All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread


Today’s trivia question is -

Name the Top 5 Active hit leaders -

Freeman, Altuve, Votto, Goldschmidt and Machado?

Edit: Dang, I thought I had them all right after the first four were picked in the video. I had the first four almost right away, the fifth was harder.
 
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Freeman, Altuve, Votto, Goldschmidt and Machado?

Edit: Dang, I thought I had them all right after the first four. I had the first four almost right away, the fifth was harder.
Love me some Manny and that’s an excellent choice; at least you are in the right zip code of the alphabet 😉.
 
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Can't stand this long of a break. At least baseball is back tonight even if it's not the Twins.

So what's the thoughts on the trade deadline for the Twins? Eovaldi is a guy I've seen floated around as a good target if Texas decides to sell. He's been great so far this season and would give the Twins four solid starters (assuming Lopez gets it figured out). He has a vesting player option for next year that he'll possibly get (300 innings over 23-24, currently 62 innings short).

Tyler Anderson is another interesting option. Nerd stats show he's been a bit lucky this year but would slot in as a solid #4 guy. And under contract for another season.

A guy like Crochet would be amazing but that's unlikely to happen. Fedde could be another option.
 

Can't stand this long of a break. At least baseball is back tonight even if it's not the Twins.

So what's the thoughts on the trade deadline for the Twins? Eovaldi is a guy I've seen floated around as a good target if Texas decides to sell. He's been great so far this season and would give the Twins four solid starters (assuming Lopez gets it figured out). He has a vesting player option for next year that he'll possibly get (300 innings over 23-24, currently 62 innings short).

Tyler Anderson is another interesting option. Nerd stats show he's been a bit lucky this year but would slot in as a solid #4 guy. And under contract for another season.

A guy like Crochet would be amazing but that's unlikely to happen. Fedde could be another option.
Per Park, Twins’ MLB beat writer, said we have the third best AL offense per FanGraphics WAR 18.3, which is 6th in MLB -

We have a much better O than last year, so let’s get busy with another arm - sorry Halibut. Winning the central might yield a first round bye.

Tigers are apparently making Skeeball available and the rumor is that the O’s may offer Jackson Holliday - great thing is the Yanks tradeable assets sux, compared to them Baby Birds.
 


Per Park, Twins’ MLB beat writer, said we have the third best AL offense per FanGraphics WAR 18.3, which is 6th in MLB -

We have a much better O than last year, so let’s get busy with another arm - sorry Halibut. Winning the central might yield a first round bye.

Tigers are apparently making Skeeball available and the rumor is that the O’s may offer Jackson Holliday - great thing is the Yanks tradeable assets sux, compared to them Baby Birds.
It would be insane to trade him IMO. But getting a guy like Holliday would be intriguing. Skubal has only two more seasons before becoming a free agent so if they don't think they'll be good enough to make a run prior to 2027, it might make sense I guess.
 

Can't stand this long of a break. At least baseball is back tonight even if it's not the Twins.

So what's the thoughts on the trade deadline for the Twins? Eovaldi is a guy I've seen floated around as a good target if Texas decides to sell. He's been great so far this season and would give the Twins four solid starters (assuming Lopez gets it figured out). He has a vesting player option for next year that he'll possibly get (300 innings over 23-24, currently 62 innings short).

Tyler Anderson is another interesting option. Nerd stats show he's been a bit lucky this year but would slot in as a solid #4 guy. And under contract for another season.

A guy like Crochet would be amazing but that's unlikely to happen. Fedde could be another option.
Kikuchi from Toronto is a name that’s been floated around. Would be a classic rent-a-pitcher option that shouldn’t cost much. But I’m not expecting any moves.
 

It would be insane to trade him IMO. But getting a guy like Holliday would be intriguing. Skubal has only two more seasons before becoming a free agent so if they don't think they'll be good enough to make a run prior to 2027, it might make sense I guess.
I wonder if the Tigers have a plethora of pitching prospects they feel confident about and realize some guys like Spencer Torkalson (former first rounder, who they were counting on to be a cornerstone of their offense) are likely to be a bust as a big leaguer and they need more sticks? He has a negative 1.2 WAR and they only have 4 position players with a WAR over one, while we have 8.

I love that the Os would be going all in - their fans deserve a WS.
 
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don't want to be a wet blanket, but I just do not see the Twins front office (or should I say ownership) agreeing to any trade that adds a long-term significant contract. the team cut payroll going into this season due to uncertainty about local TV revenue.

and as we sit here today, there is even more uncertainty about local TV. If Diamond/Bally does not get a favorable ruling from the bankruptcy court judge, they'll be lucky to survive for the rest of the baseball season. that leaves the Twins looking at a deal with MLB.com that is almost guaranteed to produce less revenue than they're making this year from Diamond.

so, as I said, I don't see the Twins taking on any new contracts - unless they can trade away contracts to match the salary. if I had to guess, I would say they try to find a 'rental' pitcher for the rest of the season - as long as they don't have to give up too many prospects in return.

(FWIW - saw one outlet ranking the Twins as having the 4th-best farm system after the draft.....)
 



