TopGunn#22

I would have interest, and the key is what would Baltimore take in return. But Mark G. makes a great point. We're already supposed to have depth in the OF. Buxton, Bader, Wallner, Larnach, E-Rod, Jenkins, Gabe Gonzalez, Kiersey, even Castro. Some of these guys might go at the deadline. We know we need a catcher. A trade for Kjerstad would need to be made with another trade in mind, like packaging Larnach and something else of value to the White Sox for Quero or Teel. Larnach and a little something more for Teel?? Dr. Gast posts on BBTV consistently. Doc, the last time I saw a value for Teel it was 22.3 (and then he got traded to the White Sox). The Quero that catches for the White Sox, I've never had a value for him The last time I checked on Kjerstad he was at 19.5 (and Larnach was at 21.7). Kjerstad's value has cratered. Larnach's probably hasn't changed much. What would it take to pry a Dalton Rushing from the Dodgers, or Teel/Quero from the White Sox??

While I would like to see the Twins be buyers (yes, they're NINE games out of 1st place in the division but well in the thick of it for a Wild Card) this roster is still just not well put together. We're on the verge of an epic problem at the catching position. Jeffers is having a bad year hitting and his defense will never even be adequate. Vasquez should be moved to someone looking for a catcher but who the heck takes his place? Camargo?? I think the Twins should be sellers. It's time for an eye on 2026 when there should be new ownership. I know many on TD who aren't confident Falvey can make the right deals as a seller, but he has to realize he's auditioning to remain the GM once a sale of the team is complete. In any deal, I'd be looking to bring in a catcher of the future. If the Dodgers want a closer and utility man, I'd move Duran, Castro and Ryan Jeffers to the Dodgers for Dalton Rushing. Jax can take over as the closer for the rest of the year and beyond. The Dodgers are in their perpetual WIN NOW mode. Their bullpen is constantly battling injuries. Duran would be a stabilizing force. If I traded with the White Sox, I'd try to pry one of their TWO young catchers away...Quero or Teel. Larnach would also be a bat I'd be willing to move. We've got young OF ready to make a move if they could ever stay healthy. I'd be looking to include some expiring BP arms. I'd look to send France off and get Miranda one more chance. I'd move Julien for a young minor leager with promise. It's possible to sell and still see the team play well enough to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card. But my primary focus would be on a re-set of the roster for 2026. New ownership could possibly bring a little more cash to plug a hole here and there.

The fleeting opportunity to trade for Civale has passed. Maybe they look at someone like Tyler Anderson from the Angels. It would be nice to have ONE LH starting pitcher. The problem with that is Anderson is in the final year of a contract that pays him $13 million this season. The Twins would be picking up about half. It's doubtful the Pohlad family would do that. I'm done with the SWR as a SP idea. But I DO think he could be a reasonably effective middle relief-long man who comes in and pitches 2 or maybe even 3 innings. If he's not on board with that (and at this stage of his career that's a clear possibility) then I would look to package him with Julien to get someone else's AAAA SP who would have more ability/ceiling than SWR. I think Festa and eventually Matthews will be fine as full time members of the Twins rotation. But right now, the Twins need to IL Ober and get him healthy. I wouldn't rush him back under any circumstances. Ober is either our solid #3 in the rotation or the best option to trade to get something of significance. Lopez and Ryan, to me are untouchable and big parts of future successful Twins teams.

