Exiled in Illinois

Right now the state of the Twins is so, so, bleak. I want to be positive, but all I feel about the organization at this point is disappointment and despair. For this fan, knowing payroll is going to be limited, the only scenario that is going to keep me interested is one where Lopez and Ryan are kept, and a massive youth movement everywhere else where possible. Larnach would need to be moved to make room. Jenkins needs to play at majors everyday. So does our next best outfield prospect. Wallner to DH/fourth outfielder. Best shortstop prospect gets a shot as our everyday shortstop. Lewis at third, gets another shot. keachall of course at second. Lee is primary infield utility. Best utility prospect gets second utility spot. First base? Who the hell knows, go with your best first base prospect. Jeffers at catcher tutoring best catcher prospect, no matter how young. Buxton in center. If he ends up injured or wanting out (understandable), next best prospect. Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Matthews, SWR, plus all that minor league depth as starters. Sands and Topa get retained, Funderburk gets a chance to earn a spot. Festa and Prileipp get their shots at the backend. Next best minor league prospect gets another spot (Raya?). Fill in the rest with minor leaguers/cheap vets. That team could lose a lot of games, but would have a shot at being competative in a lot of games. and I'd watch that team, even if loses a bunch. Salary dumping Lopez and Ryan and replacing them with more youth probably would have me checking the box score the next day rather than watching. Dumping them and replacing with a bunch of cheap vets/journeymen would have me checking in on them every week or two, at best. Twins management, please, please, at least put an interesting team on the field next year.

No way to know know if any of the trades will work out for Twins. Or if all the trades, in aggregate, will be a net win for Twins. I think when judging the trades in aggregate, there's value in the likely top 5 draft pick vs the likely 10-15 pick we were heading for. I can't help but wonder if helping to secure that higher pick, for arguably, a decent return, factored into the decision to move Varland. Anyways, I hope the local kid goes off and has himself a great career:)

Interesting article, interesting comments. Enjoy reading them. Its all fiction. Twins aren't going to make any big moves at deadline. Current ownership isn't going to invest in the future by being a seller, isn't going to invest in the present by being a buyer. They might make some move on the fringe to give us something to talk or read about, but otherwise, this is our team, lets hope they can make some magic the second half.

This is our team. No trades are coming to save us. No trades are coming to rebuild for the future. If the players we have perform well, we'll be fine. They haven't. If our players stay healthy, we'll be fine. They haven't. IF players are healthy and performing, we'll compete for playoff spot. This was true last all last off-season, all spring training, all this season. It is still true. Lets hope they can turn it around, again.

Don't know or really care if the Twins are in "top ten" of teams hurt by injuries. It looks to me the Twins have been stretched to the breaking point, or perhaps past the breaking point, of being able to remain a competative, playoff caliber team. I hope I'm wrong, but I think it's likely to be a long, frustrating season.

Let's not forget about Bride...he's already on the roster!

The Twins are not going to trade for an everyday postion player, at any postion. Third base will be Lewis, Lee, Castro, Bride. We'll cycle people through there until someone catches fire, if nobody does, we'll all talk about getting a third baseman as we watch a Twins-less playoffs. France is our first baseman, if he goes down, dont know what the heck we'll do. If one of our catchers go down, I don't know what the heck we'll do. More early off season fodder to talk about. I do think we need to have better long term solutions at catcher and first base, just don't see us solving these problem spots via trade during this season.

Too soon, too soon...

I get the concerns about the k's and health, but a healthy Buxton playing at full throttle is a beautiful thing to behold. Going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts, and hopefully, that will be a for a good, long time.

I think they should move Lewis to first base as a placeholder until Amick is ready :)

We don't need to trade for a up and coming 1st baseman type, we already have one (Lewis). Just need to convince him, and then get him ready to play there in 2026. Too late to make that change now, will have to hope France comes through till then.

Feel bad for Lewis, the team, and us fans. When he returns, I expect he will not be the everyday 3rd baseman. He'll time share it with whatever players are still on roster that can play 3rd base. I think he will get most of his at bats as DH, and I think that would be for the best this year. Longer term, he needs to be moved to 1st base, should have been done this year. He'll be a better fielder there, with less wear and tear. And yes, I know he injured himself running the bases:)

Starting to sound like promising prospects may have trouble getting enough AAA at bats....nice problem to have?!

There is a recurring theme that we don't give our young players/prospects a chance to reach their ceiling in the MLB. Julien, Miranda, Lee, Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, Festa, SWR, Matthews, Martin, Varland are all young players that were given a chance at the show, and appear they will be given more chances this year. Some failed, some didn't, but they all had their chance and they all will continue to get chances in the MLB this year. We signed two backups in positions of need to MLB contracts...Bader and France. What sure fire, MLB ready prospects are they blocking? Everyone says we need let young guys get experience, Well, here we go! If as a group they succeed, we're all going to have fun! Go Twins!

Go Twins! We have 4 proven all-star caliber players (Buck, Correa, Lopez, Castro)! We have 3 playoff caliber starters, including an ace! We have a solid back end of rotation with depth, and even some potential upside! We have and elite bullpen back end! We have very good setup guys in bullpen! The rest of bullpen is solid, with depth! We have 2 can't miss prospects in position to prove themselves (Lee and Lewis...we'll see if they really are cant miss)! We have a bunch of young guys who have shown flashes, but need to prove they can be solid MLB regulars! We have a solid farm system with help on the way! Wow! And we're a mid market team! Can any other mid-market teams make similar boasts? Bader and France are needed, competant backups. Backups. They have holes/questions in thier games. That's why they are backups. If they are forced to be primary starters, it'll be a long season. If our all stars don't perform or are injured, it'll be a long season. If our starters don't perform or are injured, it'll be a long season. If our bullpen doesn't perform or are injured, it'll be a long season. If our young guys don't perform, it'll be a long season. I swear, the only way to make some people happy about the Twins would be to have all stars at every position, backed up by other allstars! I'm happy with my Twins! Looking forward an exciting season! Go Twins!

Castro isnt the answer at 1st base, Lewis is. Assuming he can learn to play adequate defense there by opening day, pencil him in there as our every day 1st baseman. Doing so fills the vacancy at 1st without increasing payroll, hides his erratic arm in the field, and puts him in a less demanding position physically, helping him stay on the field. He's certainly athletic enough to become a quality defender there with time and could be our first baseman for years, Hopefully he can be an all-star caliber player there. That'll leave Castro, Miranda, Lee and Julian to platoon 2nd and 3rd, and we all know how Rocco loves to platoon! If they don't perform, it'll be a long season, but it's who we got.