PatPfund

Great summary, including some realistic costs. My position is there is little reason to move in the next few weeks unless a golden deal drops out of nowhere (like the Correa signing). The base-level truth for me is that the Twins have a good enough team right now to compete for the division title in a low-bar season for divisional success. Settling for that doesn't wow me (probably like most reading this), but my next level 'truth' is that this team can only compete for success beyond the division by getting at least three of Gray, Ryan, Ober, and Winder back sustainably healthy and successful. Only at that point is it worth pushing serious chips into play for a very good starter. Relievers, unless dirt cheap, are pointless. Our 'pen isn't burnt out because we don't have relievers, it is fried because we don't have enough starters going 6, and seemingly have a Sands/Gonzalez bullpen game every third day. Adding a good pitcher to healthy returnees will push Bundy off the roster, alleviate the innings issue for the 'pen, and push a very good arm or two like Winder/Archer/Ober into relief, and that should push some of the bullpen deadwood like Duffey, Thielbar, and sadly Joe Smith off the roster. Kirilloff should be essentially untouchable. Lest we forget last week's offensive abyss against the Tigers, this team's offense is still super-streaky, and an elite high average power bat that plays solid defense (and who looked like a veteran when making his MLB debut in the playoffs), isn't something this team should give up for a part-time limited run pitcher. Especially with Lewis gone now. I'd also guess Miranda is probably the plan at 3B next year. But there are plenty other chips out there as many have pointed out. (Don't get the talk of dealing Moran now, though, by some people who say we need to ADD to the 'pen.) My guess is Montas will be too expensive (he has been up for sale since the end of last season with zero takers across the league), and frankly I'm not sure Mahle could even make our rotation if all four Twins SPs come back healthy (and, nope, a cherry-picked outing against a bad Arizona team doesn't excite me any more than did Martin Perez's "hot" start). But it's a big league, and there are good arms we don't even know are available yet (any more than we knew Carlos would be our SS).

Need a healthy rotation instead of 2 TBAs and Archer , but yeah. Bring the Yankees on in the first round

Not really worried about it at this point. A quick look at the 40 man (including the 60 Day IL peeps who don't count now, but do for Rule 5) 14 easy calls on peeps less important to protect than the ones you mention (and as others said there are probably more). Bundy, Coulombe, Dobnak, Duffey, Romero, Sands, Smith (Joe), Stashak, Strotman, Thielbar, Godoy or Sanchez, Correa, Sano, Urshela. These folks are either bad, marginal, have serious injury performance issues, or their contracts do or may end before the Rule 5 Draft. Take Stashak as an example; guy just had labrum surgery (really long questionable recovery), and has a so-so history. Is someone really going to spend a pick on the hope he recovers 100% and a year down the road they'll have a middle reliever? Another reason some won't be around is they'll be traded (or others not mentioned here will be). Others may play themselves onto (or off of) the list. I wouldn't trade Kirilloff straight up for a season and a half of Montas, let alone adding others. One SP is not going to make this team a title threat; they need to get Gray, Ryan, Winder, and Ober healthy (or at least 3 of those) before any addition can help win it all. Bundy, Sands, and the dreaded TBA is all over their advance rotation notices, and filling one of those with Montas isn't worth a future all-star, because all it does is help win the division, not a playoff series. Get a few of the other SP threats back and solid by July, then maybe you push in a major chip or two.

Think it is getting obvious. Jeffers belongs nowhere near the DH position; if he needs constant at-bats (and it sure looks like he does) that is what AAA is for. Call up Godoy, have Sanchez catch slightly more than half, and get the odd stint at DH. (If Jeffers can figure it out, and a trip to St Paul sure seems to have worked for Kirilloff), the Twins are a much better team, and downgrade the urgency for a catching plan next year. I suspect longer term that Miranda goes down to work on D (and being more selective at the plate), Kirilloff comes up and becomes part of a 1B/OF/DH rotation with Arraez (1B/2B/DH), Larnach (OF/DH), Garlick (OF/DH), Kepler (OF/DH), and a bit of Sanchez. And Sano (sadly as I see it). Twins should give him a good, long (as long as they can) rehab stint in St Paul whenever he is ready to play. Then hope he hits enough, soon enough to maybe be a trade chip at the deadline. No point in making any Lewis plans until there is some sort of timeline. Glad he isn't out for a year again, but it is likely to be weeks, and they need that knee healthy for the long term.

OMG. Sending a prospect for Perez would be on a par with sending top prospect and future All-Star Wilson Ramos for temporarily hot, but soon-to-be-out-of-baseball Matt Capps. I'd rather see Dylan Bundy start a playoff game than Martin Perez, even if we have to call Dylan out from his new job at the carwash. Perez may be a nice guy (seriously, he seems like a nice guy), but any GM that coughs up a serious prospect for a Perez 8 game hot streak (better this year, but of the sort he often has early) should be fired.

