Dman

After last night I checked the stats for the Midwest league and it was interesting to see three Kernals at the top for OPS. So they have\had the top three bats in the league and 4 of the top 9 and that doesn't include Cossetti and Ortega who don't qualify. Cedar Rapids is stacked this year. I was surprised they didn't move Rosario and or Rodriguez up but I guess they are setting up Cedar Rapids for the playoffs and being they are both young will just wait until next year to promote them.

Generally if going make believe you would use shoulder or tired arm that is almost impossible to refute. Groin isn't typically the go to for a "made up" injury but anything is possible I guess.

The baseball gods don't seem to like this FO for some reason. They inherited a dynamic player in Buxton who is hurt so much he has been relegated to DH. They inherited Kirilloff who is hurt all the time as well. They Drafted Lewis number 1 in their first draft and he has been injured more than healthy in his career so far. They took Larnach and he is injured alot and apparently can't hit breaking balls. They went against consensus and picked Cavaco instead of Carroll which turned into a massive blunder as they got nothing instead of an all star caliber player. 2020 they went against consensus again to pick a first basemen\DH with not great athleticism in the first round and Sabato turned into another wasted pick. They have a really nice draft in 2021 and they trade most of it away to get a reliever that tanked almost instantly. They did get Gray but lost Petty there number pick in the draft to get him. It doesn't seem to matter what this FO does it just seems like it turns out badly in the end. They trade Berrios for two almost can't miss prospects who haven't performed since we got them. They trade for Mahle and give up Steer who is hitting better than anyone on the team not named Jullien and Mahle falls apart and gets injured right away. You can't make this stuff up. It appears good to start but it all just falls apart. For as much as I am complaining I was onboard with most all the FO moves. I wanted them to find a decent starter and fight for the division last year and they did and although the price was high I was happy about it. I wanted them to find an elite reliever they went and got the guy who played in the All Star game and I thought that was a great move at the time again even though the price was high it was supposed to give them a one, two punch for the stretch and beyond. I wanted them to resign Buxton and felt he had at least 3 decent years in the outfield in him and then maybe part time in the field. he didn't even make it one full year. I was hoping beyond hope they would sign Correa and they did and he ends up worse than anything I could dream up. I thought Miranda was a star bat and they should not trade him and he was crazy bad to start the year. So I guess I should fire myself as I liked most all the moves but very few worked out well. I guess sometimes life is like that. You do everything you can to make good decisions and you fail. The White Sox should have been a better team than they are and they have stunk for the most part. KC can't seem to find the pitching they need. Detroit has drafted poorly and not gotten good value in trades. Am I unhappy with the way things have worked out? Yes I am. What would I have done differently I don't know. Sometimes good players get injured and never reach their potential. Sometime good players regress at inopportune times. Sometime what seems like a good deal isn't a good deal. You can't control everything and I guess that is what makes the sport so darn interesting, but when your team is the one with the bad luck it sucks. This team just can't seem to pull together at the same time to create wins and blows games that were winnable far too often. Some how they are still in first place so maybe I shouldn't be complaining for as bad as the Twins are the other four teams in our division are even worse. Is it all the FO? I don't know. I think they should take some heat for the bullpen as they didn't do anything to shore up a weakness almost everyone believed was there except them. They did go out and get a ton of depth and managed to sign Correa something no other Twins FO was ever able to do. I feel like the now decimated 2021 was good one and I think 2022 and 2023 are going to be good ones as well. It seems like given the talent this team should just be better than it is but here we are. No I don't think they are in danger of losing their jobs. Joe Pohlad has a good relationship with them and I believe he will stand by them and the decisions they have made. Still it is a business and they need to perform. Seeing the Reds, Orioles and Snakes with very successful rebuilds in a fairly short amount of time does make me see red. Still I guess we wait and see how things turn out. They certainly aren't in a good spot right now.

Yep get that his season stats are not good. July though he has a 3.15 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He has been turning things around as of late.

Congrats to Kuechel on making it back now he just needs to work on staying there. I guess he can't do much worse than giving up 7 runs like Ryan did. It is a risky move but if they were ever going to use the chip they gained it needed to be now or never. I have no idea how Kuechel will do as MLB is so different from AAA. I just hope he is effective enough to get us some wins. If not they can probably go back to Varland and if he isn't ready they could probably try Dobnak in that role as well. Not sure how severe this groin injury is but let's hope it isn't Ober like as I think it took him months to come back from his.

