insagt1

I'm old school and the advanced metrics make my head explode. When I read articles like this and see all the little letters infront of Big letters and numbers...well. For me way too much. I don't understand any of it and honestly, I really don't care to. BUT, like loud obnoxious music all the time at games, metrics are here to stay. I won't call them garbage, I'll just call them 'too much for my liking'. OK, thats off my chest. Sano--I think its time to move on from him. He's never going to change. However, right now, probably not the best time to single him out when our superstar Correa is just as bad, if not worse; and Polanco is dead at the plate too. Gotta think the latter two will eventually come around. Sano is who he is. He'll crush a few, he'll miss a lot more. And he will give you so-so D at first base. Probably not tradable. Probably the last year in Minnesota, barring a total epiphany

If Buxton isn't re-signed by trade deadline, lets say...and he is having a super season to that point....what do the frugal twins do then? Do they think they could still get true value to trade him mid-season? No. Won't happen. If he has a crap season. then what? What would they get in trade? There are no real answers to any of this. So, you pay the guy if you think he is valuable to the team winning the division etc. Roll the dice, and move on. The more they over-analyze, the less likely anything good will come of it.

For the millionth time...sign Buxton. And then move on to the next step. Keep Donaldson too. If anyone needs unloading its Simmons who contributed the least of anyone in the infield. Yes he has good 'd' but not that good as to offset he was an automatic out at the plate. Too bad too because he usually made contact. It does say a lot about our braintrust that they just don't seem to understand Buxton's overall value to the team and the fans. Will they feel all good about themselves if they play hardball to save a few bucks (not the 'buck' that counts the most)

A footnote on their plaques would suffice. Let the fans then decide how they accept or reject. I think eventually they..or most will get in. What would make me feel better is if the cheaters owned up to what they did instead of denying or claiming 'they didn't know'. That's an insult to all of us. Admitting guilt (not saying sorry because I was caught) goes a long way with many who would be ready to forgive. I think that would matter.

For heaven sakes..make extending Buxton a priority and move on. Do what it takes. Period

all these numbers, small letters, large letters, decimal points, plusses and minuses are making my head explode. Lets not trade Buxton. His injury history might negate the return twins need to replace him. But more than that, (when healthy) he is one of the most exciting players in MLB. Those players are in short supply. Yeah, many are talented, but few can dominate a game. Buck can. He can do it all. And right now he wears OUR uni. Fans love watching him play. Baseball is still entertainment...that people pay to see. (or not) I see Buck as more valuable to the Twins than to other teams. Will they fall apart if traded? No. Will they be less enjoyable to watch? Absolutely. Are they more likely to contend if he stays and can play at least 100 games? Probably. (will there even be a season in 2022? We'll be finding out in the coming weeks) Superstars on a team don't guarantee a championship. But it can help and make fringey teams at least watchable. (Angels have been terrible despite Trout. Cubs never won with Banks. Expos couldn't win with Vladdy...or a boatload of other stars for that matter. There are others. Conversely some superstars transform losers into teams fans will return to watching. Gretzky saved hockey in LA. Anyway, I hope Twins keep their center fielder. And he ultimately leads them to the World Series.

We want 'big hauls' for the regulars we might trade. I just don't think those things exist anymore. First and second and everywhere else...get Buxton signed. He is the centerpiece of the team. Lose him and you are drifting aimlessly in the AL Central again. He is more valuable to the Twins than what he would yield in a trade. Some may disagree, but you can't trade your star and really expect to get better. It could happen, but I don't like the odds. Twins need to get real serious with Buck. then anything they do after that is fine with me.

I don't think I'd do that trade. I think the Twins would be giving up too much AND they would be throwing in the towel for 2022...which I am really against...and I think the FO is too. Is it unrealistic to think Twins can contend next year? Not all with some tweaking. We really need to keep our biggest draw and largest talent.

Glad to see pretty much no one here is remotely considering trading Buxton. Some press articles still seem to float the idea that he could be traded for pitching. That would make absolutely zero sense. You never trade a super-star position playerwho goes out there everyday, for someone that starts every 5th day and expect to get full value. Yes, Buck has certainly been injury prone. But you will never replace his value by trading for pitching with one team. Thats a bigger risk than hoping we can get 120-130 games from Buxton in 2022. He is the centerpiece of our offense (and defense and everything else for that matter). Twins should quickly extend him at seasons end and be done with it. Then figure out how to get a pitcher or two. (and that won't be easy). I'd give Donaldson another year..unless somehow he could be parlayed into an arm or two..which I also doubt. Sano and Kepler could be traded. Arraez slipped badly 2nd half, but I wouldn't be too quick to give up on his talents. Larnach and Rooker have yet to prove themselves. Ditto Celestino. They will have to earn their spots. Don't know what the plan(s) would be for Gordon. Do the Twins like him? Enough to keep him? Clearly pitching is the problem, but trading away valuable position players to take a risk on ANY starting pitcher will always be fraught with peril. I don't envy the FO. They say they want to compete in 2022. I'd like that too. We have seen how quickly a team can go from first to last and vice-versa in just one season. So a big huge rebuild certainly is not necessary. This season was definitely a mess no one really expected. But its fixable. Anyone think Nellie will hang 'em up after this season? He was 'OK' with Tampa, but not extraordinary. He will be 42. I doubt the Rays re-sign him. I doubt the Twins are interested. Some NL team take a flyer on him if they approve the DH. If he does retire, would one of his former teams agree to sign him for the symbolic 'one day' so he could retire in that uniform and maybe sign on for other duties?

