Dman

The rest of this draft is gravy after this pick. I really thought Emerson would be the one to fall. Lackey is a great fit for the Twins. He’s got everything a good offensive and defensive catcher needs to be successful now he just needs to put it together at the pro level. great pick. Very happy with what they did there.

Its round one upside wrapped in a ton of risk, but he is a righty arm and has a high ceiling for a 4th round pick.

Yeah i like this. Not sure how much he gonna cost, but always nice to take an upside shot on high school arm. Twins haven't had much success with this group, but they haven't really taken elite high school arms either. I think this is good spot to grab one.

I like this pick. Could be a fast mover if his stuff ticks up. Good solid pick for sup 2.

Was wondering/hoping this was a money saving move. There’s a lot of players i would have liked there. I think Ty Head would have been nice there as the system feels low on center field bats. Lot’s of arms I liked in that spot as well. i don’t mind doubling down on catchers, if he even ends up a catcher, but would have liked to see more athleticism picking at 43. I love the power and the walk rate means he has a chance to force pitchers to throw it over the plate. Strong arm is nice as well. Obviously the Twins are more bullish on the hit tool than consensus. it just doesn’t seem like a pick to make at 43, but I was wrong when they made the Jeffers pick so we’ll see how this one turns out. Hoping for good things.

It always seemed unlikely he would be ready anytime soon after an injury like that. Glad is taking care of this body and will hopefully be ready next year. I guess it's next arm up for the Twins.

I get it, we all like Jeffers, but a couple of counter points. To not end up in situations like this the time to extend players is before they hit their arb years. Once they do that most just wait for free agency. Will the Twins win the bidding war for Jeffers in the offseason? Have we heard anything from anyone that they will even try? The Twins might pony up a decent amount of dollars but what about years. Will they go 4 or 5 or 6 years on a thirty year old player at a position that lends itself to injuries? It doesn't appear like they will extend or pay top dollar to keep him. It's been crickets. Has there been a time when the Twins have been quiet about a player and signed them to a big contract in the offseason? I can't think of one. If they lose him to say the Yankee's you get absolutely nothing for keeping him. The other part of this is what are you keeping him for if you can't resign him? Is it to get into the playoffs? While the Twins could be in the hunt at the deadline, in August they play a gauntlet of good and tough teams in the Brewers with the second best record in Baseball. The Phillies and Braves who are just behind the Brewers in wins. They also get the Mariners and White Sox who are just as good as the Twins are. Once July is over Cleveland's schedule lightens dramatically which should help them to the division title. So if you keep Jeffers and don't make the playoffs what was the point of keeping him versus getting some kind of value. And finally the Twins have played well without him. Since June 12th they have taken every series except getting swept by the Dodgers until today. All without Jeffers. Not saying he wouldn't help, just saying they have proven they can win without him. I get it, we all would like the Twins to keep him, but the reality is those odds appear extremely low. So get what you can while you can IMO.

Yeah that's my feeling too. With the Twins in the middle of things I get the thought of hanging onto Jeffers until the end to put another big bat in the lineup, but there's a fairly large cost to that. First you'd get nothing for Jeffers when he leaves unless you think the Twins will QO him for 23M and he doesn't accept it. Second you likely lose out on a cost controlled catcher in Jackson that has so far been better offensively than I thought he would be. Third if you can get the right deal that brings back a close to ready arm you could help shore up the bullpen by Trading Jeffers before the deadline and that player would have 6 more years of control. They could keep three catchers but with Roden up and Buxton likely back after the break they'll be sending Fedko down. They are going to want to make room for Culpepper and that means Gray might be gone. Who else are you moving off the roster to keep that extra catcher? I guess if there isn't a deal out there that makes this years team better they could just keep him and roll with 3 catchers, but I don't think any team in the AL has three catchers on their roster. They could trade Jackson but likely not for much and they lose the cheap control they wanted by trading for him. There's a lot of things the Twins can do. We'll know fairly soon what they decide to do.

I've really enjoyed the player insights into what it's like as a player out there. It's almost like you are sitting around with the players and getting to ask them questions. You just can't get that same feel with play by play. Would I like it this way all time? No I don' think so. Like many have stated I like them keeping up with balls and strikes and what's happening in the game and quite frankly I like the structured format of play by play. Maybe it is just growing up with it that gives me comfort, but I still like Corey in there letting me know what's going on with every pitch. I like both so no reason not to do both IMO. I hope they keep doing it.

