LA Vikes Fan

Quick point about Emma. I have read that it is "very likely" that he will get a 4th option year because he is accumulating used option years faster than "full professional seasons", which is defined as more than 90 days on an active roster. IL time does not count towards a "full professional season". Where a player uses up all three option years before he has accumulated five full professional seasons, that player is pretty much automatically granted a 4th option year. Emma has already met the criteria for that additional option year. The bottom line is that him being "out of options after this year" should not be a consideration whether or not to call him up over Jenkins.

Agreed. I think the "risk" of losing significant control time due to an expected long term work stoppage next year is way overblown. The much more likely result is a lot of drama followed by either a shortened spring training and a roughly 140-150 game season, or a last-minute deal that saves the entire season. There is just too much money being made and too much other competition now to take the market risk of any sort of long-term disruption. MLB owners may not be as smart as NFL owners but they aren't that stupid. Next year's CBA negotiation should have little if any impact on whether to call up prospects, particularly after August 15 when they can come up and still retain their rookie status. The possibility of gain here is so much higher than the risk of loss that the risk of loss should be an afterthought at best.

All interesting. I agree with Culpepper for Gray for sure for the reasons you stated. Jenkins for Roden also makes sense although I'm a little more hesitant. I think that we've given Roden a short but fair shot. The two nagging concerns are that Roden has hit the ball hard fairly regularly so you just think there may be more there and I question if Jenkins is quite ready. This is Roden's last real shot with the Twins. Add to that the loss of rookie status if called up before 8/15 and I say we wait another 10 days for Jenkins and to give Roden a little more time. Wallner is a very tough one. He is hitting now in AAA and has hit MLB pitching before. Still, two MAJOR issues with Wallner. The first is he had a huge hole in his swing the upper inside quadrant of the strike zone which made him an easy out. Has he solved that or is he just feasting on lesser pitching and likely to hit .150 in the Bigs again? The second is where do you play him? Bell is actually one of our better hitters right now so the DH spot is only available 1, maybe 2 games a week. There's no way to sugarcoat this, Wallner is a lousy OF. He lessens the defense every time he plays out there. It's even worse when out CF who covered for him is hurt and we really don't have another one, at least not yet. We are in that part of the year where pitching and defense tends to trump offense so Wallner is a big risk. He also doesn't hit LH pitching so he doesn't solve our primary weakness. Maybe platoon him in RF with Martin now, but what do we do when Buxton comes back? We certainly don't want to give Wallner playing time over Keaschall, since Keasch just had a .909 OPS in July and is off to an even hotter start in August (he is the best hitter on the team right now and should be hitting in the 2 hole, but I'll save that rant for another thread). Larnach has seized the LH corner OF spot on the team and squeezed Wallner out. I'd hate to be the starting pitcher and look out to the OF and see Larnach, Keaschall, and Wallner. Ground balls only that day. So, on balance, I would call up Culpepper now for Gray and play him in a 60/40 SS platoon with Kriedler. I'd wait until 8/15 and if Roden hasn't gotten hot, switch him out for Jenkins. I just don't think there's a place for Wallner on this roster for this year absent another injury or maybe 2 since Jenkins is first OF up. He waits to try to win a DH job for 2027 or maybe an offseason trade. Sucks for Wallner, but he played himself into this position.

My bad, just saw that Rojas was sent to St. Paul. That makes sense, stretch him out as a starter. We are going to need at least one more and probably more than that in August and September.

Sorry to see Garver get released. Always like him but a .175/.302/.294 (>506) line with poor defense will get you sent home. They also released Rob Refsnyder, who's been even worse. I saw the Twins activated Hoffmann What was the corresponding move(s)?

Well said. Hey, let's have fun the rest of the season with this team. It might actually be a fun season. Less on Tom Pohlad, more on baseball.

I agree that it can be painful to watch Larnach chase fly balls but I don't think that's Sizemore's fault. I think that's because Larnach simply can't run for crap. The guy has a great skill in putting the bat to the ball but he is not a great athlete by any stretch of the imagination. To call him lumbering is actually a compliment. Still, he runs better than Wallner, who I would describe as more glacial in approach. I'm not sure whose idea it was to put Buxton in center, flank him with those two guys, and expect to have a competent defensive outfield. I hope whoever that was is no longer in a position of authority.