yeah--the won-lost record is irrelevant now. Twins are playing uninspired, uninteresting ball this month and are likely to finish on the bottom of the division....a place I'm certain nobody ever saw coming back in April, before the season started. Why are they still playing Simmons? What is there to gain by going with a guy who absolutely needs to go somewhere else? Give the kids a shot...play Gordon at SS and find out once and for all if he can handle the position, or not. Trying to find a place for him to play is messing with him IMO. Arraez must be not 100% because he is a pure hitter and thats not happening for him anymore. Buxton's bat has been mostly quiet but in his case, he needs to play everyday...just to prove he actually CAN. (is his hand still hurting? I'll bet it is and I'm also sure he won't say anything until this season is over) Playing Kepler and Cave is like putting two automatic outs in the lineup. Do they still have a future in Minnesota? the former might; the latter....no way. I hate to see the baseball season end, but for the Twins, it really can't end soon enough.

I can't imagine another season with Simmons. He didn't deliver the goods and there is no reason to hang on to him. A real disappointing FA signing. Cave needs to go also. Surely Twins can find a utility outfielder in the Beer league that can do as 'well'...right? Larnach and Rooker will be 2 to watch. Can they handle major league pitching on a regular basis? I agree that Buxton needs to have a 'comeback year'. Its nice that he is playing regularly right now, finally, but his bat has certainly not been the same since his return. Will the Twins extend him, or try and trade him? Arraez was a bit of a disappointment, relative to what was expected. Struggling to stay around .300 was not what most expected. Kepler was a huge disappointment. Has he peaked? Will the Twins hang on to him? Colome? Yeah, they may decide to give him another shot. Someone said he was no fun to watch. I agree.

Getting a bit distressed at the brutal slump Buxton has been mired in since returning to the lineup. So far 2-27 with a lot of k's. This isn't exactly what the doctor ordered...guess Buck is allowed to be a it rusty, but its time to snap out of it. I wonder if his hand still hurts bad enough to be affecting his swings?

Bats disappeared in this short series...wasted some decent pitching. Guess if one doesn't care about wins, this wasn't so bad. But Cubs are as inept as Twins this season. Should have done better, but I guess it doesn't matter.

That was a gosh awful 9th inning. Almost couldn't watch it finish. Its very nice to see Donaldson and Sano both starting to play to potential. While one might say, well no pressure so big deal. But actually these guys are playing for a spot on the 2022 team, perhaps...a team management feels will be able to compete again. Twins seem to be hovering around 15 under .500. That's probably where they will land, and from a W-L point of view, thats not very good at all. However there is much more to be gained over the last month. I really want to see some spirited baseball from the guys. And a healthy Buxton...who is a bit rusty at the moment.

Meanwhile, as the calendar is nearly into September and a bunch of teams (not us) are fighting for post season spots...I have noticed that Berrios has not exactly lit the lights for Toronto. After a brilliant first game and a tough extra inning loss, he has not looked good at all. In fact he has looked the way we have seen him for his whole career. Some patches of brilliance and a bunch of very ineffective innings. Inconsistency seems to follow him around; Nellie has 20 RBI and 7 HR's in 26 games with the Rays. His BA is not good. And if you dig a bit you will see that a lot of those RBI and HR's came against the beer league Orioles. IS this possibly end of season fatigue like we saw last year? He says he wants to play next year. I wonder with whom?? If the NL adopts the DH, the field will be pretty open. I don't see the Twins making an offer anymore.

Twins will not trade Buxton...unless the offers are totally unreasonable. They understand his value to the franchise. they surely wouldn't get a good enough return to take the risk. Yep--he is always injured. But hopefully one day (soon) we will get to watch him reach his potential (in A twins uni) Twins shouldn't penny pinch with a potential future HOFer. Moving on, pitching is their biggest weakness. They can start working on that without making Buxton their bargaining chip.

Rocco seems to love Rooker hitting 2nd. So far he hasn't done too well there. Kepler at lead-off? Another head-scratcher, but maybe he feels Arraez is more valuable lower in the lineup where he could bring in some runners? I agree that last night was vintage 2021 Twins in microcosm. They score 9 runs and lose. One of their hottest relief pitchers comes in to hold the fort and immediately puts the team back in a 3 run hole. Then an ex-Twin, who was simply brutal this yeat comes in with men on 1st and 2nd, no outs and shuts us down for his 1st Red Sox save. Buxton needs to get back here on the double IMO. And when he returns, Twins have to totally roll that dice and play this guy regularly...until he re-injures himself again, or demonstrates that he can be a valuable asset to the Twins chances in 2022. He either needs a new contract or a trade and babying him the rest of the way would make no sense to see what he is capable of doing.

