Seth Stohs

Brandon Kintzler's baseball story is a great one. He spent time with the St. Paul Saints. He was signed by the Brewers where he spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues. A knee injury got him removed from the 40-man roster, and he became a free agent. Terry Ryan and the Twins quickly swooped in and signed him to a minor league deal. He spent about a month in Rochester before coming up to the Twins. Since then, he has been a remarkably consistent big league pitcher. In 54 games last year for the Twins, he posted a 3.15 ERA with a 1.23 WHIP. He became the team's closer and recorded 17 saves. This year, he has a 2.78 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He's recorded 28 saves and leads the league in games finished. But he is a free agent at the end of the season, so now that the Twins have decided to be a seller, he becomes an obvious choice. Because of that, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have been fielding a lot of calls regarding their closer. Rumors started swirling late on Monday morning, but the team practiced patience and the deal was consummated moments before (and announced minutes after) Monday's 3:00 deadline.. Tyler Watson is a 6-5, 200 pound kid who is 6-4 with a 4.35 ERA in 18 games (17 starts) in Hagerstown, the Low A affiliate of the Nationals. In 93 innings he has 24 walks and 98 strikeouts. Most indicate that his prospect status has risen. He's a low-90s guy now, but is projectable, so he could add more velocity as he grows. He's also got a good curveball.

Update 2:00 p.m. - Jerry Crasnick says the Twins may be nearing a trade of Brandon Kintzler... well, yeah, there's under one hour to go until the deadline! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update 11:11 a.m. - In response to Feinsand, Mike Berardino tweeted that the Twins expect a Kintzler deal to go "down to the wire." Darren Wolfson tweeted that the Nationals, Rays and Rockies have shown a lot of interest in Kintzler. Wolfson added the idea that Kintzler could be brought back in the offseason, even if he is traded. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/892054929610866688 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Update 10:30 a.m. - Mark Feinsand from MLB.com notes that as Justin Wilson and Addison Reed have come off the board, the Twins are getting more interest in Kintzler... https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/892045429466116096 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update (9:30 a.m.) - It's been remarkably quiet on the Twins Trade rumor front so far this morning. Addison Reed was just traded from the Mets to the Red Sox. https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/892029770443231232 Does this remove the Red Sox as a potential landing spot for Brandon Kintzler? There are likely still many other teams involved in discussions as well, but having the Red Sox involved can't hurt. https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/892034185426325504 The Red Sox gave up three prospects for him, but none higher than their 18th ranked prospect. So, this, like the Neshek deal last week, sets an expectation that the Twins might be able to get quantity, but they probably won't get high-ranking prospects for Kintzler. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We all woke up on Sunday morning and soon learned that the Twins and Yankees had agreed to a trade that sent LHP Jaime Garcia to New York in exchange for RHP Zack Littell and LHP Dietrich Enns. The Twins went on to lose to the Oakland A's for the second straight game in walk-off fashion. While the front office had essentially acknowledged a day earlier that they were now in sell mode, the two losses in the Bay Area should have made it official. We tried to keep up with Twins rumors the rest of Sunday. There were some rumors on the likely trade candidates, and we know that many times there is a trade of an unlikely player. Who will that player be for the Twins tomorrow, if there is one? I think we can all agree that Brandon Kintzler is the player most likely to be traded tomorrow. Because he can fill so many roles for a team, from seventh inning reliever to closer (if needed), any playoff contender could find a role for him. Also, he is an impending free agent. https://twitter.com/NickNelsonMN/status/891848263451783168 It's hard to disagree with Nick's tweet from Sunday night. Because he can be a free agent, it seems wise for the Twins to get whatever they can for him as opposed to getting nothing for him at the end of the season. I can't imagine the Twins would make him a qualifying offer at approximately $18 million for 2018. Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray have yet to be traded. Maybe they won't be. Either way, it would seem that Ervin Santana is more of a fall-back plan for those teams like the Dodgers or Astros. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rumors swirling around Brian Dozier. A home run in his first at-bat on Sunday was followed by five strikeouts, which probably isn't what a potential trade suitor would want to see. Then again, Dozier's got five years worth of data points that teams are fully aware of. Matt Belisle is currently the Twins most reliable reliever. He also is a free agent at the end of the season. He is another guy that teams will consider as a sixth or seventh inning guy since they know that he won't buckle under the pressure of big-game situations. The return would certainly be small, but since he's a free agent, getting anything back would be good. And again, there will be plenty of rumors throughout the day, and this article will be updated as we hear them. Updates will happen at the top of the body of the article, so be sure to check back often and discuss.

