Dman

It is way, way too early to talk or even really think about trading but I think those are all good trade candidates. If they want good prospect value for Berrios or Buxton and they are out of it at the deadline that would be the best time to trade them. If they are going to swallow hard and extend them then do it at that time as well. They can also ride them out and try for draft pick comp but the value they get back is less and they have to wait longer for the talent they pick to mature. Everyone on one year deals should be in play at the deadline. I don't see them keeping Cruz after this year if he has a good year this year as we will be outbid when the DH comes to the National league next year. So trade him and get some value if possible. Same for Pineda if he keeps this up with last years numbers we will likely be outbid for his services. Best to try and get something back instead of nothing at all. At this point I don't know if it makes sense to trade Rogers or not as we don't have much for lefties behind him, but if the deal was right I could see them doing it. Man what a difference a month makes. This team looked pretty good on paper and now looks so bad it might need to trade some of its better players to try and get better next year. Might be a mini rebuild coming as we transition to the wave 2 pitcher's and hitters in the minors right now.

Larnach seems like a player that could be ready. He appears to have decent eye at the plate and hits the ball hard. He is not on the 40 man though so they would literally need to get rid of Cave to add him IMO. I don't think the Twins are ready to do that yet though. Celestino still has contact problems. While he might be worth watching he looks lost to start the season. 7 K's in 12 at bats tells the story. He can't tell a strike from a ball and is getting a lot of air. Plenty of time for things to change but he doesn't look good right now. Sabato for a guy touted as a contact bat first player he has been anything but. All spring he couldn't hit and in low A ball he has 7 K's in 12 at bats. That is just tremendously abysmal for a bat first player. If I were the Twins I would want my money back for that 1st round pick. Not saying he can't get better but he has been crazy overmatched even at a lower level. I don't know what the problem is but I hope he makes contact soon or he looks like Rooker part 2 and that is not a story anybody wants to watch. Canterino looks like he could be good but I thought he was supposed to be pitcher with good control and this spring that didn't appear to be the case. He has some interesting stuff but a ways to go IMO. I get that all these guys are likely to improve and we should keep an eye on them, but several of them don't look that good right now to me. I sure hope they improve and in a hurry because if they are the best we've got then we are in trouble.

Just goes to show the players that are bad this year can be great next year or the year after or the year after that.

I tend to agree with your assessment. There isn't much for hitters at AA but the pitching is likely the best in the system so there's that. Gonna need to hope some of those HIgh A hitters perform well and move up quickly as there lot's of bats in AA that have a history of struggling. Granted they still have a chance to come around it is just that it appears unlikely to change or be good enough. Would love to see David, Ernie, Aaron, Andrew and Jermaine turn things around but they have pretty much been bat liabilities to this point. They will need to step up if this team is going to win games. It is mainly Celestino and Miranda with the greatest chance to do well but even they have struggled at times. Like I said earlier AA looks starved for elite bats.

Seth thanks so much for providing greater context to those players. I was down on Wallner to some degree because of his 2019 K rate. Not permanently down but had my concerns about contact so it was great to see him have such a special game. I hope he keeps that swing simple and keeps the K rate down. If can do that he will be a very dangerous hitter. I got see Steer in 2019 in Beloit and he went 0 for 3 that night. Still he took great at bats. Didn't appear to swing at anything outside the zone and was one of the few batter to make contact and not K. It was a tough night as I think they lost 11 to 0 or something like that but even at 0 for 3 he was a bright spot. I don't know much about Gore as a pitcher but have to admit I was a little disappointed with the HR ball. I know it happens but it did spoil his debut a little. I hope he is the next Joe Nathan but guessing he has a ways to go. Thanks again for the insight you provide on the players. It is easy to get lost in the statistics and lose sight of the human player. I appreciate that you bring that back to stat watchers like me.

I was wondering about Cavaco's bat and he is off to a good start. I was also curious about Juliens eye at the plate and he had three walks yesterday so happy to see he has some plate discipline. Holland has been good to start the season as well. Hopefully those guys keep it going. Hunter McMahon was really working the corners of the zone last night. He looked good for his first time out. It was the Wallner show for Cedar Rapids as he had all the RBI's until the 9th inning. That was a heck of a game for him and I haven't been his biggest fan, but don't forget about Steer either as he has been an on base machine to start the year. Good to see Miranda finally getting those balls over the fence. That is what we have been waiting for. It is early but nice to see some of the top prospects doing well.

