Rosterman

Be a shame if Baddoo would win rookie of the year. But as said above, there was little that would make me 40-man him considering the pecking order of outfielders ahead of him, at the time, in the minors. Kudos to Larnach and Kirilloff for running with the opportunity and working their butts off, shades of Kepler in his beginning years!

And they must think he will sign!

If the Twins keep this up they will NOT have the Number One Draft Pick in 2022! This is a day Taylor Rogers might've remembered. Instead, the Twins did get the win in their own dramatic fashion. So many walks. I love ALL the delayed strike calls by the home plate umpire. Somedays you just wish you were one of the field umps.

Taylor, Byron and Jose are three guys that you listen to the offers. People will have to make their best. Then you decide. Can even put Cruz in this mix. Sadly, we will still see the stay behinds play and eat up innings and at bats.

Why did the trades happen. Well, if you remember, Escobar was entering his free agent year. No qualifying offer for the guy. There was contract discussion but nothing much was happening. Arizona called. The Twins saw an opportunity that after the season ends, depending on Escobar's final performance, they could bring him back on the cheap (always on the cheap here). Escobar had a wonderful time in Arizona, they made a very reasonable offer out-of-the-season-ending-gate and he just flatout accepted. No need to wait for a counter offer if the Twins weren't serious in the first place. Twins got two decent prospects. Shades of Zach Duke. Today we could be looking at similar trades for Law or Thielbar and, hopefully, Colome. Dozier was tanking and the Twins couldn't figure out if they wanted to keep him or not. He was going to be a free agent. Trade him and maybe resign him (on the cheap). The Twins were forced to take Logan Forsythe and his salary in return, which ate up a roster spot, but Forsythe was okay. Twins also saw some return for Rodney, who was not going to come back for Twins money. Sorta like Robles this year, and a good reason for the Twins to offer him for a prospect. The Twins cleaned house and got prospects. In 2017 Lynn was a salary dump to the Yanks who gave us Austin, behind in the pecking order and out-of-options who might fit into the Twins need for a 1B/DH, and a...prospect still in the system with promise (Rijo). Someone wanted Kintzler more than the Twins who were on he edge of the Wild Card race, and the Twins thought they could stay in the hunt with Belisle or others. Plus they didn't think he was worth paying more money (shades of Wisler, May or others). Was he coming off a string of bad appearances for a couple of weeks? Anything? Somehow Kintzler still keeps finding work for his special blend of slowness and ground ball outs. The Twins grabbed Garcia, thinking they were in contention, then decided to flip him when the Yankees came calling...so they traded Ynoa for Enns and Littell. Littell was lights out in the minors and seemed a probable starter. We know what happened here. Enns was one of those throw-ins, make him work or lose him because you don't want to 40-man him. In 2019, the Twins were going on a bullpen hunt, shades of Matt Capps. Dyson bombed and all three prospects are still in play. Romo did his job and came back (on the cheap, the magic words) for another year of Twins action. Villamont is still a prospect to watch. Davis and Davis were depth the Twins could part with and were somehow behind Weil and a horde of outfielders. A word on prospects. Organizations know where guys stand in their system. They hopefully know, like in Ynoa, that they will advance to this level or that level, who is ahead of them in the 40-man protection spread, how much have we invested, what can we get in return. Teams like to trade impending free agents for prospects: if I can get a guy another team paid a couple of million to sign two years ago, well, I didn't have to pay that. And hopefully your scouting sees potential to fit into the mix of players growing on the farm. You also see prospects change hands that another team may/may not want to protect for 40-man considerations, or guys who will be impending minor league free agents or guys out of options as throw-ins. But if you look at the 100 names right now that the Twins have at Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, how many will make it to the big leagues. Hell, how many will play three years in the minors before being replaced. You look at your dollar investment, the age of the guys, and any improvement. And you have scouts keeping tab of the same in ALL other organizations. Trade deadline actions happen for a reason. You can dangle all the players you want, but it is the contending teams that are sitting in the conference room looking at the board at their present needs (due to incompetence or injury) and looking at their own pecking order of players in the system, and then making a call a proposing a deal. If I am going to take-on your Donaldson, you may have to take on a similar return to deal with in your own future. I'm dealing with from system depth or players on the cusp of not having a place in my organization as part of any equation. Of course, Berrios is a key who, like Santana before him is running his own show as long as he produces. But teams also know they have to payout money on their end or lose him, or just wait another season and he will be a free agent. Robles, Rogers, Duffey, maybe even Colome could be had. Pineda and Happ are looking for takers. Cruz is an exceptional piece and only necessary for half-a-season. Can you trust that he will be there for the second half? Who would you want Simmons? Better fielding than most. Are you facing an injury dilemma? Donaldson is just too expensive. .250, not 10 home runs, missed a bunch of games? Try and put a spin on him! All the players the Twins traded away at deadline were as good-as-gone anyway, which is why they were traded (okay, maybe NOT Pressly, and a couple could've been resigned for double of their current salaries). And with no waiver wire trades in August...you put the guy out there and can't pull them back to work a trade...gotta let them go...I sadly don't se the Twins doing that and eating any of he salaries of Colome, Happ, Simmons - which raises hell with the roster (since they won't be coming back) as they will take away playing time from the future.

