TopGunn#22

Jones has kind of come out of nowhere for me. I have to admit, focusing on 14th/15th round draft picks is tough. My eyes are kind of glazing over by that time. The kid is on a roll, and he would be an interesting addition down the stretch. Guys like Taylor Rogers are doing nothing for the Twins. It's past time to shake things up. PLEASE promote Jenkins already. It's time to get the kid up here and put him in CF.

I'm not too disappointed about Gausman, but I am about Foster Griffin. I think that is just a case of Cleveland's FO out working ours. Taylor Ward would have been an interesting short term add. Able to play CF, good OB% at the top of the order, good potential power, especially against LHP. But to get Ward, other moves would have been necessary...trading Larnach, maybe Wallner or even Roden. As I said in a previous thread, to have not put together a package of Jeffers and Larnach to the Yankees for a substantial haul was an epic failure for our FO. The Yankees desperately needed Jeffers. Instead, they ended up with Mitch Garver who has be way below average since a stellar 2019 season. That's SEVEN YEARS of BAD. The Yanks OF is in tatters. No Judge, No Bellinger, even no Stanton. A deal should have been made. Buxton was never going anywhere. For good or bad, that's the way it is. Ryan's arm issues made it tough to even consider a deal. Now, it's better to either deal him this winter or just hang onto him. But I would have considered Foster Griffin a big upgrade over Kremer and the price could easily have been bettered by the Twins if the FO had been on the ball. I think it's a trade and trade partner they just hadn't considered. But Cleveland did.

I wanted us to take a run at Neto. But if the opening ask was Jenkins and they wouldn't budge I guess that was rightfully so, the end of the conversation. With Houston, Neto would never have stayed at SS. And putting Culpepper in the equation would have put either Soriano or Detmers in the deal (probably Soriano). We were right to walk away from any deal with the Angels.

Interesting article. I think we will revisit this topic more than a couple times during the coming off season. I think the expected compensation for Ryan with a 4-5 year extension is certainly in the ballpark. I also agree that the possible return on a trade is well thought out. Which is ultimately disappointing. It is certainly easy to 2nd guess, but the time to have traded Ryan was last winter and when you look at the proposed compensation for a trade this off season it pales in comparison to the Red Sox "Tolle and Arias" trade. Heck, just drop Arias altogether and just make it a Tolle for Ryan trade. The Twins were not expected to contend in any way in 2026, but here we are 3 games behind the division leading White Sox and only 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card chasing the Texas Rangers. This is classic Monday Morning QB'ing, but I was pushing strongly for a Ryan trade last winter. And if we HAD made that trade we might even be in a better position today if all we'd gotten was Tolle. Tolle: 7-6 3.20 ERA 1.10 WHIP 143 K's in 123 IP. 23 years old. (Left Handed SP) Ryan: 6-8 3.65 ERA 1.14 WHIP 138 K's in 126 IP. (Soon to be making $20-$25 million per year at age 31.) We blew it, plain and simple. Stack everything up and disregard the age and cost in the future. The Twins FO blew it. I am very skeptical of Ryan signing an extension, just as I'm 100% sure Jeffers won't either. Ryan should have been traded last winter, and Jeffers should have been traded to the Yankees. Both the Twins and Yankees blew that one. The Yankees are still playing .136 hitting Wells at Catcher. They blew it worse than the Twins.

Well...Jenkins just mashed 2 HR's for St. Paul last night. The longer Buxton is out, the more it looks like they could use a "spark." I would also argue, even once Byron comes back, he should DH plenty of times and maybe play LF (with Jenkins in CF). Last night's win was a nice comeback, but once again the bats were struggling mightily, One run after 7 innings and that run came on a Lewis solo HR. If the Twins are REALLY competing, as an organization, for a playoff spot THIS year...it's kind of hard to deny it's time to call up Jenkins and Culpepper, DFA Gray and send Roden back down to St. Paul. It's August 7th. Every game counts at this point and going forward. I'm not sure what the advantage, service time wise, that holding Jenkins and Culpepper back has. But I think the Twins need to make these moves and get those kids in the lineup.

