Tom Froemming

Huh. Funny none of this comes out until AFTER the team trades away a popular player and is under some heat from the fan base. Weird ...

An often-repeated take on the site this season has been that Cleveland isn’t that great of a team. While that may be true, they do have some special players. Their stars are good enough to beat you almost on their own. One day after Jose Ramirez showcased his skills with the bat, Carlos Carrasco dominated the Twins on the mound. He struck out 10 batters over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, holding the Twins to five hits in the process. Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports An often-repeated take on the site this season has been that Cleveland isn’t that great of a team. While that may be true, they do have some special players. Their stars are good enough to beat you almost on their own. One day after Jose Ramirez showcased his skills with the bat, Carlos Carrasco dominated the Twins on the mound. He struck out 10 batters over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, holding the Twins to five hits in the process. Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Adalberto Mejia: 64 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 3 BB, 60.8% strikes Multi-Hit Games: Jorge Polanco (2-for-4) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Mejia .291 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Garver -.133, Rosario -.137, Morrison -.139, Forsythe -.246 Mike Berardino reported that new Twin Logan Forsythe was working on one hour of sleep. Sounds like a great choice as a pinch hitter in the highest-leverage situation of the game today, huh? With the Twins trailing 1-0 in the eighth, Robbie Grossman drew a 10-pitch walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Forsythe took two strikes, then hit the third pitch from Brad Hand 100.3 mph. Unfortunately, it was a bullet on the ground to Francisco Lindor, who started an inning-ending double play. The only real scoring chance the Twins had other than that inning was when Joe Mauer hit a two-out triple in the sixth. Cleveland’s first run came on a well-executed play on the bases. With runners at the corners and one out in the sixth, Ramirez broke for second. Mitch Garver fired down to get him out, thanks to an impressive tag by Ehire Adrianza, but Rajai Davis took off for home on the throw and beat the relay back to Garver. Cleveland’s second run came in large part due to an error on Jorge Polanco. AL Central Standings CLE 59-48 MIN 49-58 (-10) DET 47-62 (-13) CHW 37-69 (-21.5) KC 33-73 (-25.5) Next Three Games Thu: Off Fri vs. KC, 7:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Heath Fillmyer Sat vs. KC, 6:10 pm CT: Jose Berrios vs. Burch Smith Sun vs. KC, 1:10 pm CT: Ervin Santana vs. TBD Last Three Games CLE 6, MIN 2: Deadline Day Ends in Defeat MIN 5, CLE 4: Awesome Sauce! BOS 3, MIN 0: Fenway Free Fall Continues View full article

It was not a great month for the Red Wings' bullpen. Here are the July numbers with Rochester: May: 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 3.00 K:BB in 9.1 IP Reed: 2.03 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 2.20 K:BB in 13.1 IP Baxendale: 3.45 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 3.50 K:BB in 15.2 IP Anderson: 5.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 5.50 K:BB in 9.0 IP Busenitz: 5.40 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 3.50 K:BB in 6.2 IP Duffey: 5.63 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 2.20 K:BB in 8.0 IP Curtiss: 5.79 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, 0.89 K:BB in 9.1 IP Bard: 9.82 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 3.00 K:BB in 7.1 IP

UPDATE: Kyle has confirmed on Twitter that Gibbystache is not happening

Something I noticed the other day and found interesting, here are some of the young starters in the org listed from youngest to oldest: Lewis Thorpe 22 & 251 days Zack Littell 22 & 300 days Charlie Barnes 22 & 304 days Fernando Romero 23 & 220 days Kohl Stewart 23 & 298 days Jose Berrios 24 & 66 days Tyler Wells 23 & 340 days Stephen Gonsalves 24 & 24 days Littell is a lot younger than I think most people would have guessed. Now that's only valuable to a certain degree, but I think he was a very solid pickup. I had to list Berrios into the mix here just so we can all remember just how bright the future may be for the Twins

