TerwilligerBuntsOne

Trading Cruz was inevitable. The return was probably better than we could have hoped for. MLB.com puts Ryan at #6 and Strotman #13 in their ranking of the Twins prospects. That will change after the recent draft picks are added in, but it still seems like a healthy return for 2.5 months of Cruz in a lost season for the Twins.

The time to deal Berrios is now. It's a tough pill to swallow, of course. However, I suspect that the notion of a team potentially acquiring Berrios for 2 playoff runs - this year as well as next year - holds more of an attraction for an acquiring team than waiting for a murky offseason. Sounds like he doesn't automatically want to sign an extension here, and there remains uncertainty of a work stoppage next year. Berrios is arguably their most valuable mlb-level trade chip, so eventually being forced to receive less than full value could really set the organization back. Falvine has to be trying to get what they can for Berrios. Now.

You know the old saying -- the only thing better than drafting a pitcher from the Big 10 is drafting TWO pitchers from the Big 10, especially with back-to-back picks! Or something like that.....

Another year for the MLB draft, another year that I will be waiting by the phone...just in case. Don't the Twins need an almost 50 year old left-handed pitcher, who was mediocre in high school, with some, umm, command issues? I guess I could be a LOOGY at this point in my not-so-illustrious baseball career. Your move, Falvine. Make the call. I'm still waiting!

Fascinating move. On the heels of the Donaldson signing, a trading one of our top pitching prospects in a win-now mode? Sort of feels like we have entered a strange version of The Twinkie Twilight Zone. I can't help but wonder if Falvine viewed Graterol's career path as somewhat similar to Fernando Romero. A hard-throwing prospect who they wish that they had sold high on a couple of years ago. A couple of years later, I don't think that the Twins know what to do with Romero at this point. Graterol may be great. However, the warning signs are there. All of the discussion about guys like Smeltzer and Dobnak filling in for Pineda...while Graterol was already being moved to the bullpen? That tells you that Falvine had some concerns about Graterol. A 21 year old flamethrowing top prospect isn't just moved to the bullpen so that Devin Smeltzer can start games for a contender. If that is the case, Graterol's value may never be higher. The affordable contract, even with incentives, for Maeda could also provide one other benefit: having a controllable starter for a few years at a team-friendly price could provide the Twins some extra payroll flexibility to add a few more dollars to the contract negotiations for Berrios.

There has been much criticism about the lack of success for the Twins in the free agent pitching market. Perhaps rightfully so. However, it seems to me that it is possible that they liked this year's free agent crop. But they didn't necessarily love them enough to set the market on a bad multiyear mega deal for a good-but-not-great pitcher. This does point towards the trade market. It also could point towards the FO already looking ahead to the potential free agent crop of pitchers...for NEXT off-season? IF they are going to set the market and potentially overpay for an arm, it is possible that they decided that they like next year's guys better than this year's guys. And again, this does point towards the trade market.

It's pick your poison time for the front office: Set the market/overpay for a top free agent with a long-term deal.....or trade away some of the prospects for a couple of years of a guy who was made expendable by his current team. Either scenario might prove to be regrettable in a few years. The FO seems to be suffering from analysis paralysis at this point. Looking to be a player in some of these discussions, but unwilling or unable to take the next step to become a big player in either the free agent or trade markets. Always linked to guys, but unable to step up to the plate (baseball metaphor!) to actually get a major deal done. Should be an interesting few months.

Interesting level of doom and gloom posted here. Another weak showing against those DaRn Yankees certainly is not a fun way to see the season end. They were clearly the better team in the series: Better starting pitching. Better relief pitching. Better timely hitting. Better fielding. Better managing. Everyone saw the same thing. However -- at the risk of being Pollyannaish (you young folks: look it up), what a fun season. The team wildly outperformed expectations for this season. Just as important, they now enter an important off-season with actual expectations to contend for the foreseeable future. A rebuild of the rotation should be Job #1. The problem with the notion of snagging the top FA starter on the market, is that they have to want to come here. Everyone will want Cole. We have to give him a reason to come here. That means that we may need to actually OVERpay a guy like that, both in $$ and years. The glass is half full, but this will be a very important next few months.

