Dman

I don't know his WHIP wasn't that bad in 2018 and 2019 certainly this year to start he looked pretty rusty. I don't think the OP was comparing their stuff as much as that they are both hard throwers and the fact the White Sox used him as a reliever which is what I believe Duran will eventually become. He really only has two pitches and he has been pretty hittable to this point in his career. He also seems like he might hold up better as a reliever. There is less pressure on the WHIP as a reliever so some wildness doesn't kill him there. He could be Romero but that seems a bit pessimistic as he does have a SPlinker as a plus pitch, He might be able to get by on that pitch alone as a reliever. I will agree with you that his stats do not support him as a dominant pitcher at least in the upper levels but he has an arm with elite characteristics so not a player you throw away. He still has time to move his ceiling to starting pitcher especially if can develop that changeup. I guess we will know more once he stays on the field more than a few games.

He looked good against a tough hitting Red Sox team. As stated in the article he has always had a good WHIP and K rate so that bodes well for his chances. The thing I see that might make it tough for him is he seems to live up in the zone right now and once guys realize most of those pitches are not going to be strikes and he brings the ball down to make them strikes I think he could stay homer prone. We will see if he proves me wrong. I think the league will adjust but hopefully he has the pitches to counter those adjustments. I think he already has faced Chicago 3 times and did better each time he faced them so maybe he is already getting there. If he continues to do well he might end up being better than a lot of people thought he would be.

Have to believe they are waiting for September when rosters expand although given what they have on the 40 man right now it shouldn't really matter or they just don't want to start his clock because they don't know how the new CBA will work. I guess we'll find out.

Wiel was one of my favorite underdogs so sad to see him go. He had a promising 2019 but his OPS for a first baseman was never close to where it needed to be and the Twins have a glut at the position right now as it is. They likely did him a favor if he can catch onto another team. He has a lot of talent but it just goes to show how hard it is to get to MLB.

From my understanding he doesn't have elite speed I saw it rated 55 to 60 at least early on but the word was he gets a good jump on the ball and tracks it well. No idea if he can stay in center or not but I think he projects more average to slightly below average defensively than Elite. I agree with you that if he isn't really an option at center then his bat in its current state doesn't fit real well in the corners. I still think he ends up a solid center fielder but I don't think he will be the long term choice there but we'll have to wait and see how much he can improve first.

No reason not to get a second opinion but it seems like about 90% of the time if there is a tear surgery is the only fix. It just seems like once it acts up even after rest it just can't handle the same amount of stress it used to. I would say odds are he ends up getting surgery but certainly no harm in a second opinion or trying all the least harmful options first if you think there is a chance they might help. I just haven't seen rest work very often in these cases especially with older players. I think there is a good chance he is out for 2022.

I agree. He had a nice stretch and even good pitchers have bad days. The key is generally minimizing those bad days or the damage done. The Red Sox are a good hitting team and Jax generally gives up contact so unless he develops an ability to K guys he is always going to need some BABIP luck to get it done. No such luck in this game and it is also why he was always up and down in AAA as well. This is where low strike out numbers hurt guys. Still no reason not to see what he can do in this lost season and he has had some good games. With some polish who knows maybe he can be a solid 5th starter might as well find out.

I have mentioned this before but I just don't see Cave as a great fit for the Twins moving forward. He will have no options left so he losses roster flexibility. He is going to get more expensive, He hasn't proven he is a much better option moving forward than Celestino, Contreras or even Whitefield IMO. It is also possible Martin could take that spot at some point next year or the year after. I was a big defender of Cave while he was here but he has never really taken off and even if he does take off it feels like the ceiling is pretty limited anyway. I just don't know why the Twins would hang onto him next year, It feels like past time to move on. I don't know what to think about Gordon but can't see why they can't at least placate a few of us wanna be GM's who would like to see him play shortstop for a week and see for ourselves how good or bad he really is there. He has a fair bit of time there he can't be "that bad" but what do I know? Anyway it seems almost everyone would like to see him out there so not sure why the FO can't send him out there in a lost season. Show us you know best FO and let him make error after error or maybe you find out he can at least backup the position. Whatever the case I don't think they are helping themselves not giving him a chance to prove himself.

I am inclined to agree with you here but will know with greater certainty once September 1st arrives and claimed MiLB players will no longer be able to be rostered for the playoffs.. I think your 1, 2 and 3 points are all valid but I also think service time might be the larger part of this mainly because no one knows what changes there will be in the new CBA. They could be risking more than they know starting Miranda's clock this season. So I am thinking they will wait to add him. It also could be that they are waiting for rosters to expand and an easier path for players on the fringe of the 40 man to not get claimed as they try to pass them through waivers. Hard to say. They can still sell points 1, 2, and 3 though so they have an easy out if needed. Personally I don't think they will bring Miranda up this year.

