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Get yer vaccines dammit. Florida just set a state record for new cases today with 21,000+

For a free agent pickup, BJ Boyd is hitting pretty darn well, .289/.363 (.818 OPS). Not bad for a guy who hasn't played since 2018. I keep seeing Kala'i Rosario's name pop up here, and he's hitting really well .301/.352 (.882 OPS). He's at the bottom of my prospects spreadsheet, but I think he's a guy who could definitely jump up the rankings if he keeps playing well as he ages.

I've been trying to find video that I thought I saw on twitter of a Baldelli press conference that I'd like to post here, but I think he explains it well. And it's nothing new... Dan Hayes tweeted why it makes so much sense too. It's not really difficult. 1.) Ober's career-high innings was 78.1 IP in 2019, when he missed half of the season with elbow issues, which he's had since his sophomore year of college. 2.) He pitched zero competitive innings in 2020. He wasn't in St. Paul at the alternate site. He wasn't at Instructional League in Ft. Myers in November. 3.) They need to keep him healthy through 10-11 more starts this year and probably try to keep him in the 110-120 innings range. Baldelli's comments (notice that he says this is an organizational theory, not just his and Wes's, but the front office, the medical team, etc.) Hayes tweets: Ober's comments:

I get the frustration with pulling Ober, but as was pointed out to me in another conversation, Ober hasn't pitched more than 80 innings in a season, well, ever ... and missed all of last season ... so I get being cautious with him, too. Yeah, I would have liked to see him go one more inning, and really think they could have given him just one more, but I just can't be overly upset with it, either. That said, I'm not sure how the pen was mismanaged last night? I mean ... they gave up zero runs. Maybe that's luck, given the pen blowups this season, but for them to give us 5 innings without giving up a run ... I can't really call that mismanaged.

The crux of this thread is that the keys to success are scouting and player development. Acquire the right players at the right time for the right price and have a system in place to get them to play their best. This does not happen overnight; in baseball it takes five years to find out if the moves you make today are good ones. The organization is far improved compared to the shambles that Falvey and Levine assumed control of during the 2016-2017 off-season. If they have succeeded in implementing their plan the next five years should see the farm system producing more and more good major league players. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Interesting. Several lesser known pitchers are doing awfully well this year. Hopefully one will become that Indian like surprise.

Gant already had chances in the Cardinals' rotation and botched them. I'd keep him in the pen, and if he doesn't turn things around, DFA him once the season is over. I'd rather give starts to Jax and Barnes to see if they are worthy of being depth starters in 2022.

I can't love this comment, and most you make, enough. Thanks for being so reasonable with substance

20 and at AA....that part can't be said enough.

A waiver claim, and a 30-year old minor league off-season signing? Talk about wishful thinking, on two out of three!

I wonder about those above who are critical for the Twins talking about trading Buxton. We don't know the context of how that happened. As I read it, they received calls inquiring about Buxton. Well, if someone calls you are gonna take it. Doesn't mean you ever considered moving him which is what the end result was. Also agree with the general consensus that I will miss Berrios, a lot. But after reading a national report that said the Jays got robbed and Nick's piece on Martin, I am excited that the return was big...really big. As for winning or losing at the deadline, is a win for me...big one. The two pitchers from Tampa for two months of Cruz is a huge return, much bigger than most expected. Furthermore, it would not be a surprise if at least one of the two is pitching every fifth day at Target Field next spring. If the reports I read are true, the Twins won the Berrios trade even though we will miss a special young man. Who knows, maybe the Twins go out and offer market value a year from this winter and he comes home...although I agree that would be contrary to how they usually do business. As for the Happ and Robles trade, I am amazed they got anything for that duo. Yes, they had to eat an unknown part of their contracts for the next two months, but to get any return is flat out robbery...IMO. And they got an actual major league pitcher as part of the Happ return. To be honest, I don't understand either of these deals. So for me its a huge win. Yes, there were others they didn't move. But did anyone expect them to be able to move Donaldson and his huge contract? Was a bit surprised that Pineda wasn't traded. Left me wondering if they will sign him to a two year extension before the year ends. But not knowing what, if anything, was offered for Pineda and others makes it hard to say they failed by not trading someone because if the offer wasn't adequate it makes sense to say no.

