IndianaTwin

FWIW, when I looked at the Orioles transactions, I remembered that they did the same with Dylan Beavers.

ABs is the other part of the calculation they'd have to manage. It looks like Basallo played 31 out of Baltimore's last 39 games and they kept him to 109 at bats. With 21 more at bats to play with, they could have played him another four or five games and gotten to 35 or 36. It also looks like they exclusively batted him 5th or lower, which saves a few ABs, Basallo is a catcher, so that in itself necessitated a few days off, though he also played 1B and DH. The Twins have 39 games (plus any rainout makeups) in the last 45 service days. By similarly batting Jenkins lower in the order, they could probably start him in 34 or so games and be okay. Or a couple fewer and use him as a defensive replacement. If they are going to play the game, I'd call him up on the mid-August date. At that point in the season and in his development, I think some days off where he's sitting in the dugout beside Buxton are more valuable than an extra week in St. Paul. I also think it's a game worth playing. There were a couple other teams that did it -- I just remember Basallo because he was on my fantasy team and I was sending emails to manager@baltimoreorioles.com every day, with the subject line "Promote Basallo." They were pretty open in July already saying that's what they were planning, however. If this stays as part of the new CBA, I think more and more teams will do it. (Aside -- I'm positing this in a Jenkins vacuum. I echo DJL's point in saying that promoting Roden and Rodriguez are higher priorities because of the factors he identified.)

There's a new(ish) calculation in the mix. Under the current CBA, teams get an extra draft pick if a player is on the roster the entire season and wins Rookie of the Year. That means it potentially benefits teams to make sure that a highly regarded player doesn't lose rookie status. One of the ways a player loses rookie status is by spending more than 45 days on the active roster. Last year, for example, the Orioles brought up Samuel Basallo about 20 minutes after they reached that point in the season. Unless he comes up very soon for significantly extended run, it's likely he won't come up before the point at which 45 days of service time remain in the season, which is something like August 14.

Exactly. Any team looking to add Larnach/Bell/Wallner to help this year's team isn't going to trade away an MLB reliever.

Another way of viewing consistency is on the bottom end. The Twins have been shut out only twice on the season, the Yankees (second in runs scored) five times. The Twins have scored three or fewer only 30 times, the Yankees 32. Said the other way, the Twins have scored four or more runs 57 times, the Yankees 52. (The Twins have played two more games, but they have scored four or more in 65.5 percent of their games, the Yankees in 61.2 percent.) I only compared them to the Yankees. Perhaps there's an easy way to compare them to the whole league, but I didn't see it. But I'd say they've been just as consistent, potentially more so, than the other team in the league most likely to claim A-level offense.

Also, The Athletic posted its analysis of which teams will/should be buys and which sellers. They call the Twins' biggest needs "SP/OF." Um, I'm viewing their biggest need a little differently....

If the name of the game on offense is scoring runs and the team is leading the league in runs scored, what is required to achieve an A?

I was pleased with the Banda signing. His overall stats are massively affected by an eight-day stretch in April. Other than that, he's been quite good. Hayes hints at him being a non-tender candidate, but I think he's a no-brainer to bring back if he appears to be healthy by November. With missing quite a bit of time, his salary won't increase much.

Here's the quote and following sentence from Dan Hayes' article... “I got asked about this a month and a half ago, the vibes here,” said Bell, whose two-run homer opened up a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. “I was like, ‘Let me feel it out. It’s still early.’ This team really vibes well with one another. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve been on a lot of different teams that have cliques, little falling-outs across the course of the season. This team is definitely the closest one I’ve been on. I feel like Buxton obviously has a lot to do with it, someone who’s been here and set a foundation for the guys. It’s been a lot of fun to play on this team for sure.” Monday afternoon wasn’t particularly upbeat for the Twins. This is a close-knit team that banded together early after repeatedly hearing about being undermanned and facing low expectations... Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Hayes one of the most consistent voices calling the Twins undermanned?

Someone is going to reference trading Jeffers. This isn't intended as a leading question, but what does 50 games of a good catcher on an expiring contract actually get a team? I don't recall many catchers of that ilk getting traded at recent deadlines. It seems like good teams usually have their catcher situation settled and contending teams don't tend to want to mess with their pitcher/catcher mojo at that point in the season. Can someone recall recent trades that have had a catcher as the centerpiece?

I don't see the next few weeks as having a dramatic effect on the direction they go at the deadline. Or at least I hope it doesn't. Anything this year is bonus. But with a) a potentially outstanding rotation and b) an offense that is at the top of the AL in runs scored, potentially has reinforcements in-house and is losing very little, 2027 is very much in play. Whether they play 10-17 or 17-10 between now and the deadline, I'd like to see the response be the same -- tinker. Don't trade anything that is a part of 2027, trade minimal expiring assets (i.e., Bell, Rogers). If you can get something for the latter, great. But if not, ride the wave, etc. I think "going all in" and trading future assets for this year or "going total selloff" would both be mistakes.

Addendum to the previous: I like that rotation. Then add Lopez (and Abel?) and that's a top tier rotation for '27. Please don't trade Ryan (unless it's for something like seven established MLB relievers 🤣).

If the desire is to slip in a few extra days in Prielipp's schedule from time to time, with off days on Thursday and next Monday, they could consider skipping him to bring Ryan back on Sunday. RECENT -- last Wednesday: Ryan Thursday: Off Friday: Bradley Saturday: Paredes Sunday: Prielipp Monday: Matthews ---------------------------------------- TONIGHT -- Tuesday: Ryan (5 days off) Wednesday: Bradley (4) Thursday: Off Friday: Ober/Paredes (IL/5) Saturday: Matthews (4) Sunday: Ryan (4) Monday: Off Tuesday: Bradley (5) Wednesday: Prielipp (9) Thursday: Ober/Paredes (5) Friday: Matthews (5) Saturday: Ryan (5) Sunday: Bradley (4) And then they could pretty much jump in wherever they want after the All-Star Break, since everyone has at least four days. Even if they started with Prielipp (and I doubt they would), he'd have eight days rest. This approach also allows Ryan to pitch on Saturday heading into the break rather than Sunday, so he'd actually get to pitch his well-deserved inning in the ASG.

“Long-term health of the franchise” can be measured in different ways. Calvin trading Carew still has negative effects on the franchise. Based on TD comments, last year’s trading frenzy is having negative effects on fan support a year later, even though it could well be we end having gotten a lot more in return than we traded away. Trading Buxton would be received similarly by many, for a long time.

Hadn’t thought of that angle, but that makes sense. Hopefully it would be a moot point either way.