jmlease1

He was a nice acquisition at last year's deadline for half a season of Willi Castro, maybe he can become something. I think he probably ends up as a middle reliever, but you never know. Will probably be starting in AAA next season and won't need to be added to the 40-man yet, so they'll give him some time to develop. If he can find some consistency he'll get more interesting? Seems like he settled down a little in July after a pretty rough intro to AAA so he's worth keeping an eye on to see how his season finishes. I wouldn't rank him in the top 20 prospects or anything, but there could be something there. I would like the Twins to quit dinking around and call up Culpepper. Sure he was probably pressing a bit when he came back in July, but he seems to have put that behind him nicely. How many more games do we need him to get in AAA to show he's "ready"?

The math here confuses me: A + A +D = D? :P

There's more than one school of thought about how to contend. Some people believe that unless you can look at your team and see them as being one of the top 5 teams in baseball(others might push it a little further out for the range) then you're not a "contender" and should be looking to the next year at best and further out at worst. Another school of thought says that any year that you can make it into the playoffs in baseball, you should try and do it, because with the impact of a short series and all the additional randomness that brings you want to get as many bites at the playoff apple as you can find. If you buy into the first, then the twins should have sold off all their expiring vets this year and at least some of their highest value players who won't be here in 2028 and said goodnight to the season (absent a miracle run from maybe a bunch of prospects that could be called up to fill out the roster and audition for 2027). If you're in on the second, then this trade deadline was a reasonable move to try and make it into the playoffs this season without hamstringing 2027 and beyond. They shored up their biggest weaknesses, they didn't move any of their top prospects, and the guys they did send out were either very marginal or likely far away from making an impact. It sounds like to me your definition of "contending for WS title" is closer to a Bucket 1 approach...so yeah. This is a failure to you. Others will disagree? They're also trying to sell baseball as a product in MN. A "trust the process" approach where they sell off assets again for a team that is functionally in the playoff hunt (regardless of what you think their chances of winning it all this year are or not, they have a legit chance to be in the playoffs this year, presuming they don't sh!t the bed in August) wrecks things for the rest of the season and probably torpedoes all lot of fan enthusiasm (and ticket sales) for next year too. You're correct: none of these players will probably be with the Twins after '27, and it's unlikely Ryan and Jeffers will either. (Jeffers almost for sure, Ryan...getting a little more interesting with him tanking the second half AGAIN, but who knows) Of course, none of the players they sent out were all that likely to be with the Twins MLB club after 2027 either: Amick is a longshot, Klein is unimpressive and unlikely to improve much at this point, and all the others are far enough away that pretending they're on the twins by 2028 is just guessing. Clearly, you were just out on this team going into the trade deadline. If you're someone that wants the Twins to make the playoffs as many time as possible, you're probably ok with these moves that add to those odds and don't substantively harm the team for next year (and potentially improve them)

I hope you're right about that; I've been reading conflicting reports. It would certainly be better for his career if he has an option next season and there isn't this level of pressure to perform at MLB immediately I would think? It certainly would be better for the Twins to be able to move him across town as needed. Until it's confirmed one way or another, I think it's still an issue?

Look, I love Greg Gagne but we're talking about a zero-time all-star and despite his fine defense there's little argument to say he was ever unfairly passed over. His career OPS+ was 83. A better-hitting Gagne is a borderline all-star; he'd need to be a massively better hitting Gagne to be a borderline Hall of Famer. Andrelton Simmons was a slightly better hitter and significantly better defender and he's not going to get any real consideration for the Hall nor should he despite his absolutely wonderful defense. Now, if Marek Houston is a better-hitting Greg Gagne and spends 8 seasons as the Twins starting SS providing quality to borderline GG defense along with solid offense and starting legit arguments about whether or not he should be an all-star? I'll be thrilled. Global Top 25 for Houston seems awfully high...for now. But maybe he really is Dansby Swanson or something, in which case the Twins will look very smart

