Week in Review: The Dream Is Fading

[Major League Ready]

5 hours ago, old nurse said:

One can say they should have traded Ryan last year for what was allegedly offered It is all based on hindsight Arias was well regarded, but not hitting all that well in A+, Tolle would have been maybe a game or two in AA experience. The Twins probably had not scouted that low in the minors. 

No doubt, it's easy to say they should have traded for the best-case scenario.  It's not that easy.  However, teams with a significant revenue disadvantage have to find a way to overcome the inability to buy talent.   Milwaukee, Tampa, and especially the Guardians do not standout because they draft and develop a lot better than other modest revenue teams.  They acquire a lot of prospects, some of them in the form of guys that have made it to the majors but not proven anything.  It could be Trevor Megill for PTBNL or Freddy Peralta who they got for 1 year of Adam Lind. These teams don't let players go for nothing. 

There is an opportunity in down years to invest in the future.  Trade away guys like Larnach and give Culpepper, Jenkins,  Roden, Rodriguez, Martin, and even Fedko / Sabato a chance.  It may not work but what were the odds this team was going to be a significant contender?  You invest 1 year in prospects for the chance to build a team that can be good for several years.  Instead, they traded away a couple high upside guys and could have acquired a couple other high upside guys.  That potential may not be reached but executing that strategy separates the modest revenue teams that contend frequently form the many who do not.  

[Mike Sixel]

31 minutes ago, old nurse said:

So you think they need to just trust what fangraphs says 

I was responding to the person that said they were not in any top 100 lists. Nothing more or less. 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I was responding to the person that said they were not in any top 100 lists. Nothing more or less. 

The fangraphs list was published 2 days before the deadline. You are the one making a deal of a late list. So if you want to argue obscurities, fine. 13-14 teams were buyers at the deadline. Preparation for that deadline would have been long before that deadline  the fangraphs list is a moot point 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

No doubt, it's easy to say they should have traded for the best-case scenario.  It's not that easy.  However, teams with a significant revenue disadvantage have to find a way to overcome the inability to buy talent.   Milwaukee, Tampa, and especially the Guardians do not standout because they draft and develop a lot better than other modest revenue teams.  They acquire a lot of prospects, some of them in the form of guys that have made it to the majors but not proven anything.  It could be Trevor Megill for PTBNL or Freddy Peralta who they got for 1 year of Adam Lind. These teams don't let players go for nothing. 

There is an opportunity in down years to invest in the future.  Trade away guys like Larnach and give Culpepper, Jenkins,  Roden, Rodriguez, Martin, and even Fedko / Sabato a chance.  It may not work but what were the odds this team was going to be a significant contender?  You invest 1 year in prospects for the chance to build a team that can be good for several years.  Instead, they traded away a couple high upside guys and could have acquired a couple other high upside guys.  That potential may not be reached but executing that strategy separates the modest revenue teams that contend frequently form the many who do not.  

A trade takes 2 teams If the offers are not to the Twins liking, they can’t make the trade, if the other team doesn’t want to give up the prospects you like, they don’t make the trade 

Trading for players that become replacement level players does not improve your team. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

The fangraphs list was published 2 days before the deadline. You are the one making a deal of a late list. So if you want to argue obscurities, fine. 13-14 teams were buyers at the deadline. Preparation for that deadline would have been long before that deadline  the fangraphs list is a moot point 

At the beginning of the year, Arias was 37 and Tolle 105....

I'm not the one that said they were obscure and not scouted....

I don't know what you're arguing? I'm merely responding to your statement that they weren't highly regarded. Nothing more or less. 

In any event, I'm done. I pointed out that they were, that's all. 

[Major League Ready]

10 hours ago, old nurse said:

A trade takes 2 teams If the offers are not to the Twins liking, they can’t make the trade, if the other team doesn’t want to give up the prospects you like, they don’t make the trade 

Trading for players that become replacement level players does not improve your team. 

I think we would all agree that this is a given.  Success does not follow from drafting or trading poorly.   Two teams could follow very similar practices and have very different outcomes.  Therefore, we should be asking ourselves what Milwaukee / Cleveland / Tampa does differently from the Twins and other teams that have not been able to sustain much success.  One of those things is they don't often let good players walk for nothing.

[USAFChief]

On 8/16/2026 at 8:22 PM, TheLeviathan said:

Dennis Green once said something that seems relevant right now.  

The lost opportunity to use the last few months to build towards the future is going to bite this team down the line.  As all bad investments do.

Whatever "goodwill" to the fanbase the deadline was supposed to represent is going to be eliminated by a completely irrelevant September.

This aged well 

[old nurse]

On 8/19/2026 at 7:25 AM, Major League Ready said:

I think we would all agree that this is a given.  Success does not follow from drafting or trading poorly.   Two teams could follow very similar practices and have very different outcomes.  Therefore, we should be asking ourselves what Milwaukee / Cleveland / Tampa does differently from the Twins and other teams that have not been able to sustain much success.  One of those things is they don't often let good players walk for nothing.

If you look at trade histories, they are also good at not getting much in return. A team has to look at what chances for success they lose for the year with the trade. 

[Mike Sixel]

17 hours ago, USAFChief said:

This aged well 

Is the season over?

I have no issue with those that think they should have bought, I get it. But I still would have traded Larnach for a minor league player and called up Rodriguez or Jenkins. 

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, old nurse said:

If you look at trade histories, they are also good at not getting much in return. A team has to look at what chances for success they lose for the year with the trade. 

Agreed. I get why people want to not sell from this team....I just disagree.

[old nurse]

On 8/20/2026 at 12:15 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed. I get why people want to not sell from this team....I just disagree.

A chance at advancing in the playoffs or a couple of  players that are a role player  which is more important? The deadline trade for Ryan was a complete anomaly. Nobody but. The Falvey team saw that one. Likely they had the same feeling about Rojas, but he is not even close to what Ryan was when he got here. They had an offer on Larnach . The owner nixed it. Either it was too good of prospect or the owner did not want to increase the payroll by a million for a platoon player.  I would bet on the latter.