Bill Tanner

Lacking the inside scoop that Dan Hayes has, but I wonder if the Twins may have an agreement in principle with another organization but cannot make the trade until the start of spring training for 40-man reasons. Redundancy is a good thing in that it prevents a single point of failure, but the outfield redundancy the Twins have amassed is overdone.

A.J. Alexy has been DFA'd to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Terrific discussion on this thread. I value Arraez more than the trade value calculations for the reasons discussed above including his OBP, clutch, intensity. I do see Luis as a multi-year batting champion before it's all said and done. I am releived the front office declined a 1 for 1 with Lopez. If we move Arraez, it needs to be as a piece for a top of the rotation guy or one that projects as such. Some have pointed to his defensive liabilities going forward, and those are valid concerns that will undoubtedly go into the trade calculus. One additional detraction, he will not derive any benefit from the shift ban, as defenses had to play him straight up. So, as it relates to players who suffered with the shift, Luis' offensive value differential may not be as high moving forward.

Joe Ryan, Jose Miranda, and despite the injury setbacks, Royce Lewis. I understand there is lots of team control remaining there, but those are the guys more willing to give up years of free agency. If we wait to be sure we're locking up a star, the star has little incentive to delay a contract in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The issue was not related to available options. Twins needed to remove him from the 40-man roster (DFA), something that was inevitable this fall anyways. You are right, though, that it does seem unlikely the Twins will be looking to find him a roster spot in the near future.

Three very good choices. I would like to suggest Jake Cave as another. After being DFAd and off of the 40-man roster, he showed grit and determination throughout 2022 to make it back. In the short time since being called up, he has provided plenty of clutch moments, as well as making several spectacular plays in the field. Reading many negative comments, I get the sense that Jake Cave is not only under appreciated, but not appreciated at all. I, for one, appreciate what he has done and how he has found a way to contribute. Could not have been easy task from a mental standpoint, given where he found himself on the Twins' deep outfield depth chart.

Fantastic article, Seth! Cool addition to the player analysis to see your late fall rankings. While you would have protected Baddoo, you would have still lost Wells (and maybe Ober?). Interesting question is whether the loss of Baddoo hurts worse than what would have been lost with Ober. Close, but I say no, as the Twins need pitching. Of course, with 20/20 hindsight, the 40-man contained several players you wish would have been removed or left unprotected to make room for all three of these.

Yeah, I was wondering how Sano's play wasn't an error. Passing up the sure out for a throw home that has absolutely no chance.

Thanks for the great write up, David. I also appreciate your additional playoff updates for the three teams in the hunt. Noting the long-awaited Joe Ryan start for the Saints tonight, have there been any hints from the organization as to when we'll see SWR make his Wichita debut? Unlike Ryan, SWR didn't even throw in the Olympics. But he'll be the last acquisition to make a debut.

Too bad Strotman last threw on Tuesday. Since he's already on the 40-man, it would have been a great opportunity to get his feet wet.

MLB.com rankings agree with the ordering of our top 3 (Lewis, Martin, Balazovic), but I was surprised there weren't more Twins in the top 100 prospects. Heck, Balazovic barely made it himself as #88.

Sorry to sound a false alarm. I didn't see that the Saints are playing the back half of a postponed game (from June 20) where Jax and Rooker played...

Griffin Jax pitched in today's St. Paul Saints game, so we must have a different starter tonight. He didn't make it out of the 3rd inning. 3 ER, 3H, 5BB and 2K. Playing mind games with the rookies? Also, Brent Rooker is DH'ing for the Saints. So far, 2-2 with a HR. Must be a couple of transactions that haven't been announced yet.

You would have sons of coaches excluded instead? Your post assumes the applicants are all equally qualified, and that sons are chosen due to family connections. Isn't it possible that these sons have been immersed in the game as a result of being around their manager/coach father, and as a result, are more qualified than other applicants?

I wonder if the still unnamed lower-level prospect is on the Dodger 40-man roster, just like Raley was on ours. Santana would be nice. Dodgers had a full 40-man roster. They brought in 2 from Boston (Betts/Price) and removed only one (Verdugo). They also bring in 2 from us (Graterol/Raley) and removed only one (Maeda). Understand the trade with LAA is off, so something has to give with the Dodger roster.

The title of the article has just changed from Twins Back Out to Twins Willing to Back Out. Very dynamic situation, and maybe an indicator that Twins are using media as a negotiating gambit with BOS just as PseudoSABR commented above.

Vanimal, where are you seeing that the Red Sox/Dodgers portion is official? Interesting. So, Verdugo and Maeda would be currently Red Sox. In that case, Twins leverage is lower than some might have perceived, as Boston could just plug Maeda into their rotation.

Wonder whether the Twins will now try to re-work his contract? If he thought the Dodgers were unfairly affecting his paycheck, he probably should be equally or more concerned that the lower-payroll Twins may find ways to do the same. Consider structuring it to incentivize appearances and IP rather than starts and IP. At least from the Maeda's perspective, if he is forced to come out of the pen then, he would get a pay bump to compensate for the impact to his ego. Either way, it is clear the Twins are receiving a disgruntled pitcher. Let's hope Maeda is happier in MN!

Hat tip to Seth. Pretty much nailed the analysis of the givens, probables, and bubbles.

Should have looked it up before posting...yes, Alcala needs to be added to the 40-man to be protected from the Dec 2019 rule 5 draft. Surprised then, that they didn't make this move earlier.

Would Alcala have to be added to the 40-man this fall to avoid being rule V eligible? If so, this is an easy decision.

Just 3 of the top 20 prospects were in action. So many of them (9) are at the AA level that a rainout there, along with injuries and a FTM rainout, meant that just a couple were playing ball yesterday.

Did Stashak even get his name on the top of the test yet?

Congratulations, Miracle!

I think that he does. He signed with the Astros after he had turned 19. This will be his fourth season in the minors. As such, I think he is Rule 5 eligible if not added to the 40-man.