MN_ExPat

Any time you beat the Dirty Sox it's a good thing!
I just wish we could have swept.
GREAT start by Gray! Might be nothing, but I have this feeling that he has not only been focusing more on his approach to PUT GUYS AWAY EARLIER, which he has commented on previously. (He seems to be a bit of a perfectionist, which I get, as well as a competitor). But I think he is mentally ramping himself up for the post season. 
I'm just NOT worried about 1 bad inning from Lopez in game 3.
I'm more worried/curious about Ryan. I think he's fine both mentally and physically. I just want to see him "turn it up" a notch one game before the season ends. 
I dismiss the arguments regarding Wallner. He struggled for a couple of weeks. And I hate the Gallo comparisons, especially so early in his career. Yes, there is a comparison. But he's been much better lately. And their approach might be similar, but their swing is  different from what I've seen. Gallo is all or nothing. Wallner seems to have a swing that's adjustable. He doesn't "golf" at everything. I do hope Wallner follows a different path than Gallo. It's great to be able to work a count like Julien does. But not everyone can do that. And I don't see Wallner following Gallo from what I've seen of him. I think he's got a good evaluation of the strike zone. I think he has a more aggressive attitude to swing at a ball in the zone than Gallo has. I think he's a future .240-.250 hitter with a decent OB and still tremdous power. I've watched both of them enough to believe Wallner is going to be a better "hitter" than Gallo.

The Twins are now 36-39 on the road, not great, but respectable. I'd like to see them win the next two road series and at least get 40 wins on the road. Yes, I guess I'd like to see them clinch earlier rather than later, but playing games the matter is good for the team.

Let's give the Kernels some credit here.  They don't have that Brooks Lee type this year, but they have a plethora of guys that are above average.  Ben Ross, Rosario, Manny, McCusker, Zebby, Culpepper, Schobel, Keaschall, Ortega, etc.  Some have moved up, but Fort Myers has sent solid players to fill.  Love it.  We've made the playoffs EVERY season since affiliating with the Twins, and this year, we're going to finally win the Midwest League!!!

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

Yes, and having an 8th inning HAMMER is just as important some games as the starter. He will get his chance in the rotation as players leave for FA, etc, but for now, let this kid throw max effort for 1-2 innings a shot and let's roll. 
MN product and trains at Starters too. Awesome

He is quite the man.  I sure hope he continues to play for the Twins as long as he can keep batters guessing and wiffing. His craftiness is so much fun to watch! 

Wonderful to see Caleb is still pitching.  A nice person. His Dad is a class act also. Watched him in pitching duels against Prescott teams. 

Caleb has come a long way since playing for Randolph High School. He is a great story.

His contributions have been totally underappreciated. A lot of Twins victories this year were kept safe and boring by clean innings from Thielbar.

As far as the position he plays, I'm thinking of Manny Machado. Machado was a SS playing third base, but found a home there. Royce looks like the same thing. 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

...Not saying you're wrong to feel that way, buuuut, you may be jumping the gun.  Just wee little bit.  Perhaps we could pause for a moment before we call for Correa's figurative head?? 

While I miss Arraez, both sides won.

Gray blowing by his innings total from last year, a healthy/effective Ober, and the trickle down effect (for which Lopez also receives credit) from that reduced workload in the pen has likely played a massive role as well. 

I guess I'm going to repeat a lot of good stuff here, but so be it.
Like most, I absolutely love watching Arraez and loved his attitude/enthusiasm. I hated losing him and was bummed out when he was moved. I also was worried about the offense, even with Arraez, as we had guys coming back from injury, and young guys not yet proven...or both...to really make the offense be what it could potentially be. Honestly, not having for the Arraez for the first half, looking back, wasn't the problem with out inconsistent and often poor offense. There were far too many K's and feeble AB to say he was any sole cost..
But it was the number of those players that allowed the Twins to make this move. Lee, Lewis, Polanco, Martin, Kirilloff, Wallner, Larnach, and Miranda were all 2B/1B/DH options here, coming back, or coming soon. And that's before the whole Buxton to DH situation. Now, not everyone was going to be ready this year, or come back strong from injury, or even make it all. But when you have that many guys to work with, you have depth numbers.
What's interesting is how, as of today, Friday, Arraez and Julien...who essentially replaced him...BOTH have an .842 OPS and an OPS+ of 130. Now, Arraez has been with the Marlins all season and has about 250 more AB's, but the point is while they are different players, they are essentially playing the exact same positions, hitting generally the same exact same spot in the lineup, and producing almost identically, though in different ways.
So while I hated to lose Arraez for many reasons, I also would still make that trade. I also agree it's turned out to be a Win-Win for both sides. Now, with a couple prospects that MIGHT turn out, and the inherent value often placed on a top of the rotation starter, I might have to give the Twins a slight nod.
NOTE: The perspective from the other side was absolutely a wonderful addition to the article. 

