Mariners 5, Twins 3: Taj Bradley Shines Bright, But Twins Can't Get to Out 27

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Falvey didn't leave until the end of January, a couple of weeks before spring training.  He set the tone and plan for the upcoming season starting last fall.  Zoll had to pick up the pieces.

Zoll was the GM and he hasn’t made any changes since Falvey left. He owns it.

[karcherd]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

Zoll was the GM and he hasn’t made any changes since Falvey left. He owns it.

The best chance for meaningful upgrades was earlier in the offseason.  I am not letting Zoll completely off the hook, but Falvey created the template for the season, there is no way to dispute this based on the timing of his leaving.

[William K Johnson]

12 hours ago, Nshore said:

I totally agree.  Never understood Buxton leading off.  It's a story of the big contract wags the dog.

Martin should leadoff with Buxton batting third.

[Jeff K]

3 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Falvey was here for a decade. The Twins missed the postseason 4 of the last 5 years, even with one of, if not the highest, payrolls in the division. That doesn't happen just because ownership is terrible. I mean, who gave Correa that contract and then traded him? 

A couple weeks of poor playing isn't that upsetting, but awful roster construction is. The FO had a limited budget, no doubt, and yet they (Falvey) chose to spend a significant portion to retain a player who is essentially a left handed DH,  then another chunk on a backup C, and finally another DH who can't hang at 1B all while having a roster that already included a RF that was essentially a DH and an oft injured CF & 3B that will need time at DH. Oh, and the defense at 2B, SS, and even C don't come close to league average. 

The 2026 payroll is ridiculous, but Josh Bell and Victor Caratini have a combined 0 WAR right now. 

Roster construction by Frankenstein.

[stringer bell]

10 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The bullpen was worse just last season after the deadline.

Fair point, but I disagree. Funderburk (after the trade deadline) was far better than any Twins reliever this year (including 2026 Funderburk). The Twins don't have a single guy who is better than a 50-50 shot to pitch a scoreless inning. I think we can count on our fingers the number of shutdown performances (no runners allowed) for even a portion of an inning.

[Whitey333]

Twins are 2-11 in last 13 games.  Enough said.

[stringer bell]

12 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm feeling more optimistic about the Twins today than I did in late March. The players are busting it and doing what they can to make the plays they are capable of making given their talent. The mental mistakes have been decreased quite a bit from the last two years and even from early in April when they won more games.

The starting pitching looks very promising. Taj Bradley was still very good in the 7th inning. Credit to Shelton for letting him pitch. Well conditioned pitchers who throw easy can go past 110 pitches. Taj had great stuff right through the last batter. Give Seattle some credit for hitting (4 hits) and battling a tough arm.

Perhaps as sonn as May or June there may be some new players in uniform. A regular playing in the infield and another in the outfield plus maybe three arms could give the Twins a big boost.

I can hang in and wait until the troops arrive. This team is more fun than the last two years.

Yes, there are positives. I'm optimistic that Abel is going to be okay and become a big-time starting pitcher. Add in Bradley, Prielipp and maybe Zebby or Rojas and the Twins have a good number of young, controllable starting pitchers. That is either a great start to a nucleus or a tremendous amount of trade value. Austin Martin looks like a player, Ryan Jeffers is a valuable trade piece, and Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are comparatively healthy. Brooks Lee looks like he might be a major league hitter and Trevor Larnach has had his best run as a Twin.

The bullpen is awful. So is the defense. None of the prospects at AAA have pushed their way to the majors and several guys (Wallner, Keaschall and Lewis especially) haven't performed up to expectations. This season is looking pretty bad on the win-loss ledger. Guys who haven't thrown a pitch or had an at-bat for the team will probably determine whether the team has improved for the future.

 

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, stringer bell said:

Yes, there are positives. I'm optimistic that Abel is going to be okay and become a big-time starting pitcher. Add in Bradley, Prielipp and maybe Zebby or Rojas and the Twins have a good number of young, controllable starting pitchers. That is either a great start to a nucleus or a tremendous amount of trade value. Austin Martin looks like a player, Ryan Jeffers is a valuable trade piece, and Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are comparatively healthy. Brooks Lee looks like he might be a major league hitter and Trevor Larnach has had his best run as a Twin.

The bullpen is awful. So is the defense. None of the prospects at AAA have pushed their way to the majors and several guys (Wallner, Keaschall and Lewis especially) haven't performed up to expectations. This season is looking pretty bad on the win-loss ledger. Guys who haven't thrown a pitch or had an at-bat for the team will probably determine whether they have the team has improved for the future.

 

Agree the bullpen needs to be improved and I have (to the point of being obnoxious) pushed the necessity of better gloves for at least three years. The poor defense has a direct effect on a bullpen that cannot strike out batters out.

