After Travis Adams made his first career start, and looked good doing so, Noah Davis came on and blew the game against Detroit on Monday night. There is going to be much more of that if Baldelli can’t get a level of competency from his bullpen.

The Twins don’t have much to play for, but they could put a better foot forward in terms of pride. That may have them grabbing a quality arm off the open market, and Ryan Pressly now happens to be there.

Ryan Pressly drawing MN Twins interest

Before the season the Houston Astros traded closer Ryan Pressly to the Chicago Cubs in a salary dump. It gave the former Twins setup man an opportunity to rack up saves again. Unfortunately he has struggled this year and was DFA’d when the club acquired former Twins closer Taylor Rogers at the deadline. Now he’s on the Twins radar.

With an inexperienced back end of the bullpen, multiple league sources said the Twins have reached out to veteran free agent Ryan Pressly about a possible reunion. Pressly converted five of seven save attempts and notched seven holds with a 4.35 ERA in 44 games this season before he was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs on Thursday and released on Friday.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

As The Athletic’s Dan Hayes points out, the Minnesota Twins would represent a reunion for Pressly. Minnesota grabbed him as a Rule 5 pick from Boston prior to the 2013 season and he spent the first six seasons of his career with the Twins.

Pressly went on to win a World Series with the Houston Astros, and continued his development from Minnesota to become an elite high-leverage arm. Pressly made two separate All-Star appearances while pitching in his home state, and has turned in a very nice career.

Related: Report: MN Twins Reliever Requested Trade

Now 36 years old, Pressly owns a 4.35 ERA (5.02 FIP) for Chicago. The strikeouts have dipped, the walks have risen, and his 1.3 HR/9 is the second highest of his career. With Minnesota though, the pressure would be non-existent and he could look to rebuild value going into next season.

Suitors aplenty for Ryan Pressly

Although Pressly has had a tough go of it this season, he still represents a level of upside. Checking with a direct source, Pressly has multiple options to consider and the Twins are just one of them.

He is making $14 million this year in the final season of his three-year contract signed with the Houston Astros. After clearing waivers though, he can be signed for the major league minimum. A team may need to do a bit better to secure his services, but he won’t cost much of anything.

Related: Recently Traded Pitcher Suggests MN Twins Facilities are Lacking

Although the Twins don’t represent a level of competitiveness, they do have a potential advantage. Pressly and his family are familiar with the organization and city. Beyond that, he’d immediately assume whatever role he wants in the bullpen. It gives him a level of control he may not have elsehwere.

It would be a fun full circle moment if things can fall into place.

Ryan Pressly traded to the Astros

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) July 28, 2018

I hope you weren’t just about to play some video games and go to bed for the night (I was). Hell no. Not when the Minnesota Twins are having a fire sale out in Boston. Judging by how the Facebook comments went on the Eduardo Escobar trade earlier today, I’m guessing this one won’t be all that well-received either.

But hey, at least we didn’t just get walked off in the 10th inning with Matt Belisle on the mound, right…

Ryan Pressly was on the top of the chopping block as a back-end reliever who seems to have blossomed this year and throws upwards of 98-99 MPH. And now he gets to do it for the world champs. Before this season though, Ryan was inconsistent so it’ll be interesting to see how he does, come playoff time. According to those who’d know, it seems like the Twins got a decent haul back for Pressly, who still is under arbitration control next season. Bullpen pitchers are a lot more expensive this time of year.

One of the players coming to #MNTwins in Ryan P. deal… https://t.co/JJBUFzwKjm

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 28, 2018

This is a pretty good return for someone plucked from another organization for next to nothing. https://t.co/0NRayiOS93

— Parker Hageman (@ParkerHageman) July 28, 2018

But, if you thought the Twins had a chance to come back and make the playoffs this season, it’s clear that the front office doesn’t care. They are ready to turn this team over while they look to the offseason and what they are going to spend with the $80-$100 million that’ll be freeing up around the roster. Until then, we’ll watch some young guys try to prove themselves while we hope Sano and Buxton can turn things around. Get the playoffs out of your minds, though. And, the trades definitely aren’t over yet.

In other words, the Twins are in FULL TANK MODE.

See you in the morning

via GIPHY

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan

The #mntwins weren’t done with the moves yet tonight. Goodbye Ryan Pressly.. #twins #minnesotatwins #gotwins #twinsterritory #mntwinsbaseball #mntwinsfans #mlb #mlbtrade #mlbtradedeadline #mlbtraderumors #minnesota #minnesotasports #minnesotabaseball

A post shared by Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) on Jul 27, 2018 at 8:17pm PDT

At least for this upcoming season, Eduardo Escobar will be playing baseball in Minnesota. Per Thursday’s reports, he and the Twins agreed to a one year, $4.85 million deal.

The signing came a day prior to the MLB’s arbitration deadline. Missing Friday’s cut off means that any remaining arbitration-eligible players and their team need to exchange proposed salaries for the 2018 season. The purpose of swapping desired contracts is to prepare for a potential hearing on what a player should be paid.

The January 12th time-limit is now irrelevant to Escobar. One of the Twins’ clubhouse favorites and his employer hashed things out without a third wheel. With the 29 year-old now set to make almost $5 million this year, the only thing he should be exchanging are chips at the Bellagio.

In what I consider no coincidence, they reached an agreement amid the MLB’s sexual assault investigation of Miguel Sano. With his upcoming availability in great flux, motivation to retain Escobar naturally increased.

This upcoming season will mark the switch hitter’s 8th in the majors. Of his 619 career MLB games, our infield’s Renaissance man has played 574 of them with Minnesota. In 2017, Escobar hit .254, with a career high .758 OPS. Over last year’s 499 at-bats, he also compiled a career high in HRs (21) and RBIs (73)

With Eduardo Escobar secured for what Twins’ Nation hopes is another exciting season, the following five players still remain arbitration-eligible: Robbie Grossman (OF), Ehire Adrianza (IF) and pitchers Kyle Gibson, Ryan Pressly, and Trevor May.

Relax fanboys and fangirls of Ryan Pressly. I like your passion, but damn. If Pressly and MN don’t agree to a deal by Friday’s deadline, they’ll still probably end up agreeing to one and avoid any hearings. Until actually sitting in front of arbitrators, the two involved parties can continue negotiations.

Cowboys? What the f*ck?

That’s a real hard deadline you have their, MLB. What a joke. I always wondered where my WI Public University professors got their contradictory approach to cutoff dates from.

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com