Twins Acquire Gold-Glove Outfielder from Royals

[Doctor Gast]

6 minutes ago, Einheri said:

I believe Gilberto Celestino has an option year yet, so he would be my guess.

He has an option year that he can be sent down to AAA, But I believe he still needs to be on the 40 man or be claimed by another team.

[oregontwin]

Curious as to who comes off the roster. Barring another trade, of course. Getting a little short of people we might not miss.

[2wins87]

5 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

He has an option year that he can be sent down to AAA, But I believe he still needs to be on the 40 man or be claimed by another team.

Yes he would almost certainly be claimed and stashed by another team.

Maybe Cole Sands is the most marginal guy now and might make it through?

They will get two spots for 60 day IL moves when ST starts, but I don't think there's any way the move can be delayed that much.

Could be a Kepler trade is in the works as well.

[Parfigliano]

Just now, 2wins87 said:

Yes he would almost certainly be claimed and stashed by another team.

Maybe Cole Sands is the most marginal guy now and might make it through?

They will get two spots for 60 day IL moves when ST starts, but I don't think there's any way the move can be delayed that much.

Could be a Kepler trade is in the works as well.

For relief pitching I hope.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Parfigliano said:

For relief pitching I hope.

I'd prefer prospects, but I understand your position

[sthpstm]

Between Jeffers, Gordon, Farmer and Taylor the bench has been upgraded from just bench players to could be starting on a marginal or bad team players. Assuming relative health of the starters, hopefully Buxton and Correa can keep the team a cohesive unit.

[mikelink45]

I am glad so many like this - it leaves me shaking my head.  Is he really better than Celestino?  I do not think so.  I wanted to see Celestino continue to progress.  Taylor is at his peak. 

In all I like it better than signing Gallo.  But Taylor's bat brings nothing. 

[FlyingFinn]

34 minutes ago, oregontwin said:

Curious as to who comes off the roster. Barring another trade, of course. Getting a little short of people we might not miss.

Pagan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Muppet]

Clearly the strategy is to prevent runs from scoring at the expense of scoring any runs whatsoever. Sounds boring, but let’s hope it works. 

[chpettit19]

6 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am glad so many like this - it leaves me shaking my head.  Is he really better than Celestino?  I do not think so.  I wanted to see Celestino continue to progress.  Taylor is at his peak. 

In all I like it better than signing Gallo.  But Taylor's bat brings nothing. 

Celestino needs to progress at AAA. He's not ready for MLB yet. That's abundantly clear. Having him back in AAA is by far the better option for him and his development.

[jmlease1]

I wish Taylor could hit better? He's an excellent defensive player, but he's likely to be about as effective at the plate as Celestino, if not worse. Now, he's also likely to be much better on defense (Celestino is ok in CF, but still needs work). Price seems fine; I was intrigued by Sisk, but seems like the Twins don't think he's going to find enough control to be effective. Cruz is interesting, but can't find the plate either. It's impressive how he hunts Ks, but he was pretty hittable last season in addition to walking everyone. Not sure either of these guys are going to come back to haunt us any time soon?

It's great insurance for Buxton going out for an extended period, or coverage for him to DH regularly. But it does add some pressure on guys like Kirilloff, Gallo, Jeffers, Larnach, and Kepler to up their offensive game this season.

Twins are going for it though, and I like it.

[h2oface]

They should just call him a right handed outfielder, instead of a right handed “hitting” outfielder. 
Always good to trade away pitchers so you don’t have to develop them, especially those pesky flame throwing lefty’s. . 

[gunnarthor]

I would assume a few things.

1) Buxton will get a lot of starts at DH, probably never play CF three days in a row.
2) Kepler is going to be moved.

[Dman]

16 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am glad so many like this - it leaves me shaking my head.  Is he really better than Celestino?  I do not think so.  I wanted to see Celestino continue to progress.  Taylor is at his peak. 

In all I like it better than signing Gallo.  But Taylor's bat brings nothing. 

I tend to agree their bats don't seem that different to me.  Taylor has more power and is better defensively but they are pretty close to the same player.