Yeah, thank goodness Twins didn't have to pay Jake the total $19 million last season. They just couldn't reach a deal for this season, for some odd reason. Twins felt better off with Happ and Shoemaker. Lance Lynn was a headcase. Kinda straightened out with the Yankees. Twins passed on him (and him on the Twins) when a free agent. Twins could've traded like the Sox did, but didn't/ I would've gone harder after Rich Hill. Tampa got a full season of Rich for less than the Twins for weeks in 2020. Go figure. But, hey, we got Happ who is younger. Twins didn't feel Kyle was worth whatever in arbitration, so they passed. They also didn't see the worth in a long-term contract, Texas struck gold, only paying partial for 2020 and getting a deal for this season (and maybe the next). Who would have figured. If you can't reward a player for what they have done growing up in the organization, then you might have trouble keeping players beyond arbitration. Just saying..... Astros needed a pitcher and the Twins had little invested in this Rule 5 pickup of yore. Didn't see him as a closer, and someone getting expensive for "just" being in the pen. Got a decent return...and Ryan got to pitch in Texas where you wear lots of suntan lotion. Littell dominated as a starter in the minors. Went ker-plink. Then showed greatness as a bullpen arm. Then ker-plunk again. Thought he might appear bad enough that no one would care that they had to 40-man him. I felt the Twins gave up on this future (possible) Liam Hendriks. I was a Trevor May booster. He is over 30 and the Twins didn't want to pay him $8 or so million or wrangle a multi-year deal with the guy. That they couldn't trade him was a loss for the front office. He would be our closer now instead of Colombe or whatever.

I could see Pineda being a good pickup for Cleveland. They only need a rental. Thielbar and Robles may be tradable. Cruz would be a dynamite pickup for anyone needed a DH. I would take a deal for Kepler. Now, about Donaldson..... Could you package him with someone like Kepler, and also a prospect? Sadly, the trading deadline ahs also become a time that some teams can just wait to see if a player is released, this a minimal committment and no players lost.

The Trade Deadline reality is that a team is going to TRADE for SOMEONE who will help them get to the post-season, period. Otherwise, it just becomes a salary dump, and baseball eliminated the ability to pull players back during the August waiver-wire blues. Now, when a player is put on waivers, they are gone, gone, gone. Can SImmons improve any team with his defense. Same with Donaldson. The bats may not seem worth the investment, unless a team figures (for Donaldson) that he will rebound in a spectacvular fashion and become a tradechip. Or injury means you have a need. But can you find better than what the Twins have to offer. Pineda, if he can pitch well his next two outings, may be a gem for the Twins. Robles also needs to shine. The evils of trading for Berrios is that the team DOES need to be in a position to offer a contract to resign the guy, or they are renting the player, albeit for this AND next season. A pitcher of the caliber of the current Berrios will always entice a contender down to the wire. The only advantage the Twins have trading in the off-season is that a team can get a better idea of what it may take to sign Jose. But the Twins may be desperate and it may be Johan Santana 2.0. Rogers is valuable. Might be able to get a return like the Twins did from the Astros. Duran and Celestino were a good vibe. Maybe both will work out and make us forget that we traded a Rule 5 pickup. I'm not sure Happ would fit in anywhere. Especially on a contending club. So, again, the hard reality is that teams don't want players someone wants to throwout there. They want players that will actually help them. And the Twins, sadly, have a few players that they can just outright say "goodbye" to and other teams MAY be happy to pick them up for a pro-rated part of their salary, after they become free agents, rather than pick up ALL the remaining salary. But I sadly see Happ, Simmons, Colombe going the way of Shoemaker, without pitching for the Saints (which works for Shoemaker at the moment...he ahs housing in town, needs a team to showcase himself...so why not.)

