whosafraidofluigirussolo

With the bullpen getting the use it has in this series and the next off day not until Thursday, I half expected to see a fresh arm swapped in today. I suppose the best choice to option might be Adams and he’s thrown less in recent days. Maybe he goes a couple innings today and we see Raya for the next series?

Having Funderburk throw only 2 pitches looms large now that Rogers is going a second inning. Especially since they ended up parading out all the lefty relievers in a row anyway.

Wonder what the calculation was on letting Ross bat for himself in the DH spot (taken over via pinch running for Bell) in the last half-inning. If one of the previous hitters had gotten on base, would Shelton have gone to Roden or Clemens? Seems like taking any chance to extend a one-run lead would have been worthwhile regardless, and subbing another hitter for the rookie utility player batting .140, in a spot where you don't have to worry about defensive substitution, wouldn't have hurt.

Total armchair managing, and Clemens' sac bunt worked okay, but I might have used Jeffers to pinch hit in that spot rather than Rodriguez' spot... They had two men on, the lefty reliever wasn't at the 3-batter minimum yet, and he was less likely to walk the pinch hitter with no outs. Seems like the time to use the RH PH was when conditions were really good to really pull away.

Minnesota will have to carry him on the Opening Day roster or expose him to waivers This is technically true, but there’s essentially zero chance a legit prospect gets waived after three weeks in the majors, no? The exposure to MLB now is valuable, but I doubt anything they see in three weeks will make them give up on Rodriguez before, say, trading Larnach, non tendering Wallner, even maybe DFAing Roden.

Why lol Edit: In seriousness, I guess I'm excited about Culpepper and Houston and think they're likely to get Neto-like production with 6 years of control from one of them within the next year or so. So, not seeing it, but that's absolutely an armchair GM perspective.

Absolutely - seems like Gausman to the Cubs could be the single deal at this deadline that most makes me say "why couldn't the Twins do that?" The prospects going the other way seem modest (MLB is somewhat higher on them than Fangraphs.) Gausman is a rental, but so what? He's good!

In the upcoming pitching matchups for next week, I assume it should be Kremer (not Matthews) going against KC on Thursday?

I’m not sold that any single deal like this means convincingly that the game’s economics are broken—but it’s a bummer that someone other than one of the very biggest-market, biggest-payroll teams didn’t make this deal, regardless of the reasons. Among others, Fangraphs had a well written argument for the Brewers or Rays to deal for Skubal: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-rays-or-brewers-must-trade-for-tarik-skubal/ Certainly the Brewers’ player development is good enough that I’d expect they could replace the contribution of Hope and Ryan-like prospects in short order.

Here's hoping - like a prayer, if you will - that the Twins send Cecconi off to his bedtime stories early tonight.

Counterpoint: If Tom Pohlad wants to show he’s serious about taking steps forward in competitiveness rather than steps back, a QO to Jeffers would show that intent without hampering roster building or budget long-term.

Possibly interesting bit from a chat run by one of Fangraphs' prospect writers today: 2:09 richwp01: I know there are too many draft questions, but can you weigh in on time to MLB? Roguh approximation: Roch, end of 2027 to get feet wet Emerson, end of 2028 Lackey 2029 if he spends 2 years developing as catcher (Will Smith, Cal Raleigh, Adley Rutchsman, Drake Baldwin, Shea Langeliers all took 3 years in minors , Dingler 4.) 2:10 Brendan Gawlowski: Those all seem like reasonable baselines; we’ll know a lot more about each of them when they get to the minors. Obviously this is all just guesses, but maybe a reminder that even as an advanced college catcher, Lackey is likely not a Jeffers replacement next year.

Thankfully "who is the backup CF" is not the biggest question in Twins lineup and roster construction because Buxton has been relatively healthy - but seeing Kreidler in that spot is a reminder of how fascinatingly shifty that role has been, even in half a season. It seems that the current evaluation is they're better with Gray at SS, Clemens at 2B, and Kreidler in CF than with Kreidler at SS, Gray at 2B, and some combo of Clemens and Martin in CF/RF...? And/or maybe this is how they prioritize OF defense, based on Ryan's fly-ball tendencies?

Wait one day, apparently.

Ha, came here to post this too. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/05/marlins-designate-chris-paddack-for-assignment-dfa.html Most of the Twins Paddack experience was not great, but the MLBTR article does underline that he’s rarely been tried in short relief and he’s done well in that limited experience. Worth a call if he clears waivers?