A (Twins) Territory Divided

They should start by jettisoning any deadweight on the 25 man and 40-man roster. DO the housecleaning now. If you can, replace the deadweight with guys in the system that are hungrier than some of those taking up space.

Then look at what you have left in the system. Who NEEDS to be added to the 40-man, who won't find room at the inn.

And fill all those released minor-league free agent holes with more released minor league free agents that JUST MIGHT be betere than the ones you passed to pasture.

Except for Santana, Kintzler and maybe, just maybe Dozier...you have no one of real worth to trade. You have no one of really any worth to spin for some prospects (sadly).

You do have a wealth of prospects you might able to spin as being a year away to other folks, but it won't bring you much in return.

If you can afford it, grab a contract or three NOT named Colon or Sandoval. There's a reason they look too good to be true. They aren't good, and that is true.

Really, the Twins don't have MORE to offer than other teams at this point in time. All they have is money, and lots of roster space.

It is a miracle that they have been playing and producing as they have. I am glad for that and love listening to the games when I drive around, but can't understand why the station cuts out when I'm out in Lakeville.

Really. Really. I would say be buyers. But to trade, you need to have pieces you can afford to giveaway, and the Twins just don't have those.

They can sell, but no one is lining up and knocking on the door wanting you to open early.

Bah humbug!  You missed Option #4:  Don't screw up.    :-) 

It has been widely reported about the Twins clubhouse being upset 2 years ago when they got very little help. Evidently Tori was the one to keep them together. I am not sure who if anyone would do that this year. IMHO stand pat or sell ruins the chances of signing any of these young guys to a long term extension.

I'm firmly in the "stand pat" crowd. At best they should make a small move for a reliever. 

Thing is, they've played 90+ games at this point. They are playing .500 baseball, roughly, over the course of the season. That would not be a prescription for buying, except there is no other team running away with either the AL Wild Card or the AL Central.

Selling at this point would be horrible and I think the Twins know it. 

But buying wouldn't be smart, either. Look at what the Yankees just paid to get a couple of relievers and Todd Frazier. Look at what the White Sox got from the Cubs to get Jose Quintana. The Twins would largely empty their farm system to get those types of assets.

And doing so would hurt the team's long-term ability to content because this is still a rebuilding team that is playing over their heads.

Frankly, I'd rather they sell. I'm still not personally convinced they will remain in contention. But the longer they keep winning and the longer Cleveland keeps messing around, the better the chance the Twins have of making the playoffs and selling when they are in the thick of a playoff race would be a terrible message to send to the fans.

3-3 vs. Houston and the Yankees?  The Houston series was a huge improvement over the first 4 games with them, and the Yankees series was a huge improvement over the last decade with them. Sano just out-valued Judge in a head to head, and Rogers-Kintzler is as lethal as anyone. They could use help though, on the mound and in their heads.

The Yankees kind of threw the whole buying thing right in the Twins face, and to the teams credit, they pulled out a good win, despite fielding an "interesting" lineup...

So, the Twins should trade 2 of YOUR favorite prospects, along with Tonkin and Pressly, for Sonny Gray right now, while not touching any of my favorite prospects.

I don't know much about the Yankee prospects really, but it doesn't seem like they gave up a ransom necessarily to get their deal done.  And, while pitching is the need, it seems like a Shannon Stewart/Cabrera/Hudson type pickup would help.  Speaking of Hudson, remember how angry Johan got when they "sold" him off?  Am I remembering right?

The Twins are a half game out.  They've been hanging in all season.  They don't need much to hang in there, one would thing a solid acquisition along with another small deal would get them into the playoffs.  Why would anyone want to sell? 

Twins fans have got to stop having such a low opinion of themselves and this team.  Stop being a self-loathing Minnesotan and friggin' GO FOR IT!  We can do this guys!

Stand pat as an organization but give Gonsalves  a chance instead of the likes of Colon.    We don't need Cy Young in that 5th spot but some one capable of a 5 ERA instead of a 9 can make the difference.   Gonsalves WHIP is below 1.00 and his SO/BB ratio is 5.86.     Those are wonderful stats and should be able to translate into better than a 9 ERA in the majors.    If nothing else it gets his feet wet.   At a very base minimum I would like to hear from the Twins what it is he needs to work on.    

I am in the make minor moves group. Selling would be a horrible message to the young core and give them a reason not to stay here.

I would probably be in the stand Pat group, it seems to me that for the Twins to get better they need a starting pitcher, a la Gray. Their everyday lineup is young and talented, so I don't see where they would waist thier time trading for a position players. The big issue with getting that solid starter is after the Quintana deal, do they have enough to actually get a guy like that?? If not then get a small piece for the bull pen and go with what you have.

You've got to buy a little, sell a little,
and let your poor bank account break a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of baseball.

The Twins would be absolutely blasted by local media, national media, players (especially important) and by fans if they sold as some suggested. And they would deserve it. 

People keep talking about 'we should get prospects for next year' but these trades look nothing like last year's Yankees trades. They had premium players in free agent seasons that brought back a HAUL of prospects. The Twins have a few alright players (controlled for next year) that would bring back one top 50ish prospect and several borderline top 100 guys. There is no way I make those moves for a mediocre haul like that.

It might be possible to trade someone like Escobar and make it very clear that it was done to add a pitcher that could help out this year or at the very least next season. Everyone can see that the Twins need a lot of help in the bullpen and the rotation. That could be defensible. But I actually think they should keep Escobar as a super utility guy.

Sell if you get the right offer, stand pat if you don't. I'm not interested in shortening the length of our window just to try to open it a couple inches more for a team that is not as good as it's record. Especially when you consider that it's not a guarantee whomever we trade for works out. If the kids can drag us to a playoff berth on their own, great. But this offseason is the time to make your moves, in an attempt to legitimately compete in 2018.

The Twins would be absolutely blasted by local media, national media, players (especially important) and by fans if they sold as some suggested. And they would deserve it.

 

People keep talking about 'we should get prospects for next year' but these trades look nothing like last year's Yankees trades. They had premium players in free agent seasons that brought back a HAUL of prospects. The Twins have a few alright players (controlled for next year) that would bring back one top 50ish prospect and several borderline top 100 guys. There is no way I make those moves for a mediocre haul like that.

 

It might be possible to trade someone like Escobar and make it very clear that it was done to add a pitcher that could help out this year or at the very least next season. Everyone can see that the Twins need a lot of help in the bullpen and the rotation. That could be defensible. But I actually think they should keep Escobar as a super utility guy.

Who cares if they get blasted by the media? 5-6 years ago the media blasted the Astros for openly trying to lose games. Now they're one of the two best teams in the league, and the envy of 25ish organizations. The goal should be to build a team that has a sustained window of opportunity, not dump chips at queen jack suited, simply because you've been getting a lot of deuce seven.