Monkeypaws

I don't mean to be impatient or situational - just asking. I recognize the potential as much as anybody. He comes from a position of depth, odd as that sounds now as opposed to Shaefer Robinson days. Name your young player of excellence in exchange - rare opportunity.

Just throwing this out there for opinion - not advocating necessarily. If you could swap Buxton for a future ace, or a premier catching prospect+, would you do it? Given what similar aged guys like Correa and Sano have shown as opposed to Buck's less than stellar debut(flashes, to be sure), will the hit tool ever catch up? Kepler? Walker? Arcia? There is some grade A depth in the OF. I'm thinking that I would do it given the right deal. Has has great speed and defense, but he could end up lesser than even Kepler in the hitting department. He is still an incredibly advanced prospect - injuries are a concern, but again, I'd love to see him star in Minnesota. Opinions?

Love the way Pelf has thrown, vs. Seattle, and again tonight - totally laying it in there and saying "hit this chump." When he is on, he is a pretty good pitcher. BTW, congrats to Iwakuma on the no-hitter, who outdueled Pelf recently, and carried a 1 hitter into the 9th.

Brock has nailed this thread down tighter than a drum. I would like to see the Twins keep Hunter around in some fashion: all credit to him to remain a viable MLB player at 40. Seriously, I'd take him over Mauer next year, but that won't happen.

Things been getting dark and gloomy around here lately. I want to have a place to post the good that has happened this season, even if the Twins are mired in a slump. •Sano - this kid is gonna be so damn good. •Gibson - he isn't the staff ace in title, but he is really. •Rosario - gonna be a good hitter in this league: extra bases, speed, defense, the total package. Best Twins hitter now, and likely into the future. •Hicks - who would have thought he'd be having the second half he's had. He still has all the tools, and now he has value. •Buxton, Berrios, Kepler, Polacio, and maybe even Arcia & Meyer, all just around the corner. •Staples such as Dozier, Plouffe, Perkins, Hughes, and Santana to build around. People expected 90 losses, last place. Might still happen, but the Twins have been relevant this season, more than most folks imagined. As part of the overall process of improvement, I couldn't ask for more.

Who woulda thought AJ would have more value than Mauer at this point - crazy old game this.

Why not Duffey - looks ike the kind of guy who will stick in the majors in one way or another. Effective 4 pitch mix - watching the Twins get dominated lately, it's been strikes, changing speeds, locations. Iwakuma gave a master class on pitching last Sunday - I was there, and left impressed. (Pelf was pretty good too). If you can nullify the patient approach by throwing strikes, but mix it up with speed and location, you will have success.

If the Twins keep Mays in the 7-8 inning pool, and add this guy, I like our chances of getting to Perkins a lot more than with Fien, Boyer, etc. Jepsen's last 2 seasons: LAD - 65 IP - 45H - 75K - 2.63 ERA TBR - 41 IP - 34 H - 34K - 2.81 ERA The Ks are down this season, but I like his IP to hits allowed ratio a lot. He isn't a rental either. Whether you consider it fair value depends on your confidence level of good but not dominant A ball pitchers making it to the bigs. He looks like an upgrade in a position of weakness to me. Probably not enough to stave off the Jays and Angels/Astros though.

Great to see Hicks put it together. His confidence looks through the roof right now.

Is salary retention allowable in baseball trades?

You folks have short memories. It's bloody well near August, and the Twins are in a playoff position. Haven't you been enjoying the ride? I sure have, seeing as I like surprises, and mid April this would have been like winning a scratch game for $100. /Tongue placed firmly back in cheek/

Just the fact he is willing to look at pitches, and TRY to be selective is very encouraging, given his age and experience. For a guy just learning the major league game, I couldn't ask for a better approach.

If the Twins make it over .500 this season, next year starts the window of being competitive. A number of top prospects are being integrated this season, with more to follow. Taking one of their weaknesses, bullpen, and making it even weaker by subtracting its one elite member? I thought Mike wanted wins.

6-1, 2.44 ERA. Who cares how many are strike outs? Gibson explained a while back pretty well how sometimes it's better to get folks out getting them to swing at your pitch.

I am NOT in favor of going for it at the expense of potential plus major leaguers. The formerly top farm system in the game still needs to sort the wheat from the chaff. I don't want the Twins to trade a future Cy Young or HR champion for guys whose best years are gone. A tweak at catcher seems most appropriate, as it is also an organizational weakness. Trading the farm to go for it all at this point? Lunacy. Building a winning culture and mostly standing pat, letting the prospect situation sort itself out, that's what I advocate. They are already miles ahead of last season. Slow and steady wins the game.

Bah! More doom and gloom?! Humbug!

The pride of Appleton Minnesota and former Twin: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bp_ftp/images4/KoosmanJerry.jpg Koooooooooos!

Dilemma? That sounds serious. Today I enjoyed a tall, cold beer. That's how I feel about Dozier. All good.

One more, then I'll stop for today. Love that KC Athletics hat:

Another favorite: http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad109/monkeypox/front.jpg THAT is an athlete!

One of my favorite baseball cards: http://www.jonfinkel.com/wp-content/uploads/razor.jpg

Sure looks a lot better than Dan Serafini, Trever Miller, Dan Naulty, etc. as your top pitching prospects.

Tommy John will pick off one or two. Some will flame out in higher levels. Having many is the only way you are likely to get one or tow to actually make an impact in MLB, law of averages and such. Gimme more!

Truth.

Seems like Cody would do well, to take what the Twins offer, especially as his performance dropped off this year. If not, well, I like the #74 next season. If I'm the Twins, I would give him a nice consolation prize, 150-200k, not a complete lowball offer, and used the savings on those later round kids. It's really all or nothing at this point.