Hawkeye Bean Counter

Tait has had a good couple of weeks. Lots of hits and some power. Will see what happens when Lackey comes up. I think he could really help Tait on the defensive side. As to the drafted players holy smokes everyone of them has seemed to have hit their stride. I expected Lackey and Tinney to do well. Tinney started a little slow but thats a heck of a home run. However the Twins didn't take another hitter until the 11th round then took, Teel, Turner, Lane and Schlovin. In a few games all 4 have looked like they belonged. Schlovin had quite the day - 3 for 4 with 2 HBP which is par for the course with him (I think 13% of his college at bats ended in HBP). If you can find some decent picks on the back half of the draft you are doing well, and the initially returns sure looks good. It helps having some professional batters in the lineup like Lackey - but there appears to be plenty of talent in this group. I was interested to see Prather but so far nothing. I know there was a little consternation on trading Reyes who had a good FCL year, and struggled in his cup of coffee at A ball and I knew a couple publications had him high on our list, but the player that has really impressed me from the international side is Fragoza. He continues to rake at A ball. They say he is 6' 2" now but he is crushing the ball in A ball.

The rays traded their 15th, 26th and 27th. Their system is as deep or deeper than the Twins. Peralta has had a rough year plus is only a 2 month rental. Skubal brought a top 25 and top 70 prospect who the Tigers really liked. I do think Detroit could have gotten more but that’s a lot for a rental.

When you have teams like Twins who want to get things moving it jumpstarts the market. Also means possibly more overpays. After thinking on it some more I do think the trades the Twins did were slight overpays but not bad all things considered.

I have 3 questions, 1. will they use a top 10 prospect in a trade? I think no 2 will Larnach be traded? Likely 3. will Jeffers be traded? Trending towards no but I think the haul would be immense and we should

Larnach on. Can we find a way get him across home plate?

Should have left Kreidler in to hit.

Did he do something wrong?

Dang I had given up on this game. Can they pull out another miracle?

The Twins 2026 draft err Mighty Mussels are putting on a clinic today. Lackey, Tinney, Turner, Sholvin, Teel - 12 hits, 14 runs, 9 rbi, 7 BB. Tinney with the homerun. Lane didn’t play today but has started off hot as well. This may be worth monitoring but this group of hitters looks legit, granted it’s A ball.

I’ve been very consistent of this. If we keep Jeffers which looks likely, we will offer the QO and Jeffers will turn it down. 1st there will be lots of money available to players with the new bargaining agreement. 2 The free agent class is weak. 3. Jeffers and his team have made it clear they want a long term deal. 4-5 years in the 70-80 million range is my guess. So if he is traded it better be for a haul. A 1st round draft pick has value and is a great spot to take high upside high school pitching. We really are in a good spot with Jeffers. Worst case is we pay him $23 million for a 1 year contract. That’s not a bad outcome.

My opinion is I think the Twins like Kremer and they think they can get the prior years performance or even better. I also think the asking prices are astronomical and they don’t want to get into bidding wars. So was Reyes an overpay, for a player that was likely to be traded or DFA possibly this season or next season, yes it was an overpay sending Reyes who is a high ceiling prospect. There is risk with this trade. Now he is a long ways away but there is concern. The issue is let’s be clear, starting pitching is expensive. When those on orioles podcast feel like they got fleeced it shows the deal isn’t terrible, even though it’s more a situation they don’t know Reyes or that he is massively jumping on lists. Kremer would not surprise me if we can get #3 like performances out of him. Plus he sounds like a very good guy, I agree with Froemming, Tom Pohlad doesn’t care about 3-4 years down the road or an 18 year old prospect. He wants to flip the team. We should have done the full rebuild, here we are doing a half hearted attempt to get to the playoffs a year or two early sending now 2 prospects under age 20 both who flashed this year in small sample sizes at low levels. WAT and Reckless was TFT’s take and I agree. Logically it is high risks moves and shows either Zoll is a little out of his depth or just how much Tom Pohlad is pushing either for sale purposes or because he wants to back up his word of go big or go home because he’s been ridiculed for 6 months. This was my worry with Falvey leaving. We have 2 inexperienced individuals and possibly Zoll unwilling to stand up to Tom and say this is short sighted and not smart. I am now worried about the rest of the deadline, especially after the supposed Larnach trade which again seems light for the Twins.

We are only getting partial information so it’s hard to fullly analyze. On its face it seems to be an overpay, but we have ample options for the outfield.

So would you have felt better if they traded Mendez for him?

Seriously? It’s not easy but they have shown it can be done. They have also shown they could be competitive this year which you also disagreed with.

Exactly, it’s hard for some to understand.

In dang happy with Lackey - most here should be. I’m digging no where. I told you a year ago it would be worth it and you continued to mock it.

Between actual better performance and keeping the attitude up yes. If we didn’t have the worst record in the 2nd half we were in the bottom 3. There was ample area for improvement.

The trade deadline was going to hurt somewhere. When starting pitching began to be discussed I knew it would be costly. All in all, not as bad as I expected but not nearly as much upside as someone like a Hancock. These trades are all about getting in the playoff just enough, than really digging in the prospect pool. I would put odds Reyes is a decent major leaguer at 50%.

Yes I do. I think the a twins win 5-6 more games with him last year, The others were expected. Just like this year the bullpen solidified when we had 2 solid arms. Plus losing him I felt like the team gave up. That’s my personal opinion, but for everyone claiming he is such a big loss you have to admit we would have won more games. The tank was on but Varland was the final necessary piece.

You do realize the team with the 3rd best odds picked 5th right? Everyone of those 8 blow saves or extra runs given up in games that made impossible for Twins to come back counted to get that 3rd pick. Varland very well may have saved a couple more games.

Yes the trade deadline was painful, yes trading Varland was losing a talented and emotional piece. As of today, though looking back it was all worth it. Some continue to not understand the value of a player like Lackey that occurred because of trading these players. Looking back now with as well as the Twins have done with rebuilding the bullpen, getting a player like Lackey and Bradley - the big picture is this really worked out well for the Twins. Rojas as of today might have more value than Varland if he can show he can be a #2-3 starter.

Tom desperately wants to make the playoffs even if it’s the last spot in a weak AL. Now they are pinching Pennie’s along the way as a small market team should do. They aren’t throwing away assets or years. Both Culpepper and Jenkins in a full season could be potential rookie of the years which has value. Zoll stated they were willing to bring rookies up, now the question is who? Is it Culpepper and Jenkins- or Rodriguez and Mendez?

We need 1 more arm in the bullpen. This is due to Sands injury. We have other arms but now can find the best ones to fill out remainder of the bullpen. Curious to see the costs the rest of the way for any more trades. The initial reports were bats were more costly than pitchers this year. Which could work in the Twins favor.

To me Jackson it’s starting to have some value. Caratini is solid. I am fine with giving Jeffers the QO. From everything out there so far he will turn it down- but will know more later.

Injury risk is my biggest concern. Otherwise a solid arm to add to the bullpen. Another sub 95 fastball though. We were willing to pay the salary which seems to be the biggest benefit to the Mets.