Thiéres Rabelo

Awesome story! Thank you for sharing it!

yeah, not thrilled about them not being that aggressive... that's me personally. Perhaps they will show more this offseason. The core of the offense (minus Schoop) is set to return next year.  And they have reinforcements in Rooker, Kirilloff, and Larnach, so they should want to do something about pitching.

First of all, great post! Really wish this was on the front page.
 
Not piling at anyone, but remember not so long ago when Rosario was just too wild, Polanco couldn't play short, Kepler was only a 4th OF, etc, etc. And without Cruz, the team's lineup averages just under 27yo! That is crazy! Of course, Cruz will be back next season. Personally, I wish/hope the market is slow for Castro and he would come back for another couple years on a reduced deal.
 
Unless hope and fantasy meet, there are no top of the order difference maker SP options available at the moment. Unless you want to gift wrap some crazy package of prospects and vastly overpay. And after that there is nobody available who clearly offers anything better than what the Twins have on hand. And what they have on hand is awfully good.
 
The problems with the pen have been overblown. You don't have the record/season the Twins have with a dumpster fire bullpen. What did you say, if they only played teams with a .500 record or better they would win 88 games? Crazy! And we have some guys who are stepping up and looking like real pen options for the future, but even though some will continue to help, and make the post season roster, it's too late to really count on most of them for now. Think about the tough games against the Yankees this year. Only 6 games, but if we had another couple of arms we could count on, we very likely split, if not win the series.
 
This team has an honest chance in 2019 with a couple solid pen additions. A real and honest chance. And they have the milb depth to make at least one more high quality move.
 
But as good as this team is, as young and talented as it is, the window is not only open, but it could be wide open for another 4-5 years if we can keep the bulk of this roster together. While there are very good prospects lower in the system, there is a very nice collection of arms and position players at Rochester and Pensacola who could/can/have started to contribute.
 
I like our first move. We need another acquisition even better. But I agree that I just wouldn't mortgage anything for 2019 when this team is so good and has so much potential. There are vast differences between doing nothing, making a couple smart moves, and giving up 4-6 top 20/30 prospects to go all in for one season.

We aren't getting past both the Astros and Yankees in the postseason anyway unless our bats carry us or we give up half our top prospects for pitchers. Of everyone available, only Bumgarner/Greinke would be an upgrade as a starter this postseason anyway, and the stud relievers will cost a lot of prospects. I'd rather have Graterol in the postseason bullpen this year than trade him for a 1-2 year rental, for example. I agree we should not do that for this year, and a minor trade could give us a playoff bullpen of Rogers/Romo/Odorizzi/Ian Kennedy/Harper/Smeltzer/Duffey/Graterol which would be at least interesting. 

I think the issue is that the front office has gone on record saying they will aggressively add to the team when the window is open and they know what to expect from this team. The window is wide open. Buxton and Sano are performing at the maximum that you can expect from them. If they go back on their word, it's going to look like they were just blowing smoke and weren't expecting to actually have to act on their promises.
 
Fans always blow the deadline out of proportion when they don't get the big names. In this case though, it reaches all the way back to the offseason when the only moves they made to address the well known weakness of this team was sign Martin Perez and Blake Parker. Perez being found money aside, those were pretty low effort moves. I like the Sergio Romo trade as a supporting move, but if you're a contending team and the only pitching acquisitions you make in a calendar year are Perez, Parker and Romo, you deserve the criticism you get every time your staff loses you a game. 
 
I think we have a very smart front office. They've done a lot with a little in terms of signings, trades, player development etc. But if they aren't willing to make a splash on a surging team right now while they have the financial flexibility and prospect capital, when will they? I still do have hope that we will add another serviceable reliever at least before the deadline by the way.

Honestly I feel you could make an argument that both Taylor and Ryne Harper should be in Cleveland. Taylor was definitely snubbed.

Nice article. Thanks. 

If we talk about the future, I definitely don't see Castro in Minnesota after this season. Astudillo's defensive numbers are, so far, kind of similar to Castro's (except for framing). Pitchers are doing well with him is what I mean. An Astudillo-Garver combo for the next year looks pretty good to me when I picture it.
 
All I'm trying to say is that, as a mentor, Castro can play a big role in shaping Garver's future. And of course, the team can benefit from his upsides one more season, by having a very solid defensive catcher.

If we talk about the future, I definitely don't see Castro in Minnesota after this season. Astudillo's defensive numbers are, so far, kind of similar to Castro's (except for framing). Pitchers are doing well with him is what I mean. An Astudillo-Garver combo for the next year looks pretty good to me when I picture it.
 
All I'm trying to say is that, as a mentor, Castro can play a big role in shaping Garver's future. And of course, the team can benefit from his upsides one more season, by having a very solid defensive catcher.

Catching 4 of Berrios' 5 starts probably accounts for most of the difference in catcher ERA.
 
Missing the 2018 team (with bad versions of Dozier, Buxton, and Sano) probably helped the W-L record
 
Numbers lie all the time. As the saying goes, there are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
 
I'm not saying the Twins should dump Castro. The money is already spent, he's a good defensive catcher, and he may still work off the effects of injury and inaction to once again become an adequate hitter (although good is probably too much to hope for at his age.) 
 
I'm not ready to put all my chips on the Tortuga phenomenon or on Garver's concussion recovery (and marginal defense), but I would like to ride their current performance a bit more heavily for now.

Does that mean English is not your first language? You write well if it is, but if it's not, that's doubly impressive. 

You've still only attended one baseball game to this day?