Maybe I am over thinking things but why did the Twins need Taylor so badly on a one year deal?  Seems like this might be setting up another move.  With Correa at short it seems like Lewis's next most valuable position would be center field.  Is Taylor just a bridge to Lewis?  And if he is do the Twins really need Celestino?  I am wondering if they are going to trade Celestino as the odd man out.  Like I said could be over thinking things but there are too many outfielders on the 40 man right now.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I really like this trade. Michael Taylor and Byron Buxton are so fast, the Twins can just use these  two players in the OF and use the third OF position for a lefty reliever, who can mow down lefthanded batters and  the starting pitcher can remain in the game in the OF, with the lefty reliever remaining in the game somewhere in the OF when right handed batters are at bat. Alternate the pitchers. How's this for thinking outside the box?

That’s how they’ll overcome the shift ban! 2 outfielders and an extra infielder!

[chpettit19]

4 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I wish Taylor could hit better? He's an excellent defensive player, but he's likely to be about as effective at the plate as Celestino, if not worse. Now, he's also likely to be much better on defense (Celestino is ok in CF, but still needs work). Price seems fine; I was intrigued by Sisk, but seems like the Twins don't think he's going to find enough control to be effective. Cruz is interesting, but can't find the plate either. It's impressive how he hunts Ks, but he was pretty hittable last season in addition to walking everyone. Not sure either of these guys are going to come back to haunt us any time soon?

It's great insurance for Buxton going out for an extended period, or coverage for him to DH regularly. But it does add some pressure on guys like Kirilloff, Gallo, Jeffers, Larnach, and Kepler to up their offensive game this season.

Twins are going for it though, and I like it.

It's an "eh" depth move. Nothing to write home about. But, even given he's not a good hitter, he's significantly better than Celestino at this point in their careers. Taylor's career OPS is only .677. Not impressive at all. But Celestino has had an OPS over .600 for 2 months of his (short) MLB career. Last August he was a .606. May he was at .844 and it made his overall season look slightly less than completely and utterly unplayable. He OPSed .458 in June and .477 in July in 2021. March/April of 2022 he was at .581, June .589, July .468, September/October .552. He needs to be in AAA. He's absolutely, totally, and completely not ready for major league baseball yet.

[Parfigliano]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

It's an "eh" depth move. Nothing to write home about. But, even given he's not a good hitter, he's significantly better than Celestino at this point in their careers. Taylor's career OPS is only .677. Not impressive at all. But Celestino has had an OPS over .600 for 2 months of his (short) MLB career. Last August he was a .606. May he was at .844 and it made his overall season look slightly less than completely and utterly unplayable. He OPSed .458 in June and .477 in July in 2021. March/April of 2022 he was at .581, June .589, July .468, September/October .552. He needs to be in AAA. He's absolutely, totally, and completely not ready for major league baseball yet.

He also needs to figure out base running and which base to throw to.  Both were an adventure for him last year.

[RaoulDuke]

I like it solid depth move for a minimal price.  Sisk and Cruz are both real wildcard prospects with major control issues that weren't viewed as close enough for anyone to claim in rule 5.

Up to 4 gold glove caliber outfielders now, they have clearly worked to raise the floor of this team so they don't bottom out again like the 2nd half last year.  Taylor/ Farmer/ Larnach/ Jeffers is a very solid bench.  This also allows Lewis time to get right and ready when he comes back, allows Wallner/ Celestino/ Martin/ Julien time to earn their call ups in AAA.   

Kepler has to be traded at this point, right?

[tony&rodney]

St. Paul has Larnach in LF, Celestino in CF, and Wallner in RF. 

[Brett]

It seems like the organization had its fill of running overmatched youngsters out on the field last year when the injury train started rolling. Lots of quality depth and several top tier prospects on the 40 man now…we’ll see if it translates to wins.

[chpettit19]

7 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

St. Paul has Larnach in LF, Celestino in CF, and Wallner in RF. 

