SydneyTwinsFan

I placed a bet on Brian making it to the TDGTHOF and then voted for him. Does that put me in Pete Rose lifetime ban territory?

Nice for Jake Mauer to spend some time with the big league club in recognition of some great work over the past couple of seasons. I thought there were a maximum of 7 coaches allowed though. Do coaching "rosters" expand in September as well as the playing roster? Or will Mauer replace someone for the last two weeks of the season?

Needs Insider access http://espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=4353 Berrios and Kepler rate in KLaw's Top 10 prospect performance of 2015. Speaks well to the depth of the system given Rosario, Sano and Buxton have all "graduated" this year.

Carlos Gomez feels like the cautionary tale for Buxton. Elite glove, blazing speed, developing power, quick to the Major Leagues. If things break right for Buck, I can see Gomez c. 2013/14 as his baseline (.850 OPS, 40+ SB, gold glove defense) with the possibility to be even more. There is a risk though that he ends up with a line more like Gomez' overall career (.730 OPS, still with great speed on the bases and great defense). That would still be a player of value, but I think most would be disappointed if that's where he ended up. By all accounts, Buxton has a great make up and work ethic. Hopefully that drives him to get the maximum out of his undoubted talent.

Sano!

To give Boyer a modicum of credit, he's only given up 3 hits in 7.1 IP since coming off the DL

Agreed, outstanding effort from all of the guys to make the minor leagues genuinely interesting and engaging

Nice to see Parker's article linked on the main ESPN page by Schoenfield today. Great article, deserves a wide audience

Jepsen yet to give up an XBH since joining. Hu 0-3, 7.36 ERA since the trade. Yeah, I know. Small sample size. But still...

Berrios currently through 6 IP: 4H 1 ER (solo HR) 5/0 K/BB

Achter, Tonkin, Fryer, Vargas and one of Santana/Polanco are all givens I think. I would like to see Arcia, Kepler, Pinto, Berrios and Meyer as well. I know not all of these guys will see much playing time, but there is absolutely no reason why the team should ever be short of a PH option or relief arm to optimize match ups in September.

Cotts is fitting right in

It's pining for the fjords....

I like JR Graham. I don't mind that he's been stashed all year for future benefit. But to Chief's recurring point through this thread, if he's the best option in the bullpen to face A-Rod with the bases loaded in a tight game....??!!

Man, Hunter's 5-45 August is getting harder and harder to watch

Memo to Twins batters: stop pretending this is the 2011 version of CC Sabathia. This is the edition with the 5+ ERA who has coughed up more HRs than anyone not called Phil Hughes. Deal with it. Message ends

Boyer has 0.8 BRef WAR, more than any Twins reliever not called Glen Perkins. Not what that says about WAR as a metric for evaluating relievers. Or about the state of the Bullpen this year. Nothing good for either as far as I am concerned. JR Graham has pitched more innings than any other reliever, so the notion he has "hardly ever been used" or that the composition of the pen has in some way been affected by carrying him for the year don't ring true for me.

My take on a few of the threads running through this discussion: I have zero problem with giving Buxton another 7-10 days at AAA to get his timing back. I get that he's gone 5-12 in 3 games back, but he needs to get used to playing baseball every day after 6-7 weeks off. What I don't understand is why that couldn't have been done by continuing the rehab assignment rather than going the option route. If using the option is a signal that Buxton is done with the Major League club for the season (or at least until September), that strikes me as idiotic if only because... ...Shane Robinson has no business being on this roster. There is also no need for more than 7 RPs. There should be room to now add Buxton (once the rust is knocked off) at the expense of one of those guys, even if it is only to play sporadically at first. It's bizarre and borderline negligent that another bat that actually could have helped the team win hasn't already been added (Arcia should have been up weeks ago, or Vargas who looks to have his mojo back after destroying AA for the past couple of weeks). Sadly though, it looks like that horse has bolted and the opportunity to improve the team when it actually mattered has been lost, which means... ... while Hunter has been pretty much as advertised (decent pop, below average defense, good clubhouse leader) and has played his part, if the team falls properly out of contention over the next week or so (as seems likely) then he needs to accept his contribution for the rest of the year will be more mentor / less playing time. It's more important that Buxton and Arcia get reps in September as a prelude to 2016 than it is to roll with the Hunter Retirement Roadshow. This last month or two has been plagued by roster mismanagement. I hope optioning Buxton isn't latest example of that.

For me the only head-scratcher is why option him now instead of letting him continue on rehab for 10-15 days. I'm totally on board though with giving the kid more than 3 games after being out for 6 weeks before calling him back up. Major League veterans can probably get back up to speed after an injury break with only a few rehab games, but we're talking about a kid with barely 50 PA above AA ball - a week or two teeing off on AAA pitching isn't going to hurt him or the team.

Hey Vanimal, pick up. Vanimal? Aw hell, I'll talk to the voicemail. I'm tired of paying Joe Mauer $23m to hit like a utility infielder. Can't we cut him and pay Nick Punto $23m to get the real thing instead? I'm also over Trevor May being brought in when the team's down by 6 in mop-up relief. Just a thought, but can we try him in mop-up relief when the team's up by 6 for a change? Great work, love the show etc

Alvarez was 5-69 in 0-2 counts so far this year. Awesome.

The Twins are the only team in the AL with all 5 current members of the rotation (Santana, Hughes, Gibson, Milone, Pelfrey) sporting an ERA under 4.00

There it goes! May that be the first of many

Twins unbeaten in the Sano era!

How long before Mauer loses it and demolishes a door with a bat? As frustrating as it is for fans, this has got to be killing him. Time to let it all out Joe...