tony&rodney

They both have upside. We need to remember that they are still learning to pitch and trust their stuff. Festa gets some really good movement. Against the Dodgers I had him with only 6 pitches in the hitting zone (middle area) and yet he was panned for being too hittable. Yesterday Matthews was dominant but left more pitches in the hitting zone. I'm really high on both these pitchers and Woods Richardson as well. We are watching Ryan reach his potential. It takes time and Twins fans should be pretty pumped to have these two on the team. Fun to watch.

Really like this article and the ideas. Why not make an attempt to pry away Jeferson Quero? Castro and Lee?

Jeferson Quero and Harry Ford as best catchers with Rushing and Basallo as guys who can be C/DH/1B. The price in players and availability is unknown.

FYI, Baltimore had a year where they had four 20 game winners. They also routinely put a team on the field that included as many as 6 top (GG) fielders. Belanger, Blair, and B. Robinson were as good as it gets at their positions. They also hit and ran. The Weaver quote about all he does was wait for a 3 run HR was a poke at critics. Weaver was about as smart as it gets in baseball.

I read that article and just chuckled. We see Yankee, Mets, Dodgers, and Red Sox fans come up with this stuff all the time. Maybe a Twins fans should put together a similar list for Bobby Witt Jr. or Elly De La Cruz.

That trade proposal is exactly what one would expect from a Red Sox fan. I would not accept all of those Boston prospects for Ryan alone, probably not for Jax alone either. The Twins have enough players to fill out their minor league affiliates at the time.

Correa is slow. What may or may not surprise you is that all of Larnach, Lee, Jeffers, France, and Vazquez are actually slower. No longer a Twins, Miranda, is much slower than all of the above. Then to emphasize the relative speed of the team, Lewis, Bride, Gasper, and Wallner are all only a tick faster (or is less slow) than Correa. Seager and Bichette are the two shortstops slower than Correa. Source: Statcast.com.

We have seen some pretty good outings this year from Matthews, Festa, and Woods Richardson. At times their stamina wavers and they miss the target occasionally as well. Young pitchers have a ton of learning to do. They are more focused on their pitches and the game plan than veterans who trust themselves enough to pay attention to the batters and pick up a hitter's weaknesses in game. Joe Ryan is beginning to hone in on what he can do to hitters. Fun to watch all these these guys pitch. Totally different team/game - Nick Kurtz tied an MLB record for total bases in a game (19) tonight. He broke Jimmy Foxx's Athletics record.

With Winokur it is all about the bat. His glove plays anywhere.

This article was meant to be written in late October/ early November of 2023. I'm afraid that is now history. Even though I wanted to sell high on Julien I thought he could improve. He didn't, I was wrong. I watched the Saints yesterday. Julien and Miranda are toast and Martin doesn't look too hot either. Add them to a deal if another team thinks they can squeeze an ounce out of them. I doubt Miranda and Julien are still on a 40 person MLB roster next season.

My win guess for this year was in the 83-85 range. Rolling it back again next year would be more of the same, at best. Without finding some consistent offense the Twins are destined to be a .500 team. Right now, the Twins are slow, defensively challenged, run the bases poorly, and most importantly lack a decent consistent offense. Every game we wonder who will help out Byron. I think there needs to be some change. The pitching is pretty good even if the younger or less experienced pitchers are inconsistent. It is rather remarkable they have done as well as they have in front of the defense. The pitching could improve somewhat, but perhaps the biggest change in the pitching staff might be getting more consistent outings. Again, I would not like pitching with the gloves the Twins use.

Baltimore seems as reluctant to change up their roster as the Twins. I'm also big on Basallo. He can hit and I don't care if it is as a DH, 1B, or C. Cowser and Westburg are both solid athletes. The Orioles should do something. Boston may be very difficult to work with, but either Duran or Abreu are the targets. The Red Sox may feel free agency is the best use of resources. They have money. After the season is over remains the optimal time to make some changes. I have been very disappointed the last two off seasons by the lack of movement by the Twins. It seems hard to believe change will happen as one excuse or another always pops up.

