Brandon

And also Gallagher and Rhoden, and Outman...jk... But the good news is we got some useable talent back in the trade. It helps make up for the Woods-Richardson implosion/ return on Berrios. Martin can help get closer to even. On that one. After next season we will have money to spend after Ryan, Ober and Lopez and Jeffers and Cartini contracts are off the books. The Twins will be good again if the stars align.

On the plus side eventually Martin will be moved to backup and Outman will be out the door and we start bringing up the Rookies (Fedko, Gonzales, Jenkins, and ERod). Or we can bring Wallner back for a last shot. We have options.

I don't know if we need a salary cap and floor in MLB but we can all agree on the need for some parity so the gap isn't so huge. Being 50% above the market average in payroll is a big competitive advantage. Being 300% above is domination. Not winning with those resources is criminal. So far I like Shelty. The Twins have done a good job of turning no bullpen into almost a pen. They are 2nd in runs scored despite slumps from Keaschall, Lewis, and Wallner and Cartini and Bell. That's a lot of slumping for 2nd in runs scored. Rotation is better than expected minus Woods-Richardson. I hope the Twins extend Ryan on a 3 or 4 year deal. They don't need to trade him unless they get a great deal and immediate help.

Hey you read my post in the forum on Banda's improvement.

The bullpen was and still is the team's biggest wild card this season. The Twins are trying more pitchers and giving chances to get outs and lately we seem to be getting more outs as our bullpen is beginning to take shape. Taylor Roger 3.72 ERA after today's game 8 ER in 19.33 innings with 15 K's Banda 5.96 ERA though 2.84 ERA in last 14 outings with 4 ER in 12.33 innings and with 9 K's Orze 3.38 ERA over 24 innings 9 ER and 21 K's Kendry Rojas 1.26 2 ER in 14.33 innings and 14 K's Morris 4.57 ERA in 21.67 innings 11 ER and 17 K's Travis Adams 3.38 ERA 8 innings 3 ER and 9 K's Gomez 1.17 ERA with 7.67 innings and 1 ER and 9 K's Cole Sands and Cody Lawyerson are on the shelf and were contributing before. Funderburk could make his way back if he cuts down his walks. but this is the makings of a solid bullpen if they keep this up. I think we have more good candidates down on the farm as well. Festa when he comes back from injury and starting pitcher Culpepper could be a good bullpen addition. With the rotation in good shape with everyone but Woods Richardson have a good year so far. Outside of Preliepp just going over 4.00 with a 4.03, I don't think anyone in the rotation currently has an ERA over 4.00. The Twins have scored the second most runs on offense so this team could be taking off in short order.

Anthony Banda was acquired from the Dodgers for very little and with great fanfare since he was low cost and has talent with results the last few seasons. This year he got off to a good start in his first 6 games giving up 1 earned run in 5.33 innings. Then the wheels came off as he gave up 10 earned runs over his next 5 outings and 4.67 innings. I think in one of those outings he was asked to pitch a second inning and got hit hard that one. since then, he has 14 more outings with 1 implosion and that was 10 appearances ago. in his last 14 appearances he has 12.67 innings giving up only 6 hits and 5 walks with still a low 9 K's and 4 earned runs including 3 in one outing for a 2.84 ERA which is more in line with expectations and hopes. It seems the ship has been righted and moving forward we can expect to see his ERA continue to go down as he is now back under 6.00 overall after today's game.

at least 39 years.

I did want to point out that whoever is coaching 1B defense needs a raise. 3 straight years of gold glove defense with 3 different players is very impressive. He has helped make Clemens a valuable player to keep around as Clemens hits just enough but with great 1B defense and the ability to play other positions he becomes more valuable for the team and less of a risk of a slump. (Because he can still provide value on defense when that happens). If he can maintain that 100-110 OPS then we may have a value find on our hands. If Kreidler is great defensively he won't need more than a ,680 OPS to be a valuable bench player. At his price if he can continue to hit 90+ OPS with well above average defense he will be kept. Bullpen: Gomez, Lawyerson, and Orze, it seems like the pen has been much better lately and these guys are part of the reason why. Banda has been on a run too. He really has 4 implosions early in the season and 20 good appearances with quite a few in a row so he seems back on track too. I think only Sands has a guaranteed spot next season so it's a wide open situation. Orze seems like a great candidate to tock one down. Gomez is trending that way too I noticed Outman was not included on this list. He has been hitting since his 0-18 start to the season. I don't see him sticking around but he does deserve credit for being solid even good since the bad start to the season. How good is he defensively in CF? Hopefully Alex Jackson shows just how much we need Jeffers and we extend him at the All Star break.

