LA Vikes Fan

Fair point. Blackburn actually looked like a decent deal for both sides. Big risk there though in that he just came back from a stress fracture in his foot, something that could go again at any time. His overall record with the As is 21 – 26 with a 4.78 ERA in eight seasons during which he started a grand total of 77 games in 81 appearances. That's less than 10 appearances a season. Guy has talent but is always hurt. His upside is he gives you 10 starts this year and pitches like a #3 or #4 starter. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but might be hard to pull the trigger on sending a top 30 prospect just for that. I think the return reflected the risk. Having said that, there probably are a couple of guys in the Twins 20 – 30 prospect range I would have given up to get him. Sorry, I just get frustrated because when the Twins don't get someone people start posting that we could have traded for him for a bag of balls and 3 half off coupons to Arby's. At least it's better than the Athletic where any article about the Twins results in pages of posts about how the Pohlads are cheap and we should take the stadium back. At least here there is some intelligent commentary. I will say though, the constant drone of negativity gets pretty old especially when were talking about a team that is definitely in the playoff hunt and appears to be on the way up as the schedule gets easier and the hitter start coming back from injury. Thanks for letting me vent.

You know Alex Cobb hasn't pitched an MLB inning yet this season, right? And that he suffered a "setback" in rehab as well. Also the Giants got a PTBNL in addition to the 19 year old who has 66 SOs in 50 Low A innings. This guy is closer to Carlee Soto than Questad. That doesn't count whoever the later named player is an Cobb is strictly a rental, free agent at years end will pick somewhere else next year. Look, I'm as disappointed as the next guy that the Twins didn't pick up a decent starter. Let's not pretend that we could have gotten the quality starting pitcher for prospect at the back and of our top 30. Based on what we've seen, a quality starting pitcher would have cost us at least one prospect in the top 10 if not in the top five or six, plus another prospect in the top 20. I'm happy to discuss whether that was a price that was worth being paid for rental starter like Kikuchi or Cobb but let's be the real on what the price was.

No surprise there. The wheels had come off.

Available yes, but not at "reasonable prices". So far KIkuchi cost the Astros their #2 prospect who may go right into the Blue Jays rotation, and their #9 prospect. That's like us trading Walter Jenkins or Emma AND Charlee Soto or CJ Culpepper. Two guys who haven't even pitched this year due to injury - Paul Blackburn and Alex Cobb - went for top 30 guys in the Mets and Guardians systems. Trevor Rogers fetched a top 100 prospect in AAA and another AAA guy who is in the Orioles top 25. I'd like to get a quality starter too, but the prices have been high.

I think the question here is whether this guy is better than the current back end of the bullpen. In other words, is he better than Okert or Staumont? Frankly, he may be better than both of them and looks to be better than Okert or Funderburk. I would include Theilbar in that last sentence but I have a feeling he's getting better and may be back to something approximating his old self through the stretch. This guy is probably a small upgrade to the soft underbelly of the bullpen. Better than nothing, but only marginally better.

Well, I learned something today. I'd never heard of Trevor Richards that I can recall, and I'm very confident I've never heard of Jay Harry before today. Pretty exciting stuff. Well, at least we are not the only team in MLB not to make a trade the season. Wonder who the Twins will send down to make room for Richards since Dobnak is already up to replace Brock Stewart. Looks like Stewart came off the IL too soon. Maybe there is a deal in the works to move Okert or Staumont, or even DFA one of those two.

Twins acquired Trevor Richards from Toronto according to MLB Trade Rumors. Price not yet reported. RH reliever, not too exciting stats. UFA at season's end.

You're right. Kikuchi to the Astros. One more possible starter acquisition down.

Kikuchi to the Astros. One more possible starter acquisition down.

Yankees have a reported deal for Flaherty. Will trade Cortes if and when that deal is completed.

Isn't the worst case scenario that Snell gets hurt and opts in for $31m next year? I think that's the risk the Twins won't take. He does have a checkered injury history and frankly a checkered performance history in terms of innings an starts. Otherwise, I'd be right there with you. It's just hard for me to see the Twins taking that level of risk. BTW, Tyler Anderson has a 2.96 ERA, albeit with a 4.15 FIP. He's a 2/3 starter in front of a team with good IF defense. The Twins have that. I think he would slot at least even with Ryan behind Lopez and Ober.

Agreed. Snell isn't the answer and this team can't/won't take the risk of another injury leaving them with a $31m player o the 60 day IL. There are some realistic targets out there that we should be willing to spend some real prospect capital on though. By that I mean that any prospect outside the top 6 should be available (top 6 are Lee, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Festa, Keaschall, Mathews). I'd even be willing to trade two of the next 10 for the right player. The window is open this year - if we can catch Cleveland we should get the second seed. That means a bye and a likely matchup against the AL West winner in the ALDS, not Cleveland, the Yankees or Baltimore. We can beat Houston or Seattle and all of a sudden we're in the ALCS against whichever of those 3 teams survive the gauntlet (prob Baltimore). One good series and we're playing the WS. Get a real mid rotation starter - Tyler Anderson, Fedde, or maybe Kikuchi or Taillon. Get a quality reliever, hopefully LH but quality is more important - Fairbanks, Tanner Scott, Taylor Rogers, or at least the level of Erceg or Kopech. Think about picking up Luis Rengifo from the Angels. Be willing to even give up a Larnach if you need to; he and Wallner are basically duplicative and there's likely only starting room for one next year. Trade Kepler for prospects if we need to free up payroll. That will be a sad day but he's gone after this year any way. The window is open. Take advantage.

