TopGunn#22

I don't dislike what we got for Duran, yet I also questioned whether it should have been more. Supposedly, the Twins were the guys that had the leverage in any deal. Teams wanted OUR players for a playoff and possible World Series run. Mason IS worth more than Duran. The strikeout rate is the primary indicator. Duran was having the better year, but despite all his velocity and "stuff" Duran just doesn't generate eye popping strikeout rates. At least he hasn't this season and last season. Closers with stuff like Duran and Miller always return higher value, especially at the deadline. They are probably at least 25% more valuable at the deadline as the pennant races come into sharper focus. BBTV rated Duran's value alone slightly higher than Tait & Abel. While not a perfect comparison it does convincingly illustrate that the Twins SHOULD have gotten more for Duran. After the trade, I was the poster who suggested the Twins should have included Bader in the original deal for Crawford. Once again, THIS Twins FO gets bedazzled with quantity over quality. I've railed about that in past posts over signing multiple "Shoemaker" type pitchers instead of just signing one SP who can actually pitch. The constant dart throwing of this FO is frustrating. Ryan_K also makes this point effectively. Were the Twins ever in conversation with the Padres regarding Duran? The A's may have included JP Sears, but what if the Twins had included SWR with Duran? Could we have landed the #3 overall prospect in baseball (DeVries)?? And the A's got several MORE players from the Padres in ADDITION to the #3 overall prospect. There is no question the Twins sold low on Duran. Sending Brock Stewart to the Dodgers and only getting James Outman in return was returning negative value for a bullpen arm that is solid in high leverage situations. I will also acknowledge that I have pointed out the absurd level of LH hitting corner outfielders the Twins have stockpiled, and yet I wanted to add Bader to the deal to get Crawford...another LH hitting OF. The difference in Crawford is that he's a pure CF and with questions whether Jenkins or E-Rod remaining in CF and Kiersey no longer having a future with the Twins, Crawford made sense to me in that equation.

I said that Ober would be the last guy I would offer an extension to, but let me clarify that a bit. Essentially, I agree with what Doc Bauer and tony&rodney are saying. Signing Ober or Joe Ryan to extensions certainly doesn't make them untradable. In fact, it could actually make them easier to trade with the cost certainty the acquiring team can count on. It's kind of like Sandy Alcantara's situation. He's signed for something like 3 more years after this season. The problem is that Alcantara hasn't pitched well at all. If he had pitched like Ryan, he'd be on a different team right now and his cost would have been enormous. Where extensions get tricky is whether a no trade clause is included. That really ties a front office's hands. I maintain that the Twins CAN be legitimate contenders as soon as next season in the A.L. Central and for a Wild Card if Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez head the rotation. But there is no denying that Ryan would bring a HAUL back in a trade. It's laughable reading some Red Sox centric commentary that the Twins blew it by flinching at a Wilyer Abreu, Payton Tolle and another minor leaguer for Ryan deal, essentially saying the Twins would get far less from Boston in an off season trade. That's not likely in my mind. In fact, there has been angst in Boston that they came to the Twins far too late at the deadline and with far less than the Twins were demanding for Ryan. I think Boston will pay a VERY heavy price for Ryan this off season if he continues to be their White Whale. I've been projecting Ober as the potential trade chip but that won't really happen if he doesn't start flashing some of his magic the remainder of the season. Last night's game, Ober looked like Ober. That's a very positive development. I've always felt Ryan is the superior pitcher to Ober. His ability to miss bats is what really separates them. But Ober has been, and can be, a really solid #3. If Ober rebuilds much of his currently lost value he's worth a one-for-one for Jarren Duran. Ober and a little something extra would certainly be worth Wilyer Abreu and Payton Tolle. I can't remember a time when the Twins have had a deeper roster of SP. (while at the same time having almost NO bullpen). Ober could probably be replaced by Taj Bradley, David Festa, Mick Able, Zebby Matthews or SWR. Any of those options might be equal to Ober, a little worse or a little better. We have LH hitting OF stacked to the roof in the warehouse. There will certainly be more trades to even out this roster this off season.

