Western SD Fan

Reported light-headedness. He was disoriented heading to first in his first at-bat. Maybe he foreseen how this game was going to go and decided he was done with it.

I think that ESPN views the Twins as many of the other big sports pundits do, as a high-end pseudo farm team for the "worthy" teams. They have been licking their chops over how they can steal Joe Ryan, Jax, or Duran from the Twins for two weeks now, as we have covered here on TD as well, but from a different perspective. Any minor trade that doesn't generate clicks or move the needle much (such as this one) won't be viewed very favorably. I think this was a good trade for what it accomplished. Paddack is traded to a contender to clear room for the young guys to get a chance the rest of the year. We get a player that will hopefully challenge Diaw in the future and maybe can be used in a tandem with DIaw at some point in the future if everything goes right. Dobnak was likely thrown in as an in-division trade tax. At this point, Dobnak was likely keeping a position in AAA that was needed for a young pitching prospect. I love the Dobnak story and wish him the best, but it's been his time to go from the organization for a few years now when it became clear that he would never be considered for the rotation again. EDIT: This is what I was going to say on yesterday's thread about the trade but missed my chance to comment as comments are now closed and cannot be viewed. I'm sad I missed it as it appeared to be quite spicy.

I would argue that even if Correa is faster than Vazquez, Vazqy runs harder to first base. Sometimes appearance make a difference.

Great game by the Twins. Great game by Zebby. Someone must have hidden Rocco's spreadsheets to make him let Zebby go out for the 6th inning. (sarcasm)

After reading the article and all of the comments, there isn't much to add to this so I will try to find a few things or highlight things that I think are important. Ownership's apathy and lack of communication is the overarching issue with this total system failure. As one of the earlier posters noted, I find it hard to believe that Falvey signed Correa knowing that ownership would slash payroll and basically make the contract toxic as soon as the ink was dried. In 2024 when the Twins signed back up with Bally, we had pleaded that they would spend some of that money on the team knowing that there were holes that needed to be filled and even $10M would have done wonders in 2024. As for 2025, I remember early on in the offseason that there was a rumor that ownership wanted payroll pared down to $130M and we were discussing articles about having to trade Castro, Vazquez, anybody that had a little too high a payroll. I remember discussions about trading Jax or Larnach because they made over $2M for this season and signing France was going to kill the payroll. From this standpoint, ownership should be given a little grace for allowing the payroll to naturally rise in order to allow Falvey to fill out the team. The FO seems to be lost on what they are trying to accomplish as an organization. I seem to remember a FO interview early on that the purpose on drafting players like Sabato and Larnach was to trade them for pitching or better prospects, similar to what they did for Steer and CES. I'm not sure if the philosophy changed after the Mahle trade or if the FO, like us fans, fell too much in love with our prospects to be willing to trade them for the pieces we actually needed. Now it seems we have a glut of prospects, failed prospects, and future prospects all in or about the same level (AA through the ML club). In drafting, the Twins do the same thing as a lot of other teams do, which is to try to draft players that are willing to sign "under slot value" and save money for the later rounds. One issue of doing this is that we are constantly drafting players with apparent injuries or an injury history. The only phrase that is consistent with all of our top prospects are "if he stays healthy". Plouffe made a good point that one cheap, easy improvement is to hire more coaches and staff for their minor leagues. One complaint has been that these prospects shoot through the minors only to then plateau early on at the ML level but doesn't correct anything when sent back to AAA. Spending and extra $2-3M in the minors would do wonders for the preparation of the players when they make it to the majors. I'm not sure where the Twins lie in terms of coach/players, but they need to out develop their players compared to their counterparts. I've been on the fire Rocco train all year (and it keeps gaining steam). With that being said, Rocco & Co can still only work with the parts that the FO gives them, and they don't always do the best with the ingredients they are given. Bullpen usage seems to be at the highest of my complaints from Rocco & Co. Rocco never really holding anyone accountable is also frustrating. I look at Detroit in awe and wonder on how AJ Hinch has taken a younger team and made them play better. Baez, the Tigers most expensive player, was riding the bench at times last year. Torkelson was sent back down to AAA with the understanding that someone was already taking his spot and he had to earn it back. You don't see that same fire put under Royce Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, or Lee and then wonder why it doesn't look like they put forth their best effort. Finally, the players, to me they are the lowest of the blame on the totem pole. While there is definitely blame to be assigned for lack of preparation or in-game execution, much of this starts with the expectations of the players themselves and that starts with the coaches/manager/FO establishing expectations with accountability attached to it.