It's a good point. If the only way you'll deal with a team is if you're screwing them, then why would anyone deal with you? there are going to be cases where one team values a player differently than another team, but for the most part there's going to be fairly close valuations.

In May it looked like a pretty bad trade for the Twins.  Today it looks like a pretty good trade for the Twins.  It'll probably flip back and forth for a few years, as injuries or ineffectiveness plague either Lopez or Arraez. 
Arraez's knees have received numerous mentions in the comments.  That is fair.  He will  always be moderately more likely to miss time than a typical MLB 2nd baseman.
Less frequently noted though is that all MLB starting pitchers are at risk of arm problems, or sudden downturns in effectiveness.  There are a very small number of Verlanders or Scherzers who enjoy long careers of consistent pitching success.  There are many flashes in the pan, dominant for two or three years.  I hope Lopez is on the Verlander track, but if we are honest it is way too soon to know that, and the odds remain daunting.  Take a look at the Cy Young winners over the last 20 years and see all the names that were just short bursts of greatness (eg, Ray, Arrieta, Kluber, Porcello, DeGrom, Webb, etc).
Hitters, meanwhile, if they are truly great hitters (and Arraez is) tend to age well.  When you trade for a great hitter, you can project with a little more confidence.  He may end up a DH, but if Arraez has any legs left at all I'll wager he is still hitting .300 at age 34.  
I absolutely hope both players have a decade of continued success.
And Ted, thanks, this was one of the best reads on Twins Daily this year!

This was clearly a win win for both sides who dealt from positions of depth.  Miami has had some injuries and regression of other starters but they still have a lot of depth there.  We clearly have depth at infield and going into next season we will need to figure out what to do with some more that we have.  This is not a one team one a trade or lost it, and really that is what teams want. 

I'm sorry, but do you actually believe this? That the Twins front office didn't want Arraez's influence over other hitters? Or that the players have simply all taken it upon themselves to now go their own way and ignore input from the coaching staff, scouts, etc? because that's just silliness.
The current FO is the same one that promoted him from A+ to AA, then to AAA, then to MLB. They moved him from AA to MLB in the same year, and then kept rolling with him. the idea that they traded him to keep his voice out of the room is ludicrous.
They dealt Arraez not because they didn't like him, but because he had a lot of value at a position they had a lot of depth at. In order to get what they really needed (and boy did we still need pitching) we had to give up someone that was established and had real value. That's Arraez. the other option was Polanco, but Polanco's value was likely lower at the time because of the injury he'd had last season, the time he had missed, the contract he had, and being older.
It was a good trade for the Twins, even if it meant giving up a player that everyone loved. That includes the front office: they loved him too. But Pablo Lopez has been very good for us and is lined up to lead the rotation for the next several year, which is something we didn't have: an established, all-star quality starter in his prime to lead the rotation.

Last year Miami's offense was third from the bottom in the majors. This year they are fourth from the bottom.
Last year the Twins' runs-against per game was around the middle of the pack. This year they rank fourth best.
A table-setter for a solid starting pitcher, assuming the talent evaluation and medicals all check out, is a trade I make every time.  Pitchers are inherently injury-prone but we know from experience that position-players miss time and see declining performance due to physical ailments too.  I liked the trade even when Arraez was hitting .400 earlier this season, and I like it now.  Setting the table wasn't any kind of panacea for Miami.