LA Vikes Fan

Why Castillo instead of Winder? I see Winder isn't doing so great in St. Paul but he looked good when he was up on August. I suspect Castillo is just here until Varland comes up or he goes 2 or 3 innings one day and then it's off to DFA land for a fresh arm. I can understand Helman given his flexibility. He gives them a RH 2B when they don't want to play Julien. this also tells you how much Farmer is going to play in September. Not much.

Margot is outhitting Pham.

I suspect Julien will not be a factor in September because he won't be in Minneapolis. The Twins can add one player and one pitcher tomorrow. Lee is likely to be the position player; Winder probably the pitcher. Then next week(?) Buxton comes back. Who do you keep and who do you send to St. Paul ineligible to come back for 10 days - Julien or Martin? I think Martin since he can play a passable 2B as well as the OF, and runs better so is a better pinch running option. Martin hits RH and Julien can't hit LH pitching. Lee takes over either SS or 2B with Martin available to play 2B. I do think Julien is part of the long term future, though. He will work through the hitting woes, you can already see the adjustments and improvements there. Will he be a .270/.380/.420 or more guy or a .240/.320/.380 or less guy? Hard to say but the chance he will be the first guy is at least 35-40% IMO so you have to ride him for a least another season. Much like Martin needs to find a winter ball team where he can play CF every day, Julien needs to find a place to play 1B every day so he can be a 2B/1B next year with Miranda playing the every day 1B role. If you look at who we have in 2025 once the soon to be FAs go (Margot, Kepler, Santana, Farmer) and Buxton and Correa come back, there are spots for Martin, Lee, and 2 more guys. Julien should be one of those 2 guys along with a good bat RH hitting OF.

Truer words were never spoken. Sports are entertainment. That business requires taking risk to be successful; you have to spend money to put out a good product with no guarantee it will be successful. The successful owners in sports* are entrepreneurial, take risk, and are willing to absorb losses if the risks backfire. The Twins owners don't do that and as a result are less successful. *That is sports other than pro football where the combination of huge TV revenue and a salary cap means you basically cannot lose money. Even the truly incompetent in the NFL make a profit.

Agreed. I think Theilbar may be the guy to DFA so we can get both Varland and Winder in the bullpen while still keeping Henriquez and Blewett out there. One can come up when the staff expands by one on 9/1, the other for Theilbar. Yes, that means no LH relief, but Theilbar hasn't shown he can reliably get LH hitters out for a while now. It's sad, but time for him to ride off into the sunset.

Guys, if what MLB trade rumors says is correct, the Giants don't have to release Rogers if he clears waivers. If he clears, they have to pay the rest of his salary so they'll just keep him. He's on waivers, not a DFA. This is a straight salary dump - if someone will take his contract he's gone, if not, he stays. He's still under contract if he clears waivers and isn't available unless he's claimed or is released. Giants Place Thairo Estrada, Taylor Rogers On Waivers - MLB Trade Rumors

I didn't say you get the GM, only the manager. Trust me on this as someone who lives in LA and follows the Dodgers. If you think Baldelli makes head scratching moves and manages by the book instead of a gut attuned to his players, you ain't seen nothing yet. Watch Dave Roberts. His ineptitude is papered over by a 25 year $8 billion (that's billion with a B) TV deal. $320M a year to spend can paper over a lot of ineptitude. And buy you Shohei Ohtani.

I think this is a good take. They've built a great system; I can see sticking around to see it bear fruit. The frustration has to be the team's unwillingness/inability to build a solid group of veterans around the young guys coming up. The Lewis, Wallner, Miranda, Castro, Larnach types should be hitting 5-8 as they develop this year, not 1-4. Injuries have played a role in knocking Correa out (maybe those teams that decided against giving him a 10 year $350m deal after seeing the medicals were right) but Buxton isn't really a middle of the order hitter and Santana, Kepler, Jeffers/Vasquez, and Margot are all back of the order guys. I hope the younger guys can be that middle of the order core next year but that would require a step up and it would have to be all of them, not just one or two. Tough way to get better.

Agreed.

I agree with KirbyDome89 in one crucial way - the Twins are not any more snake bitten than anyone else. You only have to look at our current opponent. Atlanta has lost more talent to injury than we have but is playing better. The Orioles lost 3 starters, the Yankees were without Cole for several weeks and have had good players have poor years, the Guardians lost their #1 starter for the entire season, the Dodgers have basically lost their entire starting rotation and Mookie Betts for several weeks, the Brewers lost Yelich (their best player) to season ending surgery, etc. Let's not play the "victim card" here; the Twins have not had more bad injury luck than anybody else. We just don't have the MLB ready depth that other contending teams do and weren't willing to sacrifice prospects to build it short term. It's a defensible strategy if you're playing more for the next few years than this year, long term over short term, but it means this unchecked and perhaps uncheckable slide is always a real possibility. We'll be lucky to slide into the playoffs this year but it will give a bunch of guys some crucial MLB experience. Which is better depends on your outlook.

