2018 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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That will be all she wrote for Santana in a Twins uniform.
 

Idle speculation: who stays and who goes off the Twins' roster. Not speculating about new players - just current roster.

Starting Pitchers: Stays - Berrios, Gibson, Gonsalves, Pineda (under contract). Goes - Odorizzi, Stewart, Santana. Tossup - Mejia
Relief Pitchers: Stays - Hildenberger, Rogers, May (could be a starter), Moya, Reed (on a 2-year contract - could be dealt). Goes - everybody else
Infielders: Stays - Mauer, Austin, Polanco, Sano. Goes - Adrianza Tossup- Forsythe (could come back on short deal if Gordon is not ready).
Outfielders: Stays - Rosario, Kepler, Buxton. Goes - Grossman, Cave.
Catchers: Stays - Garver, Castro (under contract-could be dealt). Goes - Wilson
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Idle speculation: who stays and who goes off the Twins' roster. Not speculating about new players - just current roster.

Starting Pitchers: Stays - Berrios, Gibson, Gonsalves, Pineda (under contract). Goes - Odorizzi, Stewart, Santana. Tossup - Mejia
Relief Pitchers: Stays - Hildenberger, Rogers, May (could be a starter), Moya, Reed (on a 2-year contract - could be dealt). Goes - everybody else
Infielders: Stays - Mauer, Austin, Polanco, Sano. Goes - Adrianza Tossup- Forsythe (could come back on short deal if Gordon is not ready).
Outfielders: Stays - Rosario, Kepler, Buxton. Goes - Grossman, Cave.
Catchers: Stays - Garver, Castro (under contract-could be dealt). Goes - Wilson
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Pineda is a reliever
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Pineda is a reliever
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TBD. He's been both in his career IIRC. I would assume he won't make any starts this year, though with Stewart struggling and Santana done, he may. Hopefully Gonsalves does well tonight.
 




short ornery norwegian said:
Idle speculation: who stays and who goes off the Twins' roster. Not speculating about new players - just current roster.

Starting Pitchers: Stays - Berrios, Gibson, Gonsalves, Pineda (under contract). Goes - Odorizzi, Stewart, Santana. Tossup - Mejia
Relief Pitchers: Stays - Hildenberger, Rogers, May (could be a starter), Moya, Reed (on a 2-year contract - could be dealt). Goes - everybody else
Infielders: Stays - Mauer, Austin, Polanco, Sano. Goes - Adrianza Tossup- Forsythe (could come back on short deal if Gordon is not ready).
Outfielders: Stays - Rosario, Kepler, Buxton. Goes - Grossman, Cave.
Catchers: Stays - Garver, Castro (under contract-could be dealt). Goes - Wilson
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Pretty sure Odorrizi has one more year in his deal.

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Gomsalves will be fine, but he won't be an ace.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Pretty sure Odorrizi has one more year in his deal.

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He is 3rd-year arbitration eligible for next year. Honestly, at a cost of $7-8 million, I might just non-tender him and spend that $$ on someone else.
 



JimmyJamesMD said:
Pineda is a reliever
Click to expand...

howeda7 said:
TBD. He's been both in his career IIRC. I would assume he won't make any starts this year, though with Stewart struggling and Santana done, he may. Hopefully Gonsalves does well tonight.
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Piñeda has started every major league game in which he's played. He's a former All-Star. They didn't pay him $2M this year, knowing he almost certainly couldn't pitch, to have him come out of the bullpen. Assuming he's healthy and ready to go, there's zero chance he's not in the rotation in 2019.
 

Molitor had the cleanup hitter sac bunt with no outs twice last night. Unbelievable.
 

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Win Twins!!
 




per Sid:

• Former Twins and current Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said he understands why the Twins front office of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine made some of their deadline deals: “There’s a group there running that ballclub that is trying to do all the right things and get all the right people in there. They’re loading up the farm system — again, you have a lot of young talent and they’re trying to get it right.”

