Nate Palmer

I really hope it could be done for less. I just have my doubts that the Red Sox are truly that serious about cutting payroll without getting a decent return. Like I mention it would be much easier to swallow if it is say Rosario and the two prospects. So as negotiations went if that is where the deal can be made, great! As a fan trying to "make" a trade this one hurts a bit which has been a good barometer for me over the years that it might be closer to what it may actually take. Thanks, Seth

The Minnesota Twins are going to have money to spend and will need to spend to replenish the roster. What feels most Minnesotan is that the Twins will stretch those dollars as far as possible and sign a number of mid level free agents. What if they didn’t do that? What if the Twins were the team to bring in big salary and big names in a big trade. Here is what an offseason might look like if the Twins are able to bring in current Red Sox outfielder and former MVP Mookie Betts.This blueprint looks at capitalizing on one team's need to cut salary to avoid the luxury tax threshold and enter into the free agent market themselves. Before going too much further, lets lay out the big move and then explain why it may make any sense for the Twins to attempt to put together an offseason centered around such a move. 1. Trade Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, Jordan Balazovic and Nick Gordon to the Boston Red Sox for OF Mookie Betts and LHP David Price Un-Minnesota right? The Twins get a top-10 MLB player in Betts who can hit, field and has an MVP on his resume. The major downside for anyone trading for Betts this offseason is that they will only get him for one season. Price may not be the dominant David Price we remember, but if he is healthy, he still has the ability to contribute to a major league starting staff. While his ERA was 4.28 in 2019 his FIP was 3.62 and still has a swinging strike rate above 11%. The concern with Price is his contract and a decrease in velocity. The biggest return the Red Sox get is nearly $60 million in contracts off the books in 2020 and and additional $32 million per season owed to Price the next two seasons. Boston also gets two major league ready pieces in Rosario, who steps into Betts' role, and Sano, who fills their need at first base. With a vacancy at second, Gordon becomes a candidate there, and Balazovic gives the Red Sox a talented and controllable young arm that they covet. It would be great if the Twins didn’t have to give up both Sano and Rosario, but it sounds like the Red Sox are going to want a good haul for Betts to move him. Now for the rest of the moves that help fit those big contracts into the Twins payroll. A payroll that will obviously need to increase but will try and do so within reason. 2. Tender all arbitration-eligible players This becomes necessary to fill roster spots in a relatively affordable way with the extra salary being brought on board. 3. Sign RHP Jake Odorizzi for three years, $36 million Odorizzi will never be an ace but has proven that he can still be a very valuable part to a playoff rotation. The Twins staff also clearly knows how to get that out of him and to continue to allow them to work with Odorizzi will hopefully help maintain if not improve on those results. 4. Sign RHP Sergio Romo for one year, $3 million At $3 million Romo comes in relatively affordably when it comes to quality playoff caliber arms. His personality and experience is also always welcome and with the bulk of the Twins payroll going elsewhere, Romo can continue to mentor and lead the bullpen. 5. Sign Kyle Barraclough for one year, $1 million I personally highlighted Barraclough last week but didn’t expect to actually use him anywhere in a blueprint. Here I am trying to find a bargain bin arm that could bounce back and have an impact for the Twins in the bullpen. The hope here is that Barraclough would be able to reduce his hard hit rate and continue to create swing and misses but with much better results than he had in 2019. 6. Trade OF Akil Baddoo and 2B/3B/OF Travis Blankenhorn to the Rockies for RHP Jon Gray This trade has the potential to be similar to what the Twins did with Odorizzi. Gray had a better season in 2019 than Odorizzi did before the Twins acquired him which is the reason for two prospects in this deal vs. the one when Odorizzi was acquired. Gray pitches with good velocity (96.1 mph) and induces ground balls at a high rate. He certainly can be a back end of the rotation starter, but hopefully the Twins could find the front-line starter the Rockies once thought they had in the right-hander. Gray has team control through 2021 and is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to make $5.6 million this coming season. SUMMARY The lineup does look to lose a bit in the way of depth in comparison to the 2019 version of the Twins. There is no doubt that Betts makes the top end of the lineup much better. A healthy Cron hopefully contributes more to this lineup than he did down the stretch this past season. If not, there are the likes of Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach that the Twins could figure out how to get in the lineup in his place. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2019-11-11 at 10.19.42 PM.png The starting rotation may still be lacking the true ace that is being sought. Berrios, Price, Odorizzi, and Gray each represent pitchers who have the potential to carry a team. Brusdar Graterol is also a possibility to figure in here. Graterol and Berrios likely represent the best chance for an emerging and dominant ace. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2019-11-11 at 10.34.09 PM.png The hope here is that the bullpen was much better than what we saw of it in the playoffs, whether it was misuse or just bad execution. The 2020 Twins according to this blueprint will mostly need to see continued growth from many of these arms since it is mostly the same group returning. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2019-11-11 at 10.34.19 PM.png Including the $0.5 million buyout for Martin Perez this puts the Twins payroll at $144.8 million. What would make this approach soar is if the front office got permission from ownership to spend even more to make the most of the one year of Betts. Maybe winning baseball for a second season would at least allow for payroll to be added at the trade deadline mid-summer. This approach would admittedly be a gamble. There is a lot going into 2020 and an added contract in Price’s that has the potential to soak up a large chunk of the payroll for the next three seasons. Betts is the type of player that may just be worth the gamble. Check out these other Offseason Blueprints: Building a Bullpenner What would your blueprint look like for the Twins this winter? Download your copy of the Offseason Handbook and use it to construct a champion. Share your vision for discussion in our Create a Blueprint forum thread. Meanwhile, stay tuned to TD as our writers will be formulating offseason plans from different perspectives all week long. Click here to view the article

