Buxton and Poppen are back.

[stringer bell]

Buxton activated from Concussion injury list, Poppen recalled. Smeltzer rewarded for his good work with an option to Rochester. Cave sent down to clear room for Buck.

[Roaddog]

Well at least Cave is gone

[mikelink45]

I have to believe that there is some toll on the players when they keep getting sent up and down no matter what they do.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I have to believe that there is some toll on the players when they keep getting sent up and down no matter what they do.

 

If the FO is doing it's job, it's communicating to the player that this is what will happen. From the player's stand point, they collect and ML check, which even for a couple days is a pretty big bump over what they got the in minors...

 

In Smeltzer's case, he keeps performing, which at one point he's going to get a spot on the 25 when it's open... may not be till next year, but he's auditioning quite well... same with Thorpe for that matter.

[Mr. Brooks]

I have to believe that there is some toll on the players when they keep getting sent up and down no matter what they do.

There is nothing gained by keeping Smeltzer up. He pitched 5 innings yesterday, so he's likely unavailable until Monday.

He's earned an extended audition, he'll be back when his 10 days are up. This is in no way a punishment.

[Whammy]

There is nothing gained by keeping Smeltzer up. He pitched 5 innings yesterday, so he's likely unavailable until Monday.

He's earned an extended audition, he'll be back when his 10 days are up. This is in no way a punishment.

The thing that bugs me is when a couple guys get called up in succession and one guy is used and does well, and another isn’t used, usually because he’s trusted less. Ultimately the guy that gets used gets sent down and the guy that stinks keeps collecting the MLB check until the big club is brave enough (or forced) to use him.

 

I call this the Kohl Stewart effect.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

The thing that bugs me is when a couple guys get called up in succession and one guy is used and does well, and another isn’t used, usually because he’s trusted less. Ultimately the guy that gets used gets sent down and the guy that stinks keeps collecting the MLB check until the big club is brave enough (or forced) to use him.

I call this the Kohl Stewart effect.

 

to an extent that falls into the "life is unfair" bucket.. but with up to 3 openings in the rotation next season, I'm sure Smeltzer and Thorpe are aware that they will both get long looks for at least one of them.

 

I will be rather surprised if one of those 2 doesn't come north in 2020.

 

Edit: and I'll be very surprised if Stewart comes north.

[70charger]

 

The thing that bugs me is when a couple guys get called up in succession and one guy is used and does well, and another isn’t used, usually because he’s trusted less. Ultimately the guy that gets used gets sent down and the guy that stinks keeps collecting the MLB check until the big club is brave enough (or forced) to use him.

I call this the Kohl Stewart effect.

 

Baseball isn't fair, but damn do I like this name. 

[Bomba2026]

Welcome back BB...but I am not a happy bomba camper right now...D. Smeltzer, who I like a lot, gives up 1 run in 5 innings and strikes out a side of Yankees and he gets sent back to AAA ball? Wth. Maybe Ordoruzzi needs to stamp his ticket down there...

[Mr. Brooks]

The thing that bugs me is when a couple guys get called up in succession and one guy is used and does well, and another isn’t used, usually because he’s trusted less. Ultimately the guy that gets used gets sent down and the guy that stinks keeps collecting the MLB check until the big club is brave enough (or forced) to use him.

 

I call this the Kohl Stewart effect.

Only in the short term.

In the long term, the guy who performs when called upon is going to earn a ton more than the guy who is just hanging around in case of a blowout.

 

So maybe a little unfair if Smeltzer has a loan shark threatening to break his thumbs if he can't pay up by next week. Otherwise, he's going to earn far more from the Twins, long term, than Torres will.

[stringer bell]

Short list for recall: Littell, Smeltzer, then Romero? Understood that Stewart, Littell, and Smeltzer all have the "do not return in 10 days" tag on them.

[Dantes929]

 

If the FO is doing it's job, it's communicating to the player that this is what will happen. From the player's stand point, they collect and ML check, which even for a couple days is a pretty big bump over what they got the in minors...

 

In Smeltzer's case, he keeps performing, which at one point he's going to get a spot on the 25 when it's open... may not be till next year, but he's auditioning quite well... same with Thorpe for that matter.

Thorpe and Smeltzer will both get the September call up at a very minimum.   It wouldn't surprise me if they both got spot starts and it wouldn't surprise me if one, I am guessing Smeltzer,  doesn't take over a spot in the rotation within a month.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I’m pouring a Mickey’s into the toilet in tribute of Cave.

[mikelink45]

 

There is nothing gained by keeping Smeltzer up. He pitched 5 innings yesterday, so he's likely unavailable until Monday.
He's earned an extended audition, he'll be back when his 10 days are up. This is in no way a punishment.

I am not saying this is a punishment, but it is a roller coaster of emotions as well as pay and we have never had an era where players went through this.  I wonder if there are some who will be harmed.

[mikelink45]

 

If the FO is doing it's job, it's communicating to the player that this is what will happen. From the player's stand point, they collect and ML check, which even for a couple days is a pretty big bump over what they got the in minors...

 

In Smeltzer's case, he keeps performing, which at one point he's going to get a spot on the 25 when it's open... may not be till next year, but he's auditioning quite well... same with Thorpe for that matter.

I understand the logic - what I do not know is the psychology of jumping from club house to club house - up and down.

[Tomj14]

 

The thing that bugs me is when a couple guys get called up in succession and one guy is used and does well, and another isn’t used, usually because he’s trusted less. Ultimately the guy that gets used gets sent down and the guy that stinks keeps collecting the MLB check until the big club is brave enough (or forced) to use him.