• Baseball America listed the Twins’ minor league system as the seventh best in baseball, behind the Padres, Rays, Blue Jays, White Sox, Braves and Reds. The publication wrote: “Deadline deals added a smattering of high-upside talent, but the biggest reason the Twins are a top-10 system is because they have hit on their recent high draft picks. [Royce] Lewis, [Alex] Kirilloff and [Brent] Rooker all have reached or exceeded expectations.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...-by-u-s-long-drought-of-mediocrity/491721711/

Win Twins!!
 

Just looked and Twins have scored 8 runs in the top of 6th before Texas record an out.

8-6 Twins with none gone in the 6th.
 

Lots of controversy as Buxton is shut down for the season, partially because it gives them another year of control before he becomes a free agent. I imagine Buxton and his agent aren’t very happy.

The Twins might have had the worst lineup ever today. No Mauer, Sano, Garver, Rosario or Austin.
 

This team and this organization has no quit!!
 

Does Jake Cave replace Kepler in RF next year? That is, of course, assuming Buxton returns to CF on Opening Day 2019.

Cave has definitely been more productive than Kepler this year. I guess we'll see what happens in the spring.
 

Falvey and Levine are taking a lot of heat from baseball writers over the Buxton deal. Levine has been the one handling the interviews, and he has avoided saying it's all about service time - because he knows Buxton's agent would file a grievance in a heartbeat. But his other reasons are nonsense. For instance, Levine said he doesn't think Buxton would get enough at-bats with the Twins. Did you see today's lineup? They're playing Field, for gawd's sake. Field needs the at-bats more than Buxton?

Worth noting that Buxton cleared out his locker and left the AAA team in Rochester with two games left in the season. Just said bleep it and went home.

Also worth noting - Levine admitted on the Twins pre-game show Sunday that neither he nor Falvey have spoken to Buxton about the decision. They went through Buxton's agent. When asked when they would speak to Buxton directly, Levine said "that's up to Byron." And then he went on this blather about how they want to maintain a good relationship, etc.

Look - maybe Buxton never figures it out, and goes into the books as a huge bust. But, since we're talking about the Twins - I think there is at least an equal chance that Buxton does figure it out - becomes at least a serviceable hitter and gold-glove outfielder - and bolts the second he becomes eligible for free agency.
 

Buxton has earned nothing. The season is over. Part of the reason for that is his weak production and unavailability.
 

Maybe if Buxton would stay healthy and productive none of this would have happened.
 

bottlebass said:
Maybe if Buxton would stay healthy and productive none of this would have happened.
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Agree! I don’t get the outrage here on Buxton not getting called up. Let him get healthy for next year and maybe someday the Twins will regain some of the investments they have made in Sano and Buxton.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Falvey and Levine are taking a lot of heat from baseball writers over the Buxton deal. Levine has been the one handling the interviews, and he has avoided saying it's all about service time - because he knows Buxton's agent would file a grievance in a heartbeat. But his other reasons are nonsense. For instance, Levine said he doesn't think Buxton would get enough at-bats with the Twins. Did you see today's lineup? They're playing Field, for gawd's sake. Field needs the at-bats more than Buxton?

Worth noting that Buxton cleared out his locker and left the AAA team in Rochester with two games left in the season. Just said bleep it and went home.

Also worth noting - Levine admitted on the Twins pre-game show Sunday that neither he nor Falvey have spoken to Buxton about the decision. They went through Buxton's agent. When asked when they would speak to Buxton directly, Levine said "that's up to Byron." And then he went on this blather about how they want to maintain a good relationship, etc.

Look - maybe Buxton never figures it out, and goes into the books as a huge bust. But, since we're talking about the Twins - I think there is at least an equal chance that Buxton does figure it out - becomes at least a serviceable hitter and gold-glove outfielder - and bolts the second he becomes eligible for free agency.
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Falvine seem to have issues communicating with the players (they let them learn Escobar was traded on TV etc.) They need to do better in that area. But I can't argue with the decision. I'm done worrying about Buxton or Sano's feelings. Buxton will not a be FA until after the 2022 season now. If he wants to "bolt" then because he's still mad about something from 2018, he can go right ahead.