Getting rid of Happ = Win. The rest is just details.

I think the Twins did pretty well at the deadline. They did well in their trades of Berrios & Cruz, getting real value and quality players that are already playing and showing success at higher levels of the minors. They got rid of Happ, who had declined from being a solid pitcher in the first month or so of the season to a trash fire. The demerits are not moving Donaldson, Pineda, and Rogers (arguably Simmons too) but there are reasons for all of them, I think. We just don't know if there were good options for Donaldson that didn't require them eating far too much of the contract. He's still an excellent player when healthy and he's been pretty healthy this year so if they had to eat the rest of this year's salary (ok) and a big chunk of 2022 & 2023...then maybe not ok. Pineda is a guy they might be looking to keep to help anchor the rotation. Rogers was hurt and it probably tanked his value. Simmons is still a fine defender, but it didn't look like SS defense was an area of significant interest among contenders. I'd say they were slight winners by getting excellent value in the trades they made. It gets pulled back a little by not being able to make additional moves that seemed to make sense, but the net is still a positive for the Twins at the deadline. ESPN pegged them as losers...but most of that grade is influenced by the rotten season as a whole. That's fair, but looking at just the deadline moves, I'd say they "won" as much as you can when you're selling.

This post is exactly correct in that it identifies the necessary switch in franchise strategy given the poor results this year (this is what small to mid market teams do when the window clearly has closed - that’s just today’s MLB) and where the primary responsibility now resides for the successful execution of that strategy (coaching staff throughout the organization), Think about this possible starting lineup in 2023: 1. Arraez (2B) 2. Martin (LF) 3. Buxton (CF) 4. Kiriloff (1B) 5. Miranda (3B) 6. Polanco (DH) 7. Larnach (RF) 8. Garver/Jeffers/Rortvedt (C) 9. Lewis (SS) Bench: Gordon, Rooker, Celestino Obviously, there will be changes to this (i.e., maybe a Kepler or Sano turn things around), but the point is that with Buxton, Polanco and maybe Garver making about $25-30MM and the rest making close to league minimum, these 14 players cost under $40MM. Now think about the pitching staff. We should be able to develop at least three, hopefully 4, solid #2s-#3s out of the ten or so candidates currently in the system. Ideally, another three or four are in the pen. That’s over half of the staff on league minimum - let’s say another $10MM. Ownership will clearly spend $120-140MM to pursue a championship. There is now $70-90MM available to: a) add one or two #1-2 starters, b) build a shutdown pen like we used to have and like the ChiSox are doing, and c) add one or two solid position players/bats. There is a solid strategy here. The three key decisions under team control are to resign Buxton, play the young guys in 2021 and 2022 to see what you’ve got, and make sure you have the right coaching staff. As a mid market franchise, we can’t be blessed to realistically compete every year, We’ve had great runs and the possibility is there for another to develop. I, for one, am looking forward to watching the remainder of this year and next to see the plan develop.

Saw the highlights. Arraez's throw was definitely off, but the fact he got a glove on that ball was pretty impressive. Arraez has a pretty solid glove overall, but it doesn't help when he's played 3B about 10 games a year since 2018. Gant spiked the ball hard 6" outside of and in front of the plate, 2 feet away from where Garver's spot was. Based on the stance, and the high bounce, Garver had virtually no chance to block that ball.

The Cardinals pitcher came to bat twice in bunting situations. Laid down two sacrifice bunts. The Twins pitcher also came to bat twice in bunting situations. Grounded into double play in the first one, and then was lifted for a pinch hitter.

