tony&rodney

Number one pick overall in 2017, hit some big home runs last season, and then began this season with flair only to get injured again. Royce Lewis has had difficulty playing baseball for extended periods of time. Whatever challenges are current will likely see his usage continue on the path used thus far this season, where Lewis is best utilized as a DH. The offseason is when Lewis will need to look at his body, approach, and strategies to go into 2025 as an every day player. I'm not expecting big things from Lewis and will be happy if he can play in 24 games to close this season and contribute. I'm a huge fan of Royce Lewis but he is 24 and has very little experience. What is the most consecutive full games for Royce thus far in his career?

Last season I defended Wallner's game, which displayed physical talent and inexperience. He needs a full season of 500 PA before we know how Matt adapts to pitching. Right now, until something major interrupts, Wallner needs to be in the middle of the lineup every game. The Twins need offense.

The Twins are exactly between the Red Sox and Guardians. MN controls its own destiny going into September.

I did not watch last Saturday's or Sunday's Saints games when Lee did well. I did see the last two games and Lee looked tired, very slow. We want to see someone step forward and give the team a boost with a bat and if it is Lee, great. It just seems like the best bets are already on the active roster. Lee and Winder come up on September 1. When Buxton and Correa return (hoping at least), a few tough decisions get made. Varland might get a start next Tuesday in St. Petersburg. Hopefully Buxton is roaming centerfield in that game.

.... and the game is rained out.

No argument from me. The encouragement for steroids and blatant continual advertisement for Sosa-McGuire was egregious. I still cannot fathom how people blame/hate Barry Bonds when he was just trying to keep up with the game, and oh BTW, never tested positive despite being tested more than anyone ever. However, I do believe he just beat the system whereas Big Pappi did not successfully escape a positive and everyone chose to look the other way despite the positive tests, which were supposed to be confidential. So this all Selig's legacy. That and his glasses. Not a fan of football but the debacles in MLB would never occur under a Pete Rozelle.

One huge item, from my perspective, that you do not touch on is that KC has a true superstar as does Cleveland. No Twins is even close to as good as either of those players. All of the teams do their best to put a competitive team on the field and money cannot be an excuse in the AL Central. Still expect the Twins to win due to better depth but Correa, Buxton, and Lewis need to play and be effective. I have no illusions of any of them being in a conversation with Ramirez or Junior but the team needs them to play.

I put this elsewhere - Lee looked gassed in his last couple of games; all things slow. Maybe he turns the switch on but right now he would not be an improvement on Julien on either side of the ball. However, there is a game today and things can always change in a hurry.

Do you think Stewart and Topa will be brought back? They will likely require more money than their realistic projections. There will be some guys added via trades, promotions from milb, and a few pitchers signed to Spring Training invites. Pitchers like Jax, Duran, Alcala, and Sands are a fair top for a bullpen. Looking around the league at the top bullpens, we can see it often takes a few unknown names and good health.

Bed mates, in an ironic way. The MLBPA seems to have an agenda which mostly promotes the highest salaried players but largely abandons the integrity of the game. I guess that isn't the focus of the MLBPA though. One would think there would be more push to arrange a better deal for those players who yo-yo back and forth between the minors and majors. Do all players on the 40 person roster receive the MLB minimum salary? I don't think so but don't know for sure. I'm not sure the owners have any ideas about the game as long as the money flows. The current media fiascos seemingly indicates a paucity of long term thought.

Since the manager of an amateur team is effectively the scorer I was more strict and applied the routine expected play angle. However, MLB players are totally amazing at their craft and make plays not seen below their level. The reason I mentioned the Margot play as opposed to either the Martin or Julien play, both of which could have been made, is that last night's miss was pretty much a routine play made seemingly difficult by numerous mental and physical mistakes. I see Delmon's name recently and we have someone below Delmon in Gabriel Gonzalez. GG will have to hit a ton to make it to The Show. Miami traded for another total iron glove when they gave away Puk. That guy can really hit but I doubt he makes it. The scorer should be more cognizant of the effect on fair statistics for the pitcher and apply the routine play expectation on balls in play. For example, Julien should make a good throw home but we cannot assume an out and it needed to be in a narrow region for the tag. I was a little disgusted but don't write down E4 in that case. If a relay throw is wild to first when the runner would have easily been out on the back side of a double play, i give an error every time if it is a routine throw. MLB never gives an error unless the runner advances. FWIW, MLB has changed their scoring rather dramatically over the years which largely accounts for the reduction of errors in today's game. But it's all small stuff and nothing to get worked up over.

