SwainZag

Would we be okay with the Twins DFA'ing a guy who finished 3rd in ROY voting, and hit 23 HR with an .800 OPS less than 2 years ago? He has proven over a full season he CAN hit ML pitching. He might be a lost cause, and sure maybe he should be DFA'd, but....how much can any team really rely in Stewart? He's spent more time on the IL than he has the roster. He will be 34 soon. "Control years" don't really tell the whole story about a guy his age. I would have preferred a younger lottery ticket, but when he is approaching his career high in IP (34) and he's been around for a decade.......how much do we really think he is going to get back? We all know when he's 100% healthy he is filthy. We should also all know that's very unlikely. We should also know that other teams know this. Embarrassing could be true, but it's a sight to been seen.

Correa is like a unicorn when it comes to the position. He was picked 1/1 for a reason. Players just aren't built like him, who can make those throws with that range.........and then being an above average offensive player. The players are just so few and far between that 25 franchises are chasing them at all times, and those who have them are extremely lucky. The real discussion that almost no one seems to be addressing is the production that Correa gave the Twins vs the money that they were paying him. He never made an AS team and while he was a very good clubhouse and very high IQ player, losing the name seems to ring so much more to the media and the public than what he actually produced for the Twins.

He's 29, he earned a small shot at the majors based on his AAA track record. He played for 8 years in the minors, the Twins have given him 49 PA...which haven't gone well. 25% have come after the season was lost, the rest came in April after he earned a shot in ST with his bat. That being said, Mickey....great mustache, you got your chance and I applaud the organization......but let's move on. If he is here next week, I'll grab the pitchfork.

This study means nothing without context. How many of those 121 players have never played for their current manager? How many of those 121 players are 10+ years in the league and have played for multiple franchises? There are 750 players on CURRENT 25 man rosters. 121 is 16% of players. We all know the results are very posted to tell us that no one wants to play for Rocco. I understand the agenda. 6 of the top 10 answers are 6/10 top ten payrolls. You know how much better coaching is when you have a loaded roster and win.....

When the owners won't open the purse strings to add, what do you want to FO to do? They won a playoff series and dropped the payroll $25M. Saying they got nothing of value to help us now or in the future is being extremely negative and reactionary unless you have a crystal ball.

I think Abel is being slept on. While he is no Painter, if he has fixed his control problems which plagued him most of his minor league career, he has some pretty high upside and is only 23.

I'm not a fan of this trade, but his 2.31 ERA in 13 AAA starts this year should be a little more meaningful than his 2024 numbers.

I haven't read any comments other than the OP, but all 3 are very much pass. Unless the Twins are getting back a top end prospect plus.....Ryan shouldn't be going anywhere. A good offer doesn't get it done. Joe Ryan is at his absolute peak value wise. Age wise, performance wise, contract wise. Any team that wants him should and will need to overpay. On the open market he is a $25+ a year guy. If the Phil's want him, the talks start with Painter. If the BoSox want him, the talks start with Mayer or Anthony. That's not being biased, that's what elite, controlled starting pitching costs, and is why Joe Ryan will be a Twin next season.

Hicks had 2 good season with the Yankees which earned him a 7 year $70M contract where he was barely better than replacement level.....and played in less than 40% of games over those years. Murphy was a bust and yes, they should have gotten more for him, but outside of 1.5 season in NY, he was a pretty average overpaid player.

Couldn't agree more. If you have an ownership group who isn't willing to put money into an up and coming team and solely rely on your GM to draft and trade well you are always going to be behind the 8 ball. The 2023 team finally got over that cusp, won a playoff series and instead of adding.........they slash 25M in payroll. A GM can only do so much.

Any trade which involves Joe Ryan being dealt and doesn't include at least one top prospect plus coming back just isn't realistic IMO. He is a top 10-15 pitcher in baseball, he's 29 and under control for 2 more years. It should take an almost unreasonable haul to pry him away, as it should. Adding in Jax and Duran and not being able to secure a top 50 prospect would be insane. A couple of those guys coming back have potential, but the Twins have more than enough leverage to bring back a good deal more if they chose to deal them all. At least in my opinion.

I really hope that Carson does get his fair shake, but how can you be upset with moves that worked? Clemens probably isn't on this team if he isn't the utility guy that he is combined with the amount of injuries that this team has had. The way he has hit the ball has also kinda earned him more ABs. Before he was brought into the suspended Cleveland game he was 7 for his last 12 AB and 9 for his last 14 PA getting on base. He promptly delivered as well.

Wouldn't this be a pretty rare circumstance with Ryan still on the bump going into the 9th at 80 pitches? Several people love to bag on Rocco for pulling starters early. Ryan had just cruised the 7th and 8th, it's no surprise to me to bring him out got it 9th.

If Duran starts and closes out the 9th, I can only imagine the voices about pulling Ryan with 80 pitches and wasting your closer in a doubleheader later on today.

