Dman

I think this might be the best stretch I have seen Barnes pitch in quite some time. He and Jax have really been good at AAA to start the year. He seems to be getting back to the Barnes of 2018. Have to see if that holds or not though. I have to say I am losing hope that Thorpe will ever be more than a marginal pitcher. Too often he gets hit hard and gives up tons of runs. He just isn't getting the K's he needs to be a professional pitcher. IMO relief is the best he can do and he needs to find a K pitch. I really like what Schulfer did in 2019 and was interested to see how his stuff would play at the higher levels. He has not been as good at AA. I know the layoff might have affected him but I still him as more of a reliever than starter. He has the stuff to get K's but I think it plays better in shorter stints. We'll see if he improves in June as a starter but he has not looked that good so far. I am really hoping Palacios's swing is back. We need more guys that can make a difference at SS in the system. He is off to a great start this year hoping he keeps it up. Funderburk is having a dominant start to the season his 32 K's in 23 innings is a vast improvement over his prior years. I don't know what it is but when an error is made he seems to go into meltdown mode. I saw it happen in 2019 and it happened again last night. Something to work on I guess but a dominant night for him non the less. Man the bats at High A have fallen off a cliff. No one has been hitting much all week. Ever since they had those games where they were no hit and close to no hit the bats have been very cold. Sawyer Gipson Long is a guy I kind of pinned my hopes on would be perhaps an elite pitcher. The K rate is there and he throws tons of strikes it is just his penchant for giving up runs that is disconcerting. I don't know why but even with a dominant line he gives up more runs than you would like to see. Granted he got off to rough start to start the year and has been much better the past few times out but if he fixes that he seems to have what he needs to move up. To be honest the more dominant pitcher in this one was German. 8 out of the 10 guys he faced he K'd. Doesn't get much more dominant than that. I knew the kid had some stuff but not that kind of stuff. The bats looked OK and Julien finally climbed out of his slump with a three hit night. Some good pitching but lot's of hitters need to get back on track.

I agree they will go with Celestino if needed. He is on the 40 man, is solid defensively and while the bat will likely be a liability at least he is someone they can move up and down as needed. He can play in AAA as well as AA the competition isn't all that much different. Getting some MLB at bats isn't going to hurt him either and he can't be much worse than most of the rest of the team. Broxton is just so bad at the plate it seems like it would be better to give those at bats to Celestino. He honestly can't do worse than what Broxton is doing right now at AAA. They will need to be careful with who they put on the 40 man unless they are willing to lose them because they have a lot of rule V pitchers coming up as well as Miranda and possibly Palacios if he continues to hit. Maybe they don't care if they lose Kerigan or Broxton hard to say but I don't see one of the other options having much of a chance unless of coarse they think Buxton is coming back even later than expected or not at all this year. That might change the decision making. Still I think Celestino is next in line. His bat was starting to warm up so maybe they feel he is ready for another shot.

I will echo your thoughts. If the deal is too good to pass up trade him. If you don't think you can extend him, trade him. If you can extend and there is no great trade deal to be had hang onto him it is not like we have tons of starter that can give us the good innings he does.

Reggi Grace got lucky in the 2nd as he had the bases loaded with no outs on two walks and a single. Somehow, someway they got the runner at home twice and a groundout to end it with no damage done. While he didn't give up many hits he kept the bases busy with hbp's and walks. There is a lot work to do for him to gain control and command. Bats were quiet for the Fort last night. Beck did not have the juice last night and got lucky to only give up two runs. Personally I wonder since he has never been a starter if his arm isn't responding to starting quite as well as hoped but we will see. Shreve has the uncanny ability to give up runs and yet K almost two of every three batters he faces. Guy has some good stuff looks like someone who will move up soon but needs to be more careful giving up runs.. Gore keeps hanging in there but seems to run into issue with control at times. He looks like he might have good stuff just probably needs more time to get the hang of pitching. Cabbage was the story in this one with the big blast, but Camargo also had a big HR to keep his OPS from tanking. I don't know how magic man Vallimont got away giving up only one run with a WHIP of 2 for four his 4 innings pitched. He was not good Vallimont tonight but he didn't hurt himself or the team that much so there is that. The guys behind him pitched great and they needed to because the Surge only scored two runs. The one guy that is crazy hot right now is Boyd who is hitting 700 right now. It has only been a few games but this guy seems like he could be something. We will see what happens once he cools down but his bat has really helped this lineup. No real stand out starters last night and not many runs scored except in High A with the two big HR's. Hopefully lots of lessons learned though.

