Ted Schwerzler

Entering play on July 9, the Minnesota Twins playoff odds sit at just 1.1%. With the sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, the numbers have jumped up from the 0.4% entering the series. At this point of the season however, the writing is on the wall. Paul Molitor's squad is going nowhere, and the focus should turn to process more significantly than results. While the win total may be meaningless at the end, using the slate of games ahead for good is a must. Going into 2018, there was plenty of optimism surrounding this Twins team. They were coming off a Wild Card game, added more talent, and had another year of development for their young stars. What was also apparent, is that the amount of one-year deals and expiring contracts would allow the club to retool again in 2019. This version won't have a postseason berth to jump off of next year, but the window for opportunity remains open. For the Twins to capitalize on it, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine need to do a much better job utilizing the 25 man roster than they have thus far. For starters, the lineup should begin to reflect players with a future being prioritized. It took far too long for a superior player in Jake Cave to get real run over a retread like Ryan LaMarre. Mitch Garver clearly has a capable bat, but he's still sitting far too often behind the inept Bobby Wilson. Cave is a 25 year old fringe prospect that could be a nice 4th outfielder and take over Robbie Grossman's role. Garver has concerns behind the plate, but if the feeling is that he can't catch, opportunities should be found at first base. Going into 2019 without a clear idea of what sort of contributions these two are capable of would be a mistake. Despite the Twins pitching staff having been a significant area of improvement this season, there's going to be a good deal of turnover next year. Zach Duke and Fernando Rodney are on one year deals, while Lance Lynn is an expiring contract as well. Those guys are all trade candidates, but even if they aren't moved, it's a decent assumption they won't be back. Instead of letting someone like Matt Belisle eat innings, relievers such as John Curtiss, Alan Busenitz, Trevor May, Tyler Duffey, and Jake Reed should all make major league appearances. In the rotation, the Twins will return Jose Berrios and Fernando Romero for certain. Ervin Santana has a year left on his deal, but at this point, can't be counted on. Minnesota can offer Jake Odorizzi arbitration, and Kyle Gibson falls in that group as well. The depth in the rotation remains strong, but finding out who else can rise to the top should be a goal. Zack Littell should return for some consecutive starts that allow him to be comfortable rather than nervous, and Stephen Gonsalves should make his debut for an extended period as well. Getting the jitters out and accomplishing the acclimation process now would be a good idea. At some point, the Twins should promote Nick Gordon. The 22 year old put up a .906 OPS this season for Double-A Chattanooga. Since moving up to Triple-A Rochester, he's posted just a .609 mark in 45 games. The next level has seen pretty poor results, and that should provide plenty of reason for caution. That said, the Twins are almost certainly going to let Brian Dozier walk this offseason, and Gordon would be expected to then take over. He may not win the job out of spring training, but I'd assume the goal is to have him in the big leagues by June 2019. Using a month of games that don't matter could be a very good way for him to get his feet wet. Really what it all boils down to is that the front office learn something from what's left. While trying to stay in it, many of the roster moves have trended towards lower ability players that bring an off the field aspect to the clubhouse. With poor performance and injuries having mounted, it's hard to suggest that a different story could have been told even with the most optimal roster decisions. At this point however, the Twins are presented with a desirable situation for future performance. No one should be expecting a rebuild in Minnesota any time soon, and the division sets up nicely to go for it again next year. Bringing in new parts from the free agent market, and pairing them with internal talent could very likely produce optimal results. As we've seen this season however, there's no guarantees from players within your organization, and even less so with fresh faces. Figuring out who you may be able to promote and count on now, could save a lot of face down the road. It's common sense that Minnesota will win plenty more games in 2018. It's also a fair suggestion that when the dust settles they won't matter at all. What level of development, process, and groundwork is laid for the future will be the takeaway from this year. It's time to shift the focus to that level of thinking, and hopefully we see the decisions from the top to mimic that sentiment. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

I'm definitely not calling fr their heads. They had a great offseason, and I've been in favor of the organizational overhaul from a leadership/coaching stadpoint. The in season roster moves have been poor at best though, and that's something they deserve to be questioned about.

