Dman

Was hoping for a good outing from Povich and he delivered. Hopefully he gets to AA sooner rather than later. Encarnation-Strand has come back down to earth in a big way with three K's losing that amazing contact he was making on most everything thrown his way. This Emmanual Rodriguez guy is someone to watch. He has 6 walks already so his plate discipline is improving and 3 of his 4 hits have been for extra bases including two home runs. If that eye at the plate continues he looks like a star player to me. Some decent hitting at A ball this year compared to last years K team. I think the Twins might have broken Martin. He is really struggling to start the season.

Bad weather seems the most likely reason why the bullpen suddenly couldn't throw strikes it also was the reason they lost the game. Lot's of hard contact given up by the pen as well. If there is a positive to take out of last night it is that Archer pitched well and honestly all 5 starters have done well to this point. If we continue to get good starting pitching I like this teams chances to do well this year.

Nice sleuthing and I like Jarlin Susana as the most likely pick. First as stated he can't be traded until next month and second because he makes sense as a Petty replacement who they traded for Gray. No way to know if he will be the one but he makes the most sense to me.

FWIW I wasn't a fan of the Urshela Move. He is making me look like an idiot so far. It is very early and super small sample sizes but he has been solid at the plate and in the field. I am coming around to this guy.

Yeah unless Donaldson can pitch there wasn't much more he could do to help last years team. The starting pitching just wasn't good enough and with pen imploding early in the season it just wasn't going to happen. Buxton was also hurt a good portion of the season and a lot of our hitters started out slow as well. Donaldson had a a solid season last year and at times tried to fire up his team mates. He was far from the biggest issue with the team last year.

I don't know much about Sisco but he is off to a hot start hitting 400 with a 1300 OPS. Already has a HR granted all in a small sample size but seems like he might be a leg up right now. I really like Hamilton and he was good with bat to start last year as well. Hoping he can keep it up this year. Have not been impressed with Berman at all. At least not at the plate. I still like Godoy as well just not sure how much power he has and it is nice to have a catcher with power since they generally don't hot or run that well at least HR's can help.

Encarnation-Strand has taken no walks and is now batting 900. This guy has amazing contact skills. Three home runs in Ten plate appearances. That is crazy good.

It was nice to see Miller and Cavaco get off to good starts going 3 for 5. They are both elite defenders that just need their bats to come around to make it. Last night was a good start. Encarnation-Strand was his usual aggressive self at the plate. I don't know if you can trust the MiLB gameday app for where pitches are thrown but both the HR pitches were right down the middle of the plate. They had no choice but to challenge him with the bases loaded but why they didn't nibble more and test his eye at the plate I do not know. Guessing team will be more careful from now on as he already did a weeks worth of damage in one game. I was not huge fan of that pick in the Twins draft as he looked like another slow footed bat first player but for a 4th round pick he is a huge find. He looks much better than our 1st rounder Sabato. Not sure how he does it but he has been amazing so far.

I don't know how much we can trust the baseball trade values site, but the according to it the Twins got 18 MTV versus the Padres 9 MTV. I think the money involved likely helps make up the difference for the imbalance in the trade value's involved. If that is the case then I wouldn't expect an overly high level prospect to come back to the Twins in this deal. Still you never know.

I agree it was a good game. Ryan with one mistake pitch and that was it. Duran when on looks very tough. Coulombe held his own. The big bats went missing today. Buc just didn't have the magic today. I will say Ray has some serious lateral movement on his pitches very tough. I was surprised how long they kept him out there but it worked out well for Seattle today. Let's go get'em tomorrow.

