Riverbrian

I believe that making the playoffs has value in itself but that aside... I've spent too much time watching what other teams are winning with to dismiss any roster. Besides... every team will win 54 games and every team will lose 54 games. It's the other 54 games that matter. Right now the Twins are 2-5 in the other 54 games but that's nothing that a good 15 game winning streak won't cure. 😉

My reaction to Larnach was largely because of his undeservedly being torn apart by way too many people. I don't believe I was wrong and even with his well above average offensive numbers this season I'm not sure if I was necessarily right either but someone had to stand up for the guy. He didn't deserve the onslaught. He was one of us and he was one of our few development success stories. My guess is that there would be other considerations other than owner pulled the plug. Maybe the owner had concerns about the bullpen and didn't want to let Abreu go. Houston was kind of buying so they would be acquiring rentals not trading them. It's hard to tell with their trade deadline because Varsho was traded for an injured major league arm. It's just a guess though. I do believe that his trade value will certainly lower from this trade deadline to the off-season with his salary doubled and 1 year of control left.

Yeah that's the thing with these type of discussions. Everyone comes from different places. Some want to see Jenkins up because they think it will make the team better. Some want to see Jenkins up because they want to get ready for 2027 because 2026 doesn't matter to them. Some wanted to trade Larnach because he hurts the teams chances in 2026 and some want to trade Larnach to clear the deck for 2027. To me contention is contention and I realize that others disagree with that.

I was a staunch defender of Larnach this off-season. Mainly because the comments made about him were unfair but also because he was one of a few professional hitters returning from 2025, I didn't feel his trade value was as high as it could be. At this trade deadline... I think I agree with you. I think his trade value has risen and it may have reached his apex. He won't be as valuable in the off-season when his Arb number doubles. He's been really really good this season with the bat. His trade value in my opinion has risen to at least to the point where his trade brought back some significance. However... this team is in contention and if other teams are willing to acquire Larnach to help them in the stretch run. He would also help us in the stretch run. That becomes a quandary.

Grades come later. However, in my opinion... we needed to buy and we needed arms and we also need to keep our best prospects and I feel like we did a pretty good job with that. I have no idea on what the future holds for Dasan Hill but he was the only prospect given up that made me wince a little. A young hard throwing left hander like him is tough to part with no matter how he is doing right now. I do reserve the right to wince later if for example... someone like Agbayani becomes a superstar 3 or 4 years from now. This is how it works at the trade deadline. Buyers Buy and Sellers Sell. We bought and our contention status says that we should and we bought in the right places and we didn't drain the farm to do so. Let's see how Minter, Hoffman and Kramer do for us.

I also believe that 40 man and 26 man roster limitations require a chronological pecking order. I believe that it's essential to develop superstar talent if you can but I also believe it's important to develop average talent as well. I think it's possible that leapfrogging players can cause the loss of average player development and we have struggled to develop average which leads to us signing average at 4 to 7 million dollar prices. If you are going to commit to development. You need to reduce the spillage. For example: I realize that his injury is a large issue. So strictly for example purposes... If he was healthy... Erod is the guy with alarm bells going off. Already on the 40 man... Highly ranked and his options are going away. We need to get a look at this guy. If healthy... Erod before Jenkins. I acknowledge again that injuries make this example moot. The book hasn't been written on Roden either yet. And of course... Wallner. I know that many are done with Wallner. I'm not done with him. If you are going to leap frog Jenkins over Wallner and just toss Wallner aside. I'd feel more comfortable if Jenkins was at least offensively out performing Wallner in AAA. For the season he hasn't out performed Wallner at the plate. For the past 30 days... he hasn't out performed Wallner at the plate. Even Ben Ross is out performing Jenkins in AAA at the plate for the season and also in the past 30 days. I'd love to see Walter Jenkins in uniform as soon as possible but... he's got to out perform other options who are already on the 40 man first.

There is a difference between players already on the 40 man who are promoted and players not on the 40 man whose contract was purchased and I'd also add that there is a difference between those who got extensions. Contract Purchased: Clark Lombard Ewing Fuentes Contract purchased and signed to an extension Emerson - 8 year deal for 95 Million McGonigle - 8 years - 150 million Pratt - 8 years - 50.75 Million Griffin - 9 years - 140 million Basallo - 8 years - 67 million (Last year) Lara - 7 years - 31 million. Promoted (Already on the 40 man) Eldridge: If the Twins sign Jenkins to an extension. Purchase and Promote. If they don't. His readiness and future service time matters.

I agree... if they believe he is can't miss. Yes... Buy out a year or two. If they do that... service time issues change 100%.

