Dman

I was waiting for this with Barnes. When he is bad he tends to be very bad. Thankfully he wasn't added to the 40 man just yet. Hopefully he comes back just a strong but typically this is the beginning of more bad outings than good ones. I guess we will see how he respond's over the next month. Winder hasn't been getting as many K's but he has been pitching into the 6th inning which is good to see. I assume he will be the next guy up to AAA when an arm is needed there. Miranda is ready to move as well. Would be nice for the FO to see just how far along he is before the trade deadline because he looks like a better 3rd base prospect than a lot trade candidates I have seen. Wander is starting to look like the real deal. The power that was supposed to be there is showing up. After his extremely cold start his OPS is finally over 700. The walk and K rates could be better at this level but are not too out of line and considering he was almost a non-prospect just fine for now. I am really hopeful they have something here. He has a long way to go but this is a great start.

I have been very impressed with Moran this year. In 2019 I thought maybe AA was as high as he could go. So nice to see his WHIP down from the 1.43 in 2019 that pushed his ERA higher than it had ever been. His current sub one WHIP makes him an excellent prospect to push to MLB as all his peripherals shows he is ready for a bigger challenge. Glad to see he found his way back after a tough 2019 hopefully it made him better than ever. I love the K's Cano gets, almost two guys an inning and while the WHIP isn't horrible it is disconcerting to see batters making so much good contact and getting hits. No reason he can't refine all that in AAA but I would not want him on the 40 man just yet. I would want to be more confident in him keeping guys off the bases. Mason has always been Mason which is pretty dependable game in and game out. His WHIP and ERA are always at good levels and his K numbers have climbed as he has moved up. HIs WHIP this year is little high but can't see why they could send him to AAA. Odds are he does just as well there and hopefully can make it to the majors.

I guess I don't see it as laughable. It depends on what outcome you see for Martinez. If he sticks at short and is a plus defender there then sure I'd go with laughable but he doesn't have great speed and is likely to only get slower not faster at this point. If he is a second or third baseman then his value is Miranda which has a value of 1 on baseball trade values. So prospects are a bit like playing the stock market he has high value right now because the numbers are solid and he projects at short right now. On the site they say they value SS higher because of position flexibility and yet if you look at Miranda's numbers and Martinez's they look pretty much the same at the same age and level. Value is about projection but players are not always going to make those projections. FWIW they have Arraez's value at 54 and Buxton's at 37. Which player do you feel has more value going forward? For me it would be Buxton but not Trade Values. I am sure they are taking his injury history into account but again trading is all about perception and projection. I don't see Martinez having much more value than Miranda obviously others disagree I guess time will tell who ends up being more right.

Yeah just when you think there might be hope for Sabato he proves he can't make contact again and again and again. There has to be an issue with his eye or the swing as he looks horrible at the plate right now. Just a horrible 1st round pick IMO. I guess that is what happens when teams don't get good looks at guys all season. He looks identical to Rooker. He does not know how to hit breaking balls and his swing isn't geared to handle them at all. It is fastball or bust. Hopefully he can adjust or figure things out and he has time yet but he looks like a bust right now. He has a 35% K rate in A ball that says not gonna make it to me. We will see if he can prove me wrong but unless he can change I doubt he will.

Yeah and last night I believe it caught up to him some. Still if he is making contact and keeping his K rate below or around 20% he is going to be just fine even if the BABIP drops. He needs to turn some of those singles into doubles to keep his OPS up and I assume he will manage the occasional Home run as well. If he could find a way to walk more that could help offset the K rate as well but like Kirilloff and Arraez guys that make good contact generally just don't walk that much because they put the ball in play. They don't miss the ball as much so don't get in as many situations to work the count. We will see if it holds up and if he can stay healthy something he hasn't been able to do, but I could see him batting 270 or 280 with around 400 slugging kind of like he did in 2019 at AAA. His BABIP was high at 360 that year as well but he makes quality contact so I think he can maintain a better than average BABIP I guess we will find out once they start pitching him a bit more carefully here. He will likely drop off and have to adjust but this is a good year for him to learn as well.

