Week in Review: Lewis Awakens, Deadline Decisions Loom

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Weekly Nutshell:
The Twins once again had an interesting opportunity in front of them. They entered the ninth inning of their finale in Los Angeles with a one-run lead, on the verge of capturing an unlikely series victory against the formidable Dodgers. Finish the job there, sweep the lowly Nationals at home over the weekend, and the Twins would be back above the .500 mark as we speak, ruling out any notion of a sell-off as we head into deadline week.

Of course, that's not how it went. That's never really how it's gone when the opportunity for redemption has presented itself to this bunch. Instead, a familiar meltdown scenario played out in the bottom of the ninth against LA. Then the Twins managed to squeak by the Nats despite zero run-scoring hits on Friday, and were beaten soundly the next two days for a third consecutive series loss coming out of the break. 

This is the most disappointing Twins team I've followed in at least 10 years. Unlike so many others that have fallen short of expectations, this one can't point to an abundance of injuries or misfortune for its failure. Only a complete lack of heart and fight from a group of players that has fully earned whatever dismantling is about to come.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/21 through Sun, 7/27
***
Record Last Week: 2-4 (Overall: 50-55)
Run Differential Last Week: -11 (Overall: -19)
Standing: 4th Place in AL Central (10 GB) 

Last Week's Game Results:

Game 100 | LAD 5, MIN 2: Twins Fall Behind Early, Can't Fight Back Against Ohtani and Co.

Festa: 5 IP, 4 ER

Game 101 | MIN 10, LAD 7: Seven RBIs from Bottom of Lineup Fuel Much-Needed Victory

Lewis, Vazquez: 6 RBI

Game 102 | LAD 4, MIN 3: Jax Blows One-Run Lead in 9th, Freeman Delivers Walk-Off

Jax: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER

Game 103 | MIN 1, WAS 0: Zebby Mows Down Nationals, Buxton's Sac Fly Carries Twins

Matthews: 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K

Game 104 | WAS 9, MIN 3: Big Hits Elude Twins and Mistakes Mount in Lethargic Loss

Twins offense: 1-12 RISP

Game 105 | WAS 7, MIN 2: Another Series Slips Away Behind Sloppy, Ugly Baseball

Adams: 3.1 IP, 5 ER

IF YOU'D RATHER LISTEN TO THE WEEK IN REVIEW THAN READ IT, YOU CAN GET IT IN AUDIO FORM! FIND THE LATEST EPISODE ON OUR PODCAST PAGE, AS WELL AS ON APPLE AND SPOTIFY. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNELS SO YOU DON'T MISS OUT!

NEWS & NOTES

On Friday night, Bailey Ober made his second rehab start with the Saints, and it once again went well in terms of results: 5 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K. Is he ready to return? He certainly looks out of place in Triple-A, and there are no signs of anything amiss physically, so Ober should be back in the Twins rotation very soon. 

The rotation suddenly needs him after losing David Festa to the injured list on Wednesday due to shoulder inflammation. Travis Adams was recalled to fill in on the pitching staff for the time being. Losing Festa is tough given his talent and ability, but the reality is that his performance has been quite spotty this year as he's been unable to settle into any kind of consistent groove. Hopefully a little time off enables him to come back fresh and more effective.

Joining Festa on the injured list two days later was reliever Anthony Misiewicz, who exited Wednesday's game with an injury and was later diagnosed with a shoulder impingement. Kody Funderburk is back to replace him as a lefty in the bullpen, and that could actually be an upgrade, although Fundy has struggled mightily in the past two seasons and had another rocky re-entry to the majors this time around, allowing three runs in two innings on Saturday.

The Twins made a catching depth swap on the 40-man roster. Jair Camargo was designated for assignment and subsequently released, following Diego Cartaya out the door. With that, the Twins have parted ways with both Triple-A backstops that entered this season as the top organizational depth behind Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez. Jhonny Pereda, a 29-year-old journeyman recently placed on waivers by the Athletics, was claimed and added to the 40-man roster to replenish the lost catching depth. The future of this position for the Twins is beyond murky with Vázquez headed for free agency this winter and Jeffers just one year behind.

For now, the Twins made it clear that Mickey Gasper is third on the MLB catching hierarchy; he was called up on Saturday for a temporary stint while Jeffers is on the paternity list. (Congrats!)

