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Grasping defeat from the clutches of victory 3 times in a 5 game set is rather disheartening, to say the least. Hell, grasping a losing series from the clutches of a sweep is even worse. Gotta do something about the pen.

Rocco: "There have been times where Emilio Pagán is one of the best relievers in baseball, he knows what that feels like. Right now his stuff is actually good, the execution is not good." Translation: "Pagan is pitching terribly... but my excel spreadsheet says that he should be pitching good, so I need to keep sending him out there in high leverage situations... (oh my excel spreadsheet... my precious...)"

I have to think it’s a little hard for Rocco to look 25 guys in the face tonight. Going into tonight, the Twins had played Cleveland 6 times in the last 8 days. They were 3-3, with all 3 losses directly attributable to Emilio Pagan. Rocco’s decision to put him in was utter lunacy. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, GoT level shame on me. Fool me four times? “Hi, my name’s Rocco Baldelli”.

The bullpen implosion was a disaster - unfortunately, not that unexpected of this club. I mean, we are kinda getting used to it, right? Pagan is, like, 9/15 in save situations. The thread will focus on this I’m sure. However, the little things from the position players once again bit this team in the rear. Arraez’s throwing error in the first was unnecessary and led to a run. Celestino not picking up the 3rd base coach and stopping at second likely cost the Twins another run. That’s a net two runs, proving costly. No need to even mention the passed ball. We need to clean up these little things because they are having a big impact. Our relief corp isn’t strong enough to overcome these mental mistakes in the field, at the plate, and on the base paths.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.... or more simply.... Pitching Pagan in relief Trading Rogers at the outset of the season has turned out to be every bit as devastating as some on this site predicted at the time. Taylor Roger's WARP (Wins Above Replacement of Pagan) would be about 8 already!

Late inning relievers must be able to throw strikes. They just have to. Or they can’t get those innings. Fail with someone else and it wouldn’t hurt as bad.

Capps/ Reed/ Dyson/ Colome/ Pagan The Twins have an impressively awful track record of bringing in vet relievers, while also letting go of stud arms like Pressley/ Rodgers.

Pitcher A — 6.5 H/9, 1.9 HR/9, 5.1 BB/9, 7.4 SO/9 Pitcher B — 7.5 H/9, 2.1 HR/9, 5.0 BB/9, 12.1 SO/9 Pitcher C — 9.5 H/9, 1.7 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9 Pitcher D — 7.3 H/9, 0.0 HR/9, 4.2 BB/9, 7.3 SO/9 You’re Rocco Baldeli, who do you go to with a three run lead in the 10th? People need to stop pretending like there was an obviously better alternative. The problem is that they are all bad. That includes Cotton, whose underlying numbers are really not discernibly better than Pagán’s, he’s just been luckier so people have fooled themselves into thinking he’s better. Look at the options above and tell me who you would’ve chosen.

Although the hour is late---------A few things to mention after the latest edition of "Groundhog Day" from our bullpen. Go ahead and bring the criticism but the BLAME for these recent losses, imo, falls 95% at the hands of our front office......Falvey & Levine. They are the ones that built this bullpen--------NOT........ Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli continues to be hamstrung by a GM/front office that ignored and continues to ignore the glaring need for bullpen improvements. Saying that, the only "blame" that I could hand out to Baldelli tonight would be his choice to start Pagan in the 10th inning instead of Cotton. That is a fair argument. Pagan has been nothing more a complete train wreck this month----ERA over 9-------with before tonight---------3 horrible outings against CLE within the past week. Reverting back to my original point--------Falvey/Levine are RESPONSIBLE for this mess. This bullpen has only 3 reliable/consistent pitchers: Duran, Jax and to a lesser extent Thielbar. That's it. The other 5"not ready for prime team" RPs that Falvey has given us are: 1. Tyler Duffey: Not much to say here. Basically unusable in late game/high leverage situations. 2. Jovanni Moran: Rookie. Pitched most of 2021 at AA. Has been average in time at AAA. 3. Tyler Thornburg: Career journeyman. Signed on June 12 as free agent. Your #8 RP 4. The aforementioned Pagan: No further info needed 5. Jharel Cotton: Super rough ending for him tonight due to Pagan's issues, but lets not forget his short history with Twins: Signed to minor league FA deal in offseason. No other team wanted him. DFA'ed by Twins on April 13th. Cleared waivers and (I think) was assigned to AAA-SP DFA'ed a second time on May 17th. Cleared waivers and assigned to SP on May 19th Called up to Twins on June 3 Optioned back to AAA/SP on June 6 Called back to active roster on June 7th * Also: Don't want to forget Falvey's only bullpen add in off season: 38-year old Joe Smith. Was outstanding in April, but as outings/usage increased into May and June his effectiveness waned. Currently on IL. and finally--------as many have noted-------Our best RP---Taylor Rogers was traded away by Falvey for Paddack (out for season/doubtful readiness by start of 2023 season) and....u know who....the Pagan Sacrifice. So, I will end my rant with what I've called for in multiple other posts: Falvey/Levine: What are you doing TONIGHT to upgrade this bullpen??? NOW is the time!! Not next week. Not 2 weeks from now. Not waiting till the trade deadline. You constructed this bullpen---not your manager. Do you want to be playing meaningful games in September? Do you want big crowds and excited fans in the stands at Target Field the next 3 months? Do you want to convince Correa that what you're building here is enough reason to convince him to stay for 2023? Do you want to have the opportunity to break an 18 game losing streak in the playoffs? Do you want to be the GM that see's the Twins win their 1st playoff series in 20 years? Assuming your answer is "YES" to every question posed above-----------the LEAST you can do is to DO YOUR J-O-B! Don't want to hear excuses. Get this corrected NOW!!!!!

