Hans Birkeland

If they wanted to try and win a World Series this year, then yes. That would be taking quite the gamble, but so was trading Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman. Obviously that Cubs team was better than this Twins team, but I don't think MLB has any true juggernauts outside of the Braves this year. It was fun to write about.

Is Goldschmidt not the reigning MVP? He's falling off a cliff because he has an .840 OPS so far this year? Maybe give it a year before declaring a Hall of Famer's career dead.

"For starters, Arenado is nearly four years younger than Goldschmidt at 32-years-old" What are you even talking about?

Goldschmidt has been on the IL once in his career, 9 years ago. Soo yeah that sounds pretty on brand for a Twins trade acquisition.

Goldy ain't no depth piece

The sticking point is more the no trade clause- from all accounts he likes St. Louis. But mainly they want to compete next year, and getting Kirilloff plus a rotation piece (Varland, Festa) could certainly accomplish that not just for 2024, but beyond PG's contract. The Twins are not at their limit financially... if anyone is, its the Cardinals who are running a franchise record 183M payroll this year while being a last place team.

Alex Kirilloff has proven he can stay healthy as of right now, but may never be the force he was once projected to be offensively. Cashing him in for Paul Goldschmidt would allow the team to improve now while opening a future lineup spot for the Twins' bevy of excellent lefty hitter prospects. Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports Alex Kirilloff has long been a mythical presence in Twins fandom. He was ascribed the gaudiest projections as a prospect, and when summoned to the majors has provided enticing glimmers of being an offensive force. This year he has been healthy for the first time, at least on the surface, and produced quality numbers hitting between second and fourth in the lineup. He has warts, too. He can’t hit lefties very well, and doesn’t provide any real defensive value. His power is also a question; coming up through the minor leagues his ability to drive the ball was considered a potential sticking point, and although he appeared to answer those doubters in 2018 with a .578 SLG in two levels of A-ball, that remains the only extended stretch of power he has shown in between all the injuries. If Kirilloff is in fact, James Loney, Lyle Overbay or Casey Kotchman, starting first baseman with doubles power who control the strike zone and hit seventh in the lineup, he shouldn’t be considered a long-term building block for the organization. If his wrist is holding back his power, and with improving health he becomes Will Clark, that’s a different story. Or if he never gets to his power but learns how to spray the ball around like Joe Mauer or John Olerud, obviously you invest in that player, too. It’s hard to improve a roster overflowing with veteran depth pieces whose worst performers are also making the most money, so the Twins may have to make some bold decisions to get better offensively. Moving Kirilloff may be what the doctor ordered. He plays first base primarily, and a lot of the bats they may look to acquire play there, as well. Last year’s National League MVP, Paul Goldschmidt, is one of those, and although it is unclear whether the Cardinals would sell one of their best hitters off as they look to contend in 2024, it may make sense for them to target Kirilloff as their heir apparent at first. Why Goldschmidt and not his younger and more dynamic teammate, Nolan Arenado? For starters, Arenado is nearly four years younger than Goldschmidt at 32-years-old, is one of the best defensive third baseman of all time, and is under contract through 2027 (which is also when Kirilloff would become a free agent for the first time). If the Cardinals expect to win over the next few years, why would they get rid of a team controlled future Hall-of-Famer still in his prime? They wouldn’t, short of receiving a better package than the Nationals got for Juan Soto (i.e. ridiculous and franchise-crippling). Goldschmidt is more of a pure hitter than Arenado, and in contrast is under contract for just one more year. The Cardinals may actually be interested in cashing in on his value now, while acquiring a young hitter with loads of potential to slot in around Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker and Willson Contreras. The Cardinals scouts would have to believe Kirilloff’s bat is more Olerud than Kotchman, but if they do this may constitute something more than wishcasting. On the Twins side, they would acquire in Goldschmidt a student of the game with an incredible resume who also operates as a serious, reserved leader who, incidentally, would become the team’s best hitter with a 144 career OPS+, meaning 44% better than league average. The Twins current leader in OPS+ is Eduoard Julien at 137. Keeping in mind the Twins really only need an average offense to compete with their pitching staff, how would this October lineup look (assuming Byron Buxton moves hell and earth to play center field in the playoffs): Correa SS Julien DH Goldschmidt 1B Buxton CF Polanco 2B Lewis 3B Kepler RF Jeffers C Gallo LF That has to be a top-seven lineup in the AL, and if injuries become a factor, Donovan Solano, Brooks Lee, Austin Martin and Matt Wallner could supplement and depending on who they replace, make the lineup potentially even better. The only doubling up of handedness would occur from Goldschmidt to Buxton, so matchups would be tricky for the opposition, at least in theory. For his career, Goldschmidt has over a 1.000 OPS versus lefties, currently the Twins biggest weakness. If Buxton still can’t play center, the team needs to find a way to teach Julien how to stand in left field, in which case Michael A. Taylor would remain in the mix, replacing Gallo or Kepler. Willi Castro and/or Martin could pinch-run and play both infield and outfield. The team would still strike out plenty (Goldschmidt is good for about 150 of those a year), but would present a much scarier challenge to the Guardians as well as any postseason opponent. What about the Twins’ future? Wouldn’t this mortgage it just to invest in a barely .500 team that alternates between frustrating, annoying and mediocre? Maybe, or perhaps it opens doors for the pieces of the Twins’ offensive prospect puzzle to fit together. Sure, for every instance of the Astros letting Carlos Correa go just to call up Jeremy Pena and not miss a beat, there are thousands of stories of teams freeing up a position for a guy and ending up, due to injury, underperformance or both, having to roll out plan C or D. But letting Julien take over first base after learning from the four-time gold glover Goldschmidt for a year, might make some sense. Julien can definitely hit, but taking his arm out of play is the best scenario for everyone, long–term. He can anchor future lineups that include Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee without getting in anyone's way, and the future would remain bright on the hitting side. Would Goldschmidt cost more than just Kirilloff? Surely. The Cardinals would likely ask for pitching, with Marco Raya, Louie Varland and David Festa surefire targets of theirs. According to baseballtradevalues.com, adding any of that group to Kirilloff in a trade package would constitute an overpay, but the Cardinals aren’t about to cast Goldschmidt aside for anything resembling equal value. My proposition would be Kirilloff, Festa and Brent Headrick for Goldschmidt and one of their setup men, like Jordan Hicks (as a rental) or Genesis Cabrera (two more years of team control). BTV sees that as a moderate overpay, with the Cardinals getting about 30% more value than the Twins. What do you think? Would you pull the trigger on a trade like this? Sound off in the comments. View full article