Twins | 49-57 overall, 30-23 at home, 5-5 in their last 10 Adalberto Mejia, LHP | 1-0, 3.65 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 1.60 K:BB Cleveland | 58-48 overall, 26-27 on the road, 5-5 in their last 10 Carlos Carrasco, RHP | 12-5, 3.89 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4.92 K:BB Lineups: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1024676491941040128?s=19 Additional notes: As we turn the page from July to August, the Twins will also attempt to turn the page after a crazy week leading up to the trade deadline. I'm sure things didn't work out the way the guys in the clubhouse would have wanted, but at least it's all over now and we know who's here, who's not and the focus can be on moving forward. Let Day 1 of the Logan Forsythe Era begin For some reason, August has been a defining month for the Twins under Paul Molitor. In three years with Molly at the helm, they've been great, terrible and average this month, and the end result matched. 2015: 14-14 in Aug., 83-79 overall 2016: 9-20 in Aug., 59-103 overall 2017: 20-10 in Aug., 85-77 overall If August gets off to a good start, it seems there's a good chance it'll be behind a big game from Joe Mauer. He has a .406/.441/.625 line against Carrasco in 34 career plate appearances. Also, the Twins going to need guys to step up and take advantage of opportunities. Mejia is taking over the rotation spot vacated by Lance Lynn. Since he hasn't been around much this year, it's easy to forget how instrumental Mejia was to last season's team. He pitched the fourth-most innings and posted respectable numbers as a 24-year-old rookie in 2017. There's a good argument to be made that the Twins should have never sought out to replace him in the rotation in the first place, but you know what they say, "you can never have too much pitching."

The band-aid is totally ripped off now. Once Eduardo Escobar got dealt, the only question became just how many Twins players would be on the move between then and the start of tonight’s game. Clubhouse mainstay Brian Dozier was the final domino to fall just hours before the first pitch tonight. What had to have been a tough day on the team ended in a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Cleveland. Tomorrow is a new day. Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports The band-aid is totally ripped off now. Once Eduardo Escobar got dealt, the only question became just how many Twins players would be on the move between then and the start of tonight’s game. Clubhouse mainstay Brian Dozier was the final domino to fall just hours before the first pitch tonight. What had to have been a tough day on the team ended in a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Cleveland. Tomorrow is a new day. Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 53 Game Score, 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 58.2% strikes Home Runs: Logan Morrison (14) Multi-Hit Games: Max Kepler (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Morrison .107 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.127, Mauer -.133, Belisle -.202 We’ll get back to the game in just a sec, but I have something more important to address first. Earlier today, Nick Nelson wrote a valuable piece as it relates to what to watch for moving forward. He noted seven particularly critical Twins players, but I’ve got something else I wanted to pass along that’s worth watching: I think Kyle Gibson may be growing a mustache (maybe). I dunno, you tell me … https://twitter.com/BaseballByTom/status/1024479108556877824 OK, back to the action. Gibson exited this game with the Twins tailing 3-2 after six innings. In came Matt Belisle. Gulp. Of the six batters Belisle faced, three of them got hits and another was intentionally walked. He gave up two earned runs on three hits and got two outs. Belisle has now surrendered 16 earned runs in 17 ⅔ innings with the Twins. On the positive side, there were a couple of noteworthy comebacks out of the bullpen. Addison Reed made his first appearance with the Twins since July 10. He pitched a scoreless inning … but also topped out at 90.4 mph. Trevor May pitching in the major leagues for the first time since September 11, 2016. He gave up a run on a pair of hits over his inning of work and clocked in as high as 95.6 mph. Jose Ramirez was just incredible, as he has been all year for Cleveland. He was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and a stolen base. Postgame With Molitor https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1024501967110860801 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: AL Central Standings CLE 58-48 MIN 49-57 (-9) DET 46-62 (-13) CHW 37-68 (-20.5) KC 32-73 (-25.5) Next Three Games Wed vs. CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Thu: Off Fri at KC, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Sat at KC, 6:10 pm CTL TBD Last Three Games MIN 5, CLE 4: Awesome Sauce! BOS 3, MIN 0: Fenway Free Fall Continues BOS 10, MIN 4: Twins Blow Lead in Spectacular Fashion View full article

