tony&rodney

I have not seen all of Royce Lewis' plate appearances but have watched a bunch. For those who have actually watched the times Lewis hits or fields ... What do you see? I see him getting better at getting his feet firm, although there are plenty of dance moves with either or both feet moving still. Lewis does still buckle at the waist on breaking pitches at times and flail harmlessly at outside stuff. He has seen quite a few fastballs middle, middle. Barco is a pretty good pitching prospect but he was feeding quite a few pitches right down the chute. Lewis fouled one off down the right field line and was ready for the same pitch right after that .... boom, HR. I have missed more than half of Wallner's trips to the plate. In what can only be call luck of when I see him, I have not seen Wallner's hits in live action, only as highlight videos. My Wallner viewing has shown a player descending badly, so it is good to read he is doing better. One thing that has remained troublesome is that virtually every game I see a catchable fly ball elude the lumbering right fielder and sometimes two outs turn into base hits. Wallner should be shifted to DH. It has to be very difficult for pitchers to live through the experience of Big Matt in the outfield. A number of people bring up using this player and that player at first base and note that it is at the bottom of the defensive spectrum. The Twins have been working Gabriel Gonzalez in at first base. Gabby is working hard at learning the position. Last night there were two plays that in some ways symbolize the difficulty of learning first base. One was a hot shot that Gonzalez miraculously stabbed and threw to the pitcher for a 3-1 out. Gabby has quick hands, which were useful on that play. The other, later in the game, displayed the difficulty of catching throws from an infielder. Culpepper charged in to field a ball and thew quickly. The ball was totally catchable by an experienced first baseman, about six feet off the ground and about a foot to the left of Gonzalez. Gabby was fooled by the speed of the throw from a close distance and the ball glanced off of his glove. I'm pretty sure an error was given to Culpepper but it is a play made 100% of the time by an experienced first baseman. I include the plays to give examples of the difficulty of learning to play a position at the professional level. If you have never played catch with someone throwing 90 mph you might be surprised.

I guess we can say Tristan Gray is ok now. A month from now the team could look quite a bit different, but these boys are always trying their best.

Jackson Flora is also a good choice. Cholowsky lacks foot speed, which isn't a block on how good he could be but I prefer superior athletes given how difficult MLB is in the 21st C. I'm going to defer totally to the drafting experts but don't see a problem with any of Cholowsky, Emerson, Lackey, Flora, or Lombard. The Twins are lining up for some good luck after a bad run of misfortune.

Seems like it is too early in the season to pull off a trade but it does seem like Sim And Royce are ready for the road. I wish them luck and hope the Twins get at least a little luck in return (high level talent at A ball or a comp pick).

The NFL and NBA are extremely well marketed and find ways to bring in audiences. I don't follow either league but more people tune in to those sports than to baseball. I don't see how a salary cap has anything to do with either being a better product.

..... and just like that the Ober resurgence takes a break.

Not sure if you watch the games or follow some other way .... Caratini is a decent catcher. He catches everything, calms down our inexperienced pitchers, and is really good on tag plays. Catching is not a problem. Hitting? That is a horse ....

Two cutters and three sinkers. I thought Rogers might come back with a cutter. Either way, Rogers missed his spot. Caratini could care less about a stolen base. Almost every SB is on the pitcher. I sucked at holding runners.

Odd pitch choice. Good game.

Apple TV announcers are not as good as the AAA guys. Although it turns out that starting pitching is a relative strength for the Twins I wanted a Matt Wallner for Jared Jones two years ago after he was injured and added Charlee Soto to Wallner this past offseason. I kinda like the way Jared Jones throws the ball.

Would a team trade a Competitive Balance Pick for Royce Lewis?

A solid point made but arrived at erroneously. The White Sox have talent, there is no doubt of that. Experience is the weakness for CWS now. You are correct - Ryan should be traded for "real value" if the Twins are not going to sign him. If all the Twins can get in return is a pile of players that do not project to be as good as what is already in the cupboard, then the only option is to keep him. The Twins are loaded with Tristan Gray, Aaron Sabato, and those types of players, all of whom can play a role as utility guys. Go big or no deal.

You are correct in saying we shall see. Shaw isn't as good as Brooks Lee (imo), so he doesn't work. Most of the Cub prospects are lower down the spectrum. I like Pedro Ramirez the best of the lot. The Dodgers have a ton of outfielders and mid to back of the rotation starters. None of their guys are that interesting. The highest rated bat is a DH. Boston likely doesn't trade for Joe Ryan. I would love Franklin Arias and Anthony Eyanson. Texas has Sebastian Walcott and he is going to be a RF, where we expect Walker Jenkins to play. It is going to be quite difficult to find a solid trade for Ryan. I wonder if there is any way to convince Sacramento that their team would be better with a package of guys for Leo De Vries. Ryan, Prielipp or Hill, Lewis, and Roden. It would be a gamble for both sides. I guess we shall just wait and see.

A good catcher is critical for pitchers. Martin Maldonado hung on forever because he was good for the pitchers. Cleveland simply doesn't care if their catchers hit as long as they work well with the pitchers. Caratini seems to do a very good job.