With qualifying offers news coming out and options being declined, the free agent player pool is becoming much more clear. Here are four players who either didn't have a qualifying offer extended to them, or had an option declined, that could interest the Minnesota Twins.In an offseason where the Minnesota Twins should be very active, these recent qualifying offer and option decisions have created some buzz. There are a number of players that are either a level more signable as they will not have draft pick compensation attached to them or have newly become available. Here are four names that could be intriguing options for the Twins. Cole Hamels LHP Free agent not extended qualifying offer Cole Hamels will turn 36 before the 2020 season begins. While that number isn’t trending in the right direction, Hamels has continued to produce even as his age advances. Spending 2019 with the Chicago Cubs, Hamels tossed 141.2 innings with a 3.81 ERA and 9.1 K/9. While Hamels' velocity has dipped by one or two mph since his last All-Star season in 2016 he has remained effective. Hamels in 2019 still held a swinging strike rate of 12.2 % and continues to limit the hard contact, allowing hits of that sort only 36.4% of the time last season. Hamels may not be able to carry a rotation on his back anymore, but next to Jose Berrios and maybe Jake Odorizzi he should easily challenge for the number two or three spot in the rotation depending on who else is added. Julio Teheran RHP $12 million option declined Julio Teheran is not the top-end starter the Twins need to get this offseason. What Teheran is, is very consistent. He can be relied on to take the ball for his turn in the rotation. Because of that he continues to pop up in some pretty decent positions on pitching leaderboards. Among pitchers qualified for the ERA title in 2019 Teheran was 35th in strikeouts (162), 41st in innings pitched (174.2), 24th in earned runs allowed (74), 25th in ERA (3.81), and 25th in ERA+ (119). Again, not ace level but still respectable. Teheran does seem to have a knack for blowing up and allowing some long balls. With the Twins needing to fill four rotation spots currently, the veteran right-hander could be an interesting option. He will have a ugly game regularly throughout the season but will come back to hold teams to two runs or fewer for stretches as well. Edwin Encarnacion 1B/DH $20 million option declined Edwin Encarnacion, Nelson Cruz, and Miguel Sano. Can you imagine how opposing pitchers would feel if they needed to run into that trio? Encarnacion is also one of those players it'd be nice for the Twins to simply not have to face, as he just seems to always come up with a big hit against them. Encarnacion only managed to play in 109 games in 2019 but still hit 34 home runs. While another 30+ home run bat would be fun in the Twins lineup, the struggle would be finding him a spot. Could Edwin and Cruz exist on the same roster? While this situation could be video game type fun it may not be a likely option. Still, an intriguing name as the hot stove heats up this winter. Kyle Barraclough RHP Elected free agency after DFA Kyle Barraclough looked to be headed towards closer greatness as a member of the Miami Marlins. That is why the Washington Nationals traded for Barraclough last offseason. Something has happened to the once dominant relief arm which has led to him being designated for assignment twice in the past calendar year. Before being DFA’d by Washington, Barraclough tossed 25.2 innings, held a 6.66 ERA, but still managed a 10.5 K/9. After working his way back to the majors after joining San Francisco, he rebounded with a decent eight innings on the surface with a 2.25 ERA and a 11.3 K/9. His FIP though came in at a much higher 5.71. With Barraclough's past success he looks to be worth a chance after a down year. What are the names you were tracking as news has come out the last couple of days? Make sure you share below. Not registered? Click here to create an account. To stay up to date, follow Twins Daily on Twitter and Facebook. Also if you haven’t already, take your armchair GM-ing to the next level and be sure you go grab the Offseason Handbook! And now an odd request from the Twins Daily community: if you found this page via Facebook, can you please add a comment telling us from which Facebook Page you followed it? It's getting quite a bit of traffic, and we would love to know who is sharing it. Thanks. Click here to view the article

