Doctor Gast

I understand your reasoning but hope Donaldson will pick us up in Cruz absence.

Dobnak has lost his groove and confidence. Sad to see

Let's go Kepler

FINALLY! Go Dobnak!

Why doesn't Baldelli know when to pull his starters?!

Yeah, really hope they finally use Dobnak in the right spot.

We can't put a lot of stock in the innings that Dobnak has pitched. None of those situations fits Dobnak's strengths. That mop up game had no meaning other than to be treated as a ST game, to tinker with his pitches.

I don't trust any of the Twins rotation at this point to go beyond 5 except Berrios. We need to go to our long relief sooner. Because of this situation, we need to bring in Dobnak sooner and have Thorpe also up to help out because of this situation. Even if they want Thorpe to focus on starting, they could have used him until the minors begin.

This is not 100% hindsight- I've been advocating this for well over a year and posting it because I could fore see this problem (losing players via rule 5). I posted this thread because I haven`t seen any reaction and this problem will only get worse This isn't fantasy thinking- Using SD as an example, they been using this policy for years. Not only making great draft picks, they have been upgrading their prospect thus later being able to upgrade their 40 man in which they can upgrade their active roster by trading. W/O creating such a great farm system they could've pulled off these massive trading deals. They haven't swallowed the narrative that's there no trades out there.Yes we don`t have the farm system that SD had or has (that needs to be worked on for years) but we could've easily pulled off at least one (which I'll discuss more in depth later). This the only way a small market can compete with the Evil Empire (large market teams) Very few trades the FO has intiated, most are offerings from others teams, when we were selling. The only exception that I can remember is the Romo and Dyer trades. The narrative that there is no trades out there is an excuse for not procuring, hating to negociate and over-valuing big bats/ weak gloves. There have been a great deal of trades out there if you only look. PIT alone had many opportunities for pitching upgades. PIT has a talent for finding pitching but don't know how to develop or coach them, every pitcher that left there w/ poor stats blossomed else where. They were motivated to trade most of their pitching. Tailon and Musgrove were available and having Sheldon as a contact would've facilitate the transaction. Tailon and especially Musgrove have dominated this spring so far. I've advocated for Musgrove for awhile, he was also offered to us. The problem was that they wanted Larnach, which is a fair trade but understandablly FO didn't want to give him up and they wrote off the trade. The thing is that they shouldn't have given up but counter offered with several lesser valued prospects. SD pursued the trade and closed the deal that included 5 prospects that together didn't equal 1 Larnach. This transaction would not have involved hard negociations but they chose not to. IMO they over value their big bats/ weak gloves so any fair deals that can be negociated are out right refused. They draft, protect and hoard this type of player. Their priority needs to change. I've been raised to think for myself. To observe, to look for unbias info or any underlying conditions and make a rational conclusion and solutions- not to believe everything that I`m told or think inside the box that people want to put me in. I'm trying to be patient with this front office because I like the way they develop pitchers and hitters. I created this thread not to criticize but to help improve this team and come up some solutions. But drivlikejehu your comment has made me lose hope and patience w/ this FO. I don't see them taking the next step of making shrewd and bold trades to compete in the PS. Now I wish that Levine had taken that job in Philly and pursue Andy Macphail. He wasn't afraid to make necessary trades.

I'm a big Royce Lewis fan but I'm all in for locking an all star SS. Royce Lewis also would be valuable as a true super utility player. A true super utility player is someone who could sub almost anywhere especially SS and CF is super valuable and should be more valued because they are so hard to find.

I want to personally thank you for your edifying response!

To clarify, I'd put Dobnak in to relieve any starter in a game where he'd have a chance to win the game, for however long it takes even it takes extra innings. I'd hate to put anyone in extra innings, the way it sits now, especially Dobnak.

This new extra innings rule I'd believed favored home field but it didn't help us. I think too many players put too much pressure on themselves in these situations. I think when we come to bat in these situations, we need to look at a runner at 2B as an instant rally and our mind set should is to sustain this given rally and don't let pressure build up. Cruz and Pineda were steady as expected. I really like Baldelli but I have one beef with him. He looks at Dobnak as a reliever when he's not, the mindset and function is totally different. A reliever is to minimize damage, save a game in a low or high leverage conditions and mop up. A starter's mindset is go out and win games. Although they placed him on the roster as a reliever they need to put him in situations where he can go out and be able to win the game. That means using him as a spot starter or all 3 games which we've lost. I don't know if he would've won all 3 games but I like my odds better with a warmed up Dobnak on his game than any basically cold reliever if it goes to the 10th. A reliever is out there basically cold, trying not to lose the game where as Dobnak would be out there already on his game trying to win the game. Let's say we would have won all 3 games with Dobnak, Dobnak would be in his groove and Twins would be flying high. I repeat I'm not guaranteeing that Dobnak would've won all 3 games but I like my odds better. You'd think I'm a Dobnak fanatic by how much I've posted about him lately but really I'm not. I just see him as a weapon that the Twins need to win, especially looking at his skill set and what he's shown this ST. I know many will look at his present stats and say Dobnak is a dog, forget him. I see those stats not as who he is but how he's been used. If he's used properly his stats will reflect who he is, a starter

I'm really impressed by his offensive #s. I was looking at seasonal WAR stats. Buck had .7 and Simmons had .6 while leader Jon Gray had .9. I understand the essence of WAR but really don't understand how it's calculated. IMO defense WAR is way too under rated. If WAR were fairer he would have a better chance at MVP. Average BA is .250 his career BA is well ,above that, just he's not normally a slugger.

While I read this article, I kinda saw Sano' as a big ship. Like a big ship, it takes longer to turn around but once it turned around nothing can stop him. We have players who can carry him until that happens. I think Cruz sees a little of himself in Sano'. He just needs to mature and be a bit more disciplined like Cruz. Sano' has the tools to be an impact player. We need to see the big picture.

Your reasoning, I think also backs up my reasoning of an extra long reliever to help take off the burdens from the starters and short relievers this year. Through extra innings they eat up.

It isn't a cop out it's the point of this thread.

Very good point! I overlooked the Ft. Myers point.

If you read my posts, you would know. Both, of course I'd have to look at underlying conditions. If you knew me, you'd know I'm not a slave to stats.

Although the defense isn't perfect, it's far cry from where it was. Love the offense output. Buck's and Simmons's WAR must be phenomenal. Thought Berrios did well under the conditions, most pitchers would come back from a delay and blow up if they do return.

Buck had some things to work out, like his health and swing. It seems like he has worked most of them out. He found his swing and beefed up to add durability and strength. He's confident and ready to go. Expect great things from him. Go Buck!

What's the deal with Lewis Thorpe? He looked sharp during ST and he was scheduled to start a ST game. He was pulled and never heard of again. I thought he should have been put on the active roster from the beginning, that mop up game would have been ideal for him to get some MLB innings in.

I don't think that the FO ever gave up on Baddo or Wells. They just didn't make room on the 40 man. Should've they? IMO definitely yes, both Baddo and Wells are players I'd like to protect and develop. My suggestion is to periodically trade players that we have developed that are redundant or don't fit in our organization but is a need in another, for an upgrade in an area of need. This would give us flexibility we need so we don't lose players for basically nothing. I only see this problem getting worse. We don't have enough real CFers and we don't have any LH hitters at that position. Buxton, Celestino and Broxton are all RH. Baddo is LH

Was impressed by the defense, key hitting and Colume'. Happy that we won