I think there is some value in this being sort of a "turn the page" type of trade. We all know Dozier was sort of the de facto voice of the clubhouse after Torii retired. Since he wasn't going to be coming back, I do think it may make things easier to move forward without him being around. I dunno, just my two cents looking from the outside in. Either way, you've got a stopgap to temporarily fill second base for the rest of the year if you choose and two guys who've been in Double A. I've been suspicious that Dozier has been playing a little banged up all year, so this is the return to be expected, I suppose. Still, the casual fans (and by that I mean mainly Vikings and Wild fans who happen to know the Twins exist) are going to have a field day with this one.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Twins and Dodgers are close on a trade that would send Brian Dozier to Los Angeles. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN is reporting the deal is done. And now we have the return: Logan Forsythe, Devin Smeltzer and Luke Raley. Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Twins and Dodgers are close on a trade that would send Brian Dozier to Los Angeles. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN is reporting the deal is done. And now we have the return: Logan Forsythe, Devin Smeltzer and Luke Raley. Like Dozier, Forsythe is on an expiring contract. His inclusion in the deal seems to be 100 percent about money moving around. Raley was the No. 19 prospect in the Dodgers' org per MLB Pipeline. Smeltzer was not included in LA's top 30. Raley, 23, has spent all season with the Dodgers' Double-A affiliate, and has posted a .275/.345/.477 line while splitting his time between first base and the outfield. He's been particularly hot of late, hitting .303/.366/.529 (.896 OPS) in July. He bats left and throws right. He was drafted in the seventh round back in 2016. Smeltzer, the Dodgers' fifth-round pick back in 2016, has also spent his entire season in Double A. The 22-year-old lefty has a 4.73 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 3.53 K:BB ratio over 83 2/3 innings. He made 14 starts to open this season, but his most recent nine appearances have all been out of the bullpen. In his first two seasons as a pro, Smeltzer averaged 10.1 K/9 over 153 innings, but that figure has dropped to 7.2 K/9 so far this season. Dozier, of course, was set to be a free agent this upcoming season. The Twins could have extended him a qualifying offer, a one-year deal somewhere between $17-$18 million. If Dozier turned that deal down and went on to sign for more than $50 million, the Twins would have received a draft pick in between the first and second rounds. If his eventual deal would have been for less than $50 million, a pretty safe assumption at this point, the Twins would have gotten a pick between the second and third rounds. With this deal the Twins have added another couple of pieces to the system, but if the value Dozier brought back was any indication of what's to come once he reaches free agency, it seems to me at least it would have been likely he and his camp would have accepted the qualifying offer. So what happens now? It'll be interesting to see if Forsythe sticks around as a hopeful waiver trade deadline piece for the Twins to market to other clubs. There's not an obvious replacement for Dozier at second base. The leading option was Ehire Adrianza with Gregorio Petit, Taylor Motter and Nick Gordon all factoring in somehow from Triple A. View full article

It sounds like the O's are close on a deal that would send Jonahtan Schoop ... somewhere. His availability has to have created some issues for the Twins in trying to move Dozier.

In their write up of the deal, Baseball America is reporting that Rijo's fastball is more in the 91-93 range.

Here's another fun thought exercise: If Fernando Rodney gets dealt, who becomes closer? Conventional wisdom probably says Addison Reed, but my guess is Molly would turn it over to Matt Belisle. Honestly.

My guess would also be #5, though #3 wouldn't shock me despite how much Gordon has struggled in Triple A.

I watched May's entire last outing with Rochester and came away impressed. Do not have radar readings, but he had both good control and command of his pitches. Was getting ahead and then really hitting his spots just outside the zone trying to get batters to chase. He pitched backwards to a few batters, dropping in a breaking ball for strike one. Here's his line this month with Rochester: 9.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K

Yep, it's Trevor May. Good hunch, Carole.

Yes, there is an open spot, I think I saw someone mention that a pitcher would be called up today, but I haven't seen which pitcher. Maybe they're waiting for the deadline to pass to see exactly how many sports they'll have open? Trevor May would make would make a lot of sense, you'd have to think it'll be a right-handed reliever and he's been getting it done in Rochester.

I think the lack of a Dozier market has maybe created an opportunity for him to be a good waiver trade candidate now. I can't see any team putting a claim on him unless they were interested in working out a deal. He may even clear waivers. Obviously the return isn't going to be great, but that's the same boat we're sitting in today. Plus, who knows, maybe Dozier gets hot and a contender has a need at 2B open up due to injury next month/

The hate has gone WAY too far on Buxton. Over the last 365 days he's played 84 games with the Twins and hit .254/.295/.437 (a slightly above league average OPS) in 319 PAs with 11 HRs, is 18-for-18 on stolen base attempts and obviously is elite in the field. If his second half 2017 would have come in the first half, he absolutely would have been an All-Star, he finished 18th in AL MVP voting last year. I get it that people are disappointed he hasn't lived up to expectations and has been hurt a lot, but this is swinging way too far back the other direction.

