tvagle

We've all heard the Billy Beane 2 months to see what you got, 2 months to align adjustments, 2 months to make the playoffs bit...I'm ready for an early start to fixing little(?) things Maybe I'm still suffering from T-Wolves melt-down or not quite over the Wild losing their identity because the playoffs started (or did they just don the Wild playoff identity) but how about we proactive this thing and just make some Big League moves now instead of waiting for a presumed better time/deal?? Here's a couple ideas birthed from this MLBTR post on 10 Potential Trade Candidates and "consider the source" Jim Bowden TheAthletic post on Trades He'd Like to See (Pay-walled so I'll just list the players he "thinks" will get the trade done) All stats from Baseball Reference TRADE #1 - 1B/DH Josh Bell Washington Nationals (Free Agent at end of the Year so why not Rent for a little longer than a month) Sure he's been a Streaky Hitter throughout his career but he's Currently trending as follows: AVG / OBP / SLG / OPS / OPS+ .342 / .434 / .504 / .938 178 K% DOWN 6.9% (17.8 -> 10.9) W% UP 0.9% (11.4 -> 12.3) Career K% 18.4% - Miggy is 36.4% Career W% 11.8% - Miggy a respectable 11.7% Small Sample Size and all here's the last two years of Bell and Sano (I'll let you figure out who's who) And a Career Comparison A switch hitter who strikes out half as much with more games played in one less year and pretty near identical production He may be on a hot streak and is bound to come back to his norms...but that seems to be an alright thing to me But enough about that what would it take to land Josh Bell? According to Bowden Blue Jays acquire 1B/DH Josh Bell from Nationals for SS/2B Leo Jimenez - #5 Jays prospect according to MLB Pipeline Age: 20 Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 30 | Run: 55 | Arm: 55 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50 RHP Trent Palmer - #23 Jays prospect according to MLB Pipeline Age: 23 Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40 What would a Twins comparable offer look like: Would the Versatility of Spencer Steer (#10), Louie Varland (#15) and Favorite son Matt Wallner (#11) get it done? Do you consider Noah Miller for a rental? Maybe it's a quick spin of Brayan Medina (from the Padres) or Ronny Henriquez (from the Rangers)?? It's all on where the Nats are in their process...I'd consider Arraez if they want more win next year players (this highly affected by the play of Royce and a lesser extent Miranda) Feel free to tell me a bunch of teens prospects won't bring back much...but he is a one year rental TRADE #2 - Go get Frankie Montas Oakland A's (substitute Luis Castillo if he shows he's healthy in the next few starts if you like) I won't spend your time (or mine) on any research on this other than to say JUST DO IT! Here's Bowden's offer from the Rays Rays acquire RHP Frankie Montas from A’s for RHP Cole Wilcox - #12 Rays prospect according to MLB Pipeline (Tommy John Recovery) Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45 2B/OF Vidal Bruján - #4 Rays prospect (#75 Overall) according to MLB Pipeline (currently on the MLB roster but has not mastered the Majors) So I'll just jump right in on this one with the longest three-way deal ever completed: Twins get Montas Blue Jays get Berrios A's get Austin Martin (#2 Twins, #50 Overall) and Simeon Woods Richardson (#7 Twins) Want to keep Richardson then how about Enlow (TJ Recovery) and Canterino It's gonna take Martin + + for two pennant races of Montas or Castillo so start the calls and get them here for as many starts as possible Wes's smoke and mirrors has been great to see this season...the sticks might be coming around...injuries will clear up and there's nothing wrong with running away with the division and maybe earn a bye to the 2nd round of the playoffs is the best ticket for Minnesota Sports teams! You know the drill...critique...dismantle...dispute in the comments

I propose a swap of positions with Conger...I can't imagine a former catcher ever thinking of sending himself home with no outs and a piano waiting 30 feet down the line

I know garlic is great on spaghetti...or is it just the thick bread mom used to dip in butter and cover in the stuff...but I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of pictures of who Garlick must have?? I'll give Rocco the three strike approach on this but he's down to one left after the following moves In the Boston Massacre game (have to name the seldom seen offensive production) Rocco goes against the late inning defensive replacement plan and inserts his favorite vegetable (look it up) to put the game further out of reach due to a poor matchup (I believe he managed to produce the same True outcome...K'd) and then we got to see Devers hit a 300 foot moon shot that bounces off the top of the fence for a HR off Duran...now if it's the top of the Green Monster...ok...tough break...this was the top of the RF fence Pesky Pole area which is about 3'6" high...where's the RF in all of this? Right up against the wall ready to make the HR robbing catch? Yes...unfortunately...he was about 6 feet off on where the ball hit the fence and bounced over...I'm thinking Kepler might have had that one but he was moved to CF I believe Strike 2 - Maybe we can call this the "I could never get a hit off of Flash" game or the "Elementary Dear Watkins" of to just "The Duff"...as noted above Flash the 3rd makes an adjustment to getting blown away by two high fastballs to triple on the next high fastball...while it was nice to see a professional hitter adjust within an AB and win...I can only surmise that Gordon was making the other guys look bad so he needed a calm down on the bench moment so we could watch some Ratcher and Clank action for half the game in RF...haven't checked the box score but I don't think we had much productivity at the plate from that spot in the lineup So the count is in the Sano-hole 0-2 and here's hoping Rocco passes on the garlic this time and maybe shortens up and lines a triple to the gap