After reading the other comments while I was drafting my incredibly verbose post above, I tend to agree that Falvey is the guy to keep more than Levine. I do question whether they have been signed to a long-term deal. I don't think that's because the Twins don't want them long-term; I think it's because they are unsure about staying. Why the skepticism? You have two guys that took a moribund organization and turned it into a forward thinking, modern team that has a chance to compete -all in a period of about five years with limited resources. Now imagine if you took that same skill set and combined it with more resources like they have in at least 10 to 12 organizations. If I'm Falvey or Levine, I would think twice about signing an extension of more than two years in Minnesota because I've then shut the door on better opportunities. Let's not kid ourselves; there are at least 10 to 12 better opportunities out there and may be more. I do think the off-season is going to be interesting in the Front Office because I think both men will really wonder if this is the place they want to be. There is still no clarity about broadcast rights and there is clarity that ownership will not spend additional sums on payroll until the revenue stream is guaranteed. These guys are bankers, not start up founders or real estate developers; they are not entrepreneurial and they don't build on spec. I would expect both Falvey and Levine to at least be willing to explore other opportunities. I know that I would.

I agree that the Twins should try to extend both Falvey and Levine. My question is, why would they stay if they get other options? I recall reading that Levine was in consideration for a job in Boston. He didn't get it, but it would have been hard to blame him for leaving a financially struggling organization for one willing to open the pocketbook to field a more competitive team. I suspect both are willing to stay but only until they get a better offer. I think the unfortunately likely result here will be that both stay with the Twins but remain open to other offers. They will both eventually get offers to move to an organization more willing to spend and are likely to take those offers. By the way, I think the same is likely for Baldelli, who despite the incessant trolling on this site is a very good MLB manager who could get another job in a week if the Twins let him go. I live in LA and the Dodgers or Angels would grab him in a nano second if he was available. The Twins Front Office will then become like the Twins team itself; an organization that finds young talent, grooms it to success, and then loses it to other organizations that are willing to actually pay for talent.

The wheels are definitely coming off. As I mentioned in the game thread yesterday, the worst thing that could have happened to this team has now happened – Lewis has stopped hitting. That leaves a #2 - #4 lineup consisting of three guys who have less than a thousand MLB ABs, with Larnach at 888, Mirnada at 924, and Wallner at less than 500. We are regularly batting a glove first 38-year-old 1B whose primary talents are with his glove and drawing walks in the middle of the order. The lead off hitter is a utility guy and although Castro has done better than expected, he's a guy who should be batting in the bottom third of the order on a contending team. Kepler is what he is, a good glove #8 hitter, behind Jeffers at #7. The pitching is in much worse shape with three rookies in the rotation and a bullpen that basically has three reliable guys, two possibly reliable guys, and a cast of thousands. And that counts Duran as a reliable option, which he has not been lately. The long MLB season has a way of exposing teams that lack depth. The Twins are one of those teams and it is showing right now. They still have a pretty good chance of making the playoffs, but could easily slide out of the postseason. I don't know what the story is with Buxton and Correa but it is looking more and more like they will not be back this season so we should probably forget about either of them riding to the rescue. I see the reference to trying to catch Cleveland or Kansas City. I would argue that you are looking in the wrong direction. The key is whether they can hold off Boston for the last wildcard spot. Their lead for that spot is down to four games, probably three after they get hammered by Atlanta again tonight. To me, the big question is whether they can pull it together enough to win 87 or 88 games and slide into the postseason. I think that will require a big step up by some younger players. It's possible, but far from likely. I'm said from the beginning of the season then I think this team is one year away from being a true contender. I think were finding that out now. We just don't have the depth to compete. As they pointed out in last nights game, it's not like the Twins have had more crucial injuries than the Braves, it's the other way around. The difference is that the Braves have depth and acquired some players, and the Twins do not. Lose tonight and we're 1-5 on this homestand with three on tap against Toronto who has been playing pretty well lately. We follow that with a trip to Tampa Bay and then Kansas City and you could easily see a 3-8 or 4-7 record in the next 11 games, probably enough to knock us out of a playoff spot. I don't mean to be all doom and gloom, but this does not feel like just a slump where quality players will turn it around in short order. These last 10 games look much more like a true reflection of who this team is - decent to good, but just not quite good enough.

