No Relief: Griffin Jax Goes South, as Twins Trade Him to Tampa Bay Rays

[Doctor Gast]

46 minutes ago, BillyBallLives said:

Rocco Baldelli, Post-Trade Press Conference:

"You know… I've always wanted to manage a Triple-A team. This is great. I don’t even have to change my parking spot."

& get MLB pay.

[sweetmusicviola16]

1 minute ago, Doctor Gast said:

& get MLB pay.

Lol. I wouldn't give a plug nickel for Rocco or falvey

[DJwessmix]

Starting Rotation

1. Joe Ryan

2. Bailey Ober

3. Simeon Woods-Richardson 

4. Taj Bradley 

5. Mick Abel

*Pablo Lopez back soon? This rotation is pretty good, with a good future. The bullpen would have been just bad, if Varland still here as a closer - now moribund.

No way we see Culpepper or guys like that due to service time manipulation. Payton Eeles will fill in for Castro as the utility man, McCusker as the DH, and maybe Sabato as a platoon 1B/DH opposite Clemens. Outman will be backup CF.

 

Only hife downer is absolutely no bullpen,  with no options in minors to get excited about, unless they actually call up guys from AA.

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Happy for Jax. If he still wants the Rays will give him another chance to start. 

And he was clearly done with Rocco (like us all). 

That was my first thought why Tampa would do this. They’re going to move him to the rotation and he’ll probably be a 2026 All-Star. 

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

Rocco is a bad manager, treated his players weirdly yesterday and Jax was visibly upset when he was removed for a position player. 

The old saying was “You can’t fire all of the players” when talking about coaching vs. the players. 

Derek Falvey said hold my beer. I’ll nuke 40% of the roster to save my buddy Rocco 

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

The old saying was “You can’t fire all of the players” when talking about coaching vs. the players. 

Derek Falvey said hold my beer. I’ll nuke 40% of the roster to save my buddy Rocco 

It is pretty weird but this may have some truth. 

[Danchat]

31 minutes ago, DJwessmix said:

Starting Rotation

1. Joe Ryan

2. Bailey Ober

3. Simeon Woods-Richardson 

4. Taj Bradley 

5. Mick Abel

*Pablo Lopez back soon? This rotation is pretty good, with a good future. The bullpen would have been just bad, if Varland still here as a closer - now moribund.

No way we see Culpepper or guys like that due to service time manipulation. Payton Eeles will fill in for Castro as the utility man, McCusker as the DH, and maybe Sabato as a platoon 1B/DH opposite Clemens. Outman will be backup CF.

 

Only hife downer is absolutely no bullpen,  with no options in minors to get excited about, unless they actually call up guys from AA.

I think they plan on trading one of the vet starters over the offseason, then in the open spot you have Matthews/Festa/Rojas. My guess would be Lopez.

[HrbieFan]

3 hours ago, Glorybound said:

Completely insane. Who takes the field tomorrow? 

Who is in the pen tomorrow? Just gross what the dipshiaaats have done 

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Who is in the pen tomorrow?

The rest of this season is completely irrelevant.

[OvertheHill]

Well I think I know what replaces the “Norm Green Sucks” chant in Minnesota 

[shimrod]

Funny looking at the Twins roster on CBSsports. We have:

5 RP

3 SP

2 C

3 IF

2 OF

2 DH

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, DJL44 said:

The rest of this season is completely irrelevant.

It should be tryouts for young guys, but they still literally need someone in the bullpen. 

[Wedman13]

1 hour ago, saviking said:

It's like we gave them all away! Im not digging what they got in return. Only hope is the new owner is going tonspend big in free agency. If not, I'm not sure we can even field a team next year.

My mind is officially blown, but not in a good way. Anyone willing to share your asprin.

 

Tired of being in the middle.  I love every aspect of a complete sell off.  Folks that only wanted to sell expirings will keep us ho-hum for years.  Go big or go home.

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, Wedman13 said:

Tired of being in the middle.  I love every aspect of a complete sell off.  Folks that only wanted to sell expirings will keep us ho-hum for years.  Go big or go home.

I'm going to copy/paste what i put elsewhere. It isn't that the movement that is a problem, it is the direction. As stated below, the rebuild hasn't started. We did see a teardown. Those are different.

In both November of 2023 and 2024 the Twins faced the same problems as they did one week ago. The team as a whole was slow, affecting both base running and defense. The team had too many DH only players. The defense was poor, which is not good for the pitchers because they feel that the only sure out is a strikeout. The team lacked extra base power, The team needed a better offense.

After a historic round of trades, the problems remain. The strength of the team was pitching. So 7 pitchers were added after subtracting the top 5 bullpen arms. Only one decent far away from seeing the majors catcher was added. The other four bats are repetitive to those currently in the system. Really, the teardown happened quickly. The rebuild has yet to be started. Who goes after this season from among Lopez, Ryan, and Ober? Traditionally teams do not keep players with less than 3 years of control who make money above the minimum.