Donaldson WAS a Grade-A player, but the Twins got played, more by the fan base than anything. To prove that they weren't on the cheap, the opened the pocketbooks after being rejected by almost every free agent in the marketplace. As a Twins fan, we always want the pocket book to open BIG and expect that throwing money at players willo egt them to come here. But as the past has shown, we either get mid-range free agents, guys looking to make a bigger comeback, or we are just overlooked. No amount of money will entice the top of the free agent tiers to come to town. Sadly, the truth. So the Twins need to do what Target Field was supposedly built to do. Jeep our own free agents. In the past we allowed Cuddyer, Hunter, Nathan to walk. Are we going to do the same with Buxton and Berrios? Always a gamble, but signing any free agent is a gamble, and even the low-end successes of the Twins have had been short-term and not that gracious when looking at the big picture of year-after-year performance (see Odorizzi, Pineda, Gonzalez, Cron, Schoop...plus the one-year wonders of Homer Bailey, Shoemaker, We keep thinking we are better situated than teams like, say, the Royals, or even the on-the-cheap A's who pull off miracles with low-end signings and trades. Donaldson was a good solid signing for a team in contention who was looking for stability at a position of weakness (at the time), leadership skills on the field, and everyday play. I'll let you decide what the free agent signing has brought us. Maybe as fans we have to stop dreaming that the BIG CONTRACT will happen with the Twins getting the outside superstar to anchor the home-grown talent stage. Or maybe we do have to realize that we need to line-up behind front office choices on drafting, trading, making a team, and supplementing the team with short-term needs (i.e. trade deadline acquisitions/rentals when needed). It has been so long since we had a World Series. We dream that management will make choices that will take us beyond a division win, or entry into the championship tier. Tired of not being on the World Stage after a long season of brilliant ballplay that is fliushed down the toilet in a five or seven game series. If there is a taker for Donaldson, the two questions remain: how much salary do the Twins have to eat, and what is the best prospect/s they can get in return.

Looks like more than 20 of the 32 players currently on the Saints roster in some capacity are not homegrown Twins or prospects.

Yep, do the Twins offer Buxton, Berrios or are they just dumping Happ, Robles, Simmons, Cruz, Donaldson to move 2021 payroll. Let's throw Pineda into the mix. I really don't see teams offering the Twins much for soon=to-be-free agents. But sicne the players really aren't doing it for the Twins, might as well bank money and sign your own to keep sights on...a future.

Allison only played more than 115 games in left 3 seasons. MAYBE SPENT 8 TOTAL, BUT MOST OF HIS TIME WAS IN RIGHT FIELD SINCE HIS CALLUP BY THE SENATORS.

I consider the Twins having strong depth at shortstop, assuming Royce Lewis can play the position. You have Wander Javier, a decision that needs to be made this fall, and far enough back is Keoni Cavaco. If a shortstop is had from another organization, you have to find somewhere to play Lewis, and those other two names are basically tradebait.

Twins keep adding an alphabet of new names to the Saints roster...and none of them from within the organization: Stankiewicz the latest. Barraclough, Burrows, Vincent, Whalen, Johnson and Tomscho supplementing the other minor league free agents still here (or gone).

Well, I would rather give the ball to Ober, Jax or any number of guys who MIGHT pitch for the Twins in 2022 than...Shoemaker. We all know the Twins are doing a standings push between now and the All-Star break! https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/twins-gearing-for-standings-push