The answer to the question is Duran. Just very interested to see how his stuff would play right now at the MLB level. He very well may not be ready but he holds the hope of being a mid to top of the rotation starter depending on the third pitch. I know, I know don't get your hopes up but if Palacios can turn into a starting MLB shortstop that would be just what the Twins need right now. It is only one month and only AA but if he just keep that OPS better than 750 and not K too much he could really, really help this team. That last start was Jax at his best. He likes to attack hitters but he also generally gives up too many hits. Nice to see him mixing things up and striking guys out. If he can keep that up I have to believe the Twins give him shot because because he has really good command. His only issue has been a fairly high WHIP and ultimately ERA because he gives up so much contact. Missing bats make him much more dangerous. The lineup at AAA doesn't look like much but they have found ways to score runs and the pitching has been good except for Andrew Albers who has 7.11 and 1.75 WHIP ick. He has been horrible for St. Paul but when his country comes calling apparently lights out with no hits allowed in 7 innings. Anyway pretty awesome to see St Paul Saints Sweep a 6 game series that is really hard to do. Hope they keep it going and keep the hometown fans happy. I don't know how Ober does it but he sure gets a lot of K's and he has kept his AAA ERA down as well. Just needs to refine things a bit more and he should be a reliable MLB 5th starter or long man. I am still a believer. I am still a big fan of Sands as well. Love how aggressive he can be challenging hitters and yet he get's his K's and keeps runs to minimum as well. We need productive guys from this system here's hoping that several prospects continue to excel.

Dang that is a sad list. No Cruz, no Buxton, no Kepler, no 23 million dollar man Donaldson. You can see why this club has fallen so far this year just based on the lack of elite bats on the team. Sano's 2 good games and a couple other dingers won Honorable mention at #3 for the month that is just laugh out loud stuff or a crying shame not sure which. I think we need some more young blood to get this team moving. The older players don't look capable.

He was having trouble getting recognition as a prospect before his MLB callup. We all know a bad K rate is hard to overcome and generally means a hitter is not making enough contact to be a Major league baseball player. Rooker has struggled as he has faced pitchers with better breaking balls. his 35% K rate at AAA in 2019 had several of us saying he wasn't going to make it because 35% at AAA is only going to get worse at the MLB level. This he proved as his K rate was 43% when with the MLB club in 2021. Players with 43% K rates just don't stay in MLB for long. That is just too many non-contact outs unless all of your hits go for HR's. If you watched any games he was an easy out at the MLB level. Just throw a diving ball over the plate and he would swing at it and miss. It was sad to watch IMO. Maybe he can get better but the odds are against him. He would have to reinvent himself to become a player the Twins need. I mean Kyle Garlick a waiver claim and Rob Refsnyder a journeyman look like better players than Rooker and we have Larnach and Kirilloff already establishing themselves and young guys not that far off so yeah I think he is on the edge of oblivion as a prospect. Not saying he can't make changes and still make it but he is running out of time and his current approach won't get him there as he tried that and failed miserably. He has to learn to lay off certain pitches and not K as much. If he can do that he has light tower power that few players possess but he has to hunt better pitches to get to it. Personally I don't see him making it but I hope he proves me wrong.

