stringer bell

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.

One of those games? It seemed like it to me, when Madrigal's blooper fell in just inside the line about 120 ft. from home plate. The Sox tempted fate a bunch of times with Cruz up and he failed each time. Most days that isn't going to happen. Abreu didn't have a big impact either (one of those games). I like Taylor Rogers a lot, but as Chief said, his pitches haven't been as effective. It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with his arm, the velocity is there, but the command isn't what it was last year or the year before that and he's facing far fewer teams. I don't know who would be a replacement--I've seen slippage from Duffey and May and I'd hate to count Clippard or Romo closing games with the <90 mph fastballs. It's interesting to see the Twins resting guys through this crucial stretch of the season while Chicago and before that Cleveland send out the virtually the same lineup every day. I really wanted the Twins to take 3 of 4 from the White Sox (and take the division lead) and now that means they'll have to win the next three.

Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but it appears to me that roles available for next year for Rooker would be platoon/4th outfielder and backup at first base and DH in the event of injury. Honestly, having a guy with limited defensive ability and flexibility is not my idea of good roster building. It is also unknown whether Rooker can perform well with sporadic playing time (probably my main complaint about Cave), so unless the roster is really juggled next year, I don't see a role for him. Also, the Twins currently have Kepler, Rosario, Cave, Wade, Kirilloff and Larnach as corner outfielders and Cruz and Sanó to cover first base and DH. There aren't enough roster sports for all of the corner outfielders. The shortened season might have kept the team from dealing with the logjam, but something probably needs to be done by Opening Day of 2021.

Too bad for Rooker. He has looked good at the plate in his limited big league at-bats. That said, he may have been on his way back to St. Paul (either him or Wade) with Kepler being ready to come off the Injured List. 21 plate appearances isn't enough to know how good of a hitter he is or will be. I will say that his stint was encouraging, but doesn't make him a centerpiece for future Twins teams.

Wade's skill set is not as desirable as it would be in other eras. If he had more power or was a true center fielder, I'd like him more for the Twins. They have a lot of LH batting corner outfielder types in the top of their system, so he may end up playing (and succeeding) for someone else.

I see the White Sox as having the better future of the two teams competing with the Twins for the division title this year, but I don't think they are as good a team as the Twins right now. Obviously, they are in first place and four of their players have been outstanding--Anderson, Abreu, Robert and Jiménez--but I don't think their pitching is very deep, nor their bench. Cleveland has to decide what to do with Lindor (almost certainly a Mookie Betts type of trade) and they just haven't developed much of an attack. They have had tremendous luck and success developing pitchers. Former Twin Carl Willis must be some kind of magician. They bring up middle of the road prospects and they become first tier pitchers. For this season, the enduring image I'll have of Chicago unless they do something memorable from here on in, is the way they kicked the ball around at Target Field. Poor defense and poor fundamentals. I know the Twins have made their share of defensive mistakes, but nothing like what I saw out of the White Sox. To me, that is what makes them a step less formidable than Cleveland and still not as good as the Twins. Of course, if Chicago wins the series with the Twins this week, they'll likely win the division. I don't think they'd sustain over a full season, but we'll never know about that.

Reminiscent of Cleveland's domination of bad teams last year, particularly Detroit. I'm not convinced Chicago is that good, but the Twins will have to beat them at their park to secure the lead.

Cleveland looks like they'll be the wild card almost for sure. They Twins are 3.5 ahead and have a tiebreaker advantage. It's pretty hard to make up 4.5 games in only 13 games. They trail Chicago by 4.5, but get to host the White Sox later this month. Now the Twins get the White Sox in Chicago. A split gives the Twins the tiebreaker advantage and three of four gives them the division lead and a tiebreaker advantage. It should be fun!

Romo calls a lot of attention onto himself. I can see why he irritates opponents. As Squirrel said he needs to be able to take abuse if he calls so much attention to himself.

Maeda has been excellent. His ERA isn't close to Bieber's, but he has been both efficient and effective. His WHIP is the best in baseball. When he has exited mid-inning, Twins relievers have allowed runners to score, also he has given up some multi-run innings. Maeda is 11th in IP, 18th in K's per inning and 11th in ERA. In this abbreviated season, I think that is "ace territory".

Apologies for a muddled thought above. What I meant to say is that, of the two teams that the Twins are competing with to win the Central Division, I think Cleveland is the better team. This may or may not be proven in the shortened regular season. IMHO the Twins are better than either the White Sox or Cleveland and so far that has shown in their head-to-head matchups.

5-3 against Cleveland in the season series. The Twins need to win at least one more this weekend to clinch hold the tiebreaker, then beat the White Sox three of four. I think Cleveland is the better team despite a less-than-stellar offense. They pitch better than anyone, have a nice defense and have the top pitcher in the AL.