Otto von Ballpark

I posted this elsewhere today, but basically, there are no minor league playoffs this year. Saints could win the division but the AAA title is likely out of reach (the Saints are tied for 6th, 8.5 back with 24 to play). There's also a separate 10 game "final stretch" after the regular season but it seems of dubious value. https://ballparkdigest.com/2021/07/14/milb-turns-triple-a-extended-season-to-tourney-kinda/ MLB has a 28 man roster limit for September, and we'll may have a few guys rehabbing, so we can still give the Saints some quality players, without giving them Miranda and Ryan the rest of the way.

Fresh off his legendary .388 batting average season in 1977, the Minnesota Twins (unsurprisingly) focused on Rod Carew for their 1978 promotional materials, where they asked the ring-less Carew what he most wanted and he definitively answered... a gold glove. Presented in partnership with TC Media Now. View full video

Following a 20-win campaign on a mediocre 1977 team, the Minnesota Twins use Dave Goltz to promote their ultimately very bad 1978 team. Tickets may still be available. Presented in partnership with TC Media Now. View full video

Recorded sometime during the 1960s, famous Twins announcers Halsey Hall and Ray Scott shill St Paul's own Hamm's Beer. Presented in partnership with TC Media Now. View full video

This is straight news! As I understand, Stu has been shifted to the opinion page.

I’m just glad that Rocco left Barnes in long enough to qualify for the win.

Following the success of the recent 1991 Twins 30th Anniversary Celebration at Target Field, here's a preview of a future milestone, the 2021 Twins 30th Anniversary Celebration from the year 2051. (EDITOR'S NOTE: As time travel can introduce many unintended consequences, especially for the gambling conglomerate which owns Twins Daily in 2051, we have attempted to remove any references to specific baseball events that haven't yet occurred.) Once again, Dick Bremer hosted the 2051 proceedings by himself, as none of his 156 different broadcast partners from the 2021 season were memorable enough to recall. What follows is a transcript of the event from Target Field, broadcast exclusively in 2051 within the Caesar's Palace Sports app (blackout restrictions still apply). [2051 DICK BREMER HOVERS AT A PODIUM OVER TARGET FIELD, AGELESS LIKE HIS NAMESAKE DICK CLARK] BREMER: Many call it the worst Twins season of all-time. Some consider it matched only by [YEAR OF FUTURE AWFUL TWINS SEASON REDACTED]. Blown saves; trade deadline sales; viruses in the clubhouse; no fans in the stands and few watching -- legally, anyway -- at home. Like a Bizarro Lake Wobegon, it was a team where all pitchers were somehow below average. Tonight we will relive that trauma from 30 years ago. We have many of the players from that roster here tonight, even [PRONOUNCES CAREFULLY] Tzu-Wei Lin, and a majority of the 57 different pitchers used by the Twins in that fateful 2021 season. At first base, his strikeout rate was legendary in his time, even if it seems low now by 2051 standards; the "Boquetón" now retired to Boca Raton, Miguel Sanó. At second base, fans may "blank" on his brief time with the Twins, but he'll always be designated for assignment in our hearts: Travis Blankenhorn. At shortstop, the only thing hotter than Andrelton Simmons's glove was his Twitter takes. Simmons could not attend tonight, as he is accepting an honorary doctorate from YouTube University. So instead I present a [AIR QUOTES] "mystery" shortstop that all true Twins fans should recognize. [NOBODY RECOGNIZES THE PLAYER, WHO IS J.T. RIDDLE.] At third base, he is known as the "Bringer of Rain" for washing away all sticky stuff from major league baseball forevermore; still somehow the most expensive free agent in Twins history even after 30 more years of inflation, Commissioner Josh Donaldson. In the outfield, it's -- a bunch of infielders! [TZU-WEI LIN LEADS A SILENT PARADE OF PLAYERS ACROSS THE OUTFIELD; NICK GORDON, HOWEVER, REMAINS ON THE BENCH.] Designated hitter Nelson Cruz, appearing by Zoom hologram from Las Vegas where he is playing tonight for the A's. On the mound, the starting pitcher who in 2021 made the third of his improbable [REDACTED NUMBER] separate stints with the Twins, Andrew Albers. And in the bullpen, the person who traveled the least distance to be here, Caleb Thielbar. Finally, at every position, including catcher, pitcher, mascot, and head groundskeeper, La Tortuga himself, Willians Astudillo! [SEVERAL MINUTES OF THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE AS ASTUDILLO DRIVES THE LATE T.C. BEAR'S FOUR-WHEELER TO EACH POSITION FOR A CURTAIN CALL, LOSING AND RETRIEVING HIS HELMET EACH TIME.] Throwing out tonight's ceremonial first pitch is second generation Twins waiver claim Ralph Garza Jr. Jr. [NOT A TYPO]. And catching the first pitch, the lab-created genetic combination of the 2021 Twins front office, and current 2051 Twins intern, T.D. Falvine. [FAN-ACTIVATED ANGRY FACE EMOJIS SCROLL ACROSS THE FIELD AS THE FIRST PITCH IS THROWN.] And now, please enjoy tonight's intra-continental game between your Minnesota Twins and their legendary opponent from the 1991 World Series, the recently renamed Hotlanta Braves. Our 2051 sponsor, Amazon Prime Time Travel, received a commission for any thoughts you had while reading this.

No, I think that must be artifact of a previous list. As far as I know, Canterino is still active and in line to start again in a few days.