Skubal is one of the top 5 starters in baseball. Detroit can keep him through 2026. They are close, maybe even playoff competitive next year. Why on earth would they trade him? If he’s available, they can have any two Twins prospects not named Lee or Jenkins. Today.

Having Dobnak on this run, Festa showing well against Philly, and Matthews’ great performance this year on his way up the chain should eliminate the need to trade for a back end innings eater fifth starter mediocre veteran type. We can fill that role through these three guys and who knows, maybe Varland will find it again, too. Alll of this is a real step forward That doesn’t mean we don’t need another starting pitcher. We do if only to improve our trajectory and give us a chance to win the division. Winning the division and getting the second seed is a possibility this year and we should go for hard since that makes the playoff run much, much easier. It gets us a bye and probably keeps us away from the Yankees in the second round. I hope We are competing for Anderson or even Kikuchi to upgrade the rotation with a middle of the rotation type guy. If we can’t do at least that well, there’s no point in trading for a veteran starter just to eat innings on the backend. Dobnak and Festa (probably as a bulk after an opener) can do that, And Matthews and even Caleb Bousley, can you give us a starter two down the stretch. Count me in on the “trade for a starter with at least Ober level performance or don’t trade for one at all” train. I might amend that to the “Ryan level” since frankly, Ober has been better than Ryan for the last month or so.

Another one down. Eflin to Baltimore for 3 prospects. Getting more and more to look like Kikuchi, Tyler Anderson, or bust. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/07/orioles-to-acquire-zach-eflin-from-rays.html

I haven't been defending Margot, but I haven't seen an answer yet to the real problem from any one else - who plays LF/DH against a LH starter if nor Margot? Can't be Larnach or Wallner with their less than sterling OPS of .583 and .143 this year, following a less than impressive .412 and .483 last year, respectively. The inability to hit LH pitching by those 2 is why Margot is on the roster. I'd love to see him gone or at least only starting against LH pitching and not brought in but we got to have somebody. We can't be in a pennant race and throw Larnach and Wallner out there against LH pitching as almost automatic outs. Maybe we dump Margot and the lineup against LH pitching has Castro in LF, Lee at 2B, Lewis/Santana/Miranda at 1B/3B/DH in various combos, with Martin and Farmer as the RH OF and 2B backup in case of injury. Essentially trading Margot's ABs for ABs for Lee. Not sure that's an upgrade, probably a down grade offensively. Requires Correa back though and I don't know when that will be unless we're comfortable with a Lee/Martin combo in the IF against LH starters. I wonder if Margot is a bad option except when considering the other options. . .

I suspect that the Twins will try to bring Santana back if he will play for the same kind of a contract. A Lewis/Santina/Miranda every day 3B/!b/DH group would be a real strength of the team. RF will be open next year for Wallner, Larnach, or Martin, with Lee at 2B and Castro in LF.

Aren't there two sides to this coin? Margot is a poor hitter against righties and poor pinch hitter. Point taken. The other side is that we still need Margot or someone him because Larnach and Wallner are equally bad or even worse against lefties than Margot is against righties. We don't really have a third OF who can be an everyday player because of the platoon splits these guys all have. That assumes that Buxton and Kepler can hit both sides, a little questionable in Kepler's case. I see two short term solutions and a longer term solution. The first short term solutions is to move Castro back to LF once Correa and Lewis are back. 2B can be handled by a combination of Lee and Julien or Lee and Martin. Miranda plays 5 days a week at 3B/1B/DH, Lewis and Santana each sit once a week and the roles of Larnach, Margot and Wallner are reduced to bench players playing 2-3 days a week. Effectively, this reduces the playing time of Larnach, Margot, and Wallner and gives it to Miranda, Castro and Lee. Are we sure we want to do that? The second is to leave Castro at 2B and platoon Margot, Wallner, and Larnach in LF. That means fewer ABs for Lee (almost none). Also, the urge to play the two LH hitters might crowd out Miranda from some ABs at the DH spot, which is a mistake - Miranda is a better hitter than any of those 3. The longer term solution is to trade or release Margot, and either commit to running Larnach or Wallner out in LF against LH pitching or make Miranda a part time LF against LH pitching. Castro is the everyday 2B and Lee becomes the UTL IF for the rest of the season playing 2-3 days a week at 2B or SS, very occasionally at 3B since Lewis and Miranda handle that spot. I personally like this approach because it gets ABs to Miranda, Larnach, and Wallner instead of Margot and Lee. Bottom line is if we get everyone healthy there won't be enough playing time for Larnach, Wallner, Margot and Lee to get regular ABs if you assume the Twins will give regular duty to Kepler, Castro and Miranda. There is also no place for Farmer. Something's gotta give. It will be interesting to watch the next few days t see if there's a move made that opens up the logjam a little in return for pitching,

