Jhoan Duran Headlines Twins Roster Additions

I was a little surprised they added Celestino; the FO must be pretty high on him. I like Jax, but there's reason to believe he could slide through in part because teams seem to be looking for higher upside guys when considering Rule V picks. Beyond that, even if he gets selected it might be tough for him to stick on the 26-man all season. but that's why i didn't think they'd protect Celestino: even on a bad team he's probably just a defensive replacement who hits very poorly next year. he needs quite a bit of work still.

I think they're making the right call on Raley and Blankenhorn: both are getting close to their MLB debut, both have some trade value, both have some positional flexibility that makes them easier to select. We'd lose one of them for sure.

I think Javier slides through. It's tough on some of these international players who come over at 16-17 because they really need the development time. Javier isn't even 21 yet and already missed a full season of development time due to a serious injury. Absent the injury, he's either on his way or at AA...or he's no longer a top prospect and has been exposed. the injury makes it a lot tougher to know who he's going to be, and really hard to put him on an MLB roster for the full year.

Reasonable decisions by the Twins.

Got a couple questions, Seth, and thought I would ask about your opinion to them. 

The Twins weren't able to find a spot to protect Anderson last year and he was traded.  Was that done prior to the final date to be added to the 40-man (yesterday) or was it between then and the draft?  Based on your experience, is it likely the Twins could pull off a trade for one of these players before the draft in three weeks?  I assume I know the answer (no), but could a team acquire someone like Jax in a trade next week and put him on their 40-man, thus, protecting him from the draft? 

Especially with Rooker at AAA and then Larnach and Kiriloff at AA, it seems like something will have to give at some point. That's not even to mention the other 4th OF candidates like Cave and Wade.

Agreed. Key point being "at some point". It looks like we have too many guys. But a couple things to consider:

1] Buxton continues to be bit hard by the injury bug. (Hopefully not, obviously) Now we need another OF.

2] Even if Cron is brought back, very good chance he is gone for 2021. This could be Cruz's last year with the Twins. And if Rosario is kept for now, he only has 1 remaining year of arbitration and could be dealt with a younger, less expensive player taking his spot.

So we may not be as crowded as it first appears. And if everyone makes it, there us remaining trade value.

I'd guess Rijo has more future value than Raley? But you think you can sneak Rijo through, while you don't think you can sneak Raley through just based on age and stage of development. Problem is, I'm not sure why you care that much if Raley is claimed. I guess if you think he has non-zero trade value. I would have gone the other way. It's seems that teams will be more willing to reach for a guy like Rijo with the extra roster spot.

Like protecting Blankenhorn. Infield corner bat with pop...not something we have a ton of in the system. Doesn't bother me that Jax wasn't protected. I'd guess he get's claimed, but wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't, either.

Can't imagine anyone taking Javier. K'd in 34% of PA at low A last year at age 20. I guess we'll see how far teams will go in this age of tanking.

Celestino is the one I am least surprised by.  He is the eventual insurance for Buxton.  We need CF players more than corner fielders.  I do not see Raley prospering here, but he could be part of a trade package.  If they thought he was going to be taken they would know that there is a potential market that they can exploit. 

Duran and Celestino are the only two I would truly want to protect, but I would expect there are other considerations for protecting them.

Anderson was traded before the deadline. In fact, I think it was announced with the additions.The reason was so that the Marlins could add him to their 40-man roster.

 

The Twins could try to trade a non-added player. Let's use Jax as the example, and I think you may have answered your own question. Those guys can't be added to the 40-man now, so the acquiring team would then risk them being taken. 

 

It's the same reason that teams generally try to not announce their minor league signings until after the Rule 5, so they don't have to risk losing them. You may recall that one year the Twins signed RA Dickey to a minor league deal, then a week later the Mariners Rule 5d him. 

 

Likewise, a guy like Jax's value does go back up immediately after the Rule 5 draft, if he isn't selected because now the team has a year to determine if they would want to add him... but that is also true for the Twins. 

Thanks Seth, that's what I thought.

What is more exciting is that none of Lewis, Rooker, Kirilloff, Larnach, and Balazovic have been around long enough so that they needed to be added this year.  Heck, wouldn't surprise me if all of them get added during the season next year because they have played their way onto the team.   

Thanks Seth, that's what I thought.

 

What is more exciting is that none of Lewis, Rooker, Kirilloff, Larnach, and Balazovic have been around long enough so that they needed to be added this year. Heck, wouldn't surprise me if all of them get added during the season next year because they have played their way onto the team.

Barring trades, of course, it is not out of the question that ALL of these guys are part of the 2021 team and most, if not all, debuting at some point this coming year.

I thought Celestino was a virtual lock the way he crush the ball midseason. I pass on Raley and Blank, neither of whom I see as an eventual regular. Rijo and Javier?  Well, Rijo for sure is a bad decision, and Javier, if you're trying to sneak him through, is, too. But they may just feel Javier isn't any good.

Unless teams know something I don't about these guys, Rijo is gone for sure and Javier might well be.  We'll see. I hope as we're cutting Travis Blankenhorn and Rijo is becoming a great prospect, Falvine will ask themselves what the the hell they were thinking.

As much as I love the front office, they've made some head-shaking decisions.

Also, how in the world does Raley stand out? He seems so AAAA.

More interesting to me is, that the roster sits at 37, so Wheeler, Pineda & Romo?  Prospects are great, but reality says that 1/2 of those guys won't make it here and 1 or 2 could be gone before season.  And if the Twins are going to make a serious run this year, we need to hope that 1 or 2 of them is no longer on the 40.

Celestino is the one I am least surprised by.  He is the eventual insurance for Buxton.  We need CF players more than corner fielders.  I do not see Raley prospering here, but he could be part of a trade package.  If they thought he was going to be taken they would know that there is a potential market that they can exploit. 

 

Duran and Celestino are the only two I would truly want to protect, but I would expect there are other considerations for protecting them.

Rooker, Lanarch, Raley, etc., are fun to think about to replace Rosario.  But an outfield of Celestino, Buxton & Kepler would be fun too.