Minnesota Twins Talk

https://www.twincities.com/2021/07/29/shoemaker-says-twins-way-screwed-him-up/amp/?__twitter_impression=true John Shipley from the Pioneer Press wrote that RHP Matt Shoemaker blamed himself for not saying No. When free agents are signed, coaches work with them to try to make them better. Sometimes it helps. For Shoemaker, it didn't. Interesting points throughout the article.

Well, we all navigated an interesting, sometimes sad, trade deadline. Jose gone, probably for good. The odds of him re-signing here after 2022 are miniscule. We do not know how these last 2 months will unfold. There is a lot of sentiment to get some of the young pitchers a chance at the MLB level to start assessing them. What moves to make this offseason based upon what we know today? My 2 cents: 1) Re-sign Nelson Cruz, and indicate he is welcome on our MLB coaching staff when he wants to finish his career; 2) Try very hard to sign Syndegaard in FA. His value should be depressed by the TJS, but he has ace potential and think of the marketin…

Many people have suggested that this season is what the Twins really are and that they got extremely lucky the last two years. Others are saying that they’ve gotten extremely unlucky this year. Which side are you on?

A fun read. https://tria.com/dr-john-steubs-celebrates-31st-season-with-the-minnesota-twins/

Any injury to a hand is not trivial for a pitcher. Ervin Santana never recovered from surgery to the middle finger of his throwing hand. Rogers has injured the same finger though I think the injury is different. Anyone know of other pitchers with the same injury and how they recovered? What is the recovery time if surgery is needed?

Discussion down below:

I often think/wonder about what goes on in the Twins' clubhouse and how it affects the team's performance. In the last two years, the club has turned over some key figures that (from reports) have had big personalities, replacing them with players with very different apparent affect. Has this had a role in the Twins' decline? Of course, there have been many personnel changes, but we all recognized (and sometimes cursed) the "free spirit" attitude of Rosario. Gibson was enough of a leader to be the club player representative. In place of those two as key veterans we have Donaldson and Simmons, neither of whom *ever* looks to be enjoying himself, and Maeda, who s…

I thought it would be good to have a location for people to just share rumors that we are hearing online about the Twins and be able to discuss them. Most rumors don't come to fruition, but it's clear there is a lot of smoke. Jose Berrios is rumored to be going all kinds of places (Mets, Padres, and more). Max Kepler is in rumors involving the Yankees and likely other teams too. What happens with Buxton? Andrelton Simmons and the Reds have been connected, maybe the Mets. Alexander Colome has been solid since May 1st, and has a long line of being very good. Maybe they can get a C prospect for him. Taylor Rogers is a wanted man. Every team …

Unsurprising really, but it's the first news I've seen of... anything... in the past 36 hours or so. If there's that much interest in Jose, it's going to be hard to walk away from the best team's best offer. And I'm increasingly okay with that, really. If the Twins can't keep Berríos, and it seems really unlikely they can if they have to compete directly with the likes of the Yankees in a strict financial sense. If they can acquire an elite A+ or AA pitching prospect plus more, it's probably the right decision for the organization. https://www.startribune.com/as-trade-deadline-nears-twins-getting-plenty-of-calls-on-jose-berrios/600082567/?refresh=true

The offer is $70+ million according to the article. Doesn’t specify the years. Rosenthal gave the impression this is the last offer from the Twins. If Buxton rejects it, he will be traded this offseason, if not by July 30.

I apologize for bringing this up but seems silly not to mention it on a Twins discussion board and, if it is buried somewhere I second the apology. Twins set a MLB home run record in 2019 and yesterday set another all time AL record related to home runs that is even more incredible. First team in the entire history of the American League and maybe MLB to hit 7 home runs in a game (or maybe 7 more than the other team) and lose. It also is very perplexing that Baldelli only used 3 pitchers in that game when he routinely runs 5 and 6 out there. Almost seems like he is trying to be creative in how to lose. These last 2 games against the Tigers should be the nail in the …

I'm voting yes.

I mean, I don't think anyone *really* expected a full-on firesale - there are simply too many pieces to move in a week for that to happen - but it also makes sense to take a re-tool approach over a "burn it down and start over" approach. I still think there's a very good chance the Twins move key pieces like Berríos or Donaldson, but this makes me think we won't see payroll being slashed next season, which is very good news in its own right. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/twins-trade-rumors-rebuild-max-kepler.html

There are so many variables in play and I'm curious what some of you think this team will look like on the morning of July 31st. We can pretty easily predict that most (maybe all) of the expiring contracts will be gone but will the Twins move non-expiring contract players? Share your thoughts!