I realize roster size is limited to 28 after September 1st. Saying that, is it impossible for Boyd (or Drew Maggi) to get a call up in September as a reward for their achievements this season? Would be a 'feel good' story for both to get at least 1 AB in 'the Show' after they've combined for over 6000 minor league ABs in their careers.

Another "ho-hum"/ groundhog day loss in this train wreck of a season. A few thoughts: 1. Pineda deserved better. Pitched well enough, but his inability to get Wainwright out (see next item) by having to throw waaaayyy too many pitches led to his early exit. 2. Arraez is NOT a 3B! Not that his error was pivotal in loss, but it sure didn't help. 3. Kepler: What can you say, but ughh. His short hot spell has sure turned into a horrendous slump. Looks overmatched against low 90s fastballs. Not good. 4. Beau Burrows: Double UGGHH!! Can we just move forward and DFA ol' Beua and his 11.25 ERA. Next man up! How much longer do we have to wait to get Ian Hamilton called up? Same with Moran. 5. I know Gant didn't look anywhere near great in his 1st appearance, but since the rest of this season SHOULD BE ABOUT EVALUATION FOR 2022-----what's the downside to getting him stretched out for a slot in the rotation? I know his walks are a HUGE issue (56 before today), but there's sure not much behind Maeda and Pineda at this point.

I noticed another issue with the minor league reports the last couple days. Miranda's batting line showed less than 3 hits per game... that just doesn't seem right?

For me, it's about production based on the award name. Awards that ignore production and focus on popularity have long been an issue in baseball. I'd feel differently if this was an award for "Prospect of the Month" but it's an award for Minor League Hitter of the Month.

MacLeod signed: https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/sports/christian-macleod-son-of-retired-cape-breton-professional-baseball-player-signs-with-minnesota-twins-100618508/

Buxton is a career .247 hitter. He has only reached 50 RBI’s ONCE. He has only reached 20 stolen bases ONCE. He has only played 80 games ONCE. He is a LOT closer to Billy Hamilton than Mookie Betts. Despite this, he (and a lot of people on forums) seem to think he’s worth $30-35M per. I just can’t see a 1/4 of the payroll sitting on the bench for over half the year.

14 Ks and only 3 walks. How the season was supposed to go.

One thing I feel is so overlooked is the results of 2019-2020 with a rookie manager and a mostly new coaching staff. ROOKIE manager Baldelli lead this team to a pair of outstanding seasons. Wes Johnson helped make immediate differences both years for the pitching staff. Rowson was so well regarded as a hitting coach he got a promotion to bench coach for another team, Marlins IIRC. Shelton was so highly regarded as a career milb coach/manager and his job as bench coach for the Twins he got the Pirates job and might have been the Mets coach, again IIRC, before controversy over Houston changed the complexion of things. Jeremy Heffner was the Twins ASSISTANT/BP coach before being hired away by the Mets as their primary PC. Sawyer came in and not only changed how our catchers set up to receive the ball, but also changed how they got batting practice, before they were worn out from just catching everyone. Mike Bell seemed like a really smart hire as a Shelton replacement before never assuming the role due to cancer and his terribly unfortunate early demise. There is a very recent history, despite one aweful and disappointing year, that maybe this FO knows how to change things. They have an almost immediate history of finding high coaching talent good enough to be poached by the rest of MLB. Past players have commented on how the NEW Twins way is about individual development vs some old school formula. And I am not picking on LastOnePicked or anyone else. We all have the rights to our opinions. Period! I just get frustrated that "Twins suck", "Rocco sucks", "FO suck" when we are talking about a horrible, disappointing season. It absolutely, positively, "sucks". But sometimes s**t happens, even when you least expect it. And blame is easy. It's what happens tomorrow that is important! Me....stepping off my stool.