A final note of relief: Byron Buxton excited Saturday's game with what was described as soreness in his side, and sat out Sunday's series finale against Washington, but Rocco Baldelli shared postgame that an MRI revealed rib cartilage irritation rather than anything more serious, and Buck is considered day-to-day.

HIGHLIGHTS

For nearly a full calendar year, fans have been waiting for the real Royce Lewis to stand up. Hobbled by a series of lower-body injuries, which he recently admitted have taken a toll on him, Lewis was one of the least productive hitters in baseball over a stretch of several months in a stunning fall-off from his prodigious peak. As Royce himself grasped for answers and the numbers continued to flounder, it was only natural to wonder if the superstar capability was still in there.

The past week provided some resounding affirmation on that front. Lewis appears to have turned a corner in sharp and sudden fashion. Springboarding off a two-homer game in Colorado to close out the previous week, Lewis went 8-for-22 with another homer, four doubles and five RBIs. He walked twice with just one strikeout in 24 plate appearances. It's not just the numbers that offer encouragement; there's a visible confidence and lightness that have returned to Royce. He looks like a different guy in the box than he did at the depths of his unrelenting slump. This could be a game-changer for the Twins if they can find a way to stay in the fight.

 

The breakthrough performance from Zebby Matthews on Friday night also could portend favorably for the Twins going forward. Granted, he was going against a very bad last-place team with a sub-mediocre offense. But Matthews finally pulled it all together in his finest major-league start, striking out seven with only two hits allowed in six shutout innings. What really sticks out here is that Zebby finally put his famously masterful control on display at the big-league level, avoiding the lapses and misfires that have plagued him. He had issued at least one walk in 10 straight starts before keeping the BB column clean in this gem. 

 

The injury to Festa elevates Matthews's importance to this rotation. If he can answer the call like he did on Friday and Ober can come back looking stronger, they'll be in solid shape on the starting pitching front.

LOWLIGHTS

The Twins were on their way to what could have potentially been one of their biggest wins of the season on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth, they were on the verge of securing an unlikely series win on the road against the mighty Dodgers, and negating the bad vibes from a series loss in Colorado to open the second half.

With Jhoan Durán unavailable after throwing 29 pitches the previous night, it was Griffin Jax who got the call to come in and seal the deal. He did not.

This was a prototypical Jax disaster outing with all the recognizable ingredients — a combination of factors inside and outside of his control. He was bitten by some bad luck on batted balls as well as an extremely questionable umpiring call, but once again this disappointment was defined by his inability to show resilience and overcome adversity. Let's be clear: this was a terrible outing for Jax. He induced zero swings and misses on 20 pitches. He inexplicably tried to dance around, and walked, LA's worst hitter (Esteury Ruiz) to put the winning run in scoring position. Then he gave up a rocket to Freddie Freeman on a well-earned walk-off hit, even though Harrison Bader came oh-so close to catching it. 

 

There are plenty of metrics that continue to portray Jax as one of the most dominant relief pitchers in the league, and he's shown that form often enough. There's a reason he's known to be in high demand among buyers with the trade deadline hovering. But despite his prowess, Jax has had way too many of these games, where wins turn into losses under his watch. Aaron Gleeman noted that Wednesday marked the seventh time this year in which Jax lowered Minnesota's win probability by at least 25%, leading the major leagues. Assuming he's still here on Friday, the Twins are going to need much more from Jax than they've gotten in high-pressure situations.

 

Brooks Lee might be on the verge of a demotion back to Triple-A. He's been incapable of making any noise at the plate, with a low-power, low-discipline profile that doesn't offer much in the way of upside. He managed two singles in 12 at-bats last week and is 7-for-57 (.123) with one double, two runs scored and three walks in the month of July. On top of that, the quality of Lee's glovework has been deteriorating as his offensive struggles follow him into the field — his consequential dropped fly ball in Saturday's game enters the running for ugliest defensive moment in a season with all too many contenders.

Luke Keaschall continues to progress in his rehab at Triple-A, now moving beyond DH restriction and making starts at second base. As he advances, the clock could and should be ticking on Lee, although obviously the Twins' deadline dealings will have an effect on any such shakeup.

Shakeups are all but certainly coming in some fashion, and they've been earned by this lackluster ballclub. At a time where the Twins needed to give us (and the front office) any kind of reason to believe, they instead just gave us more of the opposite, putting forth another week of uninspired, sloppy, non-urgent play with everything on the line.