Short term, put Garlick on IL. The Twins keep hamstringing themselves (to use the obvious metaphor) by carrying injured people in order to spare them going on IL and thereby reducing their already short bench by one (or more) spots. Put Garlick on IL, call up Kirilloff, and split him between DH, 1B, and OF; Arraez can split time between 1st, 2nd, and DH. Sanchez can catch more than Jeffers (until/if he starts to hit), and occasionally DH (can't believe I just typed that, but he's been decent). (Buxton should also go on IL, but that's another thread.) If everyone else is healthy when Garlick comes back, send down Miranda to work on D. It won't kill him. I'm not worrying about what to do with Lewis until he actually nears readiness (and I expect it will be far enough out that he'll need rehab in St Paul, anyway).

Exactly. But they didn't. Saddest thing of all would be to look back in a month, and say 'if only the Twins had put Buxton on IL in early June he would be healthy now.' Get him steady treatment for the knee, Call up Kirilloff, use an actual HITTER in the DH slot (Arraez, Alex, Larnach, not the catcher hitting a buck and change), and forget 'trying him against the Yankees'. He's not going to get healthy playing (even with tons of time off) or he would have done it by now. (And the Twins just beat the hottest team in baseball starting their best pitcher without so much as an at-bat from Byron.) Alternative, or longer term plan, you send Miranda down to work on his defense at 1B (where he has hurt us badly a few times) just as you sent Lewis down to work on his 'other position' D. Along with the positive statement you want him back soon.

I've certainly had my issues with them in the past, but my clear heroes of the first third are the Falvines. After the utter failure of last year's team, they shook things up in ways that bruised a lot of fans, shipping some faves in Berrios (mid-year 2021), Garver, and Rogers (and Rortvedt, who I liked but who others clearly adore!), and an expensive pill (JD). You can argue details in each deal (or deals since so many overlapped), but this is a new team with a new attitude and new leaders mixing veterans (including new ones with playoff success) with young talent. It is also a team with far greater depth; depth that has been critical lately in the wake of waves of injuries. Lewis, Miranda, Palacios, Smeltzer, Moran, Cotton, and even Godoy have come up and made key contributions while also enhancing themselves as future Twins or possibly trade chips. My other hero is David Freakin' Popkins. The Twins have looked pathetic at the plate that past couple of years, but the new hitting coach actually has them using the whole field, and in particular seems to have resurrected Max Kepler from the grave. Keep it up dude!

Have to admit, (and this isn't usually the case with your articles), I'm seeing more of your personal bias than meat to Polanco's "problems". Yep, a slower than expected start, but most of the underlying stats show Jorge is striking the ball as well as last year. And hitting slightly better than the league, and leading the team in RBI, but you personally "don't care" about those two items, and refer to his line as "trash". I see Jorge finding his way in a radically different hitting environment; one that isn't announced, and literally has to be felt through inning by inning. Are multiple versions of balls in play? Are balls being 'humidored' unevenly? Who the hell knows? Like many, he is fighting through this while still producing as many (actually more) run scoring hits than any of his team-mates. I'm okay with that, happy to see him in the lineup, expect him to get better, and consider him one of the least of my concerns for the Twins.

Such a fun game tonight! And your recap captured a lot of that; baseball is the goofiest and Greatest game!

Good recap, but really too early to tell. I always liked Jose, but it never really came together for extended periods, and I expect the Jays paid way, way too much on the contract. Twins got some promising pieces, and right now the balance looks good for MN. But then so did the Twins pitching depth a month ago, so time will tell.

Excellent article showing a problem to work on, but... whoa. Drop a game to the Tigers, and people are jumping off cliffs. The feed above has judged the year in multiple posts as 'a failure' (this just in; we are in first place, 4.5 games ahead of the consensus pick to run away with the division). And, yep; being in first place at the start of June means the Twins are delivering on their promise to field a competitive team. Suggestions are there to release Pagan; dude has seven saves as part of a split closer situation, an ERA in the low 2s, and has regained a LOT more control (one walk in the last 7 games) without the entirely made up stat of trading walks for hits (his WHIP is 1.09 over the last seven games). He is NOT part of the bullpen's current issues. There is even some Berrios angst saying we didn't improve much adding Gray to replace Jose. Please. Gray is twice the pitcher Berrios has been over their careers (more than twice if you go by WAR), and three times the pitcher Berrios has been this year (-.5 WAR to Gray's .9). All of which doesn't cover up the issues on this team. To be competitive long term, they have to get healthy, because a more budget-ey roster needs its big players on the field to win over time. Correa, Buxton (who should be on the IL right now so he can GET healthy), Arraez, Gray, and Polanco are all tough to replace for more than a few games. And we definitely are missing Ryan and Winder; those are two non-smoke-and-mirror pitchers whose absence hurts both the rotation and the 'pen. While I do agree with Nick about the bullpen, the idea of trading everyday player prospects for a reliever (especially the mentioned middling RP from Milwaukee) is overboard. The bigger longer term issue here is starting pitching, and if we are shipping prospects, that's what I'd want them to go for. (Montas, sure, but if the As are still asking a price nobody in MLB has touched yet, there will be others.) Making the rotation stronger strengthens the 'pen in two ways; by reducing the innings load, and by pushing displaced starters into the 'pen.

