Thegrin

It has been stated many times over the years that a players top years of production is between age 28 and age 32. Why are people complaining that we have a lot of players in this age range, both with the Twins and at Rochester ?

I'd prefer to see the Twins trot out the same lineup they've been playing in August. Santana CF Dozier 2B Mauer 1B/DH Vargas 1B/DH Arcia RF Plouffe 3B Suzuki C E. Escobar SS Schafer LF Let the call-ups rot on the bench. I want to see if this line-up can play plus 500 ball for a month.

I just hope the Twins focus on winning games. I'd like to see them have a plus 500 record in September. I hope these call-ups don't keep our best players on the bench.

Perhaps the emphasis on mid to high 90's fastball pitchers is the problem. When pitchers like Verlander lose that extra-fast pitch, they don't have the control or secondary pitch to compensate. They talk about control. They talk about moving the ball up and down and in and out, changing speed with every pitch, but who actually does that ?

I believe Arcia and in another year, Sano & Rosario were all Appy League stars.

I go to sleep at night with visions of Vargas, Sano, Arcia dancing in my lineup. Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia. Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia. Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia. Sano, Vargas, Arcia. Vargas, Sano, Arcia

I am a fan. I look for signs of positive improvement in the Twins. Today. Hughes beat Kluber. Our best beat their best. It does not prove anything, but it points to progress. Heck, with a good winning streak, we could still be at or near .500 at seasons end.

You must sit around, thinking of articles to stir the pot. While we are at it... why not trade managers with the Angels ?

Escobar is hitting doubles, which means he is hitting line drives. From fangraphs, Things to remember Line drives go for hits more often than groundballs, and groundballs go for hits more often than flyballs. This means that a pitcher or batter with a specific batted ball profile might be prone to higher or lower BABIPs. http://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/babip/

Escobar is hitting doubles. 32 doubles at last count and tied with Plouffe. This means his BABIP is going to be higher than the average slap hitter. This also indicates that Escobar's hitting improvement is likely to be permanent. He is unlikely to face a "Sophomore Jinx" like Santana may next season. Escobar has earned the starting SS job until he proves his 2014 play is a fluke.

The difference between '14 and other years is that we know we have 2 solid starters going into 2015 and we have a 3rd (Nolasco) we have no choice but to start (barring injury). That leaves us with 2 pitchers to distinguish themselves in the last 40 days. Like you say. The 2015 starting rotation may already be set.

Young arms need protecting. Protecting Kohl is the right thing to do. Nick Burdi, on the other hand, is not so young, and i would love to see him fast tracked directly to the Twins in September.

The Red Wing has 7 former Twins in the lineup. Hicks, Pinto, Florimon, Colabello, Hermann, Wilken Ramirez & Doug Bernier. Also Pino, Darnell & Johnson have all started for the Twins. They should be in the AAA playoff

I don't understand why people say his skills play more to being a utility man and a backup? He is 25 now. He was only 23 when he came to the Twins in the trade for Liriano. He was the Gold Glove SS in his Winter League this winter. If E Escobar had enough AB, he would rank in the top 10 SS based on OPS. He has 32 doubles, tied for first amongst all SS and tied for 10th in the MLB. Just because he has the ability to play 2b, 3b & OF, does not mean that he should play anywhere but SS for the Twins for a long long time.

Starting from mid-2011 the Twins have had to completely rebuild their starting rotation. There was no point in investing heavily until the Twins had a competitive lineup. Last winter they invested in starting pitching, with mixed results. They'll play the rest of the year with the starters that will probably be the 2015 rotation. Nobody should be surprised if August and September are the first +.500 months for the Twins in 2014 and they should be a contender in 2015. Yes, I am an optimist.

I hope we see Vargas batting 4th and Arcia batting 5th for a long long time

I hate strikeouts. If a player has the power of Arcia or Vargas, they can cut down their swings to avoid strikeouts and still hit plenty of home runs.

