twinfan

I'd rather have Jax. Bradley has had a great first half and is younger but his history isn't quite there. I guess I was partial to what Jax could do. I wasn't high on Bradley but he has kept us in most games. We'll see how it goes in the long run and the second half of the season.

The bullpen has been better in the past month. This doesn't seem like we're losing much to take a chance on this guy. Plus we have him for up to 3 more years. We'll see.

I prefer to rate the team over the past month+ rather than on the year. Right now the offense is a B+ though with minimal power and only 2, .280+ hitters (few teams have more) though I wonder if Larnagh can keep up. Most of the games we failed to score much were earlier in the season. The Starters are also a B+ in my mind while the bullpen has improved to a C-. I don't pay much attention to defense in baseball though ours could do better. I'd be more concerned about range of our infielders and jumps and arms of our outfielders. We seem on target for close to a .500 season. The question is what do we do at the deadline. I hope we can get a few good players whose contracts aren't up this year. I also think our manager gets a B+ for his running of the team. Happy July 4th!

The bullpen is a mixed bag that can be good at times and lousy at other times. Gomez, Morris and Adams can be good. Orze needs work. Rogers is best when he can come in with 2 outs and 2 lefties due up. Then he doesn't have to pitch the next inning. Funderburk has been terrible for 2 seasons now. Sands needs to get healthy. The problem is we don't have a true stopper and we gave up 2 last year. There may be someone out there who can be had for the remainder of the season or we can maybe trade for someone who was there but has dropped off this year (think Hoffman or even Doval) and could bounce back. Rojas could be the man next year and Festa was supposed to be a starter (I thought). If we can keep Ryan, we have 4 top quality starters for next year and Matthews after that. If we can get something for Bell while he is hot, that would be nice (the Yanks needs big time help on offense- trade Bell for Doval).

Wait! My son is an aspiring catcher looking for a contract. He's only 45 so he still has a few good years left. Contact me as his agent. Thanks.

Clemens is a useful utility player who has been just below the average for major league hitters. While I don't expect him to be much more than a .230 hitter with up to 15 home runs over 300+ at bats in any season, he is the type of player that any team can use to fill in at several positions. He is getting more ABs with the Twins mainly because we don't have anyone better at this time.

I fondly remember Worthington as a major contributor to the excellent Twins teams of the mid-late 60s (yes, I am that old). Sorry to hear of his passing. Thanks for the info.

Sorry but looking at the history and feeling about both first base and third base I don't see Lee playing either. He hits in streaks but doesn't even have 20 home run power which is what most players at those positions have. Second or short is more suited for him. Lewis could return at third sometime this season but maybe the Twins need to move on from him if his attitude is that poor. In his defense, if he had never played second before, then asking him to move there as a young player in the middle of a season was a dumb move.

Who are these Twins? They sweep Detroit then can't beat the Nationals. They sweep Boston at Fenway, then can't beat the Chisox. Who are they, really?

You guys are nuts! If we trade Ryan, we MUST get a package in return- not just 1 suspect. Yes, the teams mentioned could be trade partners but I would take their top suspect and at least 1 additional player. As far as Shaw is concerned, if we can get him for a reasonable price, go do it NOW.

I would not yet count Topa completely out since our bullpen is in a state of flux- unless we get a better arm. Polanco has always been a marginal player and we got some possible good things for him when the trade was made. Time will tell but I wouldn't be so quick to send Gonzalez back down if he is hitting. If there were doubts about him in the majors, why bat him 5th in his first game up. Many teams protect their youngsters early by batting them near the bottom. And batting him 5th shows how weak the offense is (IMHO). We have far too many "role" players who play more when they get hot or there's nobody else to put there. In the weak Central division, we are only on track to win 76-78 games which is not enough. And now there is talk of trading Ryan which would lower that number.

While I never cared for Lewis even when he was a prospect, he did have a great start to his career. Have injuries simply wiped out his skills? Who knows! But the Twins have several players who are at or below the Mendoza line and only come up with a few games where they hit well. Wallner needs to straighten his swing and approach out but I don't expect him to hit more than .220 with 25-30 home runs max if he ever gets a regular job. The Twins will take that. Plus his defense is suspect as well though not as important considering where he plays.

If you watched the call from home plate, you can easily see that it was a bad call. Lewis' knee came into play after he tagged the runner out and his knee never altered the runner's path to the base. His foot was not in a great position but seemed at the back of the base and the play was a bang-bang play and he never had a chance to change his position. The commentators even spoke to plays where a catcher takes a throw and does not have time to change his feet position. Baseball, as well as other sports, has a terrible rule as to what is reviewable or not. Had the play been reviewable, the runner would have been out.

We traded away many of our best players at last year's deadline. So are we now a better team? That is what trading is all about. If we trade Ryan or Jeffers, will we be a better team? I doubt it because I only see us getting prospects who are more like suspects in the long run. Do we give up on Lewis, Wallner and/or Lee (who is going decently for now)? I don't know what the answer is. Right now I see a team that has had more at bats with the bases loaded yet can't score many runs in that situation, a team where batters don't move runners along like they should and a team whose bullpen is shaky at best. Something needs to be done. Yes the average MLB player bats .245 these days but we don't have many (including Buxton) who can do that. Yuck!

My biggest concern going into the season was the bullpen or lack of it. Yes, the closer by committee is working right now but history is not on it's side. Actually, almost everything is working right now which is fun to watch. However, the relievers are walking too many, giving up runs though fortunately we have been hitting, and are not striking out enough. It's bound to catch up to them but let's hope not until next Spring.