Well taking the series they did what they needed to do. They didn't make it look easy but nice to see some of these close Cleveland games swing the Twins way. It's a get away game today and seems likely Ober starts and Paredes piggy backs to hopefully save the pen for the series against the Angels where they will try to sweep with Ryan, Bradley and Matthews scheduled to pitch heading into the break. I don't have much hope the Twins beat the Guardians today, but if they can sweep the Angels they get themselves above .500 at the break. Not gonna be easy, but there is a path. Rodens debut last year was pretty much a disaster. Absolutely clutch in key situations in this game. Great seeing him succeed! This game finds you even when your manager try's to hide you. He had a night to remember and this was a very big win for the Twins hopes of competing for that wild card spot\division.

Meyer would work IMO. Still if Houston is as pitching needy as they seem to be I don't know if they would do that deal. That would be the kind of return I'd be looking for though. 74 K's in 52 innings. That's some good stuff.

If we are trading Larnach it would be for pen help and Houston's system is pretty bare. I think Larnach could really help Houston a lot and he hit well in that park. I just don't know what they could give or would be willing to give us that would make it worth it for us to trade him. As noted if we are chasing them for the last wild card spot it makes even less sense to give them a leg up.

I remember the days when Pasqualatto had a hard time getting outs and had a high ERA. He's really refined his stuff and looked good this year. He was their stopper at High A this year. I haven't really watched him pitch so no idea what he looks like, but the numbers are good this year. Probably a smart move to get him to AAA ASAP and see if his stuff plays there and they will have to make rule V decisions on Pasqualatto, Culpepper and Hidalgo. Not going to add them all so will need to figure out which one(s) might make sense to add. Here's hoping he can be a dependable arm at the MLB level. The Twins need as many as they can find.

The Twins don't have to do much thinking for their first pick. They just need to take the last player left of the top 3. It will be interesting to see if they go bat or arm at 43. There should be some intriguing players at that pick. After that I hope they go arm heavy. They have been light on arms everywhere in the system this year except maybe A ball. They get and will have decent position players from their International signings, but they don't get much for arms there. I am hoping for a draft somewhat similar to last years where they take more arms in the top 5 rounds and then later like usual. They'll get their big bat early and they have players waiting at AAA for chances at the MLB level. They've used all their AAA arms. Time to restock the system with more arms.

Well they needed that one. Now if they can take the series they are on there way to getting back into this thing. Bradley was amazing. Only 3 hits allowed through 7. He came up big when needed.

Chicago is a young team and we've seen those types of teams fall off later in the season. Still I think that with the AL so weak they might be able to pull it off. If they get a little deadline help that could change things for them as well. despite your incredible stat I still think they can beat the odds and be a playoff team. Cleveland pitching has carried them to many division titles. I'd say the smart money is on them to win the division. They have been beatable without their big bat and it will be interesting to see how they line up against the Twins for those 7 games as that will likely make or break the Twins season. I just don't think Detroit has the pitching to go on that run you speak of. If they trade Skubal it feels like it's over for them. It's still a potent lineup when they are on and we've seen what timely hitting can do with this Twins team. Never say never given their comeback ways, but if they are sellers I don't see it. KC is generally a tough team. Always in it. Very pesky, but they have lost their mojo this year. Not enough offense and the pitching hasn't been great either. They might challenge for worst record in baseball if they sell at the deadline. If the Twins can pull to .500 or close to it. I still like their odds at a playoff spot if they don't sell off Joe Ryan. I don't know if this offense can keep it up and if the pen can get better, but if they can, there's no reason they can't find their way to a wild card spot. July is going to be big and August will be a real tough part of their schedule with Seattle, Brewers, Phillies, Chicago, and Atlanta on the schedule. Not sure I see them getting through that and staying around .500, but we'll see.

Yeah I felt they should have promoted Reyes the end of June. They should bump Fragoza up to High A and then Reyes to A ball. Let's see what he can do with half a year in A ball.

It feels like a tough spot for the Twins to be in. I'd still want to see them at .500 or better at the deadline before not selling. If they trade Jeffers the only other expiring player contract would be Bell. The rest they could trade in the offseason if they want to, It sounds like the players really like the clubhouse vibes so shaking that up might not be a good thing. Especially after what happened last year. It seemed to affect several players emotionally with so much unexpected movement. Still they will likely lose value on Ryan, Larnach and Bell if they wait, but if they hang onto these guys it feels like they could have a strong team next year. They just need to keep their starters healthy and build a better pen.