All the excitement of AL Central Division championship and 101 wins seemed to disappear quickly in New York Friday night. Some unfortunate events in the field and some unfamiliar bullpen results left the Twins once again losers to the Yankees in a postseason game.Box Score Starter: Jose Berrios 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 61.4% strikes (54 of 88 pitches) Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 6 K Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (1), Nelson Cruz (1), Miguel Sano (1) Multi-Hit Games: Jorge Polanco (2-for-4), Marwin Gonzalez (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco (.248), Nelson Cruz(.105), Miguel Sano (.062) Bottom 3 WPA: Cody Stashak (-.151), Mitch Garver (-.123), Eddie Rosario (-.122) Download attachment: WinChartALDS1.png Bomba SZN starts early It didn’t take us long to find out who would hit the first postseason home run for the Twins in 2019. After a Mitch Garver strikeout, Jorge Polanco took James Paxton deep to put the Twins up 1-0 in the first inning. Then as the Twins got into the third inning, Nelson Cruz did what he has done all season to left-handed pitchers. Cruz took a ball to right field and took full advantage of that short wall in Yankee Stadium to put the Twins up 2-0. Berrios looked up for the task, until undone by errors As Berrios took the mound it looked like we were going to get a few innings of the energetic, strike-throwing Berrios we have been looking for. As fastball after fastball registered 95 mph on the gun things were going well. The one concern was the pitch count which was already at 48 pitches after two innings of work. So while far from perfect, Berrios was getting the job done. Then in the third inning Luis Arraez, who may have bumped into an umpire, looked unsteady as he headed for a short pop up and missed it as it fell to the outfield grass. That was the first of two missed opportunities to put an out on the scoreboard. It was followed by Twin-killer Edwin Encarnacion hitting his second double of the game to drive in DJ LeMahieu. Arraez was involved in the second missed opportunity as the relay from second to first during a double play did not connect. The second play looked to be more on C.J. Cron than on Arraez even though the throw was by no means perfect. Arraez redeemed himself as he would double in the fifth inning. Allowing Polanco to come back to the plate and collect his second hit of the evening and drive Arraez in to tie the game up 3-3. Bullpen wasn't quite the same The most questionable move of the night may have came at the beginning of the fifth inning. Berrios had just been taken out of the game after going four innings and giving up four hits, three walks, and one earned run. After Tyler Duffey had been warming up earlier, Baldelli turned to Zack Littell to face the heart of the Yankees lineup. Duffey came in after Littell walked Judge and hit Gardner with a pitch. By that time it gave Duffey little wiggle room and he eventually gave up a bases-loaded double to Torres off of Sano’s glove. The second questionable bullpen move came when Cody Stashak was put in the game and gave up two home runs to let the Yankees go up 7-4 in the sixth. It seems especially strange at this stage to have Stashak in against the top of the Yankee lineup when Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, and Trevor May are all sitting out in the bullpen. After Stashak, Baldelli turned to Kyle Gibson to likely save some of the other arms in the pen. LeMahieu continued to have a good night as he hit a bases-clearing double to go with a home run, two runs, and leaving him 3-for-5 on the night. This wasn’t a good start in an attempt to “slay the dragon” as the Twins droped the game 10-4. Thankfully we don’t even need to wait 24 hours before we will see how the Twins rebound from their Game 1 loss. Postgame With Baldelli Pitching Staff Spreadsheet Here's a look at the pitching staff usage: Download attachment: PitchingStaff.png Click here to view the article