I wouldn't platoon prospects period. However... the Twins will do this sort of thing. Walker Jenkins this year in St. Paul vs Left Handers: 57 AB's - .554 OPS vs Right Handers: 147 AB's - .917 OPS The Twins have strip mined every single left handed hitting prospect since 2023... every single one. Jenkins not being platooned would be a breaking of recent precedence.

Rebuild has degrees of varying depth. Full rebuild? I wouldn't have traded Buxton under any circumstance and I would have kept Lopez because I didn't think his trade value was high enough to require a Lopez deal so full rebuild wouldn't apply to what was my opinion during the off season. I also don't believe that you have to do a full rebuild nor do you have to go through two or three or four years of pain when these re-whatevers occur. However...I believe they should have finished in the off season what they started in August. The team was still under construction. They were not Bell and Caratini away. They should of cashed in the players at peak value. Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers value was as high as it was going to get. Now... These things are easy for me to say from North Dakota. Inside the walls of that front office... I'd imagine... it's not so easy. All I can do is imagine... no idea but it sure seems like there were two pretty abrupt direction changes that the front office didn't seem prepared for. Just based on actions alone... I'm pretty convinced that there was a significant change in direction after 2023 heading into 2024. That was a tragic mistake in my opinion. It killed forward momentum and I don't believe the front office was prepped for it. I also believe... I have no proof but based on actions... there was a change in direction this off-season. I do believe that Falvey was going to sell... to what degree I don't know but I believe he was going to sell this off-season and then something changed. I base my opinions on quotes in November that sounded different than the quotes that came out in December.

Last Game Left Handed Starter August 5 - Noah Cameron - Loss - 1 Run Scored Lineup Composition: 4 RH 3 Switch 2 LH Season Record vs LH Starters: 14-21 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Record vs RH Starters: 42-38 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.83

It's a consideration. None of us know if it's a legitimate consideration... a large one or a small one. It's a consideration. How much weight do you place on CBA outcomes. It's a consideration.. This decision isn't a singular consideration. There are a bunch of considerations. A decision to purchase his contract 16 Months before R5 Status in December 27 is a big decision. To potentially have him free agent eligible at age 27 is a big decision. How to time his 6 years of control for the majority of his BEST YEARS. Should you do that if you could? Does that matter? Is he ready to rock right now!!!. Will he burn a couple of years getting ready? Does Scott Harris have the job security for 3 or 4 years to make a 3 or 4 years down the road decision on Clark or is it the length of his contract time table? Can the Yankees afford to not worry about such things? Nuance all over the place with the weight of sledgehammers. With a Fedko... Oh Well... With a Jenkins... It's a big deal.

Last Game Right Handed Starter August 4 - Randy Dobnak - Loss - 2 Runs Scored Lineup Composition: 4 RH 2 Switch 3 LH Season Record vs RH Starters: 42-38 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.83 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Record vs LH Starters: 14-20 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.35

Cartoons are very educational!

I've asked you repeatedly not to reply to my posts. Continue to believe that the MLBPA doesn't play the same game and didn't use the word tanking repeatedly in press releases and public statements ad nauseum in an attempt to influence public opinion. Keep believing that the MLBPA is blameless in the current situation. Keep believing that they don't have a public relations department or firm getting the message they want out... out. Keep believing what you want. I could care less about any opinion you have. Do not respond!!! Last Warning!!!

This article makes an excellent point and I enjoyed the references. I found the article to be very intelligent. Perhaps is the word. Farmer's Horse Runs Away... his neighbors says what terrible luck. The Farmer says perhaps. The horse comes back with wild horses and his neighbors say what great luck. The Farmer says perhaps. His son breaks his leg riding one of the wild horses and his neighbors say that was terrible luck. The Farmer says perhaps. I have seen teams sell and get better and I have seen teams buy and get worse. You can't win this thing on paper... it has to be done on the field and the margins are way to tight for anyone to be sure of ourselves. The Blue Jays were one out from a world series title and after significant additions to the club in the off-season they are somehow not in contention in 2026. They didn't anticipate that Vlad Jr would have 6 home runs 400 AB's into the season. The Padres didn't anticipate that Merrill, Laureano, Bogaerts and Cronenworth would be kind of horrible as they rank 26th in team OPS or that they would have basically 1 decent starting pitcher for the entire year as the starters rank 27th in ERA. And yet still be in contention... because of a bullpen and Ty France being the big dog with the bat. We don't know... the front offices don't know. You can't predict it, All you can do is go down the path that the players are taking you. It was Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (I think he is from Fridley) who said. "There go my people, I must find out where they are going so I can lead them". Baseball should be a constant audition in the search for talent or at least decent play. These additions at the deadline might be great, they may fail, we will find out but what they hopefully did at the very least is push players down the spectrum from the middle to the bottom or from the bottom to off the roster. Hopefully they made the 2026 team deeper for the months ahead. Who won each trade? We will find out later after all of the many perhapses are answered. What is yet to come still has to come. I won't declare a winner but many here are ready to make their declarations right now. All of this is why I strongly advocate utilizing the entire 26 man roster to identify the top, the middle and the bottom, culling from the bottom until the bottom is raised. Providing opportunity for all to confound expectation and not making pre-determination on any member of the 26 man roster. The players will tell you. Follow them.

