Seth Stohs

In 49 games (51 innings), 31-year-old Sam Dyson is 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP He's got seven walks and 47 strikeouts. Dyson also has one more year of arbitration remaining. The Twins had need in the bullpen and they added two arms that can work in the late innings. Jaylin Davis was well on his way to Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year this season. He began in AA Pensacola. He moved up to Rochester where he has hit over .330 and 15 homers in 41 games. Overall, he's not 25 homers in 99 games. Kai-Wei Teng, a righty from Taiwan, joined the Kernels less than two months ago. He was 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in 9 games (8 starts). He was flashing 96 mph with his fastball. Prelander Berroa was the Elizabethton Twins opening day starter. The hard-throwing 19-year-old was 2-1 with a 4.55 ERA. He had 37 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings. The Twins got better today.

On Tuesday night, Cleveland finally traded All Star starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. Typically that move would be seen as the team selling, but in this case, I do believe that they got better. They have pitching, and seem to keep calling pitchers up who do well. Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac are two guys who fit into that mold. They also should be getting Corey Kluber back in the near future. Their need was offense, and they added two powerful outfielders in Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes in the three-team swap. They also added LHP Logan Allen, a Top 100 prospect, and two more minor leaguers. It was a very creative move for Cleveland. The Twins were very creative in their acquisition of Sergio Romo over the weekend. Not only did the Twins receive the veteran reliever, but they also received hard-throwing RHP Chris Vallimont and a Player to be Named Later for slugging first base prospect Lewin Diaz. On its own, the Twins made a really, creative, savvy move to improve their bullpen and improve the team. Twins fans have generally felt that the trade was good for the Twins, though that thought always comes with the “as long as it isn’t the only move they make by the deadline.” But what if it is? What if Sergio Romo is the only player that the Twins add? What will it mean? Here are my thoughts. DISAPPOINTMENT First and foremost, Twins fans will and rightfully should feel disappointment. On the basic level, it’s always fun to acquire talent. It doesn’t even have to be elite talent, but just make the team better. Let's just say, #TwinsTwitter will not handle it well, for sure! On another level, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have consistently said that when the Twins window to compete for championships opens, they will pounce. Well, the window is wide open. This team has the talent to compete, not only for the American League Central title but also for a World Series. They have won two of six games against the Yankees this year, and probably should have won two more of those games. They won four of their seven matchups with the Astros this year. They currently have an edge on Cleveland this year too. Those are the top teams in the American League, and the team should absolutely feel like they can compete for an American League pennant. And hey, if you get to the World Series, you have a chance. So Twins fans will absolutely have every right to be disappointed and even upset if nothing is done. HOWEVER… This is a very good team as is, as shown by their performance so far this year against the top teams in the league. Their lineup can compete with anyone. They can slug with the best. Pitching has been the issue although even that hasn’t been as bad as we may think. The starters rank in the top the top third of the league in most statistics. Some of that is because their #4 (Perez) and #5 (Pineda) have been better than most 4s and 5s around the league. Jose Berrios is approaching Ace level. Jake Odorizzi was an All Star for his strong start, but he has been more inconsistent of late. Kyle Gibson’s been good at times but also a bit inconsistent. Not adding a starter would just mean that these guys would need to step it up down the stretch. But would the Twins have a top three or top four that you could feel good about going into the playoffs? And the bullpen has been better than expected, though a lot of that is because of Taylor Rogers. Sergio Romo stepped in as the 8th inning guy last night in his Twins debut. Tyler Duffey has returned to an intriguing bullpen option. Ryne Harper has been a big surprise. Trevor May was doing well until the 0-2 curveball in Cleveland, but he has the stuff to dominate and will need to find that again. And then some young guys. Cody Stashak had a moment in the Yankees series. Sean Poppen reeling off 96-97 mph fastballs with a strong slider could be great for the team down the stretch. And if Will Smith and Felipe Vasquez are unavailable, I don’t think there is an available left-handed reliever that I would feel better about than giving Lewis Thorpe an opportunity. And Devin Smeltzer is available as well. The concern with them is their lack of MLB experience, obviously. In addition, Fernando Romero has been much improved of late in Rochester. And as it appears the odds of Cody Allen helping the Twins down the stretch is waning, flamethrower Brusdar Graterol returned to the mound on Monday for his first rehab appearance. Maybe he and his 101-mph fastball can help. Jorge Alcala and his triple-digit fastball pitched out of the bullpen in his most-recent outing. SUMMARY So, while I still think it is very likely that the Twins make one or two moves before the trade deadline, and this article will be all for naught, it is important for Twins fans to stand by a team that has put themselves in this position. Absolutely, be disappointed that nothing was done, but hopefully you’ll be able to quickly shift your attention back to the fact that this team, as it is currently put together, can win the division. And, if you are under the opinion (as I mostly am) that the playoffs are mostly a crapshoot, then you should still believe that the Twins can win in the playoffs too. All that said… Come On, Twins… Make a Move!

Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day. AWARDS RHP Randy Dobnak was named the Pitcher of the Week for the International League. Dobnak made two starts for the Red Wings and went 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA. In 12 1/3 innings, he gave up just seven hits, hit one batter, walked three and struck out ten batters. TRANSACTIONS Blake Parker elected to become a free agent after being outrighted. Brusdar Graterol began his rehab assignment in the GCL. Yunior Severino began his rehab assignment in the GCL. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Buffalo 6 Box Score The game was tied at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Cody Allen came on for the Red Wings. He gave up a single which was followed by a sacrifice bunt. After an error, a double put Buffalo ahead by one. Following a strikeout, Allen gave up a two-run single. The batter was thrown out at second by Alejandro de Aza to end the inning. Allen was charged with three runs (just one earned) on three hits. Drew Hutchison started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits in the first five innings. He walked five and struck out four batters. Sam Clay struck out three over two scoreless, one-hit innings. He walked two. Down 6-3 going into the ninth inning, Jaylin Davis hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to one, but they were unable to score another. Nick Gordon went 2-for-4 with his 26th and 27th doubles. Jake Cave was 2-for-4 with his 16th double. Rochester hitters were hit by five pitches. BLUE WAHOOS BITES Pensacola 0, Jacksonville 1 Box Score The Blue Wahoos faced one of baseball’s best pitching prospects, Marlins RHP Sixto Sanchez. He came as advertised. He went six innings and gave up just two hits, including a double off the bat of Royce Lewis. The Wahoos ended the game with just three total hits. Mark Contreras walked twice. Lefty Bryan Sammons started. He gave up a run on three hits over the first 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out six batters. Anthony Vizcaya went the next 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four and gave up just one hit. Tom Hackimer came on and got the final two outs, though he did hit a batter. In case you were wondering, Lewin Diaz went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his Jumbo Shrimp debut. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers Box Score No Game Scheduled. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 9 Box Score The Kernels fell behind 6-1 after just a couple of innings. They clawed their way back and had the tying-run on base when the game ended in a loss. Tyler Palm started and gave up six runs (2 earned) in 4 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three. Carlos Suniaga gave up two runs on four hits over the next two innings. Ricky Ramirez gave up an unearned run over the final 2 1/3 innings. Trevor Casanova went 3-for-4 in the game and drove in two runs. Gilberto Celestino went 2-for-5 with his 20th double. Alex Isola hit his second Kernels home run, a two-run blast in the 7th inning. He drove in three runs. Jared Akins walked three times. E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 1, Burlington 5 Box Score Elizabethton got behind early and were unable to muster enough offense to mount a comeback. Tyler Benninghoff started and gave up five runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out four batters. Erik Cha worked the final 3 2/3 innings. He gave up one hit, walked three and struck out four batters. He also got a couple of double plays to help him pitch zeroes. Max Smith went 2-for-4 with his fourth and fifth doubles. Kidany Salva went 2-for-3. The Twins got their lone run on the first professional home run of first baseman Trevor Jenson. https://twitter.com/ETwinsBaseball/status/1155985338906505217 GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 1 Box Score The big news is that Brusdar Graterol made his return to the mound in a rehab start. He threw the first inning and worked a perfect first inning with two strikeouts. The fastball was mostly at 100 mph per reports. Other big news is the performance of 18-year-old Anthony Escobar. On this day, he worked seven innings and gave up just one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out six batters. He is now 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. Jose Guevara picked up the save with a scoreless ninth inning. There were other rehabbing players. Taylor Grzelakowski (ankle) went 0-for-2 with two walks in the game. Also, Yunior Severino (thumb) returned and played second base. He went 1-for-3 with a first-inning double. Francisco Martinez led the offense by hitting his third and