mikelink45

I am high on Taylor and the discussion on the teams WAR leaders seems to agree with me. I have seen a lot of criticism of him, but he has been a really valuable option - more than Farmer, Gallo, Luplow.

I do not think this is necessary, but we do have some excess talent that we cannot get on the roster. But these trade ideas do not really clear those obstacles. What would you have to do to trade Buxton for Alonso?

I like to see a BR WAR comparison. Correa is number 11 on their list. And Matt Wallner slips into the top 10. Lucky for us the team stepped up, but what a year it could have been if the big contracts had produced. Name Age G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR ▼ waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Acquired Pos Summary Team Total 28.6 1542 5357 17 3 0 7 -2 26 2.9 182 208 20.3 .502 .501 19.4 0.7 201 $104,499,590 Ryan Jeffers 26 83 281 9 -1 -1 0 4 12 1.2 10 21 2.1 .514 .507 2.1 0.5 21 $741,650 Amateur Draft 2/HD Michael A. Taylor (10-day IL) 32 120 354 -2 1 0 5 3 8 0.8 12 20 1.9 .506 .505 1.4 0.8 15 $4,500,000 Traded *8H Max Kepler* 30 111 413 7 -1 0 3 -3 5 0.6 14 20 1.9 .505 .503 1.6 0.0 17 $8,500,000 Amateur Free Agent *9H/D Edouard Julien* 24 89 323 10 1 1 -4 0 8 0.8 11 19 1.9 .509 .505 2.3 -0.4 23 Amateur Draft 4DH/3 Royce Lewis 24 46 188 10 -1 0 3 1 13 1.3 6 19 1.9 .527 .508 1.6 0.4 16 Amateur Draft 5/DH6 Donovan Solano 35 119 391 9 -1 -1 1 -4 4 0.4 13 17 1.7 .503 .502 1.6 -0.3 16 $2,000,000 Free Agency 3H45D Jorge Polanco# 29 66 281 6 0 0 0 1 7 0.8 10 17 1.7 .511 .505 1.7 0.1 17 $7,500,000 Amateur Free Agent 45D/H Willi Castro# 26 105 329 -2 4 1 3 0 6 0.6 11 17 1.6 .505 .504 1.3 0.3 14 $1,800,000 Free Agency 758H/469D1 Matt Wallner* 25 56 187 8 0 1 2 -3 9 0.9 6 15 1.5 .516 .505 1.3 0.0 13 Amateur Draft 79/DH Kyle Farmer 32 100 292 0 1 0 0 3 4 0.4 10 14 1.4 .504 .503 1.4 0.3 14 $5,585,000 Traded 456H/73D Carlos Correa 28 126 546 -6 -3 -4 0 7 -5 -0.5 18 13 1.3 .496 .497 1.2 0.8 13 $33,333,333 Free Agency *6 Byron Buxton (10-day IL) 29 85 347 -2 3 1 0 -7 -4 -0.4 12 8 0.7 .495 .497 0.7 -0.7 7 $15,142,857 Amateur Draft D/H Alex Kirilloff (10-day IL)* 25 69 258 5 -1 1 -5 -4 -3 -0.3 9 6 0.5 .495 .498 1.0 -0.9 11 Amateur Draft 397/HD Joey Gallo* 29 111 332 0 1 -1 -1 -5 -6 -0.6 11 5 0.5 .494 .496 0.6 -0.6 6 $11,000,000 Free Agency 37H89/D Jordan Luplow 29 21 51 0 1 0 1 -1 1 0.1 2 2 0.2 .503 .500 0.1 0.0 1 Waivers 7/HD8319 Andrew Stevenson* 29 6 17 -1 0 0 1 0 1 0.1 1 1 0.1 .511 .500 0.0 0.1 0 Free Agency /8H7 Jovani Moran (7-day IL)* 26 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 .500 .500 0.0 0.0 0 $726,200 Amateur Draft 1 Cole Sands (40-man) 25 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 .500 .500 0.0 0.0 0 $723,650 Amateur Draft 1 Trevor Larnach (40-man)* 26 50 188 -1 -1 0 -3 -2 -7 -0.7 6 0 -0.1 .487 .496 0.3 -0.5 3 $733,650 Amateur Draft 79/HD Kyle Garlick 31 14 30 -1 0 0 0 -1 -2 -0.2 1 -1 -0.1 .485 .499 -0.1 -0.1 -1 $750,000 Waivers /9H7D Jose Miranda (60-day IL) 25 40 152 -8 1 -1 1 1 -6 -0.6 5 -1 -0.1 .484 .496 -0.2 0.2 -2 $727,850 Amateur Draft 5/D3H Christian Vázquez 32 88 304 -14 -1 -1 -1 5 -11 -1.1 10 -1 -0.1 .487 .493 -0.1 0.5 0 $10,000,000 Free Agency 2/3H4 Nick Gordon (60-day IL)* 27 34 93 -8 0 1 1 0 -6 -0.6 3 -2 -0.3 .483 .496 -0.4 0.1 -3 $735,400 Amateur Draft 874H/6 José De León (60-day IL) 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Free Agency 1

And Lewis would be number 1

I hope the FO is thinking of trade possibilities this winter with the players in St Paul who will be blocked in Minneapolis. They all look really good. If only the pitchers were as exciting as the hitters. Woods-Richardson looks like he has potential for a promotion soon and with Balazovic and Headrick struggling this year he might have passed them on the homegrown list.