Interesting article. I would offer this opinion: With all the SP talent the Twins have added and have coming up in the minors Bailey Ober would be the LAST guy I'd consider for an extension. I've stated a couple times in other threads that I'd be looking for Ober to build his value back up so that I could offer him (instead of Ryan) to the Red Sox for Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu. Or, if Ober has mixed results in rebuilding his value, offer him to the Red Sox for minor league LH SP Payton Tolle. The Red Sox NEED that #2 SP to slot behind Crochet (or possibly #3 to slot behind Bello if he keeps pitching so well). Ryan and Lopez are the SP's to invest in, (we've already invested in Lopez) build around, and make the foundation for an exceptional starting rotation. With Bradley, Abel, Festa, Matthews and SWR around and guys like Dasan Hill, Marco Raya and Conner Prielipp in the pipeline Ober is not needed (by the Twins). But he IS needed by a team like the Red Sox. I love Luke Keaschall. But there is no reason to rush into extending him. Let's give him the rest of the season, and all of 2026 to establish who he is, and where the Twins will primarily play him. Under MLB's current system, the Twins and Red Sox are not on equal footing like, say, the Vikings and Patriots. Roman Anthony was the #1 ranked prospect in MLB last year and to begin this year. The Red Sox were smart to lock him up. If Walker Jenkins ascends to #1 prospect status and dominates AA & AAA like Anthony did, then by all means...Lock Jenkins up as well. But right now, the only extension I want to see from the Twins is JOE RYAN !!!

It's Culpepper for the soon and foreseeable future. But imagine the IF defense with Culpepper at 3B and Houston at SS with Lee or Keaschall at 2B (and Lewis at 1B). Regarding that play by Houston...WOW !! I'm with Terrydactyls as far as Houston is concerned. It was TIME to move on from Correa. A re-set was needed. Current leadership (Owners, FO, Manager) had clearly squandered whatever patience or good will they had. But I will give them credit. When it came to the eventual "Post Correa" outcome, they have left the Twins in a very favorable position. A promotion for Culpepper to St. Paul should either come soon or to begin 2026. But if he continues to tear it up at AA and then AAA, the new Twins regime shouldn't hesitate to bring him up. Lee is an O.K. backup at SS but he lacks the athleticism to stick there for long. Culpepper and Houston are prospects to get excited about.

For the bullpen next year a lot depends on who they see as their closer. Will it be someone they bring in, certainly at a discounted rate, who is a veteran with closing experience, maybe on the wrong side of 35 years old who had a bit of a down year in 2025? Say, someone like Kirby Yates? Or do they decide that someone like David Festa or Taj Bradley belongs in that role? It would be surprising to see the Twins new ownership and FO give up on Festa and Bradley as SP this early. I have always seen SWR as a better fit in a long reliever role. He's usually good for about 4 innings and than he falters. What I could REALLY see happening is Twins looking to trade a SP to the Red Sox...but NOT Joe Ryan. If the Twins are serious about a quicker rebuild, Ryan and Lopez need to remain the #1 and #2. However, with guys like Mick Abel, Taj Bradley and David Festa to slot in as #3, #4 and #5 with Zebby Matthews, SWR, Connor Prielipp and Marco Raya also in the que, I see Bailey Ober as trade bait. Maybe the Twins try to work a deal with Boston for Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu?? They are both excellent players who would improve the outfield defense and lineup potency. The only negative? They are both LH HITTING outfielders!! So if you were to see a deal like that, you can count on at least one of Wallner/Larnach being traded, and probably BOTH of them with Roden, Outman, Jenkins and E-Rod in the mix. What might the Twins look to add with a Wallner and/or a Larnach trade? Depending on whatever else was a part of the deal, I'd have my eye on Kyle Teel/Edgar Quero, 2 young catchers with the White Sox, or Jefferson Quero, a talented young catcher in the Brewers system held back by All Star William Contreras. The Twins are far from being done with wheeling and dealing in re-shaping this roster. They could choose to move Prielipp and Raya into bullpen roles to gradually break them in. They could make a number of trades with players on their major league roster this off season. With new ownership, they could choose to strategically use some of the $25-$30 million saved on payroll through their deadline deals. It seems like we've been saying "This off season is sure going to be interesting for the Twins" for like the last 5 years. But in many of those off seasons, the moves made were just at the margins. THIS off season there is a LOT of work to be done. Most of the deadline moves were pretty good. The Varland and Brock Stewart moves were questionable. But there is no denying that THIS off season is going to be VERY INTERESTING. The conversation on Twins Daily will be "stimulating."