The context is really, when broken down to the rub, did they do well. You can't be happy or feel good that Cruz and Berrios are gone. And I am not going to debate on extension offers/efforts for Berrios. I hope nobody else does either. That ship has sailed. On top of that a] we really have no idea about said offers or Berrios's hopes/demands, and b] I grudgingly accept that unless he was blown away by an offer, he is determined to test FA, which is his earned right. But I know I am sad to see the guy go after watching since he was drafted. What grade would I give the results? I'm giving the EARLY results a solid A. I think it's way too easy to simply claim the FO got quality back because they traded high quality. The FO COULD have botched the return by insisting pitching only, and missed out on a top talent, or, they could have done the old "quantity vs quality" route we have seen in the past. They added THREE talented arms with real potential and what would seem to be solid floors with some good to even high ceilings. Don't give me some ACE arguement. Nobody drafts or trades for an ACE. You get good arms and develop them and some, here and there, turn out to be an ACE. The rest turn out to be a solid 1-3 and quality 4-5. A few turn out to be quality BP pieces and sometimes superior ones. (Of course some wash out, not ignoring that fact). Disk from the Cardinals is LH and breathing with high SO numbers and some control issues, He is also only 24yo and at AA with a little over a season of milb rookie and low A ball before missing 2020 like everyone did, I wish I knew more about him but haven't been able to find much in way of his "stuff" after a couple quick searches. But for Happ? A flier is a win. Gant is not old. He may have been a DFA by the Cardinals. He's a body they picked up. Maybe he's one of those guys who find something and click with a different organization and different coaching. Maybe he's gone tomorrow, Doesn't matter. Happ is gone and they got a young LHRP as a flier. Enough said. Not going to lie, I'm intrigued and stunned by Scherff from Boston without even knowing what he throws. He's only 23yo and was their 5th round selection in 2017. He didn't pitch until 2018 where he put up fairly pedestrian numbers at rookie and low A ball. Same with 2019 at low A and a single appearance at A+. Again like everyone else, he missed 2020. This season he was moved to the pen and began the season at A+ where he looked really good before moving to AA a few weeks ago. He has been pretty much outstanding since the move to the pen. Bullpen arms have value too. And for a 2 month rental on Robles, this MIGHT be more than just a cheap flier. A grade for the FO? Not sure what I can add to what I already said. They sure didn't blow the moves they made. But I am going to respectfully disagree with Tom, Nick, Seth and Matt (via their statements in podcasts), I just can't downgrade the results of the moves made because the FO didn't do "enough". I just don't believe there was a market for Simmons, having probably his worst career year. Rogers being hurt took him out of the trade market. I don't think you could have moved him even if you wanted to. (IMO, they wouldn't have unless blown away for various reasons). I think Pineda would have brought back SOMETHING if moved. And while I am about 70-80% certain a re-sign has been discussed, a trade and re-sign may have complicated that idea. And call me foolish if you will, I kinda like the comments from the Twins as to reasons for keeping him. Value vs flier/prospect and the such I'm OK with this. Trading Kepler made no sense to me unless blown away. And I've spoken about this before, so will leave that alone. For a lot of reasons, moving Donaldson would have been smart and nice. I only heard 2 rumors of interest. MAYBE there was more? But how much do you have to give up $ wise if you're the Twins to make any move? They guy has been durable and productive in a lousy 2021 season. IF his attitude doesn't go all to hell next year, he could be of far more value than the $8-10M you might have saved by trading him and "buying out" most of his contract. So I get the, "we could have done even more" objections, but I disagree.

I have heard multiple people lament hos loss. I have done so no less than three times. It has been acknowledged. We just added two top 100 prospects who immediately slid into the top 3 in our organization. Top 100 prospects hold a crap ton of value in trades. I don't know what the future holds in terms of how they will help the club....but I also haven't declared the next year, or two years, or decade a waste because we traded one pitcher. Yeah...maybe 2022 sucks. But it looked like it was bound to be a longshot with or without Berrios. What I do know is waiting dramatically reduces his value in trade for a player we have zero chance to retain long term. Deliberately tanking that value to buy in to 2022 seems like the kind idea you don't need hindsight to warn against.