Excellent comments. This was a VERY frustrating game to watch as a Twins fan (even though I agree with mikelink45...this was BASEBALL to a "T." I have a litany of complaints. Each of them have already been mentioned by previous posters. 1. Watkins is going to cost Rocco his job someday. He is easily the worst 3B coach I've ever seen for the Twins and I've been a fan since 1964. Sending Wallner with nobody out against the arm of Julio Rodriguez just shows an utter lack of situational awareness that no baseball team can afford. If there's one thing about Watkins, it's that he's consistently BAD. The Twins have been punished by his flawed judgement time and time again. I don't expect any changes. 2. Jorge Alcala needs to go. The arm and stuff is tantalizing. But his execution is extremely frustrating. many teams would be interested in an arm like that for their bullpen. His appearance last night is typical of his usual effort. Come in and walk the leadoff hitter on five pitches, a guy who had never even reached base in his brief MLB career. Then, induce a comebacker to the mound for a tailor made double play, only to noodle-arm a throw to 2B that Cody Clemens has to make a really nice play just to get the force out. Then, fall behind 3-0 AGAIN only to groove a fastball that gets CRUSHED. Every hitter he faced had a 3-ball count. Trade Him. For whatever you can get. Situational hitting is still a consistent source of frustration. Buxton should have pounced on the first pitch, 93 mph fastball right down the middle with the go ahead run at 3B and no outs. Instead he takes the strike and then waves at a sweeper 18 inches off the plate for strike 3. The Twins, as a team, philosophically, refuse to play "small ball." Even with Rocco tossed and back in the clubhouse. It was fitting, after failing to score the go ahead run in the 9th and 10th inning that the Twins would lose on a bunt by Tavaras to move the winning run to 3B with one out, and then with the infield in, lose on a weakly hit chopper to 1B when the throw to the plate was too late. Baseball plays 162 games. As fans, I realize we shouldn't agonize over ONE loss. But this game follows a pattern that the Twins have struggled with consistently. The inability to hit to the situation. Too many K's that lead to unproductive outs. The refusal to play "small ball" in certain game-winning situations. Continuing with a BAD 3B coach whose split second decisions consistently blow up in his face, and a relief pitcher that has great "stuff" but a proven track record of "dumb pitching." Changes need to made.

I think Lewis should definitely spend a little time in St. Paul (and I've got him on my Fantasy Baseball team). He's struggling mightily and the current course is not trending "upwards." Sometimes a guy just needs a little reset. Last night's comeback was fantastic, but check your Twins box score this morning and you'll see that Royce had an 0 for 4 with a walk. As you pointed out, it worked for Jake Burger and it could also work for Lewis. He's not helping the team with a .130 BA, .200 OBP and .203 SLG. You could have a glove like Brooks Robinson and you'd still be hurting the team. Give Lewis one week of AB's at AAA to get his confidence back and start seeing the ball better.

I bought the MLB package and watch every game, pretty much from start to finish. I'm typing this while wearing a new Twins cap (Traditional Navy Blue with TC logo) and a half zip Twins warmup top. I'm no fan of the Pohlad's and haven't been since around 2010 or so. Still, I love baseball. I won't let the Pohlad's get in the way of that. I'll be heading up to see a game when the Rangers roll into town, and probably see several more before the end of the season. It IS frustrating as far as the sale of the team goes however. The Pohlad's insistence on rolling $400+ million dollars of debt into the sale is really discouraging any genuine interest in buyers, especially with a lockout looming in the future. And that has a direct effect on what the Pohlad's will allow the current front office to do at the trade deadline. Twins SP as well as their BP should keep the team pretty competitive. Getting Correa and Buxton back in the lineup along with Wallner and Keaschall (and if Royce Lewis ever hits like he's capable of) would be plenty of offense to add, so maybe a deadline trade isn't needed, but you'd like to feel that a deal "could" be made if the team needed it. However, what ultimately soured me on the Pohlad's was their inability to make deals 2004-2010 when they had 2 MVP's, a 2-time Cy Young Award winner and the greatest closer in the history of the franchise on the roster (as well as the 2nd best CF the Twins have ever had) and NOTHING was ever done to better prepare the roster for the playoffs. I probably shouldn't be holding my breath for anything this time either.

With Raya just 21-22 years old, I wouldn't trade him yet. And his 2025 at St. Paul hasn't enhanced his value (unlike SWR's 2024 and Paddack's recent outings). I think the Twins should trim 2 of his pitches and have him concentrate on his best 4. Especially if he's not locating/controlling his vast repertoire. Starting pitchers don't need SIX pitches. It may be that the BP is in his future. But I wouldn't want to make that move until 2025 is over (or nearly over). If he starts to get back on track with a 4 pitch mix, he could be a candidate for a 2-inning BP role if the Twins have a need in August or September. Get him a taste of MLB at 2025 seasons end out of the BP and then reassess for 2026 rotation or BP.

I should have mentioned the Cubs. They've also been hit HARD with pitching injuries but are still contending. They are probably a better match. Good Point DJL44.

