Tom Froemming

Some others have already mentioned the possibility of the Twins singing Escobar as a free agent, but another thing to keep in mind is these new prospects could be flipped next year for pieces to help the big league club. Or at least their presence in the system could make it more ideal for the front office to trade away other pieces from the system. So no, none of these guys specifically will help the 2019 Twins, but that doesn't mean they can't help next years team in a more indirect way.

Yep, nothing wrong with a college guy being in the MWL during is first full season. Sorry, that comment was more of me trying to pump the breaks a bit on some of the positive reactions in regard to his stats earlier in the comments. He has the most impressive stat line of the trio, but, at least to me, is clearly the undercard in this trade. I doubt I'll consider him much of a prospect until he shows he can do something in the FSL. But also De La Trinidad is going to be 23 this winter and Royce just turned 19.

Wow! I'm surprised they have Maciel that high, not too far back of Akil Baddoo (who they have 11th). Here's a link to their updated list for anybody interested: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018?list=min

Just my quick snapshot of the return: Duran is fun. Big fella, sounds like he's been clocked as high as 98 mph and can really spin his curve. Takes advantage of his size with a nice long stride. Overall numbers don't look great but both K/9 (9.9) and K:BB ratio (2.54) look good. Has faced older hitters 84.1 percent of the time. Exactly the type of guy you want to bring into your organization if you're confident in your ability to develop pitching. The jury is obviously still out on whether or not that's a trait you can ascribe to the Falvine era Twins, but I bet their very excited to have gotten their hands on this cat. Maciel has some intrigue as well. He's only 19, but the switch hitter has a nice 16.0 K% and 9.6 BB%. Runs well, has 45 stolen bases in 180 career games. So he's got athleticism and baseball skills. I wonder if the Twins see some physical projection, because if he could add even a little power, he'll shoot up prospect lists. If not, I highly doubt we'll ever see him at Target Field. There's a lot more power than there are piranhas in today's game. De La Trinidad is going to need to go up to Fort Myers. His numbers are good, he's got an advanced approach (48 Ks vs. 45 BBs) so he needs to be challenged. Encouraging to see he's held his own against LHP (.807 OPS). Again, I want to see what he can do in the FSL.

Multiple reports have confirmed that the Twins and Diamondbacks are in agreement on a deal that would send Eduardo Escobar to Arizona. Here's the return: Jhoan Duran, Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel. There has been a lot of debate at the site the past few days about how things should play out as Tuesday's tread deadline approaches. If this deal is indeed finalized, it seems to be a clear indication the direction the team has chosen. Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Multiple reports have confirmed that the Twins and Diamondbacks are in agreement on a deal that would send Eduardo Escobar to Arizona. Here's the return: Jhoan Duran, Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel. There has been a lot of debate at the site the past few days about how things should play out as Tuesday's tread deadline approaches. If this deal is indeed finalized, it seems to be a clear indication the direction the team has chosen. News the two sides were close was originally relayed by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Twitter. Jon Heyman of Fancred confirmed there was indeed a deal being finalized. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 has shared that three Diamondbacks minor leaguers will be headed over, though we're still waiting for names. UPDATE: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has the details. The Twins are acquiring right-hander Jhoan Duran and outfielders Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel. Over the past seven seasons, we've watched as Eduardo Escobar has blossomed from a pretty nondescript utility man into an everyday player who's on pace to set the all-time doubles record this year. It's been a fun journey, and I can only speak for myself, but he's a guy who I feel has endeared himself to the fans much more than the average ballplayer. He was less of a professional baseball player who I enjoyed watching and more like a character on my favorite TV show. Always smiling, always having fun, always playing hard. And an entertainer to boot! Arizona is getting a good one. Whether it was his play on the diamond, those great Escobar Name Game videos or him talking about Fogo de Chao in all his postgame interviews (there's one in Scottsdale, I checked), Eduardo will be sorely missed across Twins Territory. According to MLB Pipeline, Maciel ranked No. 11 in Arizona's system and Duran was the Diamondbacks 19th-best prospect. De La Trinidada was not listed among their top 30. In Baseball America's most-recent update of the Arizona rankings, Duran slotted in at No. 10. All three of those players were with Kane County, Arizona's affiliate in the Midwest League (same as the Cedar Rapids Kernels). Here are links to their respective Baseball-Reference pages if you want to scope out their numbers: Jhoan Duran, Gabriel Macial and Ernie De La Trinidad. This is difficult to do in the moment, but if you take your heart out of the equation, you have to recognize that Escobar is exactly the kind of player who it makes sense to deal at the deadline. Not only is he an impending free agent, but he's in the middle of a career year. Escobar's current OPS, .852, is nearly 100 points higher than he's posted in any other season and 130 points higher than his career mark. UPDATE: He's not making it any easier to say goodbye ... The Twins were riding high on the heels of an impressive 2-1 win at Boston last night, but their playoff odds still sat at just 1.6 percent, per FanGraphs. They are seven games back of Cleveland, who recently took measures to build up its biggest weakness. View full article

