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Law's list is on The Athletic and paywalled, so I won't repost too much out of respect for that arrangement, but a few snippets of note. Cruz is #20 on his top 40. The writeup says things we probably all know: "The two best seasons of his career by rate stats [came] in 2019 and 2020, when he was at an age when most hitters have retired...His average exit velocity did slip last year...he carries the risk of injuries and of sudden decline, but on a one-year deal he’s probably a good bet for a 3-win season." Odorizzi is #23: "In his first two years in Minnesota, 2018 and 2019, he threw 323 1/3 innings of above-average ball, averaging barely over five innings a start... Without a real knockout offering, though, he has to pitch at the top end of his command and control range, which he did in 2019. ... it’s perplexing that he hasn’t done [that] more often; he almost certainly is what he is at this point, though, and should see one-year offers in the mid-teens." May didn't make the top 40. A few other relievers did: Hendriks at #21, and Shane Greene, Alex Colomé, Jeremy Jeffress, and Blake Treinen in the high 20s to mid 30s. Law ranked Marcus Stroman #4, calling him "the only other pitcher in this year’s class with a strong claim to No. 1 starter potential besides Bauer." That surprised me, as I think of Stroman as good but not generally considered ace-like. Also interesting was the ranking of Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim at #17 (I think he's much higher at Fangraphs.) Law says Kim has been "one of the better hitters in Korea’s major league for several years now," has played SS and 3B there, might project as a 2B, 3B, or super-utility infielder, and might have some trouble with MLB velocity. The last part is a real caution but everything else sounds pretty intriguing given the Twins' need for a good backup infielder.

The Yankees non-tendered JA Happ today too. I'm not sure there will be a lot of upside among the non-tendered players (position players or pitchers) but there probably will be more interesting names in that pool than in the usual offseason. Happ sounds more appealing than about half this list at first glance.

Is Tomás Telis still in the Twins system? A new backup catcher doesn't need to be a young prospect. Telis could probably handle the backup gig if Astudillo and Avila left. The article notes that Garver just finished his fourth season as an argument that he's still relatively early in his major-league career, but even that overstates his experience a bit, since he spent a lot of 2017 season in the minors.

It's here: https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-braves-pitching-for-rest-of-nlcs BUT! there's been an amendment: "Note: In the original version of this column, I suggested Urías be pulled before throwing a pitch, mistakenly assuming the three-batter minimum would not apply if he had not yet taken the mound. However, because Urías was on the lineup card, he was required to face three batters. The column has been updated accordingly.)"

Thanks! I'm not surprised I didn't know that but I'm a little surprised MLB's official site ran an article whose whole premise was ignoring that rule.

I would have thought it didn't apply if the starter hadn't taken the field yet, but hmmm, maybe. Would it apply to the starter just because he was on the lineup card?

The Astros look like more of a threat after coming back to take the last 2 games, but I still think the Rays can handle them in the next 2. One of the MLB.com writers had a good point that since the Dodgers had their 11-run inning in the top of the 1st as the "road" team, they plausibly could have pulled Urías back before he threw a pitch. It would have been a strange move, but they'd have had their pitching lined up better for the rest of a series where they'd still need to come back from behind. My favorite outcome with the remaining teams would be a Rays-Dodgers World Series but doubting now that the second half of that will come to pass...

A lot of free agency forecasting articles have cited that the DH will continue to exist in both leagues in 2021. No one has said this publicly yet, right? Do we know when an announcement might happen? As far as Cruz goes, at any rate, totally agree with: Would be hesitant to resign Cruz on a two year deal and would love to have him back for one. There might be some recency bias with Romo's struggles in the playoffs causing some of us to think his season was worse than it really was, but it seems like picking up his option is a big risk of paying for decline. The buyout isn't an onerous amount. Use what would be Romo's salary to give Clippard a little raise if he wants to come back. I hope the Twins engage May about a deal, but I think someone else will end up offering him more - although depending on how teams behave after this oddball season, the middle of the free-agent market where he is might get squeezed. But he's young enough and successful enough that I think someone will pay him. I imagine Odorizzi may want another one-year contract to play a healthy year and then hit the market again, and I imagine the Twins might prefer to sign him for multiple years, but I'd be happy to see either if he wants to return. He's fairly young, he has something to prove about his health, and he had the best season of his career in MN. It seems to make a lot of sense.