Jenkins with a nice debut just happy to see him playing. Hoping he hits his way to A ball this year. Winokur actually took a walk so that was good to see. He is hitting pretty darn well in a tough league for High School aged bats. Nice to see is isn't so aggressive that he can't take a walk. Really hoping his bat is for real. Good to have Lee in AAA just one step away from the Twins team. Pretty cool he got that far in his first pro year and honestly I think if the Twins were more desperate for infield spots he could play at the MLB level. Dobnak has really been coming on strong this past month. He might find his way back to the Twins yet.

Have to say I am surprised that Scherff has been that good. Always seems to put men on when I am watching him. That walk rate will never fly at the MLB level so hopefully he can figure that out but it was a great month for Alex. I really like what Funderburk has done the last two years. Time to give the guy a shot he has earned it. He isn't getting any younger and can't pitch much better. He either has it or won't have it at the MLB level. Might as well find out since we have a crappy pen anyway.

We will see how AAA goes but I think they could promote him to the MLB club this year if they wanted to. Probably tough to find room for him though unless there are more injuries. I had my issues with his ability to generate power but never with his approach. He had some bad BABIP luck in the first half but since he started hitting the ball harder it seems like more balls are dropping in. All of his numbers look solid and I think he will translate well to MLB when the time comes. Glad they moved him to AAA so he can see more pitchers that are closer to MLB. I expect his numbers to remain pretty much the same as his approach is solid and results should be as well.

I guess it depends on what you value as a hitter. Walk and K rates tend to lead to better transitions to the MLB level than just OPS. Guys with high K rates can be vulnerable at the MLB level. Cossetti's walk and K rate are nearly identical and there is a lot of value in that. Not sure where you are getting your numbers from but Cossetti has a .925 OPS at high A and .994 OPS overall. Not going to argue too hard about Camargo though. His early numbers are bringing his total line down. For as much as I am concerned about his K rate he hit .300 in May with a .900 OPS and .300 in June with a 1.000 OPS. All at AAA. Camargo is doing well with the bat but with a 35% K rate odds are that doesn't translate well to MLB. He also has low walk numbers. so he doesn't control the zone and doesn't have great contact skills or he wouldn't K 35% of the time. I like Cossetti's chances of being a difference maker better. can agree that age doesn't really matter all that much at catcher but why hold the likely best player back instead of trying to get him to help the MLB team as soon as possible.

Rosario is tied for first in the league with 16 HR's and is first in OPS. Quite the year for that young man especially since he struggled so much the year before. I think part of his success this season is his better plate discipline. He has almost doubled his walk rate from last year and dropped his K rate 5%. He could still stand to drop the K rate just a tad more but he is under the dreaded 30% range. He leads the league after more than half the season he deserves to move up. With the 2 HR's Rodriguez moves into the top 5 in OPS for the Midwest league. Take out his horrible start to the year and he likely would be in Rosario's spot. Schobel still qualifies and is in the number 2 spot for OPS so the Twins have 3 top of the league bats in high A this year. Both Rodrigues and Rosario are young for their level so those look like elite bats to me. Ohl is one of my favorite pitcher's because of his aggressive style. This guy does not like to walk anybody but probably needs to stay more out of the zone to keep batters guessing more. Wasn't sure if his control artist repertoire would work as he moves up but he looks like he is doing just fine so far. Hoping he comes up with enough stuff to make it as a 5th starter type. I am generally down on Sands but striking out the side in the 9th is impressive and his stats at AAA are really, really good. Just needs that carry over the MLB level. And yet for as good as Sands has been Funderburk has been better as his FiP and xFIP match his results better than Sands. Also Funderburk is a much needed lefty arm. I think the Twins should add him to the 40 man.