I think Varland will be back this weekend. He went down on 8/14 and Winder went down on 8/15. By rule, they have to stay in the Minors for 15 days before they can be recalled unless they come back as an injury replacement. They should both be able to come back this weekend. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out with Tonkin and Blewett replacing the two obvious DFAs, Richards and Okert. They can carry 14 pitchers starting Sunday so that gets one of Varland and Winder back. I wonder if the second will be at the expense of Blewett or Henriquez, or if Alcala or Duran gets a 15 day IL stint. Both look gassed and it does make one wonder if there's an arm issue. It is amazing that the cupboard is so bare for relief pitchers at the AAA level. We probably have the best ones either already up in Blewett adn Henriquez (still love that name), with Varland and Winder soon to follow. There doesn't appear to be much else there.

See you guys. Have a great rest of your evening. I'll check back in after a couple of weeks.

And that's your ball game....

Wow, Lewis is getting hard to watch. Would love to see Miranda pinch hit for him if he comes up again in this game. Time for him to think right center every time up and stop trying to pull everything out of the stadium.

No offense, but I think you guys are looking in the wrong direction. With Buxton and Correa apparently taking the rest of hte season to heal, there's little chance that this team can win the division. They are going to have to fight hard and get lucky just to make the playoffs. The place to look is behind. Boston was 5 games out of the final WC spot coming into tonight's game. They have the 17th hardest schedule remaining, the Twins are 19th. That's where we should focus, holding off Boston and making the playoffs. With this team as depleted as it is, that ain't gonna be easy.

Did you see Eddie shaking his head as he came off of the field? Did you also see Wallner yelling at someone in hte dugout to "get in the fu@***ing game?". These guys are getting very frustrated. By the way, Boston is winning tonight. Let's be honest, this team has very little chance of catching or passing Cleveland or KC with Buxton and Correa apparently out for most of the rest of the year. The race to follow is whether we can stay ahead of Boston for the last Wild Card spot. 5 game lead going into today. Stay tuned . . .

Lewis is now the official "easy out" in the lineup. Time to sit him for consecutive games so he can re-set. Play Miranda and Santana.

The worst thing that could happen to this team has happened; Lewis has stopped hitting. Without him, Correa and Buxton, we are reliant on Wallner and . . . a bunch of inconsistent hitters. The wheels are coming off, gasoline is spilling onto the track, the engine is smoking, and we are going down.... Only chance is some kind of ignition or a hot streak from someone else. Oh wait, Miranda isn't playing today...

This team has just run out of players. Miranda is the grizzled old vet in the middle of the order. They are trying to win games with a number two, three, and four hitter in Larnach, Lewis and Wallner, who have less than 500 major league at bats each, and a rotation that has three rookies. Their other key hitters are 38-year-old first baseman known primarily for his glove and taking walks, and a utility guy who leads the team in ABs. Add in a bullpen that’s clearly at least three pitchers short and it’s a wonder these guys can even play .500.

I'm a Winder believer. I think he's back up soon, probably for Blewett. Keep in mind he was optioned on August 15 and has to remain in AAA for 15 days unless he's an injury replacement. I expect him back up on Friday for the Blue Jays series,

Agree with Tony & Rodney. All 4 of these guys are at the early stage where they should be in MLB starting or at least at AAA. I'd much rather see them pitch than a 30 year old mediocre #4 guy, which seems to have been the alternative. That gets me to a narrative that I just would like to see retired - "we could have gotten a starter at the trade deadline and chose not to because ... " The starters then available who could actually help were Kikuchi, Flaherty, Fedde, and maybe Zach Elfin. Trevor Rogers was sent to AAA by the Orioles because of ineffectiveness, Alex Cobb is on the IL, and James Paxton is out for the year. Any of those guys would have cost at least one of Festa, Matthews and Morris (supposedly the guy everyone was asking for, even for a reliever), perhaps even two, or at least one plus a Raya or similar prospect. And that's assuming Detroit and Chicago would trade within the division at the same price as outside the league where these guys actually went. BTW, 3 went from the American League to the National League and Kikuchi cost the Astros their #9 and #13 prospects for a two-month rental. Trading for a starter at the deadline was never in the cards without a huge price, let's not pretend we could have easily done so without giving up much. Now, failing to bolster the bullpen at the deadline - that's was inexcusable. Had to and should have done that with a 15-30 type prospect or two.

There's no question that our best Offensive lineup has Lewis at 2B. That would allow Miranda to play every day at 3B and get his bat into the lineup in place of Julien or Farmer, and allow Castro to be the super utility that he should be playing at least 2 days a week in LF in addition to 2-3 days a week at various IF positions. It also opens up a spot for Lee next year when Miranda becomes the every day 1B. I think Lewis can easily play 2B and it's hard for me to see that a 2B has any more injury risk than at 3B now that runners can't take out the 2B in the double play. Lewis at SS is interesting, but ultimately irrelevant in the short term as long as we have Correa. Maybe in a few years? I would say playing 2B makes it easier more Lewis to slide over to SS in the future than a life at 3B. Lewis at 2B? Yes, please.