This is a great opportunity for the Twins to "sell high" to a team that is desperate for SP (looking at you, Baltimore Orioles). The Twins have higher ceiling guys like Matthews, Festa and Morris. than either Paddack and SWR. I'm not sure what the Twins could get but the Orioles are a mess right now and many of their prized prospects are either hurt or underperforming (Westburg, Cowser, Kjerstad. Coby Mayo, Enrique Bradfield). To get someone like Westburg the Twins might have to expand the deal and include Julien and or SWR. I just don't see a future for Julien with Cody Clemens, Brooks Lee, Payton Eales getting close to coming back and especially Luke Keaschall. Doc Gast...bust out your BBTV membership and see what the Twins could get with a trade offering SWR, Paddack and Julien.

I will echo what Linus and DJL44 said. If you can't play the game, you shouldn't be out there. Yes, it's true that we need Lewis in the batters box 4 times a game doing damage. And I'm OK with him lacing a ball into the right-center field gap and cruising into 2B for a double. But I'm not OK with not diving back to 2B to avoid being doubled up. I'm not OK with barely jogging to 1B on ground balls in the infield either. If he can't "Play. The. Game." he shouldn't be out there. For Pete's sake Royce, stretch a little more. Where does this stop? Does he NOT dive for a ball while playing 3B? If he's playing 1B same thing. If this is the mind set for this season, does this ever end? In that case, he's nothing but a DH. He's not even playable at 1B. And at this stage of his career, he's not Nelson Cruz. Even after Harmon Killebrew suffered a major hamstring tear in the 1968 season he came back and played 3B and 1B (primarily 3B) in 1969 and won A.L. MVP. He rehabbed in the off season and came back ready to PLAY THE GAME. He then hit 41 HR's in 1970, the year following his MVP season and in 1971 led the A.L. in RBI's. All while playing 3B or 1B. There was no DH until 2 years later. Killebrew was 32 years old when he tore his hamstring. Anybody who watched that game saw how bad it was. They took him off the field on a stretcher. How is it that a 25 year old is unable to overcome his leg injuries sufficiently enough to play the game with effort and energy. I'm a big fan of Lewis. But this is NOT the way to go about this.

I think Rocco is doing a better job of defining the roles he's using guys in as well as maintaining a level of flexibility. I've been one of his biggest critics regarding BP usage, but I see improvement. Duran is pitching in closing situations, he's not taking the mound in the 7th inning. The early season struggles of Jax contributed to the early season lethargy. He's just such a key guy in that BP and it's a punch to the gut when he doesn't do well. He's getting back on track and that's really encouraging. Having Coloumbe go on the IL is your typical war of attrition in MLB. Hopefully the A+ version of Brock Stewart can help pick up the slack. Varland is doing what we thought he would be capable of. The weak link in my opinion right now is Alcala. He's got tremendous stuff, but walking your first hitter in 5 pitches and then wild pitching him into scoring position is NOT what Rocco or Twins fans have any patience for. Alcala could be pressed by a minor league arm or two if he continues the way the has. With Coloumbe on the I.L. the Twins need to see the BEST version of Funderburk.

This is a very complicated topic. Those who think otherwise are firmly on one side or the other and will never change their minds. I get that. I have given thumbs up and thumbs down for various comments but that just means I disagree or agree with the comment. I try to appreciate good insights given whether I agree with them or not. I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. Pete Rose was a part of that. Whether it was baseball cards, watching baseball on TV, Strat-O-Matic baseball with friends, there was always a Pete Rose presence because someone always had a "Big Red Machine" team. Pete Rose is such a contradiction to me. I admired the way he played the game, so I played baseball and softball much like he did (minus a couple thousand hits). But my personality and his couldn't be further apart. That he was an arrogant and self centered man is not debatable. He was nothing like I aspire to be as a husband, father, grandfather, son, brother or friend. I will always admire how Rose played the game. I will always be disappointed in his shortcomings. Whether he ever gets into the HOF will not change my life in any way. The only guy I ever ached for getting into the HOF was Tony Oliva. It just bugged me he had to wait so long. As I've grown older, I've tried to be less judgmental and more forgiving. It's just easier to go through life without a visceral hatred of something or someone. That doesn't mean I've forsaken discerning right from wrong. As a Christian, it just means I pray more, for friends and family as well as for those I feel are sinners and who also need the prayers (that includes myself). I used to be dead set against any PED users being in the HOF. While not campaigning for any of them to be inducted, I also won't rush to Cooperstown, dressed in black with a mask covering my face, and burn down the HOF if any of them get in. If Rose gets in (and Shoeless Joe for that matter) I will appreciate what he/they accomplished, but would embrace a plaque that highlights the good but also addresses the bad. If he/they never get in, I can accept that as well. My life will not be diminished in any way either. I will still enjoy the game of baseball.