Defensive plays were missed constantly, and not just by Lee. Big hits were nowhere to be found — the Twins went 1-for-21 over the weekend with runners in scoring position. Carlos Correa had one extra-base hit (a double) in 23 plate appearances on the week. Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach went a combined 4-for-27 with four RBIs.

Serial rally killer Willi Castro grounded into four double plays in a 4-for-25 week that included seven strikeouts, one walk and zero RBIs. Much like he did in the second half last year, Castro is disappearing when the offense needs him to step up. It'd no surprise if he actually disappears from the roster within the next few days, and you know what? Whatever. He's had a commendable run in here in Minnesota after being signed to a minor-league deal but I'm ready to move on. 

TRENDING STORYLINE

The trade deadline arrives this coming Thursday, July 31st, at 5:00 PM CT. As a team with slim contention hopes and plenty of useful contending pieces — including a handful on expiring contracts — the Twins will be open for business in the coming days. Their full mindset is unclear, but by now, at least some some level of light selling feels inevitable. If this season is ultimately destined to be a lemon, maybe the Twins can squeeze some lemonade out of it down the line.

Given Minnesota's position in the standings and underwhelming play, I would be surprised if the front office didn't flip multiple rental players in exchange for future assets. Bader and Danny Coulombe probably top the list of likelihood, with Castro up there as well. 

I would be equally surprised if the Twins traded Joe Ryan, given his importance to a 2026 team that still has plenty of promise depending on how the offense gets addressed. Jax and Jhoan Durán, or another controllable reliever like Brock Stewart, are in a similar boat as Ryan but less off-limits should the right offer come along. Whether or not they choose to cash in on one or more of their highly regarded relief arms might be the most intriguing narrative surrounding the Twins front office at this deadline. Only a few more days to go.

 

For additional reading, here's a rundown of some of our latest deadline-focused content. There will be plenty more to come in the week ahead, including Twins Daily's official deadline primer going live on Monday morning.

• How One Twins Reliever Is Under-the-Radar Before the MLB Trade Deadline
• These 4 Phenom Prospects Could Convince the Twins to Trade Joe Ryan
• Three Under-the-Radar NL Teams That Could Trade for Willi Castro
• Should Derek Falvey Be Trusted to Make Trade Decisions on Jax, Duran and Ryan?
• The Pressly Paradox: Why Selling Relievers Is a Precarious Path
• Twins Could Get Creative by Shopping 3 Former Top Prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline
• The Twins Could Be Sellers and Still Make the Playoffs. (They've Done It Before!) 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Red Sox come to town looking to reinforce their presence in the AL postseason race as the Twins watch their last wisps of hope fade away. With the trade deadline land on an off day in between series, Minnesota may show up in Cleveland on Friday with a differently constructed roster. 

MONDAY, JULY 28: RED SOX @ TWINS — RHP Richard Fitts v. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
TUESDAY, JULY 29: RED SOX @ TWINS — RHP Lucas Giolito v. RHP Chris Paddack
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30: RED SOX @ TWINS — RHP Brayan Bello v. RHP Zebby Matthews
[MLB TRADE DEADLINE]
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1: TWINS @ GUARDIANS — RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Gavin Williams
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2: TWINS @ GUARDIANS — TBD v. RHP Tanner Bibee
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3: TWINS @ GUARDIANS — RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. RHP Joey Cantillo

View full article

[TwinsChupacabra]

Can we trade Rocco too?  Please?!!!

[thelanges5]

This!

Only a complete lack of heart and fight from a group of players that has fully earned whatever dismantling is about to come.

[mikelink45]

There is nothing left to say. So I will say nothing.

[LastOnePicked]

"This is the most disappointing Twins team I've followed in at least 10 years. Unlike so many others that have fallen short of expectations, this one can't point to an abundance of injuries or misfortune for its failure. Only a complete lack of heart and fight from a group of players that has fully earned whatever dismantling is about to come."

Imagine that you work for an up-and-coming company. Your manager is a genuinely decent human being, but your department basically collapses under his direction. Mental errors everywhere. Misfortune and poor decisions abound. You miss all sales goals/productivity targets, and no one gets a bonus. Just a total disaster. The company gives everyone a few weeks off while the organization regroups.

You come back, and you've got the exact same manager. You don't want to complain - he's a great guy, after all - but your heart and your spirit sink. How are things going to be any different? How do you think the employees are going to do in that scenario? How''s that next business quarter going to look?