There seems like a fair bit of risk on both sides of this trade. I just don't love these Twins fix'em deals. The last deal with Anderson left a sour taste. They didn't really help Waddell or Gibaut either granted no one had to that point but that is my point. They were going to help Happ and Shoemaker too last year and well that didn't work out either. San Diego doesn't do this deal unless they think Paddack is who he is. I think that is a two pitch pitcher with too straight a fastball. With his potential elite change maybe this is Ryne Harper 2 where they can make things work but coming up with a third pitch this late seems a little pie in the sky to me. I guess we will see but I am not holding my breath that Paddack is much more than a tik better than last year. I am a little more bullish on Pagen since his main issue appears to be Home Run suppression they should be able to identify where he is giving up the hardest contact stay away from those pitches and those zones as much as possible. Still a Home Run prone reliever is not a guy you want coming in with a game on the line. Rogers only has one year left and it always felt like the Twins were going to try and deal him no matter what. Elite lefties are unicorns in Baseball so they usually fetch a hefty price especially at the deadline. I guess the larger question for me is could the Twins have gotten something better just by waiting? granted they were not going to get two MLB players at the deadline for Rogers but they might have pried away a top 5 prospect out of someone's system. If Paddack remains who he is they essentially got nothing for Rogers so I hope like heck they know what they are doing this time. I guess if Pagan returns to dominant form the Twins wouldn't have gotten nothing in this deal but still I think they could have possibly done better grabbing a top prospect from some other system. With Rooker who knows. Seems like a risky bet for the Padres but he does have light tower power and with the NL having the DH if he proves he can hit it could be a good pickup. He can play left but not well. He does even out the years of control for both sides as he will have 6 years of control add Rogers and it 7 total years of control. Twins get 5 total years and with the PTBNL potentially more but the odds are low that the PTBNL works out. It is a risk for risk trade and if the Twins do fix Paddack they win this in a landslide. Odds seem to be on the Padres side though as they got the only proven player in the trade. Granted only one year unless of course they can extend him. It is a win now move for the Padres versus a who knows for the Twins. It is an upside trade for the Twins I just hope this one works out.

Gore only needed 8 pitches in his first inning but then had to wait a long time before he got back out to the mound and had trouble throwing strikes. Seemed like he leaned on his fastball a little bit too much and it bit him in the end. It also looked like it was pretty cold towards the end of the game might have trouble gripping the ball as he did hit a batter as well. Cave looked really good tonight. I think all three hits came with two strikes. Last hit was more luck than anything as it was check swing dribbler but those count too. Sands was great. He worked fast didn't walk a batter, was efficient and K'd 7 batters for good measure. Still not sure I trust his stuff at the MLB level especially his fastball but can't argue his dominance tonight. Tough luck loss for Gore as he lost his stuff with the cold but when the weather warms up I am sure he will be his dominant self.

I am pretty sure they will go with a bat even though I wouldn't mind doubling down on an arm. Depending on how things fall I could see the Twins going young with someone like Cam Collier. He would fit in with some of the other young bats to create a second wave of hitters in Rosario, Rodriguez, Urbina and Cavaco. I like Berry's bat a ability to switch hit I just don't think he will fall to number 8 though either.

Thank you that makes sense!! They get to watch the players they agreed to and then they grab the one that looks most likely to make it or fits best. I knew there had to be something to it, just couldn't figure out why a team would wait for a player. So since PTBNL are not a named player I assume it is most likely a C prospect type throw in.

So with PTBNL is that ultimately decided by how the players do for their respective teams. If Rogers is lights out and Paddack stinks do they get a better guy. Or if Rogers sucks and Paddack performs well do they get a lesser guy? Is that how these deals work? Asking for a friend.

Was surprised Jax got hit so hard especially when he started out so well. I guess when you give up 6 runs in a Spring Training game to non-starters it is hard for the team to rely on that arm against real MLB players. So not much of a choice but to send him down. He always looked like a bit of long shot considering there are better options behind him. Hopefully he figures it out and we see him again yet this season but not surprising he got sent down IMO. I am surprised Celestino made the 28 man. He fits what they need defensively but I am still not convinced he is ready offensively. Hopefully they don't just stick him on the bench and he becomes a platoon partner with Kepler as well as a backup to Buxton.

Given what elite relievers are going for with extensions I doubt the Twins have plans on extending Rogers. Twins need to get value out of that deal though and with San Diego to this point not willing to give up their top 3 prospects seems like it might be hard to find the right match. Gore was scary last year in a bad way. I don't think you want to risk a deal with one of the elite relievers in baseball for him at this point. At any rate I can see them trading Rogers now instead of at the deadline. This front office doesn't really seem to believe in closers and they don't like to park their money in the pen. If they find the right deal I could see them pulling the trigger.

