Tom Froemming

I like this trade. Tyler Austin might be either an adjustment or simply some more playing time away from being a dangerous power hitter. Right now, I think he can help this team as a guy who starts against lefties at the very least. Gotta find a taker on Morrison to make that happen. Rijo does not throw hard, high 80s/low 90s from what I could find, but you can't live inside the zone like he does without knowing how to pitch. Maybe there's a mechanical measure that can be taken to get him pumping it up a little hotter, who knows? And this was for two months of Lance Lynn. Not sure Austin ever establishes himself or Rijo can survive against more advanced hitters, but I'm surprised they could get this much, even with Lynn pitching better of late.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has reported that 26-year-old first baseman Tyler Austin has been traded to the Twins. UDPDATE: Sherman adds that Lance Lynn is heading to New York. The Twins are also acquiring 19-year-old right-handed pitcher Luis Rijo.Austin has seen big league time with the Yankees over parts of three seasons, hitting .230/.287/.459 (.746 OPS) over 85 games. The bulk of his time has come at first base, but he's also played some in the outfield. Rated as the 77th-best prospect in the game prior to the 2013 season by Baseball America, Austin has a much more impressive .270/.347/.479 (.825 OPS) line in 202 games in Triple A. The biggest thing holding him back has been, stop me if you've heard this before, strikeouts. Austin has struck out in 39.6 percent of his MLB plate appearances and 27.0 percent of his PAs in Triple A. He'll fills a need in the Twins org right now as a right-handed bat capable of mashing lefties. Austin has hit MLB southpaws to the tune of a .292/.365/.596 batting line over 104 plate appearances so far. Rijo, a native of Venezuela, has posted strong numbers in his 125 1/3 innings so far as a professional. He has a 2.80 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and has averaged 8.4 K/9 while only issuing 1.0 BB/9. So far this season, Rijo is sporting a 10.67 K:BB ratio (32 strikeouts and just three walks over 39 innings). The bulk of his work has come with the Yankees' Appy League affiliate (same league as Elizabethton). Lynn had a frustrating free agency roll into a frustrating first month for the Twins. Lynn had an 8.37 ERA through his first five starts this season, but has been much more stable since, posting a 4.12 ERA over his last 15 starts. Though Lynn's disappointing overall performance contributed to the Twins getting off to a poor start, this has to be considered a positive way for things to end. Not long ago it would have been unimaginable that the Twins would land this kind of a package for Lynn. Click here to view the article

Zach Duke was a fun experiment. What did we learn? Don't give Paul Molitor left-handed specialists. Zach Duke percentage of PAs vs. LHB: 2018: 34.8% 2017: 58.1% 2016: 43.0% 2015: 39.6% 2014: 44.1% If I was the Twins, I'd stick De Jong right into the Rochester bullpen. Maybe have him junk his weakest pitch and see if everything can play up a bit in shorter bursts. Worth a shot. Being a recent 31st-round pick doesn't inspire confidence, but you gotta respect Costello's numbers and it's not like he's only feasting on kids. He's faced older pitchers 61.3 percent of the time. He's tied for the MWL lead in homers and is fourth in slugging.

Jon Heyman of Fancred broke the news that Twins reliever Zach Duke is being traded to Seattle in exchange for two minor leaguers. The Twins will receive RHP Chase De Jong, a 24-year-old in AA, and 22-year-old infielder Ryan Costello.The Twins acquired starting pitcher Chase De Jong, a 24-year-old, who has started 21 games for the Mariners' AA affiliate. He's 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA. In 120 2/3 innings, he has walked 34 and struck out 89. He has already pitched in the Blue Jays (2012-15), Dodgers (2015-16) systems, as well as the Mariners the last three seasons. He was originally the Blue Jays second-round pick in 2012. Infielder Ryan Costello is the other player acquired for Duke. The 22-year-old has hit .266 with 24 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs for Class A Clinton in the Midwest League where he was managed by Denny Hocking. He was the Mariners 31st round pick last June out of Central Connecticut University in New Britain, Connecticut. Zack Duke will head to the Mariners after a solid season with the Twins. The Twins will pay a small part of the remainder of Duke's 2018 contract. Click here to view the article

