Brandon

Caratini has almost a .400 average his last 15 games as he is hitting close to a solid backup C again.

Twins career to date 🌹 n baseball reference. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lawreju01.shtml. With Twins, 6 innings, 12 Ks, 4HRs allowed. 10 hits and 9 walks

This

Justin Lawrence is striking out 18 batters per 9 innings but also giving up 6 HRs per 9 and 3.167 batters on base per inning.

Justin Lawrence tried to lose it all by himself yesterday

Not SS Culpepper but reliever Culpepper. Big difference. Reliever Culpepper was left off 40 man and went unclaimed in rule 5 draft last year. He is having another solid season in AAA and could get a call up to our team. And like I said I didn't think the trade all the way through other than Gonzales is a good OF prospect and number 3 on our OF prospect list so kinda redundant. If we got Chapman for the pen we would probably want cash which would make the trade for Boston better. You tell me a fair trade proposal. Also that negative run differenial comes from Topa, Woods Richardson and Garcia, Lawrence and Adams. Get Chapman and the last of this group is gone. The negative run differenial is not because of the 2nd best offense but a few bad pitchers With Abel and Rojas back from injury and an elite reliever and if we go get another reliever too. The run differenial should be positive moving forward and yes the Twins will still have holes but be competitive down the stretch and could get into the playoffs. It will be more entertaining if this is how it plays out

The Twins have the second best offense in the league and a deep slightly above average rotation that is 7 deep. Abel and Rojas coming back from injuries soon. The bullpen needs internal improvements and could benefit from a trade. We also have internal improvements on the horizon for offense as well and lots of depth. This bodes well for our future and now. As long as we don't give up too much in a trade we should be good. Getting Chapman plus some cash would be the most impactful move we could make. Culpepper looks deserving of a bullpen chance. He should be up soon. We currently have lots of floor guys with high 4 and low 5. Banda has turned the corner and been great since early May.

Baseball is a business. You don't have to win all the way to win at the gate. If the Twins are still in it they are going to be buyers. Most of their reinforcements on offense will come from within. However we need some pitchers who can get more outs. We have too many floor guys and need more results. From within only Culpepper really looks deserving on the mound. I could see us trade Larnarch for a solid reliever. And Boston will have Chapman available. We can always use another lefty in the pen. Here is an interesting trade idea. How about Gabriel Gonzales and CJ Culpepper to Boston for Chapter.an and 5 million to offset most of his salary. Feel free to make your own updated proposals. This one is not well thought out but in the framework of something I would do.

I don't think we are sellers. I think they will try to add a pitcher or two at the deadline to bolster the pen. Either promote hitters like ERod or Culpepper and or trade for a different DH if they can find a taker for Bell if he doesn't step up soon.

We are currently 1.5 games out of the Wild Card. We are definitely not small buyers looking for a cheap reliever or to t the deadline.

How far from contention do you think we are? We seem to have good starting pitching, even with several starters out. Our lineup is solid, and we are working on the solutions. We have some good ones in AAA right now. The bullpen .... Oh yeah we do need a few relievers to step up. I think we are close to contending now... We do need a few relievers and maybe a bat or two which we have in AAA right now. There is no need to trade a low cost value add player.

Once I read Rocket City Trash Panda's, I read all I needed at that point. The rest of the article seemed pointless.🤣😃🤣

And also Gallagher and Rhoden, and Outman...jk... But the good news is we got some useable talent back in the trade. It helps make up for the Woods-Richardson implosion/ return on Berrios. Martin can help get closer to even. On that one. After next season we will have money to spend after Ryan, Ober and Lopez and Jeffers and Cartini contracts are off the books. The Twins will be good again if the stars align.

On the plus side eventually Martin will be moved to backup and Outman will be out the door and we start bringing up the Rookies (Fedko, Gonzales, Jenkins, and ERod). Or we can bring Wallner back for a last shot. We have options.

I don't know if we need a salary cap and floor in MLB but we can all agree on the need for some parity so the gap isn't so huge. Being 50% above the market average in payroll is a big competitive advantage. Being 300% above is domination. Not winning with those resources is criminal. So far I like Shelty. The Twins have done a good job of turning no bullpen into almost a pen. They are 2nd in runs scored despite slumps from Keaschall, Lewis, and Wallner and Cartini and Bell. That's a lot of slumping for 2nd in runs scored. Rotation is better than expected minus Woods-Richardson. I hope the Twins extend Ryan on a 3 or 4 year deal. They don't need to trade him unless they get a great deal and immediate help.

Hey you read my post in the forum on Banda's improvement.

