IndianaTwin

I wondered the same. Given the amount of new personnel in the organization, I'll not be surprised if see some spring training-like elements the rest of the season. I think it's more likely than not that both Abel and Bradley will make multiple starts for the Twins this season. Of note is that Bradley also threw 7 innings Wednesday night in Durham, so he's not available this weekend anyway. Might as well have an extra bullpen guy for a few days. And with Ryan, likely Ober and then SWR this Sunday, Abel isn't going to start this weekend either.

Here are significant pieces I saw... Correa didn't ask for a trade, but he and Falvey have continued to have a healthy relationship. When they spoke on Wednesday, Falvey told Correa, “The direction we are going is not the one you signed up for.” As part of that, Falvey told Correa that the Astros did indeed reach out, but the discussions were not serious. Falvey told Correa he would be in contact if it became feasible. Correa told Falvey the Astros were the only team he would approve. “Carlos was never sitting there saying anything about demanding a trade or wanting to do something else,” Falvey said. “If it was right for the Twins and it was right for him, he was open to the conversation.” “When he told (me) that we were going to go into rebuild mode, I said then I deserve to go somewhere where I have a chance to win and my kids can watch me go out there in the playoffs and perform,” Correa said. “He agreed with me and he said out of respect for me he would get to work.” The Jax situation on Wednesday was the result of multiple relievers being unavailable and it only being a seven-run game, so Baldelli couldn't go to a position player. He didn't want to use Jax and pulled him after 12 pitches. Jax had a public outburst. Even amidst his own uncertainty, Correa played a key role in navigating a conversation between the two. Following good conversation, Jax apologized through the media, including acknowledging that the noise about potential trades has had a significant effect on him. Following the trade on Thursday, Baldelli again sought out Jax to bid him farewell. Baldelli took ownership in how he could have handled Wednesday differently, as did Jax. The primary takeaway for me is that whatever I think about the decision making of Falvey and Baldelli, I think they do well at the human relations/communication part of their roles.

If you subscribe to The Athletic, here's an excellent article walking through the past several days, including the dynamics around the Correa trade and the Jax/Baldelli relationship and particularly focusing on the relationship and communication side of things. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6529725/2025/08/01/minnesota-twins-trade-carlos-correa-astros/?campaign=14439855&source=athletic_breaking_targeted_email&userId=13286817

Think defense.

Not sure I agree, but that’s too good of a line not to give it props!

Good opening take. I don’t have a good opening read at being able to examine the trades on a case-by-case basis as you have, but I appreciate your encouragement to take a step back and get a sense of where things are in the big picture. My thought is similar in terms of starting pitching. If they choose to keep the Lopez/Ryan/Ober triumvirate, that’s a LOT of potential to pull the remaining two from and still leave a lot of No. 6-8 options. Bullpen mostly starts from scratch, but I wonder if there will be some promotions to start testing the waters. Along with some of the guys in your starting pitcher list, there’s also Adams, et al. Oh, and Sands for sure. Maybe Topa as he’s further removed from injury. Offensively — Buxton, Jeffers, Wallner, Larnach, Lewis, Lee is a start. Keaschall looked great. Seems like Outman and Roden will get opportunities to see if they stick, ERod. Some guy named Jenkins. Prospects — Six guys in MLB.com’s Top 100 (some already mentioned). I’m feeling shell-shocked and am with you on wondering “why” on guys like Varland. And yeah, a lot depends on the willingness to spend in the winter. But it’s not a bare cupboard. There’s potential signing flexibility when the only guys under contract for next year are Lopez and Buxton and only Ryan and Ober become expensive in arbitration. Or maybe Jeffers, depending on your definition of expensive. Beyond that, it’s Lewis, Larnach, Sands and Tonkin in arbitration, none of whom will go up more than a couple million. And some portion of Correa’s salary. We’ll wait to see the details, but in an ideal world, a major chunk of the $33M they are covering will be paid this year, leaving just a bit for future years.

That's incomplete information. Line 36 explains why you would not ask for the entire amount to be refunded right now. For some people, it's going to make sense to have all or a portion of the refund applied to the following year's estimated taxes. Which I think is the primary gripe that some readers have with the OP -- it makes declarative statements without all the information. The OP might be an accurate read. It might not be. But we don't have the information to say "Cutting payroll matters more than building for the future."

I would simplify the summary... By definition, trading two or so months of expiring contracts in a losing season didn't really cost them anything of value. Unless I missed one, the only future years of control they traded away were a year of Berrios, a year of Pressley and two years of Faucher. For that, they received Ryan, Duran, SWR, Littell, and assorted riffraff/fillers like Martin, Celestino, Alcala, Smeltzer and Forsyth. Two pieces of the riffraff (Fraley, Sisk) became part of trades that netted Maeda and Taylor. Seems like the Twins have been overall winners when they were in sell mode. (I'd even go as far as suggesting that their overall success in sell mode has been much greater than the cumulative losses incurred when in buy mode.)

I’d guess he saw something and went on his own. Veteran smart players get the trust from their manager to take a shot when they see something.

