Rod Carews Birthday

"The Spreadsheet"? A computer spreadsheet isn't used to track whether a guy has started a playoff game. That would be reserved for things that are a bit more complicated (and esoteric) to track. I am certain that if a decision like that is made it will be a "gut" decision more than anything statistically based. If I recall, that's what some are asking for. I don't want to see (and don't think I will see) Keuchel starting a playoff game this season. That being said, if there is a last second injury or something else catastrophic happens, Dallas Keuchel would be a reasonable guy to have in your pocket if a break glass moment would occur. He's likely quite a lot more likely to be successful than that Uber driver, even if we are hoping he never gets the call.

I feel like we all know that guy. There seems little doubt that someday he will become old man yelling at cloud.

And this is the silliness of it all. It's not like we're not going to add Martin to the 40-man over the winter for next year and it's not like we don't have some chaff that could go away from our current 40-man. So why not add him now and have him available? It doesn't cost them anything. He won't rack up service time unless we really need him and then we won't care. Argh!

Seems like a wash to me. Gave up a struggling pitcher, got a struggling pitcher. Neither are useless, but neither are going to help their clubs much. It was worth a try, but not much came of it. Going forward I have a small amount more hope for Floro, but I could definitely be wrong. . . .

They're interesting. They're good. They're promising. They're exciting. BUT, they're really not in the same category as the 1982 group. The Twins brought up about half of the team that would go on to win the WS in 1987 that year, and while they weren't all good right away, several had very substantial and long MLB careers. Let's hope they play long enough and well enough to make it a good debate a few years from now.

Absolutely. The 70's and early 80's were no picnic either.

I would definitely rather be competitive on a near annual basis. There is always a chance that the championship could happen, plus maybe even more. It's the struggle and the journey -- and of course the ride -- to getting there that makes it fun. Playing a lot of meaningful baseball games is the exciting part.

Having him on the team would be fantastic. IF he can recover completely from the Tommy John surgery. IF he can remain the very good pitcher he is. IF he continues to hit like he has. Without the injury, the world was talking about the first $500M contract, which is beyond the reach of most teams, including the Twins. With the injury there are vastly too many unknowns and I don't want to sign a contract that could hamstring the team payroll for the better part of a decade. Could somebody get lucky and have him make a complete recovery? Probably, but it doesn't seem likely given that this is surgery number two. Count me out on Ohtani and let's split up our spending among several new players and perhaps some extensions.

Well. That worked out OK. Very nice. AND Winder was spot on as well.

He's listed on the 40 man (with no photo) on mlb.com and I think Ortega has been moved to the 60-day (I don't think he was previously there), so I'm taking that as accurate. As for what to expect/hope for, I'm good with left-handed guy who is capable of giving some good, fairly low leverage innings, with the occasional upside of some shutdown innings. He might have potential, but I don't think he's coming up to blow anybody away. I'm very satisfied with that. There is also some funkiness in his delivery so that will play up a little bit (I hope).

It’s all a bit premature as a lot can change about an individual pitcher in a month. I agree. They can and should go with whoever they think gives them the best chance of winning at that point in time. Somebody could reel off a couple of clunker starts and the entire picture will change.

Not to sell myself short, but I could never pull off that dress!

I think it’s weird that he thinks it is the reaction to getting plunked by Jeffers that started the whole thing. I would have thought that the stupendous bat flip from the other night would have been the impetus. If I had hit a home run like that, I would have flipped the bat up, caught it, and kept twirling it until I got all the way around the bases!

At least it won’t be this!

I think resting Correa is absolutely the right decision. I say get through the Cleveland/Texas/Cleveland series and then give him a rest for a bit unless we are still not in a good position in the division. (Because if we don’t make the playoffs, it won’t matter how his feet feel). Aside from his feet, the rest of his body can probably use the break as well. Plantar Fasciitis is a weird thing. I have had a few bouts with it and have known many others that have as well. Some people get by with just resting. Others don’t seem to improve with rest (me), and it can take a cortisone shot in the bottom of each foot to help solve the issue (not a good time, but it worked!). Some people can just put fancy insoles in the shoes (no, not from the Dr. Scholl’s display and things will improve. All of this is to say, Correa is receiving the best imaginable medical attention on this, so they have likely figured out what will help for him (or what won’t). I do know that staying off of one’s feet is never a bad idea, particularly if you can calm down the swelling.

Yes. There is a bit more flexibility when there is an injury involved. I believe then you can sub in a bat for an injured bat or an arm for an injured arm. ———— According to MLB: “A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation. (For example, a player on the 10-day injured list who has been on it for at least 10 days, or a player who has been on the 60-day injured list for at least 60 days.) Players who are acquired in September or after are ineligible.” ———— It doesn’t talk specifically about the 40 man roster (that is in another place), but refers to “in the organization”, which I’m taking to mean that in the event of injury all bets are off. I think in most cases someone will get injured near the end of the season (or someone may get “injured”) so that could work also. However, my interpretation of that could be incorrect.

I most certainly hope not. That being said, IF he can pitch again while playing DH, just what is the monetary value of what is essentially a bonus roster spot? That's the part I can't really put a number on. Also, IF he is a good to great pitcher again, maybe that's worth $30M, but a straight (defensive side) DH is not worth another $30M. Nobody should pay that for a DH, but maybe somebody will. Who knows?