I like the Toronto trade deal you have the best. He doesn't run real well so I doubt he sticks at short but the hit tool and power would be hard to pass up for second or third. Betting he could play left if asked as well. It would be a good get for half a year of Pineda and Toronto could afford to pay the price if they wanted to and it wouldn't cost them pitching in their system so seems like it might work out. Twins could possibly throw in a reliever or C level guy to balance it if needed. Your Atlanta deal is OK but I would go for one of the left handers as the Twins are short on left handed pitchers and Atlanta has three of them right in the same range as Del La Cruz. They all seem to have control problems and none of them have great stats this year. So seems a bit risky trade to me but if it was the best deal I might take it. I don't think the Cubs would give up one their best and only solid pitching prospects for half a year of Pineda unless they felt they could sign Pineda for a few more years because they don't have much for pitching at the MLB level or on the farm. They just don't seem like a great match in general to me. If they were willing to part with Franklin that would be the best deal IMO as he looks like a pretty rock solid pitcher. Good control, good fastball good secondary's. It would be hard to beat that deal which is why I don't think the Cubs would make it.

If he continues to hit like he is they will find a place for him to play no worries there. My main issue with Nick is it seemed like he could never stay healthy for a full season. He always seemed to either start late or get injured late in the season. The lack of power was always a concern as well but I guess he and Arraez can battle it out as they both are good contact hitters but Arraez has the better eye at the plate and Nick the better speed of the two. Right now I am just happy he is a valuable player and not a complete bust. Hopefully he can keep this up but I see a lot breaking ball pitches in his future so we will see if he can handle that or not. Odds are pitchers won't be afraid to pitch to him since he can't hurt them with a home run so walks might be hard to come by but I guess we will have to wait and see how things work out for him at the plate. If he can play a good center field that would really help this team as it seems center fielders are always getting hurt so having a guy that can play center or second or third or short in a pinch sure would be a nice luxury to have. Hopefully after all the bad luck he has had maybe he can some good luck for a change.

I too kept a wandering eye on the game but around the 8th inning figured this was going to go down like all the rest. I went to bed early and when I checked in at TD I had to look at the headline multiple times as I thought I was misreading it and then it dawned on me to actually read the article and I could not believe they won. My brain just couldn't handle the truth. Well at least it was a pleasant surprise.

OK so I am finally getting on the Kody Funderburk train. Can anyone tell me how hard he throws and or what he is throwing to get all these K's? He wasn't really that great in 2019 but has been dominant to start the year. He looks like one of the best pitchers in the system right now. His K9 is 14.4 and he is a starter not a reliever. He has only walked 9 in 28 innings of work so control does not seem to be an issue. What changed to take him from Ho hum to essentially elite?

Yeah that game had some dominant pitching. 21 of the 27 outs came via K. 12 of 15 for Funderburk, 8 of 9 for Gore and 1 of 3 for Featherstone. Not sure I have ever seen that many K's in a game before. Only 6 outs recorded in the field the entire game. less than one per inning. Pretty crazy when you think about it. Just 6 guys a way from every out being a strike out.

Yeah I was wondering if they wanted to send Hackimer back to AA and if he in turn asked to be released. They are grabbing guys from all over place it is not like they have a good replacement for a guy with the good K9 he has. He had a 0.00 ERA and sub 1 WHIP in AA with 11 K's in 7 innings. Hard to believe you just give up on a guy like that given their options at AAA. I mean if they are willing to keep throwing Gibault out there why not Hackimer. Have to believe there is something behind this as it doesn't make sense on the surface to me. For the record I am not a big Hackimer fan I just don't think he profiles well, but I do think given time he could make MLB. Maybe it was just time to move on as I don't think I would want him on the Twins 40 man but still I was surprised by the release after his great start to the year.

Enlow made the right choice. Waiting typically doesn't help much it at all. Totally sucks that needs TJ and I feel bad for him but with any luck he comes back stronger than ever. We need his arm we need him to be healthy and to work out and I think unfortunately TJ is the best way to get there. I will miss watching him pitch this year. I still think he is going to be monster once he gets healthy. It has been a tough year but better times are ahead.