Doesn’t Thursday night feel like so long ago? The Twins won 2-1 in Boston behind an superb start from Kyle Gibson. Then came the trades. Then the walk-off loss. Then the blowout loss. To complete the three-day nosedive, the Twins got shut out Sunday afternoon. It’s worth noting the Red Sox are the best team in baseball, but this was still a depressing weekend to endure.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jose Berrios: 41 Game Score, 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 57.5% strikes Home Runs: None. Multi-Hit Games: None. WPA of 0.1 or higher: None WPA of -0.1 or lower: Dozier -.193 Download attachment: WinChart729.png Let’s go around the horn … First Base Just back on July 13, the Twins dismantled Nathan Eovaldi, who was pitching for the Rays at the time. They scored eight runs and forced him to throw 65 pitches in just 2 ⅔ innings. We sure this was the same guy? Eovaldi, making his debut with the Red Sox, was an absolute buzzsaw Sunday afternoon. He threw seven shutout innings, giving up just four hits without walking a single batter. It took him just 82 pitches, 62 of which were strikes (76.8 percent). Second Base Jose Berrios was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings and needed 106 pitches to do so. He only gave up three runs, but it could’ve been much worse. The Red Sox tallied nine hits and drew three walks off Jose. A moral victory isn’t much of a consolation, but it was nice to see him wiggle out of some trouble. Third Base Adalberto Mejia was impressive. Even with Berrios struggling, this was still a winnable game. Gabriel Moya recorded the last out of the fifth inning before Mejia kept the best lineup in baseball silent for the final three frames. He gave up just one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out four. I’d be willing to bet for his efforts Mejia will get a one-way ticket back to Rochester. Seems to be the way things have been going this year. Home Plate The bats couldn’t get anything going. Miguel Sano is going to be under the microscope, and deservingly so. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, but it’s not like his teammates did much better. The Twins had just four hits: singles from Jorge Polanco, Robbie Grossman and Jake Cave to go with a double by Eddie Rosario. So ends a series which started so positive and ends on a low. One brilliant game from the Twins followed by a walk off, a blowout and now this frustrating affair. There’s not much to say in losing a series to a great Red Sox team in Fenway, but toss the trades into the equation (even if they brought back good value) and these last three days have been a tough pill to swallow. Knowing this 2018 Twins team, they’ll probably follow this up by sweeping Cleveland. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen729.png AL Central Standings CLE 56-47 MIN 48-56 (-8.5) DET 45-61 (-12.5) CHW 37-67 (-19.5) KE 32-72 (-24.5) Next Three Games Mon vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. Shane Bieber Tue vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Trevor Bauer Wed vs. CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Carlos Carrasco Last Three Games BOS 10, MIN 4: Twins Blow Lead in Spectacular Fashion BOS 4, MIN 3: No Escobar, but at Least We Still Have Belisle MIN 2, BOS 1: Gibby the Great Click here to view the article

So you're basically going to blame Alex Meyer and Trevor May not panning out on the guys currently in charge? Sorry, without you actually saying what you mean you're leaving a lot of gray area. Here's what I'm saying: The best chance the Twins have at a sustained run of success is through building from the bottom up. Yes, add prospects. Loads of them! And once you're in a position to compete, you'll also have the opportunity to cash a few of them in for MLB talent if you see fit, just like Arizona and Boston just did. Again, sorry, I'm not super sure what specifically you're trying to say, but I'm just puzzled that so many people don't see the value in acquiring prospects/beefing up the system. It can work. We've seen it. Whatever failures there have been on the development side the blunders in trying to acquire MLB talent have been worse, in my opinion. SO THERE, EVERYTHING SUCKS, OK. Can't develop players, can't buy 'em either. Happy now? Now please excuse me while I go check to see if the domain www.DiamondbacksDaily.com is available ...

