Riverbrian

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/07/dodgers-rumors-mookie-betts-second-base.html

Fixable. They have to get bullpen serious. The plan can get back on track with some trade acquisitions for a reasonable price or for example use of a starter like Winder in whatever role deemed helpful. As bad as the bullpen has been of late... the team ERA is still 7th in baseball so I'm not sure massively failed is correct. The bottom end of the bullpen is just killing us at the moment but this is a much easier to fix than trying to find a traditional starter to take innings away from the bullpen. Blurring the lines provides more options to fix this.

You have to fix the issue in the immediate short term and longer term. In the short term... Calling Winder back to the big club is absolutely a solution that could also help longer term. The searching shouldn't stop there. ?

You are correct. I just re-checked. Moran threw 34 pitches on Tuesday. Substitute Duffey for Moran. Duffey threw 12 pitches on Tuesday and Pagan threw 10 bad pitches on Tuesday.

You are correct. However. you also have to include Moran (I understand he is lefthanded) because he was also fresher than Pagan was at the time of Pagan's about to be 4th implosion. Turning to Pagan in that situation says we trust Pagan over Moran and Thornburg. Pagan just spit up 3 games in stunning fashion and he goes back to him despite two arms being fresher speaks volumes about the state of the bottom of pen. In light of Pagan's rather spectacular implosions against the Indians. I'm going with Moran or Thornburg because they have not been burdened by such rather spectacular recent implosions and if they fail... well it's a obviously a bullpen issue. Letting Pagan absorb the damage again and again keeps the fans focus on Pagan as a singular problem when the issue is really plural because no matter how incredibly bad Pagan has been, Moran and Thornburg are considered worse options by the collective staff or Baldelli directly. So Yeah... You are correct. The front office has not provided their manager with options that Rocco can work with to operate the team the way the team is set up to operate. I think it's fair to question Rocco going back to Pagan for the 4th implosion but the larger issue is not just Pagan... it must also include the 2 guys who watched it happened from the bullpen. We need bullpen help immediately.

There could be the mindset that things will stabalize when the arms you mention return. However... that doesn't include the consideration for the probability that others in the bullpen (currently healthy) will be hurt in the very near future. You are absolutely right. Go get at least two bullpen arms. It is critical. I'm asking for 3 myself.

I love Nelson... I don't want my response to sound like I don't. But... NO! If you have young players like Miranda, Kirilloff, Larnach, Arraez who will be around for a while and can all be utilized at the DH spot for playing time and development. Why would you block that with a player who can only DH and only hit slightly better or not hit better when you look at his current abilities. I love Nelson Cruz... I think the world of him but what he is producing today doesn't improve (enough or at all) what we currently have producing today for us and it would hinder what we have producing for us in the future. Now if you want to bring aboard a bat that can play a position. That's a different discussion and I'm listening.

I posted this in the game recap but it deserves it's own discussion. For those upset with how the Twins (Not Baldelli by himself) are approaching the pitching staff. This article may help you understand. Please read and then discuss https://www.draysbay.com/2021/10/7/22703079/tampa-bay-rays-story-of-modern-baseball-power-starters-middle-relief-aces-collin-mchugh

https://www.draysbay.com/2021/10/7/22703079/tampa-bay-rays-story-of-modern-baseball-power-starters-middle-relief-aces-collin-mchugh 1400 plus innings need to be covered in a season. Workloads are managed. Young pitchers are not going to go from 100 innings to 200 innings from one year to the next. Pitchers coming off major injury are not going to throw 200 innings upon return. The pitchers who are left that can throw 200 effective innings? A handful and they are going to sign with the Yankees or Dodgers. We all know this. Now do the math. You can't look at a bullpen or starters like you looked at them in the 80's. If you do... you will just continue to scream at a bus stop when the bus is long gone and not coming back. Bullpen guys need to throw multiple innings and bad bullpen arms can't be hidden.

I blame HR (both human resources and home runs)

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

I’m not going to debate this in the extremes like there is nothing between Taylor Rogers and terrible. You and I agree that the bullpen is vital. Especially in this age of managed pitch counts and trips through the order. If starters are going to throw less innings and they are… the bullpen needs to fill those extra innings and as a result the bullpen workload is also going to be managed including Taylor Rogers if he was still on the roster. The bullpen needs to be aggressively rostered from top to bottom. I’m not as concerned with the top as I am with the bottom. The bottom is what is killing us. Taylor on the roster is absolutely an improvement because it should knock someone off the bottom, but we are still talking about one spot. Not having Taylor Rogers doesn’t mean we have to tolerate what Pagan is providing like there is nothing in between. Taylor Rogers is just one guy. Who replaces Taylor Rogers? Not my call… that job is on the front office. I can throw names out there but that would be meaningless. However, let’s not pretend that the mere presence of Taylor Rogers fixes this bullpen. He improves it if he stays healthy, but he is just one guy and the Taylor Rogers trade didn’t cripple the bullpen by his not being here. The arms in the current bullpen are crippling the bullpen and we’ve had months to make the assessments. The options to fix that come in all shapes and sizes in between great and terrible. You and I both know that. We agree the front office hasn’t done enough in this regard. July starts tomorrow. It’s time… they must get to work and make those phone calls and get bullpen serious.

