Dman

According to a Star Trib article he would like to be extended and supposedly he doesn't care about the money I am sure the agent and agency that represent him does though. With Byron being injured sooo much it has to be hard to find a number that will satisfy both sides. Personally I don't think the Twins will get it done but that is just my opinion. "Of course I would love an extension. Obviously, I've been blessed to stay with this one team in my career, so to be able to put on this career and go out there every day, it's something that many guys can't do," said Buxton, who turned 27 in December. "I want to be one of those guys that was there with that one team. This place just means a lot."

I can see the Twins going either way. If a team steps up with an overpay for Berrios they will likely take it and if they lose Berrios then 2022 isn't happening anyway so trading more guys would make sense. If they can't find a deal for Berrios that they like then if they can somehow fix the rotation and pen in the offseason and with guys coming up then they have the hitters to make 2022 at least competitive. Hard to say what they will do but Berrios is the lynch pin IMO. They have a lot of tough decisions to make. I hope they make good ones.

I like the idea of trading with the Jays as I really like their farm system. I don't know that I see them as great trade partners except for Rogers and I don't think they will want to pay what the Twins want in prospects for Rogers but we will see. I think the Jays are going to want to hang onto Simeon Woods Richardson so I think they end up doing just rentals this year and maybe buffer things up in the offseason. I don't think they easily part with top tier prospects but maybe I am wrong.

I think with all the health issues Pearson has had there is talk he might need to be a reliever sooner rather than later. I don't know that you want to trade your best asset for a guy who could end up like Alex Meyer. Personally I would go a less risky route but that is just me. If Pearson is healthy and meets his potential I think a straight up trade would make sense just based on years of control, but if that were the case why would the Jays trade him? They would only trade him if they were betting he wasn't going to make it.

St Paul is stacked with HR hitters. Rooker just needs to stay hot to the deadline and he will be back with the big club. Man Bechtold is on fire right now. He has to have figured something out as he is slugging 781 for July that is not his OPS I repeat that is not his OPS just his slugging for July. His OPS is 1,228. That is some good hitting. Nice to see Sands back and hopefully he stays healthy to the end of the season now. Funderburk just keeps surprising me. I keep waiting for him to fail as a starter and he just keeps pitching well. We will see if his numbers fall off as he moves up but that was a very good debut. Kernals just didn't pitch well down the stretch but I believe that is their first lose in a while. Isola had a great game and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets promoted once some of the draft picks get signed and start moving. Camargo still has his K issues but has kept a healthy OPS for a 21 year old. Bats are starting to heat up and pitchers are starting to have more trouble. Will be fun to see where the newly drafted prospects end up and hopefully as guys have improved we see more promotions.

The only issues I have had with Barnes is the inconsistency start to start and the lack of K's. Both he and Jax give up lot's of hits. Also once Barnes goes bad he has trouble righting the ship and gives up tons of runs. It is a theme played over and over again as he hit the upper levels. I will say he has been more consistent this year than 2019. His WHIP is lower and his ERA is lower. He has been good more than bad and had some dominant outings. It probably is time to find out what happens when he pitches in MLB. I mean he can't be much worse than Happ has been some games. Maybe just maybe he can adjust and be a viable lefty 5th starter or long reliever. Now is the time to try. I wish him the best but doubt his stuff plays well with the big boys. At least we get to find out.

I could see trading Rogers if I squint real hard but don't love the idea. Good lefty relievers are hard to find and while he would be missed the pen is in such sorry shape I don't know that losing one more arm really matters at this point. For the money he will paid next year they should be able to find an arm or two to replace him maybe not completely but hopefully in a way that the return they get makes it worth while. Moving Berrios though would hurt. As a long suffering Twins fan always looking at horrible starting pitching losing Jose seems like a bad idea. If they feel they cannot extend him then I guess they have no choice but if they can make a deal they should because losing a top 20 pitcher with little to no health\arm issues seems like a really bad idea. He also hasn't been affected by sticky stuff. I don't think Jose ever quite reaches ace status but number 2 or 3 pitcher's are valuable as well. I am hoping they find a way to extend him unless there is some crazy deal that is just to good to pass up. I think losing Jose rocks the confidence of the fan base. In summary I think they can get away with trading Rogers for a good return but Berrios is gonna hurt in more ways than one. If there is no possibility of an extension though then they do need to trade him while his value is the highest it will ever be.

