stringer bell

Lee has agreed to term according to mlbtraderumors.com.

Yes, there are many things to be concerned about, but let's look at the entire picture. The Twins have a winning record at the break and a small lead in the division. This is primarily because they have a good lineup and their pitchers overperformed for the first third of the season. Three position players with less than a years experience have looked promising--Miranda, Kirilloff and Larnach (now out with injury)--and three pitchers with less than a years experience--Winder, Jax and Duran--have done well. Luis Arraez continues to show he is elite as a hitter and Jorge Polanco is giving indications that he'll have a monster second half to his season. Now to the minus side of the ledger. The rotation, which looked suspect coming out of Spring Training looks suspect again after encouraging performances early in the year. Sonny Gray hasn't been the same since coming off the IL the second time. Joe Ryan isn't dominating although he's really held his own and everyone else in the rotation is both limited in upside and an injury risk. The bullpen has been poor and prospects for improvement from within are close to non-existent. While looking at individual performances from the position players, there aren't many, if any, disappointments, the offense hasn't sustained above-average run scoring for more than a series at a time. For the second half (post All-Star break), I believe the Twins will continue to score runs well above average and they will continue to be a decent defensive outfit, barring devastating injuries. If they can find enough pitching, they will be in the hunt for the playoffs and a division crown. If not, they will continue to fade.

How about Mantiply from Arizona? IMHO, almost all sellers at the deadline are looking for prospects, not utility players on big league rosters.

1961–midsummer Twins vs. Red Sox. Although neither team was that good in 1961, there were a lot of outstanding players on the field. Carl Yastrzemski had recently replaced Ted Williams as the franchise icon and left fielder. Pete Runnels was on his way to winning a batting championship. The Twins had Harmon, Allison, Versalles and Battey along with a young Jim Kaat, Camilo Pascual and Jack Kralick. I recall the Twins winning comfortably and that the grass was so green.

I’m sure it would have to be medically verified.

Sanó’s rehab is over on 7/24 at the latest. At that point, he’s either activated or designated for assignment unless he voluntarily would accept an option (very unlikely).

My wife and I drove from SE Minnesota to the Fort Snelling Park and Ride. We arrived shortly after 11. We found seats on the train and arrived at Target Field shortly before noon. We got to our seats for the third batter. There were plenty of people in Brewers gear on the light rail. Concession lines were long and slow, Despite the announced attendance, we thought the park was about 3/4 full. I think the light rail is a great deal for singles or couples.

Miranda, like almost every hitter, is a better hitter ahead in the count. He still chases too much to suit me, but he has improved. Same for his defense. Kirilloff is going to be a fine hitter and I think his eventual defensive home is first base. Larnach looked very good until he was injured the first time. I am not yet convinced he will develop into a star.

There was a recent thread about Jeffers' offense. He's middle of the road for catchers and at least in the past couple of weeks he is trending upwards. For the future, I would hope that the Twins could find someone with whom they can share the catching duties (with Jeffers), preferably a LH hitter who is pretty strong defensively. I don't think I would like to keep Sanchez around for the kind of money he is already making.

Not true IMHO. Jeffers hit two homers in Texas, one brought the team within a run, the other gave them the lead. He also hit a key homer in Baltimore and another one in Seattle. That is four of his seven homers. There's plenty to gripe about with his average, but he has hit more than his share of important long balls.

Is picking up his option written into his contract? Is that a standard of any contract with an option in it? Picking up Sanó’s contract now would cost in the neighborhood of $4.5M. That isn’t nothing, but only 45% of $10M.

It isn’t a sure thing that any of the current Twins starters will be able to convert to the bullpen. Recent history also shows that having seven pitchers available won’t continue. The Twins will probably need all seven options (current five + Archer and Ober). Winder and Ober can be optioned—I wonder if Winder might be sent down tomorrow if Joe Smith is activated—but with the fragile and rotation they are all but certain to make starts for the Twins in the remaining 74 games.

I hope this the first of several appearances for both players. I hope and expect many more on the Twins’ roster will be selected in future years.