I call this the Kohl Stewart effect.

What bugs me is that Matt Belisle pitched 23 innings last year for the Twins, when they could have been doing this and seeing this guys a year earlier.

But I assume these players know what they are in for when they are called up and are more than happy to be sitting in a big league club house, rather then the AAA clubhouse.

 

The question I would have for each of them is would you rather do this or be Romero?

 

[Yossarian]

The FO is using the AAA roster unlike previous FOs, essentially creating a 30-man roster.  Good on them.  True, these are multiple short stints, but I'm sure the pitch has been, "look, this is your chance to prove to us what we saw in Ft. Myers and Rochester this year wasn't a fluke."

[yarnivek1972]

I am not saying this is a punishment, but it is a roller coaster of emotions as well as pay and we have never had an era where players went through this. I wonder if there are some who will be harmed.

I believe it was 2002 when Matt LeCroy rode the shuttle - and that was all the way to Edmonton less than a year after 9/11 - 6 or 7 times.

[mikelink45]

 

I believe it was 2002 when Matt LeCroy rode the shuttle - and that was all the way to Edmonton less than a year after 9/11 - 6 or 7 times.

Some players can do it.  Others - Romero comes to mind - cannot make the adjustments. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Some players can do it.  Others - Romero comes to mind - cannot make the adjustments. 

I think Romero's adjustment problem has to do with pitching, not the flights from Rochester to Minneapolis.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I think Romero's adjustment problem has to do with pitching, not the flights from Rochester to Minneapolis.

I heard sliders don't break at all over 30,000 feet, though.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I have to believe that there is some toll on the players when they keep getting sent up and down no matter what they do.

In other circumstances, perhaps. A player going up and down with the 2016 Twins, or even the 2018 Twins -- yeah, it could be frustrating.

 

But on the 2019 Twins, the player buy-in would seem to be easiest. Obviously they'd all prefer to stay in Minnesota, but I expect that Smeltzer, Littell, etc. consider themselves part of this team and part of something special right now, even while taking the flight back to Rochester.

[USAFChief]

 

In other circumstances, perhaps. A player going up and down with the 2016 Twins, or even the 2018 Twins -- yeah, it could be frustrating.

 

But on the 2019 Twins, the player buy-in would seem to be easiest. Obviously they'd all prefer to stay in Minnesota, but I expect that Smeltzer, Littell, etc. consider themselves part of this team and part of something special right now, even while taking the flight back to Rochester.

At the very least, he knows that next year, if he's in Rochester, his salary will be something in the $80,000 range, if I remember correctly. Once you have a day of MLB service time, your minor league pay rate changes dramatically. That's not a MLB salary, obviously, but probably several times what he's making in Rochester this year. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

In other circumstances, perhaps. A player going up and down with the 2016 Twins, or even the 2018 Twins -- yeah, it could be frustrating.

 

But on the 2019 Twins, the player buy-in would seem to be easiest. Obviously they'd all prefer to stay in Minnesota, but I expect that Smeltzer, Littell, etc. consider themselves part of this team and part of something special right now, even while taking the flight back to Rochester.

Considering those players’ contributions and how they’re all likely welcomed by the veterans because of said performance, I think they probably feel like a pretty important part of the team (never mind that Baldelli is definitely a player’s manager and has likely had conversations with each of them about why they’re being managed in this way).

 

And all of them can expect to be back in September, I suspect.

[alarp33]

 

I think Romero's adjustment problem has to do with pitching, not the flights from Rochester to Minneapolis.

 

Isn't the story Romero showed up woefully out of shape this Spring? Can't imagine that is helping his performance or standing in the mind of the organization

[yarnivek1972]

Considering those players’ contributions and how they’re all likely welcomed by the veterans because of said performance, I think they probably feel like a pretty important part of the team (never mind that Baldelli is definitely a player’s manager and has likely had conversations with each of them about why they’re being managed in this way).

 

And all of them can expect to be back in September, I suspect.

 

And this is what will really suck about next year. Sure, there is an extra roster spot, but there is no September roster expansion. I don’t know why anyone thinks that is a good idea. It can’t be money. I mean how much can a month at the MLB level cost for 5-6 minimum salary players? $500K?

[mikelink45]

 

I think Romero's adjustment problem has to do with pitching, not the flights from Rochester to Minneapolis.

A number of times the Twins have seen him as a potential star - first in the rotation, then in the Pen, but is he a failure or have we failed him?

[USAFChief]

I wonder...after 2 innings last night, is Poppen fresh?

 

...

 

 

I'll see myself out.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

And this is what will really suck about next year. Sure, there is an extra roster spot, but there is no September roster expansion. I don’t know why anyone thinks that is a good idea. It can’t be money. I mean how much can a month at the MLB level cost for 5-6 minimum salary players? $500K?

There's roster expansion, though only to 28 players.

 

I get the idea behind a reduction from 40, but 28 is pretty brutal, especially for developing teams.

[DuluthFan]

 

And this is what will really suck about next year. Sure, there is an extra roster spot, but there is no September roster expansion. I don’t know why anyone thinks that is a good idea. It can’t be money. I mean how much can a month at the MLB level cost for 5-6 minimum salary players? $500K?

 

I believe there is still a roster expansion but not for the full 40 man roster (28?). Part of the reason for this is so that every team is more likely to have the same number of call ups. That way one team is not playing with a full 40 man roster while another doesn't call up everyone. One team won't have a competitive advantage during the final month of the season.