Some really unexpected luck would need to occur for the Twins to win without changing the roster other than internal additions. Ryan Jeffers remains healthy and productive. Noah Cardenas becomes a good 2nd catcher. Luke Keaschall crushes at 1B. Brooks Lee suddenly learns to hit (possible) and can play a decent 2B (not his best position). Royce Lewis gets votes for MVP. Carlos Correa returns to his best self. Emmanuel Rodriguez plays a full year without injuries and posts numbers in MLB that match his output in the minors. Byron Buxton plays all year at his current level. Walker Jenkins wins ROY. Larnach or Wallner have a full year of successful hitting as a DH. The odds. What are the odds? It seems like the Twins expect the players above to all reach those levels. I'm not placing any bets. Seems like overlooking the flaws of Julien, Miranda, Larnach, Lee, Wallner, and others the last two years was a miss. Maybe not though. Falvey has repeatedly stated his belief in the roster. I think the Twins will need to gamble a little bit. Do you have any blockbuster ideas to bring in a bat? I'm curious. My craziest idea is to trade Ryan, Ober, Larnach or Wallner, and Charlee Soto for Nick Kurtz and Mason Miller. Both sides say no as do about 99+% of all fans. My response is that I wanted a bat.

This has to be remembered every time someone thinks of a potential idea for a deal. The Twins know this and so do all the other teams in baseball. Because of how good both Jax and Duran are at their jobs and because they have two years remaining after this year, I would think there has to be at least one team ready to pay a very high price. If not, the Twins still have these guys on their roster. Seattle looks to be prepared to add players for a postseason run. Harry Ford and one of Jonny Farmelo, Logan Evans, Colt Emerson, Ryan Sloan would be my ask from the Mariners for Jax. Philadelphia has some serious talent entering free agency after this season and their window is as tight as any team in baseball. They are in need of a closer among other pieces. There is a possible huge deal here. My thought is Duran, Castro, Bader, Coulombe, C. J. Culpepper, and Yasser Mercedes for Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford, and Eduardo Tait. Seems like a high price on both sides, especially for Philly and it includes too many players for a typical transaction. It does give Philadelphia some good players for the 2025 push. The Twins do not need to make a deal that doesn't suit them and they certainly do not need to trade both relievers. Naturally, there is no way to know how other teams or the Twins value any of these players. Jax and Duran are known (proven to be excellent) quantities. The prospects are exactly that, prospects.

Not sure Lee fits in this deal given the Phillies lineup. Also you are putting a large pile to get a pile of prospects. I don't know about the size of your deal. Maybe if you reduce it to Jax, Castro, Bader for Painter, Crawford it works. You are correct that Philly needs some guys. They should be all in.

Pretty much agree and have thought about the things you state. I have wondered how desperate the Phillies are to win. Their window is possibly closing. The Twins have so many parts that that team needs or could use: closer, Bader, Castro. There may be some other teams who feel "this is their year", but the Phillies stick out to me. The Twins did nothing after the 2023 and 2024 seasons as far as evaluating the efficacy of the roster. I doubt we see anything happen now. It is what it is. Twins fans are left hoping that Lewis goes bonkers forever and Keaschall, Ober, and Lopez return as all star performers.

Does this mean that the FO was not allowed to trade players? Maybe. I have no idea. Seems like 2023 (end of year/season) was an ideal time to trade high on several players who had strong outcomes but possessed a few obvious flaws. Perhaps nobody would bite. We can't know what conversations could have taken place. The same can be said of 2024 (eoy/s). One of the options for a FO is to be proactive in moving players before their weaknesses are exposed. Again, this may have been tried. However, if the FO was forbidden to complete transactions that is another thing. I don't know how that could be ... but it could. Unlike many, I never thought the budget was a barrier. I still do not. I do believe that the ownership -front office relationship is important. We would likely agree that the public doesn't know all these things.

This is confusing. It seems like you suggest BOTH Duran and Jax for these guys. Why? None of these work for both, not even remotely close. The Dodgers might trade those two guys for Duran. I would not. These ideas look like deals made up by a Yankees or Mets fan, if we are talking about dealing both. If it is for just one, some people will like a few of these suggestions. I'm actually not doing any one of these trades for either ONE of Duran or Jax. If teams want to win, they have to pay the big bucks. Gleybar Torres (65, top ranked) for 2 months of Aroldis Chapman. The Cubs have zero regrets. FWIW, there actually isn't a prospect right now the equal of Torres. Torres was a can't miss and he didn't miss.