100% on board with this. That suggest reversing the course on what they're currently doing though. Garver is already wasting away on the bench in favor of Wilson. Where things are, the second half should see Gordon, Garver, Busenitz, Cave, Moya, Curtiss, etc all up and playing often. You can reset quickly next year, but figure out which of those players are a part of it.

Entering play on July 5, the Minnesota Twins own a 35-48 record. They sit third in a terrible AL Central division, and their postseason odds sit at 0.4% per Fangraphs. To sum it up, the wins and losses the rest of the way for Paul Molitor’s squad no longer matter in 2018. Coming off such a great 2017, and an offseason that had plenty of exclamation points, the only logical question is to ask where it all went wrong.When searching for answers, the Twins could build an extensive laundry list of things that haven’t gone their way. Two of the most integral figures when it comes to defining future success aren’t currently on the big-league roster (despite being healthy), the staff ace of a season ago (along with a host of others) has missed significant time due to injury, and the team leading second basemen has provided next to nothing of merit. If you were to break it down by percentages, the impact those issues have had on the bottom line this year would make up more than 75%. What sliver is left falls on two separate places: Paul Molitor and the front office. After the dust settles on the year, it’d probably be a shock if Molitor wasn’t handed his walking papers. He was never the guy chosen by his bosses, and without the wild card game or Manager of the Year nod a season ago, he would have already been out the door. Managers impact games on a very minute scale, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that there isn’t opportunity to get more out of the position than Minnesota currently is. A fresh face doesn’t signify an immediate fix, but it’s an area where action can be taken. Looking higher than the clubhouse though, the real questions should start to come into play. This offseason, Derek Flakey and Thad Levine couldn’t have hit more of a home run than they did. Free agency is a complete crapshoot most years, and banking on big ticket players to be the backbone of a club instead of stellar to prospects is generally a losing bet. With the Twins having graduated many of their brightest stars, supplementing a team that over-performed a season ago was a necessity, and there’s no way to argue against it having been accomplished. Despite missing out on Yu Darvish, the premier name of the winter, Minnesota brought in talent all over the place. Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi were clear upgrades to the middle of the rotation, while the bullpen was bolstered by the likes of Addison Reed, Fernando Rodney, and Zach Duke. A late acquisition of Logan Morrison to top it all off was a nice bow on top of the package. No one was a superstar on their own, but the collective could fairly be expected to provide significant value. Here we are, past the halfway point of the season and it’s all blown up. Nothing has gone to plan, and none of the offseason acquisitions have made a lick of difference in the grand scheme of things. The most unfortunate development however, is that the front office has seemingly gone from a sound process to one that makes what appears to be little sense. The bullpen was an area of weakness a season ago. While it’s been better in 2018, finding the next Trevor Hildenberger should be the goal on a yearly basis. Acquired (by the former regime) in exchange for Alex Meyer, Alan Busenitz has dominated Triple A. He’s been given no real opportunities to showcase his abilities and was recently snubbed in favor of veteran retread Matt Belise. Speaking of Belisle, Minnesota just outright released 2017 Top 20 prospect Felix Jorge (who’s 24) after he was DFA'd. Moving away from the bump, we’ve seen Jake Cave (who was acquired by this regime) be looked over in favor of guys like Ryan LaMarre and Robbie Grossman. Cave isn’t an uber prospect, but he’s 25 and has projectable upside. Grossman is 28 and a failing on-base guy, while LaMarre was a spring training story that ran out of pages months ago. Assuming Molitor has complete control of his starting lineups, it’s hard to pin the egregiously poor usage of Mitch Garver on the front office. That said, at some point common sense would hopefully suggest that the 27-year-old prospect with a capable bat be playing more than 25% of the time instead of favoring a 35-year-old veteran struggling to stay above a .400 OPS. Maybe the most unfortunate situation of all, is the handling of their incredibly integral center fielder. Despite a broken toe, the Twins decided Byron Buxton’s defense was so necessary that they ran him out in lineups for multiple weeks. Knowing he couldn’t swing without significant pain, Minnesota allowed him to continue to play with the injury before ultimately DL'ing him. Following the healing process, it was then decided that his offense was slacking so bad, he didn’t even deserve to regain his starting role at the big-league level. At the end of it all, it’s really process that this comes down to. Garver may never be an all-star, Cave may never be a regular, Jorge may never be missed, and Buxton will be back. How all the scenarios work out in their own way isn’t really the issue here. Going into the season, the Twins had a very obvious opportunity and took a sensible approach to capitalizing on it. As the season got underway, games have taken place, things have fallen apart, and Falvey and Levine have doubled down to make the questionable move much more often than not. Going into the 2019 season, the Twins will have a nice opportunity to hit the reset button. Players will have a clean slate, lots of one-year contracts will be filtered out, and new bodies will be brought in. With the AL Central trending down as a whole for the immediate future, a division crown still doesn’t seem like a longshot. The biggest obstacle right now however, seems to be whether this front office can blueprint a process that enhances their opportunities instead of squelching them. The winter was good, but as the weather warmed up, Falvey and Levine went as cold as the lineup they’ve constructed. The honeymoon phase is over for this duo, and having process drive results is the practice of any successful venture. Getting on board with that sooner rather than later would be incredibly welcome. Click here to view the article