I think Souhan's column was spot on. Yep, it's a personal decision, but yep, it can have serious implications for your team, and your place on that team. It's also a decision you don't make once, but every day. Any unvaxxed player could have looked at the standings a couple weeks ago, and thought 'dang, we're in this, and the team might need me in Toronto', and walked into a drugstore, gotten a J&J shot, and been ready to roll this week. Can't help but think this also could weigh in on anybody seeking free agency. There are 3 big-spending franchises in the AL East, and two are 100% vaxxed. Can't do anything about existing contracts, but I'd guess vax status is something you could ask free agents since it now could materially affect their availability to play for you.

For me, it is the strike call appeal (which you can see in the most recent Twins System recap below; you can skip to the 5:56 mark). Player taps his head to appeal a call, the ump turns to find out whether the auto call system confirms/overturns the game call, and you move on in 5 seconds. Imagine if Duran had been able to appeal the atrocious no-strike calls the other night against KC. I would love to just go with auto-call (since some umps are TERRIBLE at this), but the appeal would be a great half-step there.

Oops! Meant to quote you instead of roger on the post above. Camargo is actually pretty good at throwing people out.

Jair Camargo has thrown out about a third of base steal attempts over his minor league career. Alex Isola (in less time) has thrown out 13%. You can find their stats in these links: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=camarg000jai https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=isola-000ale

I doubt his future is at SS, though I don't think you need to rule it out at the minor league level (which as many have pointed out is about development). Still, if I were him, I'd probably lobby for games at the other spots, especially 2nd or OF where he could absolutely crack an MLB roster. As long as MLB keeps up with a soft/humidored ball (which admittedly could end tomorrow), Martin's elite on-base skills, and blazing speed can help anybody. (See Arraez's impact in this year's dead-ball MLB.) Singles and walks have a way of turning into doubles and triples with Martin, and he'd be a devastating 10th inning runner off the bench. But I don't see any of it happening for the Twins this year, so step him to AAA at some point, prep him for us or for a trade, and don't overthink the whole "blocked" thing. Correa is probably gone after this year, Polanco just had another small procedure on his oft-injured ankles, nobody seems sure about the future of 3B, and although there is promise, there is plenty of outfield starts in question (will Larnach keep hitting?, can Alex stay healthy?, does Gordon lock down a spot?, how many games can Byron actually play?, is Kepler really back? have we seen the last of Cave?). (That last one was just thrown in to irk readers. Including me. Man, I hope so.)

The guy is VERY exciting to watch. But I'd think the first move would be to move him up to St Paul, and keep him in his limited starting situation. Gives him a run against better hitters, keeps him as stretched as he can be this year, and frankly the Saints could use him as a starter (bummer starting down six runs like last night). If that goes well, it might be more appropriate to talk about a call up in an opener or relief role. If I had to guess, I'd expect long-term he is more reliever; there is nothing smooth about his delivery, and he has little history of staying healthy as a starter using it.

My answer is 'yes', the Twins should just bite the bullet, and put Byron on the IL. Maybe it was seeing Byron ‘live’ for the first time Wednesday, but the Twins’ plan to load manage Buxton is NOT working. As someone with a sometime gimpy knee on my back hitting leg, things looked sadly familiar. General loss of speed showing in Byron being an easy out on a roller to third (out sure; but by that many steps?). Loss of pop/hitting due to unstable foundation showing as barreled balls come down on the track instead of the second deck (and more weak grounders than barrels). A few days ago, a gap ball sailed right past him. Healthy Byron catches that 100 times out of a 100, but when you are concentrating as much on balancing knee load as on the ball, that play is a natural result. Sure he came back with a spurt the next day to make a fantastic grab, but the day after that he was DHing. Load management sounds great to keep a player healthy, but is there ANY sign Byron is getting better, or even holding his own? (The 0-26 hitting run would say, ‘no’.) Put him on the IL, and get him healthy. If that had been done earlier in the year, he might be back to 100% by now. Keep putting it off, and his unhealthy knee could get worse. Or crop into something worse (as it did with the strained hip). Or cost us any chance at seeing him 100% in a post-season game. (Let alone make the pre-season.) (I was all for sending Royce back down, but he is an easy call up to keep the lineup potent, just as he did to help get Correa healthy. Make the move.)

