Thrylos

Nah. To do that one has to be able to hit his way out of a paper bag. He can't.

If Mauer did not have a concussion that trade would not have hurt the Twins. One cannot predict future injuries when trading to win now. And if Ramos was not traded, the Twins could have not made the post season that year. Capps was lights out. 2.00 ERA and 16/18 saves. That trade worked for the Twins. Got them to the postseason. The issue was Ryan re-signing Capps for no reason afterwards when he was not that good.

It is still too early and teams have their prices too high as far as buyers go and too low as far as sellers go. When time gets closer to the deadline people are going to start sweating things will happen. Right now is like playing chicken going 5 mph against each other. The speedometer will start increasing closer to the deadline, so someone will have to give up. Or not. Esp. as far as rentals go.

I must be missing something. Twins' players OPS the last 5 games (5 Twins' games not the players' last 5 games) : Garver 2.060 Polanco 1.308 Adrianza 1.300 Cruz 1.128 Sano 1.004 Castro .990 Kepler .929 Not that Polanco and Kepler did not contribute, but there were other players who contributed more...

2018 he was with the Nats and this season was with Detroit.

91-93 mph FB last season, a tick or two higher this season per reports, close to plus curveball and above average changeup, with plus to plus plus command and control of all his pitches.

After last season I thought that May had turned a corner and would be a great late inning contributor in the Twins pen. This season for some reason he is too tentative. Thinking too much before pitching. That was my impression and checking out fangraphs, this season indeed, he takes 2 more seconds before pitches on average than last season. And gets about 3% fewer swinging strikes, mainly due to lack of command of the curveball. His fastball is better this season. Can he be part of the solution in the pen? Maybe, but the problem (which I think is between his ears) better get fixed sooner, because when you compete, you cannot afford later.

It would had been something for someone who took the Twins' money not to play, instead of doing the right thing and retiring to help the team, to accuse the Twins for reluctance to spend $...

I think that it was just an unfortunate attempt at humor in a language he has not quite mastered. Not a big deal.

They are still paying Addison Reed $8.5M not to pitch. That cash can go long way towards covering a set up guys' salary in 2020.

If one views Lewis as a shortstop, given the fact that Polanco will be there for the next 5 years or so and is probably Lewis's ceiling with the bat, Lewis might seem tradeable without opening a whole. I see Lewis as a centefielder and given Buxton's contract/future uncertainty, I would hate to trade him quite yet. Also, I am not sure that he is at the peak of his value still, which is another deterrent. I'd trade Kirilloff before him. Kepler is probably close to his ceiling and he will be around for a while, he does not have much position flexibility and he is in higher in his value curve than Lewis. I'd certainly trade either for someone like Syndergaard

That simulator said that Larnach has more value that Stroman+Giles. If Lewis has more value than Trout, I'd make these 2 trades in a heartbeat and call it a day

I think that the Twins will be better of if they go after someone like Hunter Pence for the 4th OF or platooning one of their lefties. Plus he seems to always be in the post season with winning teams. Sick and tired of them trotting Cave out there or playing infielders at the corners.

1892. They switched from the American Association to the NL before that season, along with the Brooklyn Dodgers. That team was founded in 1881. There was an earlier National League team with a similar name, Cincinnati Red Stockings, that lasted from 1876 to 1879 in the NL and then was disbanded. An even earlier Cincinnati Red Stockings team of the National Association of Base Ball Players moved to Boston in 1871. So the Reds were the 3rd team with a similar name in Cincinnati and were originally an AA team.

JG: An ESPN analyst “suggested” the Twins try to acquire Syndergaard and offered Lewis or Kirilloff and Graterol or Balazovic. Does that get it done and would you do it? Keith Law: That’s a strange proposal because Lewis’s value is down a bit and Graterol’s been on the shelf with a shoulder injury for two months.

a. .376 BABIP and 56.8 LOB% in wet and cold April really drag his numbers. b. something is up with his slider; he lost 4 mph this season. c. Mets changed their pitching coach about a month ago d. That clubhouse is a zoo. e. That fanbase belongs in a zoo.

I think that it will take the equivalent of Humber (top 50 BA&BP), Mulvey, Gomez,(~ 50 BA&BP) & Guerra (top 50 BA).

Two words: Cody.Allen. Sigh

Do you remember Tyler Robertson? Also 6-5 with the physique of a defensive end, but his fastball was 85-88 mph.

