Otto von Ballpark

Trucker horns heralded two Twins performers in the All-Star Game, as well as the official start of trade season in the Twins Daily forums. While most of the Twins rested after a challenging series with the White Sox, Twins Daily staff created a whole new section for sharing and discussing trade rumors ahead of the August 2nd trade deadline. Other roster and philosophical questions rounded out the week's activity. @Nick Nelson helped kick off the trade rumor machine with a proposal: A Hypothetical Twins Trade for Luis Castillo from The Athletic. Everyone knows the Twins need pitching; would you pay this price? @RedneckRay imagines a more piratical trade in Could the Twins Pull off a Mega-Deal with the A's? Oakland does have trade chips at starting pitcher, relief pitcher, and catcher, but we wouldn't be the only ones looking to plunder the A's roster. Moving up the standings, the Red Sox are just 1.5 games behind the Twins but likely won't have the luxury of a division title if they fall short of a wild card. @Loosey identifies a good starting pitcher on an expiring contract as an Under the Radar Trade Target if Boston decides to sell. Most fans would say it is unimaginable that the first-place Twins would decline to upgrade their roster by trade. @mikelink45 tries to imagine an alternate path to success in What if we don't trade. Minnesota children love snow days in winter, but @Vanimal46 isn't sure how to feel about a Sanó day this summer: Sunday is decision day for Sano. What will the Twins do? The return of Miguel Sanó from the injured list could be just like a trade; the question is, would it be a good trade or a bad one? Finally, blurring the line between good and bad, @Trov asks Is the Point of MLB Teams to Win, or Entertain? Ideally you'd like to do both, but in the absence of the former, can a team still celebrate Butch Huskey and induct him into its (Outfield) Wall of Fame? Share your take or trade idea -- good, bad, or just entertaining -- in the forums. View full article

Laureano is a good player -- 115 wRC+ this year, 118 career, also steals some bases and plays a decent CF, just turned 28. His counting stats have been suppressed a bit due to non-injury issues -- he was a late-season call-up in 2018, pandemic 2020, then a PED suspension that spanned 2021-2022. (Also he plays in a pitcher's park in Oakland, in an era of low batting averages.) Here are his prorated WAR numbers over a full season of team games (so this includes injuries and rest): 2018*: 6.5 fWAR, 6.9 bWAR 2019: 3.9 fWAR, 3.5 bWAR 2020*: 3.0 fWAR, 4.1 bWAR 2021*: 2.5 fWAR, 3.9 bWAR 2022*: 2.9 fWAR, 2.0 bWAR The suspension also cost him enough service time to push back his free agency by a year. (The suspension may also keep his arbitration salaries lower too.) I don't know if that adds up to $45 mil of future surplus value, but he's a good/valuable player right now.

Here's the full trade proposal from the link, as evaluated by BaseballTradeValues.com:

And if we fall out of contention next year, we can flip Castillo for Drew Butera and Dustin Martin!

Can we somehow acquire all 10?

Montas was a popular trade target this past spring, with control through the 2023 season, but has remained in Oakland thus far. He was shut down for shoulder inflammation on July 3, but is scheduled to start again this Thursday July 21. Is it worth trading for another starter with possible health issues? Or should the Twins target someone more reliable? https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/even-without-juan-soto-mlb-trade-market-is-well-stocked/ View full trade rumor

The Twins remained on top, alternating exciting moments and puzzling losses. The TD forums are trying to figure out which way they’ll go. Bullpen discussion and trade talk are present, as usual, but the community is starting to approach those topics from new angles. Regret about the Rogers trade has subsided, according to @Jack Griffin's Checking back in with a former standout Twins reliever. It is natural to feel bad for Taylor, but also okay to feel good about putting that narrative to rest for awhile! Looking ahead, how can the Twins improve through trade? @Rosterman may have found a good team to target in Let's Trade with the Rockies, even if the specific suggestion of this team trading for Alex Colomé seems like a cruel joke. But sometimes the best addition comes from within, or so the saying goes, and our onetime ace starter might be that guy, says @chpettit19 in Maeda to the pen? Kenta filled that role before for the Dodgers quite well. The Twins may also eschew the usual prospects-for-veterans trades due to their rather crowded MLB position player roster. @jorgenswestidentifies our starting third baseman as one such superfluous piece in Is there a home for Gio Urshela? Finally, taking a break from big league worries, @DocBauer takes a tour through the organization’s backstops in our minor league forum: Catching Up With The Twins Milb Catchers. With the upcoming MLB draft, the minor league forum should provide even more illuminating discussion. Thoughts on relievers, trades, draft picks, or anything else Twins? Share them with the community in the forums! View full article

