Derojo

The reality is this. Unless there are new owners, forget the ALCS or World Series.

I don't understand how the writer suggests free agency after the debacle Correa was. Second, the Pohlad's aren't spending big money on a SS. Third, the Twins aren't ready for a move till 2027 at the earliest. Young talent needs development. Lee can play SS next year. It's a rebuilding year anyway. Fourth, unless the Pohlad's sell the team, figure on nothing great happening, like the ALCS. I'll still follow baseball because it's a great sport.

This is a big miss by Baldelli. The Twins had speed since spring training; too little too late. The owners need to go, really need to go, like yesterday. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Then the Pohlad's came and really stayed...

The greatest issue is the owners. Will a different manager make the Twins better? Probably not likely that will happen.

Did I read Austin Martin similar to Outman? I couldn't have read that.

Agreed on Taj Bradley. Cole Sands has had a rough time after All-Star break. Really, Austin Martin is a baller. He has great at bats. He has good speed for Left field, and he makes plays. I don't care if he doesn't have home run power. Buxton has home run power and he's been chasing that outside pitch since the break. Austin rarely does what Buxton has been doing; getting himself out by swinging at crap. That's not his game. If he can hit the gap as he did last night, that's all the Twins need. We need more players that consistently make the opposing pitcher, and Austin is that. (If Buxton had the plate discipline Martin has he would be top five, maybe top three in the American League.) That's the truth of it. I admire players who make the most of what they have, rather than lacking discipline. Did Mauer ever give outs away? Did Puckett ever give outs away? Ok, more than Mauer, but Puckett didn't get himself out much. Keaschall is good too at not giving away at bats. I like watching Martin because you're watching the best of what he's got to give. Whatever happened to excellence?

Luis Arraez is 5' 10", Keaschall is six feet, and has some power. I would choose Keaschall as he will likely improve his batting with more reps. Arraez has been getting significantly worse the last two years.

Luis Arraez has never reminded me of Rod Carew. BTW - Carew hit below .300 his first two years and then always above. Essentially, achieving and sustaining excellence. 1st base is a position that needs power, such as Hrbek brought to it. Hrbek was a great fielder as well and had height and length.

Quote: Ok, the Ship of Theseus Twins roll on, this time hosting the Padres in a battle between an energetic playoff contender and the rotting husk of what used to be a competitive collection of men. :Unquote. This drivel about the current team gets old. The only time the former team showed the competitiveness to possibly make the playoffs was the thirteen game win streak. The before and after the streak was not impressive. Unfortunately, that streak was the highlight of competitiveness. Correa was the fourth or fifth best batter, and he was supposed to be up there with Buxton. If it weren't for Buxton this team would have disastrously underperformed. These young players play hard, and they'll learn. We have more young players in the wing. The only possibility of a World Series is to have five, probably six players that are home grown. Such as Puckett, Gaetti, Hrbek, and Brunansky were. We need five more players to step up to that level with Buxton. The remaining three cannot be fillers. Oh, and the team needs to be sold.

Quote: "That reality has often played to the Twins’ benefit." :Unquote. Having a soft A.L. Central has not been a benefit. Quite the reverse since the Pohlads have been consistently content on merely winning the division occasionally, or a wild card slot. There is zero benefit to being in a weak division if the ownership doesn't take advantage of it; they haven't. Did Mauer even sniff a World Series? Even then, great (higher) standard of play makes for a better team. This is far more likely in a strong division than playing in a soft division. Third, the decreased number of division games; how does that change in realignment? We would go back to more division games; less; or the same? I smell money. Bottom line: a weak division weakens a team's chances of going to the ALCS or World Series. This is America. We don't give trophies for fifth or worse best teams. Division winner means nothing on its own.

I am hoping Lee will be a good hitting 2nd baseman, and back up to Culpepper at SS. He's not fast enough to start at short. Lewis has improved, but he's not good enough. Wallner and Larnach are second string. It's a great article on Lee, as it could go either way; up, or down and eventually out. As for Julien, I can't remember another player who doesn't swing at obvious third strikes. Totally in his head weird stuff going on.

I don't understand trading Ryan and Lopez, other than financial constraints. The most difficult positions to fill are starting #1 and #2; closer RP, and #1 catcher who makes the entire pitching staff more effective. Ryan, Lopez, and Jeffers better stay, and the top two or three relievers, as too many have been traded. As for Buxton, sorry, but you are only fifth most critical player on this team, especially with your injury history. Logically, Buxton would be the trade IF he stays healthy through the rest of the season. No one wants to write that.

That's total crap to call a player up, and not get them into a game. Especially marginal players, who may not get called up again. It's incredibly disrespectful. Fortunately, two players in all the Twins years isn't an excessive amount.