Alan Busenitz throws 95 mph and I think his curve is pretty nice too. And you know what? Busenitz actually has a better career ERA and WHIP in the majors than Pressly does.

How can those guys prove themselves if they're never given the opportunity? Pressly himself wasn't all that impressive just last season. Hell, take a look at the transformation Gibson has made the past 12 months. Pitchers can improve. Pitching well in Triple A may not equate to pitching well in the majors, but pitching poorly in the majors over small samples also doesn't disqualify a guy from ever becoming a good MLB pitcher.

Precisely. This is how we base ball.

Just remembered another guy to add into that right-handed reliever mix: Michael Pineda.

If the return for Pressly is similar to both those trades, I'd definitely pull the trigger.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they packed it in, I just see very little chance of that actually happening. So instead, I'm trying to envision some sort of middle-ground moves they could potentially make that give them a boost down the road without crippling the 2018 team. Pressly was the best one I could come up with. I'm sure some other people will mention Lynn, Morrison, Duke or Odorizzi, but those guys just don't have much (if any) trade value.

Just a thought. I think Ryan Pressly has a ton of trade value right now and unlike some of the other guys of value being discussed (Gibson, Escobar, Dozier) I think the Twins could replace him. Dealing Pressly could improve your future outlook without completely raising the white flag on the present season. Addison Reed is starting a rehab assignment soon, there are several right-handed relievers on the 40-man roster who are pitching well in Triple A (Duffey, Busenitz, May, Curtiss) and you could always plug Fernando Romero into the bullpen and see if he could provide a spark if it came to that. Yes, Pressly's under control for next year too, but so are all of those replacement options I named. Also, relievers are so volatile that I generally feel pretty good about dealing from the bullpen. Pressly himself had a 4.70 ERA just last season. To be clear, this isn't meant to be a jab at Pressly. He's been great, the fact that his trade value is so high speaks to his performance. Exactly how high do I think his value is? I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins could get as much for him as they could for Dozier. I was pretty impressed with what the White Sox were able to add in their deal that sent Joakim Soria to Milwaukee. What do you think?

As for Gibson, I think there's less than a 10 percent chance they trade him. If the hardcore fans are split on that move, just think what the reaction would be like from the casual fans. I'm pretty confident this organization will never do anything that controversial. I'd certainly be listening to offers, which I'm sure the Twins are. The last thing I'd be thinking about right now is trying to sign Gibson to an extension. No need to go there right now, and there are several other players I'd approach about an extension first.

Could be Mejia, he's still on the roster, but I just go with whatever's officially listed on MLB.com (which is still TBD).

HA! This is great! And the hyperdrive never works until that exact moment they need it to kick in.

