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Game Thread: Braves (34-66) @ Twins (37-62) Wednesday, July 27, 7:10 CT Probable Starters: Tyler Duffey (5-7, 5.71 ERA) vs Mike Foltynewicz (3-4, 3.79 ERA) First 10,000 fans get a 1991 World Championship Stein. First 10.000 posters on this game thread get a....like? Today’s game is Game #100 of the 2016 season for the Minnesota Baseball Club. The Twins have won 37.4% of their games this season, and after tonight, will have just 62 games left. A recent run of success means that the Twins only have to go a mere 26-37 down the stretch (41%) to avoid losing 100 games this year. Which brings me to the first of my five questions for today: 1. At this point in a lost season, should Twins fans root for losses? There was a lengthy discussion thread on “tanking” recently…not a new discussion, as it has been brought up every year since at least 2012. Some posters are indignant about the notion of rooting against the hometown nine. Others are pragmatic about it, viewing it as a reasonable approach for the short-term in order to make it possible to win in the long-term. My personal view is a little combination of both. I not going to root for the team to lose, and I want players trying their hardest not to do so. (They just aren’t as good as the other team, for the most part.) But when the losses occur, I don’t totally mind…knowing that’s another loss towards a stronger draft and international signing. For example, I wanted Brandon Kintzler to pull a rabbit out of the hat the other night, clinging to a one-run lead, loading the bases with no outs. Gibson had pitched well and deserved the win. It was quite the Houdini act to preserve the win. But if he had, say, given up a couple of medium deep fly balls and they lost, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. Both approaches are fine, imho. Both are rooting for the Twins...some rooting for them to win this year, some rooting for them to win in later year. Losing today’s game to the Braves, the only team in the league with a worse record than the Twins this year…again, wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. However, my undefeated streak of gamethreads (1-0) is on the line, too. 2. Did Jack Goin make another recent stealth appearance on the TD discussion boards? Yes, yes he did. He dropped into the “Fangraphs on the Twins” thread not once, but several times, defending the analytic department’s honor, commenting on the size of other teams’ departments, falling on his sword for the Nolasco signing (making a good case for it, too), and other insightful comments. Kudos to Jack for stopping in on TD, as he has done before. The dry "some of those might not have helped" was particularly nicely done. 3. Does the hiring of an outside firm bode well for the Twins GM search, or does it matter? I think this move is an interesting departure from the regular Twins Way. When Ryan left before, no search firm, and Bill Smith was promoted from within. When Gardy was let go, Molitor was promoted from within. I think this is a positive next step in addressing the “total system failure.” I also think Rob Antony’s chances of removing the interim tag have dropped considerably with this move. 4. What will the Twins roster look like on August 2? That is a good question, which we are all interested to find out the answer to. If I were to guess, I am going to guess a high number of moves, compared to the Ryan era. I will guess that Nunez, Suzuki, Abad and Milone are not Twins after the deadline. Indications are strong that Santana will stay. Dozier getting moved would be a real longshot. Plouffe I just don’t see, given the injury and Sano’s defensive struggles at third. Kintzler might go instead of Abad, but either would net minimal return, I imagine. Hopefully there are some decent returns. Antony has said pitching is a priority. For me, getting a catching prospect back is the biggest priority. I’ll keep banging the drum for the Twins to target the Dodger’s AAA catcher, who is blocked in the majors and who has raked in the minors, but not much in brief stints with the big league team. But really, any long-term solution at the catcher position would be fine with me. It cannot be overstated what a yuuuuge advantage the Twins had on the league for years by having such an outstanding hitter playing catcher. (Remember those three batting titles?) The Twins’ fortunes have declined in tandem with Mauer’s post-concussion production. 5. With the political conventions in full swing last week and this week, a random thought occurred to me.…are there any Muslims in baseball? A quick google search seems to indicate that the answer is no. There was a player named Sam Khalifa back in the 1980s, but none since then. It’s sort of surprising. Even the "Million Dollar Arm" gambit made by the Pirates in recruiting cricket players…apparently didn’t result in any cricket players. Makes you wonder if there are any scouts in the Middle East, or Northern Africa? Could Muslims be the next untapped moneyball area to explore? Go Twins! Go game threaders! We can surpass 100 posts for this thread, surely.... Lineups TBD

Whoa, whoa whoa. Let's not get carried away, now shall we?

I was just trying to think of who has long-term deals. Dozier probably fits the bill more. Teams trade bad contracts, though. Mauer could be moved if a GM were creative.

One other tidbit....Twins prioritizing pitching, and not limiting the search to buyers only. So if they are looking at sellers, that means they would be giving up prospects or players with years left (Ervin or Mauer)? Teheran, Shelby Miller?

Whew, 80 comments. Not a lot of joy in Mudville these days. Good game by Santana. He's certainly built his trade value as much as he could possible hope down the stretch towards Aug 1. However, it seems more and more like Antony isn't going to trade him.