This makes him like almost everybody. People are fickle by nature. I'm sure he believed what he said in 2019 and I'm sure he believes what he is saying in 2022. Context, attitudes, perceptions, memories will adjust multiple times over the span of 3 years and they change for all of us. I have hired many people who told me they were looking for X because they didn't like Y only to leave 6 months later because Y wasn't so bad and they don't like X.

You are absolutely right. The Twins overcame themselves to put themselves in position to win it in the 10th. It's still a team performance in the end. Well it's a team performance with Pagan a part of that team. ?

Thornburg and Moran were fresher. Before you replace Pagan in the bullpen... you have to replace the guys who the manager feels is worse than the guy who has blown 3 games against your closest competitor in a short period of time. Silver lining? I'll give it a shot. The front office has to know that the bullpen is beyond priority now. That might be a good thing.

Dear Rocco, I'm still in your corner but I can't help you here. I imagine that there are times when a manager needs to show a struggling player that you still have confidence in them. However... Pagan had blown 3 games against Cleveland in the span of 8 days. Make that 4 over the span of 9 after last night. How is his confidence now? Not good and that extends to his team mates and yes the fans. If anybody else in the bullpen would have blown that lead in extras... you'd have a leg to stand on, because the blame could be shouldered by the bullpen as a whole instead of focused on the one that you have exposed by allowing him to drop 4 games in a short period of time against the team that is closest to you in the standings. Rocco... you have to wear this one. Tomorrow/Today is another day. Go get em! Sincerely, Riverbrian

Of Course I can. Trading Rogers doesn't mean you can't replace Rogers. Maybe the replacement isn't as good but just cause you trade Rogers... it doesn't mean you are forced to roster crap in his place. Also... I think it's fair to point out that Pagan can also be replaced and this is perhaps where the Twins are really failing at the moment because the Paddack trade was months ago.

Bullpen would ranked #1, #2, #3 and #4 on my trade deadline acquisition wish list. Bullpen arms are typically not that expensive. Even arms with significant stuff. The Twins clearly need to add a couple of arms with significant stuff to the bullpen before the deadline. The priorities: #1, #2 #3 and #4: At least two Bullpen guys with the stuff to get away with mistakes. No tricksters please... look for arms that can rack up some K's with a runner on third. The bullpen has this need right now even before you consider the possibility of any injury making this need worse. I don't personally see an in-house solution to satisfy this need. Bullpen has to be the top priority on the shopping list. This team is in contention. This must be addressed. These are not expensive acquisitions in terms of prospect capital. #5: A power bat You have to consider the very likely possibility of injury from someone amongst the position players. An injury could happen to someone who is a significant important contributor. (Buxton, Correa, Polanco, Arraez). Even if we are blessed with health... it is my opinion that the Twins could use an additional power bat to deepen a healthy offense but you will really wish you added to the offense if one of these guys goes down in September. I don't care what position this power bat plays however, since Kirilloff can also play OF and Arraez can play other positions. 1B is the cheapest position to acquire a power bat. I'd have no problem with a big powerful 1B being added such as Josh Bell or Trey Mancini and I don't believe it would wound our farm system. Yeah... I know I'm not factoring in Sano's return to the lineup. I'll repeat... I don't care what position this power bat acquisition plays. #6: Starting Pitching. I surely wouldn't mind the addition of a Castillo or Montas. A starter like that would be wonderful. However, those guys are expensive to acquire and I would not be comfortable giving up a Canterino for example to acquire this type of a guy. I continue to contend that our starting pitching has some real nice depth which makes this less of a priority.

Pagan has less than 5 years service time and he has 1 option left.

Agreed but when it comes to baseball. The weather has to be an additional factor. Being able to play baseball year round gives California and the South an advantage over the University of Minnesota. In reverse... Being able to skate outdoors in July gives the University of North Dakota an advantage over Arizona State in hockey. ?

Common sense would suggest that the pitching coach is a major part of the pitch count/data process. The pitching coach probably serves as the main adviser to those decisions you complain about. The narrative of Rocco being some sort of ruler of the universe is beyond tired.

Wes isn't a job hopper. He put his time in with the organization. If this is the job he wants... it's the job he wants. If proper notice was given, that's between the Twins and him. But yeah... the shocking part is the money... if what is reported is correct. College baseball programs don't turn a profit. If they do, it's a tiny profit. Paying a pitching coach more than the head coach of the Gophers hockey program will make it harder to turn a profit. If a major league baseball team can't compete with a college team. Things are way out of whack.

I'll never understand why people put themselves through this. It's like they have never seen the ups and downs of a season before. ?

That opposite field job by Encarnacion-Strand isn't ordinary. That ball was a rocket. I'll checking for more of his highlights as the days go by.

It was nice to see Garlick get a start against a right hander. If Garlick could hit right handers like he hits left handers he'd be a very good hitter. Still believe that he hasn't faced enough right handers to determine if he can hit right handers. Hope to see some more of it.