Keeping Rocco was a terrible, terrible decision. It deflated the season from Day One. That's the lack of heart and fight you mention. It's not a great team regardless, but this roster is certainly capable of being a pesky .500 club. It's long, long past time to move on from Baldelli. In fact, it's past time for a total rebuild.

[Patzky]

23 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

This!

Only a complete lack of heart and fight from a group of players that has fully earned whatever dismantling is about to come.

If the uncertainty about dismantling  has poisoned the locker room, the locker room has only itself to look at as the reason for the dismantling.

 

Target Field Recycles. 

[chinmusic]

Spectre of ownership change has been a dark cloud hanging over the season. Hasn't helped.

In an earlier article, this was referred to as "purgatorial ownership issues".

Amen to that.

[Vanimal46]

Well Nick, did the last 2 games finally convert you to the dark side? 

Happens to us all. Sell the team. Then clean sweep of leadership. Rocco could/probably should be fired at any point this season. Falvey’s gotta go when we miss the playoffs 4 out of 5 years. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

18 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Keeping Rocco was a terrible, terrible decision.

Correct.

[SarasotaBill]

Traded everyone on their last year and send down Lee and Walner.

Worst than missing the pop up in RF yesterday, Lee didn't get over to the foul line for a relay to the plate. Practically every teenager knows where to go with bases loaded and a hit into the corner. He needs a major reset before next year.

Walner is lost at the plate.

Bring up Keaschall as soon as he's ready to play in the field.

Bring up Eeles when Castro is traded. Need some life in that dugout.

Bring up Martin, McCusker, and Julian to replace Bader, Walner, and France. This team needs to be shaken up.

[NYCTK]

30 minutes ago, SarasotaBill said:

Traded everyone on their last year and send down Lee and Walner.

Worst than missing the pop up in RF yesterday, Lee didn't get over to the foul line for a relay to the plate. Practically every teenager knows where to go with bases loaded and a hit into the corner. He needs a major reset before next year.

Walner is lost at the plate.

Bring up Keaschall as soon as he's ready to play in the field.

Bring up Eeles when Castro is traded. Need some life in that dugout.

Bring up Martin, McCusker, and Julian to replace Bader, Walner, and France. This team needs to be shaken up.

This potential roster shake up, while probably a worse team, is way more interesting than this squad. 

[DJL44]

This upcoming week will be the most consequential of the entire season.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, SarasotaBill said:

Worst than missing the pop up in RF yesterday, Lee didn't get over to the foul line for a relay to the plate. Practically every teenager knows where to go with bases loaded and a hit into the corner. He needs a major reset before next year.

While I believe Brooks Lee could be a good third baseman, he is too slow to play second base. I had the same reaction on that relay ball. We always coached the player to catch and throw with your body in line and then Lee does a full pirouette. WTF. Done correctly the batter is out, easy. Lee seems down. Then again, I hope I'm not too hard on the young guy and remember I wanted (want) him traded to Milwaukee for Quero. That's not likely an option any longer.

No use in wondering about what I don't know (the clubhouse) but I hope the Twins can hustle versus Boston like they did against the Dodgers. The last 3 games were sad.

While the Twins should not be giving away their expiring contracts, they should able to spin a few decent trades to acquire talent. There are a number of teams that feel this is their year. The Twins should be playing the role of helper. Get it done Falvey ,,,, this week. We can wait until after the Red Sox series, but the expiring contracts and Jax should be in new uniforms next weekend.

[USAFChief]

"Finish the job there, sweep the lowly Nationals at home over the weekend, and the Twins would be back above the .500 mark as we speak, ruling out any notion of a sell-off as we head into deadline week"

 

Really?

I hope to hell nobody in a Twins leadershio position thinks the Twins are one half of one week from contending. Or would be in any position to BUY, ferpetesakes.

Because they are not. Preparing for 2026 and beyond should be a long forgone certainty regardless of Jax most recent throw up and a weekend series with the Nats.

 

Geez.

[Nick Nelson]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Well Nick, did the last 2 games finally convert you to the dark side? 

Happens to us all. Sell the team. Then clean sweep of leadership. Rocco could/probably should be fired at any point this season. Falvey’s gotta go when we miss the playoffs 4 out of 5 years. 

I said in the tweet you referenced that I was not excited about the concept of selling and I continue to be very unexcited about it. So, no.

[Blyleven2011]

Week in review  ....