It's odd. I watched his last start for the majority of my analysis above and through 3 innings he was absolutely untouchable. The command wasn't great, but he had something like 7 Ks and 1 BB. Then he walked 3 in the fourth inning and was pulled mid-way through the fifth after giving up a home run and 4 ER overall. When he was rolling, he looked like a future ace, but when he fell apart, he was *no where* near the zone. I don't expect his command to be an issue to that degree in the future because there is little evidence that that was the case at lower levels.

I think you're on the right track about that. General managers seem to assign steeper and steeper value to players who are well above average. The value of adding just 2 months (on an expiring contract) of someone average-ish just isn't that high anymore. But the value of adding someone like Scherzer is greatly esteemed. When I think about the constraints front offices have to manage (40-man and 26-man rosters being critical resources), I tend to think these valuations are correct. As for the trades: I like the Cruz trade even if the two MLB-ready prospects turn out like (say) Vance Worley and Trevor May, so give it an A+. I am not as enthusiastic about the Berrios deal, for reasons I won't wax eloquent about here, but it's a high-upside gamble that deserves at least a B+ for its concept. Getting a little something in terms of prospect potential for Hansel Robles is not very meaningful but positive, so call it a C+ for good execution. I think I read that the deal for Happ included the Twins paying a good portion of the remaining contract, and the pitchers in return don't look so good after sleeping on it overnight, so that one is just a Gentleman's C as an addition-by-subtraction move as others have termed it. I think they would have liked to move Donaldson's contract for just a bag of balls, in a vacuum, but didn't want to take the PR hit, I feel I understand his staying. Since I agree with your analysis on why Pineda (and by analogy the others on expiring contracts) wasn't moved, I don't have any major criticisms of the overall moves, so all in all I give the FO an A.

All things considered, I think they did pretty well. It sucks to lose Berrios, but I think the fact that they dealt him shows that they didn't believe they could re-sign him. Given that, they did very well in dealing him. I would have liked to see Simmons and Pineda dealt, but since they weren't, I think they'd be wise to pivot and extend Pineda.

While the market seemed hot for pitching it was almost exclusively better starting pitching than Pineda. I think it can be argued that Pineda is a better option than Lester and the Twins could have had a return of Lane Thomas. Thomas does have 4th OF potential but would the Twins have space for another OF on their 40 man roster this winter? Maybe. He could be a better to retain than Cave but is Cave someone that will be kept on the 40 this winter? Similar players will be available inexpensively this winter. Pineda might be a comp to Heaney. His ERA is better but Heaney has the better xFIP. Even if they could have substituted in Pineda for Heaney they are adding 25 year old AA starter Jason Junk who they would need to add to the 40 or expose in rule 5. I think the Yankees would prefer Heaney with his better health track record but maybe the Twins could have added another pitcher here. It seems at best the value of a starting pitcher like Pineda was a marginal prospect already on the 40 or needing to be added to the 40. These are the kinds of players they will find this winter DFA’d by other teams or exposed in the rule 5. I am scratching my head why a pitcher like Pineda or Heaney didn’t have a better market this year. Perhaps the supply of better starters brought down their value to players on the fringe of the 40 in return. Maybe retaining Pineda for two months has at least as much value.

…his production is unparalleled… career .298 OBP and 96 wRC+. I mean, come on. He’s a talented player that has recently shown signs IN EXTREMELY SMALL SAMPLES that he could be a very valuable player. But even then, only if he reverses a long term trend of injury and sporadic play. I want him, but I’m not breaking the bank for him.

