tony&rodney

This is where I'm at. The trade for Pablo Lopez seemed to emphasize pitching and defense over offense. The offense fell on its face. Then nothing all summer, although it was decent to send Jorge Lopez home to Miami. I don't have any feel for what type of team the Twins want either now or going forward. As for DK, I'm not impressed. Are the Twins finally ready to put one of Winder/Sands, Headrick, SWR in as a starter to give Ryan, Gray, and Ober a brief break? If not, then the Twins should give DK a shot. He fails, he is released - no harm for a .500 team to take a chance. I just don't expect much from the crafty lefty at this point. I'm more concerned with the Twins reverting to bad habits at the plate. The offense is .... unreliable and uninteresting.

Wonder when, if at all, the Twins will move some players up a level. Seems like Brooks Lee could use the exposure to AAA pitching if he is to be in consideration for a run at an infield position next year with the Twins. Emmanuel Rodriguez hits the ball a ton when he swings and connects. He looks like he is learning to swing at pitches in the zone as opposed to those players who need to learn to lay off of bad pitches. Rodrigues sure takes a ton of pitches right down the middle. On the other hand, E-Rod hits the ball hard on many occasions. His K-rate is troublesome, particularly the swing and miss. Is he served by going to Wichita, where he has to trust his talent more against better pitching? I'm curious about if and when there are promotions coming within the minor leagues. Sadly, players moving up also means others are released.

If you go to milb.com, you can pull up the teams and all of the stats or just individual players you are curious about at the moment. The magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner is handy. Click on game logs to see if a player is hot, cold, etc. For example, you can see that the top prospect (Jackson Holliday-Orioles) hasn't dropped in performance this year despite going from A to A+ to AA this year. It can be a rabbit hole, best saved for very cold winter evenings.

Ryan has a tired arm and just needs to be skipped for one (next) start. Dallas Keuchel (or Josh Winder) can get his shot.

Or .... there just were not any teams very interested in any of the players within the Twins system at least enough to have a full conversation about a fair exchange. Some of the relievers changed teams without much going back in return, yet those teams must have felt it was ok.

The comment concerning a flawed roster is fair.

Sure seems like it. That is also not in character for the Pohlads.

There have already been too many posts and comments on the trades in the last year. I'm not understanding anyone who is frozen because of those trades. The Mahle trade, which I opposed and then accepted because it showed movement towards trying to win, cost the Twins a couple of players who were stuck behind Correa, Arreaz, Miranda, Polanco, Kirilloff, Julien, Lewis, Lee, and a couple of others. Good for Steer, CES, and the Reds. The Jorge Lopez trade looked painless to most and was lauded at the time. I was a big Cade Povich fan, but never thought for a second that Cano would reinvent himself as an all star. So it seemed ok. Again, tough but good for the Orioles. The Pablo Lopez trade that cost Arraez was controversial and I supported it then and still do. So there was significant backlash and now the Twins do nothing. Trades are risky at times but they remain a way to improve the team. It felt like there were teams that may have been interested in working with the Twins. I'm concerned if there was, in fact, zero interest in any of the players within the Twins system. Do nothing doesn't reflect well on the negotiation skills of the management folks. One wonders where the Pohlads sit on the issue. The attendance in August and September will be important to them it seems. If you look around the league there are plenty of games played before 30-40,000+ fans on a routine basis. But maybe the Pohlads like it in the middle, right where the Twins are now.

We (Twins fans) will hope for some positive changes and the current roster could deliver a fun close to the season. It just seems very hard to expect Julien, Kirilloff, Wallner, Lewis, Jeffers, and Castro to lead this team. This is a heavy burden for inexperienced players. Kepler, Polanco, and Vasquez may turn up their contributions and I hope they do and soon. Kepelr has been better since the All Star break. Who knows? The two expected to lead, Correa and Buxton, have been at a level that it would be very surprising to see them reach their former star status, and yet we still hope for that miracle. The reserves (Farmer, Taylor, Solano) have been used way more than expected and seem worn down. The brilliant starting pitching has faded as well. The betting dollar belongs in your pocket and not placed on the Twins at this point of the year. The Royals just totally outplayed the Twins and swept them in three different styles of baseball. Yet, we as Twins fans will hope against reasonable odds that the current roster can perform in a positive way on a consistent basis. The Twins have a shot at winning the AL Central and closing out 2023 in a fun fashion. I'm not sure that Falvey believes in the team. But then again, I'm not sure what type of baseball or player the Twins see as the means to success. This may be that I refuse to believe that Joey Gallo is the model for 2023 baseball and the poster player for Falverball. I have been very complimentary of how serious and hard working Gallo has been as he attempts to lead the Twins. I just don't see him and his style of play as the type of baseball I want to see played by the Twins. St. Louis is a true baseball town and a great place for the Twins to find all of the aspects of baseball that make it a great game. Let us hope that the Twins players are rejuvenated by their visit to St. Louis and use it to drive them through the season. Falvey decided that the players on hand were a World Series team and now they need to show their game.