Help Wanted - We are looking for 3 bullpen specialists able to start immediately. Qualified candidates must be able to: * Travel extensively 6 possibly 7 months over the course of year. Passport required. Vaccination optional. * Pass random drug tests with the ability to read and understand the labels listing all substances contained in over the counter products. * Lift (and throw) objects roughly the size of a baseball. Candidate can be either right or left handed Minimum Salary is $600,000 Yearly Health Insurance including dental and vision 401K 5 Months of PTO Sign-On Bonus of $35,000 Application can be found at: 1twinsway.com

If a manager essentially refuses to use a reliever unless forced to, then that reliever shouldn't be on the roster. Today's bullpen usage doesn't allow for that. And it's pretty clear why Thornburg was a last resort.

Well ... so much for my thought that Baldelli should have used Thornburg last night instead of Pagan ... sigh. Frustrated.

Tired of everyone making excuses for Rocco. Tired of Rocco. I see no evidence he is learning. Expect more of the same in the future.

These Cleveland games' brutal loses have all been after offensive heroics. Late inning rallies with clutch homers and runs, Just a great high for the team and fans...... and then Baldelli puts in Pagan, again, and again, and again. Crushing. A couple of them with multiple run leads provided with only 3 outs to get. The whole fandom is screaming Noooooooooooo. And it happens again. And the heroics are wasted and made unimportant. And they were really clutch and noteworthy. All for naught. Demoralizing.

If you can't trust a pitcher with a 3-run leda, why is Thornbvurg on the staff? And, Pagan, when all you have to do is throw strikes and put the ball in play, avoid the walk.....stop being wild pitch cute. Can the Twins start using Jax for more than 1 inning, please?

Megill actually intrigued me. But waiver wire claims can't be what you're depending on as the source of a good portion of your pen. Particularly when your starting staff strategy is to target 5 and fly guys as a way to overcome not having any horses. You're going to need 3 or more relievers every night. Often more. And they're all going to pitch important innings. There aren't any low leverage guys in the Twins model.

I blame HR (both human resources and home runs)

I know we're not allowed to question Baldelli here, and I was willing to overlook not using Duran for a 2 inning save in game one of the doubleheader, but.. Then why was he available for 2 innings in a tie game today? I don't get it.

Those of you who crowed about "roster management" when Falvine traded Rogers don't get to complain about the bullpen now. Nor do those who said the bullpen was fine because they had a good fWAR in September last year.

That's the same want ad that Tyler Thornburg responded to. And Cotton, Megill, Cano, Culoumbe, Hamilton and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Adding more from the unemployment line isn't likely to help.

The bullpen is a critical part of a team. The Twins are not superior to the Guardians with this pen. That was foreseeable the moment Rogers was traded. They need to pay up and acquire a Rogers level reliever.

There is almost 0 chance this will be the same bullpen tomorrow. Everyone is shot. An immediate sub that can be done is DFA Thornburg and add Ian Hamilton to the MLB team. Evan Sisk is Rule 5 eligible this offseason and probably worth a look to see if he needs a 40 man spot. I’m not exactly thrilled to see Cano or Minaya again, but desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose.