I laugh at: "One of the Twins darkest moments." I reject the drivel that comes out of the emotional destabilization of "fans" who don't understand (don't care?) what it takes to win a World Series. The Twins future is much brighter. Twins gained tier one and tier two prospects (Keaschall is tier two) while tearing apart an offense that consistently underperformed for over five years. Remember Joe Mauer, who never even sniffed a chance at the World Series? It's despicable that a player of his caliber never had a chance to play in the World Series. I would far more watch a team with young players, and new prospects that learn how to play, than the offensive non-competitiveness we've had for over half a decade, and longer. The Twins were going nowhere near a World Series with this pre-trade team. Clutch players win, and we need more of them. If you can't beat the Yankees, you're not going to the World Series. Now, we have several to many significant prospects that will come up starting in less than a year. Puckett, Gaetti, Hrbek, Brunansky, were all very young. We added: Gladden (thirty years old in 87), Baylor, and so on in 87. The 87 team had a very good young core, with Puckett being exceptional. We have Buxton, though he still gets injured. And we need a young core of four to five players that can compete. We don't have that yet. We might in one to two, possibly three years. You can go out in free agency like the Yankees and the Dodgers and buy your players. That's not going to work for the Twins. BTW - The MLB landscape is far more competitive now than it was in 87 and 91, so its going to be more difficult in this age of MLB to bring home a World Series title. If you're not focused on that, you're not a fan of baseball. Which describes our current owners.

Good news! Perhaps he'll get comfortable with his defense. Next year he can regain his batting form.

Early next season, perhaps that will happen. AAA is nearly over and they are still in AA. However, no doubt they will be invited to spring training and depending upon what they do there; it's possible. More likely though they'll arrive by the middle of next season. Lewis needs to get back on track. He's better than he was for about a year, but not good enough. Don't forget about Gabriel Gonzalez who is an interesting prospect. The Twins future is bright, IF the team has new owners.

It's total nonsense that the Twins were short on hitting. They haven't had a competitive offensive team since 2019, when they lost three in a row to the Yankees. This pretend that the Twins are oh so close is total b.s. The goal here is the World Series. It's been thirty-four years this fall since the Twins went and won. The Twins weren't going to sniff the World Series with the roster they had. They got what they needed. Numerous prospects because some will pan out to some degree; most won't. It isn't that the Twins didn't have talent. They didn't compete year in and year out. That is at least partly on the manager. Mostly, it's on the ownership. I want Buxton to play in the World Series. Joe Mauer never had that chance. Mediocrity is the enemy of excellence, and the Twins were mediocre at best, and in half a decade (actually longer) showed no signs of rising above it.

Here's what people don't mention. The Phillies are shooting for the World Series, obviously to win it. The Twins prior to the trade had virtually no chance to reach the World Series in the next two or more years. Why? Our offensive lineup consistently underperformed. It has underperformed every year, even in 2019 when the Y (T)ankees beat us 3-0. (The Tankees are going nowhere this year. Perhaps, maybe, win the first round. If it goes very badly, perhaps out of the wild card race.) Today, with the prospects in the pipeline late this year, and the next two, we will have a much more potent offensive roster. The Twins roster was far overbalanced toward pitching. More important is to have a team that doesn't underperform while batting. Underperforming teams over several years NEVER win the World Series. Regardless of how it turns out the trade was a win, because now there is a possibility of performing to the talent level or better. Before the trade deadline the Twins were trash on offense. How do I know? They had a thirteen-game winning streak, and were under five hundred at the break. (Classic boom and bust; mostly busted.) Oh, and Mr. Double-play Correa didn't refer to his defense. It referred to being an 0-11 while the bases were loaded this year with the Twins. Correa was the fourth or fifth best Twin on offense, and the offense was weak. Correa has been a clutch defender. Oddly enough, he is not a clutch batter. Clearly, he is on the downside. I was born in 59. The Twins played in and won the last World Series in 91. It took thirty-two years till that 91 series. It has taken thirty-four years till today. Enough of this b.s. of merely trying to make the playoffs. The last thing is that the ownership must change or all of this is moot.

Standing in place would have been the worst non-move. This team offense was going nowhere near the World Series. As for Buxton, I expect he'd like a World Series win and that offense won't do it. Now, in about one to two years we'll have more players like Keaschall and less players like 0-11 with bases loaded Correa. Regardless of the talent level you need clutch players. Clemens has modest offensive talent, but unlike Correa he is clutch.

My view is the Twins sold two relievers too many. Note that no starters were traded. As for the underperforming position players we traded, no one of long term consequence. This team has not performed since 2019 when the Yankees swept us. Beating the Jays in the playoffs is not a feat. The offense was going nowhere. The illusion that we were one or two players away was nonsense. This was not a winning team with a winning culture; consistently underperformed. Baldelli is an ok manager. He understands the game well, but he doesn't get the best out of his team. He needs to go along with the owner. Jhoan Duran is the only player traded that will be very difficult to replace. Jax to a lesser extent. I'm happy for the players traded who will have the opportunity to play on a competitive MLB team. The Twins haven't been to the World Series in the last 34 years. They have not had a team that could possibly get to the ALDS. Enough of treading water. Correa; 0-11 with bases loaded; another underperformer, non-clutch player. It'll take two to three years to rebuild, and perhaps then the Twins will evoke the memory of past teams that performed at a high level.

Twins need a catcher that is better than Jeffers, so that position is a strength. We don't have an apparent replacement in our farm system. We also need improvement at 1B and DH. As for Wallner and Larnach, Rodriguez and Jenkins are in the wings. Emmanuel Rodriguez hopefully will come up in September and never leave.