Dodgers: 4, Twins 3: Betts's Glove Even Bests Betts's Bat, and Both Beat Bomba Boys

[karcherd]

8 hours ago, howeda7 said:

This series kind of showed the folly of going all in for this year. They're not awful but they're nowhere near a playoff team. I would split the difference and trade Jeffers, Bell and maybe Larnach but try to add some controllable bullpen help and hold Buxton and Ryan and focus on trying to win in 2027. 

Buxton isn't going anywhere, it is not up to the Twins, and they just said they are honoring his wishes to stay.   Trade Larnach for whatever you can get, it won't be much more than a low minor prospect.  Bell you can DFA, and hopefully because I doubt there will be a market for him.

[David Maro]

You now see why DeRosa went with PCA more often than Buxton in the WBC. Buxton had 2 chances to get a ball in play and struck out both times. Yes he has 25 homeruns,but he is not getting the job done with runners in scoring position. It maybe is time to PH for him a time or two to help him work to get the job done. Last night was a game that was there for the taking.

[DJL44]

11 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Tues they forfeited, that was the most embarrassing game of 2026 (so far)

They play the Yankees on July 4…

[Vanimal46]

18 minutes ago, David Maro said:

You now see why DeRosa went with PCA more often than Buxton in the WBC. Buxton had 2 chances to get a ball in play and struck out both times. Yes he has 25 homeruns,but he is not getting the job done with runners in scoring position. It maybe is time to PH for him a time or two to help him work to get the job done. Last night was a game that was there for the taking.

Ignoring the fact that there was no one left on the bench to pinch hit for Buxton... You want to sub in someone like Kyler Fedko, Alex Jackson, or Austin Martin in place of Buxton with the game on the line? Insanity. 

[DJL44]

21 minutes ago, David Maro said:

You now see why DeRosa went with PCA more often than Buxton in the WBC. Buxton had 2 chances to get a ball in play and struck out both times. Yes he has 25 homeruns,but he is not getting the job done with runners in scoring position. It maybe is time to PH for him a time or two to help him work to get the job done. Last night was a game that was there for the taking.

Kyler Fedko was the available pinch hitter. If I ran the team and Shelton pinch hit for Byron Buxton with Kyler Fedko, I would fire him on the spot. He wouldn’t even get to do the postgame interview.

[thelanges5]

I ❤️ 🦌🚛 #twin4life

[LA Vikes Fan]

9 hours ago, howeda7 said:

This series kind of showed the folly of going all in for this year. They're not awful but they're nowhere near a playoff team. I would split the difference and trade Jeffers, Bell and maybe Larnach but try to add some controllable bullpen help and hold Buxton and Ryan and focus on trying to win in 2027. 

This. The Twins are not a bad team, but they aren't a good team either. By a good team, I mean a team that can make the playoffs and win a series or two. We are 1 game into the second half of the season and just finished a series with the two time WS champs who are the best team in baseball again this year. Good time to evaluate where we are. To me, the Twins are about 75% of a good team. They're currently short a least one starter, a middle of the order bat, a good fielding 2B, and about half a bullpen. Some of this is or may be internally fixable, some of it isn't:

Starting pitching - Ober may be that quality 4th starter if he comes back after the ASB and/or Prielipp or even Paredes may be if they take that next step. Ryan, Bradley and Zebby all look like quality starters who can start a playoff game and Ryan is a #1 starter. This we might be able to fix internally. We won't be able to trade for this unless the Angels are dumb enough to put Detmers or Soriano on the block and no trades for rental starters. 

Middle of the Order bat - Maaaaybe Lewis or Keaschall can become this guy, but it doesn't look likely. Clemens is a nice player but he is NOT a middle of the order bat on a good team. He hits 6 on a good team. We need one of 3 things - (1) either Martin becomes a quality every day leadoff hitter with an above .370 OBP and Larnach becomes a quality #3 hitter by staying at or above where he is now -.296/.374/.419(.793) - with someone else hitting 3 against LH starters, (2) someone like Roden comes up and sets the world on fire; or (3) we trade for a middle of the order bat without giving up Ryan for it. Numbers 2 and 3 are pretty unlikely so this improvement has to come internally or not at all. The offense is good enough that we don't have to trade prospects for a bat unless we getting a young controllable bat back int the trade. 

Defense at 2B - I think Kriedler can play SS at an above average level or better. I think the only chance to get that at 2B is for either Culpeper to come and play 2B at a high level or Keaschall to continue to improve and get there. Color me skeptical on either happening this year but the internal solution is the only one we got. 

Find another 3-4 quality bullpen pieces - Could be a trade, could be internal. The cost of BP guys this deadline is going to be high and I don't think we're close enough to pay it. Raya, Funderburk, Rashi, Klein, etc. may be able to fill the gap but 50/50 or worse shot. 