The Twins started out hot against the A's, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings en route to a 6-0 lead. The A's fought back against Pablo López, however, and the game was tied at seven until the Twins added a run in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to pull away. Image courtesy of Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports Box Score: Starting pitcher: Pablo López : 5 ⅔ IP 8 H 7 ER 3 BB 7 SO (106 Pitches, 67 Strikes, 63%) Home Runs: Michael A. Taylor (11), Kyle Farmer (5) Top 3 WPA: Farmer (.430), Griffin Jax (.109), Ryan Jeffers (.080) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Facing fungible opener Austin Pruitt, the Twins wasted no time in repeating their antics from Friday’s first inning, with Carlos Correa singling the other way, Donovan Solano walking and Kyle Farmer doubling to right-center field and scoring both. The inning could have really gotten out of hand if Byron Buxton’s scorching line drive (109 MPH) didn’t settle in third baseman Jace Peterson’s glove for an out. After being duped by the Giants opener for Sean Manaea in May, starting all their lefties thinking Manaea wouldn’t pitch and then subbing them out once Manaea came in to start the second, the Twins played it right this time, leaving Edouard Julien and Alex Kirilloff on the bench to start the game knowing lefty Hogan Harris would be the bulk pitcher. They wasted no time in getting to Hogan, starting walk-single-walk and then a Carlos Correa two-run single to make the game 4-0. Michael A. Taylor added a two-run homer in the third. Feisty A’s get to López Pablo López appeared to pick up where he left off, an electric four hit shutout against the Royals in his last start, by carving up the depleted A’s lineup early. He probably made it harder on himself than he needed, running into a few too many three ball counts, but put up zeroes for the first two innings. Things started to change in the third, when rookie Zack Gelof squirted a soft liner past the diving Max Kepler for a triple and scored on a Nick Allen grounder. In the fourth, López started losing command of his offspeed pitches, leaving three hittable ones for Oakland’s three best (for them) hitters in Ryan Noda, J.J Bleday and Seth Brown, and before you could blink López had given up four runs. The A’s took a more Guardians-esque approach in the fifth, leading off with a bloop hit from Jace Peterson, and followed that with a bunt hit from Allen. Tony Kemp, fresh off robbing Max Kepler of a two-RBI double with a leaping catch in left field, then punched an RBI single through the right side and Allen then scored on a wild pitch, making the score 7-6. He was then questionably allowed to pitch the sixth, giving up a check swing single, walk, three steals and a sacrifice fly to bring in the tying run. López’s stuff has looked worse, but this may have been his worst start of the year results-wise, given the opponent. After López departed with the go-ahead run on third, Jovani Moran gave up a blast (105 MPH) to Brent Rooker, the tie game only preserved by a great robbery from Taylor. Twins turn to Ortega in Eighth Inning Clinging to a two-run lead in the eighth, the Twins surprisingly turned to waiver claim Oliver Ortega rather than have Griffin Jax continue his outing after throwing six effective pitches in the seventh. Ortega allowed a leadoff single on a 3-1 count to Tyler Soderstrom and a bunt single to Allen, but retired Gelof, Peterson and Rooker to preserve the lead. Farmer Powers Offense After limping into the All-Star break with a sub .650 OPS, Kyle Farmer has been on fire in the first two games of the Oakland series. Following his two-run double in the first, he had a sharp single in the third, and the go-ahead home run in the seventh. With a chance for the cycle in the ninth, Farmer fouled out to first base. Willi Castro catches the A’s napping With the A’s suddenly making a game of it in the fourth, cutting the deficit to two, Willi Castro broke out of a mini strikeout slump by getting hit by a pitch with two outs. He advanced to third on a bloop hit by Ryan Jeffers, and with Taylor up Jeffers broke for second on a delayed steal. Castro read it perfectly and scored while Jeffers was in a rundown, adding a crucial seventh run. Broadcast team jinxes Jeffers In displaying a rather incredible stat, that Jeffers has blocked every ball in the dirt thus far this year in 37 chances, the Bally Sports North team placed a terrible jinx on the catcher, as Jeffers allowed a wild pitch in the fifth inning on a ball in the dirt that allowed a run to score to bring the A’s within a run. Naturally. What’s Next: Joe Ryan (8-6, 3.70 ERA) tries to give the Twins a sweep against lefty J.P Sears (1-6, 3.97 ERA). Ryan has struggled lately outside of his shutout against Boston, with the home run ball continuing to bite him. Sears was one of the prizes of the A's Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees last year and is exactly the kind of middling lefty starter that has given the Twins fits this year. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Durán 0 0 0 17 12 29 Morán 0 0 0 15 13 28 Pagán 0 0 0 27 0 27 Jax 0 0 0 13 6 19 Ortega 0 0 0 0 19 19 Balazovic 0 0 0 17 0 17 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 J. López 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

