insagt1

Wonder is Simmons can get down to .200 before he is sent packiing?

our 4 and 5 hitters are averaging around .180 and have fanned 4 of their 8 times up. Folks say they no longer care about wins. No problem. There won't be many.

He is throwing batting practice. His last 15 appearances his ERA is nearly 10 00. Why isn;t he in St. Paul? This is not a small sample size. He can't get major league hitters out. Pretty much no one in our pen can actually

This just in. Alcala has become totally worthless. He can't get anyone out anymore when it counts. Our pen is bad and he is really bad.

I summarily and forever abhor the notion of tanking for draft picks. If that were the motive, every stadium of teams that are doing it should be empty. Or all tickets should be free for anyone crazy enough to watch. Getting 'penalized' for winning in pro sports is so wrong-headed, it should be outlawed by totally changing the way the draft works. This is one soapbox I won't climb down from.

Somehow it just seemed right that Sano ended the game with a 'k', Anyone here think otherwise? I think with Cruz gone, Sano is going to be even more lost than he has been so far. If any team even made a small offer for him, Twins should jump on it....but thats very unlikely. (but he probably has Tampa Bay on his speed dial!!!) The number of Twins who are injured, or away is frightening. So much of their talent isn't available. Kirilloff and Garlick are done for the year. Refsnyder and Buxton aren't going to be rushed back. Rooker breaks up a no-hitter and this guy has had trouble making contact in most all his AB's with the Twins (small sample size though) Celestino can't hit at all. And so on.... Who else will be gone? Simmons has never fit in. If he goes, he won't be missed. Donaldson? Who knows? The pitchers? Will we get value for them? Kepler? I think he stays. Ditto Polanco. And Garver.

Twins playing with all the passion and enthusiasm of someone who has been shot up with novocaine. Its going to be a long 10 weeks. I see them finishing only ahead of Baltimore in the AL:.

The logic of the trade is irrebuttable. The emotion is another matter and so as the Bangles song goes, I may see things In A Different Light. This in no way makes my observation 'right' and everyone elses wrong. Here's the perspective from a septuagenarian t. Part of the fun of watching and attending ballgames is to see your favorite players...not just the 'uniforms' (which is getting way too common anymore) When I watched the Expos, I looked forward to seeing Rusty (le grand orange); Mack Jones; later Carter, Dawson, Pedro Martinez, later Vlad Sr. The Orioles, it was Brooks, Frank, Cal, Eddie, Palmer..these are guys that kept my interest high. There were really only 2 players I didn't want to see go...Cruz and Buxton. I don't care about the rest at all. Those 2 guys made watching the Twins enjoyable. Has nothing to do with the payroll, the future, the logic....just the fun of watching baseball...which diminishes a bit every year because of the 'business' of the game. Trading Cruz (which I accept probably had to happen....but I wonder if the guys had played better in the 1st half, whether this would have even been necessary) ripped the heart and soul out of the team. You can laugh and say 'so what', but I guarantee most the guys really didn't want to play last night and it showed. When you lose your best hitter, no matter the age or the circumstances, you do lose something. If the 2 young arms we got make up 2/5 of a successful starting rotation in 2022, it will be a huge win for sure. The cautionary tale is....how realistic really is that? Pitching prospects come and go. A few make the grade and many more don't. Thats not a reason to not make trades of course, Just realism. For those who say 2 1/2 more months of Cruz in the lineup won't make a spec of difference this year...hard to argue from the standings perspective. But from a purely emotional, I love my favorite players viewpoint, the Twins will be less fun to watch and the final 10 weeks will surely be a total throwaway. This will be moreso if the young guys we want to make up the core in coming years are injured...as many of them are. This trade may make the Twins better someday. Maybe not. No one really knows. Games and pennants aren't won on paper. When you are young with lots of life ahead of you, you can afford to experiment, casting aside season after season in search of the holy grail. When you're older, you view the game differently. Again, no one is 'right' or 'wrong' in their viewpoints. I will miss Cruz. His teammates will miss him more. these are human beings being moved around and thats never easy. The fans will miss him, despite this miserable season...none of which was on his shoulders. So my 'grade' is simply 'sad'. Sad, that it had to happen. And I wish the two young pitchers well. they have huge shoes to fill and much will be expected of them. OK I've had my say. Like all unpleasant trades, I'll get over it....probably.

