stringer bell

Counting Thielbar, there are exactly forty on the 40-man roster, so there must have been an opening.

Ten days in and a second team has been decimated by the virus (StL). 1) Is everyone going to go through this? 2) Would the season continue if it did? or 3) Is there some plan to stop further hot-spot outbreaks? Since the season is now underway, I really do want them to complete it. I wonder if perhaps MLB will simply extend the regular season another week to ten days so that everyone can complete their 60-game schedules.

You can continue the discussion of tonight's game versus the Cleveland team in the Game Thread. Enjoy! http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39428-game-thread-twins-vs-cleveland-8120-610pm-ct/

I commented about the home plate ump in the game thread and there were others that saw what I saw--the home plate ump was excellent. He missed a strike that Dobnak threw and maybe gave Romo a strike in the eighth, but other than that, I thought he was terrific.

You can continue the discussion of today's game on 7/29 Game Thread: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39333-game-thread-72920-minnesota-twins-vs-st-louis-cardinals-710-cdt/

It is nice to have a lot of options. With something like 34 games in 35 days, it probably makes sense to give everyone days off. Also, there are quality players available to fill in. I'm excited to see Hill pitch, as well. What are the chances that he stays heathy for the duration of this season?

Any word on Thorpe’s injury? Lots of injuries to pitchers already this season.

All right! Baseball is back (kind of) and the Twins face Giolito. BTW, Tom, if memory serves, Giolito threw his gem at Target Field, not in the Windy City. I was at the game.

There is a game thread set up to discuss today's game in the Minnesota Twins Talk Forum. Go there to have a discussion about the game tonight. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/39070-game-thread-twins-cubs-7222020-605-pm-cdt/

An eloquent eulogy and also a reminder of what is important in life and relationships. As someone about a generation advanced from you, I've experienced losing loved ones and the sudden passing of friends and it is never easy. We always look back and think how we could be a better friend or loved one and hopefully modify our ways to keep in contact with those who aren't in our immediate circle.

If memory serves, Garver played around the diamond a fair amount (both outfield and first base) and Kepler also spent some time at first. I do agree that having a plus outfielder is much better than having an acceptable first baseman. I also remember that Levine or Falvey said that until Donaldson signed, the plan was to get Garver reps at first. I would think if there is a longish term vacancy at first, that they would try to use Mitch there at least some of the time.

In the major leagues, Kepler has played 4.1 innings at first base. Garver has logged 39 innings, plus 6 more innings in left field.

How about Polanco to play second base? Second base was clearly the weakest position on the '65 Twins. If Versalles plays every day at short, playing Polanco at second for 150 games or so would improve the team immensely.

Stigman was born in 1936 (in Nimrod, MN!) so he was 29 in 1965.

I got the first two on the first hint. Question #3, I recognized Zoilo as soon as it was noted he was at shortstop for most of the Twins early years. Missed on Hisle, although I should have known.

I see he doesn't have quite enough plate appearances, but I would like to point out Didi Gregorius. His lifetime OPS is .742, his OPS vs. the Twins is 1.042. In 32 games vs. the Twins, he has 8 homers and 36 RBI. In addition, he has killed the Twins in postseason (4 games, 2 homers 9 RBI).

Dozier was my favorite when he was here. He autographed baseballs for me when he was a minor leaguer and the year he took over second base. I will take issue with you that he was a brief flash, however. In my opinion, he was the Twins MVP for four consecutive season and his OPS+ was above 100 four consecutive years. Oddly, his All-Star year was the weakest of those four years. He also put up a 98 OPS+ his first season as a regular, so for five years he anchored the team. Additionally, it was stated that Dozier wasn't a 5-tool player. When he moved to second his defense was rated very good, while never having a really high batting average, he did reach base at above .340 clip in three of those five years, he did hit for power, especially as a second baseman. While not a great speedster, Dozier stole 98 bases in 130 attempts and rated above average as a baserunner all but one of his five full years as a regular. Brian Dozier wasn't a superstar, but he was the best the Twins had from 2013-2017, the homers in 2016 were pretty special, but I think he was a better overall player in 2017 when the Twins made the wild card game.

I sat next to Burton's grandparents at an exhibition game, nice folks.They were from the rural south and the accent was thick. I cheered for Jared after that, but after a really good first year, he wasn't very good.

I think it should be noted how much the bullpen changed throughout 2019. For goodness sakes, the closer into May was Blake Parker and two other guys (Morin and Magill) had pretty important roles at some point in the season. Hildenberger was a key setup guy early until he performed his way out of it. Rogers became the closer (often working more than an inning) and Duffey and May claimed key roles, they added Romo for the stretch run. That is a lot of change, almost all for the better. I doubt that each reliever that breaks with the club (if there is a season) will be successful, but with the number of options on the current staff, the bullpen should be pretty good.