If you weren't picking up that this whole piece was based on anecdotal evidence, I got nothing for you. It was also written (not published) when Alonso was leading (maybe tied for) the NL in homers. The Padres having four .900 OPS guys was an exaggeration, but certainly all four have proven to be capable of a season like that. All four typically get MVP votes in a given season, and that's the point. Their offense still sucks despite a bunch of good hitters, a pattern repeated by the Yankees, Mets Twins, and Cardinals. I find that to be significant.

Whether you think this team deserves to get there or not, they probably will. It's not fair and it's hard to picture anything going right with this offense, but being able to use Duran every game following a legitimate starter could change a lot. Here's what the New York Post had to say of the Mets on June 30th, 2015 https://nypost.com/2015/06/30/mets-need-lucas-dudas-power-to-avoid-july-burial/

Do middling teams that sneak into October and end up making noise follow a formula? Or is it just a crapshoot? Let's look at the numbers and see if the Twins could be one of those fortunate few. Image courtesy of © Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports The Twins are currently dysfunctional, with the offense on life support and requiring consistent player-led interventions to avoid going comatose. But part of what was initially exciting about this roster was its combination of playoff-ready ingredients. Like it or not, this team will likely host a playoff series in three months, with a 55.9% chance of winning the division, according to Fangraphs. I have long held a theory that teams need at least three good-to-great hitters, at least two good-to-great pitchers, and an elite closer to compete in October. If this current Twins team has its hitters figure it out to any degree, that is possible, given their quality rotation and Jhoan Duran. I wanted to find out if this year's team is the type of mediocre regular season team that can suddenly thrive in the playoffs, so I took a look at the last ten seasons in MLB and singled out the teams with the best regular season records along with the pennant winners, to see if my theory holds any water. Methodology: A compiled list of all teams with the best regular season record in their respective league and pennant winners. Teams with the best record that also won the pennant were counted in both data sets and added how many 120 OPS+ or better hitters and 120 ERA+ pitchers each team while also including the WPA of their closer. For hitters, I included anyone with 200 plate appearances or more who were available for the playoffs. I used a minimum of fifteen starts for pitchers while being available for the playoffs. For the closer, I used full season stats for whoever the closer was once the playoffs began. The only exception was for the 2022 Phillies. I added Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez's WPA together because their usage was overly matchup-based when October rolled around. Factor one: Having a group of good-to-great hitters The most significant discrepancy between teams with great regular season records and teams with postseason success was their collection of hitters. Pennant winners averaged 4.5 hitters with a 120 OPS+ or higher, while teams with the best record averaged 4.15. Some outliers include the 2014 Royals, who had zero hitters 20% better than the league average while still winning the pennant, and the 2019 Dodgers, who had seven hitters eclipse that mark while losing in the NLDS. The 2023 Twins have much work to do to assemble a group of plus hitters. Still, based on track record, you can have some hope that Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Jorge Polanco will gravitate to that 120 OPS+ level, with Alex Kirilloff, Edouard Julien , and Royce Lewis having the potential to join them. If you take an optimistic view, they look similar to the 2015 Mets, who had a decent collection of hitters, including Lucas Duda (who was good for a few years), Curtis Granderson, David Wright, and a rookie Michael Conforto. But the team ascended to another level when they acquired Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline for then-prospect Michael Fulmer. Going from four plus hitters to five made a massive difference for that team as they went 36-19 in August and September and eventually reached the World Series. Would someone like Paul Goldschmidt or even Justin Turner have a Cespedes-type impact? Factor two: Having a couple of good-to-great starting pitchers It has long been a cliche that elite starting pitching wins in the playoffs, but according to my data, it didn't make much of a difference in separating the regular season champs and the pennant winners. The