Staking their Claims

You might as well claim every single one of them and then figure out what happens from there. Do not pick and choose because you might be left with nothing at the end of the day. The obvious goal would be to get one additional BP arm and a right-handed corner OF to hit in the middle of the order against lefties.

They should make 3-4 claims. 

1.Grichuk or Renfrow or Bader for Luplow.  However, whoever you pick you better make sure you get the claim.  

2. The 3 relievers, you make claims on all 3 realizing you will likely only get 1, 2 or never having a chance at any of them.  The issue is the same philosophy should be taken by the marlins unless they are willing to throw in the towel.   

Unless things break for the Twins I only see 1 player added possibly 2.   

Couldn't agree more on the relievers--makes way too much sense, especially Lopez.

Hard pass on the position players, as I don't see a space for any of them.  Jeffers, Vazquez, Kiriloff, Julien, Polanco, Correa, Farmer, Lewis, Wallner, Kepler, Buxton, Castro, and Solano are pretty clearly the 13 players the Twins would roster with full health.  Unless the Twins don't think Buxton/Kiriloff/Castro will be available the rest of the year, there's no need for any of the aforementioned players on waivers (especially because I'd rather see Martin or Lee to get a sense to their readiness).

All 3 relievers, please.  Hope to get one of them.  Really like Moore.

I think the Twins should try to add Giolito for Maeda, Lopez in the place that Jax is pitching in right now,  and also I would like them to add Moore.  I think you could move Maeda to relief, move Jax down to long relief in place of Sands or Winder.  I think we could have a bullpen of Duran, Thielbar, Pagan, Lopez, Moore, Maeda, Funderburk, and Winder.  Hopefully Stewart comes back in early September and that would make a pretty good bullpen.  In addition, I think Bader in place of Luplow would be good because of his centerfield ability.  I'm sure we won't get all of these guys but it would be nice.

Any or all of the relievers makes a lot of sense. I think there's 1-2 players you could send down and not have to worry about losing them. I'm not really sure on that though. If it requires getting someone off the 40-man roster, then its sketchy for a month of playing time. Maybe 5-8 appearances for years of control on let's say Moran. Not sure that makes sense.

I read today Paddack is about to start a rehab assignment and Steward may be back as well. Just other things to consider.

None of the bats really excite me. Don't get me wrong they may be an upgrade to a degree, but with so many position players either on their way back or deserving of a cup of coffee it seems like it would compound the roster crunch.

And of course, to beat the dead horse one more time.... Sure, Gallo could go, without knowing if or when Kirilloff will be back? Knowing if Buxton can hold up in the OF? Is Kepler going to continue to play well? I may not like it, but right now he provides needed depth in uncertain areas. 

8 minutes ago, Tiantwindup said:

Key question, Seth. If Twins put in claims on, say, 6 players and get every one of them, do they have to add all 6 to the 40-man (and thus remove some solid players from the 40-man) or can they pick, say, there 3 favorites to keep and put the other 3 on waivers? 

You make the claims you have to make the corresponding move.  Too me the trickiest part is the outfielders.  You should just pick 1 because you don't want to end with 2 of them.  As to the 40 man,  there is ample maneuverability from the IL to just removing one of the underperforming players off the 40 man.   As to the relievers if you think 2-3 are better than the bottom of your reliever corps you make the claims and see how the chips fall.  

I'm not sure which players would actually get past both Miami and Cincinnati

8 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

You make the claims you have to make the corresponding move.  Too me the trickiest part is the outfielders.  You should just pick 1 because you don't want to end with 2 of them.  As to the 40 man,  there is ample maneuverability from the IL to just removing one of the underperforming players off the 40 man.   As to the relievers if you think 2-3 are better than the bottom of your reliever corps you make the claims and see how the chips fall.  

I would claim both Renfroe and Grichuk.   Luplow and Gallo would then go and we have an upgrade.   Moore is the othe one that does interest me.    Maybe Clevenger over Kuechel as well.

How pissed are Twins fans going to be if the Guardians get all the relievers?

I'd make claims on Moore, Lopez, Giolito, and Grichuk. They look like they'd be upgrades over Funderburk, Sands, Keuchel, and Luplow. For spots on the 40-man, I'd move Miranda to the IL-60 and waive Luplow, Gallo, and maybe Keuchel.

11 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'm not sure which players would actually get past both Miami and Cincinnati

Expanding on that, the Marlins are currently using Jorge Lopez and don't really have a 5th starter but they do have 3 decent lefties in the bullpen. Reynaldo Lopez will not get past them.

The Reds wanted Giolito at the deadline and would probably be glad to dump Ben Lively from the rotation. Their bullpen has been decent but they could really use a lefty. Moore will not get past here. Their OF is very lefthanded and they could upgrade on Stuart Fairchild as the RH platoon bat. Grichuk is a natural fit here, especially since I think some of his salary is paid by the Rockies.

The Guardians might claim some players just to keep them off the Twins. They're not completely out of it yet.

The Twins are going to be left with Renfroe, Cisnero and Carrasco to pick from. No, thanks.

13 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

I was just going to write this... The Guardians can certainly block any players they don't want going to the Twins... 

But will they want to pay them? CLE isn't exactly known for adding payroll in-season.

16 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

The Guardians can certainly block any players they don't want going to the Twins... 

Worst case scenario they decide to spend $3M and get all of them. They could add 5-6 players and really give the Twins fits. Fortunately I think their ownership is too cheap to make that move.

BTW - why isn't Gallo on this list? Worst case he passes through and they keep him on the roster. Best case they dump him on a different playoff team and he hurts their offense as much as he hurts the Twins.

29 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

But will they want to pay them? CLE isn't exactly known for adding payroll in-season.

Yeah, not at all worried about CLE adding impending FAs just to spite the Twins.  They don't want to spend, and they have clearly decided to give up on this season.

Can anyone tell me if a team can only claim one player at a time?  That is--if OAK wanted to, could they claim all these players, and get all of them?  Or once they get awarded the claim on their first choice, do they drop to 30th for their second player?

32 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Fortunately I think their ownership is too cheap to make that move.

Yep, they're not going to spend money to spite the Twins after essentially ceding the division a month ago. Hell, I doubt they'd spend the money if they were still in the race.