With some outings like this scattered in, it will be interesting to see what kind of contract gets if he remains healthy.

I’m guessing someone has.

Ober-Ryan-Matthews-SWR-Paddack. They’ve rarely (if ever) skipped guys to keep someone on four days rest, though if you were going to do it, Ryan is the one to do so with.

That would be a good feeling.

He pitched on Friday night and is not listed as the probably for either today or tomorrow in St. Paul. He hasn’t been on the IL very long. Given the circumstances, I suspect he’s activated for Friday night off of just one rehab start.

Ober pitched on Friday, so if they deem him ready, I’d think they give him Friday and then have Ryan on Saturday and Matthews on Sunday. Why hold Ober off until Sunday and have Ryan and Matthews on four days rest with Ober on eight when you can have Ober on six and Ryan and Matthews on five.

Or vice versa in this case, if the next batter had hit the 2-run jimmie-jack, the runs that scored on Lewis's ball would have been earned, but no one gets the RBIs for them. Lewis's would have been still been unearned, with that batter getting two RBIs.

With the bullpen usage of the last two nights, one wonders whether Adams has been called up in part to cover a potential short outing from Paddack. I also see that Ober is not listed as the starter for either today or tomorrow in St. Paul, leading me to think that his rehab assignment may be just the one start he made on Friday.

With the exception of Lewis's second fielder's choice, which was a fight-it-off-and-get-out-of-way doinker up the 1B line. 😀 But he hustled down the line, which was a factor in the pitcher throwing it away. It would have been easy to not run or to give himself up and get tagged.

The bases were loaded. The first run would have scored on the out at first, so it was earned and Lewis got the RBI. The two additional runs scored because a) the second baseman backed up the throw too closely and b) the right fielder didn't bother to back up the throw and had to chase the ball down in the corner. Those runs were unearned and Lewis didn't get RBIs for those.

Fielder's choice, bases-loaded walk, fielder's choice. The first fielder's choice was a fairly hard shot to the 3B's left that could have been ruled a hit. The second was a dribbler with the bases loaded that the pitcher threw away. Three runs scored on the play, but he only got credit for one RBI.

The Royals will be his 14th team. The article says it's his 23rd season, but he debuted in 2005, so this is his 21st season. Looking at his baseball-reference page is pretty fascinating. He's played 20 years, but only had a bWAR above 1.6 on three occasions. He's been a starter the vast majority of the time, but only 90 career wins, primarily because he's been healthy enough to start more than 16 games in only nine of those seasons. Six of the seven seasons in which he started at least 20 games came at age 36 and later. He's had some seasons when he's been the ultimate LOOGY, including one year when he pitched in 16 games and totaled 16 outs (5.1 innings). That year, in 4 of his 16 games, he didn't get a single out, including a day when he pitched in both ends of a double header. In Game 1, he gave up a hit and two walks to his three batters and in Game 2, he walked his only batter on five pitches, one of which was wild. That was his only day with the Angels. They dropped him and the Yankees picked him up, where he managed to plunk the only batter he faced in his first outing with the team. In 16 games, he faced 29 batters. In eight of the games, it was just one batter. His transaction record says he was "Granted free agency" on 14 different occasions. In his first 10 seasons, he had a combined bWAR of 3.7 and he still got 10 more seasons after that. Oh, to be left-handed and breathing.

In addition to photos like the one from above, I’ve also gotten some amazing sunset photos from the upper deck in right field. And yes, I’ve also gotten lower level seats in the RF corner and spent the evening looking into the sun.

All in all, guys that DON'T need fixing don't tend to be available for $50-$100k in cash considerations.

Probably not. See https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2025-lineups.shtml With the players in the Twins system right now, the only "regulars" at any position are: Buxton will play CF almost every day he's healthy. Correa will play SS almost every day he's healthy. Vazquez and Jeffers will alternate at C. Lewis has a long leash, but for now, will play 3B almost every day he's healthy. Beyond that, there are eight players to play five positions. Aside from France, all of them play at least one position and none of them (including France) has demonstrated that they are so far above everyone else that they will play nearly every day at one spot. France was seen as deserving of a bullet in the previous list, but with him declining some and Clemens playing better than expected, it seems likely that 1B will be a shared role or that France will reclaim the nearly full-time role. They can't afford the roster spot of having Clemens as a full-time 1B if it means that France is a full-time backup, given that he doesn't play anywhere else and they haven't DHed him. (And note -- this may or may not be my preference, but it reflects the reality of the current roster. As LAV notes above, the scenario changes with Keaschall's return. As it does with any injury or return from the IL.)

Benny Agbayani. In 2000, the Mets played the Cubs in one of those early season Japan games. Agbayani hit an 11th-inning pinch hit grand slam to win the game. We had our fantasy draft on the night before the “regular” season started and had decided that the Japan games would count for stats. Late in the draft, I picked him up for the grand slam. After the first week I waived him, since he wasn’t expected to play. He ended up playing quite a bit and finished with 15 homers and 60 RBIs, which in our pretty deep league is a solid showing for a fourth or fifth outfielder. May Bruin similarly exceed expectations. May the Twins not give up on him too quickly.