Hard to imagine him being in decline when he's hardly played enough to evaluate! I don't think the Twins will trade him...unless he manages to get hurt again when he returns. Then I think they will have had enough. He has talent but he also isn't earning his paycheck. For Twins sake and their fans, I hope he comes back strong and they re-sign him.

First time in awhile where Twins were totally out of it. We've discussed it already...Twins can't beat NY. They go into games already wondering how they will lose. Crazy you say? Not at all. Over 15 years of data indicate this is THE classic MLB mismatch, perhaps of all time.

Why some teams just can't beat another team, despite the years, the player changes...everything...is a mystery for the ages. But here we are. Twins v Yankees....and Yankees always win. There have been other such nightmares. Bruins-Canadiens come to mind for me. For a couple of miserable decades, all Montreal did was beat up on Boston...and that also happened during the Bruins glory years with Espo and Orr. It has finally evened out, but living thru that as a Bruins fan was very painful. It has to be mental by now. The very sight of the interlocking NY simply freezes up the Twins. 'How will we lose tonite', they ask? Even if we have the lead, and we play well, how will we lose? And son of a gun, they do lose! Every Twins loss is painful, as a fan. Losing to the Yankees doubles the pain. I don't care about the standings. Last night was another classic example. It wasn't a bad game. And the final score was close.....but was it really? Could the Twins have managed to tie the game...and then win it? Not a chance. The baseball demons won't allow it. Hold your nose, close your eyes and pretend its next Monday.

Yanks were quick to show us the graphics of how bad the Twins have fared over the past 15 years or so against the Payroll. It ain't pretty. Twins just can't seem to gain any traction whatsoever against NY. Not a small sample size. Twins have it a go but just couldn't overcome the early 6-0 deficit. Polanco keeps hitting and Sano seems to have finally found himself at the plate. His 'k' count has dropped and he is getting his hits. Nice to see. Kepler is lost again...ugly AB's. Donaldson not producing much. Is Garver hurt?

Its so much fun to watch a player who is totally dialed in like Polanco is right now. They go up there 'knowing' they are going to succeed. They stay hot for a spell, then its back to normal. But its those streaks that make stats so unreliable for the day by day fan who watches the game for pure enjoyment. A .300 BA or a ..900 OPS doesn't always tell the story of when a player goes nuts for a week and is responsible for all the team's wins. Back in June 1990 a journeyman named Sam Horn had been sent down to Rochester from Baltimore. He was hitting .211 on June 23rd when the Wings faced Tidewater in a double header. On the 23rd, he homered on 3 consecutive AB's, driving in 8 runs..the outburst consisted of a pair of 2 run HR's in game one and and grand slam in the nitecap.. Next day he hit two 3-run HR's. When he came up in the 8th inning the crowd gave him a standing O when he hit a deep fly out to center field. So, in 21 hours he raised his BA from .211 to .345; he went 6-10, scoring 6 runs, drove in 14 and smashed 5 HR's. he was back in Baltimore on July 3rd, Was that fun to watch? You bet it was. Did he ever come close to doing it again? Nope. With Cruz gone, is Polanco our team MVP? Probably. He is having a great second half. Can the Twins catch Detroit and Cleveland? they could if winning is a priority, along with testing the young talent. Would finishing 2nd matter? I believe it would because if would bode well for the team being competitive again in 2022, which is their bigger objective. I think the motivation to win will be strong this weekend when the hated Yankees are the opposition. Twins need to show everyone that they can beat The Payroll, the Evil Empire and whatever nickname suits your fancy. Yanks are hot right now, and playoff bound again, so it would be VERY sweet to slow them down.

Everything matters in baseball because things happen in the moment. If you are 0-5 with 4 k's and then hit a walk-off HR in your final AB..you're the hero. If you don't make many errors, and then you boot a ball in the 9th to cost your team the game....well thats not good even tho the stats aren't going to magnify it. Some errors are insignificant to the outcome of a game. Some RBI don't contribute very much to the outcome of a blowout win or loss. Baseball is played everyday. All kinds of neat stuff happens. You lose 10-0 today and win 2-1 tomorrow. Thats why I love the game and don't get too bogged down in all the stats.

no disgrace to get sent to AAA for seasoning. Larnach isn't ready yet to shoulder the load at the major league level...and thats OK. Sending him down is a good thing. You can struggle for awhile, but if it doesn't end, it means you need some remedial work. If he's the real deal, he will learn, improve and come back strong.

BAseball---I won't mind the Twins cutting Simmons loose. I don't think he has given the Twins full value for his contract. (I guess it can be argued Donaldson hasn't either) Simmons has not hit at all. His fielding has been OK. For the money, can they do better? I think so. I don't think he fits the mold of this team. Has he been 'awful'? No, but I won't be sad if they find someone else. As for the other stuff, I always respect the team approach when you are on a team. I dislike the Yankees but they have a protocol if you want to play for them. No beards or long hair. If you don't like that you play for another team. Rather than promote individualism, they promote team unity. You don't have to like it but they sign your paycheck. And they have created an identity. A team identity. I do like that.