Up until about 12 months ago, you never really knew what you were going to get out of Kyle Gibson. Who was going to show up? Good Gibby, or bad Gibby? Since, Kyle has been remarkably reliable, until tonight. This was next level. This was Gibson’s transformation in its final form. This was the arrival of Gibby the Great. Image courtesy of © Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports Up until about 12 months ago, you never really knew what you were going to get out of Kyle Gibson. Who was going to show up? Good Gibby, or bad Gibby? Since, Kyle has been remarkably reliable, until tonight. This was next level. This was Gibson’s transformation in its final form. This was the arrival of Gibby the Great. Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 80 Game Score, 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 K, 2 BB, 55.8% strikes Multi-hit games: Brian Dozier (2-for-3, R, BB, K) WPA of 0.1 or higher: Gibson .446, Rodney .221 Garver .171 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Escobar -.117, Adrianza -.172 Let’s go around the horn … First Base Hell of a start by Gibson. This is a Red Sox team he was facing that has the best lineup in baseball and he held them to a single run on four hits over eight innings of work. He threw 120 pitches and racked up seven strikeouts against just two walks. https://twitter.com/njrowan/status/1022662382554939392 Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and J.D. Martinez have been three of the most dangerous hitters in the game, but combined to go just 1-for-11 with a walk and four strikeouts against Gibby the Great. Gibson’s demeanor on the mound also matched the performance. Kyle just looked like he was in control, in the zone. He ended his night by striking out Martinez swinging, the kind of a moment that could send chills up and down your spine and give you goosebumps. Could this be his last start for the Twins? I wouldn’t bet on it, but I’m certain contending teams are hounding the Twins’ front office right now to check in on his availability. Second Base OK, so the Fernando Rodney Experience is the real deal. We’ve certainly seen glimpses of the FRE up to this point, but this was intense. Rodney, who clearly did not have his changeup working at all, labored in the ninth. He also loves to work methodically. You could see where this would be to his benefit, establishing that he is in control, but as a fan, holy cow is it torturous. Rodney gave up a leadoff single, but then managed to retire the next two batters in short order. Things swung completely back the other direction, as the next two batters walked. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rodney fell behind Jackie Bradley Jr. 3-0. Just when you were convinced this was going to end in catastrophe … three-straight strikes, SIT DOWN, GAME OHVAH!!!!! Third Base The Twins made two outs at home. They got three hits and a walk in the first inning, but did not score because of this: https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1022625783934644225 They got a pair of walks and a hit in the sixth inning, but did not score because of this: https://twitter.com/TwinsHighlights/status/1022653242046590977 Thank goodness none of that ended up mattering in the end, because ... Home Plate Mitch Garver. He was the DH tonight over Logan Morrison and delivered the game-winning hit, an RBI double in the eighth inning. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1022658147008172032 OK, so Robbie Grossman and Brian Dozier deserve some credit too. Grossman led off the seventh inning with a single, went first-to-third on a Max Kepler single and then scored the game-tying run on a double play ball. Dozier drew a one-out walk in the eighth, stole second base and then came around to score on that clutch Garver double. Ehire Adrianza also deserves a tip of the cap for making a great defensive play at shortstop late in this one. Postgame With Gibson https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1022668395299266560 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 55-46 MIN 48-53 (-7) DET 44-60 (-12.5) CHW 36-66 (19.5) KC 31-71 (-24.5) Next Three Games Fri at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Chris Sale Sat at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Jake Odorizzi vs. Rick Porcello Sun at BOS, 12:05 pm CT: TBD vs. Nathan Eovaldi Last Three Games MIN 12, TOR 6: More Like Er-win Sweep-tana!!! MIN 5, TOR 0: All-Star, Indeed MIN 8, TOR 3: Twins Cruise Over Toronto View full article

Sorry sSOO, I didn't realize we had a volunteer for today's thread. Thankfully somebody merged these together and now we have a two-headed monster of a game thread. But it's less like the one on Sesame Street and more like Zaphod Beeblebrox from Hitchhiker's Guide ...

