Nshore

It's kind of counterintuitive, but command of the off speed stuff seems to be of greater value at the Major League level than the heat. Ryan and Ober are examples. Prielipp has both, so I can see why the Twins have been so excited about him.

I just don't think it's that big of a deal whether he's a starter or bullpen. The greatest need will be bullpen and that's where he should be. The Twins just faced an outstanding arm last night in Holmes, who transitioned from the pen and is an excellent starter. Relax. Have a sandwich or something.

I was hoping Matt Wallner would succeed as much as anybody. Who doesn't like a 30 to 40 home run stud in the middle of the lineup? But it's time to take a cold, hard look at what's actually happening. He's 28 years old in what should be the prime of his career and is hitting .190 - and is a liability in the field. E-Rod may or may not be the answer, but this is The Show, and the Twins owe it to the fans to at least try to find something better.

Kreidler can hit just fine! He has only one fewer home runs than the mighty Wallner, and only 2 fewer RBI's!

New promotion - one lucky fan per game is chosen at random and granted the privilege of smoking a cigar in the stands to bring back the memories of the old Met Stadium.

I don't have a problem with left handed outfielders. I'm left handed myself. I PREFER left handed outfielders. But can they play the game of baseball. Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams were left handed outfielders. Just find players of their caliber. Ok Cobb was CF - but still.

My comment was somewhat tongue in cheek. But having said that, I'm not sure fans know how involved he is in day to day personnel decisions and hands on operations. Hopefully not Steinbrenner level.

The biggest draw is the product on the field of course. Tom Pohlad already made a confident statement that the Twins will contend this year. IMO that was pretty important. That gives the effort some positive energy. And if they actually DO contend - one year after turning their bullpen inside out, and then losing Lopez for the year - they should give Pohlad some kind of Bill Veeck award for ownership genius.

Sonny Gray must be shaking in his spikes. I bet he calls in sick.

Lewis better hurry back - he's getting Wally Pipped by Kreidler and Gray. Baseball can be a mind boggling game. Watching them shell Crochet was surreal and astonishing.

I almost have to avert my gaze when any of these guys is pitching in a close game. By the AMG stat, they desperately need an upgrade.

It's the same reason they have Outman on the team - psychological warfare - luring the opponent into a false sense of security. And before they know what hit them, the Twins have won the series.

Bradley seems to lose his release point or something and loses his grip on the strike zone. In his last tune up at Fort Myers they had to take him out, get him recalibrated and put him in later in the game or he might not have made it out of the first inning. Pete Maki is doing a good job so far keeping Bradley glued together.

I wish Morris well. Bullpens are more important than ever and get the call every single game with starters often only going 4 or 5 innings. The precarious state of the Twins' pen makes the Varland trade look even worse IMO. The fan popular Varland would look pretty good as the rock solid closer right now - especially since Pohlad said they want to be a contender this year. He might even help fill some empty seats at Target Field. They took a look at Roden and stashed him back at AAA in favor of no hit Outman. And Rojas is merely a suspect until proven otherwise.

Obviously, the thing to do is to bring Angel Hernandez back as a consultant on the matter. I like the ABS zone. They better be ready to swing the bats. The at bat would have been fine if Lewis would just hit the baseball.