I think this is very insightful. I actually think that may be what Jeffers was trying to accomplish. He wanted to stay with this team for this season because it's a very tight group and he thought they could have some at least modest success, while still giving himself the chance to go on the FA market next year and get a longer-term high-value deal that will set him up for life. This was the way to get that accomplished while still showing some respect to the team that nurtured him through his development and to the guys in the clubhouse. I respect him for doing this if that's what happened. By the way, nothing wrong with Jeffers wanting to go on the FA market next year and get a longer-term high-value deal. These guys are lucky to get one shot set themselves up for life with a big contract. 90% of them never get that opportunity and only a handful get more than one chance. I can't begrudge anyone for taking that shot if they get it. He's earned it and he should take advantage of the opportunity.

What does it even mean to "go big or go home"? I think that is one of those hackneyed business phrases like "creative synergies" or "we're going to think outside the box". I don't think any of these phrases actually mean anything in particular. They are completely contextual. They mean very different things to different people, and mean very different things in different contexts. I actually "liked" your post because I think we agree in concept - the Twins did good things to improve the team but they didn't swing for the fences or take big risks by any stretch. I also agree that this is not the team for which you swing for the fences or take big future risks for this year. Is that "going big" in context? I have absolutely no idea. Nor do I care. All I know is the team is better today than it was yesterday and that will make the season more fun.

It's funny, I find myself "liking" the first 3 posts, even thought they express pretty different viewpoints on whether this deadline was better, whether it was an "improvement" or a "drastic change". And I think those two phrases explain the difference in viewpoints. Was the Twins behavior this deadline an "improvement" over the last couple of years? Absolutely for the reasons explained in the article and I don't think anyone can cogently argue otherwise. Was that behavior a "drastic change"? Absolutely not. A drastic change would have been emptying the farm system for a pitcher like Skubal, trading multiple top 15 ranked prospects for a Soriano and Zeferjahn package, or trading serious prospects for guys like Luis Arraez or Adley Rutschman. So in a sense, everybody is basically correct – this was an improvement but not emblematic of a drastic change. I would argue that the Twins took exactly the right of approach, although I might quibble a little about value given versus value received. To start off with, this team is decent but it is not a contender or even really very good. The Twins' record very accurately reflects what they are, a slightly above average team with enough holes that brings them back to average or slightly below. This is not a team that you empty the farm system to augment. It's a team where you try to fill some of the holes, see if that lifts you to an above average team, and try to take advantage of the weak division and league to sneak into the playoffs and add some excitement at the end of the season. This team simply isn't good enough for you to mortgage the future in the hopes of reaching the World Series or even the league championship series. Maybe that team is next year if guys like Jenkins, Emma, and Culpepper come up and immediately produce, maybe it's in 2028 after they've had some seasoning and have been joined by the likes of Houston and Quick, or maybe it's never for this group. One thing we know for sure, it ain't this year. I like what they did. The bullpen was a clear weakness and they traded for two of the top five relievers traded (maybe even two of the top three with the Weaver being the other), and three of the top eight traded. They did it by giving up one good prospect in Hill, one decent/maybe possible MLB prospect in Klein, and a bunch of lottery tickets with upside. In return, they got Hoffman who was the closer for a World Series team last year, Minter who was in the Braves bullpen when they won the World Series in 2021 and had seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings in that WS, and Nance who had a 1.99 ERA in 2025 and also pitched in last year's World Series. They also picked up a starter who has been a middle to back end rotation guy in the past and is now kind of a crapshoot. Not a bad haul for not giving up a whole lot. If that's not an improvement over the last couple of years, I don't know what is. Whether it's a "go big or go home" moment (whatever that's trite phrase actually means) depends entirely on your perspective. Now it's up to the players. To get to 85 wins they need to go 29 – 20 the rest of the way, a .592 winning percentage. 85 wins should get them into the playoffs and has a better than 50/50 chance of winning the division. They were 15 – 9 in July, so essentially the need to repeat July twice in August and September. Is it possible? Absolutely, they've shown they can play at that level. Is it likely? I wouldn't say it's the most likely result, I see it more as a 50/50 proposition. I think their record from this point forward is going to be heavily dependent on the bullpen's performance which is in turn dependent on the three bullpen arms they just got, continued performance from the rotation (something very much in doubt), and Lewis, Keaschall, Bell, Jeffers, Lee, and Clemens all having an OPS of at least.750 for the rest of the season with at least three of them over .800. At this point, anything we get from Buxton has to be considered gravy. All possible, but failure in one area probably dooms them to a .500 or less season. Still, all in all, much better than at least I thought going in and much more interesting to watch. Usually by this point in the season, I started to tune out the Twins and focus my attention more on the Dodgers inexorable run to yet another division title (yawn) but this year I will keep with Twins, at least for now. Big step up.

