stringer bell

You're missing the point. Both Uggla and Kent were hitters with plus power, especially for the middle infield. Kent was a good player until his early thirties and became a borderline Hall of Famer because he mashed well into his thirties. Uggla fell off a cliff. With Dozier also being a "power for his position" guy, I've wondered if he might fall off the map if he couldn't catch up with a good fastball or if he could adjust as Kent did. I do lean toward the sustained fine performance for Dozier, maybe not at the level of Kent, but certainly above average. Kent's top OPS+ season through the age of 29 (Dozier's age now) was 111 in less than full-time play. Starting in 1998 (age 30) he was an All-Star five times for three different teams with an OPS+ of 119 or better for each year for 10 years. I'd venture to guess that Dozier's OPS+ today is superior to Kent's at age 29, but I'm not that good at math to say for sure.

Good take Nick. Both sides of the Dozier argument have been laid out for a long time, but his performance since June 1 has put BD back in elite territory. Any return for him should be more than substantial. I would say one "can't miss" or established player plus a couple of good to premium prospects. The team can build around him or build from what is returned for him. I lean toward keeping him, because he has shown he can make adjustments to keep improving and he is durable. Early in the season, I was contemplating whether his career would be more like Dan Uggla or if it would be more like Jeff Kent. I am now leaning to Kent.

Gomez is a shadow of his former self.

Pretty sure Dozier's best season for WAR (and just about everything else) was 2014. Brian tailed off dramatically in 2015 after being named to the All-Star team.

For you young 'uns, the Twins had a platoon third baseman named Mike Cubbage, who threw lollipops to first much like most of Dozier's soft tosses to the first baseman. There were comments that his throws to first were measured in hang time, but on balance he was an okay third baseman. If Polanco's arm isn't quite up to speed for short, he still might have enough to be an adequate third baseman.

I agree that it can and should be done. I guess i won't be upset if Polanco isn't in the lineup every day. IMHO, this is an audition for a utility role next year. If Dozier were moved, or Sano can't hack third base, Polanco could be an everyday alternative as soon as next year.

Don't have time to read the whole thread, but I heard Molitor's comments about Polanco. His best position is second, and second best is third. Dozier and Sano will play most every day, so I guess Jorge will have to move around to get his starts.

On one side of the game, the Twins could easily have enough to contend, Offensively, the upturn of the last few weeks has been fueled by players who haven't come close to reaching their peak and have outstanding potential buttressed by players the Twins have control over, who shouldn't be on the down side of their careers. Pitching and defense are the big concerns and the Twins need help both in the bullpen and especially the rotation. IMHO, if no changes are made, only Gibson and Santana are locks for a rotation in 2017. Bullpens are always year to year, but based on performance so far this year Kintzler, Rogers, Pressly, and Abad should have golden tickets for 2017 leaving at least three spots there. Defensively, the current 3B has been historically terrible (SSS) and the tandem at SS has been far below average. Catching is also a defensive weakness and the regular catcher probably won't be back next year. Could the Twins acquire and promote enough pitching to contend? It is a long shot, but I don't think it is totally out of the realm with the young, talented nucleus of position players. If they truly want to contend, they need to trade their parts that don't fit or have relatively higher value (Suzuki, Nunez, Kintzler, Abad) and bring back players that could help as soon as next year. They have room on the 40-man and plenty of prospective vacancies on the pitching staff.

It is like Danny Santana at shortstop, both players have the raw tools, but neither have the consistency or focus to be even average at their "natural" position. I have to say, Sano has been brutal at third, with small dollops of astounding. I am coming around to Miggy being a first baseman, but there is the Mauer contract.

