stringer bell

Most likely the prospects within the organization will get their chance in the coming year. 2020 was short and strange and didn't give many at-bats to the top prospects. Next year should be different. Most everyone on TD is more than willing to say goodbye to Adrianza and Gonzalez and that is especially true of Marwin since he had an eight-figure contract. I guess I agree, but given who the manager is and who his players are, utility guys are both important and will get lots of playing time. The combination of Adrianza and Gonzalez was very versatile, offered two switch hitters and gave the Twins solid defense wherever they were put in the field. That is much more than nothing. Neither hits well enough and both are past 30 years of age. It should be noted how rare it is to have a utility guy who not only can play multiple positions in the infield, but also is capable in the outfield. That said, one thing lacking in Ehire and Marwin is speed. The Twins have only one player who would be considered to have well above average speed and neither Adrianza or Gonzalez would even be average. I do think that replacements for the two Venezuelans should have the speed tool in their toolkit. Having versatile switch hitters would be nice, as well. I really don't like the idea of bringing up a rookie to be a bench player. They usually are accustomed to playing regularly and might not be able to adjust to playing infrequently and sporadically.

That is the "good" thing about catchers. Both catchers who make the roster in the spring (if the season starts on time) will get enough of an opportunity to get playing time. With only two catchers, both guys will get the chance to demonstrate they are the better option. I'm not ready to give up on Garver because of his disappointing season, but I think he will have to demonstrate that 2020 was the fluke, not 2019. It figures that he and Jeffers will be the catchers.

As I said earlier in this thread, the pitching substitutions are gray areas for me. Let me defend Baldelli/Johnson with these rationales: Maeda after 5. Kenta pitched scoreless ball for 5 innings, but threw 91 pitches and was under stress about as much as he had been all year. He would be facing the Astros for the third time through the lineup in the sixth and would be on a short leash due to the score and his pitch count. I don't think Wes/Rocco wanted to bring in May with runners on mid-inning and thought the chances were good that Maeda would get in trouble or go high on his pitch count in the sixth. Maeda had only exceeded 94 pitches once and that was when he was chasing a no-no. May for one inning--maybe they believed since May flew through the sixth, that he would be available today (Tuesday). When Duffey labored to get the third out in the seventh, they decided that he was used up and that he wouldn't be available on Tuesday, so they let him continue. Romo-I know he has struggled lately, but he has tons of playoff experience and he's effective against right handed hitters with that slider. He gave up zero hard contact, but after the error, he walked in the eventual winning run. Thielbar-he has had good success against left handed hitters. He needed to get Brantley, a tough out. Brantley didn't hit the ball hard either, but hit it in a good spot.

It is almost like Rocco was trying to justify having four catchers.

Turtle has been scouted. Yes, he doesn't strike out, but he swings at everything. There is no need to throw him a strike, make a pitcher's pitch and he should be out in a pitch or two.

I agree with the last three queries. Sending Maeda out for the sixth to face the lineup for the third time was questionable, but I suppose Rocco thought he would pull Maeda if someone got on base and with Maeda either at or over 100 pitches, and that he didn't want to bring in a reliever (May) with runners on in the middle of an inning. I disliked the catcher moves, why bat for Jeffers, why not save a player by keeping Garver behind the plate, and why send up Astudillo?

I've imagined Kirilloff to be a Joey Votto type of hitter, high batting average, relatively few strikeouts lots of extra base hits, but not a threat to win a home run championship. I've also seen him as the surest bet to be a major league regular of all of the Twins prospects. It's puzzling to see him called up now, but I guess the Twins must know what they're doing. The Twins have won the most regular reason games in the American League since Baldelli became manager. They are the only AL repeat division winner. Still waiting for postseason success.

For whatever reason offense was way down in the regular season. Here's two good examples: Nelson Cruz had an OPS this year of .992 this year versus 1.031 last season. Eddie Rosario's OPS this year was .792 versus .802 last year and both actually had higher OPS+ numbers this year. As a team, the Twins dipped from elite offensively to middle-of-the-road and were even more dependent on home runs to fuel their offense. Saturday's offensive performance was so different from the great majority of games--no homers, but steady pressure on the opponent, lots of doubles and good hitting with runners in scoring position. Run prevention improved almost as much as run production diminished and the Twins managed to win 60% of their games. They have a chance to advance deep in the playoffs, but some who were disappointing in the regular season need to be better. The American League playoff is a tournament where all the participants have significant strengths and weaknesses. I truly believe anyone can win and anyone could lose in the first round. The Twins have a huge monkey on their backs and winning both a game and series is the minimum for saying that progress was made this year (IMHO).

In this strange season, I think winning home field is more important than winning the division, although it would be nice to be the "home" team in subsequent series. For the record, I do want the Twins to win the division and #2 seed, but health of players is more important. Secondly, it would be great to see Sanó, Garver and Cruz get dialed in right now. Kepler looks like he's found his swing, Rosario is going well and Arraez demonstrated that he could get out of bed on Christmas morning and go 3 for 4.

The Front Office has made good moves, no question. Another phase will be development of players. This will be key in keeping on top of the heap in the Central and perhaps all of baseball. We really haven't seen much of highly regarded pitching prospects at the major league level. If the brain trust can develop an elite starter or two plus a couple of top-end bullpen arms, I will be convinced

While it depends on what the White Sox do, most likely there will be at least seeding position on the line for Sunday's game and it's entirely possible that the division title will be on the line even if the Twins win both tonight and tomorrow.