I think he was also quoted as saying they never plan to pick certain players or positions in certain rounds it depends on who falls to them and how they have them rated. Ratings are subjective as verified by how teams jump all over MLB's top 500 board and beyond to select players. They likely didn't think Petty would fall that far and they were connected to the hitter Sweeney who the Yankee's took ahead of them. Those two things likely impacted their decision making. I think they felt good about the SS making it to their next pick and they likely picked him early but reading between the lines they really liked his polished defense and ability to hit well from both sides of the plate a skill that is very rare so likely worth the early pick. There is definitely a chance he doesn't stick at short but they liked his skillset just the same. Personally I thought they were targeting left handed pitching early but Johnson's quote makes it sound like that was not the case. At any rate if we can believe what they say it sounds like they don't necessarily pick for need but perceived value in that spot.

Not much data out there for 2020. IN 2019 he had a slow April but for the month of June he had an OPS over 1000 points. So I think there might be some validity to your slow start theory, but it also could just be adjusting to different levels and circumstances too. In 2021 he had another hot June OPSing over 1000 again. The main difference seems to be patience or eye at the plate. He walked more in June and his slugging was better. July he still has over a 900 OPS but he isn't walking as much and slugging was suffering until last night of course.

Man what a game by Rooker he was superman last night, Almost every time he came up he did damage. The closest thing to that performance was Miranda's big day. Rooker is never happy until he is in that 900 OPS range. If can do anything close to that at MLB level the Twins have a very good hitter. Hopefully he earns himself a call up after the deadline.

There is soo much I don't know about these guys but I usually never feel great about the picks during and just after the draft. Once they get going in the minors things generally look better to me. Still it is a long journey and most of them flame out somewhere along the way. Still some are always going to make it as well. I wish all of them the best and hope for more than our fair share of success stories.

Call me crazy but he likely would be on the Miranda path and with Buxton hurt and Celestino's bat not that great he might be our center fielder right now OPSing 800 which is better than half our current team.

Really happy to see Bechtold have a great week and solid season so far. Hoping he has figured some things out with the bat as it is the only thing holding him back. Walk rate is good at 10% K rate just a tad high but not over the dreaded 30% range yet. BABIP is good. Honestly if he just keeps going like he is and takes 5% off of the K rate he has a chance to make it. Would like to see that slugging higher and OPS in the mid 800's for this level but he is getting really close. He is already a good defender just needs that bat to get him where he wants to go. Severino was another guy I was worried about early as he got off to a really slow start he had a 596 OPS in May. After the first week of June things finally started to click and his OPS for June was 829. A big improvement but it looks like he is starting to add power to his game as he has 3 of his 6 HR's in July and while July isn't over he currently has a 930 OPS for the month. I don't know what the Twins are doing with their 2nd baseman but they appear to be the best hitters in the system with Miranda, Steer, Julien and now Severino all starting to live in the 900 OPS zone. Very happy to see Louie get moved up. Should have happened a month ago. I wish I could say I saw him as a player who would break out but I pretty much labeled him a bust after the draft. At best he looked like reliever material to me. I guess that is why you wait to see how these guys develop after they get drafted. He used his time wisely and has a chance to be a very good pitcher as long as he stays healthy.

Wondering if that is a strategy more teams are going to follow. Pitching depth is soo important and trading for good pitching is really expensive prospect wise. It is just as expensive in FA. Maybe more bites at the Apple and you can find more quality starting and relief pitching and not have to pay so much in prospect capital and or salary. You can always trade it if you happen to have a surplus. Still need good position players but they can be traded for and generally can find quality for relative cheap prices for 1st base, Left field, 2nd base and DH. Hasn't completely worked for Cleveland yet but they have been at the top or middle for a long time now. Pitching is the only thing holding the Angels back maybe just pick more pitching.

Unfortunate for them but good for us. ?

Was hoping maybe Hajjar, Povich and or McCleod but with Hajjar losing velo into the season I think McCleod getting hit hard maybe they will just pitch them in relief a few innings and call it good. Hard to say it just seems like they are light on pitchers still standing.

Cleveland used 18 of 21 selections on pitchers as well. Was kind of hoping the Twins would grab more pitchers given how desolate the minors are this year. They have grabbed quite a few guys off the street already this year.

Looks like a balanced draft with 11 pitchers and 10 position players. Could really use some arms at the A ball level so hoping some of these guys can contribute yet this year. I guess we'll know pretty soon.

Kyler Fedko, OF, UConn Fedko was one of college baseball’s top hitters this spring, and earned All-American honors from five different outlets. After hitting .412 in an abbreviated 2020 season, the Pennsylvania native continued his strong play in 2021, hitting .396. The Big East Player of the Year showed an ability to hit for contact and power with 26 extra base hits. UConn outfielder Kyler Fedko enjoying his dominant sophomore season more than anyone » He’s the 500th ranked prospect, per Baseball America. “He has innate gifts,” UConn coach Jim Penders said. “He’s a very confident player. You can get on him, and it’s not going to mess his confidence up. I think the thing that separates Kyler from most guys his age is that he’s so willing to work on his craft.”