The Twins increased their lead this week while showing a further flair for the dramatic. The TD forums have ideas to keep things moving. Pitching plans, predictions, and roster upgrades were among the topics of discussion as the season entered its second half. Looking back to look forward, @Game7-91 solicits your First Half Surprises, Second Half Predictions. The community seems surprised at the quality of the starting rotation, and predicts they will ride that to a division win. So far, so good! How have the Twins achieved this rotation success? @Riverbrian may have found the answer in an article about the Rays: Power Starters, Middle Relief Aces, oh my - how the Twins could manage their pitching. But will the relievers hold up their end of the bargain? Of course, the start of the second half means it is also trade season. @Mill1634 wants to know Your (hypothetical) trade deadline moves? A few bullpen additions seem likely, although questions remain. Do they go big, or get creative? Perhaps the only weak spot in the lineup is behind the plate, as @MMMordabito looks at Ryan Jeffers' Place Among AL Catchers. Could this be an area to upgrade? Or is Jeffers good enough to win at a tough position? Finally, @Trov asks How long before you give up on a player? An evergreen baseball question, even if the best answer is a Rickroll. Roll into the forums to share your ideas for the Twins! View full article

After a challenging week, the Twins and Twins fans alike are seeking relief. Hopefully they can find some in the TD forums. Bullpen questions and suggestions are hot topics, of course, but some hitters are still rolling and trade season is starting to heat up too, so there is plenty to discuss. Using players we already have, @RaoulDuke tries to put together an admittedly premature Playoff bullpen. Unless a couple of guys step up their game, and soon, the internal outlook isn't great. So we could probably use some help from outside the organization. With the calendar turning to July and the trade deadline appearing on the horizon, @cHawk is looking for your Twins Trade Deadline Targets: Relief Pitchers. Who's at the top of your list? Looking to avenge the loss of the Captain (America) of our bullpen, Steve Taylor Rogers? @Steve71 has more Padres Trade Ideas that will hopefully fare better. Of course, not all Twins news is negative. Luis Arraez still leads the AL in average and OBP, and @Trov reports he is attracting some nationwide attention: HOF hitters think Arraez is a good hitter, and Arraez is making base hits cool again. Would be great to see that reflected in the all-star game soon! @PopRiveter examines a so-far effective starter in Chris Archer, Iron Man? Tony Stark would probably pitch deeper than 4 innings, and Archer's four consecutive walks Thursday had Twins fans singing, "Can he see or is he blind?" but overall he's been effective. But a question lingers: with Winder in the wings, could Archer's limited innings be more valuable to the Twins at the end of games, rather than the beginning? Finally, despite the glaring obvious needs in the bullpen, @RedneckRay offers an idea truly out of left field: to acquire a player who can't play the field at all. Can the Twins (realistically) make a trade for Nelson Cruz? Maybe a great hitter can become a great pitching coach? Do our current relievers need a better nap schedule? Whatever the topic, you can always relieve yourself of share your best Twins takes in the forums. View full article

Saves vs blown saves don’t really work to evaluate setup guys, because blown holds count as blown saves but successful holds don’t count for anything (except as holds). So more accurately, Graterol is 4-for-5 in save/hold opportunities this month, although he isn’t pitching that great overall.

The Twins suffered a bit of full moon fever this week. The TD forums need to know, will they now back down, or keep runnin' down the dream? As the losses mounted, anxiety grew and the Twins Daily community wanted the bullpen to stop draggin' their hearts around. There were some bright spots to discuss too -- but did the Twins just get lucky? After all, even the losers get lucky sometimes. Last week, namesake of a legendary Twins backstop @lecroy24fan questioned the contributions of Ryan Jeffers. But a good week at the plate may have been enough for them to have a change of heart. We may not know how it feels to have a good bullpen yet, but just about the whole lineup seems to be hitting well. @DocBauer goes ahead and gives us a breakdown in Offensively: Just Sayin'. Questions linger about the trade deadline, like @cHawk's Twins Trade Deadline 2022: Buy or Sell? Will they damn the torpedoes and go for it, or will they deal away some players and leave the rest to live like refugees? Either way, it seems like the waiting is the hardest part. Another wait for a top prospect just ended, and @Trov asks, What did we think of Alex Kirilloff return? Between Arraez, Kirilloff, and Miranda, is it enough for the Twins to tell Sano not to come around here no more? But would we really do Sano like that and release the longtime Twin midseason? Off the field, @Original_JB reports that the Twins parent TV network may be learning to fly on its own, into the great wide open of direct-to-consumer streaming, with the Sinclair/Bally's standalone soft opening tomorrow! (not in the Twin Cities though). But without the Twins themselves on board, could this be Bally's last dance? Have your own question, or answer? Go ahead and share it in the forums (in the form of a Tom Petty reference or otherwise). View full article

