KBJ1

Sad thing for Philly that it came down to that. Several questionable decisions by the Mgr. In that game. Why did he let a guy who was 0 - 22 bat before him? Obviously has not been seeing the ball of late. Wasn't Schwarber also available on the bench? We have a 512 % team in the WS now.

You have a valid point (damn analytics). Sadly the best pitching staffs are NOT in the WS and two of the top 4 HR hitting clubs in the playoffs are. Still doesn't mean a "swing for the fences" philosophy is the only philosophy that will win it all. It is after all Baseball and defense, baserunning, putting the ball in play, luck all have a part. Without Correa's two great defensive plays, we likely lose. Toronto came within 3ft twice of beating the Twins and the D backs running game was there when the Phillys HR bats went silent. A good running game and the ability to NOT strikeout and put the ball in play will always be there, while HR's may not be. You cannot get to the promised land if you ignore and fail at the other facets of the game. So yeah, sign a pitcher (take a flyer on the young Japanese Free Agent coming here?) Get a RH 4 tool homerun hitter (Juan Soto?- the Padres need to dump payroll) Bring up Austin Martin for speed, Defensive ability, and batting average with the ability to hit to all fields. Lee & Julien = trade Polanco. Walner & Lanarch = trade Kepler. Frees up $20M for what's needed above. No brainer. Quit playing safe and coming up short! Sign Castro, then figure out who can backup 3B/SS & 1B. Farmer makes sense, then maybe an in house option for 1B over Solano. Lastly, one more proven bullpen stud. All this without Buxton. If he can play in the field, he can platoon with Martin & DH when hit, sit when cold. You have to trust your young players and help them flourish. If they struggle, we have depth to get by, but no team can buy superstars at every position. The Mets tried & failed miserably. It's a team - not fantasy roster.

Austin Martin needs to be up here playing center field next year. The free agent pitcher market is going to be way overpriced for the top 3 guys. The lefty Rodriguez makes some sense, but the most interesting flyer for me is the young Japanese pitcher coming on the market. Pitchers from Japan have had a lot of success here for a while now and he could be a real steal. Walner is at best another Kepler right now and with Julien & Brooks Lee coming up there is no reason to keep Polanco & Kepler anymore. Youth movement, unknown quantities, scary I know, but sign a big RH bat and then move forward with the youngsters. Depth at 1B is an issue as well as bullpen. Need people there.

Kepler last two at bats were extremely disappointing for me. In a key playoff situation with runners on base he needed to be aggressive and swing at the first pitch- which was a breaking ball right down the middle! Then he failed at a high inside fastball that he had no chance to hit and didn't protect the plate on tough close pitches and went down looking. As far as HR's - the Phillys hit 47, but none in the last two games and are out! Meanwhile the D backs stole 8 bases, putting pressure on the pitcher and defense and hit the ball the opposite way numerous times to drive in thise runs. Same way Houston beat the Twins in 2019 - three seeing eye grounders through the shift - opposite field- did us in then, while we swung for the fences and missed. Yes HR's are big, but if you can't put the ball in play and strikeout 40% of the time, you will NEVER win. Joe Mauers ground ball singles up the middle with two strikes look awfully good right now. We do need a RH power hitter though - Juan Soto via trade anyone??

We haven't had a high average power hitting 1B since Morneau. I was really hoping Kiriloff would be that 2nd coming. That said, he just can't stay healthy (what else is new with this team) and his future is in doubt. As much as we would love to fantasize over Alonso or Goldschmidt they are too expensive and too old and expensive. Julien or Lee at 1B? No & no. Lanarch or maybe Severino would be the only internal options to fit the position and neither would have the upside of Kiriloff. What we need more is a RH 5 tool left fielder. Acuna, Soto, Judge - you get the picture. We have a bunch of granted above average fielding outfielders, but they all hit 220 with 20 hr, a few SB and a ton of strikeouts. That just doesn't cut it. Then we need to re-sign or replace Gray with similar. Sign Solano or Carmago, hope Kiriloff recovers and has a career year and bring up Martin to play CF. We need hitters, not 220 average stop-gaps in the outfield. Sign Castro, he is an MVP utility player & has surpassed Gordon. Sorry Nick, but trade him. Farmer needs to be insurance for SS & 3B. Keep Kepler & Polanco for now with the caveat that they can and would be traded during the season depending on the teams performance and the readiness of young guys coming up. If we trade for above mentioned stud OF, then Walner or Kepler are gone. Buxton is likely done, but if on the small chance he comes back and can play, then Martin is the backup and also takes Famers backup spot with Castro or Miranda waiting to be backing 3B.

