Tom Froemming

Buxton Extension talks stall out as Byron continues rehabbing his wrist injury after being hit by a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds. View full video

Lewis Thorpe had an encouraging performance in what was his fourth appearance since being activated off the IL. Read all about that and more in Friday night’s edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Orlando Rodriguez of Fort Myers placed on the 7-day IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 7, Indianapolis 5 Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (3-for-5), Tomas Telis (2-for-5, HR), Mark Contreras (2-for-5), Gilberto Celestino (2-for-5, 2B), Jimmy Kerrigan (2-for-4) HR: Kerrigan (16), Telis (7) Lewis Thorpe looked comfortable and confident tonight. He was throwing his curveball and changeup early in counts, then working in high fastballs to try to finish hitters off. He threw 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes (64.1%) and was efficient enough to record two outs in the sixth inning. This was a jump up from the 58 pitches he threw in his last outing for the Saints. The Twins are clearly viewing Thorpe as a starting pitcher at this point. It would make sense for him to make another start with the Saints, stretching out another 15-20 pitches, but with Michael Pineda exiting his start early, Thorpe may be looked upon as a potential replacement. The St. Paul lineup was patient with 36-year-old knuckleballer Steven Wright, who threw 97 pitches in four innings. Along with the five batters who had multiple hits listed above, Nick Gordon also reached twice, drawing a pair of walks, and stole a base. He played center field tonight. Yennier Cano had an eventful ninth inning, giving up a run on three hits, but locked down the save by striking out the final two batters he faced, stranding runners at second and third base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Tulsa 4, Wichita 1 Box Score Austin Schulfer: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K Multi-hit games: B.J. Boyd (2-for-4), Jermaine Palacios (2-for-3) HR: None The Surge were scheduled to play a doubleheader today but more inclimate weather resulted in the first game being postponed, leaving one seven-inning game left to be played. Neither team scored through seven, however, so this one went into “extra” innings. B.J. Boyd singled home the Wichita bonus runner in the top of the inning. The Wind Surge were an out away from victory but a ground ball got by first baseman Andrew Bechtold for a game-tying single and the next batter hit a walk-off home run. Tyler Beck was turning in an impressive Double-A debut before things fell apart with two outs in the eighth inning. He was attempting to cover the final four frames, and had struck out five of the first 15 batters he faced. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 3 Box Score Jon Olsen: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K Multi-hit games: Yunior Severino (4-for-5, 2B), Jefferson Morales (2-for-4) HR: Matt Wallner (10) Yunior Severino and Jeferson Morales have been huge boosts to the Kernels since being called up from Fort Myers. After a four-hit night, Severino is hitting .439 with a 1.147 OPS in his first 15 games with the club. Morales hasn’t been around as long, this was just his fourth game with Cedar Rapids, but he has a .563 average with a 1.463 OPS. Matt Wallner hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. It was his 10th homer of the year and 18th as a pro, just the fourth that’s come against a lefty. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Bradenton 1 Box Score Casey Legumina: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K Multi-hit games: Keoni Cavaco (2-for-6), Jesus Feliz (2-for-5, 2B), Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2-for-4, BB) HR: Will Holland (8) Every member of the Fort Myers lineup reached base and everyone but Jesus Feliz also struck out. The team combined for 10 hits, eight walks and 14 strikeouts. Keoni Cavaco had a multi-hit game, but he also struck out four times. Here’s his two-run single in what was a big five-run inning for the Mussels. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher: Lewis Thorpe, St. Paul Hitter: Yunior Severino, Cedar Rapids PROSPECT SUMMARY Take note that we have finished our midseason update, so there is a new list! Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Prospects performed: #1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL) #2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain) #3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – DNP #4 – Matt Canterino (Fort Myers) – DNP #5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 3-for-5, R #6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – 2-for-6, 2 RBI, R #7 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, R #8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – DNP #9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – 1-for-6, RBI #10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, HR, BB, HBP, 2 RBI, R #11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery) #12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – DNP #13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – DNP #14 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) – 4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R #15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – DNP #16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 0-for-3 #17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5 #18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – DNP #19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow) #20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – DNP SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Fort Myers at Bradenton, 11 am CT: Bobby Milacki St. Paul at Indianapolis, 6:05 pm CT: Beau Burrows Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 6:35 pm CT: Sawyer Gipson-Long Wichita at Tulsa, 7:05 pm CT: Cole Sands View full article

Sabato

I was doing alright for the first 15 minutes or so. ?

