big dog

And Goodrum is 2-9 so far with no real harm done. Maybe his ExTwins Curse is lifting. Danger: Jinx Warning

Very glad to see Curtis have a clean inning. That strike 3 curve on the inside corner was a beautiful pitch.

I'm not complaining about the salaries as much as not caring about the final number for the players who make free agency. I want more players to get paid more at the minor league level, rather than the individual superstars to individually earn more. When Calvin Griffith owned the Twins, and the early days of Carl Pohlad, salaries were shameful. I remember a very young Gaetti talking about how it was hard to stay in condition over the winter as a young player because he was bagging groceries all winter to pay the rent. That's just shameful. The major league minimum salary at that time was a joke for what players went through. That's a big problem, especially in the minors today, compared to the difference between a really good player making $25 million per year or having to settle for $10-15 million. So I'm not complaining about their salaries, but I don't feel sorry for them if they have to delay free agency a year. An awful lot of players never qualify for that anyway. Let's take care of the rest of the players.

Given the salaries of players, I don't really care if they have to settle for a lousy $10 million or so via arbitration for one more year before they get to be a free agent. Make the owners spend more money on the minor leaguers.

I think if he had been planning to stay, the last few weeks and the next few weeks might cause him to change his mind.

How fun would it have been to watch that game with Jim Pohlad?

I'd rather have Mauer than Robbie Grossman, if you want to name names. Sure, I'd rather have Machado. But I'm a lot more likely to get Grossman.

The first Twins championship team had 38-year-old Don Baylor on it for 20 games, with an OPS+ of 89, and everyone thought it was a great decision (except maybe whomever didn't make the playoff roster as a result). I'd rather see Veteran Quiet Leader Joe Mauer all year.

Yeah, I don't have any idea if the decoy actually worked (the player in the on-deck circle was waving like crazy for the runner to slide), but I really love that he tried it. I'm becoming a bigger fan of Garver all the time.

I certainly see the other side of this argument and I don't think it's necessarily wrong. One more clarification of my view, if anyone still cares, and thank you for all the thoughtful, reasonable disagreement. Stewart seems to be an emotional guy, and I think once he gets a win he might settle down. Three starts, no wins, that's got to really weigh on a young starter. If it had been any game setting other than having two outs in the fifth, or if the game had been tied, or even if the batter at the plate would have been the go-ahead run, I would have been fine with yanking him. This one decision didn't make up my mind that I was done with the MOY. It was just the decision that made me finally willing to post about it. I've been there for a while.

I hated the decision in the game thread and still do. He was a 98 pitches, fine. Give him one more batter. Aren't we supposed to be developing ballplayers here? Let Stewart try to get out of it. (Disclaimer: I am not related to Kohl Stewart and I do not play fantasy baseball.) If Molitor was trying to develop Busenitz by putting him in a tough spot, well he already gave a bunch of those spots to Matt Belisle earlier this season. I'm happy to have the team win, but let's try to win and also let the young pitchers get out of their own tough spots a little more often. You don't have to trust them- just let them earn your trust. Or you could just have Morrison DH the first 3/4 of the season while either playing badly or playing injured because something about that OPS says "winner".

There's a couple of quality wins right there. Let's change the culture. They are building a very good home record for a team that is well below .500

LIke-ity Like Like Like

Hey we got three hits! So...hey three hits!

Not at all, but I don’t see either of these players as having much chance. I hope we get to see a young reliever, that’s the only upside for me.

This trade feels a lot more like a salary dump than a building block for the future, but what do I know.

and Polanco took the wrong freaking supplement

I thought Reed was the best signing of the offseason, but he's certainly having some miserable moments so far.

Outfield motto: Nothing drops but rain. Expanded version: Nothing drops but rain, and Twins players.

I was at the Kernels game yesterday. I got too relaxed up 6-0 in the third- my bad. Watson looked bad- wasn't hitting his spots, and when he was in the zone he got rocked. Even before Kane County scored in the fifth, they had a bunch of runners on. Not a good performance at all. Moran threw really well in the sixth but got lit up in the seventh. Faucher looked really sharp. Lewis looked good, overall. He had a two-strike hit where he basically took a half-swing, hit a chopper to short, and beat it out. Looked completely intentional. Then he stole second on the first pitch to Kiriloff and beat the throw easily. He had one really nice fielding play, diving up the middle to snag a grounder and then making a good overhand throw to second, with enough time to complete the double play. I didn't get to see much batting from Kiriloff with two walks- I missed his hit for family-related reasons. Good approach at the plate- took a couple close pitches during his two walks. His steal was pretty neat- he had a delayed steal. Took a couple of steps, stopped, then went again. The catcher made a decent throw but the second baseman had fallen asleep and had to run just to catch the ball. The throw looked high and late anyway. Cabbage hit a foul that was nearly a home run, then a couple of pitches later he just crushed one down the right field line, just killed it. Not one of those high majestic HRs, a laser that left a vapor trail. Hit the back railing of the seating in that area. When he came back to the dugout he gave a huge hug to someone who I believe was the pitching coach. I'm guessing he got a tip about the pitcher. Arias had an interesting day. He tripled, and then scored on a bad throw. He later had two singles. However, he tried to steal after each single and was called out both times. The first time he was definitely out but the second looked close. On the triple, it looked like he was running to third all the way, and I thought the throw was going to get him but when he slid it hit is helmet (at least it hit something on him) and ricocheted into the dugout, letting him score. In other words, he was really close to getting a double and two singles and being thrown out trying to advance on all three. He might want to think that over a little bit. Reporting from the field, big dog

Here in Chicago if I am feeling a little down, I just have to tune in for the opening of a Cubs broadcast so that I can hear Pat Hughes (who is phenomenal) introduce his radio partner "the All-Star Ron Coomer". Never fails to get a giggle.

I've told this story before, but I was watching Romero pitch in 2016 when Cedar Rapids came to Beloit. We were sitting next to the Beloit pitchers who were using the gun and charting pitches. They were just drooling about his stuff. At one point a pitch was thrown and the guy charting was silent for a second and then said. "Changeup at 91. That's just sick." If it's only 5-6 mph below his fastball that doesn't seem like enough, but batters definitely seem to be out in front on it so far. Hopefully that holds up! Loving it so far, obviously. Must-See TV.

Hmmm...good news...hey, Castro pulled his OPS over .500! OK, seriously, I got nuthin'. Wait, I know! We just went 1-9, but we're only 5 back in the Wild Card race! OK, yeah, nuthin'.

Span's OPS is .738 right now, with Ramos at .564 and Gomez at .524. Hu has a WHIP of 1.5 and an ERA of Yikes! I wish them all the best and hope they have successful seasons, beginning next week.