rv78

If things break the right way they have a chance. Which also goes for every other playoff team, On top of that the other teams will be better. I understand the hype to instill hope in this Twins team but when they have under-performed for most of the season anyone in their right mind isn't going to expect them to right the ship as soon as they start playing against all of the best teams in the playoffs. Gray, Ryan, Lopez and Ober have looked very average the last few starts and while the offense has seemed to jump up a gear lately they are now having trouble beating teams like KC and Detroit. Keep drinking the kool-aid. My guess... it'll be another quick exit in the first round.

My feeling on Kepler is... if this FO is willing to give a washed up Gallo $11M they will give an inconsistant Kepler $10M.

You touched on the major problem this FO wanted. They wanted Buxton to be "available". Unfortunately being "available" and being a "contributing factor" can be two different things, and in Buxton's case, it is. At this point in the season and based on his productivity at the DH spot, I would send him to the surgeon and fix the problem even if it means the rest of the season without him. He isn't worth having in the lineup the way he is and others are proving right now they are better filling the DH spot than him, so what have they got to lose? Nothing! AND, if he can't be fixed then it is time to part ways with him and it shouldn't matter how they do it. Keeping a broken commodity for part-time measures when others are better does not make your TEAM better.

Really refreshing to see the right guys in the lineup. Julien leading off where he belongs, sorry C4, you don't belong there or deserve it. Solano at 1st base instead of dud Gallo. Jeffers at DH with Vazquez catching, finally using a hitter at the DH spot that is hitting instead of dud Buxton. Keep him on the IL until he can play in the outfield where he belongs. And the best move, Wallner getting at bats verses the doubledud Gallo. Should have been that way since opening day.

In reference to the post made by ewen21 .... I somewhat agree. I often wondered how much better he could have been had he NOT let those fat first pitch fastballs right down the middle just sail past him. Too many times he never seemed ready to hit until he had 2 strikes. Then it was, just make contact by slapping the ball to the left side. A better appproach and he would have been driving strike one or two into the gap or the seats. I also thought he wanted to walk or take a lazy single over hitting the ball with authority way too often. Yes, he was a hometown kid who made it big and I absolutely love the guy but I can't help but feel he could have been even sooo much better with a little bit of a different, more aggressive approach, early in his at bats. Twins HOF = Yes. Baseball HOF = probably not.

Caption for the above picture with Gallo pointing 2 fingers into the sky...... Thank You Lord for finding me the fools that gave me $11M.

A game for the FO and their philosophy.... Hit HR's or strikeout, pitch just good enough and get off the field with an ugly win. Sometimes it works...... sometimes a blind squirrel finds an acorn.

Gallo making the list is a joke. He isn't crucial to the team and never has been. Shouldn't be on the roster. Shouldn't have been acquired. Correa continuing to flounder at the plate is more of a detriment. His move to the leadoff spot has fizzled. Why is he still batting there Rocco? Solano, Castro, Farmer, Jeffers, Julien, Wallner all have higher on base percentage than Dior Man and would be much better options to leadoff. Even Taylor who regularly bats 9th has outperformed the $33M dud at the plate. Maybe Rocco's reasoning for keeping him in the leadoff spot is that it is one less time per game that he can hit into a doubleplay.

