Major League Ready

That could make sense IF Sano gains consistency between now and the deadline and they continue to get low production from first base and the twins are willing to eat a significant part of his salary. I would like to find a package the Ray's like for Brujan has is ready to debut. Maybe a 3 team team trade. He could take over for Simmons right now and he has a 949 OPS at AAA. The Rays have Franco waiting in the wings so they could move Brujan.

I might have missed it but I did not see any reasons as to why he needs to be traded now as opposed to later.

For starters to complain the FO was inept because the players they brought in have not panned out and then say they made a mistake not bring in JBJ who has been absolutely miserable because he was good in the past is some really bent logic. Yes, Rich Hill has been good but had they brought him in there would have been a lot of people complaining “why are we bringing in 41 YO SPs”. In hindsight he has been good. I simply suggested it is understandable the FO passed on a SP the wrong side of 40. They already made that leap with Cruz. Two 40+ guys is a stretch. The guys the Twins brought in all had success in the past. To say Eddie Rosario was good in the past but the guys the Twins brought in suck THIS YEAR is an absolute refusal to acknowledge the situation. Rosario has a wRC+ around 70,and playing at replacement level. You can’t complain the guys the brought in are not performing and then complain they did not keep guys who are performing horrible THIS YEAR as examples of their mistakes. Also, guys become free agents and want to go elsewhere. Do we need to go down the list of top free agents that were not retained by their teams the last 5 years including Mookie Betts. Boston with a top 5 payroll did not resign him. Houston lost Cole and on and on. Add to this that this is not the most attractive destination in MLB and we don’t have the budget to pay whatever it takes to get FAs. We need to accept the fact a dozen other teams have more payroll dollars. We are all going to be quite distort id we get frustrated when outbid by teams with more money. When we get outbid by Milwaukee or Cleveland, you will have a point. BTW … Brantley is a .8 WAR so to say we would be in a lotter better shape (you guessed it) makes no sense. You also fail to acknowledge that Brantley cost $12M. Kirilloff / Larnach + $11M to spend elsewhere is a MUCH smarter move than signing Michael Brantley. We simply have drastically different thought processes. You are welcome to your opinion but I am really glad we don’t have JBJ and Brantley.

I am not to caught up in them making a historic comeback. That's not happening. What I would like to see is a competitive team playing reasonably well and it would be really great if someone prospects get a shot and perform really well. Today Ober looked like a guy that can contribute for a few years. Just one step of many to field a team that contends but good to see just the same. Gordon has been a nice surprise so far too.

We don't really know what they are thinking just because they say the rotation is "staying the same for now". They might be thinking they need to jettison Shoemaker as soon as possible but don't feel they have anyone ready at the moment. They might be thinking they will get a look or 2 at Ober and Jax and then make a move. Perhaps they want a couple more weeks for Duran or maybe they want to shuffle some SPs and get Winder moved up to AAA. We should no better than to assume the statement by Rocco indicates they don't see a need to make a change. It sounds to me like a nice way of saying we need a moment to get our ducks in a row.

Wouldn't every other team also prefer to spend his $12M salary more effectively? Another team is not taking him right now without us taking back salary which kind of defeats the purpose unless the deal was for the Twins to eat his 2021 salary and the trade partner covers 2022. I think we need to hope he finds his 2019 form real soon and becomes tradable. His wRC+ is 122 over the past 3 weeks so it's not a great leap. He just needs to be more consistent than he has been lately. I would love for them to move Donaldson too. It's too soon to get carried away on Miranda but he looks to have taken a leap forward and could be the next position player to earn a promotion. Let's hope his success continues because Kirilloff / Larnach / Miranda and eventually Lewis could be a very good core of position players. Plus, all that young (cheap) talent would leave us with significant payroll budget to add talent.