On Independence Day, the Twins system was slated to have all six teams in action. Despite the Miracle being postponed due to weather, the bats produced plenty of fireworks to go around. Even in a loss, Stephen Gonsalves turned in another good performance and should again be knocking on the door to the next level as the trade deadline looms. Check out the action on the farm within.TRANSACTIONS Rochester Red Wings Add LHP Adalberto Mejia optioned from Minnesota ADD RHP Trevor May reinstated from DL Chattanooga Lookouts Add INF Luis Arraez promoted from Fort Myers DEL INF Sean Miller placed on restricted list RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket 6, Rochester 5 Box Score Stephen Gonsalves was on the bump for this one, and as the Twins draw closer to a selloff, each strong start gets him closer to his big league debut. In this one, the lefty was both sharp and dominant, twirling six shutout innings while striking out six and walking just one. Unfortunately, a late rally by Pawtucket would dash the Red Wings hopes for a Fourth of July victory. Kennys Vargas continued his hot streak, starting the scoring off with a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Red Wings then added a third run on Cameron Rupp’s third home run of the year in the 5th. Pawtucket made things interesting with a two-run shot of their own in the eighth, and the Rochester lead was now just one. Before handing the ball over to their closer, Rochester grabbed a couple of insurance runs. A LaMonte Wade triple and Gregorio Petit sac fly pushed the tally to 5-2. In the ninth, Pawtucket knocked around John Curtiss to the tune of four runs (three earned). The Rochester closer went on to take his first blown save and second loss of the season. Only Wade recorded a multi-hit night, while Byron Buxton led off, going 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 2 Box Score Sean Poppen took the ball for the Lookouts in this one, and allowing just two runs on three hits over six innings, the home squad was well positioned to earn him his second victory of the season. The Lookouts scored early in this one, and the large lead amassed by the third inning held up throughout the game. In the bottom of the first, Alex Perez scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch. Zander Wiel then drove in Brent Roker on a sac fly, and Chris Paul did the same to score Andy Wilkins. To cap off the inning, Jaylin Davis launched a solo blast for his second homer with Chattanooga. By the second time Poppen toed the rubber, he was handed a three-run cushion. Looking to create a bit more separation, the third inning saw more scoring from the Lookout. Another wild pitch scored Wiel, and Ryan Walker clubbed his third dinger of the year Up 6-0, the two-run homer surrendered by Poppen in the fifth ended up being irrelevant. Tyler Jay worked two scoreless innings in this one for Chattanooga, while leadoff man Alex Perez had a perfect 5-for-5 evening. MIRACLE MATTERS PPD KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 8, Cedar Rapids 6 Box Score Despite productive at-bats cracking all evening long, the Kernels dropped this one 8-6 while outhitting the Timber Rattlers by a tally of 11-8. Cedar Rapids got on the board first with Jacob Pearson driving in Akil Baddoo on a fielder’s choice. That lead was extended to 2-0 after David Banuelos’ ninth double of 2018 pushed Robby Rinn across the plate. By the 7th inning the Kernels lead had evaporated, and they were now battling against a 7-2 deficit. The rally back began the seventh, as the hot-hitting Pearson picked up his third triple of the season. Baddoo scored his second run of the game, and an error on a Jose Miranda batted ball allowed Pearson to cross the plate. With two frames left, the Kernels needed to make up three runs trailing 7-4. In the eighth inning, Baddoo found himself getting into the box score. His sixth triple of the season scored both Ben Rodriguez and Jard Akins, giving Cedar Rapids six runs on the evening. The Timber Rattlers had already added their eighth run in the top half of the eighth inning, and the two run spread is where this one ended. Pearson has been hot at the top of Toby Gardenhire’s lineup, and Pearson got into the action as well tonight. Royce Lewis went 2-4 extending his hitting streak to eight games, and his on-base streak to 17. We should be running up against the end of the Twins top prospect’s time in Iowa. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Princeton 3 Box Score Following suit with many of the other contests throughout the Twins farm system today, the E-Twins found themselves tallying hits in bunches. Accumulating 12 on their own, and combining for 22 with Kingsport, they were on the right side of the run column as well. Tyler Palm turned in another good outing for E-Town, and his offense did enough to keep the hometown team on top at the end. Things started out a bit rocky for Palm as he gave up two runs in the first, but from there he shut the Mets down. Yunior Severino was the first Twins player to answer. His first double of the year scored Ariel Montesino and halve the Kingsport lead. 2018 draftee Chris Williams then continued his hot streak, launching his fifth homer to knot the game 2-2 in the fourth. Runs would be at a premium despite all of the base hits, but the Twins took their first lead on a DaShawn Keirsey Jr. single in the sixth. As Lean Marrero came around to score, the lead was a neat 3-2 tally. After drawing back even in the seventh, the Mets watched the Twins walk it off in the ninth. A Trevor Cassanova single scored Ryan Jeffers to move Elizabethton to 8-6 on the season. Second-round 2018 draft pick Ryan Jeffers was 2-for-4 on the night, raising his average to .408 on the year. Four other E-Twins recorded two hit nights as well. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Orioles 6, GCL Twins 4 Box Score In a game that had a lot of offense, the Twins came out on the wrong side of the box score. Combining for 20 hits and 10 runs, the GCL Orioles edged the GCL Twins by a final tally of 6-4. Squaring off against starter Tyler Benninghoff, the Orioles plated three early runs in the first inning. Despite collecting plenty of hits in this one, the Twins wouldn’t answer with their first run until the top of the fifth inning. Alberoni Nunez doubled, and Yeltsin Encarnacion stayed hot with an RBI single to drive him in. With Gabe Snyder at the dish, Encarnacion would come around to score on a wild pitch. Entering the bottom half of the fifth, the GCL squad had cut the deficit to one. 2018 draft pick Regi Grace entered the game for his professional debut. He would work two complete innings giving up three unearned runs on two hits while striking out three and walking one. The GCL Orioles hung another three spot on the Twins in the bottom of the sixth, and the score then read 6-2. Looking for a rally, the away squad pushed two of their own across in the top of the ninth. Another Encarnacion RBI single drove in the third run of the game, while a bases-loaded walk to Janigson Villalobos plated the Twins final run. Victor Tademo flied out to end it leaving the bases loaded for the GCL Twins. On Thursday, these two teams will get a chance to go at it again, this time in Fort Myers. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves 6.0 IP 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Akil Badoo 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 3B TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY 1. Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, 2B 4. Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) – 6.0 IP 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K 7. Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 2-4, R, 2B 10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 3B 14. LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 2-4, R, RBI 15. Mitch Garver (Minnesota) – 0-3 18. Yunior Severino (Elizabethton Twins) – 2-5, 2B 19. Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) – 2.0 IP 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB 2 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (4:05PM CST) – LHP Adalberto Mejia (4-2, 2.74 ERA) Chattanooga @ Birmingham (6:15PM CST) – RHP Anthony Marzi (0-5, 7.27 ERA) Dunedin @ Fort Myers (4:30PM CST)/Game 2 follows – RHP Tyler Wells (7-3, 2.54 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (4-1, 5.36 ERA) Kingsport @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Andrew Cabezas (0-1, 8.31 ERA) GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Click here to view the article

