Dman

The Twins will stick with him this year through thick and thin. He has come around before and likely will again. He has really tried to make sure he is swinging at strikes and has walked more than normal so far. I just don't understand the complete lack of contact when he does swing. That is what concerns me the most. I hope he can relax, have fun and get back to mashing baseballs. I can give him some more time but right now he is kind of a weak link in lineup. Here's t to hoping he catches fire sooner rather than later.

I actually thought it was strange myself. Colome didn't exactly have an easy time of it in the 8th and I really thought Baldelli was pushing his luck bringing him out for the 9th. He ended up only throwing 32 pitches so not horrible but I was curious as to why they sent him out there for the 9th. The thing I was wondering is if a reliever is already warmed up and hasn't thrown too many pitches the inning before does it make more sense just to have them pitch two innings? Or is is it generally a bad idea to do that? That was the question I had. The OP has thought about it much harder than I. After reading this there were a couple things I think I think. It was a close game and Duffy hasn't been particularly sharp to start the season, walking guys, giving up hits, his WHIP stands at 1.88 currently which is not good for a reliever. I know Colome had a tough first time out but he is a proven vet that Baldelli has said he trusts in tough spots and that was a tough spot. In the end I honestly just think it came down to comfort level and he trusted Colome more than Duffy on that particular day in that particular situation. That is just my opinion. There certainly could be some master plan at work but for me I see it as a gut type situational managerial call.

I don't think anyone is arguing not to go all in if it makes sense. But do you really want to go all in with a player that hasn't played a full season yet in their career? That is the larger question. If you look at the last 20 years there is a big spending team pretty much every year in the world series. so you are not wrong but there are little guys sprinkled in there. The Marlins, White Sox Indians, Royals and Astros all had middle of the road payrolls like the Twins and the Marlins, White Sox and Royals all brought home trophies. The Rockies were middle of the road as well but most of those teams had top 5 or top 10 payrolls. I am not saying never keep your home grown stars to try and make a difference but I do have reservations about banking on a guy who has a history of being on the bench when needed most. New York Yankees (35, 24–11) 4–0 San Diego Padres (2, 0–2) New York Yankees (36, 25–11) 4–0 Atlanta Braves (9, 3–6) New York Yankees (37, 26–11) 4–1 New York Mets[W] (4, 2–2) Arizona Diamondbacks (1, 1–0) 4–3 New York Yankees (38, 26–12) Anaheim Angels[W] (1, 1–0) 4–3 San Francisco Giants[W] (17, 5–12) Florida Marlins[W] (2, 2–0) 4–2 New York Yankees (39, 26–13) Boston Red Sox[W] (10, 6–4) 4–0 St. Louis Cardinals (16, 9–7) Chicago White Sox (5, 3–2) 4–0 Houston Astros[W][L2] (1, 0–1) St. Louis Cardinals (17, 10–7) 4–1 Detroit Tigers[W] (10, 4–6) Boston Red Sox (11, 7–4) 4–0 Colorado Rockies[W] (1, 0–1) Philadelphia Phillies (6, 2–4) 4–1 Tampa Bay Rays (1, 0–1) New York Yankees (40, 27–13) 4–2 Philadelphia Phillies (7, 2–5) San Francisco Giants (18, 6–12) 4–1 Texas Rangers (1, 0–1) St. Louis Cardinals[W] (18, 11–7) 4–3 Texas Rangers (2, 0–2) San Francisco Giants (19, 7–12) 4–0 Detroit Tigers (11, 4–7) Boston Red Sox (12, 8–4) 4–2 St. Louis Cardinals (19, 11–8) San Francisco Giants[W] (20, 8–12) 4–3 Kansas City Royals[W] (3, 1–2) Kansas City Royals (4, 2–2) 4–1 New York Mets (5, 2–3) Chicago Cubs (11, 3–8) 4–3 Cleveland Indians (6, 2–4) Houston Astros (2, 1–1) 4–3 Los Angeles Dodgers (19, 6–13) Boston Red Sox (13, 9–4) 4–1 Los Angeles Dodgers (20, 6–14) Washington Nationals[W] (1, 1–0) 4–3 Houston Astros (3, 1–2) Los Angeles Dodgers (21, 7–14) 4–2 Tampa Bay Rays (2, 0–2)

How do you like watching Donaldson sitting on the bench? Until Buxton actually plays a full season you might have your 30M per year parked there. That is the main issue. I love what he can do and if his hitting is for real he very well might be the best player in baseball but you can't win a world series when your best player is sitting on the bench or out half the season. The Red Sox also are not a great comp when it comes to the Twins we are closer to the Rays and A's and Cleveland's than the Red Sox and Yankee's. If payroll were not an issue for teams then they all should outspend the Yankee's and Dodgers why don't the other 25 or so teams do that? Because every team generates a certain amount of revenue and budgets around that. Don't get me wrong I get the enthusiasm but there is also reality. The Rays made it to the World Series last year on a shoe string budget by making sound financial decisions to stay within the teams budget. They traded away elite talent to get there but they got there. Winning isn't always about money. It helps for sure but making sound financial investments (player production per dollar) is important too when there is a limited budget. Is Buxton a sound investment? One with a great track record of health and production? A player you can rely on to be there most of the time? I think those are important questions to ask before backing up the truck.