In the comments, the owner of Baseball Trade Values said Ryan’s value estimate was inflated a bit due to a data entry error, although the correct value (6) was still notably higher than Strotman. https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/trade-53895/

The Twins continued to win this week while mixing a diverse set of ingredients. The TD forums continued trying to figure out their recipe. With the second half of the season on the horizon, who should stay, who should go, and who should be added for the stretch run were common questions in the Twins Daily community. What types of trades should Twins pursue? Trades for reliable middle relief, says @Game7-91. Somewhat ironic that their screen name is a game which featured no Twins relievers at all! For some, chocolate is a guilty indulgence; others, coffee. For we Twins fans, like @Trov, it's apparently asking Would you Trade Correa this year? The answer always seems to be no because the Twins keep winning, but the looming opt-out means we just can't help asking the question. Have a message for the chef? You're not alone, according to @Jack Griffin: Rocco Baldelli: suffering from success. But you probably won't find a better meal right now at a different restaurant. If you like sour or bitter flavors, you also probably enjoy longtime Twins scribe Patrick Reusse. But our @Comrade Bork wonders, Is Reusse still relevant? Or is he too consistently pessimistic about a successful modern ballclub? More realism than pessimism, one player certainly seems like he is out of the Twins plans. Sano who? @mikelink45 thinks we are better off without Miguel, and wonders how to handle his eventual return to health this season. Finally, no baseball recipe is complete without a generous pinch of trivia. @CRF obliges in Do you know your A - B - C's? by pointing out the alphabetical nature of recent Twins lineups. Got a question or a comment, trivial or otherwise? Share it in the forums! View full article

While the depleted Twins battled to a draw against two of the East Division's best teams, fan plotted the action in the Twins Daily forums. Recognition, results, reinforcements, and decorum were just a few of the many topics of discussion within the community this week. First, voting for next month's Midsummer Classic began, prompting @rwilfong86 to ask, Who Should Represent the Twins at the All Star Game? Perhaps surprising by reputation but not by performance, Luis Arraez leads the way, followed by pitchers Ryan and Duran. Those three are certainly a big reason the Twins are still in first place, and it would be nice to see them recognized as such. Arraez leading the offense signals that the Twins strength may be a deep lineup rather than star power. @Vanimal46 spotlights yet another contributor in Miranda Finding His Groove, as corner infielder José solidifies his spot after a shaky start. Unfortunately, the pitching staff doesn't yet have the same depth. Newcomer @Jack Griffin takes a deep dive into the numbers of a once-mighty, now fallen setup man, asking Tyler Duffey has been BAD, but why? And that's "bad" in the classic sense, not the cool-kid-slang sense. The Twins would love to get the Duff Man back on track, but do they have time? Or can somebody else step up? @jorgenswest examines perhaps the weakest link of the rotation in Bundy's Performance Tonight. Is a starting shake-up finally in order? Reinforcements will be needed, and Twins Daily has the perfect place to discuss minor leaguers and next month's draft: the Minor League Forum. There, @Trov asks Is Emmanuel Rodriguez the fastest rising prospect for Twins? It's always nice to have one of those. Do you see any fast risers for the pitching staff? Even more urgently, @Twinfan603 tries to figure out what minor leaguers might soon be dealt in 2022 Rule 5 Protection List & Trade Candidates. Do the Twins have enough prospect value to exchange for top MLB talent before the trade deadline at the end of July? Finally, a contingent of Target Field fans seem set on booing every controversial former Twin. @strumdatjag asks their fellow fans, Booing Josh Donaldson? For or Against. Are you a "boo bird" or Minnesota Nice? Either way, you too can contribute in the TD forums. View full article

For those who enjoy historical parallels, 10-4 was the exact score of 2019 ALDS Game 1. The go-ahead Yankee runs scored with Duffey on the mound in that game (although they were charged to Littell). Baldelli was questioned that game for his choice of bringing in Stashak in the 6th down 5-4.