Twins | 47-53 overall, 18-31 on the road, 6-4 in their last 10 Kyle Gibson, RHP | 4-7, 3.57 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 2.48 K:BB Red Sox | 71-32 overall, 34-13 at home, 7-3 in their last 10 Brian Johnson, LHP | 1-3, 3.81 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 2.76 K:BB Lineups: (Will update once available) Additional notes: Wow, take a look at that record for Boston. They’re on pace to win something like 112 games. The Red Sox own the best team OPS (.795) in all of baseball and their team ERA (3.56) ranks fourth. They’ve got four of the top 15 players in the American League (Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi and Xander Bogaerts) and three of the top 20 pitchers in the AL (Chris Sale, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez) in terms of fWAR. As fans looking from the outside in and realizing the combination of incredibly long odds of making the playoffs combined with how many pending free agents the Twins have, I think the majority of us have long accepted the fact the Twins were going to be sellers. But, to this point the front office has made no moves, and I’m sure the guys in the clubhouse aren’t throwing in the towel just yet, especially after their sweep at Toronto. The Twins are theoretically still in the playoff race, sitting 7.5 games behind Cleveland, but this series should serve as a great measuring stick against an elite team. Boston’s longest losing streak this season is three games, and they’ve only lost back-to-back games on seven occasions this year, so a series win for Minnesota would be quite a statement. If Paul Molitor and his team want to prove to the decision makers that they’ve got what it takes to make a run, here’s their opportunity. The 2017 Twins had a knack for coming up big when their backs were against the wall. It’ll be fun to see how this group responds.

Am I right!? Ervin Santana made an encouraging 2018 debut as the Twins managed to pull off a sweep at Toronto, scoring six runs in the top of the 11th inning. I spent much of the Royals series wondering aloud on here if the Twins taking a downturn before the deadline may be for the best, but these last three games have been fun. I mean, not really keep the band together fun, but still. Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Am I right!? Ervin Santana made an encouraging 2018 debut as the Twins managed to pull off a sweep at Toronto, scoring six runs in the top of the 11th inning. I spent much of the Royals series wondering aloud on here if the Twins taking a downturn before the deadline may be for the best, but these last three games have been fun. I mean, not really keep the band together fun, but still. Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Ervin Santana: 50 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB Lineup: 6-for-17 w/RISP, 12 LOB WPA of 0.1 or higher: Garver .396, Kepler .364, Belisle .289, Duke .140 WPA of -0.1 or lower: Morrison -.143, Hildenberger -.408 Let’s go around the horn … First Base It’s great to see Ervin back, and his 2018 debut has to be considered a success. After a much longer recovery than expected followed by some concerning reports throughout the early stages of his minor league rehab assignment, Santana didn’t pitch a gem but he gave his team a chance to win. Santana topped out at 91.1 mph, but relied heavily on his offspeed stuff. According to Baseball Savant, only 25 of his 97 pitches were fastballs. He threw 37 changeups and 35 sliders. Last season, Ervin averaged 93.1 mph on his four-seamer and only threw his changeup 10.3 percent of the time. It’ll be really interesting to follow Santana’s pitch usage, but as a veteran who’s had to make plenty of adjustments over his career, one would think he can still be an asset even without his best stuff going. Second Base Trevor Hildenberger’s having a weird year. He gave up three earned runs in an inning of work today, coughing up the lead in the eighth inning in the process. He’s now given up 21 earned runs this season, 11 of which have come in three particularly ugly appearances. But hey, he’s been pretty awesome in those other 44 games. It was all OK, because the Twins were bailed out by ... Matt Belisle? Wait, that can’t be right. OK, so Matty B pitched his way into trouble and then was aided by terrible baserunning by Kendrys Morales, but he did pitch a scoreless ninth inning. And he wasn’t done! Belisle came back out for the 10th, gave up a leadoff single, but again worked a scoreless inning. Just gonna go ahead and pencil Matt Belisle into my projected 2019 Minnesota Twins bullpen right now. Third Base Max Kepler, well ... he had a bad moment. https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/1022222775669469184 Apparently Max didn’t inherit those dancer’s feet Kepler drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning with a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Maybe not the most heroic way to pick up the game-winning RBI, but whatever works. The crazy part was the Twins just kept scoring in the 11th inning, thanks in large part to ... Home Plate Mitch Garver. He was the heartbeat of the Twins offense today. Garver singled to drive in the Twins first run in the second inning, hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth, added an RBI single in the eighth inning and then delivered a two-run double in the 11th. https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1022245124988755968 Garver entered this game having hit .308 with an .868 OPS over his previous 30 games. It was also great to see things work out so that Mitch was catching Santana’s first game back. Forming a battery with such a veteran is only going to help Garver’s development behind the plate. 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 55-46 MIN 47-53 (-7.5) DET 44-60 (-12.5) CHW 36-64 (-18.5) KC 31-70 (-24) Next Three Games Thu at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Kyle Gibson vs. Brian Johnson Fri at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: Lance Lynn vs. Chris Sale Sat at BOS, 6:10 pm CT: TBD Last Three Games MIN 5, TOR 0: All-Star, Indeed MIN 8, TOR 3: Twins Cruise Over Toronto KC 5, MIN 3: Royals Sweep Twins, Butera Hits Inside-the-Park Homer (Seriously) View full article

