KScott

Something I noticed while going through stats: there is only one player on the Twins roster that would be a qualifying batter for AVG, OBP etc.: Carlos Correa. It is conceivable that if the Twins clinch that they could rest him potentially making it so there are 0 players on the team that would qualify. Going through the rest of the league it looks like every other team has at least 3 players that would qualify. Its an interesting note, that I think is indicative of its overall struggles to find a line up that produces.

I am curious how this will change the value of the catchers in our system. Jeffers is currently highly valued because of his pitch framing ability. But if this goes into effect next season, how does that effect his value? Does he or Vazquez get leapfrogged by one of the other catchers in our system? Are there any catchers in our system whose value increases as a result?

So for those that are saying don't trade Gray. If the Twins do trade for an Ace caliber pitcher (Lopez etc). And we have these names to work with: Ace du jour, Gray, Mahle, Maede, Ryan, Ober, who is the odd man out and what do you do with them? At the same time Winder, Varland, and Paddack can all be added to that conversation as they are fighting for MLB spots. If you stash those 4 guys at AAA, that clogs up spots for SWR, Laweryson, etc. So in my mind it makes sense to trade one of the MLB pitchers. Given that Mahle and Maede probably won't hold any teams interest, would you rather trade away Ryan or Ober? What type of return would you expect to get from that trade?

Why was Jair Camargo omitted? There were multiple times that he had pretty impactful games and his .262/.310/.483 (.793) beats the lines of many of those listed above. His play was good enough to get him a promotion Cedar Rapids to Wichita. All of that is to say, I have seen multiple favorable things written about him, but that is all I know. But given that positive attention it surprises me he wasn't listed above.

Great article. Its nice to see a little light in the very dark bullpen.

To me Buxton is a conundrum. Here are his stats and ranking among the 153 qualifying MLB players Hr: 23 #5 (#1 on Twins) Slugging %: .550 #10 (#1 on Twins) OPS: 0.845 #26 (#2 on Twins behind Arraez) Runs: 48 #30 (#2 on Twins behind Arraez) RBI: 42 #53 (#2 on Twins behind Polanco) OBP: 0.295 #123(Last of 6) Average: 0.215 #140(Last of 6) Depending on how you look at it he is elite or garbage. IMO his his runs and RBI stay high, he is great. The question to me is whether or not that is sustainable given his BA and OBP. Is he a candidate for sharp regression given those splits. Overall interesting article.

When reading the intro to this article with the Trevor May lead in, I was expecting the suggestion of a swap of roles. To which I thought that'd be intriguing, does he have the make up of a reliever? If so, that is what I want to see of Nolasco, shore up the bullpen and let May get down to business as a front of the rotation guy.

If we are looking at the Padres, their minor league system was described this way: http://www.gaslampball.com/2015/6/4/8731167/mlb-draft-2015-padres-farm-minor-league-depth Given that list: I would offer the following package: - 1B big bats: One of the two: Max Kepler or Kennys Vargas - Middle infield: One of the three: Santana, Polano or Gordon - A catcher of their choice from our organization (suzuki to back up hedges?) - and a player to be named later.

You are right Milone by himself will not get the job done. Here is more of the situation I am thinking of. Take the Brewers and trying get Lucroy for example: Currently their rotation has a 4.41 era. 3 of the starters have ERAs well north of 4.0. They could use immediate help which Milone could provide. Their top pitching prospects (that haven't been called up) are still a few years out. Milone could be a stop gap with potential. In their system 1B and 3B are major needs with no answers (similar to our catcher): to fill this we could send Vargas and/or Kepler plus one other prospect covered below. Or send Plouffe with a lesser prospect. The third prospect could be dealt from our depth of starting pitching at the lower levels: think Stewart, Hu, or Gonsalves. I think this trade is on the reasonable to light end, especially given what was mentioned in the article: the brewers not having an mlb ready prospect. I am probably suffering from overvaluing players in our organization as has oft been said earlier. edit: State of Brewer's Organization: http://reviewingthebrew.com/2015/01/12/state-milwaukee-brewers-farm-system/ Also, lets throw in Suzuki, Pinto, and Deunsing for good measure.

How would dealing Milone, or other potentially mlb worthy talent (Santana or Arcia) play over with those teams? Or do players like those not have much value any more as their ceiling is more well defined?

That is an impressive list. I am torn I want the winning to continue. However, in terms of having a better team down the road and allowing players to develop, I think the twins should be sellers come time for the trade deadline. It scares me to think that I may be suggesting that the twins trade away the pieces that have giving the twins success this season, but I do. I want the twins to trade Nolasco and Pelfrey. Let Milone come up and pitch, and bite the bullet on who the 5th man in the rotation would be for the rest of the season. (next year it'll be Santana, but he's unavailable come playoffs, so I am ignoring him this season as an option). I want the Twins to trade Arcia and Vargas. Plouffe, Sano and Mauer can cover DH 1st and 3rd. The outfield is easily covered with Hicks, Buxton and Rosario--completely ignoring Hunter as an option. Adam Brett Walker, and Max Kepler need to get moved up among others. Trade as much of the bullpen as you can, that isn't named Perkins, Fien, or Boyer. Not because the others are necessarily horrible, but because there is a log jam. The Twins will be a very good team in a year or two, and I want to still have a strong farm system when that happens. Trade the mid tier guys that are performing a little better than they ought to be, stock up for the future and let the guys come up that are really going to be the team to watch from 2017-2025.

Just to give a little more insight as to how unbelievable that is. Last year's MLB triples leader hit 12. The guy in second hit 10. ALL SEASON. Sure, that's he majors though, the defenses are better there you say. Okay, the same league Buxton is in now, the league leader hit 14, the guy in second hit 11 and Buxton would be in 3rd. (Both of those guys spent the entire season a AA) Bottom line: Buxtons triples total in 1/4 of the season are enough to put him in the top 5 no matter the league, over the course of full season. I can't wait to see him up with Twins flying around the bases.

Looking at the leaders there are a couple names standing out, that make me wonder what more those players need to do to be called up to either the next level or the twins. Those players in particular being: Aaron Hicks, Josmil Pinto, James Beresford, and D.J Bauxendale. Hicks and Pinto, are probably working on other things like being a professional baseball player and defense respectively. But Beresford, and Bauxendale, I know nothing about these players. What do they need to be working on and What is the hold up in their progression?