Mahoning

Twins Video TRANSACTIONS UT Mickey Gasper activated from injured list (St. Paul) C Ricardo Peña transferred to 60-day injured list (Fort Myers) RHP Carlos Gutierrez was released by the Twins (FCL Twins) SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1 Worcester Red Sox 4, St. Paul Saints 0 SP: Darren McCaughan: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None In the first seven-inning game of the doubleheader, it was a lackluster offensive performance for the Saints, who only mustered two hits—one each from Austin Martin and Jonah Bride. The rest of the lineup was held completely in check. Carson McCusker had a particularly tough game, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. On the mound, Darren McCaughan gave up four earned runs in four innings, including a first-inning homer to Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell. His ERA rose to 5.40 on the season. You're the Twins President of Baseball Ops. Are you buying or selling at the deadline? See All Twins Polls > Game 2 Worcester Red Sox 5, St. Paul Saints 2 SP: Pierson Ohl: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K That line there tells you the Twins' approach to minor league pitching. The lad is pitching a one-hitter and comes out after four innings. The Twins DON"T WANT their pitchers to have stamina. They train them to go short. I guarantee these guys threw more innings in high school. Nobody gets stronger by resting. The Saints got a gem from Pierson Ohl in Game 2. He threw four innings of one-hit, zero-earned run baseball while striking out five.

They're in a tough spot. They need stars (you can't win without stars), and stars are hard to come by. Evidently the internal bet was that Lewis and Wallner would become stars. Instead, the both regressed catastrophically. What do they have to trade to get stars? No one, except Joe Ryan and possibly Duran. They have no one to replace Ryan. So they are pretty much stuck and should probably do nothing. Wait till next year. Because they have no minor league catchers worth a darn, they should try to re-sign Vazquez at a much lower salary (they won't have much competition.) Jeffers and Vazquez at C is perfectly acceptable.

To be a really good team you have to have stars. Right now the only Twins that can be called stars are Buxton, Ryan, and Lopez. They need more stars. You can only get them three ways: Develop them, sign them, or trade for them. The Twins won't sign any. The only players they could trade for stars are the stars they have. So they have to develop them. That means making no deals now, and playing Lewis, Zebby, and Keaschall, and hoping for the best. They have 66 games left. They probably need to win at least 40 of them to get into the playoffs, and if they do they will be dispatched pretty quickly. Can they go 40-26 from here on out? Unlikely. Wait till next year.

I don't understand why everyone is so eager to get rid of France, Bader, Paddack, and Coulombe; they have been among the team's best players. Whom do they have to replace them? (Answer: Nobody.) This reminds me of when the stat-heads said Eddie Rosario would be easy to replace as an every-day LF. And then for years they had no every-day LF. Keaschall and Matthews should play (though Matthews will probably be babied), and Julien deserves another chance. Wallner is hopeless and Keirsey can't hit. They have no one to replace Vazquez and he is a good receiver, so they should keep him at a much lower salary. Wait till next year.

For all those hoping for the Pohlads to sell, look around and see how many major league sports owners care about anything other than money. They want fan loyalty, but it's a one-way street. You don't get to be a billionaire by being a good or civic-minded person. You get there by greed.

How can anyone write "keep playing good baseball" about the Twins? They have won two series since May. After the winning streak they were 7 games over. Now they are 4 games under; put another way, they have given almost all of the winning streak back. Carlos Correa is on a pace to drive in maybe 60. Matt Wallner is on a pace to drive in 25. Lately they've been kept afloat by Harrison Bader (they should keep him.) Four games under .500 is pretty much who they are. Can you imagine them in the playoffs against the Yankees or the Tigers or the Jays? Not a fair fight.

We learned today that the Twins have two players, Castro and Lee, who can put down a bunt. Who knew? And I appreciate today's write-up: the Sumerians are almost entirely neglected in baseball commentary.

If they trade him for a pitcher I predict the pitcher will soon need arm surgery, and/or will be parked at AAA and limited to five innings a start.

It's curious to me that so many people are eager to cast off France, Bader, and Paddack. France leads the team in Hits and is playing a perfectly fine 1B. Bader provides speed and defense (see yesterday's game); Paddack gives his all every start. I would wrap those guys up with modest extensions, if they were willing. That would also raise their trade value. Trading Duran makes sense, and Rushing would be a dream. Otherwise, I think they should do nothing, hope that some players raise their trade value with good second halfs, then plan for next year. The trade deadline should not be, in itself, a trigger.