Thanks Jamie ! I too would like to see a high upside catcher in the the first 3-4 picks. I also wouldn't mind a top notch high school SS with clear defensive skills to stick at the position. Assuming a high school SS (with Bobby Witt Jr. skills) would take 3 years to make his Twins debut at 21 years old (2028?) Correa may be just about ready to move to 3B. Maybe more like 2029 if the HS SS played a season of utility IF to get his feet wet.

This is when other guys, like the 2B or LF need to help out a little. Even though Correa is an elite defender, when an outfielder is coming in, with the head of steam that Buxton had (and when that CF is as elite as Buxton) if I'm the 2B, I'm calling BUXTON, BUXTON, BUXTON !!! If Correa pulls off and the ball falls for a hit, I'm the 2B who takes the blame in the dugout. That's just my 2 cents. When it's loud like that, other fielders can't just be spectators. They are not directly involved in the play, but being in close proximity, they can take a look and make a judgement, and be loud themselves. It's good the Twins have them both in concussion protocol. You just can't take any chances with something like that. But it's a major bullet dodged that neither tore up a knee or something on the play. Maybe Keirsey's bat is coming alive and he can can play an everyday CF until Buxton is cleared. Otherwise, maybe it IS time to throw E-Rod out there. McCusker could be interesting as well as the RH corner OF bat with Bader hurting. Either way, our OF and IF defense just took a major hit in the hopefully short term. It will have to be Brooks Lee at SS in the meantime. The Silver Lining is that Lee gets a chance to show he can be a major league SS and not just a fill in guy who profiles better at 3B/2B.

Paddack is a Wild Card as his last 3 starts have been REALLY GOOD. Teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs and Orioles are pitching needy NOW. For all the arms the Dodgers have, how long does anyone think Kershaw will last? Glaznow? Snell? I know at some point Ohtani will enter the rotation and Gonsolin is finally back in the rotation, but it's amazing to consider how much money the Dodgers have invested in "fragile SP's." Paddack and SWR are certainly guys to consider trading at this point. But Ryan, Lopez and Ober are the foundation for anything GOOD that can happen for the Twins this season. With new ownership sometime this season or next (how long can the Pohlad's draw this out?) even a slight increase in salary could/should be expected. It will be very interesting to see how the Twins draw in the coming home stand against Cleveland and the Royals. With a winning streak active and the Twins back into the mix after the lethargic start it will be telling what message the fans send the Pohlad family...if any message is sent at all.

Lots of good comments. SWR has ALWAYS struggled to get thru 5 innings, but he's been "decent" thru the first 3 or so. With SWR, I've always felt like he's walking a tightrope. One false step and he's giving up a 5-spot. He's been pretty good at working out of jams, stranding runners. I disagree that the Twins see SWR, Matthews and Festa as essentially "the same." Or maybe I should say I don't. The ceilings of Matthews and Festa are just higher. Matthews has outstanding command and Festa just has better pure stuff. I think bean5302 was very insightful when he said SWR, once out of options, is a candidate for the BP, especially if Matthews or Festa (I think it will be Matthews) comes up and stakes a claim to a rotation spot. OR...SWR becomes a trade candidate. With position players dropping like flies and a SP needy team like the Orioles or Cubs out there, we could see a trade. Not saying we WILL. But bean5302 raised the possibility, and I think he's made an interesting point, at least for further discussion. Dr. Gast...calling Dr. Gast !! We need a Twins & Orioles BBTV's TRADE PROPOSAL...STAT !! What would an SWR trade to the Orioles bring to the Twins?? What about the Cubs?