teams with the best season record averaged 2.70 starters of that type, while pennant winners averaged 2.65. Notables include the 2020 and 2022 Dodgers teams that had five pitchers 20% better than the league average, and the 2013 Red Sox, 2014 Angels, 2014 Giants, 2015 Royals, 2018 Brewers, and 2021 Rays with only one starter of that type each. No team has won a pennant or had the best record in its league without a 120 ERA+ starter on its roster. The 2023 Twins have three such pitchers in Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, and Bailey Ober. Pablo Lopez (110 ERA+) could get there with a solid second half, and his peripherals make that possible. Only five teams in my data pool had four starters or more eclipse the threshold: the 2015 Cardinals (4), 2016 Cubs (4), and the aforementioned Dodgers teams as well as their 2019 squad (4). Factor three: Having a great closer According to WPA, pennant winners have had better closers than regular season stalwarts, with an average figure of 2.513. Teams with the best records averaged 2.438. The best performer was, far and away Kenley Jansen for the Dodgers in 2017, with a 5.70 mark. Second was Koji Uehara at 4.10 in 2013 for the champion Red Sox, and the worst was Sergio Romo's 0.3 mark for the champion 2014 Giants (oddly enough, Jansen's 0.4 in 2019 was the second worst). Jhoan Duran already has a 1.3 WPA this year after posting an impressive 4.6 in 2022. Being able to deploy him in the playoffs, with all the extra off days, could be a huge advantage for the Twins if they can scrape in. Comparables (Reached World Series with 93 or fewer regular season wins): 2014 Royals: Zero hitters above 120 OPS+, three pitchers above 120 ERA+, 2.8 Closer WPA 2014 Giants: Three hitters, one pitcher, 0.3 Closer WPA 2015 Mets: Five hitters, two pitchers, 3.7 Closer WPA 2018 Dodgers: Eight hitters, three pitchers, 1.5 Closer WPA 2019 Nationals: Three hitters, three pitchers, 1.8 Closer WPA 2021 Braves: Four hitters, three pitchers, 1.9 Closer WPA 2022 Phillies: Four hitters, two pitchers, 2.0 Closer WPA 2014 was a weird year, with the Yankees missing the playoffs, the Astros still coming out of their rebuild, and the Dodgers weren't yet the Dodgers. The thoroughly unimpressive Giants and Royals duked it out in the World Series, and those two teams did not have at least three hitters above a 120 OPS, two pitchers above 120 ERA+, and/or a closer with over a 1.5 WPA (we'll call these thresholds the test). The next five teams did; what about the regular season stalwarts? Teams with the best regular season record that failed that test: 2013 Cardinals* 2013 Red Sox* 2014 Angels 2014 Nationals 2015 Royals* 2015 Cardinals 2016 Rangers 2018 Brewers 2019 Dodgers 2020 Dodgers* 2021 Rays Teams with best regular season record that passed the test: 2016 Cubs* 2017 Guardians 2017 Dodgers* 2018 Red Sox* 2019 Astros* 2020 Rays* 2022 Astros* 2022 Dodgers *Reached World Series So of the teams that paced their league in regular season wins, four of eleven (36%) reached the World Series when failing my test, and six of eight (75%) reached the final round while passing my test. Of the teams that didn't post their league's best record but still reached the World Series, seven of ten passed the test. My most scientific theory is that baseball is a stupid game. For all their success, the Tampa Bay Rays have an injury-battered rotation and a closer with a nerve condition in his fingers that flares up in the cold (does it get cold in October?). Further out West, does anyone expect Nathan Eovaldi to stay healthy? If he doesn't, the now-dominant Rangers will have a rotation of Jon Gray, Martin Perez, and Dane Dunning in October. Their closer signed in March for 1.5M. The Guardians have three rookies, no Triston McKenzie, and the 2023 version of Shane Bieber (who they may trade) pitching in front of one of the worst offenses in the league. The Rangers and Rays have several quality teams trying to chase them down, by contrast. Certainly, the trade deadline could alter some things, but the more balanced schedule looks like a coup for the Twins and Brewers, at least so far. The point is that the Twins are frustrating and don't seem playoff-worthy. But they are better set for October than the two top teams in the AL regarding their path to the playoffs and the roster they could roll out once there. We saw what happened last year with both the Braves and Dodgers exiting in the NLDS after dominant regular seasons, while the seemingly middling Phillies and Padres rode their good-to-great hitters and pitchers with elite closers to surprising postseason success. Like the 2015 Mets, it might take the addition of one good bat to turn this Twins team into a dark horse contender. View full article