The Twins were very active at today's deadline... or were they? Let's walk through the deadline, trade-by-trade. The Twins moved a key piece in José Berríos to the Toronto Blue Jays and received two high-profile prospects in return. They also made two lower-profile moves, including a surprising trade of underperforming JA Happ. I break it all down for you, piece by piece. Twins Trade Deadline Recap More Videos Next Up Trade Deadline Reactions 1:16:53 Live 00:00 19:59 19:59 More Videos Close facebook twitter Email pinterest Linkhttps://twinsdaily.com/index.html/minnesota-twins-news-rumors/video-twins-trade-deadline-recap-r11132/?do=edit&d=1&id=11132&jwsource=cl Copied View full article

The Minnesota Twins had been engaged in contract extension discussions with Byron Buxton in recent weeks but The Athletic is reporting the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement. What does this mean for Buxton and how might this impact other members of the Twins? Here is the link to the original report, which comes from Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal. Per that report, the Twins originally brought a seven-year, $73 million offer with a “unique incentive package” but Buxton’s camp countered with an undisclosed offer. The Twins increased the guarantee up to $80 million but it still did not satisfy Buxton and his agency. Here is a video in which I offer my reaction to the news and discuss a potential domino-effect of these negotiations. It’s important to note that in the headine at The Athletic they specifically called out that this increased the chance of an offseason trade. Buxton is still not back to health, so it’s unlikely any team would target him as a trade piece between now and Friday’s trade deadline. Another item of note from the report is the likelihood of Taylor Rogers being traded was characterized as “likely” as the demand for relievers increases. Buxton is currently on the Injured List with a fractured left hand he suffered on a hit by pitch. In 110 plate appearances this season, he’s hit .369/.409/.767 (1.176 OPS). He’s making $3.075 million via arbitration this year, and with a small sample of stats to increase his case, I can’t imagine his projected salary through arbitration will escalate a great deal, depending on what else he does this season. After that, he’s set to become a free agent entering his age-29 season. I decided to get a poll going over on Twitter to see whether or not people thought this was a fair extension offer. Here it is below, you can see the results in real time after you vote. Let me know down in the comments how you feel. Joe Mauer’s eight-year, $184 million extension is (of course) the largest in team history. The biggest free agent contract the org has ever inked is Josh Donaldson’s four-year, $92 million deal. Some recent extensions signed by the club are Randy Dobnak’s five-year, $9.25 million deal from March and the deals signed in February of 2019 by Max Kepler (five-year, $35 million) and Jorge Polanco (five-year $25.75 million). MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

That site is fun but it's not very accurate, especially for prospects. They have Gilberto Celestino valued at 8.2 and Jose Miranda at 1.6.

I'll believe Birdsell is going back to school once the deadline passes. Until then it just seems like a leverage tactic. And that's fine with me, it's his only opportunity to negotiate pay for a long time. Just feels like it'd make too much sense for both sides to eventually come to an agreement. We'll see.

