Otto von Ballpark

Obviously Arcia isn't a savior, but I think he could help this moribund group. I think some of his struggles in AAA are due to frustration. Park either Mauer or Hunter on the bench every day and you'd barely even have to see Arcia in the OF too.

You're entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. I've backed up my opinion with 17 years of results and media reports. You are free to back up your opinion with whatever you wish. And who's to say what kind of streak these teams will be on come October? Or who will be suspended or hurt? Or if Price will even be available to start a wild card game? (They might need him just to get into the game.) I am sure glad the 2009 Twins didn't pack it in because the Tigers had an ace in Verlander...

2013 for St. Peter, actually. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/4951-dave-st-peter-well-be-competetive/

But that's a process based on results. It's the same process that, in the real world, dictates that you don't pinch hit for Sano. If the Twins had been turning up a lot of dominant relievers from Boyer/Stauffer level signings (the post that prompted you to bring up processes), yeah, this year really shouldn't deter that process. But they haven't.

Because there's no evidence to suggest otherwise, either this year or using past history as a guide. We've already won 6 games against those teams this year (having yet to play Houston), so winning one game against them isn't that difficult a task. And nobody is suggesting that the team should have made themselves the prohibitive favorite to the win the WS on July 31. Toronto didn't even do that. That's not necessary to improve the team, and it's not necessary to "absolutely" mortgage any future to simply achieve some improvement. Do you also advocate that we quit seriously trying to win games against supposedly better opponents that are tied in the 6th inning? That's where we're at in the season right now.

Yeah, these kind of contracts aren't really onerous. (Although I don't think the Padres are really at giveaway stage with Shields yet, and his and Buerhle's contracts were backloaded.) These are still good players and likely around market deals. Shin Soo Choo, Robinson Cano, etc. -- THOSE are the onerous contracts. Of course, those deals don't get moved at all.

It's not just my belief, it's been widely reported: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/troy-tulowitzki-trade-toronto-blue-jays-colorado-rockies-ken-rosenthal-072815?vid=492340291747

No, sorry that timeline was just a brief summary. The context is that Toronto was trying to move Reyes the whole time, but Colorado (and other potential Toronto trade partners) were resisting. Last week, Colorado relented, probably largely as an admission that they would have to eat some cash anyway. (As Philly did in the Hamels deal too.)

Yeah, I know it wasn't realistic. But that's what made Jeremy's report so surprising in the first place. Just saying I'd be interested in a follow-up from him, especially if he could clarify some of his original questions and speculation:

Revisiting Tulo, is there any plan to do a "postmortem" on the Twins discussions with the Rockies? It was encouraging to hear we talked with Colorado, although the report seemed to imply talks were quite basic and limited. Did the Twins walk away, and why? Was it primarily Gibson, Sano, or the cash? Did we counteroffer? Did it even get to the point of "offers" or was it shut down earlier than that? I wasn't bothered by it fizzling out originally, because as Jeremy says, trades can take a while to develop, and I suspected the Rockies weren't actually that motivated to move him. But it appears that wasn't the case. TR strikes me as the kind of guy who will listen to (or make) an offer and give a quick, firm response (which might explain his relative lack of significant deals). This situation might have called for more give-and-take; even if an agreement wasn't readily apparent, a strong signal of interest and regular contact might have produced something. Here's a report of how it went down for Toronto: http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2015/07/28/timeline-of-how-troy-tulowitzki-ended-up-with-blue-jays.html Just curious how it played out for the Twins. Were the Twins just not interested at any reasonable price, or did we misread the Rockies, etc.?

By B-Ref, Span had 2.3 WAR, but by Fangraphs he was 3.4. (UZR thought he was great with the glove, and DRS merely average.)

Yeah, they haven't really looked at middle tier relievers for a few years (or ever, really). When you're not developing good relievers, or giving chances to high upside guys, that's not good. Actually, the bullpen is kinda like the rotation a couple years ago -- they let it atrophy by failing to develop quality options while more or less ignoring FA options, then arguably had to overpay/over-commit to middle tier starters just to catch up. A mild deadline overpay for Jepsen is a gentler version of that catch-up.

Last winter, Neshek signed for 2/12, and Gregerson for 3/18. I am not sure that Jepsen's extra year of control at ~$5 mil is all that valuable. (Why didn't we sign one of those guys rather than completely dumpster diving our whole bullpen?) Heck, we probably could have acquired Mark Lowe for a similar prospect haul, he's owed $1 mil less than Jepsen in 2015 and can probably be resigned at a Neshek like price.

Kielty was two weeks shy of his 27th birthday when we traded him for Stewart, with 750 MLB PA. He was no longer a prospect.

Reyes? We might be lucky to get Dennys Reyes at this point.

Segura isn't that good, but the idea is interesting. If we are really sold on Hicks, and feeling a bit skeptical on Buxton, I could entertain Buxton for Susac + prospect(s), maybe? Susac would come with 5-6 years of control. On that train of though -- would you trade present-day Buxton for Garza/Bartlett circa 2008?

TR actually never traded any prospects midseason during the Terry 1.0 era. An offseason deal of 2 minor league relievers for Luis Castillo is the only notable TR trade of prospects that I can recall.

Relax, everybody. The title of this article clearly says AT the trade deadline. I am sure the Twins will start actively shopping precisely at 3:00 PM today.

FYI, it was an off season deal, so Shields had 2 full years of control by KC.

Tulo took Reyes spot. Hawkins takes Doubront's.

Not saying you did, just further exploring how it might be better to "fail" sometimes than to "succeed". Ultmately it would be the Twins setting the more modest goals.

I see Chief already clarified, but I would add that when you artificially limit your goals (i.e. we can't compete this year anyway), then "succeeding" at those goals can indeed be worse than failing to achieve a different, higher set of goals.

I wonder if TR's conservatism prevents him from taking much advantage of other team's incompetence? I know we can't insert ourselves into every major deal like this, but I don't think TR has ever scored any. He is nothing if not deliberate, and I think that delay can kill opportunities like this. I wonder how our talks about Tulo went. Did TR even press if Colorado said he was available and they liked Gubson and Sano? Seems we could have scored him for less than that, had we continued negotiating. Or did TR effectively say we're not interested and walk away?

Toronto was one of my sleeper picks, as I thought they could move Reyes. I remember when Toronto notably passed on Tulo in the draft, picking Ricky Romero instead...

I too am underwhelmed by the return. The Twins absolutely could have topped it on the prospect side and effectively the money side, but obviously we have nothing like Reyes to offer.