Thrylos

Here are some fun careers splits for Tulowiski: Career at Target Field: .300/.417/.800 Career against the AL (both at Coors and away) : .296/.382/.550 I'd take either

$ for $, I'd say give them E. Santana and call it a day. Add Milone if you have to, but the Twins cannot give Gibson up right now. Add the other Santana, who, if you get Tulo, you have no need for. Plus. Take anyone 24 or over from the Rochester Roster. All you can eat.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Yesterday, in the first part of this series, I suggested that the Twins trade Danny Santana, Mike Tonkin and Jake Reed to the Oakland Athletics for Ben Zorbrist and Tyler Clippard; and to promote Jorge Polanco as their starting shortstop. This will address the shortstop and right hand set up positions. They Twins would need to address their Catcher deficiency and they need another lefty in the pen to complement Brian Duensing, who has been unhitable this month, and his season numbers been victimized by a .448 Target Field BABIP. I do not believe that 27 year old Ryan O'Rourke with 18 innings pitched above AA, including his current stint with the Twins, is the answer to this position for a contender. The Twins will solve that problem and the catcher problem in this trade. Trade Number 2: Tommy Milone and Jason Wheeler to the Phillies for C Carlos Ruiz and LHP Jake Diekman Why would the Twins do it? Carlos Ruiz on paper is a aging catcher who is overpaid (singed until 2016 with about $12.5 million left in his contract) and under producing (.227/.316/.303 with a 74 OPS+). However, one needs to look closely at his production: In High Leverage situations, he is 8/27 with a .296 Batting Average, 5 BB and 3 K. He is hitting LHPs at a .276/.392/.448 pace. He is someone who thrives in competitive situations and someone who makes a team better. Pitchers love to throw to him. Defensively he is average, which is not something that can be said for the current Twins' starting catcher. Jake Diekman, whom I am certain is an unknown to most Twins' fans, will be in his first year of arbitration next season and had some inconsistency and butted heads with the previous Phillies manager, enough to be demoted to the minors. He will be arbitration eligible in 2016 for the first time. He is 28. So what is there to like? His 96-98 mph fastball, coupled with one of the most devastating lefty change ups in the business. The Phillies could see beyond his 5.19 ERA and the fact that he allowed 31% of the runners he inherited to score. His 3.40 FIP, 27.4 K% and .394 BABIP indicate that he is a prime candidate for a change of scenery. He does have closer stuff. Giving away Tommy Milone, in addition to being an addition by subtraction, bringing the Twins' FIP leader, Trevor May, back to the rotation, is a cash balancing move. He is making close to $3 million this season and he will be in the second season of arbitration next season. Jason Wheeler is a 24 year old LHSP with a career 36-26, 3.60 ERA (3.56 FIP), 1.362 WHIP, 6.2 K/9 record in 96 minor league games, who occupies a 40 man roster spot for the Twins, and does not have much future in the organization, other that a long reliever or bottom of the rotation starter. Why would the Phillies do it? The Phillies are rebuilding and they are in full fledged SALE mode, with the upcoming change in Front Office leadership. They will be saving enough money and getting a couple of young arms who they can potentially plug in their rotation right away and rely on them. Milone's staff might work better in the National League. Wheeler is a fastball, slider, changeup pitcher, with fastball being his best pitch and runs in the low 90s but with a lot of controllable movement. If one of his secondary pitches improves, he can actually be a serviceable starter or a bullpen piece, for a system that is really depleted of prospects. http://www.rantsports.com/fantasy/files/2014/04/Carlos-Ruiz.jpg ----

Last season he had a 2.8 UZR/150 and career -1.9 UZR/150 Santana has a career -8.5 UZR/150, and Nunez -27.1. He is a better Shortstop that those 2. And those are the one he will be replacing. Also, Polanco will be the every day shortstop.

