Rod Carews Birthday

The problem with the many proposals to trade for a player that would improve the Twins is that no one wants to give anything up — or severely overvalues the trade chips and wants to trade Miranda and Winder for Ohtani. Let’s face it, trading our 21st or 24th best prospect isn’t going to get much. I think Candelario would be a fine player to have, but I don’t see how we find room for Kiriloff, Correa, Julian, Lewis, Polanco, Farmer, Solano, Castro AND Candelario. There just isn’t space on the roster. Granted, they won’t all be healthy at the same time, but if they are on the team, you want as many reps and AB’s for Lewis and Julian as possible. If Candelario comes on board, then someone needs to leave, and it might need to be someone that we are attached to.

Oh yeah. . . and YAY! Let’s get them signed and play ball!

There are a few certainties in the world of baseball contracts. 1. Everyone wants all of the $$ they can get (of course, we all want that). 2. It is impossible to think we understand what is going on in Scott Boras’ head with regard to contract negotiations. He has a well-deserved reputation as being very good at his job from the players’ point of view. With a high first round pick, however, there really isn’t that much room to maneuver. I’m sure he was waiting to see what was left and would like all of it to go to his client. His means to get there is anyone’s guess. Signing at the last minute, since the time window is short, doesn’t hurt anyone — the player or the club. As a bonus, if you want to establish a great relationship with an agent, Boras would definitely be the one to do that with, so making everyone happy and feeling good about the situation would be an excellent development all the way around.

I'd be a lot more excited if he were an outfielder, but he would be an OK addition. No positional flexibility does make their infield even messier than it is now, but his right-handedness works for him, as does there seeming to be reasons for his decreased output. Maybe Larnach for Mountcastle straight up? Trading a guy with flaws for a guy with different flaws. . . .

One problem with this whole situation is trying to figure out each player's trade value. With Kepler, even though he is hitting well lately, it is a three year track record of being not very good, but never completely falling off the table. So, there probably isn't upside but their appears to be a reasonable floor. Doesn't scream high trade value but could be useful to a team really needing a decent defensive OF. With Gallo, who has been pretty bad since May, there is the tantalizing power that he flashes once in awhile, which gets people excited, but his floor seems lower than Keplers even if his ceiling is more enticing. Miranda. . . great trade value when we didn't want to trade him this past winter, but not much now as he has seeming forgotten how to hit. Larnach might have more trade value than we think because of the perception that he has been "blocked" at the major league level and has had stretches of performance that amount to a slightly below average MLB hitter at the beginning of his career -- not a ringing endorsement, but he seems like he could get better with time and opportunity. Finally, Wallner. . . he might have the most value based on his minor league track record and he has been pretty solid in SSS this season in the majors -- but why would you trade that? Isn't that what you're looking for? Based on all of this, SOMETHING needs to happen. As an aside, I think that the defensive value (or lack thereof) is overstated among the outfielders. Kepler is solid, but not amazing, and has been a little up and down this year - he's not winning (and hasn't' won) a gold glove. Gallo suffers from "guy who got a gold glove when he was hitting good because he was solid in the field" syndrome. He came here and people expected vintage Byron Buxton, and what they got was another version of Kepler -- less range, better arm. Wallner and Larnach are portrayed by some as butchers in the field, which they are not. Larnach moves OK for a big guy and while Wallner doesn't have great range, he does have an excellent arm to bail him out when he needs it. Neither will win a gold glove, but both can certainly be league average defenders.