Castillo is now in DFA land, and Lewis is ready to come back. Camargo is the easy first choice to go down. What about when Miranda is ready and then when Correa is ready? Pick two of Julien, Lee, and Martin to go. None of them are hitting great, but at least Julien has an OPS o in the .500s over the last 7. Both Lee and Martin are below .400 in the last 7. Moreover, Lee looks lost at the plate, always in between on fastballs and expanding on breaking stuff. Also, do you want to keep Lee up when he won't get many ABS once Lewis is at 3B, Castro at 2B, and Correa at SS? The HD spot will be covered by Mirnada and Larnach/Wallner and Mirnada backs up 3B. NO real place for regular ABs for Lee. My guess is that they play Lee at SS for a few games to see if he can handle the position at the major-league level. That also gives him a chance to start hitting. If he can't play there or doesn't pick up at the platet, I would be surprised to see the trade out be Miranda and Correa in, Julien and Lee out with Martin staying on the roster to be the backup centerfielder. Should be interesting.

SWR may be better than we thought. I was happy because he was convincing me he might be a good #4 or #5 starter. Now I'm wondering if he has a #2 or #3 kind of ceiling. Having him with Lopez, Ober, and Ryan all controlled for the next 3-4 years gives us a great base for the rotation. Now, if only we could trade for a playoff type guy . . . Nathan Evoldi or Tyler Anderson anyone?

There are two reasons I think the window gets wider next year. First, I think that Miranda, Jeffers, Lewis, Castro, and Lee at the very least will continue to improve and be stalwarts in the lineup next year. I also have hope that Wallner and LArnach will do the same. I disagree that by age 25 players "are what they are". I think the window for improvement continues to least 27 or 28 and maybe even beyond that. People get better at their job the more they do their job. Second, I also think we're going to see improvement from Ryan, SWR, and Ober in the rotation and a better year from Lopez. I also see a step up in the secondary players as Martin takes over for Margot, Julien and Lee take over for Farmer, and Miranda starts playing every day and slowly eases out Santana (who I think will be back next year). That's not counting Emma, Keaschall, and Keirsey, all of whom could help the Twins in 2025 either as a reserve or in the second half of the season. Overall, I think the team is trending up and has not yet hit the potential of the players we currently have, much less players on their way up. I do agree that he is probably worth Schobel now that I've looked more closely at how he's doing. That of course means he is less likely to be enough for the Blue Jays. My thought would be trading someone outside of the top 10 who is not a pitcher might make some sense given all of the younger players we already have. I'm just not ready to give up any more than that.

Kikuchi would be a decent get, but it all depends on the price. He's not worth anybody in the top ten prospects. IS he worth Corey Lewis, Tanner Schobel, or Andrew Morris? Hard to do that for just 2024, assuming he will sign elsewhere as a FA after 2024. To me, this all depends on how good you think this team is and whether you think they can compete (defined as a deep playoff run) this year. I tend to think this team is good but not good enough to get to the ALCS unless the playoff schedule is very favorable, and there's at least a 30-40% we won't make the playoffs at all. I think the window opens much wider next year as the younger players have more experience. I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice much just for 2024, so I wouldn't be willing to give up much for Kikuchi. My call would be Tyler Anderson of the Angels. He's signed for $13m next year, a palatable sum if you want to keep him and a tradable contract if you don't. He's also a lefty and has better stats this year although inconsistent year to year. The Angels are open for business and need pretty much anything you got to replenish that farm system. A package of two prospects, one in the top 15-20, might do it. I'd love out get Estevez too but I think the price is going to be bid up pretty high on him and he's only a rental.

You're right. According to MLB trade rumors all of the bonuses have been paid out. The acquiring team would only be on the hook for the pro rated portion of his $4m base salary. Sounds like right about $1.5m. Worth a look depending on the prospect price IMHO.

Worth a call to see the price. A prospect outside the top 25 or so might be a worthwhile investment. I would much rather have Flaherty, Crochet, Fedde, Tyler Anderson or Kikuchi, but they may be out of our salary or prospect price range and are going to generate a lot of interest. I like this roster and think they could be a real contender next year. I wouldn't be willing to give a lot to get a starter for this year though. I particularly would not be willing to give up a top 10 or even top 20 prospect for a rental starting pitcher. I suspect that the good ones like Flaherty or Crochet are going to require multiple top 20 prospects, and the lesser types like Kikuchi at least one in the top 10 or top 15. Even Anderson or Fedde is going to cost at least one in the top 20 and maybe more. That's why it's worth calling on Paxton. Same for Cal Quantrill.

That makes sense. At 2.5m, probably not worth taking on for me.