Despite watching or listening to most games every year, I was pretty down on the Twins the last few years and did not see a team that was ticking up even when the record was decent. For whatever reason I see positives in this 2026 team.

There is work to do. It will be interesting to see how the front office moves forward. There was almost no moves last winter. Tough to improve without trading players. Free agency is not a cure-all.

[stringer bell]

12 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Agree the bullpen needs to be improved and I have (to the point of being obnoxious) pushed the necessity of better gloves for at least three years. The poor defense has a direct effect on a bullpen that cannot strike out batters out.

Despite watching or listening to most games every year, I was pretty down on the Twins the last few years and did not see a team that was ticking up even when the record was decent. For whatever reason I see positives in this 2026 team.

There is work to do. It will be interesting to see how the front office moves forward. There was almost no moves last winter. Tough to improve without trading players. Free agency is not a cure-all.

The trade deadline was the Twins' offseason IMHO. They made a statement that they weren't good enough to contend and added young reinforcements--Abel, Bradley, Rojas, Roden and guys like Mendez and Tait who might be stars in a couple of years. That is at least a soft rebuild.

Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers will be much sought after before this year's trading deadline. Other veterans or players under team control could go too (Bell, Larnach, Lewis, Ober). Ownership can pay lip service to contending, but with all the holes in the bullpen and a leaky defense, this team has to be turned over. 

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, William K Johnson said:

Martin should leadoff with Buxton batting third.

I certainly agree, but apparently the star, Buxton, much prefers to lead off. I don't like seeing so many solo homers from Buck, but he does do things that energize the team and that works from the leadoff role. However he's never had a really high OBP and he's not stealing bases.

[Hunter4848]

17 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I certainly agree, but apparently the star, Buxton, much prefers to lead off. I don't like seeing so many solo homers from Buck, but he does do things that energize the team and that works from the leadoff role. However he's never had a really high OBP and he's not stealing bases.

How exactly does he energize the team?

[David HK]

The gnarly bunch of pedestrians in that moribund BP absolutely cannot be trusted, to a man. We may start looking like Billy Martin's Matt Keogh/ Rick Langford A's of the early 80s, burning all our starters to the ground. 

[tony&rodney]

43 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The trade deadline was the Twins' offseason IMHO. They made a statement that they weren't good enough to contend and added young reinforcements--Abel, Bradley, Rojas, Roden and guys like Mendez and Tait who might be stars in a couple of years. That is at least a soft rebuild.

Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers will be much sought after before this year's trading deadline. Other veterans or players under team control could go too (Bell, Larnach, Lewis, Ober). Ownership can pay lip service to contending, but with all the holes in the bullpen and a leaky defense, this team has to be turned over. 

Again, I agree with your thoughts on the trade deadline being the offseason. I did think there were a number of really good opportunities to add talent. The lack of vision hurt though. In December the arrival of Tom Pohlad and then the firing of Falvey certainly brought things to a standstill.

It will be interesting to see what the Twins manage to accomplish with Jeffers, Bell, and other. I could see Jeffers being offered a 3 year deal but he is likely to go to free agency. Ryan is important because he can be the Ace for another year before he goes somewhere else. I don't see the Twins offering enough money to keep him. 

One wonders if any team feels that Wallner, Lewis, or others (not in first two years) have any value. 

[tony&rodney]

6 minutes ago, David HK said:

We may start looking like Billy Martin's Matt Keogh/ Rick Langford A's of the early 80s, burning all our starters to the ground. 

I'm assuming you are thinking that going beyond 100 pitches is dangerous territory for a starting pitcher. I have stated numerous times in the last few years that the number of pitches thrown should be looked at from a case to case and outing by outing basis. Taj Bradley was still cruising at 114 pitches as he closed out the 7th inning. That is reasonable territory for him. We saw Mick Abel tire a bit as he approached 90 pitches and Joe Ryan seems to lose command around 100 pitches. There are quite a few pitchers who can easily go to 110+ pitches as they are fully built up for that number. The pitching coach and manager are pretty tuned in and not extending anyone at this time.

Billy Martin never had much interest in pitchers and regularly believed they could go 125-150 pitches. That was also in a four man rotation. 

The current iteration of the Twins bullpen is a wreck but help could be on the way in a few weeks. I am more concerned about the defense and hitting. 

[mark sills]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Fair point, but I disagree. Funderburk (after the trade deadline) was far better than any Twins reliever this year (including 2026 Funderburk). The Twins don't have a single guy who is better than a 50-50 shot to pitch a scoreless inning. I think we can count on our fingers the number of shutdown performances (no runners allowed) for even a portion of an inning.

morris first inning each relief outing only has one blemish no runs

[David Maro]

The last thing a RP can do is come in and walk the leadoff hitter. This is a bad BP period and needs changes other than bringing in over the hill bodies. 