It is a nice line but very SSS. Still it is good to see him hitting that well at AAA. I think MLB ball might have been a good wake up call for him though. If he can keep that eye at the plate going when he gets back to MLB I think he will be OK. Has to hunt better pitches to hit at the MLB level. Sure hope he keeps it going we could really use him next year.

Very happy to see BJ Boyd get promoted. He was a real difference maker on that AA squad. He has done nothing but hit and hit well since they brought him onboard. I don't know how they found him but that was a good find. He will be sorely missed in that Windsurge offense but hopefully some of the other guys step up. I was bummed to see the weeks line for De la Trinidad and Palacios. They had the poor pitching Springfield team and did not hit well. Ernie hasn't been the same hitter since returning from injury so guessing whatever the issue is he isn't 100%. Palacios has been a streaky hitter this year and has slowed down quite a bit after the season half way point. Hopefully they both rebound as they are two of my favorite underdog players to watch. I had to look at Julliens line for this week three times as the 610 OBP was really tripping me up. For a minute I thought maybe the Slugging and OBP were mixed up because you rarely see a 610 OBP but he does walk a lot and is the league leader in walks. I am not sure how accurate MiLB gameday is but IMO he sure gets the good end of a fair number of close calls. At any rate whatever he he is doing it is working as being first in walks and number of pitches can only help him get good pitches to hit. I was ready to give up on Helman after his poor 2019 season and the fact that it looked like he may never hit for power. Looks like I was wrong as he is hitting for power now and looks like he could be legit. The Twins sure have a lot of interesting players at 2nd base. Loving what Louie Varland has been doing all year. Hoping he just stays healthy to the end.

I am with you. You just are not going to get many\any incentive deals like this for a potential All Star caliber player. There is plenty of risk and I get that it would suck if he was out more than healthy during the life of that contract but if he hits those incentives the Twins should be jumping for joy because they would have a legit difference maker for once. Even if those incentives push them over whatever self imposed budget they might have they owe it to their fans after all the ineptitude of previous seasons. If they already agree on the bottom number they should just get this thing done.

Man you are the all knowing one when it comes to stats and I almost always like your takes. I am basically going off of where he was placed in various top 30 lists and he has been in the middle on most of them so there may be something there what that is I do not know because I haven't seen it yet. What is your thought about keeping him on the 40 man?

Yeah his WHIP since joining the Twins has not been good. I am hoping part of it is just the innings load after Covid. He is one of a handful of Twins pitchers that look like he is going to make through the season without getting injured or shut down early. Part of the reason he was included in the deal is that he likely wasn't going to make the 40 man cut for Tampa next year. I still think the Twins keep him on their's but have to believe next year would be a prove it or lose it type situation. He has a 4 pitch mix hopefully the Twins coaches can get him to the next level.

Some nice observations there, thanks! I agree with Vallimont it seems they have him throwing more strikes but he is giving up way too many hits. He won't be a 40 man add and honestly I can't see another team putting him on their 40 man roster he would be a disaster at the MLB level. With his WHIP they should be working him more as a reliever IMO. I guess they can give him one more year as a starter but I think his stuff will play as a reliever hard to know at this point. Severino is going to be a close call for being a 40 man add. Will he be next years Baddoo? Hard to say but HIgh A to the majors is a very big jump. Not sure he is quite that good but I could see a team checking him out via rule V to see if he can stick. I think we all are interested in what Soularie brings to the table. So far he has come pretty much as advertised lets hope he escapes the injury bug and keeps that hit tool in prime shape.

Thanks Parmelee is just a tad before I really started following the minor leagues as closely. It might not be apples to apples but close enough IMO. AAA is AAA even if he had some MLB expeirence. Hard to believe he hit that well and couldn't make it translate. MLB is just different I guess. Any small weakness gets exploited and if you cannot adjust you are toast. I still like Miranda's chances though. The low K rate and good contact rate bode well for his future. He is still a bit aggressive at the plate and doesn't walk much but have to believe the low K rate can offset that with more balls in play. I guess we will know soon enough as he doesn't have too much more to learn at AAA.

Yeah Miranda has had a fair number 0 for games recently so not too surprised by that number. His OPS was about to lose almost 100 points until he had his 4 hit game last night. He has been slumping just a little bit but those numbers are still good just not great like we are used to. I noticed he never got a hit on Cingrani who has been an MLB pitcher in the past so I do think his adjustment to MLB ball will be rough but I guess we will see. His over all numbers are impressive though as I don't think I have ever seen a Twin at the AAA level hit 341 with 1000 OPS before. Here is to hoping that his transition to MLB ball goes as well.