Miranda is looking pretty special and is another good contact hitter. I agree with him that being patient works in his favor. If he hunts good pitches to hit he can do damage. He has very solid numbers with his BABIP at only 304 which could be sustainable. He could stand to walk a bit more but with a 563 slugging percentage and only a 10% K rate maybe swinging away makes more sense. At any rate this is what we all have been waiting for and he is only 22. Miranda should be a good Blankenhorn replacement. Hopefully his fielding is good as well. Have to say I am pretty excited to see Palacios in this list. We need better SS play and more options for guys that can play that position. His K rate is OK at 25% and his walk rate at 12% but both could stand to be just little bit better. His BABIP of 400 is high so it look like there will be some regression in his numbers but those are solid numbers and you have to be encouraged by the slugging percentage and ultimately OPS of 875. He needs to keep it up but he is looking like he could be a solution at SS sooner rather than later. He just needs to hold those numbers longer into the season and he looks like a solid utility player as his floor everyday SS as his ceiling. He just needs to keep that bat going. I like Gabe's numbers but let's be honest he is a 26 year old playing at High A. If his numbers weren't that good he likely would need to hang up the spikes. The Twins should promote him to AA ASAP to see if the bat plays there so that he has chance to move AAA where his age plays better for the level. Don't get me wrong I love what he is doing but they need to move him up before the numbers mean much. Julien has been in a slump pretty much ever since I said he should be moved up. He has a good eye at the plate though so moving up shouldn't be a problem for him. The Twins can afford to be patient but he is one of the best hitters in the system so I would think moving him up fairly soon would make sense. I like Wallners numbers but I see a ton of regression in his numbers. His near 40% K rate is going to catch up to him and his BABIP is high as well. He is fools gold right now. It is great to see him doing well and putting up nice numbers but that K% will bring him to his knee's eventually. He looks very Rooker like to me right now but hopefully he can get that K rate down and OBP up. He has power I have no doubts there but he needs to make more contact and improve the eye at the plate if he ever wants a shot at MLB. I don't know what to think of Kyle Schmidt yet. His numbers for the month of May all say solid hit tool. K% and walk rate are good. He isn't hitting HR's but the 6 doubles keep his slugging up so he is hitting the ball hard. The one regression point he has though is his BABIP is 472. He isn't going to keep this up. Still he looks like a balanced hitter to me at this point and being a catcher the bar for hitting is much lower. Will be interesting to see how his numbers turn out this year. I am a big Ernie fan so happy to see him make honorable mention. 2019 was a terrible year for him. I was wondering if would be able to recover or if he was done. His numbers are back and I love his game. He has solid hitters numbers he just needs to add to slugging to round things out. I am rooting for him. It is a fun list but Miranda is far and away the best hitter on this list IMO. His low K% normalized BABIP % and high slugging make him the best candidate to sustain his production through the season. Hopefully he keeps it going and the Twins have another star in the making.

After watching him pitch in 2019 I would have never imagined Kody Funderburk could ever be this good. A lefty who gets lots of K's would be very, very valuable for us to have. Would be nice to have a good lefty in AA but I am guessing they will leave him where he is for a bit yet. Hopefully his stuff will translate up the levels. I never really looked that closely at Beck before but his K9 numbers have always been good. I am a little surprised they didn't keep him a reliever as it seems like his stuff plays up out of the pen but I guess if they think he can start and he is having success why not. Cedar rapids has had some good starting pitching to start the season but the pen has not been as good.

Yeah I was looking at the A ball pitchers a week ago or so and the numbers for everyone except Sean Mooney or Anthony Escobar although Escobar has only pitched 4 innings so far and is currently on the injured list. Everyone else looks pretty vanilla at best. No real stand outs at that level just yet at least to me. I think the Covid layoff and lack of experience is really showing at the A ball level this year. I suspect several of those guys will start distinguishing themselves as the year moves on as several of them have had good games but have lacked consistency to this point. My pick for a Winder type rise was Sawyer-Gipson-Long but he has been hit hard to start the year so not sure that is gonna hold up. I also was looking at Varland who has a ton of K's but a very high WHIP so he is giving up contact and walking guys so lot's to work on as well. Hunter McMahon has been good but for his age and level would like to see more dominance. Legumina has the stuff to K guys but gives up too many hits and his ERA shows it too. Every pitcher at ball seems to have their warts right now but I assume they will get better and move on. Other than Mooney there just isn't much to be excited about yet at Fort Myers. Still waiting to see Rijo, Lawyerson and Balazovich pitch this year at their levels as well. Still have lot's of good pitchers in the system so not real worried at this point.