The bullpen was and still is the team's biggest wild card this season. The Twins are trying more pitchers and giving chances to get outs and lately we seem to be getting more outs as our bullpen is beginning to take shape. Taylor Roger 3.72 ERA after today's game 8 ER in 19.33 innings with 15 K's Banda 5.96 ERA though 2.84 ERA in last 14 outings with 4 ER in 12.33 innings and with 9 K's Orze 3.38 ERA over 24 innings 9 ER and 21 K's Kendry Rojas 1.26 2 ER in 14.33 innings and 14 K's Morris 4.57 ERA in 21.67 innings 11 ER and 17 K's Travis Adams 3.38 ERA 8 innings 3 ER and 9 K's Gomez 1.17 ERA with 7.67 innings and 1 ER and 9 K's Cole Sands and Cody Lawyerson are on the shelf and were contributing before. Funderburk could make his way back if he cuts down his walks. but this is the makings of a solid bullpen if they keep this up. I think we have more good candidates down on the farm as well. Festa when he comes back from injury and starting pitcher Culpepper could be a good bullpen addition. With the rotation in good shape with everyone but Woods Richardson have a good year so far. Outside of Preliepp just going over 4.00 with a 4.03, I don't think anyone in the rotation currently has an ERA over 4.00. The Twins have scored the second most runs on offense so this team could be taking off in short order.

Anthony Banda was acquired from the Dodgers for very little and with great fanfare since he was low cost and has talent with results the last few seasons. This year he got off to a good start in his first 6 games giving up 1 earned run in 5.33 innings. Then the wheels came off as he gave up 10 earned runs over his next 5 outings and 4.67 innings. I think in one of those outings he was asked to pitch a second inning and got hit hard that one. since then, he has 14 more outings with 1 implosion and that was 10 appearances ago. in his last 14 appearances he has 12.67 innings giving up only 6 hits and 5 walks with still a low 9 K's and 4 earned runs including 3 in one outing for a 2.84 ERA which is more in line with expectations and hopes. It seems the ship has been righted and moving forward we can expect to see his ERA continue to go down as he is now back under 6.00 overall after today's game.

at least 39 years.

I did want to point out that whoever is coaching 1B defense needs a raise. 3 straight years of gold glove defense with 3 different players is very impressive. He has helped make Clemens a valuable player to keep around as Clemens hits just enough but with great 1B defense and the ability to play other positions he becomes more valuable for the team and less of a risk of a slump. (Because he can still provide value on defense when that happens). If he can maintain that 100-110 OPS then we may have a value find on our hands. If Kreidler is great defensively he won't need more than a ,680 OPS to be a valuable bench player. At his price if he can continue to hit 90+ OPS with well above average defense he will be kept. Bullpen: Gomez, Lawyerson, and Orze, it seems like the pen has been much better lately and these guys are part of the reason why. Banda has been on a run too. He really has 4 implosions early in the season and 20 good appearances with quite a few in a row so he seems back on track too. I think only Sands has a guaranteed spot next season so it's a wide open situation. Orze seems like a great candidate to tock one down. Gomez is trending that way too I noticed Outman was not included on this list. He has been hitting since his 0-18 start to the season. I don't see him sticking around but he does deserve credit for being solid even good since the bad start to the season. How good is he defensively in CF? Hopefully Alex Jackson shows just how much we need Jeffers and we extend him at the All Star break.

Does Royce Lewis have options left? And how is Keaschall trending? He hasn't hit yet this season. Those are the two notes le holes that could go down for a two week stint. Clemens has been hitting so I wouldn't mess with him right now, Bell would need a DL stint or be released. But he is a hot/cold type of player. I hope he goes on a hot streak soon or I am fine cutting the cord if he doesn't pick it up soon. Gray is heard to say. There is no real attachment there. He had a good run.... Outman is hitting .333 (8 for 24) after starting 0-18. So he is on the upswing. My overall assessment is Keaschall goes down and Arcia and Gray handle 2/3 of SS and 1)3 of 2B time and Lee gets 2/3 of 2B time and 1/3 time at SS. Arcia can also give Lewis some bench time if his numbers don't improve soon.

I wonder if Ober can get more velocity on his pitches over time. Maybe next year he can add a mile or two or 4 and have that going for him again. But as long as he can be effective most of the time. I am fine with him as our number 4/5 starter. Our rotation has been really good 4 out of the 5 nights a week. With as bad as Woods-Richardson has been this season, I am glad Ober has been able to produce with diminished stuff. (note: I did think Woods Richardson would have a sub 4 ERA and win more than he lost this year). I hate being this wrong. Anyways this post is about Ober. so now that he has done a Maddux, I am rooting for a Hershiser. (58 consecutive scoreless innings +.....)

I thought Brook Lee had a solid first month and could be honorable mention. .250 Ave and 5 HRs is a step up from past production. I was really hopeful for Bell at the beginning of the season. I did expect some regression but .....

I love the last part about the game winning hit by Bichette..... And how the Mets high priced bullpen was about to lose to the Twins who forgot to staff their pen....

In San Diego there are no other sports teams. The college team is far north. Compare that with Minnesota where they have an NFL team, Hockey, NBAa, WNBA, UofM teams, and a AAA baseball team and a fan base that constantly complains. I live just north of San Diego, there is no complaining here How can you possibly compare the value in Minnesota to San Diego when they are in vastly different situations?