Berrios COULD GET $100 million if traded to the right team. What team, that is the crapshoot. I think the Twins would jump at five years and $85 million. But part of Target Field was that the Twins would be able to pay to keep their free agents. And I always thought that part of a good hometeam free agent contact was that you were rewarding the player also for past play and making a name for themselves with the home team. Never could totally figure out overpaying a guy who will probably not produce similar numbers going forth. But both Buxton and Berrios are young. A five year contract may not be their last. Might be another 3-4 year deal when those run out. Do the Twins offer a 3 year deal and an option. Do they let them declare free agency halfway thru a contract? If push came to shove , would you offer the qualifying offer of the day to either and hope they accept? Buxton needs to play. Getting hit on the hand cost him, probably, $10 million in pay. A team gambling $100 million on him would be gambling, yet someone might, just might. Remember, he can always become a corner outfielder, and if his plate discipline increases, he will get a payday. But I doubt it will be with the Twins. Somehow, not getting the $100 million feeling. The question is: how long does the front office hold out. This trading deadline, the off-season, or spring training/next year. The message is also bad that it sends to any other potential stars. Play out your Minnesota contract and go elsewhere. And if the team starts getting noticed for playing with service time, goodbye signing some picks. Was Joe Mauer worth $175 million? Well, was he worth $22 million for his first six years of production?

I want the job o the person sewing uniform names for the Saints. You gotta be working overtime!

I'm trying to figure out this lovefest for team castoffs and guys playing indy ball. The Twins PAID ALL their minor league guys last season. One team was cut from all teams. They have a tremendous amount of prospects. Sure, some have lost a year of play, but...most all players did. We all were aghast when they sprung bigtime for Josh Donaldson, showing that he purse strings were open for spending. In 202 they went out and purchased Rich Hill, Homer Bailey, . Kept Odorizzi and :Pineda. Added Tyler Clippard, Juan Minaya, Matt Wisler (whew), and returned Sergio Romo. Alex Avila was added behind-the-plate. This year actually is ending up worse. Happ and Shoemaker aren't cutting it. Are we excited about Simmons, not to mention Riddle and Lin and Garlick and Refsnyder. Ooooooh, the bullpen adds of Waddell, Colome, Law, Anderson, But theya re far from done. Just this week they gave afterlife to Vincent and Barraclough, Burrows to go with such notable signings since the season began of Santiago, Garcia, Milacki, Anderson, Whalen, Koch, Johnson, Lau, anoeehr Pineda, Mullenbach, Manoah, Milbrath, Horstman, Boyd and Washington. Still hoping to egt a chance are such big names as Broxton, Shepherd, Pena, Tomscha, Leyer, LaFlor, Maggi, Albers, Mooney. Some have left already. But the chance to play for the Saints seems to be a big draw these days. All Dollar Store cart fillers. But, hey, wish I was a fly on the wall in the room when all these guys are discussed! And where to put them, place them, and 40-man them at the expense of whom?

Good names, but most will either need to be a 40-man decision, and most all should spend a good part of next season in the minors unless the Twins go totally into rebuild mold. The question is who to push to AAA, how does that affect their Rule 5 claim standing in baseball, and who do the Twins look at contributing in 2022, or is it mostly for these guys 2023 and beyond. At some point the current front office will make decisions longer term on Sano Kepler and Polanco. They need to set up a system to get a hard look at 2-3 starting prospects a season and hope that at least one a year sticks STRONGLY. There seems to be little of a push towards advancing players. Look at how the Twins are raiding the indy leagues and AAAA guys for the saints and even Wichita. We will see!

It seems like it will always be about money. If the Twins can't Pay Buxton and Berrios, then I hold little hope that they would splurge (and they could afford to do so) by paying Donaldson numbers for a VERY TOP of the line rotation arm, as well as getting a real bonifide closer. Otherwise, the roster looks pretty darn serviceable. Of course, Sano will still strikeout. Rooker may have passed his need by the Twins. Royce Lewis has to be considered the shortstop of the future (or is he). The Twins could open 2022 with around a $100 million payroll, 1/5th of it going to Donaldson. They may be okay, depending on how the young arms perform, which is why one hopes they can get a half dozen starts to Duran and Balazovic or maybe even barnes or someone else this season. But it all returns to how they handle Berrios and Buxton. Both can stay and play oin 2022, but if theya ren't signed longterm, I don't expect them to be back. The Twins can raid the dollar store and get an arm or two, or maybe spend a little more and bring back Pineda and Robles if not outbid in the fair market. Hey, maybe Jake Odorizzi, Hector Santiago, Ervin Santana will also be available. I know Bartolo Colon is! You have to spend money to win, usually on the best players available. You can fill in holes like the Twins did this season, but did they really get the best of the free agents who actually outshine the best they have on their own roster in 2021?