Right, but in the grand scheme "us" isn't the hardcore fan on a message board trying to figure out what the hell the team is doing with their last few spots on the roster "Us" is just somebody who is a potential consumer of the product. So when you look at things from that perspective, it starts to make a lot more sense why ownership would be hesitant to trade away players who even the most casual of fans recognize. "Us" won't understand the logic behind a rebuild. "Us" doesn't give a **** about reporters pressing members of the front office about transactions. The Jim Pohlads and the Dave St. Peters of the organization definitely need to be concerned about "us," but the front office works for "them."

You don't work for the parents of your district. Did they hire you? Can they directly fire you? I get what you're saying, but do you get what I mean? I'm being very literal. And the questions you've laid out, especially the one about building the stadium, is definitely something that should be aimed at ownership, or maybe Dave St. Peter at least, but not the baseball operations guys. Let's just say they're hanging on to the veterans because ownership has instructed them to try to squeeze out as many wins as possible this season, what are they supposed to say? "Yeah, we totally want to rebuild, but Jim invested a lot of money in this team and he wants attendance to be as high as possible through the rest of the year, so we're just hoping Cleveland keeps from taking off so there's some illusion we're still in contention." I don't think that'd go over real well. As far as reporters getting their credentials pulled, it happens. If a reporter writes something that doesn't shed a positive light, they could get get blackballed by the team, it happens. I'd have to imagine if you are consistently a person who asks the type of questions people don't feel comfortable answering or develop a reputation as someone who's sniffing around for dirt, it's going to hurt your ability to be a good beat writer one way or another. So the incentive's not there to stick your neck out.

Yes, but would the tough questions you'd have to answer be to a reporter/third party? Or would they be to your boss and to your client? For all we know the front office/manager/coaches/players are all having to answer/own up to any of their shortcomings behind closed doors. Paul Molitor, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine all work for Jim Pohlad. They don't work for the fans. The reporters in the clubhouse all work for their respective media outlets. They don't work for the fans. Yes, Jim Pohlad wants the fans to show up and support his team so he can make money. But having his manager and front office be transparent with the media really isn't going to help him achieve that goal. Yes, media outlets provide coverage of sports in the hope that fans will consume their product. But having their reporter risk getting their credentials pulled, or at least damaging a relationship, isn't going to help them achieve that goal.