Thanks Steve. Absolutely defer to your knowledge on the other players on the roster. The AFL does create a unique situation for getting prospects into games!

Royce Lewis was one of the Minnesota Twins prospects selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League. While his home runs are turning heads, so are his starts at third base and center field over his usual shortstop. What might this mean long term for the Twins top prospect?Overall 2019 was a down year for Minnesota Twins top prospect Royce Lewis. While calling it a down year, it is labeled so with a bit of hesitancy. While it is an absolutely appropriate label as Lewis slashed .236/.290/.371 between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Pensacola. There are more factors to a prospect's development at times than pure and linear statistical output. Lewis is also only 20-years-old and had other outside influences contributing to a lower production at the plate. He did struggle with an oblique strain early in spring training and also has been tinkering with his approach at the plate. All of which seem to have contributed to a lower output at the plate. Regardless of how we frame Lewis’ 2019 numbers, they did cause Lewis to stumble a bit lower on national prospect rankings, but he is still clearly one of the best prospects in baseball. Something that now is being showcased in the Arizona Fall League. Offensively Lewis has been doing things like this: And defensively like this: And that is where the heads begin to turn. That is Lewis in center field. Which isn’t all that strange, but the shortstop hasn’t in four games started at his regular position once and has seen all his time split between center and third base. So what does this all mean? We ultimately have no idea, but we can sure have some fun speculating. So let’s start with the most exciting option first. The Twins really like his bat now It is no secret that the Twins have a really good lineup right now. Maybe the Twins would like to add their former number-one pick to that lineup. The problem is that right now the middle infield spots look to be secured by Jorge Polanco and the emergence of Luis Arraez. Third base is also technically occupied, but it seems possible the Twins could roll with an infield that puts Lewis at the hot corner. And then goes around the horn with Lewis-Polanco-Arraez-Sano. Lewis could also wiggle his way into a crowded outfield situation. There is plenty of speculation about Byron Buxton’s long term ability to stay healthy. There is also a good dose of speculation surrounding Eddie Rosario as a trade piece in trying to bolster the Twins pitching staff. It seems absolutely plausible that at some point there will be a new face in the 2020 starting outfield compared to this year’s go-to group. It makes imagining a starting group next season as three of Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, and Lewis (or name your outfielder) feel very realistic. This scenario does feel like a stretch as I write it. Lewis’ scenario feels like one that no matter what he does in the AFL or spring training he will find more time in the minors in 2020. Since he has already made it to Double-A we also know that a promotion to the majors can happen quickly once a talented player hits that level. So while we as fans aren’t used to seeing 21-year-olds in the big leagues we know it isn’t impossible either. Versatility is King If there is anything we have learned about baseball in 2019, next to guys who can hit the baseball really far, it is that teams value defensive versatility. Marwin Gonzalez, Ehire Adrianza, Luis Arraez, and Willians Astudillo are all guys on the Twins roster that greatly increase their value by their ability to field multiple positions. Generally superstars (which I think we all hope Lewis becomes) find one position and are able to lock into it. That may still be true, but maybe we are seeing that the Twins will also value that versatility out of even a superstar. This is AFL specific The last and least exciting option is this. This is just how the roster of the Salt River Rafters has worked best when it comes to day-to-day lineups to this point in the AFL season. So while Lewis is still viewed as a shortstop it just works best with the players on the roster to have him see time at third or in center. Lewis is still a better prospect than Arizona Diamondbacks Geraldo Perdomo who has seen time at short instead of Lewis. Which maybe only fuels speculation about what is happening in Arizona right now and what it means about the long term fate of Lewis and other Twins players. Do-Hyoung Park recently wrote that he has been told Lewis will return to his regular work at shortstop after the AFL. Which adds to this being the likely reasoning behind what we are seeing from Lewis. Not to mention Steve Lein wrote that this exact situation was a very strong possibility in his AFL preview not quite a week ago. Time will tell where Lewis plays once he gets a shot in the majors. Right now we can enjoy improved production at the plate from him as in four games Lewis has slashed .333/.412/.800 with a 1.212 OPS and two home runs. Lewis continues to look like one more very talented bat that isn’t far from plugging in somewhere and working to keep playoff-level baseball in Minnesota. Click here to view the article

