Rosterman

Luke Raley is back in the majors with the Dodgers. Showed some promise in the minors for the Twins after coming to them in 2018/19 for Brian Dozier. We traded him back to the Dodgers in the Maeda deal.

The real story is the guy ahs been pretty much out of ball since 2016 and is nearing 44 years of age. He [pitched in three games for the Twins giving up 8 runs in 1.2 innings as a situational lefty, after a 49 game stint in the minors. Seven teams and 9 organizations between 1998 and 2016.

Logan Morrison signed a minor league deal with the Red and will be playing first base at Louisvile. He was playing Indy Ball in New York.

And Chalmers has now been designated for assignment by the Cubs. Interesting to see if he continues the waiver claim route made popular by Blankenship.

Some guys need every chance to be a starter before going to the pen. Especially if they are a starter.

Line-up construction? Dismal. Hey, it's nice to have players play multiple positions. But nicer if you actually have players that can play a position. You construct a team that also gives you different skills, especially back-up/replacement players. Speed, defense, putting a ball in play, hitting a fly ball, taking a walk. Like a bullpen. Lights out closer. Someone who can strike people out. A groundball pitcher (if your defense can handle such things). The Twins were totally unprepared for starting a 10th inning with a runner on second, both in moving the runner towards home themselves and also keeping there from a pitching standpoint. It is nice to have a starter (or two) who can potentially stop a losing streak. That works better if they can pitch at least five innings, preferably six (sometimes), throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks, giving guys games off for no particular reason (you are hired to play ball). Right now the clubhouse has to be a mess. Same old same old game after game after game. A dozen in the hole is a deep hole to climb.

He has the drive. Now excited to see what happens. Interestingly, I think he was available in two straight Rule 5 drafts and wasn't grabbed.

The continuing journeys of Twins jettisoned from the 40-man roster. Minor League Free Agent signee and roster addition Brandon Waddell, who was claimed and pitched for the Orioles before entering waivers again, is now a St. Louis Cardinal!

With all the players that could be available? Little! Berrios or Pineda, maybe. But Happ, Shoemaker, Cruz, Simmons, Colome would be lucky to bring back a prospect in a club's 30-100 range. Quite frankly, you would do a trade to eliminate salary for this year and open up a position. Of course, no one ever knows how a prospect may pan out. But the reality, looking at players today, is that most teams would look at Twins free agents as someone the Twins would designate and they would claim (or work out a trade), or just pick up for a pro-rated portion of the salary, if the Twins would go that route. Of course, if any of the free-agents-to-be start to get hot, you gotta strike when the market may be up...even a tad!

Former 40-man Dakota Chalmers claimed by Cubs. We got him for Fernando Rodney back in 2018.

So hit and miss on high draft picks. For every Denard Span or Ben Revere there is a BJ Garbe or Matt Moses. Tyler Jay, Kohl Stewart, Carlos Gutierrez, Ryan Mills. Sometimes you get Matt Garza or Kyle Gibson, or you get Adam Johnson or Kyle Waldrop. Of course development is the key. And the best players in AAA and AA ball are often the backend players on a major league roster, when the need arrives, because they can be plugged in to play the game for a year or three. Such a juggling act. The Twins could open their 2021 roster for prospect tryouts, but the players getting the call would have to be those needing protection for the 2022 season. You don't promote someone really not ready to even get a consideration in 2022 if you may be forced to replace them with others who might be showing a spark of life. Yet you can't have 15 spots on the 40-man held by guys who are just minor league guys. Except for this season, Celestino never would've gotten the call...and he is going on year two. You can argue about the two remaining players on the 40-man who have not seen major league action that they are preventing you from signing minor free agents (or cut players) and that they probably wouldn't see action if the team was winning. With the current Twins, they will get the chance before the season is done. But are they up to the task for 2022, and can a roster full of prospects improve the Twins chances of winning in 2022.

Simmons was signed for his defense and adequate bat. You hope he shines more and someone might take him at trade deadline. Gordon appears to be a second base candidate, but that shouldn't stop moving Polanco back to shortstop. I love Arraez, but besides taking pitches and putting the ball in play, he isn't the longterm answer to the position. But a nice luxury to have on the team.

Only 2 40-man players await a call to the majors now (if you consider that Colina is on the MLB disabled list) for this season. It's nice having AAA close to home, but the shuttles between the minors is really busy!

And now Thielbar maybe hurt? Will the whole 40-man roster soon be at Target Field in some capacity?

60-day? Jeffers and Rortvedt get to tandem a year early! Or do we see Tellis?

