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My hope for Rooker is that he makes a strong enough impression during his time with the big club to become a more valuable trade piece this winter. No offense, Mr. Rooker, but I want to have more players in the lineup who put the ball in play more often than you, even if it stays in the yard a lot. I'm very happy the Twins have a dozen prospects who excite me more.

Great post. But it made me think about whether they're making progress on a starter strategy, and just what that strategy is. They have Maeda, Pineda, and Berrios back in 2021, but do they have enough starting pitching talent in the high minors in comparison to their rivals? When I look at the list, I see that every opponent in the division has a greater number (either one or two more) of pitching prospects that grade out at 50FV or better than the Twins, who count Balazovic, Duran, Enlow, and Canterino in that category. But because it's a numbers game, it concerns me that MLB.com only regards Colina and Sands as worthy of a 45FV grade. In comparison, KCR and CLE have nine and six of those respectively, and both CWS and DET have a couple more than the Twins. Despite the current apparent roster depth, the pitching pipeline could use some help for the future.

I understand ash's sentiments too. I take minor solace from the fact that, because an effective bullpen is a numbers game, I see evidence that Falvey is trying to keep the numbers up. And when the postseason comes, we often see obvious heroes become goats and obscure pitchers often make a name for themselves.

Let's get greedy. I want to see some magic with the drafting of pitching prospects in later rounds and turning them into guys like Civale, Plesac, Clevenger, Bieber, etc. I'm going to be watching their 2019 draft, hoping a couple of the (many) college pitchers they drafted become legit starters. From what I see, virtually every team in the ALC has a superior talent pipeline, especially when it comes to pitching, with CLE being the ironic possible exception. I'm not as convinced as others that we have upcoming replacements in 2021 for Odo, Pineda, Homer, and Hill.

I think you're probably right. FanGraph has Cantillo, Arias, and Miller ranked #12, #16, and #25 in a system that is one of the very best and deepest in all of baseball. And Cleavenger is clearly an a**hat.

Me neither. I'd implore people to watch the video of Jacob Blake's mother, Julie Jackson, addressing ALL of us. Personally, I will never know the depth and despair felt by so many after witnessing two more horrific acts of callous hatred play out in Kenosha. We don't know how this is impacting individual players and their loved ones. But I think it might be tone deaf to think of the "consequences" for any of them to be minimal, or to think they are "getting a day off."

This is probably an unpopular idea, but if I were GM, I'd dangle both Romo and Clippard at the deadline hoping for an outsized prospect return. I'd be inclined to run with what we have: Duffy, Rogers, and May, then Wisler, Stashak, Alcala, Littell, Thielbar, Poppen, and if needed, Duran, Smeltzer, Coulombe, Colina, etc. I might even see if a team really really really wants Rosario. Cave, too. I'm assuming Kirilloff and/or Larnach are looking good, maybe Lewis as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enormously impressed by what you writers know about the finer points of the game!

You guys could write this stuff in Hungarian and my comprehension would remain the same.

Personally, I think of what number one would assign to a starter whose performance idealized what you'd want on a championship team. With that in mind, I'd conclude that the Twins lack a 1-2 starter. I use this two-number thing because, even in most pitcher's most consistent stretches, there is performance volatility. And frankly, experience shows us that tons of pitchers can plummet from 1-2 performance to Advanced A performance in a heartbeat, and for long periods, usually because of an onset of physical problems. Berrios, to me, is a 1-2 guy going through a dismal stretch. He's the best talent. One could argue about whether the 2 or the 3 gets bold type for Maeda, Odorizzi, Hill, Pineda, and now even Dobnak. I'm inclined to think I'd want them as my third starter or lower on a championship team, in no small part because of endurance and injury traits, so I'd label every one of them as 2-3's, which means every one of them can get hot and give you a good run of #2 performance. There are maybe a dozen 1-2's in all of baseball. I believe we need one of those if we want to be anything more than a long shot in the postseason. And we need a 1-2 too. Berrios, are you that guy?

Is "timing" different than having a slow bat? Smalley said his swing is long right now. To this very untrained eye, it simply appears that his reaction time is a split second slow, and then his bat can't catch up. Too many 92MPH FB's sneaking past that swing in the heart of the zone it seems to me. Hope someone writes an analytic piece about what they think is the issue with him, and with Garver too.

The odds of any of these guys becoming even a tad impactful for the major league club are extremely low.

Unless Garver and Sano become something other than pathetic automatic K's, we're going to see rally-killings. If you can throw 93, you can get it past both those guys, anywhere in the zone. Hope they're doing something between games to speed up those bats.

In two weeks, of the 14 teams that will not be playoff bound, will even 6 of them be resigned to this? Personally, I want our team to either be sellers if they identify a desperate team willing to overpay, or I want them to stand pat and take their chances. There will not be a difference-maker available. There will not be a Graterol or Pressly type being dangled. (Too soon?) I could see them trying to swipe some minor league asset away in exchange for a redundant piece, maybe Clifford or Romo if Alcala, Stashak, and Littell shine. Both would snare someone better than Dakota Chalmers, who they got for Fernando Rodney. I can see them trying to pull that kind of trade off. Cave or Adrianza? Both might be expendable. I doubt they move Rosario or a starter.