That's not really how it works...The front office can't play the games. They acquired realistic talent and have a very strong offseason. That performances have fallen flat isn't on them.

Cute you'd pick the 10 G same size following another concussion as opposed to the 38 G sample in which he had a .404 OBP.

The Minnesota Twins have been up and down for the majority of 2018. Having started out playing such poor baseball, they’ve been unable to get back to the .500 mark. With any Postseason hope quickly fading, it’s worth wondering what things will look like around the July 31st trade deadline.Right now, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have no incentive to begin to sell. The reality is that the Twins have winnable games upcoming, though they haven’t capitalized on them thus far, and there’s still more than 30 days until decision-making time. Should this crash course continue however, the hometown nine will be sellers, and they’ve got some assets to part with. The front office did a tremendous job of putting quality talent on the 25-man roster this offseason. On top of that, they acquired players while allowing themselves flexibility in terms of nearly all deals being of the one-year variety. Expiring contracts are of value around this time of year, and the Twins have a few that are playing very well. The decision becomes whether to trade them, keep them, or look to resign them. Lance Lynn Having missed all of spring training, things didn’t go well at all for Lynn out of the gate. Since May however, he has allowed just a .687 OPS against and has posted a 3.27 ERA across 10 starts. He’s owed whatever the remainder of his one-year, $12 million deal ends up being, and is a proven veteran for a team eyeing the postseason. Had things have worked out differently for the Twins this season, it would’ve been great for Lynn to be the third or fourth starter in a divisional series that Minnesota was playing in. He should be a guy they can cash in on in July, and a mid-level prospect should be a fair ask. Brian Dozier This season, Dozier has gotten off to his traditionally slow pace, but the problem is that he’s yet to trend upwards. The numbers have sagged mightily, and coming off arguably his best season across the board, it’s been quite the disappointing performance. Going into free agency, I’d have to imagine he’d have hoped for a better showing as well. Before the trend of mediocrity had become a reality for his 2018, I thought the Twins would be better off hanging onto Dozier and offering him a qualifying offer. At this point though, it’d be a near certainty that he’d accept it, and that’s not a great position for Minnesota to be in. Bringing Dozier back was never going to be the right move, but now, dealing him isn’t going to bring much of a return either. Eduardo Escobar A lot of what the Twins decide to do with Escobar is going to be reflective of how they choose to pursue him this offseason. Also set to be a free agent, it’s been my contention that he is the most important player they bring back. Even before he decided to go gangbusters this season, his positional flexibility and value as a very good utility player fits with this club going forward. I don’t know what they trade market will be for a guy like Escobar. He’s somewhat of a late-bloomer, and his performance could be seen as a flash in the pan. The Twins allowing him to leave the organization could make bringing him back even tougher. At the end of the day, he’s made himself a lot of money on his next deal by how good he’s been this season. If Minnesota wants him in 2019 and beyond, I think he needs to stay put. Logan Morrison Like Lynn, Morrison would be a very nice piece for a team trending towards the postseason to add. Unlike Lynn though, Morrison hasn’t shown any signs of being even a sliver of his former self. The power production from 2017 was never expected to repeat itself this season, but the incredible falloff couldn’t have been predicted either. The Twins have a team option on Morrison in 2019, and while they may want to keep him, he’s hardly an irreplaceable player on this current roster. For him to have any shred of trade value, Minnesota would need for him to hit (and well) for the next couple of weeks. Ervin Santana Arguably the toughest candidate to peg in all of this is Ervin Santana. The 2017 ace likely isn’t going to return much before the All Star break. With that timeline, he’d likely have one or two starts prior to needing to be dealt. An opposing team isn’t going to give up much for a pitcher that’s missed all season, and has serious questions about the effectiveness of his best pitch. The Twins probably don’t have room for Santana in 2019, and arguably shouldn’t even this year. Flipping him for nothing doesn’t make much sense, so any move would be completely reliant on how soon he can provide value and to what extent. At the end of the day, the Twins do have some sellable assets. The unfortunate reality is that most of them have significant warts of their own, and the returns are going to be muted at best. While the names play on paper, it’s the lack of production that has Minnesota in the position they currently are. Click here to view the article

