1985Fan

Two steps first to determine which direction to go at the deadline. First, let’s see how they get through the tough road trip and schedule after the break. They’ll either prove they can compete against good teams or play themselves out of contention. Second, they should be exploring trades now to gauge what returns they can get and if that actually improves the team. If trading Larnach or Jeffers improves the pen or rotation this season and beyond, then go for it. It does seem like trading either position can be filled adequately from within. A trade for short term (rentals) is not ok and shouldn’t be done. Another thing to keep in mind is that prospects are not going to jump up and fill the void on a contending team. They usually struggle after initial short term success. If they’re in contention trading current contributors to make room for AAA guys is not smart. Basing decisions on theoretical trade returns is not smart. Thats why they are hopefully exploring the market now and should know what returns are for each player. I’m ok with either direction.

Great pick but before you write him into the Twins lineup, first he has to sign a contract (hasn’t signed yet as far as I have read). Once signed, let’s see how he does at Ft. Meyers. He hasn’t taken one professional AB yet, so I’d tamp down the hype. I’m not impressed with any prospect until they at least get to AAA, and only if they’re tearing it up there. Then I can get excited. Lackey sounds like the real deal, but nothing is guaranteed, I hope he’s as good as advertised, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Looks like Twins are at least trying to improve the BP by adding Nance. Someone will have to be removed to make room. They moved Abel to 60 day IL to make room on the 40 man roster. We’ll see what happens to make room in the BP.

I’m an old timer that grew up listening to Twins on the radio with Halsey Hall, Ray Scott, and Herb Carneal. They were great broadcasters that also brought baseball stories to the game to entertain listeners. Baseball stories and legends are one of the reasons I fell in love with the game and the Twins. My Grandfather used to listen and join in with his memories of past players. Think of some of the colorful past announcers like Harry Carey, Joe Garigiola, Joe Morgan, and Bob Costas that added stories into the broadcast. Great entertainment. Today’s broadcasts, especially Twins broadcasts, lack that element. It’s pretty sterile watching games today with all the stats and analysis. These guys reminded us that baseball is fun, even funny and that there are colorful personalities playing and associated with baseball. Loved it, let’s have more “color” and humor in the broadcasts in the future please.

On TwinsTV broadcast they announced Bailey Ober as tomorrow’s SP. is he starting or is Paredes as this article states? Love the 4 musketeers in announcing the game tonight and last night. Not much on the game, but lots of good stories and humor.

Twins just signed Matt Bowman to a minor league deal. For the second time this year. They must plan to give him a shot this time or why sign him again. Looks like they’re scouring the nooks and crannies of the minor leagues for arms. I actually think Bowman would be an improvement to this pen.

Talking about BP arms. Matthews doesn’t apply. From the OP: “None of Taylor Rogers, Travis Adams, Eric Orze, Kody Funderburk, Marco Raya, or Woo-Suk Go can be trusted in high-leverage roles, however. That being the case, Derek Shelton is often forced to use inconsistent arms in high-leverage situations, which has led to multiple late-game collapses for the Twins.” Focusing on BP internal arms, Funderburk, Laweryson, Adams, and others have not worked out. Some can still turn it around, but not looking good. External options haven’t worked either; Orze, Garcia, Roger’s, etc have not been very good. Morris is the only internal BP arm that has developed into a reliable option. Banda was a good external add that did work well until he went down.

Desperate times call for desperate measures….. if this is the plan for the BP, do it soon so they know if they have to make moves before/at the deadline. I’m all for developing internal options first. None of the AAA guys have worked out so far. If this second (or third) wave doesn’t work, then make a trade and get outside arms to help this terrible BP!

These TD MiLB awards should be limited to AA or AAA levels. It’s really hard to be enthused about players in the lower levels when most will not succeed as they progress up the ladder, if they progress at all.

I hope the organization understands that a focus on defensive ability for all position prospects is needed. It sounds like Houston is defensively MLB ready, so that is a great pick and a departure from most of Falvey past early round picks. I thought Falvey’s philosophy for pitching was to pick large body college pitchers in the late rounds and develop their velocity as they mature. That strategy has worked for the most part. Keep doing that. With Sean Johnson in charge of scouting, I don’t expect big changes.

One solution to the roster logjam that is coming/already here is to make a trade or two. Yes, I agree Roden should be the next OF promoted before Jenkins. If Buxton goes on the IL, then the roster manipulation is minimized. Don’t want to see Roden promoted to be a pinch runner or late game defensive substitute. An alternative is to trade Roden. I hear Philly is looking for OF help. Twins need BP arms. Work something out. Trade Jackson now in anticipation of Jeffers coming back from IL. Or trade Caratini or Jeffers. They’re not locked in to DFA’ing Jackson and losing him for nothing.

I think they should wait before going all in, one way or another, until July 23. They will have completed two series with Cleveland and one with the Cubs. If they are competitive and have a winning record through this stretch of games, then they have a shot at the playoffs. If not, then playoff hopes are dashed and start selling to prepare for 2027 and beyond. It would be great if they could swing a “small” trade right now to boost the BP for this critical stretch (Wook Suk Go signing notwithstanding). Give them some arms to take down Cleveland. In no way should a team with a chance at the playoffs in today’s baseball world be sellers. Any team can get hot at the right time and make a deep run. Like Tug McGraw said, “ You gotta believe!”

Jenkins has very few AB’s at AAA level. Roden should be Buxton injury replacement before Jenkins. Time to find out what they traded for. No need to rush Jenkins, especially with the team winning series and climbing into WC race. That was the stated goal by management at the beginning of the year, so I don’t know why people think they should change direction now that they are actually playing well. Let Jenkins play and learn at AAA, at least until end of season. He can compete for a job next ST, if there is a ST, and if he can play an entire ST.

Agree with most everyone here, he isn’t hitting enough to play RF. With all of the OF prospects in AAA I don’t understand the move to RF. It means two things: the Twins feel his glove will never be good enough for 2B (I agree), and they are positioning him to be the RH platoon/bench outfielder (meaning Martin or Fedko aren’t the RH outfield bench bat). Ok, I agree with both things, so if he can learn to play average or better OF defense, he can be a RH bench bat. I can’t see him coming in late in the game after pinch hitting though, so we’ll see where this goes. Twins must have a lot of confidence in his bat to try this out. It doesn’t hurt right now, unless/until he is taking a roster spot from others.

Minor trades to improve the BP if they win series in the next 2-3 weeks. Major trades if they lose series and fall further below .500. Either way, this roster needs help. As an earlier poster stated, can Falvey acolyte Zoll be trusted to make the right trades? He’s the decision maker about who to trade and what players to get back. They need defense and athleticism to be competitive long term. We’ll find out if they think they have the prospects now to step up and contribute or if they need to go get those players. From what Favey sold us for years, the prospect pipeline is loaded. That hype hasn’t borne fruit yet, but will the next wave pan out? I have my doubts based on the poor player development I’ve seen.