Yes it was. We can say that the Twins did Jorge Lopez a solid by allowing him to play close to home/family while he tries to get it back together as a baseball pitcher.

Falvey agrees, or he was told to sleep all day, because the Twins have not completed any trades. Well, at least if the deadline is the deadline. Times up, the Twins did not make a trade, and will go with the players they have on their roster. The Twins have some decent baseball players and the last two months will be a bit of a referendum on the current front office. I do not expect that they will be replaced in any event.

There's nothing happening here, why that is ain't exactly clear.

Trade Gray and keep Maeda. However, that is assuming that any teams are actually interested in Gray. The Twins would need fair value for Sonny.

I like the thoughts here. Too late on Farmer as Toronto added DeJong from St.. Louis. I was thinking that the Twins had a chance there (TOR) too.

Sure seems like Toronto would have some interest in Kyle Farmer.

Just wishing and hoping, but not expecting much. Hernandez is unlikely (in division), yet would be a good addition.

This is a similar situation to the P. Lopez for Arraez trade. The question is who would Seattle want in return for Gilbert? They could use a second baseman and an outfielder. If I'm the Mariners GM, I'm thinking about players like Lee, Lewis, Julien, and Kirilloff with an interest in Wallner. I would want one (of L, L, J, K) plus a mil pitcher like Raya or Festa and a throw in like Matt Canterino. Remember that Gilbert would strengthen the starting staff and he has four years of arbitration starting with 2024.. Who is up for that trade? Or do folks think Varland, Winder, Headrick, or Sands are ready to step into the rotation next year.

I can agree with this, although I must also admit that neither has been impressive. Trade Gray, Maeda, and others to try to get someone potentially useful. Of course, there may not be a market for either/any of the Twins right now.

The only trades that will help the Twins are big splashes and that seems unlikely. They may be content to roll with the guys they had in the system from the beginning of the year.

If the Twins are to be a team of Bundy, Archer, Farmer, and Gallo types now and into the future, they will never need to part with desired players. All of those guys are or have been good professional baseball players. There are many other examples. The trade for Pablo Lopez was controversial for both teams because very good players changed uniforms. I would argue that Pablo Lopez and Luis Arraez have more value for their current team than they did for their former squads. Encarnacion-Strand is going to be a strong bat and Spencer Steer has come on way more than expected. Despite these two developing in such a positive manner, I have to wonder who is stepping aside in the infield for either guy. The Twins do not need to trade top prospects to have a successful trade deadline or improve their roster. They do need to decide on positions for their younger players. The team also needs to have a more clear direction on the general philosophy of baseball that the team desires for their roster.

What does San Diego want for Hader? Larnach and Headrick? Add Winder? Maybe that is nor enough. Will the Twins commit to Julien long term at second base? Royce Lewis at third base? What about Brooks Lee? Can any of these three (or Kirilloff) bring a pitcher like Logan Gilbert from Seattle? Wallner, Polanco, and Raya for Gilbert and Brash? San Diego has shortstop locked down for years. What do they want for Jackson Merrill? Is Sonny Gray plus someone like C. J. Culpepper enough? I don't know what direction the Twins are heading at this moment. There are teams willing to trade and the status quo is not good enough right now. The Twins need to hit better and they need some help in the bullpen. Adding a strong starter with years of control remaining at the expense of one of their top young hitters along with a top young pitcher works too. The Twins need a little shaking up. I'm not discouraged by the sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals as much as the manner of the Twins play. Strikeouts and eschewing all avenues to score (stolen bases, sacrifice bunts, cutting down on swings, hitting behind a runner, etc.) while hoping for the long ball have not been too magical thus far in 2023. I still think that 82-87 wins are probably enough to win the AL Central, but recent losses put an increased importance on the games versus Cleveland. I would like the Twins to make a few trades. I don't see anyone but Walker Jenkins as untouchable.

Perhaps people are feeling that teams such as Cincy, Baltimore, San Diego, and others are down one more choice and eager to add pitching.

Game.

The Mets won't get much unless they also send money. Reality crushed the Mets glorious spending spree. Now they need to go back and try another path.

Witt Jr. is a really exciting young and talented player. He was better than Duran tonight. He shortened up his swing and still drove the ball. I never celebrate wins or loathe losses when the game enters Manfredball. MLB isn't on board either or it would be in use in the playoffs. I do realize that many fans love the ghost runner and quicker extra inning endings and everyone in the business gets to bed earlier as well. So it goes. Ober is pitching tomorrow night, which has been a positive season long event thus far.