Garcia was traded to the Twins on Monday in exchange for Elizabethton RHP Huascar Ynoa. At the time, the Twins were in the thick of contention in the AL Central, and in the wild card. But things have gone sour for the Twins since. They are now well out of contention in both. Garcia made just one start for the Twins. On Friday night, he gave up three runs in 6.2 innings to earn a win, the one game the Twins have won since they acquired him. Depending on the site, Littell was ranked around #20 in Yankees prospect lists. The right-hander has a four-pitch mix with a fastball in the low 90s. This season between High-A Tampa and AA Trenton, he is 14-1 with a 1.87 ERA. He's been even better in AA, posting 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings compared to just 7.2 per nine in High-A. 26-year-old Deitrich Enns is on the Yankees 40-man roster. With AAA Sranton-Wilkes Barre, he has a 2.29 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 39.1 innings in seven starts this year. Enns will report to Rochester. Littell will head to Chattanooga. And so it begins...

7:20 p.m. - Ken Rosenthal says that the Diamondbacks are not looking to add an infielder as they have plenty of depth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4:55 p.m. - Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Chris Owings fractured a finger today. He's out for the year. The Diamondbacks may have a need at second base. https://twitter.com/ScottMillerBbl/status/891777882682302464 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1:05 p.m. - Jon Morosi reports that the Twins and Mariners have had at least some level of discussions regarding Ervin Santana. https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/891718371418484736 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11:40 a.m. - Twins GM Thad Levine was on MLB Radio on Sunday morning, talking about where the Twins are in terms of the trade deadline. Said that Cleveland and Kansas City "did us a favor" by going on their winning streaks when they did. Also, "we've probably had our highest volume of calls on Kintzler and some of our other relievers." Also mentions that he hopes the Twins and Kintzler have good enough of a relationship to extend him. So, you never know exactly what to believe and what is posturing, etc. In reality, both things are likely true. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update (8:30 a.m.) Early Sunday morning, the Twins and Yankees announced that Jaime Garcia (along with Cash) has been traded to New York in exchange for RHP Zack Littell and LHP Deitrich Enns. (For more discussion, click here) https://twitter.com/morsecode/status/891653191158444033 The Twins also announced that lefty Craig Breslow has been released. I'm sure today will be busy, fully of Twins-related rumors as we anticipate Monday afternoon's trade deadline. https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/891662940738289664 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Friday, I posted my thoughts on which Twins players could be traded, and a percent-likelihood that they were dealt. Earlier on Saturday, it was youngster Chris Cotillo who first let us know that the Twins were having conversations with buyers about some of their veterans. https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/891426876488593411 The above tweet also indicates that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are not going to wait until the deadline to start dealing. In fact, shortly after the Twins loss in Oakland, Jeff Passan said that the Twins may be nearing a deal already. https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/891532696412983296 Now, I don't know if that is another Twins trade involving Jaime Garcia that is "close" or not, but the wording certainly indicates that it should happen relatively quickly, probably even on Sunday. Passan followed up by saying that if the Yankees acquire Garcia, it won't stop them from pursuing the A's Sonny Gray. According to Jon Morosi, the Twins might be interested in RHP Zack Littell. MLB.com has him ranked as the Yankees #22 prospect. https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/891536180663025664 Littell has split this season between High-A Tampa and AA Trenton. Combined, he is 14-1 with a 1.87 ERA. He's also 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA in seven starts in AA. Seems intriguing at least. The 21-year-old was the Mariners 11th round pick in 2013 out of high school in North Carolina and traded to the Yankees in a minor deal in 2016. And... just because it's fun... his middle name is Stuart... It appears that Jaime Garcia will likely be the guy we remember for making one start with the Twins, and it was a Quality Start and a Win. Garcia is a free agent at the end of the season. Likewise, Brandon Kintzler is also, and there are several teams showing interest in his services. Of course, when the Twins had a save situation on Saturday night, Kintzler was left in the bullpen. He has pitched a lot of late, including 26 pitches a night earlier. So that was the reasoning given for him not coming into the game, and it is certainly real. But, if the Twins are looking to deal him, not pitching him is likely the best strategy. The Twins will not face Sonny Gray on Sunday in the series finale with the A's. The team says that he's being pushed back to Monday, but we all know it is because he's going to be traded by then. Along with Kintzler and Garcia, it's possible that teams will be interested in Matt Belisle as well since he is a free agent at season's end too. Ervin Santana rumors slowed down some on Saturday. Houston still seems like the one team that might make some sense. It feels to me like Santana is the fall back plan for the teams to go after when they realize that they won't get one of the big fish (like Gray, Darvish). And, there has been little talk of Brian Dozier at this point. That, of course, could change at any point. (Again, this article will be updated as any rumors about the Twins come out. Please use the comments to discuss said rumors and your thoughts on them. If nothing else, the trade deadline should be very interesting for Twins fans.)

Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Saturday. On a fun note, Chattanooga starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez told me the other day that he will be in Cooperstown on Sunday when his father officially enters the Baseball Hall of Fame. Let’s start with the transactions of the day: As we mentioned a couple of days ago, the Twins signed outfielder Jimmy Kerrigan, a 23-year-old from the independent Frontier League. At the time, they announced that he would report on Saturday. The corresponding move is that infielder Andre Jernigan, a 2016 draft pick out of Xavier who joined the Kernels about a month ago from extended spring training, was released. Miracle RHP Henry Centeno began a rehab appearance in the GCL on Saturday. Kernels RHP Tyler Wells also began a rehab stint. Expect some more moves on Sunday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Toledo 6 Box Score The Red Wings jumped out to an early lead. They once led 5-1. However, the bullpen’s most reliable arm was unable to hold the lead. The game went to extra innings, and former (albeit brief) Red Wings hitter John Hicks knocked in the game-winning run for Toledo. Hector Santiago made his second rehab start (on this stint) with the Red Wings. He gave up a run on three walks and a hit in the first inning, but he settled down after that. In three innings, he gave up just the one run on two hits. He walked three and struck out four. David Hurlbut came on. The lefty gave up one run on four hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out five. 40 of his 55 pitches were strikes. Byron Buxton played again. He struck out in his first two at-bats before singling in his final two at bats before being removed from the game. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/891494379738865664 Byungho Park went 2-6 with his 21st double and eighth home run. Daniel Palka was 2-5 with his second triple. Niko Goodrum and JB Shuck were 2-6. Anthony Recker made his Twins and Red Wings debut. He hit a double. With a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, Drew Rucinski came on. He gave up three runs on three hits and a walk and got just the first two outs (both strikeouts). Jake Reed came on and allowed the third run to score on a hit before getting the third out. Nik Turley came on and went the next three innings. He gave up the 12th-inning run. He gave up a total of three hits and three walks while striking out just one. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 1 (21 innings) Box Score It was a long night in Chattanooga. These two teams essentially played two games though it only counted as one in the overall standings. There were a lot of pitchers, a lot of men left on base, and there were even pitchers hitting, well, getting at-bats. It came down to position players pitching, for both teams. Felix Jorge started and was fantastic. The right-hander went the first nine innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He struck out eight batters without walking any. Randy Rosario was next. The southpaw gave up three hits, but no runs, over two innings. Ryan Eades was next. He walked two and struck out two over two scoreless innings. Then Raul Fernandez came on and struck out six over three scoreless innings. So, how did pitchers start hitting? Why was that a thing in this game? Well, the Lookouts were down 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, Jonathan Rodriguez, the DH, got on base. Jake Mauer decided to pinch run Alex Perez for him. The move worked as Perez came around to score on an Andy Wilkens hit. The game went to extra innings. Carlos Paulino pinch hit for Randy Rosario, but due to other moves throughout the earlier inning, there were no more hitters on Mauer’s bench. Ryan Eades struck out in his at-bat. Raul Fernandez grounded out in his lone at-bat. Luke Bard came on for the 17th inning. He struck out two in a scoreless inning. He struck out another in a quick, 1-2-3 18th inning. Bard struck out to end the 18th inning. So, in the 19th inning, Jake Mauer put infielder Alex Perez in to pitch. Pitcher Randy LeBlanc went out to right field. Max Murphy moved to centerfield while Levi Michael replaced Perez at second base. Alex Perez was the pinch runner who replaced the DH in the ninth inning. He walked one, but got three outs without allowing a run. But the Lookouts didn’t score in their half of 19th either. Perez pitched a one-two-three 20th inning, including a fly out