The Twins will do everything they can to unload Happ and Colome. Depending on where they are at in the standings at the deadline they both could end up DFA's as well. Shoemaker is one of the worst pitchers in MLB there is no trade value left. He will be DFA'd when the Twins are ready to bring another young arm up. I think it is going to be hard to find a taker for Simmons unless his bat heats up. He just is not a difference maker for most teams. It is Pineda and Cruz that have the most value and Cruz only fits for a few teams. Honestly they could look to trade Polanco, or Arraez as they have 2nd base depth in the system and one of those guys could get us something we need. Maybe Berrios but i doubt they find a deal that makes them willing to trade him. Hopefully the farm can produce players that can help us in 2022.

I know he had a rough game the other night but is this something where Hackimer asked for his release or the Twins just giving up on him? He started the year off in AA with 0.00 ERA, .85 WHIP and 11 K's in 7 innings pitched which looks pretty elite in a SSS. I know that all blew up in AAA with a 16.2 ERA and 4.20 WHIP but pitchers have bad games all the time. Didn't mean he was cooked necessarily. Just seems odd with the Twins grabbing guys from almost anywhere to give up on a guy who looked so good just a couple of Weeks ago. Doesn't make much sense to me.

I still have my doubts he sticks as a starter but I guess we will see. The control is good but will he be bale to keep the ball in the park and not give up up runs? He was saved by a triple play and gave up some hard hit balls. I think he is going need to miss more bats to make it IMO.

Yeah I agree with you. He has the most sustainable numbers of any player in the system with a low K rate, sustainable BABIP and while his walk rate could be better guys that make really good contact generally just have lower walk rates and if the K rate is low that is not a problem. Slugging is also not an issue. He is ready they just have to decide when they want to move Miranda to AAA, Steer to AA and Julien to High A. It will be a cascading affect once they make that move. Steer has been struggling with contact so he might be the hold up. Still his eye has been been good with more walks than K's so still seems like he could handle AA to me. Julien has that high BABIP so will see some regression in his numbers but with 23% walk rate he will be OK moving up early. If could cut his K rate by 10% (not easy to do) even if his BABIP normalizes his number would likely be similar. Anyway I digress. There is nothing really holding those three back other than letting them qualify for All Star status. Their numbers speak for themselves IMO. While I know the Twins have a glut of 2nd base options right now in Polanco, Arraez and Gordon I still would like to see Miranda get some time at the MLB level this year. His slugging is going to better than all three of those guys so he could be a difference maker. I don't know what his defense is like at 3rd base but if it is solid he would be nice Donaldson insurance as well and possibly the first legit third baseman the Twins have produced in a long time.

regarding the bullpen it seems like they felt they had an ample supply of arms that they could turn into something. They had already done it with Harper and Wisler and they doubled\tripled down on it this year and the results have been horrible. While they managed to get some of those guys to throw harder they also couldn't find the plate and walked way too many batters. Even the guys they squeezed stuff out of in Harper and Wisler aren't doing well anymore so some of that was luck IMO. I do think they were over confident that they could identify things that could make pitchers better and it didn't work out this year. Still bullpens are fickle and they needed more than they have gotten out of the one they built this year. Like many have said I didn't mind the Shoemaker signing. I didn't expect him to be great but also didn't expect him to be one of the worst pitcher's in baseball either. I sure hope some of the guys we have coming up are going to be good or we are going to be a bad team for a long time.

Julien and Schmidt could easily move up but odds are they give them a few more weeks so that they can get a chance to be nominated and or play in the All-Star game before moving to High A. Pitching should be tightening in A ball as the pitchers gain more experience so they should be challenged but was hoping if moved early that they both might have a shot at AA if they kept hitting in High A. Still two levels a year puts them on track so probably no hurry. Like Roger I was happily surprised to see Javier in this list. He has had contact issues for so long I never could have imagined a 4 hit game coming from him ever. Hopefully this is the beginning of big things to come but he needs to sustain it to make me a believer. I like Palacios better right now and he has been very solid all year. Hoping he can be seem as viable solution for SS in near future.