I like your Stroman comp and feel the situation is similar for the Twins. Still they will need a team that likes Berrios better than other options at the trade deadline and be willing to give up more prospect capital than for just a rental. I agree it makes the most sense to trade rather than wait for the comp pick but the Twins FO needs to decide if having Berrios for one more year plus the comp pick is greater than what they might be offered in trade. Going the comp pick route means it would likely be another 5 years from today before that player would help the team and that is assuming that player does not end up a bust as then they get nothing at all. They would have to play the long game if they decide to go that route. If they can trade for a top 100 to 150 player they get the assurance that said player has already done well professionally so won't bust straight out of the draft but will still have to be good enough to play with the best of the best. Still that prospect in the trade can fail as well but the odds are better and the player has a chance to contribute in the next year or two if that player is at High A or AA. So trading makes a lot of sense IMO but the return has to be there. Can't just trade to trade they need to get something they need back.

I feel the same way. Hoping our guys continue to do well and Twins can maximize trade value to boost this teams wave 2 of players and field young hopefully star players that can get us where we want to go. Also the young pitching looks very, very close. It might be an up and down 2022 if they go young with the pitching but could pay huge dividends in 2023 as the hitters and pitchers should be ready to gel at the same time. Hopefully the trades can help accelerate building a young team with star players.

OK first I want to congratulate the guys I have been hard on for having great games. I haven't had much love for Javier but he is starting to hit and if he can keep it up there is a chance he can still work out. I haven't been high on Helman since his rookie year but he has started to heat up the past two weeks as well. I have been of the opinion that Banuelous doesn't know how to use a bat but he went 2 for 4 today so I stand corrected. Celestino has started to heat up this last week and is showing more HR power than I thought was possible for him and finally I had some pretty harsh statement about Rortvedts at bats but he really excelled at AAA this year and his HR for the big club was great to see. I might have been wrong thinking his bat would never come around as he has been hitting pretty well recently. I am a Hunter McMahon fan and was happy to see him pitch well today. I think he has a ways to go yet but he did a really nice job today. Was also nice to see Urbina get a couple of hits. I love that the Twins have challenged him with A ball and we need him to succeed as we need more potential star players in the system. I was expecting Javier to fail again with the bases loaded but he surprised with the HR. He went to 2 for 4 with 5 RBI's I hope he keeps the hitting going and gains the confidence to fulfill his potential. Helman who I thought might be done also hit a grand slam. The knock on Helman is that he just didn't have the power needed to make it but he has 4 HR's already so he has a shot at utility role if he can keep this up. I am not a huge Gross fan just yet but hard to argue 8 K's in 5 innings. Hoping he keeps it going. I know Miranda is the "guy" on the AA team and I waited a while before mentioning anything as I was waiting for him to start to fade but Palacous has been pretty special to start the year. He too is hitting for power with 4 HR's and his batting line is very good. Maybe he is finally putting it all together? I don't know what his defense is like but is it possible he could be our future shortstop of the future or at least a utility player who can actually play shortstop for us? If he keeps this up he looks close to ready to me. I don't know how the AAA lineup does it but they find ways to get runs in. It ain't always pretty but they have been getting the job done. Ober was great until he lost control. His line for the day still looked pretty good and he just keeps the K's coming. I guess a bit more refinement and he looks like solid 5th or 6th starter to me. Nice to see a system sweep as most the teams have had their fair share of hard luck loses.

I haven't done the research but I think the OP is treating Berrios like he is a half year rental not 1 and a half because the team that makes the trade if they can't keep Berrios would get a comp pick. Depending on what team gets him would depend on where that comp pick lands but they get return value even if they cannot resign him. If you factor that in I believe he should be worth a player in the top 100 and maybe a lottery ticket in the lower levels as well. I could be wrong but if the Twins don't get value that would be better than the 35th pick in the draft or so then there is really no need to trade him. Teams that want him have to top that value and then some for the Twins to lose a year of Berrios and the first round draft Comp pick when he likely leaves. To me that would be a top 100 player plus a little something extra at a minimum. The FO doesn't have to trade him and they could use him next year the deal would have to blow them away or at least be an overpay IMO to be made.