I think we'd be very disappointed and it would be signs that the evaluators of Houston coming into the draft were right that he wouldn't be able to be a real MLB hitter, and that his improvements from this season are mostly a mirage (assuming that the rest of the slash line for Houston is similar to Miller). After this season, the ceiling on Houston definitely looks higher, and if he put up a 7.27 OPS in Saint Paul next season we'd all be thinking that he looks a lot more like a utility guy with a good enough glove to eat the poor offense. I think we'd want better for Houston than that. The article posits that Houston is underrated, but is that really true? He's now seen as a top 100 prospect who still hasn't actually played a full professional season and had some real and fair questions about his offense to prove. He's answered them very well in 2026, but it's still not even a full season's worth of data. If he finishes out 2026 like this, he'll likely move up the national rankings a bit more...is that unfair? Right now I feel like Houston is properly rated; if is underrated it ain't by that much and is almost certainly related to people wanting to see the 2026 version for a full season before they start pegging him as a future starting SS with all-star potential.

Roden not passing muster in CF is a) a bummer, and b) limits his utility, and with him not hitting (it's a small sample and it's not like he's getting consistent time but still) it's not great. Possible he's a Quad A player. Bold move to recall Wallner, but I think it's the right one no matter how much some people around here despise him and his game. Why not see if he's able to ride a hot streak through the end of the season? Might actually give him some trade value in the offseason and they could use his thump in the lineup, especially with Buxton out. Tougher call on Jenkins, I think? Much as we all want to see him, it's not like he's destroyed AAA and adding him to the 40-man has a cost as well. If Rodriguez is going to be ready in a week or two I think I'd rather see him up in MLB, especially with him out of options next season. It's highly unlikely (absent another injury and/or Buxton out for much much longer) that we'll get both this season...especially if you want to bring Wallner back, which does make sense no matter if some people at Twins Daily start heating the tar, buying the feathers, lighting the torches, and sharpening the pitchforks...

Rodriguez's diving catch made SportsCenter this morning; can't recall the last time they threw something from A-ball on there. Was a very nice catch, and I immediately thought: "oh, hell, please don't be hurt again!" Nice day at the plate for most of the prospects (except Houston, who had a rough one, but he's been playing great overall so not worrying about 1 bad day). Just hoping that they're feeling good enough about Culpepper to get him up here. The offense needs a jolt and maybe he can provide one. (and like many, I'm just into seeing him make his debut) Lackey seems to be passing the "Lemon Test" just fine: he looked quite good on that throw nailing the runner at 2B, and nice to see him clock a double as well. I have a feeling it's going to be hard to have any patience with him, even though he reasonably should need at least 1 full year in the minors. But he's a super-exciting prospect. No harm in dreaming.

I'm not comparing them as prospects; Hill is obviously much more highly regarded. But it's important to understand when looking at his video game numbers that they aren't necessarily predictive. I think Hill has a ton of talent and a thunderbolt for a left arm, but he's going to struggle until he can find the zone consistently. One game before the trade deadline doesn't mean much; he was awesome on May 16th too, and then proceeded to walk 14 guys in his next 4 starts over 8 1/3 innings. Hill is still quite young, and maybe his new team will do better in fixing his control. But he's a long ways away, and it's better than even odds that he doesn't make AA next season.

Here's the thing though: guys with great stuff but no control put up numbers like this in A-ball. You get kids going up there looking to swing against him without looking to see if he can find the plate. (Twins saw some of this with Chris Vallimont, another guy with great stuff and no idea where it was going. He's now back with MN after getting a cup of coffee in MLB with Balto and then bouncing down to Indy ball before getting another chance in AA. He's 29 now and passed through 5 franchises) The top end of his outcomes is 6 years as a dominant starting LHP...but that's not the realistic outcome. That's the 1%. Most likely outcome is he can't find the plate often enough without taking something off his stuff, and they shift him to the bullpen where you can tolerate higher BB/9 if they're matched with tons of K's and he gets a chance or three in MLB because he's left-handed and alive. Because that's the most likely outcome with guys like this. If he cuts his BB/9 down under 4 next season and is sitting in AA at 21, then this is going to start looking shaky. But if he's still in A-ball with a BB/9 over 4 (or god help him 5) then the odds are pretty good we and everyone else will get another chance at him in a couple of years in the Rule 5. The ERA last season in Ft. Myers covered some sins. He's got a lot of work to do in High A because you simply can't walk that many guys.