Considering that the Yankees and Astros are right there with the Twins in smashing lefties it seems like a setup for disaster to send Perez out there. Seems we need to hope for a better Gibson but plan for a short start from him and ride the bullpen the rest of the way.

I will admit "depressing" is a little strong. I originally had some words to soften its impact but took them out. More of "meh, that kinda stinks" then a "the sky is falling!" sort of depressing.

After a big series win in Cleveland, the Twins welcomed the White Sox to town Monday night. The lineup continued to get healthy as Marwin Gonzalez returned to the lineup and Jose Berrios looked good again as the Twins won 5-3.Box Score Starter Jose Berrios: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 69% strikes (65 of 94 pitches) Bullpen: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Home Runs: None Multi-Hit Games: Luis Arraez (3-for-4), Mitch Garver (2-for-3) Top 3 WPA: Mitch Garver (.205), Jose Berrios (.204), Luis Arraez (.182) Bottom 3 WPA: Jake Cave (-.197), Eddie Rosario (-.109), Sergio Romo (-.002) It took Jose Berrios some time to get locked in, resulting in the White Sox taking an early 2-0 lead. The first coming off of a sacrifice fly from Jose Abreu and the second from a Jame McCann home run. That lead didn’t last long as the Twins strung some singles together to get runners on base and tie the game up 2-2 after a Jorge Polanco sac fly and a Nelson Cruz single. It was from that point on that Berrios settled in and wouldn’t allow the White Sox to produce any more runs off. A Garver RBI double in the fifth and the strangest two-run single by Luis Arraez put the Twins up 5-2 after six innings. That lead backed Berrios as he continued to pitch well with good velocity and made it into the eighth inning before giving way to the bullpen. Romo giving up a home run late is depressing but all in all a solid game by the Twins. It was fun watching Marwin play again especially his reaction to the successful pick-off from Berrios. The big take away as we look to the postseason is that Berrios is looking more and more like a pitcher who can help lead the team in some big games. And apparently the Twins don't need to hit home runs to win games. Who knew? Postgame With Baldelli Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

The second contest of Saturday's doubleheader provided another bullpen game, but that is about where the similarities ended. Things didn’t look to be going the Twins way early, but a five-run eighth inning ensured, and the Twins secured, the double-header sweep, beating Cleveland 9-5.Box Score Starter: Lewis Thorpe 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 59% strikes (49 of 83 pitches) Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Home Runs: Eddie Rosario (29), Nelson Cruz (37), Miguel Sano (28) Multi-Hit Games: Jorge Polanco (3-for-5) Top 3 WPA: Jorge Polanco (.256), Eddie Rosario (.243), Miguel Sano (.213) Bottom 3 WPA: Lewis Thorpe (-.302), Max Kepler (-1.00), Luis Arraez (-.077) Eddie Rosario started game two of the doubleheader off right as he hit his 29th home run on the season to score Jorge Polanco and put the Twins up 2-0 early. That early lead wouldn’t hold nearly as long as one had hoped. Lewis Thorpe continued the parade of bullpen arms that passed over the mound Saturday. While game one resulted in a shutout, Thorpe wasn’t as sharp. Instead the Indians scored two runs in the first and another three in the fourth before Thorpe left the game with the Indians leading 5-2. In the sixth inning the Twins began to chip away at the Indians' lead with a Cruz home run. It was then in the eighth inning when all of Twins Territory could exhale and then celebrate as the Twins erupted for five runs. With Sano’s first career grand slam being the biggest of exclamation points on the Twins' night and putting the Twins up 9-5. While Sano will be the one remembered, Polanco and the relievers should not be overlooked. Polanco, along with going 3-for-5 on the night also scored three of the Twins nine runs. After the exit of Thorpe, the Twins pitchers allowed only one hit, issued no walks or runs, and struck out six Indian batters. That puts the Twins 5.5 games up in the Central and the Indians are now in danger of missing out on the playoffs all together. I will allow your imagination to insert an earlier tweeted premature farewell tweet here... Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