I don't think anyone is undervaluing him it comes down to if you believe he will stay with the team beyond his rookie deal. If I believed the Twins could and would sign him I would be all for having him stay. I just don't think that will happen and because he is a valuable commodity the teams with bigger payrolls will find a way to sign him away. You can hold onto him for one more year and wait for draft compensation or trade him early and net a top 100 prospect who is closer to ready and more of a sure thing. Those appear to be the teams only two choices as there have been no rumors he badly wants to stay or that the Twins want to overpay. This is something the Indians, A's, Ray's and most teams who get supplemental picks do because they generally don't have the payroll or want the flexibility to balance their payroll to get the most value per player average they can. They also want to maximize the return they can get for a player likely to leave because that future value can create a huge impact if the player or players work out. If everyone on here believed Berrios would for sure sign with the Twins or the Twins were in contention I don't think we would be having this discussion, but here we are.

Can someone shed a little more light on BJ Boyd? It looks like the last time he played in MiLB was 2018. I looked like in the transactions he might have started with another team but then ended up with us. Hoping someone out there can give us the scoop because the guy had a heck of a debut and although he is older maybe could be something yet.

I like how we match up best with the Blue Jays. Not sure Berrios will be their first choice in the market or not but if the Twins work a deal for an up the middle player that could really help them out. I think they will be hard pressed to get the Blue Jays to include a pitcher back in the deal for 1 and half years of Berrios but you never know. Still I would trade Berrios as I don't think we can extend him and this year will be the most value we can hope to get from him as well. Also don't forget if the team that acquires Berrios can't sign him they will get draft pick compensation back so that needs to be factored into the deal and should increase what return the Twins can get for him. I honestly don't think a top 100 player would be out the of question and if a sweetener is required that is fine too. We need to get valuable player back at a position of need SS, CF, or starting Pitcher. Get the best return you can and go from there. With the graduation of Kirilloff and Larnach we are probably looking at 5 pitcher in our top 10 as it is not including Dobank and Ober so we do have pitchers to fall back on in 2022 but they would not be seasoned options. '

Count me in the disappointed Donaldson category. It looks like we paid for his bad years. Come on man have some pride and be clutch once in a while. He looks horrible at the plate I would rather have Blankenhorn back and batting in his spot because he wouldn't be any worse and would have upside. Maybe call up one of replacement players who at least seem to be doing something. Hard to believe a veteran bat can be so overmatched at the plate especially in run scoring opportunities. Absolute waste of money.

Nice to see Jax with the 10 K's. If he can continue that trend I don't see how he can't be a starter at the MLB level. His control is already good. His only real issue was giving up too many hits. If gets that under control then he should be in MLB. Canterino should have never started at High A. Hopefully they move him to AA ASAP.

I guess I never realized he had such a good eye at the plate. That really translates to success up the ladder as even when not getting on base with a hit he isn't an automatic out and he makes the pitcher work or at least throw actual strikes over the plate which generally translates to more hits. Low A ball is a little weird this year so hard to tell what kind of competition he has faced but I am surprised he is doing this well to start the season. Right now he looks like a heck of a pickup in the 18th round. Kudos to the FO for upping the ante and likely grabbing a possible top 100 to 150 prospect in the 18th round. By saving some money early to sign him later they might have gotten a steal in that draft. Right now although it is early, and he is at a lower level, he arguably could be the best hitter they drafted in 2019.