LaMonte Wade Jr. was released by the Twins, and is now a starter for the Giants. He's gone yard 12 times already. This is just one recent poor move by the Twins front office. It seems like former Twins always find their sweet spots with their new teams. Maybe we should be asking why!

He is looking lost at the plate, and maybe a reset is needed. Hope this happens when the Twins make a trade or two, and add another outfielder to the mix. Would hate to have Larnach totally messed up by constant failure before being sent down.

Well, that's close to a surefire way to block a trade. Well played, Taylor, well played.* *just kidding, get well soon, Taylor https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/twins-closer-taylor-rogers-finger-sprain-trade-deadline-injury.html

While I personally lean toward signing Buxton, I understand why others would prefer Berríos. But either way, the Twins can’t afford to let two very good players walk in free agency - or be traded - and compete at the highest level in the next couple of seasons. There’s still time to get something done but it needs to happen by Christmas and if this front office can’t ink either player, it may be time for them to go. And I’m not getting a good feeling after hearing their offer was so low on Buxton, possibly even insultingly low for someone of his talent level.

Sign BB

https://theathletic.com/2729647/2021/07/26/bowden-three-trades-id-like-to-see-the-giants-dodgers-and-padres-make-this-week-in-the-wild-wild-nl-west/ The Athletic's Jim Bowden proposed this deal in his latest article. Seems light if you ask me. Thoughts?

https://deadspin.com/the-twins-did-this-to-themselves-1847362817?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=dlvrit&utm_content=deadspin Deadspin has an article from Sam Fels kind of bashing the Twins for several things this year. One big one is that the struggling bullpen is in large part due to their decisions at starter, but not the ones you may think: Aging? Quick check on Baseball-reference: Lance Lynn - 34 Kenta Maeda - 33 Michael Pineda - 32 While the general point can certainly argued, the "aging" reference is dumb, and forgetting the performance of Maeda in 2020 probably is a miss... though we all knew it pr…

Hope it’s not too long of a recovery….

In a trade reportedly referred to as "an A+ return" from Keith Law (haven't had a chance to read Gleeman's article on. it yet), I'm not sure we could have expected much better than two good-not-great pitching prospects that are close to the majors. What are your impressions of the deal after you've had a chance to sleep on it? Twins get: Joe Ryan Drew Strotman Rays get: Nelson Cruz Calvin Faucher A Warm Fuzzy Feeling

In my opinion it’s time to cut bait and do a rebuild with the news of Kiriloffs wrist!!! This team is not contending with the White Sox or even the Royals next year. It’s time to sell high on Berrios he’s been at best a mid rotation stater who flashes number 2 potential from time to time over the past few years trade him while the time is right!! Unload Donaldson if you can just to get out from under the money!! Trade Duffey and rodgers too they should both get back something decent

This is a fun new feature we just rolled out on Twins Daily: the ability to search based on popularity of the article. Interested to see which Nelson Cruz stories were most popular with Twins Daily readers? Just check out the link below, they're sorted in descending order. https://twinsdaily.com/search/?q="nelson cruz"&type=cms_records1&updated_after=any&page=2&sortby=views&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles

I don’t want a “Cruz watch” thread second guessing the trade. Last night, Nelson Cruz hit a homer in his second at bat. I’d still make the trade and hope his success continues. No second guessing, because he wasn’t going to make a difference for the Twins for the rest of this tough season. He will contribute to success in St Pete. The Rays’ players are exceedingly positive on Nellie’s presence in the dugout. Twins fans are not surprised.

Welcome to the 2021 edition of Twins' Baseball. Twins Daily plans to have a game thread during the regular season for every game (one thread only for a doubleheader). The focus of the game thread should be on that day's contest and it is expected that the content of the thread will be provided by regular TD Twins fans. Each thread will require an introduction and I have accepted the task of organizing the introductions. I will post a Google Doc for each month usually 1-2 weeks before the month is started, meaning that I'm already late for the April edition. I'm looking for volunteers to post all game introductions. I'll also be the person to contact if you're unable to…

Dan Hayes and Jeff Passan report that Nelson Cruz has been traded to the Rays.

While I'd probably look to move Berríos and Rogers, this is actually a pretty positive sign for the fanbase. I doubt they'd hold onto these players if ownership was breathing down their necks to cut payroll. Does this make it more likely the Twins maintain a semi-competitive payroll in 2022? https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/twins-reportedly-disinclined-to-trade-players-controllable-beyond-2021.html

Man, have the injuries piled up