Brock Beauchamp

Agreed. It's probably the biggest problem with an aggressive rebuilding plan. It's tough to get fans interested in a team again after they have been awful for 3+ seasons. While JR says that high upside, low minors guys are the best option (and I agree with him), it's still a bitter pill to swallow. And if this team is going to lose big in 2013, I think it's probably a good idea that everyone and everything goes. If the team has no hope next season, what is the point of keeping Morneau, Willingham, and Doumit when they're all worth something (well, maybe not Morneau)? Unless JR has big plans for this offseason but I don't see the Twins diving into the market and making a real splash. Dunno. Lots of variables to consider here and without knowing the overall plan, it's hard to say much of anything.

Nope, not at all over his head. He's striking out a bit too much but you can't expect too much from the kid. I don't see him staying in the minors for long and I fully expect him to be dominating AA with a 900+ OPS by the end of the season. I think there's a good chance he's going to force his way to Minnesota sooner rather than later, possibly even before Hicks or Benson.

I've been really high on Arcia since his 2010 campaign. I believe he's the second best prospect in the system behind Sano. A little against the grain of thinking but I think he's going to be a monster in the big leagues. Also, he turned 21 in May, not 22. He's one of the youngest prospects in the system with big upside.

Yep. Contact guys are rarely above average pitchers for extended periods of time unless they have an absurd ground ball rate to back up the lack of strikeouts. I fully expect Diamond to regress. I only hope that his regression isn't Blackburn-esque. I don't think it will be because his K rate is 5.1/9 (Blackburn's career high was 4.6/9 last season), which isn't completely awful, just bad. Some guys can survive as league-average pitchers with the occasional above-average season with that kind of K rate, even if they don't induce a ton of grounders. Brad Radke was one of those guys. Diamond induces a lot of ground balls right now but even if that lets up a bit, there's a chance he will still be a serviceable pitcher.

I find it particularly troubling with the pitchers. People make grandiose claims about how Anderson is an awful pitching coach when that simply isn't the case. I don't think he's a great pitching coach but he certainly doesn't do a bad job. There are dozens of pitchers that have left the Twins since he was their pitching coach and RA Dickey is the only guy who really thrived away from Anderson. RA Dickey is also an aberration who magically figured out the knuckleball in his mid-30s after several teams gave up on him. Other than that, the "got away from the Twins and thrived" concept doesn't really play in reality. Let's take a look: Lohse is the same pitcher. We established that. Humber only pitched 20 innings in Minnesota. Eric Milton crashed and burned after leaving the Twins. Juan Rincon didn't fare much better. Matt Guerrier fell on his face but we all saw that coming a mile away. JC Romero has had good seasons away from the Twins but he also had some good seasons in Minnesota, certainly not enough of a difference to fault Anderson for screwing up. Jesse Crain is dominating hitters just like he dominated hitters in his last season with the Twins so that's another awful example commonly used to discount Anderson's coaching abilities. Grant Balfour was a good pitcher with the Twins and I was disappointed that they got rid of him too quickly. Again, not Anderson's fault. LaTroy Hawkins has bounced around and turned into a journeyman, never again matching his seasons with Minnesota. Carlos Silva became one of the worst pitchers in baseball after leaving (again, saw that one coming). Pat Neshek was out of baseball not long after leaving the team. Dennys Reyes had what were far and away the best years of his career with Minnesota. Boof Bonser was awful in his last two seasons with the Twins and was even more awful away from Minnesota. WAIT! I FOUND ONE! Luis Ayala, a career journeyman, has had a couple of really impressive seasons post-Minnesota. Rick Anderson, failure as a pitching coach, confirmed.

Burton hasn't pitched since the 17th.

I love it how people think Lohse has turned into Cy Young since he left the Twins. His best season (excluding this one) was an ERA+ of 112. He posted an ERA+ of 106 and 107 with the Twins. He's been an up-and-down pitcher his entire career, only his "ups" aren't terribly high before the career year he's posting this season. He had half a decade with Dave Duncan and had two of his worst seasons during that period. Why does everyone think the Twins failed him for some reason? His ERA+ with the Twins is pretty much the same as his ERA+ away from the Twins. I don't get it.

It is pretty hard to pry them away from never-ending Happy Days marathons. But don't try to sell them that Joanie Loves Chachi crap.

I believe that's called "All Day, Every Day" in America. Let the Atheists have their fun. It's not hurting anyone. Good for the Saints for catering to a relatively small but ever-growing segment of modern society that is unnecessarily ridiculed because they, of all the dastardly things, don't believe in God.

There's no reason for Burton to be unavailable. He didn't pitch yesterday.

Span absolutely should have caught that ball. I don't know why he pulled up in that situation. That's a flat-out "all bets are off" situation where you dive for it.

I agree that the relievers, particularly Burnett, didn't get it done. I had zero problems opening the eighth with Burnett and he failed to finish the job. The entirety of my problem comes from there being a runners on base situation and making the call to Swarzak, who is not one of your best relievers. By holding on so dearly to the save statistic, Gardenhire has taken his best pitchers out of the game and now the team will probably lose the game. Now, instead of managing a bullpen based on need & situation in favor of a statistic, the Orioles are the ones who will be getting that statistic.

Drink!

Totally legit. Not a screamer but a solid liner to the RF.

Why can't Burton pitch four outs again? It's not as if he's asked to do it a lot. And I didn't say to lead off the eighth with your best reliever. That makes even less sense than leading off the ninth with your best reliever. But in a one run game with two guys on base, why isn't the best reliever out there? It's the "swing moment" of the game and there are only four outs left to get.

Swarzak was warming up. It was a "game on the line" situation. Why wasn't Burton the one warming up?

Come on Morneau, get on base so Plouffe/Doumit can get Perkins that almighty save.

No, no. You're totally misunderstanding me. I'm not asking for something crazy like that, only that it's possible for Gardenhire to use one in the eighth and the other in the ninth.

Nice AB by Willingham. And now Morneau gets the lefty. Sigh.

Has someone explained to Gardenhire that he's allowed to use both Perkins and Burton in the same game?

I try not to bash Gardenhire too much for in-game management but I have to admit that my blood is approaching the boiling point. There isn't a single *good* reason why the Twins weren't using their best relievers in that situation.

Yep, and Span should have been playing shorter there. A double doesn't matter much. He should have gone flat-out for that ball and he pulled up.

Good thing Burton or Perkins weren't on the mound! Now one of them can't get the save!

I will NEVER understand this brand of "bullpen management". It's the eighth ****ing inning. Guys are on base. There are less than two outs. Why are your best relievers not on the mound? So they can pitch a clean ninth inning when there's a good chance the team will be losing by that point? Stupid. Just stupid.

Sigh. Burnett.