The Headline alone was worth a good Laugh. Well Done !!

Good to see Tait UNLOAD on that pitch. I hope he can stick at Catcher. I loved the Houston pick in round #1. I love his glove. This kid will stick at SS. In today's baseball everyone is obsessed with power. When it comes to Marek Houston, I wouldn't mind if he was a Gold Glove contending SS who hit .285 with a .350-.380 OBP who hits 10 HR's and stole 20-25 bags. There's a place for a guy like that in MLB. Especially if he's hitting 30+ doubles and 5-8 triples.

This article is remarkably similar to one I read on Fansided a couple of days ago. I did not like the Varland and Stewart trades at all. We got way less back for Stewart than we should have. Straight up, one-for-one for Outman, was a failure on Falvey's part. As far as Varland. There is value, and then there's "VALUE." Roden and Rojas were not bad "value." They were actually pretty good value. But when your major league team is loaded with LH hitting OF and a couple of your top prospects are LH hitting OF, you don't need to "settle" for another 2 LH hitting OF in trades that YOU should have the leverage. After gutting our BP at the deadline, Varland was set to be the closer the rest of the season and if he had preformed reasonably well, the closer for 2026. In my opinion, getting a chance to see Varland in the closer role the last 2 months held more value to the Twins than either Roden or Rojas. We probably don't stand much of a chance to earn a Wild Card THIS season, but now we've got a revolving door of never been's and nobody's trying to close games. (Michael Tonkin ?!?!?!) All to add yet another LH hitting OF to the Wallner, Larnach, Jenkins, E-Rod mix that now also has Roden and Outman. Once this ownership situation is resolved and a new FO and manager are hired, I expect more wheeling and dealing this winter. Roden and Outman are both far superior defensive OF to Wallner and Larnach. Despite Wallner's impressive slugging and OPS numbers he's never come close to the 23 HR's Outman hit in 2023. Wallner just can't stay healthy (and he's a native Minnesotan as well). I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins traded BOTH Wallner and Larnach and had one of Outman or Roden in the OF to begin 2026 with Jenkins and E-Rod getting closer and closer to becoming big leaguers. And I expect there will be a Herculean effort to reconstruct the BP. But it would have been much better if Varland was closing games for the Twins NOW and would at worst, be the 8th inning guy for whoever the Twins pick up to be their closer in 2026. Instead, with about 5 minutes to go before the deadline, Falvey, seemingly drunk on "deal making" made a trade that on paper might have been O.K. but in reality was a failure on many other levels.

This is what makes getting Outman in the Dodger deal so hard to understand. Stewart had far greater value than Outman without even considering the over-supply of LH hitting OF. On top of that, you've got the perplexing Varland deal. And we could have/should have gotten a little more for Castro. I think the Twins will be making a BUNCH of moves this off season. We aren't keeping all these LH hitting OF's. Cardenas is a possible #2 catcher, but I could see a deal involving a LH hitting OF (Wallner, Larnach) and a major league SP to bring in a young catcher. Jefferson Quero is still buried behind William Contreras in Milwaukee. The White Sox have TWO good young Catchers. (Kyle Teel & Edgar Quero). A new FO just might have the smarts and talent to make a deal that brings us a "Catcher of the Future" that allows Tait or Jimenez to join that guy, making Jeffers expendable in a season or two. I'm thinking Wallner or Larnach with SWR to the White Sox for either Teel or Quero. Look, we can afford to move one of Wallner or Larnach as well as SWR to get one of those guys. We would then have Teel (I'm just picking him for now) AND Jeffers for 2026. Monitor how Tait and Jimenez progress in 2026. Jeffers & Teel in 2027. By 2028 it's time to move on from Jeffers and go with Teel and Tait. Roden is a better fielder than both Wallner and Larnach. Outman is as well. You've got Jenkins and E-Rod possibly coming by post 2026 All Star game. Start dealing from your strength in LH hitting OF and SP and start shaping this roster up.