It wasn’t that the Twins offense was completely on vacation with most of the rest of Twins Territory for most of their Labor Day finale against the Tigers, but it certainly wasn’t finishing the job either. Finally, in the eighth inning the winning run crossed the plate Monday afternoon for the team's 85th win. A total that matches the 2017 playoff team's win total.Box Score Starter Jake Odorizzi: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 69.2% strikes (63 of 91 pitches) Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Ehire Adrianza (5) Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (2-for-5), Jorge Polanco (3-for-5), Nelson Cruz (2-for-5), Luis Arraez (3-for-4), Ehire Adrianza (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Kepler (.368), Arraez (.227), Adrianza (.204) Bottom 3 WPA: Cron (-.247), Cave (-.246), Rosario (-.128) Miguel Cabrera struck first for the Tigers with a solo shot off Jake Odorizzi in the first inning. The Twins quickly answered, with Ehire Adrianza playing third for Miguel Sano and doing his best impression of the big man. Adrianza went ahead and launched a two-run shot to deep right-center field. The Tigers added two more runs to retake the lead in the fifth inning, making the score 3-2. After Jake Cave bobbled a grounder in the sixth inning it looked like the Tigers might extend their lead, but Tyler Duffey was able to strike out two batters, which stranded runners on second and third. The solid appearance comes off of a good August where Duffey put up a stat line of 10.2 IP, 0 ER, 17/5 K/BB and a 0.00 ERA. Kepler comes up clutch once again. Max Kepler gave the Twins the lead in the eighth inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single to score LaMonte Wade and Luis Arraez. Once again the lefty showed off just how important he is to this team. Garver leaves game early After getting hit in the mask, Mitch Garver was removed from the game in favor of Willians Astudillo. Thankfully according to all reports coming mid-game Garver doesn’t seem to have any concussion symptoms. Instead he was removed because of a sore jaw. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article

Ever since the Reusse retweet I have been wondering...how concerned should we be that a whole corner of the zone is untouched by Berrios?

I was encouraged by Hildy's interview with Doogie a week or two ago. If the team and him were able to find something mechanical to fix and he can do it with success he will certainly vault to the top of options to round out the bullpen.