to LeBlanc in right field. Perez enjoyed his time on the mound. "It was fun to get on the mound again. Been like two years since my senior year of college." In the 21st inning, Alex Perez shifted back to second base, and Max Murphy went to the mound. He walked the first batter. The next guy bunted him to second. A grounder advanced the runner to third, but Murphy got a strikeout to end the threat! Birmingham finally went to a position player in the bottom of the 21st inning. With two outs, he walked the bases loaded before Levi Michael walked to end the marathon!! Along with his first win, Max Murphy went 3-8. Alex Perez was 2-5. Levi Michael was 2-8 with the game-winning walk... It was a long night for several others at the plate. Perez was called up to the Lookouts about a month ago, and Chattanooga has just continued to roll. He notes, "This team just doesn't stop fighting. We never count ourselves out of any game. The atmosphere every time we take the field is unlike any team I've been a part of. I have enjoyed my time here that's for sure." MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 0, Clearwater 3 Box Score JoJo Romero is the #18 ranked prospect of the Philadelphia Phillies. On Saturday, he was terrific. In fact, the only hit he gave up to the Miracle was a single to Jermaine Palacios in the sixth inning. And that remained the only hit the Miracle had for the whole game. Tanner English walked twice. Lewis Thorpe was on the mound to start for the Miracle. The left-hander gave up two runs on four hits over the first six innings. He struck out five without a walk. Glen Perkins came in to start the seventh innings. He gave up one run on two hits in 0.2 innings. Both outs came on strikeouts. Alex Robinson got the final four outs, three on strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Clinton 0 Box Score Let’s start with the Kernels offense, and save the best part of this game story for last. There wasn’t a lot of offense. The team had eight hits in the game, but were only able to string together enough for two runs. In the third inning, Joe Cronin singled in Christian Cavaness to give the team a 1-0 lead. Then in the fifth frame, it was Cronin again. He knocked in Gorge Munoz, who went 2-3, with a sacrifice fly. But on this night, that was just an insurance run because Clark Beeker threw a tremendous game. Beeker completed nine shutout innings and needed just 100 pitches. 73 of them were strikes. He gave up just five hits, walked none and struck out seven. A quality changeup and a strategy that has proven successful for Beeker. Beeker told Twins Daily moments after the game’s completion, “I was able to get a good feel for my changeup in the early innings and was able to keep their hitters off balance. That allowed me to use my fastball to put away guys the second and third times through the lineup. His pitching coach agreed. J.P. Martinez said, “The changeup was the difference-maker tonight. (It had) good tumble, and he spotted it low all night. He had them out front and made them late to the fastball.” Beeker now has thrown 17 straight scoreless innings for the Kernels and is 10-3 with a 2.31 ERA for the season. For Beeker, it was just nice to be able to finish what he started. “It was a great feeling to finish the game; I hadn’t done so since college, so it was nice to get deep in the game and save our bullpen. I was fortunate enough to get some early-count outs and keep my pitch count low enough to finish the game.” E-TWINS E-NOTES Game 1 - Elizabethton 6, Princeton 0 Box Score These teams completed two full innings of work on Friday night before rains caused a delay and an eventual suspension of the game. Before that time, the Twins held a 3-0 lead. With two outs in the first inning, Jose Miranda hit his seventh home run, and it was followed by the fifth E-Twins homer of the season by Shane Carrier. Edwar Colina threw two scoreless innings and struck out four. When the game resumed, Bailey Ober was on the mound. The 2017 draft pick struck out three over four scoreless, hitless innings to earn his first pro win. Blair Lakso threw a scoreless seventh inning. Andrew Bechtold went 2-3 with his first triple. Mark Contreras was 2-3, and he had the big hit. His second home run of the season drove in three runs in the sixth inning and put the game out of reach. https://twitter.com/Mike_Gally21/status/891422430635470848 Game 2 - Elizabethton 13, Princeton 3 Box Score Make that 20-2… In fact, in