I think and hope that this is because of the injury. The Buxton we saw on the field was among the best two or three players in the world. The Buxton we've seen has otherworldly power, but isn't a complete hitter. Beyond that, he's only playing outfield part-time and isn't a threat on the base paths.

One could argue for several of the relievers at St. Paul being better than Pagan. But the real problem with the Twins bullpen is that they need two relievers who are better than Jax and they are not to be found. The club needs to go outside the organization to acquire not one, but two quality relievers.

I really disagree with this. The Twins rotation isn’t top tier because it is both fragile and brittle. Sure, if they have have a big lead, give them a third or even fourth turn through the order, but if the game is close, the only two I trust to be facing the top of the order are Gray and (most of the time) Ryan. The rotation has substantial injury histories plus small margins for error. This necessitates a lot of use for the bullpen. In reality, no one in the ‘pen has been overworked. In avoiding using their top relievers too much, a lot of innings have been given to guys who aren’t great options. I’ve said since May that the Twins need to add probably two high-leverage arms. What I’ve seen since May only makes me more sure that this is the course they should take.

Agreed, I think there might be something not right with Kopech. I think his highest velocity was 95 and many were in the 92-94 range, now just average fastballs. Actually, the bottom six hit five homers that accounted for all eight runs. Almost 2000 feet in the five long balls, none of them were cheap. At the beginning of the season, I said I thought Kirilloff's floor was Will Clark defense and Mark Grace offense while his ceiling was Will Clark offense and Mark Grace defense. I still believe that to be the case. Adding AK and Miranda to the lineup makes a pretty good lineup much better and deeper.

Nick Gordon probably has proven himself to be a major league player in his time with the Twins. That is, if he were DFAed, he would definitely be picked up by someone. He's a good player to have on the team because he has some speed and can play multiple positions. HIs hitting has progressed to league average at this point. I don't know if he played every day or even in a strict platoon if he would sustain his offense, but he has done well in the role he has with the 2022 Twins. The problem, or perhaps more accurately the limiting factor, is that Gordon isn't a major league quality shortstop. He'd have the chance to be a regular somewhere if he could be trusted to line up at short for 130-150 games, but the evidence is there that he can't. When Correa first went down (fingers), the Twins brought up Royce Lewis and plugged him in at shortstop. When Correa went down again (COVID), the Twins brought up Jermaine Palacios and plugged him in at short. That says volumes about Gordon's ability to man shortstop on more than an occasional basis. It is a closer call in center field, but Gilberto Celestino is the preferred backup when Buxton isn't in the lineup. To summarize, Gordon's improved hitting and ability to be a serviceable defender in the outfield has cemented himself a a major leaguer, his inability to defend well enough at two key defensive positions will most likely preclude him for ever being a regular in the majors. He's certainly not a failure, but he most likely won't ever hold a regular position.

Too many walks and home runs. He has to have command of two pitches and I don't think he does at this point. I do agree that we've seen the extreme in the past couple of weeks, but he seemed to get extraordinarily lucky in some earlier outings. He wouldn't be bad pitching in the 6th-7th, but I want no part of him being the primary closer.

I had thought that Cruz might fall off a cliff in his hitting, but it seems he is slowly diminishing. He is putting up near league average numbers, but the slumps seem a bit more frequent and a bit deeper and the hot streaks are a bit less caliente. In terms of production, the Twins can get that out of Miranda, Kirilloff and Arraez.

I think it is a stretch to believe that any and every starter can be converted to the bullpen. Some guys are wired to pitch every 5-6 days, some are not. Some have their stuff “play up”, others don’t. Some relish the challenge of coming into close games late. I think the best course for the remainder of the season is a) get as many healthy as possible and b) trade for two proven bullpen arms.

There’s an epidemic of not running hard out of the box and it’s not just the Twins. In fact there are very few like Kirby who busted it out of the box every time.

I'm sure the injury bug will hit and one or more of the current starters will be sidelined at some point. That said, with a few notable exceptions, the starters have really done a good job keeping the team in games. There is enough big league talent that I don't see Sands or another Chi Chi type getting any starts. I'm certain I've just jinxed the rotation and somebody on the St. Paul roster (other than Winder) will start a key game against the Guardians or White Sox.