ThejacKmp

I don't think it's nitpicking but I'm not sure who to blame for it. It didn't feel like he was going at any point. I know its a lefty on the mound but relievers aren't known for controlling run games particularly well. Especially when the count went 1-0 it seemed like he should be off. That gives Adrianza another pitch to lay down a bunt and get Buxton to 3B. Morrison's fly ball scores him. Would be interesting to see if Buxton had a green light and never got comfortable or if Molitor was behind playing it cautious.

The actions you're talking about are the ones a team takes when it is out of the race – promote youth, get rid of veterans. That's not the Twins, it's still May. They’re still contending. Navaretto would be so much worse than Wilson. So much worse. He's likely not as good at calling games (youth) and his AA OPS is .624. If things went well he might put up a .550 OPS in the majors. You’re going to get worse offense and you may stunt the development of a guy who seems like he could be a serviceable backup someday. If you want to upgrade Wilson, look outside the organization. Which is to be expected, third catchers are never good. Grossman is a better option than Wade because he can hit right handed. He's also got a .779 OPS since April 26 and went 2-4 with a walk last night so odd timing on calling for him to be released. Wade may be a good player for the Twins someday but he doesn't fit this team due to his handedness (and should be playing every day). Also curious why you would want to cut Grossman (who you would likely lose) vs. Lamarre (who is worse and you wouldn't lose)? I can buy Gordon over Petit, though I think it would be short-lived since Polanco is due back in 30 days. Gordon should be playing every day so he’d be stunted playing a utility role. But down for a 30 day experiment. Adrianza should stay though, you’ll need a utility infielder at some point (Escobar seems likely to be a regular whether that’s 3B, DH, SS or 2B on any given day). He’s just miscast as a starter but that was always true – the Twins didn’t have great options once Sano and Polanco were down. Now that Sano is back, Adrianza at short shouldn’t be an everyday thing. Not fair to blame any of the guys you’re blaming. The Twins aren’t struggling because Petit, Adrianza, Wilson and Grossman are playing the way they are. All of those guys are role players who are doing as well as could be expected. The Twins are struggling because Dozier is inconsistent, Mauer is hurt and Sano/Buxton can’t hit. Let’s place the blame where it should belong. And be excited Mauer is back Thursday, that will make this lineup much more dangerous.

Yeah but that 26th man topic was over pretty quick. Not a lot to debate: Almost certainly Slegers, Gonsalves is a possibility if Rochester gets rained out at some point. Most people wish it was Gonsalves but are not upset about Slegers because he's pitching well and its one game. Sometimes the journey off topic changes the thread in a good way. This one seems a welcome change and not at all acrimonious. Just online friends sharing ideas. God bless the internet.

I like that idea. Agreed that everyone and his dog knows you have an empty spot but the idea someone might forget is enough of a reason to delay. well done.

So you think that the Twins team batting average is artificially high because their dominant bench has such high batting averages compared to the starters? Bobby Wilson, Ryan LaMarre, Gregorio Petit and Robbie Grossman? C'mon. The Twins batting averages (21 out of 30 this year) is the worst you've ever seen? They're not close to the worst in MLB this year. That's hyperbole. "The Twins batting average is not good" is a solid point. "The Twins batting averages are the worst I've ever seen" is hyperbole. It took me 12 seconds to find ESPNs team batting averages and rank them lowest to highest. Not a difficult fact check at all. Hyperbole rarely is tough to disprove, it jumps rights out.

This makes some sense. Though I wonder what Twins pitchers have insurance. I'd think only Santana and not even then. Maybe Mauer? It does seem, like you said, that if that unlikely situation arose you could just get some organizational fodder, add them to the 40 for a day (nice bonus for them), get up to 40 and then do the necessary moves before dropping that guy no other organization would want. And who cares about his options or whatever. I think you're right that it comes down to a style thing: Why Do It Until Forced To? vs. Why Create Work Later When Its Obvious What You Do Now? I just wondered if there was some larger concept at play that I don't get.

But again, they don't have to add someone. They can move Castro and leave it at 39, waiting for May/Santana.

But there's also no incentive not to. They don't have to add someone. They can move Castro to the 60 Day DL and then wait until they need that spot. I don't get waiting on it, you know you're going to need it eventually. I'd get it if it was a guy who might be back in 45 days if something crazy happens but Castro 100% will not play this year. Why not move him and get the spot open? I keep thinking there must be some reason not to but I don't know.

So why not move Castro to the 60 day DL and free up a place? There's no incentive to waiting and its not like his knee is going to suddenly heal overnight. What reason for the delay?

Amazing what Suzuki is doing at age 33 and 34 with Atlanta. Almost 500 at bats and a 127 OPS+. Don't think you can blame the Twins for that one - he showed no indication that he had this in him. Literally his two best hitting seasons are coming at ages 33 and 34. Insane. Good to see JRM hitting. He was never as bad as he seemed for the Twins - he'd hit in MLB and MiLB before. Glad it's happening in the NL.

What is the benefit of not moving Castro to the 60-Day DL? He's not going to come back in 60 days. Do teams have to fill the 40 man in a set amount of time or can they carry 38 or 39 indefinitely?