fourth double of the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Anthony Escobar, GCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Rochester Red Wings PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) - 1-4, 2B(2) #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Did Not Play #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Rehab in GCL, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K #4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - 1-4, 3 K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2 R, RBI, SB(2) #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Temporary Inactive List (Pan Am Games) #7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - 0-4, 2 K #8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured List (groin). #9 - Jhoan Duran (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #11 - Lewis Thorpe (Minnesota) - No Game Scheduled #12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 2-4, 2-2B(27), HBP, R #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - 0-4 #14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - Did Not Play #15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 0-4, 2 K #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did Not Play #17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured (Tommy John) #18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 0-3, BB, K, CS #20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - Injured List TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (1:05 CST) - LHP Devin Smeltzer (1-3, 3.02 ERA) Pensacola @ Jacksonville (6:05 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina (1-0, 1.64 ERA) Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - RHP Dakota Chalmers (1st Miracle start) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:30 CST) - TBD Elizabethton @ Burlington (5:30 CST) - RHP Ben Gross (3-1, 2 64 ERA) GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00 CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games or any other minor league topics you would like.

It's been a busy few days for the Twins in terms of prospects. In the last couple of weeks, the Twins have had top prospects Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers and Jhoan Duran promoted to Double-A Pensacola. Following the announcement of the Twins trade of Lewin Diaz, the Twins announced that top prospect Royce Lewis will join other Twins top prospect in Pensacola. It is quite unusual for the Twins PR staff to announce minor league promotions, but Royce Lewis is an obvious exception. Lewis, the #1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, turned 20 in early June. He ends his time with the Miracle hitting .238/.289/.376 (.665) with 17 doubles and 10 home runs. In 19 games this month, he has hit .288 with four doubles and four home runs.

The Twins and Marlins reached an agreement. The Twins will send 1B Lewin Diaz to the Miami Marlins in exchange for veteran Sergio Romo. Per Passan: "The Minnesota Twins are deep into talks with the Miami Marlins on a deal that would send reliever Sergio Romo to Minnesota, sources with knowledge of the situation tell ESPN. The expectation is a trade will soon be finalized." Moments later, Passan tweeted: "One Marlins source says the deal should be completed soon. It would add a much-needed bullpen piece to the Twins, who continue to be aggressive in pursuit of help to their pitching staff." The 36-year-old Romo is in his 12th MLB season. He has 17 saves this season in 18 opportunities and a 3.58 ERA. Want a Winner? Romo was part of three World Series championship teams with the San Francisco Giants. Romo is excited to join a team that is making a pennant push. https://twitter.com/DaniAlvarez_16/status/1155291606402179072 Lewin Diaz had a tremendous 2019 season, returning to his prospect status. He began the year in Ft. Myers and has continued to mash since being promoted to the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos. https://twitter.com/MarianaGuzzy/status/1155289081351430145 Chris Vallimont is a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who was 4-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 13 starts with the Clinton LumberKings. He has now made six starts for Jupiter, the Marlins High-A Florida State League affiliate, and is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA. Combined, he has 122 strikeouts in 105+ innings this year. He is likely to join the Kernels in Cedar Rapids. He was the Marlins 5th round pick in 2018 out of Mercyhurst. ANALYSIS... OK, Opinion While I believe that Lewin Diaz can be a solid MLB 1B starting sometime in 2020, I don't have any problem with this trade. Diaz has had a nice bounce-back season