I think there's a fair concern that the rotation and lineup might not hold up even as the Twins have made a substantial investment in the bullpen...but what did you want to happen? I guess some of it depends on whether or not you think the Twins can get Kremer back online; if they do he's a solid back of the rotation starter who can eat up innings...something they need pretty badly at this point. If he fails, he fails, but it's not like they did nothing to support the rotation. While improving the lineup would have been great, it was also the most challenging area to try and improve and realistically required them to 2-step this and sell as well as buy. Adding a bat would have almost certainly been at 1B, DH, or OF. We're either selling off Bell or Larnach at that point (and clearly they looked into moving Larnach to either open a spot for a prospect to actually play or to add a better bat) and Larnach has been one of the Twins best hitters all season and the streaky Bell was great in June and good in July. Clemens has certainly earned a spot, and since returning from the minors, it's hard to say Lewis hasn't either. Want to bench Keaschall? The lineup has several pretty good but not great hitters that would be great to upgrade from, but how available were upgrades to those spots? Catcher: kept Jeffers, not doing better offensively there 1B: maybe could have improved on Royce, but for what? 2B: maybe could have improved on Clemens, but for what? SS: could improve on Kreidler...but aren't we better off doing that via Culpepper? (but reportedly they were nosing around Neto. That would have been a big swing and certainly send Culpepper out) 3B: could improve on Lee...but who? didn't see a lot available at 3B OF: always bats available, but unless you're assuming Buxton is out for a long time/the season, you're either benching Keaschall, trading Larnach (who has a 134 OPS+!), or moving him to DH and dealing Bell. I think they were in a little bit of a tough spot on improving the lineup, especially without making it look like there was a sell-off going on or something. We will see if they can make it go. I do think there's opportunity for reinforcements for the lineup through the minors: Culpepper moving Kreidler to the bench and dumping Gray. One of the many OF stepping up and showing they belong.

I'm not going to hand Tom Pohlad an award for passing the bar minimum of not being a crap owner...but we've been well-trained to expect nothing from the Pohlads more than benign neglect at best and many poor business decisions at worst to go along with a low payroll. But they addressed the team's biggest needs at the deadline, didn't let cash be a barrier, didn't sell off the vets for parts, and gave the team a chance to compete for the rest of the season. Could be a lot worse? I don't know if this quite counts as aggressive or "go big" (it's not going home, though)...but I don't know how much bigger would have actually been smart? The biggest issue with Tom Pohlad's leadership so far is that he took over too late and pushed Falvey out too late to be more aggressive/engaged at the start of the season, and left them sitting with a pathetic budget for the roster to start the year. He has to take blame for that too. But the deadline moves are a solid B for me. They might not work out, but the trades all made sense, and they might be what the team needs to push into the post-season. And in baseball, all you need is a chip a chair and a chance, IMHO.

When he's good, he's very very good and when he's bad he's rotten. You tell me how to predict which Pagan will show up? I certainly don't want to PAY him real money to guess whether or not he's going to stink.

Heh. I'm enjoying this thread. Twins fans: "Cheap Pohlads need to improve this team at the deadline!" Same Twins fans: "Not like that! God, I hate the Pohlads, they're so much stupider than me!" The Hoffman acquisition is an interesting one. I'll be curious to see how much $$$ Toronto is picking up for next season; I'm guessing it'll be in the $3-4M range, which makes him very keepable for the team, but we'll see. He's a very good fit for the bullpen this year and next, with excellent stuff and experience late in games. Toronto fans certainly turned on him after giving up a key homer in the WS, but dude was nails before that throughout the playoffs. With him wobbling to start the season, they clearly fitted him to be the scapegoat but despite that he found his form again. A change of scenery will still probably be good for him. The Twins gave up a fair amount here, but TINSTAAPP principle does apply here with Hill. He's definitely a boom or bust kind of guy with eye-popping K numbers and unsustainable walk numbers. The stuff is amazing but he has no idea where it's going. Sure, he's young and should have time to figure it out...but a lot of these guys never figure it out. It may be that the only way he can throw enough strikes is to take something off his pitches...and will he be K-ing everyone in sight if he does? There's risk in sending him out, but that's the way it goes. Despite Toronto fans shouting loudly right now that they would have given up Hoffman for basically nothing, no actual professional in baseball would have, so ignore that kind of stupid fan garbage. Hill's a real prospect, but the shine came off him this season after he probably shot up the lists a little too high. Klein is 24 and despite a bullpen badly needing help was not seen as much of an internal option. Notably, he hasn't been good at AAA in 2 stints there and I would not say he impressed when he did get a shot in MLB. There's some velocity there but he's pretty hittable. Maybe he can make it as a middle reliever, but lot guys like this out there. He was not a top 30 prospect internally at this point. Pena is a lottery ticket. Maybe someone has him at the end of the top 30, maybe not. Maybe he turns into someone, maybe in 3 years we're saying "who?". If you hold on to all of these kinds of guys because you're afraid of what they could possibly become if they max out their skills, you'll never trade anyone. We needed help now. It's a fair trade. I'd say the Twins addressed their 2 biggest needs, getting 2 quality arms for the bullpen that should be expected to pitch in the 7th inning or later in high leverage situations. They added a rotation arm to eat up some innings for a rotation that's short on arms and has no margin for error left. They didn't give up any of their best prospects, the guys who look as sure of a thing as anyone in the organization. The one real prospect they gave up with Hill, who probably drops out of the top 10 after this season where his control issues got worse, not better. You have to give up something to get something, but the Twins didn't surrender the crown jewels. The big issue is the bullpen issues could have been mitigated in the offseason, and wouldn't have cost them any prospects. And probably could have been done with similar money that they're taking on, and would have added some wins int he first half of the season. That's the disappointing part.