As @USAFChief has kept hammering away today, this loss started last night when Rocco left Duran in a 5-run lead to pitch a second inning and thus made him one of the last pitchers available today. Had Duran only been used for one inning last night, he would have thrown 12 pitches and easily available for today. With that being said, I still may have asked him if he could get one out and brought him in for Ohtani or Ruiz if you're still hell bent on IBB Ohtani. Other concerns I had during the game included: 1. Taking out Paddack after 78 pitches. I understand that there were two lefties in the next three and it screams Coulombe, but Paddack had just collected 2K's and a lineout in 12 pitches and went through the toughest part of the lineup in the 6th (Betts, Ohtani, and T. Hernandez). Let Paddack go until he was in trouble, and you could have had both Coulombe and Varland warming up for matchup concerns. 2. PR Keirsey Jr right away. While this was rendered moot eventually when the bases were loaded, this isn't my biggest complaint although it did take out our best hitter this afternoon. (Dodgers eventually did the same thing by taking out T. Hernandez for Ruiz) 3. Willi.....oh WIlli. When the Dodgers can't find a pitcher who can throw a pitch over the plate, you hit the first pitch that he throws and weakly ground into a double play thus killing the rally. 4. Since Duran was not available (see above), I would have flip-flopped Jax and Stewart. In my perfect world, Duran would have been available since he wasn't uselessly wasted for 2 innings last night. Jax would have faced Ohtani, T. Hernandez, and Freeman in the 8th in a more familiar position in the lineup and the game. Stewart in the 9th would have faced a weaker part of the lineup and I would have seen if Duran could go at all today with the day off tomorrow and have him ready to get 1 or 2 outs if Stewart was in trouble. Notice in all of this there is no blame on the umps. We will have to see how the Ump Scorecard grades this, but my eyeballs suggest it was fairly evenly called on both sides. The only frustrating part was that his strike zone seemed to wander as the game progressed, but it was still called evenly. Had we executed point #1 and #3, we're not talking about a bad check swing call. As according to the rule book, there is no such thing as a bad check swing call, but that is another argument for another day. Fix the rule and you'll hear me complaining about it like I like to complain about everything else as a fan. 🙂

Absolutely, a really crazy umpire could exploit this to suggest that anytime that the bat leaves the rested position of the batter, there is an "attempt to hit the ball". If the rule is so clear, then why don't they write it down so umpires can be judged by such rule. You can't assign something that is undefined. For those of us who watch football, we complain all the time about the nature of how PI's or hits on the QB are called. At least those are better defined than what a "swing" is in baseball. I would love a definition as precise as the NFL's PI rule for check swings. EDIT: I'll repeat this again. Don't blame an umpire on a vague rule when your pitcher doesn't execute. He still walked the equivalent of Keirsey Jr and threw an almost middle middle pitch to Freeman.

That's the difference. The MLB strike zone is clearly defined in the rule book and can then be calibrated into an ABS system. A check swing is not defined. Yes, there is an "understanding" to what a check swing may or may not be, but it's still up to the umpire. Until it is clearly defined in the rule book, we have to accept the result of what is called on the field. Jax still had it all under his own control, even with the not-called check swing and didn't execute.

It was a 1-2 count so even more egregious that he threw a middle middle pitch. He had two pitches to waste to try to get him out. Also, walking a faster equivalent of Vazquez's batting skills didn't help the situation.

ABS won't fix a checked swing call. Even if it could, MLB would have to fix the rule on a checked swing before implementing any form of ABS on it. The rule is so vague that an ump could call a swing anytime the bat leaves the resting position of the batter.

Seems like a premonition to disaster for me. I was surprised at the time and still befuddled now as it turned out about how I would have expected. I didn't understand why Jax wasn't out for the 8th. Could have used Stewart for the 9th or even had Duran warmed up in case someone got on base for a specific hitter (Ohtani or Betts comes to mind here)

I surmised at the beginning of the game that the first manager that goes to their bullpen will lose. Both bullpens have been extensively used over the last week and especially in this series. Rocco went to the bullpen first. Roberts trusted Glasnow to get one more inning even though his pitch count was much higher. Both teams have a day off tomorrow so we can't use that excuse. I think it is true that the Twins have a better bullpen than the Dodgers right now, provided they are deployed correctly. That's where the flow of the game comes into play. Roberts just has a better understanding of the flow of the game than Rocco does and we saw it on full display today.

Trevor Plouffe made an excellent point on the Skor North Twins show on Tuesday where he suggests that the answer is having more coaches in the minor leagues. If you have more coaches, then some of the prospects get more undivided attention and that may be a problem in our development. Think adding $2M to the minor league system and watch what happens.

Guess what? If anybody gets on base, we get to see that great hitter, Kersey Jr, get an AB. Better hope for a Clemens HR to give a little more insurance.

As much as Correa's defense has likely diminished, that play still proves that he is the better SS currently on the team.