Pretty unwatchable stuff in real time, outside of Buxton and Alcala. Garver's bat looks Laudner-like. Slow motion swing.

This trade bothered me, simply because it created a shortage rather than being a trade from surplus. I want this team to become a consistent trade deadline seller from surplus, regardless of where they're positioned in the standings. As a buyer, you give up Jaylin Davis, Prelander Berroa, and Kai-Wei Teng for Sam Dyson. As a seller, you get Dakota Chalmers for your 6th BP option, Fernando Rodney. I'd be cool if they traded Sergio Romo, who's under contract through 2021, for some team's #15-20 prospect, if Stashak, Littell, Alcala or someone else emerges.

This is such interesting stuff! Although if I tried to share it with the people in my real life, I would not be invited back...

Yeah, I'm with you. I wonder if Falvey isn't trying to be strategic by showing tons of relief pitchers a few opportunistic low leverage innings here early with the hopes that he can deal a surplus arm or two to teams desperate to stay in the hunt for a minor league return. Similar to what he has done before. Fernando Rodney got us Dakota Chalmers Ryne himself netted us this future star Hunter McMahon. On the flip side, they got nothin' for Nik Turley and only $25,000 for Nick Burdi.

Five games and 5.1 innings for the Nats so far, 3 hits allowed, no runs, and a win under his belt. Thanks for asking.

Credit to the Pro Scouting department for both Wisler and Alcala, who has now out-performed Ryan Pressly of the hated Houston Astros. Hope Pressly recovers from his sore elbow, but I also really hope Houston is so bad they have to use Fernando Rodney, who they just signed.

With Brandon Kintzler as his opener and Lewin Diaz batting cleanup?

Wish you were right in your assessment. However, my sense is that maybe even the most charitable view of them here on TD may be underestimating this club, maybe more than many might be overestimating the Twins, especially when it comes to a raw comparison of talent and a guess about who is ready to produce and who might break out or digress. Pitching appears to be the critical differentiator, as Nick points out. But even here, I wonder why some think the gap is so huge. Aside from Berrios/Giolito, at best an even match, I can buy us having a huge advantage when we compare Keuchel and Gio to Hill, Homer, and Pinedo, and they don't have a Maeda or an Odorizzi. So we have an advantage in both injury insurance and talent. Plus, we match up alright, I think, in a comparison of Lopez, Cease, and Rodon, with Dobnak, Thorpe, and Smeltzer. Next year, things might move in their direction, as I think Kopech is in a different class than Duran or Balasovic. But my point is, given their decent but thin bullpen, they may be capable of hanging in there if they get more than we expect out of the vets, or more importantly out of Cease, Lopez, or even Rodon, all previously well-regarded talents. Unlikely, but over 60 games, a bunch of things could break wrong for our club and break right for theirs. But I think it's the position players that people are sleeping on. Why would one think that Robert won't step in and be more impactful than, say, Larnach or Kirilloff would be, let alone Buxton? Why won't Madrigal step in and be similar in impact to Arraez? Is Mazara that much worse than Rosario? Could Grandal be as important an addition as Donaldson? Are Jiminez and Moncada less likely to break out than Sano and Buxton? We'd rather have 40-year old Cruz, but both Encarnacion and Abreu appear to have something left in the tank. Even Anderson and Polanco can be thought of in the same tier. So, both teams are gonna have fearsome lineups and some questionable defense. While I personally still give the Twins the edge, I just wouldn't be at all shocked if both the Twins and Cleveland are looking up in this sprint season.

Man alive, this organization is in complete shambles. I'll be surprised, even in this sprint season, if they even keep up with Detroit record-wise. The really bad news for them is how utterly hopeless things look, even longer-term. Even their three best starting pitching prospects probably slot in there with Duran and Balazovic, or maybe worse. None are MLB-ready. And half their lineup will be easy outs. Even if, somehow, Merrifield, Soler, Perez, and Mondesi all have an injury-free monster 60 games, this club is in deep doo-doo.

If Gardy had, or has, his way, the Tigers will rush along its group of elite pitching prospects. It would not be at all surprising to see Boyd and Fulmer followed in the rotation by Mize, Manning, and Skubal, all of whom are or might be more highly regarded than, say, Thorpe or Balazovic. They also have Faedo and Burrows close to the majors, and a couple of bullpen arms as well. Although they'll still be pathetic on offense most likely, they could be at least a little better if Daz Cameron and Paredes make the lineup. So I agree with others who think the Tigers might be a tougher opponent than we'd like. That said, I would be disappointed if the Twins lost more than four games to them. Winning the division is not necessarily going be a cakewalk, given that Detroit represents the easiest division challenge.

Clear evidence that there IS a benevolent higher power, no?