terrydactyls

And the "value" decreases as the next two Years go by.

If Ryan is the "single most valuable chip" that the Twins have, then now should be the time time to trade him.

Watching Jax pitch the last half inning today, a thought came to me. I'm thinking that Jax really likes playing in Minnesota and he knew he was pitching as an audition for the Dodgers. So he imploded intentionally so that the Dodgers would lose interest in trading for him. Pretty clever.

That's it for trade deadline moves!

How in the world are the Twins a "mother club"? Aren't the Twins the "mother club" for all their minor league teams?

No problem. But just for the record, I was still playing goalie in men's leagues (not old fart leagues) at 71.

Do you need to add snotty comments? All I was saying is what happened with me. I made no claims of having "supreme athletic prowess" or experience "more relevant" than scouts.

Five position players with picks in rounds 4 to 20 and the only mention of defense is that two might be able to play in the infield.

I think I understand very well. I had one knee and two shoulders replaced. None diminished my defensive ability.

Did you miss the fact that the medical staff cleared him to resume all baseball related activities? When Oliva's knees gave out, knee repair was in the stone age compared to today. Apples/Oranges

If that's true, why is he a sub-standard 3B?

Here is a summary of the positional picks in the top 10 rounds by the Twins and I've added what the TD draft reviews said about these players. Not a whole lot said about defense. In 2024, the Twins selected 8 positional players in their top 10 picks. Kaelen Culpepper had the best defensive summary. The TD draft review said " Defensively, it's a plus arm, with good defensive actions and athleticism. Regardless of whether Culpepper ends up sticking at SS as a pro, or slides over to 2B or 3B, it should be an above average defensive profile." Kyle DeBarge's defense was described as "he might not be the smoothest operator at shortstop, his arm and lateral quickness aid his range, and he has a decent shot of sticking there as a professional." Billy Amick's defense was described as "While it's fringe average defense at the moment, an above average arm helps ameliorate some of the rawness and there's increasing confidence he can at least start his pro career at third base. Khadim Diaw had the following writeup. "He hasn't been behind the dish a ton, but he is agile and has plus arm strength that could play there. He's seen time in all three outfield positions, and while he's best suited for a corner, he's capable in center." Jaime Ferrer - no mention of defense. Caden Kendel's defense was described as "does a lot of things well on the field as a solid runner and defender with above-average arm strength." Derek Bender was drafted as a catcher but the review said he was "a tweener catcher profile who probably doesn't project to stay there defensively but has enough bat to play first base or even a corner outfield position." Peyton Carr had no mention of defense in his review except to say he 'might' be able to play 3B. In 2023, the Twins selected four positional players in the top 10 picks. Walter Jenkins was described as having "a good runner and route runner in the field with a plus arm." Luke Keutchel's defense was "his long term home isn't shortstop, as he doesn't have the arm. A shift to second base makes sense." Brandon Winokur's defense was described a "While his ability to use his raw tools consistently in games is one question, another is where he plays defensively long-term." Jay Harry did not have much written about his defense except to say "his range and arm strength will likely shift him elsewhere in pro ball, possibly to second base. " Harry was traded quickly for Tevor Richards. In 2022, the Twins selected 5 positional players in the top 10. The TD draft website listed: Brooks Lee as having a "very good arm". Tanner Schobel as "solid" and possibly a utility player. Dalton Schuffield is a "good defensive shortstop". Ben Ross has no mention of defense. Jorel Ortega has no mention of defense except that he might be either a 2B or 3B.

But still no mention of defense which was my point. Let me give you an example. In the late 70's I umpired intramural softball games at the University of Minnesota. One day I umpired a game featuring guys from the School of Law. Former Viking Alan Page was on the roster for the law school and I would think most people would agree that he was a "strong athete with speed". Worst softball player I ever saw.

Most of your hitters appear to have below average defensive skills. This is the major flaw in Twins' drafting. They seem to look for power, power, and more power. And now they have Larnach and Wallner in the outfield, Lewis and France (not a draft pick) in the infield, and guys like Sabato and McCusker at AAA. Please look for someone who can catch and throw also.

The Twins would criminally negligent if they did not listen to offers for Joe Ryan. There might be a front office that offers three or four controllable young players who are already in MLB or ripping up AAA. They Twins don't have to agree to any proposal that is made, but they should listen.

Paul Skenes is starting tonight for Tampa Bay? When was he traded?

Maybe the Twins dhould ask Royce Lewis to learn how to be an MLB catcher. 😁

Fort Meyers stole 10 bases? Hope some of that speed makes to the Twins.

And now here is my thought on "should" they make a blockbster trade. I would trade both Columbe and Duran for several of these players. Dombrowski is not afraid to go big when he feels it will bring home a trophy. And as several posters have mentioned, although the Twins still have a slim chance of making the playoffs (26% is the latest I've seen), if they should get in, they will probably will be out quickly.

Once again, I must comment that beginning this question with "could" makes it a theoretical question. And because there is no law of physics, nature, biology, or any other law that would prohibited a a trade, the answer is always "yes, it could happen". The question really is "should" the Twins make a trade like this.

Once again, I must comment that beginning this question with "could" makes it a theoretical question. And because there is no law of physics, nature, biology, or any other law that would prohibited a a trade, the answer is always "yes, it could happen". The question really is "would" a trade help the Twins.

The Mighty Mussels offensive effort was curt. Yasser Mercedes slashed a two-run homer to right in the game’s opening frames. Then the bats fell dormant. Maybe they were resting. In any case, Angel Del Rosario decided to take matters into his hands. In the eighth, he legged out an infield single, stole second, advanced to third on a pickoff error, and finally scored on a wild pitch. That’s high-quality manufacturing. If Rosario was on the Twins, he would still be at first base. Manufacturing runs is not allowed. Just wait for a home run.

Ryan struck out Raleigh three times? I thought Twins' pitchers weren't allowed to face the batting order a third time? Has Rocco's extension btought on a change of philosophy or did he not know what inning it was?

The Twins won tonight. They were inspired by the Rocco extension. All is well now.

For those of you thinking about ditching the Twins, it's easier than you might think. When I left Minnesota (job opportunity), I signed up for the MLB single team option so I could watch my team. Then MLB dropped the single team option. I had a choice of shelling out over $400 for the privilege of getting every game in MLB or dropping the MLB package. I said No Thanks. So now I'm Twins-less except when on national television. If they are on, I usually record the game to watch later. But I've found that by the third inning, I start fast forwarding to find something interesting. And because the Twins seldom do anything interesting, I can get through an entire game in less than 90 minutes (although I did get through last night's game in about 25 minutes. So, in short, it ain't that hard to stop watching the Twins.