Today was a rather light day for the Minnesota Twins farm system. With the Red Wings game postponed and neither the Lookouts or E-Twins having games, the action was muted at best. Despite some tough losses for both Cedar Rapids and the GCL club, arguably the most notable action came from the transactions yet to be made officialAs noted above, while affiliates have yet to make anything official, two huge moves took place on the lower rungs of the system today. With Polanco moving up to Triple-A Rochester, the door is now wide open for Royce Lewis to join Graterol and Kirilloff at High-A Fort Myers. Transactions: Chattanooga Lookouts OF James Ramsey released RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Syracuse PPD MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Tampa 5 Box Score Clark Beeker toed the rubber in this one for the Miracle, and he found himself with a 2-0 deficit through two innings of work. His lineup would have his back however, as a five spot made its way onto the board in the third, and the Miracle were off and running. After Luis Arraez, hitting machine, singled to drive in Ben Rortvedt, Mark Contreras decided to contribute. His 4th homer of the year with the Miracle was a grand slam, and the good guys had a three run lead, up 5-2. The balls weren't done leaving the park for the Miracle however. Caleb Hamilton hit his second of the year, a two run shot. As Tampa drew closer, making it 7-5 through six innings, Fort Myers first basemen Lewis Diaz provided more cushion. His solo blast, 5th of the year, increased the lead back up to three. Ryan Mason would come on, and the 8-5 tally would stand. Picking up his 3rd save of the year, Fort Myers was able to even up the series. Miguel Sano played in this one, making it his first back-to-back with the Miracle. He was 1-5 with 3 strikeouts and is batting .250 since his demotion back to Single-A. Fort Myers will have an opportunity to take the series tomorrow as they conclude the three game set. KERNELS NUGGETS Beloit 4, Cedar Rapids 3 (11 innings) Box Score Randy Dobnak got the nod in this one for the Kernels, and he nearly took it the distance. Going seven innings allowing just three runs on six hits, Cedar Raopids was in position to walk this one off in the 9th. Jacob Pearson opened the scoring in this one early the first time the Kernels came to the plate. With Akil Kaddoo on third following a leadoff triple, Pearson’s ground out would drive in the first run. Jean Carlos Arias would then tack on another with a single that would allow Jose Miranda to cross the plate. The Snappers would bite Dobnak in the top half of the second, getting one run back. Then again in the 3rd, the visitors would strike for two more on a Hunter Hargrove home run. Following up their first inning contributions, Arias would walk with the bases loaded allowing Pearson to score. Extras would be in store as neither side could jump ahead late. The first scoring chance would come for the Kernels in the bottom of the 10th. With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Rodriguez would ground into an inning ending double play. The two sides would play on. After working three innings of relief work, Jovani Moran would turn the ball over to Calvin Faucher. In the 11th, the Snappers would bring around their runner from second base and then go on to load the bases. Faucher would end the inning with just the one run crossing the plate. Cedar Rapids sent Trey Cabbage, Jordan Gore, and Akil Baddoo to the dish in the final frame, but they couldn’t push the necessary tally across. The Kernels will now head out on the road for a four game set with Burlington. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Rays 6, GCL Twins 5 Box Score This one saw the GCL Twins get behind early, but squander some opportunities to draw even, and eventually come up just one run short. With Kai-Wai Teng on the bump, the GCL club put up a run of support in both the first and second innings. Giving up a five spot in the home half of the inning though, the Rays made the lead stick. In the first, it was Victor Tademo doing the damage for the good guys. A single to left field would drive in Yeltsin Encarnacion. The second inning started with a Rays error that would allow Estamy Urena to reach base. Austin Hale would elevate a pitch, and his sac fly to left would bring Urena across the plate. With a two run lead, Teng would run into trouble during the bottom of the 2nd. After a balk and a handful of base hits, the Rays would jump out to a 5-2 lead. The Twins would do their best to come back however, answering with two runs in the top of the third. Alberoni Nunez would double in both Tyler Webb and Kidany Silva cutting the deficit to one. After another Rays run would score in the 5th, Willie Joe Garry would come around to score after his first professional base hit (a double). Hale would pick up his second RBI on the afternoon, this time on a single. The GCL Twins will look to exact revenge as the two teams match up again tomorrow. This time, the Twins will be the home team as they host the traveling Rays in Fort Myers. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak, 7.0 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB 4 K Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Luis Arraez, 4-5, R, RBI TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY 5. Alex Kirilloff (Fort Myers) – 0-5 10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 1-6, R, K 13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 1-4, R, RBI, HR(5) 16. Ben Rortvedt (Fort Myers) – 0-3, R, BB, K 17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 1-4, 2B, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (4:05PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (0-1, 2.57 ERA)/TBD Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00PM CST) – TBD Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (2-5, 3.45 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30PM CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (3-1, 5.16 ERA) Elizabethton @ Danville (6:00PM CST) – TBD GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (11:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Click here to view the article

