Major League Ready

Gordon's skill set has to have value. A guy that can play that many positions and hit reasonably well has to be a tradeable asset. The problem is pulling off a trade this time of year. Sending down Miranda when the bat has come alive this way is a really tough pill to swallow but I don't see an alternative that does not require they cut Gordon or send Miranda down.

We couldn't get anything better than what we already have for those players. Plus, a team willing to trade good pitching is not likely to be interested in Kepler. Good pitching is traded for elite prospects.

Normally, I would agree. However, they are going to be in a position unlike anything we have seen for this team in a very long time. They are going to have an establish front-line starter (Gray) at a reasonable price plus Ryan / Winder / Ober and Smeltzer on prearb salary and Paddack on as a 1st year arbitration player AND Canterino and SWR and maybe Balazovic knocking at the door. There is also a slew of guys that look legit for the BP. Then, add a rookie SS (Lewis) and Miranda / Kirilloff in the INF. Then, the OF you have Larnach / Buxton / Kepler / Celestino in the OF. That's a lot of good players that are going to remain cheap and Buxton / Kepler's salaries are considered in the $75M They could simply bank the money with a $75M payroll for a good team. However, they were willing to spend on Wheeler and while I concede and even agree it's a bit presumptuous but what else are they going to spend the available money on? Plus, this many really good free agent SPs is rare which should give us a decent shot. Regardless, I believe it would take something like Lewis and Winder to get Montas and that does not make sense unless you believe Montas makes them a serious contender. I don't believe that is remotely true. It's possible all the bats could heat up and they could become a serious contender. It just does not look that way presently. I also believe that everything they have done was conceptually part of a conceptual strategy similar to what I described above. I think their plans is coming together and they will stay the course.

I don't think the team is hot if hot is defined as a legit contender. Ask me again on July 20th and my answer might be different but at the moment they are not a front-line pitcher away from being a contender. Montas or Castillo is going to require an elite prospect and another top 10 prospect. Lewis and Winder for example. Those teams are going to demand elite prospects at the AA/AAA level or guys like Winder that has already made their debut. That's short-sighted if you are the twins. It's also the exact opposite of what Tampa and Oakland have proven over and over to be effective. For example trading Samardzjia for Semien and Bassit. This team is finally in a position to have sustained success. Next year they have Gray / Ryan / Winder / Maeda / Ober / Smeltzer and Paddock by mid-season. Add one of Nola / Musgrove / Rodon / Syndergaard / Taillon / Perez and they are great shape for several years. You are the guy that talks about locking down long-term pitching assets and rightfully so. It is essential in a mid-market to retain guys like Lewis / Winder if a mid-market team is to afford front-line free agent SP and put together a roster with the depth to be a true contender. So, do you want Musgrove / Taillon / Nola for 5 years or Montas for 1 year and 2 I will take the former along with the top prospects like Lewis that I would have needed to trade away.

Me too. I was looking at it the other day trying to get a feel for how it will shake out. There are a bunch of new guys that will be added and some guys like Steer that are going to jump up quite a bit. I think we will see a lot of prospects where an argument could be made to rank them from 15-30. It will be interesting.

Fans of the team trading for a great (established) player always propose a bunch of mediocre players in trade. Fans of the team that have that great player want elite prospects. Quality not quantity. Of course, the FO trading for prospects also want elite prospects not quantity. If the A's would have accepted this type of deal, Montas would already be playing for someone else. They are holding out for an elite MLB ready or close to ready prospect. Does that sound like Lewis? It would take something like Lewis and Winder. The only prospect on that list that is not highly suspect is Gordon. We are all very worried about Balazovic. He certainly is not a headliner at this point. Wallner's K rate makes him highly suspect. This type of deal has absolutely no shot IMO.

