Rod Carews Birthday

Ideally, as everyone has said, Buxton would be playing CF almost every day and the question would be answered for at least the next few years. Barring that happening, I would like to see them sign one of the better free agents to play CF. Free agents only cost money, not prospects. A fall back for me would be to get Austin Martin back on the field ASAP and have him become a CF. He's athletic enough and if he can get hit anywhere near how he did in the AFL, the problem could be solved. It cannot be said enough that Buxton at DH is not a good play overall for the team. Yes, he might be a top 5 DH. However, that combines with a #29 CF, offensively speaking. A young player like Julian, Wallner, or Larnach (assuming all are healthy) would likely be a top 10 or 15 DH, which when combined with a CF Buxton who would likely still be top 5 in CF, is a much better overall result. CF is a position that Buxton has played all of his life. He may now have old man bad knees, but he would certainly still be able to play at a good level (maybe not gold glove, but still solid). He is a player that needs to learn to play the position within reasonable parameters and not like superman. The results would be just fine and the team would benefit. It's called maturity.

Nitpicking a stat or two, like his starters didn't go deep enough in games or the hitters aren't hitting in clutch situations, as justification that Rocco is a bad manager doesn't do justice to the complexity that is a manager's effect on a game. Conversely, he's not the reason they broke the HR record in 2019. I completely agree that managers get too much credit and too much blame. It really is about the players. Manager of the Year awards are generally an award for "We didn't expect this team to be this good, but they were." I recently retired from a situation (not coaching) where individual talent played a very big role in the final result. Sometimes my group had the talent and we were outstanding. Sometimes we didn't and we weren't so great. I'm positive that i didn't deserve the credit in the outstanding years as I had the personnel that would succeed unless I got in their way. I also know that I did some of my very best work in some of the years that we weren't so great. I'm pretty certain that the same applies to Rocco and the Twins. At the end of the day, as others have said, Rocco Baldelli seems to be on the same page with management, appears to have buy in from the players, and probably deserves the extension. He's a known quantity for management -- decidedly better than the randomness that would come from a new manager who may or may not be as capable.

You're right in that the Ohtani stuff seems pretty ridiculous, as well as out of character for the Twins. However, as far as players to trade, Shannon Stewart was acquired for Bobby Kielty, who was a nice promising young player but definitely not a star in the making. There are quite a few players in that category on the team. Stewart was an amazing catalyst, or maybe the guy in the right place at the right time for it all to come together. I remember not being overwhelmed by the trade at the time, probably labeling it as OK - like trading for Fullmer last year, but the team really took off after that.

I'm not sure that these are the right players to trade for (they might be, but I'd like a little more time for this to sort out) at this point. No matter what trades are in the works, the Twins are going to need to part ways with some middle infield talent in the next couple of years. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Young Infielders mostly with the Twins Kiriloff, Miranda Important Young Infielders in the MInors Julian, Lewis, Lee, Martin, Salas, and ??? assuming no one flames out Certainly some of these guys could (and maybe should) move to the outfield, but at the moment you have at least seven guys for three positions, because Correa is going to be at SS and this assumes that Polanco leaves as well. Maybe one (Julien? Miranda?) becomes a full-time DH, assuming that Buxton goes back to CF. That makes certainly one or two expendable in the right trade. Much as the Mahle trade hasn't worked out, this is why Steer and Encarnacion-Strand were expendable last year and why it's not really a crisis for the Twins. It's also why the Twins could be in a pretty good position to make some offers this summer as well. For the right trade, anybody is available.

I sincerely doubt that it is about admitting (or not admitting) that they were wrong. They have certainly DFA'd players that they have owed money to in the past, and will again in the future. More likely, they are trying to get value out of a player who they perceive has some hidden value. Unlocking something in a player with potential is what all teams try to do. Also playing into this is whether or not they have someone ready to go to take the player's place. Those players listed above are all examples of former Twins (or prospects) who have been unlocked by other teams. That's where the big value is. In the Pagan situation, I would likely have pulled the trigger by now, but I'm really not sure who they have to jump in and take his place. He appears to have a "rubber" arm and can be thrown out there frequently, albeit with subpar results -- or more accurately, with pretty good results followed by an unmitigated disaster. It is truly uncanny.