MLB is easily the worst run of sports leagues / operations. Bart Giamatti is the last decent Commissioner.

This would be my decision. The rotation should continue but I expect it to be Jeffers followed by Vazquez. This is a poll type question.

Minor point ... how does the official scorer hand a double to Williams on the ball that Margot clanked. Watching the play numerous times, it is pretty clear that Margot simply misjudged, got twisted, ran over his feet, and then butchered the ball at the last second. It was actually a fairly routine catch. Players make mistakes but there is not any reason to punish Alcala by relieving Margot of his error. I'm not down on Margot, but an error is an error. The Twins will likely bring back Lee in September. He looked tired in his last two games. Has he hit a wall? Each of his plate appearances were weak. The walk last night came on four noncompetitive pitches. There is still a run in this team but Correa and Buxton are needed to shore up the defense. Bat them 7th and 9th to reduce their running. I appreciate the difficulty of injuries but what a pile of missed games for those two. Toronto still has a good team and the Twins will need to forget about the past week when they begin their series with the Blue Jays.

Varland needs to be in St. Petersburg next Monday or Tuesday. Jenkins is looking fine.

Oh, I want them to pitch every turn. I wonder if they can manage to maintain their effectiveness. I believe they can but three rookies having full strong Septembers would be something. Right?

Miami has really had a tough time in trades. Whomever is responsible for evaluation of the prospects in other orgs needs a new job.

Festa was terrific. I'm not sure how much longer the Twins can roll with Festa, Woods Richardson, and Matthews but I'm impressed.

There are so many comments here and elsewhere concerning the defensive shortcomings of various players. The comments that name Correa, Buxton, and Lewis as key players may be correct. Yet, they have a poor history of staying in the lineup on a daily basis. Injuries happen. A couple of thoughts that I have had about the organizational roster builds of position players. MLB is tough on hitters and the Twins have gone heavily toward guys who can or they hope will hit. Base-running, fielding, and fundamentals take a secondary role. Yes, the Twins want their players to play good defense but it isn't what they seek or scout out. Thus, we should almost expect the Twins to be a top 3-5 offense in scoring runs because of the near sole emphasis on offense. The Twins are close but that isn't enough unless the starters and bullpen is a shutdown outfit like Seattle. The team is bound to suffer when not scoring in bunches because the defense will consistently give away runs. This is a FO choice. The other thought is that the ownership has likely learned their lesson on offering any contracts beyond three years. Buxton and Correa are dynamic players when they are fully healthy and on the field. The drop off to their replacements is pretty tough though. There is zero chance of any consideration towards giving Lewis any offers. He will be year to year. Yes, he can be tremendous but look at games played, games played in the field, at bats, his defense, and his inability to run. I feel for the guy because he is athletic but the important numbers are all small (G, PA, R, XBH). Can he heal totally and play 150 games per year for 4-7 seasons in a row? I hope so for his sake and as a baseball fan. The odds are long at this time. So the Twins are doing pretty good. They seem to have a record above their talent level and are still expected to win more than the expected range of 82-87, from preseason guesses. The young starters are doing well too. I'm still believing in this team despite its current run of unfortunate games. 29 games to go and the team needs to go 16-13 mol.

Plenty of disappointment with the bullpen but the bats are pretty putrid when it counts. Kansas City has some problems with their outfield, although it is getting better, but their entire infield and catching is better and their outfielders catch everything. Maybe the Twins are outplaying their talent for the season. Oh well, great job by Festa tonight.

These articles on the front office and the comments commending Falvey always surprise me. I don't have any complaints because I don't specifically have any knowledge about who does what in the Twins organization. I just follow the play on the field and the minor leagues. The comments on the games include a ton of complaints. One would think that the type of play on the field is a reflection of the FO.

The Twins have chosen their position players throughout their system primarily for production from the plate. Only Santana (Buck & C4 are out) is average or above. The problem is that the bats are not scoring and the gloves are giving up runs. This is an organizational philosophy.

Almost shocking how dependent the Twins have become on these rookie pitchers. Festa was exceptional tonight.

Almost shocking how dependent the Twins have become on these rookie pitchers. Festa was exceptional tonight.

Festa will need to get a ton of strikeouts and pop ups. The Twins field a pretty weak team defensively. Go bats and Festa.