A couple of days after the All-Star Game, the Twins find themselves nine games above .500, and in the midst of a competitive season. The fact that the Twins are competing might be a surprise to some, but from what I had seen in spring training, this team had all the making of a competing team, and I even compared it to the 1987 team. A couple of days after the All-Star Game, the Twins find themselves nine games above .500, and in the midst of a competitive season. The fact that the Twins are competing might be a surprise to some, but from what I had seen in spring training, this team had all the making of a competing team, and I even compared it to the 1987 team. Like the 1987 team, which would not have won if they had not addressed them, the 2015 Twins have some glaring weaknesses that they need to fix. These weakness are in their bullpen, at the catcher and shortstop positions, and the power department. I will be proposing three trades that the Twins need to make right now to not only ensure the continuation of competitiveness, but to propel themselves to the next level. Trade number 1 Danny Santana, Mike Tonkin and Jake Reed to the Oakland Athletics for Ben Zorbrist and Tyler Clippard. Why would the Twins do it: Tyler Clippard, even though he is not a top closer any more, would be a great improvement over the likes of Casey Fien and Blair Boyer in solidifying the RH setup spot in the pen. Zorbrist brings a glove that plays in every position in the diamond and would solidify the utility role shared by the Eduardos (Escobar and Nunez.) The Twins should call up their number 2 prospect (after they called up number 1 and number 3), Jorge Polanco, who is the future and the present of the team as the starter at shortstop. The 21-year-old has been hitting .300/.340/.399 between Chattanooga and Rochester and his glove is at least as good as Santana's at this point. Zorbrist and Clippard are 30-something, but are free agents after this season, so the financial commitment is not going to impede any future teams. Clippard can potentially be extended, if his performance dictates it. The Twins are not losing that much in Santana, Tonkin and Reed. Santana, despite his comet-like 2014, still profiles as a utility player and needs work on both sides on the plate, Tonkin had plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the bigs, many more than relievers with better minor league records, like Anthony Slama, and has failed. He still has a 95 mph fastball that an organization will find useful. Jake Reed has had a good pro career so far, but has had an abysmal 2015 and the Twins' draft has brought in at least right-handed relief pithcers to the Twins' minors (Nick Burdi, J.T. Chargois, Brandon Peterson, A.J. Achter - in no order) ahead of him, thus making him expandable. It will also allow Jorge Polanco to join Sano and Buxton, making the future the present. Yes, the Twins are losing some talent, but they need to give value to get value and have better talent in those positions. Why would the Athletics do it: Other than the prorated $16 million reasons between the two players (about $7.5 M in salary relief), for a team that is not going anywhere, they are getteing three young players who do have potential. Santana's 2014 season might have not been as much a mirage as I think it was, and two young arms with high 90s heat and records of some success, are more than something to consider. This is probably the definition of a win-win trade. Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch View full article

No. $13 million a year for a 36 year old utility player? Zobrist will take the money and run. Not happening

Zorbrist and Clippard are free agents after this season. So Oakland will be left with nothing. Rentals. You cannot give them much more than that... (I have been telling how not ready Santana is, for a few seasons now, btw...)

Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean cannot strike their grandmas out. The biggest issue with the Twins' pen is strikeouts. O'Rourke, Pressly and Tonkin lead that Rochester team in K/9. See how they did in the bigs. Nope. They need pitchers who can strike people out in the major leagues. Look at Oliver Drake (Orioles.) He was untouchable at AAA, but... The Twins are competing. They cannot afford to be bottom-feeders, like usually. They need to go after pitchers who can pitch in the majors. Their payroll is about $30 million less than KC's and it shows...