McCusker and Fitzgerald on the roster at the same time is so wild. Love both their stories... but still pretty wild.

Royce break out game coming tonight?

Curious on why you think that. His build and swing will never generate the power Julien posses now, but his short compact swing IMO should mature and play well at the big league level. He does tend to make weak contact too often, but that kinda offsets the low K rate. I do think he was rushed last year and injuries led to his pretty abysmal overall line. Before he was holding his own at the plate. He is also a much, much better defender than Julien is and not to mention his R/L splits are way less pronounced than Julien's as well. Julien is very much a liability against any LHP. I might be overly high on Lee, but saying that he and Julien have the same skill set isn't that accurate.

Personally that's huge package. I am a huge Westburg fan, but with Julien and Lee, I'm not even sure he makes sense. With Mayo and Bradfield it's a more than fair offer, but not sure it matches up needs. Fun to chalk up though. Personally, I hope they keep Lopez, i think last year was an aberration and think the Twins have the talent to win 85+ games, but that might be the internal optimist in me.

How would this realistically help the Twins? While a RH bar bat is a need, Mountcastle is only a year younger than Pablo. His ARB number comes in a little below 7M and needs a contract extension. Pablo at $21M for 3 more seasons is a steal by MLB standards. If Mountcastle played an above average corner OF, there might be a discussion, but he hasn't played outside of 1B since 2021. It could be safely argued that Jose Miranda provides a younger, cheaper and similar bat and is already on the roster. Kremer is 29, and will make 3M, who will also need an extension in the next 2 years. A Comp A pick is nice, but you don't trade your 28 year old ace for 1 year of salary relief and add to a log jam that's already there. If Lopez had hit FA this year, his contact wouldn't have been much short of what Burnes got IMO. Also, if the Twins do indeed trade Pablo..... they are more than likely re-tooling. Adding players 27 and 29 isn't exactly that route. Just my 2 cents of the matter. I would be shocked at this point if Pablo isn't the Twins opening day starter.

What's the relevance in comparing the two? Yes, Witt is one of the best player's in the game period. I think it's pretty obvious Lee isn't quite ready for the Majors, but comparing him to Witt does really nothing for anyone.

I don't know what you obsession is with that game. The Twins went into the bottom of the 7th with a 4-0 lead and Alcala stepped in with his 2.15 ERA. He threw 9 total pitches and the game was tied. Why would Rocco be hurrying to get a guy up in the pen when one of his best relievers all season gave up 4 hits to 5 batters, especially with as loaded as the Texas offense is? The obvious hindsight blows my mind. He wasn't struggling control wise, he velocity was fine. He wasn't laboring out on the mound. He threw 4 combined pitches to Taveras, Semien and Seager which resulted in a single, double and double. That took less than 3 minutes in real time. If it were Thielbar, Richards, Okert, Blewitt or a bevy of other relievers I think you might have a case, but that happened so fast with a 4 run lead with a trusted pitcher, to place all this super blame on Rocco....and to bring it up so many times is just crazy to me. I hate to defend Rocco, but JFC Christ we have had long stretches without Correa, Buxton, Lewis, Miranda, Kepler, and Ryan. Festa, SWR and Matthews have all had to play major roles in the rotation down the stretch, which is so far from ideal. This crazy way people can use the shortcomings of the roster and some of the best players and just shift the blame to the manager just baffles me. Not to mention how much the front office slashed the payroll and refused to add at the deadline. They also still sit in a playoff position, won the division last and won their first playoff series in over 20 years. If you guys really enjoyed the 90+ loss teams more than the competitive teams you really have some crazy nostalgia going on.

It was not. It was his 3rd appearance in 4 days. He pitched a clean inning on the 15th, off day on the 16th, a clean inning on the 17th and this appearance was the 18th. He hasn't been used 4 times in 5 days a single time this season. Using the reasoning "should have a low leverage reliever" holds zero water in my book. You have a 4 run lead on the road, looking for a 4 game sweep and have one of you better arms who is rested. There is zero discourse for arguing Alcala being in that game.

This team is one of the streakiest offensive clubs I think I have ever seen. They seem tp feed off each other so well when thing's are going well......and fall into the same pattern when the majority are struggling. The highs are great and the lows well....suck. The fancy thing about baseball is one nice 2-3 week fun high hot streak can mean a deep playoff run.

Thank you for what you do around here. On a lot of days that the team does end up losing, I often just ban myself from coming to the site because I don't want to deal with the negativity. There's always room for venting, but when it completely overtakes everything else, what are we really doing here?

I think KC has a ton of future potential and Bobby Witt Jr is an absolute superstar, but their offense isn't deep and with losing Pasquantino they are really thin. Not counting them out, but with who they have to play, I expect them to fade. I still think the Twins have the best team in the division, despite Cleveland's record and bonkers bullpen. That 4 game series on the road against the Guardians in 2 weeks looms so huge.