Dance with Disco Dan

Although so many of the top prospects are having mediocre-to-down years, the Twins have to feel fortunate that both Lewin Diaz and Jaylin Davis had breakout seasons that allowed them to headline trades that bolstered the major league roster. Here's to a deep farm system! Good luck to all the prospects the Twins sent out. I will be following them as they move up. Did you know that the Braves have Huascar Ynoa in AAA at 21 y.o.?

Because we will never know the cost to acquire [beloved Player X] via trade, it is hard to say that I will be upset if the Twins do not make another acquisition. For every player that is reportedly available, there is a price that I would be unhappy if the Twins pay it--even with the benefit of adding that player to the 2019 roster (and presumably increasing the odds of playoffs/playoff wins). Because of that, I can't honestly feel more than general disappointment that something didn't work out. I'd need information that I will never have to feel anger or betrayed.

Nice article. It answered questions I didn't even know I had but I am glad to know the answers. Here's hoping our Ft. Myers bats keep it going in Pensacola.

Tristan Pompey's mom was my Uber driver in Toronto in November and she talked about how excited she was for her son to get drafted this year. I've been following him since then because it was endearing how proud she was of Tristan. The kicker, I realized later, was that she never mentioned her older son Dalton who has had several cups of coffee with the Blue Jays. I didn't make the connection until after I was dropped off. Maybe she thought it would be bragging? You couldn't shut me up if I had boys succeeding like that.

I really look forward to the daily Kernels update given all the positional prospects in their lineup. It's been particularly fun to watch Kirilloff consistently produce extra-base hits lately --- .769 SLG and 1.211 OPS in 10 May games. He won't be long for the Midwest League.

I am glad that MLB.com thinks well of Pearson but I will not understand (or fully credit) their prospect list until they learn about Akil Baddoo. He played great in the Appy League (.357/.478/.579) and is two months younger than Pearson who struggled in Rookie ball. Normally, I'd chalk it up to MLB.com still catching up on a blossoming, late-round prospect but Baddoo was a second-round pick (74th overall). As for the trade, I think this is a good use of the remaining pool funds particularly since some of the premium, available Braves prospects have signed elsewhere. I was really hoping that they'd get at least one but didn't immediately realize that teams were allowed to dip into next year's pool to sign those guys reducing the Twins' purchasing power with $3m+ left in this year's pool. Catching depth and a young player reputed to have plus speed and good bat speed are always welcome additions to the farm system.

When the report about the Braves' cheating scandal broke so shortly after the Twins pulled their offer to Marte, I wondered if their was serious speculation in front offices that the Braves' signees would be cut loose and whether Falvine was playing a hunch. I never held out much hope for Ohtani and I am excited that the Twins can be real players for the former Braves. My only question is whether the advisors of those players will have them wait until the next international signing period so that there is a full complement of international pool funds competing for their services. It is hard to predict because, on the one hand, it seems to me that the players would want to start their careers sooner than later and they'll still be getting a windfall with a second signing bonus. On the other hand, they can expect bigger bonuses if they wait until every team has their full allotment. My guess is that the premium players will wait (unless they receive full value -- i.e. what the Braves paid) and the lesser talents will sign this year.

MLB.com has already slotted Littell in as the Twins No. 16 prospect between Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade--two guys I think have a chance to be major league contributors.

I thought the whole point of signing Colon was to give the Twins one last good chance to steal back Johan's third Cy Young before Bartolo heads off into retirement. I think we can all agree it's high time that injustice is corrected. Now, if they'd hurry up and parole O.J. I hear he has experience with this type of operation.

Kohl's increased strikeout rate this season is certainly a welcome development. His 21 Ks in the first three games already exceed the total (19 Ks) from his three best strikeout games last season. Clearly, some things have changed for the better--command, velocity, improved pitches and/or new pitches. He got a little unlucky with sequencing last night and his relief couldn't pick him up. Nevertheless, it was a very good performance (possibly aided by a big strike zone as 5 of 8 Ks were looking). And, its worth noting that the changes resulting in his increased strikeout rate haven't diminished his excellent ground ball (60.9%) and line drive percentages (9.7%).

Not impressed with this trade and a bit bummed because I enjoyed following Hu. Not having seen him in person, I can't be sure exactly what kind of stuff Hu has but its good enough for him to be among the top starters in the FSL as a 21 y.o. As desperate as the Twins' bullpen situation is, it has to be a hard pass when the asking price for Jepsen is Hu AND a lottery ticket arm.

Both players are hitting well (particularly Varva) but both are old for their level of competition. Both are roughly a. year and a half older than average. If the Twins see Vavra as anything more than an org guy, I don't understand why they haven't moved him up to High A so they can see what he can do against age-appropriate competition (he won't be young in the FSL either). Goodness knows the Miracle lineup could use more bats. Swim has hit for average at every level but doesn't walk and has shown no power. Mostly while being old for his competition level. I look at his stats and see Revere without the speed element - i.e. no triples or steals. All that said, neither player can do anything but go out and perform at the level the Twins assign them. To their credit, they are doing that.

Buxton over Harrison on this night. I have to discount whatever Vavra does at Cedar Rapids because he is 1.6 years older than average for that league. He is certainly hitting well and the guy can only perform where the Twins assign him. Which raises the question of whether it's time to move Vavra up to Fort Myers. The Miracle are languishing near the bottom of the league in most hitting categories with an older lineup. Promoting Vavra may give the Miracle lineup a boost--like Granite has done so far--and get Vavra playing against more age-appropriate competition.

Kohl Stewart

I know you aren't defending the Eduardo Nunez experience, but the real surprise is that he is not disliked more on this forum. Or, better for the Twins, disliked more by the front office. I hope he has a great season but he should not be on a major league team. He is not a "glove man" at any position and his career OPS is .684 with an OPS+ of 86 so he is not a "bat man" either. Last season he had a .271 OBP which is not surprising given that his walk rate was the lowest in the American League. Our good friend Delmon "I'm Swinging" Young had a walk rate 70% better than Nunez' and (lest you think Delmon has turned over a new leaf) Delmon had the 13th worst walk rate. Not good. Yesterday's Grantland piece taught us that the combination of Eduardo's swing mechanics and pitch selection has made him a EXCEPTIONAL outlier in the very damaging art of popping up. Like a "Go deep .... no keep going .... keep going, I'll tell you when to stop" outlier. Start with the fact that the slash-line for infield fly balls (less than 160 feet from home) in MLB last year was .021/.021/.026. Bottom-line, pop-ups are caught. Then consider the fact that the average batter hits 27 infield flyballs for every 100 regular flyballs (infield and regular flyballs being separate, non-overlapping categories). Our guy Eduardo hits 70 infield flyballs for every 100 regular flyballs. This is bad. Eduardo hits flyballs (of any kind) 34% of the time which is league-average BUT more than twice as many of those flyballs are infield flyballs than league average. And since the expected outcome of an infield flyball is .021/.021/.026, you can see the problem. Just for perspective, the next worst pop-up artist hits 53 infield flyballs for every 100 regular flyballs. In other words, in this regard, Eduardo is 33% worse than the next worst who himself is 98% worse than league average. It's amazing he produces what he does (which should earn him no roster points).