in 2019 after a disappointing 2018 ended early with an injury. However, he is behind CJ Cron, Miguel Sano, Brent Rooker, Zander Wiel and Alex Kirilloff in the Future 1B pecking order. Sergio Romo isn't dominant, by any means, but he is a successful veteran who has won a lot of games and even three World Series championships (if you think that matters anymore). He's not a hard-thrower anymore, but he is crafty and gets the job done, especially lately. Chris Villamont is an intriguing prospect. He can throw pretty hard, especially if he were to be moved to the bullpen at some point. He may be a similar prospect (Ranking-Wise) to Diaz, and yet he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man roster for two more years. And hey, if he goes to the Miracle, it's possible that they could lose a starting pitcher or two over the next four days. Finally, the Twins will also get a Player to be Named Later, a lottery pick, if you like. So to summarize, for Diaz (who likely wouldn't have been added to the 40-man roster this coming offseason), the Twins will get 2+ months of a competent, quality veteran reliever, a hard-throwing pitcher currently starting in the Florida State League after being drafted just a year ago, and another minor leaguer. Hard to argue with that.

The first thing we all need to admit, the term Prospect means something different to everyone. People aren’t going to agree on every prospect or rank them exactly the same. My Top prospect ranking looks a little different than Cody’s rankings or Tom’s rankings and with others, we have our Twins Daily Top 40 rankings. It looks different than Baseball America which looks a little different than Baseball Prospectus which looks a little different than FanGraphs which looks a little different than MLB Pipeline Which looks different than ESPNs rankings. And that’s OK. But as it relates to the Trade Deadline, the only prospect rankings and organizational depth charts that matter are the Minnesota Twins and any team that is scouting their players. That is the reason that each individual can have a slightly different, or fully different, opinion on a trade and the players dealt away. To that degree, we love our prospects, right? Every fan base loves its own prospects. No matter the deal, any trade that sends a player away hurts to some degree because, even if we don’t know that player personally, he’s part of the “We” that includes players, front office and fans too. At the same time, we all understand that in order to get something, something has to be given up, and in baseball, especially at the trade deadline, that comes in the form of prospects. I’ve been giving it some thought… let me know in the Comments if this makes sense. By definition, signing a free agent means that a team was willing to pay a little bit more than the other 29 teams were willing to pay. So it is overpaying, but hopefully just by a little bit. However, each team should also have a maximum amount (in years and dollars) for each player. It is sort of the same at the trade deadline. You know in every trade, the seller accepts the trade from the team that offered them the most. The acquiring team overpaid by just enough to “win” the trade. So, the goal of a Buyer when they really want to acquire a player should be to overpay, but just by a little bit. Each team should also have a maximum amount (in terms of prospects) for each player. So as it relates to the trade deadline, what does that mean? For each of the following players, how much would you be willing to trade? How much is too much? Noah Syndergaard: Marcus Stroman: Ken Giles: Mike Minor: Lance Lynn; Sergio Romo: Daniel Hudson: And the list goes on and on. How much do we love “our” prospects? But how much do we want to increase the Twins likelihood of winning a World Series incrementally? That is the question for you in the comments below, but it is also the question for the Twins front office in the next four to five days. SCOUTING UPDATES There are often scouts from other organizations at minor league games, just doing their job and getting information on players from the Twins organization. However, I have heard that there have been a lot of scouts in the last couple of weeks, particularly in Ft. Myers and Pensacola. The teams that have sent scouts to the Twins include (but certainly not limited to) the Blue Jays, Mets, Tigers, Royals, Giants, Rangers and Diamondbacks. That only makes sense. Teams are looking for pitching, and almost every night, there are real quality pitching prospects going for those affiliates. Teams certainly want to get a look at the likes of Edwar Colina, Jhoan Duran, Blayne Enlow, and even a guy like Cole Sands who has been really strong in his professional