Dman

lol made my day. Yes it feels like that when it comes to Buxton.

Cabbage is quietly having a really good year at High A. As Seth has noted before the power is there he just needed to make better contact. He is getting older though so a level change would be nice. Not sure when MiLB hits the mid point but I would guess we see lots of change at that point. Was pleased to see Urbina have a three hit night. He has the skills just needs to figure out that breaking stuff. He is young for the level and I am hoping to see him have a great second half. After last night performance Miranda finally cracked the 1000 OPS mark. He has to be happy to be having such a great year so far. He has been a tough out and it seems pitchers have tried to pitch around him when they can but he has been patient this year. Hasn't been chasing as much as years past. Headrick has been far more good than bad at A ball but the WHIP of 2 last night is what scars me about him. He has this tendency to give up too much contact. He doesn't currently have have more hits than innings pitched but it is close. He limited the damage last night but it feels like there is more work to be done. His numbers do look good enough to move up and he is one of the few lefties we have. Here's hoping he gets just a bit better.

I agree this trade deadline may be the most important one for them so far. They need to get value for players on one year deals and it will be interesting to see how they handle the Berrios and Buxton situations. They have guys they could trade early in Kepler, Rogers, Arraez, and Polanco if they so choose or they can stand pat. They could try and work a deal to remove Donaldson, they have lot's of option's but they need to choose wisely because if things continue to move sideways they might be out of a job in the next couple of years.

Well stated. Another team will have a hard time giving us back the value we think Arraez deserves because top 100 prospects generally project to do so much more. They are generally 3 tool or better players. He also lacks power and in todays game that is greatly valued. So as you point out he really does look like a 1 tool player. It is elite and hard to come by but I think he could be a hard sell to get the value you want back. I would still shop him but getting a deal done seems like a long shot to me.

I have been thinking about him as a trade candidate for most of the reasons you mentioned. Polanco covers 2nd and Gordon looks better in the utility role at least if his bat holds up. They have Miranda who plays second likely on the way and needing to be added to the 40 man. Lewis will need to be added to the 40 man. Palacios might need to be added if his bat plays well through a whole season. Things are looking tight at the 2nd\utility position. While Arraez has a good eye he doesn't hit for power and as you mentioned doesn't run all that well. That being said the eye and the bat are pretty special. The other issue is the team has 4 more years of control it almost seems to early to trade him. Also need to find a team that needs an OBP 2nd base\Utility player with the pieces we need to get back in trade. Not sure if that is something they can or really need to pull off at the deadline but it is something they need to consider. For me he makes the most sense to trade but there is plenty of room for disagreement.

The only starters left uninjured that I would like to see in MLB are Winder and Balazovich. But if they hit their innings limit around the deadline then they won't get much experience anyway. It is kind of frustrating because they won't start with the big league club next spring either as they want to give them time at AAA before bringing them up. Then they will likely have to wait for an injury to get called up. It feels like to have any shot next year they need the young pitching to move up but who knows maybe they have another plan? It is starting to feel more like a mini rebuild now to me.

Those are some excellent points and things that hadn't crossed my mind even though they should have. You are right they will be very careful with innings pitched.

You are dead right. AA and AAA generally aren't considered that "different" to the point that players get promoted directly from AA at times. They are probably keeping him there for All Star honors and with so many injured pitchers maybe there isn't really anyone to move up and into his spot. He has to be added to the 40 man at the end of this year so they will add him but they will probably wait until the deadline to make that move though. I just think it would be nice to see how he handles AAA for a good solid month before they likely try him out at the MLB level. As you noted what I think likely doesn't matter one way or the other.

I guess if a 101 win season isn't capitalizing on the talent they had then your bar is pretty high. Yeah they failed in the playoffs again but the "players" that you say put them in such a great situation failed so not sure what you are trying to say there.

I was going to write something similar but you said it better. I too want to give them more time. COVID really messed this FO and team up. The timelines are going to need to change with it. The pitching pipeline looked pretty good but with all the injuries this year it is definitely going to be delayed now. The tough part about pitching too is those guys can look good at AAA but MLB is a whole different animal we really won't know what we have until they get to MLB. Getting back to Tom's point of is my faith shaken in the FO\development system I have to say yes. They went from success's like Harper and Wisler to penultimate failures in Shoemaker, Colome, Happ, Waddell, etc. They lost a good player to Rule V while using the 40 man space to dumpster dive. A lot of their trades have not been that good. Their power over hit draft strategy hasn't really payed off and there were good arms they passed over to grab Rooker, Wallner, Sabato. All slow footed position limited players with the least trade value unless they make it big. I hate being a second guesser because hindsight is too easy but I really don't understand the rookie mistakes or odd moves this FO makes sometimes. Still They have found some gems especially pitchers in the later rounds something the previous FO was not able to do. I think player development is vastly improved in the minors but will have to wait and see. This year has been a strange one with injuries, poor play, poor execution, and just plain bad luck. It is going to be a learning year. The challenge now is to make the most of it by making good trades and putting this team in better position to succeed next year. For me I need to see two more years before I can say whether this FO has been good or bad.