Pretty much everyone with a hit tonight even Sano so not much to complain about there. Buxton was in the 4 spot and hit one out. I can't believe I am saying this but I like him in that spot. I used to cringe when he came to bat and now I can't wait to see him up there. I know we have a long ways to go but I am loving Simmons eye at the plate and his bat. His offense has been a much needed boost early this year. Astudillo with another hit to get to a 500 BA. He looks better at the plate this year. Garlick has looked much better than Rooker at the plate and much more productive as well. Arraez and Garver with HR's it was a good night for the bats. Berrios pitched well but man they scorched some of his balls. He gives up a lot of hard contact but he did get 8 K's and almost made it 6 innings. Alcala was efficient with a 9 pitch inning but gave up hard contact as well. Waddell got to debut under favorable conditions with an 8 run lead. He looked a little shaky at times but he got the job done without giving up any runs. A fun home opener to watch and if this team continues to hit well and hit for power they could be pretty scary. I can get used to games like this. Next up is Pineda and hopefully the bats carry over the momentum to the weekend.

While I think your point has merit it also needs more context. Both players that were lost were coming off of injuries and and a lost Covid season. Do you think if Baddoo had made his way to AA ball last year they wouldn't have protected him? I think they would have but with the odd year and lost playing time it made less sense for a team like the Twins to protect him. Wells kind of the same thing and the Twins have a lot of relievers that they have fixed and that are in the pipeline every team loses guys like that on occasion. Both players were pretty high risk rule V picks IMO but I guess there are scouts and word of mouth and teams like the Tigers and Orioles can afford to take those types of risks. Teams that are trying to use their 40 man to win divisions and playoffs have a harder time accepting that type of risk. I certainly questioned the FO on boards here when they did not protect Baddoo as I believe I said at the time they must like Celestino better because they protected him and not Baddoo, but they were many factors at play that I did not consider at the time. They thought they could have their cake and eat it too, but it didn't work out that way.

Maybe I am Polly Anna but I don't see Baddoo falling off a cliff Offensively, He has upped his game the last two years he was out. The Hit he got off Robles nasty slider tells you all you need to know IMO. Yeah the two HR's came off cream puff fastballs but that is what good players are supposed to do. I don't think he will stay this hot but I don't see him falling all the way to 4th outfielder status either. He has the speed to play center and while he is noted to not have a great arm he was able to nab Simmons at second the other day. He has the speed to steal bases and has always had a good eye at the plate and that will carry him through tough hitting spells. I don't think he is going to be wished away anytime soon although any thing is possible I guess. The season is long though and injuries happen. Players get mentally tired and physically tired he won't stay this hot. The OP's title doesn't make sense to me though. The FO never gave up on Baddoo they just didn't think a team would take him and even if a team did they didn't think he would be ready to make the jump. Mainly because I don't think we have seen many if any players in the last 10 to 20 years make the jump from A ball to the majors. The risk of losing him appeared slim and the right play 90% of the time IMO. As others have noted the 40 man needs to be primarily planned for winning regular season games and yet there needs to be some room to protect good players that might be lost to Rule V. The better your team is the more you would like those 40 man spots to help with regular season depth. Also options can be a factor when you add a player too soon. The Twins didn't want to clog their 40 man with a young player that hadn't played organized baseball in two years and wasn't likely to contribute to the team this year. While that assumption appears wrong in hindsight given the odds it made sense. Despite all the things I said above we need to remember the Twins two highest rated players are outfielder's that are just about ready to make the jump in Kirilloff and Larnach. They added Celestino early so that he wouldn't get taken in Rule V and they have Wallner on the way and possibly Soularie as well as a host of ubber young international prospects with solid potential in Urbina, Diaz, Rodrigguez etc a little further down the pipeline but not too far off. So if they were going to lose an outfielder it was not like the cupboard was going to be bare. As others have said it is way to early to draw any solid conclusions about Baddoo and how his year will go. he is off to a great start but their will be bumps in the road. IMO he has the tools he needs to get over those and be successful but we will have to wait and see. While I hate to say this I think he is lucky he got taken by the Tigers in rule V and I think rule V worked as intended in this situation. If he stayed with the Twins he would have had to battle Kirilloff, Larnach, and Celestino for Spots for sure and possibly Rooker, Wallner and Soularie as well with the other young guys chasing him. In Detroit he doesn't have near that level of competition and can likely stick on an MLB team. In the end maybe he will be better than all of those players it is hard to say at this point but I still don't think you can fault the FO for trying to do what was best in the present versus an uncertain future. Hindsight is 20/20 but the FO doesn't get that luxury sometimes even when the odds are in your favor you still lose.