That's where we are IMHO. It leaves me saying let's promote internally, see if we fill the gaps, hope to lucky this year and hit .500 or even sneak into a Wild card, and play for next year. Play the "young guys" and guys you'll have next year like Roden, Culpepper, and Emma, and play them 5 days a week. Don't trade for stop gap vets, only trade for younger guys that you can project contributing for at least the next 2-3 years. Take waiver fliers on 26 year olds with talent like Gomez, not on the Ian Hamiltons and Richard Loveladys of the world (both of whom are on MLB rosters by the way). Don't trade decent prospects for 2 month rentals you can't keep. Trade your rentals - Jeffers and maybe Bell - for guys at AAA who you can give a shot to in August or September, not 19 year olds in A ball. Run with what you got, promote aggressively, and push who you got. Guys will fail. If they do, replace them with the next guy (like Roden for Fedko), and create a culture of accountability and performance with no scholarships.  

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

That's where we are IMHO. It leaves me saying let's promote internally, see if we fill the gaps, hope to lucky this year and hit .500 or even sneak into a Wild card, and play for next year. Play the "young guys" and guys you'll have next year like Roden, Culpepper, and Emma, and play them 5 days a week. Don't trade for stop gap vets, only trade for younger guys that you can project contributing for at least the next 2-3 years. Take waiver fliers on 26 year olds with talent like Gomez, not on the Ian Hamiltons and Richard Loveladys of the world (both of whom are on MLB rosters by the way). Don't trade decent prospects for 2 month rentals you can't keep. Trade your rentals - Jeffers and maybe Bell - for guys at AAA who you can give a shot to in August or September, not 19 year olds in A ball. Run with what you got, promote aggressively, and push who you got. Guys will fail. If they do, replace them with the next guy (like Roden for Fedko), and create a culture of accountability and performance with no scholarships.  

There are too many holes to fill without completely gutting the farm system. This is not the season to push in all the chips.

I think when you trade you should always get the most valuable pieces, even if they are only in A-ball. Those players can be traded (or allow you to trade someone else) in the offseason for near-term help. Sell high in July and buy low in January.

[Hunter4848]

Tough for Buxton to hot with two hands around his neck...

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

There are too many holes to fill without completely gutting the farm system. This is not the season to push in all the chips.

I think when you trade you should always get the most valuable pieces, even if they are only in A-ball. Those players can be traded (or allow you to trade someone else) in the offseason for near-term help. Sell high in July and buy low in January.

I agree that we have to many holes to fill by trade without guiding the system and I don't think we're close enough to make try to do that. I do think were close enough to where trading valuable asset, particularly one as valuable as Jeffers, should be or players who are to contribute this year or next year at the latest. I would be looking for players to add to this group, not just guys 3+ years away really will be ready to contribute until the next group. A good example was the trade of Duran. We got a pitcher was ready to help us now in Able plus an A ball guy. Tait may turn out to be a great player but there is a an equally good chance he will turn out to be a second catcher type, a complete bust or get have a career derailed by injury, and he isn't going to help us for at least three years. I'm fine with getting both types but at least one of the players coming back needs to be someone like Able, Roden, or Rojas, a player that at least theoretically can help us in the short term. 

[jkcarew]

The Twins 1000% ARE a bad team. Only 2 clubs in all of baseball have a lower team bWAR….the Mets and the Rockies. It might not seem they’re that awful on a relative basis because there are a historically large number of poor teams and a historically small number of very good teams. But the club is right there toward the bottom of the poor. Meanwhile, the lineup is in the OLDEST third of the MLB (batters weighted-average age). How much better are things ever going to get without massive changes? Not much at all.

[DJL44]

24 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I would be looking for players to add to this group, not just guys 3+ years away 

Guys 3+ years away can be traded later for guys who are ready to play now. Get the best return now and figure out 2027 in the offseason.

[h2oface]

Those two one run games were so frustrating. Buxton sure had a lot of chances to be our hero. Other than the Otani matching no pressure first inning solo homer in the first game, he sure could have changed this series story. So close….. again and again. 

[offensive_loons_fan]

I'm either too high to read that title or not high enough.

[RpR]

As the White Sox took two out of three from the Dodgers, being a bit anxious is probably justified.

[howeda7]

14 hours ago, Jeff K said:

That is exactly how I see it unless some team makes a silly offer that can't be refused for another player(s).  Jeffers will not be a Twin next season.  Bell is hitting pretty well, but is readily replaceable and Larnach has increased his trade value.

Bell is who he is. He will go back to April/May Bell eventually. I don't hate holding onto Larnach but they have such a glut of corner OF and now they're probably converting Keashall there too. They probably end up non-tending him in November so they should trade him if there's anything more than a lottery ticket being offered.