I just don't get what happened to this bullpen. It was one of baseballs best the past two years. Clean innings were the norm and not the exception until this year. It is like direct Karmic payback for the last two years of success. One guy is not going to fix the mess they have. I can't ever remember total system failure like this year and such consistent failure. The silver lining is maybe the FO looks for more velocity and better K9 guys for the pen instead of castoffs. The pens they have put together have not been good in the playoffs either. Maybe something like this will force them to look at things differently.

Quite the pitching performance by Grace and Varland. Louie with 10 K's in 4.1 innings of work that is crazy good stuff. Taken in the 15th round with middling stats I didn't think he had a chance. If he keeps this up he will be on the fast track. My boy Willie Joe with the leadoff HR and he took a couple of walks. Cavaco held his own as did Holland. The biggest bat was Julian 2 for 4 with a walk and the clutch hit that put things out of reach in 9th. Sabato was a brutal 0 for 5 striking out when we badly needed a hit and leaving 6 men on base tonight. I saw him this spring and thought I liked his swing and approach despite the lack of results but then and now there appears to be a huge hole in his swing. 3 of his 5 at bats ended in K's. This guy was supposed to be an advanced bat he can't even make contact? Now I know why they started him so low in the system. Peoria didn't want to throw strikes and walked 8 batters. The top of the order had the hits and RBI's. They scored early and that was enough to win. Funderburk and Cabezas were OK but they are not K 9 pitchers and I see little upside there. Cabezas is interesting in that he is small but a plucky player. He might make it as a reliever But am not certain he has the stuff or not. I feel like Funderburk is too hittable but he had a good night tonight so I guess wait and see. There are some interesting bats at the High A level. Steer was the best going 2 for 4 with a walk but Gray, Wallner, Camargo are all interesting bats as well. Anyway they got the job done tonight. Winder pitched well but would have been nice if he could have gone at least 5 innings. Almost everyone got a hit in this one except David Banuelos who has tons of trouble as a hitter. Clutch RBI heroes were Contreras and Bechtold who came up with singles to finally get two runs in the 8th. Moran and Hackimer did their job getting 3 K's each and Cano finished it off for the win. For a vet Albers was horrible in this game. 7 earned runs at the AAA level I expected a lot more from a guy who used to be better than this. Jeffers 2 for 4 with a HR was the only thing to smile about in the entire game. Wiel went 2 for 4 as well all the other bats pretty much stunk. AAA was an ugly watch tonight.

Another bullpen loss. They are horrible. Well I said I wanted Waddle and they gave me Waddle in the 10th but same result as Colome so I don't know what to wish for anymore. Our best bullpen arm blows it in the 9th. I don't think we can survive this season with a bullpen that is this bad. It is a shame. We have a pretty good team but maybe this the wake up call the FO needs. Maybe this will get the FO to look at K9 guys for the pen and stop with this goofy boot strap bullpen building. Maybe a wasted year can get them to move this team toward dominance instead of just enough to get the job done.

Keep your eye on the Muscles this year as there is going to be a 2019, 2020 blend along with later in the year guys that might have started at Elizabethton needing time there as well. There will be lots of guys to look at. High A and AA have lot's of starting pitchers to keep an eye on. Will be interesting to see how our hitters do this year. There doesn't seem to much for elite hitters after Kirilloff and Larnach. I guess Sabato might make it in that range at some point but pretty much every other hitter in the system has to make a lot of progress to get to that elite level. Maybe Wallner, Soularie, Steer and Gray can challenge but have been average at best to this point. Celestino, Miranda have an outside chance as well but again on paper the hitting looks weak this year IMO. Hopefully we have some guys that break out this year otherwise it looks like we will have to wait for Cavaco, Valdez, Urbina, Rosario, Rodriguez and Diaz to make a difference but they are a ways a way. Gonna be fun to follow these guys this year. Can't wait to see who shines.

I agree the K rate is something to keep an eye on. With AK hitting HR's they will throw him even more breaking stuff as he is already K'ing on that stuff. I think one of the reasons he is swinging early and for the fences is I believe they have been been throwing him first pitch fastballs and even when he hits it hard they have been hard outs. With HR's you don't have to worry about it being caught. To your point I think K's are going to be a problem for him just like they were for Rosario as they are close to the same player. Hers's hoping AK can adjust.

