NotAboutWinning

Not Rocco's call. That's all on Falvine!

Not Rocco's call. That's all on Falvine!

Not Rocco's call. That's all on Falvine!

I don't know how anyone can still claim there are "low leverage " spots in a modern bullpen.
They don't exist. Every single guy out there is going to be asked to pitch in close games. 
Every single guy. 
We deserve all the  gut wrenching losses we accumulate for planning otherwise.

Not Rocco's call. That's all on Falvine!

This team doesn’t need to be a juggernaut, they just need to have enough to get it done. It’s always had the potential, just gotta show it consistently. And I like the promise of what I’m seeing lately.

Does it matter though?  If the FO can acquire a guy like...Ryan, who has no ML experience and turn him into a front line pitcher, isn't it finding value?  Does it matter how they acquired them?  How many teams out there has a stable of starting pitchers they drafted and developed?  Atlanta and Tampa have done very well in that regard, but it's not really the norm.
I do think there was a big gap in developing starting pitching from this franchise, but if for whatever reason your franchise is just lackluster in developing draft picks into ML starting pitching....what's the downside if they can develop bats or can trade young assets to acquire it?
The Twins are Top 5 in every major pitching category this season and they only have 4 pitchers over the age of 31.  2/3 of all the pitchers they have used this year are 28 or younger.  If you don't want to celebrate the way they develop pitchers that's fine, but so far they have put together a very fine pitching staff, and not 1 person signed via big money free agent splash.  In the long run it's probably not sustainable, but it's really hard to argue with current results.

Maybe this is more about a team's completive model.
One example would be the Mets. They are buying time for their farms system to provide them with players. Their previous FO traded away a lot of prospect capital to try and compete. They are also in a much tougher division. So being completive is much more difficult.
Another would be the Padres. The majority of their starting pitchers and starting position players the last two season have come to them via trades. Plenty of extensions and a few free agents. They emptied their farm system and doubled their payroll to put this team together. I have a hard time believing this way is sustainable. 
Then there's teams like the Guardians and Orioles. IF they had say traded or signed..In the Orioles case Luis Castillo and Zach Wheeler..In the Guardians case Freddy Freeman and Hunter Renfro. Who may be the best teams in MLB right now?
Our Twins seem to be doing a little bit or all of these things. Meaning trades, FA signings and prospects. Some of these trades are going to be clear wins and losses. Maybe Gallo hits a buck eighty this season. Maybe he hit two forty with 50 homers. Maybe AK becomes the player I thought he was going to be three years ago. Maybe Lewis never becomes a full time MLB player. 
I like the 3-pronged approach. I don't want a stretched payroll where we can't keep our guys because we can't afford them. I also don't want to wait 5-10 years between windows. Give me a team that is completive and If 1 or 2 players have career years, we have a chance at something special.

Early in the game I was thinking "here we go again" when Buxton got rung up on a curveball that never entered any part of the zone and you had to wonder if Kershaw was going to get the marginal pitches and Ober wasn't. (and to be fair, Kershaw was closer to the zone more often than Ober early) but the Twins hitters stuck with the game plan and made Kershaw really work. Ober looked wobbly in the first and then really settled down to contain a tough lineup with 6 very good innings.
Very nice win. Here's hoping they pull off the win this afternoon and take the series.

That was fun, and LA has not been fun.  Today's match with Gray and May sounds like a pitchers duel so it will probably be 10 - 9.  But still I look forward to it.  I am so pleased with Ober.  He is definitely a permanent part of the Rotation now which really reduces the Mahle stress.  

Color me shocked - a convincing win against LAD with timely two-out hitting and safety squeezes? What team are we watching? Great performance by Ober, really nice win. 
Please Rocco, let's go for the jugular today! 
Correa 1-for-5 and now batting .201 as we rapidly approach June 1st. 

Nobody disagrees, but we must remember that Farmer was acquired to essentially be our everyday SS before we (re)signed CC. If CC had signed first, it is unlikely Farmer would be a Twin - so we lucked into that a bit, which is nice.
Farmer is 100% a professional ballplayer. The FO was correct to target him and he’s having a big influence on this team I think in ways beyond his performance on the field.  

Nothing causes the fielding side more panic than a well executed bunt, especially in extra innings (hey, White Sox). 

Loved that squeeze bunt by Jeffers to score Buxton. Just shows that there are all sorts of creative ways to score runs when you need to. 