I will say again that I was on board with all of the Twins trades except TWO. Off-loading Correa was good. Re-deploy that money elsewhere. I'm satisfied with the 2 players the Twins got from the Phillies but thought we should have gotten one more player. I would have preferred adding Bader to Duran and maybe tossed a minor leaguer in to add a speedy OF like Crawford or included SWR and upgraded from Mick Abel (who looked VERY GOOD in his Saints debut) to a Painter & Tait deal. Duran, SWR & Bader for Painter and Tait. But the 2 trades that ticked me off were Stewart for Outman...why not get something BETTER back from the Dodgers? Ask for a couple arms you could have worked with? They could have realistically asked for Dustin May and Bobby Miller. And the Varland trade. After acquiring Outman from L.A. and already having Wallner, Larnach, Jenkins and E-Rod we had no need for Alan Roden. Varland needed to be kept as the closer for the remainder of this year and future years. I believe a sale will happen well before the baseball winter meetings in December. That will allow new ownership the time to replace the Falvey regime with their own set of baseball people. Those new people will determine how many of the current Twins employees will be kept. They will keep the best of the best. We will also see a new manager with a different philosophy and approach as well as a new coaching staff. Maybe Maki is retained, but there will be new base coaches (so long Tommy Watkins) as well as a new hitting coach. Let's hope and pray a new hitting coach can unlock some of the talent that's been floundering. But I agree with tony&rodney and others that I don't think the Twins are done wheeling and dealing and the potential future new FO may already have some ideas. They are now SP "Rich." Ryan, Lopez, Ober, SWR, Festa, Zebby, Mick Able, Taj Bradley, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya, (maybe Morris and Adams). To me, this is why Varland should have been kept. He would have been a key piece in late innings no matter what other bullpen moves the Twins might make this off season. There were 2 possible Joe Ryan trades mentioned by BBTV that should have or could, still happen: Cubs get Joe Ryan 68.3 value. Twins get SS Jefferson Rojas 17.9 LHP Ben Brown 18.5 OF Owen Cassie 17.6 (who is a LH hitter) OF Kevin Alcantara 10.8 (big power, RH hitter) and SP Jaxon Wiggins 9.8. Total Value of 74.60. This is good value for Ryan but would also put at least one of Wallner or Larnach on the trade block. Trade #2 for Joe Ryan is with the Red Sox (who are probably STILL interested in him). Red Sox get Joe Ryan 68.3 value. Twins get: 18 year old Frankin Arias SS 22.1 21 year old LH SP Payton Tolle 20.0 22 year old Brandon Clarke SP 16.4 Connelly Early SP 13.3. Total Value 71.80. Once the off season hits, another possible Joe Ryan trade with the Red Sox could involve OF Jarren Duran with a value around 50-55 and 1B Tristan Cassas who missed almost all this season and will probably miss some time to begin next season due to a serious knee injury. Cassas once had a value of 28.3 but that is easily half less if not more. He's a spotty fielder with 30 HR power. I'd offer a pitching prospect back to the Red Sox with sufficient value and insist they include the 21 year old LH SP Tolle. If you want to kick start the moribund Twins offense, give them a proven producer with speed at the top of the order like Duran and a 30 HR hitting 1B/DH like Cassas. Ryan will be 30 years old next June. Why not get a rotation replacement in the 21 LHP Tolle along with Taj Bradley and Mick Able already "in-house." While I like the prospects in both the Cubs and Red Sox trades above, I'd like to see the new Twins FO look for major league talent to rebuild the roster rather than prospects. Anyway you look at this, where the Twins stand NOW after all these trades, at least one of Wallner or Larnach need to be traded this off season. I'd rather keep Ryan and build around him as my Ace and I mentioned in an earlier post my willingness with the recent SP acquisitions and the young arms the Twins already have, that if I could rebuild some of Bailey Ober's trade value (which hasn't dropped as far as many seem to think, he just has to prove he's healthy) I'd love to offer Ober to the Red Sox straight up for Jarren Duran. I'd really love to see a Duran/Keaschall top of the order next season. The Red Sox wouldn't part with Duran THIS year while they are in the running. But once we hit the off season, when SP becomes even MORE important, I'd like to see what Ober could bring back while filling his #3 SP spot with Mick Able, Taj Bradley, David Festa or Zebby Matthews.