Yeah I want to give him the benefit of the doubt but the K's are just killing his ability to be a MLB player. He did have three walks the other day and IMO the umps have not been kind to him especially on high strikes and off the plate strikes that appear pretty wide. Still it doesn't seem like he is seeing the ball as well as he needs to. Add in the fact that he has a huge hole in his swing with trouble making contact and things don't look good right now for the righty slugger. Maybe he is thinking too much. Maybe he is isn't thinking enough I don't know all I know is that it would be nice if we had a more productive bat in that spot right now. When he comes up to bat he is an almost automatic out. Often times the pitcher only needs three pitches and he is done. Can't have that from a MLB player. It is early can't panic yet but he needs to at the very least start making contact with the ball or benched for someone like Astudillo who can at least put the ball in play.

Dang Boyd is tough on our hitters. 1st pitch strikes by the buckets and second swing hacks by the dozen put our guys in a tough spot. Thankfully Buxton finally had a long at bat that ended in a double and scored run or he might have made it all 9 innings. After Buxton trying to single handedly bring them back they scored two more in the 6th on a big Double from Polanco that scored Cruz al the way from first base. That was it for the bats. Maeda pitched well but he gave up some hard contact as well. he only gave up two runs and his pitch count was low but he was far from dominant IMO. Robles came in and did a nice job. Colome got the job done but gave me major heartburn doing it. Sano and Garver take the black hole bat awards today. Garver K'd three times and mainly let strikes go by and swung at stuff out of the zone. Absolute horrible eye at the plate today. Maybe swing at a few of the meatball first pitch strikes you were given almost every at bat. I can see Sano is trying and he did make some contact today so that is a start but but he has too many three pitch strike out at bats to be a MLB player. The waiver claim Garlick was the only player with two hits today and looked like a huge improvement over Rooker at the plate. Simons was his pesky self and Astudillo did what Kepler couldn't do twice yesterday which was get a sac fly to bring Buxton home. Polanco has a lot of weak contact and then in the last two at bats powered the ball one for a double with the game winning runs. Hopefully those at bats get him rolling. Have to say I was very impressed with Boyd today. He was aggressive and made the batter uncomfortable and kept them guessing mostly incorrectly for the first 4 innings. Buxton got to him in a hard fought battle and he had a bit of a tough luck 6th but to me he looked better than Maeda today. He had to face a tougher lineup and he made it 7 innings and had the Twins guessing early. He almost won the game for the Tigers but fell just short. Happy the Twins won a close one on the road to a team that seems to give us trouble. Starting pitching has been incredible (Am I really typing that) and the Bullpen has been pretty good too although a couple of failures have cost us wins. We are off to a good start just need to have a strong homestand to keep pace in the division.

Like everyone I like both right now but if forced to choose it would be Buxton. He is an elite defender at an important position and cannot fully be replaced. If his hitting HR's is for real then that moves him into a stratosphere we won't be able to compete with financially. If he becomes an elite defender and power hitter in center he is a unicorn in MLB, that is if he can stay healthy. There are a lot of "ifs" but if he meets them or comes close he is the most valuable IMO. That is not a knock on Berrios who is important as well. If he has finally found the consistency to pitch well most every game we have the ace level pitcher we have been looking for the last 4 years. While we have some elite arms coming up odds are they won't be as good as Jose for a while. It would really be nice to have a couple of more years of prime Berrios but I believe they will have to pay heavily if they want those years. As Wabene said odds are the Twins let both of them go rather than extend because they have Celestino almost ready and while he will never be Buxton he is a really good defender and looks to be coming along with the bat. They have about 5 different arms to try and replace Berrios with so the odds are better there but arms are fickle things you can never bank on. Also they are running out of time to extend either player at a reasonable rate and both players are vital for the teams continued success right now so they can't really trade them for value either. As usual the FO has some tough decisions to make? If they can't extend one try and extend the other if they can't find the common ground to extend either there is plan B which is less expensive but much more risky IMO.