Pressly only had 27.2 IP at Double A when he joined the org and Escobar had a whopping 104 PAs with the White Sox. I feel like it's plenty fair to say both of those guys are developmental wins for this team. I get there's a lot of negativity and frustration right now, but are you really ready to throw in the towel on a 25-year-old Miguel Sano and a 24-year-old Byron Buxton? Derek Falvey's only been running the show since Oct. 2016, you're ready to say he and his staff are not to be trusted with developing players from the lower levels? You don't give this org any credit for developing guys like Jose Berrios or Eddie Rosario? Dozier, Kepler, Polanco, Hildneberger, Garver? How about how Kyle Gibson has blossomed under the current regime? Every team is going to have more failures than success stories. For every eighth-round pick who comes out of nowhere to hit 40 homers you can find three dozen highly-touted players who failed to live up to expectations. I don't think the homegrown talent is the issue with this organization right now. Most of the issues are coming from the guys who they've brought in from the outside. Do we really need to run down the list of disappointing players this organization has traded for or signed as free agents over the last decade?

I dunno, seems to me this organization did a pretty good job at turning Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Pressly into major leaguers.

He's been stripped of what he was by the Baseball Gods. I wonder if he has TOS and just doesn't want to do the surgery. They shut him down last year in fear that he had it, but then decided he just needed a mechanical adjustment. Either way, something's clearly missing. Might be even worse for his confidence if you send him back down. I'd just ride it out, he should be better off in the long run going through a rough patch. It's certainly something to take note of, but no reason to be concerned at this point. I think the Trevor May as a starter ship has sailed. He's averaged 24 pitches per appearance over his last seven games and the Twins have quite a few other starting options already on the 40-man-roster. I think he's ready to come up and help the bullpen right now.

I'm going full Bob Uecker in Major League now. The post-game show is brought to you by … Christ, I can't find it. To hell with it.

Eh, what the hell, why not? We'll put down whatever we feel like. Nobody's gonna be reading these things anymore anyway

