mrguy

There's a very obvious argument he was called up way too early due to injuries, he only spent a month in AAA where his numbers actually were very good, his stuff was fine, and had results that could not have realistically carried over to MLB in such a short stretch(no shot a 5-1 K to BB rate where his sweeper somehow had a 40% chase with 50% whiff rate was going to hold, especially in a level higher), had no issues come up this year to need to dive deep into their depth, he probably would not have been up when he was, but probably could've been in the conversation if his numbers held. The thing is though with him on the roster and how short of a time he really had plus he still has all his options, it makes no sense to cut him when they can keep him in AAA and work on the elements he has that could potentially play. Way more choices that'd make sense to realistically move on from who had way more chances to prove whether or not they should be there

An underrated option to me is probably Freddy Fermin on the Padres. With Ethan Salas up, the Padres are currently rostering 3 catchers. I imagine they will want Salas to be an everyday option for the team, so I could see them shopping around either Fermin or Luis Campusano. both have about the same amount of team control remaining, so their value there is about equal, but Fermin would be an objective upgrade defensively in every metric at catcher over Caratini and Jeffers. They need SP depth and a solid everyday left field option, so I'd at least see if Larnach/some SP depth piece/Ober might get conversations started.

I've had the opinion for a while that I imagine Larnach and one of the bubble/IL pitchers like Paredes or Festa or whoever will probably be packaged as a trade somewhere. I feel like the package deal could attract a decent enough return to justify. I don't feel like I'd want to 100% move on from those players, but if there's a worthwhile return you could get, either MLB or MiLB, I wouldn't say no.

The Padres will probably be willing to offload Fermin after this season now that Salas is up and him and Campusano will likely be the primary catchers. It might be worth inquiring about Fermin, but I imagine they might ask for some SP depth(ironically being what they gave up to get him), which the twins might not have, at least not in a way they should be trading with. Internally, I wonder if Olivar would've been in the conversation had he not gotten injured.

I think what some people have already pointed out rings true: in some cases, it's really just time. Guys like Varland were already trending towards being VERY good and could've had that season with the Twins, but were sent away before the Twins could really get the full value of that. I'd say this is likely true about the current young guys who were called up over this season and last season. The twins and development coaches like Ryan Ricci, who basically moved up each level through the system with the current young MLB staff, made tons of strides in developing these guys in ways they absolutely would not have otherwise(the most obvious example being Prielipp being able to throw more innings in ONE season than he had his ENTIRE career up to this point). Are they going to immediately make impacts in their early 20s seasons? Probably not, but it's easy to recognize what talents they have and could develop in their young careers. If any of them got traded away and became good a few seasons from now, it wouldn't be surprising since the signs were there and the fault wouldn't be "twins can't develop pitchers," it's more the fault of "cheap/bad roster management made them cut their losses with these players before they could actually see the fruits of their labor" and to be fair, the twins aren't the only team who has made this mistake

If the twins revisit the idea of trading away Larnach, I can see them packaging someone like Paredes or Festa in that to try and get a little extra(giving up a player who had a solid year but only has one year of control like Larnach and attaching a controllable 25-26 year old pitcher who still has all their options would probably attract some team). Wouldn't be all that different from the Julien and Ohl trade with the Rockies last year(though that one didn't really work for either team).

I'll be curious what the new hire will end up being. Will they go outside hire, or promote internally? I genuinely would not be surprised if they floated the idea of promoting the Saints coaches up to the MLB level. Ricci has been quickly moving up the system and has basically been the coach for a decent amount of the high minors/MLB younger core across their minor league development so he'd make sense if the focus is someone that understands their future plans since he's the one that would have the most understanding of what their younger core can actually do. Obviously the question would be how good would they actually be in a major league role, and that I wouldn't know because it's not like the Saints had the best year pitching wise either.

At this point, I don't see why not give him a chance. I know the team is still attempting to stay in the wild card running, but adding some variety into the mix could end up being a spark the team is missing to get there. And I wouldn't be too worried about defense considering the twins have already demonstrated they can somehow turn guys into solid defensive first basemen.

This is actually the second time they've done this. I think last year they did this too, he went to the Angels but I don't think he ever actually played a game due to injury before signing back with the twins. Have a feeling we could end up seeing the same result again even if it leads to a 3rd time going through this process.

maybe hill stalling a bit in Cedar Rapids made the front office think he's got a lot more to go before he'll really make an impact and want to see if they can get something good now before the likelihood of falling off in Wichita

Dasan Hill, John Klein and Dameury Pena are the return the Jays are getting. Jays getting a solid haul in thsi deal, hope Hoffman got over his world series bomb!

I've reached the point where I don't think the bullpen is as big of a priority anymore in the deadline even as buyers. The clear need is a consistent starter as more starting depth gets injured or has some level of uncertainty at this moment in time. Trading for a mid-rotation type would probably be the move I'd prioritize if they're trying to make a postseason push.

would make sense if the Mets are going to go sell mode, but at the same time, I think the spots twins have the most enticing pieces to trade away like outfield prospects are kind of locked up in New York for a long time

Have to wonder if the Paredes injury has anything to do with how they stretched him out this week, throwing two different games with 3-4 innings with only 2 days rest?

good win, but you know the rotation is getting too shaky at the worst time when now your depth call ups are injured... hope it's not a significant amount of time lost for Paredes, especially with the trade deadline looming, who knows what the rotation will look like by next week