Dman

I really like how Castro fits this team. As mentioned in the OP he can play almost anywhere can bat from both sides and has speed. If the bat holds up he is an absolute must have player as he he fits the super utility role to a tee. I am still skeptical of his plate approach but given the Twins approach in general he can't be much worse. Have to say I didn't have him making the team out of spring training but probably lucky he got some chances to prove he belongs and he could be a big part of this team again if the bat stays productive. Really glad he chose the Twins after the Tigers let him go. He has been fun to watch and a difference maker for this team in many ways.

Kuechel hasn't been good since 2020 but it was nice to see a solid first outing with the Saints. Hopefully he has a good month of work and can help the Twins in some way down the line.

I said it in the last minor league thread and now Cespedes has upped his OPS to 1.068 in June. He has been hitting the ball hard slugging .649. A tough May is keeping his overall numbers down but if can keep things going in July maybe he has turned a corner? Schobel with double digit HR's now and top top 10 in the Midwest league in OPS behind Rosario and Rodriguez. Lot's of good hitters at High A so no wonder their record as a team is so good. Pitching has been pretty good at that level as well. Several players look like they could move up but might be hard to find room. Nice to see the bats getting hotter.

Generally don't wait for an 0 for 5 night to brag on a guy but Cespedes is having a very good June with a .300/407/586 slash line which gives him a .993 OPS for June thus far. Granted his overall numbers haven't picked up much because he had a comically low .370 OPS for the month of May and that is OPS not batting average. A lot of tough at bats in May but hopefully he is on to something and turning a corner as it would be nice for him to up his prospect status. Lot's of good hitters at St. Paul there games are really fun to watch as they are always just one big inning away from blowing games open. Fun year to be a Saints fan.

Brooks Lee with a perfect 2 for 2 day with a couple of walks. Was nice to see the HR. His approach has been solid all year but he has been hitting it right at people so his BABIP is not real high. Still with the K rate under control and his ability to take walks I think he always going to be a tough out. Just needs more time to adjust and he will be OK. When Prato is hitting well I see solid utility player. The thing is he might need to move to another team because that role is packed right now and he isn't getting any younger. He can steal a base and when he is "on" he has a very solid batting line. Honestly not that much different than Lee numbers wise. Consistency is key for him if he is going to make it though. Nice to see the St Paul bats rebound after a really tough game Thursday. Wallner keeping that average up and seems to be K'ing less. He still looks ready for another shot at the Majors but I guess we will have to wait for the trade deadline to see what happens.

I didn't even have Grant making it to the FCL this year even though he did have a good year last year in the DSL. Lot's of players got over shadowed by Mercedes and Rodriguez last year. Isaac Pena is another player I don't know much about whose bat has been hot to start the year as well. I agree with @roger that it would be nice if someone could get a bit more info on some of the new FCL players that are hitting well.

Happy they were able to win despite battling the ump who desperately wanted to help the Tigers out of a tough bases loaded situation. He proceeded to call strike three on Kirilloff on another pitch out of the zone. He gave Kenta a K that wasn't a K as well but those calls with the bases loaded were rally killing. They still found a way to win despite the ejections but that ump needs to look in the mirror and call a better game. People get upset when bad calls are made and there were plenty in this one IMO. The ejections prove the problem especially in key situations for the Twins.

Ump with a grudge K there just to show them that yes he really is that bad.

Sorry not directed at you directly as who you picked looks exactly like a FO pick. I would like to see them go high school as much as makes sense this year as there is a nice group of IFA's in the GCL that they could move up with and create another big wave of really good prospects in the next 4 years. I also don't feel like they necessarily need a fast moving bat at this time so this seems like a good draft to go high school if you believe in the player. Not sure how their modeling works and maybe you get more data points with a college player so the modeling gives you greater confidence in the outcome working out as predicated? Not sure how all that works and I don't have as much info as they have to make decisions I just like to think my opinion means something lol.

I agree why not pick Hurley there? He has the about same rated bat a better arm and better speed. Who cares if he is a centerfielder and they already picked Clark that just means he can play anywhere in the outfield. I don't know why this FO is allergic to speed. Tampa is always trying to get tooled up players and generally have guys that run well. It helps for defense and position versatility. Take the slower guys later in the draft they will be there (i.e. CES, Ortega, Cossetti etc.). Speed helps and is generally gone early take it while you can especially when attached to a decent bat.

