iTwins

Sadly, I'm not surprised. As soon as I read the reports of a bidding war and the asking price climbing, I knew the Twins would drop out. Yeah, many of these Cuban players are a gamble and dropping a lot of cash to sign one could turn out very badly - but I'd love it if the Twins DID gamble every now and again.

We may have been the only members of the Liam Hendriks fan club. I was high on him too, and I still think he can be a reliable starter. (Delusional? Maybe...) It's all but certain that Liam will face the Twins sometime this season and completely shut them down, because that's how things seem to be going for them these days... Best of luck to Liam in KC!

I'm all for bringing Span back to bridge the gap to Buxton. I'm not so sure about Hunter, from the looks of things he may already be at the end of the line...I don't know if he'd have enough left to help the Twins. I like Russell Martin at catcher - he can split time if Pinto is ready, or start most of the games if not. I'd like the Twins to go after Brandon McCarthy as well. One more pitcher certainly wouldn't hurt things... To recap, I'd vote for: CF: Span C: Martin SP: McCarthy

Download attachment: Pelfrey_Mike_walking_US_720.jpg The Twins raised some eyebrows during the offseason after they signed Mike Pelfrey to a two year, $11 million deal. While there was little doubt the Twins needed to address their rotation questions, there was doubt whether the answer to those questions was Mike Pelfrey - not to mention the need to commit to 2 years of Pelfrey in order to get a deal done. From an outside perspective, you can (sort of) see what the Twins were trying to do in signing Pelfrey back into the fold. After three seasons of rotating AAAA caliber starters and residing at or near the bottom of the AL in ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts, the Twins were looking for a veteran innings eater to provide a bit a stability. The consensus was, now a full year plus after Tommy John surgery, Mike Pelfrey would be primed to return to his career averages. From 2008 – 2011, Pelfrey had averaged just over 195 innings per season while posting an average ERA of 4.24. Pelfrey had shown flashes of a return to that consistency during the latter months of 2013. Pelfrey made 16 starts from May 31st through September 6th. During this time he posted a 7-9 record while totaling 93.1 innings (averaging nearly 6 innings per start) with an ERA of 4.05. Those numbers aren’t going to excite anyone, but as a 4th or 5th starter, they’d be perfectly serviceable. While Pelfrey did fade in his final three starts of 2013, the middle of the season seemed to mark a return to form for Pelfrey. Armed with this information and the assumption that another year of recovery from Tommy John surgery would allow for better control and velocity from Peflrey, the Twins re-upped the righty, hoping he and Kevin Correia could anchor the back of their newly improved rotation. That was the plan. Unfortunately, something has gone awry. Pelfrey has been underwhelming through his first 4 starts of 2014, posting an ERA of 7.32 over 19.1 innings of work. He’s frequently found himself with elevated pitch counts early in games and has yet to throw more than 5.1 innings in any start. That’s hardly the result the Twins were expecting from the big right hander when they signed him to a two year deal this offseason. So, the obvious question is, what happened? In short, Pelfrey’s control seems to be lacking in the early season. Through 4 starts, he is walking batters at a rate of 6.86 / 9 innings (15.3% BB) that’s more than double 2013’s walk rate of 3.12 / 9 innings (7.8% BB). In addition, Pelfrey is striking out batters at reduced pace from his career average of 5.09 K/9 – his rate of 3.66 K/9 is currently a career low. It’s logical to assume that a decrease in control could correlate with an increase in Pelfrey throwing more off speed or breaking pitches. Perhaps he’s working on his secondary pitches early in the season and just hasn’t quite ‘fine tuned’ the offerings? Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true. Per FanGraphs, Pelfrey is throwing his fastball an astounding 81% of the time this season, up considerably from 72.6% in 2013 and 62.6% in 2012. Making matters worse, this season opponents are hitting .296 against the pitch Pelfrey is throwing 80% of the time. Interestingly, Pelfrey’s groundball to fly ball rate is a off quite a bit from his career average (he currently has a GB/FB rate of .93 while his career average is 1.49) while opponents are hitting flyballs 42.3%, up from his career average of 32%. Naturally, an increased fly ball rate has decreased his groundball percentage to 39.4%, down from a career average of 47.7%. When throwing a sinking fastball nearly 80% of the time, you simply should not have fly ball rates as high as Pelfrey does - this ties back into the earlier observation of Pelfrey’s control issues. He’s leaving his sinker up and over the plate, which is allowing opponents to put the ball in the air, rather than generating a groundout as planned. In fact, a quick look at Pelfrey’s pitch locations from last night’s start against the Rays illustrates this point quite nicely: Download attachment: 1.png The gray plots are Pelfrey’s sinker – that’s far too many sinkers up in the zone, especially for a pitcher who isn’t using many secondary pitches. As with all evaluations done this early in the season, small sample size could be clouding the bigger picture. Given Pelfrey’s reliance on his sinker, he should see his fly ball rates begin to normalize, which should help lower his numbers overall. I emphasize "should", as any improvement is dependent on Pelfrey returning to some form of consistent control. If he continues to struggle with walking batters and locating his sinker, Pelfrey’s current role with the Twins could be short-lived. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Burton_Jared_Walking_US_720.jpg The Twins fell to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night due in large part to the wheels falling off the Phil Hughes strikeout express in the 6th inning. After cruising through five innings, limiting the Jays to four hits while striking out five batters, Hughes suddenly couldn’t retire a single batter and was forced from the game clinging to a 2-1 lead with two runners on and no outs. Those runners went on to score (plus one more for good measure), which left Hughes with a disappointing stat line of 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5K and left his ERA at a far too high 7.20. I’m not here to talk about Phil Hughes, however. In my opinion, these "one bad inning" outings are just something Hughes needs to work through (or the team needs to be ready for). With as poor as the pitching has been over the past three seasons, we’ll take the bad with the good when it comes to Phil Hughes and hope he figures it out in the meantime. My bigger concern from last night’s game comes from the ninth inning when Jared Burton entered the game. Burton retired the first two Blue Jay batters relatively quickly before walking the next three batters in just as rapid fashion. Brett Lawrie stepped to the plate and well… I thought about linking the video, but I don't want to subject Twins fans to THAT again. Let's just say it was 9-2 in short order. Tuesday was Burton’s fourth appearance of the season and it continued a frightening trend for the righty set-up man, one that dates back to 2013. To put it simply – he’s been crushed. (All numbers that follow were obtained from Fangraphs on 4/16/14) Burton finished 2013 with 2-9 record with an ERA of 3.82. For comparisons sake, Burton finished 2012 with a record of 3-2 with an ERA of 2.18. That should raise a red flag immediately. While relievers are prone to up and down years, Burton’s 2013 was so much worse than 2012 that the Twins management and front office had to be concerned about the righty heading into 2014, even if they never publicly said anything. Delving a little deeper into the numbers doesn't make things look any better for Burton. He finished 2013 with a xFIP of 3.94, showing that his inflated ERA wasn’t the product of bad luck or a few bad outings – rather it was an accurate measurement of his performance. With an opponent batting average allowed of .240 (up from 2012’s .183) and a BABIP of .294, the writing was on the wall. Burton may just be out of gas. I think Twins management was influenced by Burton’s outstanding 2012 numbers and therefore were willing to take a chance that he could turn in numbers closer to his careerbest season – rather than 2013’s effort. Early season indicators seem to show that as a mistake. While the season is young and sample sizes are extremely small (especially for relievers) Burton has done little to show that 2012 Jared Burton will ever be coming back. He currently boasts an ERA of 14.40, with a xFIP of 6.94 (That’s depressing. It means Burton has been somewhat unlucky and that his ERA should ONLY be nearly 7…), opponents are hitting .300 off him and his BB/9 has risen, while his K/9 has been cut in half. In short, he’s walking more batters, striking out fewer batters and then letting everyone else hit .300 off of him. Ouch. With a plethora of young arms in AAA that look to be ready for the show, I hope the Twins don’t let Burton flap in the breeze much longer. Michael Tonkin or Casey Fien could easily take over Burton’s role as the 8th inning bridge to Perkins, and Deolis Guerra, Ryan Pressly and Logan Darnell are all just a phone call away. Things like this happen with relievers. Sometimes their stuff just stops working - for whatever reason. In reality, the Twins were lucky to get a career best season from a minor pickup in 2012. Whether Burton is hurt or simply out of gas, the choice remains the same. Something must be done with Burton and I believe the sooner the Twins make a move, the better off they'll be. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Gibson_Kyle_600-321.jpg Kyle Gibson was lights out Wednesday night as he held the Mariners scoreless over six innings. He scattered seven hits, but only walked one while striking out three to turn in his 8th dominant performance on the year, improving his overall record to eight wins and seven losses. The problem is, there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground when it comes to Gibson’s starts. Either he’s lights out, like he was in Seattle (6.0IP, 7H, 0ER, 1BB, 3K) or he’s knocked out, like his outing against the Yankees on July 4th (2.0 IP, 6H, 5ER, 1BB, 0K). One or two starts with such a variance wouldn’t mean much. Starters have bad outings, as even staff ace Phil Hughes has thrown a clunker or two this season. Gibson, however, isn’t just having one or two all or nothing starts. Seemingly every start is defined by the all-or-nothing principal. Take a look at this years' splits: (A blank space in the charts below indicates a value of zero). [TABLE] Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO SO/W BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ in Wins 8 216 198 5 41 5 [/TD] 1 1 17 28 1.65 .207 .270 .247 .517 49 8 1 3 .237 58 85 in Losses 7 136 124 40 47 11 2 5 1 9 12 1.33 .379 .419 .621 1.040 77 5 1 2 2 .385 213 125 in No Dec. 3 71 68 10 3 2 1 3 13 4.33 .147 .183 .191 .374 13 2 1 .182 14 9 [/TABLE] 　 That’s a startling difference. He’s essentially allowing opposing batters to hit 170 points higher in average in losses while also seeing opponents' OPS double (!) Obviously, in a loss, starters are going to post worse numbers than they do in wins, but the splits are not typically this wide or dramatic. Initially it looked like Gibson’s struggles were attributable to home/road splits. In his home starts since the beginning of the season, Gibson has had only two "clunkers" Home Starts: [TABLE] Date Innings Earned Runs 4/11 6.1 1 4/17 8.0 4/30 6.2 5 5/16 7.0 1 5/28 6.0 6/7 7.0 7/4 2.0 5 [/TABLE] His road starts have been a bit rougher: Road Starts: [TABLE] Date Innings Earned Runs 4/5 5.0 1 4/22 3.0 7 5/5 7.0 5/10 2.0 6 5/23 5.0 5 6/2 6.0 4 6/13 7.0 6/18 7.0 6/24 2.0 7 6/29 8.0 2 7/9 6.0 　 　 　 [/TABLE] Early in the season, the solution seemed simple. For whatever reason, Kyle Gibson struggled away from Target Field. However, Gibson’s last few starts have made that assessment inaccurate. He’s turned in quality outings in Texas, Boston and Detroit while his last dud came at home. It’s clearly not as simple as home/road struggles. So, let’s dig a bit deeper. Maybe this is all just a matter of pitch selection? [TABLE] Date Opp FB% FBv SL% SLv CB% CBv CH% CHv 7/9/2014 @SEA 7/4/2014 NYY 57.70% 90.9 23.10% 83.7 3.90% 79 15.40% 83.3 6/29/2014 @TEX 67.40% 92.2 24.20% 85.5 2.10% 80.5 6.30% 84.5 6/24/2014 @LAA 62.00% 92.6 20.00% 85 2.00% 82 16.00% 84.1 6/18/2014 @BOS 56.90% 92.1 20.60% 84.9 3.90% 81 18.60% 84.1 6/13/2014 @DET 60.00% 91.5 24.60% 83.9 2.70% 78.3 12.70% 82.5 6/7/2014 HOU 65.10% 89.9 18.90% 83.8 2.80% 77.3 13.20% 82.1 6/2/2014 @MIL 62.30% 92.1 31.20% 84.3 2.60% 79 3.90% 83.3 5/28/2014 TEX 67.30% 91.5 20.60% 84.7 5.60% 79.7 6.50% 82.7 5/23/2014 @SFG 51.40% 92 26.40% 85.5 9.70% 81 12.50% 83.8 5/16/2014 SEA 68.80% 90.9 12.50% 84.1 1.00% 78 17.70% 83.2 5/10/2014 @DET 56.30% 91.7 33.30% 84.6 10.40% 83.2 5/5/2014 @CLE 69.00% 90.5 7.00% 85.6 7.00% 79.4 17.00% 82.7 4/30/2014 LAD 64.40% 91 19.80% 82.4 3.00% 79 12.90% 83.2 4/22/2014 @TBR 68.60% 90.8 24.40% 82.9 7.00% 82.7 4/17/2014 TOR 80.00% 90.9 11.40% 83.7 8.60% 82.9 4/11/2014 KCR 67.00% 91.3 19.00% 83.2 3.00% 78.7 11.00% 83 4/5/2014 @CLE 69.10% 90.4 13.40% 82 [TD] 17.50% 81.8 [/TABLE] That big block of data does have some interesting points. Mainly, in wins, Gibson is using his fastball between 60%-70% of the time while in losses the fastball usage resides at 51%-57%. Why is Gibson shying away from his fastball in losses? It looks like he’s struggling to locate the pitch. Here’s Gibson’s Pitch F/X data from his 7/4 start against the Yankees: http://twinsdaily.co...ntid=8196&stc=1 　 Look at the gray squares, which indicate Gibson’s sinker. As you can see, Gibson struggled to locate his sinker, leaving many balls out of the zone. That caused him to fall behind and then have to come into the zone with a different pitch (since his sinker control was off) – thus resulting in a fireworks performance courtesy of the Yankee bats. The trend repeats in his 6/24 start against the Angels. http://twinsdaily.co...ntid=8197&stc=1 　 Again, there’s little consistency in the location of his sinker and not surprisingly the results are very similar to the start against the Yankees. Finally, look at the Pitch F/X data from his 6/29 start against Texas and the start yesterday against Seattle. 　 http://twinsdaily.co...ntid=8198&stc=1 http://twinsdaily.co...ntid=8199&stc=1 A majority of his sinkers are low in the zone and are grouped nicely. Greater control yielded a better result. Admittedly, that’s a lot of data to comb over to simply reach the conclusion that Gibson is better when he can control his pitches. That policy applies to every starter in the league, outside of maybe Sam Deduno who in fact may be better when he has no idea where the ball is going. What’s startling is just how different the results are when Gibson is struggling with control and when he’s on. Every starter will battle control issues from time to time and even the best starters get knocked around a bit, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player as all or nothing as Kyle Gibson. Hopefully, Gibson can improve on these results as he continues to learn and grow. He’ll need to learn how to pitch when his best stuff just isn’t with him – even Kevin Correia and Ricky Nolasco can turn in quality outings when their command is evading them. It seems like Gibson’s struggles may simply be because he hasn’t figured out how to work with what he has on any given night. We hope that as he pitches further into the season, he’ll figure things out and we’ll stop seeing so many "boom or busts" starts from the Twins’ righty. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Plouffe.jpg The Minnesota Twins are currently 2nd in the AL in runs scored (86), 1st in OBP (.353) and 1st in walks (82). They also lead the AL in runs per game at 5.76. That’s not too bad for an offense that was routinely picked to finish towards the bottom of the league in nearly every category. Yes, it’s only April and the sample size is incredibly small – but it’s a good start. The offense has been bolstered by improved performances from multiple players including a breakout season from Chris Colabello and a surprising return to relevance from Jason Kubel. While Colabello is a great story and Kubel’s rebound is encouraging, the player that has been most impressive and, in my opinion, most improved, so far this season has been Trevor Plouffe. Through 67 plate appearances in 2014, Plouffe is hitting an impressive .308/.418/.436 with an OPS+ of 147. Plouffe has 4 doubles, 1 home run and has taken 10 walks to start the young season (he averaged just over 30 walks a season over the past 3 years). He’s more than doubled his walk rate from 2013 while cutting his strikeout rate by almost half. Of course, all early season statistics come with the caveat of small sample size and potential regression. A look at Plouffe’s advanced metrics; however, indicate Plouffe is taking a different approach at the plate this season. Perhaps Plouffe’s breakout campaign isn’t merely a run of good fortune, but the product of a new and improved player? Plouffe has been much more disciplined at the plate this season, as evidenced by his early season walk totals, but there’s more to this discipline than just taking more walks. Per PITCHf/x Plouffe’s O-swing% (the percentage of balls Plouffe swings at outside the strike zone) sits at 12.5%. He’s reduced that by over 50% from 2013’s O-swing% of 26.2%. In addition, Plouffe is simply swinging his bat less overall. His swing% sits at 35.2%, down from 43.1% in 2013. His Z-swing% (the percentage of balls Plouffe swings at in the strike zone) remains relatively unchanged from 2013 (58.6%) to 2014 (58.2%) while his overall contact % is nearly identical (81% in 2013, 79% in 2014). What does all of that mean? In short: Plouffe isn’t chasing bad pitches while he’s also being more selective in the strikes he does attack. This has resulted in an increased OBP and has helped Plouffe become a key piece in the offense’s early season success. It’s likely that pitchers will eventually catch on to Plouffe’s new approach and start throwing him more strikes and daring him to put the ball in play. For previous seasons’ Trevor Plouffe, this could have posed a problem as he was a notorious pull hitter. Teams could easily counter this by pitching him away, resulting in a weakly hit ground ball or shifting the defense to the left side, forcing Plouffe into easy outs. Luckily, Plouffe’s improvement has not solely come on taking more walks; he’s also driving the ball to all fields. Compare 2013’s spray chart: Download attachment: 1.png 　　 To 2014: Download attachment: 2.png 　Plouffe’s ability to use all fields is reinforced by his red hot BABIP of .364. While that number is sure to regress slightly as the season progresses other numbers indicate that the increased average isn’t a mirage. For example, Plouffe’s line drive rate has increased this season (29.5% up from 24.7%) as has his groundball rate (40.9% up from 38.6%) while his fly ball rate has decreased (29% down from 36.7%). Line drives and ground balls tend to lead to hits more than fly balls do, so an increase in those categories should show an increase in BABIP (and, in turn, batting average). We’ve seen Plouffe go on red hot streaks each of the past two seasons, so it’s easy (and understandable) to take a "wait and see" approach when it comes to the impressive early numbers he’s been putting up in 2014. I think what we’re seeing from Plouffe is more than just an early season hot streak. He looks to be a more disciplined and patient hitter this season. In addition, he’s making better contact and using all fields to put in the ball in play. I think this is the start of a new Trevor Plouffe – one that should be a building block for the Twins in the coming years. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Fien_Casey_Standing_US_720.jpg When a team is mired in a rut of three losing seasons, it’s easy to overlook players who are achieving beyond expectations – especially when those players are relief pitchers. After all, who cares if you have a lights out righthander when the team is constantly down 6-0 by the third inning? For that reason, you could be forgiven if you’ve missed what Casey Fien has been doing over the past three years with the Twins. Since the Twins signed Fien as a minor league free agent from the Detroit Tigers organization, he’s developed into one of the better relief pitchers in baseball. In 2014, Fien is posting career best numbers.The 6’2" righty currently boasts a 3-1 record with a 1.89 ERA and 13:4 strikeout to walk ratio. His strong start helped him take over the 8th inning role from Jarod Burton in early April and he’s kept the role absolutely locked down through sheer dominant performances all season. Fien has only allowed an earned run in 2 of his 20 outings (oddly enough, both against Cleveland) and has rarely even yielded a hit. Take a look at his game logs from 2014: [TABLE] Date Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA Mar31 CHW L3-5 [/TD] 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Apr2 CHW L6-7 H(1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.00 Apr4 CLE L2-7 1.0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 10.12 Apr6 CLE W10-7 H(2) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7.36 Apr10 OAK L1-6 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.79 Apr13 KCR W4-3 W(1-0) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.40 Apr17(2) TOR W9-5 W(2-0) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.50 Apr20 KCR W8-3 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4.05 Apr23 TBR W6-4 W(3-0) 2.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3.00 Apr25 DET L6-10 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.70 May Opp Rslt Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA May1(2) LAD L3-4 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2.45 May3 BAL W6-1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.25 May4 BAL W5-2 H(3) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.08 May7 CLE L3-4 L(3-1) 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.63 May9 DET W2-1 H(4) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.45 May11 DET W4-3 H(5) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.35 May15 BOS W4-3 H(6) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.20 May16 SEA W5-4 H(7) 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2.12 May20 SDP W5-3 H(8) 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 2.00 May21 SDP W2-0 H(9) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.89 19.0 12 4 4 4 13 1.89 [/TABLE] 　 That’s a lot of zeroes. Fien is currently 12th in WAR among AL relievers (0.6) and ranks 17th BABIP (.222), 16th in BB/9 (1.89), and 16th in FIP (.233). Those rankings become even more impressive once you factor in that most of the players ahead of Fien are other team’s closers (Glen Perkins, Greg Holland, Koji Uehara – etc.). In short, outside of the true elite bullpen arms (i.e., closers) there are not many relievers pitching better than Fien in 2014. Of course, whenever a player is having a career year, the talk always turns to regression. How soon will the player "return" to his career averages and how far will the "fall" be? Thankfully Fien’s overall numbers show that if he does experience any regression this season, it might not be that dramatic. Take a look at his numbers since joining the Twins ‘pen: [TABLE] Year [TD=width: 25%]K% [TD=width: 25%]BB% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]BABIP [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2012 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]22.7% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]7.5% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].229 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2013 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]29.9% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]4.9% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].280 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]2014 [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]18.3% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%]5.6% [/TD] [TD=width: 25%].222 [/TD] [/TABLE] Essentially, Fien’s advanced numbers all point towards one thing: consistency. Even if Fien’s early season hot streak cools, he’s still a high strikeout, low walk reliever who should continue to excel in late game situations. The question then turns to what the Twins should do with Fien going forward. He’ll be (Super-2) arbitration eligible at the end of this year, and is under team control through 2019. He’s 31 years old, so the Twins should be cautious about locking him in to a long term deal – especially given how volatile relievers can be (See: Valverde, Jose), but he’s clearly providing value for the team in the short term. He could be a potential trade asset for the team if they fall out of contention before the trade deadline* or the team could simply choose to retain Fien and enjoy the quality arm out of the bullpen. *As an aside: Do you know how nice it was to type "IF they fall out of contention by the deadline" and really mean IF – winning baseball is fun. We should do it more often. Casey Fien is quickly becomeing a fan favorite. His enthusiasm and fire on the mound is a blast to watch. This season he’s become the very definition of a "bulldog" out of the ‘pen for the Twins and is one of the few Twins pitchers who is not afraid to attack hitters and pound the strike zone with scorching fastballs. Fien has elevated his game to a new level this season – whether he can maintain this strong start remains to be seen but either way the Twins (and Twins fans) have to be enjoying the fantastic output from Casey Fien so far. Click here to view the article