For now it looks like the Twins will need some amazing emergences from players already in the system. What can the Twins expect next year from Noah Cardenas, Luke Keaschall, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins? Can Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis become consistently decent every day baseball players? Can Buxton continue as a decent centerfielder and remain healthy? Can Wallner learn to hit and be a fair DH only? Can players like Martin, Keirsey Jr., and Julien make reasonable contributions as part time players?

[shimrod]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

It should be tryouts for young guys, but they still literally need someone in the bullpen. 

All the contenders who traded for relief will be waiving their back-of-the-bullpen vets. Twins will pick up a couple of the cast-offs to fill out the pen. The cheap ones.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, Glorybound said:

Completely insane. Who takes the field tomorrow? 

That comedy skit Who is on First?…. Applies here

[Fred]

3 hours ago, howeda7 said:

THIS season? No. They only have to go like 12-42 to avoid it.

Why does it feel like they have a shot at it?

[Fred]

3 hours ago, Loops said:

I guess we might as well watch the Saints play. It will be more entertaining than the current Twins. (While they all stay in town

There will be a lot of Saints playing at Target field shortly.

[Aggies7]

Why in the world did they extend the manager if these were the moves that were going to be made? Why didn’t they just wait? Or is he just coming back for another lame duck season? Why would you want anyone who touched this team you just tore apart to be around a basically new roster?

[IndyTwinsFan]

7 minutes ago, Fred said:

Why does it feel like they have a shot at it?

Because we're nothing more than a glorified AA/AAA team right now, in total.

[IndyTwinsFan]

9 minutes ago, Fred said:

Why does it feel like they have a shot at it?

I don't think that the real rebuild begins until this coming off-season.  That's another reason. 

[laloesch]

3 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Ok.  WTF.  I get Castro, Bader, Stewart, even Correa.  I sort of get one of Duran or Jax...even though I don't like it.  But what the (bleep) is going on?  Pohlads cannot sell this team fast enough.  

They have a potential buyer I believe though it hasn’t been released who that was.  I have a sneaking suspicion this fire sale was an order or sign of new ownership incoming.

[laloesch]

8 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Why in the world did they extend the manager if these were the moves that were going to be made? Why didn’t they just wait? Or is he just coming back for another lame duck season? Why would you want anyone who touched this team you just tore apart to be around a basically new roster?

Don’t be surprised if he gets canned with. New ownership. The Twins are gonna be a total dumpster fire the rest of the season 

[Aggies7]

2 minutes ago, laloesch said:

Don’t be surprised if he gets canned with. New ownership. The Twins are gonna be a total dumpster fire the rest of the season 

I wouldn’t be, but why even bother extending the contract? The team didn’t look like a contender 5 weeks ago when the extension came to light. All that did was turn yet more fans off. It certainly did for me.

[h2oface]

Do you want Ryan Pressly now?

Cubs Designate Ryan Pressly For Assignment

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I wouldn’t be, but why even bother extending the contract? The team didn’t look like a contender 5 weeks ago when the extension came to light. All that did was turn yet more fans off. It certainly did for me.

This regime has always been weird about announcing coach contracts. For all we know the option was picked up in February. Dan Hayes just caught wind of it and announced it during one of our worst stretches of the season at the time. 

[Fred]

4 minutes ago, laloesch said:

They have a potential buyer I believe though it hasn’t been released who that was.  I have a sneaking suspicion this fire sale was an order or sign of new ownership incoming.

You're one of those glass-half-full kind of guys! Two or three things could be happening. One is the new owners are even cheaper than the Pohlads. Two is the new owners have a plan to rebuild from the studs. Three is the Pohlads want to wring every Penney out of the club before they sell.

[Aggies7]

Just now, Vanimal46 said:

This regime has always been weird about announcing coach contracts. For all we know the option was picked up in February. Dan Hayes just caught wind of it and announced it during one of our worst stretches of the season at the time. 

True, but there’s not been even one point where he deserved one. Even after the winning streak, that was like May. He shouldn’t have even seen this year, but that horse is very dead 

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

True, but there’s not been even one point where he deserved one. Even after the winning streak, that was like May. He shouldn’t have even seen this year, but that horse is very dead 

You’re not going to find any disagreement from me. We should fire Rocco tonight too while we’re at it. I’m amazed he will likely be allowed to finish out the season. 

Edit: Amazed isn’t the correct term. Falvey literally proved he will trade 10 players away to keep his friend employed. 

[Aggies7]

Just now, Vanimal46 said:

You’re not going to find any disagreement from me. We should fire Rocco tonight too while we’re at it. I’m amazed he will likely be allowed to finish out the season. 

Judging by some of the comments from newly made ex-players, the twins clubhouse sounds like an absolutely miserable, toxic place for some guys. And those guys are happy to be gone. I literally cannot think of one reason why he’s not been shown the door yet. Even buck showalter just said it was unprofessional to make the moves he did yesterday.