I believe I noted his good number's at AAA, but lot's of guys that perform well at AAA don't at the major league level. So questioning if they will translate. In relation to your quote above it just seems odd to me that if he is likely a high leverage arm that Detroit would let him go. Not implying he can't be useful, but you don't see many pen arms make it without good velocity especially when you get to high leverage. I don't think I said anything about not giving him a shot or that it was a waste just noted that I am hoping for the best but his profile isn't one that lends itself to easy success so not likely to work out. I honestly hope they found another Gomez and I love that he hasn't given up a Home Run in the minors this year, but just like the Twins weren't willing to add Bowman earlier this year it gives me pause as to why the Tigers weren't willing to add him. Like I said in my earlier post we'll see how it works out. I am hoping for the best, but understand the odds.

Usually something drops in the news. Like on Trade Rumors or other sites they'd say something like Jeffers may be on the trade market if the Twins don't work out an extension etc. and this late in the game if we haven't heard anything I'd say the odds are pretty low. Jeffers is on the Athletics' trade board at number 14 with nothing noting the Twins likely extending him or offering him a QO. They have him labeled green as a likely trade candidate. You'd think the FO would get out ahead of something like that if they planned to extend him. It doesn't mean they can't change their mind and try to extend, but given their past history and no news to the contrary I don't see an extension in the cards. They had the last three years to try and do something and never did and when players get this close to free Agency they usually want to test the market. I believe Jeffers has stated that he wants to do that in the past. They could try and sign him in the offseason, but the Twins don't win many bidding wars in the offseason. If they can't extend they should trade.

I don't disagree on Caratini. After those first two horrible months and just his history of production I don't see him as the better or even equal hitter to Jeffers. I have him as .750 OPS bat at best and I think Jeffers can be an .800 OPS bat if he can stay healthy. I'd say they do kind of need to work this out before the deadline not the end of the season. They can't keep 3 catchers on the 26 man for long. Jackson is a good defensive player with years of control that appears to be coming around offensively. I don't think they want put him on waivers. Caratini is signed to a 7M contract next year and depending on what Jeffers decides you don't know if he will be back or not. So don't really want to get rid of Caratini who has been OK behind the dish if Jeffers decides to leave. I just think that if the Twins viewed Jeffers as worthy of the 23M QO they would extend him for the 20M or so it would take per year. It's crickets on the extension. If he accepts the QO then you get him for the likely shortened 2027 season and then he leaves for nothing. You don't have to deal with any of that uncertainty if you trade Jeffers for a player that can likely help you in the near future(this year or next) versus even in the best case scenario where Jeffers turns down the QO and you get the Supplemental 1st you are likely waiting 3 to 4 years at best before that pick can help a team that needs some pitching help right now. If they can get a solid deal in trade and they have no plans to extend him which it appears they do not. It seems the best play is to trade for a close to ready asset. That seems like the least risk and fastest reward IMO.

We'll see if those AAA numbers translate in any way to MLB. It doesn't sound like he has a big fastball and has control issues. Major league hitters can hit all kinds of junk and don't swing outside the zone much. I'd think the Tigers wouldn't have given him to a division rival if they thought he had any chance of being a high leverage pen arm. We are just gonna have to wait and see. Hoping for the best prepared for the worst.

It can, but you are hurting your bench flexibility quite a bit. There is a reason teams don't carry three catchers.

That's assuming they get the new CBA and all aspects take effect right away. I'm not convinced that will happen, but sure if that does happen there are worse ways to spend 20M per year. I'd just think that if the Twins felt that way Jeffers would be extended already and he hasn't been.

I'd say the reason the Twins wouldn't QO Jeffers is the risk involved both ways. First let's say you QO him and he opts out. Are you sure he is going to get an Offer over 50M? If he gets a three year 15 or 16M AAV he falls short of first round compensation and falls to a late second round pick. While that's still decent compensation the Twins don't have a great history of those picks working out all that well. If they trade him at the deadline they likely get a proven player who has worked their way through the system with better odds of making it. Second let's say he accepts the QO now you have over 30M tied up in catchers about 25% of your entire payroll to a position most small market teams can't afford. And you are adding him to what purpose? To let him leave the next year or to negotiate an extension? He has said he wants to go to market so nothing but an overpay would likely accomplish an extension. If you did get him to sign, it would likely have to be for top catcher money so around 20M AAV. Is that something the Twins can afford? Is that the best use of their finite budgeted assets? Part two of this is if they plan to keep Jeffers they can't keep all three catchers someone has to go. Right now Caratini is coming off a 1.050 OPS month which is equal to what Jeffers was doing before being injured and he only costs 7M next year. Do you want to pay 13M more for Jeffers next year? If you trade Caratini and Jeffers walks after the QO what are doing at catcher next year? Bottom line for a team that is as money conscious as the Twins I don't see them wading into the uncertainty of what Jeffers might decide at the end of the year and what that might cost them. I'd think the preference for them would be that they control the situation and IMO that means trading Jeffers.