Winder is the main story from last night he has a sub 2 ERA at 1.98 a sub 1 whip at 0.93 and more K's than innings pitched. I honestly don't know what more he can do to prove he is ready to move up. To be honest they could have started him in AAA he was likely already, ready. Anyway let's see if he can sneak that stuff past some of those older seasoned AAA bats. If he can he looks like one of the few guys that will be ready to pitch in MLB. What a way for the Kernal to win that first game. A walk off grand slam and first HR of the season for little man Gabriel Macial. That is just beautiful baseball. He battling the pitcher, fouling stuff off and then game over. David beats Goliath. Bechtold has really started to heat up. He is rock solid defensively so if he can get that bat working he has a chance. Anyway another fun night and lots of wins as well. It has been a fun MiLB season so far.

Klofenstein is interesting but Zuech no way. I can think of about 5 to 6 guys we have already that look better than him. I would rather have Sem Robberse than Zuech. At least he has potential to be above average in time. Klofenstein has been far from a K machine but he is young for the level and holding his own. It would take Norge Vera (#7) or Andrew Daiquist (#5) to get me interested in anything the White Sox have. We have plenty of bats for 2nd and third base where Rodriguez projects. I mean Spencer Steer looks better than this guy ever could be so why even trade Cruz for someone like that? Criswell looks OK but he also looks injured so would want another GCL or A ball prospect added to make that work for me. Don't know what his issues are but if TJ is likely involved gonna need more. Maybe I am dreaming too big for Cruz but he does have a big bat and would be a true difference maker in the playoffs. I guess we will have to wait and see how badly someone wants him.

I think those types of trades are more likely to happen in the off-season than at the deadline. We don't see quite as many of them as we used to as it hard to match up with years of service and the value both teams want. I think with analytics it makes those MLB vet to MLB vet trades harder to do. I like what you are thinking though. I would consider the type of trade you are talking about for Donaldson. If we had to take on the other teams 3rd baseman and add some money depending on the player, contract and years left I could see the Twins doing something like that. You are correct that the trend right now is to seek out high end prospects. Prospects that look like they will make it at the MLB level and be above average there. Those trades are full of risk because if the prospect(s) bust you just got nothing for a very good MLB player but that seems to be the way the game is played right now.

I get what you are saying but in practice those types of trades don't happen very often mainly because when teams are trading away established players with few years of control left they are looking for prospects close to MLB ready mot MLB players as they can gain 6 years of control of a player for less money. They are betting said player (prospect) will make it and hopefully in a few years time. Teams that get supplemental picks generally do this because payroll is limited and they need to maximize value. They can't easily do that by taking back a MLB player unless they are on a contract that is priced low. Trading good established players for a lessor established MLB player and a lessor prospect doesn't really help much and actually is more likely to set a team back than move them forward. That is why most teams trade established players for the best prospects they can. There are exceptions of course but in general that is what happens. The Twins appear to be at a point where the players they believed in collectively haven't been good enough to take on the top teams. They have too many pitching holes to cover in free agency and not enough good arms on the farm to cover enough holes in the rotation and or pen. They need to maximize the value of the established players they have and trade for players that have greater future value if they want to move forward. Hopefully they come up with a group that gels in the next couple of years that can move their talent closer to the elite teams. If not then they have to start over again. The teams at the top are not mediocre they have close to star talent at most all positions. The Twins have to match that if they want to win the division and a playoff game. I don't think they can do that with your proposed strategy.

I think Rogers likely is thinking more 3/30 to sign early. I think May money is his floor personally. He is a lefty which is much, much harder to find. As someone mentioned in another post good lefties have lot's of trade value at the deadline and the open market. He might back down from 3/30 but not by much maybe 3/27 to stay with his home team. I think 10M for an elite lefty is probably the starting point but I guess we will see.

I don't know if he is ready or not but Palacios has a near 300 average and 870 OPs in AA right now. If he isn't added to the 40 at the end of the year he could be lost in rule V. It would be nice if they moved him to AAA sooner rather than later to see if the bat still plays there as well. If it does why not add him early and try him out at MLB in a lost 2021. If you don't like what you see take him off the 40 man. If you do maybe he is an option for 2022. Same thing for Miranda he is killing it at AA right now and needs to be added to the 40 man at the end of the year. Why not ad him early and see what he can do at the MLB level.

I guess Schulfer read my post that he isn't really a starter and should be a reliever, lol. He pitched really well last night. Man the MiLB arms have been falling like flies lately. Might be no one left standing at the end of the year. Miranda with a huge game. He was locked in last night. Jullien was as well as he runs his OBP up to 505. The hitting appears to be improving throughout the system. The impressive thing to me is guys are taking walks. They are forcing the pitcher to throw the ball across the plate and not getting themselves out. Steer has more walks than K's and Julien has 46 walks and 47 K's. Both players look ready for new challenges.

I agree with you but are both sides willing to get a deal done? If Rogers is going to wait it out then the best move is to trade him because this team isn't likely to pay 9 to 16 M per year to keep him. Given what you just said I don't see why he couldn't make that much or more.