This is gonna be fun. I wouldn't be shocked if the Twins didn't make another trade, but I also wouldn't be shocked if they had three more deals today.

Mitch Garver, AKA GarvSauce, delivered a walk-off double to beat Cleveland, clearing a fog that had been surrounding this Twins team since the Eduardo Escobar trade. Miguel Sano showed some signs of life in his third game back from the minors and the bullpen was outstanding. Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Mitch Garver, AKA GarvSauce, delivered a walk-off double to beat Cleveland, clearing a fog that had been surrounding this Twins team since the Eduardo Escobar trade. Miguel Sano showed some signs of life in his third game back from the minors and the bullpen was outstanding. Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Ervin Santana: 27 Game Score, 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 1 K, 2 BB, 68.2% strikes Multi-Hit Games: Miguel Sano (2-for-3, 2B, BB), Mitch Garver (2-for-4, 2B) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Garver .271, Magill .180, Sano .171, Polanco .158, Rodney .147, Moya .131 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Rosario -.156, Santana -.278 Let’s go around the horn … First Base Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1024130397867659264 Mitch Garver has been on a tear. This guy needs to be in the lineup as often as he can handle. On the days he’s not behind the plate, the Twins don’t have a better DH option on the team than GarvSauce. One of the funnest things about these next two months will (hopefully) be a lot more moments like this one. Second Base This team needs Miguel Sano, and I’m not just talking about the 2018 Twins. He showed some positive signs in his third game back from the minors tonight. He hit an RBI double in the second inning, singled in the fifth and made a great catch going back on a ball in foul territory. Sano also led off the bottom of the ninth by drawing an eight-pitch walk. Gotta take the good with the bad. Yes, he also struck out. He was also picked off by the catcher at second base. It was an eventful day at the office. Third Base Ervin Santana looks like he’s in survival mode. In his first two starts back, he’s been throwing tons of changeups. He’s gone to that pitch 61 times among the 185 pitches he’s thrown in these two starts. Last year, he only went to the changeup around 10 percent of the time. The fastball’s just not back. Ervin topped out at 90.9 mph. He only got four swinging strikes on his 88 pitches. The fact that he’s been able to limit the damage as much as he has is a credit to his willingness to adjust. Home Plate In case you missed it, the Twins traded Zach Duke to Seattle and dealt Lance Lynn to the Yankees. Adalberto Mejia will take Lynn’s spot in the rotation and Addison Reed was activated off the DL. With the bullpen shuffling and this game being tied late, we got to see some different looks from Paul Molitor. Gabriel Moya bailed out Santana in the sixth inning, recording the final two outs with two runners on base. Then, Molitor went right to Trevor Hildenberger, who worked a scoreless seventh. Taylor Rogers came out for the eighth, but after giving up singles to two of the three batters he faced, Matt Magill came in. Yes, Matt Magill. He came back out of the witness protection program, or where ever he’d been, and pitched in the eighth inning of a tie ballgame. He retired the next two batters to end the threat. With the top of the Cleveland order coming up in the ninth, Molitor turned things over to Fernando Rodney. He was very on brand. He walked leadoff man Francisco Lindor on four pitches. https://twitter.com/Cut4/status/1024128241882132480 Lindor advanced to third with one out and then just when you were convinced it was all going to come crashing down … a strikeout. Then another walk. Then he fell behind the next batter 2-0 … and struck him out. Never a dull moment. This may have been the final time we’ll see Rodney in a Twins jersey. If that’s how it goes down, this was pretty much a signature game to remember him by. Postgame With Molitor https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1024137486656651264 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: AL Central Standings CLE 57-48 MIN 49-56 (-8) DET 45-62 (-13) CHW 37-68 (-20) KC 32-73 (-25) Next Three Games Tue vs. CLE, 7:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Trevor Bauer Wed vs. CLE, 12:10 pm CT: Adalberto Mejia vs. Carlos Carrasco Thu Off Fri at KC, 7:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games BOS 3, MIN 0: Fenway Free Fall Continues BOS 10, MIN 4: Twins Blow Lead in Spectacular Fashion BOS 4, MIN 3: No Escobar, but at Least We Still Have Belisle View full article

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.