TNtwins85

I would agree with you on most of this but I strongly disagree with you and almost everyone else on the salary cap and floor. Exhibit one: Luis Severino. While the A’s might have seen this as a good move speculation also points to the fact that per the CBA and previous MLBPA grievances this signing was used as a play to avoid any problems with their move and simply keep the MLBPA off the back of the athletics and MLB. Anybody can read the CBA and the grievances but in a nutshell the Athletics were forced to buy a player past his prime for more money than he really should have got to simply show they are spending money and “playing ball”. Now times that by 30 teams. That will force teams to spend money on aging FA’s who don’t necessarily “deserve” these pay days simply to show “hey, we’re spending money.” Meanwhile they’ll have a league wide inflation where the floor and ceiling move by certain percentage points every year. Older aging players will get their payday. Owners picket more money. We all know there are angles to all of this and the strongest angles are gonna be played by owners and established players. It’s gonna be about what’s best for the business and not what’s best for baseball as a game. People need to go read this stuff. There’s a reason some of the most lucrative franchises are all in the NFL. It’s not because of what you think. There’s a reason why MLB players are the highest paid in sports. It’s because they get a bigger piece of the pie. Now do you want the money in owners hands or players hands. That’s the question.

But then you don’t trade him. They could offer to pay Altuves contract too and receive even more. Lol

And the miller trade is only good because of De Vries. The other guys were all lottery tickets. I seen somebody rank it and it only beat the Twins deal by a couple points.

Abel threw a hell of a game today in his first saints start. 5IP/1H/0R/0ER/2BB/7K. I watched him pitch and he had the Detroit affiliate fooled all day. Hitting corners and getting some swings and misses and weak contact. Made some big bats look foolish. Guys like Trey Sweeney, Justin Henry Malloy, Jace Jung and Akil Badoo. Solid first start for this 23yo Twins acquisition

Exactly! This was destined to happen. It didn’t need to happen now though. The fact that ownership “right sized” this team when they should have been pushing payroll was the problem. They should have pushed for ‘24 and ‘25. Although we might have gotten to this point in ‘26 or ‘27 they should have been making playoff runs the last 2 years and ownership hamstrung the FO. Period. This all falls on ownership. No question. Blaming the FO and specifically Falvey just shows most don’t see the whole picture for what it is and was.

Exactly! Yes they traded their bullpen but every one of those guys were fail d starters that they made into elite relievers. They traded them and got value. The only one that puzzles me is Stewart. My guess is the dodgers seen his medicals and had to revamp the trade. The other question was Varland. Rojas seems like a perfect candidate to be their next bullpen project but then you essentially traded a good reliever for a hopefully good future reliever. All the other deals made sense really when you take emotion out of it. Correa was aging and fast. His numbers and peripherals were looking abysmal going forward. It sucks but they got themselves off the hook for a lot of money and that’s a positive moving forward for this team.

I think it’s the other way around. The owners clearly duped Falvey. Constantly hamstringing him on every front concerning money. Not letting him add after ‘23 and dropping payroll coming off a playoff run. That offseason pointed right at ownership. They clearly offered him St. Peter’s job as successor when he was probably getting calls from other teams. Why else would he stay in Minnesota when they were subtracting as they should have been adding? They duped him to stay. If anything he’s culpable for going along with the plan of “rightsizing” but ownership was not duped by him.

Yes, he’s aging like a typical player. When you look beyond the contract and look at all players and how their careers go he’s just simply not gonna get better. You pay the big contract for the good years he’s already had simply hoping that he has a few more and isn’t unplayable for the backend. Buying expensive aging players is simply not the right area of the pool the Twins should be playing in and they’re gonna pay for it the next 3 years to the tune of 10M a year. Was it fun? Yes, but was the fun worth the pain of having to pay a guy 10M not to play for you the next few years?

