stringer bell

So, when it comes to an extension, what is the maximum cut that can be given? If that number is unreasonable, the Twins would be basically forced to wait for free agency before offering a contract. Without many more balls like he hit in the second inning, I just can't see the Twins giving a qualifying offer.

Diamond is not getting it done. ESPN pointed out that he's been bad at Target Field. Ugh.

That was the 14th assist for Twins' outfielders, by far the most in the American League. Next best is KC and NY with 8. It seems to me that Twins' opponents probably have more than eight OF assists, but I can't quantify that.

Here's a rose-colored glasses view for you: 1) The Vikings made the playoffs 2) The Wild made the playoffs 3) The Timberwolves won more games than in a single season than they had in any of the last five years and 4) Minnesota Gophers won an NCAA game for the first time in over a decade. 5) The Twins are several games ahead of their previous pace in 2011 or 2012.

Somebody has to sit every game between C, DH, 1B, RF, and LF. Giving Arcia a day when Parmelee has been better vs. LH pitching than RH pitching makes some sense. I would like to see CP get it going because it would make it clearer that Morneau is expendable. Early in the season I thought Parm was hitting in tough luck, but lately he has not made much good contact.

I'll repeat what I've said before, two of the three new guys are bridges to a future that should include higher velo/higher strikeout guys--Meyer, May, Gibson and shortly after that Berrios--so the results figure. Is there something to their reduced K rate so far? Well, all three moved from the NL to the AL, and two are coming off of arm injuries. Perhaps Anderson is the staunchest adherent to "if you can't strike 'em out, don't walk 'em", but perhaps as pointed out above, there isn't anything in the Twins' philosophy that caused the reduction in strikeouts. It is tough to acquire good arms from outside the organization in trades or via free agency. I certainly see a change in the past year or two towards guys that will post high K rates away from the "command and control" types that have ascended through the ranks for some time.

Back to the original comment, the best thing about Morneau so far this year has been his defense. He has been outstanding at digging out errant throws and otherwise fielded his position more than capably. Secondly, he's been in the lineup every day but one and at first all but one of the days he's been in the lineup.

Questions: The qualifying offer is $13M, correct? Should the Twins actually put that kind of money forward for the Lyle Overbay Justin Morneau? Also, is there a maximum pay cut that can be offered? That is, if Morneau is now making a base of $15, can they cut it as low as $10M or $8M?

Of the four Twins broadcasters I've heard in the last couple years, I rank them 1) Probus 2) Bremer 3) Blyleven and 4) Gladden. Obviously, Gladden and Bert know the game but they resort to clichés and recycled gruel. Gladden is terrible at P-B-P, no sugarcoating it. He uses and reuses the same discriptions and misses pitches and plays. Bert also continues to use and reuse the same statements. One particular pet peeve of mine is Bert will introduce a player and say that he is in his third season with a club, when he had a cup of coffee in two consecutive Septembers. An example is saying that Pedro Hernandez is in his second season as a major leaguer, since he made one appearance with the Sox last year.

Suddenly the Twins have a lot of walking wounded. Hicks, Willingham, Florimon, and Perkins all were on the bench at least in part because of injuries. With consecutive short starts and an extra inning game in the past week, I wonder if someone might get disabled and another pitcher brought up. It seems that a Gibson promotion to start on Monday is not in the cards, but perhaps recalling a reliever might help the short bullpen.

B4C--I see that you have started several threads and the drift of each one is that the Twins won't spend the money to truly contend. I actually at least partially agree with you. However, retaining Justin Morneau is not a smart move to make, especially with his injury history and lack of productivity for that last three years. Run Batted In is an opportunity stat and Morneau has had more than his fair share of opportunities. He is OPSing only .745 with runners on base and an even lower .735 with runners in scoring position. With RISP and two out, he is 2-14. He has batted behind two guys that get on a lot and he hasn't produced enough to justify his contract, not even close. As I mentioned in passing, given his current salary of 15M per year, for the Twins to sign Morneau, they probably would have to propose a significant salary cut and I suspect that it would be very difficult for any player to accept that. Accepting a lower salary from another team makes more sense. Finally, you say that Morneau isn't really a power hitter. He averaged nearly 30 homers per year between '06 and '09. I consider that a power hitter. You picked out the season where Morneau hit "only" 23 homers, but you don't mention that in that same year, he had 47 doubles, giving him over 70 XBHs. This year, Morneau has ten extra base hits including just two homers with nearly 20% of the season gone. Yes, Morneau has gotten several hits, but his OPS is still only .720, hardly the kind of numbers that generate an eight-digit contract. Almost all major league players have peaks and valleys and as far as batting average goes, Morneau is riding a wave, but the other numbers still don't add up to a star player, much less an MVP contender. Add in Morneau's age and history of injuries and late-season fades and I see an extremely poor risk for a large contract extension.

Are you watching the same hitter I'm watching? Morneau is getting some hits, but most of the power is gone. His birthday is this month and he'll turn 32 in a few days. By the time the Twins are good again he'll be beyond his assumed prime years. The Twins can't and shouldn't give him anything near what he is making now. I can't see how they can cut his salary in half and that he would accept such a contract without looking for better offers and probably receiving one. Morneau is going on three years since the serious concussion and just hasn't produced like the great hitter he was before the injury.

I just looked at who the Twins have going for their minor league teams. It should be fun to see how all four starters do.

I hope it's not a spot start, but rather the beginning of establishing a second young frontline pitcher (the other being Diamond).

In response to the question about Glynn leaving Gibson in, the Red Wings had played a 16 inning game the day before. All pitches and innings aren't the same. While Gibson exceeded 100 pitches, he was cruising (comparatively). Many here have lobbied to have Gibson on the roster by Monday so that he could start with normal rest instead of Hernandez. I don't think that will happen, but if Gibson backs up this start with another very good one (and Hernandez struggles again), I think we'll see Gibson before the month is over.

Melotakis with perhaps his best start to date today on 5/10/13. He only went five and a third, allowing no runs, three hits, with three walks and nine strikeouts. His record is now 3-1 with a 3.10 ERA.

I get excited when you talk dirty like that.

Walkoff homer for: 1) the Hammer 2) Morneau 3) Plouffe 4) Doumit or 5) Arcia? One encouraging thing here is that all of those guys are capable of reaching the seats.

Bremer saying that Casilla was definitely a better hitter RH. In 2010-12, Casilla's OPS RH was .652, LH, it was .668, not much as a difference. Just not very good either way.

Plouffe has had a very busy day at third. He shouldn't have thrown the ball after Machado's bunt, but with all the doubles afterward, it probably didn't matter. Casilla gets a walk. The Twins announcers seem to be asking Alexi to take off.

"Ozzie" needs to do a better job in the field. However, he is showing that he can hit.

The obvious play is to bunt over the speedy Doumit.

I've been saying since Opening Day that two of Doumit, Morneau, Willingham are gone before Opening Day 2014 and most likely by the trade deadline. Catcher injuries and a lot of teams in the hunt for the playoffs could net a bigger haul for Doumit than he would get in the offseason. If Morneau could tick up his performance, he could be a valuable commodity at the deadline and Willingham, with a team-friendly contract for next year, will be much coveted unless he continues to hit like he did at Fenway. I would like to see the Twins move Morneau and Doumit and sign the Hammer to an extension of a year or two. I cannot see Morneau in a Twins uni at the start of 2014, but I guess anything can happen.

Yep, Let Parm hit. I predicted that Hicks would be sent down at some point in the season and I think I am right about that.

Spoiler alert: Don't read this if you're taping the hockey game. Doesn't look good for the Fighting Ws.