The Great Hambino

Beyond spending money to replace what was lost, teams like Milwaukee that have stayed at least moderately successful have someone internal ready to step up when they trade away a Corbin Burnes or a Josh Hader. Varland seemed to be potentially that guy for the Twins after Duran/Jax were sent away ... but then he got traded too. For me, that - not his place of birth - is what bothered me about his trade. It signaled to me that they were punting on competitiveness for the duration of the Lopez/Ryan contracts. So when they signaled their intent to remain competitive while not committing any real resources - internal or external - to replace what they lost in the pen, it got extra frustrating. They still haven't committed any internal resources to replacing the top end of the bullpen - the only relief outings made by anyone that could've been considered a starting pitching prospect at any point during 2025 have effectively been piggyback starts by Abel and Morris. Maybe they will do so as the season progresses with Festa or Zebby or Morris or others. The fact that the pen has been able to smoke-and-mirrors their way to some success so far has bought them some time, but I'm not sure how long that can hold up. I hope it does, and I'll enjoy it while it lasts, and I can at least see a path to competitiveness this year that I didn't see in the offseason, but I'm still wary of seeing a short-term payoff from last year's trades if they're not willing to do what's necessary to reinforce the top end of the bullpen. As @mickster noted above, there as of yet has been zero benefit provided to the major league roster from the Varland trade. Long-term payoff from the trades, on the other hand, is looking very very promising. Bradley looks like the best version of himself and Abel looks like a keeper too. And by sheer volume, someone from the haul currently in the minors is bound to break through as a valuable piece in the future

In seeing the consensus reaction to this, I'm glad that the idea that buying a ticket gives you carte blanche to say whatever you want as if the players are characters in a TV show - not to mention the effect it has on other fans who bought the same ticket you did - is becoming more and more of a minority opinion. You do not exist in the Independent Republic of Yourself.

Well that certainly was the infielding equivalent of putting out a fire with gasoline

Hey, playing the infield in worked!

Q: How does a last place team lead all of MLB in runs scored? A: By also being the team that's allowed the most runs in all of MLB. Congrats, Houston. You're weird.

This might be the start of one of Buck's Mario-Star-esque hot streaks

That was basically the original ending of the film! There's a version out there where she congratulates the team and tells them that all the cuts/threats to move/etc were just a motivational ploy. Thankfully test audiences sent that BS into the 13th row like Mutombo, and we got the infinitely-better ending that made it to the final copy.

Not a bad guess, but apparently it was Kepler

If you don't want to bring up Emma into a role where he isn't playing every day, then bring up Roden instead. Kriedler can do the things you're getting from Outman, and Roden fits more naturally in a timeshare in the lineup with Martin than with Clemens, who doesn't really give you anything if he can't hit righties (small sample, but a 79 OPS+ and 40% K rate when you're supposed to have the platoon advantage is a mighty low bar for Roden to clear). He's also 26 with what's likely 4th outfielder upside, so it's not some tragedy if he's not playing every day. So give Roden Outman's roster spot and Clemens' playing time. The supposed boost to 1B defense that Clemens was supposed to provide hasn't really been there, so I think it's a win all around. This also creates space for Larnach to DH more (and play LF less) as well with Bell/Caratini at 1B more often. You could also just let Martin sink or swim in a full-time role. But they don't seem like they're gonna do that, so letting him split time with Roden where you let Martin face some righties could be a happy medium, and definitely preferable to improperly treating Clemens like a strong-side leadoff platoon

Congrats to Buxton becoming the all-time Target Field home run king. But I gotta be honest: thinking back to the early days of Target Field, I'm kinda surprised it's not Jose Bautista

I'm not ready to eat crow yet - they entered the day only three games above last place in the AL, after all - but I have started bookmarking some recipes online. Crow a l'orange sounds intriguing

Ober should get some tips from him for how to deal with dropping velocity

Impressive, they were able to turn a 1-6-3 without anyone hurting themselves

Buck was not about to let Kreidler out-homer him

Give him the hook

Kreidler going upper deck on the reigning Cy Young runner-up? I picked the right week to start sniffing glue

As i sit here on Day 3 of hosting my wife's friends and their two feral boys at our home, I can confirm "all of the above" is a valid choice, and it's a choice I've already made We appreciate you putting these game threads together to help make game days a little more fun

Lee didn't move to SS two weeks ago. He has shown that likely future is as a utility guy, perhaps as soon as Culpepper is ready to move up. And (hopefully) Kreidler is going to be in the starting lineup sparingly, so he will still be getting plenty of opportunities at SS. This move isn't done with the future in mind This doesn't give them their best chance to win currently, so it isn't done with the present in mind either. Worst of both worlds.

Kreidler at 3B and Lee at SS ... why? To minimize the one thing Kreidler brings to the table?

The 7-7 Twins have not played anyone currently over .500, but they've played half their games against teams that are 6-7. They are 2-5 against them

I'd prefer they slide Lee/Gray over to 3B if they want to start Kriedler. Lee's likeliest MLB future path is as a utility IF, wouldn't hurt to get a few reps in preparation, especially considering the improvement at SS Kriedler provides

I Don't Know is once again at third base Does Gray get the bulk of the starts with Lee at SS most days and Kriedler a true backup/defensive replacement? Or does Kriedler get a chance to show he can hit even a little bit?

That doesn't surprise me that the Twins rank so highly here. Three of the four bench slots have been used either as a platoon/quasi-platoon (Clemens, Gray) or are at least a rotational starter (Larnach). Only Outman has been treated as a true backup, and he's the one who got a little more time when Buxton was dinged up

Can they keep not allowing homers? The bullpen as a whole has only allowed four on the season, and two were by Zak Kent during the Things Fall Apart game in KC. I think that's been a big part of their ability to scrape by so far. Is that sustainable?

If Shelton's going to get credit for the bullpen, I think it's in seemingly going after favorable matchups in lieu of starting guys with clean innnings. There have been several instances where a lefty has finished an inning and been left in just to face another lefty leading off the following inning. I think that has a) helped sort of work around the three batter rule and b) put guys in the best chance to succeed. After all, they're relievers - handling an unclean inning is in their job decription. It still feels like they're getting by with a lot of smoke and mirrors and I'm still not convinced the pen can hold up over time without some reinforcements with firepower, but he's playing the hand he's been dealt as effectively as he can. I'm not against giving the manager some credit for that. Not against giving Maki/Hawkins some credit for that either.