tony&rodney

Great comments and a wide array of views. While I see some real promise in plucking a few future stars from the Dodgers system, I do not believe the Twins will accept a pile of prospects below AA from any team. I think the Twins want players who are close or could be used this year despite inexperience. The last two games highlighted the holes in the Dodgers bullpen. The Twins hold a couple of excellent relievers in Duran and Jax. The Dodgers are among the top hitting teams in MLB. Every team looking to add Duran or Jax watched them pitch last night. There should be some really solid offers. From the Dodgers, I'm requiring all of Dalton Rushing, Emmet Sheehan, and River Ryan. I prefer to keep Duran over Jax. I also would require a pile from Philadelphia. Any transactions could be expanded to include players like Bader and Castro (and even Coulombe and Paddack) for further additions from the trading partner. Philadelphia would seem to be a prime team to want several Twins players. I wouldn't rule out a trade with Seattle or Milwaukee. We will have to live with whatever Falvey decides. On the one hand there were positive trades for Gray, Duran, Lopez, and Ryan (others?), but we don't want to hear about that other hand.

Kaelen Culpepper looks like he is setting up pitchers at times. That is probably not true but he sure looks for his pitch and puts a great swing on it. Fun to watch.

If the Dodgers want Duran or Jax, the price went up after the last two nights. Has anyone else felt the Twins seemed more in tune and playing harder versus the Dodgers than what we witnessed against Colorado and Pittsburgh?

Does the inning change if Smith is called out on the check swing. Seemed clear that Smith went, even though we all know there is no clear standard on checked swings. Sticking with the consistent calls from earlier in the game, Smith is out. I'm not second guessing Baldelli on this one. Festa looked strong and he knew that Woods Richardson is usually limited to five innings. The mistake in Monday night's game was holding Lewis at third base on a ground ball single to right field. Running the bases has been an issue and I'm not clear on the third base coach.

I have only watched Caissie a dozen times but I'm not as high on him as the lists. I'm not listening to the Cubs if Ryan's name is involved. The Cubs have a pile of really good prospects who fall short of the standard required if the names of Duran or Ryan are included. The players on expiring contracts may be where the Twins and Cubs get together. Caissis's name will not be among the returns for those guys because his value remains high.

Sometimes people get real excited by a draft pick .... like Jeremy has about Young. I see this as a good thing. My viewpoint of Young and Winokur is positive because both of these guys are athletic. The Twins have drafted too many slow, defensively challenged players in high rounds. Additionally, both Young and Winokur are baseball players. That's a win. Jeremy gets a little ahead of himself when he puts Young above Winokur .... at this time. Every player has a learning curve when they enter professional baseball and we have watched Winokur on his progression in the past couple of years. He is a really exciting prospect with a pile of learning still in front of him. I'm totally pumped that the Twins drafted Quentin Young and look forward to watching him play. I will have zero problems elevating him above others among Twins prospects but first the Twins need to sign him to a contract and then Young needs to play a full season of minor league baseball.

Ok. You do a good job of stating your opinion. How many times have you watched play (games, PA, not videos or stats)? I'm just curious.

Easy to see how people agree with Brock, but I'm agreeing with you - I'm either keeping Duran or requiring an unexpected haul. There is likely to be a split down the middle on Jax or Duran. I saw something about Philly acquiring both of Jax and Duran. Not seeing that. Philly needs a closer more than any other team. They need to overpay. Will they? Who knows. If both of Jax and Duran suddenly receive huge offers, I'm listening for sure. The Twins love both of those guys but sub .500 teams should not be holding on to relief pitchers if their demands are met. I agree with Brock that Coulombe should be traded. He must have a decent market and the return should be solid. I'm not sure whether teams feel confident in Stewart. I wouldn't give him away. He should return more than Coulombe but less than Jax or duran. The demand from other teams is unknown interms of their willingness to part with significant prospects from AAA/AA. Everyone may say Painter is untouchable but Philly needs to find a closer or their postseason run could be short.