this, the regularly-scheduled game, the E-Twins scored seven runs in the first inning. Obviously there were a few big hits, but the final one was a two-run home run by Carson Crites out of the nine-spot in the lineup. It was his second home. Jordan Gore led off the second inning with his first professional home run. Of the home run, Gore, who went 3-4 in the game, told Twins Daily, “It was a great feeling hitting the first one. I had a pretty good feeling it was going to get out.” Matt Albanese added his second home run as well. Crites went 2-3. Colton Waltner went 3-4. Andrew Bechtold went 2-4 with his fourth double. The E-Twins have a lot of really solid hitters. Gore said, “It's a thrill being a part of the offense. We have a guys that really know how to hit. It's fun being on an offensive team.” Brusdar Graterol made his first start for the E-Twins on Saturday. The hard-throwing right-hander went the first four innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out six. Jared Finkel recorded the final nine outs. He was charged with an unearned run on four hits. He struck out six without issuing a walk. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 6, GCL Red Sox 5 Box Score The Twins traveled down Daniels Parkway this morning to take on the GCL Red Sox. It was an early start time, but the Twins got their bats going early, in large part due to Royce Lewis. In his first at bat, he singled in the Twins first run of the day. In the Twins four-run, third inning, Lewis knocked in two runs with another single. Emmanuel Morel led off and went 2-4 with a walk. Jean Carlos Arias went 2-5 with his second triple. Victor Tademo went 2-4 with his second stolen base. A couple of minor leaguers made rehab appearances in the GCL game. Right-hander Henry Centeno, who has been on the Miracle disabled list with an elbow injury since the beginning of the season, went the first inning. He walked a batter, hit a batter and struck out a batter in a scoreless inning. Tyler Wells, who is in his second DL stint with the Kernels due to biceps tendinitis, threw the next two innings. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk. He struck out four. Shortly after the game, he told Twins Daily, “It’s been going and feeling really good. Really been working on a few mechanical things, and they’ve been going really well. Now it’s just a matter of getting everything dialed in.” TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Clark Beeker, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jordan Gore, Elizabethton Twins SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (5:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers Chattanooga @ Montgomery (5:35 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves Ft. Myers @ Clearwater (DH @ 12:00 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen, LHP Anthony McIver Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) - LHP Anthony Marzi Kingsport @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) - TBD GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games.

In Jaime Garcia’s first inning, he struck out two in a 1-2-3 innings. In the second, things didn’t go as smoothly. He walked the first two batters, and then he gave up a line drive single to load the bases. That’s when he showed what he is capable of. He started by striking out Ryan Lavarnway. Next, veteran Matt Joyce grounded into a double play to end the inning, end the threat. Same thing in the third inning, Adam Rosales led off with a double. Again, Garcia was up to the challenge. He struck out the next two batters before getting the third out on a pop out. The Twins bats showed up in the top of the fourth inning, though some with the help of the A’s defense. Jason Castro had an RBI double. It was followed by a Brian Dozier RBI single to make it 3-0. Castro scored from third on a very wild pitch. With two outs, Miguel Sano grounded toward shortstop. Marcus Semien fielded but airmailed the throw. The first baseman Ryan Healy had to leap and Sano reached the bag safely. Meanwhile, Dozier rounded third and kept going. Healy threw a strike home, but Lavarnway just dropped the ball. Dozier was out easily if the ball was caught. Those extra, bonus runs are always appreciated. They are appreciated because Garcia wasn’t able to work out of a mess in the fourth, however, A lead off double was followed by a walk. Garcia did get a strikeout, but then Jason Castro had a bad passed ball, allowing the runners