I am with you on Kerrigan he is having a great year. He has been patient at the plate his slugging is really good his K rate is just a bit higher than you would like to see it at 30% but other than that his metrics looks pretty solid. He has been very under radar good. I like Whitefield too but he is too aggressive at the plate so he doesn't walk much and his slugging is lower than both Kerrigan and Celestino. If he can solve that next year he would be legit option at the MLB level IMO. Gore has been far better than I ever imagined he could be. I agree they have to move him up and he could be an option next year.

I don't think I said we should, I just noted Garlics positives. I like Refsnyder better than Garlic and there is no guarantee Rob stays on the 40 man either. I still am backing Rooker to a degree (he needs to be better at the plate) but keep in mind both Refsnyder and Garlic have performed better than Roooker at the MLB level to this point.

Joe Ryan comes as advertised. I Wonder if we get a look at him in MLB ball this year or if they really start limiting his innings. Nice to see Sabato continue to hit balls out of the park. Maybe there is more hope than I thought there was for his bat to come around. Mooney has been money but he hasn't pitched a ton this year either. Man that Wichita team has some tough hitters. Almost everyone on the team has an 800 OPS. Has to be a tough lineup for pitchers to face

I think Kirilloff and Dobnak are pretty safe adds. I know Dobnak had a tough year this year but he showed signs early that he might have potential to be a number 4 starter. He was starting to K guys and he is a groundball pitcher. The Twins believed in his stuff enough to give him an early contract. Now would not be the time to completely give up on Randy. Colina is hard throwing pitcher with a plus slider and the Twins currently lack velocity in their bullpen arms so it would be hard to let him go and one of the bottom teams would surely pick him up if the Twins dropped him. He likely stays unless the Twins feel his arm will never be the same. Smeltzer is the tough one. I don't love the idea of giving up on him without giving him one more shot but from what I have seen his ceiling appears low. He is a lefty though and we don't have many of those and he could be good out of the pen as well so I don't know I guess it depends on who else we have to expose before I could decide. What Stashak can do seems to be easily replaceable. Would I like to keep him yes I would but their seems to be a fair number of pitchers coming up that will have higher ceiling's so if he needed to be sacrificed I could see it happening. Garlick has a nice bat and can play left field OK. He is a beast against lefties and would be good in a platoon but there is a reason he has been on the fringes of the 40 man for most teams and that is he doesn't look like a guy that hold down a spot on a regular basis and looks more like a situational bat. I could be wrong but he is also about to turn 30 and left fielders are not that hard to find. Refsnyder looks more versatile and I think his bat plays against lefties and righties as well. I don't see Garlick coming back unless it is on a minors deal.

Wondering if they are giving him a chance to catch on with a playoff team. Maybe no one wants him but it seems odd that they let him go the last week players can be added to the roster and still be eligible for the playoffs. They must be doing him a solid unless they want Whitefield at AAA so they can play Martin in center at AA.

They need to solve shortstop and they know they need to solve it so they will do something there but it might be short term again unless they find a taker for Donaldson. No guarantee those good FA shortstops get away from their current teams either. I still think they go for Starters on short term deals as I still believe they want to build a young rotation kind of like Cleveland. They don't seem to like the risks associated with big time FA pitchers on long term deals. They seem like they are in the hunt sometimes but they have yet to land anyone. I don't see them trading for a starter either but then again I didn't see the Maeda deal happening so you never know but I would say the odds are that they likely feel they got the young close to ready arms they wanted at the deadline. I think they will look at the bullpen and try and find guys with better K rates as they got burned going against their better instincts with Colome. They are still trying their waiver wire guys out and they have a few homegrown options as well. They will do more for the pen but I think numbers play a larger role this time.

I was right there with you Nick. He really looked bad. I was building all kinds of trade scenarios for him even up to the deadline. Honestly at the time it felt like we had given him enough patience but now I can see that wasn't the case. Baseball is a game of ups and downs I guess that is what makes it frustrating but also fun. In this case I am just glad the Twins were more patient than I was.

Why am I not surprised no one picked up a guy who can barely throw 90 and whose secondary's aren't that great. He doesn't K a lot of guys and has a WHIP of 2 in MLB play. Well the Twins have him for as long as they want him now because no one is taking this guy in Rule V either. Yeah no big deal to take a flyer but the upside play is so low it hardly seems worth the trouble.