Major League Ready

I think playoff revenue could influence what they do. I agree with those you listed including Gray but I think they might hold onto Gray and extend a qualifying offer. This helps them get to the playoffs and gives them a shot at signing Gray to a 2-3 year deal. Now, if they get the right haul, I am totally with you on moving him. Kepler is the one they really need to move to give Wallner and Larnach a shot. They won't get much but I think they will find a partner if he hits slightly above league average. Would they trade both Gallo and Kepler. I could see Gallo bring a pretty decent return. IDK if they will let Polanco go. It would be an entirely different story if Julien was not so rough at 2B. I could get behind if the return is right because there is a decent chance Miranda ends up back at 3B and they could move Lewis / Julien to 2B. Lee could be a year or more out but his presence in the not-too-distant future also makes trading Polanco more palatable. Severino could be in the mix as well. We also could have one heck of a versatile bench in the near future. Farmer / Gordon / Castro and hopefully Martin would allow the Twins to be more aggressive in making changes.

Dillion Head looks great. I would also add Colton Ledbetter to this list.

There you go being objective again. Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the tactic of only looking at the instances that support a narrative. Just to expand on where you went with this ... The biggest failures of this team to this point in the season are Correa and Buxton. Both signings were very popular here. One could even say that most posters here were quite insistent the front office sign these players. Their additions Gallo / MAT / Solano / Farmer and Stewart have all been quite good. The best performing player ( Kirilloff) was written off by the majority here and many called for them to sign a replacement. The one decision we as a group had right was Pagan. Then again, posters here would have supported resigning Fulmer and dumping Pagan. Fulmer has been worse.

Mahle has had one season where he resembled a top of the rotation arm. It's a problem if they can't replace Mahle from within between Raya / Prelipp / Festa / SWR and perhaps even Canterino. At this stage in the building process, they need to aim higher in free agency. The best use of available funds might turn out to be an impact bat and/or back of the BP additions.

Why would you assume they would trade all seven. The context seems pretty clear you could trade any of those seven or even two or three of them. None of them are core players beyond this year so trading any of them or even all of them would be irrelevant in any long-term rebuild.

Selling in a given season does not equate to a tear down. Did they go into a rebuild when they traded Cruz for Joe Ryan? They could trade expiring players in Gallo / Kepler / Solano and Maeda. Mahle is coming off at the end of the year as well so that's five 40 man spots going away. They could also trade Polanco and play Castro or Farmer or Julien at 2B. They could trade Gray if the offer was good enough.

Most people here would hate their practices. They draft pretty well but the largest portion of their WAR comes from acquiring prospects or players that have reached the ML level but are not proven. I define this as never having produced 1.5 War prior to being acquired. If we were to follow their practices, we would have the added advantage of spending an extra $70M/year on extending core players and signing free agents. Many say we can’t draft and develop like them but the difference is not in drafting. They make Arreaz / Berrios like trades and get great value. They constantly cycle RPs that have failed elsewhere. They also indentify and acquire older prospects like Raley / Arozarena and get them to perform. Here is a breakdown of their top players by WAR and how they were acquired. BTW .... TfP signifies Trade for Prospect. Source WAR Wander Franco Intl 3.2 Yandy Diaz TfP 2.1 Randy Arozarena TfP 2.1 Josh Lowe Draft 1.9 Luke Raley TfP 1.8 Jose Siri TfP 1.4 Isaac Paredes TfP 1.4 Taylor Walls Draft 0.9 Harold Ramirez TfP 0.9 Christian Bethancourt TfP 0.6 Brandon Lowe Draft 0.6 Shane McClanahan Draft 1.5 Zach Eflin FA 1.5 Drew Rasmussen TfP 1.4 Taj Bradley Draft 1.1 Jeffrey Springs TfP 0.7 Kevin Kelly TfP 0.5 Acquired by: WAR % of WAR Drafted 6 26.8% International Draft 3.2 14.3% Trade for Prospect 11.7 52.2% Free Agent 1.5 6.7% Trade for Proven 0 0.0%

He was also fired by Detroit when he managed the Mud Hens and no other team has employed him since then. The facts do not exactly support your conclusion.

I was really disappointed when Martin got hurt. He finally looked like he was getting on track in the AFL. Martin would be a great replacement for MAT if his defense is good. Have you seen him play CF? Anyone actually seen him in CF that cares to comment? We could have a crazy flexible bench next year with Martin / Castro and Gordon.

All very good points/questions Doc which is why we can't predict the future of this team with any certainty. The one I am most unsure of is Polanco. My guess would be he is gone if they get an offer if they like. It's a matter of when.

I have examined how the top producing players were acquired for almost every playoff team in the past 15 years. Trading for prospects or MLB players that have not yet become established is overwhelming more important than trading for established players, especially for teams that are not top 10 in revenue. I would agree with your approach in general but I definitely would not make it a steadfast rule. Taking advantage of selling like the Tampa, Oakland, Cleveland, and more recently Baltimore, can create a very deep pool of prospects. The Twins were very deep in good but not great prospects. They would have lost some players they wanted to keep had they not traded away several prospects. There are times when that pool of assets can and should be used to bolster the current roster.

