Monkeypaws

I just watched good ol Kurt Suzuki sky a throw into LF trying to catch a runner stealing 3rd. 1-0 Phillies. Dude also stole 2nd. I like KS as a person, and all the more so as a Brave.

I am hoping Lewis, Rooker, and Kiriloff(sp), can give the team something they've been missing: .300 hitters. I have had my fill of power over plate control, and all the whiffs that accompany that.

Yes - use the system first, try outside help later. Sign of a vital, healthy organization.

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. https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/yankees-miguel-sulbaran-suspended-for-25-games/ However, like the idea of the trade anyway. Moya isn't Sulbaran, and who knows? Elite changeup is a real weapon.

Me little thoughts on the matter: •Falvey took some guff on this site for not adding pitching during the offseason. Why? Cuz the pitching has been well below average. So we wanna dump the few effective guys we have and start from zero, again? Good pitching is hard to find. Stockpile that stuff. •MLB isn't the NHL, where you can draft Connor McDavid and become a competitor overnight. Tanking is a dubious strategy at best. Unless you want the KC or Pittsburgh 20 year rebuild. •People wanna trade guys like Dozier, ESan, Kintzler, at peak value, because they see flaws: age, contract issues, regression/unsustainability.... Somehow, other teams scouts seem to miss all this. Any prospect coming back will likely have some major hole in their game as well. •Keep good players. Add more. I wasn't aware there was a salary cap in baseball. Trading Dozier or ESan would make sense if there was a cheaper option of similar ability to take their place. People thought Polanco would slot right in to Dozier's spot - the guy with a lower batting average than Buxton. •Garver and Gordon - ready, or nearly soi. So if EE could nab a Meija, yes. Giminez, never know. But you are selling from a position of of depth. Selling pitching, for this team? •Attendance is in free fall - even with a whiff of respectability. Most of the vaunted top prospects are on the club. Build a culture of winning dammit.

It depends on the core taking the next step as much or more. However, a couple competent MLB pitchers, one in the rotation, one in the pen, that would be huge.

Some of you remind me of used-car salesmen, trying to unload a Lincoln Contintal with high miles but a shade of rust in the wheel wells. Or a day trader in commodities about to take a bath on early corn on the cusp of a bumper crop. Looking at the standings, the Twins are sinking out of contention, but selling? You won't sucker another GM into forking over Crown Jewels for ESan, Dozier, or Kinsler. Twins will likely benefit from keeping their best players, and play for next year. Add a few FAs, they'll likely be better next year not selling.

I flushed my toilet today, and it went down counter-clockwise. I think Thorpe is on the move.

Rule 5 works the way it is supposed to.

I for one am very happy that Baddoo isn't going back to Georgia. Or that the prospect goung the other way is not Blankenhorn. Very sensible acquistion by the front office.

So here was the last post of the other thread - us early adopters, punished always....

In before thread consolidation. As Spock would say, "Wanting, is sometimes better than having." We'll see. Any chance he gets to hit another grand slam in Chavez Ravine?

Hmm, looks pretty good to me - Ynoa? Should I feel bad about this? Playlist addition: Queen, We are the champions....

So the Twins failed to trade for a guy i'd never heard of before this thread. Um, darn? Good news, Belisle's ERA is now below 5. 4.99, but hey, it's a start.

Is Miguel Cabrera about to become an albatross? Currently at .265, with 12 dingers and 45 rbis, .796 ops. 34 years old, 30 million per until 2023. Not very athletic, now a 1b dh. Thoughts?

Nice read Seth - one area I think the Twins are woefully unagressive is in the area of relief pitchers. Just watching a lot of ball this year, and there are a lot of hard throwing relievers in the game that seem pretty young, raw, but effective. We seem to sit on out relievers until they are 25-26, which is longer than other teams in my unscientific study.

Until the Twins exhaust their internal options, some of which look pretty promising, I wouldn't trade a thing for another relief pitcher. Heck, they drafted a bunch that are near ready: Curtiss, Bard, and Reed come to mind. Rogers and Hildenberger worked out. Continue the trend.

There was never a shortage of hitting on this team historically. .300 hitters were a given. Now, Rosario is our closest to an average hitter. Like bat heavy prospects like Kiroloff, or Rooker.

Seriously, that's why former catchers make good managers, cuz they get it. Madden, Sciocia, Girardi, Hinch, Ausmus, Melvin, etc.

Funny thing is, it looked like Dozier was on his way to being a more complete hitter in his second half last season. He was shooting the ball to right, and the average was a career high .268. I thought he had matured as a hitter and was gonna be a force going forward. Shows what I know.

I thought I heard this exchange at the end of the inning. Torii: Really good inning for Gibson there. Dick: Happens about twice a year... Did I imagine that? Right after DB bragged about taking down "the bear" in the home run derby. Dick is getting a big head. Whoah Craig, you beat me to it.

Torii talking Colt 45 malt liquor!

Well, at least Rochester and the IL will make hay of this signing: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/bartolo-colon-part-several-minor-league-food-related-promotions-183422787.html Good old baseball.

Cost-controlled, young and effective starters: the only way you acquire this is with massive overpayment, because the other team has absolutely no reason to trade them. Pie in the sky folks.

This thread reminds me of AZ packaging Dansby Swanson for Shelby Miller. Risky business that. I'm also reminded of DeLeon for Dozier. Another bullet dodged. That's why I'd never package a top prospect at a premium position for a pitcher: they're fragile, or can tank suddenly. Ramos for Capps also comes to mind. I hope the FO will take the patient approach - we have some good pitching at AA that might make it here soon. Falvey is reputed to be very good at getting pitching on-board. I'm hoping he can spot a Arrieta or someone like that in someone else's system, continue to draft and develop, and go from there. Rome wsn't built in a day, and it'll take more than 1 pitcher to turn this staff around. I'm always thinking of sustainability, and throwing away top prospects at this point of the rebuild is premature.