I guess they can take look and see if they can fix anything. Wes does not have a good success rate with that this year though. Lack of control hurt Waddell who is now gone who they didn't fix and Gibaut who isn't happy until he walks a bunch of guys. I have my doubts they get much out of him but you never know.

Roger I agree most of that 2019 class is exceling in the lower levels right now. The Twins might have gotten their best hitter in the 18th round. Julien has a 315 BA 500 OBP 485 SLG and 985 OPS on the season. Those are top prospect numbers. In fact I don't think I have seen those types of numbers at A ball for a Twins hitter ever especially the 500 OBP. Julien is not an easy guy to get out. Spencer Steers numbers are top three in the High A central and the ding on him coming out of the draft was his lack of power. He seems to have put that to rest with his 10 HR's and a 527 SLG percentage. Pretty sure he will moving up prospect lists this year. Pitchers in this class include Canterino, Gipson-Long, Varland, Mooney and Lawyeryson who all have excelled with K rate. ERA and WHIP for the most part. Headrick, Gross, Legumina and Shreve have done well in spurts so lot's of promising pitching in the system still from the 2019 draft. Like you said a more in depth look could help us see the Twins did well in the 2019 Draft.

If the bullpen continues to stabilize yeah I think they have a chance to improve. No matter what happens though this team doesn't look like a playoff team or one of the top teams in the league so once the deadline hits I hope some more young guys get a chance to prove they belong. This winning streak makes me think they will be better than I thought they would be though.

I was thinking the same thing. The only guys left are Balazovic, Winder and Maybe Sands who could make it to MLB this year. Losing Enlow and possibly Canterino and Duran is a killer. Some of the better pitchers in low and High A ball have been hurt this year. Not sure if it that is because they have these guys throwing so hard or what the deal is but it is going to impact development.

I agree with your take on Buxton. I don't think you can get another team to pay what he is truly worth in prospects because of the injury history and uncertainty of signing him long term. He likely generates a comp pick after the 2022 season. I think if the Twins can get a reasonable deal done for Donaldson they should do it. He was supposed to be the missing piece defensively at third and be Cruz part two for HR power. It feels like he has failed at both so far and been injured more than healthy to this point. If another team want to take that on and we need to trade contracts or throw some money in I think it should be seriously looked at because I don't see him helping us they way we envisioned. I am torn on Sano. He has been better at drawing walks and he has had decent pitches to hit he just can't seem to hit them. I agree he is pretty much a black hole bat right now but also feel he could get back to that rookie year performance where his eye and contact rate were All-Star worthy. It seems like we would be selling incredibly low but given his lack of production it could be addition by subtraction. Everyone left on a one year deal if a deal can be struck then do it. If someone will take on Happs salary I would just dump him. We need the 40 man space to audition other guys.

After Baddoo got rule V'd I wouldn't bank on it. I know you are betting he is going to regress as Springfield doesn't appear to have the greatest pitching staff. However, right now he is a top 4 bat in the AA central one tiny step behind Mirnada and ahead of KC's first rounder Bobby Witt Jr. If he keeps that 900 OPS or even a high 800 OPS I have to believe lower end teams would be interested in taking a look via Rule V. I get that he isn't the biggest guy at 5' 9" but they have him listed as a Right fielder so he likely has the arm and I believe he runs well. He kind of reminds me of Dustin Pedroia a little bit not that that is a fair comp but he is small like Dustin yet plays much bigger. We will see if he comes down to earth but it is hard to stay in the 900 OPS range and with a K rate that is not bad and a walk rate that moves his OBP almost 100 points there is a lot to like if he maintains his power. If I was a rebuilding team that is a player that I would take a risk on. '

Yeah I have been surprised at how much they have been winning with the lineup they have but the pitching has been pretty good and they have taken more than their fair share of walks when needed. While I mostly agree with you that those players look flawed there are glimmers of hope for some of them. Urbina is pretty young for the level and he started out hot then slumped badly but he seems to be getting better again. he likely needs more time to adjust than the older guys. I would look for an improved second half for him. His eye and contact skills should kick in and help him out as gets used to the higher level of competition. I am not a big Sabato fan mainly because he struggles to make good contact and or contact at all. Still I have to acknowledge his eye at the plate has been good and despite that 188 BA he has a 388 OBP which is pretty darn good. With the poor BA his OPS is below 700 which again is pretty bad especially for a guy taken in the 1st round. I mean when you compare him to our 18th round pick Julien it is down right embarrassing. Holland has power but he looks like a guy who might hit 240-250 with an 800 OPS. Like Sabato he seems to have a lot of swing and miss to his game but he seems to be the prototypical hitter the Twins look for. Even with that low BA he still has a 700 OPS so there is still hope that he becomes a power hitting SS. Garry Jr. looks so good in the field and he has speed but I do question if he is seeing the ball well because he only has 13 walks anda whopping 51 K's. I don't think the eye at the plate is there yet. He is only 21 though there is time but that line is a bad sign for him right now. So yeah I agree with you things don't look good for those guys right now but that could change in the second half.