Inevitable day. No matter. It sucks to lose Cruz. I hate the Rays. I hope everyone's optimism on the 2 pitchers is justified. If so, its a good trade. You could tell the Twins were going thru the motions tonight. Their heart clearly wasn't on the field as they sleepwalked thru a 3-2 loss to the Angels. I seriously doubt they will try and re-sign him next season. If they want to give the young guys a chance, why sign a near 42 year old DH? It always hurts to lose a popular and productive player. When TB comes to Minnesota in a couple weeks, I hope Cruz hits a ton of HR's and the fans give him a large ovation.

I can see trading Berrios and Rogers now. Keep Buxton. If they trade the two pitchers now, they will get fleeced. But I agree with the majority here. Berrios probably wants out. Not so sure Buxton does. While pitching is our weakness, the problem is trading two of our supposed 'best ones' might not help the team at all. Pitching prospects litter the landscape and many don't make it. But I suppose they have to try.

It doesn't help that Rogers right now is in one of his awful periods. When he goes bad, he is REALLY bad. And there is nobody to bail him out. it really bugs me....pitchers who slow the game down to a crawl. Rarely are they ever effective. Go after the hitter. Keep your 'd' alert. Twins pitchers did neither tonite.

I started watching in the bottom of the 7th....seemingly about 2 hours ago. The game ground to a halt, Insufferable. Twins have no pitching at all. None. There isn't one reliever who can get the job done. They diddled around...took about 1 minute between pitches, couldn't throw strikes, and then when they did, the 1st place team tore them apart. This game was a horror show exposing all the warts. Just no fun at all watching this team.

He waited for the worst possible time to have his usual implosion. He looked awful the minute he took the mound in the 7th. Lost his composure quickly, as he often does...and it got ugly real fast. Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Sox hit 3 out against Jose. When Falvey said nothing has lined up right this season...he wasn't kidding.

Not all that often does a guy spend over a month on the IL and come back with 2 straight long balls. Larnach is totally lost at the plate right now. Kirilloff is playing with an injury so we aren't getting his best. When Cave, Garlick and Refsnyder come back it will be interesting to see who goes where....assuming none of them are traded. Lets hope Berrios doesn't have one of his famous one inning meltdowns tonight. He has looked real good thru 5.

I was listening to Russo and Falvey too. what it sounds like he is saying publicly is he expects Twins to contend in 2022. So he won't be making trades to weaken what he feels is a decent group of players developing nicely. Sounds like he feels Buxton wants to stay but didn't come out and say negotiations are going well yet. The flavor I got was this is an outlier year where nothing is lining up and its not a burn them down rebuild them team.

interesting comment. In the now 'defunct' AAA International League (may it not R.I.P. but come back roaring from the dead when somebody recognizes the name really meant something...I digress), the manager always coached 3rd base, not another coach. So he was definitely 'in the game' bigtime. Haven't been to a game yet this year, but its probably still the same. So AAA managers probably don't have in-dugout flaps with players during the game. They are too busy monitoring the game as it happens.

not necessarily. Strategy is a lot different when you are losing 1-0. .When you are down by 7 late, you know yourchances of winning are very slim and you have to play for a big inning.

thank you ...that is encouraging then. Hope somehow we can keep him AND somehow he can stay healthy.

Maybe someone close to the team in Minneapolis knows more about Buxton. From his stays in Rochester, the lack of a callup a couple years back and even comments this year (for what its worth) that he may have been at odds with Rocco about getting back in the lineup...I have to wonder if he has any interest at all in staying with the Twins? Even if they opened the vaults? Anyone have serious comments about this?

