wsnydes

That's fine in the short term, though I wouldn't like it either. Most definitely NOT for the long term. I do wonder what his playing time would look like if the team were healthier, but that's a topic for a different thread.

In fairness, I don't think this discussion revolves around the recent disdain. It should/would be happening regardless of recent events. He's an asset that can be traded and potentially help other areas. I tend to agree with your overall point though. The lack of solid option at 3B is a problem for me too. There's potential it could be more problematic than intended.

Too early to label the FO a failure. There's enough there to retool, especially with position players. I'm not convinced there is with pitching, but that's another discussion. What to do with Polanco is a question in and of itself though. Assuming that Donaldson, Simmons and even Sano (doubtful) are all dealt, is there enough infield depth to replace an entire infield? Obviously, something that can help would need to come back in a deal somewhere. I like Polanco (at 2B, not SS), but I'm not opposed to dealing him because I do think he has decent value. Tearing down an entire infield feels more like a rebuild rather than a retool though. Regarding Buxton and Berrios, this question will hang over this team until they're either extended or gone. However, it's an important one to answer to determine the direction of the team long term. If they're both gone, the team has further to go to reach serious contender status. There's already too much to do on the pitching side.

Good write-up, Seth. I agree with your take on the playoffs. I think it would be more beneficial to have those extra 10 games or so. Surely, it's more fun to have the playoffs and the push to make them though. And they do provide an "education" of their own as well. But, I think to have all of the minor league affiliates playing those extra games is probably the better idea in general. Game reps are important for development.

I'm not against trading Donaldson. In many aspects, as pointed out in the post, it makes a lot of sense. I disagree with the notion that he can be replaced though. I don't feel that he is a luxury either. The FO made a concerted effort to upgrade the infield defense. He was part of that. He may not have been the primary target, and I've never been crazy about the signing, but he's a pretty good pivot move. I think moving Sano back to 3B or playing Arraez there regularly is a rather large regression. One can hope that Miranda can fit that bill sooner rather than later, but I'd like to see more than just a two month white hot streak before I depend on him. These are fine for a short term answer for the rest of the season, but I'm leery about the long-term outside of Miranda. None of this is really the point though and the benefits of dealing Donaldson probably outweigh them. Any salary relief must be reinvested. I'm not one that feels that it'll be a difference maker in bring back Berrios or Buxton, but it certainly can't hurt. Regardless, they've got a mess of a pitching staff that also needs to be dealt with this offseason. So, if they can unload him and get some salary relief and maybe some lottery tickets too, then that's the correct call. I can deal with the short term question marks.

As if it weren't obvious already, I think I'll go ahead and book that fall vacation now. I certainly don't need the money, or the availability, for playoff games... Probably a good thing that Monday's game was rained out or they'd be even further in the hole.

He's one of those guys that I'd love to have on my team but absolutely despise when he's not.

I think the answer is really yes and no. Good players get caught in a 40-man crunch or get buried on the organizational depth chart often enough that a draft was created specifically to give those guys a chance. Sometimes it's a gamble to see who they think they can slip through and keep. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't really see that instance being an issue. That's going to happen to every team. A 40-man roster needs to be constructed in a manner to allow flexibility. And, in my mind, how that roster is constructed differs between that of a contender or non-contender. Detroit can afford to take a risk and have a guy like Baddoo on the active roster, they're not a contender. The Twins were supposed to contend, so they couldn't. The only reason that Celestino is on the roster now is due to injuries. I can't expect a FO to foresee that. That's reasonable in my view. It's the guys jettisoned for no real reason that is more concerning, and that seems to be on the pitching side of things. Which is doubly concerning since the FO was touted as pitching gurus. I do think that the contender/non-contender window comes into play, but that makes the Anderson and Littell moves all the more curious.

I'm not saying that I want them to do that or that I think they will, rather that there will be a team that will. So, if I'm Buxton, 2/$50m is a nonstarter because I know I can get that much for a longer term elsewhere. I agree completely that it isn't worth the risk if you're the Twins. But if you're the Yankees, it's not nearly as big of a deal. And I'd be perfectly happy if they want to take that risk.

But he, and his agent, knows that every major market team will likely be after his services and will be willing to pay him $25+M for 4 or 5 years (if not more), not two. The AAV will need to be quite a bit higher to make that enticing. Even at 5 years, he'd be a FA again at 32 and can still sign another bigger contract like Donaldson did. And if he does continue to be hurt all of the time, a longer deal still guarantees that he's making that cash. A short term deal doesn't afford that.

This. This is the sole reason why I'd spend more energy trying to lock down Berrios. It's not a matter of who is better, in my view. It's more about signability and Buxton has turned down multiple offers and he's only gotten better as he's went. Buxton is clearly the game changer this team needs, but I don't realistically believe that they can sign him. Buxton has repeatedly bet on himself and he's proven to be correct. I don't know why that would change at this point. Obviously the team has to try. I'd be furious if they didn't, but I just don't see them taking the financial risk. Teams like the Yankees can take that risk and not really blink. The fan in me wants nothing more than for him to sign here, but the realist in me doesn't think it's a good idea unless it's team friendly or incentive laden. And he's shown no interest in that. And frankly, I don't really blame him.

I feel like this is something that shouldn't be discussed. Because with Buxton, anything seems within the realm of possibility! That said, well done, Stu!

Uninspiring. If the entirety of offensive output is reliant on balks and wild pitches, then I don't have a lot of hope for the rest of the series.