Every trade deadline, teams are declared winners or losers. So, how did the Twins fare on a whirlwind day? DH Nelson Cruz to Rays for RHPs Joe Ryan and Drew Stotman Many of the Twins' moves project to have positive results. On an expiring contract, Nelson Cruz was dealt for two pitchers that are close to big-league ready. There are plenty of questions about the team’s rotation for 2022, so adding two more pitchers to the mix can only help the organization’s pitching depth. The Cruz deal was far from the only one that made headlines. RHP Jose Berrios to Blue Jays for SS/OF Austin Martin and RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson José Berríos was dealt for a pair of top-100 prospects, which seems like a high price to pay for just over a year of Berríos. The Dodgers traded for starting pitcher Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner and received a similar trade package in return. Even the website, Baseball Trade Values believes the Blue Jays overpaid. LHP J.A. Happ to Cardinals for RHP John Gant and LHP Evan Sisk Speaking of teams that overpaid, the Twins found a taker for JA Happ, as the Cardinals were willing to trade for him. He’s been bad for most of the season, and his recent numbers don’t point to him improving. It seemed more likely for the Twins to designated him for assignment instead of finding a trade partner, but it was a crazy trade deadline, to say the least. RHP Hansel Robles to Red Sox for RHP Alex Scherff Robles, like Cruz, was on an expiring contract and plenty of contenders were looking for relief help. Minnesota signed Robles for $2 million this off-season and he's had some up-and-down moments as part of a Twins bullpen that has struggled for the majority of the season. Relief pitching can be fickle and Boston hopes Robles can find some of his previous successes. From Minnesota's perspective, the front office has to be happy to get any value back for a player that wasn't part of the team's long-term plans. Who Wasn't Traded? Not every part of the trade deadline was positive for the Twins. Minnesota had multiple players on expiring contracts that stayed with the team, including Michael Pineda and Andrelton Simmons. Pineda is the biggest head-scratcher as the trade market seemed hot for starting pitching. As the smoke cleared, the front office said the right things, but there doesn’t seem to be much value in keeping him around until season’s end. There were plenty of other rumors circulating on Friday, including some big names for the Twins. There was a chance of a Byron Buxton deal with multiple teams interested in the centerfielder. For good reasons, Minnesota’s price was likely high, and there will still be an opportunity to revisit trades this winter. There may also be a chance to revisit a contract extension with Buxton, especially with the young core the organization has built in the minor leagues. Another missed opportunity was parting ways with Josh Donaldson, as his name had been out in the rumor mill throughout the last few weeks. Minnesota signed Donaldson to his four-year deal, knowing that he may decline toward the backend of the contract. He has been relatively healthy this year and producing as one of the league’s best third basemen. This trade deadline might have been his peak trade value, especially since it’s tough to imagine the Twins contending in 2022. Overall, this might go down as a franchise-altering day in Twins history. However, there were some missed opportunities along the way. Now it might be a couple of years before fans know if the team indeed won or lost the 2021 trade deadline. Do you think the Twins were winners or losers at the trade deadline? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

The last thing I want to see is Colome pitch. I do not want to see anyone who does not have a future with the Twins on the field or the bench or the mound. The only reason to watch, listen, read is the future. Anything else and the FO is robbing us of a chance to actually stay interested in the team.

I am puzzled about what to say. Welcome to the Twins Mr Gant you fit right in with the BP. Pineda this is why no one made the trade for you. Where are the positives? I don't know. The record says all that is needed - 44 - 62 .415 18 GB Since 1922 the Senator/Twins have three times had worse percentages than this for the season.

Pineda maybe, probably ... but I don't think there was any market for Simmons; and I think with Donaldson, people were likely looking for the Twins to take on too much of the salary for not enough return. There are reasons to pull the trigger and reasons not. But with Simmons, I don't think there was anything on the table, at all for him, so no trigger to pull or not.

The biggest news today/yesterday was that the FCL Twins win, the FCL Twins win!!! Not a great first outing for Strotman. I understand that he had TJ surgery, was it last year or at the end of 2019? Did he get back on the field at the start of this season? Expect having been on the sideline for over a year could have an effect on what we see the rest of the year. In any case, he is not one of the top prospects joining the Twins last week. In my opinion, the three top prospects would be Martin and the two pitchers in Tokyo. If any of that trio don't make serious contributions to future Twins teams, I will be disappointed. Rosario had another excellent game in the FCL Twins win. Twins may have found a good one in last year's draft. Sabato is the only other 2020 pick playing, right? I know Soularie is injured, what about the young pitcher from West Texas?