Its a crapshoot Tim, thats all. Trading Cruz has been discussed over and over here. They may well trade him but no one is going to offer what he's 'worth'..a 41 year old DH who can't play the field. It would be a charity move. Historically, teams who offload talent at the deadline rarely get much in return because the buyers know they don't have to offer much. Yes, there are exceptions but overall, for me, I would rather wait to trade our value assets in the offseason when legit bargaining can happen. If someone blows us away with an offer for Cruz...that would be great and they should definitely do it. But I doubt that will happen. Has he requested a move? If so, then that too would be OK. I don't think we are a rebuilding team per se and to capture a few young studs who may or may not ever make the climb...especially pitchers doesn't excite me. But thats just my opinion based on decades of watching this grand old game. Sometimes you win, sometimes not. But I'm in the classroom that says if Twins are trading now to actually improve in '22 or ;23, its a real gamble. Trading for the sake of trading doesn't interest me. But I know others don't share that opinion and thats perfectly fine. I guess we will all have to wait and see.

actually fans all over the NHL drool over the draft. Its a big deal. I don't think it is in baseball. Tanking makes me sick in pro sports. Thats why I hate the whole draft process. It is geared towards not achieving...which to me in unacceptable. Pro sports is a business where the fans ante up significant dollars to be entertained. Winning is always more fun than losing. You must play to win every night and let the pieces fall where they may. Any idea that you should lose inorder to draft 'higher' to 'possibly' get a better player is wrongheaded and I wish the entire draft system was changed to totally take that aspect of 'tanking' or just plain losing out of the way. Twins may need to make trades, but best to do them in the offseason when they have a shot at getting legit talent (prospects or MLB ready players) Anyone know what major changes Boston and SF made from 20 to 21? Why are they so much better this season? When I watch the Twins every night, I watch with the expectation that no matter who plays, they go out to win. Period. They aren't making the playoffs this year. But I want them to win as many games as they can with the players they choose to play. And draft picks shouldn't enter into it. Pick # 100 could end up being as good as pick #5. Who really knows? The baseball talent pool is large. Anyway good discussion. no matter what side of it you are on!

You don't trade either pitcher. This is not a 'rebuild' team. And at the deadline you WON'T get value for either. Teams that want them will still be offering what little it takes. If Twins take that bait, they aren't playing with a full deck. Plus why are some SO sure Twins can't or won't afford to pay their core stars when the time comes? If you offer any of them..including Cruz or Donaldson...ask for the moon. If someone is dumb enough to pay the price....pull the trigger. If not, forget it.

Arraez and Polanco need to be in there everyday. If the Twins move Donaldson, perhaps Gordon gets a closer look? While in Rochester, Gordon made the tough plays, but most his errors were on routine grounders and easy throws to first. That was aggravating. From a fan aspect, yesterdays game was pure entertainment. The GS was a true downer. Then our HR in the 9th a total shocker. Duffey was great in the 10th. And Polanco is on a tear right now. Larnach is in one those funks where he has stopped making contact. And it is now becoming a mental thing as well. 15 k's in last 26 AB's 8 k's in his last 10. Perhaps the ASG break can help him sort things out. I still like our lineup. I don't like our pitching. I've given up trying to figure out what they will do next. What I do know is don't expect any great deals at the deadline.

Detroit is not the bottom feeder we may have expected. I know the Twins season is pretty much over, but I am still amused by the 'trading frenzy' many are proposing. I will stick to my thoughts that sellers don't usually profit from trade deadline trades. yes always exceptions, but usually buyers know sellers are 'desperate' and will offer very little. If the idea is to 'stock up' for 2023 or beyond, OK, maybe. Maybe a player or two will be moved, but I don't expect much in return at all. Might find a diamond in the rough, but not holding my breath. To fix this team, we need to do it right. Wait till the offseason and maximize the value of whoever it is we want to move.

I think its a bit unusual for just about every pitcher on a staff to be having brutal seasons at the same time. Twins bullpen has been a hot mess all season. the starters haven't been all that good either. You can't win when your pitchers are giving up touchdowns regularly. the number of games they have lost when Twins had the lead at some point in the game is staggering. A perfect storm. I don't think any of us saw this coming....to the extent it has. ( but if you want to see a REALLY awful pitching staff, check out the Orioles. Outside of Means, they have nobody who can get major league hitters out...there is a reason why they are 30 under .500)