Only positive to report is zebulon is twins pitcher and player of the week ...

[stringer bell]

I'm totally frustrated by this team. The performance on the field has been uneven, uninspired, unclutch and unremarkable. The manager could and should pay the price but I don't think any manager would turn this club around. As far as personnel, Lee, Wallner and lately Larnach have not done the job. Correa has given every sign of a prematurely aging star and Buxton had a rough patch culminating with an injury (hopefully minor).

Reinforcements from St. Paul likely won't do much but it makes total sense to change for the sake of change at this point.

I like the pitching staff and their production a lot more than the position players. Maybe there's room to trade an arm to enhance talent to help the team in the future. Griffin Jax's is not unlike the Twins. Early struggles, then a really nice stretch and when the season is on the line disappointment.  

[Vanimal46]

13 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

I said in the tweet you referenced that I was not excited about the concept of selling and I continue to be very unexcited about it. So, no.

You do you man but I don’t know what you’re holding onto with this core of players. If they’re that talented and underperforming this much, Rocco should be fired by tomorrow’s game. 

[Blyleven2011]

9 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

I said in the tweet you referenced that I was not exciting about the concept of selling and I continue to be very unexcited about it. So, no.

Nick could you get excited if they fired baldelli  , because in my opinion we will never win with him , I don't care that he has a winning percentage and he won manager of the year  , players had career years and he finally had to manage 2019 post season and flopped  , the 2020 again had a winning season and again flopped in post season  ...

He may be a players manager but he is very close to Ray Miller as the worst manager in twins history  ...

[TheLeviathan]

Man...I knew Lee had been bad lately but those totals for July are preposterously bad.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Vanimal46 said:

You do you man but I don’t know what you’re holding onto with this core of players. If they’re that talented and underperforming this much, Rocco should be fired by tomorrow’s game. 

Missing the playoffs for four of five years.... And people want to stick with this manager and group of players?

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, TheLeviathan said:

Man...I knew Lee had been bad lately but those totals for July are preposterously bad.

It's remarkable really. It's all gone downhill

[TheLeviathan]

9 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

You do you man but I don’t know what you’re holding onto with this core of players. If they’re that talented and underperforming this much, Rocco should be fired by tomorrow’s game. 

Here's my thing....why are we judging the right thing to do by what excites us or not?  That was the flaw in the argument a few weeks ago too.

I'm not advocating we sell because I've got my popcorn out and I equate a prospect trade with a playoff win.  I'm advocating we sell because the product my eyeballs are seeing is quite CLEARLY not good enough.  Not even close to good enough.  Circling the wagons and standing pat won't change that.

Frankly, Nick's argument was a fallacious framework from the start.  You sell for three plainly clear reasons: 1) no reinforcements are coming by free agency 2) trades are the only way you'll get out of baseball purgatory other than pure, blind luck with prospect development (which would be a total 180 from the last five years) and 3) we'll have to get a LOT better to have a chance to be more than a playoff doormat.

Being better is what would excite me.  Selling is the only path to that outcome.

[Vanimal46]

41 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I hope to hell nobody in a Twins leadershio position thinks the Twins are one half of one week from contending. Or would be in any position to BUY, ferpetesakes.

Funny in a sport with large sample sizes, and SSS alerts, they decide within a week whether they’re buyers or sellers. It’s been obvious since mid April what to do with this roster. Sell 

[NYCTK]

5 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Funny in a sport with large sample sizes, and SSS alerts, they decide within a week whether they’re buyers or sellers. It’s been obvious since mid April what to do with this roster. Sell 

It's been obvious since March 2024. The longer they wait the bigger the sell off has to be. 

[TheLeviathan]

7 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

It's been obvious since March 2024. The longer they wait the bigger the sell off has to be. 

I think you could make a case that if the Twins had gotten a healthy, productive Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, and Matt Wallner we might be having a different conversation.  (Plus Correa not turning 57 before our eyes.  The cliff is real)  You can squint and see the path they were hoping for.

But reality is here.  Copout arguments about whether this is "exciting" or not doesn't change the fact that the Twins are getting a season from Buxton that might yield MVP votes and one from Ryan that might get Cy Young votes and they still look like trash.  Too much didn't work out to lie to yourself that this team is worth investing in.

Any time spent continuing to perpetuate that lie only bleakens the future.  Whatever possibilities it may hold.