I like that you have them taking Clark. I think that is the right play. They don't need a college bat to get to the Majors right away. They have plenty in the pipeline and a 5 tool high schooler with a good bat that could be a superstar player seems like a really good choice at number 5. I could see Teel and Wilson in that spot as well but it feels like a slight step down talent wise. The consensus is strong on the top 5 so it would be hard to move off of that IMO. I just don't see the Twins going pitcher that high with all the great bats available at 5. Will be interesting to see what they decide to do there.

Interesting numbers on Bechtold. Those fastball numbers with a solid slider could make him dominant. I think he should explore the pitching side because while he is a solid hitter I don't know if it is "good enough" to get him to MLB. The arm just might. E-Rods .572 OPS in May was starting to make me wonder if he was going to come back as the same player. As others have noted he has had a monster June with what I calculate as a 1.059 OPS. Also as mentioned earlier as many walks as K's. Looks like he is back to the super star numbers at least for now. He and Rosario are quite the 1, 2 punch for Cedar Rapids. Olivar back to an .800 OPS. He is holding his own in A ball. Just needs a few more extra base hits and he would be ready to move up. He looks like the best hitter on that team for now. Would be nice to see De Andrade get things going again as well. The bats are coming around.

Yeah they still need pitching help but I believe they just put together a 10 game winning streak so they must be limping by better than the Twins are.

I think I would skip. Adding around the margins isn't going to change this teams trajectory. I don't think turning into the MinniCinci Twins is going to work well that is why Cincinnati is getting rid of these guys and building a better younger team. One that already looks like it might be better than this current Twins team.

With the Arraez trade it just kind of feels like the baseball gods are pissing on us. Look I always knew he was going to be a .300 hitter and I thought there might be a few years in there where he hit .350 or so but never in my wildest dreams did I see him hitting near the .400 mark 3 months into any season let alone the first season. The math for me was he was likely a high 700 to low 800 OPS player. He had been that the 4 years prior. Throw in the fact that his knee's were always giving him problems in MN and if he declined physically he had little to no value left. The positions that the farm was producing in abundance were utility, 2nd, 1st, DH type players which is right where Arraez played. Someone had to go and Miami targeted Arraez and only Arraez and the Twins as pretty much proven this year needed one more legit starter and Miami threw in a top 10 prospect and a nice lottery ticket DSL player to get the deal done. We all loved Arraez there isn't a fan who wouldn't love the hard working blue collar guy he was. I loved watching him hit we all did and while maybe the Twins couldn't replace all his production it seemed logical that they could come close. Just look at Donny Solano's numbers right now they are just under what Arraez's were the preceding 4 years. It didn't seem like the Twins were really giving up something that couldn't be close to replaced OPS wise. The math made this an almost no brainer trade to me even though I loved Arraez the player This trade is only three months in and I have to say it has been unbearably bad to this point. Arraez is off the charts good right now and in his prime for 4 more years and with his skills probably longer. Still I am not ready just yet to over react as the season isn't over and who knows how this all turns out in the end. Just look at Baddoo or any player for that matter and things can change from year to year. For now I am willing to admit it looks like the math didn't work out the way I thought it would and Arreaz is making me look really bad. Still I don't think he keeps this kind of hot streak up forever and yet knowing Arreaz maybe he will.

I hate to be that giver upper guy this early but I was thinking along the same lines as the OP. I don't know if we can get anything for the spare parts guys we have on a team that just isn't gelling but there is way too much wrong to save the season. I Would listen on any and every vet we have and trade as many as possible as long as the return is worth it. If the return is low I would go with a lower floor higher ceiling FCL or A ball prospect because average isn't cutting it or helping in any way. For guys with value try to get close to top 100 value back. There is still time to turn this train around and go on a run but even if they would happen to luck out and win the division this team is likely worse than the last place East team so what is the point. They need to find better talent and most of the vets they have aren't helping. Might as well see if any of the young guys can get it done and if not then start the rebuild in earnest again. The mess we have now isn't working. The way one aspect of the team has failed in games makes this team feel cursed. Starting pitcher and pen do well and the offense can't score runs. Offense scores runs and pen gives up the game. Starter gives up the game before it even begins. One area always fails and gives the team no chance. It feels like this team should be better than it is but alas the results say otherwise. FWIW I was all in on most of the FO moves. Trading to get Gray, Mahle, Paddack, and Lopez. I thought getting jorge Lopez at the deadline last year was a great get even though the price was high. I didn't love Trading Arraez but it seemed to make sense and now he is off to a record breaking start. It just feels like no matter what is done it seems to be the wrong thing and or certainly not enough to make this team competitive with other top teams. I guess the only consolation I have is the whole division is just as bad.