Right now Paddack is better than Festa and Simeon and the utterly-disappeared Zebby, plus he seems to like it here. I'd try to wrap him up.

One of the problems with "rebuild," is: What is the evidence that the Twins know how to evaluate and develop talent? The only living, breathing, and actually on-the-field position player they have produced recently is Brooks Lee, and he is hardly time-tested. Starting pitchers, if they aren't injured, can barely go five. Nobody hits for average. Who, at AAA, is a future star? If Zebby and Festa had proven anything, the guy to trade would have been Pablo.

Is it not the case that at AAA (and maybe lower) the Twins TRAIN their pitchers to go short? When Festa and Zebby were in St. Paul they would often go just five, even when they gave up no runs. Shouldn't one fole of the minor leagues be building stamina? The Twins certainly don't do that. No one gets stronger by resting.

It's silly to demand that a third baseman hit for power. Wade Boggs? If a guy can hit for average, run the bases, and play third, is there no place for him in baseball?

One problem with sending Royce to AAA is that the Saints already have Jose Miranda and Eddie Julien stinking it up there. Not only would Toby Gardenhire have three flamed out big leaguers to deal with, but someone, probably Miranda, would lose a lot of ABs. An uncomfortable situation. Baseball is a crazy game -- who ever thought we'd rather see Kody Clemens at the plate than Royce Lewis?

Joe Maddon is available. Then again, he had no success with the Angels because they had a bad team. This team has several good pitchers and some good defenders, but no consistently productive hitters. It's really hard to win without hitting stars. Imagine Cleveland without Jose Ramirez.

There just isn't a single professional hitter in the lineup. If they should have, say, runners at second and third and less than two out, and you ask yourself, "Whom do I want at the plate?" does any name come up? No? Exactly.

Three dominant starts for a total of 15 innings. That tells me plenty about the Twins' approach to pitcher "development," which is, training them to have no ambition to go deep into games. That and "building up rest." What can that possibly mean? No one gets stronger by resting. I swear, if the Twins had a young pitcher who wanted to be, say, the next Roger Clemens, they'd be horrified and he'd never be allowed to develop into a bulldog. But they'd sure build up his rest.

SWR battles and gives it all he has, every time. I'll bet his teammates love him. Rocco should have let him go longer, but this time, for a change, the relievers didn't fail. A well-played game.

You have to wonder what the Twins may mean by "building up" to be a starter. Does that mean (as it seems to) conditioning a young man to go six innings maximum? Hunter Green for the Reds pitched 8.2 yesterday. I doubt the Twins EVER let a minor league pitcher go long. No one gets stronger by being babied and rested. If the Twins had a Roger Clemens clone they'd probably send him to the bullpen to protect his arm.

This is a big opportunity for Miranda; I hope he is able to take advantage of it. Presuming that Royce Lewis comes back one of these days (the Twins should take it SLOW), the next little drama will be who gets sent down -- Gasper, Julien? Gasper's spring has made him hard to demote.

It would be delightful to have a Twins hitter actually ready to go from Day 1, instead of a slow starter. We shall see.

I'd like to believe it, but, for a dose of reality, compare this team to the Twins of 1987. Just to pick two players, Puckett and Gaetti played every day; Puckett drove in 99, Gaetti 109. There are no two players on this team capable of matching that.

With a runner on third and less than two outs the Twins habitually go to the worst play in baseball, the contact play. Of course the other team knows it is coming, so the most common result is trading a runner at third for a runner at first and one more out. But there is no effective defense against a well-executed bunt in that situation. Also, in extra innings, bunting the runner at second to third gives you many more chances to score than the usual fly ball, popup, or grounder to the left side. But no one does this.

One of the things analytics does is deprive pitchers of the opportunities to be full competitors. For, say, Bert Blyleven, a complete game was proof of doing his job. Now it is what? Five-and-a-third? That's not much of a goal or, really, much of an accomplishment.

That is what I meant: The message is to Miranda, Julien, et Al -- If this team is going to be any good, it's time for you to perform. And now maybe, It's time for you to prove you afre better than Ty France.