[TwinsChupacabra]

"He may be a players manager but he is very close to Ray Miller as the worst manager in twins history"

He already passed Miller a while ago. I was in college when we lived through the Ray Miller experience.  When he got fired, my roommates and I had a party.  It was nice to have our team be able to recognize incompetence and do something about it.   Those days are gone.

Now, you get the 1-2 punch of front office AND management incompetence with the only real hope of change coming from a potential new owner who knows something about absolute failure and has the brains and will to do something about it. 

[Nick Nelson]

1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

Here's my thing....why are we judging the right thing to do by what excites us or not?  That was the flaw in the argument a few weeks ago too.

The tweet he pulled up was not about what's the "right thing to do." The point of that tweet, unrelated to this article, was that I wasn't going to spend much time speculating about what the Twins might get in return for Willi Castro because I just don't care. I didn't, I don't. 

Like what is even your point here, are you just trying to manufacture an opposing argument? The actual content of the article you're commenting on is all about how the Twins are going to sell their rentals and should sell them at this point.

I didn't want to resign to selling conversations "a few weeks ago" because the trade deadline was still a month away and I like to try to enjoy the baseball season. 

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

You do you man but I don’t know what you’re holding onto with this core of players. If they’re that talented and underperforming this much, Rocco should be fired by tomorrow’s game. 

What does breaking apart this core of players look like, in practicality? Get specific with me here Van. You can't trade Correa or Buxton. Trading Lee or Wallner or Larnach with their value at a low point is unwise, I hope you'd agree. 

I'm not "holding onto this core." I'm being realistic about the situation. If you're saying you want them to trade all their best players away and commit to being bad in the name of some vague rudderless rebuild, then no, I reject that notion fully.

They have to make it work with largely this talent nucleus going forward, and the prospects upcoming in the system, like it or not. As far as making a change at manager or anywhere else in the organization, I'm very open to that conversation. Something is obviously not working. But the idea of "breaking up the core" at this point in time is a fantasy. Sorry to burst your bubble!

[TheLeviathan]

57 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

Like what is even your point here, are you just trying to manufacture an opposing argument? The actual content of the article you're commenting on is all about how the Twins are going to sell their rentals and should sell them at this point.

If the point of your article is that the Twins are sellers and should be sellers, then this is a pivot from previous arguments you have made.  And the problem is....you keep working really, really hard to make disingenuous, unfair arguments to make your point.  Before it was "lol"ing at people who saw this team's prognosis before you did.  Accusing them of being "excited".  Framing arguments as unfairly as possible.  Did you lay out an alternative that didn't involve selling to help this team get better?  Nope.  Are you now going to claim to be as "Excited" as you unfairly labeled others now that you too want to sell?  Nope.  No Nick....instead you doubled down.  Don't believe me?  Allow me to sample from this very post!

If you're saying you want them to trade all their best players away and commit to being bad in the name of some vague rudderless rebuild, then no, I reject that notion fully.

No one.....and I mean no one - not even those of us who are willing to entertain Jax/Duran or Ryan....is making this argument.  It's such a blatant strawman.  At no point have you been willing to engage with the idea of selling in a way that wasn't a bunch of cheap shots or bad faith arguments.  Van just brought receipts.  

What it seems like is that you're taking your frustrations on how the season has played out on fans who just saw the writing on the wall before you did.  Rather than admit "Yup....changed my mind.  I held out hope longer.  I'm not excited and I'm guessing none of you were either.  This sucks...but it's the only way" you keep doubling down on bad faith arguments.

So I'll say again - none of us are, nor have we been, excited to conclude this team is going nowhere.  None of us want to watch a 63 win, rudderless bunch of hacks.  None of us have been on this position because we WANT to be.  We're here because the only path to being better, is to try something different.  To try to add something else to the core we are stuck with.  Welcome to the club.....I promise none of us will slander your reasons for joining.

 

[S Bart]

"Down 7-2 in the 9th and you pitch Duran. The same idiotic choice Rocco made in LA and then he could not use him in the 3rd game due to his inning restriction rules."  Prior posting made by me in the last game chat, So, I then listened to the Skor North broadcast and a rationale was floated. Apparently, club scouts were scouting Duran. Did Rocco put Duran in the game so that scouts could view him pitching for trade purposes? I then read a Gleeman article about Falvey looking beyond 2025. I understand trades will take place, but I hope that Rocco/Falvey did not take such an approach. The current Front Office/manager have made this fan since 1965 feel dispirited beyond belief this year.