Ghost of Kirby Puckett

Translation: My way. Stopped reading at that point. I'm sure it says something like all the hitters k too much, and Jenkins is the only guy who MIGHT make it but even he is having an average year, or something close. 😂 Rinse and repeat, here and everywhere else he posts.

That sound it makes is different. And man, a couple of Culpeppers homers recently have also sounded like his bat is exploding. Abel with 11 punch outs last night also. Guessing he is up in the rotation by September.

I wouldn't pay attention to any of those numbers since he has been in and out of the lineup so much. Hard to gauge anything from this season in those little bursts. It's very troubling how often he is hurt, I'm not holding my breath for him anymore. I question whether he'll ever stay healthy.

Agreed. All those arms we just grabbed, Rojas, Abel and Gallagher, are all going to get rotation opportunities next year. Along with Festa, Matthews, SWR, Lopez and Ryan. Ober is gone imo. Lopez and Ryan possibly also. I think they move Morris to the pen. Maybe Prielipp to pen. Going to be interesting. Probably an extremely young squad next year, reminiscent of 1999.

Like you, I'm also bullish on Winokur. He is that create a player on MLB the Show you make, lol. Arm, speed, power, size and acumen. Keaschall, I liked on day one and all the receipts are littered across this site with my praise and predictions for him. He is a stud. If his arm doesn't get broken, he wins ROY. He is really, really good. No fluke. Just goes up and drives it all over the place. Today he absolutely clobbered a walk off to right center over the wall. His teammates, you can tell, feed off him. If Royce turns it around and with Walker looking like he doesn't much care to delay his arrival, man these guys could be dynamic together. I do wonder if they'll send Walker and/or Culpepper to AFL. I think that will be very telling of where they see them in the pecking order if they both went. Jenkins is a freak though. I mentioned man muscles earlier in a post about Dasan Hill. Walker has his. Guy already looks 20 lbs bigger than last year, and he is raking right now. As his power catches up to his hit tool, which I think we're seeing at this point, watch out. He could be a superstar. So lucky we fell into that pick!!!!

When his man muscles come in the next couple years, watch out. He is all about projection, and that frame when it fills out, with his current skill set!! Mark Mulder or Barry Zito I will take, thank you very much. I can dare to dream we finally have a nasty LHP in the rotation again.

I have not been shy in my fondness of Gallagher. I think he is a steal, especially if we do the usual and add a couple ticks and tighten up his slider just a hair, maybe swap that curve out and get him into Twins sweeper school with Pablo, etc. He will be in the rotation imo at some point next year. Back end or spot starting.

We 100% have a top five minor league ranking right now. Hell, even Keith Law, not AI or a teenager, who I've wondered if the Pohlads may have stolen his grandfather's farm back into the day and that explains his distaste of Twins prospects over the years, loves us in his most recent rankings. He has both Prielipp and Culpepper top 60. Along with Abel, Tait, Keaschall, EmRod and Jenkins. That is some serious talent spread out over three levels. When Gallagher is your 16 or 17th best prospect, you're doing really well. And since you mention Winokur, who I also like, I believe he is also on the rise. His last two months he has raked, and I believe he is around 25%k rate on the season, but since the beginning of June, that number sits right around 20%. He has a ways to go, but man his skills are insane for anyone who hasn't seen him yet. Literally the guy is a 60 imo at pretty much everything but hit tool, that needs quite a bit of polish. He is very young for his level, and being asked to play the most demanding positions on the field minus Catcher. Id repeat him at Cedar Rapids to start next year, in the hopes he goes off early and really FORCES that promotion to Double AA, which will be a great challenge. But man for his age, it's still impressive. And his size, it's just crazy how he moves. Has an absolute hose. And is like a runaway freight train once he gets rolling. Fun fun player to watch.

I am not, but my Dad is, so I am familiar, lol. I also know he has an equally deep hatred for Lou Holtz, Norm Green and Mariah Carey. So he really didn't like Calvin.