If someone comes along with a reasonable offer, I don't see why not. I enjoy watching him and he provides value, but I'm having trouble finding a place in the field for him. I think a bat like his still has a place in the game, but considering where this team is, everyone should be on the table and if a reasonable offer comes along, there's no reason to decline it. He's not a cornerstone player that I would think hard about losing.

If Buxton stays on the field, I agree completely. Unfortunately, that's the wild card. Absent injuries, you're right, this is easy.

I could understand the lack of promotions earlier in the season, but not at this point. Not having a season last year plus a late start, I can see why they'd want to see where these guys are at before throwing them into the fray. We're in late June now though, so they should have a pretty good idea of what they've got. At some point, they've got to start reshuffling the prospects. And, I agree, they should be aggressive with it. Especially after the trade deadline.

Part of this conversation has to revolve around all of the injuries and bad luck this team had early on. While I would have liked to see more adjustments, I honestly don't know that they would have made a difference. Making a change just to make a change doesn't make sense either, so perhaps trying to ride it out was the proper course. I don't know, I don't have an answer to that. Neither did they unfortunately. That said, some of this mess is also self inflicted. The bullpen and back end of the rotation were a complete disaster. Their signings may have made sense for a team that was a year or two away, but this team was expected to actually compete, and compete for more than the division. A team serious about competing needs to be more serious about its pitching staff. This is what I'm having the most difficulty with. There was a notion here before the season touting the organizational depth. I laughed at it at the time, and unfortunately was proven correct. There isn't a lot in the upper minors. I like what they've done in the draft, generally speaking. Though, I find the obsession with hitting corner outfield types interesting. I can't decide if I'm bent out of shape about the lack of high picks spent on pitching, but I lean towards yes. There are lot of things that I do like about what they've done. A change in philosophy at the top was needed, in my view. I'm not really sold one way or another at this point though. I want to see how they handle this setback. That will go a long way towards my opinion of this front office.

Buxton is easily my favorite player on this team, but I can't see giving him a contract of that size. Yes, he's a game changer that this team has not seen since Puckett. He's got to stay on the field though. As much as I want him around, I just don't see this team doling out that kind of coin for the guy. If they did, I'd probably be ecstatic and then rather concerned in the long run. So, I think the safest and best choice would be to sign Berrios. As mentioned in the article, this team has been trying to develop pitching forever and I'd hate to see their best success story leave because they wouldn't pony up the cash. He's not the ace that we'd like him to be, but he is pretty reliable and he's remained healthy. My only concern is that he has yet to put together a full, consistent season. The late season fades are always a concern. Nonetheless, I still think that Berrios is the safer and best option for the club. There is a touch of poor timing here too though. As this season unfolds, it'll be interesting to see how the FO handles a 90+ loss season that was full of expectations heading into it. How much does that change the conversation?

I don't like it, but other than acquiring a SS replacement in a trade, the only real option is to move Polanco back to SS for the rest of the season. Giving guys like Gordon more playing time has to be a primary consideration. Similarly, unless Sano is traded, I think moving him off of 1B to DH is the clear choice. Rooker, or another option, could be called up to play LF. This is an easiest hole to fill on this list, in my opinion. Getting Kirilloff reps at 1B should be a priority, especially since Sano appears to descending into an offensive abyss. As for the pitchers, get some of the deserving guys up from the minors and give them an opportunity to show you that they could be useful or that it's time to move on. This one is a little trickier, but I do like the idea of giving Barnes and Jax chances to start. That exposure isn't a bad thing heading into the offseason.

Part of me is glad that this team gets to sit on an off day dwelling on a game like this. Nothing frustrates me more than wasting a big inning by allowing a big inning the very next half inning. Just another way for this team to lose. Nice to see Larnach and Kirilloff come up big in a big, late game spot though.

While it's great that they've been able to string some wins together, the joy is completely squashed by the Buxton news. It's just incredible how bad his luck really is. Doubled down on by the fact that he finally appears to be putting everything together and being the player we had hoped he'd be. Very frustrating for player and fans alike.

I think they can improve fairly organically and not by accident. Weird things can stop happening, they can play more sound baseball and they can get healthy. That alone should translate to more frequent wins. The issue becomes what happens with the pitching staff. Until changes are made there, particularly in the bullpen, the ceiling of this team is quite a bit lower than it should be.

No, I don't. He could just as easily end up being the same guy who is always hurt and breaks down further and never does anything. This mentality gets so old. Focusing on the one guy that ended up being great and ignoring the hundreds of other players that never do anything of significance is self defeating. Sometimes those things happen. More often than not, they play out and nobody regrets a thing. This is coming from a guy who loves watching him play. He's my favorite player on the team, by far. Living in fear of failure is a sure fire way to fail. Let the Yankees take the financial risk. If it backfires, it backfires. It's not as though buxton hasn't been given ample opportunity to stay in the field. Apologies if this comes across as aggressive. That is not my intention. I just get so tired of Ortiz-itis. It's past time to get past it.

Same. And if I'm the Twins and in a position where you're likely to only sign Buxton or Berrios, Berrios is the safer signing. He's remained healthy, he's productive and less risky. I'm not sure "safer" is "better", but I also don't think that signing Berrios would be a negative thing. The same can't be said about Buxton.

Before making such a proclamation, I'd like to see the season play out. We're comparing full season's worth of results against two and a half months. Things could get worse (somehow) or could improve. I do think it's pretty safe to say that the staff is brutal. They're as frustrating a staff to watch as I recall watching.