I concur with DC Twins. If his eye at the plate improves he is a major league baseball player and IMO possibly a starter if the bat continues to play. HIs flexibility to play catcher is a huge bonus and his energy and ability to give 100% at all times is contagious. If the turtle can hunt pitches to hit he will always have a spot on the roster. As noted he has a very, very small sample size so will have to wait and see,

My personal opinion is they wouldn't have left him off if they thought someone would take him. I could be wrong though as they do have a lot of outfielders in the pipeline and their two top prospects are outfielders. Here is the thing how many players can move from or have moved from A ball to the majors? I honestly can't think of any. They had to believe the odds were on their side in a major way. It is hard enough for players to make it from AAA to the majors and while several have made the jump from AA I can't think of anyone making it straight from A ball. Some college players have moved pretty fast especially relief pitchers but position players usually take time. The FO knew Baddoo was good there just wasn't really much president for a player making that large of a jump and making it. I think if Baddoo had played last season and there wasn't a Covid season they could have seen the improvement and protected him. They never got that chance. Some scout must have seen Baddoo or had some information passed to him and it was enough for the Tigers to take a chance. That is my theory.

It is silly but it is just how passionate fans feel. It is hard to play the long game all the time and we wouldn't have much to talk about then either. However I do see your point the sample is way, way to small to predict anything at this point but I still want to rant about my take on the team and enjoy hearing what either people think as well even if it is a little early to predict much based on the data.

I know I am going to get scorched for SSS but man do I wish I could take back my start Rooker comments from this spring. I really don't like his approach at the plate right now and I know he needs time to figure "it" out but would rather he do that in AAA. Give me Garlick give me anybody but him right now. He is too easy for pitchers to fool and K it is getting ridiculous. Cave hasn't been anything special either but at least he has taken some good at bats and battled the pitcher at times. Left field needs some help right now. Is this the curse of Rosario?

Yeah definitely a tough lose again, but that is baseball. No team wins every game. Most games are a struggle. Some quick thoughts. Happ didn't look that great to me. Getting 4 inning's of 1 run ball was a huge victory. Not sure what is up with Stashak and the sudden lose of control? The walks hurt us again so hopefully he gets that under control soon. Thielbar was dealing today. I guess my doubting him was a bad idea. He gave us two scoreless inning's and it looked like guys were having trouble hitting him. Arraez with a rough game and unclutch Kepler left four runners on base and K'd 3 times. Cruz was consistent Cruz and did his best to single handedly win the game but fell short. Buxton Wow, just wow I don't know what to say but he didn't exactly come through in the tenth. Sano gets some of the toughest strike calls I have ever seen. Someone needs to call the commissioner and find out what the deal is. Despite that he didn't look that great today. He can swing through a pitch like no one I have ever seen. Baddoo comes through again. This kid has such a sweet swing. He came up in the tenth and like a veteran didn't try to do too much just stayed within himself and pulled a solid single to right to win the game. This guy is the Tigers best hitter IMO. I think he will be winning games for them for a looong time.

Some really good at bats today. We got 11 walks and 14 hits so 25 men on base today which allowed us to score 15 runs. It is nice when the opposing team doesn't throw strikes and our guys don't get themselves out swinging at pitches outside the zone. I don't know who Detroit has pitching tomorrow but they should attack the zone or it will be another game like today. I know Sano did not a get a hit but I was so happy to see him take 3 walks. He wasn't getting himself out as much today. That will pay off eventually and technically did today as he scored twice on those 3 walks. Simmons has been a tough out to this point and productive lower in the lineup. He has been asset so far and with a good eye at the plate always seems to make pitchers work. The turtle was big today and I love watching him play especially when he is hitting well but no one was better than Cruz today. It is early and a SSS but if this is what we are going to get out of the Rooker\Cave platoon the FO is going to get killed for their Rosario decision. Cave looked pitiful today and Rooker still helpless on breaking balls. At least Rooker finally got a hit but I am having serious doubts about his ability to make contact with the baseball. After watching Cave today I can't wait for Buxton to get back. He can't get back soon enough. Thankfully for Detroit they had two easy outs today or the final score would have been worse. This Spring I had Dobnak ahead of Shoemaker and now it seems everything has flipped. Randy was fine until the final out and then suddenly couldn't find the edges of the zone and had to throw meatballs to get strikes. What happened to that slider? At least he picked a good time to have a breakdown. With a double digit lead it didn't matter what happened and he saved the pen for another day but there are some things to work on there. especially that put away pitch. This was a fun game to watch and gives me encouragement that maybe the bats are not going to be as bad as I thought and the starting pitching better than I thought. If the Twins keep playing like this it is going to be a very fun season.