My guess is that we just witnessed Gibson's last start in a Twins uniform, and he may be a bullpen option in October. He may end up as a #4/5 starter for someone on a cheap 'prove it' deal. However, I am not sure that there will be a long line of teams calling on him. His legacy as a Twin will be complicated. By all accounts, a true asset to the community off the field. However, a career of mixed results. The recent illness situation is unfortunate. He is often his own worst enemy, as he is prone to nibbling at the corners rather than attacking the strike zone. As far as #4/5 options for next year, I would think that Falvine would first look at some of the young guns in waiting -- who will also be cheaper -- someone that is more likely to fit the mold of attacking the strike zone.

Incredible game. Meaningful games in late July vs the Yanks are a lot of fun. A few thoughts: 1. The Twins had a great 1st half of the season while getting almost nothing from Sano. Whatever the hitting coaches are doing with his swing is working. He has gone from looking completely lost to being a potential threat every time he steps into the box. Time to jump on his back for a while! Buxton will be back soon, so they will finally getting the whole band back together. 2. Late in the game, i was trying to think of who was still available in the bullpen. I thought of Thorpe. Completely forgot about May. Am guessing that Rocco did as well. I wondered if Rocco was trying to have May's next outing be on the road instead of a home game in front of an increasingly vocal fanbase that has grown very frustrated with him. 3. IF the Cody Allen experiment is ever going to work, it would seem that now would be the time. The Rochester Express is working overtime without him. So far.

Absolutely agree. If the internal options were better than the existing bullpen arms...wouldn't they already be on the team? Replacing AAAA arms with unknown AAA arms isn't the answer for a team hoping to achieve some success into October. Regarding Greinke, the Twins seems to like their future financial flexibility. Not sure that dealing for a 35 year old with a FAT contract fits that mold.

As ugly as the last 3 innings were, it still only counts as 1 loss. Get back at it today! Having said that, it seems that many of this team's below-the-surface problems all made an appearance this week: shaky defense, relief pitching at a AAAA level, lack of clutch hitting with RISP. The team just doesn't look as focused as it once did. They do need to bring in some additional arm, no question. However, is 1 relief pitcher enough to propel the squad into October? I doubt it. There are something like 68 games left. If the Twins traded for a reliever today, how much will he actually pitch? Most relievers seem to pitch an inning or so at a time (at least on Rocco's team!). If New Reliever Guy #1 pitches an inning in every other game, that means that he will contribute around 34 innings over the course of the season. The actual number would likely be lower than that, especially the longer we wait to acquire said pitcher. Very helpful (hopefully), but not necessarily the ultimate solution. Of course, if you add New Starter Guy #1, and perhaps New Reliever Guy #2 to go along with New Reliever Guy #1....now we are talking.

When Rocco and the trainer came out to see Odo (the first time!), I could not believe that they left him in the game. He had lost all command, and they had been looking at his finger. The result, of course, was the grand slam. Then...they brought the trainer back out and removed him from the game. Seems like that was avoidable. When the Twins make a move or two (or three!) to bring in the much needed pitching help, I hope that Magill is one of the guys that departs. Being able to throw the ball 97 is great. However, there is no movement at all. Straight as an arrow. Major league hitters eventually catch up to the heat when there isn't any movement. To me, that is also a concern with Duffy: When he has his curveball working, the change of speeds works well. But....when he has to rely on his fastball with no movement, they knock him around a bit.

The Twins were bound to cool off at some point. Minor injuries continue to pile up. The bats cooled off. The arms cooled off. The gloves turned to stone. All at the same time. It happens. To me, the big issue is the number of injuries. I don't think that it is a coincidence that the roughest stretch (so far) in the season comes when Buxton and Gonzalez (and even Adrianza?!?!) are on the shelf. Suddenly, Rocco The Mad Genius has less flexibility when making out his lineup card. There have been very few games in which the actual A-lineup has been healthy. Meanwhile, Cave and The Turtle are almost forced to play every day at this point -- when neither should be an every day player for a playoff team. The Twins will get through this stretch of games just fine. Get everyone healthy. Be patient. Add a couple of arms. The glass is still more than half full.

The interesting part of being BUYERS this year is that we are perhaps set up to do so at least in part because we were SELLERS the past year or two at the deadline. Trading away guys like Escobar, Kintzler, Dozier, Garcia, Pressley (gulp), etc. were not always popular moves. However, it replenished the farm system with a number of mid-tier prospects in return. These are exactly the same type of prospects that will help the Twins trade for an arm or two, while not completely depleting the farm system. The trading window is opening, and we have some money in the bank. The plan is all starting to come together........