I do agree with the approach. You have to look who is signed long-term at the MLB level as well. You have a SH SS (Polanco) and a LH throwing LH hitting OF (Kepler). You don't want to have many LH throwing LH hitting OFs in general and the Twins have a whole bunch. So I'd pick one (Kirilloff) who might also move to first base also and try to keep him. All the rest, (Cave, Wade & Co) should be available. Larnach, Cabbage, and Blackenhorn (I treat all 3 as OF) throw right, but should probably be included in the equation. There is only one power RH hitter in the high minors, Rooker, so I'd hate to loose him, esp. with Nelson, Schoop, and Cron likely not coming back in 2020. As far as middle infielders go, Polanco and Arraez should be the Twins middle infield for their next 5 years of control. So everyone above, let's say, A class, should be available. Lewis is an exception, because I see him as a Centerfielder, and I would like to see what happens with Buxton long term. I'd keep Diaz because there are not many first basemen in the organization (but they are easy to find as free agents/trades the offseason) I am not convinced that the Twins have any top of the rotation starting prospects in their organization right now, so every pitcher should be available for an ace, esp. Gonsalves, and Graterol who seem to be perennially injured. So, I'd rather not loose these four, but for the right trade that will bring controllable top of the rotation talent, I would not mind seeing them go. The bottom line is that there are not too many chances to get to the post-season and once you get there you better be relevant, so the Twins have a chance this year and they better make it happen. Whatever it takes.

Gausman had one less year of control was he was dealt with O'Day from the Os to the Braves last season. Roberto Osuma had exactly the same years of control when traded from Toronto to the Astros last season Pham had exactly the same amount of control when he was dealt from St Louis to Tampa last season. All were about to be pretty expensive in arbitration. It happens

Lewis is one thing, Lewis + Rooker is another. As I explained above, I would have a hard time trading Rooker because he is rarer in the organizatation. My issue is trading within the division. I would have to see these guys in a White Sox or Detroit uniform.

Zach Wheeler. Better K% and FIP, xFIP than Berrios even in a very dysfunctional environment. Get him out of the Mets mess and you will see what he will do. He is a rental and will not cost that much either. That's the cheap way out I'd really go after German Marquez and get the Rockies to add on Wade Davis (0.79 ERA away from Coors vs 9.20 there) and Brian Shaw (2.86 ERA away 5.76 ERA home). Marquez is arbitration eligible first time next season, and the other 2 are under contract for 2020 + 1 option. Davis is owed ~$25M total and Shaw ~$15M. That will save the Rockies a ton of cash over the next few seasons, so might cost less than what one might think. Regardless, I'd trade Lewis plus Kirilloff (*) for Marquez, if the Rockies are willing to eat some of the others' $. The Twins need him more and he is just 24. Really need to look for players who are seemingly underperforming in their current situations, but have a high likelihood of improvement if you get them out of there. (*) I'd rather part with Kirilloff than Rooker btw. Other than Rooker, the Twins do not have much RH power in the system, and with Kepler's extension, Larnach performing solidly and Blackenhorn's, Cabbage, and Diaz's break though years, there is plenty of LH power in the upper minors for the Twins.

Boyd is at best at Berrios/Odorizzi level. The Twins need more. Plus Boyd's season seems to be a career season very similar to the one Phil Hughes had and got the extension. Both driven by uncharacteristically low BB/9. Like Hughes's not sure that Boyd's success will be sustainable. Shane Greene's 1.09 ERA and 0.879 WHIP are a mirage caused by his .181 BABIP and 86.1 LOB%. His FIP is 3.72 and xFIP 3.98. I'd pass on both and there is no way in hay I would trade Lewis or Rooker in the division. Maybe for Giolito + Colome, but still....

Re: Arraez and ROY: Currently Luis Arraez is 4th in fWAR among AL position player Rookies behind Brandon Lowe 2.5 fWAR, Daniel Vogelbach, 2.1 fWAR, and Danny Jansen 1.2 fWAR. The only Rookie pitcher who should be in the conversation is O's starter John Means who is 7-4 with 2.50 ERA for that team, and should be the forerunner for the AL ROY award. If Arraez overtakes Lowe and Means regresses, then he has hopes. He would probably need to spend the rest of the season in the bigs for that to happen.