I tend to agree with you but they are just an injury away from Cruz being a fit. It would be tricky to work a deal with Tampa as the Twins would have to eat salary and I don't know what their appetite for that is going to be after the losses during COVID and them spending higher than normal this year. Personally I think they will want to dump salary if they can at the deadline. Still if Tampa wanted Cruz they have a lot of middle infield talent and we need infield talent. One Guy that I think might work for Cruz would be Greg Jones. He has the Speed and arm for the position and some decent power. The hit tool is suspect but it looks like he has a decent eye at the plate. Twins might need to take on most all of Cruz's salary or add a non top 30 pitcher\player to be named later that Tampa likes to make it all work but could be a possibility. Another guy might be Carlos Colmenarez. It would be risky for the Twins because he was a top 4 international signing and those don't always work out but it might work as a way for Tampa to offset Cruz's salary since they already dumped 3M into signing Colmenarez they could offer the cost of acquiring him to offset Cruz's salary. It is a much bigger risk for the Twins since international signings don't generally pan out but Tampa has been pretty darn good at identifying international talent so might be worth the risk. At any rate Tampa has players further down that are still interesting for Cruz and they should be in go for it mode since they are leading their division right now. Like you said though they don't have an immediate need for Cruz and they might find options with more versatility more to their liking than just a DH only player. Will have to wait and see but the Twins would match up well with Tampa's excess of middle infield prospects if they like Cruz.

Congrats to Jax for making it to MLB. It is not easy to get there. Jax likes to go right at guys with strikes and walks very few. His main issues have been giving up too many hits which is probably a by product of being in the zone too much and a low K rate which can run his pitch count up because he can't get the K and guys foul stuff off until they get a hit or make an out. Despite all that he has always kept his ERA and WHIP in reasonable area's year in and year out. The thing is when you hit the majors and don't have an out pitch things generally don't go that well. He got 10 K's his last time out so maybe, just maybe he is on to something and can make it as a 5th starter. Otherwise like the OP said he should have a good chance to do well in the pen. That is where I have had him pegged for a few years now. I guess we will see where he ends up this year as he is on the 40 man now and would hate to lose him on waivers as I think he can be a good MLB pitcher given time. He has good command he just needs to be able to get guys out at the highest level.

The Twins spent big this year, at least for them, thinking they had a good team. I suspect they will do what they can to move salaries for Happ, Simmons and Cruz. That would allow them to recoup some of the money invested. Most of the players on this team are so bad though they have little to no trade value (i.e. Colome, Robles, Shoemaker) so I don't see them getting any prospects that help that much back unless they are willing to trade guys that have more years left. They probably don't want to trade Jose thinking they can try and fix the rotation in the offseason and they have to hope one or two of their young pitchers will look ready to start next year they just won't want starting pithing to be too bare heading into the offseason. I don't think they will get a return for Buxton that they like enough to move him either so I doubt we get much out of this season other than heart ache. If they can't work the trade angle then they are pretty much stuck with what they have on the farm. Their two top rated pitchers Duran and Balazovich don't look ready now maybe by the end of the season. Their two best hitters Larnach and Kirilloff are already essentially a part of the MLB team but the only potential elite hitter behind them is Miranda. If you squint you can say Rooker, Celestino and Palacios but they all seem more like they might be replacement level players than elite players. Anyone else looks years away and honestly it doesn't feel like they have elite hitters in the system anymore, more like guys that hit the ball hard and K a lot, they are mostly slow players as well. Unless guys suddenly perform at extremely high levels the system doesn't look all that great to me unless some of those international signings come through for them. On the Pitching side there seems like lot's of options as there are several prospects who are performing well. Most all the guys they have coming up are hard throwers and have good K rates. With all the pitching coming up they might be OK in that area but to this point no one they have picked has made it other than Dobnak and he hasn't been that great this year. So we have no idea if any of those guys will have what it takes to make it. They have had several guys try (i.e. Thorpe, Smeltzer, Dobnak etc) but they all have faltered and barely can be called 5th starters. This way this team is constructed right now reminds me of the old White Sox. A team who generally managed to be average to slightly below average every year despite having some elite players just not enough to make a difference. Unless the Twins can make some moves to move the needle I think the mediocrity is likely here to stay.

