jmlease1

Been a while since I saw a traded player rip his former team like that. Sure, you'd see someone take a shot at management or a coach from time to time, but rarely does anyone put the hammer down, and even more rarely on actual teammates. He called out most of the franchise for being unprofessional clowns.

Good to see the Twins come back and win one late. Keuchel did ok, but still looks very hittable. D-backs do score some runs (10th in MLB) but that was still a pretty nervy 5 innings. And the 5 inning starts aren't great unless the offense comes in big because of how many pitchers end up getting used to get through the game. Still, have to be happy about a sweep! Good opportunities to really put the foot down on the necks of the rest of the division here, hopefully the Twins respond better to success than the last time they had this kind of division lead.

He can field effectively anywhere except SS (not really enough range there), C (never played it), or 1B (don't think he's ever played there either, though he could probably adapt) and should hit fine as long as he can stay healthy. He looks like an excellent fit to fight for a super-utility role next season. He just had some rotten injury/illness luck.

Excellent game for the Twins. I was surprised to see the game story suggest that Maeda was getting squeezed by the plate umpire; it was a pretty wide zone most of the game. Definitely the kind of game the Twins needed: low pressure innings on the pitching staff and opportunities to let the low leverage guys get some time out on the field. Moran didn't look good, but Balazovic did fine. Great to see the bats pile up the hits. I recall a lot of people around here wanted to dump Jeffers and were very ready to give up on him. Good thing the team didn't listen.

Schobel needed this game, he's been scuffling in AA so far. Hopefully this is just a blip for Raya (and not a sign he's hurt) Congrats to Brooks Lee on the first AAA hit, looking forward to seeing how he does the rest of the season.

Challenging outing for Ober. He just couldn't finish guys off efficiently and you could see him fighting his command at times, missing his spots by a little, but not by a lot. Good that he was able to battle through 5, but not great that he piled up so many pitches that he couldn't get through 6. Thielbar looked very good, and if he's back to this form it's going to be a big deal. Let's get a Saturday win for Joe Mauer!

good lord, why? Mancini has been awful this season and can't really play OF any longer. Luplow hasn't played enough in MLB to know if he's completely cooked even against lefties, but at least he can function in the OF. not likely an impactful move, but I like it more than getting Mancini

Much more likely that this is a relatively young player who's never had any injury problems before thinking he can just get through it without any help. "Well, why didn't he tell anyone if he was hurt?!?" yeah, 'cause this is the first time a professional athlete thought "meh, this is no big deal, i'll be fine" and turned out to be wrong... I hope Kuechel can fill in here, but I'm doubtful. His MLB record recently has been dreadful and I'm just not sure his slop can get guys out at this level any longer. Hope I'm wrong! (And it's certainly reasonable to give him a shot right now rather than lose him for nothing, but Varland still might be the better option, even if he's been up and down at AAA) Hope Ryan gets this straightened out...and learned a lesson not to try and treat an injury on his own.

Gray really looked good, nice and efficient. Great time to get a good 7 innings and early run support. Jax looked filthy and had a good inning. Duran had a bit of a weird one, and I'd be happier if he had a couple of clean sheets again, but I'm not exactly worried about him. A nice series win on the road. I haven't gone and dug for stats on this one, but it sure seemed like the Twins had a LOT of deep fly ball outs this series. I'm guessing there were some frustrated hitters who felt like they just missed one (or two, or three...) against St. L. Am I crazy about this?

Yeah, i think this one is half right: move on and DFA Gallo. but Mancini isn't the answer: he's a terrible fielder, and much like Gallo has gotten worse at the plate as the season has gone on (only he didn't have a big first month). Mancini has been one of the worst position players out there this season, and we don't need another 1B. At this point, Mancini is really only taking ABs away from Donovan Solano, who has been quite a bit better than Mancini this season. i'd rather run Solano out there if we need another guy at 1B.

Congrats to Brooks Lee, who certainly deserved the promotion. His approach at the plate is pretty excellent, and I think there's still more to unlock there as he matures and gets more experience. There's still some additional power potential in there, but I wouldn't be surprised if he simply racks up some additional hits as well. he would look awfully good hitting behind Ed Julien and in front of Carlos Correa in the #2 hole next season, I think. It will be interesting to see how they shuffle the infield a bit for next season. I think there's a real possibility that Lee slides to 3B and Lewis goes to 2B (my feeling is that Lee's arm plays better at 3B and Lewis' speed plays better at 2B, but they should both do fine at either spot). Would not mind at all an infield of Lee, Correa, Lewis, and Julien! (Kirilloff in LF and backing up 1B, Wallner in RF, hopefully Buxton back in CF, Martin as the super utility guy...there's some exciting possibilities if they can get/stay healthy) Biggest thing Lee still needs to work on right now is his ability to attack LHP while hitting from the right-hand side. he's not bad or anything, but right now he's much more effective as a lefty hitter; if he can start punishing LHP he's going to be an incredibly tough out and a major asset at the top of the lineup. I'm a big fan of Brooks Lee. Great prospect, can't wait to see him at Target Field.

he's so talented. I really hope the surgery fixes his elbow and positions him to have the kind of MLB career we've all hoped for from him. I wonder if they'll look to have him throw in winter ball, just to get some innings in and start reacclimating to the mound and the game, or wait entirely for spring training? I could see him advancing rapidly again once he's healthy because his stuff is so good, but maybe if/when he makes it to MLB the Johan Plan might be worth considering: 1-2 season in the bullpen before doing an offseason reset back to starting? Heck, I'd even volunteer to start the "Free Canterino" website! :P

Well, your wish has been granted: Brooks Lee is moving up to Saint Paul!