Suggesting a 25 year old top 30 prospect putting up solid numbers at Triple-A is nothing more than a deck chair will sink a franchise faster than it will revive one. Not every prospect is Byron Buxton or Royce Lewis. If that's the definition to be looking for, well...

When you’re dealing with underperformance, that should be the time you most look to increase the ability on the bottom of the roster. The Twins lack of production right now is rooted in players that have to figure it out. Robbie Grossman may be fine for a good team, but on a scuffling one, you should be looking for the guy who will take his job and give you more.

Once again, the Minnesota Twins have recalled Jake Cave to the Major League roster. After optioning Ryan LaMarre back to Triple-A Rochester, the former Yankees prospect is back in The Show. A he heads back to the Twins active roster, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, and Paul Molitor should all be on board with this being an extended stay for the Minnesota outfielder. Here's something that seems to be lost on Twins fans at times; not all prospects are created equal. Cave was acquired from the Yankees this offseason, and was someone the front office targeted back during the Jaime Garcia flip. While he isn't the pride of the organization, he is included among MLB Pipeline's Top 30 for the Twins, and makes a similar appearance on Seth Stohs' list (from Twins Daily). At 25 years old, he's cut from a similar cloth to a player like Mitch Garver. For the Twins, Cave presents an opportunity that should be capitalized upon. With a three man outfield all but set in stone, finding the regular fourth that can contribute in all phases should be something of importance. Robbie Grossman filled the role admirably in his first season with the Twins. His .828 OPS was a career high by a longshot, and he proved to be an on base machine. Since then, he's came back down to earth, and in 2018, he's no longer a replacement level player. When targeting a fourth outfielder, Minnesota should want someone with a little pop, that can provide value as a bat off the bench. Ideally, the player can field in all three spots, and assets including speed and arm strength would be ideal. Cave checks off the boxes, and has gotten just 19 big league at bats to show anything. Looking back at their respective abilities, Grossman is definitely a stronger player when it comes to commanding the strike zone. He's long been an on base guy and that's heavily bolstered by his ability to draw walks. While Cave lags a bit in that category, he's not some sort of massive black hole either. Showing a bit more pop over the course of his minor league career, there's a bit of give and take at play here. Last season, Cave posted a .921 OPS at Triple-A across 72 games. The downside is that it came with an 82/18 K/BB ratio. This season in the Twins organization, he has just a .735 OPS across 58 Triple-A games, but the K/BB ratio has improved to a respectable 55/26. Those strides are both significant and important. Right now, Grossman is a 28 year old with 470 major league games under his belt. He's turned the opportunities into 1.2 fWAR, or essentially just scratching the surface above replacement level. If that doesn't suggest an opportunity to improve upon that spot on the roster, I'm not sure what does. Down in Florida for spring training, I heard rumblings of Grossman being saved by manager Paul Molitor. It was the front office who acquired Cave, and despite being arguably the better player and one with more