The Minnesota Twins are believed to have set a very high asking price for José Berríos. Though they seem inclined to keep him around, that doesn’t mean they’re not listening to offers. But is there a way to trade Berríos without completely gutting the 2022 rotation? Danny Abriano of SNY wrote an article yesterday on Berríos as a potential fit for the Mets. In it, he makes a lot of great points on how valuable José could be to that club and how the Mets are a team particularly well-suited to meet the Twins’ high asking price. The Mets are currently in first place in the NL East, but hold just a 2.5-game advantage over the Phillies, who are just a game up on Atlanta and 2.5 games up on Washington. It’s a tight race. New York was expecting to have plenty of pitching by now, but Carlos Carrasco and Noah Snydergaard have both experienced setbacks in their attempts to rehab from injuries. It doesn’t seem like either of those two are in the Mets’ long-term plans, either. Syndergaard is a free agent at the end of this year and Carrasco has a $14 million option with a $3 million buyout. That’s especially notable because Marcus Stroman is also a free agent after this season, leaving the Mets with some uncertainty in their 2022 rotation plans. That’s why Berríos seems like such a nice fit for them over someone like Jon Gray of the Rockies, who would just be a rental. So what’s in it for the Twins? Abriano suggests the package would need to be similar to what the Mets gave up for Marcus Stroman — Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson. He packages Tylor Megill and Robert Dominguez as a similar duo but thinks it would take something more like Megill and J.T. Ginn. Maybe even more than that. If you’re looking for prospects dripping with upside, this isn’t the kind of deal that’s going to get you going. The inclusion of Megill does make this very intriguing for anyone who’s not willing to sacrifice 2022. He’s already contributing to the Mets. Well, that’s actually underselling it. Like a lot of teams in 2021, the Mets have been decimated by injuries. That’s created an opening for Megill and he’s ran with it. He started this season dominating in Double A, moved up for three starts in Triple A and has been brilliant in five starts for the Mets. Megil, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, has pitched to a 2.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and has averaged 10.5 K/9 in 24 innings pitched. His fastball averages 94.6 mph and he pairs that with a slider and a changeup. He’s been sort of like a savior to their rotation, so why would the Mets trade him? Uncertainty. Megill is very much a pop-up prospect. He was drafted in the eighth round back in 2018 and came into this year ranked 21st in the Mets system according to MLB Pipeline and 25th by FanGraphs. Is this breakout for real, or will Megill, who turns 26 soon, prove to be a flash in the pan? As for Ginn, he was the high-rated prospect entering this year (sixth in the Mets’ system by MLB Pipeline and seventh by FanGraphs), but is still not cracking top-100 lists. Drafted out of Mississippi State in the second round in 2020, Ginn has a 2.56 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 8.1 K/9 as a 22-year-old in Low A. This is his first year back after recovering from Tommy John, so it’s quite possible the best is yet to come. For me, just Megill and Ginn would not be enough. It’s an intriguing starting point, though. Getting a pitcher you can plug right into the MLB rotation and a prospect who grades out similarly to someone like Matt Canterino gets you listening. If you’d prefer a higher-upside package, Twins Daily’s Matthew Taylor put together a package of shortstop Ronny Mauricio and right-handed pitcher Matt Allan, both consensus top-100 prospects. There were two other Berríos trade hypotheticals offered up in that article, which you can check out here. If you’re looking to build a package of your own, Twins Daily’s Thiéres Rabelo recently took a look at the fit between the Mets and Twins in a trade deadline piece that would be a great place to start. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

The Bally Sports North broadcast captured a somewhat heated discussion between Josh Donaldson and Luis Arraez during today’s game. Rocco Baldelli was noticeably absent while the interaction was taking place. Is this something to be concerned about? In case you missed it, here's a video of what went down. With Donaldson at the plate, Arraez was slow to get his lead off of second base. This led to Donaldson calling time and shouting something to Arraez, who reacted by lifting his arms up as if to say “what?” The two appeared to be discussing that situation in the dugout between innings. According to Justin Morneau, they were also talking as they took the field and continued their conversation in the tunnel after that half inning. We don’t know the full details of what exactly was going on, and maybe never will, but this certainly feels from an outside perspective that Donaldson was making a mountain out of a molehill. Or possibly it was Arraez who was doing that. Again, there’s likely some context we’re missing. One thing we do know by what we have here is that the mediators present during the first interaction in the dugout were mainly Nelson Cruz and first base coach Tommy Watkins. Noticeably absent: Rocco Baldelli. It probably wouldn’t be fair to expect a manager to be involved in every conversation between his players, but this certainly feels like one where Baldelli should have been present. He’s a player’s manager, and apparently let’s his players police themselves, but this seems to be letting things go a bit too far. This is the kind of thing that can make you wonder what some of the clubhouse fallout of trading away Cruz will be. If he’s the veteran presence overseeing things, what happens when he’s gone? If Rocco is going to be hands off with these kinds of situations, who’s going to be around to make sure things don’t go too far? Speaking of making a mountain out of a molehill, it’s entirely possible that’s exactly what I’m doing here. Maybe this is nothing. When you’re following a team that’s 14-games under .500, swept by a bad team in an uninspiring effort and quickly approaching the trade deadline, it’s easy to be concerned when you see stuff like this. Donaldson’s edge is part of what’s made him a premiere player. That fire is likely much more valuable on a team that’s driving toward the playoffs than one that's trying to stay out of the basement. Nobody likes losing, but Donaldson may be particularly bad at it. He hasn’t had much practice. He’s been on a losing team just once (the 76-86 Toronto Blue Jays). Arraez seems plenty competitive himself, for what it's worth. What do you think? Anything about this concern you? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