Stewart, Paddock & Varland are a Hugh boost to the pen. With a fully healthy offense (a big IF) this team could be poised for a deep run!

Comes down to.health, as usual for this team. Don't really see Correa recovering in two weeks, Buxton should be shelved. Stewart, Paddock coming back give the bullpen hope. Lewis is key. If he can't go full tilt, they are doomed. Maeda clearly deserves to start game 3. Ryan is is not needed in the first round and should be left off the roster as long as the last man in the bullpen isn't Kuechel, Hendrick, Sands, Winder, Moran, Floro or any of the other stiffs that have pitched out of the pen this year.

Unless Buxton can run & play in the field, he is a scratch. Stevenson for his speed & defense. Maeda #3, solid veteran who knows how to pitch. Ryan throws too many pitches and gives up too many HR. Off the roster until round two. Funderburk because you have to have more than one lefty, period. It comes down to Lewis & Correa - they should sit for the next 10 days Stewart is a must as well as Jax has struggled of late and needs rest. Paddock is a tough one, but could be valuable in relief, but so could Varland. Ober, Ryan, Kuechel, Floro are the odd men out for round one. Winder, Sands, Headrick? NO, NO & NO! Gordon, Gallo, Alcala - no chance.

If he can't play the field he should not be on the roster. If he was batting 300 with 30HR's like Nelson Cruz, sure, but he is far from that. We don't need two Joey Gallos, we don't even need one!

Our only reliable Lefty the past 4 years. Our terrible bullpen would be in shambles without him. Jax needs the next two weeks off to recoup.

Bring up Paddock & Stewart. Lose Kuechel & Winder. Ryan to the pen. Do not want to see Headrick, Sands or anyone else of there ilk on the roster.

Absolutely Not! Ryan's last two outings: 4 innings, 100 pitches 5 innings , 4 runs and 85 pitches. Maeda went 7+ and allowed only 2 runs on 95 pitches. He is #3 with Ober #4 & Ryan in the pen.

Maeda's performance yesterday and his experience clearly put him in the #3 or 4 spot in the rotation. While Ryan has been better since his return, he still gives up too many homeruns and throws way too many pitches. He was at nearly 100 after 4 innings. Can't have him come on in relief either and give up a dinger. Probably need to keep Funderburk because he is a lefty. Paddock, Varland, Stewart, Kuechel, Ober vie for the bullpen slots, with Ober likely being the odd man out at the moment. Depends on health and performance. Highly doubtful Alcala makes the post season roster. If Buxton can't play in the field, he doesn't make the roster. They are too limited with him at DH. Sad but true.

I still don't know why we gave away Coulumbe, Cano & McGill. Compared.to the detritus of Sands, Hendrick and virtually everyone else we have cycled through this season. Those three may not have "clicked" last year, but they certainly had more potential than any of the crap they have brought up this year. That's on you Twins for not getting them on track. Oh, and they all pitch for first place teams.

Waivers need to be reworked. No way o e team should be able to "claim" everyone. You get first pick, then go to the back of the line. This is BS. Cleveland is going to win this division.

Great to see young players like Martin & Lewis living up to their potential and not just a comedy routine. (See what I did there) . Castro comes back, but I totally agree that Martin needs to be on the 40 man roster. Then next year he and Lewis should do some comedic promos for the team!