upside, the skipper had stuck his neck out to keep Robbie around. Again, what he did for the Twins in 2016 was nothing short of exceptional but that performance is also long gone. With the Twins season trending in the direction it has, and regardless of how it goes from here, I'd much prefer to see Cave get consistent opportunities. At some point, Byron Buxton is going to return to the 25 man roster. From that point forward, Cave could have the opportunities that Grossman has been given. Losing an asset is never ideal, but at that point, DFA'ing Grossman makes a lot of sense. Being a betting man, I'd lean towards the Twins not going about it this way. That said, I'd hope it's the point in which the rubber meets the road. Falvey and Levine should exert their will on this roster, and one way of doing so would be choosing Jake over Robbie. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

How did we regress this far again? The $23m figure has zero bearing on current production. Expectations got flushed down the drain when his career arc drastically changed. No one would ever suggest what he has been is reflected by the salary he earned prior to being hurt. I wouldn’t rule out him retiring, and lean towards hoping he will for the sake of his health and family, but that (as well as your presumptions) would be opposite of anything that’s been widely reported thus far.

Y My apologies if I misread your intent, sorry about that. I don’t think there’s a ya reason to believe Joe will be looking for anything exorbitant in 2019.

There's no reason for him to drive any hard negotiation. Whether he gets paid $1 or $10 million isn't the point. The part that seems to be getting lost here is there's zero reason for him to say, give me pennies because I got hurt and didn't win more MVPs. I don't know how to make that any more simple.

There's people in the world that think Eric Hosmer deserves a GG period, let alone last year over Mauer? Yikes...Those mental gymnastics sound like a workout.

No one is suggesting the Twins owe Mauer something to keep him around. The column used cherry picked, and ignorant stats, to suggest that Joe should take below market value because he was overpaid in his last deal (which also isn't factual). I'm not sure where we're getting off track here, but you've got to be doing a lot of glossing over in reading the piece to decide it has any shred of integrity.

Hunter got $10m/1 yr while being a detriment to the club. That was a different/worse front office, but that number for Joe next year wouldn't be out of line.

Thanks for following, I love having that pinned. Also, last night I tweeted something similar to your sentiment. Mauer is universally praised for what he was, and could've been, by fans of nearly ever other market. I'd like to think it's the minority that are clueless here, but man they sure are vocal.

I guess I expect someone paid to publish something in a widely distributed newspaper to do better than quantify statistics on 8 game sample sizes and suggest common sense realities. If the assumption is that Mauer returning would net him a $15m+ deal, I can't help you. He doesn't owe the Twins any sort of "make good" deal, and the figure he'll land on will be plenty fair in context. I have a problem with a journalist attacking a contract like the uninformed fan. The $184m was never a bad step, and because abilities changed over the course of that, doesn't mean you get to retroactively react to it.

I can't high five you through the computer, so give yourself one and call it a day!