big dog

I am really glad to move J Lopez, for anything. Time to move on. At this point I'm actually happier to see Pagan come in the game than J Lopez. The Baltimore trade is sunk cost and has nothing to do with this transaction. You spent too much, you bought something that was broken. Do you keep using it because it was expensive? No, you replace it with something that might work better. I hope J Lopez can find himself at some point, but we need a better reliever NOW. And if we trade for one and drop Floro, I'm still going to think this was a good transaction. In fact I will like it even better.

I don’t know about charmed… we just got Maeda back, Mahle’s been gone Polanco and Paddack missed a lot of time, Lewis and Kiriloff started late and Lewis is now out again, Buxton hasn’t played in the field. We haven’t exactly been without our own challenges.

I don't see Nick Gordon helping this team this year or in the future. I'd much rather have Castro.

That has to go down as one of the better deals in Twins history, I think.

Interesting review, thanks! Lewis and Lee have a chance to be very good, anyway. I still hope Larnach and Wallner can be solid major leaguers (and Enlow might have a role as well). In addition to Lewis and Greene and McKay, the other two top names in 2017 were Kyle Wright and Mackenzie Gore. McKay was cut in December 2022, doesn't appear to be signed anywhere. Only appeared in the majors during 2019. Gore looks like he has a chance, but is somewhat behind Greene (who looks like he could be solid or better going forward). Wright had that amazing 21-5 record with 180 IP, 130 ERA+ last year, after four years with a total of 80 MLB innings. This year he's been on the injured list twice with shoulder problems. Looking farther down the draft- wow, there's a lot of guys with very little accomplished in the majors. The first regular is Keston Hiura (pick #9). Jake Rogers (pick #11) is hitting fairly well this year. Clarke Schmidt (#16) has been OK filling in for all the injured Yankee pitchers. Then you get to Tanner Houck (#24), Nate Pearson (#28), Alex Lange (#30), and Drew Rasmussen (#31), all of whom look like they've got a shot at being MLB pitchers for a while. There are a bunch of 27-yr-old college pitchers who might be able to stick around for a while but no one where you think wow, why didn't we draft X? Just a quick glance at 2019, which is far from a closed book- some real players taken ahead of Cavaco. That top group in 2019 is definitely outperforming the 2017 group at the moment. After Cavaco- well, Bryson Stott or Corbin Carroll would look really good right now.

Buxton takes a fastball for a called strike three, then swings at a ball that was high and outside for strike three on the next AB. He looks completely lost.

Where are we going? Third place in the worst division in memory.

Let's not forget your Rickrolling prowess. Wait, no, I'd like to forget that.

I'm sure another players-only meeting will fix this right up.

I just sent an email to the fan feedback account, expressing my disappointment. I'm sure the intern who reads it will forward it right to the Pohlads, so hey, problem solved.

There need to be multiple and significant personnel changes, now. Will they work? I don't know, but things can't get much worse. When you have a bad plan, continuing to do it while "trying harder" isn't much of a choice. I haven't felt this badly about the team since the days when Calvin Griffith would play anyone who would work for minimum wage.

Yeah, maybe getting a couple more dynamic hitters on the team would help too. Never seen an entire team hit this terribly compared to expectation. What a joke. To paraphrase a Gary Gaetti quote from about 1985, it's hard to drive in a runner from third with both hands around your throat.

1. We have a hitting coach, an assistant hitting coach, and hardly anyone hitting. Anyone else dissatisfied with that? 2. How many games will Byron be held out before they put him on the IL? Three or more, where’s the betting on that? This team is a drunk guy shuffling down the street, sometimes looking like he’s got it together enough to get home and other times making me sure he’s going to fall into a trench and drown. It’s too hard to watch, and he is ignoring my offers to help so I’m just gonna dial 911 and go home.

He’s clearly not healthy enough to play in the field. I also don’t see how he’s healthy enough to help the team at the plate, and he isn’t. Why not just IL him and get hol at least a little healthier? That’s even more frustrating to me than not having him in CF. Who cares if he plays 140 games if he’s going to keep hitting like he’s been doing the last month? He’s got to be healthy enough to at least DH or he should be recovering instead of playing.

