He's started 51 games at catcher, 4 at first base, and 14 in left field.

Thanks for the summary. I must be looking at the wrong games to see him catching. I know I saw some DH spots, too.

Just a quick note on "losing" Justin Haley. I live in New England where the only baseball news I get in the papers or on local TV is about the Red Sox. There has been no mention of Haley being returned. That leads me to think that even the Red Sox don't think much of Haley.

 

Just a quick note on "losing" Justin Haley. I live in New England where the only baseball news I get in the papers or on local TV is about the Red Sox. There has been no mention of Haley being returned. That leads me to think that even the Red Sox don't think much of Haley.

Obviously they don't, since they didn't put him on their 40-man roster.

 

But I will add, it didn't generate much mention in the local press here either -- a quick Google search says it was only noted by the Star Tribune in the Garcia trade story, because it was clearing a 40-man roster spot.  And since it didn't involve any kind of 40-man spot for Boston, it's not surprising if it was not mentioned there at all.

 

The trade of reference isn't Hermann, it's Butera, for Miguel Sulbaran, who looked pretty intriguing as a 19 year old throwing a 3.0 ERA in A ball. That actually ended up badly.

 

 

Not really.  Sulbaran brought Nunez who brought Mejia.  I'd trade Buterrible for Mejia every day of the week.

 

 

Herrmann had a 1.5 WAR season last year and Palka will likely never have a meaningful mlb career. I wouldn't call that a "good" outcome for the Twins.

Eh, Palka is a disappointment but Herrmann had an extremely lucky year. I call the trade a wash, a shuffling of deck chairs. Chris Herrmann, as it turns out, has turned back into exactly what we knew he was.

 

The fact that we got anything for Murphy is awesome.  A bag of new baseballs would have been a great get.

Yes, at this point, just clearing him off the 40 man is a victory of sorts. It's nice to get a lottery ticket for him, just as the Twins did with Palka.

 

The thing about lottery tickets is that they often don't pan out. It doesn't mean it's a bad deal. If you're releasing a sure loser to pick up a possible winner, that's a deal you make every time.*

 

*not that Murphy is a sure loser, but he's damned close to it at this point

Eh, Palka is a disappointment but Herrmann had an extremely lucky year. I call the trade a wash, a shuffling of deck chairs. Chris Herrmann, as it turns out, has turned back into exactly what we knew he was.

I don't even disagree, it is a wash or a trade that that really commands minimal thought. Just don't agree it was a "good" outcome for the Twins.

 

I suspect this trade ends up the same. I don't mind taking on a lottery ticket, especially since Murphy had no purpose in the org anymore with the emergence of Garver. But people underrate catching depth and overrate relief prospects. It's a trade that works both ways.

And so the book closes on two moves:  Hicks for a fringy reliever and the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft for, well, nothing, as the pick was first traded (for nothing) and the player eventually selected was returned.

 

And posters want this front office to make MORE deals?

I do. Haley made sense coming off a 103 loss season. Since we are still in the hunt, no time to babysit a Rule 5 pickup. Things are fluid right now.

To succeed in the post season the Twins do not need to beat Oakland.  They will need to beat the likes of the Astros, Red Sox and Dodgers.  And they have proven that they cannot win a series against those teams, neither at home nor on the road.

 

The Twins are 20-30 against opponents with winning record.  Even if they beat another horrible team this will not make them contenders.

The schedule is favorable the rest of the way. A win against a bad team, counts the same as a win against a good team. They could finish the season with a run, just like the Royals did in 2014. All the talk back then was the Royals were going to clean house, but then they got hot. The rest is history.