mikelink45

I would take Buxton and Berrios over the version of Cruz and Donaldson we have this year.

I suspect he wonders too. As a person with personal issues he does not seem like someone who should be given such a tenuous treatment. I also do not think he will ever be much in MLB.

That is really disappointing although Balazovic missing the year is a real set back, I was looking for him to be in the rotation by July.

With all the call ups and IL players at MLB the minors have to be weakened and then to see five of our prospects out for injuries too means our entire system is hurting. What a year.

Andrew I am really impressed, you wrote a compelling description that almost felt like this was a game that mattered and these were real MLB teams. Why is it that our extended players - Kepler, Dobnak, Polanco, Sano all feel like dead weights around the team ankles? I am about to leave for a week working on a cruise in Puget Sound and I am not sure I want to have internet access - if I do I might tune in again.

I am so delighted - not that it matters, but I have wanted Celestino all season. A true CF is more important than his batting line and I think he will become a future star.

Yes, but we have Sabato, Rooker, Wallner - Brent Rooker 24 K - 19 games, Aaron Sabato 41 K - 24 games, Matt Wallner 28 K - 17 games. With Sano now 59 K 39 games our big sluggers are 142 K in 99 games. What more could you ask for?

Three years and 30 starts according to BR - that use to be a starting pitchers one season. Suspension plus injuries have not kept him in the rotation. His body looks like it could break down at any time. Three years 3 WAR that is 1 per year - replacement level. Let's work on the next young arms instead and see what we can get for Pineda.

We were excited when our prospects came up and the future looked bright - in 2019 that future arrived and it was great, but we expected a longer run. The foundation was going to be Berrios - I know all the arguments that he is not a true Ace, but he has been our best pitcher and is a solid middle of the rotation arm that we did not build around. 53 - 40 with a 4.11 era for his six years 8.1 WAR. The expected stars on offense were Sano and Buxton Miguel Sano - who is in his 7th year (7.8 WAR). He has played in 100+ games three times. 236/329/489 is his seven year slash line, but look at the trends - BA - 269, 236, 264, 199, 247, 204, 158. His last three OPS - 923, 757, 656. BR offensive War (defense is negative so I won't bother. He is here for his bat.) 2.4, 1.7, 3.1 0.1, 3.7, 0.5, 0.1. Miguel seems like he plateaued and is lost. Byron Buxton - 7 years and 14.5 WAR - if only he could stay healthy. No doubt his hitting is on the rise - here is his yearly OPS 576, 714, 728, 383, 827, 844, 1.180. Buxton has found his bat, but he has played in 456 games out of a possible 922. He has missed half his possible games. This does not diminish his quality when he is on the field, but makes it hard to cover CF when your other option is moving Kepler or using Cave. The next three foundation pieces did not have the same star power potential, but they were expected to be solid pieces to round out the team Jorge Polanco - no longer a SS his value has diminished in the field. He has contributed 8.8 WAR. His career slash is 274/333/430/762 and he has been fairly steady, but in 2019 his OPS was 841 after a career streak of 700s+, but then 2020 and 2021 that OPS mark dropped below 700 and with his fielding not being an asset any longer he career seems to have flattened out and his value may have peaked. Max Kepler shocks me with a 13.2 WAR. A slash line of 236/318/443/761 does not seem to warrant such a good WAR grade. When I look at his OWar 9.7 and his DWar 2.1 they add up to 11.8 so someone will have to explain BR math to me. He peaked in 2019 like so many did and had his only year with more than 20 HRs, It was the only year he hit more than 250. And it was the only year he slugged more than 500. Surrounding 2019 his BA was 224 in 2018, 228, and 212 the last two years. Eddie Rosario is the last of the big six and they have already given up on him and let him shuffle off to Cleveland, so he was the first of the six to disappoint enough to be moved on. His seven year slash line is 274/308/469/777. His peak was 2017/2018. Buxton 14.5According to BR WAR Rosario had a total of 12 which means it we rank the six by WAR it would be Kepler 13.2 Rosario 12 Polanco 8.8 Berrios 8.1 (he is the only one with six seasons instead of seven) Sano 7.8

Lets hope so - even the announcers are having trouble staying enthused. In July the Vikings start to dominate the news, lets hope the team has some momentum then. I would hope all the prospects are playing, but then that would only damage the St Paul team.

I am trying to learn more about our minor leaguers, but I am constantly surprised by names I never heard of. Louisville is an interesting town with a lot of baseball history - part of the original 12 team NL, it was the first team to sign and play Honus Wagner. Then the NL wanted to get rid of four teams and forced the Colonels out of the league. I have been to the bat factory, but not the park - do they have any of their history displayed?

