Western SD Fan

Everyone that wants to just trade Buxton away keeps forgetting that he had a full no-trade clause for 2026. Just because you stamp your feet and whine doesn't make the full no-trade clause go away. Even if Buxton would have agreed to a trade, you're basically trading with one team, your trade value drops significantly, likely to the point that Buxton is more valuable on your team than trading him. Now in 2027, he has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to be traded to five teams. I don't know what that list is, but I'm reasonably assume the Pirates aren't on there. If you're in marketing for the Twins, how do you spin that you attempted to strong-arm your most recognizable player in on the team into breaking his NTC in what would appear to be a salary dump and giving up on the season. Much of the fanbase is already apathetic, at best, towards the Twins. You're trying to rebuild trust in the organization, not burn it down.

I have no clue how the CBA will turn out. I can see a scenario where the floor, if agreed upon, is ramped up over 1-3 years. That gives the owners who will need to spend some lead time and possibly be prepaid if the revenue sharing is distributed more evenly among all the teams. Say 2027, a floor would be 140-150M, 2028 would be 160-175M, and then readjusted every year after that based on revenue like the other sports. That would feed into the idea of needing to spend an additional 35-45M for next season. I don't see them bringing back Minter or Larnach. Ober may be retained just because you need the depth and if you don't sign a SP this offseason. Ober has been fine as a 4 or 5 starter, dependable and keeps you in the game. I would like them to give a real offer to Jeffers for 3-4 years, but I don't see it happening. Even if Jeffers really begins to decline rapidly by year 2-4, he would still be better as a backup catcher than who we have had over the years. As many people have commented, I would like to see them work on giving extensions to players like Lee, Keaschall, Jenkins, Lopez OR Ryan, probably not both, and maybe Culpepper and Bradley if they both show continued progress from this season. For 2027 and 2028, Buxton has a limited no-trade clause as it is limited to five teams, which is something to consider if you want to play for the future. As for adding FA, I think a solid RP, a starter since you don't really plan on re-signing both Lopez and Ryan, an actual 2B who can sub at SS so Clemens can shift to a utility role that will better a platoon matchup or can PH. I'll go against the grain and say they need to retain Lewis because, as many other have suggested on here, there really aren't any 1B on the FA market that they would want to spend money on. I'm not sure if that gets me to a 35-40M increase, but it's a wish list. Could even help facilitate a sale since a new owner would know what kind of a team they would have the next few years.

1. I'm not giving the Trash Bangers any consideration in my thought process. 2. It's Fan Appreciation Weekend. Give the fans what they want to see. They don't want to see Bell in the lineup. Let Bell PH to try to go for the win, but no fan wants to see Bell in September when you're out of the playoffs. Jeffers is a different story. I'm fine playing him since he came up with the organization and this will likely be his last games with the team, kind of like Torii Hunter before he left for Anaheim. 3. Shelton should be thinking about further developing a rapport with the youngsters if he really intends on being around next season to manage them. Further, I believe the youngsters are hungrier right now and would actually give you a better chance to win than someone like Bell, who no one is going to consider this last weekend of stats toward his next contract.

Vlad Jr isn't necessarily wrong. It's just he shouldn't have said it out loud. Kind of like early Royce Lewis in interviews. There was even a bit for a while called "Royce says the darndest things." It seems to be a trend throughout all of sports. Get the big contract and you perform terrible the first year of the contract. Some players try too hard to justify that contract. Some players relax a little bit after they just got paid. I'm not sure it reinforces the idea of a salary cap, but it could be an additional cautionary tale about not giving players that long of contracts or letting that type of player walk is acceptable.

Morris heard me defending him as a ROY candidate and threw like it today.

Peter or Gomez?

They explained it during the broadcast. Since the defense didn't move due to the HBP call at the plate, Jenkins had to return to 1st. Had the catcher thrown through, Jenkins would have been awarded second base. Encourages the defense to game the system in my opinion, but that is what was explained by the replay crew in NY.

I understand the metrics support Prielipp. I could make an argument for Morris because he has been the second most used reliever in the bullpen, only trailing Taylor Rogers 😱, which I would expect him to pass before the end of the year. For a stretch during the season, he was the most dependable reliever in the bullpen, even collecting 4 saves so far, which is second on the team. If we bake in the metric that availability is the best ability, Morris has been there all season. Prielipp has had to take turns on the IL. All of that to say you're probably not wrong, just that it may be closer than you're giving it credit for.

Didn't forget about you. Just trying to figure out who was still a rookie. I almost have to consider Andrew Morris or Prielipp. Culpepper is hurt. Jenkins and Emma just got here. There really aren't any other rookies.

It looked like Sabato lost the ball at the end since it looked like he overran it. Not a huge issue since it's tough when you're running at full speed with the ball behind you.

That's what I was going to say. In terms of actual value to the team, my MVP would have to go 1. Taj 2. Clemens, mainly due to his versatility 3. Lee 4. Buck 5. Jeffers with some late honorable mentions to Keaschall and Prielipp, the pitcher whose arm was supposed to have fallen by this time of the season Availability is still the best ability on the field.

Wow. Even Bob Costas, the consummate professional, calls the game better during his own interview than Cory does.

That's where using your ex-player color man is helpful. Having conversations about what a player is thinking at the plate or in the field vs ridiculous stats. I would say that is the one issue I have with Cory is that he doesn't use them enough. Even Morny, as pedantic as he is, actually has a bundle of information if you know how to draw it out of him.

Someone has to keep the dugout poker game going. That deserves some MVP consideration.