I think it's very possible you see some pitching get traded this off season. Whether it's a BIG piece like Ryan or Lopez or a younger, yet still valuable piece like Zebby, SWR or Festa. The guy I would keep an eye on is Ober. If he can string some nice starts together from now until the end of the season, he will build a lot of his value back. He's the in-between guy. Not our #1 or #2, not our #4 or #5, but a solid #3. According to BBTV, at the beginning of this season, Ober's value was 54.7. It fell to around 45.4 and I imagine it has fallen further (help me out here Doc. Gast). If Ober is able to build his value back to a level where he's worth a Jaren Duran type position player that's the kind of value the Twins are looking for to upgrade their lineup. They could easily replace Ober with Taj Bradley or Mick Abel, or one of Festa, Matthews or SWR.

So let's review things as they set up for the 2026 season: We have Ryan, Lopez and Ober. We also have Taj Bradley and Mick Abel. We ALSO have Festa, Matthews and SWR. That's eight possible SP's. That's tremendous depth, and we know injuries happen, but we can only deploy 5 at a time unless some of them are deployed as relief pitchers of some sort...long relief, set up man or closer. At least long relief maintains an innings workload that is close to a SP. We also have some other arms at various levels in the minors who have either fallen off this year, maintained their status or improved their stock. Some of these arms "could" pitch for the Twins in some capacity in 2026, some are a few years away. Think of Marco Raya and Dasan Hill as a couple of candidates. With Jax, we had a closer in waiting, but we traded him away for a 24 year old SP who has been more SWR than Joe Ryan in his major league performance so far, but has the "potential" to be MORE than SWR has shown to this point. I was fine with all the moves, even Correa, until the Jax and Varland trades. Jax is somewhat understandable given the acquisition of Bradley. The trade that really kind of crushed any hope for next year was Varland. Varland was also a closer in waiting. He had taken so well to the role of high leverage, late inning reliever. And yet, nonsensically, Falvey traded him away, essentially for Alan Roden, a LH hitting OF. We already HAD a full cupboard of LH hitting OF. Once Varland went out the door, we had a paucity of CLOSERS (unless Michael Tonkin is fine with you). Ty France for Kendry Rojas would have been fine with me. But I don't think it was necessary to put Varland together with France to get Roden and Rojas. In other words, moving Varland just to off load France wasn't needed. I have read many opinions by baseball commentators and insiders who are STILL trying to figure out what the plan was (if there ever WAS a plan other than cutting as much salary as possible) of the Twins ownership and FO. Varland was eminently affordable for several years. Jax may have gotten expensive, but not Varland. Ask a Twins fan today if they would feel a whole lot better about the trade deadline if Jax and/or especially Varland had been retained. I'll bet over 90% would feel better with at least Varland still with the Twins.