Boy the Twins must be excited to see that they can sell more tickets for upcoming games - now, if only the fans were excited to buy those tickets. Who will win the attendance contest - Saints or Twins?

Do you have to draw the short straw to get to describe these games? How painful. When two rookie outfielders (Larnach, Kiriloff), two waiver wire outfielders (Refsnyder, and Garlick) and the perpetual butt of the jokes - Astudillo are becoming your top five players the season does not look very good. (Sorry to leave you off the list Jose.)

Thanks for the response - this exchange is what makes TD so valuable and enjoyable. I would not have wanted your assignment.

Refsnyder wins for me, Larnach second, Garver third, but you lost me with Sano right away. Maybe my list is a reflection on why this season has not gone so well. If I list the most disappointing batters of the month I have too many candidates. Donaldson leads the way despite his last day giving him 3 hits and making his stats much better - too many disappointing big ABs without delivering. Cruz is second because we also expect so much from him and this was his worst month as a Twin. Sano comes in third because my first thought when he comes to the plate with a runner on is strikeout and he does deliver. Yes he has a few games where we all watch in awe, but they are not enough despite the fact that they influence his overall numbers. I would like to judge him on a game by game basis - good game, bad game. Then there is Simmons who did not his well at all and his fielding mistakes often do not show up in the error column, but are too many for a player paid for his glove.

I am sorry, but if management is overlooking him, the fans are not and we do not like what we see. The win-loss records with and without him is a silly comparison - there are 10 players minimum in every game. If one player made a real difference Mike Trout might get into a playoff game. No - Sano is not delivering. If he has a game winning home run in three or four games it does not make up for his other deficiencies.

I have given up on Rooker as a top prospect. He has power and a team like the Orioles or Tigers could use him - how about a trade. I hate to see a player stuck in the minors with minimum hope of being called up when there are opportunities out there. I would like more minor league free agency. That does not change my mind about his status with the Twins. Kiriloff and Larnach are here to stay - if Buxton can be healthy (a huge if) he has center. Refsnyder might be a comet that flames out soon, same with Garlick, but if either of them can continue their production we have four for the OF. Although they seem to like Kiriloff at 1B. In another year I see Celestino rather than Rooker as that additional OF - a true CF. And we still have Sano on contract so I see him continuing to have a large number of plate appearances - at DH as Cruz moves on.

I see your reasoning, but they are near the top of the list for me. Sano comes up in so many high leverage situations and I guess I have to qualify my initial statement here - I expect him to strike out and he does - so the reality is he does meet my expectations. Good job Tom.

Okay, we beat the Orioles - see another response where I quote the Camdenchat blog - now what. Lucky us more Orioles, but when the pitcher is 1 - 6 with a 5.80 era how much should we celebrate? We did learn today that the best way to limit the BP meltdown is to just keep pitching - nice job Berrios. I just cannot get behind the trade Berrios train. What are we without him - Baltimore's little brothers? Berrios, Kiriloff, and Larnach are the hopes for the future. Tomorrow we face Bruce Zimmerman! Get those bats ready - what bats? - I don't know.

He signed with high hopes and now he is just embarrassed.

I am sorry, but are you talking about a team that has just lost 14 in a row? Yes they have players with major league talent - maybe 4 or 5. This quote is from their camden yard blog site: "That is a real 2021 Orioles punctuation mark on a loss. The catcher called up for his defense is the guy who can’t block the pitch. Was it Wynns’s fault? I would say not really. Wynns did everything he was supposed to, and then the ball caromed off of his chest protector in just about the only spot where it would ricochet several feet away towards the Orioles dugout. Bad luck explains a lot of why the O’s have lost 14 in a row." https://www.camdenchat.com/2021/5/31/22462193/mlb-scores-orioles-twins-recap-losing-streak

That I can agree with, unfortunately what we have seen before is terrible so the bar is quite low (except in Detroit).

Nice summary - gives me some more hope for the future. The only one I question is Rooker - I know he is an honorable mention, but with his age and experience his all or nothing approach leaves me cold, and it would seem that the Twins are not too impressed either.

How great to have this diversion from the Twins MLB club. Nice write ups and great insights. Thank you Seth.

Hard to comment - the Twins have really deflated my baseball optimism. Love what Miranda is doing and it looks like some good minor league pitching, but Ober is not one I have faith in.