All of you that don't want Pagan to pitch the 9th finally get your wish and you're still not happy! You guys are impossible to please!

Another bullpen meltdown? It’s been pagan every damn time. Twins more interested in making friends and being a safe place than winning actual games. Rocco promotes analytics but ignores them every time they don’t fit his narrative. He’s a horrible manager and holding this team back. Falvey relishes on the opportunity to do more with less even though he’s failed more often than not. He just won’t admit when it’s time to re-evaluate and re-tool. Bullpen is so cheap to upgrade and he is stubborn.

Then I'm sure he will fetch a fine return in trade. Rocco, implore your bosses to pull the trigger now on whatever best offer is on the table.

FalVine have approximately 34 days to earn their paychecks and sort out all these choices and find a solid core to supplement with as many trades as necessary before the deadline to not waste this competitive season.

Cleveland probably gripes about their own pen blowing leads in 2 of those 3 games as well if we're being fair. Today though, that Guardians lineup was anemic, and honestly they were all series against anyone not named Pagan or Thornburg. Am I crazy for continuing to think the Twins are the superior team, but for some reason piss away opportunities when playing Cleveland?

If this series isn’t a desperate plea to give Rocco some bullpen arms he can use, I don’t know what that looks like. Time to get on the phone and make some moves.

This stat is eye opening.

Pagan's last four outings v Cleveland. 2 and 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 walks and 10 runs given up. Rocco often shows loyalty to his players which in itself is abmirable, but this recent display is becoming beyond ridiculous at this point. It's flashbacks to Alex Colome in 2021. Rocco...end the 2.0 version of the great 'ball man' experiment now before you begin your career as a townball manager.

Well, let’s see … 249 wins, 208 losses, that calculates to +41 WAR. Did I get that right?

Really nothing new to add after my lengthy post late last night, but will make the following inquiry to Falvey: What are you doing NOW/TONIGHT in your capacity to correct the problem YOU created? Any hope of being a playoff team is predicated on YOU upgrading the bullpen with a minimum of acquiring 2 RPs. Alcala is not going to be back to contribute. Coulombe is not the answer either. After today's implosion-----your team has 83 games remaining. For argument sake---lets say Twins SPs go 6 IP in 30 of those games. That still requires the bullpen to cover 90 innings (7th-8th and 9th x 30 games) Continuing in that vein......Twins SPs go at least 5IP in the other 53 games. That will require the bullpen to cover 212 IP (4 innings x 53 games), That total is 302 IP over the final 83 games, Duran, Jax and Theilbar-------your only 3 effective RPs MIGHT....MIGHT...be able to cover 100 of those innings, which is probably an exaggeration. That leaves 200 IP for Twins bullpen to cover. The "other 5" currently in these roles--------Pagan, Duffey, Thornburg, Cotton & Moran------all are candidates to be demoted or DFA'ed. If Smith can return healthy and resemble anything close to what he did early in the season, he's your #4 RP behind the top 3. His return would allow a DFA or demotion of Thornburg. If Coulombe can return healthy he gives you another needed LH option. That spot is up for grabs. I would prefer to see Moran, but he has to earn it. That's your #5 RP RP #6, imo, is a battle between Cotton and Duffey, which can be decided in games between tomorrow and the upcoming All Star break. The "loser" gets DFA'ed. Unnamed RP #7 and RP #8 must be acquired via trade! NOW is that time. I'd prefer 1 RH as well as 1 LH. Worthy candidates from multiple losing teams (TX-OAK-PIT-AZ-MIA) that could be added without sacrificing significant prospects. Who did I leave out? Oh....yeah.....the Pagan Sacrifice. Didn't think I'd see the reincarnation of Alex Colome so soon on this team. Plain and simple he needs to be released asap.

The bottom line is that they need to get at least two relievers via trade. The other bottom line is that the guys they have now need to throw strikes and get outs when they’re asked to pitch. They don’t need to be elite. They just need to not be unplayable.

About what? Not using Mariano Rivera? Baldelli being the default scape goat is getting soooooooooo old.

I was an advocate of the trade but I think we are a couple years away from a meaningful take on the trade that is based on more than projection.