Who do you have as their 13 position players now if Larnach is in St Paul?

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, Brett said:

It seems like the organization had its fill of running overmatched youngsters out on the field last year when the injury train started rolling. Lots of quality depth and several top tier prospects on the 40 man now…we’ll see if it translates to wins.

Agree and this is also a reaction to the declining attendance. The Twins look to be good from Day 1 and push this year. Hopefully there is also a corresponding appropriate shift in focus on baseball fundamentals, emphasis on each game, and a general overall more exciting brand of baseball. I think so.

[Bill Tanner]

A.J. Alexy has been DFA'd to clear a 40-man roster spot.

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Who do you have as their 13 position players now if Larnach is in St Paul?

I actually believe that the Twins will bring Larnach north but if Julien totally  lights it up  in the camps, I would like to see him DH. Then again, I want Gordon in LF and it looks like he will be squeezed out. I said on a post several days back that it is likely still too early to tell who will be on the squad in Kansas City. I think, in retrospect, we should all just wait. Me too.

I was just thinking about the Cave, Contreras, Wallner outfield at the end of the year and wondering how wild that was compared to what will show up at St. Paul at the beginning of this year.

[miller761]

All the critics of the FO in November and December get ready to eat your words.

[PatPfund]

AJ Alexy was DFA'd to clear a 40 man spot. 

It cracks me up a bit to hear Taylor compared to Celestino. One has a World Series ring, a Gold Glove, and leads the majors in CF defensive runs saved over the last three seasons. The other is a raw in-over-his-head player whose hitting pales even to 'light-hitting' Michael Taylor, and whose sometimes passable defense is often wrecked by his trouble remembering how many outs there are, or where he should throw the ball. (Not to mention the dreadful base-running.)

Not sure Gilberto will ever be ready for MLB, but for sure he needs a chance to develop his game in St Paul, and both he and the Twins will be better for it.

Taylor will be great in the field, and as electric wheels coming off the bench. Solid move.

[DJL44]

43 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

2) Kepler is going to be moved.

Kepler or Gordon. I don't know when they would play Nick Gordon now.

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, tony&rodney said:

I actually believe that the Twins will bring Larnach north but if Julien totally  lights it up  in the camps, I would like to see him DH. Then again, I want Gordon in LF and it looks like he will be squeezed out. I said on a post several days back that it is likely still too early to tell who will be on the squad in Kansas City. I think, in retrospect, we should all just wait. Me too.

I was just thinking about the Cave, Contreras, Wallner outfield at the end of the year and wondering how wild that was compared to what will show up at St. Paul at the beginning of this year.

I agree it's probably a fool's errand to be predicting the opening day roster at this point. Was just curious on the Larnach in St Paul idea. I also would love to see Julien go bonkers in Florida and at least make it a tough decision. I'd guess they'd still bring Larnach north and play the old service time game with Julien, but I hope he makes them at least think about it.

I'm not writing this team in as WS contenders yet, but I'm much happier with how the 40-man looks today than I have been in January for a very long time. I don't want Taylor starting on an everyday basis, but he's a legit MLB bench player. The 40-man is getting to the point where there's real thought that has to be put into who gets DFA'd and they can't just throw a dart at it and ship out one of 20 guys without worrying. Kinda fun.

[Lasorda_This_Out]

Per Matt Snyder, CBS Sports:

"In fact, by Defensive Runs Saved, Taylor has rated out as the best outfielder in all of baseball since the start of 2021. He gets good jumps on the ball, covers a bunch of ground and can go up and get balls against the wall with his 6-foot-4 frame. He even has a strong arm, finishing in the top five of outfield assists in the AL each of the last two years."

Solid move by the Twins.  

[IA Bean Counter]

So we give up Evan Sisk and Cruz but will have possibly added Alexy, Ortega and able to retain Enlow.  We gained some lottery arms and gave up a couple and gained an excellent defensive RH   OF.  The twins keep improving on the margins.  I’m still waiting for them to pull the trigger on Kepler.  I don’t think the Twins could have a drawn up a much better off-season.