From my point of view, when the owner stepped in and nixed the Larnach for Abreu deal, the Twins FO should have been smart enough to pivot to Spencer Arrighetti, a 26 year old RH SP with upside potential. I would have still made the deal for Hoffman, but Arrighetti would have provided a similar arm to Matthews and he is still pre-arb controlable. The Blue Jays swooped in and traded Dalton Varsho straight up for Arrighetti. Varsho is a far better Glove than Larnach, but Larnach would have been the far superior Bat. And the Astros needed a BAT more than they needed a Glove. The Twins could have added both Kremer and Arrighetti as well as Hoffman and decided to put Zebby Matthews in the bullpen. Hoffman, Gomez, Minter, Morris, Funderburk and Zebby (with Nance and minus Taylor and/or Adams) would have been a massive upgrade. (they still DID massively upgrade the BP). A callup of Jenkins to replace Larnach and Culpepper replacing a DFA's Gray would have followed. That, to me, would have been a better trade deadline.

While I don't completely agree with Mike8791 I "Loved" his comment because it's well written and there was much to be in agreement with. My only disagreement was that I WAS disappointed the Abreu for Larnach trade fell through. I give the FO credit for pivoting to Hoffman but as a guy who has been a big Dasan Hill fan (his command and control issues this season aside) I was sorry to see a young LHP with his "potential" sent away. Kudos to Toronto for taking a chance on him. I still think (rightly or wrongly) that despite the obvious problems on offense and trading a solid producer this year in Larnach, that the promotion of Jenkins and Culpepper would jump start the moribund offense. I'll admit, it's risky to depend on rookies, but we all know the glaring holes this current roster has. For the Twins to make the playoffs this season, it was always going to come down to a rookie or two (Jenkins and Culpepper) to come in and provide a spark down the stretch. This is even more true with the current status of Byron Buxton. We're seeing just how much this offense struggles without him. He's the team MVP by far. I don't think trading Larnach and Jeffers would have affected this offense nearly as much as losing Buxton for any length of time. The other great point the op made was that the Twins were guaranteed having Hoffman next season. Abreu would have been a FA. But if Abreu had come in a trade for Larnach and had a great run with the Twins then it would have put tremendous pressure on Pohlad and Zoll to sign him this off season. And I'm not sure they would have done it. Bottom line: We gave up a young LHP with tremendous potential to finally acquire a true Closer following last years "Red Wedding-esque" bullpen decapitation. I'm on board with the end result even while having trepidation over sending Hill out to accomplish this badly needed move.

I completely agree with your rankings Hawkeye. Jenkins should be getting promoted very soon and Lackey at #1 makes sense. But rankings really seem to downplay defense and for SS or CF this is crucial. Houston will always have a positive impact on a game with his defense. But with a revamped swing that is bearing much fruit, he's absolutely an MLB Top 25 prospect. I would be happy with a promotion to St. Paul for him once Culpepper is promoted, but I wouldn't be disappointed if they left him in AA. He has time to keep polishing his game. An August callup next year would be fine with me if he finishes the year at AA and continues his progress for a good portion of next year at St. Paul. And some of this might come down to how well Culpepper does at SS and with the bat once he gets called up.

You make a good point DJL44, but I agree with Greglw3. Jenkins is our top prospect, Culpepper either #2 or #3 depending on your opinion of Vahn Lackey. Adding players who were DFA'd for a reason is not the future and it may not even be any kind of help for the present. Now that we're into August, I don't think service time is much of an issue for either Jenkins or Culpepper. Their athleticism and energy could provide a spark. I don't see much a spark provided from Garver, Soler or Refsnyder. Swapping out Jenkins and Culpepper for Roden and Gray seems to me to be quite an upgrade. There will certainly be some "rough moments" with the young guys, but they could also have some positively impactful moments. At this point in the season, I'm willing to role the dice on that (in a purely Strat-O-Matic Baseball sense). :)

I'd much rather get Jenkins and Culpepper up. It's time to go with youth rather than look at one-dimensional DH types. Garver was never a plus defender at Catcher. Soler is well below average in RF. Refsnyder is marginally better in the field than Soler. But there is a reason each of these guys have been DFA'd. They are terrible this year. Soler was pretty bad in 2025. Garver hasn't been good since 2019. They are not the future. Jenkins and Culpepper are. As howeda7 suggested, call them up and send Gray and Roden to St. Paul or DFA them if they are out of options.