Dobnak is more on an in-play pitcher. If he strikes out as many as he walks, I'm happy. Robles could be a decent trade-chip. And like Pineda, let them enter free agency and see what you he'll sign for then. I'm sure he is happily looking at his work so far getting him a modest multi-year deal. Jackson is still in the bullpen mix. If the Twins can just jettison Shoemaker right now and get someone better in his place. And then you have to start getting at least five or more innings from Maeda, Happ, Dobnak. I wish we could push Over, but I can understand that risk. But at least I hope that means that if we move on from a couple of aging starters, we WILL SEE Duran And Balazovic for a half dozen starts each this season. Which would make me very happy going towards 2022. Gonna be interesting to see how the Twins play Kirilloff, Larnach, Buxton, Kepler, Sano, Cruz going forth! And as long as Simmons is around, Gordon is going to be sitting on the bench. At least work the guy into a late inning appearance. I want to see him steal bases...and continue to get hits! I am comfortable with a return to shortstop for Polancho, for now. Just think of the opportunity Royce Lewis is missing this season!

Well, pretty good lineup with Sano, Simmons and Donaldson. Berrios would need to pitch a no-run game to win. Granted players are aching, but you NEED to field best players possible, or construct the best lineup possible, when you best pitcher is on the mound. Happily they won, and finally figured out how to get a guy on second with no outs home.

We supposedly thought we had a lot of outfield depth, and Larnach wasn't even on the 40-man yet. And, guess what, we do., Which is why Baddoo wasn't protected (who knew someone would take a gamble on an oft-injured guy who has only limited AA at bats). It was Wade or Cave. I would've gone with Wade in the end as a potential fourth outfielder, although I wonder how spring training would've panned out for him where a bunch of minor league free agents were high in the pecking order. I felt Anderson was a good pickup. My question here is WHY? Why was he removed from the 40-man? Who are the Twins replacing him with? If they need a 40-man spot, you can get rid of Colombe or Shoemaker. Right now, I would rather see Jax and Anderson on the team pitching equally as bad as either of those two guys. And, at some point, you will have a 40-man spot open up when Buxton returns and the Twins have to make a decision on Garlick and Refsnyder.. Plus, I totally expect Happ and Simmons to be gone sooner rather than later. And the Twins best trading chips that some other team MIGHT want are Pineda, Robles and Cruz. Robles ahs been fine, but I don't trust the need to bring him back in 2022 (or you just might like to resign him, or Pineda, when the players search out a free agent contract). I hate the thought of trading Cruz. I think he is a fine bench and clubhouse presence, but at some point the Twins will have a crowded outfield and have to figure out where to play Larnach, Kirilloff, Buxton and Kepler, along with Sano. So Sano to DH might be in the offering for the remainder of this season. Yep, Wade was a loss, but doubt he would be an outfield starter in the future and the Twins are still looking at a prospect logjam depending on what becomes of signing Buxton. But nice the Twins are giving away players other teams want. At least the front office is spending mon ey at the Dollar Store signing such minor league guys as: Juan Minaya, J.T. Riddle, Tsu-Wei Lin, Jordan Milbrath, Justin Washington, Ryan Horstman, B.J.Boyd, Matt Mullenbach, Erik Manoah, Adam Lau, Sherman Johnson, Rob Whalen, Andrew Albers, Brandon Koch, Daniel Descalso, Nick Anderson (no, not the pitcher), Jason Garcia, Wilbis Santiago, Bobby Milacki. Robinson Leyer, Kevin Broxton, Chandler Shepherd, Drew Maggi. Wow, talk about prospect blocking!

The Twins are taking it easy with Ober. He itched 100 innings back in 2014 un college, but 75 is his tops in the minors, and not many at all in 2019/2020. So they are hoping to get 15 or so starts out of him? Maybe the Twins need to use an opener? That way he could start by pitching to the middle of end of a lineup. And also get a win!

Let's go really big and package Buxton AND Berrios as a trade package. Now that is something that could bring a major return. When dealing mid-season, will the player get the other team where they wish to go. Trade value for a Buxton or Berrios also hinges on the need/ability for the trading team to resign them to a longer contract, or taking a gamble that their current season might increase the trade value of the player going into the free agent season. Otherwise, you are just getting a rental. Sadly, if it is all about money, you better start signing the next crop of players early to get those extra years under the team's belt, or you will be known as a team that can't afford to play in the big leagues. Dollar store dumpster diving for diamonds that might look impressive for a moment or two is not the direction you want to take a team, u nless you are constantly banging out top prospects.