After looking through their contract situation, the Twins have only 5 pending free agents according to this: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/minnesota-twins-salaries-and-contracts.shtml

- Kepler
- Santana
- Farmer
- Theilbar
- DeSclafani

My guess now is they either trade for a rather underwhelming rental or go after someone that is under contract for at least next year (or combination of). Unlikely they will go after a big name 1/2 year rental (not that they usually do).
 

don't want to be a wet blanket, but I just do not see the Twins front office (or should I say ownership) agreeing to any trade that adds a long-term significant contract. the team cut payroll going into this season due to uncertainty about local TV revenue.

and as we sit here today, there is even more uncertainty about local TV. If Diamond/Bally does not get a favorable ruling from the bankruptcy court judge, they'll be lucky to survive for the rest of the baseball season. that leaves the Twins looking at a deal with MLB.com that is almost guaranteed to produce less revenue than they're making this year from Diamond.

so, as I said, I don't see the Twins taking on any new contracts - unless they can trade away contracts to match the salary. if I had to guess, I would say they try to find a 'rental' pitcher for the rest of the season - as long as they don't have to give up too many prospects in return.

(FWIW - saw one outlet ranking the Twins as having the 4th-best farm system after the draft.....)
I don't think anyone is expecting them to make a long-term addition. Someone like Kikuchi should be added though. You could probably even get Toronto to eat most of what he's still owed by throwing in additional/better prospects (not that they price would be high for him anyway).

In addition to the TV money, they're also down about 2500 fans a game through the gate over last year. That's going to hurt the bottom line as well.
 

The Yankees narrowly beat the Saints 9-8 in an exhibition game in St. Paul on this date in 1927 (a pretty good season for the Yankees). Winona native Julie Wera played in the game for the Yankees and scored on a home run by catcher Pat Collins.

According to SABR historian Rich Bogovich, the Yankees were stealing signs! Can you believe it? The vaunted '27 Yankees stealing signs to win an exhibition game against the minor-league St. Paul Saints.
 

Correa to the IL. I'm seeing Martin activated, but Julien is in the lineup tonight.

Edit, looks like Paddack back to the IL.
 



Correa to the IL. I'm seeing Martin activated, but Julien is in the lineup tonight.

Edit, looks like Paddack back to the IL.
Per the MLB App



July 20: SS Carlos Correa (right plantar fasciitis) placed on 10-day IL; activated UTL Austin Martin
An MRI last week confirmed that Correa has sustained the same injury with which he quietly played for most of 2023, on his other foot. Correa is hitting .308 with 16 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 47 RBIs, 30 walks, 51 runs scored, a .377 on-base percentage and an .897 OPS in 75 games this season.
Martin, who has missed the Twins’ last eight games with a right oblique strain, has a .265 average with nine doubles, one home run, nine RBIs, 11 walks, 27 runs scored and a .703 OPS in 47 games for the Twins this season.

July 20: RHP Chris Paddack (right forearm strain) placed on 15-day IL; recalled INF Edouard Julien
Paddack is 5-3 with a 4.99 ERA, 21 walks, 79 strikeouts and a 1.39 WHIP in 17 starts in 2024. This is his second injured list stint this season, after previously missing time from June 25-July 8.

ulien, who was named to the Twins’ Opening Day roster and optioned on June 3, has hit .233 with two doubles, one triple, five home runs, 11 RBIs, 35 walks, 23 runs scored, a .400 OBP and a .780 OPS in 35 games for the Saints, including slashing .276/.450/.421 in his last 21 games since June 20. The 25-year-old hit .207 with six doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBIs, 24 walks, six stolen bases, 24 runs scored and a .676 OPS in 58 games for the Twins from March 28-June 2.
 
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Poetic justice that Sal gets picked at first after his intentional lay swing to get the catcher’s interference.
 









Rocco's early PHing leading to multiple ABs for Castillo and Martin at 2B weren't great. And the continued refusal to bunt the runner over in extra innings.
 

Joe Mauer led off the game in Kansas City with his 415th career double on this date in 2018, surpassing Kirby Puckett as the Twins career leader.
 


Rocco's early PHing leading to multiple ABs for Castillo and Martin at 2B weren't great. And the continued refusal to bunt the runner over in extra innings.
To his credit, Rocco always seems to be able to produce respectable results. For some reason, though, it seems to me that he consistently leaves a ton of wins on the table every season with his poor managerial/line-up decisions.

Of course, nobody has ever managed more wins from my living room than me.
 

at the same time, I could argue that the Twins lost the game because they didn't take better at-bats earlier in the game and get some runs on the board. Buxton was back to flailing at low & outside breaking balls. Brooks Lee suddenly looks like a rookie (and his batting helmet is still too #$%!&* big for him). Jeffers is slumping.

Hey - I'm not panicking. over 162 games, this kind of stuff evens out. Saturday's loss was the most runs the Twins have ever given up in an extra-innings game. by definition, that makes it a rarity.

and finally - next year MLB is going back to two 3-game series between the "designated rivals," so the Twins and Brewers will each play a full weekend series home and away.
 




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