, one player hitting .400 will not offset 6 others hitting below .220. The second half of last season we had Arraez as our only good hitter and how did that work out? We'd just have more guys left on base and someone like Jordan Lyles pitching every 5th day.

It's been a frustrating season, I get it, but this dead horse has been kicked enough...

1 hour ago, weitz41 said:

I know many/most won't agree with me but Arraez on the team would not make that much of a difference imo. This isn't basketball, one player hitting .400 will not offset 6 others hitting below .220. The second half of last season we had Arraez as our only good hitter and how did that work out? We'd just have more guys left on base and someone like Jordan Lyles pitching every 5th day.

It's been a frustrating season, I get it, but this dead horse has been kicked enough...

He was tiring and hit .265 the last couple months and he was playing with AAA guys in ‘22……..no real problem with the trade but good hitters are hard to find.

He’s 100 points better than Lewis & 100 points better than Kirilloff and they both are certainly making a difference in the midst of other mediocrity. Not every day but at least 3-4 days per week.

Rationalizing Luis isn’t or wouldn’t be a difference maker isn’t fair to him but López can be a solid contributor and the trade is done!