stringer bell

Just looking at his Triple A stats, Miranda has the highest batting average, second best OBP, third best slugging and second best OPS. I can't remember a better AAA season for any Twins farmhand.

Larnach is listed twice in the list above. If we are adding Lewis, another certain add is Miranda, correct? I think Garlick is let go and the Twins will shop Rooker pretty hard. I could see the scenario for both Astudillo and Garlick where they are taken off the 40-man, but offered minor league deals with spring training invites.

Four run lead. Just enough cushion for Columé?

Too bad there. Big Mike got a ground ball, but right between Donaldson and Gordon.

Grossman hit that ball right on the button, but also right at Kepler.

Two run lead just doesn't feel secure here.

There hasn't been a huge amount of growth in Sano's offensive production through the years. He should be entering the peak of his career, but he's no better than his rookie campaign. Comparing him to the other former top 5 prospect, Buxton has shown notable improvement as a hitter in the last two years. I'm glad he's stayed relatively healthy and he has reached 30 homers for the second time. I just think the ceiling for Sano has diminished. When he came to the majors, I thought Miggy could become much more than he has become.

They didn’t send Buxton on a 3-2 pitch which resulted in a double play. They send him and avoid a DP, they score a run on Garver’s single.

Ober to the injured list (strained hip) and Barnes recalled from St. Paul.

Here is the actual Twins lineup: HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG B. BuxtonCF 61-210 28 16 7 .290 J. Polanco2B 154-568 91 31 11 .271 M. GarverC 51-196 32 13 0 .260 J. Donaldson3B 107-436 67 24 0 .245 M. SanoDH 98-448 71 29 2 .219 B. RookerLF 35-174 15 8 0 .201 W. Astudillo1B 48-201 21 7 0 .239 M. KeplerRF 87-407 52 19 10 .214 A. SimmonsSS 90-401 31 3 1 .224 And pitching matchup: PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR T. Alexander 2-3 4.10 1.30 94.1 98 77 25 15 C. Barnes 0-3 6.61 1.53 31.1 36 15 12 4

The Minnesota Twins are completing one of their most disappointing seasons in their history in one week. While they will only win around 70 games, they have major league talent under team control at every position except one--shortstop. Andrelton Simmons was acquired on a one-year deal and has shown himself to be a competent (not all-world) defender and has had a putrid offensive season. The consensus at this site is that he should not and will not return in 2022. By all measures, the 2021 Simmons has been among the worst hitters in MLB. Good luck elsewhere Simba. It didn't work out in Minnesota. Who replaces Simmons as the everyday SS next year? I think the question is interesting. The Twins can go several different directions, including moving Jorge Polanco back to short. I would think that any shortstop decision has to be made with an eye on some of the Twins top prospects. Royce Lewis will miss all of 2021 following knee surgery. Lewis has the potential to be the kind of five-tool star that Byron Buxton has teased us with when he has been healthy. Lewis also has a minor league resume that is considerably short of his potential and there are murmurs that he won't end up as a shortstop. Another top prospect is Austin Martin, obtained in the José Berríos trade, He also has a history at shortstop, but exclusively played outfield for Wichita since he was acquired by the Twins. Martin seems to have a much more refined hit tool than Lewis, with a high OBP and relatively low strikeouts. He hasn't demonstrated big power in the minors, however. Do the Twins believe either of these guys will be their everyday shortstop next year? I really doubt it. Lewis has almost no experience in the high minors and has essentially missed two years of baseball and while it is quite likely that Martin will make his major league debut next season, his most likely position will be outfield. A third minor league option is Wichita's regular shortstop this season, Jermaine Palacios. He has had a power surge and has been a shortstop through his minor league career. Could he make the jump? At least to start 2022, I think all three guys are longshots to even be on the major league roster. Of course, there are two possible candidates on the big league roster. Polanco has almost 500 games played at short, and while he isn't league average with the leather, he is a proven hitter. Nick Gordon has impressed, but despite playing a lot of shortstop in the minors, he's only logged 43 innings at short in this, his rookie year, with the Twins. Again, I have my doubts. However, I think the readiness of a replacement from the organization is the key to determining what type of player the Twins will seek to fill the void at shortstop. If they are convinced that one of their prospects will be an everyday shortstop in the majors by 2023, then the focus would be on more of a stopgap player, perhaps someone who might start the season as a regular, but could evolve into a utility player. If the feeling is that none of the prospects in the high minors can cut it as an everyday shortstop by 2023, then they have to sign someone with a bit more permanence. Signing someone from outside the organization for more than one year also would seem to create a glut of major league players. Sano and Kirilloff at first, Polanco, Arraez and Gordon at second, Donaldson at third with also Arraez capable at the hot corner. Add in that their near-certain Minor League Player of the Year, Jose Miranda, can fill first second and third and there seems to be too many players for the infield and DH positions. One additional thought--while he didn't get much love from Twins fans, I think the Twins missed Ehire Adrianza, or at least someone who could fill the role of Adrianza. Moving Polanco to shortstop whenever Simmons was hit for or had a day off seemed to disrupt the entire infield. Having a true backup shortstop who could fill in at other positions would have been a good thing for the Twins' roster. Having such a player in addition to Adrianza and Gordon might make the position player part of the roster very crowded. The frontline defense for the Twins was pretty good, but it seemed whenever a starter was subbed out, it would be for an inferior defender, sometimes weakening more than one position. I think that there is enough talent on the position player side for the Twins to contend, perhaps as soon as next year. To achieve the dream of contending, they would have to come up with pitching, but the late-season performances of Ryan and Ober offer hope that they might be pieces of the puzzle next year and that the minor leagues could possibly start producing good quality pitching from within the organization. There are decisions to be made. I don't see any clear path to solving the shortstop position problem, but there have to be answers somewhere. Falvey and Levine need to make the right choices in several areas to help bring the club back. Their jobs may depend on the choices they make.

I think the Twins did a good job with Ober. I’d certainly like to see more innings in 2022, but health is the most important. I hope he can come back for both more innings and increased effectiveness next year. Hopefully, more pitchers will take similar steps to Ober’s and the Twins start developing multiple arms on the major league level.

And they get one run.

Not exactly a good matchup for Jax, since Toronto leads MLB in homers while Jax is allowing them at an historic rate.

Encouraging to see Buxton being a bit more selective. When he’s doing that and driving the ball to right-center, he’s really fun to watch.

The Blue Jays do control their own destiny. If they win all seven of their remaining games, they will pass New York

Johnson had the big homer year for the Braves IIRC.

Two excellent innings from Moran.

It wasn't something Rooker did to get the out. Rooker kicked the ball and cost the team a run. I guess you could say that Rooker hit the cutoff guy, which allowed Sano to gun down the runner.

Despite too many pitches, Gant has yielded only one earned run in three innings.

Just would like to remind those watching the broadcast that Morneau's lifetime OPS vs. left handers was .710 and Mauer's was .740. Not exactly the way it is being portrayed by Mr. Bremer.

No, the misplay by Rooker cost a run.

Defense!

It appears Ryan is on the bereavement list to clear space for Gant to be activated.

Nice play by Cave. Good strategy to bring him in on defense.