I would rather have Celestino back up for a short period if we need a CF option.

Wait until next year. Keep the chemistry that is currently on the Twins and plug in a couple high performing prospects. We really don't need what Buxton has given this year and we can't spend the time to experiment when the post season is approaching. I would be more excited to see Taylor back on the team.

How does he bring his value back? I agree with those who point out that Lewis and Lee and Polanco and Julien have blocked him. I also think Kiriloff keeps him out of 1B and I expect we will have Solano and Farmer back. Martin may join Larnach, Kepler, Buxton (?), Taylor and Castro in the OF. If he is hitting in the minors at this stage in his career does that count as regaining his value? I do not have the answer but I feel sorry for him. He seemed to be on the right path.

I would have used the IL - 10 day. Rest him. Another start in St Paul is still putting more strain on his arm. Give him vacation, let him get service time and then start him with the Twins.

That Saints lineup is really good - impressive and promising. How many will be in Minneapolis next year?

Realignment is the only thing that can address this. As long as our AL Central group is kept together they are only motivated against one another.

Nice job by Varland. I think he is going to be a difference maker. Wallner has been sitting to close to Gallo - make contact!!!! 11 Ks by this team on its crash course to a new strikeout record.

Nice optimism and justified by the way our team is playing. I really give a lot of credit to Lewis - sometimes it is more than a bat - he seems to have the energy and personality to do what we expected Correa to do. Nice to have a real team leader. Everything you said is accurate, what you didn't say is that we continue to let players like Gallo and Luplow take ABs that should go to younger players with more potential.

Some good looking prospects ready to go - Larnach and Kiriloff for Gallo and Luplow? We want the best we have for the playoffs. I know many have been pushing for Martin. Nice to have these high quality bats - good depth, but please FO stop blocking them with mediocrity. I have high expectations for Varland too. Nice arm. We still need a couple more in the BP.

I would give him that and hope he lives up to it. What a great start - just keep healthy. Then add Lee!

Lewis is looking like the player we have dreamed of the last three seasons - how great is this! Hard to give credit to the HRs off Fry, but better than Ks. Lewis has been more than a hitter - he has provided an energy the team really needed. So now we are glad Giolito did not get by the Guardians and get taken by the Twins. But we do have to see one of our next round of RP replace Headrick. He is not ready for post season.

Sad to say, but Headrick and Balazovic are playing their way out of the top 20 as so many are advancing.

They really need Lewis to lead the way and perhaps make a couple of changes by removing dead weight from the Bench/batting order. We can set a season strikeout record, but we don't need to do that in the playoffs too. Polanco has really stepped up to lead, hopefully Correa will too, Julien will keep hitting as will Kepler and Kiriloff will come in and provide a spark. Overall I like the lineup (two exceptions) and the rotation. But the RP that you list have to come in to solidify our true weakness.

I felt like the other posts - Solano has been great Date Tm Opp Result Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS IBB GIDP SF SH ROE BOP WPA aLI cWPA acLI RE24 PO A 2023-09-02 MIN @ TEX W 9-7 (10) 2B 1B 5 1 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.255 1.18 0.11% 0.82 2.972 12 2 2023-08-30 MIN CLE L 2-5 (10) 1B 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0.026 1.20 0.02% 1.19 0.345 15 0 2023-08-29 MIN CLE L 2-4 PH 1B 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 -0.061 1.17 -0.03% 0.85 -0.490 2 0 2023-08-28 MIN CLE W 10-6 1B 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0.087 0.55 0.05% 0.52 1.064 7 0 2023-08-27 MIN TEX W 7-6 (13) 2B 1B 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.484 2.07 0.19% 1.33 1.342 7 1

I am probably highest on Walker Jenkins. His transition to proball has been fast and productive. I really see him on the Twins after a short minor league career. In fact, the hitters we took in this years draft are the best looking group that I can remember.

It is unfortunate that we are no longer surprised that Buxton is hurt nor are we surprised that he struck out twice. What can be done? Is he coming back this year? What do we need for next year?

I like the fact that they also run, hit, and defend. HRs are nice when they are built on top of a good foundation.

Nothing to make us feel better. Of course if we scored in double digits every game the RP would have less pressure - is this a real expectations?

I expect wild card and bubble teams to claim them and if I were Cleveland I would block the Twins with small amounts left on the contracts for the year and then they are gone. There are 15 teams that would need to pass for someone to get to us.

How sad - Gray did so well. I think we can put "star reliever" to bed for a while. Duran has not been himself this half of the season and we really need him with Jax still in a funk and Pagan not set for high leverage. To bad the bats went to sleep too. Tough loss.