Cory Engelhardt

Well, if a team is desperate at the deadline, they HAVE to pay good prices to supplement their team right? If a team wants a good player, they have to pay the price.

Yup, and this headline then is misguided. It should be changed to Jax OR Duran, not Jax AND Duran. That's lowballing both of their value, even compared to very recent trade deadlines.

The Marlins got a top 50 prospect and 3 other good players for Tanner Scott last year at the deadline, and Scott was a free agent to be. Teams pay more when there is more ongoing team control. The value ask of two top 100 prospects here (even if it isn't exactly how MLB or fangraphs or baseball reference or Keith Law lists their own individual top 100 at any given point) still would apply here.

I know, but if you look at Passan's original quote, he wrote it as the Twins are looking at 2 top 100 prospects if they are to trade either Jax or Duran. Just because the headline here wrote it differently doesn't change that.

I took it to mean one or the other. That's what the Twins have said, 2 top 100 prospects for one of Jax or Duran.

That Dodgers one would be REALLY fun. How about something like Tristan Casas and Payton Tolle from Boston? Just to throw out one more idea.

Just came here to add/update; #50 listed here, Angel Cervantes, was taken in the 2nd round of the draft by Pittsburgh. He has since committed back to UCLA and won't sign his pro contract. Should be a fun follow for the draft in 2-3 years.

C/1B/DH. #4 hitter. To me he is a kind of bat you find room for. I struggle with Caissie a bit, because I like his power but I don't at all like his K rate. I'd be open to it if he could be at 1B. Is he truly a better longer term option than what they have for outfield prospects?

I absolutely take Ballesteros over Caissie with his K rate. Don't even need Ballesteros to be a catcher, I just like his bat. Wiggins, I'd like to see what our pitching development could do with him. I think the Cubs would have to consider adding someone even as highly thought of as Cade Horton to make this work though. Just Ballesteros and Wiggins would be something that could be a deal for Duran. For Ryan is a lot more expensive.

I like both of those prospects from the Cubs. I think if the Twins are dealing Ryan, this trade is at least one more higher end prospect short on the Cubs side.

Just for comparison's sake, look what the Padres gave up for Tanner Scott at last year's deadline. The Padres sent Miami 4 prospects (all in the Padres top 5 at the time) including #44 overall Robby Snelling. And Scott was a free agent at the end of last year.

$4,497,500, and slot value for the 16th pick is $4,929,600, so they save 432,100 under slot to give to other guys. First one is done

HIGH end relievers with multiple years of control usually get at least 1 top 100 prospect.

Good. All that team control has high value.

Only adding that I'm not in love with Caissie's strikeout rate at AAA. Ballesteros would certainly be interesting though.

I'd be REALLY curious if they could get something for Caleb Thielbar. That would be some true voodoo magic :) But if they can make smart moves to prepare for 2026, I think that's better than doing nothing at all.

I loved this article. Thank you for sharing. It also makes me think that if this were to happen, that they were to be aggressive in trading, that they would target players who are at least at AA if not already having debuted to help the 2026 team. That's fun to dream on. We'll see what happens in the end. Lots of moving parts with ownership in flux.

Aren't Ober and Keaschall both starting rehab assignments tonight with the Saints? That will certainly be fun to follow :)

I'm all for this. I would absolutely love if they both A) Traded their free agents to be, which is opening up spots for guys at AAA to potentially get a look, and B) sent some prospects for a 1B/DH/OF bat or two that would solidify the lineup. That would be a great deadline in my opinion. In the end, even if they ONLY sell but Lewis and Wallner and Correa don't wake up, then it won't matter. Same if they actually buy, it's kind of those 3 who have to start hitting like they are expected to that will drive the last 2+ months anyway.