This is always an interesting time of year. Not only for the major league team where you can begin to get a sense of who is figuring it out (Larnach) who is continuing to disappoint you (Julien, Miranda) and who seemed to look pretty darn good ahead of schedule (Keaschall). Second base continues to be a black hole. Other than the the HR he hit in front of Mom and Dad in Fenway Park, Cody Clemens is a zero. At least Clemens in more consistent defensively than Julien. It sure would be nice to see Keaschall back with the Twins and there is about a 2 month timeline for that to happen. I wish Eeles was healthy and making a case for himself to be given an opportunity. What it crystal clear to me is that Miranda and Julien have no future with the Twins at this point. I would have liked to see them packaged in a trade in the off season, but could understand giving each one more chance to show they belong. Alas, neither has shown any consistency or ability to do so. As long as Rafael Devers continues to be a "Me First" instead of a "Team First" guy, the Red Sox are going to be in a tough position. I say give Boston a call and see what kind of a deal you can make. I still have my doubts about Brooks Lee as a SS. I worry about Correa's long term outlook and that we really don't have anybody with the athleticism to play SS once Correa moves to 3B. Two players that it appears Boston is trying to move are Devers (who they can't give away despite the fact that he's a really good hitter) and Ceddane Rafaela, someone who is an excellent SS and CF. About the only only Devers (-64.7 value) trade that gets any kind of positive feedback is straight up for deGrom (-60.8 value). It's the classic "you take my bad contract and I'll take yours" deal. Rafaela is intriguing because he's only 23 and has cost certainty for another 5 years. He's kind of the perfect "super utility guy" in case Correa or Buxton goes down. Bader is a fine outfielder, but he's only here for one year. The Red Sox also have a couple young SS prospects that seem head and shoulders above anybody we currently have in our system. Marcelo Mayer is a 21 year old SS prospect with a value of 47.0. Franklin Arias is an 18 year old SS with a BBTV of 15.0. If the Twins offered Jose Miranda 1B/3B (12.3) and SWR SP (21.0) and Billy Amick 1B/3B (7.0) total of 40.3 to the Red Sox for Mayer SS (40.7) Rafaela SS/CF (-2.4) and Tristan Casas (currently with a value of ZERO) total 38.3 the BBY+TV numbers work out. (Casas injury has seen his previous 28.3 value just plummet). The Red Sox get a SP for their rotation, a 1B in Miranda since Devers refuses to play there, and a young prospect like Amick to eventually replace Casas. The Twins get a 21 year old SS who could be major league ready by 2026 (giving the Twins a better SS option than Brooks Lee who looks more 3B/2B) an immediate defensive upgrade at SS, 2B and CF than Castro in Ceddane Rafaela and a major league 1B in Casas who just needs time to recover. Rafaela is expendable to the Red Sox because uber-prospect Roman Anthony is pushing for a major league call up and the Sox already have capable CF's in Jarren Duran (LF) and Wilyer Abreu (RF). The Twins can sell high on SWR with Festa, Matthews and Morris pushing for a call up. The Twins will be moving on from Willi Castro either at the trade deadline or next off season. Rafaela is the longer term replacement for Castro and would allow the Twins to trade Castro and get something back in return for him. Maybe the Dodgers are still interested?

I never get offended when someone suggests a trade. That's just "Baseball Talk." Some of the outrage on TD over this is amusing. What a suggestion like this DOES DO, is open up discussion about how Twins players could or should be valued. I don't want to trade Joe Ryan. When you have a good, controllable SP, you don't trade him. Because trading him rarely makes the team better. I will admit though, the conversation with Baltimore begins with Bassalo if you're talking Ryan. And it wouldn't be one-for one. Laloesch has the right idea. The guys to move are Paddack (especially after last night's effort) and SWR. I think Festa and Zebby are higher ceiling replacements for both. I leave the core of the rotation: Lopez, Ryan and Ober alone. That's the foundation of any team the Twins have for contention now, and going forward. But I'd aggressively be looking to deal from the edges...Paddack and and SWR. The more desperate teams like the Dodgers, Orioles and Cubs get with the fragility of their rotations the more I'm pushing SWR and Paddack for more than they're worth. Especially if I've got Festa, Matthews and Morris at St. Paul. Marca Raya?? He's a throw in to sweeten a deal for a solid catching or shortstop prospect in a Paddack/SWR trade. At best he's a decent RP at some point, but he'll never be a major league starter. So to finish up, I don't mind articles like this, because even though I would have to be blown away for any trade for Ryan, I like hearing other ideas, like moving Paddack and/or SWR. What could we actually get for those guys?

Good article Nick. I would disagree with you essentially leaving Rocco off the hook. He's in even greater jeopardy than Falvey as Falvey can just fire Rocco before anything is done to address his own short comings. The Twins are in freefall. Their GM clearly has no answers. If they stick with Rocco what will change for this ballclub? Nothing will be done until the team is sold and who knows when that will happen? It's a good thing the Wolves are still playing and the Vikings season can't get here soon enough.

