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Is there any chance that Brian Navarreto will be able to help back up at some point if necessary? He is hitting better this year at Chattanooga, although that is probably not sustainable. Despite not hitting, he was a Florida State League All-Star last year. The press release noted: Navarreto's assertive defense has propelled him to an All-Star Selection. He has caught 18 of 36 runners to throw out a staggering 50 percent of would-be base-stealers. The backstop has committed just two errors in over 300 innings of catching as well, and has been extremely effective blocking pitches this season.

Interesting article from NYT on Puerto Rican minor league baseball: https://tinyurl.com/y9wathyy

the owners will need to pay more to their accountants and lobbyists to deal with this, and will have nothing left over to pay their minor league players a living wage.

So we have learned that other teams had offers for 6 year deals similar in value to the Cubs, and the easily fulfilled escalators are worth at least $14 million, making it at least 6/140+. And the contract is front end loaded, making it even more likely to last for two years. per Chicago Sun-Times article linked in MLBTR. All of which allowed the Cubs to avoid luxury tax. I presume there are some rules that prohibit blatant manipulation of the escalators, the opt-out option, and the average contract value. Anyone know what they are?

Today at BPro, Rooker was Derek Florko's pick for next year's top 101, calling him possibly one of the more elite bats in all of minor league baseball. He noted: The swing is not flashy, but he still manages to create a ton of power with efficient movements, movements that in his own words were created by watching “film of the best hitters in the world and find things that they all have in common, then I take those principles and try to apply them to my swing.”

A recent NYT article, "Who Needs Trade Talks, These Days General Managers Just Use Emojis", has some references to and quotes from Twin GM Thad Levine. When Thad Levine, the general manager of the Minnesota Twins, started working in baseball in the late 1990s, most general managers traveled frequently with their team — as well as to the All-Star Game or World Series, and of course to the general managers’ and winter meetings — with the express purpose of meeting face to face with their counterparts to initiate trades. “But today, we negotiate hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts and make massive trades without ever picking up the phone and speaking directly with one another, let alone meeting face to face,” Levine said. “You kind of learn the personalities of guys — who needs a phone call, who can do it on text, who prefers emails, who likes to be lighthearted. The art of the negotiation has almost been trumped by the art of communication.” Jerry Dipoto, GM of the Mariners, said that Levine, age 46, "is the wittiest of all his peers when it comes to text messaging." The article can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/y7gwgk75

I think Haley was picked because of his pretty good performance as a starter in AAA. In the DWL he had 5.3K/9, but a good whip. Whereas Kinley has 14.7K/9. Something is there to work with if he has started to figure things out, even if the chances aren't good.

His winter league numbers are pretty good.... 18IP, 29K, 4H, 8W. He does like to hit people. Maybe he will be the Twins enforcer. Don't get a big lead or Tyler is coming in.

"I know Maitan is the big name of the ex-Braves prospects, but I assume he'll cost all of the money remaining." "I can't imagine Maitan coming to the Twins. He likely expects to start in low A, and the Twins already have a potential playing time issue at SS with Lewis and Javier." I would like to hear from Ben, but I gather that Maitan is not quite the prospect he was a year ago. I don't know how accurate, or standard, these assessments from BPro's 2018 Atlanta top 10 are (Nov 6), where he is #9 in a stacked minor league prospect list: Good: plus hit/power, precocious bat control and zone awareness, passable defensive skills at 3rd. Bad: long term swing and miss concerns, already high-maintenance body, not a shortstop. Below average runner. Ends up at 1B or DH. Other views: Fringe top 10 fantasy 3rd baseman ceiling. Stiff arms, not plus arm. Our guy Ynoa did make the top 20 in this prospect list.

Willians is now listed in the MLB Offseason Stats as a Twin. He is playing in Venezuala and with 133 AB has only 2 SO. Is there a reason so few in the Twins organization are playing in offseason leagues this winter?

from Fangraphs Nov 7: Who are a couple of guys who have looked much better at the plate in the AFL than when you have seen them previously? 12:56 Eric A Longenhagen: LaMonte Wade

BPro had their AFL preview on Surprise, and this is what Steve Givarz said about Miller: Miller can play a good shortstop, which should not be discounted to an organization, it’s important at all levels. His arm plays there, he has quality footwork, and can make the tough plays with ease. It’s just unfortunate that Miller lacks much offensive upside. He lacks much strength and is more of a punch-and-judy type of hitter. —SG

I can think of occasions where it appeared to me that the batter was bunting for a base hit, perhaps even on his own, but failed to get a hit, and was criticized for a sacrifice bunt.