You can trade him. And, if need be, resign him. Open up opportunities to see what you do have once you start to write-off the season. Any "prospects" need exposure, and what better way to get exposure than a losing season where they can actually work on pitches at the big league level. You need to open up roster space so you can see thhat next rung who may not be quite ready to start 2022, but will be a aprt of the season IF you don't sign anyone. Berrios, in all accounts, will be gone if you don't overpay. And, remember, Pineda could come back as a free agent signee. Any pending free agent needs to move on to stock the farm system and open roster spots for potential major league prospects: Happ, Pineda, Shoemaker. Colome, Simmons, Cruz all are tradable and probably all (except Shoemaker) could be wanted. You have to decide on the fate of Duffey, Rogers and Robles. Spots are being wasted by Farrell, Minaya and Thielbar right now, as well as a couple of outfielders.

Travis Blankenhorn continues his trip around the major leagues, now claimed by the Mets and added momentarily to their 26-man roster. The Mets also got rid of 2016 AAA Rochester Red Wing signee Wilfredo Tovar from their system. The question, where will TRAVIS land next!

The rotation looked decent on paper and had depth. But Maeda, if he was even average, would make this a plus. Shoemaker was on the bubble and we hoped Dobnak (or Thorpe) would be decent if need be. Happ is okay, but at this stage I would dangle him in the trade market. When your four outfielders are Larnach, Garlick, Kirilloff, Refsnyder - you are looking at rebuilding. Okay if the rookies are learning on the job, but that doesn't give you contention. Donaldson may be the spark needed, but offset by Sano. The home runs are nice, but is that all he has? Send him to New York or Boston and he will be a King with the Big Bat. At Target Field, he causes cringes when men are on base and we can only hope. I want to see Nick Gordon get some play. Arrarz is great if he works the count and hits .300+. Otherwise, the Twins look weak, and will need a shortstop come 2021. If Garver is going to be Garver, I can wait for Jeffers to come back. Except for less power, catcher is a position that will eat up outs. Cruz needs to stay healthy. At some point, the Twins will dangle his bat if they have no where to go to get the guy into a playoff team. And then we ask if Rooker gets another shot. The bullpen is an utter mess. Even the decent (at times) arms allow runners to score, thus making a bad showing of the pitcher they replaced. Looks like the Twins have two rotating roster spots to run also rans thru the pen. Keep them if they sick (Jackson holding his own). Otherwise throw a few innings, get demoted, and maybe move elsewhere. At some point will we see Griffin Jax this season, or is he so far behind Dobnak, Thorpe, Ober, Duran that there is no need to even take a peak. But, hey, while on he bullpen, let's make Thorpe a situational lefty. The bullpen has definitely lost games for the team. The bats, or whatever you call the lineup (notice Willians hasn't gotten any playing time of late) ARE A MESS!

Three former Twin hurlers and one piece of the waaaay back Johan Santana trade make this list of best minor league signings at MLB Trade Rumors. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/05/best-minor-league-deals-mlb-2021-pitchers.html

It will be interesting to see advancement as the Elizabethton team no longer exists and you will have some folks ready from that minor league camp going on in Florida to push some of the Might Mussels to a higher level (as well as the experience that brings playing in town ball, so to speak). The Twins have quite a few minor league free agents to question at St. Paul (many on the injured list). It's also a year that organizations get a feel of the players a player plays against in their league and how that affects advancement overall. In the past, the short season league was a chance for many players to experience playing on the road (short trips) and before a crowd as well as playing competitive ball again. Now the Twins have so many players in one location at the Ft. Myers complex, plus it also being the rehab home. Players basically live in a dorm, have access to nutrition and top-notch equipment. Only so many can play on the low-A team, but the Mussels do have the luxury of swapping players in and out as needed. But, yes...the big question is: Who are the players that NEED to get some major league experience in 2021. Who needs a hard look for the 40-man come the fall and COULD contribute in some way in 2022. And who deserves that extra push!

Travis Blankenhorn claimed by Mariners from Dodgers. On the 40-man. Hopefully can see some major league time in Seattle. Otherwise, come off-season and if he is a minor league free agent, I would welcome a return to the Twins organization. Like did anyone notice that Jermaine Palacios, who we traded to the Rays for Jake Odorizzi, is now back in the Twins organization at AA ball?

Hector Santiago signed a minor league deal with the Mariners!

Looks like Danny Santana is returning this weekend to the Red Sox. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/05/red-sox-select-call-up-danny-santana.html

Anthony Swarzak is back with the Royals and getting time at AAA before a potential recall. I guess I hadn't been paying attention, but since he left the Twins after a five year stint ending in 2014, he has been with the Indians, Mets, White Sox, Brewers, Yankees, Mariners and Diamondbacks. Giving former Twin Terry Mulholland a run for most teams played for.

Amazing with the 100-pitch count, and most pitchers barely able to get to the sixth inning...at least in Twins land.