Gomer Pyle is a Marine! Seriously, they made Jim Nabors an honorary Marine due to the success of Gomer Pyle, USMC. Fortunately, that was during the "don't ask, don't tell" days, if yo catch my drift ...

Exactly my thinking, and frankly that scares a little bit (LOL). We needed another late inning guy and Hoffman has done that and done it well in the past, including the last 2 months. He's a little like Griffin Jax was, a very good to great 7th and 8th inning guy who turns into a pumpkin in a save situation. I see Minter and he handling a lot the 8th inning duties with Morris in the 8th and about 1/3 of the save situations, and Gomez taking the other 2/3 of the save situations.

If that's what Hill is and we have Hoffmann next year with Toronto paying some of the bill, then the payout is fine for him.

Hoffmann had a 0.75 ERA in June and 1.93 in July. Still, giving up Hill seems like a lot.

Gave up Dasan Hill (ouch), John Klein (meh), and an IF named Damuery Pena.

Agreed. Minter was a big add. He's one of the better relievers traded so far if not the best one other than his teammate Weaver.

Would love that but probably too light for the Angels. BB Trade Values says add in Ryan Gallagher and its a "Minor Overpay" by the Angels. Add in Zebby Matthews, Kendry Rojas, or Charlie Soto plus Gallagher and its a "fair trade". I say that's too much. I would give them Emma, Culpepper, Tait and Gallagher though.

I live in LA and have seen Neto play a bunch. My take is that Neto is a player. Pretty good glove, not as good as Kriedler but a heck of a lot better than Lee, and can hit. Not hitting as good as usual this year but that may be the price of playing on a lousy team with no one around you. He would be a major addition. As usual, all depends on the price. Assuming Culpepper is part of the price, add two in the 15 plus range and maybe we have a deal? That may be too light. Timeline works. Neto at SS for the next 2-3 years with Kriedler a IF UTL, then Houston takes over SS, Neto slides over to 2B or 3B with Lee in the other spot. Lewis stays at 1B.

Couldn't agree more.

Well, there goes that pipe dream ...

I was counting the clownish humor value in Adell's favor ...

I live in LA and have seen Adell play way too many times. We don't want Adell. He is worse than Keaschall in CF and a tick below average in RF. Classic biggish power, high SO guy. Wallner with a few fewer SOs and better in the field.

Dead on. I predict that they will get a 7th inning kind of guy, call him a "viable late inning option", and be done. Someone like Ryan Zeferjahn (who I think would be good) or that ilk. Then play it out. Jeffers and Larnach stay.

Bringing back the Dobber would be fun. At least he couldn't start against us on Tuesday and shut us out again.

I hear that. I like Hunter Green as a possibility, but not at the price of two of our top 10 prospects. Maybe for 1 top 5-10 guy plus a couple farther down the list, but I just don't think that's going to be enough so he's probably a pipe dream. Unfortunately, Emma now has residual soreness in his thumb so this is yet another year wasted for him and he now has basically zero trade value. I don't really see anybody else in our top 10 that I would trade unless we were getting a frontline starting pitcher with multiple years of remaining control like Reid Detmers. I'm expecting one more trade for a good but not elite relief pitcher and maaaybe a prospect for rental starting pitcher kind of trade, although the latter might be my pipe dream. Most likely we either trade a prospect in the 15 – 30 range for a solid relief pitcher on expiring contract or trade someone like Larnach for that same guy with one year of control left. And hey, I think you have to count the Nance trade as a deadline deal so a deadline of trading for three relief pitchers without giving up anyone in your top 20 prospects is actually not such a bad deadline.