“They've (the FO) presided over subtraction of several good players?” I don’t think you gave much thought to this statement? Let’s look at the players they let go. Position Players: Eddie Rosario’s current wRC+ is .76 and his Fwar is .1. Ehire Adrianza’s current wRC+ is 74 and his Fwar is negative. Marwin Gonzales has a current wRC+ of 67 and a negative Fwar. Relief Pitchers: Matt Wisler and Sergio Romo have an ERA over 6 and 0 Fwar. Tyler Clippard is out. They let one good RP (Trevor May) go. Starting Pitchers: Jake Odorizzi has an ERA is over 7. Granted, Rich Hill is have a decent year but it’s pretty hard to criticize the FO for not bringing back a 41+ y/o SP with injury concerns. To criticize when your solution was JBJ is hard to understand. He has absolutely sucked. His Fwar is -.6 and his wRC+ is 40 and he cost $12M with a player option for another year at $12M. Where Brantley is concerned, he has been decent but corner OF is not our problem even with all the injuries and why would we want to block the position where we have the most depth, especially for a 2 WAR player at $12M. Your solution is an absolute waste of $24M. JBJ would hurt the ream for 2 years and the $12M on Brantley would be much better spent elsewhere. Because they did not follow your suggested plan, they could spend and $24M next year on pitching or perhaps a high profile SS.

I have to agree. Use that spot to take a look at Ober / Jax. Happ and Pineda hopefully pitch really well and get traded for something of value between now and the deadline opening two more spots. Watching the pitching prospects will be a reason to tune-in to the games. Maybe they can give us hope for the future.

You mean like unaccomplished no names like Josh Donaldson Andrelton Simmons and Nelson Crux or Michael Pineda. How about Colome? The whole "clown" thing is really annoying. Those clowns have real credentials.

Seth, I heard an interview when Jax was named MilB pitcher of the week that suggested his velocity has ticked up. They went on to say the increased difference between his FB and secondary pitches has made those pitches more effective. Do you suspect he is going to be on the radar for promotion? One other question... Which top prospects are showing the most consistent command?

I don't see this as being much of an issue. They will gain 2 rosters spots in September. More importantly, we should see several trade deadline deals that will make room to audition prospects. I hope the SP prospects are showing well enough by late July that we have 3 spots in the rotation occupied by prospects and another couple guys in the BP.

Is there a team that would anyone take Sano the way he is going right now? Even if the Twins ate much of his salary, I think he is untradeable unless he gets it together. Maybe I am wrong and there is a team that thinks a change of scenery will help. Kepler might be our CF next year and he also provides value as a reasonable CF back-up. I just don't know what to think about Lewis in terms of where he plays. It seemed like the team was very happy with his progress at SS but who knows of that was lip service. I just don't think we have enough information to conclude where he plays with any confidence. Will has bat ever play? It looked bleak until the AZ fall league but that's a sss.

There were several BP arms but not as many SPs. I hated the Tyler Jay pick and I just did not see Stewart / Gonsalves / Thorpe as the same level prospect as Duran / Balazovic / Canterino / Winder. I see a second group of Enlow / Jax / Ober / Sands / Rijo/ Raya as being more on par with Stewart / Gonsalves / Thorpe. If nothing else the point is there are a lot of guys that look like they COULD play at the MLB level and quite a few that could be impact players. I guess part of it is that it's a lot more fun the believe in the potential than it is to curse past failure.

I was just thinking the same thing. It looked like he could spot his fastball and we have a lot of guys that do not have adequate command. I don't like the way the 40 man was managed. I can't blame them for Baddoo because I too did not believe someone would take him. However, I did not believe Thorpe or Smeltzer were ML pitchers.

Every team retreads BP arms. The biggest squander of dollars has been high-end relievers. They fail more often than they succeed. They money is better spent elsewhere or even on 3 or 4 guys instead of one. I also don't understand where you are coming from on guys we cut other than Anderson. Guys like Littell / Chargois / Curtiss are not even remotely the answer to our BP issues.

I have no disagreement which is why I said it might not be realistic. However, the point I was emphasizing is that our future does not rest with Duran. How this group turns out is far more influential on the future of the team. I don't remember a time when we had this many pitching prospect I thought had a chance to be impact (mid-rotation or better). At this moment, I believe a couple of them are going to be really good SPs and a couple others will be solid contributors. The prospect I see as most pivotal is Lewis. He is going to play CF or SS. We don't have other prospects for these positions that seem like they could be impact players. Lewis losing this year really sucks. I would be for trading Berrios if we received a really good SS or CF prospect. Duran could end up being a closer. That would be just fine is Balazovic and Winder are top of the rotation guys. Then, if a couple of Canterino / Enlow / Sands / Valimont / Jax / Barnes / etc end up being solid MLB starters, we are going to be in a great position. With all that cheap talent we would have a significant budget for some very good free agents.