I think it boils down to what they are thinking about Kepler's option for next year. If they are planning to pick it up, then definitely trade one of Larnach/Wallner (and likely Miranda), since their time has come, for better or worse. If Kepler is back, that leaves only one spot to be filled with Gallo's departure. On the other hand, if they would remove Gallo or Kepler (or both) at the deadline or through DFA, keeping both Larnach and Wallner would be in order and inserting them in the lineup immediately would be the best option. It seems likely that they could hold their own now and in the future. The team would also find out for certain (or as certainly as possible) what next year might look like by giving them development/playing time in the majors for the rest of this year. Miranda is another issue, as he doesn't seem to have a spot to play in the infield, with Kiriloff entrenched at first and Lewis the likely third baseman. The pipeline of players moving forward in the infield would seem to leave him as the odd man looking in, so trading him might make sense as well. Unfortunately, his value has really cratered. Castro is probably the insurance policy for all of these positions (and maybe CF as well) in case someone stops hitting/fielding effectively. His ceiling isn't super high but the floor would prevent a disaster.

Solution. If your name is Carlos Correa, you play. If you have an OPS over .750 and are healthy (and fit the positions), you play. If you have an OPS of less than that, be available to come off the bench for a spot start or substitution. Problem solved. I'm not sure they have started four infielders at the same time all year with positive hitting marks. When/if these levels are met, the new bar becomes .800 OPS. Play Ball!

I absolutely can't wait until this becomes an actual problem. All of those minor league players are somewhat projectable but definitely not guaranteed successes. I really want to see more than four infielders all raking and all fielding their positions, AND getting frustrated because they aren't getting enough playing time/at bats. That would be fantastic! We can gleefully pick one or more to trade at that point. I'll buy my WS tickets in advance!

Ah the glitchiness of statistics! Certainly SSS does contribute, but it's still crazy. Will it continue? Who knows. Equally crazy are the SSS numbers for some of the hitters we might like to acquire. Will they stand up? Yikes! Now I might be getting paranoid! The fact that we are this bad with the bases loaded and still in first place with an OK run differential is pretty encouraging. Just a little bit of improvement would go a long way in helping the offense break out.

This is really good news. Having a potential veteran insurance policy is nice, even if he might not be quite ready. I would want him able to eat innings if somebody got hurt or as stated earlier by @Nine of twelve, would be quite a contrast in the middle innings.

He's a little bit of a wild card, but seems like he would definitely be worth a shot. He could take over in CF and be an offensive improvement over MAT while not being a disaster on defense. He is "ANOTHER" lefty outfielder, but he has been at least league average in his career against the same sided pitching. If we do trade for him, it would behoove the team to temper the expectations. His 2019 is not any more sustainable nor indicative of future success than Max Kepler's 2019. If a prospect or two around #20 would make this happen, I say do it. Refresh me on "mutual options". There's a mutual option out there for 2024. Does this mean that if either one wants to exercise the option it's a done deal, or do both sides need to agree to do it? If he's good, I would want to keep him. If he's not, he may want to keep us!

We don't need no ED-ucation. . . We don't need no birth control. . . No dark sarcasm in the classroom. . . Teachers. . . leave those kids alone! Thanks for the great laugh!! There have been some great Eds in Twins lore.

As the youth say. . . I can't even. . . (said with a sigh and a head flipped backwards). . .

Dougie and Nelson. That would be entertaining, if entertaining is watching a dumpster fire. Neither are ready for the job they would be given and the team would be very likely to be unsuccessful. I liked both a lot, in their time, and that time has passed.

I'm going with Lewis at #1. He will solidify some infield defense and if he continues to hit will be a huge upgrade over who we have been trotting out there since his injury. Theilbar and Stewart are #'s 2/3 in any order. Both are important and will add a lot if they are true to form. I think Paddack is a wild card. If he is on the comeback/rehab trail, he could be a very effective arm in the bullpen even if it isn't in high leverage. Innings still need to be covered. I'm a Polanco fan, but I'm not sure his return has much effect on the team. He is a better defender (a little) than Julien, but Julien is doing everything we could imagine on offense, which is probably as much as/more than Polanco has ever provided for the team. If there is a team in need of a second baseman, Polanco would have some value in a trade, whether for a relief pitcher or a right handed bat. Remember, if we make a trade, somebody has to leave the roster. As for Gordon. . . he was a nice story last year, but this year Castro is giving us a better version, offensively and defensively of a good utility player than Gordon provided. To me, he is best utilized as a sweetener thrown in to a trade for a relief pitcher. Again, frees up a roster spot for a new player from a trade.