Nick Burdi actually got a minor league deal for this season, so he's rehabbing as an official member of the Padres organization. Haven't heard anything about how that is going, though, but I'd guess the Padres will have the inside track on giving him a minor league deal for 2022, if they want to.

26-man roster -- so only regular season days count toward it too.

It's not really a loophole -- as mentioned upthread, you can't just stash them on the IL until you option them. If they don't have at least 90 days on an MLB active roster by the end of their Rule 5 season (not counting any IL stints or rehab), they still need to remain on your active roster into subsequent seasons, until they reach 90 days. The Pirates drafted Burdi in December 2017, but by my count, he never even reached 90 active days over the next 3 years -- looks like he had 68, and they were never able to option him. (He may have technically been allowed to satisfy his Rule 5 requirements in 2020 due to the shortened season -- the Rule 5 requirement was reduced from 90 to 50 days for that season only -- but it was moot anyway, as he was DFA'd, cleared waivers, and elected to become a minor league free agent after his 2nd TJ surgery, in October 2020.)

The 60-day IL currently holds Colina, Dobnak, Garlick, Kirilloff, Smeltzer, and Stashak. Yes, Garlick, Smeltzer, and Stashak were already listed in the "up for grabs" group, but no one's 60-day IL status was accounted for in determining the original "14 spots to play with" figure. More accurately, it's really more like 7 spots to play with, as we decide who to retain from that "up for grabs" group, any non-lock minor leaguers we want protect (i.e. Enlow, Severino), or any MLB free agents to sign or re-sign.

FYI, I missed a lock and edited my post. If you retain 6 from the "up for grabs" list, that means you have only 1 spot left for protecting non-lock minor leaguers or signing or re-signing *any* MLB free agents. So you're almost certainly going to end up cutting into that group of 6 too.

So we have 46 guys on the current 40-man roster, including the 60-day IL guys. That goes down to 42 if we don't re-sign any of our 4 impending MLB free agents (including Vincent). But that goes back up to 48 considering the 6 minor league "locks" to be added for Rule 5 protection. So we actually have to cut 8 guys from the "up for grabs" list of 15 (Lucas's list minus Vincent), just to make 40 in November: Charlie Barnes, LHP Devin Smeltzer, LHP Beau Burrows, RHP Danny Coulombe, LHP Luke Farrell, RHP Edgar Garcia, RHP Ralph Garza Jr., RHP Juan Minaya, RHP Cody Stashak, RHP Lewis Thorpe, LHP Derek Law, RHP Willians Astudillo, UTIL Jake Cave, OF Kyle Garlick, OF Rob Refsnyder, OF And we'll need to cut an additional player, beyond 8, for every non-lock prospect we want to protect, or any MLB free agent we sign or re-sign. It may not qualify as a "crunch" but we'll probably have to make a few tough decisions about interesting players.

Actually Nick Vincent should be considered an "impending free agent" too, assuming he finishes the year on the 40-man (and I suspect he will) -- he has over 7 years of MLB service time, so he is neither signed nor controlled for 2022.

This is an important point, which deserves to be repeated! With 6 guys on the 60-day IL, the Twins effectively have a 46 man roster right now, so they'll have to remove 6 guys first before they can start opening any spots for new additions.

Not quite -- the requirement for Rule 5 restrictions to be lifted is a full season *or* 90 days on an active MLB roster, whichever comes *last*. So, since we know that Enlow will not be on an active MLB roster for all of 2022, the selecting team will need 90 days spanning multiple seasons. Could be September 2022 plus the first 2 months of 2023, etc., although September roster size limits make this more difficult now too.

Vasquez is a very interesting case! He was actually in MLB with the Twins in 2018-2019 before being waived and outrighted off the 40-man roster. Vasquez is eligible for minor league free agency this offseason if he's not on a 40-man roster. And if Vasquez signs a minor league contract before the Rule 5 draft, he would be eligible to be selected as a Rule 5 pick too -- not very common, although it did happen when the Twins signed R.A. Dickey to a minor league deal in November 2007, then lost him to Seattle in the Rule 5 draft the following month. (Dickey was later returned to the Twins and traded to Seattle without Rule 5 restrictions, and then signed with the Twins again as a minor league free agent the following offseason.)

Great article, but just so no one is confused, "with the same team" is not a requirement for Rule 5 eligibility or minor league free agency. Maybe "with an affiliated team" would be more accurate? Just like MLB players qualifying for arbitration or free agency, these minor league season counts continue even after a player is traded (Woods-Richardson), claimed on waivers (Ian Hamilton), or released and re-signed with a new org. And once the threshold has been met, they keep their eligibility for Rule 5 or minor league free agency every offseason after that point, unless they are on a 40-man roster.

The player still has to be on the active MLB roster for a full season or 90 days, whichever comes last, for Rule 5 restrictions to be removed (allowing him to be optioned to the minors). Time on the injured list or rehab does not count towards that. So even if a team selected Enlow and waited out his recovery from surgery, they'd generally only get about a month of minor league rehab games for him before they'd have to activate him to the MLB roster or send him through waivers / back to the Twins. And as noted above, the 60-day IL doesn't exist during the offseason. So he'd occupy the selecting team's 40-man spot until about mid-February -- and of course, he'd continue occupying a 40-man spot in the following offseasons, if he wasn't returned to the Twins.

The 60-day IL starts around the start of spring training. As an example, the Twins originally signed Pineda, after his surgery, on December 13, 2017. They placed him on the 60-day IL on February 17, 2018. So Enlow would take up a 40-man spot from mid-November (the usual deadline to protect guys from Rule 5) until mid-February, before he could be placed on the 60-day IL.