He might play some 1B as well. But he's not a defensive stalwart at any position.

Pagan is the object lesson for why you don't give most relievers significant contracts. He's not a bad reliever, even if he gives most twins fans hives at the thought of him closing games. But he's not a consistent reliable guy. If he's the 4th or 5th guy in your bullpen, it's probably fine. veteran middle reliever who can take some set-up innings when he's rolling...sure. But you don't pay that guy $10M, even with today's MLB, unless you're the Dodgers or the Yankees or something. It would be hilarious if he ended up back with the twins again, but I wouldn't give up much of anything for him, especially if you're eating the salary. Because Pagan is...fine. If he has a great year, you let someone else overpay, because odds are high he won't repeat it. He's exactly the kind of reliever that can and will bounce around with a WHIP that can be great at .917...or meh at 1.342. He can thrown down an ERA+ of 98 and then follow it up with one of 155. These are the guys that you develop in-house and move on from once they start getting expensive. You avoid in the free agent market until everyone take a pass and they need a contract, and settle at $3M instead $8M. Pagan has had several excellent seasons in relief in his career. He's never had two in a row.

The potential is at least there. Both have shown they can be part of a good bullpen going forward. But they still need more guys this season and to have 2 for next. I think it's ok to have 2-3 spots that are sort of "open for business" going into a season, what with relievers being so fungible much of the time. It's ok to churn through some guys the first 2 months while you figure out which converted starter can thrive as a reliever (like Morris) or cast off can find new life in a different system with a different franchise (Gomez). But if you're serious about competing you have to have more than 2 guys that you can reasonably count on. I think you need a minimum of 4-5 and at least one needs to be a LHP. Morris and Gomez look like success stories to me, but they're not Jax/Duran (and not that close yet; both were guys that had multiple seasons as trusted relievers), and they are not enough.

I wouldn't deal Houston until I've actually managed to settle the SS position for the MLB club; Kreidler is not a long-term answer. (I mean, never say never: if someone wants to make a massive overpay for him, fine. Cincy wants to hand over Greene straight up? Hard to say no.) Quick is certainly attracting attention, but with the battles he's had in AA, I suspect some of the steam is about clubs trying to get the Twins to sell him too early and steal him away. Despite what many people always think, the Twins aren't stupid and are unlikely to move Quick. Diaw and Mendez on the other hand, are much more tradable assets. I like Diaw, but the Twins have really increased their catching depth (and Diaw may not stick there anyways) and this is where you balance risk-reward with this level of prospect. Same thing applies to Mendez, who is ready for a chance at MLB, but the Twins have a lot of OF prospects/suspects in the same boat. Mendez is a LH corner OF who might need to slide to 1B or DH; he's healthier than Rodriguez or Jenkins, but both of those guys have higher ceilings and actual defensive value. Roden may not have done a lot in MLB yet, but he's outperformed Mendez in AAA. Twins can certainly move a LH corner OF.

went 2-4 on sunday with an absolute rocket of a homer and 2 walks. But you've already made up your mind on him.