Great signing from a marketing perspective for Team Twins: If, as so many have mentioned, this is the same joke told over and over and over again they can play "You can call me Al" when he comes into games If he slays it on the hill maybe the Twins channel their inner Grandpa Veeck with "An Evening with Ted" promotion

Not quite the run Alexander is having

Kiriloff is an everyday Major Leaguer in 2021 so...IMHO Lewis is the top prospect with Larnach clipping at his heals

Would you call it a Happless addition? (apologies to anyone who already punned this)

Joe Musgrove to the Padres...who else https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/padres-to-acquire-joe-musgrove.html Feel free to rant, rave, bemoan, lament all that is lost as a Twins fan over the lack of action from the front office I prefer to wallow in the COVID-induced coma that has me believing @BauerOutage is moments away from becoming a Twin!

Twins equivalent something like: Balazovic - Patino Jeffers - Mejia Enlow - Wilcox Canterino - No young catcher so pay the pitching price In this guys opinion, that'd be an overpay, unfortunately, SD just set the market for SP trades pretty high

Hernandez at the right price is the only one of these two worth pursuing The Twins just let go of the most comparable player to Profar I can think of...Eddie Rosario Rosario is far more accomplished than Profar (at a higher price tag) but if you want to watch the occasional fabulous play in the field followed by a months worth of WTH moments coupled with more head-scratching baserunning maneuvers than you've ever seen from Rosie by all means sign Profar

I'll make this an ode to Chief post: Wichita is the birthplace of White Castle fast-food chains...leading me to suggest The Wichita Sliders for two obvious reasons (as anyone who's ever made a midnight run to White Castle, followed by a 4:00am run of a different sort) A.A. Hyde discovered Mentholatum in 1894 in the current The Spice Merchant & Company building in Wichita... The Wichita Vapors (also foreshadowing the level of the current team...now) Other local Semi-Pro/Pro teams...Wichita Force (Champions Indoor Football League as if you didn't know already) and Wichita Thunder (Hockey - ECHL, an AA level professional league)...lead me to the obvious Wichita Lightning or Stealing the Wichita State Shockers monicker but instead will offer up The Wichita Energizers (as in AA) "I don't care Wichita as long as its a ta" - didn't want to bury the lead

Thanks for clearing things up for me...alll this time I was under the impression that Falvine was a combination of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine who knew that is was Derek Falvey and Zach Lavine

Longer odd's Question: Me picking a random game from 1957 to link and you being at the game or Twins starting pitcher going 8 7 6 5+ innings or Any Twin hitter slapping a pitch to the non-shifted side of the infield or Twins winning a playoff game (too soon?)

This seems to be exactly what you're looking for

Thanks for the nerd-cred...I think

Snow is flying...wind is blowing and all the leaves from North Dakota are settling in Minnesota for the winter What better time than to update the Twins BluePrint Tool for 2021 I've averaged the 3 MLBTR Arbitration Projections for each player and will add the Free Agent Projections when they become available Make a Copy of the whole sheet if you like or just Duplicate the Tab that says Duplicate this Sheet and make your changes for everyone to see Enter a name (Lastname, First) for each position on the roster sheet and it will fill in known contract info for the player Want to see what the payroll would be with Lindor as a Twin...put his name in at SS and watch the payroll soar Don't like the numbers feel free to use the Tool and enter your own salaries (be sure to enter the full amount 10000000 as opposed to 10M) I Created an End of Year Roster as a reference to what the 2020 final roster came to and a Bauer or Bust sample that works through the next 3 seasons...more on that in my next post

Here's a quickly updated rostering sheet you can play around with Add a name to the bottom of any position column and it adds to 40 count Put anything (drop. trade, denounce, exorcise, x) in the column right of a name to remove them from the count Twins Roster Sheet Minor league teams are not current

That poor attempt from the catcher ought to cement Jeffers starting on Tuesday