I have to say the A ball team will have one darn good infield this year. After watching Cavaco this spring on MLB.tv I can see now why the Twins fell in love with him. His actions and arm at third look pro ready so he is absolutely rock solid at third base for sure. I haven't seen him at short but looking at him he looks like he could play there to me. Just need that bat to come around. If it does he could be a 5 tool player for them. I was pretty low on Miller sticking at short and he is a big boy to be playing there but looked really, really good there this spring as well. At this point he looks like he can play short no problem but he has a big body for 19 year old and if he does get bigger hard to say. At any rate he is going to be a great defender no matter where he plays and he has the arm for third as well. The bat looks OK so far, but it will be interesting to see how he does at the plate this year and his defense already looks very strong. I am guessing second will be manned by Perez or Rucker which will give them a very good defensive infield. Hopefully they all find great hit tools to match but that is a pretty exciting group especially on the defensive side. Hajjar and Raya look like the headliners for pitching group but Festa and Grace are interesting arms as well. I am also interested on how Ohl and McMahon do. Lot's of new guys so no idea how they will do. I was surprised not to see McCleod on this list. I think everyone is hoping Rodriguez can move that into all star status and Rosario could be a nice right handed power bat if he develops. So some fun talent in the outfield as well. Lot's of good players to watch and hope that guys make names for themselves and move up the list.

Yeah this is the first I've heard of Strotman in the pen. The Twins must really want to work in some high octane arms. Guessing he could throw 98\99 out of the pen. He has decent secondary's as well must just be better arms for starting and they want his arm for the pen? Not a terrible idea IMO as he could be a difference maker there.

Have to say his defense looks really good from what I saw on MLB.tv this spring. The throws to first have all looked good. Seems to be handling the bat as well. The Twins might have something there.

Yeah even before the season starter there were scouts who wondered the level of competition DeLauter has faced and how he would do against better competition. Not too surprised to see him likely drop. Divisive is a good word for his situation as it really depends on how you see him developing. Yeah looks like the hot spot for pitcher's is going to be likely in rounds 15 to 25 or so. Some decent ones might fall into the supplemental rounds as well. If Parada keeps going like he is I don't think he is going to make it to number 8. Appreciate you keeping the draft talk alive. This is important draft for the Twins to refresh the farm.

Totally agree with your take. I think if Lee was there at 8 he would be my first choice but I don't think he will be. There are questions as to whether he stays at short or not but his bat would still work in the corners and he would likely be an above average defender on the corners or Keystone. Parada's bat has been crazy good but his arm seems weak and he only threw out like 15% of base runners last year not sure if that has improved but seems a bit dangerous to have a catcher that might have trouble defensively. Granted the Twins have been good at developing catchers on the defensive side so maybe that isn't that big an issue. I wouldn't mind Delauter a right fielder in the Kepler mode in that he can run well and has played center. At least there is some defensive upside there to go with the bat. Catcher and Short seem like bigger needs right now and if that is what falls then I would take it. I still think Brandon Barriera would be my pick. A Lefty pitcher with three plus pitches is just too good to pass up IMO. I would double down on the arms race but that is just me a home grown pitcher starved Twins fan.

While they might not be top 30 prospects just yet, Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the cusp of getting there if he can get his WHIP under control. He had a 12.43 K/9 last year. He is giving up too many hits right now but as he gets better about that I think he will move into the top 30. Cody Lawyerson got off to a slow start last year but he was the only Twin to make it as a Fallstar in the Fall league. His 11.2 K/9 isn't bad either. Hard to say if he makes the top 30 or not but certainly someone to watch. Finally Legumina had some injury stops and starts but managed an 11.49 K/9 with a nice ERA and WHIP. I still see him as a reliever but he looks ready to take the next step since he has good control. All three could be top 30-40 guys if they pitch well this year. Osirus German would be another one to watch with 13.65 K/9 he could be the next Jovani Moran with an elite changeup. Mainly a reliever so hard to make the top 30 but he could be dominant enough to get there. Hopefully these guys perform and as guys graduate this year work there way onto the list.

I was a big Contreras backer and liked him better than Cave. Once that power came on you could see he had a chance to make it especially because he plays good defense as well. He looks like a solid candidate for 4th outfielder. I'm just not sure it will be with the Twins. With Kepler, Larnach, Kirilloff, and Wallner on the way all being left handed some things would need to change for Mark to make it IMO. Celestino seems like the better fit as the forth guy or as a replacement in right field. Still if he can bump that OPS into the 900 or at least high 800's with all the other skills he brings the Twins might want him as a guy that can play all three outfield spots but he is going to need to prove he can hit and he is no spring chicken anymore. I will still be rooting for him to make it and was surprised how well he did last year. If he remains consistent he can play big league ball for somebody else if not the Twins.

I agree and if Abrams was a little further along they could use him or Tatis in center if they needed to. Personally I think they are stuck unless they are willing to go in higher toward the cap. Maybe get Conforto or as you said a lesser Outfielder. The tough part as you also stated is they are built to win now but still have pieces to fill to compete against the Giants and Dodgers.