Schobel has really turned it on in the month of June with a 306/405/574 slash line which gives him a 979 OPS for the month of June so far. He batted .300 in May with an .800 OPS as well so if not for a really bad April and early May his numbers would be outstanding. His current .800 OPS puts him tied for 10th in the Midwest league just a tick below 1st round pick Jayce Jung who has 3 more more HRS (11) than Schobel but Schobel is hitting better. Right now he looks like a really good pick for a supplemental 2nd rounder. Chris Williams and Matt Wallner appear to be in a Home Run battle. They just keep on hitting long balls and getting on base. I agree with OP that Dobnak had a day. He was randy and looked like the old Randy keeping things down in the zone with little or no damage. Hope he keeps that up. We could use him as a reliever if not a starter. That High A lineup is looking pretty strong with Rosario, Schobel, Cardenas, Cossetti, Rodriguez, Morales and Ross. All those hitters have been tough outs this year. Miller and Salas bats are bordering on inept but hoping to see improvement in the second half.

I agree that Kiersey needs to move up to AAA to see if he can handle the pitching there but Stevenson is having an equally good year at center for St Paul. The stats for Kiersey and Stevenson are almost identical and they are very similar players with Stevenson being slightly faster and Kiersey with slightly more power. There are just too many Outfielders at AAA right now so I think Kiersey gets left at AA this year. I think they can find room for Rosario to move up to AA but they might wait a bit to do that as well. The Trade deadline is likely when more space will be made.

That is a very interesting take and not all that far off. It just seems like these franchises are cursed right now. I can't say I loved the Gobert trade but I didn't see him making the Wolves worse. I really believed in this Twins team. It looked the best starting rotation in a long long time and the Offense seemed capable of doing damage at almost every position. The bullpen looked shaky but workable. They just lost a series to the 4th place team in our division and now will lose the series to the last place team in the East. This isn't a playoff team. It is a team in need of more talent than they currently have. Honestly it looks like another lost season to me.

I know it can work but power over hit seems like a waste that high in the draft. So many of those guys are K machines and end up at 1st base or DH. I think the better approach is what the Twins did with Spencer Steer. He had a good eye at the plate, good contact skills and they helped him develop more power as he moved through the system. Kind of the same story for Lamonte Wade who they got in the 9th round. You have to be able to hit the ball consistently to make a difference so start with that tool and try and build out from there. I am not opposed to taking power over hit later in the draft just not early. Matthews is interesting but after the Rooker, Leech and Cavaco helium picks I have soured on those types of risk. I would prefer to take a player that has fallen than a helium pick. If a guy like that is available later like Holland was that is a better place to take that kind of risk IMO. I was all in on trying to get Tanner Witt with the sandwich pick in the 1st round earlier in the year but with Prielipp having so many issues after TJ I just don't feel confident taking taking Witt with even the 2nd round selection. If\when Witt comes back I think he might be a difference making arm but Prielipp makes me feel a bit snake bit there. I would say I am on the fence with that pick at that spot right now. I know there is no "safe" pick in the draft as lot's of valued players are not going to turn out and just because you had a bad experience with a certain type of player doesn't mean the next will turn out the same way. Still my philosophy is to build on bat first players with a good eye at the plate. You can work on defense. You can work on Power. If you can't hit the round ball very often odds are you never make it. Start with the tool that matters most and if they have other tools in their pocket all the better but power would not be my focus in the early rounds. Contact would be. If they have both all the better give me as many tools as possible with the early picks as long as the hit tool is a strength. Taking pitchers early is a gamble but this seems like a year they could do that if they wanted to. They have a core group of young hitters about to hit the majors at AAA and have some pretty good potential coming up from High A. The system is lacking in elite pitching potential. They also have quite a group of good hitters in the FCL that will likely need room at A ball next year so again there is more room for pitching at the lower levels than hitting IMO. I know the Twins value a balanced draft as they seem to go 5 pitchers and 5 hitters in the top 10 and pretty much the same 11-20. Not saying they have to ignore hitters all together but they need to build up pitching at the lower levels so they should take more pitching this year. Whether that is higher or lower in the draft doesn't matter too much to me as it seems they have done better lower in the draft than higher in recent years but taking a shot at top end guy early wouldn't hurt either.