I like others agree that Twins ownership & leadership really DIDN'T pick a lane. Some of what they did yesterday made sense. Some of it made no sense at all. I've often complained that I felt the Twins Front Office NEVER had a plan when it came to the off season. They were exclusively "reactive" to the moves of other teams, often letting talent that would have been a good fit with their team slip away until there was nothing to do but dumpster dive. I was on board with many of the early moves, but share the sentiment that the returns were consistently LESS than what I expected for players we had that teams (supposedly) desperately wanted. Specifically, Duran, Castro, Coulombe and Bader. The trades of Jax and Varland were shocking to me. At that point, I felt we had moved enough "dead wood" but still had the rotation strength, bullpen (anchored by Jax and Varland) and with Keaschall, E-Rod, Jenkins, Culpepper and Gonzalez possibly arriving in the future, a lineup with at least some potential. The rotation was relatively intact and Lopez and Ober were soon returning. We've now traded 44% of our starting lineup, none of whom I'm sorry to see go (Correa, Castro, Bader, France). These guys were either FA at the end of the season or were major disappointments (Correa). But aside from about $20-$25 million in payroll flexibility for 2026 I'm not sure how much firepower we added to the lineup with Rodon and Outman. If Rodon and Outman were specific targets, why wasn't Larnach or Wallner included in a trade to bring back something we need. We don't really need MORE LH hitting OF's. That's NOT having a plan. We've traded 50% of our bullpen. All of them key pieces. The only BP arm we've retained that has shown any talent is Cole Sands. Was Taj Bradley for Jax a smart trade? Bradley is just 24 but he's practically a clone of SWR, who I think is better suited to be a long reliver. Couldn't we have gotten Shane Baz instead for a heavily desired piece like Jax? I know bullpens are very unpredictable and fungible. But what we had and what we have left now is utter decimation. That's not a plan. It's unforgiveable. This was not picking a lane. This reeks of yet another instance in which Falvey had a lot of conversations with people but made panicked, hurried and reactive decisions as the trade deadline came to a close. This appeared to me to be a guy who doesn't think he will have a job once the new ownership takes over. Almost nothing Falvey did would improve the team now or in 2026. Were the players he acquired particular targets of his? Or were they who he grudgingly accepted as other GM's wore him down. Do any of us think, after seeing what we got back in return for what we purged, that Falvey was the one in control of negotiations? In the end, we have an ownership family who is detested by the fan base. A GM who never really showed me he had a plan or even a short term & long term strategy or who was too restrained by miserly ownership to ever do what needed to be done. And a manager who was too attached to "analytics" and as a result, didn't seem to have the innate sense to "manage" a baseball game. It was a team that was poorly constructed season after season and was reactive, not proactive. How else do you explain acquiring a couple more LH hitting OF when you already have an overabundance of LH hitting OF on the major league roster and as top prospects soon to debut in the major leagues? The Vikings and Gopher football seasons can't come fast enough. In the end, we saw an ownership group, GM and manager who just seemed to throw their hands up and say "Enough ! We're outta here!

I cannot disagree gentleman. We had done O.K. up to Correa and while we're waiting for details like who we got and how much we still have to pay for Carlos, I was on board with the move. Trading Jax (even if it was for Taj Bradley) and Varland (not really impressed with who we got from the Blue Jays especially with Varland looking like he'd found his footing as a solid back end BP piece) I'm wondering why Falvey didn't quit while he was ahead. It's like he's burning the house down and running out the back door down a dark alley.

Bradley was a good swap for Jax. SP. Young. Has shown flashes of being pretty darn good. Who the heck will be suiting up for the Twins on Friday ????

OMG !! Falvey is burning the house down on his way out of town. Jax just traded to Tampa Bay !!!

Javier and Caratini would be interesting if the Twins are actually taking salary back. It remains to be seen how much the Twins had to eat, but reports are that it is no where near the $50 million the Astros wanted. The Pohlad's won't reinvest that salary, but you can bet new ownership and new leadership certainly will. The sooner a sale is approved and announced...THE BETTER. The Twins just weren't getting what they paid for with Carlos. Hopefully reinvestment will work out better. I'm glad the Twins realized they needed to SELL and sell BIG. Just don't trade Joe Ryan. You're bringing in plenty of new faces already. KEEP RYAN.

I would have liked to see just a little bit more from the Phillies. Maybe we could have/should have included a player like Castro or a minor leaguer to entice the Phillies to include a CF prospect like Crawford. I like the players we got back. It just seems like Falvey left some meat on the bone...didn't quite take FULL advantage of Duran's value, especially with the Clase situation taking him out of the mix. I would like to see the Twins bring Mick Abel up to the Major League level NOW !! Why putz around with Pierson Ohl and Noah Davis etc...when you could be using Abel ?? That they're sending Abel to St. Paul initially is just baffling to me and underscores my desire to see a completely new FO and on field staff in 2026.

