Twins Midseason Recap + Trade Deadline Aftermath

Another Twins season, another disappointment. It seems to be becoming a pattern. 

The Minnesota Twins are not playing very well. They stand at 44-62 and 5th in the AL Central. Given that many baseball analysts had the Twins winning the division far and away this year, this is a huge disappointment. 
You ask: "What went so wrong this year". I could say that the pitching sucked at the worst time. Minnesota started off so hot for pitching, then it started to crumble one at a time. First the relievers started giving up odd innings, and then it leaked into the starters as well. They started pitching awful outings, and Manager Rocco Baldelli had to decide whether to pull starters early and dig into his abysmal bullpen or hope they turned it around to stay out there 5 innings. Not a decision I envy. 
I could also say that on top of the Twins' pitching issues, they also extremely struggled to compete in extra innings for most of the first part of the season. They went 3 months without winning a single game that went to extras. That usually isn't a good sign. The only bright sides to pitching was that Twins ace RHP Jose Berrios was still his usual spectacular self. We will get to that later. 
The Twins hitting has been largely fine and above average for most of the season. Minnesota still ranks at 6th in the majors for slugging percentage at .429. The team's batting average is 11th league-wide at .244. Not the batting numbers we have seen in the past from the Twins that usually hit so many home runs I ask them to stop hitting home runs. It definitely doesn't seem to be a hitting problem.

Overall the Twins have had a huge issue with pitching in that hardly anyone can pitch the ball effectively for more then 3 innings.

Trade Deadline
The Twins were a major seller at the trade deadline last week. The first big trade they made was when they sent fan favorite DH Nelson Cruz and RHP Calvin Faucher to Tampa Bay for prospects RHP Joe Ryan and RHP Drew Strotman. 

Minnesota also sent RHP ace Jose Berrios to Toronto for two top propsects in the Blue Jays arsenal. The Twins receive Toronto's top shortstop prospect in Austin Martin who also plays center field, as well as their second pitching prospect in righty Simeon Woods-Richardson. The Twins definitely won this trade given that Berrios is only under team control through the end of the season.

The Twins also traded LHP JA Happ and cash to St. Louis in exchange for prospect LHP Evan Sisk and struggling starter RHP John Gant. 

Last but not least, the Twins also traded right hand reliever Hansel Robles to the Boston Red Sox for prospect RHP Alex Scherff.

Minnesota definitely sold a haul this year at the deadline. In my opinion, its a sign of what is to come. Even though many Twins reporters are talking about the minor league pipeline the Twins are building, I don't even know if I have enough faith in them to develop them correctly. I will believe it when I see it.  I also think Rocco should be fired after the season ends. His tactics haven't worked, especially in the playoffs. He leaves most fans and analysts scratching their heads at certain dumbfounded decisions. Some fault Baldelli as the reason for the Twins being in the hole they are right now. 

Minnesota is headed for another quiet end to the season and most likely a quiet offseason. 

​#MNTwins