Dman

I will say the Buxton deal has been a roller coaster ride for me. I was one of many who cheered that deal as fair for both sides and admired Byron for being willing to make such a deal. Then he was injured so much right after that I felt that I may have been wrong. That he could never be fixed and the money was wasted. Right now here today I hope he never leaves. He is the one indispensable player on this team. His kind of team loyalty just doesn't happen much anymore. I have great admiration for the man who loves my team as much as I do. My only wish is that the team that looked like it might be coming together after his deal could have realized its potential instead of falling apart. If he stays healthy it would be nice to see him make more money as well. I wish nothing but good things for the player I love to watch at the plate and in the field. I hope he stays a Twin for the rest of his career.

Since none of the affiliates are really in it for the first half I had Rosario and Amick moving from AA to AAA. I had Houston, Diaw, Thomason and maybe shakily Winokur from High A to AA. I had Jimenez, Fragoza and Sprock moving from A to high A. And finally from the FCL I had Carabello, Reyes and Almanzer moving to A ball. A bit surprised it was Pena instead of Carabello that got moved. Seemed to me most of those players deserved a chance to move up based on performance with capable replacements as others moved up. We'll see what happens the next few weeks. Happy to see Diaw get to AA. I thought they might have started him there this year, but getting just a few months later isn't that big of a deal either. Jimenez moving up is good to see as well. He seems to be a capable defender and has hit the ball well too. Happy to see him moving along.

Yeah I think there is prospect fatigue for all the reasons listed. Plus age has an impact when ranked in the upper 50. He is only 23 now but with most of this year wasted and being 24 next year he is getting up there in age. Another great point mentioned by @bean5302is his in Zone swing and miss is pretty high and the main thing offsetting it is walks which he won't get as much at the MLB level. There's some Wallner sized warts here, but he has strong exit velocities and a good eye so there is a chance he can overcome some of those weaknesses. This is two years in a row where he likely would have been called up, but can't because he is injured. Now being out of options he might be in sink or swim mode which is less than ideal for his development. Does anyone know if he would qualify for one more option year due to the amount of time missed to injury? So yeah he has been at a high level and a top prospect for a while, but hasn't moved much in the last three years and has warts in the profile. I'd say there is fatigue and I'd likely drop him down some as well. It doesn't mean much though as they did the same thing to Lewis and he performed well once he moved up. It is just out of site out of mind and a feeling that the player is less likely to reach their potential at the MLB level. Whether that will be true or not depends on Rodriguez.

Very happy for Kyler and well deserved IMO. It's really hard to break in to MLB so not expecting too much. Still it will be nice to get a look at him as he has really good power and decent speed and he's a right handed power bat which we are short on in the outfiled. He worked his butt off to get there against very long odds. Glad the Twins are giving hm a chance.

My question is if Lackey and Chowlowski are gone in the first two picks is it a given that the Twins take Emerson? There's a lot of Buzz that the Twins like Burress and his exit velocities. His defense is really good as well with 10 outfield assists. While being 5'9" is not ideal in the outfield the Twins drafted Ben Revere who was 5'9" so they have done it before. Revere never had the power that Burress has or the arm so Burress should be a much better version. You look at the tools in total and there's not much difference between him and Emerson. I still think Emerson has the potential higher ceiling, but will he reach it? The Twins need a plan beyond Buxton and Burress might be it. If the Twins want to get a bit more high risk high reward they could go do with a Bobby Witt type player in Lombard. The power grades as elite and could you imagine a world where Lombard and Young are at short and third? That would be quite the power combo. I've heard the hit tool is vastly improved this year, but like Lewis back in the day there are some questions about it. Still if he does reach his ceiling he's an All Star caliber player which are hard to find. If he was willing to deal I could see the Twins grabbing him at 3. And finally if they felt strongly about Flora and saved 1.5M or 2M on grabbing him at three. That might be tempting as well. I still think they go bat as there are so many good one's to choose from and if Cholowsky or Lackey are there at three I think they go with one of them as they have plus tools pretty much across the board. If it's Emerson though I'm not so sure.

I blamed the first month of wildness on the cold Cedar Rapids weather and we saw some improvements in May. Still he seems to be struggling at this level giving up 34 hits in 33 innings is a WHIP of 1.00 right there, add in the walks and it is nearly a WHIP of 2.00. So he's giving up hits\contact and walks which is not a good recipe for success. This kind of feels like Marco Raya part II. He starts out behind in the count has to put the ball down the middle and doesn't always get a good result. The other third of the time he just walks the guy and then onto the good part He also has a 32% K rate so he strikes a lot of guys out. Put it all together and you have a WHIP of 1.94 and ERA of 6.82. Not good and to top it off his walk rate is worse this year than last year too. So his command control is not improving at least not statistically. I don't know what the Twins work on with him in bullpens or what the plan is in games, but you'd like to think they could help him a little bit with tips to hit the edges of the plate or do a better of job of getting ahead in the count. I get he has long arms and a slim body that makes the release point just that much harder to repeat effectively, but as others have said if can't do it then he looks like a longer term project and likely reliever. Agree with others that he is only 20 years old. There is a lot of season left. I am still a believer in his high upside talent as he throws hard and gets his K's. Still given the actual regression in walk rate has me doubting him some right now. Nothing a few good games couldn't fix, but if it were me I'd have him focus on strike throwing and see what happens. Maybe he gets hit hard, but at least he is making them earn it. He needs to trust his stuff in the zone especially early in counts as that is what it is going to take to be successful. Easier said than done I know, but I think this kid can do it.

I just think the Twins have better options there in Roden, Rodriguez and ultimately Jenkins.