Houston is having a terrific season, probably about as good as we could have dreamed for him at this point. If he can finish out the season strong, there's a real chance he starts the year in Saint Paul next season which is pretty much ideal. The fact that he's continuing to show this kind of pop in his bat while still making such consistent contact is outstanding; I don't need him to be a 20+ homer guy (not with that defense for sure), but if he's able to show that he can be a consistent 10-15 homer guy with 25-30 doubles...that's a guy that won't get pushed around at the plate. Nice to see Lackey get his first hit. Poor guy has also gotten plunked twice in 3 games! He's not having any trouble getting on base so far, looking forward to seeing how the bat shapes up early. (I think he's going to be fine, but it would be good for him to rip a few early, just to keep people from panicking) Quick is getting a bit of an education at AA. I still like his stuff and think he's going to be fine, but he needs innings and time to get that experience of how to pitch. He's really got very few innings under his belt, in either college or as a pro and you can see a little of that when his pitches. I think the upside is still excellent there.

You have to give up something to get something. In this case I don't mind the price. It's not a trade that either team should hate or their fans be mad about. Dropping Minter saves the Mets a lot of money, but they weren't going to get a lot for him, even if they ate more salary. He's a reliever on an expiring with an injury history. Neither prospect is particularly impressive, but there's a chance to make them work and add depth to their system. Bruin is a lottery ticket, but sometimes those play out. Billy is flawed, but could develop late and do something. Mets fans might have hoped for more (and will hate the cost savings aspect, much like Twins fans get mad when we overpay to have the other team eat salary) but not a lot more. Twins fans should like getting a proven, quality reliever without giving up a significant prospect. A reasonable trade. No one robbed the other.

Huge bummer for Festa. I was convinced going into the season that all of the hopeful predictions were incredibly premature and overly optimistic. I do not relish being proven right. Really unfortunate that not only will we not see him for the Twins this season, but 2027 has to be in serious doubt, and frankly so does his professional career. Hope things improve for the Slim Reaper, and I am absolutely rooting for him. Really unfortunate. Disappointing end to the season for Sands, but the fact that the ligament is intact should be a good sign. Still hopeful that he's a part of the bullpen in 2027, and with two of the stupidest and most arrogant parties known to man negotiating the CBA, there's a real likelihood that the start of the next season will be delayed at the very least. More recovery time? Really hope the injection is effective in combating the hip problem for Buck. I love watching him play, but when that hip is causing him problems, he's not the same guy. So far the team is holding it together through the deadline and making them buyers, so hopefully we see him in mid-August feeling good and ready for the stretch run.

Between the new rules and the lack of focus on holding runners made in the minors (it's pretty reasonable to think it doesn't matter how well they hold a runner on if they can't find the plate), it's a good reason to not take stolen base rates too seriously in the minors, especially the low minors, nor get too hung up on a catcher's CS rate. The A-ball stats really tell you nothing. Don't think it says anything about Lackey.

Love seeing the new draftees get assignments and start playing out the rest of the season. Should be fun to see how some of these guys fit in. Lackey will be the obvious choice to watch, but I have trouble believing he's going to fail the "lemon test" that Gleeman likes to call these early samples. Lots of hitters got on via HPB yesterday! Life in the minors facing guys whose control is...marginal. Hope everyone is feeling ok afterwards. I have a hunch that Culpepper gets promoted after the trade deadline, unless he puts up a lot more 3K days in the interim, but it's just a guess. Harder to know what happens in the OF. I feel like they'd love to get Rodriguez up if possible, especially considering he'll be out of options next year, but he's missed so much time that it might not be realistic.

Historically, he's run better against LH (as you would expect) but has always been more than solid against RH. I'm guessing they're not weighting this year's splits too heavily since it's such a small sample. Have to wonder if the Twins will be able to help him find a few more mph with the 4-seamer, since it's been something they've had success with in the organization, or if it's too late in the year. But I think he fits in well in the back end of the bullpen. I'm also expecting a lot of sturm & drang if he has even one bad outing in the first 2 weeks from arrival, so hopefully he's ready for that nonsense.