mikelink45

Killebrew and Versalles and Gagne and Gaeti are the top duos.

Wheeler and Graterol with Odorizzi and Berrios - then find the fifth component - Dobnak, Smeltzer...

In 12 month - Graterol will exceed Boyd by significant WAR. Trading for Boyd is not a step forward.

Up to a point I agree with you, but ultimately you have to ask what is the most important missing ingredient and how do we get it. I suspect there are few fans who do not see pitching as the essential ingredient.

I think a trade will change the team a lot and you are right both seem more like LFers but have been projected to RF.

My suggestion is to see which MiLB prospects seem closest - their readiness makes our starters more available for trade. If Sano moves to first and Cron is gone then it will be Lewis/Blankenship/Polanco at third and SS. I do not see us going for a Rendon - although I like it and there are no 3B trades out there. So I see Polanco as someone who can bring back value and still is replaceable within at this point. In the OF only Kepler looks like he would bring something, a good year, a good contract - that looks promising, but who needs a corner OF and has a good pitcher to trade us? I hate to say it, but other than Polanco and Kepler I do not see anyone bringing in value. If Rosario is as bad as everyone of the articles points out other teams would see the same value.

If you consider him better than Rosario and that his deal is team friendly then he is the kind of player who can get us a better trade. We do have Larnach, Kiriloff, Rooker who can play RF if we trade and gain a valuable starting pitcher. But then this blog is not asking to trade him. I just want to ask what he is worth on the open market. I see so many wanting to trade Rosario and then saying he isn't that good. If so, what does he get us in a trade? Ultimately you must trade value to get value and I think we should have this discussion about other Twins position players as well.

That supposition needs to be tested by what we can acquire and what that player would mean to our potential success

The friendly contracts are worth much more on the open market making the return much better.

The only reason you would trade him is if the value received was more important to the team, like a number one or two rotation arm. Just like the talk about trading Rosario, the question is - what is either really worth on the open market.

We are already in need of a good back up CF

I am not advocating trading him, but I have read so many trade Rosario scenarios I began to wonder what would happen if we took another of our players and put them out there. Admittedly Betts is the FA RF that will dominate all discussions, but what would Kepler bring us? Here are his basic stats for the MLB career and a comparison with his MIB stats. The first note is that he had not matched his MILB stats in the first three years, but he did last year - OBP/S/OPS. Is this his next platform from which he will continue to get better? His third year was a drop from his first and second so it has not been a steady rise. The columns are BA, games, AB, R, H, 2B, 3B,HR,RBI, BB, K, SB, CS, OBP, S, OPS 2016 23 Minnesota AL MAJ .235 113 396 52 93 20 2 17 63 42 93 6 2 2 .309 .424 .734 2017 24 Minnesota AL MAJ .243 147 511 67 124 32 2 19 69 47 114 6 1 5 .312 .425 .737 2018 25 Minnesota AL MAJ .224 156 532 80 119 30 4 20 58 71 96 4 5 8 .319 .408 .727 2019 26 Minnesota AL MAJ .255 135 529 103 135 34 0 37 92 61 100 2 4 5 .339 .529 .868 Minor League Totals .281 457 1704 268 479 102 37 35 273 206 301 42 9 21 .363 .446 .809 Major League Totals .239 554 1975 302 472 116 8 93 282 221 406 18 12 20 .320 .447 .767 This is from https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/93013/max-kepler/ Despite his injuries at the end of the season he was second to Polanco in PA - Rosario was third on the Twins. Cruz was fourth. In Runs scored - Polanco was first 107, Kepler second 98, Rosario was third 91 - I guess he did get on base, and Cruz was fourth with 81. In hits it was Polanco, Rosario, Cruz and Kepler was fourth. In HR with 36 he was second to Cruz and followed by Sano and Rosario. IN RBIs he was third behind Rosario and Cruz. In strikeouts he was sixth which is good - Sano despite missing part of the season was still number one, followed by Cruz, Polanco and Schoop. Rosario was 10th in the team. BA he was 9th (Rosario was 4th) behind Arraez and Cruz at the top. He was number 6 on the team in OBP while Rosario is 10th. Slugging he was 4th on the Twins at 519 and Rosario was 5th at 500 In total bases it is Polanco, Cruz, Kepler, Rosario. There is the batting comparisons. In WAR, Kepler is 4 and Rosario is 13 - there are pitchers in the WAR list. So Eddie is hurt by fielding comparisons. Rotographs https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/2019-outfield-rankings/ has Rosario ranked number 29 among all MLB outfielders. Kepler is 48. And Buxton is 44. New Arena ranked the Twins OF - number 14 out of all the MLB clubs - coming in to last season they wrote, "Combined ’18 WAR: 6.1 https://newarena.com/mlb/ranked-every-mlb-teams-outfield-trio-from-worst-to-best/ If you don’t follow the Minnesota Twins or one of their rivals in the American League Central, you are probably unaware of the talent roaming the outfield at Target Field. Eddie Rosario has been a very good player the past two years for the Twins — posting a two-year average of 26 HR, 78 RBI, .289/.326/.493. As a regular in left, Rosario saved six defensive runs last year. Byron Buxton, the most talented of the bunch, is set to return to the starting lineup after appearing in just 28 games a season ago. Buxton is a five-tool player with the potential to be one of baseball’s best players when he puts it all together. He possesses top-notch speed, a great hit tool, and superior defensive ability. Still only 25 years old, Buxton has time to hit his stride. Occupying the other corner outfield position is Max Kepler. Kepler is good for around 20 homers per year, but also 100 strikeouts. Kepler had a great year in the field in ’18, saving 10 defensive runs." Now that I have put together the information I can find (I am not an advanced stat head - sorry, you can fill that in) you have seen in various TD articles trades with Rosario in the deal. Now put Kepler in and what do we get? Does he have the same perceived value to others that he does with the Twins?