Right now, the postseason bullpen looks really impressive. Duran Jax Duran Duran Thielbar Jax

I know that, Chief ... they could have made another trade, and I thought maybe something else would/could happen ... they could have done something BEFORE the lockout. I've been on this page with you about the BP, maybe not as irate about the trade itself, but certainly about the BP.

Dick: Well I think we've had enough of the Guardians. Who was it said, "Home runs aren't hit, they're thrown." I've had enough of relief pitchers that give free passes and then throw cookies in the last couple innings of games. Thornburg, Cotton and Pagan can all take a hike, in my opinion. I would like to see the Twins replace almost half their relief staff. Get some guys with very low walk rates. That by itself would be an improvement. No more loading the freekin' bases without a hit. Geez!

Hey Cleveland only gained a single game on us this series! *ducks*

They have to do something tonight right? There is no way I would have Pagan, Thornburg or Cotton on the roster tomorrow.

So, about Tyler Thornburg…

Revisit the Berrios trade. Trade deadline proposals with little to zero chance of acceptance. Trade/extend Correa. Rocco hate/defense threads. This place is the f****** ground hogs day of tiresome takes at times....

I'd like to see them mix in a planned day off for Rocco.

One doesn't have to be a Baldelli supporter to see the primary failing here is from the front office. While people say "don't bring in Pagan!" you just illustrated why it didn't really matter. Duffey has been terrible, too. Cotton ended up taking the L yesterday because he was also bad. Thielbar isn't reliable against righties. So are we really hanging our hats on bashing Baldelli for not bringing in Tyler-****ing-Thornburg? Is that the argument we're trying to make here? Get out of here, that's nonsense. Yeah, Baldelli makes some real head-scratching moves, things I wouldn't do in-game. But if we're squabbling about Tyler-****ing-Thornburg's usage, we're completely off the rails here.

This is where you're just making stuff up because you've already decided Rocco = Bad. You have no idea what Rocco is asking for/demanding behind the scenes, and frankly the manager tossing a player under the bus to satisfy the fanbase is always a foolish move. It doesn't "inspire" anyone to do better, but it's much more likely to get people pointing fingers at each other. Rocco & the team have made changes to the bullpen (Duran & Jax both started the season in lower-leverage roles, Smith has changed from being a 1-2 batter guy to someone who gets run out for longer stints, Duffey's role has changed, etc). But more importantly, Rocco doesn't just make these changes on his own: Wes Johnson was involved in all of them, our bullpen coach who is now our pitching coach was involved in all of them. The "Blame Rocco" chants are tired. And expecting a manager not to support his player to the press in the useless post-game conference is fantasy land. Who rips his guys after a loss any longer? (Hint: it's no one.)

Truth is Baldelli is a horrible manager. He has no in game managing skills. Common sense would tell you not to send out pagan to start the inning after all the blowups he's had against Cleveland. The guardians must have been salavating when they saw him enter the game again. Maybe laughing. Yes Baldelli didn't have a ton of choices but ANYONE other than pagan to start the inning. And the FO doing pretty much nothing all year to try to improve the bullpen. Had pagan and the bullpen done their job the Twins would be 8 in front instead of 2. So many lost opportunities. Remember these games when the playoffs may be missed this fall due to Baldellis stubbornness and his loyalty to Pagan at the expense of the rest of the team.

Great article, exhaustive list. I would consider the Twins needs to be relief pitcher one, relief pitcher two, and a starter in that order. I think the cost of adding relief pitchers with many years of control--like Bednar--would be extremely high, so I would concentrate on rental pieces that are having good years like Robertson, Bard, Bass, Fullmer, etc. I wouldn't trade top prospects for relief pitchers, even if they have many years of control. Fullmer and Bass have each given up only 1 homerun in 25-30 innings pitched. Given the propensity that some Twins relievers have to surrender homeruns, that would be a plus, especially in games where the Twins have 2 or 3 run leads late. It is much harder to score multiple runs late without the support of the long ball. As for starters, the price will be so high for Montas and Castillo that I would be surprised if the Twins pulled the trigger, and lesser arms would be no better than what they have. Fix the bullpen first.

Great summary Ted, thanks. I will be happy with anyone who can get outs and protect leads in the 7th-9th innings. Anyone. Chatlie Brown. Sid Finch. Mickey Mouse. Just help, please.

I don't think it makes any sense to even try to bring Nelson back. There just isn't a need for him now at all.