jorgenswest

Deep breath and trying to be optimistic Bradley hasn’t been tried in relief. Maybe he will follow the path of Varland and Jax. Rojas has really strong strikeout and walk rates in the minors and is a lefty. Outman has very strong exit velocities that are not a match for his .105 and .208 BABiPs in the last two seasons. He is a solid outfielder even in center field. Abel has the arm talent to be a playoff caliber starter or maybe a high quality late inning reliever. Mendez at 21 in AA has some really good bat to ball skills Gallagher in AA at 22 adds another good arm to the system Roden has always hit well in the minors Tait will stick at catcher. His caught stealing number are fine. He is 18 and in high A with a good bat. He will be the long term solution at catcher. Horn has a lot of left handed arm talent as he works back from Tommy John. Jimenez can be that #2 defense first catcher behind Tiat long term. Villoria at 16 was a recent international signing. He was third I. Their list of signing bonus money. The new owners have an opportunity to take that savings on the Correa contract and invest in a better bat than Correa. It could be through free agency but the best road is in trade this off season from the prospect capital. Maybe it is a trade for and extend of bat nearing the end of their control.

Competitive game of baseball. I appreciate the players that made it possible. I am not going to slam any of these men who have worked so hard to get here. They just need to fight and play competitively every day. I think Baldelli put out the best players he had and the players are playing for their future. That’s not tanking. I have no interest in competing for a draft spot. There are two months of baseball left. Those games matter. Keep battling. They Pohlad’s stopped fighting to win in 2023. They hurt this franchise and community with every day that they remain. I have no respect for people that won’t battle.

We have to do better than equating people to scrap. Ramirez and Urena have fought hard to be in the majors. They have stuck through it moving their families so many times. They have fought through injuries to continue to pursue this dream. I hope they seize this opportunity.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. I have been fighting cancer for 5 years and this spring it had metastasized. I continue to fight every day. Up at 4:30 to do my stretch, strength and balance work followed by a 5 mile run. With that fight I feel pretty good and have a high energy level in spite of all the meds. Baseball helps keep me going. There are still many more games ahead of me and they matter so much more than a championship. That final Twins trade of Varland set off a trigger in me. We had Varland through 2030. While at a large family gathering as the news kept rolling that 2030 hit hard. The odds are against me that I will be around in 2030. Thinking of the Twins led me to thinking of my first grandchild due in January. I can handle missing the next championship but I got pretty choked at the thought of what I will miss with my granddaughter. Byron, Ryan, Kody, Royce, Matt, Trevor, Brooks, Christian, DeShawn, Joe, Pablo, Bailey, Simeon, David, Zebby, Cole and Justin I appreciate your fight. No one can make it to the major leagues without fighting everyday. You have fought through slumps. You have fought through injury. We will need your fight more than ever now. To the rest putting on that Twins uniform. I appreciate you. You have fought hard for this opportunity. Use this opportunity to make your mark in the major leagues. Fight to get better every day. Mr. Falvey and Mr. Baldelli I need you to put up a fight. Make every day matter. Make every game matter. I am counting on you. To the Pohlad’s, you have stopped fighting. This is a concept that I can’t grasp. Every day I wake up excited to take on the day and fight for the next. You wake up every day as owners of a Major League Baseball team. How can you not be driven to fight for their success? I don’t get it. I do appreciate what Carl did for this franchise and what your family did for the community but you have stopped fighting. Please step aside and let someone else lead this franchise. We need a fighter because every day and every game matters. I will be watching.

If there is a perspective owner they must have approved of every trade today,

Outman will be too old by the time they are competitive again and block players who need to be playing before then. Hopefully they can trade him today and get a lottery ticket that has a chance to help in 2030. Cash would have been a better return. They need to lose with the young players.

I really believe there is a huge difference between a #3 prospect and number #56. The #56 is closer to the #300 than number in value. Players with that elite prospect status rarely get traded. Elite players with three or more years of service time rarely get traded.the A’s and Padres found that match.

The A’s outplayed the Twins. After Clase dropped out there were two closers left. The A’s got the number 3 prospect. If the Twins stand steady with their demands they would get a better return. As @Mike Sixel suggests I don’t think they get the number 3 prospect. Can they get Salas though who is the #2 catcher and should be ready next year? If the Padres are willing to give up the number three prospect I think they are willing to give up the prospects behind him. If that Padres Miller deal happen and Duran is the only one left do the Phillies give up Painter? I don’t see how this an be viewed as any thing but a failure. Maybe the Twins are smarter than everyone and Abel is ready to join Ryan and Lopez as playoff caliber starters next year while Tait is ready to start in 2027.