Zoilo's defense was outstanding in '65. He demonstrated outstanding range and made plays that few, if any, shortstops could make frequently. There were a lot more errors made by infielders in those days, but Versalles made up for many of those by ranging outside of the normal zone. Oliva was a great hitter in a pitcher's era. I hope he gets added to the Hall sometime.

MLB and the MLBPA agreed yesterday to accommodations for a shortened 2020 major league schedule. Many things are to be determined, especially since there is no firm date for the season to begin. I choose to be optimistic that there will be baseball this summer, perhaps without crowds in the stands. One thing agreed to unofficially was an expanded roster. The number that has been published is 29. I am going with that information and will now name the 29 players I expect will be on the roster for Opening Day 2020 whenever that happens. Pitchers--(15) Berríos, Maeda, Odorizzi, Bailey, Chacín, Dobnak, Wisler, May, Clippard, Stashak, Duffey, Romo, Littell, Thielbar, Rogers Catchers--(3) Garver,Avila, Astudillo Infielders--(6) Sanó, Arraez, Polanco, Donaldson, Adrianza, Gonzalez Outfielders--(4) Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Cave Designated Hitter--(1) Cruz This would take the current roster, subtract Rich Hill and add both Thielbar and Chacín. My reasoning for this roster includes that the schedule will probably have doubleheaders and perhaps will fill some off days with games, meaning that a larger pitching staff in today's environment would be essential. I have included both Dobnak and Chacín, who have been competing for a starting spot and assume that either the Twins will go with a six-man rotation or that one of Dobnak or Chacín will be a "long man" in the bullpen. I assumed that if the staff were expanded by three that the Twins would add a lefty, even though specialists will be minimized by the three-batter rule. Having an occasional different look could be helpful. The fight for the 13th position player is over--they both win. I had thought Astudillo's ability to make contact and play many positions would win out over Cave's general competency, but with an additional position player spot available, both make the team. As for the pitching staff, it is murkier. First of all, Rich Hill has stated he could be ready to pitch in June. Suddenly, he might miss only a couple weeks or perhaps no time at all. Michael Pineda has two-thirds of his sixty game suspension to serve. I would expect that his suspension is prorated, much as service time will be prorated. If the season is 100 games, his suspension would be 25 games. There is nothing official, but that is what I will go with. I am assuming that Hill won't quite be ready when the season starts and that Pineda will have at least three weeks of suspension to serve. I think the Twins have seen enough of Chacín to want to see a bit more. He may not survive the return of Pineda and debut of Hill, but I don't think the Twins want to give up on him quite yet. Dobnak has pitched the best in exhibition games of those competing for a spot and he was outstanding last year in his brief time with the Twins. Wisler and Stashak both make the bullpen and there still is room for a lefty. I picked Thielbar over the others--Barnes, Clay and Coulumbe all had some moments, but I think Thielbar has pitched better. Hardy just had TJ surgery so he is out for 2020. I think a 29-man roster demonstrates the depth that the Twins possess. In other years, all of the players mentioned would easily make the Opening Day roster and more would have a chance. I have not added Devin Smeltzer to the 29, but believe he could be an option to pitch several doubleheader games if that happens. I don't really see him as a reliever and he has an option to use, so if he were called on to pitch as a long man, he could be shuttled to Rochester this year.

Absolutely. I would add that I take interest in any player who can wow us on defense, so I took special interest in Daal. Also, this article shows how tough it is to project young players when they are signing at 16. You can never be sure how they will develop.

Cruz has been a great addition. I expect he will do very well again during the (most likely) much shortened 2020 season. However, he'll be 40 this year and he will occupy the DH spot in the Twins lineup as long as he is on the roster. The Twins have a whole host of young players who can fill corner outfield/first base/DH in the very near future. Having guys with the flexibility to play in the field manning the DH is preferable IMHO. Unless they get a real bargain in signing him, I think the Twins should not commit to reupping Nelson during the season.

For almost totally the opposite reasons that I think Tony-O should be in the Hall of Fame, I think Kaat belongs there too. He won over 280 games and pitched in the majors for parts of 25 seasons. He reinvented himself after being traded to the White Sox and reinvented himself again as a relief pitcher. Of all color commentators I have listened to, Kitty is my all-time favorite. He holds a fistful of Twins all-time pitching records and won something like sixteen gold gloves.

I was eleven years old in '65. Zoilo Versales was the MVP and had a career year. Much credit for Zoilo's emergence was given to new coach Billy Martin. During the World Series, I was in sixth grade and was allowed to watch the games during lunch. Instant replay was in it's infancy. I remember watching Allison's great catch and then instants later seeing the replay--the old janitor (a German immigrant) yelled "he did it again!" My recollection is that the Twins '65 group was outstanding on both sides of the ball--Grant Perry, Kaat, Pascual and Boswell formed a really good rotation. Al Worthington and Johnny Klippstein anchored the bullpen. Bench players such as Don Mincher stepped up (Killebrew was injured). things didn't connect the last half of the decade despite having Harmon and Tony-O along with Carew starting in '67.