The Twins started with a promising first inning, but a catastrophic second doomed the Twins and Sonny Gray. Meanwhile Tyler Wells repeatedly pitched out of trouble to keep Twins hitters outside of striking distance. Image courtesy of Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray: 6 IP 6 H 6 ER 3 BB 5 SO (91 Pitches, 60 Strikes, 65.9%) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Gray (-.408), Ryan Jeffers (-.082) Kyle Farmer (-.088) Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs): Sonny was pretty good in five of his innings After an easy first inning, newly named All-Star Gray ran into trouble in the second. He left three offspeed pitches up in the zone in consecutive fashion, allowing three singles (one of which should have been field by Ed Julien). He then fell behind rookie Colton Cowser 3-0 and threw a fastball right down the middle that was inexplicably called a ball, tying the game at one. He had a more competitive sequence against Ramon Urias, but lost him, allowing a second run to score. Urias has had a number of excellent at-bats against the Twins this season, with his double against Jhoan Duran leading off the tenth inning in Friday’s game the shining example. As one might expect, two flare singles followed, making the score 5-1 in the blink of an eye. Anthony Santander then roped a single for the sixth and final fun of the inning. Ryan O’Hearn, batting for the second time in the inning, lined into a double play to mercifully end the frame. Gray settled down after that, throwing his secondary pitches below the zone and getting a number of ground balls and grinding through six innings with no further damage. Twins have very few answers for former Twin Tyler Wells Tyler Wells opposed Gray, and he might represent the greatest loss the Twins took from COVID, as he was a part of the minor league system before being left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft following the 2020 season. Having no recent evaluation of Wells, a 15th round pick in 2016 who, of course, didn’t get to pitch in 2020, or in 2019 due to Tommy John surgery the Twins probably felt pretty safe leaving Wells exposed. The Orioles called that bluff, and now Wells pitches atop their rotation, moving his cutter and slider away from righty bats and his sinker and changeup away from lefties to great effect. He does allow quite a few home runs, but held the Twins in check in that regard, with Donovan Solano's three doubles the only minor exception. The Twins started to build a few rallies off of Wells, with multiple doubles in the first resulting in the game’s first run, a leadoff walk in the third by Michael A. Taylor, and a leadoff double by Donovan Solano in the fourth that was followed by a walk to Max Kepler. Double plays extinguished the latter two rallies. Athletic plays by Orioles infielders played a big part in those, with shortstop Henderson making an athletic adjustment on a Kyle Farmer ground ball in the fourth, as he bobbled the ball attempting to make a flip to second, then decided to take it himself, stepping on second and firing first to finish a huge double play. Urias made a great play of a wicked hop off the bat of Farmer in the second, and O'Hearn's spear of Ed Julien's hot ground ball in the sixth that hit the first bag bag was huge in hindsight, as Byron Buxton followed with a hit, and then Solano added his third double of the game to score Buxton. Pablo López earns first All-Star nod It was announced in the seventh inning that López would join the AL All-Star team as a replacement. If that comes as a surprise to Twins fans, keep in mind that Joe Ryan will pitch tomorrow, making him ineligible for the game. If you think Bailey Ober has been better, well, you might have a point. However, López is among the league leaders in strikeouts (11.2 K/9) and his peripheral numbers are exemplary (.639 OPS against, 3.18 FIP). He has been a huge part of the Twins' successful rotation. What’s Next: Joe Ryan (8-5, 3.42 ERA) goes against old friend Kyle Gibson (8-6, 4.73 ERA) looking to salvage one game in the final series of the first half. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Ortega 13 0 0 0 25 38 Durán 0 0 0 21 0 21 J. López 8 0 0 0 13 21 Morán 0 0 0 16 0 16 Jax 0 0 0 13 0 13 Pagán 0 0 0 4 0 4 Balazovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sands 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