Happy to see Brooks Lee in the top 2 this month. He has been on fire and you have to love that 16% K rate. Pretty rare for someone to have a K rate that low. His BABIP of .330 is pretty normal especially since he doesn't K that much. Batting average of .290 on the year is right in range to move up. For as much as I complain about his power he has a .478 slugging percentage. So he is not devoid of power and he is hitting double digit home runs and leads his league in doubles on the season as well. His all around line leads me to believe he is ready whenever the Twins want him to be ready. If you add up all his numbers on the season (AA and AAA) Prato looks like a nothing burger. If you look at just his AAA numbers you have to say this guy looks like a future All Star. In AAA he has more walks than K's. His walk rate is approaching 20% which is elite and keeping the K rate under 20% is elite as well. He has an elite batting average average of .336 and to top it off elite slugging at .647. The only issue is his high BABIP of .384 and that he has only done this for a month and a half. If he can maintain those numbers or even be in range of those numbers the rest of the year then the Twins might have found their version of Whit Merrifield. That is a lot of if's but that is how good Anthony Prato has been the last month and a half. The Twins should move Cossetti to AA yet this year as his well rounded batting profile makes him the best catching prospect in the system at least IMO. There isn't a red flag in his batting numbers and they are very similar to Lee's line. I heard somewhere that his defense is solid and if they move him to AA where his age is more appropriate to level he actually could have prospect status. I like Cardenas and the always under rated Morales but I think Cossetti just has skills that they don't. I like him better than Winkel and in the end I like him better than Camargo because the batting line is so balanced. To be honest I thought Keirsey was a bust and was never gonna get there with the bat. I guess the joke is on me as he looks really good at the plate this year. The walk rate could be higher but other than that he looks really solid at the plate this year. He is an aggressive hitter and he plays really good defense and he has stolen 30 bases this year. Another late bloomer and if the numbers hold he would be a nice 4th outfielder option at the MLB level. Likely better than Gordon all the way around but until they promote him to AAA we won't know if that bat plays at higher levels. Dameury Pena is hitting .400 on the year so far and his .465 batting average for the month is just mind boggling. The Twins might have another Arraez in the system. A nobody who can just hit everything thrown his way. I am going to be keeping my eye on that kid. He is very impressive out of the gate,

I don't understand how Severino Sustains a high batting average and incredible slugging with so many K's and what seems to defy all odds high BABIP of .378. I have been waiting for his BABIP to drop all year and it has stayed around that .370 mark most of the year. I know there is a correlation with hard hit rate and BABIP. The theory goes the harder you hit the ball the harder it is for fielder's to make a play on the ball. I believe it is why the Twins always seemed to go for players that hit the ball hard. Still that seems like an incredibly high rate to me. I will say that while he is an aggressive hitter his plate discipline isn't bad as he has a near 10% walk rate. Also he is hitting .290 on the year which is a very good batting average for a guy who K's as much as he does. And then there is the thing teams fall in love with Slugging and his .567 mark is in elite territory. Like I said earlier on average given the warts his numbers shouldn't be sustainable but here we are his BABIP's have generally been high since A ball so I guess I have to concede he might be an elite hitter. Congrats to Severino who isn't even on the top 30 prospect list but is probably better with the bat than most hitters in the top 30.

Yeah people need to read the MLB bio. His walk and K rates were virtually identical at High A and he still has had good ratio's all the way up to AAA. He averaged a 1.000 OPS his first full pro season. Not many, if any players do that for a full season let alone their first full pro season. While his AAA numbers this year aren't as good they aren't bad either. Just not elite. Still his hitting profile looks really strong it is a Brooks Lee profile as he doesn't have a ton of power but he can still hit some. At any rate with good contact skills and eye at the plate this is a good pickup for the Guardians.

I have wondered the same thing. Can Rosario, Rodriguez, Severino really make a 26 man roster? It is a real big step to MLB and they have to stick on the 26 man. Maybe an Oakland or rebuilding team would take them? Hard to say but it sure stunk when they lost Baddoo and Wells. Severino is not even on the top 30 Twins prospects but the power he brings seems like it would be hard to pass up. Rosario is young and the plate discipline needs more time but there could be a special bat in there if things work out. No question on Rodriguez and his power but after watching him live he looks like he would be over powered by MLB pitching. Still his knowledge of the zone and ability to take walks is impressive. A little more refinement and he could be a special player as well. The further they are away level wise the harder it is to see them making a 26 man roster so you might be right. The hard part about not adding them is that KC who is our division might grab them.