At the All-Star break, the Twins sit with a terrible 32-56 record and it is only that good because they've won the last three series against three AL West clubs. For most of the season, the Twins have scored the fewest runs in the AL while allowing the most. I wasn't totally surprised that the Twins pitching staff was bad, but it just doesn't seem right that they would be last in runs scored justifiably because they weren't getting on base and not hitting when they did manage to get runners in scoring position. With good work of late from their offense, the Twins have improved in offensive categories. They rank 10th in runs scored, 8th in OPS and slugging, 9th in OBP and 10th in homers. I would expect those numbers to continue to rise. There's plenty of talent and a lot of them are starting to realize their potential. Certainly, the pitching needs to improve, both the rotation and the back end of the bullpen. However, some guys have stepped up. Fernando Abad was brilliant for the first quarter of the season, but has faded. Brandon Kinzler was signed to a minor league contract, but recalled this spring and has been pretty good. Taylor Rogers looks like he belongs in the bullpen and Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin have shown enough to hold spots in the Twins bullpen. There is enough offense to be a good team soon. There isn't enough pitching. The Twins don't have an ace and their most consistent veteran is supposedly on the block. I am of the opinion that every trade made by the Twins from now until they are a true contender has to bring back pitching or catching. It is my belief that the Twins will be good again when their staff is better than average. I'm willing to bet the members of that staff will be homegrown or acquired in minor deals or the Rule V Draft. Signing free agent pitchers is like going against the house in Vegas. You might win once in a while, but long term the house always wins. Ryan has attempted to sign pitchers to eight figure (per year) contracts and it hasn't worked out. I expect the Twins to be more competitive in the second half of the season. I sincerely hope they trade a couple of veterans to allow the kids to play. Chargois and Berrios can cut their teeth in the major leagues. Some of Suzuki, Plouffe, Nuñez, Santana, Nolasco, and Abad should be sold off. I really don't think they are that far away, if they can get middle of the pack pitching. The other factor, which I think is overlooked in the Twins demise this year is defense. The pitching staff has enough trouble getting three outs in an inning and too often, because of misplays, a fourth or fifth out has been donated to the opponent. If the Twins get a new catcher or catching tandem, I would hope they get a solid defender who can limit opponent's running game. Also, another glaring deficiency has been shortstop. Eduardo Nuñez is below average as a shortstop and Eduardo Escobar has had a poor year playing short IMHO. A trade of Nuñez would probably net better defense at short

Grossman is young (26), cheap and under team control for four years after this one. Keep him around!

I agree that Santana is the best of the free agent veterans and that the Twins should have a veteran in the rotation, but Hughes and Nolasco are both under contract next year and even if Hughes can't pitch right away (or ever) there's still Ricky. If they can get something for Erv without paying his entire salary, it is probably best for the player and the team.

I think avoiding 100 losses is an achievable goal. I am with the optimists that believe there is quite a bit to build on and I don't really think the Twins are that far away from contention. The young outfield of Rosario-Buxton-Kepler, with Grossman as the 4th OF, looks really good to me. The Twins need better pitching and that's what should come back if any of their roster is traded at the deadline.

Yep, the Twins are bad. They almost certainly will lose 100 games and finish last in the AL Central. Management has been trashed regularly on Twins Daily and has deserved the scorn of the fan base. Articles have been written and several threads have discussed trading just about every veteran on the roster. I submit to everyone that the position players aren't that bad and not that much needs to be done. There is enough talent to score plenty of runs. Pitching, on the other hand, is a problem. The only home grown pitcher in the rotation for more than a year is Kyle Gibson. Tyler Duffey has had a couple of moments, but his numbers this year don't inspire confidence. There is talent but I don't know when or if it will ever develop. The bullpen has evolved a bit this year. The supposed end of the bullpen has imploded almost completely--Glen Perkins has a career-threatening injury, Kevin Jepsen was just DFAed, and Trevor May has been both injured and ineffective. I think that reforming the pitching staff is Problem #1 and Problem #2 is defense. All of that has to do with suppressing runs. Last year, for whatever reason, the rotation and bullpen performed much better than it had in all of the 90-loss seasons. They ranked in the middle in runs allowed. This year the Twins are last by a long ways in runs allowed. They are something like 1-34 when they score less than four runs. Too many veterans occupy spots in the rotation and too much money is invested in them. Some of those guys need to go. They are over thirty and most likely will never be better than they are now. The Twins bullpen has traditionally carried several guys who depended on their defense to make plays behind them. The bullpen has evolved somewhat, but isn't that effective. What transactions need to happen? I think at least one of Nolasco/Santana has to go. The live arms in the minors need to be tried, even if they aren't that effective. On the trade front, several players could go. I just saw an article on mlbtraderumors.com that lists Kinzler as a sneaky trade candidate, Abad could be on several team's radar and several position players might be gone--Nuñez, Suzuki, Plouffe (if healthy), perhaps Grossman--and most of this is addition by subtraction or moving on to the next season. The team could get better fast in scoring runs if Sano, Buxton, and Kepler live up to the hype and become solid regulars or better than that. Maybe the pitching and defense can get better fast. IMHO, it's harder to project pitchers than position players. I don't think it's a rebuild, it is a recasting.