Aside from consistently sloppy play in the field, how Rocco handles his bullpen has been one of my primary disappointments in him. I've stated many times here on TD and many others have as well. Bullpens operate the best when guys have clearly defined roles. Mariano Rivera, once he was the Yanks closer, never came into a game in the 7th inning. Never. The only time Rivera came into the game was to close it. The same could be said for Joe Nathan, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers and on and on and on. Earl Weaver had great bullpens in his days as Orioles manager. And often times he didn't have a PRIMARY closer. It could be Eddie Watt or Pete Riechart, maybe even Grant Jackson or Dick Hall. But he had clearly defined roles for his guys. Maybe Earl had it easier because Palmer, Cuellar, McNally etc...usually went 7 innings, often longer, but his guys still had clearly defined roles. Rocco has never seen the logic in doing that. And so this leads us to the big question about Rocco...if he remains as Twins manager this entire season, none of us here can envision a major turn-around by this team. It's "possible" but actually quite unlikely. So if Rocco were replaced as manager, who would it be? Would we set a batting order and generally stick to it, (Tovar, Carew, Oliva, Killebrew...)or would we continually be moving guys around in the day-to-day lineup? Would the team begin hitting better? Would they become better situational hitters...aka runners and 2nd and 3rd and nobody out...would we score more often than we have with Rocco? Certainly if someone other than Tommy Watkins were coaching 3B we wouldn't be sending our runner from 3rd with the infield in on the "contact play" with nobody out...would we?? Would the new manager have defined roles for his bullpen? Would pitchers have a clue how to hold runners on?? The 7th inning Wednesday was a master-class on why Christian Vasquez is vital to this ballclub. Ryan Jeffers is a below average catcher defensively. He couldn't pull the ball out of his glove on one stolen base attempt, and then he drilled a crouching Brock Stewart with a low throw that had it missed Stewart, night have bounced 4 times before it reached 2B. Later, a ball that was scored a wild pitch but that is effectively blocked about 75% of the time got by Jeffers allowing runners to move up a base. Four runs later a scoreless game was effectively a Cleveland win. Would moving on from Rocco help this team snap out of it's doldrums? Or are the Pohlad's just going to ride this disaster of a season out and hope someone is foolish enough to pay half a billion over market price?

Great article Matthew !! Well written and timely. Thank You.

We've beaten this horse till it's beyond a corpse, but it doesn't change the fact that the majority of Twins fans are not, and probably haven't been, fans of our ownership since 1994. Yes, we have 2 World Series Championships and they came within 5 years of each other. 2019 was fun as was 2023. But opportunities lost due to their penurious ways have over taken them. My disillusionment began in the mid 2000's when the team sported 2 MVP's, a 2 time CY Young winner and the greatest closer in franchise history, yet they never, not even once, "went for it" to try to surround that talent with a trade deadline deal to put them over the top. When your post World Series victories deadline acquisition "claim to fame" is Shannon Stewart you have utterly failed your fanbase. The "Baseball Gods" have decided to punish the Pohlad family mercilessly by injuring their pitchers and star hitters continuously. The Pohlad family is going to lose a boatload of money this season and it's hard to feel sorry for them. The longer they wait, the lower their eventual price will be. Hoping to sell the team at an obviously inflated value to absolve debts from other poorly run Pohlad businesses is going to take a BIG BITE out of their backsides.

Keaschall is doing as well as he has all while knowing Tommy John surgery was coming. Think about that. The kid was not 100% and he, as well as the Twins knew this surgical setback was inevitable, yet he raked and played CF and 2B and some 1B. I haven't actually seen him play, but I think his athletic profile gives him a chance to be much better defensively at 2B than Julien (low bar). Keaschall also has much better bat to ball skills than E-Rod. He will be more consistent. The better question to focus on at this point isn't who is the BETTER prospect. It is who will get to the major leagues SOONER. The answer is probably Keaschall. Julien has at least been O.K. with the bat to begin the season. We all know he will never be a PLUS defender anywhere. The best thing Julien can do for the Twins and himself, is to keep hitting, thus increasing his trade value to teams looking for an offense upside 2B. He's going to get passed up by Keaschall and Lee and possibly even Payton Eeles. There is also Royce Lewis lurking...what is he? 3B? 1B? LF? 1B? Somewhere, someplace, Lewis, if he can EVER stay healthy will settle in at one of those 4 positions. E-Rod, if he can demonstrate his elite on-base skills as well as his power, "projects" to still be the better prospect. E-Rod's defensive ability at either corner OF spot as well as CF is a given. His bat is what will determine if he's a middle of the order regular or nothing more than a 4th OF/Platoon player in the future. Ty France has been a nice story so far, but I don't expect it to last beyond June. This is why Larnach and/or Wallner should have been taking grounders at 1B already, especially with the acquisition of Bader. With E-Rod and Walker Jenkins on the way, the OF is just too crowded. And 1B remains a black hole in the lineup for the near and distant future.