At this point, they have worry about whether they will have to release him next Spring Training if shows up and hits .150, because he is out of options. That is the argument for calling him up. But frankly getting him 50-75 September AB's isn't going to prove much either way. If they call him up and he continues to struggle, his trade value goes to 0.
 
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WorkingMyTailOff said:
Agree! I don’t get the outrage here on Buxton not getting called up. Let him get healthy for next year and maybe someday the Twins will regain some of the investments they have made in Sano and Buxton.
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After 3 weeks of decent ABs, Sano is right back to striking out 2-3 times per game. I'm more worried about him than Buxton. If they can still get anything of decent value, I'd trade him in the off-season.
 

Plausible Deniability said:
Does Jake Cave replace Kepler in RF next year? That is, of course, assuming Buxton returns to CF on Opening Day 2019.

Cave has definitely been more productive than Kepler this year. I guess we'll see what happens in the spring.
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Cave is a 4th/5th outfielder not an every day player. I'd sign a FA like Adam Jones who can play CF or a corner spot and then make Kepler and Buxton battle it out for a starting spot. Neither of them have earned having it handed to them.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Worth noting that Buxton cleared out his locker and left the AAA team in Rochester with two games left in the season. Just said bleep it and went home.
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This is the first time I’ve heard this version. Everyone else has said the Twins shut him down and told him to go home early if he wanted. He wasn’t going to play in the last few games.
 

howeda7 said:
After 3 weeks of decent ABs, Sano is right back to striking out 2-3 times per game. I'm more worried about him than Buxton. If they can still get anything of decent value, I'd trade him in the off-season.
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I agree with your concern on Sano and I’m sure they will listen to all offers on him and a Buxton, but they would be trading them both when their value is very low. I think it’s worth hanging on to them in case it clicks for them late.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
I agree with your concern on Sano and I’m sure they will listen to all offers on him and a Buxton, but they would be trading them both when their value is very low. I think it’s worth hanging on to them in case it clicks for them late.
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In Sano's case, I'm not sure it's a matter of anything clicking. It seems to be an effort/approach issue at this point.
 

Chip: Twins brass has dropped the ball in handling of Byron Buxton

The Twins front office essentially conceded the remainder of the 2018 season at the trade deadline, leaving the organization two — and only two — issues of vital importance.

Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton.

That’s it. Nothing else about this miserable season mattered, except Buxton and Sano and making sure those two cornerstone pieces salvaged something positive from their own lost seasons. The organization needed to gain better insight as to whether Buxton/Sano still can be viewed as cornerstone pieces in trying to build a contender.

The answer on Buxton remains very much uncertain and yet the team’s braintrust of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine seems more concerned about Buxton becoming a star by 2022 than him becoming a serviceable player in 2019.

That makes no sense.

The Falvine regime opted not to call up Buxton from Class AAA Rochester for the remainder of the season. Levine listed several reasons in explaining their decision, but let’s not be naive, there’s only one real reason.

This decision was driven by service time and preventing Buxton from reaching free agency in 2021, which would happen if he spent two more weeks in the majors this season. By telling Buxton to hit the road, he won’t become a free agent until 2022.

Not only is this bad optics that reinforces a negative view about the organization’s perceived cheapness, they are making a fairly large assumption that seems iffy at best right now.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-brass-has-dropped-the-ball-in-handling-of-byron-buxton/492357801/

Win Twins!!
 

The extra year of team control of Buxton’s contract makes him a significantly more valuable trade asset. He is the best center fielder in baseball and there will be teams that will want a player who can win games with his glove. If he becomes a .250 hitter there will be multiple bidders for him, especially with the extra year of team control.
Royce Lewis may be the Twins’ cf of the future.


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