I think the Cleveland FO is smart. The team they have isn't ready to make any noise in the playoffs this year so even if they do lose the division what difference does it really make. They desperately need good bats and the guy they got from Tampa has a really good chance to be not just a good bat but a special bat. They are playing more for 2024 than 2023. They gave their young pitcher's good experience this year and Manzardo has a good chance to make their team next year strengthening their lineup. They look lined up to do well next year. Despite losing Civale who knows with the way the Twins love to squander games they still might win the division as well. I think what they did with Civale makes a ton of sense. Getting rid of Bell for an under performing bat taken high in the draft also seemed like a good play. Even if he doesn't work out they got rid of Bell and can invest that money in another player next year. If Watson does work out they got a 5 tool player for peanuts. I like the risk reward factor there. I said this in another article the Cleveland FO has the balls to make tough moves and it seems to pay off more often than not. After those moves the Twins might be the favorites for the division this year but Cleveland will be setup better for 2024.

despite some really ugly at bats he is still top 10 in OPS for the Midwest league. Not over powering numbers IMO but I agree it wouldn't hurt to move him up. He is going to be there next year anyway. Give him an early start to adjust as that AA team is going nowhere as they have no pitching. EDIT: Another reason to move him faster is he is going to be another 40 man add the end of this season. If you want the potential to use him next year then best to move him AA ASAP where if he does dominate they can use him at the MLB level next year.

Keaschall must stand on the plate as he was HBP three times in his last FCL game. He had a nice debut in A ball and he looks like he is going to be good at the plate. Just have to hope his defense can be average to better than average. Been keeping my eye on Winokur and he is hitting better than I thought but has a pretty massive K rate as well. Still this is his first exposure to pro ball and he is holding his own so far. If the bat will play that is going to be a good pick.

Yeah have to say I am disappointed in the lack of movement myself. Several players are at the top of their league in OPS and they are not moving up to get challenged by the next level. Only a couple months left in the season. They should move guys like Rosario, Cosetti, Lee and Severino up so they can improve their prospect status and ability to help the MLB team at some point.

If the starting arms are getting tired and Kuechel can spell them I don't know why you wouldn't give him a shot. They have room on the 40 man. So he gives up 9 runs his first time out. Can't be worse than some of the starts we got from Ryan, Gray and Ober recently. If he doesn't perform well at some point then just DFA him nothing lost but at least you know if he was going to be effective\usable or not. Not sure I understand the angst of at least giving him a shot to see if the driveline improvements were actual tangible improvements or not. Yeah the Twins would be out some money but it seems worth the risk unless you really just don't think he can do it anymore. The shinny 1.13 ERA at AAA doesn't really impress me much especially with his FIP where it is, but K rate isn't horrible and the WHIP is a little high but in range for a starter. If the Twins could keep him in AAA as insurance that would be ideal but odds are he can find a home with some team after the deadline. I still feel like Varland is the next man up regardless but after him it is mighty slim pickings as Headrick has imploded and there really isn't any one else behind him unless SWR continues to pitch well down the stretch. I am fine with whatever the Twins do. Kuechel isn't going to be an ace and likely can barely hang onto a number 5 spot and the Twins have other options but I also wouldn't be opposed to them taking a look if they think it can help out the rotation.

I think that was a well thought out piece. Just not enough value in any of the right places to get anything done. This team has a ton of talent but I have never seen the Twins so snake bit when either the offense is poor, The starters blow up or the pen blows the game. It is uncanny how they have given away games because one area can't get the job done. Still this is the team they believed in going into the season and this team will have to perform to get them out of this mess. Not sure if they can or not but I sure am hoping they find a little magic down the stretch and give us hope for this year and next year.

I think it makes sense they stayed pat. They didn't really have much for difference makers that they could afford to trade and they couldn't really afford to pay with the few potential star players they might have on the farm to get anything of significant value. I will say I like what Cleveland did. With a lot of their pitchers down already this year they took risks to get better next year and like the Twins will hope the players they have will step up down the stretch. I really like that the Guardians FO has the balls to make moves for the future as well as stay in the present. Chicago had a really good deadline as well. Whether all those new pieces will work out is hard to say but what they had wasn't working so I like what they did as well. The thing about this deadline is that is was really kind of a go big or go home deadline. Some teams made minor moves but the teams really in it to win it made big, bold moves. Still it will only work out for one team not all of them. I will say I thought the team would move some players. Nick Gordon will be back. Lewis will be back. They will most likely add Kuechel. It seems they will need 40 man room at some point. Their bullpen is incredibly unreliable but I guess they can DFA their way there if needed I just thought they might try and clear the way by trying to get something for some of these guys but maybe no one was interested in this teams many under performers. it is what it is. Just have to hope this team turns things around in the second half.