I love Rojas and he will be good imo. But how is it too good to pass up Derek, when you have a homegrown kid who is also really good and also under control FOR 6 MORE FU**ING YEARS? THIS IS BS, PERIOD. I swear on my brothers grave it was done as an F U. I literally cannot make sense of it, any other way. That or the guy is just an absolute dip ****. In my head when I heard Varland rumors, I thought Dodgers and probably a really good haul for all the reasons stated above. But I also thought, even moreso really, no way, why? He is exactly what every damn team wants and needs. I can make sense of almost all the other deals, maybe not the returns, if I'm calm and think it thru. Varland, nope. And even Jax really. Why? There was no need, at all. You could do it in the off season or next July when we suck ass again. This was the Pohlads sticking it to fans, period. All that family has done for a 100 years is take, destroy, repeat. Why stop now.

That's a pretty hard argument to make, considering the Pohlads might be one of, if not the worst owners of a baseball team, ever. And besides, we already know what we get with that family. At least there is a possibility of normalcy with new owners. You shouldn't own a team if you're gonna run it like it's a gas station.

I covered that in another post, at GREAT length.

I like Rojas quite a bit. But he needs to gobble innings the remainder of this season. Maybe AFL since he missed first couple months with abdominal injury. And keep stretching it out next year, like get to 150ish innings and the curve he is on, he'll be ready at that point imo. And Gallagher is a sleeper for me. Lots to like with him. Gives me Ryan vibes. Abel and Bradley, we shall see. I like Abel better out of the two.

Who is that Joe Ryan guy again? Sorry, but this take is meh imo. I would argue Lopez, Ryan and a guy like Sonny Gray have had or are having great seasons, vast improvements actually over previous stops. Ober, Festa and Matthews were all later round picks and have made vast improvements relative to pre draft synopsis and draft position. And the guys we just gave up, Duran and Jax and Varland, that people rightfully feel the pain of losing, also developed right here. I could go on and on with examples. Hell, we were a juggernaut the first two and a half months on the rubber until injuries wiped us out. Pitching is not my concern with this org right now. I'm looking around at the manager and ownership, and I'm pinning 75% minimum right on them. The Wilfs they are not, lol. It's embarrassing for baseball what occured today with a team 5 games under five hundred trading half the roster. I think it needed to happen to some extent similar to the Wild buying guys out years back, to reset the culture. Soon we'll have new ownership, a new manager and probably FO, and giving them a clean financial slate and a boat load of young talent to mix and match with, is ideal really. Unloading Correa was smart. He is always hurt, wrong side of 30 with foot issues and 30 million a year, no thanks. He was about to start being challenged by younger, cheaper and potentially better options. I'm glad he went. This team was going absolutely nowhere this year. Too many injuries, and the division isn't a bunch of push overs anymore to stack wins against. Tait is very interesting to me. Cannon arm. Receives differently from the videos I've started watching, but apparently it's improving. He absolutely scorches the ball when he makes contact, and his k rate is very respectable for his power profile, around 20%. Would have preferred Ford from Seattle but you need two willing partners and Tait fills a huge need. Would be nice if he was a little closer to MLB. I also like Rojas, Abel and Bradley, but Gallagher is who intrigued me the most, (maybe Rojas because he is a lefty.) Gallagher is just rock solid, similar to Joe Ryan when we grabbed him. Exceptional control, good pitch mix. Throws a mid nineties fastball, excellent changeup. Slider. Deceptive delivery. Great k/9, whip. I really really like him. And my Cubs friends are quite upset about losing him. One of them being someone I trust wholeheartedly who turned me on to him and said it stings. I agree. I don't think he'll be a 1 or 2 ever without developing his slider and adding a couple more ticks, but definitely a 4 or 5. For a rental, not bad. The Varland deal is kind of a wtf until you dig into Rojas. I've been watching all I can of him since earlier, he is legit. Swing and miss stuff, lefty, solid frame that could add more. 7:1 k/bb this year is outstanding, but only 40 innings so he needs to build up endurance. I'm tired so I'm not gonna pour through all these tonight, but the haul is not nearly as bad as people on here are saying. I mean, Painter and Leo would be really nice, but Painter was never EVER moving. And Miller has four years of control, and SD might try and make him a starter so giving up a top five prospect in all of baseball, while steep, he has twice the control as Duran. And Miller is also awesome. That control is a big deal, especially when you're chasing the Dodgers every year.

Varland and France gone also. To the Blue Jays.