The fact that not a single team was willing to pay their price this off-season would support they want the type of haul that would likely be quite detrimental in the long-term. Add to this that the FO has made numerous moves since the Berrios trade with a focus on building a sustained contender and a deal for Montas or Castillo is very unlikely and should be. Assuming Correa opts out, the Twins will have roughly a $75M payroll next year and their several Montas level SPs available in free agency and a couple of them are even better. (Nola / Musgrove / Rodon / Syndergaard / Taillon / Perez / Manaea) They can play for the next year and a third or they can keep the great prospects needed to get Montas and sign one of these 7 SPs for the next 5 years. That would be difficult if there were 2 great SPs available. I like the odds they could get one of the 7. Call me greedy but I will take Musgrove or Taillon or Nola and Lewis plus SWR or whatever the ask would be for the next 5-6 years instead of Montas for a year and 2 months. The FO clearly chose a path of developing several pitchers this year as well as Lewis / Miranda / Celestino and Larnach. That plan is working so thankfully I don't see them changing directions.

You need to post of your confidence in Steer more often. 3 HRs and a walk today. OPS is 985. He must be reading TD and gaining confidence.

Palacios has not had many tough plays but you can still see the great footwork and arm. He is definitely a SS.

He has closed games. That was not the most important situation yesterday. He was put in yesterday because the top of Detroit's line-up has been doing damage and 1-3 were due up yesterday when he came in. *** Sorry, didn't see the other posts before I made this one and repeated what was already said..

Should we let Buxton and Polanco go too. They have been horrible lately. Correa has not been on the field. Let him go too. Even Arraez did not hit during this series. Blaming Rocco because the team is not hitting is just comical.

Since when is a guy with a career 4.12 ERA and a current ERA over 5 considered an "Ace" Gray has been waaaaay better. Hell, Smeltzer looks a lot better than Berrios at the moment. BTW .... Larnach has been pretty darn good defensively. He has a +7 DRS and that play he made last night going over the fence was something you rarely see Kepler get done.

We agree in principle but are looking at it from different angles. Many here believed it was a sin to trade Berrios even if it meant foregoing the return (SWR & Martin) and taking our chances signing him in free agency. We could have done that and still had him for the 2022 season. He might completely turn it around but at the moment that particular scenario would have been a disaster. Again, many people said prospects are suspects, keep Berrios for 2022 or we will lose 100 games if you happen to remember those posts. No doubt, you are correct, one potential scenario was extend Berrios, give up the prospects, AND spend $140M to keep him. That scenario had a heavy cost in no prospects and a big financial investment. The front office weighed that cost and I assume decided they would rather have the prospects and $140M to spend elsewhere. I would add there are a number of free agents next year that look far more appealing than Berrios at this moment and the various moves the FO made will make it very financially feasible to land one of them. My only point was that the two scenarios could also be looked at separately. They could have had Berrios for this year at a cost of passing on SWR & Martin. That scenario would have also been a horrible decision. In that scenario, the decision can also be evaluated separately. Bottom line is we agree while getting there from slightly different paths.

I don't see it this way. They could have kept him without extending him. Many would have preferred we did over trading him. Of course, many wanted us to pay whatever it took. Regardless, we traded him with 2 months to go in 2021 plus all of 2022. Given his current performance, that means we would have gotten two months in a lost season and a pitcher performing rather poorly this year vs whatever we get out of SWR and Martin. I see little value in having Berrios last year and little value if he performs this way all year. Therefore, the cost of SWR and Martin is very low. Extending him was not entirely separate decision as they were intertwined to some degree. However, it can definitely be separated in the sense that the cost associate with Berrios post twins contract can be very clearly defined by his extension details. The return or benefit in trading him had nothing to do with that extension.

I would be a little concerned about that investment right now. However, it's too early for conclusions. More importantly, the extension should not be considered when evaluating the trade. It's an entirely different issue. He would be in his final year with the Twins so for me the issue is the Twins gave up Berrios in a lost season plus this season. With him pitching to an ERA of 5, he would be supplying very little value this year. Therefore, the addition of SWR and Martin comes at a very low cost. The should we have given him whatever was needed to extend him is a different question. On that question, I have to agree with you that the ERA and peripherals are concerning.

