soyouresayingtheresachance

Yes do it. Extend him and Ryan. Then sign or acquire 1 more top end starter. My preference for a starting rotation is to have atleast a 3 headed monster to have for the playoffs. I like what Ryan and Taj bring with their work ethic. If we can find another high end starter like a Sonny Gray (probably not specifically him since Boston is in a WC spot now) but a guy like him. ERA in the 2s. That leaves 2 spots for the younger guys or guys coming back from injury like Pablo and we dont know how he'll perform.

This is why the Twins need to find an Ace. Ryan is a nice #2 guy, but he isn't the slump stopper that an Ace needs to be. Especially in the 2nd half of seasons. I'd still like to extend him because he is a solid pitcher. But this team needs to find an Ace. Taj is coming around but still has his hiccups. Zebby seems prone to hot and VERY cold streaks. Unfortunately he seems to be on the bad side of that equation right now. We need someone to step up and be THAT guy or we need to look outside the organization and get him here. Whatever happens, we cant be giving up 13 runs to one of the worst offensive teams in the league. I will add, a better defense would help some of these guys out immensely.

This is why the Twins need to find an Ace. Ryan is a nice #2 guy, but he isn't the slump stopper that an Ace needs to be. Especially in the 2nd half of seasons. I'd still like to extend him because he is a solid pitcher. But this team needs to find an Ace. Taj is coming around but still has his hiccups. Zebby seems prone to hot and VERY cold streaks. Unfortunately he seems to be on the bad side of that equation right now. We need someone to step up and be THAT guy or we need to look outside the organization and get him here. Whatever happens, we cant be giving up 13 runs to one of the worst offensive teams in the league. I will add, a better defense would help some of these guys out immensely.

Wait. So we could potentially get the best closer in baseball and they'd throw in Xander Boegarts if we give them less in trade? Sign me up! Xander is worth 1.3 WAR already this season with a down year on offense. He's not happy in SD and it shows in his play. Get him out of there and see if the team environment here suits him better. If he can get back to even close to who he was before signing in SD, $25M a year would be a steal. Admittedly, he could make things go the other way and completely sour the locker room. But man when hes playing right, hes fun to watch. He'd lock up SS or 2B for a while, too.

If Sonny Gray is available from Boston, while you're on the phone, get Aroldis Chapman in the deal, too. We'd have a top 3 in the rotation for a potential trip to the playoffs and a closer with a proven track record of success.

The team needs to figure out what they have. Buxton isnt going anywhere, nor should he. He's expressed a desire to wear 1 jersey his entire career and he's earned it. It would be a huge mistake to ever part with him. Keaschall, in a very short sample, looks to have found his defensive home in the outfield and his bat plays there. It seems very unlikely he's going anywhere. That leaves 1 spot for upwards of 4 prospects. You can hold them in AAA only so long. Yes, injuries have cost ERod a lot of time, but when healthy, he has nothing left to prove at AAA. Roden is already up getting a chance. Mendez also has very little, if anything to prove in St Paul. Then there's Jenkins, who could realistically be called up at any point now. Not to mention Fedko, who really didn't get much of a chance, he also has very little if anything to prove in the minors. And there's also Wallner down in St Paul. He technically still playing RF, even though his best position is DH. If he's rediscovered his swing, hes shown the ability to be a high end bat already. Not Necessarily OFers but we have Sabato and Gonzalez ready, too. These guys are just getting older while they wait for a chance.

Nice win! Glad to be back at .500! What is the obsession with constantly starting Gray? Just put Kriedler in. Set it and forget it.

IMO, as it sits, this team needs 1 more playoff caliber starting pitcher and closer. Minimum. Ryan and Taj you'd put up against any team in the playoffs. Nobody else as theyre currently performing would fit that description. Gomez and Morris are the only trustworthy guys in the pen. Recent moved seem to have raised the floor a little but we need at minimum a proven, experienced closer that can shut down the heart of an opposing line up in the 9th inning of a playoff game. Thats just my bare minimum. Of course another good arm or 2 in the pen would also be great. But with Sands coming back and assuming he will perform well as another set up guy that fills a spot. We just got Nance, so hopefully he is good. Maybe find a shutdown Lefty. Rogers and Fundy just dont seem to be trustworthy. Bullpen: Trade for Closer. Set up guys with Gomez, Morris, Sands. Move Paredes to the pen and see how he does. We have Nance. Go is a question mark and has a small window here to audition. Rogers and Fundy just are not trustworthy. Finding a great Lefty to displace them would be best. Starters obviously Ryan and Taj are 1-2. I'd like 1 more high end guy here. Zebby 4th. Ober/Prielipp 5th. Paredes to the pen. DH. Im trading Bell while his value is high. Hes not part of the future and a free agent at years end. Im moving Larnach from LF to DH. (I believe Larnach still has 1 arbitration year left) Catcher is covered. If we're going all in, Jeffers and Jackson are my Catchers. Caratini is traded. Jeffers gets a QO with hopes to resign him to an extension. 1B has Lewis. He's been doing fine. Could be upgraded or could stay with him and hope he continues to hit lime he has since his recall. 2B. Id like to see Clemens there everyday. His defense is great and his bat has been very good this year. SS has Kriedler until Culpepper is ready. Then Kriedler move to a super utility role that best fits his skills as a top defender at many positions. 3B is Lee's. I'd like someone better, but I dont see the team replacing him. LF is currently Larnach and Martin. Decent platoon. This is the spot an upgrade could be used the most IMO. Martin is great a great defender there but a Platoon bat at best right now. Larnach is best suited as a DH. My move? Trade for a high end LFer with a very good bat. Should be a very easy spot to fill at the deadline. (Or let a young guy come up and get a tryout) Martin is 4th OF that can still cover IF in an emergency. Larnach moves to DH. Center is Buxton. RF is covered by Keaschall. His bat has come around and I think he'll do well out there. Gray is sent down or traded. When Culpepper is called up, Kriedler becomes Super Utility guy. Martin is 4th OF. Rodens spot can be held by him or one of the other AAA guys waiting.