Mark Contreras has gone from organizational afterthought to on the doorsteps of the big leagues in a matter of months. He got things started for the Saints tonight in a big 8-0 victory. TRANSACTIONS Twins recall RHP Beau Burrows and select Juan Minaya from St. Paul. Cedar Rapids activates Andrew Cabezas from the 7-day IL. Matt Wallner sent to FCL Twins for a rehab assignment. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Columbus 0 Box Score Matt Shoemaker: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-for-3, HR), Drew Stankiewicz (2-for-4) HR: Mark Contreras (10), Brent Rooker (19) The Twins drafted Mark Contreras as a senior out of UC Riverside and signed to a $10,000 bonus in 2017. After a poor 2019 in which he hit .186/.271/.328 (.599 OPS) in 411 plate appearances, it felt like he was among the players who could least afford a lost 2020 season. Having those numbers represent his most-recent performance for such a long time is not good for a ballplayer’s resume. Contreras, who turned 26 earlier this year, put those numbers behind him with a strong start to this season in Wichita. Now, it’s easy to wonder if this is that same guy from 2019. Did the Twins sign another Mark Contreras and I just missed it? Contreras had a six-game cameo with the St. Paul in late-May, went back down to Double-A for a single game, but returned to the Saints on June 3. From that point to coming into today, Contreras hit .265/.341/.590 (.931 OPS). Tonight, Contreras hit his 10th homer in just 34 games for St. Paul, matching the total he hit in 112 games back in 2019. What an incredible turnaround. After Matt Shoemaker delivered five clean innings (yes, he’s still around), Jonvani Moran Followed with 2 2/3 innings of shutout ball in his Triple-A debut, striking out five of the 10 batters he faced. Kyle Barraclough finished off the shutout by recording the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8, Tulsa 7 (10 innings) Box Score Chris Vallimont: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 7 K Multi-hit games: BJ Boyd (3-for-4, BB, SB) HR: None And you thought the end of the Twins game was unbelievable ... Tulsa led this game 7-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning but they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, or something. Jordan Gore delivered 1-2-3 innings in both the ninth and 10th, managing to strand the extra innings bonus runner. He picked up his first-career Double-A victory. KERNELS NUGGETS South Bend 7, Cedar Rapids 3 Box Score Andrew Cabezas: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (2-for-2, 2 BB), Kyle Schmidt (2-for-3, BB) HR: Wander Javier (9) Tyler Watson did an amazing job stabilizing this game for the Kernels, delivering five shutout innings of two-hit ball while striking out nine batters out of the bullpen. Unfortunately, the bats couldn’t grab the lead and the rest of the bullpen stumbled, giving up five runs in the bottom of the eighth. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Jupiter 5 Box Score Orlando Rodriguez: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K Multi-hit games: Will Holland (2-for-3, 2B, HR, BB, SB), Charles Mack (2-for-4, 2B), Ruben Santana (2-for-2, 2 BB) HR: Will Holland (5) Speaking of good stories, Orlando Rodriguez had a successful debut in the org. He had been pitching for Schaumburg in the independent Frontier League and this was his third year in indy ball. He went seven innings and threw 62 of his 93 pitches for strikes (66.7%). Will Holland was the star of this game, hitting a two-run double and a two-out home run. He also drew a walk and stole a base, his sixth steal of the season. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Red Sox 15, FCL Twins 2 Box Score Donny Breek: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 5 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 1 K Multi-hit games: None HR: None The Twins gave up eight runs in the top of the first inning. There were three hit batsmen, three walks, an error and a grand slam. Basically an entire Twingo card worth of action. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher: Orlando Rodriguez, Fort Myers Hitter: Will Holland, Fort Myers PROSPECT SUMMARY Take note that we have finished our midseason update, so there is a new list! Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Prospects performed: #1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL) #2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain) #3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – DNP #4 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (right elbow strain) #5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI #6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – DNP #7 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – DNP #8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – DNP #9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, 2 RBI, K #10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids - with FCL Twins on a rehab assignment) – 0-for-2 #11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery) #12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – DNP #13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – DNP #14 – Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 1-for-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 K #15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 0-for-2, BB, R #16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 1-for-4, BB, R #17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, K #18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (foot injury) #19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow) #20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 7 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus at St. Paul, 2:05 pm CT: Andrew Albers Tulsa at Wichita, 1:05 pm CT: Austin Schulfer Cedar Rapids at South Bend, 1:05 pm CT: TBD Jupiter at Fort Myers, 11 am CT: Zarion Sharpe View full article