I wonder what the Twins know about the rotator cuff injury? They seem to like grabbing guys with high upside but previous injury history. This guy has already had TJ and now a rotator cuff shut him down. That seems very high risk to me. Hopefully the medicals look OK.

Nice write up Doc! The more you read up on these guys, the better the picks look. Hajjar and Mcleod were talked about being first rounders at certain points in the season and look like good values where they were picked. There was a nice write up on the 4th round third baseman as well that helps me understand why the Twins were interested. Most all these picks have had some really good moments and are really good players, Scouting reports are ruthless on these guys though because we know only 5 to 10 percent of these guys will make it. Slight weaknesses add up to not making it but here is hoping most of these guys find a way to reach the top level.

Very surprised by that response from Johnson I guess I get no game plan coming in makes some sense as you can't predict what talent will fall to you as the draft goes on, but let's be real I have to believe they have a list of about 6 to 10 to 20 different guys they could choose from when they pick.. If outfielders were the best picks the whole way would he really take 10 outfielders in a row? I doubt it. The picks are subjective and they can choose guys that fit whatever direction they want to go. There is no real BPA after the first round and the talent appears to clump into groups of twenty to thirty guys evaluated about the same. There are lot's of ways they can decide to go. Do they plan to take a catcher in the 3rd and outfielder in 4th no they don't and I get that but they obviously feel a need to balance their draft and they do, otherwise they could easily justify taking pitching 10 out of 11 picks like Cleveland. So in some sense he does have a "game plan" IMO. It is to remain balanced with offense and defense. We have seen that trend ever since he took over. So not really Luck of the draw IMO because they have plenty of guys to choose from it is more steered than that IMO.

I like what both prospects have been doing but the player the Twins left unprotected Baddoo is doing better than both of them right now. Imagine if they would have protected him and with what Miranda is doing they could have been in even better shape.

After grabbing the hardest thrower in the draft they went with 4 other pitchers who don't throw all that hard but appear to have good secondary pitches. I take it they feel they can get those guys to throw the fastball harder and use the system to develop them. They haven't taken this many pitchers this high since their first year so will be interesting to watch these guys progress through the system. They took a lumbering 3rd baseman who might have to move to first or catcher (surprise) in the 4th with an unconventional swing who has had a lot of success hitting the ball to this point, but who might struggle with higher velocity and breaking pitches. I guess again they hope to develop him by getting him shorter to the ball, but that is a hell of a lot of development needed for a 4th round pick. I guess the Twins see him differently than others. Another 3rd baseman in the 7th with a flaw the Twins don't tolerate in that he has low exit velocities and has weak contact issues so an odd pick for them unless of course they see something they think they can correct. A primarily defensive catcher in the 8th and a more offensive prone catcher in the 9th that might not be able to hit breaking balls. They both look like value picks according to the MLB site rankings, but both need a fair bit of polish. In the tenth they took a shortstop no one seems to know anything about or at least has no writeup. It is impossible to know if any of these guys will be any good but I sure hope there are some pitchers who are fast movers in this group. They took pitcher's higher in the draft like I asked them too now those picks just need to work out. Personally I like Cleveland's draft for pitching better than the Twins as 10 out of their 11 picks were spent on Pitching much of which could move quickly to the big leagues. Detroit spent 8 out of 11 picks on Pitchers 2 in the first round. Chicago didn't use their first two picks on pitching but still spent 8 out of 10 picks on pitching and finally Kansas who was more balanced but also used their 1st two picks on pitchers spent 6 of 11 picks on pitching. In the MLB central arms race the Twins only spent 5 of their 11 picks on pitching. 2 or 3 of which look to have potential to be fast movers the rest are wild cards IMO. I think you can see why Cleveland does so well with pitching depth they spend a lot of capital on it. It looks like they, Chicago and Detroit want much more pitching depth that can quickly move to the MLB level ASAP thus the reason so many of their early picks on pitching especially college arms. Hopefully the Twins can keep up. They have a tendency to pick mostly pitchers in rounds 11 through 20 so I am sure they will get more bites at the apple but I think they might have been better served by taking Cleveland's approach and taken as much potential fast moving quality pitching as possible. After all it is the thing they need the most.

Well at least they took the power hitter in the 4th round this year. Looks like he will need to work on his eye at the plate as and possibly redo his stroke but he has hit pretty well in the past. They must like the value he provides in the 4th round.