Simeon Woods-Richardson and Austin Martin. The two players we got for Berrios so the point was basically reversing the trade but making it any player performing at the level Berrios is right now. We all love Berrios so making it generic remove the bias we might have for Berrios.

He has given up 20 runs in his last 26 IP. His ERA is now over 5. The FO would be getting absolutely slammed here had we traded SWR and Martin for a pitcher performing this way.

Replacing a guy with a 4.19 ERA with a 7.88 ERA guy does not seem like a good move. How about we get Ryan / Gray and Winder back in the next couple weeks and go with Gray / Ryan / Ober / Winder / Smeltzer and Bundy if one of them are out?

Spencer Steer is this year's Jose Miranda. He is going to give Miranda a run for the 3B job next year. Steer and Gordon would also be a very flexible / valuable pair off the bench.

How about Canterino? Not tomorrow but around the deadline. Smeltzer as a multi-inning guy might make sense too. Duran / Smith / Alcala / Canterino / Thielbar / Smeltzer / Jax / Columbe with Stashak / Cotton for depth should be pretty darn good.

He was great offensively his 1st two years but he has not been that guy for a few years now. It would be nice for this hot streak to last all year but I would not bet on it. I am hoping they draft a college catcher but the spot is most likely filled by a free agent next year. Milwaukee probably won't pay up for Narvaez.

Sanchez started off slow. The last three weeks his wRC+ is 129. I guess the question is will he continue to hit like he has lately because the difference between them lately has been more pronounced.

Has anyone heard anything about Alcala? Getting him back would be a nice boost. Ian Hamilton could help too. I would think he will be here once the 40-man gets sorted out a bit. Jax has hit a rough stretch, but they need to let him figure it out. He seems to have lost some command of his fastball when he jacked up the velocity. He is part of the solution if he is able to spot his FB while maintaining 95-96. Of course, there is Canterino. Not sure how they play that one because they are going to be more concerned with his long-term impact over getting him here in the short-term.

Way too early to make any firm conclusions. However, I am very happy that they have the option to use that money on a free agent SP next year when Nola / Musgrove / Rodon / Syndergaard / Taillon / Perez & Manaea will be available. This assumes Rodon has 110 IP and opts out which looks likely. The thought of the following SP staff is quite appealing. 1 of Nola / Musgrove / Rodon / Syndergaard / Taillon / Perez Gray / Ryan / Winder / Ober / Smeltzer That's quite a 6 man staff. Plus, Dobnak has 3 Milb options, Canterino should be here next year and we could keep Maeda as well although my bet is he gets traded. Although Canterino and Duran might end up playing a Josh Hader type roll. That would be very helpful come playoff time or anytime for that matter. Perhaps the takeaway is that losing Berrios is hardly the tragedy that many people insisted it would be. I would rather have Musgrove / Rodon / Syndergaard / Taillon and maybe even Perez if he keeps pitching the way he has been this year. The prospects are just a bonus and Martin and who is to say the twin's considered Martin the centerpiece of the trade. The FO may very well have place equal or greater value on SWR. BWT ... Assuming they decline Sano and trade Urshela, the Twins Payroll will be around $75M next year. They will definitely have the payroll capacity to add one of these top free agents SPs and have money left over to invest in the BP and a FA Catcher. I could see them paying up to keep Sanchez if he wants to stay.

I would like to see Parada drop to the Twins but that seems unlikely, so I am with those who would go with Susac. However, I could see this FO going with Berry if Parada and Susac are gone. He might be the best college bat and he is a switch hitter. He likely ends up a 1B so that bat better be really good. I hated the Sabato pick but this guy could be a middle of the order beast for a long-time.