This is an interesting take or stand. I guess the returns are important. We have a near zero idea of how important a player is to another team or how they evaluate or judge the value of Twins players. We can only see past trades and guess. My take is that the Twins need some change. Currently the team is slow and defensively challenged. They also are weak on the bases and are not hitting consistently. Seems like trades are a path forward. My guess is that this happens later, maybe November or soon after. However, Falvey has been repetitive about declaring a positive view of this roster as a playoff group. So it is impossible for me to know anything related to the Twins roster decisions. The Twins have a few expiring contracts that should have some interest from some teams: Castro, Bader, Paddack, and Coulombe. Holding these guys would raise questions. You raise an important issue regarding any move of Jeffers. The Twins would need to come up with another or two catchers. That is a given. While numerous major moves are never done in July, there are big transactions completed near the deadline. There are possibilities. I just don't know what they are, so I think of the simple deals, the bigger deals, and the crazy off the wall trades. Would Milwaukee even consider Brooks Lee plus a couple of lesser minor leaguers (Miranda and Nowlin maybe) for Jeferson Quero? Would Seattle consider a Jax for Harry Ford plus Logan Evans deal? Perhaps Jax to LAD for Rushing and River Ryan? If the Twins managed to acquire a couple of catchers, maybe Jeffers to Tampa Bay for Brody Hopkins and Jose Caballero? Can the Twins acquire Jared Jones or Bubba Chandler from Pittsburgh for Wallner, EmRod, and Julien? How desperate is Philly? Duran, Bader, Castro, and Coulombe for Painter and Crawford? And the crazy ... Ryan, Ober, Larnach, and Soto to the Athletics for Nick Kurtz and Mason Miller? There are crazy ideas to sane ideas. I mentioned elsewhere that I wonder if the Twins could jump the closer market by offering Zebby and EmRod or Keaschall for Emmanuel Clase? I think the Twins stand pat but it seems the minimum should be some deals that send out some expiring contracts. Falvey and friends should be a little busy until the deadline is passed. I'm not expecting anything but hoping for something. Don't get offended by the thoughts or ideas above.

Perhaps the Twins could ramp up the cost of relief pitchers by acquiring Emmanuel Clase. Emmanuel Rodriguez, Andrew Morris, and Amick do it? Or EmRod and Zebby?

Bottom line is that Philadelphia needs to decide how much it feels a relief pitcher (or two) is necessary for them to compete in the playoffs. FWIW, I would rank Painter and Bubba Chandler #1 and #2, the order is inconsequential. Just like Paddack's great start yesterday doesn't elevate his value enormously, a few rough innings by Painter (or Chandler) doesn't diminish their TOR prospect standing. Again, Philly is in a tough spot. We shall know what they think of waiting by the end of next week. I'm guessing they put Painter in the bullpen / keep him. I do think some (not sure who) Twins fans underrate Duran. He is really good. I keep remembering that 2 months of Chapman was worth Torres. GM's / POBO's will need to decide what 2years and 2 months of Duran (or Ryan and Jax too) are worth for their team. The Twins hold the cards in some respects. Not trading anyone from the MLB roster means the Twins are expecting to reach the playoffs. What does that really mean? Sorry for traipsing off into other topics. Painter is a top prospect, if not the best pitching prospect. I guess I could have stopped there.

This has been discussed previously in Cubs conversations, but thanks for posting it. The Cubs don't really match up with the Twins for any of Duran, Jax, or Ryan. Their prospects are not difference-makers. Caissie has a high K-rate. Some may be high on him, but after watching him a number of times I'm not into his potential.

It doesn't matter who's right or wrong, the future is now and the past is gone.

Betts is a superstar. LA is the superpower. I came away from the "no swing" call with the same conclusion. I replayed it a couple of times. 100 out of 100 times that is called a swing ..... in a different inning. Nevertheless, Ruiz is as close to an automatic out as the Dodgers roster. Jax has a terrific fastball and he throws a 3-0 sweeper for strike one. Ruiz was not swinging until he got to 2 strikes. Brain freeze. The Twins played hard, played to win versus the Dodgers. Keirsey Jr. steals second and third base base. The Twins haven't even attempted a single steal of third base until yesterday. Agree about the Twins being a strange team. Effort and concentration was good in the last 3 games. Where was that against the Rockies? Pirates? What will we see this weekend?

We don't want to break up the Duran/Jax combo in order to reach 81 wins? No team wants them? I'm confused. What is breaking the bank. There must be at least one team that believes that they are one or two players away from winning a World Series. It is possible that team, whoever it is, will go for it.