The Twins control Garver through 2024 so that long-term development is real, regardless of age. The Twins have a vested interest in having Garver turn into a solid big league starting catcher - it would be very valuable. We too often think that guys are fully formed by age 27 and learning is over. Garver is very much still developing. You're seeing if Bobby Wilson is good enough to be a backup (so far the answer is no). But in 2013 he put up a 660 OPS. That's not great but for a backup catcher that might be good enough that any realistic upgrade is not worth the price you'd pay. Bobby Wilson is new to the Twins, they need to see what they have. Thus far, not much. Get Lucroy!

Nice hot take with a side of hyperbole. There are nine teams in the majors that have a lower team batting average than the Twins. That’s just this year. And just at the MLB level. Perhaps this is the only team you’ve ever looked at so that’s why it’s the worst collection of batting averages? Let’s cool it on the relentless negativity. It’s May. The Twins are 3.5 back in the division. The sky is not falling Chicken Little.

They were planning on Garver having this year and next to learn under Castro. That got thrown under the bus with Castro's injury, which could not be foreseen. I'm glad they're focusing on Garver's long-term development by easing him into everyday catching (which again, isn't just the physical part but also the mental game-calling, memorizing hitter tendencies, working umps etc.) It's also worth noting that its not a bad idea to see Wilson a bit more to see what he has. Give him a chance to solve your problem at backup catcher before you go shopping at the expensive deadline. Only way to see what he has is to play him a bit more. The fact that it eases Garver's time is icing on the cake. This feels way to instinctively negative. The Twins eased Garver at catcher in the minors for a reason - they had other guys they liked too and they didn't want to push him too hard. Those are things I trust coaching staffs to do correctly, perhaps in ways I don't understand as a layperson.

No need to go get a SS with pop. They have 30 games until Polanco is back. The time to do that would've been April. RH hitting 4th OF is the only real hole on this team. That's a relatively minor one. The key for the Twins will be not overreacting to struggles. Buxton needs time in the bigs. Sano as well. Dozier will hit, Mauer will heal. Morrison will continue to hit like May and not April. Just gotta give it time.

I think we're also forgetting that Garver has never been an everyday catcher in the minors. He's shared time with Turner and gotten reps at 1B/OF/DH. Last year he caught 67 games which, given his late season promotion, was around half the games. The Twins may want to phase him up to catching 80% of the time so he doesn't get overwhelmed. I think we should hold off on criticizing the Twins til we see how this is in a month. For the future, I want Wilson for a month while they look at Astudillo and the market. I want them in on Lucroy if the A's sell and have no interest in Realmuto (and his price). If Lucroy isn't available, bring up Astudillo.

Colon for the Twins last year: 5.18 ERA on 5.31 FIP. (Lance Lynn 2018 FIP = 4.95 for reference). He gave up 4 runs or more in 6 of his 15 starts. He just wasn't very good. If the Twins had signed him that would be criminal. He is not good, he gets by on the fan support and the name recognition. His last start bombed (six runs on four HR). His FIP is 5.20 but his ERA is 3.51. He's gotten lucky so far and the wheels are falling off. Sick of hearing how great he is. He's old, he's not good.

Cleveland's lineup and bullpen just aren't as good as they were. That starting pitching is still really good but they're overrated. Twins have had just about everything go wrong and they're in it. They get Sano and Buxton hitting, Dozier streaking, Joe walking and Polanco back and this team could be a second half buzzsaw.

Cats are better than dogs. They don't hump your leg. They don't smell bad. They don't demand to take walks. They crap in a toilet box. They don't beg for food. You can ask almost anyone to take care of your cat when you're out of town. Someone has to really owe you or be related to take care of your dog. Cats don't jump on you when you walk in the door but I see that as a good thing.

Does Cave going down mean Sano coming up?

Top one, no one out, the bases are full A manager's time to ponder and mull Double play depth or bring fielders in Which one makes us more likely to win? Keep 'em back I say, let's get two! Even though trailing stinks like poo Our goal here is to keep it to one We'll score more runs before we are done If we were dumb and crept up close Worried about one run at the most Crack goes a ball in the gaping hole Round the bases our enemies roll One becomes two and then two becomes four Into the pen, our starter can't take any more This game is already getting way out of hand Playing from behind, stuck in the quicksand Sometimes it's easy to spout a platitude "Fight every run to the death my dude!" But trust me when I say this advice you must take Early it's better to bend and not break

Give him today off and get him in Seattle for Friday's game against Lefty James Paxton. The Twins lineup could use the right-handed thump.

For these: is there any chance we could list out the Top 20 and just put a DNP next to guys who DNP. It would be interesting to see the whole top 20 daily and to see when position players get a day off etc.

Sano is really coming back at the perfect time. Even though he may struggle, people will just be glad it isn't Cave DHing and hitting 6th.

What's sad is that Dozier is going to get hot in the leadoff spot because he was bound to heat up and then Molly is going to refuse to move him when Mauer gets back because "Dozey just does better leading off." There will not be a real correlation/causation but that won't stop Molly. Sighs.