Danchat

Celestino finally returned to the minors to make room for Arraez. Hopefully he can get consistent ABs there.

If Davis is going to move to center, he probably won't compete for the starting job now, likely later in the season or in 2022. More likely, I think they're considering using him as a backup for both guard and center (teams frequently do this so they can get away with only having 7 OL active on gameday).

Ober is looking really good right now. Keep it up, rookie!

I have many questions about Lewis' bat, especially since he didn't hit well in 2019 outside of Fall League, and has not gained experience in 2020 and 2021. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes him several years in the majors for his bat to reach its true potential. As for Martin, I have few doubts that he's going to be a hitter in the bigs.

Uh, what happened to Mason Cole, and why isn't Wyatt Davis in the conversation? We spent 3rd and 6th rounders on those two just to watch two of the worst guards in the NFL potentially start ahead of them?

I'd call them a winner at the deadline, but it's a small win in regards to the massive loss that is the 2021 season.

I am aware of that, but I think I'll go over what the 28 man roster could be in September in my 40 Man Roster Management thread. Miranda doesn't necessarily have to take one of the two new spots, there could be injury / or just play him over Tortuga.

That seems to fly directly in the face of how the pitching staff has worked - we had top 10 ERAs in 2019 and 2020, and then the ball was deadened and we have a bottom 3 pitching staff in 2021. Do you believe that the juiced ball and un-juiced ball only affected the Twins' offense, and somehow not the pitching?

He's signed two 2 year deals here, I was talking about the second one, not the first. After the first was over (following a 26 starts, 4.01 ERA 2.2 WAR season), he hit free agency and ended up signing the 2 year $20M deal with us. Perhaps he wants to chase a ring, but the Twins offer a fair deal like they did in 2019, he will probably take it.

I don't see why to not wait until September to call him up - he will need to be added to the 40 man anyways, so they could pull it off. Keep giving him everyday ABs in August in AAA, and then feed him some starts in September, and go from there.

I guess I'll be Negative Nancy and project that Jax tops out as a 7th/8th best starter in the organization. He's produced in the minors, but his stuff just isn't good enough to reliably get MLB hitters out. I'd love to be proven wrong, of course.

Probably because there's little trust in a rookie with a 7.00+ ERA going in the 3rd time through the lineup. Rocco is pretty much screwed whether he asks more from his mediocre starters or asks for the bullpen to cover a close game.

I am interested to see how the bullpen is used without Rogers and Robles... with Duffey getting used now, that leaves Colome and Thielbar for the late innings. Maybe Columbe gets a chance? Or even Gant?

What did you invest in? I'm doing decently well so far.

Jax is showing strong command, but he just doesn't have an out pitch to strike guys out on. It's going to be hard for him to last in the majors throwing like this.

We opened 3 spots today and filled 2 with Gant and Garcia, so you could say he's taking Robles' spot. There is plenty of room on the 40 man, and it would take little effort to make room (DFA guys like Burrows/Colome/etc).

MLB free agency is sloooow. They were waiting on other SSs and had an offer out to Semien, so they really had no choice but to wait until late January.

Just posted this in the roster moves thread: Tallying up today's moves... Berrios, Happ, and Robles traded, opening up 3 40 man spots. Griffin Jax and Charlie Barnes have been called up to fill the two spots in the rotation, and John Gant will take Robles' spot. Edgar Garcia was optioned to AAA. This should leave the Twins with 1 open spot on the 40 man with Gant and Garcia taking up spots.

Tallying up today's moves... Berrios, Happ, and Robles traded, opening up 3 40 man spots. Griffin Jax and Charlie Barnes have been called up to fill the two spots in the rotation, and John Gant will take Robles' spot. Edgar Garcia was optioned to AAA. This should leave the Twins with 1 open spot on the 40 man with Gant and Garcia taking up spots.

He took the deal the Twins offered him after he hit FA in 2018... he’s already inked 2 deals here, not sure why a third is impossible.

The Twins have claimed RHP Edgar Garcia from the Reds on waivers. He has a poor track record, but it makes sense to try out these guys in our MLB pen and get rid of the Minaya types and maybe option Alcala.

I don't mean to be such a critic, but lately Gordon hasn't been hitting that well, and he's dropped to .259/.308 (.649 OPS). I would like to see him get consistent ABs instead of riding the bench, whether that be with the Twins or at AAA. And he should be given as many reps to play outfield (mainly CF) as possible, as I think he provides the most value as a bench bat who can fill in at 2B and anywhere in the OF. I just don't know if his bat is going to keep him above being a replacement level player. My curiosity is piqued by Garver and Polanco - both seem to be back to their 2019 selves. Sure, they're on hot streaks and will probably cool off, but a healthy Polanco is a dramatically better player than his unhealthy counterpart (BBref has him at 2.9 WAR!). His power is back, and the deadened ball has not affected him much, it seems. Garver has had an odd career. 2017 at AAA - shreds it with a .928 OPS, but that wasn't realistic for what he could really do. 2019 comes around, hits .995 OPS. But then in 2020 we convince ourselves that was just an outlier. Now 2021 - .926 OPS. I guess he's just an odd year hitter? Also, the timing on calling Larnach a success is poor. I have confidence he will make adjustments, but he's taking his rookie lumps right now. Hopefully he can get out of the funk and ensure he will be starting in LF in 2022.

You can find guards on the FA market with similar amounts of experience, and so can the Ravens. All Dozier has is familiarity in our system, and that's about it.

IMO - you should be worried about Sabato, and much less so with Urbina. Aaron is 22 and Misael is 19, which explains most of my reasoning. Compare Sabato's numbers to Rooker's in his first full year in the Twins system: Year Age AgeDif Tm Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG 2017 22 2 Teams A+-Rk MIN 62 261 228 42 64 11 0 18 52 2 2 27 68 .281 .364 .566 2017 22 -0.8 Fort Myers A+ MIN 40 162 143 23 40 6 0 11 35 0 0 16 47 .280 .364 .552 2017 22 1.7 Elizabethton Rk MIN 22 99 85 19 24 5 0 7 17 2 2 11 21 .282 .364 .588 (I chose Rooker because they are two very similar prospects coming out of the draft) It's not even close. Sabato should be hitting well at Fort Myers. I'm not ruling him out as a prospect, but I find it hard not to sour on him since his only value is going to be as a hitter... and he hasn't even hit for power.

I don't think 2019 nor 2021 are fluke years. I think it's foolish to throw out an entire season just to fulfill a narrative that we're trying to push, but 2021 has gone poorly enough that I don't think it's a fluke either.