The Minnesota Twins have struggled to find a completely effective bullpen mix in 2019. With all the moving pieces recently and an overused Taylor Rogers, here is an attempt to find a competitive bullpen for the stretch run.Stop me if you have heard this before. The Minnesota Twins could use some better pitching performances. Early in the season all the focus was on the bullpen, and while it has more recently shifted to the starters and a stretch of dismal starts, all the changes with the relievers do cause us to wonder what should the Twins bullpen look like for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. The good news (if there can be such thing about something you struggle with) about the Twins bullpen struggles is that they are not alone in those struggles. The Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Padres, and even the Yankees among others have had their own hiccups along the way, whether it be performance or injury related. As a reminder to ourselves, here is what the bullpen looked like coming into Opening Day 2019. RHP Trevor May LHP Taylor Rogers RHP Blake Parker RHP Trevor Hildenberger RHP Ryne Harper LHP Martin Perez LHP Adalberto Mejia IL-RHP Matt Magill Now Perez’s inclusion was obviously the early season luxury of being able to roll with a four-man rotation. Besides Perez’s move to the rotation we have also seen Parker, Mejia, and Magill all let loose and Hildy has been sent down, hurt, and is now trying to make a comeback. The task at hand today is trying to assemble the best bullpen with what is available to the Twins for the stretch run as they try to outpace the Indians once again like they did to begin the season. Constructing the Bullpen for the Rest of 2019 For starters, Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, and Ryne Harper will have a place in the bullpen barring any injury. Even after allowing a grand slam to Carlos Santanna Sunday, Rogers is still the best reliever this team has and still one of the best in the league at what he does. As food for thought, there was this informative tweet from Aaron Gleeman regarding Rogers’ usage. This makes it all the more important to find reinforcements for the bullpen so that Rocco can give Rogers some rest. Romo was brought in to be part of the backend of the bullpen and has a 1.59 ERA since coming on the scene. He has only allowed the one run since joining the Twins. Harper has done nothing but get the job done this season holding a 2.96 ERA in 51 games. While he is the third reliever mentioned here, the Twins need Harper to fill a role in the sixth and seventh innings and not end up as the third-best reliever on this list in order for the team to be competitive with playoff caliber teams. The polarizing Sam Dyson will and needs to be part of this bullpen as well for the Twins to be competitive. They went out and traded three prospects for him for a reason. While Rogers is the Twins best reliever and Romo can and has saved out some games, Dyson is really the guy that can help effectively take a load off of Rogers. The good news is Dyson looks ready to come off the IL as soon as Tuesday. Now just hopefully whatever needed to happen during those 10 days happened and he is ready to be the good Sam Dyson the Twins traded for. Tyler Duffey and Trevor May are two that carry baggage of memories with them for fans. It is sometimes hard to shake the memories of bad Duffey from our minds and see that he has continued to pitch well in relief in 2019. His ERA is a respectable 3.23 even if his 4.11 FIP gives a little reason for concern. Duffey has also turned in seven straight scoreless appearances and hasn’t given up multiple runs since July 6. Giving Duffey a run of 13 appearances with one run or less. Right role, Duffey has value for a competitive team. May had us all excited when he pulled back and nearly hit 100 mph on the radar gun. Unfortunately that has been bookended by a stretch toward the end of July where he took a loss, blew a lead, and blew a save and allowed seven runs over three games and on the other end the solo shot he allowed to Tyler Naquin. May is likely the best representation of a power arm this bullpen currently has and his 3.74 ERA and K/9 north of 10 lands him a spot here. That gives us a foundation of Rogers, Romo, Dyson, Harper, Duffey, and May in the bullpen for the stretch run, but this is where I would like to do some searching to see if we can put someone else in that final spot or two for the bullpen. Cody Stashak, Zack Littell, and Randy Dobnak have all had some flashes but when I am looking at the Astros and Yankees come postseason, if I could get a different pitcher in their spot that would be great. Quest for Outside Help The Twins could always look outside of the organization to the waiver wire to see if they could pick up a veteran reliever who has been cast off by his club. I would have been all on board the Twins taking a chance on Kyle Barraclough but he wound up with the Giants on a waiver claim. That leaves at last check relievers like Tony Sipp, Greg Holland, Trevor Rosenthal, and David Hernandez to look at. Obviously none of these guys are having great seasons and come with risk and that is why they were sent through waivers. Sipp and Holland feel like the most likely to gain some attention out of this group (Holland to the Nationals is currently drawing some strong steam). Sipp purely because he is a lefty and Holland because he is a “proven closer.” Neither looks to have much upside as Sipp may just be nearing the end at 36 and Holland looks to have lost velocity and is being hit as hard as ever in his career. I think the Twins should and will pass here. Turning to the Farm That leaves in-house options to round out the bullpen. The safe in-house option is to continue rotating Triple-A arms like the Twins have been and maybe add Ryan O’ Rourke, who was recently brought back into the system. If we are willing to not keep it safe this seems like the spot where we lean on some Rob Antony steam and call on Brusdar Graterol. We are all likely familiar with Graterol as the top arm in the Twins farm system. While he has generally been working as a starter, his shoulder injury will cause him to need to rebuild some strength to regain length to his outings, making a bullpen role perfect for him down the stretch. Graterol would add plenty of velocity to the bullpen since as a starter he can regularly hit triple digits. The shorter appearances out of the pen would also allow him to maintain extra velocity on his slider making it that much more effective of a pitch. At 20-years-old it feels very anti-Twins, but this is a new regime and they seem ready to unleash Graterol if it helps the team compete. It may even be worth taking a look further down the line of Double-A Twins pitchers. Jorge Alcala, who was acquired in the Ryan Pressly trade, has the velocity that is exciting for a bullpen arm as he can also touch triple digits. The problem is, like Fernando Romero who I haven’t included on this list, he hasn’t fully harnessed his pitch arsenal and is struggling with a 5.96 ERA. Another 2018 trade deadline acquisition in Jhoan Duran (Eduardo Escobar trade) could be someone who the Twins could try. Duran joins Graterol and Alcala as someone in the Twins system who can hit triple digits on the radar gun. He has had a solid season as a starter even though he has struggled since being promoted to Double-A Pensacola with his ERA jumping to 5.29 over three games from 3.23 over 16 at High-A Fort Myers. If he can smooth things out in the next couple weeks the No. 9 prospect by both Twins Daily and MLB Pipeline could join Graterol as an aggressive promotion to the major league pen. If I am the Twins, I believe this is the bullpen I am rolling with going forward. CL Taylor Rogers CL Sam Dyson RHP Sergio Romo RHP Ryne Harper RHP Trevor May RHP Tyler Duffey RHP Brusday Graterol (if Twins stay with a three-man bench) RHP Jhoan Duran or Triple-A rotation This obviously hopes for a Dyson return to form to take some pressure off of Rogers, but Taylor is still the shutdown guy whenever that is needed. The biggest weakness in this pen is that there is still only one lefty. So I wouldn’t hate it if someone wanted to try to shift Martin Perez or Devin Smeltzer into the bullpen. I just don’t know if I am convinced about either of them being great bullpen arms. I would also tread very carefully with Duran, but I am very curious to know how the front office views both him and Graterol. I would hate to mess with either of their developments for a handful of bullpen innings. Let me know how you would construct the Twins bullpen moving forward. Nicely call me crazy if necessary, or high fives are always nice as well. Click here to view the article

