Reider

The Twins are out on Josh Donaldson because they don't want to increase their offer by another $20-30 Million to meet his demands. Donaldson is a good player, but the Twins need to draw the line somewhere. I'd rather see that money invested in an ace starting pitcher, if the Twins are ever able to acquire or sign one.

Yes, his eye at the plate was both incredible and undeniable.

I felt all along that at minimum the Twins should get one high end starter and two high end bullpen arms. They did not get a starter and they did not get two high end bullpen arms. I'm fine with counting Dyson as one of them and I"m fine with Romo being added to the roster, but I was hoping for someone a bit better than Romo for that second bullpen spot. In other words, I feel that the Twins only filled 1 of the 3 spots. It would have been great if the Twins could have at least gotten one of Giles/Smith/Vazquez in addition to Romo and Dyson, but nobody acquired them, so I suppose it's not the end of the world. As for starting pitching, there was Greinke who has a massive contract and doesn't want to play in Minnesota, Stroman, who the Blue Jays possibly sold cheaper to the Mets than what the Twins may have been willing to give them, then there's Aaron Sanchez, who's stats have slipped since 2016. It seemed like an odd trade deadline. The Twins did okay given all of the circumstances, but at the end of the day, I still think I would have liked to have seen the Twins acquire another pitcher or two. The one positive about this deadline is that the Twins were able to get a couple of good bullpen arms without giving up the farm. The Twins' farm system is still in good shape.

The Blue Jays were sellers too, but didn't trade Smoak or Giles either. If the Twins would have acquired Giles and Smith on top of Romo and Dyson, it would have really solidified the Twins' bullpen. Romo and Dyson are nice acquisitions, but I"m not convinced that they'll put the Twins over the top.

The lack of high end talent and depth in the bullpen remains the same as well, which will be their kryptonite in the playoffs, if they don't get some high end arms for their bullpen. The Yankees series was a great measuring stick. This has nothing to do with gambling. It has everything to do with putting themselves in a position to be successful (win a World Series).

...and without giving themselves a real shot at winning a World Series this year, despite having the most powerful line up in the MLB.

It looks to me like the Twins' FO are sitting on their hands, not rubbing them together. But we'll see.

Buxton is not going anywhere. I'm not concerned about Giles' elbow, if it's just an inflammation issue. Not only am I open to the Twins getting one more quality bullpen arm in addition to Giles, but I encourage it.

Acquire Giles and Syndergaard.

Fired.

If the Twins were going to lose Diaz to the rule 5 draft or something along those lines anyways, then there's nothing wrong with a trade like this. I would like to see the Twins make some bigger trades for some impart arms, but it's still early. The Twins will hopefully acquire higher end pitchers over the next few days. Like many others, I will be disappointed if this is the only relief pitcher that they acquire. I"m confident / optimistic that more help is on the way.

I don't put much stock into this whole "the Twins are looking desperate" argument and I don't think anyone else should either, for the following reasons: - It is no secret to any team in the league that the Twins are likely going to be buyers at the deadline. They've already been in contact with various teams about possibly acquiring their pitchers. - The Twins cleared some space on the roster, so what? If everyone knows that the Twins are in the race and are going to be buyers at the deadline, how does clearing space make them look desperate? Pretty much every team that acquires players at the deadline will have to make room for those players, one way or another. Please see point number 1. Everyone already knows that the Twins need and are looking for pitching help. Guess what? So is every other team that's looking to win the World Series this year. What team wouldn't want to upgrade their pitchers? - The open market (supply and demand) will determine the price for players, regardless of how desperate some people think the Twins look. The Twins have plenty of prospects at their disposal, whom other teams covet. They also have a lot of options, which will only increase over the next 10 days as more teams decide to sell, which brings me to my next point. - As we get closer to the trade deadline and more teams decide to be sellers, who's going to "look desperate" as we get close to the trade deadline and teams still haven't sold their high end players, who's contracts are going to expire at the end of the season? Motivated sellers will more often than not move players to the highest bidder. Of course there may be some inter divisional considerations etc.. but for the most part, supply and demand will determine the price for players over the next 10 days. - The Twins are not bankrupt and the shelves are not empty. At the end of the day, it won't matter who "looks" more or less desperate, what sellers will ultimately care about is who will give them the best return for their players. My message to those people who are concerned or are panicking right now because they are worried that the Twins look desperate, is that you shouldn't even worry about it. There will be buyers and sellers, which may change daily over the next 10 days. the Twins have a lot of trade chips and will be able to compete with other teams at the trade deadline, in order to acquire pitching help, if they want to. If the Twins decide to sit on their hands and do not acquire any players, that's a separate issue and I have no control over that.

All I said was that now is the time for the Twins to upgrade their pitching (as the deadline is at the end of the month). You isolated it to bullpen. Sure, if you want to give some credit where it's due lets give the bullpen credit. Lets also give the rest of the team and front office credit. The team got off to a great start and despite the slide, they're still in first place in their division. It takes an entire team to get to where they're at. Sometimes it's the hitters that carry the team, sometimes it's the pitching (starting and / or bullpen), sometimes the defense gets the job done. Sometimes the front office makes astute moves. But it's the middle of July and the Twins need to decide if they want to take a serious run in the playoffs this year and if they do, they're going to need to add some high end pitching.

Why isolate the bullpen over the last few weeks? And why not mention starting pitching? It's a team game, it's a long season and there is room for improvement in all areas, including the bullpen. Of course, it doesn't help that players keep getting injured. Could the Twins use a high end starting pitcher? Yes. Could the hitting be a little more clutch? Yes. I think the Twins could use a couple of high end pitchers for the bullpen as well, regardless of how relief pitchers have been performing over the last few weeks. Do you think the Twins should sit on their hands at the deadline? The Twins need to improve their pitching, period.

Great at bat by Luis Arraez in the bottom of the 9th. He has an incredible eye at the plate. It's great that the Twins were able to load the bases, but it's too bad that they could not score any runs. The Twins definitely started sliding before the all-star break, but they just won their series against Cleveland and almost swept it. It's definitely a good time for the Twins to acquire some high end pitching.