Does Royce Lewis have options left? And how is Keaschall trending? He hasn't hit yet this season. Those are the two notes le holes that could go down for a two week stint. Clemens has been hitting so I wouldn't mess with him right now, Bell would need a DL stint or be released. But he is a hot/cold type of player. I hope he goes on a hot streak soon or I am fine cutting the cord if he doesn't pick it up soon. Gray is heard to say. There is no real attachment there. He had a good run.... Outman is hitting .333 (8 for 24) after starting 0-18. So he is on the upswing. My overall assessment is Keaschall goes down and Arcia and Gray handle 2/3 of SS and 1)3 of 2B time and Lee gets 2/3 of 2B time and 1/3 time at SS. Arcia can also give Lewis some bench time if his numbers don't improve soon.

I wonder if Ober can get more velocity on his pitches over time. Maybe next year he can add a mile or two or 4 and have that going for him again. But as long as he can be effective most of the time. I am fine with him as our number 4/5 starter. Our rotation has been really good 4 out of the 5 nights a week. With as bad as Woods-Richardson has been this season, I am glad Ober has been able to produce with diminished stuff. (note: I did think Woods Richardson would have a sub 4 ERA and win more than he lost this year). I hate being this wrong. Anyways this post is about Ober. so now that he has done a Maddux, I am rooting for a Hershiser. (58 consecutive scoreless innings +.....)

I thought Brook Lee had a solid first month and could be honorable mention. .250 Ave and 5 HRs is a step up from past production. I was really hopeful for Bell at the beginning of the season. I did expect some regression but .....

I love the last part about the game winning hit by Bichette..... And how the Mets high priced bullpen was about to lose to the Twins who forgot to staff their pen....

In San Diego there are no other sports teams. The college team is far north. Compare that with Minnesota where they have an NFL team, Hockey, NBAa, WNBA, UofM teams, and a AAA baseball team and a fan base that constantly complains. I live just north of San Diego, there is no complaining here How can you possibly compare the value in Minnesota to San Diego when they are in vastly different situations?

I'm rooting for Outman to get a hit on his way out the door man. He should be replaced by Kreidler or Roden. It's about time to start bringing up the next wave of OF for short tryouts too so bringing up ERod for a week then a bençh guy is fine too.

18 of 35 against the Twins and 32 of 50 against the Yankees overturned. We had 28 out of 50 calls overturned that we challenged and Yankees have 21 of 38 calls overturned that they challenged.

I wonder how frustrated Jeffers would get with blown calls as he seems to have lots of opportunities to overturn them. I wonder if Yankees opponents have more opportunities as well

We definitely need to keep an eye on pitchers for our pen in the minors. It seems like with several relievers we have a floor and a few that could fall apart at any time and need to be replaced. On offense it seems we have several hitters about ready to contribute. Too bad none are catchers.

The Twins as a team are 2nd in the league in runs scored. They are also the top Wild Card seed if the playoffs started today.

Also observed the Twins hold or did hold the top wild card spot after yesterday's win.

While I am enjoying Cy Taj, let's give him a few more starts before we get too excited.. but, his starts are just as exciting as Abel's spring training. Maybe that's why we should have fun and be patient.....

Luckily we can field an all left handed lineup to counter his left handed pitching arm.. Ok ok let's hope Buxton can hit 2 2 run HRs for 4 runs and the rest of the lineup figures out how to get 1 more and they eek out a 5-4 win today.

At the ballpark.

I'm a 4.3%er. I think the moves the Twins made were good ones. I do think we have more variance than ever before. I don't think Twins fans are not used to not having a floor. We can be either real good if all plyers hit, real bad or most likely a mix in between with some great, some awful, some rookies coming up, and trades and injuries.... So the question is will there be just enough good and great on the team vs bad and awful to eek out a winning season. I believe we can. 80-85 wins is where I think we will end up. Though I wouldn't be surprised either if we end up with 70-79 wins either

At the game. Wish we could post pics

Errors are kinda a useless stat since they don't call so many of them. It's a subjective stat.