How can people keep buying into the Twins "philosophy" of building a competitive team? This same crap has been going on for decades. Failure to retain good players then when it's time to pay them market salary they dump them off for prospects. We are always left with prospects and their devolpment and potential. How can you say we won or lost until we see what happens to them? Most of these prospects rarely see a major league park much less being a good major league player. You cannot compare a 20 year old with no experience to an 8 year MLB. This is lunacy; Twins style!

I like this, Doc. I like all of it. And I am more angry than rational right now. I've wanted to see this team finally turn it around and set this state on fire again for baseball. The pieces were all there, or so we thought. I disagree that 2019 and 2020 weren't disappointing, though. They ended with an immediate postseason whimper. Is it all just bad luck ... or something else? It seems that Rocco and the FO are all going to be given a fair shot to right the ship. We shall see how they rise to the challenge. This is no longer someone else's mess ... it's theirs alone.

I have many questions about Lewis' bat, especially since he didn't hit well in 2019 outside of Fall League, and has not gained experience in 2020 and 2021. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes him several years in the majors for his bat to reach its true potential. As for Martin, I have few doubts that he's going to be a hitter in the bigs.

I'm probably more optimistic about 2022 and 2023 than the average fan. We know Garver, Kepler and Sano can hit at the major league level. Maybe it was just a fluke year. If those 3 can start hammering the ball again I think we will be in great shape with the new guys right behind them or playing beside them next year. Hopefully our starting rotation will roll as well with a few of these young arms getting called up.

Then again maybe Wes works his magic on Gant.

No question, this is a bad team now. How can it be anything else when your best hitter and pitcher are traded? But the FO had little choice but to trade both Cruz and Berrios now while their value was highest. Berrios made it pretty plain he was going to test FA. If he wanted to be paid like an ace, Twins had to trade him. Cruz at 41 is a stud, but to expect him to continue at this high level is just unrealistic. While yes, the Twins are in a rebuilding mode and as things stand now, contention in 2022 looks like a big stretch, the future does look brighter than it did several days ago, especially in the rotation. To accelerate the improvement, they need to resign Pineda and hope that one or two of their top 10 prospects can contribute positively by 2023. They have at least doubled their chances of that happening if we can believe the baseball pundits. With Jax and Ober pitching reasonably well to date, it's feasible one of them plus one of the other prospects will solidify the #4 and 5 spots by 2023. Admittedly the offense is a big unknown. So long as they can escape any major injuries, Donaldson and Buxton are middle lineup, above average hitters. Guys like Arraez, Polanco, Garver have by and large established their offense. We should expect at least one of Kirillof or Larnach to contribute to this core, and I'm not quite ready to write off Sano and Kepler yet. They still show flashes now and then, though not nearly enough to count on. With Miranda and possibly Martin showing great promise, additional reinforcement should occur by 2023. None of the above is any guarantee of a rapid return to contention. This FO must get a lot smarter in signing FAs. A FA signing of someone like Thor or Stroman is essential. This team has no ace and likely will not for the next 2-3 years. Ditto for bullpen additions. At least two closer-types needs to be added. We should also transition a guy like Duran to the pen as soon as he is off the IL and bring up guys like Cano, Hamilton and Moran to see who might stick. Signing Buxton to a LT contract is an absolute must. If the FO fails at this very achievable goal, heads should roll. And speaking of rolling heads, Rocco tops the list. He and at least a few of his coaches just don't cut it. If this year has shown nothing else, lack of leadership, lack of stressing fundamentals and poor game management have not been the sole cause of futility, but they certainly haven't helped. With some smarter FA moves, signings and player development, this team should start making noise by 2023!