First observations: The site looks REALLY good on mobile. I usually didn't bother stopping by on my iPad because I never really liked the "feel" of the site before, but this design is much nicer on the portable devices, IMO. I like the style, some things will take a bit to get used to - but overall, a very nice upgrade. Kudos to all involved!

I'll second the notion that Willingham and/or Correia wouldn't clear waivers. Remember, an oft injured and underperforming Willingham was claimed on waivers last year by the Orioles. His value is certianly a BIT higher than last year. A team looking for a bat (or relatively cheap back end starter) would likely claim them. I hope Suzuki is the next to go. I really like the guy, but I fear the Twins are going to extend him and pay a premium for the privilege. Willingham, Correia should follow shortly thereafter. Longer odds, but I could see Fien or Duensing being in a deadline deal as well.

That's exactly what I came here to post. I don't put much (read: zero) weight into projections for an 18 year old kid getting his first taste of professional ball. I enjoyed reading the article on Gordon but the highlight was the quote about strikeouts. The Twins' pitching staff leading the league in strikeouts. It just looks so nice on the page! (Especially when it's not a punchline...) Good signs for the future all around!

Now what am I supposed to do at work tomorrow morning?

Technically, they still do have an open 40 man spot after Guerrier's DFA / release. Pryor fills in the spot Morales vacated, (which, I agree, isn't ideal) but at least there's still one spot open. So, the Twins still do have the ability to bring up Meyer at a moment's notice.

Right, and for their part the Twins weren't really interested in trading Willingham in 2012 (likely due to that same thinking). The second point on this MLBTraderumors story from '12 sort of backs that thinking up. However, my point was more towards his value. There were other teams actively interested in trading for a red hot Willingham in 2012 - and the return piece looked to be a number 4 starter at best. If rival GMs were down on his value THEN, what's his real value now? That's my concern. A C level prospect would be a good return - IMO.