What should the Twins do? Something.

The umpire was a little shaky last night but it was pretty equal. The call that hurt was the check swing not called a swing (he went). Smith hit a home run on the next pitch. The ABS challenge system flaws would have definitely been exposed last night. Both teams would have won a number of challenges to the point the umpire was getting embarrassed and a little pissed off. Eventually, one or both teams run out of challenges and now the bad calls are made in the critical late innings with no recourse. Manfred likes the drama of challenges shown on the big screens in the stadium. It is b.s. thinking which is all Manfred is capable of. There are two easy fixes. If the ABS is accurate, use it on every pitch. It is easy, the results are immediate which saves time, and everyone gets the results they desire. If people want the umpires calling balls and strikes, fine tune the monetary rewards for excellence behind the plate while retraining or demoting those umpires who cannot meet a high standard. The umpire last night would be called for retraining and be demoted if his subsequent games had similarly poor results. With high pay and financial rewards umpiring excellence would become really good. I think we already see very good umpire performances on most days. The challenge system is a very, very poor choice. And yet, because it sucks and because Manfred needs people to know his name, I think the worst choice is what MLB will adopt. (As an aside, did you all read about the suggestion for home run derby to decide games after the 10th inning. I am going to suggest a race from home base to home base around the bases or a throwing contest to see who can throw the ball the furthest to decide the games. Of maybe a game of hacky sack to go for the W.)

De Paula can be a middle of the order bat, for sure. He is also a slow-footed DH. The Twins have a serious problem with team speed and defense. Harmon Killebrew was surrounded by fast, sure-handed defenders on those greatest of Twins teams a million years ago. If the Twins didn't have a football size number of those guys already in the organization, De Paula might be interesting. In any event, it is highly unlikely that the Twins will trade Duran or Jax for a player who is still several years away. Falvey will want a player or players who can wear a Twins uniform now (so AAA/AA or MLB currently).

All mention of Rooker needs to acknowledge that the Twins had Nelson Cruz and then Luis Arraez ahead of him. So should the Twins have cut Cruz at the beginning of 2019? Arraez later? Maybe a few people are confused by how many DH's are allowed in the game at one time. This is an ongoing problem FWIW. The Twins have too many DH's on their roster and even in their organization. Great for Rooker that he is making a good salary after three teams gave up on him. With the preponderance of DH players on the roster that same scenario could happen again and maybe even soon. So what? Maybe the larger lesson is that the Twins need to morph away from DH players. Then they won't suffer some fans worst fears when they trade or release one of the many guys fighting for that one position who gets a chance and succeeds elsewhere.

The game last night was interesting in several regards. The Twins seemed to make a concerted effort to run out every ground ball and fly ball, which is not the case in many games. The lack of aggressiveness cost a run (Lewis had a good secondary lead but was held up by the coach on a ground ball single by Wallner). I thought Festa pitched well. He made only about a half dozen mistakes and paid a high price for those mistakes. The Dodgers did not miss. The Dodgers pitchers made about three times as many mistakes, but only one ball made it over the fence. A couple of other balls were hit hard by the Twins though. Whether it is experience, skill, or that the Twins don't have power bats we can see the Twins miss or don't (at least didn't last night) make the opponent's pitchers pay big for their mistakes. Lastly, the Dodgers star relief pitchers looked beatable. One left via injury after ineffectiveness and one was saved by a foot. The price for Duran or Jax to the Dodgers should have gone up by the close of last night's game.

The article is fair. Jamie makes some points and does an excellent job of supporting those thoughts. Last year I wondered why the Twins ever agreed to accept Gonzalez in their trade with Seattle. Gonzalez was so rough in the outfield. He has improved tremendously. However, that rise was from totally unplayable to simply DH in the outfield. Perhaps he can make further improvements but he does possess two handicaps that he shares with current Twins: poor reads in the outfield and he is slow. The lack of power is troublesome. As others have stated, it is possible to change the swing to find some power. Kirby is a non-example because the two don't share any traits. Arraez never hit the ball as hard as Gonzalez does. Wait and see is how this will go. For now Gonzalez is playing well and learning. Wonder if there is a team that would consider Gonzalez as a needed addition in a larger trade? The gaudy AA numbers are great but the Twins are already flush with DH's.

