White Sox 3, Twins 2: Solid Pitching, Same Result: Another Series Slips Away

[HarmonK03]

50 minutes ago, Wedman13 said:

 Larnach, Jeffers, ryan and Buck should have been traded

Yes go ahead and trade someone with a NTC clause and now 10 and 5 rights.  We can stop beating the dead horse of trading Buxton.  Until there is new reporting, he has made it clear he wants to be here.

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, Maybe Next Year said:

Why bother trading them - it would just end up being another trade where we are on the losing end.  What are the number of good trades we have made in the past few years - perhaps 1 out of 10. 

Ryan, Lopez, Bradley, Abel..... All say hi. 

[Major League Ready]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ryan, Lopez, Bradley, Abel..... All say hi. 

You forgot Duran.

[HarmonK03]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ryan, Lopez, Bradley, Abel..... All say hi. 

What has Abel done, he has had 3 good starts.  He has good stuff but has struggled to throw strikes.  Let's at least see him pitch for a year before we say that was a good trade.

[LastOnePicked]

20 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Yes go ahead and trade someone with a NTC clause and now 10 and 5 rights.  We can stop beating the dead horse of trading Buxton.  Until there is new reporting, he has made it clear he wants to be here.

There were multiple offseason reports exactly like this: 

"Reporting during the offseason indicated that Buxton would consider waiving his no-trade clause for the right opportunity"

Buxton would have accepted a trade if the Twins were going into rebuild mode. With a fairly promising 2025 season behind him, the timing would have been ideal. 

He can't be traded now, you're right, and we all do have to let that go. There's no trade value remaining there whatsoever, and it would just be a bad look to even try. But there was once a time when it was possible.

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

There were multiple offseason reports exactly like this: 

"Reporting during the offseason indicated that Buxton would consider waiving his no-trade clause for the right opportunity"

Buxton would have accepted a trade if the Twins were going into rebuild mode. With a fairly promising 2025 season behind him, the timing would have been ideal. 

He can't be traded now, you're right, and we all do have to let that go. There's no trade value remaining there whatsoever, and it would just be a bad look to even try. But there was once a time when it was possible.

Reports that were never attributed to Buxton but by different sources trying to create trade interest in Buxton IIRC, 

I will take Buck at his word that he has been consistent over the last couple of years vs. unnamed sources.

[Wedman13]

48 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Yes go ahead and trade someone with a NTC clause and now 10 and 5 rights.  We can stop beating the dead horse of trading Buxton.  Until there is new reporting, he has made it clear he wants to be here.

You and I generally agree except on Fedko vs roden (dumb both ways) but money talks and Buck was at absolute peak value.  He would have taken a deal.  Living in MN 1/4 of the year?  Cmon.  That was agent talk for a restructured deal.  Healthy, crushing it and we had #11 waiting.

i believed sell, you did too.  Others believed 'hold Tom Pohlad to his word of going or go home'.  Because of their Pohlad obsession.  Well, he caved to the masses.... 

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, PuckettPond said:

After that loss now Twin fans can watch the NDSU Bison win their 1st football game of the season! NDSU Bison football are America's Team.

Who now?

[Linus]

44 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Who now?

North Delaware State University. I guess they are good. 

[strumdatjag]

The TD faithful are not the target audience for the failure to move Jeffers, Ryan (?) and a left-handed hitting outfielder or two.  The people in the stands and on barstools complaining about “the Cheap Pohlads” were the target.   The owners did not want to invoke their ire for a second year in a row.  So they added Jeff Hoffman, Minter et al.  
Those fans don’t have a clue about the value of Dasan Hill in the minor leagues. 
 

[Hunter4848]

2 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

Yes go ahead and trade someone with a NTC clause and now 10 and 5 rights.  We can stop beating the dead horse of trading Buxton.  Until there is new reporting, he has made it clear he wants to be here.

But the organization shouldn't want him here...

[Blyleven2011]

It’s disappointing losing the series to the white Sox , hope the twins can prevail and win the last game of the series …

it’s also disappointing for whatever reason that the players seem to have lost their fight  , the season has been enjoyable but the last ten days or 2 weeks have not …

score early and then nothing , that was last year and the year before, now it’s back as this team seems to cave under pressure …

[Linus]

6 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

It’s disappointing losing the series to the white Sox , hope the twins can prevail and win the last game of the series …

it’s also disappointing for whatever reason that the players seem to have lost their fight  , the season has been enjoyable but the last ten days or 2 weeks have not …

score early and then nothing , that was last year and the year before, now it’s back as this team seems to cave under pressure …

They haven’t “lost their fight”. They simply aren’t good enough. 

[Hunter4848]

7 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

It’s disappointing losing the series to the white Sox , hope the twins can prevail and win the last game of the series …

it’s also disappointing for whatever reason that the players seem to have lost their fight  , the season has been enjoyable but the last ten days or 2 weeks have not …

score early and then nothing , that was last year and the year before, now it’s back as this team seems to cave under pressure …

Of course a Buxton led team is going to cave under pressure, thats just what he does. 

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Culpepper got caught lifting his head on that error. Gotta make the play first. 

I was happy when we traded for help at the deadline. But the players didnt respond. Atleast not yet. Still a little time, i suppose, but its running out fast. 

 

[PuckettPond]

Lets hope we never have to use Buxton in CF again. Part time DH / Left bench as we all have to wait out his contract. He is an over/under player  over paid  under achieving. Don't go away mad just go away.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, strumdatjag said:

The TD faithful are not the target audience for the failure to move Jeffers, Ryan (?) and a left-handed hitting outfielder or two.  The people in the stands and on barstools complaining about “the Cheap Pohlads” were the target.   The owners did not want to invoke their ire for a second year in a row.  So they added Jeff Hoffman, Minter et al.  
Those fans don’t have a clue about the value of Dasan Hill in the minor leagues. 
 