To me, it is fairly simple. 1) Assuming Santana plays well for the rest of 2014, he bats first and plays somewhere every day in 2015. 2) Assuming Escobar plays well for the rest of 2014, he is the Twins starting SS in 2015. 3) They have invested 2014 in Arcia. His at bats have not been earned by his stats, but by his potential. Barring injuries, Arcia should play every day through 2015. At that time he will have about 1200 at bats. We should have a fair idea of what kind of player Arcia is by then: An average fielder with a power bat. 4) The 4th outfielder should be speedy, with some power and mentally strong enough to be a pinch hitter, pinch runner & be able to play Center Field. Sam Fuld was perfect.

I don't think the "haters" really hate Mauer. Since 2011 the Twins have not played well, and as the Twins best player, Joe gets the brunt of the criticism. People look for an excuse, and they see his injuries. They blame his injuries for Joe's lack of production and the Twins poor record. After his 2009 MVP season, who can blame people for wanting more seasons of excellence, expecting more of the same, despite the Twins move to Target Field from the Metrodome. What do we all want ? For Joe Mauer to play every day and play like Joe Mauer. The problem is, fans have a different idea of what Joe Mauer should play like.

Mat Batts looks like a pitcher for the future. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t492&player_id=656217#/career/R/pitching/2014/ALL

Ron Gardenhire - 13 years 1052 Wins, 1012 Losses .510 Win % 6 division titles. If he could only win us 3 World Series, he'd have it made

"The most obvious thing is that Joe Mauer has really hurt this team since moving to 1B. It's hard to overstate this enough. He accounts for 27% of the payroll and the team is trailing the league average 1B by 17 wRC+. Hopefully this will change, and he's been hot recently since returning from the DL but these numbers look back, not forward." I think you are being immensely short-sighted when it comes to Mauer. This year 1B has been Mauer + replacement players. We all know that his wRC+ would be higher if Mauer had been healthy all season. Also, it makes no difference which position produces the runs. You might think of adding the runs that Dozier produces at 2nd base and adding them to the runs that 1B produced (+24-17=+7) and say that the Twins are doing very well in the power department at those positions.

In today's baseball, the Quality Start (QS) is the most telling start. Hughes, Gibson & Correia all had 13 QS in 23 starts. These QS give the Twins a chance to win, and their improving hitting is getting to the point where they do win when getting the opportunity.

There is still 6 weeks to play this season. If the Twins were to go on a prolonged winning streak the Twins could finish at or near .500 for 2014. Pitching is the key. Gibson and Hughes have been 2/3 of the Twins dependable starters in 2014. Now that Kevin Correia has been traded the rotation has 3 spots to fill. Tommy Milone is a proven Major League starter and left handed. He should be a younger upgrade on Correia. Ricky Nolasco is a well established major league starter and has a 4 year contract with the Twins. It is hoped that he can regain his old form after a long stay on the disabled list Johan Pino has made 10 starts for the Twins. In half of them he has held the opponents to 3 runs or less. The rest of this season will tell us if he should be part of the 2015 rotation That is 5 starters.. How will they pitch for 2014? How will they work together in 2015? Trevor May has shown us nothing so far (like Gibson in 2013), but there is still 6 weeks to go in the season. Alex Meyer has pitched well in AAA although he was slowed down by an injury. He is not on the 40 man roster and is not likely to be one of the September call-ups. Mike Pelfrey showed promise to return from Tommy John surgery in July-August 2013. He is said to be a positive influence in the dugout, however he has been in rehab for virtually all of 2014. He has one year of his contract remaining. Perhaps he could emerge as the 5th starter in 2015, or perhaps he will be a trade chip. Any of the 3 of them could be in the 2015 rotation along with Logan Darnell or Kris Johnson or some other pitcher acquired in trades or promoted from the minors At the end of 2011,2012 & 2013 we finished the season with NO starting pitchers that the Twins could count on. 2014 is playing much better and the "Quietly Solid" starters: Phil Hughes & Kyle Gibson are showing the way.

Goodbye Hammer. I am glad you got that last Home Run.