I think it was Law that pointed out that Lee might not be a big HR hitter based on his swing and that seems to be holding true so far. So far at AA Lee is very balanced at the plate though with very good walk and K rates. I don't know that I see All Star player there yet but he is very good and this being his first full pro year has plenty of time to get even better. When looking at Lee compared to the College hitters taken before and after him the only player performing better at his level or higher is Neto IIRC. So he is doing really well for being pushed to AA early. Schobel is interesting. Before going cold again last week he was looking like a steal in the second round as he was playing as well as several of the picks ahead him even into the first round. IMO he is looking like a better hitter than Gavin Cross the player the Twins were linked to in the first round before Lee became available. Schobel isn't striking out as much as Cross and has a higher batting average and OPS. Granted Cross is one the league leaders in HR's but with a tick more power I think I like Schobel better and they got him late in the second round. I was wondering how Ben Ross was going to do coming from a smaller school and I still think he is going to be a steal at number 5. He is one HR behind Rosario and currently there are only 5 players with double digit HR's and Ross is one of them. I assume he is on the Twins swings hard at everything approach and wonder if he might end up a bit like Spencer Steer only hopefully with better defense. His batting average is low right now as is his BABIP. He is aggressive at the plate but he needs more hits and despite the 10 HR's it would be nice to see a higher Slugging percentage but for his first pro year at High A there is a lot to dream on right now. A ways to go but he sure looks like a good get at number 5 especially considering his HR power matches guys that were taken in the first round. Ortega should be at High A but with the glut of infielders there has stayed at Low A. He is top 4 in OPS in that league and likely a tick old for that level as well. The little I have watched him he seems to hit everything hard. A very balanced approach with HR and especially Doubles power. I think he is going to surprise some people as he moves up but we will see. Cossetti looks like he could make the Twins top 30 as a catching prospect. He has a really strong approach with K rate and Walk rate almost identical when he was in A ball and his .320 BA and 1.069 OPS got him moved up to high A where his numbers have fallen some as he adjusts to better pitching. He has good HR power so he looks like a really good offensive catcher at this point. Whether he has the defense to match it I do not know but he might be the most exciting catching prospect in the system just because the offensive skills are so well rounded. Corey Lewis could be another amazing find as a 9th round pick. The pitch mix plus that change of pace Knuckle ball makes me think he has a chance to be special. Still a long ways to go but if can get to AA this year that would put him closer to MLB ready. So far it looks like promising Class but there is along way to go and even some of the guys that look good right now can and will flame out. Some of the over looked players will be surprises. Still this looks like a strong class to me and I hope they all make it.

Stevenson had a slow start to the year but he is making me a believer. He and Keirsey seem like very similar players. Stevenson's one chance in the Majors didn't go all that well but he sure looks too good for AAA. I was wondering the other day if he was going to be the backup center fielder if the Twins didn't sign MAT. Probably would hit about the same maybe a little worse and without MAT's HR's but still a solid backup\4th outfielder. At any rate he is buried right now especially with Celestino on his way back but he is having a very nice season at AAA this year. I wonder if another team will be interested in trying to grab him around the deadline.

Yeah can't get all that much from the stats in the DSL or FCL because the age range and competition varies so much. I think the main takeaways are if someone is hitting well in those leagues that is a good thing if they are not it is a bad thing. The competition doesn't seem to even out until A ball, but really all leagues have variable talent levels based on trades. player development or lack of player development, injury, coming back from injury, etc. The numbers only mean so much and while they do help identify talent they can't really predict who can successfully make the jump to MLB. You can see how difficult the jump is when you look at the FCL league MVP Olivar who had a 1.000 OPS last year and this year at A ball a more muted .800 OPS. Other players like Cespedes, Cruz, Martinez and Baez to name a few more haven't even managed to hit the .700 OPS mark and they all hit well in the DSL. So yeah you are correct the DSL numbers generally don't mean too much but you have to do well there to move to the next level. Hopefully you find the next Arraez, Tates or Soto in the bucket of players you find there.

After it was mentioned in an article I have to say I have been giving that notion more thought. Williams has to keep this up and stay consistent but if he is going to be a 1.000 OPS hitter that is pretty elite company as there are only 8 players in the international league that are at that level and CES is one of them. Williams has been streaky before so I don't "trust" the current numbers but if he is at this level in August he might be an elite bat. Will have to wait and see but would be nice to have a power hitting 1st baseman on the team. It seems like it has been a while since we had someone like that.

Good to know. Thanks!