whosafraidofluigirussolo

Do you mean, see if Martin is ready to play SS? He's probably the least likely to end up a shortstop of the 3 players mentioned, and they're all more or less at the same level of the minors (Lewis would be a level ahead at least, if not in the majors now, but the injury basically puts him back a year, so in a similar spot to the others.) I do like the general logic of leaving flexibility at shortstop, though, and not spending lots of capital on an older player who would tie up the position for multiple years.

Not opposed to that either. Iglesias was mostly an example for comparison, as another player who's been demoted due to defensive struggles this year (and I'd bet on "fixing" a formerly great defensive player before one who's always been stretched.)

Here's another angle. Would you rather the Twins obtained, this offseason, Torres, who has been considered stretched at shortstop for several years and will cost one or more players in trade, or José Iglesias, who was considered a plus-glove SS for years before a sudden decline on defense that led the Angels to release him this year, and who will cost only money to sign?

At this point I have trouble keeping track of who's on the Twins pitching staff from day to day or week to week -- but with Gant down, they don't have 5 starters unless Barnes stays in the rotation or Albers takes a turn later this week...right?

I read in an article about Iglesias' release that his defensive stats were way down this year. It seems like a few years ago he was regarded similarly to Simmons for great defense. If there was good reason to think this year was a fluke or statistical noise, Iglesias would be a great stop-gap to replace Simmons next year - but it seems risky if he ends up being one more middle infielder whom they don't really trust at shortstop...

That's Pineda in that picture. Which is also a little ridiculous since he's injured and may or may not pitch again this season. And maybe, just maybe, there doesn't need to be a picture of a Twin on an ad about "the race to the postseason" at all...?

It'll be interesting to watch Gausman and Rodon this offseason - they're among the top free-agent starters available, if not the top 2, and both have had significant turnarounds in their performance while playing on teams that have also had big turnarounds and are winning big this year. It wouldn't be surprising if either guy was harder to pry away from their current team than a typical free agent.

I agree that pitchers pitching without the reins of pitch or innings limits is what we want to see. And I see your point that doubling his innings load is different from incrementally raising a pitcher's workload season by season. Urías has been in both the majors and professional ball period longer than Ober - he was pitching in pro ball when Ober was a freshman in college. If this is his first year without any workload limits, then it's safe to say that the Dodgers did have him under several years of workload management to get to this point.

So, like...he's going to go under anesthesia and then he'll find out what surgery he had when he wakes up? If that's the case, I'm sure he's had plenty of opportunity to talk through all the options with the doctors, but still, that seems incredibly unnerving.

That's what I assume is the logic too. It would be reasonable, even if you don't agree with it. I get why people's trust in the front office isn't extending very far right now, though. (Gibaut was not on the 40-man - he was added in order to be called up - but maybe they chose to look at him now because he would be a minor-league free agent after this year? Not sure.) If September 1 is a meaningful date for how long the team has rights to the player's services, I guess I'm not clear on why that is either. I recall that if a player is added to the 40-man in September it doesn't count as one of his 3 option years, but someone here recently pointed out that if a player is added to the 40-man for September, he's unlikely to be sent back to the minors and thus won't use an option anyway.

They're really committed to giving EVERY marginally MLB-rosterable pitcher they have a tryout. I have no doubt that some of these guys are going to be cleared out soon, and the Twins FO is cycling through them before making space for September additions. There's a strategy there, but it's not the most the most fun to see all these marginal guys parading in and out.

He just HAS to have meticulously styled sets and a dozen extras busying themselves in the background of a tracking shot every time he makes a mound visit. I, for one, am sick of it.

It's not just service time but his option clock. Of course we all hope he's good enough that it doesn't matter, but nonetheless, they can avoid burning an option on Ryan this year if they wait a week and a half. My guess is that'll be a big factor in when Ryan comes up, and it's a big reason why we haven't seen Moran or Miranda yet. I agree, though, that if there is any service-time consideration happening, it won't go as far as keeping Ryan in the minors next spring if they need his contributions in the majors.

Although counting open spots for future free agents in the 40 is useful for this exercise, when the Twins org is actually managing their roster in the offseason, there's no need to hold spots open for free agents they're yet to sign - I think anyone besides the newly added players can be cut from the 40-man at any time. There may be some other rules about player movement on and off rosters in the offseason that I don't remember (?), but in general, they can (and probably will) keep a few more of those marginal/"maybe" guys early in the offseason but it won't stop them from making free agent additions.

Just noticed the pitch counts—all the Twins' pitching was really efficient last night. 102 pitches between Maeda, Garza, and Coulombe.