The Twins have traded away very few players of value at the deadline so what would you expect from trading Garcia and Dozier who was not much of a player when they traded him. They got tremendous value for Cruz and Escobar. They did not do well on Pressley and the Berrios trade is yet to be determined but does not look great.

What they did in 87 is an example of what I was advocating. Modest investment based on a very modest chance of success. Doing something and giving up 10 prospects or whatever the number was last year are two VERY different things.

I remember quite a few of us hating the Sabato pick. Bobby Miller would have been a real nice pick.

We are not that far apart. I am not suggesting a team should never add at the deadline. Far from it. Where we differ is that the investment should be made when a team has a reasonable chance at post season success. Of course, we have to define reasonable, and I did not think last year's team had a reasonable chance. Outside/national sources and betting lines would support their chances were not good. They were deep in decent but not great prospects that were going to make managing the 40 man difficult. Between that and the "there is always a chance" once you get in approach, I supported them adding last year just not how they did it. There were others here who supported rental RPs and not Mahle.

And Duran say's how are you today!

Who did they trade for at the deadline in 87? I honestly don't recall. Was that a team an example of success through deadline trades or are they an example of winning without additions?

That can be done with pure rentals that don't cost as much and you don't have to give up on talented players. The Rays have clearly demonstrated the value giving players the appropriate opportunity. Look at the number of players contributing for several years on winning teams that were acquired at the deadline. How many of the players that brought big returns actually had an impact on playoff success. It's a suckers bet unless you are very close or you get lucky like Atlanta did and trade away nothing for players that got hot. Then look at Ryan and Duran which we got for a couple rentals that did absolutely nothing to improve the chances of the teams that traded them a way.

There is no questioning they had a shot at the playoffs. It's entirely another thing as to if they can compete in the playoffs which is how I would define contending. This year the AL central could possibly be won at under 500. That's not a contender. Anything can happen but that's a poor management mantra. The results last year speak for themselves. That team was in 1st place but it was not a contender. Would they have been better off had they not invested in that team? The answer is very obvious. We can't rewrite history because as fans we want them to go all in at every opportunity. Baltimore ended up closer to a playoff spot than the twins. Yet, they chose to manage their assets for the long-term. Their result was much better.

I could find blame in the front office because they invested heavily in 2022 when they were not a contender despite being in first place. They were questionable before all the injuries that happened before the deadline. This is the cost associated with investing in a team with little chance. It pleases fans immensely in the short-term but here were are. How much better off would we be had we kept Cano and the prospects we gave up. We would look pretty darn good with Duran / Cano / Thielbar / Jax / Stewart / Moran and Maeda in the BP.

The league is in the infancy of a new business model. At the moment, they have not developed an offer for those who consume their product in small quantities. Any business is going to first consider their most devoted customers. As I said, I think it's a matter of time before they offer single game streaming or small packages.

If we couldn't replace BB's production at DH, preserving him for that role would be quite important. However, is it unrealistic to believe one of Wallner/Larnach or Julien could produce equivalently in a DH role. If Buxton got hurt playing CF, we would put MAT back in a starting role and one of Wallner/Larnach or Julien is the DH. Buck over MAT is a big upgrade. Replacing Buck with one of the three mention not such a big downgrade at DH. Perhaps no downgrade at all.

It's not worth 75 cents per game? If the teams/league takes control, they could offer packages just like they do for tickets. The season pass could be $20/month. They could also offer 80/40/20 game or per game streaming packages. Playoffs could be a separate package for these packages and the season packages include playoffs. I would be surprised if we didn't see a per game streaming option. It will probably be $3 instead of 75 cents but still a great option for the occasion viewer who would not otherwise buy the streaming service. This would be a great way to build viewership as some of these casual viewers are likely to become more frequent viewers.

Miranda and Correa are in a tier of their own for me as the biggest disappointments. I put them above the others because they were supposed to be big contributors for the next several years. If Correa does not get it together he will stand alone because that investment could have gone and Lewis could have taken over at SS. Mahle is 1st in the next tier. How can getting absolutely nothing out of him be anything but a huge disappointment. Of course, we gave up some decent assets for him. The next two are quite debatable. It’s reasonable to conclude Gordon’s absence has given Castro a chance and he has been great. Vasquez has looked terrible at the plate but that’s not the primary reason he is here. I would have to go with Jorge Lopez at #4 because our inability to rely on him is a big problem. He started out great. Maybe his recent struggles are just a hick-up but I would go with Jorge Lopez at #4. # 5 could be Gordon / Vasquez or Kepler or even MAT. Taylor has been bad offensively the last month. His wRC+ since May 1st is 56.

I think I heard they were going to activate Thielbar today. Stewart could go two days in a row. Of course, they have Jax and Lopez. Jax has been quite unlucky. I think he will be fine.