Let's hope that all of those players are actually healthy for the playoffs! I'm guessing somebody won't be so there will be another spot on the position player side. Also, on the pitching side, I'm going to be very (pleasantly) surprised if Paddack is ready to go and I'm pretty iffy on Stewart being healthy as well. The obvious replacement for either of those is Keuchel. As a soft tossing lefty, he would make a nice contrast in the pen. The nice part is that we shouldn't need five starters in the playoffs, so one of those guys definitely transitions to the pen as well.

I liked the trade then and I still like it now. Both teams got something they needed and the players have continued to do well. The lesser names in the trade are also seemingly going to make it to the majors and do well also. While it would be great to have Graterol right now in the bullpen, that would mean we didn't have Maeda so that doesn't really help us.

Another good bullpen arm at the deadline would have been nice, but we didn't get one, so we will make it work with what we have. If they can get through the next couple of series without imploding, they will be in good shape for the division, so they can get by with the group they have. Come playoff time, we add Ryan or Ober (depending on who starts) and move Keuchel the pen. Either starter should play up big time, and Keuchel is weird enough that it may work well -- Lefty soft tosser, imagine bringing heat after him. Possibly add Varland as well. We would be well set for the playoffs - and that's without Stewart necessarily coming back. Go Twins!

I like it. IF none of the injured guys are coming back. Especially the Austin Martin piece. If they come back things get a little too interesting. Luplow gone. He hasn't been useless but he has to be the first to go. Gallo gone. Well? Maybe? He's a better defender than Solano and the rest of the "not" firstbasemen. But if/when we get Buxton, Castro, and Kirilloff back, I'm not sure how to pull this off. The pitching stuff is right on the money, although I would find a way to try out Funderburk as well.

It’s pretty painful. Living here, I hear the Sox fans gnash their teeth about Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn all the time. Unfortunately, from a management standpoint, the Sox have nowhere to go but up, so that puts another team potentially in play in the division race in the long run.

First of all, my frustration is obviously not directed at you, as you actually have reasonable arguments. Thank you! I would say that I mostly agree with you in that there can and should be concerns about some decisions. I do think that one of the reasons they are starting to mount is because everyone feels the pressure of being in a division title race and little things are starting to matter more now that we are only 40 games or so from the finish line. Game 142 isn’t any more important than game 22 in the great scheme of things, but it certainly feels like it. I take Ober’s comments with a grain of salt. First, when I listened to him in the presser, he didn’t really sound upset aside from the “I want to go out there and keep on pitching” mentality that good pitchers have. Was he disappointed? Probably, and that’s OK. You are right in that it would be boggling for those decisions not being relayed to a player, but I’m guessing that he was just being hyper-competitive, like we want him to be. I don’t think that Baldelli is a great manager, just one who is likely better than most of the realistic alternatives. There are certainly better ones, or at least more accomplished ones. They all make decisions that turn out to be mistakes in hindsight, but they don’t get the benefit of hindsight when those choices are made. The lack of consistency does boggle the mind at times, but I’m not entirely sure what the answer is for that. As a 35 year teaching veteran, I know that inconsistency has a way of rearing its ugly head even when we think there is no reason for it.

Were there avoidable decisions that led directly to the loss? That is true in every loss. Every. Single. Time. What were the reasons that happened? Taking out Ober, who probably benefits from a bit less strenuous use? Injuries tend to happen more when one is fatigued and since he has never sniffed this many innings in a season in his life, I'm going with the over on that one. Deciding to use a middle reliever, in the middle innings of a game? Should've brought in Duran. He could pitch the next four innings for sure. Then he won't be available tomorrow (or maybe ever if he pitches four innings) when we really need him because dumb dumb Rocco pitched him too much today. Encouraging Correa to miss the DP ball? I'm sure he definitely was trying to miss. Former platinum glovers do that all the time just to be fancy. What a bum! Making sure to place his infielders in position where they happened to not be able to get to the ball? Good call. It enabled the Brewers to get lots of softly hit singles. Any idiot could predict the future! What about having Julien play 1B? What if he had made an error. That's probably why they didn't hit anymore. They were worrying about his fielding. I have no problem with questioning the players, the manager, or the organization in general. However, I think that coming out of a game trying to figure out how to berate the manager is disingenuous at best. Criticizing is stating your case with evidence and talking about how the outcome might have been different. Rocco Sucks! Doesn't know how to handle a pitching staff! He's an idiot! Fire the manager! Can't get rid of him soon enough! These are all over the top hyperbole that destroy your argument before you make it. All of them imply a level of baseball knowledge that nobody on this page probably has.

Why is it that Rocco Baldelli didn’t get credit for the Bomba Squad in 2019? “Oh, but the juiced ball. . . .” Apparently no one else could do it as well as the Twins that year so all of those other managers must suck. I’m pretty sure that Baldelli knows more than me. Why is it that Rocco Baldelli doesn’t get credit for the starting pitching in 2023? “Oh but he doesn’t know how to handle a pitching staff. . . .” He’s apparently doing pretty well at it considering how they rank, which must mean that all of the other managers suck. I am perfectly willing to assume that he knows more than me. I’ve said it before. Way too much blame (and credit) goes to the manager. If the team wins, he’s a genius and if the team loses, he’s a bum. Sometimes we forget that all of the other teams and managers are also trying to win games and that gets in the way of the Twins going 162-0 on the season. They lost last night. It happens. Get over it. It’s a long season. The next day, we get up and we play another baseball game. It will give everyone another chance to rail on the manager.