Any prospective owner should be really upset at the Duran deal. I don’t want the owner who is not upset. I want one that was going to add for 26 and 27. Now the first task is to add to the top of the bullpen. Jax is too old to be counted on and Varland is the guy you would need on the put out the fire role. He has been as important as Duran coming in with runners in scoring position later in games. They need him in that role.

Don’t disagree. I think the two year value went down to what they received today. It wasn’t enough. Players with three years control don’t get moved at the deadline because they are too expensive. They get moved when teams take less than they are worth. If the Twins are looking for relief help next year and they aren’t getting significant help from these two they won’t get a Duran back in trade. It is easy to trade a Duran. It is very hard to acquire one.

Fine. No deal. Tait needs to be a Jeffers level starter in 27 or they should have traded with someone else.

I know they could get a B deal next year and keep Duran. If the argument is he might get injured then they might as well trade any playoff caliber player because they might be injured in the future.

They caved. There was a report that the Phillies were out because the Twins insisted on Painter. The Twins had the leverage. They did not need to trade Duran unless they were blown away. They didn’t get the catcher they need for 27. They didn’t get a starter that projects to be playoff level in 26 or 27. If you deal Duran for this much control the grade should be an A. If it is not an A grade it is an F. Absolute failure. The only way this is a good deal is when Abel is above league average and playoff quality starter next year and Tait is ready to replace Jeffers when he hits free agency in 27. When that happens I will be back to eat crow. Until then it is a failure.

Really good addition for the Twins. They did not get a catcher in this draft class and now they have that 19 year old catcher.

Looking forward to this post a week from now.

Absolutely agree. However they have to get the deals done. I assume they have targets within each organization. If they can get one of them for just Bader they need to pull the trigger. Holding out to try to get a better target may end in the trading partner looking elsewhere doing two smaller deals for a reliever and outfielder from separate clubs. The Twins can’t be left holding these assets.

Have fun Pierson Ohl. These men work so hard to get here. I enjoy watching debuts almost no matter how they go.

Fun game of baseball. Excited for Kiersey.

Do you think Ballesteros will stick at catcher? From Fangraphs full report From MLB Rushing has much better numbers as a catcher but might be more expensive. If they want to take a chance on a guy who has questions at catcher but can hit they could consider Luis Campusano. He might be a buy low they can pick up with giving up any key player with control. Ford would be awesome.

Selling off expiring contracts also opens a space in the roster and an opportunity to someone who they do control for next year.

I think Bader is simalar to Nelson Cruz and Eduardo Escobar. Escobar better three prospects with FVs 40+, 40 and below 35. For Cruz they got two 45s and Ryan slotted in below Strotman according the Fangraphs. To make that deal happen the Twins needed to add a prospect back. Someone in that 40-45 range for the Dodgers will have some success in the majors. The Twins need to find that guy.

Absolutely. Yes. Will the front office be willing to invest into this team over the winter? One more bat would really help. Maybe it is Jenkins. Maybe Rodriguez is healthy and impactful. Maybe Lewis plays at an all star level. I am not shutting the door on next season,

Eldridge has a 33.3% strike out rate in AAA with an 84 wRC+. He isn’t close to ready. Made hasn’t hit high A yet. High risk. De Vries has hit high A but has yet to put up offensive numbers beyond slightly above league average. DePaula is in high A but his defense at corner outfield is going to be shaky. All of these players have too much uncertainty. Three have upside given their age but my guess is only one of these is an all star level major leaguer and for three of them that is probably 5 years away. Let’s wait a year.

Saw this earlier but didn’t click through. Wish I hadn’t clicked now. Most are the very back end of the 100. My guess is one of the 5 turns out to be an average regular or number 4 starter. Most will use up options and service time on the early career performance roller coaster. If in time they become consistently useful it will be time to trade them for other FV 50s.

I watched the Lewis double and did not expect the runner to score from first. Hard line drive to left field that the fielder handled well. You expect a score on a double in the gaps but this was a shorter throw home than a ball in the gap. EV 106.4 and LA 16 one hop to the fence. Not a lot of air time to get home. If you watched it live and had a different take in that moment I can respect that. It is hard to respect an after the fact take. All of this Correa nonsense is overshadowing a great start by Zebby.