I agree the 'pen is likely to need help; Duffey and Thielbar and Stashak have had nice recovery periods, but Tyler and Caleb have looked less than lockdown in most recent outings, and Stashak is pitching with reduced velocity that probably doesn't work against better teams. And we'd all eat fewer Tums if Pagan wasn't the main closer. But I'm guessing the Twins will find that help in their system rather than by trade. Moran, Canterino, Smeltzer, Cotton, and more all either bring shutdown ability or length, and don't cost anything more than a call up. A frontline starter would be great, and I like your target! I'd even pitch that to the Red Sox BEFORE Eovaldi straightens out to lower the cost (if he goes back to lights-out-98-mph-stuff, the cost even of a rental skyrockets at the deadline). Maybe we could pry him loose with a Strotman/Sands/Cotton package since they need help in the rotation and 'pen. I'd rate the batting need lower than pitching, but if you could wave a Sands/Cotton/Sano package at Boston for Martinez, I could live with that. For sure, I'm hoping trades not only add, but clear some of the plateauing prospects off the 40-man. The Twins finally made the needed Vallimont DFA, but they'll need more space this year, and into the offseason to use and protect real assets.

I learned the hand-cut way by watching Frank Klausz, a now retired woodworker/furniture builder who learned apprenticing in his father's European woodshop. I don't really cut them enough to warrant a jig, though I'm also not finished-work good. Good enough for the back of the drawer, but if I were exposing them, I'd need to be better, or consider the jig route. They make a beautiful job! Normally for finer work, Mr Klausz does the dovetail saw/chisel method, but if you want to see him cut a 3 minute dovetail joint using only a scribed line and two bow-saws, it's on YouTube at:

I definitely agree with the comment about it being early for real judgements. Or WAR ratings out of context. Or how healthy Donaldson seems (in mid-May). If that holds, maybe it works for both teams; which is okay. But it definitely looks to me like the Twins are light-years ahead defensively on the left side (Urshela/Correa/Lewis over Gimp Donaldson/Eccentric Simmons/Raw Gordon). Sanchez was awful defensively last year (not just NY opinion, but statistically the worst in baseball), but he is adequate on D this year with the bat coming to life. Hopefully that continues (I actually don't dread seeing him in the DH role lately.) Hope Urshela's bat comes to life, because I purely love watching him at 3B defensively. If it doesn't, we'll have plenty of options (Miranda if he starts hitting, Lewis if Miranda doesn't; Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand coming up through the system). Disagree, through, with the comment about being able to afford both Donaldson and Correa (or that we should spend $300 million to lock up Correa, which wasn't stated here). Big market teams have an obvious advantage in the size of their fan base, but possibly even more, teams like NYY, Boston, Atlanta, Cubs, etc, have HUGE cash cow local TV deals, and the Twins have BSN, which can't even figure out a way to make their broadcasts readily available for many potential viewers. So budget matters, bad contracts can cripple the ability to make roster moves, and long term bad deals are really bad. Doesn't mean we can't win; just means we can't do it the Yankee or Dodger way.

Is Royce a better shortstop than Correa (or Polanco)? Nope; not offensively or defensively. (But is he the future there if Correa is out or gone? Yes. The hitting looks mature, the fielding looks unpolished.) Is Royce a better LF than Gordon or Celestino; maybe bat, yes (though remember Larnach and Rooker tore it up for short stints at the start, but experience in fielding, no. Is Royce better at third than Urshela? Maybe again with the bat, maybe, but not defensively (not anywhere near defensively) yet. Is Royce a better fit than Arraez at 1B? Right now Arraez hits better and has a longer history of doing so. Defensively Royce might start equal, and get better with practice. Note the common thread. Yep, he can hit, but he is either talented/rough defensively (small sample, but no smaller than the hitting, Royce's fielding percentage so far is worse than any Correa has posted in his career), or talented/totally-inexperienced. Now where on Earth could the Twins put Royce to polish his weaknesses or inexperience, and still field a lineup as strong without him as with him. Maybe the minors? It's not a life sentence, it is the place to develop players until they are fully ready. I'd say I don't see why people can't see that, but I get the other side. A lot. But I also want to win both now and in October, and I'm willing to let the front office play chess since they seem much sharper at it than they were last year. And this team is stronger both in October and next year with a polished Royce Lewis.

One factor I don't see in the article or comments. This is a great strategy to have him healthy come playoff time. And the team's fortunes are MUCH shinier if he is playing in the postseason. Resting him regularly to let the body recover from his intense outputs makes sense, especially if you have him with a championship on the line.

Huh. The poor helpless-without-Royce Twins hung 14 on the board today. And won (which seems to be what terrifies a lot of people here). Won games before he came up, will win games (and lose some) with him getting better in AAA. Can call up a more polished/better player when need strikes again, or late in the season for a home stretch push. I can live with that.