And exactly this is why he is a big time pitcher. He's only going to get better and better!

Wow! This is an amazing tool. Thanks for making this happen!

If we signed the right one. . . obviously. The problem is that there are too many that are not doing well, and yet teams (not just the Twins) have so much difficulty predicting it. I'm just not sure that they are not better off waiting until the trade deadline and picking up one or two there who appear to be having a good season in 2023. Still previous success, but more recent than last season and probably more reliable information. It almost seems to be random. Full disclosure: I wanted them to sign Kimbrel and also have a reunion with Fullmer. Those two make our guys look pretty good. I guess it's a good thing I'm not in charge!

When your 80 year old uncle offers you his 40 year old riding lawnmower that hasn't been started in "a while" for free.

This is fantastic! The last time there was more than one Twins pitcher in the conversation was back in the Santana, Liriano, and Nathan days! I'll never hold my breath for any pitcher to keep it up (although Santana was quite reliable), but I'm rooting hard for both of them.

I can't really argue that these players most definitely "struggled". There are plenty of others over the years - especially in the pitching department. I think it would be really interesting to find out which players' reputation with fans outshone their actual production on the field. I can think of a few, like Willians Astudillio, Nicky Punto, and Denny Hocking, but I'm sure there are more. Nothing against those guys, they were who we had at that moment in time, but there was definitely some time on the struggle bus for each of them.

There are a few things that seem likely here, but not everything is solid and much could always change. Particularly based on his outstanding defense this year, Correa seems likely to stay put at shortstop for the next few years. That’s the part I feel the most confident in. IF Lewis plays at the level we hope (and anything close to the SSS we saw last year), he could move into third base and never leave it. OK. Problem solved! However much we might hope it plays out that way, it’s possible that Lewis won’t pan out or will take a while to become a good third baseman with the bat and glove. Miranda seems like a good player once he gets himself righted in St. Paul. If that’s the case and Lewis works out, that’s where things get interesting. Is he a full time DH? That’s currently filled. Could he be trade bait? Is his value still high enough for that? Are we confident enough in Lewis, Lee, et al, that we are comfortable trading him? Miranda by himself isn’t going to bring in an ace starting pitcher, but he could be a nice part of a package, OR he might bring back a pretty solid relief pitcher. Brooks Lee is the latest prospect that many fans have gotten a bit too excited about. I think he is going to be excellent, but he needs some time in the minors to learn and polish skills before he becomes the franchise savior. Will he be a third baseman? First or second baseman? Outfielder? Time will tell, but for the next two years I don’t regard him as a major factor. If his performance forces the issue before then, it qualifies as a nice problem to have. Julien is a more difficult one to pinpoint. He appears to have the same defensive chops as Arraez/Miranda, so his best position might be DH. He could likely be an acceptable first or second baseman, but I don’t really see anything further up the food chain than that. An injury or a trade could help open up the answers to these questions, but more than anything, patience is key. I do like the way the future looks with these guys!

Indeed. Thanks for continuing to put these lists together and following them. For those of us that have limited exposure to the minor league side of things, the Twins Daily insight is invaluable. It really helps us track (and hope!) who's next!

The juggling act was pretty impressive but what impressed me more was that arm. He caught the ball and while awkwardly getting up managed to “toss” the ball to first rather effortlessly. The guy is an athlete.

This is a pretty big quandary. On one hand, his hitting has been quite good so far, some may not like the “style” of it, but the fact remains his stats are good. He has also been able to play the season so far with no injury issues. In addition to that, as the OP indicated, we have MAT to man center and not lose much defensively. By this metric, Buxton should stay at DH. HOWEVER, we are in essentially the same position as if Taylor were playing DH and Buxton were playing CF. CF is in good shape, but replacing Taylor (at DH/CF) would likely be an offensive upgrade, while also providing the occasional half-day off for people like Correa, Gallo, Polanco, etc. all of whom are better offensively (or should be) than Taylor. If the offense were rolling along, it wouldn’t really matter, but at the moment, every run generated is critical with the team hitting poorly the way it is. So by that metric, Buxton needs to play CF. So. . . . whether he stays at DH or moves back to CF really depends on whether you think he will stay healthy (or at least healthier) at DH. Buxton “playing” CF doesn’t help much if he misses 50% of the games for the rest of the season. In that scenario, DH Buxton is worth more than CF Buxton. If he could be healthy, this is a no-brainer, then he needs to play CF. THAT is the underlying question. I have no idea what will/could happen. The coaches and Buxton have a slightly better (but still uncertain) idea, but we have to trust their judgement on that. So far, they’ve kept him healthy so it’s hard to argue with them.