OK, what happened there? There is an infield fly rule, so if it was really of pop fly, shouldn't Butler be out?

I forgot about Butler on the A's bench. Hmmm, maybe the Twins could pick him up, DH-1B can't have enough of those guys.

Huge play. What do Corey and Gladden think? Ooops. I now know what the replay umps think.

I said before that I was a Dozier fan, but that Polanco might be a better fit for the club. I think that the Twins chances this season were predicated on having a lot of homers from a lot of players. If they continue to get low power production from first, center and catcher, they need the additional power production from second base (Dozier). My previous thought was that the Twins have a lot of right handed hitters whose best asset is power--Dozier, Plouffe, Sano, Park and that having a guy like Polanco, who looks like he could have pretty good on-base skills, might be a better fit. Don't know which theory is the right one right now, but Dozier has certainly come alive. Good on him!

If Dozier were to maintain that OPS, it would be the best of his career by quite a bit. I guess maybe we shouldn't write off players after a bad stretch.

What did you win, a bus ticket out of town for Plouffe?

The Twins need to get down to 12 pitchers. They should have Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, and Grossman with Santana as the fifth OF/25th man. Whatever pans out from the four outfielders is the way it should be with Grossman certainly getting at-bats against every left hander and occasional starts against right handers. If Buxton truly isn't ready the DanSan can be the fourth OF with a starting trio of Grossman, Rosario and Kepler. I am on board with trades of Suzuki and Nuñez with Murphy and Polanco getting recalled. Again, just play it out and whoever is better gets the playing time. Finally, if Plouffe isn't traded, then Park needs to go down to Rochester, making room for Sano.

Well I saw the new Yankee Stadium last night. It was determined before we got to New York, that we would see Lions vs. Christians er Yankees vs. Twins on Friday night. My son, serving as tour guide/babysitter had us heading for the Bronx by 5 PM. After spending all afternoon in a museum, I was ready to go. We got to a subway station and headed towards the stadium. An uneventful 20 minute ride later and we were there. But wait! We hadn't eaten and the majority of our party didn't want ballpark food. We decided on seafood and the nearest place was only nine minutes away on foot. What we didn't know was that it was nine minutes straight uphill. We walked through what can charitably called a mixed neighborhood, broken bottles on the sidewalk, cars stopped/parked in unusual locations and Latin music blasting from stereos. The seafood place was small, smelled like fish, and had zero seating. We waited for our food and decided to walk back to the stadium to eat and wait for my son's fiancee, who had to work late and was to meet us. We got back and started exchanging texts with the fiancee, Irina, who just missed the subway train she thought she had to take. She was going to be late, so we split up we us old folks getting seated, while Jon waited for his sweetie. It turned out that Irina got on the wrong train and would not arrive until 7:30. Anyway, for me it was game on! Almost! A day of travel had drained the battery of my phone, so I tried to find a recharge station. After looking awhile, I found an AT&T place, but it took almost an hour to charge my phone. Meanwhile, the Twins grabbed an early lead, gave it back, took another lead and then gave it back for good. My observations--Milone was Milone, working the corners, hurt by bad defense and squeezed by the ump.After the first, Milone pitched from behind and he doesn't have the stuff to do that. Grossman made a couple of OK throws, but a good throw would have gotten Beltran. Escobar is supposed to be super reliable. He hasn't been this year. Buxton's first AB was great--he needs to go the other way more. The back of the Yankee bullpen was dominant.Chapman was something else. Yankee fans weren't very obnoxious and the stadium is functional, but not anything special. My son called new Yankee Stadium "soulless". My opinion is if you're a baseball fan and are in NY, it's worth the trip.

True story. Telling my future daughter-in-law about Aaron Hicks, recounting how he just would never hit enough to be a corner outfielder. "Looks like I'm right. I wish him well. Who knows, he'll probably hit a homer on the next pitch."..................and wattayaknow?

Beer is not $8 here in Gotham. 16 oz cup is $11. BTW an absolutely gorgeous day and evening in the Bronx.

Damn autocorrect! Unhittable.