My bad on Jay, need to edit that. I think that Zorbist is better than the Eduardos and Robinson. Cannot play CF, but Rosario can. Robinson does not need to be on the team right now. Zorbrist also has 4 years of post-season experience, which is valuable.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- A couple days after the All Star game, the Twins find themselves nine games above .500, and in the midst of a competing season. The fact that the Twins are competing, might be a surprise to some, but from what I have seen in Spring Training, this team had all the making of a competing team, and I even compared it to the 1987 team. Like the 1987 team, which would not have won if not addressing them, the 2015 Twins have some glaring weaknesses that they would need to fix. These weakness are at their Bullpen, Catcher, Shortstop and the Power department. I will be proposing three trades that the Twins would need to make right now to not only ensure the continuation of competitiveness, but to propel themselves to the next level. Trade number 1: Danny Santana, Mike Tonkin and Jake Reed to the Oakland Athletics for Ben Zorbrist and Tyler Clippard. Why would the Twins do it: Tyler Clippard, even though he is not a top closer any more, will be a great improvement over the likes of Casey Fien and Blair Boyer in solidifying the RH setup spot in the pen. Zorbrist brings a glove that plays in every position in the diamond and will solidify the utility role shared by the Eduardos (Escobar and Nunez.) The Twins should call up their number 2 prospect (after they called up number 1 and number 3,) Jorge Polanco, who is the future and the present of the team as the starter at Shortstop. The 21 year old has been hitting .300/.340/.399 between Chattanooga and Rochester and his glove is at least as good as Santana's at this point. Zorbrists and Clippard are 30-something, but are free agents after this season, so the financial commitment is not going to impede any future teams. Clippard can potentially be extended, if his performance dictates it. They are not loosing that much in Santana, Tonkin and Reed. Santana, despite his comet-like 2014, still profiles as a utility player and needs work on both sides on the plate, Tonkin had plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the bigs, many more that relievers with better minor league record like Anthony Slama, and has failed. Still has a 95 mph fastball than an organization will find usefull. Jake Reed has a very good pro career so far, but an abysmal 2015 and the Twins' draft has at least 4 RHRP in the Twins' minors (Burdi, Chargois, Peterson, Achter - in no order) ahead of him, thus making him expandable. It will also allow Jorge Polanco to join Sano and Buxton, making the future the present. Yes, the Twins are losing some talent, but a. they need to give value to get value and b. have better talent in those positions. Why would the Athletics do it: Other than the prorated $16 million reasons between the two players (about $7.5 M in salary relief), for a team that is not going anywhere, they are getter 3 young players who do have potential. Santana's 2014 season might have not been as much a mirage as I think it was, and two young arms with high 90s heat and record of success, are more than something to consider. This is probably the definition of a win-win trade.

Unless Buxton can prove that he can hit better than Butera, he belongs to AAA. I don't see a dilemma here. He is not a MLB-caliber player with the stick right now. He needs to work on pitch recognition.

I attribute 100% of the history of the Twins post-season ugliness the last decade on Ron Gardenhire. Hope that Molitor does not prove me wrong.

Reverend Aloysius Stanislaus Travers (one of baseball's greatest stories, from the story telling era...)

The only team that would do that, would be the Yankees, for Alex Rodriguez... Maybe.

People who might want to get traded are people who are MLB-ready (and they know it, and they have lights out seasons) and feel that they are blocked for some reason or been treated unfairly in their current organization. As far as minor leaguers go with the Twins right now, I'd have to say that Achter and Meyer might be on that boat maybe. Arcia and Vargas might have one foot in. Polanco is too young to care likely, but if he does not get called up soon, he might.

None of the above are prospects.

Vogt is 30 and still has to finish a full season in the majors. His resume reads a lot like 29 year old EricFryer's, albeit with a bit more production in the PCL and the majors (FWIW, Fryer hit a career .345/.427/.549 in AA.) Berrios for Vogt is ridiculous Vogt is a journeyman, the wrong side of 30. Milone is more appropriate, but I'd rather see what Fryer can do as a starter at this point (plus he is better with the glove and game calling than Vogt)

All of the above teams were their predecessors throw back uniforms, unlike the Twins that chose to wear that of a local minor league team that was affiliated with other franchises...

They are the same franchise (Add KC Blues that moved to DC to be complete, but that is before the AL/MLB days...)

The Twins haven't retired Walter Johnson's number because he did not have one They did not wear numbers back then.

The Rangers do not have the rights. Neither do the Nationals. It was crystal clear and on the record that Griffith took the rights with him to MN. It is a choice of the Polahd regime to reduce the Twins to a local upper midwest team...

Superficially, might seem hard to argue with that, other that the fact that Carew got really bitter with the Twins' franchise and self identified as an Angel later in his career. Still has a TC hall of fame plaque. BUT There is no way that the Franchise Four in the Twins' franchise should not start with maybe the best guy who ever pitched in this sport, Walter Johnson. And the fact that Twins' fans do not realize that Walter Johnson (and 15 other Hall of Famers who never wore a Twins' uniform) were part of the Twins' franchise, is pretty despicable and reflects horribly on the current management and ownership.

Nothing. He is not a better prospect. He just is a better player right now than Gordon in the same team (which is what I said.)

Good to see that Gordon is doing better at the plate, but I am not sure that his tools are much more than speed. Never liked the pick, thought that his ceiling is Ben Revere and that the Twins can do better. One thing that the writeup fails to mention, is that Gordon is not even the best SS at Cedar Rapids right now. That would be Venezuelan Rafael Valera who is just a year older than Gordon... We shall see, but Gordon needs to make the turn soon, if he does not want to find himself in Nico Goodrum territory...

Yes. They have been working with Burdi's mechanics this season. Give them some time.