So I guess I jinxed Julien and Schmidt as they both had O fer games last night. Julien looked especially bad K'ing in half of his at bats. Can't be good every night but I thought he would at least draw a walk like Schmidt did. Prato hasn't been mentioned much but he is putting up typical Prato type numbers batting above 300 taking walks with an OBP of 423 and a solid OPS at 777. He looks good even though he seems to be under the radar right now. Gipson-Long was a pick I thought would be somewhat like Winder. A sturdy build who throws strikes but gives up too many hits and just needs some refinement to possibly become really, really good. Of course he started the year horribly but hopefully last night was a glimpse of better things to come. He can throw strikes so has the command but he needs to move the ball around more and find an out pitch and he might not become quite as good as Winder but still very good. Hoping to see lot's of improvement from him by the end of the season. Last night was a very good night for him. My guy Ernie is having a good start to the year in Wichita. Man he had a brutal year at the plate in 2019. It was getting embarrassing and I thought that he might be done. Happy to see him hitting 300 and back to his normal batting line. Looks like he is focused on adding power to his game with that 800 OPS. He was always a long shot to make it but I am rooting for him. I really like all the numbers Vallimont puts up except ERA. He has a tendency to make a mistake pitch or two or three and it never fails to hurt him by giving up runs. If he can gain some better consistency there he looks like an outstanding pitcher to me. His K9 is crazy good like almost 2 guys per inning good and his Whip is right around 1.00 flat so he is not giving much up in walks or hits. Unfortunately he seems to give up too many runs at times. I don't understand why he isn't talked about more on this site as he rivals some our best pitching prospects in the system. I don't have much to say about Duran except he needs to stay healthy and maintain a good pitch mix and he might have ace level talent. He looks amazing to me out there just blowing the ball by guys. Maybe we will finally have some guys that can pitch with great velocity for once.

6 of his 18 hits have come in the last two games so it is just in the last couple of games that he started doing "well". Before that he was looking pretty bad at the plate. Even this spring he didn't look great at the plate. Hopefully he stays hot and gets in a good groove as it looks like we will need him sooner rather than later. He is no Buxton though. Not speed or power wise anyway. He does look like a solid centerfielder, maybe above average defensively if the hit tool is good he will be very good insurance just not a pure replacement.

Can anyone give me some context on Yeltsin Encarnacion? It doesn't look like he has had an OPS over 700 since E-town, very little time at High and skipped AA. He is a 22 year old in AAA and I haven't heard much about the guy. Is he some kind of defensive wizard that I didn't know about? Obviously the Twins think he can handle the jump but they generally move guys up slowly so just curious about what makes Yeltsin so special.

Man I really underestimated Funderburk. He is off to a great start at High A. A sub 1 ERA and WHIP with a really nice K9. I know it is early but considering how many other pitchers have sort of blown up to start the year need to give credit where credit is due. I kind of thought he only had reliever potential but if he keeps this up he could move into top 30 prospect status. No idea how hard he throws but right now guys from other teams are having a heard time hitting what he is throwing. Sands with a nice night night as well. Seems to be picking up where he left off. He had to throw too many pitches but it is early and I think this is only his second time pitching this year. Hopefully he gets more efficient but other than that he looks like the same pitcher that dominated High A in 2019. The Twins have lot's of pitchers to keep an eye on and I hope they translate well to MLB as we need some young arms. Julien continues to make a mockery out of A ball pitchers. His numbers are just goofy right now 360 BA, 530 OBP, 1,076 OPS. They are absolutely elite for the month of May. I mean the umpire had to squeeze the strike zone just to help the pitcher get him out. His eye is just that good right now. HIs OBP is higher than a third of the teams OPS. He needs to be challenged with better pitching, pitchers that throw better breaking stuff and maybe throw harder. This level appears to easy for him right now. I don't really know who Kyle Schmdit is but I guess we drafted him in the 33 round in 2019. He is killing it in A ball right now with a 360 average and 947 OPS and he is a catcher. I know we have Camargo at High A and Isola is playing well there too but would be nice if Kyle got a crack at High A in the not too distant future. Miranda is in Elite territory at AA as well. 329 BA and 977 OPS. He keeps this up and there is going to be a log jam at 2nd base. He has played third as well so can move around but it looks like he has mastered making better contact and if he maintains those numbers he could have star potential as well. He could stand to be moved up as well to face the nasty stuff AAA pitchers throw and see how he does. Maybe he can help the big league club as early as next year. It is not even one month into the season but trends are developing. Gonna need some guys to step up to keep the farm strong after likely losing Kirilloff and Larnach to the big club.

I am with you on Julien one would think he has to slow down at some point still they really should move him up as he has a 521 OBP. He is literally on base every other time he comes to the plate for the last month. If that isn't domination I don't know what is. While he might regress some regressing from a 500 OBP to 400 isn't really a concern. They could move Steer to AA to make room for Julien at High A. Both players have been dominating and there is no one at AA that should be holding Steer back as there are two 30 year olds holding down the fort because we have no real prospect at that level right now.