The way I see it .... If 2 of Duran / Balazovic / Winder / Enlow / Canterino / Sands turn out to be better than mid-rotation SPs we are in good shape. My hope is a couple top of the rotation guys and a couple other solid SPs or back of the BP guys. Maybe that's unrealistic but we would be in great shape. It all does not rest on Duran.

Let's hope that all of the injuries around the league create an opportunity to trade our FA SPs well in advance of the deadline. Trades this time of year are somewhat unusual but this is an unusual year with all of the injuries. That would accelerate the process. It would be interesting to know how the FDO office sees the various prospects in terms of readiness.

Two questions .... One, what's the return. Two, can we sign another free agent SP that is as good for roughly the same money and younger? If the return is a starting caliber player, why would we want to pass-up that opportunity if we can get a similar player (hopefully younger) in free agency. A key consideration is if the team is able to establish a couple prospects this year that take rotation spots next year. If so, They could take the money they are spending on Pineda, Happ, and Shoemaker and spend it on an upgrade SP. If I were this FO, I would move those three even if it meant putting them in the BP or releasing them to make room for auditions. Also, Cruz and Simmons come of the books too. They will have money to spend on FAs.

It's not nearly that simple. Mike asked you for evidence. You have nothing but conjecture and convenient conjecture at that. Are they lazy and not putting in the work. I have no idea and neither do you. What we do know is the are many very good players that have bad years. We have one guy (Cruz) who age might have finally caught up with. How does telling anyone about injuries change the fact we have several key players out. Maeda went from a Cy Young finalist to hurt and non-productive. Taylor Rodgers has lost his way. Just when it looked like Duffy could be counted on he has regressed. Buxton was playing at an elite level, he's out. Garver just started crushing it and he is out. We need Kepler to BU CF, he's out. Donaldson is the kind of big acquisition many clamored for the team to make. Well, it looks like we got him just in time for his decline. We lost a lot of key coaches. Is that the problem? Again, I am not nearly close enough to the situation to offer an informed opinion. However, If I were Falvey and Lavine, I would be evaluating the coaching staff.

Dobnak has one pitch. He has absolutely no control over the slider. Send him down until he can control a 2nd pitch or even better a 2nd and 3rd pitch. Bring up whoever they feel is closest to ready.

Are you predicting Buxton gets traded or are you assuming he is on the IL most of next year. Regardless, I am with you on Lewis At whatever position he is best suited to contribute. I was really hoping we would get a look at Lewis this year in a big league uniform. All of these injuries really suck!

Good idea! The Chris Archer trade was one of the best ever. I guess that trade is more analogous to trading Berrios as Archer was traded at the deadline with the remainder of that season and the next under contract. Glasnow was better with more years of control + Meadows and the prospect they got back then is now #76 on MLB.com. 70 grade fastball and 65 grade slider. He is a front of the rotation guy if he can command that stuff reasonably well. Sure would like the Twins to pull off something similar. Good call, Mike.

Do you suppose Gray did not bring much back because he was quite bad in 2018 (4.9 ERA)? Also, you are arguing value based on the fact they needed a SP. SO do most teams. How does that change the value of a player who profiled as Gray did at the time. Service time matters to value. Gray and Quintana would not have brought back nearly as much as they did had they been rentals. How much better are Whitesox as a result of trading Quintana and getting Cease and Jemenez? Good SP s can bring a good haul which is why we have to listen to trade proposals for Berrios.

Contract length always influences the cost to trade for the player. Players like Gray and Quintana have significant value beyond the current year. That benefit might be in the form of continuing to aid a contending team or the form of trading them if the team suddenly is no longer a contender. This is hardly a new concept. Value in this form is discussed frequently during the off-season and trade deadline on a myriad of baseball shows.