Didn't they trade Bell for a player that they're cutting? That was a pure salary dump. Gallo may have a better OPS right now, but it's been in free fall since the first month of the season; Bell has been at least consistent and might be effective as a platoon bat. I'm not going to pretend Bell has significant value, but he's still more likely to be consistently productive.

I'm not entirely sure what Eddie Rosario has to do with this conversation, but if he's coming in to the discussion let's get the facts right: Rosario made $7.75M in his last season with the Twins, was in line for a raise in arbitration (would have likely been in the $10M range) when the Twins non-tendered him. So it wasn't $7M. He then signed with Cleveland for $8M (which the Twins might have been willing to give him, but pride gets in the way of these things with players at times) and promptly was awful. Even with a hot streak with Atl to finish the season, it was still his worst season as a pro. Atl overreacted to him being good in the playoffs by giving him a multiyear deal, and since then he's been awful again, with a 2022 that made him one of the worse regulars in baseball and he's been a replacement-level player this season as well, while pulling in $9M. This FO has made a lot of mistakes, but moving on from Eddie Rosario is not one of them. I've been ready for them to move on from Kepler, but as frustrating as Kepler has been over the last 3 seasons (including this one) he's been better than Rosario in pretty much every way (while costing about $4M less).

I'm baffled by the idea that you could trade Sonny Gray and simply plug Keuchel in as if there's not going to be a significant difference. Gray was an all-star this year and deserved the nod. Keuchel hasn't been an acceptable MLB pitcher since 2020. yes, he's put up relatively gaudy numbers in AAA, but there's definitely some smoke and mirrors involved there and pitches that can fool AAA kids will get you murdered in MLB. I would have liked them to get a RHP for the bullpen, but I can't say i loved a lot of the options that were actually out there. A RH bat for the OF would have bene nice, but would have been more impactful month ago. If we'd outbid for Tommy Pham, we're still only talking about another 50-60 ABs against LHP for the rest of the season, right? There wasn't much on the position player market that impressed, at least not to fill what the Twins needed. Honestly, I think the biggest failure by the Twins FO at the deadline was not admitting that the Gallo experiment has failed and finding a way to move on from him, even if it meant cutting him and not replacing him with a RH bat. Gallo had a great start, but hasn't been good since. he was dreadful in July and looks very much like 2022 Gallo, sadly. It's 3 bad months vs 1 good one. Accept the sunk cost and move on, even if Royce isn't ready to come back yet.

The prospect is fine, just doesn't look like one who is ready to contribute today, which means they dumped one of their best pitchers, a player under team control for 2 more seasons after this one for a prospect that's not ready for prime time while in the middle of a division race, I get the argument that if you don't see yourself winning the title this year you should sell off assets to try and retool yourself into a title contender. I just think it's a deeply flawed argument, especially in baseball. the differences between the best teams in baseball and the ones in the middle often show the most strongly over the length of a season, not in a 5 or 7 game series, where all it might take for things to get flipped the other way is a reliever to implode out of nowhere or a couple of key bats going 0-10 at the wrong time while the other side plays its best baseball. but the second part of it is if you're retooling for 2024 or even 2025...why would you move on from a quality starting pitcher under team control for that period? If Cleveland is planning on competing in 2024, Civale could be a difference-maker. If they're not planning on competing until 2026 or later, why aren't you dealing Jose Ramirez as well, since he'll be on the down side of 30 with a lot of miles on him. I mean, his value's never been higher, right?

the most charitable thing you can say about the Cleveland moves is they're doing what Twins fans wish we would do with Gallo: make an underperforming player go away. Or making room for prospects to play. but it sure looks like surrender to me. Maybe Kyle Manzardo is ready to take MLB by storm...but I don't see it.

This is assuming that Kuechel has any interest in going to the bullpen, and all reports I've heard to date have said he is not. he clearly thinks he can still start for a MLB club. And there's a real question whether or not he can actually get anyone out at the MLB level any longer. no one wanted to take a chance on him this spring. he was dreadful last year for 3 different teams. He was bad in 2021. 2020 is looking more and more like a small sample size fluke, a last gasp that worked out. I was fine with the Twins bringing him in to AAA as a "break glass in case of emergency" pitcher...but there's still little to suggest he's going to be effective in MLB again.