Sometimes cupcakes are pretty good unless you use toothpaste for the frosting. Those are the bottom of the AL standing pile. But any cupcake that wins 4 out of 10 games is beating someone.

That was 100 Percent Not Me. Maybe more accurately 170 Percent not me.

It's not unprecedented.

Maybe that's why Larnach is being shopped. The front office don't want them fighting over #9. Depending on the price of course but if a fair deal could be reached. I'd love to see Neto in a Twins uniform... I'd like him to pull his pants down though.

Our play against the NL has been a difference maker thus far for us. If the Twins were merely close to .500 against the NL. Let's say 16-17. That would be 4 more wins and 4 less losses. They would be tied with the White Sox today. Our Twins are 44-36 against the American League. In the end... I keep hearing about the National League superiority this season and terms like Bad American League. In the end... I'm just not so sure on the distance separating the two leagues. There are clearly 3 National League teams that out distance the best AL team according to current record. Those 3 teams are a combined 70-43 against the AL. The rest of the league is 206-195. After those 3 teams. Things equal out pretty quick. It's just fun stuff to look at... but baseball is going to be baseball. Each club has it's own story against each division and each league. The Cubs would rather play NL East and NL West teams and hasn't done as well against the AL clubs.

Certainly could of considered an Intentional walk yesterday... However... Colt Emerson strikes out at a 33% clip with a higher chase rate and therefore a low percentage of barrels and hard hits. I wouldn't have walked Colt but I certainly wouldn't have thrown three fastballs in a row nearly dead center. Try to get him to chase... Get that K making him swing at pitches out of the zone. If he doesn't bite... then you have your walk. Just don't throw him 3 fastballs down the middle. Don't throw anyone 3 fastballs down the middle. As for being worried about Cole Young. The guy has a .325 On Base. You still a two thirds probability of getting an out no matter how hot he has been against the Twins. However... Once again... If you get to Cole Young with the bases loaded and 2 outs... I still wouldn't recommend 3 fastballs in a row down the middle but it's a little more justified since a walk ends the game. Saturday... Lewis just plain blew that play. Could have turned a 3-6-3 double play on that one or at least froze Arozerena by staring at him while walking backwards to first for the 2nd out. Stepping on first first and then looking to second before throwing home was the worst thing he could have done.

In NL vs AL Games. The current record is 276 - 238 in favor of the NL. That's a .537 winning percentage in interleague play. A .537 winning percentage would be the 2nd wild card or the 5 spot in both leagues. The Twins would be 3.5 back in the National League Wild Card. This means that Cleveland who is the Current American League 6th team is 2.5 games back of the Phillies and D-Backs who are both tied for the 6th spot and 5th spot. This means that the Phillies and D-Backs would be 1.5 games behind the Red Sox who are the current holders of the 5th spot in the American League. The Yankees and Cubs are the holders of the top wild card spot and 4th spot and they have identical records of 63-49. Now the American League doesn't have 3 clear division leaders like the National League has. The top 3 records in baseball are national league teams. The Rays are the top team in the American League with a 65-46. The Brewers, Dodgers and Braves all have better records than the Rays. Tampa would be 1.5 games behind the Braves, 3.5 behind the Dodges and 4 games behind the Brewers. The Brewers are 23-13 vs American League Teams. The Dodgers are 26-16 vs AL teams. The Braves are 21-14 vs the American League. The American League isn't as good as the National League. The Numbers clearly show a National League advantage but how steep is that difference between the leagues?

Who are the cupcakes? Serious question. Who are the cupcakes?

Last Game Right Handed Starter August 2 - George Kirby - Loss - 6 Runs Scored Lineup Composition: 4 RH - 2 Switch - 3 LH Season Record vs RH Starters: 42-37 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starter: 4.86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Record vs LH Starters: 14-20 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.35