Appreciate the heads up. If you look closer though he only had 2 K's so everyone was hitting his stuff which when it goes right to the defense is not a big deal but when it doesn't I'd say he gives up a big inning. For comparison sake at AAA this year he and Barnes have about the same number of K's and Barnes has a ERA is better. Mainly due to the fact that Kohl gave up 3 HR's (good contact). My guess is his good game is short lived but nice to see him doing well. He was under the microscope in MN because we needed pitching so badly, maybe time and little less pressure can help him stay in MLB.

If his arm would have held up I believe Alex Meyer would have made the jump. How good he would have been is hard to say but I think mid rotation would have been likely but in the end his arm couldn't take it so it didn't matter as he didn't make it. Stewart's peripherals were never good. It was always hope that he would develop. His K rate pretty poor through most of the system but he did keep his ERA in check so there was always hope but again he did not work out. Romero looked like a sure thing. Floor was supposed to be elite reliever. The K rate and everything looked good even a couple of games in MLB and then the wheels fell off. He was never the same again and another one bites the dust. Thorpe and Gonslaves had great numbers through the minors but they were never hard throwers. K rates were good to great but I don't think the stuff is going to translate well for either of them. They were two guys I think a lot of us were banking on as sure things for at least a solid 5th starter role but they never worked out. Jorge was another guy who was borderline as his peripherals showed issues but I believe he made the top 10 Twins prospects list and his floor appeared to be reliever but he never made it either. I never liked May much as a prospect as his control was bad IMO but lots of other people liked him. He made it to elite reliever so better than most on this list. Duffy and Rogers have been pretty good as relievers but yeah we were hoping for starters but at least a level of success. Chargios Burdi and Tonkin made it but wouldn't say they were difference makers. Berrios stands alone as the only one to make a difference out of that group. Ynoa might make it as well but will have to wait and see yet. You are right there were a lot of guys to hope and dream on that didn't didn't hit their ceiling, some guys hit their floors and lots of them didn't make it or make a difference at all. I agree with you that the jump from AAA to MLB is a tough one. Playing against the best of the best leaves little room for error. Call it blind hope or optimism but I do like the guys we have coming up better than your list above as the K rates are there. The velocity is there. The pitch mix is there. I think this is the best group of quality pitchers we have had in the system in maybe ever. I have to believe at least a couple of those guys work out. If not then this team is in real trouble.

This team is just so bad in all phases. Defense, Offense, relief pitching, Starting pitching. I mean usually a team can hang their hat on a couple of those areas I just can't remember seeing a team this bad before in all 4 phases before Honestly any players they have in the minors that they think are a part of the future they should bring up ASAP so they can get them acclimated to the MLB game because this team is so bad there really is no redemption for them this year. Honestly there is no trade value for Shoemaker so cutting him and getting someone like WInder or Canterino up makes more sense to me. Winder has to be added by the end of this year anyway to avoid Rule V as does Sands. Might as well see what they have ASAP as Winder is already 24 and will be 25 in October. I guess we might have to wait for the deadline to see who we can trade to make more room but this year is lost and with all phases of the game bad the vets are not going to turn this thing around.

Louie did not have his typical strike two guys out per inning game but he was much more efficient walking no one and only allowing three hits for a 0.5 WHIP. That is crazy dominant and pretty efficient too. Speaking of efficient Winder almost made it 7 innings last night too but ran out of gas in that last inning and gave up some runs. He didn't K as many guys as normal either but making it six and almost seven is probably a better outcome anyway. They both pitched really well and Louie gives hope that they have another good hard throwing pitcher on the way up. Palacios was having a tough night until his hit just barely made it past the centerfielder. Had to feel great to get that the game winning run after not having a hit all night. His bat has been a solid presence in that lineup so far this year and if he keeps it going another month I have to believe they will move him up. Also nice to see Helman move back over the Mendoza line with his three hit night. He has been a steaky hitter to start the year but if he takes off could be a good one. The top of the order in High A have been in a big funk and it is affecting their ability to get rally's started and generate wins. Hopefully they turn things around soon. I too was bummed by Duran's night but he just started pitching this year and his body is getting used to the routine so his arm might not have been quite the same. Let's give him a month and see if he settles in or if control is going to be a legitimate concern. He still needs to master that third pitch to be truly effective at the MLB level so the Twins are likely more interested in getting him innings and refining that pitch than other outcomes anyway.