It's pretty tough to cut bait on a hitting coach (or if the top guy goes do all of the hitting coaches have to go?) and change gears in the middle of the season, especially when he has apparently won the respect of several players on the club. Probably the only way to do that is if you could replace him with a team legend with some coaching experience that everyone would immediately respect and work with, like Rod Carew or Tony Oliva if it was 1980's and 1990's. There is also the question of truly identifying the problem. Is it a player quality problem? Is it a coaching problem? Are they being taught the wrong things? Are they unable to do the things they are asked to do? If you pull the plug on the hitting coach and that's not the problem, you've likely made it worse. I think from the outside looking in it is VERY difficult to really make that determination. We just need to hope that someone inside the organization with the right information at hand can figure it out.

IF Varland is really good for most of the rest of this year, I would consider him a proven part of the rotation, but if he isn't that great it gets sticky. I think Headrick and SWR could be solid but they're not there yet. Regardless of how any of those pitchers pitch the rest of the season, assuming Gray keeps dominating (or even less than that actually), I would love to have him re-signed. The qualifying offer is a no brainer, but if he wants to test free agency he's going to certainly get a 3 year(or maybe 4) 20+per contract. They can pay him 20+ but the years scare me a lot for a pitcher of his age and nagging injury history. We'll see how it plays out!

I like Max Kepler. However. . . I think that many people's (like mine) negative feelings about Kepler are that he looked to be a player on his way to a big career in 2019 at age 26 -- an age that seems much too early to peak. However, that was it. He has never been close to that player since and seems to have stagnated offensively. Is he worthless, useless, and without merit? No, he's not, but what seemed like the potential for greatness has certainly never been realized. He doesn't strike out a lot, which is great, I guess, but it isn't like he is hitting powerful line drives all over the field either. He won a game for us yesterday with a home run. That's great, but lots of players have hit a home run (or a double, like Nick Gordon) to win a game. That doesn't necessarily make him a world beater. He's a very good defensive outfielder. However, I'm a bit tired of hearing him referred to as a "centerfielder". He doesn't like to play centerfield, doesn't want to play centerfield, and has really only played centerfield on an emergency basis. He's a rightfielder. That isn't nothing, but a good rightfielder isn't as valuable as a good centerfielder (or catcher, or shortstop). I know that some of the prospects haven't developed into world beaters (yet), but I would prefer to have someone in rightfield that has potential to be something better (or at least as good as) than he has been before - someone on his way up. Kiriloff/Walner/Larnach might be that or they might not. I have no faith that Kepler will become a 3.0 or 4.0 WAR player (in 2019 it sure looked like he would do that consistently) after being barely a 2.0 WAR player the past three years, so I would rather see someone there who just might someday, particularly if Kepler has enough trade value to bring back something positive for this season.

There's really no blame here. When Rooker was a Twin (and a Padre, and a Royal) he couldn't put it together to be successful. That wasn't anyone's fault per se. He may or may not have done so now (SSS). He's not going to win the triple crown, but he certainly has the power to hit 30 home runs. Since he was once a Twin, I wish him the best and will root for him against the rest of the league!