This may be true but you also have to look at what it is now, which has been little success in the regular season and none in the playoffs. Why then, wouldn't taking a chance to find something better, be worth it? I think the biggest issue with the current regime is the philosphy. A little less analytics and a lot more hands on approach in real game time management would be refreshing. Case in point..... Nick Nelsons article on Correa. If his move to the leadoff spot was good when it first happened and has not continued to be successful then why is he still hitting there? If Buxton cannot play CF and cannot hit why is he playing at all? He should be on the IL getting healthy for the playoffs, if they get there, or at least getting healthy for 2024. Why is Gallo still on the team? We have had what now, 7 years of these guys with nothing to show for it. Bad luck or not, they haven't produced. I never cared for Terry Ryan. It seemed his philosophy was always "a hope and a prayer" or "catch lightning in a bottle". I have sinced realized that was pretty much all that ownership would allow him to do. His alotted dollars was much more limited than what Falvine has been allowed to spend. I like the young players on the team. Kirilloff, Jeffers, Julien, Lewis, Larnach, Wallner and yes even Miranda. Can't wait to see Lee. I think they have made huge mistakes with the veterans on the team. Signing Gallo has to be the worst move ever and giving Correa a 6 year deal wasn't far behind. Remember two other Franchises seemed to be smart enough to back out on him. Everyone thinks resigning Buxton for cheap was also a great move. Why is giving anyone who can't stay on the field even half a paycheck, great? Was keeping Kepler really worth it? He's had 1 good month this year which is about his norm outside of his 2019 juiced ball season. They have signed broken down players and then we all wonder why this team has so many injured players. They even sign players like Paddack who don't play with the hope, they will someday, be able to. I for one, am ready for something new, something different, and I'm willing to hope it will be something better.

Is it coincidence or what............ No Buxton, Gallo, Kepler in the starting lineup and the Twins win. Now if they could get the other veteran who can't hit, Correa, on the bench they could maybe get a winning streak going. Or at least move him to the bottom of the order.

WOW, the 5 guys mentioned in this article are guys that had good batting averages. That just boggles the mind when we have a FO that thinks of defense and power over anything else. I've been advocating for hitters that can HIT for years while the FO continues to look the other way and even trades away their best hitter. It doesn't pay to save a run or two with great defense if those same guys can't hit enough to score more runs than your opponent. The only way this team wins another Championship is if/when they have a lineup of guys that can hit for average, not just solo homeruns and play defense. Julien, Kirilloff, Lewis, Jeffers, offer some hope for the future. Now if the crappy veterans on the team would just get out of the way it can happen sooner rather than later.

If you are Severino, you shouldn't be too worried about the swings and misses. He's at a .317 clip for strikeouts for his career. If the batting average stays in the .270-.290 range he'll be a huge upgrade over a current Twin who can't hit the ball and strikes out much more than he does. Gallo for the 2023 season is striking out at rate of .427 and has a career rate of .447. It's amazing how foolish this FO thought Gallo would help this team for a staggering $11M. League minimum would have been too much for him.

It's concerning that those who wanted the FO to make deals to improve the team don't see the bigger picture. Most of us agree that the starting pitching has been the strength of the team so far. They've had their hiccups which most everyone does but overall Gray, Ryan, Lopez, Ober, and Maeda have been solid and should be for the rest of the season. The bullpen is a question but not anymore than it was at the start of the season. This FO seems to think they also are good enough. If/when, the combo of Jax and Duran are on, it works. Theilbar coming back will help and I think Floro will actually be a better option that JLopez was. Pagan seems to have found his mark as well even though we are all waiting for the next blowup from him. I'd sure like to see Keuchel get a shot before he options out. Move Maeda to the pen replacing one of the Sands, Ortega, Balazovic options and see how that works. The main problem with this roster is not the young hitters like Julien, Kirilloff, Wallner, Larnach, Jeffers, or the guys brought in to be situational role pieces like Farmer, Taylor, Solano, and Castro. The problem are the veterans that are suppose to be carring this team. Buxton, Correa, Kepler, Gallo, and Vazquez have all been failures, So, if you are going to make deals who do you trade? More prospects? Why? They aren't the problem. Starting Pitcher? No that's your strength. Think anyone is interested in any of the veterans that aren't worth the paper their contracts are written on? Nope. Unfortunately this FO has put this team in a difficult situation. The guys they should trade, no one wants.

Based on their past moves at the deadline, I'm happy they didn't do anything drastic. No need making this roster worse than it already is. My only hope is that the reasoning for it, is that the Pohlads have changes in store for next year and the next regime is coming.

