Ryan Atkins

The Major League Baseball Players Association has hired former Twin Carlos "Go-Go" Gómez, acquired in the Johan Santana trade, to be a special assistant to MLBPA executive director Tony Clark. MLBPA Hires Carlos Gómez - MLB Trade Rumors

Yes. I distinctly remember hearing what a good eye he had coming up and drawing lots of walks. Seems like he abandoned all plate discipline or, as you say, could even be a vision issue. In any case, his Dominican Winter League numbers are not good and I'm afraid he is done. Maybe Nelson Cruz (in his new advisory role) can convince the Dodgers to offer a minor league make-good deal.

Former Twins 2nd round draft pick Nick Burdi has signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. Yankees, Nick Burdi Agree To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors Nick topped out at AA with the Twins before seeing MLB time with Pittsburgh 2018-2020 and 3 innings for the Cubs in 2023.

Another minor league signing... Tyler Duffey has signed with the Royals after pitching 2 innings for the Cubs last year. Much maligned, but I feel like he had some good moments with the Twins. Royals Agree To Minor League Deals With Mike Brosseau, Tyler Duffey, Sam Long - MLB Trade Rumors

Former Twins lefty Devin Smeltzer signs Minor League deal with the Marlins whom he was with briefly last year. He was originally acquired from the Dodgers in the Brian Dozier trade. Marlins Re-Sign Devin Smeltzer To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors

Nelson Cruz signed with Dodgers as an advisor. Dodgers To Hire Nelson Cruz as Advisor - MLB Trade Rumors Interesting hire for the Dodgers as they are NOT one of the many teams he played for during his career. I wonder what the connection is there.

The St. Lous Cardinals rotation now features: Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson. They love former Twins pitchers!

Believe me, we are not far away from this. Much of what you state above is already doable from a technical standpoint, only acceptance and legal wranglings are preventing it from happening. Just wait until this extends to the players. Soon, the only way you'll be sure you are watching something real is to be there in person. Heck, didn't the NFL recently broadcast an entire game using Toy Story characters or some non-sense like that?

Yesterday, the "Era Committee" announced 8 candidates to be considered for next year's HOF class. Hall Of Fame Announces 2024 Era Committee Candidates - MLB Trade Rumors Among them, four managers, none of them named Tom Kelly: Cito Gaston Davey Johnson Jim Leyland Lou Piniella Maybe Tom Kelly was already considered in previous years, and I missed it? I don't have a beef with any of the above, but in particular, is Cito Gaston really more worthy than T.K.? Gaston managed for 11+ years (articles states 13, but I only counted 11), tallied 894 wins and 2 WS Championships. Kelly managed for 14+ years (many with awful teams), tallied 1140 wins and 2 WS Championships.

Former Twin bullpen arm Michael Fulmer will miss all of 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery. Michael Fulmer Expected To Miss 2024 After Undergoing Elbow Surgery - MLB Trade Rumors Fulmer pitched in 58 games for the Cubs this year after splitting 2022 between the Tigers and Twins. The former AL ROY (2016) is still only 30 years old so I would expect him to return in 2025.

I would not argue with these choices. Jax was clutch. Before I opened the article, I came up with this list: Royce Lewis Carlos Correa Pablo Lopez Sonny Gray Michael Taylor (can't discount his defensive contributions) But, no doubt, pitching was the story of that series so you could easily have Jhoan Duran, Jax, or Thielbar on that list. The offensive needs to bring the lumber vs. the Astros because I'm not sure you're going to get away with all that traffic on the bases vs. Houston (Blue Jays - 18 LOB, 3-14 RISP).

I am a big fan of Joe Ryan, but his recent penchant for giving up gopher balls is undeniable. I really think the Twins need to win this series 2-0. Also, game 1, Lopez vs. Gausman, I'm putting the combined 'K' total over-under at 21 K's, could easily hit 25 if both pitchers are dealing.

The Mets have signed slugger Daniel Palka to a minor league contract. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/mets-sign-daniel-palka-to-minor-league-deal.html Palka played in the Twins system during the 2016-1017 seasons but was never called up. He later did see some time in MLB with the White Sox where he hit 27 homers in 2018 but could not get much going the next year and has been in the minors since.

Fernando Abad has signed a minor league contract with the Brewers. He last pitched in the MLB earlier this year with Colorado. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/brewers-sign-fernando-abad-to-minor-league-deal.html Abad pitched in 39 games for the Twins in 2016 going 1-4 with a 2.65 ERA. Left-handed relievers stick around for a loooong time.

