stringer bell

I think 6 players for the four corner positions is the minimum given the recent injury issues of most of the guys. I really believe in Kirilloff’s ability, but much like Buck, he’s got to show he can stay healthy. There can’t be too much talent and playing time will figure itself out.

I’ll be at the game!! Pulling hard for Louie and Luis.

What contract? Cave is up for arbitration this offseason and the Twins could (and I believe should) non-tender him.

Gordon hasn't looked comfortable at shortstop. Honestly, I don't think he's looked that good at either second or short, although second base is a far less demanding position. It's all SSS, so I think the eye test and the lack of time in those positions when the season was on the line tell me that Nick's "D" isn't well-regarded. Palacios has played sporadically since being recalled when Polanco went on the IL, but he's 0-33. He had a nice year at St. Paul, but his total lack of hitting really makes counting on him a huge gamble. I actually wonder if the Twins will keep him on the 40-man.

It’s official. The Twins have been eliminated from postseason play. Seattle’s win knocks both Minnesota and Chicago from AL postseason possibilities.

Cave has had a pretty good run since being recalled. I really don't think he has a place on the 2023 Twins, but some team could pick him up as a fourth outfielder.

Better call tonight. It looks like they'll be eliminated before tomorrow morning.

BTW, going into tonight's game, Arraez' OBP in the second half was .309, his OPS was .691 with a BA of .277. His overall numbers are still good, but not All-Star good.

Tomorrow sets up as a battle for second place in the riveting Central Division race. /s/

Arraez' 2-5 leaves him .0001 behind Judge.

Adjustments and adjustment to adjustments.

And now two more runs. Apparently the Twins are more interested in winning than the Pale Hose.

Really nice play by Gio.

For the four or five of us watching, it looks like the Twins are in their score a bit, then shut down for the rest of the game mode.

Saints OFs are 2-2 with 3 RBI. Then Contreras fans.

Martin's star has dimmed for sure this season, but he could come back with a good performance in the AFL and a good start in 2023. There was a reason why he was considered a top prospect and good performance could bring back the luster. As far as being an outfielder, Martin played almost as much outfield as he did infield in 2021 (IIRC) and he has played some in the OF this year as well. He's not a stranger to the outfield as Gordon was last year.

Glad to see Ryan Jeffers back with the Twins. I still believe he can be an above-average regular catcher, but he’ll have to do more controlling the running game. The Saints outfield the Twins will send out with Gordon at short shows the dire straits the Twins are in. My prediction—the sultan of swing tonight will be Carlos Correa with Arraez also getting multiple hits. Correa has contributed 5.0 WAR, so I guess his contract isn’t money for nothing.

I don’t assume Arraez will be the principal first baseman next year. Miranda and Kirilloff would be preferred options to Arraez at first and I maintain Arraez is quite satisfactory at second.

I don’t know how big of an upgrade he might be. He does seem to offer more speed and base running. His numbers don’t show it, but his skill set would seem to also indicate more OBP skills.

