How the Red Sox Changed Everything for the Twins

[darin617]

24 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Yes.  A rotation of Ryan, Bradley, (Gausman for example) Ober and either Matthews or Preliepp would get us through the regular season fine.  Preliepp to the pen strengthens the pen.  And we bring up Culpepper and or Jenkins to strengthen the offense.  All problems addressed.  

That still means bringing in a starter.  I'm not sure if Culpepper is ready. He's hitting like .275 or so in St Paul, not exactly setting the world on fire. I would rather not rush prospects until I see more.

[D.C Twins]

Detroit surging too.... Their win/loss will eventually better approximate their run differential which is much better than ours. 

[old nurse]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Twins have to play as well as the best team in the AL has played all year, just to get to 85 wins. Who thinks that is realistic?

Only has to play as well as the 2nd best team in the league, and not have any other team also get hot.  Considering the amount of interleague play, they would have to be the 8th best team in baseball 

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Changing the subject slightly, is Sonny Gray pitching himself into the Hall of Fame? His stats don’t compare to past generations but they’re WAY better than most of his contemporaries. 36 WAR (8th among active pitchers), 2000 strikeouts, 137-104 record (5th in wins and 3rd among pitchers under age 40). CYA runner up and 3rd place finishes. He’s clearly better than any relief pitcher of his generation.

That is an interesting question. He feels like a "Hall of Very Good" guy, but it'll be interesting to see the full case that can be made for him when he retires.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Boston surging definitely impacts the deadline. 

I was hoping a trade could have been made with them for Sonny Gray and Aroldis Chapman to cover our need for a starter and shutdown closer. It seems they're no longer an option. 

Back to the drawing board, I guess. 

If Tom Pohlad is to be believed, staying the course would be my response. Keep Jeffers. Keep Ryan. Go for a spot in the playoffs. 

Obviously cant have 3 catchers. Im trading Caratini. He was instrumental in helping keep us afloat while Jeffers was out, but Jeffers is a far superior player. Im keeping Alex Jackson as the backup. He has done very well with his opportunity. 

Im trading Josh Bell. He has no defensive home and contract is up at the end of the year. No future with the team. At that point, I'm moving Larnach to DH. That clears an OF spot for a prospect. 

Im trading Royce Lewis. He needs a Change of scenery. Its been 3 years since hes done anything. Its selling low, but hes just not getting it done. That clears a spot to acquire a huge bat. 1B is usually one of the easiest spots to fill at the deadline. 

Lee stays at 3B. Kriedler holds down SS. I'd like to see Clemens at 2B. Big Bat trade acquisition at 1b. Jeffers stays at C. Buck in CF. Keaschall in an OF spot and a young guy in the other OF spot. (Roden, Jenkins, Erod, etc.) 

I would find a top end starter in a trade somewhere. Ryan, Taj, Top End Starter. Round out the rotation with 2 of Ober, Prielipp, and Zebby. That should get us to the playoffs and a good top 3 for getting it done in the playoffs. 

Id also find a proven Closer. Not a guy with an ERA in the 4s that was good a couple years ago. I mean a current lock down starter that will get it done in the playoffs. Gomez and Morris are both doing well. Nance seems like he can stick. 

Those would be my moves. Im sending out 3 players from the ML roster and trading for 3. We have plenty of prospects to get this done. A logjam of OFs in AAA. 

Id like to find another decent set up guy too but I think we might be able to get by with just 1 great closer acquisition. 

[Fatbat]

Its a long way to October. Don’t pencil the bosox into a playoff spot yet…

[IndianaTwin]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Changing the subject slightly, is Sonny Gray pitching himself into the Hall of Fame? His stats don’t compare to past generations but they’re WAY better than most of his contemporaries. 36 WAR (8th among active pitchers), 2000 strikeouts, 137-104 record (5th in wins and 3rd among pitchers under age 40). CYA runner up and 3rd place finishes. He’s clearly better than any relief pitcher of his generation.

Here's the bottom part of his baseball-reference.com page. I don't know if anyone has done a study to see the level of validity to these measures, but it paints a pretty bleak picture of his changes and I find them fun to look at. Also, close to half of his bWAR (17.8 of 35.8) came in three seasons that were spaced out, so it's not like he had a dominant run. Those years were 2015, 2019 and 2023, by the way -- trade for him and sign a one-year extension!

But hey, any time when you can even ask the question, that's a good player.

[Brandon]

13 hours ago, darin617 said:

That still means bringing in a starter.  I'm not sure if Culpepper is ready. He's hitting like .275 or so in St Paul, not exactly setting the world on fire. I would rather not rush prospects until I see more.

If we bring up Culpepper to get some experience, he may not be ready during his first call up so we want to keep both Gray and Kreidler so they can take back over SS if needed.