I know Hill was struggling with control this year, but I still hate giving him up. If he turns it around next year he will be the steal of the deal. To have given up what they did, I am thinking the Blue Jays might be paying Horrman's salary for the rest of this season and maybe some of it in 2027? Especially after we gave them back some International Signing Money. Still, I like that the Twins have a "True Closer" in Hoffman for the rest of this season and 2027. Their back end of the BP is somewhat stable now. That will help greatly this 2nd half and next year. Still think it's very frustrating they failed to take advantage of dealing Ryan Jeffers in a catching frenzy market. How could we not come to some kind of agreement with the Yankees? I can't believe the Yanks are considering playing Ben Rice full time behind the plate. Now, Jeffers walks with no where near the compensation we'd have gotten if we could have traded him. Larnach is another head scratcher. They barely decided to extend him an offer this off season, and he goes out and has a career year, maximizing his value. They have Jenkins, Em-Rod and Gonzalez coming. Where does Larnach fit with this team in 2027 and beyond?

I would trade Culpepper in a package for Neto. Neto is a legit 30/30 candidate and he's a pretty good SS. Some of these defensive "metrics" are so contrary it's ridiculous. One says he's negative 8 runs, another says he more than solid. I've seen him play. He's better than anyone we have by far except for Marek Houston. As I've said a couple times already. The other advantage the Twins would have with Neto vs. Culpepper is that Neto PLAYS. He played 155 games 2 years ago. He's played 107 out of 111 games this year for the Angels. Culpepper has to overcome his injury issues to truly reach his ceiling. His history gives me reasonable doubt he never will. That's why I would include Em-Rod in a deal for Neto that would include Reid Detmers. The Twins need to add guys that PLAY.

The indecision of the Twins ownership and FO is showing. They never have a plan and here we are again...the opportunities to improve the club are disappearing minute by minute. They just don't seem to have the courage to make a deal of consequence. Jeffers to the Yankees at this point should be a no-brainer. Re-open the Larnach to the Astros for Bryan Abreu with fire in your eyes. Don't let an owner with ants in his pants spoil a deal that would help both teams. I love the idea we are pursuing Zach Neto with zeal. He's 26 years old, a GOOD SS and a guy with 30/30 potential. He's already been close to 30/30 twice in his young career. Yes, he strikes out too much, but he's the SS for the rest of this year and as much of next year as needed until Marek Houston is ready. Then you've got a Gold Glove caliber SS and a Gold Glove caliber 2B. We're 90 minutes away from the deadline. At least go get Neto. Especially with Byron Buxton probably on the I.L. for several weeks.

The injury issues of Buxton (he was never going anywhere, but he's vital to Twins success) and the "tired arm" of Joe Ryan have really messed up the Twins deadline. So far, they've added a solid RP in Minter and a SP in Kremer who has struggled the entire season, but has shown to be a competent #4 or #5 in past seasons. It certainly seems like something bigger is coming, but finding out about E-Rod being hurt AGAIN takes a tantalizing prospect off the table for the Twins. Not trading Jeffers to either the Yankees, Cubs or Dodgers/Red Sox would be FO malpractice. With Joe Ryan off the table, Jeffers is clearly their best trade chip. It's too bad the Larnach for Bryan Abreu trade fizzled. Abreu, even though he's having a down year, would have been a great arm to have in the bullpen. Jeffers and Larnach remain the Twins best chance to bring something good back by dealing from organizational strength. Maybe the trade of Larnach for Abreu can be revived. I expect both Jeffers and Larnach to be traded today. To fail to do so would be disappointing. 2026 is slipping away with no Buxton in the lineup and Joe Ryan has to get right for the Twins to have any chance of a playoff spot.

I think the Twins have to overpay to some degree. There should certainly be competition to land an arm like Greene. We would expect an overpay for Joe Ryan. But I think the deal you've proposed above would be more than fair Mike. I would certainly do it to preserve a Lee-3B, Houston-SS and Culpepper-2B infield for a potential future rotation of Greene, Lopez, Ryan, Bradley and Abel/Prielipp. (Look at that potential rotation)!!! That could more than compete in the A.L. Central, especially with Skubal heading to the Dodgers). If Ryan is not part of this rotation in 2027 it means he's been traded. Then you have to consider the rich return a Ryan trade would bring. Also not factored in (because it's purely a hypothetical at this point) is what the Twins could be adding with trades of Jeffers and Larnach. But with a 2026 rotation containing Ryan, Greene and Bradley, and with the potential rotation in 2027 (with or without Ryan) the infield talent and the OF talent with an imminent arrival of Walker Jenkins and in a year or 2 the arrival of Vahn Lackey behind the plate and in the lineup...and that's a pretty exciting future for the Twins...whether the Pohlad family sells or not.