On another note, I noticed that "sticky-fingers" German finally got his comeuppance - 4 weeks too late. Interesting that Hoye was umpiring when he was ejected AND in the game against the Twins when he wasn't. 

The offseason additions, which seemed uninspiring before the season, has really carried the team. Besides the two that you mentioned, I can pretty much find a positive for every player they added.
Joey Gallo: His tremendous power, and solid on-base skills have been crucial given the early season offensive struggles. He provides good defense as well.
Christian Vazquez: Offense hasn't been great, but the I think we can attribute at least a part of the resurgent pitching performance to his game calling behind the plate.
Willi Castro: Wasn't impressed by him at the beginning of the season, but he seems to do a lot of things well that don't show up on the stat sheet. He's played every position besides 1st and C and has 3 DRS (defensive runs saved) according to Fangraphs. He seems to run the bases well (4 steals) and hits the ball decently hard. His defensive flexibility has definitely allowed Rocco to be more aggressive with in-game substitutions.
Pablo Lopez: Hasn't been great recently, but the upside is clearly there and he is at worst a decent No.2.
Brock Stewart: He looks a lot like Pagan from last year, but without the HRs. As long as he keeps the ball in the ballpark I think he's can be at least a mid-level reliever, which we sorely need with Alcala struggling and Thielbar injured.
 
Kudos to the FO for seeing the value in these players. They were exactly the types of additions we needed to shore up our depth.

If the Twins can score 10 runs a game from here on out. 
I promise to not complain about the offense for the rest of the season. 

I really hope this offense stays red hot out west, if they can win one against the Dodgers that will be a small victory. 

I just can't see Lee being brought up this year. he looks like he is right where he belongs in Wichita. Also he doesn't have a place to play. It would take a lot of injuries to get him on the 40 man. I hope Lewis can take over at 3rd and Buxton can go back to the outfield. This would let Miranda become a !B/DH. He just doesn't seem athletic enough to play 3b.

Adding Kyle Farmer at third has upgraded that position both offensively and defensively.

Louie, Louie.... oooooh, oh....we got a win now.... yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.....

It's exciting to think about the Twins having these two at the top of the rotation for several years. That's how you win in the play-offs. Arraez and a couple of months of Nelson Cruz for two top of the rotation starting pitchers was a bargain.

This is the way. He's got some growing to do but certainly isn't overwhelmed at Wichita. If he can adapt as fast as he did last year he will be a September option for sure.  I wouldn't even be disappointed if we didn't see him in September.
Strange that this is even a discussion at this point, he isn't even on the 40 man. Who are we removing to make room?
We still have AK, Lewis, Waller, Julien, reborn Larnach and Miranda, new hotness Helman and a dash of Garlick to burn through as saviors long before we get to Lee.
Honestly, I'm not sure this was worth an article. I know we've seen some of these comments in threads but I've been managing to ignore them just fine.

Just my observation from watching the Wichita games on milb.com. Brooks Lee is not ready. He looks smooth at shortstop, so fielding is not a problem. Lee is swinging better versus fastballs. He has had some struggles against breaking balls and pitchers attack him. There isn't any reason to have Lee face MLB pitchers at this point.
The guys who look the best at the minor league level are Julien, Larnach, and Helman. A host of others are having good days, but those three stand out.

Agree he is no savior and not yet ready. This time last year he was still in college. He's already at AA and looking good. There is no reason to rush him. It would a great season if he can finish the year at AAA and doing well. I've always thought, no matter how talented, no matter how much potential, he wouldn't be ready until 2024. And that is aggressive and just fine with me.
Any call for Lee to arrive earlier reminds me of Martin after a decent, but not great 2021. Some called for him to be up in 2022, which I never understood. Before this season even started, some were so excited about the potential of Rodriguez there was speculation he might fly through A+ and hit AA and finish the season at St Paul, potentially. He's awfully young, coming off a shortened 2022, and it would be awesome if he ends up raking and finishing strong at AA this year.
On top of simply getting carried away with prospect hope, Lee is, realistically, behind Lewis and Julien on the infield pecking order. Then, there is the hope for a return of Miranda after a re-set, while the solid Farmer is already back. Personally, I'm unusually high on the almost 27yo, late blooming Helman as a RH super utility player who might help in the future.
As jkcarew accurately stated, improvement for the offense is going to come from the players on hand...and it's not a bad group at all if they just get going...as well as the recently promoted Kirilloff, and the potential return of Larnach, Miranda, and hopefully Lewis.