Ok...let's accept what you say is true.  How's that working out?

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, Hunter4848 said:

Of course a Buxton led team is going to cave under pressure, thats just what he does. 

It's not that Buxton caves under pressure. He's got a strong will to succeed and a great work ethic and he's the most loyal player a team could hope for. As a fan of the Twins, I think the world of him.

But he also has, as Reusse said, a "bad skeleton" for baseball. His body is just not capable of sustaining health. And it's never going to change.

You can't trade him at this point, and you probably shouldn't try. But if the Twins want to win in 2027, they are going to have to tell him he's no longer the starting CF here. He's a platoon outfielder, and if that's a dealbreaker, he'll need to let them know.

[LastOnePicked]

2 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

The TD faithful are not the target audience for the failure to move Jeffers, Ryan (?) and a left-handed hitting outfielder or two.  The people in the stands and on barstools complaining about “the Cheap Pohlads” were the target.   The owners did not want to invoke their ire for a second year in a row.  So they added Jeff Hoffman, Minter et al.  
Those fans don’t have a clue about the value of Dasan Hill in the minor leagues. 

I think this is true about the failure to make trades in the offseason. But during the season, at the deadline? I think they had boxed themselves in and probably had to be buyers. Hard to imagine what it would have done to the clubhouse if you sold at the deadline while only being a game back in a winnable race.

Pohlad couldn't pull the trigger on an offseason rebuild because he thought that the bad PR would lead to bad press and lower attendance. But he got the lower attendance anyways because there's nothing all that exciting about a mostly veteran team sputtering along at just below .500.

Lesson: Build a plan, take your lumps, hire the smartest executives and reap the benefits when you win. It's a lesson no Pohlad after Carl will ever learn.

[knothole61]

7 hours ago, SE23 said:

Lee is developing into the kind of every-day contributor that winning teams are built on. Because of sky-high expectations early in his career, some fans have written him off. He's unlikely to ever achieve star status, but if the Twins hoist a pennant or two between here and 2035, Brooks Lee will probably be in the middle of the celebration.

Lee is a solid ballplayer who was made a switch-hitter and schooled in the fundamentals by his father the Cal Poly coach. I hope he mans the Twins' hot corner for years to come. Also, there's something about him that is slightly reminiscent of a young Ted Williams...just slightly. 

[strumdatjag]

6 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Ok...let's accept what you say is true.  How's that working out?

It’s not.  You run the team with the correct strategy. It was a mistake NOT to trade Jeffers.   The additional right-handed bat in the line-up for a below .500 team was not worth the return he could have brought.    Once they made the sell-off at the 2025 deadline, the strategy was to build for 2028.   Add some relievers on the cheap, even trading Dasan Hilll,  but only if there is a net plus for the future after the 2026 deadline. 

[Saxophone Joe]

For those keeping track, Shelty spoke for a whopping (season low?) 55 seconds post-game. 

[Coach]

Can't wait for September 1st.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

14 hours ago, Glorybound said:

Any player on this roster is tradeable if the right deal comes along. 

Sadly, that ship has sailed.

[Coach]

The Twins have been relatively competitive this year.  Almost 25% of their games have been decided by just one run.  How many games were we ahead early in the season just to have an ineffective bullpen blow it.  

The season has been frustrating, but I have still found it entertaining.

[mikelink45]

I am still feeling frustrated after watching the game yesterday.  Where is that drive that is expected from a team competing for the WC?  Actually, the only competition for them now is to try to end the season with some respectability.  Eight games under 500 - Tom Pohlad didn't you promise more?

Why are we not playing more rookies.  Culpepper and Jenkins are the bright spots even if Kaelen has had some fielding errors.  I feel like Lee, Keaschall and Clemens are playing with energy.  Bell is giving us what we need.  But I have watched some of Lewis strikeouts and they are pathetic - 5 - 20 and no extra base hits.  Buxton is not coming back to make a difference - time to stop dreaming about him and Ryan for this year. 

Jeffers is 2/18 and no extra base hits in the last five games. 

Caratini 1/14 

Morris is spend - in the last 5.1 innings over the last five games he has given up 8 runs time to reduce his usage.  

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Morris is spend - in the last 5.1 innings over the last five games he has given up 8 runs time to reduce his usage.  

Disagree. Need to keep pitching him so he works through his struggles and improves as a pitcher.

[Hunter4848]

9 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

It's not that Buxton caves under pressure. He's got a strong will to succeed and a great work ethic and he's the most loyal player a team could hope for. As a fan of the Twins, I think the world of him.

But he also has, as Reusse said, a "bad skeleton" for baseball. His body is just not capable of sustaining health. And it's never going to change.

You can't trade him at this point, and you probably shouldn't try. But if the Twins want to win in 2027, they are going to have to tell him he's no longer the starting CF here. He's a platoon outfielder, and if that's a dealbreaker, he'll need to let them know.

And what exactly has all these amazing qualities gotten Twins fans? A decade of losing baseball...

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, Hunter4848 said:

And what exactly has all these amazing qualities gotten Twins fans? A decade of losing baseball...

Shohei Ohtani couldn’t win in LA… until he went to the Dodgers. You can be the best individual baseball player of a generation but it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a team around you. This isn’t the NBA where one star player can carry a team to a championship.

[David Maro]

The season was over after the Phillies and Padres series,because of being swept. Then to lose 2 to the A's put the cherry on top.

The best part of the season is no more Rocco ball. Shelton has allowed the SP to go longer and the players most of the time don't just swing for the fence. They still have holes to fill in the infield and OF. If and when the 27 season starts they need to decide who they are. And hopefully they don't start moving players all over the field like this year.