They will give Shoemaker another chance or two before cutting him loose. They could use Thorpe and\or Dobnak in the 5th spot if they need to. The Shoe has looked they can't do any worse. I am really surprised at how poorly he has pitched. I guess there was a reason he was signed for just a couple Mil. I just don't think they will give up on him this early though. I agree we need a good week as it is a long road back to 500 right now. Happy they took the three game series with the Royals but could have really used a sweep right there as well. At least it has been back to watchable baseball.

Boy if a pitcher isn't quite on this offense can be relentless. Very nice to see the lineup coming around. Kirilloff isn't going back down not with his one HR per game average. The confidence is back and we need his bat. If our pitching holds I think they can get back in this thing.

With no 2020 this is the team I am the most interested in. Tons of guys that we need to figure out where they are at and honestly there are a lot of good players right behind them. Lot's of competition for fewer spots so I wonder how that is going to work out for senior signs or anyone who starts out slow. Probably also impacts guys trying to make it from the DSL. Likely will take them longer to get to the GCL. Things have changed. Very happy to see Valdez in this list. He had a great 2019 and if his bat is for real could be a fast mover. Was worried he might get buried with all the college talent they brought in plus the last year of no MILB baseball. Also looking to see how Cavaco, Holland and Julien do. Would be nice to see a third wave developing. Not that excited about the outfield except for Willie Joe Gary and Soularie once off of injured list. Sabato doesn't belong down here but I guess if they want him to meet and get input from coaches at all the levels then fine but he looked good this spring just looked like he was having trouble with breaking stuff. The pitchers here are all intriguing but no idea how they will perform just yet. There will be tougher competition earlier in with fewer leagues so harder to move up as well. A ball is going to be different from here on out. Probably closer to High A than before now that the talent level will be higher. Should be a fun season I can't wait to see how all these guys turn out.

Kirilloff finally proves he can play with the big boys. Fantastic to see our guy finally put together some great at bats. I have no idea how he hit that home run on a bending breaking pitch. Just a gorgeous swing! I was down on him this spring but so, so happy to see him swinging well right now as we need his bat really bad. Great all around win for Twins again. Let's keep this train rolling.

I believe I said earlier that if KC's young pitching holds up they have a good chance to win the division this year. They had been snake bit losing lot's of close games last year. Their Offense has always been pretty solid but starting pitching and the pen needed help. While I don't think they will keep up the current pace I don't see them falling far off of it unless their pitching falters. I don't think they have a ton of pitching depth so injuries could hurt them. At any rate I don't see them as pretenders. The Twins have had a lot of really odd things happen to lose games. Colome is pretty much directly responsible for I think 4 losses himself granted the defense cratered on him as well in some spots but he hasn't helped. The bullpen looks unreliable at worst and shaky at best. It looks like the Achilles heal for the team this year. If they can somehow fix the pen maybe they are contenders otherwise look for lots of heartache at the end of games. Indians still don't have an offense and other teams in the division are starting to get better pitching. I think they are a long shot to take the division. Chicago still looks like the team to beat to me. The lineup is solid and the pitching is there. Again I question their depth when it comes to pitching but they might have enough offense to cover for it anyway. Not as bullish on the Twins as I was to start to the season but if they can fix the pen I think they can hang at the top. Right now it is just hard to see that happening.

So just when I am about to give up watching these guys they find one of their double digit games and pitch well to boot. So I guess this is our one game this week where the offense does its thing and the rest of the week it is back to tough luck loses. Anyway great game today keep them coming. Buxton Wow just Wow. The guy is on fire. When he is healthy he is the heart of this team. Here's hoping he stays healthy. Nice to see Mitch actually making contact and getting a couple of HR's hopefully he gets that confidence back because we need that bat. Oh and yes I apologize to JA Happ. I didn't like the signing and with him getting off to a late start and looking not ready I had him penciled in for failure. I will silently eat my crow for now but he looks better than I imagined he could look so far. Probably our most consistent starter to start the season.