There is a high degree of frustration for Twins fans right now. This team should at least be at .500 and in the mix for what should be a very competitive A.L. Central. Yet the AB's this team takes are just as frustrating as ever. Going with a new hitting coach has brought no improvement at all. The move with Miranda had to made. Much of our frustration with the Twins stems from the lack of production of our "Star Players." Correa and Buxton are struggling at a time when the team really needs them to step up. Striking out on 3 consecutive change-ups yesterday with men on base was vintage Buxton. But while the "star core" of our lineup is either flirting with the Mendoza Line (Correa, Buxton) or M.I.A. with yet ANOTHER injury (Lewis) the greater frustration of Twins fans is the lack of growth by our younger players. The Tigers have young players showing growth in SPADES...Torkelson, Carpenter and Greene. On the pitching side they've developed a CY Young winner in Skubel. Casey Mize, Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe are coming into their own. Colt Keith shows promise. On the Twins side, we see young players that show flashes, but no one who appears to be turning the corner. We also see screwball lineup construction from Rocco due to who knows what from a spreadsheet. We have a classic cleanup or #5 hitter in Matt Wallner, yet we embark on this grand experiment of hitting him leadoff. It's idiotic moves like this that have become the trademark of Rocco Baldelli. It's a long season, but the Twins have earned their 4-11 record to date. We currently sit in LAST PLACE, half a game behind the worst team in baseball history. Rocco and the hitting coach should be feeling the heat in a major way. Bean is right that Miranda still has some value on the trade market. Guys don't go from having value to zero value 15 games into the season. Otherwise, the Twins could traded SWR to the Red Sox for Rafael Devers and moved Festa into the rotation. Another failing of Rocco is not fighting for guys who are clearly better options than what he's got right now. Festa should be in this rotation, So should Zebby Matthews. With Pablo's injury, Andrew Morris should be making a spot start or two. Instead, we got a guy like Paddack who should be a 2-inning BP guy at best. We had a Golden opportunity to trade a guy like SWR at the top of his value and get a bat who could help this lineup and go with Festa, Matthews or Morris, all guys with much higher ceilings, yet we did nothing. Signing a Jose Quintana type or even Martin Perez (who beguiled the Twins earlier this year) would have made for a better rotation. And as I mentioned earlier, any hope we have that some of our young talent like E-Rod, Keaschall or Brooks Lee could come up and give us some juice seems hollow because our young players just don't show any improvement once they reach the Twins. It's a frustrating situation with Rocco and his staff but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Toby Gardenhire either. And at the center of all this is a looming, potential ownership change that most of us hope ushers in BIG CHANGES throughout the Twins organization. The longer this listless, lifeless iteration of the Twins keeps stacking up loss after loss, the less the Pohlad family can expect from a sale. The Twins ship is taking on water on rough seas. Will the Pohlad family go down with the ship?

2019 broke Rocco if he was ever going to be more than just a "spreadsheet" manager. Even Earl Weaver, the King of the 3-run homer, had guys like Paul Blair and Don Buford who could...and did...steal bases. I think the sample size is far too small to make any grand pronouncements at this time. And for all we heard about Royce Lewis and his desire to get away from a body builder body and working on more flexibility...WHAM! Right out of the gate he pulls a muscle. I still think if Lewis is serious about slimming down, getting sleeker and more flexible he will reap the benefits. You don't constantly pull muscles if you're NOT too tight in the first place. He's strong enough, the HR's will come. The Twins training staff should have come to this conclusion a long time ago. And it will take more than just an off season to correct it. It will also make him better in the field and a more free-and-easy thrower as well. The fundamental mistakes the Twins are making to begin the season shows a team that wasn't properly prepared. The wonderful thing about baseball is that a team can recover and make the needed adjustments. However, if this team is in 4th place by the end of May, there could and probably should, be a cleaning of the house that would include Rocco and a new 3rd base coach.