I said "Every year the Twins are decent, the knock against them is starting pitching." That's a comma, not a semicolon.

Tampa would 100% keep Kepler, never let him face a lefty and see him post his best OPS in years while subbing in for defense late in games he doesn't start. Then they would flip him while his value is high.

The Phillies had different needs, and they did a good job fulfilling them. Kepler won't bring back much, maybe an A-ball pitcher with some upside; the days of him having significant trade value are long gone. May as well keep him and let him give you 1.5-2 WAR down the stretch with good clubhouse feels.

I think there is a perception that Kepler doesn't care enough, as well. I was watching him make that catch along the foul line last night, and I noticed he started slowing up when he was still 15 feet from the ball which allowed him to make the catch and avoid any issues with the stands/netting. Jake Cave would have had a worse jump but still made the catch, flown top speed into the stands, busted his lip and worn it as a badge of honor. Kind of a Robinson Cano vs Derek Jeter thing. Same result, but fans tend to embrace the guy who busted his lip for the team.

I meant just the slashers are streaky.. I don't have a lot of evidence, and certainly plenty of boppers are streaky as well. But guys like Gurriel, Adam Frazier, Eddie Rosario, Delmon Young, Alex Bregman, Joey Votto seem to run so hot and so cold. I may be totally off base!

Every year THAT they are decent our rotation is questioned.

The Phillies were terrible defensively and went out and got Brandon Marsh, who solidified center field for them. They also got rid of Didi Gregorius and traded for Edmundo Sosa, who was great defensively for them. As for trading Kepler, it has to be for something that improves the team now. I don't think Lane Thomas is that guy, maybe Connor Joe of the Pirates who can really hit lefties but has no track record of success. Jorge Soler again but he's such a Jekyl and Hyde kind of player I don't think he improves the team much, either with his poor defense. If the team goes out and gets a bat, it needs to be Justin Turner or better, and even that carries risk outside of the prospect capital required.

Every year the Twins are decent, the knock against them is starting pitching. Every year when analysts look at the dark horses or favorites going into the postseason, its the teams with the best starting pitching that are highlighted. Now, the starting pitching has to stay healthy, but imagine Gray, Ryan and Lopez with Ober kicked to the bullpen for the playoffs. This is a golden opportunity with how terrible our division is. If you don't give it a shot, why even try?