debut. Scouts have seen Jordan Balazovic, though his next start will be for Team Canada against Cuba on Tuesday at the Pan Am games in Peru. And they would certainly like to see Brusdar Graterol who hasn’t pitched in a game since May 19th, though there were reports this week that he could start a rehab assignment soon in the GCL. As for position players, the players that teams are scouting are in the lineup most every day, so it’s easier to know that they can be seen. There are scouts assigned to cover certain teams, and generally speaking they continue to be on-hand and scout as usual. However, over these last week or two they may be asked to focus on a target or two. Also over this time frame, teams may pull one of their other scouts will be pull off of their regular duty to get extra eyes on an organization that could be a trade partner. Twins Rumors On Thursday afternoon, the big talker became Noah Syndergaard. On Friday afternoon, the spotlight shifted again, this time north of the border to Marcus Stroman and Ken Giles. https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1154889022000340992 Jon Morosi from MLB Network got Twins fans talking for going very specific. A top-of-rotation starter and a veteran reliever are available, but Morosi says the Twins aren’t sure that they would give up both Trevor Larnach and Brusdar Graterol for him. Would the price come down if the teams waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday, or will another team swoop them up? Would it cost more or less to acquire the two together or in separate deals? In other words, what would the cost be for the Twins to acquire Stroman and then to acquire Giles (or another top reliever) in individual deals? And how does the Twins interest in Daniel Hudson factor into these discussions? Hey Sergio! The Twins will be in Miami during the trade deadline next week. Could they get Sergio Romo to switch dugouts mid-series? https://twitter.com/CraigMish/status/1154826791908978690 The 36-year-old is in his 12th season in the big leagues. He won three World Series titles with the Giants. He has 126 saves. He has 10.0 K/9 rate and 2.1 BB/9. This year with the Marlins, he has a 7.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 to go with a 3.58 ERA. He is also 17 for 18 in save opportunities. Romo is now a soft-tosser, reliant on his moxie, and a good mix of changeup and slider. The cost to acquire him would be quite low. Syndergaard Updates Joel Sherman from the New York Post.reported again on Friday night that the Mets are definitely looking to trade Noah Syndergaard. He mentions the Astros, Braves and Padres are the teams they feel have the best opportunity to acquire him. LaVelle Neal from the Star Tribune noted on Thursday that it might take Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff to acquire Syndergaard. That should not be the case for the hard-throwing right-hander who has an ERA over 4 this year and missed most of the 2017 season with injury. But he is an ace caliber right-hander who has two more years of team control after this year. Dan Hayes from The Athletic pointed out that the Twins would be willing to move Lewis or Kirilloff in the right deal, meaning, for an Ace starting pitcher. In the same Sherman article, he pointed out that the likelihood that closer Edwin Diaz being traded “has greatly increased as well.” In fact, Jim Bowden says there may be more interest in the hard-throwing right-hander. https://twitter.com/JimBowdenGM/status/1155157106850455557 And hey, Ken Rosenthal has found a scenario where the Mets trade Syndergaard to the Padres and then the Mets would acquire Marcus Stroman. Ah, trade deadline rumors. https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1155186573350199297 Twins Inquire on Robbie Ray Availability https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1155159228069187585 Yeah, that’s really it. The Twins have called the Diamondbacks to ask about Robbie Ray… As they have called on probably every potentially available pitcher at the trade deadline. Cross Him Off the List… One name mentioned in Twins rumors over the last month has been traded. On Saturday afternoon, Royals lefty reliever Jake Diekman became A’s lefty reliever Jake Diekman, per Jeff Passon: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1155188823657189376 The A’s sent two minor leaguers to Kansas City to complete the deal,20-year-old right-hander Ismael Aquino (second season in the Arizona League) and outfielder Dairon Blanco, a 26-year-old Cuban outfielder in AA. (I was asked what an equivalent trade from the Twins may have looked like. I think the best I could do to compare would be GCL RHP Donny Breek and AA/AAA OF Jimmy Kerrigan.