Absolutely 100% agree Kriedler should be starting at SS every day and Gray should be sent down. Even if Kriedlers bat stays weak, he is far and away the best defensive option at SS on the ML roster and honestly, the only person with any business even playing there. Other than a couple very nice grand slams, one of which I saw in person, Gray has mostly been quite awful on both sides of the ball. At this time, he is now easily the worst player on the team and someone a playoff team cant have on their roster.

I have been beyond impressed with Houston so far. His defense is MLB ready and so far the bat is keeping up. Very excited for him and I hope he continues to perform well and make his way up. On the flip side, I have not been impressed at all by Tait. I can't understand how or why he was rated so highly. He's struggling badly in a High A league where the offense is thriving across the league. Culpepper, Jenkins, Rodriguez all keep getting hurt. I think all 3 would've been called up by now if they could stay healthy. Diaw seems to be struggling after the promotion to AA. Hill has been another disappointment so far. Hoping he can figure it out. Quick has been a mixed bag. Has a decent start then gets lit up. The jump to AA should help get a better idea of where he is.

Its too bad Boston is surging. Adding Aroldis Chapman would add a proven closer to the roster and allow Morris and Gomez to be setup guys.

Of course its a risk. Signing any player is a risk. Which is why my preference would be to front load that contract to try and offset that decline. IF, big if, Pohlad is serious about being a perennial contender, its the kind of signings that will need to happen. If we dont keep Joe, we will still need to sign an Ace or #2 starter. Someone is going to have to get paid by the Twins to be a playoff pitcher.

Absolutely. Especially if theyre able to get a little creative with it. He is 100% a 30M+ pitcher right now. He doesnt rely on being upper 90s to be effective. He's a solid pitcher and not just a high speed thrower. I believe he'll adapt and still perform well as he ages. It would be nice to see the contract a little front loaded to account for possible decline, but I feel he has earned a contract in that range.

There is a 0% chance I'm trading Joe Ryan at the deadline this year. I am doing everything to extend him. Period. If hes not a Twin past next season, it would be a great disappointment. If Pohlad is serious he needs to find a way to keep players like Ryan around. Pay him. Pay that man his money.

If I'm in charge, I'm trying to extend Jeffers for 3 or 4 years. That would give enough time to figure out if Lackey, Tait, or Diaw are legit and make their way up to the ML roster. If an extension happens, Im trading Caratini. If an extension does not happen, then unfortunately I think Jeffers gets traded. The team could extend a QO but that number is something like 8M higher than the highest paid C right now. Not the route a "low budget" team like the Twins would normally take. Whatever happens, a catcher needs to be traded. Im keeping Jackson. Bell is known to start slow and heats up as the season goes on. He's done just that. IF he continues to perform like he has, you wont get enough back in a trade to replace what he's currently providing. Larnach. I was ready to trade him all off-season. I was ready to trade him the beginning of the year. It had been a disappointing career to that point with poor defense and an average bat. Now what do you do with him? He's still not good in the OF. But that bat has FINALLY shown up how we were hoping it would all along. Is it real? He's not shown this kind of production long term yet. Theres such a logjam in the OF. Any of the guys waiting in AAA can easily outperform him defensively. But no guarantee the bat will even match the production. If you can get a good return for him, like a very good BP guy with a year or 2 of control left and find a team that needs a DH, you might have to do it. Clear the logjam a bit. Its really the only path to clear space for all the OFs in AAA waiting. Buxton isn't going anywhere and neither is Keaschall. He may have found a home in RF. The other option would be to trade some of them. But that would a disappointing outcome since we haven't got to see most of them yet. If we aren't going to give guys like Fedko and Sabato a real opportunity, maybe trade them and see if they'll get a chance somewhere. There a lot of guys at AAA that are ready for a chance in the majors with nothing left to prove. I think any one of them can outperform Gray. But they still dont get an opportunity. Im for a mix of buying and selling. We need a shotdown closer and atleast 1 more very good to great BP guy. 1 more top end starter would help give the team a more legitimate shot to compete if they make the playoffs.