He is fun to watch.

I like some of the suggestions. Rushing is discussed because the Twins lack catching. I'm not sure the Twins have the stomach to trade for A and Rookie ball players. I'll stick to Rushing, Sheehan, and Ryan for Jax. I would also send Vazquez and Bader if the Dodgers require those guys.

Look at the current Twins roster. They are the slowest team in baseball. They are close to the worst defensive team in MLB. They do not hit and they don't run. These are all measurable facts. Running it back is not an option. The opportunity to gain a couple of top talents should be possible. We should be hoping that several teams suffer gut-wrenching losses due to their bullpens and maybe the Dodgers lose late to the Twins. Running it back next year with the same old "core" players would totally guarantee that the Twins do not need Duran or Jax.

I'm not sure if this was talked about enough. The Cubs traded Gleybar Torres to the Yankees for a half season of Aroldis Chapman. Torres was a 65 top ranked prospect. Roman Anthony is the only current player with a ranking that high. The decision is on the shoulders of teams like LAD, Philly, CHC, TOR, BOS, Baltimore(not an expected player), and others. The price should be high. Prospects crash all the time and there are several teams that really need Duran or Jax. The Twins could really boost their talent in the next 10 days. I sure hope so. If I was a fan of several of those teams seeking a closer, I would be a little put off if steps were not taken to acquire one.

I'm old and retired, so I can stay up to watch the games. I'll sleep when i get older.

Watch Winokur play shortstop. Try to ascertain whether Gonzalez looks like he can play in the outfield.

I have tuned in a couple of times, via mlb.com, to watch the Dodgers when Rushing was catching. Previously I saw him a couple of times when he was in the minor leagues. He has improved and looks decent behind the plate now. Not a defensive star but certainly someone the pitchers can trust. The Twins should be asking Milwaukee what is their price for Jeferson Quero, a defense first catcher still in AAA. Brooks Lee?

Hard to know if other teams view Twins players as having the skills necessary to help their roster. I would think that some of the players on expiring contracts are creating a little buzz. Castro, Bader, and Coulombe are all useful/solid players to add for teams looking to make noise in the playoffs. The question is return. There may be some minor league players within the Twins organization that are interesting to other teams. We don't know who may be available to trade though. On the MLB roster, only Ryan and Duran would be sell high players. It isn't clear what the Twins would demand in return. The comments all suggest that Joe Ryan is absolutely not to be traded. The Twins need a big bat. The Athletics desperately need pitching. What if they are open to a huge blockbuster? The Orioles are in the same position. Mostly, I don't see any realistic matches that include Joe Ryan. Conversations, impossible to imagine, that include names like Samuel Basallo or Nick Kurtz would get my attention though.

Fair question. My response is that the current position player roster is deficient to the point where it is going to rely more on luck than skill to finish this season or the next two above .500. It would be sweet to have the luxury of holding both Jax and Duran. I would prefer that, but I'm also greedy enough to want the Twins to field teams that can win 85 plus games in the next couple of years. From the stats guys: Duran has only had 17 save opportunities. Only Atlanta and the White Sox have had fewer save opportunities thus far this season. Among the teams looking for closers are the Phillies and Dodgers who have each had a pile of blown saves. The Twins will need to suffer a few player losses in order to gain some talent now missing. I hope that is a fair answer.

Hell ya. Let the guesstimates flow. I want Dalton Rushing, Emmet Sheehan, and River Ryan and they might all bomb out of baseball. I'm offering Griffin Jax, Christian Vazquez, and Emmanuel Rodriguez. Challenge trade.

Easier for me to watch Wallner strike out than to see him flail at fly balls. Put Keirsey Jr. out in right field. Ryan is hoping to be traded if he has to pitch with Wallner out in the field.