The Correa situation is interesting, but the only way I agree to a trade is if the Astros take on ALL of his salary. I'd take the paltry prospect return to realize the financial freedom it would give me as a new owner allowing my new FO to determine how they would like to utilize the additional $37 million dollar annual payroll flexibility. An extension for Ryan? Two FA's signed for $18 to $20 million per year? Yandy Diaz at 1B and an upgraded catcher or RH hitting OF ?? But this is only if Houston takes on ALL the remaining salary. What good is it to dump Correa's salary if you're not dumping ALL of it?? This envisions an infield of Lewis at 3B, Lee at SS and Keaschall at 2B. I don't think Julien has any future with the Twins, but if it were up to me for the rest of the season, I'd give France his release and stick Julien at 1B to give him ONE LAST CHANCE to either win the position or at least build SOME value back to be included in an off season trade. Otherwise, Cody Clemens is the 1B the rest of the way. If Clemens plays some 2B, Keaschall can log some time in LF as the RH complement to Larnach, Kiersey or E-Rod. Bader and Castro MUST be traded. I agree with the idea of bringing guys like Austin Martin and E-Rod up to give them 2 months of playing time at the MLB level. I'd also consider bringing up Prielipp and Raya for bullpen cameos if I got what I wanted in a trade involving Coulombe and/or Stewart. I wouldn't necessarily call it "tanking." More like seeing what some of those guys could do at the major league level while I further assess what we HAVE and what we NEED.

I think we got a little less than we could have. I was kind of hoping for a trade with the Dodgers that would've brought us Dalton Rushing but that was not to be. And maybe my hopes of leveraging Duran (especially after Clase became "unavailable") into a significant overpay by the Dodgers or Phillies were totally misguided. It wouldn't be the first time. Using BBTV's as a guide for value in a general sense, the Twins ended up with Abel (5.1) and Tait (17.9) for a total value of 23.0. Duran was valued at 25.7. It just seems very compelling that the Twins should have gotten at least one more player with at least lottery ticket value. Someone like a Dustin May or Bobby Miller type of throw in. An arm with upside but flaws that would need to be fixed. But with Duran's value at 25.7 and, let's add on 5 points of value for urgency and immediate benefit to the acquiring team (Dodgers or Phillies) the idea of actually getting Painter (49.4 value) or Rushing (43.4 value) was probably never going to happen. There may have been a low level bidding war. But certainly not to the point where either the Phillies (Painter) or Dodgers (Rushing) ever flinched at that level of prospect. Where I think Falvey messed up was in not including a Major league player (Castro or Bader) or a minor league player of some value to the Phillies (basically expanding the trade a bit) to get a 3rd prospect of value like Crawford. It didn't have to be JUST a Duran swap. Julien, Miranda, take your pick, could have been included to get a player with a skill set that the roster currently lacks. The Twins "appeared" to have had the proverbial "hammer in their hands" to make a better deal. I like who we got back. I'm not going to be too judgmental until I've had a few opportunities to see Mick Abel pitch and I've read some minor league reports about which level Tait ended up at and how he's doing.

I've been giving this a lot of thought as we approach the deadline and especially with the Clase situation the Twins should almost feel compelled to trade one of them since they now corner the market. Whether guys like Stewart or Coulombe are also dealt remains to be seen, but the fact is, the Twins could do quite well auctioning off 3 relief pitchers in the next 24 hours. And as I've considered this I have to say that I've consistently been in favor of trading Duran and keeping Jax. Duran has the "closer" stats and is younger, which should make the haul for trading him better than Jax. However, Jax has been the better pitcher in my opinion. Jax's 2025 season was tremendous and his underlying, more analytical stats show he's been just as good, if not better than Duran THIS season. There is no denying the strikeout rate of Griffin Jax. His fastball isn't as good as Duran's, but it's awfully good. Jax's sweeper/slider is killer. I have no doubt that Jax could be an All Star closer if the Twins put him in that role. Add Varland to the mix and the Twins can absolutely afford to trade Duran for a King's Ransom and possibly even improve the team for the rest of THIS season, and certainly for 2026 and beyond.