Always fun when there is a HR listed next to those top 3 hitters!

The culture point is an angle of this I hadn’t thought about. Just have to hope at this point he gets healthy and will be effective when he returns and that there isn’t any toughing out that creeps into the rest of the team.

With both the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves owning first place in their respective divisions, Monday night’s opening game of a three-game series brought back plenty of memories of the 1991 World Series. So much so that Dick Bremer brought to the booth his cufflinks from that World Series-winning season. At least for tonight we saw the same result as in ‘91 as the Twins won in walk-off fashion, 5-3.Box Score Jake Odorizzi: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 60.6% strikes (66 of 109 pitches) Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Max Kepler (31), Miguel Sano (19) Multi-Hit Games: Luis Arraez (2-for-4) Top 3 WPA: Sano (.433), May (.255), Odorizzi (.247) Bottom 3 WPA: Duffey (-.131), Cave (-.093), Harper (-.089) Odorizzi started the game with two straight strikeouts giving the impression early on that being pushed back a day in favor of Devin Smeltzer on Sunday might pay off in big ways for the Twins. Although quickly the walks started to pile up and so did the pitch count causing everyone to wonder how long the starter would last. While Odrizzi’s pitch count piled up, for the other side Mike Soroka was dealing to start the game, flying perfectly through the Twins lineup the first time through. Soroka came into the game with the lowest home run rate by a starter. And it took the most anti-Bomba way for the Bomba squad to get a hit and eventually score. In the fourth inning recent Bomba leader Nelson Cruz reached on an infield hit with two outs, followed by an outfield hit by Eddie Rosario, and another infield hit by Marwin Gonzalez. It was then none other than rookie Luis Arraez who slapped a hit to left field to score Cruz and Rosario to put the Twins up 2-0. Freddie Freeman and Max Kepler traded home runs bringing the game to 3-1 score. Then a defensively sloppy seventh inning resulted in Acuna reaching, advancing to second on a passed ball, and scoring on a ball that got past Jake Cave in the outfield. Then an RBI single by Josh Donaldson tied the game at 3-3 midway through the seventh. Then in the eighth and ninth innings Trevor May slammed the door shut on the Braves with straight heat as he hit 99.8 mph on the gun. All of which set the stage for Miguel Sano. With two outs and Arraez standing on first Sano hit his 19th home run to center field that was such a no doubter Acuna was running to the visitors dugout before it even landed. Postgame With Baldelli Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet Click here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days. Click here to view the article