For the right deal I'd think about moving Clemens, Larnach and Gomez. Still, they all could easily be retained for next year as well. I don't know that I'd have Larnach in Left, but he could take on the Bell role if there were no palatable deals offered. The Twins have too many outfielders and Wallner and Larnach don't play good defense out there either. Time to look at Roden, Rodriguez and maybe Jenkins if he can ever stay healthy long enough. Clemens if he brings a return better than Castro did last year I could see moving him. He'll need to keep hitting into July to bring back something worthwhile though. If he drops to his typical low 700 OPS not sure the return would be worth moving him unless they don't plan on playing him much next year. I'd be hesitant to trade Gomez given the state of the pen, but if someone if going to offer an Abel, Rojas or Bradley type arm then I'm fine moving on from him. There's a lot of years of control and the Twins have a weak pen so it would take something significant to move him IMO. If a team has world series aspiration's I don't know why they would be adding Rogers. I'd think they would be aiming higher than that, but if they could get something for him then sure go ahead.

Duarte was not a name I was familiar with. I'll be adding him to my list with that 2 homer day. Small size and DSL numbers don't mean much but just having power that early is impressive.

He's a High School pick not college so 2027 until they have to add him.

It probably wouldn't be realistic, but I'd want more than what they got for one half year of Castro. Likely not a top 100 prospect, but maybe a guy somewhere just outside that with some other pieces. If he keeps hitting like this until the deadline with his position flexibility and years of control it would need to be significant to move him IMO. If that OPS drops into the low .700 range then you likely aren't going to get much. You could then decide to move him for a lessor return, but you could just as well keep him too. He needs to make another believe in him to get the value I'd like to see.

If the price is right I am on the trade bandwagon. Definitely not giving a versatile player with cheap years of control away for a marginal return even if he is 30. When looking at the 26 man it sure looks like there is room for Kody next year. Jeffers will be gone along with Bell, Gray and likely Arcia. I know they love Kriedler, but if he is back to not being able to get any hits he could be gone. So even if you add Culpepper, maybe Ben Ross and maybe Mendez if he keeps on hitting there is room for Clemens, Still for the right overpay in an effort to help this team get younger I'd be OK trading him. To everyone else's point about keeping him it is a good one. You look at qualified hitters with his OPS and he is in the top 60. You are one of the better hitters in baseball if you can OPS 800 or above. Clemens has been pretty streaky though and his high point in OPS was around mid June last year as well and he fell off considerably. We'll see how he looks as a trade candidate come the deadline.

I have my concerns as well and him doing "well" is a very small sample and I have fallen into that trap before. FWIW he only struck out 20% of the time in May it was the 40% in April that had me almost giving up on him. I'm not worried about the power as he has plenty. Contact is the problem and as noted by your ISO number quality contact even harder to come by. I'm still optimistic as he is still just 21 and if he moves up to AA mid season or end of season he is ahead of the average college bat and he has all tools if can get the bat to work for him. Right now it's just one hot month I'd need to see more to be more bullish.

Yeah I've been thinking about this as well. I'd think they likely compare to Michael Helman or Spencer Steer. Helman had a .745 OPS last year playing in Center field for Texas. Steer was a little under that in 24 and 25. Both those players showed power late and had good approaches so I think Fedko and Saboto could do something similar. Thing is every now and then you get a Merrifield or Rooker who exceed those expectations. Hard to say what they can be until given a shot. They aren't getting any younger. Maybe take a shot and see what you have and be willing to let them go if it doesn't work out. Can't keep them down there until their almost 30 and expect to get much value from them. I don't expect to see them until after the trade deadline so we'll see how they look until then, but I agree there isn't much more they can do to prove they deserve a shot. This team is getting younger and I'd kind of like to see them stay that way and try to develop the younger players, as it feels like they could have a strong core for a while if several of them work out. I also think the guys coming up will provide better defensive value than some of the older players they have. We'll see what they decide to do, but it might be hard to work in Sabato and Fedko.

Jamie you always know your board so I trust you. Still I think I'd prefer Spangler to Horn, but maybe you see what I don't which is that Spangler doesn't make it that far. I'm fine with any of the top three hitters and if it goes as planned right now I think we do get Lackey. Don't love the shorter pitchers, but if it's a needed save money move I'm down with that. I like Rabe at 79. That sounds right up the Twins ally. I think hitter, hitter makes a lot of sense especially if going high school hitter. Still I think I'd like to save pick 43 for an over slot high school pitcher. Preferably a good lefty. Maybe the best ones will all get eaten up in the comp rounds before us, but I'd like to get a potential elite arm to go with the elite bat picked at number 3. Logan Schmidt, Hirschkorn or Borthwick would be names I'd consider there if still on the board. maybe Contreras as well? I'd like the Twins to make this more of a pitcher draft early and late. I feel like they did well with Quick Ellwenger, Reitz and Barr along with their notable late round arms. I'd like to see them focus there as it feels like they have more success there. Also it's early but it seems like they have a good crop of FCL hitters that will likely hang out at A ball next year so might not need as many drafted bats and I'd guess that Beltre and Young will be repeating that level as is. I'd also think that if they are seller's at the deadline they could get some FCL or A ball throw in's if needed to fill out the roster. I just think high quality arms are so important and with so many of our young arms up in the big leagues I'd like to see them replenish the farm with more of them. Also so many arms get hurt you almost need double the amount you think to make it through a season. Every level seems short on arms right now. That might change with some guys coming back from injury but my reasoning still stands. They appear to be good at Identifying good arms early and late in the draft. They should embrace where they find value and find hitters in the margins. It seems like the track record is if they don't find their hitter in the first round they generally don't make it. Very few second round picks have made it as hitters and pretty much nothing after that. Arms they have hit on from almost everywhere in the draft. I'd focus on arms if I were them.