Brusdar Graterol is by far the youngest pitcher to appear for the Miracle this year and has already established a personal season high in innings pitched this year. It was to be expected that he was going to be challenged after his promotion up from Cedar Rapids. Well, tonight was Graterol’s fifth start with Fort Myers, and he dominated.TRANSACTIONS -The prospects acquired in the Eduardo Escobar trade now have new homes. Ernie De La Trinidad was added to the Fort Myers Miracle roster while both Jhoan Duran and Gabriel Maciel were sent to Cedar Rapids. -We also know where one of the new additions from the Astros are headed. Gilberto Celestino is going to be joining Elizabethton. No word yet on Jorge Alcala. -Jared Akins, who has been with Cedar Rapids, is on his way back down to the E-Twins. Shane Carrier was placed on the Fort Myers DL with a left quad strain. Bailey Ober was placed on the Cedar Rapids DL with a right elbow strain. -Both Miguel Sano and Gabriel Moya were officially called up from Rochester to the Twins. Taylor Motter rejoined the Red Wings after being outrighted. RED WINGS REPORT Louisville 5, Rochester 2 Box Score SP: D.J. Baxendale (4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) HR: None. Multi-hit games: None. The Red Wings offense has been pretty brutal. They only mustered four hits and struck out 10 times while not drawing a single walk. Trevor May was impressive over two shutout innings, striking out a pair of batters while throwing 18 of his 26 pitches for strikes, but Alan Busenitz struggled badly (three runs on five hits and a walk over two innings). Willians Astudillo caught for the first time since June 2 and threw out the only base runner who attempted to steal a base off him. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Tennessee 4, Chattanooga 1 Box Score SP: Ryan Eades (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) HR: Chris Paul (6) Multi-hit games: Chris Paul (3-for-4, HR), Zander Wiel (2-for-4) The Lookouts led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Tyler Jay gave up a walk-off grand slam. Prior to that, Ryan Eades (two innings), Anthony Marzi (five innings) and Williams Ramirez (one inning) had combined to shut out the Smokies. Chris Paul had a great night, going 3-for-4 with a homer, and Zander Wiel had a pair of hits. The rest of the Chattanooga line up combined to go 1-for-21. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1: Fort Myers 5, Daytona 1 (7 innings) Box Score W: Brusdar Graterol (5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K) SV: Jovani Moran (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) HR: None. Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (3-for-4, 2B), Taylor Grzelakowski (2-for-4, 2B) The Miracle staff combined for 12 strikeouts and this was just a seven-inning game. Wow. Brusdar Graterol had a breakthrough performance in this, his fifth start with Fort Myers. One run on two hits and three walks to go with 10 strikeouts. This was Royce Lewis’ fifth multi-hit game in 13 contests with the Miracle. Game 2: Dayton 5, Fort Myers 4 (7 innings) Box Score SP: Andro Cutura (5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) HR: None. Multi-hit games: None. Ernie De La Trinidad made his debut with the org, and was 1-for-3. Ho-hum, right? Well, his one hit was a Little League home run. He sent a single out to right field, it was misplayed and EDLT (just go with it) rounded the bases. Alex Kirilloff carried a 10-game hitting streak into today. With there being two seven-inning contests, you’d figure it was going to be tough to keep that streak rolling, but Kirilloff recorded a single in Game 1 before hitting a double in this game. KERNELS NUGGETS Quad Cities 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score SP: Blayne Enlow (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) HR: None. Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (2-for-5), Trey Cabbage (2-for-4) Frustrating night for the Kernels, as they closed the gap to one run in the fourth inning but could not find a way to tie it up from there. Blayne Enlow had a quality start, going six innings for the fourth-consecutive start. Gabriel Maciel was 0-for-5 in his debut in the Twins organization. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Bristol 0 Box Score W: Josh Winder (5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (3-for-4) Michael Helman has made quite the early impression. This was his 10th pro game, and he’s now hitting .412 and already has six stolen bases. The Twins’ 11th-round pick out of Texas A&M, Helman has primarily been playing second base, but he has also made starts at shortstop and left field. Josh Winder threw five one-hit innings before Juan Gamez and Pedro Garcia each added two no-hit innings. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 4 Box Score W: Osiris German (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) SP: Andriu Marin (4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) HR: Hunter Lee (1) Multi-hit games: Alberoni Nunez (3-for-4, 2B), Estamy Urena (2-for-4) , Austin Hale (2-for-4) Petru Balan had a big performance out of the bullpen for the Twins, pitching two scoreless innings while striking out three batters. This was a tie game heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Alberoni Nunez delivered the game-winning run on double. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Brusdar Graterol, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Alberoni Nunez, GCL Twins TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 3-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI | 0-for-3, R, BB, K 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-for-3, BB, RBI | 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, K 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-4, K 5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): Did not pitch. 6. Trevor Larnach (ET): 0-for-4, K 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-for-3, BB 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 1-for-5, 4 K 9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season 10. Zack Littell (ROC): Did not pitch. 11. Blayne Enlow (CR): 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K 12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-3, K 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 0-for-1, K 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch. 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 0-for-3 16. Yunior Severino (ET): 1-for-5, 3 K 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Out with an injury. 18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): 0-for-4, 2 K 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 1-for-4, R, 2 K 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 0-for-4, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Louisville, 5:00 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves Chattanooga at Tennessee, 4:30 pm CT: TBD Fort Myers at Daytona, 4:35 pm CT: TBD Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities, 2:05 pm CT: Jordan Balazovic Elizabethton vs. Bristol, 5:00 pm CT: Brian Rapp GCL Twins: Off Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