I still wonder if the the All Star Game Homerun Derby might have contributed to this. The good news: It doesn't sound serious. I'm all for erring on the side of caution here. Bader & Castro will play in today's game (Wednesday) and then be traded...somewhere. That leaves Kiersey for the time being as the guy in CF with a small possibility the Twins promote Emmanuel Rodriguez to play some OF for the time it takes Buxton to get back. Who knows, maybe the Twins get back a CF ready to play some games who has more of a track record (translate that "better health) than E-Rod.

Good points jmlease1. I think what you and I are on the same page about is that we'd like to see a different approach, philosophy, strategy and outcome for the Twins. You're right. It comes down to winning games. When you win, fans can turn a blind eye to a LOT of things. I loved the Bomba Squad year of 2019. But those days appear to be gone. Even with Judge setting records and Juan Sosa/Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees were nowhere near what they did in 2019 last year. But I'm ready for some new blood. It took Rocco FOREVER to figure out the rules had changed to favor base stealers. I'm hoping the trades that need to be made (Castro, Bader, Coulombe) get made and I'd like to see what we could max out with a Duran or Jax trade (not both, just one). An infusion of new talent with new leadership in the future is needed. It's worked for the Vikings and the Timberwolves. Cha-Cha-Cha-CHANGES !!

I immediately liked this trade. After Seth's insightful write-up I like it even more. Paddack is a below average SP. Dobnak is never going to be a major league pitcher ever again. He's the epitome of "organizational depth" until he realizes his career lies elsewhere. The comp of Vasquez is interesting. Most of us see Vasquez hit in the present day and agree, "he's just an automatic out." But there was a time he was "acceptable" as a hitter. If the Twins end up with 4-5 years of Jimenez playing at an early career Vasquez level the grade for the Twins will be an "A." I don't see any grade for the Tigers being better than a "D." I could see Paddack moving to a long relief role (2-3 inning stints) and having some success. Paddack and SWR are both very similar in how they can sail through 3 innings or so and then suddenly, that second trip through the lineup....BAM !! There goes a 3-run HR in the 4th or 5th.

The idea that Twins fans want a team that "bunts more" is a straw man argument. To say Twins fans want a team that plays more like the Milwaukee Brewers is a much more honest argument. We want a team that can steal bases and take the extra base on a hit to the outfield. We'd like to see a team that makes more consistent contact, even if it costs us 15-20 HR's per season. We want a team that is at least CAPABLE of getting a bunt down late in games if the situation warrants it. i.e. having runners on first & second with nobody out and Vasquez at the plate is a no-brainer. The Twins play a very boring brand of baseball. They play a very frustrating brand of baseball defensively if the players aren't Buxton, Bader or Correa. They need more athleticism. For example, Brooks Lee may have gotten the game winning hit last night, but he's a remarkably "unathletic" SS. The Marek Houston #1 pick is more the kind of SS prospect I'm looking for. If Keaschall stakes his claim to 2B and Royce Lewis plays like he's capable at 3B does Brooks Lee become a glorified utility infielder by the time Houston is ready to push Correa to 3B and Lewis to 1B?? I'd love to know what Falvey's REAL thoughts are on that. Because with Culpepper and DeAndre in the pipeline and the expectations for Houston, he should be considering adding Brooks Lee to any deal to upgrade talent at a position of need. Lee will never be a full time MLB SS. Obviously, Falvey is going to be the primary person to decide how BIG or how small our moves at the deadline are. I liked how he started with a low impact trade of Paddack and Dobnak to the Tigers for a 19 year old C/1B who switch hits and appears to have a nice swing. The trade adds a player to our current prospects for C and 1B where our talent level is unacceptable. Plus...I think it weakens the Tigers!! They can HAVE Paddack and Randy!!