Not clear why they didn't transfer Rooker to the 45-day IL to make roster space instead, but I guess Poppen was going to be on the fringe for 40-man roster decisions in the offseason regardless.

I suppose it's possible that if Donaldson were healthy, neither Astudillo nor Kirilloff would be on this series roster and they might have had a spot for another pitcher? They're sort of replacing Donaldson with both players - Astudillo for the ability to play 3B (mainly as a depth option if Marwin has to start there) and Kirilloff theoretically to replace some pop on the roster.

Yeah, this surprises me too—it's not surprising that Odorizzi would slot ahead of Bailey if he's healthy, which seems obvious enough, but that the management is confident enough in their options for a potential 5th starter without Bailey around as at least emergency depth.

In the context of this season, I don't mind the expanded playoffs. But I wish they seeded all the non-division winners by straight W-L record. It seems kind of not right that Houston holds a higher seed than two teams with better records by virtue of finishing second in a weak division.

White Sox lost to Cleveland and the Yankees are getting a drubbing from the Jays. Looking like a productive night off for the Twins.

This is not at all a criticism after a big win, but a curiosity. I was surprised that the 9th inning didn't go to a lower-leverage reliever, particularly Poppen—who has been on the training-camp shuttle and a lower-leverage pitcher this year, and who would have been warming up with a 6-run lead and then entering with a 7-run lead. Maybe this tracks with Poppen being the one to come up when Odorizzi went back on the IL—considering that this put the Twins down a starter, and Dobnak would have been able to come up (exempt from the minimum minor-league option time) if he were replacing an injured player, but I don't think he can be recalled now. All of which makes me wonder if Poppen is getting the start, or the "bulk" innings in a bullpen game, in what would have been Odorizzi's next turn in the rotation.

Guess he's going to get a chance - pinch hitting for Jeffers rather than letting the rookie hit.

Going to the bullpen for 4 full innings without at least trying to get a couple more outs from Maeda makes me nervous. They were getting to the most dangerous part of the Sox lineup so I get it. But still.

All I see on Gameday is that Donaldson hit a home run and it appears he was ejected immediately after. What happened?

I know the Twins preach regular rest and rotating players out of the lineup, but down 0-2 in a series with their main division rival, it'd be good to see Polanco at SS to get the best lineup they can on the field.

The starters for the second game haven't been announced officially, but maybe the teams are aware of who's starting, and Detroit has another lefty slated? That would at least somewhat justify not playing every RH hitter in the first game, especially if they're still treating Buxton's playing time cautiously.

Not sure but I *think* they have a spot available - when Vargas was DFAed for Donaldson coming back, that was because Vargas was out of options, not because they needed to free a spot for Donaldson (who still was counted in the 40 while on the IL.) So Vargas' removal from the 40-man would mean an open spot.

I thought the same. I do think these predictions are just MLB's staff writers throwing stuff at the wall, not a response to anything they've heard from connected sources. Still, both of the predictions involving the Twins seem like overpays, the suggested Yastrzemski deal especially—their top position and pitching prospects for a lefty-hitting outfielder (and more an interesting late bloomer, at that, than a player with a long established track record) when they have lots of lefty outfielders and the offensive help they need is from the right side? Insane. Going for an impact starter and centering the trade around one of their outfield prospects is a better strategy. The harder the Twins FO goes after a starter, I imagine, the more it shows they doubt Pineda and/or Odorizzi will be back to full strength down the stretch. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Come on.

Sure - I'm just thinking, as long as Duffey has some gas left, try to get a little closer to the end of the game with him. If nothing else, you'd be sending him out against the middle of Cleveland's lineup.

Duffey couldn't come back out after he threw 9 pitches and only sat through a 1-2-3 half inning?

I haven't looked at Adrianza's splits, and maybe there's reason to think he's a good right-handed pinch-hitting option even as he's having a weak offensive year. However, I thought it was curious that he was the choice to pinch-hit for Avila against a lefty—considering that Jeffers hits righty, was going to come into the game anyway, and hasn't been obviously overmatched so far.