Sign me up for any of these guys, provided the price is right, with Lane Thomas seemingly the most interesting. That being said, the Twins have a couple of guys that should be given a shot in the outfield (even though they are lefties) that would cost them nothing, and thus far have not been willing to look seriously at Larnach or Wallner. Unless the theory is that these guys would come from the outside so they must be better options, I don't see the Twins making a move like this. Sure wish they would.

I really can't imagine this would happen, but I would happily deal Miranda and Larnach/Julien for Arenado. If Lewis moves over to 2B, then he takes over there long term and you don't need Julien. If everyone (Polanco, Lewis) is healthy, you still are one man long, but that doesn't seem like an imminent situation. I have a feeling that they won't care much about a returning hitter, so which other pitcher could you send? SWR? Varland? Headrick? Festa? Is there any chance that this works on their end? Not sure, but it would certainly help the Twins.

Sign me up for any of the relief pitchers -- even two of them! Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much any of the bats out there move the needle, which is really frustrating. If you can find a difference making bat, you have to go for it. The pitching staff is way too good to just punt on the year. I find it frustrating that people are stuck on world series or bust when it comes to the season. We may not get to the world series with this group, but as we all know, anything can happen in the playoffs, especially when you can pitch. The 87 and 91 teams weren't juggernauts by any means and we will all remember those teams forever.

People get excited about SSS all the time! At least I hope they do! At any rate, we would be definitely sell high!

Trade him TODAY. He is in the middle of the only hot streak he will likely experience this year. You could maybe get TWO bags of balls instead of only one, but it will open up the spot for Wallner.

Ted, I'm guessing that the comments have come in about as expected, which is overwhelmingly negative about Rocco and the front office. I do not share your level of enthusiasm on this being the magic moment, but it certainly could be. I also know, however, that the manager always gets too much credit and too much blame. Plus, we can only react to what we hear in a media session after the game. We really don't know what happens in the privacy of the locker room or the manager's office. Because we don't see it, doesn't mean it didn't happen -- in fact, it's probably more effective that way since we can't hit, field, or pitch for the players.

Love me some Willi Castro. He's a fun player to watch and an obvious asset. The fact that he is leading position players in WAR is frightening. There is a list of about 6 or 7 players that should be ahead of him on this -- starting with the obvious Buxton and Correa, but also including Polanco, Vazquez, Miranda, Gallo, and maybe more. I do think the pitching staff can hang together, but I fear it might not be enough.

Exactly. You have to keep putting things in the beginning of the pipeline in order to get things out of the end, and they seem to be doing that pretty well. We'll see how it all pans out.

Not sure you mean 2006, as that was the staff that had Santana, Radke, and Liriano on it. Your point about the group that came up with Garza (whose career stats aren't that impressive either) -- Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, etc -- is well taken however. Baker was solid for a couple of years, but none of those guys really had a long productive career. Pitching has pretty much always been the soft spot for the Twins franchise. I agree that the goal should be to develop quality starting pitching, but it obviously isn't a very easy task. I'm hoping that this time, with new people in charge of it, will be different. Time will tell.

I can agree entirely that the Twins are not really in the same league as the Atlanta Braves are right now. It's a really good team on a really big hot streak. Ouch! It's like getting hit by a runaway freight train. Like you, I'm very willing to sit back and watch some baseball. Sometimes it will be frustrating, sometimes gratifying. Watching baseball has been like that forever, especially with the Twins. I also agree that once in the playoffs, anything can happen. If playing with the data can get the team a few more wins and get them there, we need to embrace it and hope that it can make up for some of the other deficiencies.