I think the best part of Molitor's bunting strategy is what irritates people the most: bunting for a base hit by a fast middle of the lineup hitter with a runner on first. It certainly isn't traditional. He has done it enough that teams are now moving in a step or two every time there is a runner on base, so that they can now swing away in those situations with an advantage. It is at least mildly disruptive to the pitchers and fielders, and might be the best way to score against Kluber et al.

I think it will be Gibson in ALDS Game 4 on Monday Oct 9 vs Kluber, both with 3 days rest, and Berrios in Game 5 on Wednesday Oct 11. I think Colon will be on the roster. He can hold runners on first with a quick move and has lots of experience at it, and can cover first on the grounders much better than Mejia. Even in his bad outings, he has been mostly good the first couple innings. I assume he is willing to join the bullpen crew. If the Twins have a 2-1 lead going into Game 4, and Gibson has pitched poorly in Game 1, you could start Mejia and hope to get into the 7th inning between him and Colon.

Yesterday's BPro Monday Morning Ten-pack had this to say about Aaron Whitefield: Longtime scout, Howard Norsetter, has signed several notable international players in his tenure with the Twins including; Grant Balfour, Max Kepler and Justin Morneau. His latest import, Aaron Whitefield, is a former softball player from Brisbane, Australia that is putting up solid numbers in the Midwest League. Athletic and tall with a narrow build, there looks to be some projectable upper body muscle growth. Speed is the carrying tool, and he displays an aggressive nature, always looking to take extra bases or test an outfielder’s arm. He stands tall at the plate with hands close to the chest showing a high leg kick with the pitch. The swing is quiet with average bat speed and mild leverage which produces line drive pull power. There is still work to be done with pitch recognition, he can be fooled and get off balanced with secondary offerings. In the field, the speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in center and he shows solid instincts and routes. The arm plays at average for center but shows good carry and is accurate. Overall, it’s still a work in progress, but I can see multiple tools developing into plus offerings making a profile of an everyday major-league outfielder. And while Whitefield was off of most people’s radar at the beginning of the season, look for him to begin to catch the eye of the scouting world. —Nathan Graham

I saw Melo pitch for the Lookouts about a year ago in Knoxville against the Cubs farm team. It was a hot pretty evening, with competition throughout the evening between the radar gun reading and the temperature reading. It was Jorge's first AA game, and he started out fine, but then got hit hard starting in the 5th. A spectacular play by Vielma kept the game close, and there were plenty of relievers for both teams. I was excited to see Melo enter the game, but was somewhat disappointed. He was 92-94 if I remember right, but so was everyone else for both teams. Prospects and non-prospects. The only reliever in the 80s was Joe Nathan. Not that I am capable of evaluating his potential, and was surprised by the DFA, but there were people wondering about his mph last year.

Pressly had pitched in back to back games four times this year. He had not allowed a run on day 2 until Monday.

DanSan had the third strongest OF throwing arm in the majors last season. Maybe the Twins have secretly trained him as their 15th pitcher (after Eduardo).

I enjoyed a Lookouts game at Knoxville (Cubs) last year. The stadium is actually 20 miles east of Knoxville, near the junction of the road to the Smokies and Dollywood. Nice stadium, atmosphere, cheap and fun.

Chris Sale's first 80 appearances in the major leagues were as a relief pitcher, tho he spent almost no time in the minors. It is not impossible that Jay will still be a starter at some point.

During the Phillies broadcast of their Twins game, the MPH flashed on every pitch in the box that showed the pitch count. It is not just spring training, it seems to be the attitude that the only data presented is what the announcers believe to be important. So many other teams/networks do a better job.

Baseball America has an article on the top international prospect of 2017 (subscription needed), and according to the MLB traderumours summary, the Rays and Twins are expected to land two of the top players in this year’s class: switch-hitting shortstops Wander Franco and Jelfrey Marte.

Isn't Leonardo Reginatto coming back as a non-roster invitee and likely to start a lot of games at Rochester?

Throughout the Dozier trade discussions, it seems like most have given up on 2018 as well as this year. The Twins could be the most improved team in baseball this year and still struggle to reach .500, but is 2018 already impossible with Dozier the first half or more of the season? I would rather have two very good prospects now (if that was/is possible), but there is a small but real benefit to having Dozier available for the start of 2018 instead. The Twins did rank 29 out of 30 on the BPRo luck index for 2016. Can Polanco play the outfield? Probably better than Sano or Grossman, but is this a possibility down the line? I have heard the comment that "everyone has a Polanco" and it may be also literally true, but perhaps 2018 could be the year he becomes a Zobrist. Anyhow, there are a lot more things to be unhappy about than Dozier still being a Twin.