Analytics to a point, BUT Champions are not made by pure robotic manipulation of numbers. Sure if you play 100 World Series in a row and the numbers say you will win 60 of them, you likely will. But that's not reality. The World Series is often a "Once in a Lifetime Chance" and the "human" element takes precident. Would analytics ever have put Jack Morris out for the 10th inning in game 7? No, he was gassed after the 8th to begin with. It was sheer guile, willpower and competitiveness that caused him to throw the pitches that got him through. The Twins would have lost that Series if they had taken him out. Removing Ober & Maeda after 5 innings the last two games is further proof. Unless they told Baldelli they were done, there was no reason to remove them and the results prove it - two bullpen implosion. I don't care what the analytics say - their fastball has lost an mph, spin rate is down, whatever - they are competing and throwing good pitches. There is no reason to remove them until the opponents bats say otherwise. At least thus year he has been letting the starters go longer, but it seems we are back to the 5 inning rule again lately. It's one thing if you have a bullpen full of flamethrower, but we do not. Why did we give up on McGill again? Seems to me his 101 heater put us away pretty quickly the other day. Would kill to have him right about now. The starters have been brilliant, the offense brutal and the bullpen worse. If we get Stewart back and put Ryan in the pen and use a starter.in relief, maybe we have a shot in the playoffs. Assuming the offense is fully healthy and starts.putting the ball in play.. I hate it when these WS windows are wasted due to I nuries or flaws that should have been addressed, but weren't. At least they tried to make some moves last year, but they didn't pan out. Should have been addressed before the season. The pickups they made before this season were all excellent. Needed two bullpen arms, got gifted one with Stewart, but unfortunately lost him. Now they are floundering with that gaping hole that no one in the system has been able to step up and fill.

Happy for Kep. Always seen flashes from him that show promise. Hope he keeps spraying the ball where pitched.

First, ANY team that signs Ohtani would see a Hugh marketing boost, that's a given. Cutting bait with the likes of Polanco, Kepler, Vasquez, Farmer, Gallo etc can and should be done. But be careful what you wish for, because in a couple years they will need to lock in all their replacements and I doubt they will be as cheap as Kepler & Polancos contracts are now. But actually a 4yr 300M deal would make sense for both the Twins & Ohtani as the "window of opportunity " to win a WS would be visible to both and Ohtani, as you said, could collect another solid contract after. The Twins actually are a dark horse team in this race.

Longshot, but no one else has stepped up and now Jax has imploded.

Yes! I have been saying this all year. We would be well under 500 without Solono, Castro, Farmer & Taylor. If the starting 9 had been healthy AND performing as expected we would be serious contenders. But injuries, a poor approach at the plate and bullpen injuries have kept us stuck in neutral and 500 most of the season. If Correa, Lewis, Kiriloff, Polanco, Wallner, Kepler, Julien heat up (notice I didn't say Buxton, if he can't play CF, he's done) they have a chance to make a run. The starting pitching is there, but the bullpen injuries along with Alcala, Moran & no one else stepping up will still be their Achilles heel. Maybe Ryan goes to the pen and "saves" the day? Stewart miraculously comes back? There are a lot of ifs, but the pieces are there!

The Twins, for the first time in years, have the pieces to win, hence everyone's optimism. The poor hitting approach, injuries (again) and lack of bullpen depth have caused them to flounder at 500 all year. One of the best group of utility players in the league (Solano, Castro & Farmer) are the only reason they aren't well below 500 right now. They need the starting 9 healthy and producing to make a run. Losing Brock Stewart has been a Hugh blow to the bullpen & Alcala, Moran and no one else have stepped up. I have hope for the starting lineup to get healthy, but Buxton appears to be done as does Stewart. Without Buxton in CF and someone stepping up in the bullpen (Ryan maybe) I don't see a WS run.

I hope Severino continues his tear and is brought up to the big leagues soon! Could be just the RH bat and spark we need. Now if we only had some bullpen arms to promote. Ah the dreams of the forever hopeful - in spite of the front office stupidity.

What on earth are we doing? bring up Severino! Stewart going DL just blows. This team is doomed with 200 hitters and no bullpen, again!

Doesn't our need for a RH OF bat with power scream Severino right now? I see no reason not to bring him up to the Saints. He'll, I'd dfa Gallo and put Severino in now. What's to lose? If he isn't quite ready, then send him to the Saints for seasoning. Hard to imagine he could do worse than what we have now. Solano can hold down 1B until Kiriloff returns.