The Twins announced the call-up of highly-regarded shortstop prospect Jorge Polanco, who will take the roster spot of Trevor Plouffe as he heads to the paternity list. It’s unclear as yet whether Polanco — currently rated the 89th overall prospect in the game by MLB.com — will stick around for a lengthier stretch. He has already seen two brief cameos, and Minnesota probably hopes he’s the future at the position. But the team is struggling to find consistency at shortstop now, as it continues to remain in contention. GM Terry Ryan said yesterday that he isn’t ruling out the possibility of adding a shortstop in the next three days, as MLB.com’s Betsy Helfand reports. “If you’ve got a chance to get better, then you look at it,” Ryan said. “If you’ve got a chance to just do something to make a move, that wouldn’t be very smart, either. We’ve got three of them here.” Polanco now joins that group, which also includes Danny Santana, Eduardo Escobar, and Eduardo Nunez. As I noted in breaking down the shortstop trade market, Minnesota figures as a possible participant, and could find some veteran options available at reasonable prices.
Here’s more from the AL Central:
- As they approach the deadline, the Twins should exercise caution in making deals for their short-term impact, Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN writes. He advocates for a bullpen addition or two, at a relatively low cost, as the best way to balance the team’s solid position in the Wild Card hunt with its long-term interests.
- Indeed, even with the Royals making big moves to bolster their already high-performing roster, the Twins do not seem inclined to respond to keep up with their division rivals. As MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports on Twitter, Ryan indicated that his moves won’t be dictated by what Kansas City has done: “You still have to do what’s right for your own club,” he said. “You’re not going to be reactionary.”
- The Twins have steadily enhanced their reliance on analytics, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press writes. “It’s probably not at the level the Pirates were at and are at,” says Twins manager of major league administration and baseball research Jack Goin, “but it’s significantly better (than it was). This is just kind of a natural evolution.” You’ll want to give the full piece a read for an interesting look at Minnesota’s changing philosophies.
- After another rough loss yesterday, the Tigers should be deadline sellers, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press opines. While Detroit is still on the periphery of the Wild Card race, four and a half out, the club has now dipped 13.5 games back of the division-leading Royals. For George Sipple of MLive.com, given the club’s veteran core, there’s a case to be made in either direction — adding pieces or selling off expiring veteran contracts — but no real argument for standing pat.
- With the White Sox now climbing past the Tigers in the standings, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that he believes there’s a better chance of Detroit moving David Price than there is of Chicago parting with Jeff Samardzija. Both will hit the open market after the year, of course. It’s worth bearing in mind that the latter has far less trade value, making it somewhat easier for the White Sox to keep him and plan to recoup prospect value by extending a qualifying offer after the season (with expectations that it will be declined).
I understand the white sox reasoning not wanting to trade with their recent outburst but its silly to expect this team to hit .313 and average 7 runs a game the rest of the season. Also, beating the indians and red sox isn’t reason to declare yourself a contender. I’m all for optimism but the post season chances for this team are extremely slim, last I checked they were at a 2.6%.
I’m also not advocating for a fire sale or even trading samardzija but there has to be some sort of common sense related to this team right now. If the sox can grab something worth more than a comp pick for samardzija they should take it.
It’s a hard decision to make with how well they are playing but if this were against the cardinals and yankees then maybe there would be more optimism for playoff chances.
Flipping Samardzija for a major league ready player and then resigning him in the off season would be in line with what the Sox might do.
Then check again; they’re at 10.6%. That’s not mortgage-the-future good, but that’s far from insignificant. And yes, the offense is hot right now, but it’s only regressing from being impossibly terrible most of the first half. If they can play more like a competent offense down the stretch, there’s a decent chance their starting pitching can carry them a while.
I agree with you both completely. I’m pretty much caught a crossroads with this deadline.
Mike, with the teams such as the astros and jays in front of the sox and the twins in 2nd currently. Those are 3 quality teams excluding the orioles, rays, and rangers the white sox are competing with. It’s a huge gamble to bet on this team coming together and performing like an above average offense, with above average defense, and the same level of pitching we have had. There are a lot of ifs there. It may be best to flip for a major league ready player like red line said above and go for it again next year with samardzija if they resign him
The window you mention is a very small piece of the puzzle. The White Sox have been on a torrid pace for nearly a month. They lost three of four to the Royals, but the Royals are the best team in baseball. Otherwise, they’re winning or sweeping every series they’re playing. I don’t think it’s a matter of if the White Sox should sell, it’s more a matter of do the rest of the Wild Card contenders need to bolster because the White Sox look for real.
Indeed, the Sox also played well against the Cubs, O’s, Jays, Rangers, Astros and Cardinals. It’s just their abysmal record within the division that has sunk them. Think they’re in a no-lose position, ship Smarc out if someone (Jays) seriously overpays, otherwise, ride it out and pick up a comp pick. If they do sneak into the playoffs, a dangerous team to face in a short series with stellar starting pitching.
Their record from April doesn’t matter at this point. They’re 2.5 games out of a wild card spot and only a half game behind the Blue Jays in the wild card standings. They’re not trading Smarc to anyone, let alone a team just as close as they are to a playoff spot.
Do you think k-rod can be had for a fair price if the twins pick up his entire salary? Maybe the likes of fernado romero. he is injured but before that he was tossing 97 98 ish. A lottery ticket should be fair I think.
ehh I think it depends on if the brewers want them to pay the salary. I doubt they would imo but I could see romero and one other player maybe something along the lines of a 20-30 prospect who is under achieving.
Twins should be calling the Braves on Jim Johnson