He was Rule V eligible last year but it is a big jump from performing well for half a season of AA ball to the majors so no need to add him. It might still be questionable this year depending on how he performs the next two months. If he hadn't had that horrible first two months I would say he is a must add but bats get hot and bats go cold and teams want Rule V's to stick or they wouldn't take them. The thing is his batting line is so solid right now it is as good or better than Brooks Lee. If this is who he is the Twins might have developed another Spencer Steer. So the next two months will tell the tale but given his ability to be selective at the plate and make contact my money is on Prato making it to MLB ball one way or another.

I wonder if the Twins can find a trade partner for Stevenson. I know it wouldn't be much of a return but he could appeal to teams that want a centerfielder they can stash at AAA in case of injury. He also could be a good 4th outfielder addition for the playoffs with a solid bat, ability to steal bases and be a good defensive replacement late in games. I guess it just depends on how much you believe in the numbers but he is having an elite year at AAA and he is blocked pretty badly right now. Severino could be an interesting trade chip. From what I read his defense is not great but he has a power bat that teams love and his batting average is very good too. Some warts with the high BABIP and K rate but he is barreling up balls and the Twins will have to decide if they are willing to add him to 40 man or trade him. Hate to see a bat like his traded away but with Lee, Jullien and maybe Lewis and AAA options in Prato and Helman they are going to have to decide what they want to do there. Rosario is back to striking out more but he still leads his league in OPS. Probably time for a bigger challenge and the Twins need to know sooner than later whether his right handed bat plays because he is Rule V decision at the end of the year as well. Let's see what the young man has at a new level. I know Raya is taking his lumps at AA but it will make him a better pitcher faster as he realizes what he needs to change to be more successful. He has good pitches and I think it was a good idea to be aggressive with him especially since they needed the 2022 pitchers to pitch at High A. Glad you mentioned Henriquez because I think the Twins got taken in that deal. He has been homer prone since he arrived and any way you look at his stats he sucks. WHIP is bad, K rate bad, ERA bad, FIP bad XFIP bad I don't know how the Twins made him worse than when he was with Texas but they found a way. Not sure he has been 100% this year but he is killing the team being on the 40 man and being that bad. Thanks for the summary always appreciate getting a look at the whole week.

The Twins don't have a particularly strong system to trade from and the team itself isn't really a player or two away from being an elite team. I mean they just got swept by the Royals. If I were them I would sell where it makes sense or make deals to make them stronger in 2024 but 2023 looks like they will be lucky to stay around .500. I wouldn't make moves that jeopardize any elite talent they might have on the farm especially on rentals.

After todays game in AAA he has 28 walks and 28 K's. That is impressive plate presence. Very Arraez like in that he generally makes contact and can take a walk. You are right though only just over a month at AAA and guys go on hot streaks all the time. Still he generally only K's about 20% of the time throughout his minor league career except 2022 in High A where I assume he was working on adding more power he K'd 28% there. Then went to AA still had a solid slugging percentage but dropped the K rate down in arguably a much tougher pitcher environment. The one knock or question about him right now is his brutal start to the year at AA where he had a .553 OPS which is brutal especially since he had been there for half a year already. I mean his slugging at AAA is .623 so to have that low of an OPS in AA it makes you want to give it more time to see who he really is. It is just watching him from time to time he is generally a really tough out. He also seems to be hitting off-speed stuff really well at AAA. If this really is who he is it makes me wonder if this a Witt Merrifield type player. Get's there a little late but really has a well rounded skillset at the plate. I also mentioned Steer before mainly because the knock on Prato was the lack of power but like Steer he seems to have found it and like Steer he has great plate discipline. Probably out over my ski's on Prato and will have to see how the rest of the season plays out but he could earn himself a 40 man spot on this team or another one if the Twins aren't believers.