Devin Smeltzer is back up with the Marlins Marlins Select Devin Smeltzer - MLB Trade Rumors

I agree with this move. But I also find myself wondering just who on this team is going to start driving in runs. In the last 20 innings, Twins hitters have driven in exactly ONE run and that was Miranda's RBI double last night. They have gone 36 innings with Miranda's double being the only run-scoring hit that wasn't a homerun. Ooof, that is bad baseball by any measure. Trevor Larnach and Jose Miranda both deserve to be in AAA right now, but they have also accounted for nearly a quarter of the team's RBI total thus far. Obviously, someone else is going to have to pick up the slack.

Old friend Jake Reed has been called up by the Dodgers. Dodgers Select Jake Reed, Put Michael Grove On 15-Day IL - MLB Trade Rumors

Former Twins farmhand and ex-White Sox Daniel Palka has just signed with the Red Sox. Red Sox Sign Daniel Palka To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors

If we're going start putting guys like Scott Rolen (a fine player) in the Hall of Fame, then no one should question Joe Mauer getting in. And he should be in on the 1st ballot. Either you're a HOFer or you're not. For that matter, Torii Hunter should be in, or at least should be better than 7% vote. Hunter has more hits, more homers, more RBI, more gold gloves, and more silver sluggers than Scott Rolen. The difference, one World Series Championship, is that the benchmark now? If so, Mauer is in trouble.

The lack of an experienced major league 1st baseman continues to hurt this team. They need to get this fixed for 2023. I have no qualms with Arraez not bunting in the 9th. He is league's best hitter and unfortunately just didn't have a productive AB there and then the subsequent double-play grounder ended it. There were plenty of other opportunities earlier in the game.

I had the exact same thought as I was watching that AB. The Twins have played so poorly, and so consistently poorly, in 2021 that its fan base actively hopes for GIDPs because they know it is the best possible outcome from a 1st & 3rd with no outs situation. RE: Larnach I think Jim Kaat nailed it on the head last week when he explained that Trevor's swing was too long. He needs to tighten that up or the strikeouts will continue. He was making a comparison with Kirilloff whom he characterized as the better hitter--at least right now.

RE: Taylor Rogers Why? Mariano Rivera pitched back-to-back days 16 times in his final season, he was 43 years old. In 2008, just to pick another random year in his career, he pitched back-to-back days 21 times. In fact, it was not uncommon for him to pitch in 3 consecutive games. He also pitched both games of a double header on multiple occasions. He played for 19 seasons.

These games are sure hard (boring) to watch. Even Dick Bremer struggles to come up with something positive to talk about and he is usually very good at that. It's a real shame that just as it seems that Byron Buxton has figured things out and we have productive vets like Donaldson and Cruz, the rest of the team with few exceptions is dragging. Garver is completely lost at the plate. I think Roy Smalley said it best last night when he said "When you are going bad and all you do is go up there and try to hit the ball out of the ballpark, it only gets worse". And it just floors me that Rocco has plugged Garver into the leadoff spot on more than one occasion this season. I loved how Derek Shelton forced one of his slumping players into having an aggressive AB by sending the runner, no one particularly fast, on a hit-and-run early in the game. The player go a base hit. It doesn't always work out that way, but you could clearly see the differences in management styles in this series--play for the home run or get creative and try to make things happen in other ways. I tend to give Jake Cave a pass. He is who he is. A good guy to have as a backup outfielder. Plays hard, good defensively, runs well. He is just not a starter and is struggling in that role. Earlier in the season Dick and Justin would say what a luxury it was to have Cave, a player that would be a starter for many teams. That has never been true. He could be a backup for handful of other teams just as he is with the Twins, that is who he is, but I like him and root for him all the same. The bottom line is that with only 3 games played in the division so far, there is more than enough time to turn it around and take this division. But they need to get away from the 3-outcome approach to hitting (walk, strikeout, homerun), it is not a recipe for long-term (or post-season) success.

I was a bit disappointed in Luis Arraez. in the top of the 3rd inning, his 2nd AB. He hit a weak grounder to the 2nd basemen, who bobbled it, recovered and threw him out because he dogged it down to 1st base. Justin Morneau correctly pointed out that had he hustled out of the box, he likely would have been safe and it could have been a much bigger inning for us as he was the lead off hitter. I recognize that he is a very talented player, but I would not put up with garbage like that if I was the manager. In the bottom of the 3rd, Avisail Garcia reached on an infield single that Arraez muffed. That was tough play, not an error, but much greater chance that Donaldson would have made that play as I've seen him do countless times. That extended the inning and the Brewers scored on the next AB.

"the front office is making deals on its own terms" I like the approach. I have never been a fan of long contracts, especially for pitchers. Although, having watched Yu Darvish for years down here in Texas, I admit I wanted the Twins to sign him. You also missed Michael Pineda in your rundown of this regime's free agent signings. Another deal on their terms. They gave Pineda security in his injury year in exchange for a 2nd year at reasonable cost. Its a low-risk gamble that could really pay dividends this year. And I feel like Pineda will be motivated to reward the Twins for their investment.