Kelly Vance

I am not down on the FO. They plugged holes, added decent pitching and had to roll with the punches. All a FO can do is put players in position to succeed. They don't guarantee good play. Sano's leg, Buck's toe, Erv's hand, Polanco's suspension, Castro's injury, man that is a lot to overcome for a team that barely made the WC last year. Molitor's managing.... his love for a mediocre Grossman and inexplicable going away from a red hot Lamarre coming out of spring training made no sense to me. Molly sat LaMarre until he cooled off.... in favor of Grossman, who never was hot and runs bases like a blind man. I don't understand ignoring MaGill when he was effective while burning out Press, Duke, Hildy and Rogers. Molly is as stubborn and plays favorites just as much as Gardy, and the playing favorites things was Gardy's downfall. Aside from not taking Molly to the manager woodshed, I don't have a problem with the FO. The jury is still out. But lets see how they handle the deadline moves.

LoMo found his contact lenses

You gotta root for us geezers. I have a shirt that says, "The older I get the better I was." Ah nostalgia. Fernando can still bring it. Glad he is a Twin.

Unfortunate title selection. Nobody circles the drain in June. Haven't I taught you TD guys anything?

Molly apparently can't see a gift when it is dropped in his lap.

sorry pal, you cannot prove the exception from the rule. All of those guys hit it where it was pitched because they knew the strike zone.

Carew and Boggs used the whole field. They hit it where it is pitched. And they are HOFers.

If he did what I suggested, he would set a new record for triples, even if he hit only 275.

The Twins hitters , except for Joe, and the Eddies, all suffer from Big Dawg envy. Sano and Dozier seem to only look for a pitch up and in that they can hit out. That means they are conceding 3/4 of the strike zone to major league pitchers. Dumb, that. Buck was doing the same thing. Wanting to pull everything. Buck, more than anyone should be an opposite field hitter. Hey Buck, do you have any idea how many triples you can hit if you looked for outside pitches you can hit the other way? These guys want to pull everything. Sheesh, didn't their little league coaches teach them ANYTHING? Which brings me to the point.... what is the hitting coach teaching them about situational hitting? Looks like NADA. The Eddies and Joe look for a pitch to hit. And they go with the pitch to make good contact on the sweet spot. Buck, Doze and Sano, and to a lesser extent Keps, all look to pull the ball. They wanna hit homers like the big kids. But it is extremely rare that you can pull an outside pitch and pitchers know that. You don't think major league pitcher see film? The Twins are in a collective slump because their hitting coach is focused on mechanics instead of hitting strategy and logic. These guys go up to the plate trying to put a square peg in a round hole, because they wanna be big dawgs. If they looked for a fat outside pitch --- which they will see every time up -- they could get good contact. But they wanna hit homers like the big dawgs, so they end up down in the count and waving at strike 3. As for LoMo. Methinks he needs glasses.

Simple. He needs to get in shape and buy some eyeglasses.

For some: Mauer went 0-4? Bench the bum, cut him, sent him to Peoria....make him retire. For the rest of us: "WELCOME BACK JOE" You ain't done, and your story is not yet written.....

I remember suggesting Red Dawg as manager. He was available. Also, if they had let Gardy go a little earlier Tito Francona was available.

A contact play with a hit back to the mound (which is what Sano did) gets you out at home. This one got through, but I have lost runs doing exactly what you suggested more than once.

Yeah, I have defended the MOY all season, but I can't understand letting Magill, who has been effective, linger on the bench while Reed is off his game. Molly is overusing Pressley, Reed and Hildy. He needs to learn to adjust to performance and stop being so rigid in his thinking. We have several other guys in the pen. Molly is signalling he doesn't have confidence in anyone else. That's bogus. But I am trying to stay positive. I'm positive its bogus.

I think this problem, if you want to cal it that, takes care of itself when Erv and May and Pineda are ready. I could see putting Romero in the bullpen for high leverage appearances, and give Pressley a break. That keeps Romero in the arsenal and saves his arm. But I don't believe in innings limits per se. I think his arm will tell him when its tired. Its like all those people that say drink 8 glasses of water a day. Now doctors are saying drink when you are thirsty. Your body will tell you things if you care to listen. But I agree that he is a valuable future SP and maybe a staff ace. Berrios and Romero look like they will be legit starters for a long time, so he is an asset to be valued and not abused. Now, can someone tell Molly that we have other relievers besides Pressley and Hildy and Duke?

Sano went opposite field on purpose...... yay!!!!!!

Those who think of themselves as ex-players and coaches, be it baseball or softball, look at baseball as a pennant race the same as others who didn't play. But they know that you just have to stay positive. The season doesn't go away just because you hit a bad patch and lost a few games. In the Twins case way too many 1 run games. But that is what you kinda expect with a young team. Still, I am glad to see articles looking at the positive side. Six games below .500 in mid June is nothing.

Yeah, it is still June.

The wild card slots are not filled in mid-June anymore than any of the division races are. There is time to right the ship. But like Nick says, we need to get hot and make our own luck. This team has the potential for a winning streak after ASB. Six games under .500 is no reason to cry in your beer. Hang in there folks.

Such good news about Joe. Hope he comes back strong. This is a young team,. You expect veteran teams to win one run games. Young teams, uh no. But these guys are learning. The Rupp move wasn't an accident. I don't believe for a second that Sano is at a cross roads of his career. He is still just a young 25 and coming off an injury. He needs to learn to hit to the opposite field. He is strong enough to hit homers with the push away swing. Buxton too. Can you imagine how many triples he could hit in a year if he would learn to hit to right field?

Thanks. Reason I asked is I don't mind giving different guys a cup of coffee. A little incentive is a good thing. But they gotta be able to play.

When you go with a youth movement, you have to be patient. You cannot expect young players to be Willy Mays. Young pitchers improve, then regress, then improve again. Hitters have slumps. Other teams have scouts looking for ways to pitch us, beat us, and they sometimes exploit flaws. Bux needs to hit to the opposite field more. Sano too. But they don't deserve the kind of criticism leveled by TD. Both have been injured. Sano gets criticized for showing up overweight, when he had leg surgery in the off season.... what was he supposed to do, take up jogging on one leg? Bux had migraines.... then a broken toe. Yet people say he sucks. How unfair. I see a young team that can still pull it together in the second half. And the one thing I KNOW is true about this year. These guys deserve better fans.

can Wade play CF?

I swear, some of the posters on here would DFA their bride if she burned their bacon on the honeymoon.