Yes, as is every FA contract. The way MLB and the MLBPA have constructed that system over the years it’s made signing a FA such a small needle to thread. A team like the Twins should not be signing these guys. Yes, it’s exciting for fans and it’s good for aging players for getting a big payday but it hamstrings the team. Granted ownership shouldn’t have pulled the table out from under a ‘23 team that was trending up but this was bound to happen. The mistake by ownership was slamming the contention window shut with the slashing of payroll. They should have been competing for a World Series the last 2 years. But this was inevitable to happen.Teams like the Twins shouldn’t be building around an expensive FA. Correa was starting to show signs of aging and maybe you give him a couple of more years by moving him to 3B but let’s be honest, he’s not getting better. It isn’t the outcome that was gonna be different it was just the results that should have been different and for that we can blame ownership.

I like how the sub heading to the article paints all this selling. These prospects we’re getting can be looked at as insurance. If this core continues to fail you simply bring the next guy up. Quality backups or upside at every position. If the first line can’t get it done then the next man up. You’re avoiding a rebuild by building up your minor league system. Right now it’s Buxton, Correa, Pablo and Ryan. Next is Jenkins, Keaschall, Culpepper, Abel and whoever steps up.

No, Falvey may not be the best but he’s not stupid. Ryan is your Ace. Unless you’re getting a Juan Soto haul for him he ain’t going anywhere.

If he didn’t any one of another 30 people would have…

Really?????

Or he gets hurt which he’s been good at and you get nothing. If the dodgers gave something of substance it’s a win. Even

He was a minor league FA signing. Whatever he brings back is a win

I like the K/BB’s. Shows he can control the strike zone and tap into more power.

Yet he’s been more than solid at AA as a 21 yo. I like both guys for Bader who’s a rental. 3 top 15 guys and a lotto ticket out of a deep Phillies system for Bader and Duran. I think that’s a good crop so far.

A true lotto ticket! Good value for Bader for sure!

Mendez seems solid with good numbers in AA! They’re #12 per MLB. Good get! Not sure on Villoria

What?!?! They want to make him a SP??? I was talking about this in another thread. Padres system is pretty bare. This was their one big move without getting into MLB guys which they can’t do really. I would take a chance on a guy like Omar Cruz or a lotto ticket like De la Cruz though if they wanted Vazquez. I know their catcher situation is abysmal. Why not add Vazquez to the party?

I think they just focus on unloading the FA’s today unless they’re blown away for any controlled guys. I think Falvey wants to “compete” next year so I don’t think he deals any of those unless a Juan Soto esque package presents itself. We’ll see though.

It seems that way and yes De Vries is a top 5 talent in the world but the other players in the deal are Nett(unranked but solid) and 2 guys ranked as a 40 grade and a 45 grade. Equals out to roughly the same really when you break it down. Maybe Falvey could’ve squeezed for a bit more and I think he should’ve but the A’s didn’t make out like bandit compared to the Twins really. The San Diego system was De Vries, Salas and …… name the random guy.

I understand your frustration. I do. I wasn’t thrilled right away but after doing some more research on these guys I believe this is a positive. A MLB ready guy is what everyone wanted. He’s top 100 in many lists. Still has upside. Can slot in now or compete for a spot next year for sure. As for Tait, he also is a top 100 and maybe a top 50 depending on the list. At a position of need. An 18yo at high A. Is holding his own and has some good metrics behind him. Exactly what they said they were looking for. Does losing Duran hurt? Yes. That’s a given. Did they get what they stated they wanted? Yes. Is there risk? Yes. This is the nature of the deadline. I wanted Harry Ford. Apparently either Twins brass wasn’t high on him or they didn’t have what the twins wanted. We’ll probably never know but these are the guys they wanted as far as what the Phillies were willing to part with.

Great article! Good scouting report. Looking at stats and prospect rankings I thought this return fell a little short. Not bad but not the haul I anticipated. After watching some video on both these guys I’m a bit more positive. This is where scouting comes into play but Tait is definitely an advanced hitter for an 18yo. He’s always gonna have unfair expectations but if he can continue to develop and become an average defensive backstop that can hit 20-25 bombs I think this is a win. I love how he goes the other way with such ease and the ball explodes off his bat.

That’s the hope!!!