to move up. Lavarnway came up again, and this time he doubled in two runs. Castro helped get one of the runs back in the fifth inning when he added another RBI double to give the Twins their sixth run. After that, it was Garcia and the Twins bullpen. Garcia gave up a run on three hits in the bottom of the fifth, but he was again able to get a big double play ball to end that inning. But in the sixth frame, he got a fly out followed by two strikeouts. Because he was still at just 90 pitches, he went out to start the seventh inning too. He got the first two outs of the inning, but after a single, Matt Belisle came on and got the final out. Belisle added another scoreless inning in the eighth. His streak of games without allowing an earned run is now at 12 games, and he’s allowed an earned run in just one of his last 17 appearances. Brandon Kintzler came on to protect a 6-3 lead in the ninth inning. It took some work. He threw a lot of pitches, but he was able to get out of it without allowing a run to record his 28th save. Jaime Garcia is now 1-0 as an American League pitcher. More important, that Twins losing streak stops at four games. It was the Twins 50th win of the year, and it came much, much earlier in the season than it did a year ago. https://twitter.com/AaronGleeman/status/891167995313115137 Win Expectancy (via fangraphs) Top Five Twins (by Win Expectancy) Jason Castro - (.194) - 2-4, 2 RBI doubles Jaime Garcia - (.149) - 6.2 IP, 3 ER. Ehire Adrianza - (.118) - 2-5 Matt Belisle - (.068) - 1.1 IP, 2 K Robbie Grossman - (.067) - 1-3, 2 BB Obviously when you knock in runs twice when the game is still quite close, you’ve had a big impact on the game and on win expectancy. The Twins 7, 8 and 9 hitters (Granite, Adrianza and Castro) each had two hits in the game. Jaime Garcia got into and fought out of several tough situations. Jason Castro discussed with Audra Martin following the game what it meant to contribute with his bat, as well as what he saw from Jaime Garcia. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/891170852334485504 AL Central Cleveland and Kansas City remain hot. The Royals beat the Red Sox at Fenway Park thanks to a three-run homer from Mike Moustakus in the top of the nint to give them a 4-2 lead. It was Kansas City’s ninth straight win. Cleveland won big over the White Sox, their eighth straight win. Detroit fell to Brad Peacock and the Houston Astros. Cleveland 56-45 .554 --- Kansas City 54-47 .535 2.0 TWINS 50-51 .495 6.0 Detroit 45-56 .446 11.0 Chicago 39-61 .390 15.5 Bullpen Usage Brandon Kintzler needed a lot of pitches to get his 28th save. Matt Belisle was good again and kept his pitch count low. After a day off on Thursday, the bullpen should be pretty well-rested. Here is a look at which relievers may be available on Saturday night. What’s Next? The Twins and A’s will play the second game of a three-game series on Saturday (8:10 central time). It will be Adalberto Mejia against RHP Chris Smith. It is a matchup of two very different pitchers. Adalberto Mejia has been a pleasant surprise for the Twins this season. Sure, there were some bumps in the road, but of late, he has been as good as anyone in the Twins rotation. He got to the big leagues as a 22-year-old and it looks like he has a chance to stay in the for a long time. When Chris Smith came up on July 8 this year, he became the oldest pitcher in the well-over-a-century old A’s franchise to make a start. He came up to replace injured youngster Jharel Cotton. He pitched in 13 games out of the A’s bullpen in 2016. But just as interesting, those were his first games in the big leagues since he made three appearances for the Brewers in the 2010 season. He played for Milwaukee in 2009 and 12 games with the Red Sox in 2008 when he debuted as a 27-year-old. Now 36, he is 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA. The Twins will have to be patient and wait back. Smith was a soft-tosser when he was pitching out of the bullpen, averaging 87-88 mph with his fastball. As a starter, his average velo is down to 85 mph.He also throws a mid-70s breaking ball, and a mid-70s changeup. So what do you think? Will Jaime Garcia stick with the Twins? Did he do enough to make you want to keep him around, or make you think he increased his trade value? What were the keys to the Twins win in your opinion? Here are some final thoughts from the Manager, Paul Molitor. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/891175439388954624