Here is an exact quote from Dan Hayes in his article today. I won't give the whole article away, but I found it interesting. Published at 5:15am. "It's conceivable the Twins could trade one of their talented team-controlled relievers, Duran, Jax or Stewart. However, it would be shocking if they traded any for prospects unless they received a massive overpay. The likelier path to parting with one of their relievers is by adding a major-league bat they think could immediately help the team. Essentially, they'd be trading from a strength to fill a weakness." Take that for what you will.

Ugh. Dumb :)

I agree with you, and HOW the table is laid out in the link before you hit submit, it does list Pablo in the dead money area and counts towards the total. You can't edit that portion, or at least I couldn't figure out how to edit that portion. So the numbers looked different before and after I hit submit. It very likely could be user error. But I intentionally listed Pablo at 0.80 in what looks like the spreadsheet because his 21.8 number was listed elsewhere in the link already. THAT felt like doubling up to me.

I now even see I missed Danny Coulombe and removing him from the list. Dumb. Also, I did list Pablo as minimum because he was listed ALSO on there as dead money. I didn't think that would pull over this way? When I hit submit it said I was 11% under budget, but after I hit save it was I was 29.14% under budget.

Here is what I would do for the deadline, as of today. If they truly go on a winning streak maybe they both buy and sell, but for now I think they'll focus on selling at the end of July. That said, I think they'll only truly trade their free agents to be and one of Duran and Jax, along with possibly Larnach. I don't see any enormous moves (like Joe Ryan) and I also don't see us truly buying unless they like a catcher or 1B that is undervalued elsewhere. Here are the moves I'd make... 1) Trade Chris Paddack to the Padres for a couple of low level arms. Paddack can give the Padres innings, and he would also be making a homecoming of sorts. 2) Combine Willi Castro and Danny Coulombe in a deal to the Yankees for a couple of prospects in the 10-20 range. Maybe one of them in their 10-15 range, and another closer to 20. Both of them would help the Yankees and be free agents by the end of the year. 3) Trade Trevor Larnach to Houston. Larnach I THINK has hit his ceiling here, and he is having a decent season against righties. I'd be aggressive here in giving a shot (frankly) to ERod (if he is healthy for more than 3 games at a time) or even taking the leap with Jenkins if he is ready in August. Or, truly, they could just play Bader a lot of the time. All of this depends on health and player development, of course. 5) Trade Duran to either Toronto or Philadelphia, whoever gives you the best return. I'd want a package built around Trey Yesavage from Toronto or Eduardo Tait from Philadelphia. I'd also just move Varland to the "closer" role as I think he has the mentality to be fine there. Keaschall and Zebby and Pablo should all be back in the next month. They can do a quasi-sell off and still actually make some noise IF their pitching stays relatively AND Lewis/Correa/Wallner start to hit like their baseline should be. What do you think? C: Ryan Jeffers ($4.70M) 1B: Ty France ($1.00M) 2B: Brooks Lee ($0.80M) 3B: Royce Lewis ($2.30M) SS: Carlos Correa ($36.00M) LF: Trevor Larnach ($2.10M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M) RF: Matt Wallner ($0.80M) DH: Luke Keaschall ($0.80M) 4th OF: Dashawn Keirsey Jr ($0.80M) Utility: Harrison Bader ($6.25M) Utility: Kody Clemens ($0.80M) Backup C: Christian Vazquez ($10.00M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) SP1: Pablo Lopez ($0.80M) SP2: Joe Ryan ($3.80M) SP3: Bailey Ober ($4.30M) SP4: Zebby Matthews ($0.80M) SP5: Simeon Woods Richardson ($0.80M) RP: David Festa ($0.80M) RP: Brock Stewart ($0.80M) RP: Griffin Jax ($2.60M) RP: Danny Coulombe ($3.00M) RP: Cole Sands ($0.80M) RP: Justin Topa ($1.30M) RP: Louie Varland ($0.80M) RP: Joey Wentz ($0.80M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) Payroll is 29.14% under budget

I think the headline should say that it's the 2025 mlb draft day 2 thread.