% of pitches 96+ mph the past three years 2021: Twins 4.5, MLB 8.8 2020: Twins 3.8, MLB 7.8 2019: Twins 3.2, MLB 7.4

Change is slow, apparently. The Minnesota Twins have had a reputation of building soft-tossing pitching staffs for decades. Unfortunately, this issue still plagues the 2021 version of the club. I talked about velocity in the video below, starting at Josh Winder’s Futures Game outing that led me down this trail and ending with a stat that the team ranks dead last in the league in. It’s worth pointing out that throwing hard doesn’t guarantee success. Guys like Kyle Hendricks, Zack Greinke, Adam Wainwright, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Wade Miley rarely (if ever) crack 90 mph and they’re still effective starting pitchers. There are also flamethrowers who stink at pitching. On average, however, lower-velo pitches are hit and hit harder more often. If it seems like the Twins are throwing harder these days, you’re right. Unfortunately, they’re just not advancing enough to keep pace with the rest of the league. The Twins have had 23 pitchers appear for them in 2021 (excluding Willians Astudillo’s three innings) and just five of them have thrown a pitch in excess of 96 mph. Twins pitchers have combined to hit that benchmark a grand total of 595 times. There are eight pitchers who’ve eclipsed that mark all on their own. Pitches 96+ mph Zack Wheeler 960 Sandy Alcantara 784 Brandon Woodruff 763 Gerrit Cole 760 Luis Castillo 730 Jacob deGrom 697 Frankie Montas 649 Nathan Eovaldi 610 Minnesota Twins 595 Taking a look at the team level, it’s pretty striking how much the Twins and White Sox are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of pitcher velocity. The vast majority of Chicago pitchers have reached 96 mph and they’ve tallied more than four times as many 96+ mph pitches than the Twins this year. Twins White Sox Pitchers 23 19 # to 96+ mph 5 15 % to 96 mph 21.7% 78.9% Pitches 13,206 13,048 # 96+ mph 595 2,527 % 96+ mph 4.5% 19.4% Not surprisingly, the Twins rank near the bottom of the league in several pitching categories. They’re 21st in K%, 24th in swinging-strike rate and 27th in FIP. Meanwhile, the White Sox are second, first and fourth in those categories. Help is on the way ... hopefully. In addition to Winder, who I mentioned earlier, the Twins also have hard-throwers like Jhoan Duran and Matt Canterino (among others) in the minors. They took triple-digit teen Chase Petty with their first pick in the draft. He’s years away from contributing to the big club, of course, but I still found it encouraging to see the front office appear to make velocity a priority with that pick. We won’t have to wait much longer to find out if velo is made a point of emphasis for the Twins at the trade deadline. Here’s hoping they add some gas to the staff. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

Here's the coverage MLB Network provided ICYMI

Here's Balazovic's entire start crammed into less than 10 minutes:

Here's a highlight of the Wander Javier walk-off homer and the nice at-bat that led up to it:

Looking toward the future on how things might end up, here are the guys still contributing to these totals: Twins: Tyler Watson, Jhoan Duran, Gabriel Maciel, Ernie De La Trinidad, Jorge Alcala, Gilberto Celestino, Luis Rijo, Devin Smeltzer and Chris Valimont. Their Trade Partners: Huascar Ynoa, Lewin Diaz, Jaylin Davis, Kai-Wei Teng and Prelander Berroa. I think I spent plenty of time qualifying things in the article and saying the book isn't closed, but I still very much stand by the headline. I think it's difficult to be inspired by what this front office has achieved in these deals, even when considering what's to come. I suppose that may say more about how high I currently am on Ynoa and how concerned I am about Duran's future role than anything.