In this case, Manfred did it right, IMO. Yesterday was so much more exciting and intense than most deadlines, as GMs had their safety nets of the waiver wire deadline taken away from them.

That phrase keeps coming up. Who is to say what is "wishful" thinking? In a year or two, recurrence of injuries could mean that keeping Buxton and Donaldson will look wishful in hindsight. I don't think it's a useful way to characterize differences of opinion.

The Twins didn't make substantial moves after 2019 and they are still dealing with the fallout of that winter. Last winter Simmons was brought aboard to help with defense. The miss on pitching was big though and this season has just tumbled from one problem to another. The Cleveland team stands at .500 baseball while suffering far greater injuries and losses from last year. So, this July was a time to make attempts at improving the team for next year. We get prospects for Jose Berrios but now need to sign two free agent pitchers. Austin Martin can hit but his defense is faulty at this stage in his development and he doubles up on players like Polanco and Arraez. I'm ok with the recent moves because it seemed so inevitable. Berrios will be hard to replace. I was hoping for a blockbuster deal with San Diego to bring in a potential star (Abrams) and two pitchers who might be useful soon (from among Weathers, Gore, Paddock, Cleavinger) and thought taking Myers or Hosmer back might bring this about. However, it is easily understandable from both sides why this trade did not evolve, although San Diego may regret missing the boat at the deadline. If the Twins are open to a payroll of $150 million there may be opportunities to bring in arms like Rodon and Syndergaard, but signing free agents can be tough and hoping for prospects to fill the top two spots in the rotation rarely works successfully. Thus, the trades are just even until the offseason strategies unfold. Will the Twins continue to overlook the huge deficiencies of Garver behind the plate because he can crush pitches; does Sano ever return to a more balanced approach at the plate; where does Arraez play; do the Twins believe that either Larnach or Rooker can learn to play passable defense or crush at a rate to make defense irrelevant? This team has a bevy of issues and the pitching is most concerning of all right now. Kirilloff, Polanco, Donaldson, Kepler, and Buxton are not my biggest concerns and I am open to all trades if they actually improve the team. Buxton would require more than Berrios in my book, but I am hopeful. The trades did bring in some talent and that may be quite positive as soon as next year; at least we all are waiting for the prospects and new guys to succeed.

Once you accept the epiphanies that a) Berrios was going to leave and b) this “window” had closed and a new one needs to be developed, then we won the trade deadline. Every deal we did was a positive, and, in the two cases of the Cruz and Berrios deals, a potentially big positive. Of the four deals we didn’t do (Donaldson, Simmons, Rogers, and Pineda), the biggest disappointment was not moving Donaldson. At his price, he is unlikely to prove any value to the team in 2023, let alone 2022. Simmons, meh, he’s gone next year anyway. Rogers, and Pineda (and even Maeda, Kepler, and possibly Sano) still could have reasonable priced option value to the 2023 club and could be moved next year if that’s not the case. I like this deadline for us. Donaldson is really the only huge millstone around our necks re 2023.

Outbidding the Yankees and Dodgers on a free agent is your plan of action? Or, getting less for him at the next trading deadline than we got now?

This is the part of the article that I don't understand: "Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have put in an infrastructure of sustainability and competitiveness." How so? They had a great 2019, an okay 2020, and are now again a bottom-5 team in all of MLB. I've watched this team for a long time, and I wouldn't describe them as remotely "competitive." It's disappointing. I wanted them to do these things, but they haven't. Not yet, at least, and patience is wearing thin.

Supposedly Brad Hand was very interested in coming home this off-season. We chose Colome instead. Sigh.

Hard to argue his "athleticism is unmatched", The part that "his production is unparalleled" even with the caveat "when healthy" is true for a 27 game stretch. I too hope for more of that production but he should not be mentioned in the same breadth as Kirby Puckett where production is concerned at least not at this point. Puckett produced a career WAR of 44.9. Rod Carew produced a career 72 WAR and had a 5 year stretch where he produced 35 WAR.