"The goal here is straight-forward and measurable," Falvey said on Monday. "It's to build a sustainable, championship-caliber team, an organization that Twins fans will be proud of." -- Derek Falvey, November 2016 We're still waiting! Seriously though, how can anyone take this FO at their word? Look at some of the dead wood they have brought in thinking those players were going to make this team better. The biggest mistake, and I was absolutely shocked at the time, was signing Gallo for $11M. How can anyone with any baseball knowledge or common sense think he was going to help this team? Letting Sano take the bus and then signing someone just as bad or worse isn't going to make Twins fans proud. At the very least DFA the guy and move on. Your first mistake was signing him. Don't compound the first mistake by making a second mistake by keeping him around. At least be smart enough to chop one piece of dead wood from the roster.

I agree something needs to change but it has to start with the FO and include the Manager and coaches. The direction we have seen since they have taken over isn't going in the right direction. Weren't they suppose to build this team into a perrienial contender. So far all we've gotten is a perrenial pretender. The FO only has themselves to blame for this mess. Extended part-timer Buxton for $15M. Signed an over-rated Correa for $33+M. Signed a worthless hitter in Gallo for $11M and kept another crappy hitter in Kepler for $8.5M. Let's see they are hitting a combined .213 for $68 MILLION. Gee, I wonder why this team can't win games when they need to. DUH!

I'm pretty sure his knee was injured last year into the end of the season. Why wasn't it repaired last off-season? Why is playing your best defensive player at DH better than getting him healthy so he can play both sides of the ball? A lot of his value is on defense. There have been a lot of people, some former players, say that being a DH isn't a good fit for some players. Some need to be involved defensively to be good offensively, which definitely seems to be the case for Buxton. Seems to me, not fixing the problem last off-season was another gamble the FO took that was a huge mistake. Why even consider that an option going into the season. What reasoning is behind NOT doing the surgery as soon as he was injured? Why is playing one of your best players part-time, (because that's what a DH does) better than fixing him? And... If surgery wasn't going to fix him last year why is it going to fix him this year? If he is damaged goods he needs to see the door. He's not helping the team the way he is.

Trying to play chicken with injury is a losing game, and putting the best lineup configuration on the field each night should be the goal. If this was true, then it would also apply to Buxton.

Guarantees are one thing, acquiring injured players and 1/2 year wonders are another. Point being......... better decisions need to be made by this FO.

Refilling the chuck wagon at the deadline is still no guarantee the extra beans will make a difference. I remember not too long ago a certain pitcher or two named Mahle and Lopez that produced more flatulance than fiber. If the FO does add, lets hope it is someone without injury or more than a 1/2 year wonder.

Won't be a problem if Buxton doesn't start hitting. Buck to the bench or IL, Polanco to DH and Lewis inserted back into the 3B spot. To make room for him on the roster DFA Gallo.

It's not good when players hitting in the .240's or .250's is an improvement over what you have. McCutchen isn't going anywhere as I'm sure he'll finish his career in Pittsburgh. Pham may be the best fit of the guys you mention, as the other 3 don't improve Twins hitting enough to get my attention. I wouldn't consider them at all unless it is to competely replace Gallo, which I highly doubt this FO will do. They have $11M invested in him and will give him every at bat they can until the end of the season to prove they made the right decision signing him, even though to this point he has proved them wrong.

Lets see...... We got veteran Gallo, veteran Vazquez, veteran Correa, veteran Kepler, veteran Buxton, all of them who are holding this team back. If Polanco was healthy Julien wouldn't be in the lineup. Currently one of the teams best hitters. You think Goldschmidt who is nothing of the hitter he once was would be an improvement over Kirilloff? In addition, a player in his last contract year for a youngster finally getting the chance to prove himself, which he is doing? Why the obsession with veteran players who are NOT the players they once were? Only a fool would do this trade...... course only a fool would give Gallo $11M. Let's hope this doesn't happen.

Last night I watched a show where George Brett was interviewed on the facets of hitting. One of the first things he said was, analytics will not help you in an at bat. You have milliseconds to decide to swing and where. See the freakin ball and hit it. Are there any hitting coaches out there that can throw all of the analytical BS out the window and teach that? There should be at least a couple hundred. The philosophy needs to change and that will only happen with a whole new set of people in charge.

I think you have this backwards, if you've been following the team this season, the support players are the ones providing the offense on most days. The core players are the problem.