Stewart is looking to come in for the 8th. Surprising a little as this is usually Jax's spot with the middle of the order coming up.

Good Grief! At least make the Dodger pitcher prove he can throw it over the plate first.

There was a short discussion last night during the broadcast about allowing the check swing to be added the plays that can be challenged. Plouffe correctly stated that they would need to fix the rule before they could allow it as a challengeable play. If you read the rule on a check swing, it's so vague that it is something only a politician would appreciate. I don't see them allowing the check swing next year as the manager ejection meter would go down and that is entertainment according to Manfred.

The Jamie Moyer Effect to the extreme. But Rich Hill still has 4 years to go so I can rename this The Rich Hill Effect.

I was able to attend the first two games this weekend at Coors Field to finally watch the Twins. On that note, I think the Twins should start sending me a royalty check to stay away from their games as every game I have gone to in the past few years, the Twins have lost. If I was a very casual fan that didn't know anything about how the season has gone this year, I would have expected the roles to be reversed. The Rockies to be a bubble playoff team and the Twins to be the bottom-feeder. I know this because my friend, who is this type of casual fan, asked me on the way home what happened to the Twins this weekend as when she looked on paper on the matchup, she expected an easy Twins victory. The Rockies seemed to play faster, take the extra bases, take advantage of pitches in the zone to drive the ball and punish pitchers, and take advantage of errors or sloppy play. The Twins looked like the same old Twins I've been watching all season. Starting pitchers give up a few early runs and the offense never catches up. The worst pitching in MLB collected TWO quality starts (Freeland, 6IP, 1ER; Senzatela, 7IP, 3ER) against us. I do need to listen to the Royce Lewis interview over the weekend as I think it opens some eyes. You almost have to wonder if there is too much information given to these guys and/or too much tinkering with some of these player's mechanics. Many of them are just looking lost at the plate, missing pitches in the zone, or hitting with weak contact. There were some great defensive plays by the Rockies, but that accounted for 3-4 AB's in the entire series, certainly not enough to affect the rest of the team or the series. Finally, you could hear the great contingent of Twins fans that made the trip out to Denver, hoping to prove that there are still fans out here on the fringe High Plains of the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. The series averaged an attendance of 35,895 per ESPN.com's recaps and the Rockies faithful still loudly cheered on their team, even though they are having the year they're having. It seemed embarrassing as a Twins fan watching the home games on TV the difference in atmosphere between Colorado and Minnesota, and I'm not talking about the less air in elevation or the distinct smells in downtown Denver. You can blame the Pohlads, the dragging on of the sale of the team, the lack of moves by the FO creating a lackluster fan base. I would argue that Dick Monfort (owners of the Rockies) is a worse owner than the Pohlads. Coors Field is still a beautiful ballpark, a seeming dedicated fan base even in the face of consistent losing seasons, bad front offices, and poor development of players. Now, there are more reports staring to coalesce that an ownership group is gelling and could actually finish a sale of the Twins sometime in the offseason. I hope all those fans that claim they won't attend a game until ownership changes put their money where their mouth is and support the Twins when a new ownership is announced.

It should be this quiet. Just think when we first heard of Sternberg in serious talks to sell the Rays? It was a month ago and now there's a signed agreement with an expected closing date in September. It doesn't surprise me that the Ishbia bid really screwed us in terms of the other potential buyers laying low and watching it play out, as has been previously reported.

Harry Ford in the Mariners system would be another catcher I would be interested in trading for. I don't see him getting significant playing time behind Cal Raleigh.

My dream of a new ownership would be similar to the St. Louis Cardinals. They spend smartly, not afraid to spend when it looks like they have a serious run and consistently put up a winner. Their worst contract, Arenado, is still a decent player. Arenado would be the third best batter on the Twins by WAR. Even in a year where their FO tempered expectations they are still putting out a quality on-field product. Any new ownership will likely not be a big market spender, nor do I think many of us expect them to be. Some of the biggest spenders are being a little more cost-conscious as to not run afoul of the most punitive of MLB's luxury tax penalties: See Boston Red Sox.

Our trusty snitch at the FO, TC Bear, is at it again! Only one part was forgotten in this article, the FO, Rocco, and fans will vigorously defend ANYONE who has even a tangential connection to Minnesota. Did your family take a vacation to Minnesota sometime in your lifetime? The team will never abandon you dear player.

I can see a couple of opportunities arise for Raya before Ober and Matthews return from the IL. I don't believe that Ober has even started a rehab assignment and I'm guessing Matthews will have at least one more rehab start before being recalled. I also believe that Raya will replace Adams as the "bulk starter" in case they get an offer to trade Paddack before the deadline.