I was watching today's game from some of the best seats I have ever had at Guaranteed Rate Field, right behind the Twin's dugout. The beginning of the game wasn't a thrill a minute, but the extra innings had enough excitement for at least two games with plenty of twists and turns. I agree with much of what was said in the recap, but I have a few details to add. I don't think that Pablo Lopez was really on top of his game today, which was frustrating. He just didn't seem to have the consistent stuff to slam the door on the hitters, even though he got several strikeouts and did have a string where he retired a bunch in a row. What was encouraging is that he got the job done while only allowing two runs in seven innings without his dominant stuff. It makes me very excited to see how effective he could be when he is really in control. It was a really good performance by a veteran pitcher who knows what he is doing. I'm extremely glad we extended him. He's going to be a cornerstone for a long time. It's hard to know what to think of the Twins' offensive effort. On one hand, there were a lot of hapless at bats and a lot of very aggressive swinging strikes and strikeouts, which speaks poorly of them. However, Giolito was dominant and looked a lot more like the pitcher he has been in the past rather than this year's version. Correa got ahold of one and Buxton (off a different pitcher) as well, but that was all there was until the last inning. The relief pitching was mostly pretty impressive. Say what you want about how many guys were on base, those were mostly intentional walks, the Twins had five (FIVE!!!!) pitchers give up one actual hit and one (fake, Manfred) run. They were all under serious pressure and responded by getting guys out and stranding the runners. A runner like Billy Hamilton can really impact a game (unless he has to bat). I was impressed all the way around, but especially by Stewart and Pagan(!) working their way around the runner on second. We need a deceptive relief pitcher like Aaron Bummer. When he came in and struck out the side the Twins' hitters were helpless. His delivery was such a shock to the system that no one knew what to do. I know his ERA is currently high, but that different look was really effective. Also, finding a way to have Colome and Peralta be traded from team to team just ahead of when we play them would be a nice gift as well. The White Sox just can't defend. Aside from the two errors, there were many plays that just should have been made more cleanly than they were. Thank you. Keep up the fine work. The Twins weren't flawless, but they really have some guys who can pick it. Sorry for the book report. Others may see it differently. Just one guy's observations. Go Twins!

It's hard to deny that from just about any point of view, this trade became a mess for all parties involved. Rogers and Rooker have moved on to different teams due to ineffectiveness. Pagan is . . . well. . . Pagan but we are still holding onto him. Paddack MIGHT wind up being a good pickup assuming that things go well with the TJ rehab. The only one of the group making a substantial contribution right now is Brent Rooker, so at the moment you are certainly correct. I kept hoping that he would be a Twins slugger for a long time, but it just never seemed to work out. Sometimes it takes a few extra tries to make things happen and in this case it took stints with the Twins, Padres, Royals, and now Athletics for Rooker to find himself. I'm not really optimistic that he has suddenly transformed into Big Papi, but I'm excited for him now and hope that he continues to find success. I also hope that next year Paddack is pitching well in the rotation and makes us all very glad that the trade happened!

If the hitting and pitching and fielding lined up and your average runs scored was higher than your average runs given up, the team would be 162 and 0. It doesn’t work that way. As for coaches in players faces, the world doesn’t work the way it did when Casey Stengel managed, or even Billy Martin. You can’t yell a team to success no matter how loud you are.

I usually sit on the third base side on the lower level so I can see into the Twins dugout, but there are better (and cheaper) tix on the first base side this time so I think that’s the option this time. It’s a funny stadium. Ugly in general but mostly good sight lines from all over the park. The upper levels are VERY steep though so I don’t like those much.

Nice take on the season so far. I think we sometimes don't think as much in terms of home field advantage as we should. It's tough to go to someone else's ballpark and win a bunch of games. By the way, you said you are from Mitchell. Hello from a guy who grew up in Tripp and moved to the Chicago suburbs (eventually). Looking forward to seeing the Twins in town this week, although I may wait until Thursday's day game in order to prevent frostbite!

Too early to do much adding, and I'm not thinking that any of these guys bring something more to the table than we already have at those positions -- and we have/are about to have a bit of a roster crunch as is. Guys who are as good as Arraez with power mostly don't exist and where they do exist are certainly not available, nor would we be willing to pony up the asking price if they were. Picking up a good bullpen arm would be terrific, but identifying those this early in the season isn't so easy, plus you have to figure out who you are willing to ship out. News flash: Nobody is going to give you a good relief pitcher in trade for a bad one (Pagan). I think this means that we play the people we've got right now, wait for the injured bats to come back, and experiment a little with the guys in St. Paul for the bullpen. The team is winning games and winning series so now is certainly not the time to panic. If we continue to win at this rate for the rest of the season, we will win the division and that's a really good start.