He's been battling injuries - so it's hard to judge just how he'll progress - but yes, a 2015 debut for Max would be VERY optimistic. Unless he starts destroying the lower levels, I'd guess at a 2016 debut for him.

In 2012, when Willingham was putting up career best number, I recall the reported returns being nothing more than a back end starter or long reliever. The Twins wanted more and chose to hold on to him. (Questionable decision at the time and with the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to say it was the wrong decision - but let's ignore that part... spilled milk and whatnot) Two years later, with worse numbers and an expiring contract, I'd think the Twins should be happy if they can get a prospect in "C" range. Any depth would be a welcome addition at this point. Too bad Willingham had a down year, I was hoping he'd be able to build some value if not to help the Twins offense, then to at least earn a decent prospect in return.

That's a tough one - my first guess (which admittedly, was a long shot) was Felix Hernandez in the 2010-2012 range but I see he didn't earn first place votes in that span.

I wouldn't bail on Pinto as a catcher yet. He's too young to simply turn into a full time DH. I'll agree that his defense so far hasn't done much to show that he can be a reliable catcher, but I don't think you give up on his development and make him a fulltime DH just yet. (Especially when the team won't be winning anything this year anyway. May as well let him catch most of the second half and see if he can improve). More on topic - I like the trade. The Twins took a gamble and tried to make a run with Morales. When it didn't work, they got the M's to eat the rest of the deal and got a reliever back. Relatively low risk begot a relatively low reward and (predictably) a relatively low return.

If you see him, ask him why he's on the DL. It may be the fastest way to find an answer! (I'm kidding...kinda...)

The most frustrating part about covering Max this year has been trying to find out ANY news from the Miracle. I follow multiple minor league reporters on Twitter along with Miracle PxP guy Brice Zimmerman (as well as the Miracle themselves, obviously). I also have a Google alert set up for ANY Max Kepler news and I still can only really find updates by checking the roster page everyday. In short - it's tough to get news from this team. I'm not sure WHY Max is back on the 7 day DL (I'll post when I find out, I'm doing some research this morning to see if I can find something) so I'm not sure A) how severe the injury is or if he's traveling with the team.

I was never in favor of the idea of extending Suzuki. I feel like the Twins hit the lottery and got a career year from an otherwise average catcher. Extending him seems like the Twins would be paying for his regression - and paying a premium at that. After all, Suzuki's value has never been higher. I can see why others want to keep him, but I'd prefer the Twins go the other way. Once you factor that at least two contending teams (Baltimore and St. Louis) are looking for catching depth and the Twins have one of the few players at that position that could realistically be moved, I feel like the decision becomes even easier. Especially given the fact that Suzuki seems determined to test the free agent market (which is a smart move on his part, BTW). The Twins have an asset in demand, in what should be a relatively sparse market. I hope the Twins sell high on Suzuki and add much needed depth to the team. Letting him walk at the end of the year would be a terrible blow.

I just came up that way from the Des Moines area last week - so I can help with the roadwork part. There's a bit going through Owatonna on 35 - but that was really it. I didn't run into anything bad until I went further up 35E towards St. Paul, but that was leaving towards Duluth - nothing that would get in your way. As for the starter, I believe Terry Ryan has hinted at who he has in mind but I haven't seen anything firm (or official) yet.

Baseball America had a blurb about him in a recent issue. Sounds like an interesting player - I wonder where the cost will land? Could be a nice low risk move if the money comes out right. Hopefully the Twins are players.

It looks like an injury earlier in the season may have been messing with Kepler's swing. After starting off cold, then spending a few weeks on the DL in June, Max has returned to the Miracle lineup and his beginning to post multi-hit games with some regularity. His power numbers are still a bit below his career norms, but his average and OBP are beginning to climb to a more reasonable level. It's nice to see Max starting to turn things around, hopefully he can continue to build on this momentum. As of 7/21, Max is posting the following numbers in Fort Myers: [table] [thead] YearAgeAgeDifTmLgLevAffGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBB[/thead] 201421-1.6FortMyersFLORA+MIN702782443758104339412647.238.319.348.6678534220[/table] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 7/21/2014.

Jose Bautista