The Great Hambino

I've been trying to think about how this could relate to a sale, because I agree that it doesn't really make much sense to me. Could it be a hedge? Maybe clearing the books while they can in case whatever they have in the works falls through? Maybe they thought they had Ishbia in the bag and don't want to get burned again. So clear yourself of future commitments in case you're left holding the bag. I dunno I've never been a billionaire, but if I were, I would be thinking about a franchise purchase as a decades-long investment. I'm not sure prospective buyers are as concerned with the current state of the roster as fans might think. In my mind, they're playing the long game

I feel like he coulda had him at third on the bunt

I will believe there is a sale taking place when the agreement is signed. I think people are putting waaaay too much stock in vague rumors of “momentum” - whatever that means - and the word of an untrustworthy commissioner. The rumors were much more concrete when they said a sale would be done by opening day. You can believe it’s happening if you want. I don’t have to and won’t without actual evidence

I tell you what, this is more honest and less insulting than the actual letter

I'm thinking that at least two of three of Lopez/Ryan/Ober are gone by the start of next year. I tend to the more pessimistic viewpoint of a quick rebuild. If it turns out that way, then they need to devise some ways to get all these guys turns in the major league rotation. In this situation it's a true evaluation year, so treat it that way. They shouldn't be locked into a traditional 5 man rotation in that case. Get creative - 6 man rotation, cycle between AAA and the majors in some systematic way, piggyback - the best thing they can hope to get out of the 2026 season is information, so use it accordingly. And let them fail, let them learn. Stretch out the guys showing promise as a starter. Find back-of-the-bullpen quality traits and develop them in the guys that aren't. And if they show neither? Let them marinate in AAA if it makes sense, or give them a chance to show value in long relief depending on stuff, age, options, etc. For the guys you've been evaluating in your system, maybe you've already earmarked them as relief material (Raya?) and you can put them in the bullpen from the get go. Hopefully by the end of the year you can see both a rotation and an actual bullpen starting to form. Whatever's left of Sands and Topa can keep the bullpen afloat with what I'd assume will be a DFA conga line of Jay Jackson-type signings. But get them out of the way as soon as some young guys are showing bullpen promise. A noncompetitive season doesn't have to be a wasted one if they treat it right

Per Dan Hayes: Keaschall and Hatch up, Keirsey and Davis optioned to St Paul

Now that they have a surplus of lefthanded outfielders at least within shouting distance of the main roster, trades for Larnach and/or Wallner need to be considered this offseason. My preference would be for the more expensive Larnach to go, but Wallner could've been the position player version of Varland (pre-arb, but netting a real return) if he hadn't fallen off a cliff for the better part of this year. Now it would be selling low. But someone needs to move to balance out the roster a bit

Every team produces jack squat from their international free agent system? I understand that catcher is a premium position for a reason. But the Twins have a serious lack of prospects up and down the system and haven't done a good job addressing it (at least until this deadline; as the dust has settled the catchers have been some of my favorite acquisitions). I just hope they're not paying $10MM for their version of Vasquez or Maldonado next year. If the selloff continues into this offseason, I hope finding a high-minors catcher or two is a real priority

They put him in a position to make his own choice regarding his future. That is not failing him. If anything, that's treating him with respect. And if this rebuild/teardown continues going they way I fear it will, then he will be just about their only marketable player left. They'll run out of ways to repackage Buxton bobblehead night

Hopefully Paddack is too bloated from the Tigers' superior pregame spread to pitch well tonight

It can be tough to develop catchers when you only draft one like every five years and your international free agent program is pretty much worthless

Hopefully (Insert Name Here) can give TBD a break in the rotation. That guy starts a ton of games!

There's pretty narrow criteria defining who would be eligible for one of the supplemental PPI draft picks. They would have to be a top 100 prospect AND have fewer than 60 days of service time coming into the season AND have made their MLB debut with their current club AND be with the MLB club within 2 weeks of the start of 2026. If I'm understanding this correctly, and since there's fewer than 60 days left in the season, I don't think that there's anyone they could call up at this point that would jeopardize this status. They either are ineligible anyway because they debuted elsewhere, already accrued too much this year (Keaschall), or they won't have accrued enough service time to lose eligibility for next year (ERod, Raya). Now, while I really don't think the PPI program is a worthwhile justification for keeping guys down at this time, I understand the logic of holding off on the service clock for normal purposes, even I wonder if the trade-off of delayed development is worth it all the time. I mean, are we seriously worried about controlling James Outman for his age 33 season or whatever? They need to figure out what they have in him now.

