Doctor Gast

IMO our true wild cards are Prielipp, Morris & Raya. Alcala & Varland are true high-leverage RPs if managed properly. Keep Alcala at 1, nonconsecutive innings & Varland in the BP. I shared on Castellano before. I was disappointed with losing Canterino & Duran will remain a good RP but how good? RPs aren't very high on the totem pole but in the Twins case, it could be pivotal.

You mentioned mop-up games when we were losing. I'd like to think that those mop-up games are from games we are winning too.

Yeah, IMO it's too early to throw in the towel.

Lopez & Correa deserves to be on any top 100 MLB players' list. But I don't give much credence on their bWAR.

I used to get all excited about the draft, the articles on our prospects, and subscribing to the athletic (which I dropped last year) but last couple of years or so I've come to the conclusion that this team won't reach it's full potential under this management. Yes, Falvey has finally got the pitching pipeline pumping (what he was hired to do) but most everything else he has come short. I don't care if we don't have money to spend on FAs that Falvey wants to sign, Our competitors spend less & are more optimistic than us. I don't want us to sign FAs, I want the Twins to develop our young players & have enough faith in their efforts to play them & if we don't have the young players to fill the areas of need go out there & trade for them. I have total faith in the core that broke that curse of record consecutive postseason losses. But not in this organization. Unless something significant changes soon, I'm fighting it but I might take a break from the Twins. If the Twins don't have faith in the work that they're doing with the young players, why should I have faith in the Twins?

PHI would like Castellano back & MN would like to keep him. It's a game of chicken. PHI won't trade him because they think they can get him back. I'm split depending on the character of Castellano, his development would not be ideal under the MN situation, and how he'd react would affect whether to keep him or not. I'm a firm believer of correctly managing the BP & normally I'd say no to this idea because I wouldn't want someone in the BP that I couldn't send down. But I'm very impressed with this year's BP corp with the depth & the upper leverage they are capable of throwing. We have Varland, Topa & temporarily Alcala that can be optioned with likes of Funderburg & Dobnak that can come up to help out to cover any need where we can hide Castellano in the mop-up role until he graduates to low leverage. If we show PHI that we are able & determined to keep Castellano, it'll better our chances of winning this game of chicken & agree on a trade. We have a lot of promising young pitchers, Do we really need Castellano? I don't know; you can never have too much pitching. "The team has also made sure to give him some tough assignments, the better to evaluate him against high-level competition." Here I don't agree with the Twins. I'd take it easier on Castellano, let him build up more confidence before he's thrown into the mop-up role & the MLB coaches to work with him. There I'd slowly ease him into higher leverage & see what he really has.

They'll try very hard to trade Robert, eventually IMO they will. That'll look even worse on paper. They have a great core that's coming up at key positions. They may not make a great impact this season but they'll be a force to deal with very soon. I am especially envious of them going out & landing Edgar Quero from LAA & Kyle Teal from BOS after landing one of HOU's former top prospects, Kory Lee. They value catching & they could very soon become the league's top-catching core.

Right now 3B is Lewis's & 2B is Lee's. Castro is the Utility Player. Temporarily, Lee may shift over to 3B & Castro subs at 2B. But long term it's Lewis's & after that Correa will move there. Lee is our main short & long-term replacement for Correa at SS so I don't see a path for Lee to be our future 3B. I don't see Lee having problems moving around the INF. If he'd be moved to the OF then most certainly would have trouble adjusting & would affect his hitting.

Hope this isn't typical of what we'll see from Duran during the season

Yeah me too. But maybe could be used for mop up until he proves himself.

I walked away & DET score 3. How did that happen? Bummer

Balazovik picked up by DET. They like to pick up Twins rejects. But Castro was a nice MN pick up from DET.

4 runs 4th. Looks good!

Rally time!

I can't follow the game but what I can listen Ober is having his usual good game

Good baseball execution, 1st run

I can't get gameday today, I miss it.

Again my point that you want to debate on is not about their ability to play 3B. It's about the condition of Miranda's arm & the health management to keep Miranda on the field. The fact that Keaschal shouldn't be playing OF now isn't because he can't normally play there. It's a matter of health management. Grant it that they are at different places in their recovery but the idea is the same.

As always you miss my point. The point I made is that Miranda's arm is overtaxed at 3B, especially since his injuries from playing there. Miranda is no Bergman, in that moving him to 1B is a gigantic waste of talent. Which could be only temporary until he is 100% again. Again my point is the condition of Miranda's arm that asks for no pissing contest between him & Lee. For me, stats have no meaning if underlying conditions aren't present. Which I want no debate on the matter, it's my opinion & has no meaning on this thread.

I'd love to agree with you Jocko. I'd like to see Martin have more playing time at the MLB level but not under these conditions he's playing under. Switch him to 2B & let him compete there. More than likely it's too late, so I'd send him down to be reacquainted at 2B & get his hitting back. Julien is a defensive liability, he needs to be sent down to AAA to learn 1B & keep on working on adjusting his hitting. At this point, I'd take Gasper over Julien, which isn't saying much.

Both are RH, Bader was acquired as a RH bat to cover the corners & replace Buck when injured. I wrote Keirsey should but Falvey acquired Bader, every player acquired by Falvey, will get every opportunity to shine & will play more than they should. While our own capable inhouse players will get the shaft.

Keirsey is the only true LH CFer, he also had a good spring training. He should have the nod, leaving camp.

Julien should be sent down to AAA to learn 1B & continue his hitting adjustment. We really don't need Gasper at 1B, 2B or catcher & as they like to say spring training doesn't count but Falvey will give him every opportunity to succeed no matter if we need him or not. Unfortunately, because of Lewis, 3B Lee & Castro should be our 3B options, Lee & Castro our main 2B options with Gasper. Keirsey is our LH CFer to sub Buxton to give him a break against RHPs.

If we want to compete in the postseason, we need Lewis. His soft-tissue injuries are not uncommon after surgeries. IMO they should decrease in severity & frequency. IMO trading Lewis is senseless talk. He'll recover & hopefully Baldelli is able to take us to the postseason where anything can happen,

My sentiments