I am ready to see Waddle and Farrell in relief duty this pen is such a disaster. So Wes's philosophy is throw it down the middle those guys can't touch your stuff? Or is it just throw hard who cares where it goes even if it hits them? I don't think I have ever seen such a pitiful group of relief pitchers for the Twins ever. I mean if this is the best they have bring up Chalmers he can walk three guys and hit a batter like Colome did and likely strike out the side doing it. Bring up Ober can he be any worse than Stashak has been? Let all those guys sit and think about finding ways to throw strikes and miss bats. Can anyone throw a clean inning anymore? Let's get to work guys come on. Hopefully the Twins learned their lesson on the Colome decision. No one in the league really wanted him as the deeper numbers were not there. Now we know why. Rocco did his friend no favors leaving him out there for 30 and 40 pitches an outing and not giving him much rest but still Colome is not the kind of pitcher you hang your hat on. K's rule and the pen needs to get back to missing bats. Don't get me started on the brutal defense this year either. There is an untimely error every game setting us back and lot's of them are not even tough plays. This just doesn't look like a professional team right now more like AAA with a few MLB players mixed in. I can't watch this train wreck everyday anymore. Will keep a distant eye on them but this looks like a wasted season right now.

I don't know. He has a pretty darn good gig in Minnesota right now. Leaving a pretty sure thing for a maybe doesn't seem like a great idea to me but I am not much of risk taker. I guess it depends on how he see's things for the team. Colorado has assets but they are in a tough division and in a likely fairly long rebuild which is always pressure packed for the GM. The GM title is enticing though and if he has connections he might want his shot. There are only 30 job openings so he would be in elite company. Hard to say what he will do as it depends on what his goals are and how he wants to accomplish them.

My mind is with the over-reactors but my heart says this team will come around. The team has had some bad bounces early but there is no reason to just give up. They just need to work on getting better. With the way they have been playing it can't be that hard to play better. Baseball is like this. A team can have a terrible first half and then a great second half. You have to stay the course, you have to keep trying. My one concern is the bullpen. There have not been many clean innings and that doesn't bode well for holding leads. Wes needs to get those guys ready. The offense will come around. Some young blood and more competition should get players more motivated to hit. They have had games where they have scored lots of runs. I think May will be different story. Have to wait and see.

That was a masterpiece! Just a super fun read. Thanks for making me smile amidst all of this bad luck losing.

It is tough to win when your starting pitcher gives up 7 runs. To even be in the game at that point seemed crazy. Every facet of the team failed except the offense. Starting pitching was brutal, Relief work poor, defense so bad it lost the game. This team has a lot to work on right now. Baseball is like this though. Last year we were the hot team that caught the stumbling White Sox and took the division. Now the baseball gods have given us a taste of the other side. When you don't catch those little breaks things start to fall apart. The Twins aren't this bad. There are better days ahead. I honestly don't know if they can find a hot streak to match this losing streak but we will know more about what we have at the All-Star break. Baseball is a loooong season and other teams will have injuries and ups and downs as well. Here's hoping the baseball gods give them the breaks when they need them down the stretch.

Yeah this team is looking more and more like Cleveland light. Pitching just enough to lose and offense so bad the score needs to be low to win. Haven't really been watching much they have been so bad. I know they are better than this but this team feels more like a 500 team than a division winner. Slow starts that are this bad often mean missed playoffs because it is hard to play over 500 baseball and that is what it will take to make up ground. This offense needs some serious help maybe once they are out of it the guys will finally relax and perform. A few more weeks of this and it is pretty much season over.

I am with you here. While the righty, righty matchups are not advantageous to Jeffers batting line he is gaining valuable experience. It is not like he is never going to have to face right handed pitching. Perhaps working on a weakness early will produce more favorable results in the end. While the main point of this article has merit I think it is over the top to suggest the Twins are setting Jeffers up to fail. If by fail you mean us box score watchers aren't going to see the stats we want then I get it. The Twins know what position they are putting him in so the stats don't matter as much to them. They obviously don't want a black hole bat there but just how much better was a guy like Jason Castro? I'd wager not much better and they stuck with his "veteran" bat for three years. The kid has barely been in the Majors I think he needs more time likely a full season to get the hang of things and see where he is at. For right now any MLB at bat is a good at bat for Jeffers. There can be a painful learning curve but he is smart and talented enough to succeed in the end IMO.

Why no Robles today and using Colome after using him two innings two days ago? I guess I didn't understand that one. I can see now why Chicago moved on from him. While he might give up weak contact you never know what is going happen. When you K someone you don't have that problem. I get it is baseball and you are going to lose some days. There are few too many holes in lineup right now. A couple of clutch hits and things would have been different. Have to give it time but that is tough especially at home.