Major League Ready

My wish would be one B+/A- BP arm and having Canterino explode onto the scene 6 weeks from now looking as dominant as Duran. As long as I am wishing and hoping, let's hope Maeda contributes come October as well.

Moving Kepler and putting Kirilloff in the OF could be the most productive alignment of this roster. Arraez at 1B / DH maximizes his value. Garlick would replace one of Larnach / Kirilloff against LH pitching where they become a bench bat for later in the game. The bench is Garlick / Miranda or Steer plus Celestino and Gordon. This assumes Urshela is traded or non-tendered and either Miranda or Steer is the everyday 3B.

Let's hope he can spend the 1st three weeks of September in St. Paul and the last 2 weeks of the season with the Twins. That would at least give him a shot at contributing but it's not something that should be counted on. BTW ... I hope Danchat's prediction comes true. Duran / Canterino can be a shut-down duo for the next several years.

I agree. A front of the rotation SP will require a front of the rotation prospect going back plus Miranda. Winder and Miranda is probably the rough equivalent to SWR / Martin in the Berrios trade which is a very good comp. Trading away 6+ years of players like this to up or chances of going deep in the playoffs from very slim to slim is incredibly foolish. It's a good way to never be a team with better than a slim chance. Trade for a good RP and keep our top prospects.

That would be something if Sisk turned out to be a high-leverage RP. We deserve a reward for the JA Happ experience.

I agree with all of this but might be more inclined to send Miranda down if we were to bring up Kirilloff. They have Kirilloff/Arraez for 1B plus Sanchez if needed. Urshella/Arraez for 3B and Polanco/Arraez/Gordon for 2B. seems like Miranda would be the most expendable in this scenario. Garlick's bat against LH pitching is a real asset. Kirolloff's defense is better at 1B and I am not sure we really lose anything defensively at 1B with Arraez vs Miranda. Obviously, we lose defensively with Miranda at 3B instead of Urshela.

Are you suggesting we consider the measures produced by an unbiased organization who's product is analysis of these exact scenarios? Let's not get carried away. Wouldn't it be a lot more gratifying to ignore these facts if we want to believe framing does not matter? ?

I am just really happy to see Kirilloff hitting and not just hitting but making a mockery of AAA pitching. He can be a key player for this team for next several years and I was worried about his future so it's a relief to see him thriving. He will be back soon. They will probably have to decide between sending Miranda or Larnach down or I would think they could find a trade partner for Gordon.

Seems like a very plausible scenario because it's not hard to see them moving Bundy once the others are healthy. Plus, piggy-backing two guys that you don't want pitching a bunch of innings is a pretty good solution. It was JA Happ that they sent to St. Louis and wouldn't it be something if Evan Sisk turned out to be useful BP piece for several years. That would be quite a trade and a similar outcome from trading Bundy would be just great.

They can't just add him without sending out a player. Someone needs to go. They have a very nice problem ... Too many starting caliber infielders without considering that Steer is close. They will need to trade someone eventually but that takes time to come together. In the meanwhile, AAA gets used as an extended bench to cover injuries.

Who does he replace? Arraez / Miranda at 1B, Kepler in RF or Larnach in LF? What's the gain?

What position are you going to move him to? We have two 3B prospects (Miranda / Steer) with equivalent offensive potential and CES fits at 3B as well if he is able to cut down the errors. We have all kinds of 2B. Moving him to the OF diminishes the value of his bat. Plus Larnach has been better than we hoped for defensively. So, where would you suggest they play him? Do you trade Kepler, play Larnach is right and Lewis in LF?

Good point! The way I see it, the Twins were going to have to take back salary or eat some of Donaldson's salary. Getting Sanchez was a lot better option than eating salary. We should keep in mind that Donaldson had an option for 2024 at $16M or an $8M buyout. So, The Twins were very likely going to eat $8M down the road anyway and get nothing not to mention they have an extra $21M to spend next year.

I think most people were ready to dump Sano a long time ago and Rooker has not been high on anyone's list for even longer. Which Hick's are you talking about?

We had a crazy number of players with the opportunity to step up and lock down a roster spot for the next few years. Kirilloff / Larnach / Miranda / Celestino / Lewis and Jeffers as position players. Ryan / Winder / Smeltzer / Duran / Jax / Cano / Moran and Megill among pitchers. Several of them are looking very good and we have two-thirds of a season for Jeffers and others to step up.