This game was lost by the inability to get the ball in play with bases loaded again. And again Buxton failed to do anything but swing for the fences hitting a can of corn to LF. He needs to think more about the game of baseball not about his stats.

[Colbeh]

4 hours ago, Hunter4848 said:

You must be Falveys one and only fan!

He has had his flaws and mistakes, just like every GM in sports history. But I liked what he did prior to the 2025 season.

I thought he assembled a pretty respectable pitching staff during his time. But I believe he deserves a little leeway with how the payroll was handled by ownership.

Ownership slashing payroll after that playoff win put him in an incredibly difficult spot after paying Correa and Pablo. 

[karcherd]

2 hours ago, William K Johnson said:

Martin should leadoff with Buxton batting third.

First they need to play Martin regularly before you can put him in the leadoff spot.

[David HK]

14 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Small nit to pick. With the infield back, the tying run scores. Even with the infield back, it’s not a certainty that Keaschall makes the play to get the batter out. It was a medium ground ball almost directly between the middle infielders. 
 

Orze stayed in to get a strikeout. Rogers K numbers have shrunk considerably. Still, I think bringing him in there might have been a good call.

This is the worst Twins bullpen in my memory. There is no one who has generated trust in the ninth inning. 

I would submit you could add the 5th-8th innings as well.

[Calle1973]

I just stop watching when they take the SP out. Its good for my blood pressure.

[David HK]

2 hours ago, Jeff K said:

Roster construction by Frankenstein.

Especially the BP.  "Abby, somebody..." 🤔

[USAFChief]

50 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The current iteration of the Twins bullpen is a wreck but help could be on the way in a few weeks. 

I'm intrigued. Specifically?

[The Great Hambino]

17 minutes ago, David HK said:

Especially the BP.  "Abby, somebody..." 🤔

So Falvey is Frederik and Zoll is Igor?  Does that make Tom Inspector Kemp or Frau Blucher?

The Twins Daily community is definitely the townspeople

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Again, I agree with your thoughts on the trade deadline being the offseason. I did think there were a number of really good opportunities to add talent. The lack of vision hurt though. In December the arrival of Tom Pohlad and then the firing of Falvey certainly brought things to a standstill.

It will be interesting to see what the Twins manage to accomplish with Jeffers, Bell, and other. I could see Jeffers being offered a 3 year deal but he is likely to go to free agency. Ryan is important because he can be the Ace for another year before he goes somewhere else. I don't see the Twins offering enough money to keep him. 

One wonders if any team feels that Wallner, Lewis, or others (not in first two years) have any value. 

Jeffers won’t make it to free agency as a Twin. If the extension isn’t done (not necessarily announced) by the trade deadline, he’s getting dealt.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

The fact that any MLB team has Eric Orze pitching the 9th in a one run game save situation is malpractice.

There is NO defense of the Varland trade.  NONE.

But, I do get tired of everyone complaining about trading away the rest of the bullpen.  Wouldn't most of us trade Jax for Bradley and Duran for Abel and Tait even today?  I know I would.  

 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

A bullpen filled with arms that can't make bats miss and can't throw strikes backed up by one of the worst infield defenses in baseball. Sounds like a recipe for 'contending' if you ask me.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Fundy's close to 2025 was probably fool's gold. After the deadline, it is silly season in MLB and you get a lot of teams, the Twins included, that are checked out and have line-up's that resemble a AAA team. He's certainly more serviceable than the rest of the bullpen arms, but in an ideal world, Fundy is 7th or 8th on the bullpen pecking order.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

I'm intrigued. Specifically?

Rojas can work as a LH arm and Festa may not be too far behind. Perhaps Morris gets used as a 1 inning reliever as well. Maybe even another fellow ...

[karcherd]

9 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Rojas can work as a LH arm and Festa may not be too far behind. Perhaps Morris gets used as a 1 inning reliever as well. Maybe even another fellow ...

Have you told Zoll of your plan because I don't think he got the memo.  Right now they have Rojas on their 4 inning program, which is short hand for a starting role in the minor leagues.  I don't think they are looking at Rojas to be in the bullpen.  Whether they should or not is another issue.

[laloesch]

17 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

This organization is a truck stuck in the mud. The wheels are spinning and s*** is being thrown everywhere. The truck isn’t going anywhere until we find new people who can push us out of the mud. 

Interesting analogy but accurate.  They have to find other options for the bullpen.  If you can't hold a lead or keep the damage to a minimum there's no amount of offense that will be sufficient.  I think there are guys they can call up to start remedying the offense but the pen is a different animal.