There are about a dozen guys (give or take a couple depending on your POV) that have no business being part of future plans that are currently on the 40 man. While I think they're still imbalanced in certain areas (are they going to teach one of their endless supply of mediocre lefty outfielders to catch?), there won't be any hard decisions to be made on Rule V guys this winter

I think there's a piece of athletic tape with "Hatch" written on it being slapped onto the nameplate of his locker as we speak

30 year old righty reliever Thomas Hatch claimed off waivers from KC, supposedly to be added to the 26 man tomorrow. There was space on the 40 man, but no word yet on the corresponding active roster move

I believe a bet on the Tigers tomorrow is what they call arbitrage

Must explain why no contenders wanted any relievers at the deadline

What did you expect him to be? A cheap potential closer with 4 years of control?

Now that the dust has settled with all the player acquisitions, the 40-man is still sitting at only 38 players not counting the 60 day IL, even after McCaughan's contract was selected to fill SWR's spot on the 26-man. If we assume one of those spots will be filled shortly by Keaschall, then what's up with the other one? I haven't heard any reports that Pablo is anywhere near returning

I think Pablo's return/nonreturn this season might provide a little insight into their offseason plans If they plan on keeping him as a rotation anchor beyond this year, I could see them shelving him for precautionary purposes. If they plan on moving him in the offseason, then surely they'll want to showcase for other teams that he's fully healthy again. It's moot if he has a legitimate setback in recovery. I haven't found any recent reports, but as of late July I saw he had progressed to some long toss but had not yet begun throwing off a mound. Anyone know of some more recent reports?

I understand the big picture approach, but several aspects of this bother me. One of those is the position-player portion of the returns on these trades. 100% of the position players brought back are either a teenaged C or a LH hitting outfielder. The catching part makes sense given their refusal to spend meaningful draft capital at the position and the absolute dearth of meaningful catching prospects throughout the organization. But how many unproven and/or lower-ceiling LH hitting outfielders can an organization have? Before the trades, they already had former prospects not reaching their former ceilings (Larnach, Wallner) or never really possessing a meaningful ceiling in the first place (Keirsey) at the big league club with multiple years of control. Their top two current prospects (Jenkins, ERod) are LH hitting outfielders. And then they go and add three more (Roden, Outman, Mendez) at the deadline. I believe all but Jenkins either are already on the 40 man or need to be added this winter. That's a lot of LH hitting outfielders They keep telling us that this is all necessary to be in a position to contend in the short-term. The lineup needs some immediate upgrades for short-term contention to even be possible. Unless they plan on expoiting some extreme market inefficiency on LH outfielders this winter, I don't see how anything they've done accomplishes that goal. I realize that the whole point of this rebuild is a more long-term contention window, regardless of the corporate slop Falvey's been peddling. I guess I just wish they'd quit peeing on my leg and telling me it's raining

I totally get that Lopez and Ober were untradeable at the deadline. And that could bleed into this offseason if Pablo can't re-establish his health during the remainder of the season. For those two specifically (and anyone else that develops an injury), health has to be factored heavily in finding the right trade window. You touched on something that I hadn't been thinking of but definitely needs to be considered: how do teams viewing the potential of a lockout in the 26/27 offseason, and what does that do to the trade market up until that point? Will teams in a contention window be more motivated to add for 26 if they think 27 isn't there? On the other hand, will teams shy away from adding long-term assets if they are concerned about the lack of a 27 season or what the landscape looks like with a new CBA? I have no idea how that will play out. Should be very intersting/depressing

All bets are off if a new owner takes control, but it doesn't seem like they weren't interested in moving Ryan at the deadline. Seems like they either held the line on their price more firmly than with the relievers, or just ran out of time (maybe both?) If the idea that their new owner had a hand in their strategy at the deadline (I'm very skeptical of this, but others seem to be treating this as fact), I don't think we'd have seen the smoke around a Ryan trade that we did on deadline day if they envisioned extending him. And they could stagger the sell-off of them over different trading windows, but wouldn't their theoretical value decrease with each window? I know it's more nuanced than that for starting pitchers, but that seems to be the general trend line

They didn't need to trade the entire bullpen either, but here we are. I have a hard time seeing a path to real contention in the Lopez/Ober window (you could say I'm not optimistic that the payroll saved will be reinvested in the lineup improvements needed to make short-term contention a possibility). And if that's true, why would you keep any of them, let alone all of them?