Jack, thanks for stopping in and posting thoughtful and honest commentary on TD. It may have started out of frustration, in defense against a dig about your department, but your series of posts provided valuable insight into your work and the realities of the Twins org. In terms of Nolasco, I hope your push for him, and the subsequent fairly lousy results, did not hurt your standing in the org at all. I love that you are looking for players that have unnoticed upside or under appreciated aspects of their games that the Twins could take advantage of. Good luck in the next week! My personal plug is for the goal for the week to be landing a catching prospect who is almost ready to contribute. There aren't too many that could be avaIlable. One of the few fits I see, from a team in contention, with obvious holes they are looking to fill that the Twins could provide, who is blocked at catcher on the majors roster for the foreseeable future...is the Dodgers. Mike Gallego's nephew looks like a solid all-around prospect, who might be lower on the Dodger's prospect lists than he probably should be. (Maybe it's because he is older/was drafted out of college.). Thanks again for posting!

This is great news. Signs pointing in the right direction towards new blood.

Gibson really had a lot of movement on his pitches tonight. Does his sinker work better in high temps?

I'd endorse KLaw for the GM position.

I read the LaVelle Q&A and listened to his in-game interview last night. I don't think there is much chance of Antony getting the job long-term, but he has the spot for an important stretch now, so it's important to see what he says. I appreciate how much more open he is than TR was. Clear that he wants to move several players. Talks about how many teams he is talking to, and what stage they are at in those discussions. Will not be trading prospects. Wants young players to get some time in the majors this year getting their feet wet (ahem Berrios). Thinks Ervin might not be traded, because he has value as a mid-to-high (for the Twins) rotation arm on a fairly reasonable two-year deal. (This stance, which I don't agree with per se, represents BUILDING up a player's value, unlike TR's penchant for doing the opposite.) Isn't going to be making any extensions of the Suzuki or Nunez variety. I'm optimistic that he will trade away several players in the next ten days that will accomplish three things: clear some space for more young players to get playing time, clear a bit of salary space which can be utilized in the free agent market later by the next GM, and bring back a few prospects (no big expectations) that might contribute. If he could land a catching prospect that is close, so much the better. I'd like a journalist to ask him what his thinking is about May getting another shot at the rotation. And Meyer as well.

I presume you mean Suzuki and Santana wouldn't be nearly enough to get Profar. A recent MLB Trade Rumors post talks about how the Rangers are getting heavy interest in Profar, and might consider moving him since they have Andrus at SS. The post says the Rangers might think Odirizzi, Moore, or Lucroy might be targets; SP and C are what they are looking for. My thinking is give them both, and it might be enough.

I'm not sure where else to put this, but here's a trade thought: Suzuki and Santana to Texas for Jurickson Profar. Is that a realistic trade package? My other thought / priority...catching prospects. What is the best catching prospect (that isn't far from the majors) that the Twins could acquire in the next 10 days? Which of the trading chips would net Austin Barnes from the Dodgers? Dodgers are hurting for pitching as they are all getting injured. Would Santana for Barnes be feasible?

This comment gets my belated vote for post of the game. Just the right combination of dry sarcasm and brutal honesty. Even though I'm fairly certain I don't have a vote.

Good for Rod Carew! It's going to feel a bit awkward when they name the Bonds and ARod HR champs though...

My son and I tried to figure it out. Looked like he field it about 15-20 feet behind third. And we came up with about 1.25 seconds for the throw (high was 1.33, low was 1.18). It came out to about 80mph. I think we may have calculated wrong.

Like a fart in the wind?

Here is a random question. About a week ago, Sano fielded a slow high hopper right down the line behind the bag, and fired a bullet to get the runner by half a step. Is there anyway or anywhere to find out how fast he threw the ball?

That was a helluva game thread. Short, to the point, not too many Chief jokes. And ended with a Chicken Dinnah!

I think he hurt his knee on the fall. His knee bent kind of awkwardly as he went down. Hope to god it isn't an mcl or something like that.

Most OF don't get to that ball. When he's going that fast, I have to imagine that it's hard to slow down enough to avoid the wall. He obviously was wall-shy there after two crashes. Why is there a chain link fence in the Target field? That is just crazy.

How about catching prospect Reese McGuire from the Pirates? If I recall, Twins were interested in drafting him.

While I think E Santana could be a good pitcher for the Twins next year and possibly in 2018, he is exactly the sort of sought after trade chip that the Twins should deal. (in fact, using FA signings as trade bait is a means of building a strong farm system that the Twins haven't really utilized). In looking over prospect lists, I see a ton of SS prospects. The Mets (and Atlanta) each have two top-rated SS prospects. How about C Austin Barnes and Frankie Montas from the Dodgers for Santana? De Leon (and Urias) are probably too much to ask for from them. A catching prospect would be nice to secure this summer. Gary Sanchez of the Yankees? I don't suppose the Phillies are selling, but Alfaro looks like a decent prospect (and they have a second C prospect). Along with Sanchez, how about two other "post-hype" names - Dylan Bundy of the Orioles, or Jurickson Profar of the Rangers? Profar made a bone-headed play last night at first that cause Hamels to stare him down. I don't think the Twins are that far away from competiveness, but this trade deadline is an opportunity to add some valuable pieces to a nice young core. If they could lock up an up-the-middle SS or C (preferably both) it could be huge for this team.

Can we all agree that this is outrageous?

I thought I recognized MWW writing...

I know people have been arguing that Arcia should have been kept over Santana, but to me, I still feel like Grossman over Arcia was the dubious choice. Arcia has better numbers in the minors and the majors, is younger, and has been with the organization since he was a teenager. Grossman was given more ABs this year than Arcia, because he got hot for a few weeks. He's now in the process of returning to his career averages.