No kidding! Where has this been??? Genius! Dra-GO! Dra-GO! Dr-GO!

I liked last nights lineup at the time. I like it even better now. Wallner in the outfield would be even better IMO.

In 2022, Buxton hit better as a CF than as a DH, but was still very good as DH- OPS .829, wRC+ 138. His OPS in April this year was .864. wRC+ was 139, like last year when he was somewhat healthy early in the year. In May, Buxton's line is .179/,324/.645. wRC+ this month is 87. He's apparently hurting more, and right now he's nowhere near the DH you are claiming. If he can't play CF, we need to replace him at both positions until he's better.

True- I was really pleased they signed Buxton to that contract. However, if I'd known that Buxton was only going to be a mediocre DH and not play in the field, my attitude would probably have been different. The Mahle trade just didn't work out. That happens. Trying to keep Buck healthy so he can play like this...that's not a long-term strategy.

I am secretly a member of the ownership group. Don’t tell anyone.

1. Keep Wallner. That's an order. 2. We might as well play Buxton in the outfield. Yeah, he might get hurt. But right now we have an extremely mediocre DH, a hurt CF, and a utility player in CF. If he gets hurt we can at least put a hitter at DH. 3. Do they do warranty repairs at the Dior store?

How did Fort Myers losing create the "clean sweep" that's in the headline? Baseball lingo is so confusing. Good article, though. Glad I'm not a pitcher for Omaha.

Who had "Pneumonia" on their Twingo card? Nobody? That's what I thought. I still think my bottom corner "Gallbladder Removal" square has a chance.

Thanks, I love these things and always want to update them. My point to this is nothing, really, except baseball can be a cruel game. But not for everyone, all the time. Yennier Cano, this might be your year. Brent Rooker--Absolutely tearing it up as an OF/DH for the A's. In previous trials with the Twins, Royals and Padres, he had 260 plate appearances with a .208 batting average, 10 homers and 23 RBI. In barely half the plate appearances with the A's, he's hit over .300, 11 homers and 30 RBIs. His OPS this year is 1.042 -- 8 days later- 11 homers, 32 RBIs, OPS is .926 Luis Arraez--Last year's AL batting champion is well on his way to winning another one in the NL. He's playing second base and leading everyone by 40 percentage points. He's hitting .389 with a .930 OPS. -- hitting .371 with a .887 OPS. I think he's probably still in good shape. Michael Tonkin--He hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2017 with the Twins. I recall being in Fort Myers in March of 2015 when the Twins sent him down, he sat next to me watching a minor league game. He wasn't talkative, but shook my hand and I wished him well. Anyway, he made the Braves staff out of spring training and has been outstanding . He's 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA and a .627 WHIP. Tonkin is 33 years old now. It's a really good story. -- now 3-2 with a 3.42 ERA and a 0.949 WHIP. Last 4 IP had 5 ER. I'm still cheering for him. Ian Gibault--He had a cup of coffee with the Twins (3 appearances) in 2021. He hooked on with Cincinnati in 2022 and has done very well for the Reds this year. He's 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.105 WHIP. -- now 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP Yennier Cano--The Twins brought him up 2022. He would make several outstanding pitches and then groove one and also really had trouble throwing strikes. He gave 14 runs in 13.2 innings. The Twins included him in the Jorge Lopez trade. For the Orioles, he gave up nine runs in 4.1 innings to finish off the season. Cano made the Orioles bullpen out of spring training and he's been near unhittable. In 21.2 innings, he's allowed four(!!!) hits and struck out 25. The ERA is 0.00 and his WHIP is a microscopic .18. Cano is now 29 years old. -- ERA is 0.35 and WHIP is 0.39. Which isn't too shabby. Ian Hamilton--The Twins had him last year and he made one appearance (I believe as a COVID replacement). The Yankees signed him as a minor league free agent and he's been outstanding. He's 1-1 with a save and a 1.23 ERA. His WHIP is 1.091. Hamilton is 28 years old and prior to this year had made 15 big league appearances. -- has not pitched since 5/16. Currently on 15-day injured list.

Very happy for him. I hope his fun ride lasts for a while.

I'm certainly ready to give Stewart more chances. Looked great last night.