People are really all over the place on this trade deadline. You have people that wanted the Twins to punt on the whole season, functionally, by trading players like Gray & Maeda...with the team still in first place in the division. I'm sorry, I see selling off when you can win the division to be a betrayal of the fans and the franchise. By this kind of logic, if your team is flawed (but can still make the playoffs) you should sell. Improbable runs happen in the playoffs: short series, players get hot, someone implodes on the other team...anything can happen in the playoffs. I'm pretty sure KC wouldn't trade their most recent title to have prospects. Fans on this board (hell in this thread!) who wanted the Twins to add are also all over the place. The opinions run the gamut on what we should have added, ranging from getting star players to finding a RH corner OF to a new closer to set-up arms and more. Feels like people just wanted the team to do something anything because this team has been inconsistent and frustrating and there's this belief that adding players at the deadline (with the corollary that whomever you like least on the current roster would be made to go away in the swap it seems) would end the malaise. I don't know what the offers were really like out there, and neither does anyone else which makes this kind of speculation both fun and maddening. What were people talking about when asking about Wallner and Larnach (or Kepler/Kirilloff)? Were there reasonable RH corner OFs on offer or RH bullpen help, or was it A-ball lottery tickets? Were people demanding Royce Lewis? we don't really know what kind of offers were really out there to get MLB talent as it related to the Twins. (Keep in mind there's a real possibility that dealing with a team like the CWS might have had a premium on it if it was in play at all; some teams really don't want to deal within their division) There weren't a lot of impact bats traded by anyone; I guess it might have been worth it to try and out-bid the D-backs for Tommy Pham? how much do you want to pay for Teoscar Hernandez to take 45 ABs against LH pitchers for the rest of the season (you're not going to want him on the field against RHP) assuming he was actually available? I think the big moves that some people wanted would have stripped the system down to the studs and would have made the Mahle deal look cheap. I think a lot of smaller moves that would have shored up some weaknesses might not have been a) very impactful, and b) not the right fits. Right now, players like Larnach, Miranda, Kepler, and even Wallner and Polanco don't have the kind of value across the league we'd hope and want them to have. Sonny Gray would have brought back a lot of value but also would have potentially screwed the season (and we're likely to get draft pick compensation for him). Maeda would have brought back value as well, but again: might have screwed the season. Twins are a flawed and frustrating team...that's also in first place in their division. A chip, a chair, and a chance I say.

Would people feel better if they acquired Floro yesterday rather than a few days sooner? I mean, then they wouldn't have "done nothing" at the deadline. Would I have liked to have seen them pick up a RH corner OF and a veteran reliever? Sure. Would I have wanted Royce Lewis to have been sent out for a 1-year rental? Heck no. (There's also a real possibility that the teams selling off in our division either weren't interested in dealing with us or were going to charge an extra premium) Deadline day can result in a lot of bad choices or real desperation. Look at what happened with Houston, who reacquired Verlander: as seen elsewhere, they essentially gave up two real prospects and got half a season less to save a little money over 2 years when they wouldn't toss an extra $6M to bring him back in the offseason. If I'm a Cleveland fan, I'm pretty bitter about my ownership, because selling feels like throwing the towel in on a season where they could have stolen the division. In baseball, all you need is a chip a chair and a chance and the teams that are treating this like the NBA and acting like if you're not an obvious top 5 teams you should sell it off until you are are missing out on opportunities. Twins are still a flawed and frustrating team...but I'd still rather have that and a chance at the division and playoff baseball than giving up.

Nice to see Martin have a 2 hit night. Hopefully he's starting to get his groove back and he can start adding back in a little more pop, plus taking a few more walks. Happy to see him healthy and hopefully he finishes the season strong.

Nice to see Martin having a good night at the plate. Even better to just see him healthy again. Dude has had some tough luck but I believe in his talent. He's going to be off everyone's radar nationally, his prospect shine will have tarnished for most, but I still think he can be a really good player and I expect him to be contributing to the MLB club next season if healthy. Typical Emmanuel Rodriguez night at the plate last night: a walk, an extra-base hit, and 2 Ks. The Ks make me a little nervous, but he's still so talented and young that the future for him is exciting. (I'm sure people are calling about him. I'm sure the Twins are telling them to stop asking) Hard not to be impressed with Severino's season. setting a club record for HRs before August is an accomplishment. Not sure what his position is going to be in the end, but he's another guy that gives the team real depth coming up...or an asset to fix something.

It's important to realize that every team has these, though, if they've been around long enough. It stinks in the moment, and burns when someone really emerges 2-4 years later that you dealt, but pretty much every fandom has some of these stinkers that get brought up and usually start with, "Can you believe those idiots traded [X] for [Y]?!? Man, were we stupid!" The JJ Hardy stuff drove me batty at the time because it felt so clearly driven by Gardy (who obviously had a lot more say in the organization once Terry Ryan left and Bill Smith took over) and even if Hardy didn't have best season it felt like our manager was running another SS out of town just because he didn't like his style or something, and after having the corpse of Orlando Cabrera manning the spot it just felt wrong. And we spent years and year trying to find a quality SS after that.

A terrible defender for a washed up pitcher is what this deal looks like. Is Cleveland that desperate for innings?