Here is a list of the biggest contracts signed by the teams in the bottom half of revenue. Nine of the 15 teams have signed a $150M plus deal with the largest being Stanton for 13/325. The highest annual salary paid by Miami was $14.5M and they traded the year his salary was to increase to $25M. The Dbacks traded Greinke after 3 years and they had to sub 500 seasons while they had him. The Mariners were able to unload the horrible decision to sign Cano to a contract for 10/240. Thatb was fortunate because it would be an anchor for them now. Votto has been good but the Reds have been horrible with the exception of the first year of the extension. Yehlich has been mediocre since signing his deal. A couple were so disastrous (Davis / Cabrera) they could not be moved. None of these $150M+ deals resulting in success for the team, at least not for the teams that originally signed them. Orioles: Chris Davis – 7 years, $161MM. Signed 1-21-16. Athletics: Eric Chavez – 6 years, $66MM. Signed 3-18-04. Brewers: Christian Yelich – 7 years, $188.5MM. Signed 3-6-2020. Diamondbacks: Zack Greinke – 6 years, $206.5MM. Signed 12-8-15. Indians: Edwin Encarnacion – 3 years, $60MM. Signed 1-7-17. Mariners: Robinson Cano – 10 years, $240MM. Signed 12-12-13. Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton – 13 years, $325MM. Signed 11-18-14. Pirates: Jason Kendall – 6 years, $60MM. Signed 11-18-00. Rays: Evan Longoria – 6 years, $100MM ( plus three club options for another $30MM). Signed 11-26-12. Reds: Joey Votto – 10 years, $225MM. Signed 4-2-12. Rockies: Nolan Arenado – 7 years, $234MM. Signed 2-26-19. Royals: Alex Gordon – 4 years, $72MM. Signed 1-6-16. Tigers: Miguel Cabrera – 8 years, $248MM. Signed 3-31-14. Twins: Joe Mauer – 8 years, $184MM. Signed 3-21-10. White Sox: Yasmani Grandal – 4 years, $73MM. Signed 11-21-19.

They actually made two bets. The short-term bet (current year) was that they could find a replacement for Garver. I see it as they neither gained nor lost anything this year. It's really a long-term question at this point. They have the rest of the year and next off-season to improve the catcher position in 2023 and beyond. They could sign a free agent to be the primary catcher and use Jeffers as a back-up. Do we have a guy in the system? Is Hamilton's breakout sustainable? Alex Isola has a 900 OPS at AA. Could he get promoted to AAA for the 2nd half of the season and audition for the job on the big club. They also will be in a position to go sign a FA catcher next year. I see it as the most obvious opportunity to improve the team where position players are concerned.

Who would be the pick if you got to make it?

Miranda / CES & Steer all have roughly the same Milb OPS. Miranda's K rate was around 15% the other two around 25%. Steer is the best defender and more versatile defender. Of course, Miranda and Steer are proven at the AAA level and CES is earlier in the process and only reached high A.

Steer had 8 HRs in 156 ABs at AA and 8 HRs in 79 ABs at AAA. He was raking at AA and his OPS is 100 pts higher in AAA. I guess he was ready for the promotion.

Have to agree. Montas or Castillo will require a very good SP prospect. What do you think they would ask? Winder or Ryan plus Steer or SWR plus Lewis? Duran / Steer?

Very well put. I would hate to lose Arraez but Steer would make a great replacement IF the return was right. Steer is no Wander Franco but the Rays moving Adames is somewhat parallel. It's a great problem. By that I mean having Kirilloff / Polanco / Lewis and Miranda as our future infield with Steer waiting in the wings and Arraez and Gordon on the bench. Gordon might seem like the logical choice to be moved. However, that skillset fits well on this team and the others have trade value that could be impactful. The point being trading one of Miranda / Kirilloff / Ster or Arraez will have more value than keeping them all if the right trade presents itself. BTW ... The Rays got a SP and a RP that combined are definitely more valuable than Adames. They were both already at the MLB level and both have really stepped up this year.

It was a very short while ago that many were calling for Lewis and/or Larnach to be traded. I don't see the point in selling low. He is not bringing any form of impact player now or in the near future. That would require Duran / Lewis / Ryan / Larnach / Miranda / Kirilloff type assets. Maybe we could throw in Brian Duensing. ?

I wonder if having the draft so late is going to hold up some promotions.

Cotton is not on the 40 man. He was here on a Covid exception and we will have several players coming off the IL and Covid lists. They are going to have some 40 man challenges when Ryan / Gray / Correa / Kirilloff and Alcala come back. Part of this is also you don't just dump a guy that has been part of the team for 6 years without giving them a chance to redeem themselves. It's not good for morale. There are also MANY examples of players who struggle for a while and then do great. Buxton really sucks right now too. I am betting he we get back to playing great.