The recent series with the White Sox was Not a must win, nor was today's game. The Twins play tomorrow and the day after that and ..... Who exactly had the Twins anywhere near .500 baseball on June 1? It is true the offense needs a pick-me-up and it is also true the talent level is not to hot. The Twins are in most games and perhaps the offense comes around soon. The club is sorting through players, roles, and who plays where. I'm looking for a couple of changes by mid June. Teams generally do not trade this time of year but maybe something can happen. I would like the Twins to trade Wallner and/or Lewis for a competitive balance pick if that is possible.

Sounds great. I'm onboard. My only question is that I'm struggling to find players that other teams will trade for Joe Ryan ..... that are not utility types and back end of rotation pitchers or replicas of what is already in the organization. I want players better than Connor Prielipp and Kaelen Culpepper and I really like both of those guys.

Sounds like a good example .... but I have bought more than a few cars that had high miles. The cars were in great shape and had been taken care of extremely well. For example, I bought a 1991 Audi 200 Quatro, Pearl with all the bells and whistles. It had 200,000 miles on it. It looked like it was just off the show room floor. I drove it for four years and sold it for $1,000 more than I paid for it. Luck and timing. That's what we are looking for in any potential trade of Joe Ryan.

Morris is not (yet) a strike out pitcher and he induces a ton of weak/broken bat contact. Defense matters in this case and we see it too often. Brooks Lee to third base was a good move for defensive reasons. He is way better there and better than the previous occupants. Shortstop remains tough and Buck being a DH puts the team in a rough spot in CF.

Maybe. We might disagree on the players. Lee is going to be the third baseman, so no to Shaw. Long is pretty much Aaron Sabato and it is possible both have careers in MLB. I watch a ton of minor league ball and no thanks. I hope that doesn't sound harsh, just my opinion. I do like Pedro Ramirez, Jaxon Wiggins, and Kevin Alcantara. Is that enough though? Still prefer to make some wild attempt at attempting to gain a top prospect. I'm willing to add some combination of players, both players on the 40 person roster and top prospects, to Joe Ryan to make a deal more appealing. Problem is ... teams are not likely to trade those top prospects. Twins need to gain top talent. FWIW, I like the Cubs team but am a Twins fan. If I was a Cubs fan I would send Shaw, Long, Palencia, and another player to Minnesota for Joe Ryan. Cub fans would love that deal.

They absolutely do not need to trade Joe Ryan at the deadline. There is a key piece missing to any discussion about moving Ryan in a transaction. What is the return? The Twins do not need more DH type players. They do not need any more back of the rotation pitchers. The club has a plethora of iffy LH hitting OF prospects. Finally, the organization has more than enough utility infielders. If the Twins can somehow finagle a top prospect from a team, even if a couple of Twins prospects are added to Ryan, make a deal. I don't want the team to add any more "maybe" players because just getting a draft choice is as good as those maybes. So .... strong return = yes .... weak return = no.

It may be later in the season. The timing of changes has been upset to some extent by injuries to Jenkins and Rodriguez. Players like Larnach and Martin have really been a huge part of a fun team the first two months. Ryan Jeffers was on a great run and Joe Ryan has been a rock for the pitching staff. I find it hard to envision where (specifically) the changes take place. Last night Wallner hit two balls very hard but looked awful in the field and at the plate otherwise. Lewis has had a few good swings but I saw several swings yesterday where his body and feet were all over the place. Baseball is hard and we could see some big changes. I just don't know what they will be. In the past three years we pretty much knew that DK wasn't going to break up his dream team unless it was to add another DH, but things are changing now, slowly.

Along with all of the previous comments above, I will add that the defense has improved and the mental mistakes have been reduced.

James Outman has been mostly toast at the plate. Hendry Mendez has been a line drive machine from line to line with power. However, Mendez will never play CF and suggestions to DFA Outman leaves the Twins short in CF, especially with Buxton at DH. In June we could see Culpepper up, which means one of Tristan Gray or Outman is let go but that is a ways off. Kreidler is needed at both SS and CF and doesn't exactly have a great bat. Finally, when Mendez gets an opportunity (called up to MLB) it doesn't make any sense to let him sit on the bench. We will almost certainly see some personell changes after the season, which may open a spot for Mendez. I'm wanting to see the Twins put a juggernaut offense on the field as much as the next person but this team is competing better because the defense is better in support of some good pitching. My hope is that the Twins focus on converting outs until such time as a few prospects, who hit AND play defense, are ready.

Well, it would be a bonus if Caratini, Kreidler, and Outman were better hitters but the Twins are winning with defense and pitching. Outman was not the only guy who went 0-4 tonight. It's May for a few more days and the Twins are playing hard and winning half their games with a win tomorrow. Who had the Twins at .500 on June 1? What a nice hit by Brooks Lee and the bullpen was outstanding. Joe Ryan .... what can we say - he was a treat to watch again. The broken bat bloop infront of Murakami's HR was a bad break for Joe but he was marvelous.

Fun game.