Some time after the All-Star break, I was pondering how the Twins could fit all of their quality major league position players on the active roster. A few weeks later, baseball immortals Mark Contreras and Caleb Hamilton were on the big club. Fast forward to a crucial five-game series in Cleveland and the Twins were starting Bailey Ober, Josh Winder (both coming off injuries) and having Louie Varland make his second major league start and Jake Cave and Gilberto Celestino were considered regular starters. The season unraveled quickly and now the Twins look likely to finish below .500 and in third place in the weak AL Central. How did it happen? I have several answers--there have been enduring issues all year exacerbated by a rash of injuries, most of them season-ending. Offense underperformed almost all year. Going back to the start of the season, after a rocky first couple of weeks, the Twins offense was sufficient to win a lot of game despite never scoring runs commensurate with their underlying numbers. Right now, the Twins are 18th in runs scored despite being 11th in OPS and 12th in homers. They have often been futile with runners in scoring position and they have been a terrible running bases as a team. I have seen many posters state that the team is terrible at fundamentals. I would submit that all teams draw their fans ire for not advancing runners and "beating the shift". Part of these problems is the way the Twins are built. They lack team speed and their is a lot of swing and miss in their collective game. With the changes made to limit homers, the Twins (IMHO) have suffered disproportionately. Pitching regressed after overperforming early. The Twins seized first place in late April and held on to the top spot for most of the season bolstered by a pitching staff that performed better than expected. Despite seemingly having at least one and usually two or more guys in their rotation that were locks to go no more than five innings, they won a lot of games and obvious weaknesses at the back end of the bullpen were not evident in the win-loss record. Things unraveled here in slow motion. The failure of anyone but Jhoan Duran in late innings cost games (particularly to Cleveland). The extra innings assigned to the bullpen showed the lack of depth that so many short starts demanded. Back to statistics--the Twins currently are right in the middle of total runs allowed stats. Underlying stats (WHIP, Opponents BA and OPS and BB and K numbers) come out slightly below the mean. I think team defense has been slightly better than average, which has helped keep runs allowed acceptable. Injuries (oh my!). The Twins lead the AL in total man-games on the Injured List. They went into the season with one player slated to miss time, so it isn't like there were a bunch of players already on the IL. Some of the injuries could be expected and put on the front office. The Twins obtained several pitchers with injury issues and this season have come up snake eyes with most of them missing significant time. There have been plenty of position player injuries as well. Regular players Ryan Jeffers, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler have all missed significant portions of the season. Carlos Correa also missed over 20 games with COVID and a badly bruised finger. We all know Buxton hasn't made it through a season without spending time on the IL. The other guys would figure to be healthier than they have this year. Dick Bremer characterized the Twins as developing a "slow leak" from June through August. The leak has been accelerated in the month of September and injuries are a factor in that. That said, even without the injuries, the Twins' flaws probably were too big to win the division. The club exhausted their depth and seeing Jermaine Palacios, Mark Contreras, Caleb Hamilton, Sandy Leon, Aaron Sanchez, and (second half) Devin Smeltzer "perform" in key situations just shows that the Twins have scraped bottom. I think some roster turnover is necessary. Among the position players, they need more guys who make contact, are better base runners and who have more speed. They need more left-right balance in corner outfielders. The front office needs to adjust their focus and bring in more durable players. It should be noted that the position players they brought in (Urshela, Sanchez and Correa) have been basically healthy. The problem has been with the pitchers. I think there is too much talent to tear it down. If the club fails to compete next year, it is probably time to try something else, starting at the top. It won't be easy to win the Central next year, but there needs to be significant progress and better health.

Sandy León placed on the IL, with Ryan Jeffers activated from the 60-day IL. Caleb Hamilton continues to add service time.

I think Martin’s skill set gives him a path to the major leagues. He has good speed, positional flexibility and on-base skills. With all the left handed outfielders the Twins have, there’s a pretty big void in right handed corners who could fill center field. I don’t know if he’ll be considered as a shortstop, but that he can help in the infield is a bonus. He’ll play next season at 24 years old and the Twins can hope for huge steps forward starting with his time in the AFL.

I think there’s a real possibility that Smeltzer will be looking for work this offseason. Unless there is a medical explanation, he has fallen off dramatically and doesn’t look like he will get another chance with the Twins. If hard feelings exist, it is likely Smeltzer will elect to be a free agent if he is designated for assignment.

Does Woods-Richardson have to be added to the 40-man roster this winter? If so, sure, bring him up for a start against Chicago. If not, I guess his debut will have to wait until 2023. He is finishing the season strong and healthy with the Saints. A reason for optimism in 2023 and beyond.

Noting the rehabbing major league players—Larnach is done for the year with a wrist injury and Polanco most likely also done due to his lingering knee injury. Along with the continuing hamstring issues for Arraez, it appears second base will continue to be manned by Gordon and Palacios for the remainder of the Twins season.