The Twins held a 4-1 lead after the first three inning of tonight’s game at Fenway Park, but things got ugly from there. Jake Odorizzi gave up five runs over five innings of work before the bullpen surrendered another five. To top it off, Miguel Sano struck out three times in his return from the minor leagues.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jake Odorizzi: 34 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 64.4% strikes Home Runs: Logan Morrison (13) Multi-Hit Games: Joe Mauer (2-for-4) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Polanco .133, Dozier .122 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.124, Moya -.144, Odorizzi -.290 Download attachment: WinChart728.png Let’s go around the horn … First Base Ryan Pressly made his Astros debut and gave up a solo homer in his inning of work. Eduardo Escobar started at third and hit fifth in his D-Backs debut. Seeing him in another uniform makes me want to throw my computer out the window. Second Base Anyway, let’s get to the guys who are still here. Well, for now, at least. Paul Molitor was in Cooperstown to celebrate Jack Morris’ induction into the Hall of Fame. That meant bench coach Derek Sheldon took over as manager, and that meant Matt Magill actually got to pitch. Magill gave up a run on two hits over 1 ⅔ innings, but he also struck out three batters. Third Base That’s where Miguel Sano was, making his first appearance with the Twins since June 13. Parker wrote a great article titled Ready Or Not Here Comes Sano earlier today, I encourage you to check that out. Well, I don’t know if you could necessarily say that Sano didn’t look ready, but he certainly didn’t shine in his return. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Home Plate Gabriel Moya, the other guy who was just added to the 25-man roster, didn’t look so great himself. He faced four batters and gave up a double, a walk, a single and threw a wild pitch. I thought it was a little curious that the Twins would add a third lefty to the pen. Zach Duke hasn’t pitched for three games now. Duke was already a likely trade candidate, but putting two and two together tells me his days in a Twins uni have to be numbered. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen728.png AL Central Standings CLE 56-47 MIN 48-55 (-8) DET 45-61 (-12.5) CHW 37-67 (-19-5) KC 32-72 (-24.5) Next Three Games Sun at BOS, 12:05 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Nathan Eovaldi Mon vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Tue vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games BOS 4, MIN 3: No Escobar, but at Least We Still Have Belisle MIN 2, BOS 1: Gibby the Great MIN 12, TOR 6: More Like Er-win Sweep-tana!!! Click here to view the article

Nah. Rebuilding teams don't keep 27 and 28-year-olds who are already on the 40-man-roster, are putting up strong numbers and have multiple years of team control down in the minors in favor of guys like Matt Belisle. They don't start Bobby Wilson over Mitch Garver. They don't hang on to a struggling veteran like Logan Morrison. Well, teams that are actually committed to rebuilding don't.

Hey Seth, you ever think about taking pre-orders for the Twins Prospect Handbook? Something tells me that's going to be a hot item this offseason. Just a hunch.

I like it. Also, I'm happy for Pressly. He gets to go home to Texas and pitch for a really awesome team that's gonna be stoked to add him to their pen.

The Twins traded away Eduardo Escobar earlier today, clearly raising the white flag on the 2018 season, yet their first game after it's been made clear that they're sellers they lost because 38-year-old scrap heap veteran Matt Belisle gave up a walk-off home run. I'm pretty sure this is not how rebuilding works.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Lance Lynn: 53 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 63.1% strikes Multi-Hit Games: Jorge Polanco (2-for-4, R, BB), Eddie Rosario (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Rosario .423 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Cave -.105, Dozier -.170, Garver -.190, Rodney -.279, Belisle -350 Download attachment: WinChart727.png Let’s go around the horn … First Base Can’t say I’ve ever seen this before: … Oh ... Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen727.png AL Central Standings CLE 56-46 MIN 48-54 (-8) DET 44-61 (-13.5) CHW 36-66 (-20) KC 31-71 (-25) Next Three Games Sat at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Rick Porcello Sun at BOS, 12:05 pm CT: TBD vs. Nathan Eovaldi Mon vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 2, BOS 1: Gibby the Great MIN 12, TOR 6: More Like Er-win Sweep-tana!!! MIN 5, TOR 0: All-Star, Indeed Click here to view the article

The Twins entered play today 48-53. Why in the world would a team like that flip prospects for rental players?

Baseball Prospectus had them at 1.9%

Maybe one of the incentives will be they'll let him sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame at all the home games.