The Twins win the tiebreaker with the Yankees if the Yankees lose tonight on the basis of last 20 divisional games (12-8 vs. 11-9). If the Yankees prevail today, then the magic number is 2 to avoid a trip to the Bronx.

The Twins have the tiebreaker with Cleveland, so the magic number to eliminate Cleveland is 1. That is one Minnesota win or Cleveland loss and the Twins finish ahead of Cleveland for seeding. Also, in a 3-way tie, the Twins come out on top, Cleveland second and the White Sox third. Rosario had two very good games against the Tigers. Whether this is his last run with the Twins or not, he is a good major league player, although at times he makes me want to tear out what hair I have left. Alcala did not throw enough strikes last night. Detroit hit a bunch of long fly balls, but did no damage. I really would like to see the Twins go with Jeffers behind the plate, but I still expect Garver to be the starter.

I count the Twins as 12-8 in their last 20 division games, which would mean that they will have the tiebreaker versus New York if the Yankees lose today.

Last night is a good example. Maeda absolutely shut down Detroit for five innings and in the last four innings Detroit got 10 hits, most of them from soft contact. Obviously Miggy's two bombs were not softly hit, but at least half of their ten hits were loopers that found the grass.

I think Bailey has a legitimate shot to be the fifth starter. He seemed to have pretty good fortune the first three innings, but then some bad luck the second time through the order. I could see him and Odo piggyback the last game with the evaluation of who is sharper determining who makes the second round playoff roster. I was encouraged to see the velocity pick up in the second and third innings.

The Twins bullpen has a pitcher named Tyler Duffey and another one named Taylor Rogers.They've both been with the team quite a while. End of rant.

A good off day for the Twins, both the Yankees and White Sox lost. Still hope to win the division for the Twins and renewed optimism that they will get the first series at Target Field.

Nelson Cruz has been everything the Twins could have expected for 2019 and 2020. He's stayed relatively healthy, hit both with power and for average, he's been available to play except for two ten-day stays on the Injured List and he has been a team leader and mentor for all players on his team. Cruz has been far and away the best hitter both last year and this year. Despite all of his contributions, I am not sure my favorite team should bring back Nelson Cruz for the 2021 season. There is a truism that it is better to move off a player a year too soon than a year too late. Father Time is looking hard at Nelson Cruz and at some point he will slow down. Actually, I wonder if he might have started slowing down at this point. Cruz is striking out more lately and not hitting with as much power as he did in the first half of this shortened season. Cruz has managed to keep his batting average up, but he only has three homers and 3 RBI in the 20 days of September. I don't know what will happen next year, but I would think that there is a chance Cruz' production will drop, perhaps dramatically. Also to consider is what the roster will look like next year and how Nelson would fit in it. The team has probably three corner OF/DH/1B prospects ready to play next year. Keeping Cruz would mean that for 90% of the games that Cruz isn't injured, he will fill the DH role. That leaves no real place for Kirilloff, Rooker and Larnach. Letting Eddie Rosario go could allow playing time for one of these guys, but still leaves a bit of a logjam. Using the DH spot as a half day off for regulars might be a better plan. Nelson Cruz has provided 1.7 WAR this year after 55 games, which would translate into over 5 WAR for a full season. His OPS this year is 1.026, just down from last year's 1.032. Cruz's OPS+ is actually higher this year 178 vs. 168 and he achieved 4.2 WAR for the full season last year. He has served as a role model for the younger players, particularly Hispanic players.It would certainly be a tough call to let him leave the Twins, but I don't think it is out of the question.

For the week I will become a Cleveland and Chicago Cubs fan. I'd also like to see the Reds knocked out of playoff contention in the four days before the Twins play them. If Cleveland can take three or four from the Sox, I think there's a chance. Incidentally, a three-way tie with Cleveland and the Sox goes to the Twins.

No matter who they play, it is most important to set up the rotation for the playoffs. We know Berríos won't start the last game of the season against the Reds. He could start Friday on regular rest and then pitch Wednesday, the second game of the first postseason series, on regular rest. Maeda could go on either Tuesday or Wednesday, and then start on Tuesday with an extra day or two of rest. Pineda could pitch Saturday and be ready for the third game of the first round, I don't know exactly how it will play out, but I will count of Wes and Rocco giving more rest to their postseason starters at the expense of going with them in the remaining five games.

Did Berríos just beat both Cy Young Award winners in succession?

With the two days off in the coming week, there is no need to do a bullpen game, but in lining things up for the playoffs, I suppose they might. The playoffs start on Tuesday and there aren't any off days. The Twins did clear a 40-man spot when they outrighted Littell, so I think they can add Bailey if they want to.

The Twins only need one more win to clinch the postseason, or losses from Detroit and Seattle. Tough to imagine that they will catch the White Sox, who still lead by three games plus have the tiebreaker. Houston is below .500, so also tough to imagine them falling behind them. Cleveland trails the Twins by two games plus the tiebreaker. Looks like a fifth seed and a trip to the Bronx.

In today's Three True Outcomes era, ABC baseball isn't the way to go. Witness the series against the Cleveland club. Cleveland took extra bases, advanced runners, got sacrifice flies and lost every game because the other guys (the Twins) slugged the ball. Both teams last night struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. The key AB was the fake bunt/swing away single the scored the eventual winning run. Chicago defied the odds by getting the heart of the Twins order out when the game was on the line (multiple times). Actually, I wish that the Twins would be better at small ball. In my mind they are at a bit of a disadvantage when playing a low-scoring game because they are so dependent on scoring via the home run. Winning the game on someone's legs (like the Buxton walkoff infield single) is so rare.