Nick you wrote an article that has generated four pages of comments so far! That is excellent, Sconnie I think you can let this continue. It is the hot stove time and discussions, even arguments are the fuel for the winter - especially until the team takes some actions we can all react and over react to. But in the mean time, keep pushing us and let the readers push back - I have just had a very fun read going from top to bottom in this posting. Thank you.

This was really fun and I was all in until Gibson came back. If I spend time to think about it I really do not see Betts as a good trade - it is one year and gone which is not good enough for that load of talent. If he came with an extension I would be all in.

I feel like I should have a cut and paste to put in each time the Rosario is the worst batter, worst fielder, should be traded is rebroadcast by a TD writer. I am just amazed - we finish a great season in which only one of our three starting fielders stays on the field and he is blasted for that. He played injured, he played tired, he rose to some great heights and slipped to some big lows, but he was there every day and I did not want Cave or Wade replacing him. Baldelli was MOY, smart, savvy, even analytics savvy, and he played him all year at number 4. Was he only smart with the rest of the lineup and roster and somehow uninformed about Eddie? Let's write about the rest of the Twins and let Eddie rest a while. The FO will decide what they want to do with him and then we can debate, but for now how about an article about Kepler - is he really advancing, what is his ceiling or LaMonte Wade, will he stick around, are we stuck with Cave as our extra OF? When will Larnach, Kiriloff, Raley, Rooker be in the lineup?

I love him in 2018, was terribly disappointed in 2019. I have no expectations for 2020.

Wow - another trade Rosario idea! Come on - if he is traded for something really good I am fine, but these blueprints seem to require that he goes. If he is that expendable, why do others want him. If we want something really good maybe the blueprints should start dangling Buxton or Kepler. Bring Cron back. His bat plays well. I am actually worried that we will move Sano again (remember the OF) and mess with him just as he is getting his bat in order. Vogt is 35, signing Castro is a better option.

His 1.4 Whip worries me. Loss of velocity is an issue, if control is an issue too that is not good.

Definitely no. There is a time to move on - for both player and team. We do not want a reunion, we want a championship and sentiment is out the window. New blood! New Arms. Really good arms. Yes this is an arms race and I do not want to line up for the same results - give us October worthy arms.

I agree with DocBauer on the September limit. What this hurts is the minor leaguers. For all the anguish who was really hurt when teams could reward their young players with time on the bench? The pitchers are the ones who will suffer. In September when everyone is worn down the rookie arms helped rest the older arms and this is good, do we want more arm injuries? I do like the three batter rule and I am fine with the 26th man. Teams will still use the 15 day IL like they did the 10 day, but it is another rule change that really does nothing to help anyone. How does it speed up the game? What is the benefit? I liked the commuter train from the minors.

Wow - was Molitor there to congratulate him? What does MOY really mean? Ask Molly and Gardy how much it means.

This is a fascinating topic - I see the projections and find it interesting, but the question I have is where regression is usually found - is it BA, OPS, Power or some other stat. It would seem to me that plate discipline is like speed - it is less likely to regress? Secondly, if MLB removes the rabbit ball do we consider a lesser HR total to be regression?

I join the choir that says don't trade Balazovic. I push his talent, pair him with Graterol in the rotation. I love the idea of Bumgartner or Wheeler, but RPs rise and fall with rapid and unpredictable regularity. I do not trade a possible starter for the RP of the week. I also do not make Gonzalez the regular LF. If you trade Eddie (it seems like most of TD wants to) then put Wade out there or push Kiriloff or Larnach's time clock and get them in the line up. Not excited about Pomeranz nor am I a believer in Pineda. Odorizze, Berrios, Wheeler or Bumgartner, Balazovic, Graterol is my rotation. Of course every year we need at least 8 starters and I see Smeltzer as a rotation filler with Dobnak and then we go with the hot hand in the minors if we need more.

You are too sharp!

I am glad to have you join my choir. I am really puzzled by the Eddie Hate. Your stats are terrific - and really help to dispel those erratic defensive metrics that people like to quote. Thanks. https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11683-%7B%3F%7D/