The team is looking more like the 2019 version with HR's up and down the lineup. Arraez getting onbase his fair share and guys hitting the ball hard. Saw good at bats today and it didn't always work out but nice to see guys willing to make the pitcher throw strikes. The one issue that reared its ugly head was bases loaded with no outs and we get no runs. Got to at least get that sac fly working there at a minimum. Anyway nice to see the bats might still be alive. Pitching has been excellent so far. Other than the cave in that led to the only loss things have looked good. I am eating some humble pie as I felt Robles might be a weak link but he has been good so far. Lets keep rolling like this and have another great season.

Well your starter can't pitch any better than that. I have been on Berrios's back for a while but a 12 K game with no hits makes me look like an idiot. He is not going to pitch like that every time out but if we are getting ace like Berrios for the full season the FO is going to be sorry they didn't work out a spring extension. Both of our catchers have K machines so far. 3 K's today for Jeffers makes him look overmatched at the plate. Garver hasn't been much better. Those guys need to make better contact. Buxton comes through again. Throwing him fat strikes is not a good idea anymore. I am surprised they don't go low and away more on him early in the count. So far it looks like the same home run or bust basher from last year. I guess if it is working keep on doing it. Heck of a well pitched game. Hopefully the bats come around for real this year and stay through the playoffs.

Honestly I think I could be persuaded either way. Based on spring and his past AAA performance I can see why the Twins are starting the season with Garlick. I didn't really see him make any errors in the field. He was hitting the ball hard and had more HR's than anyone else on the team. He only had one walk and a fair number of K's but he was making good contact as well. His OPS in AAA and this spring show that this is the player he is and that in general it works for him. Rooker started hot but fell off mid way. He was pretty K prone throughout the Spring and his K rate is higher than Garlick. Rooker has a 421 BABIP which is likely unsustainable and he only has one walk. He only hit one home run and didn't seem to be squaring up the ball as well as Garlick. Rooker also looked sloppy in the field which didn't help him either. Rooker still looked susceptible to striking out on breaking balls and he went into a deeper funk to end spring training. Add it all up and this spring Garlick looked like the player that could likely help the team the most to start the season. I was surprised how well Rooker played when they brought him up last year and really thought he was going to win the job to start the season but given his lack of contact and poor defense I can see why the Twins might be concerned. He would be a great DH candidate but that role is filled. I still think he puts things together and his bat plays but for now I am fine seeing what Garlick can do. Honestly I don't see Garlick making it long term but I have been horribly wrong before. I don't see Garlick having enough plate discipline to make it. Just as plate discipline dinged Rosario and became a somewhat fatal flaw I think it will be the same with Garlick, but he bought himself a chance to prove guys like me wrong. I hope he is a great player for the Twins this year as we need all the great bats we can get.

Thanks Tom! It was fun following all those guys this year and the position players got quite a bit of time in the field with injuries and late starts. Hard to argue with Law being the SOFM. He has four pitches he can use, his WHIP was fantastic and he never allowed a run all spring. Hard to beat what he did this spring. HIs one negative is he has no options left so once on the 26 man he would need to stay there. I think a case could be made for any one of Law, Farrell or Waddell making the team but with the 40 man tight right now and the guys they already have on the roster have done well before so it makes sense to wait and see at this point. Injuries, poor performance or trades could bring one or all of them up at some point this season just have to wait and see how the season goes. I was cheering hard for Broxton and still like him but he does look over matched at times. I still think he is good Buxton insurance so hopefully we can hang onto him until we need him if we need him. I thought Hamilton was likely going to be the best of the bunch but he just fell short this spring. Gibaut must still be struggling with control and Hopefully he and Anderson can make strides and become viable options at some point. The Twins did a good job of identifying arms to bring in and create depth for the pen. With all the turnover I was concerned about depth and with no Chalmers, Ober or Colina this spring I am glad they found Farrell, Law and Waddell to fill in if needed. All the moves and preparation for 2021 are behind us so let's hope the FO made good decisions and the players have good seasons. Stressing over every ball and strike starts tomorrow.

2020 was an odd year but so was 2019 with the juiced ball. It is really hard to get a feel for what guys might do or be capable of doing in 2021. I was fine with Caves production until last year when it was really bad. I think he gets hated on too much but he needs to perform this year. Larnach needs to be added to the 40 man next year so someone has to go as they are not going to carry 8 outfielders. Someone out of Garlic, Rooker and Cave need to be moved next year and honestly with all the pitchers that might need to be added they might want to slim down to 6 outfielders so might need to get rid of two of those three. Cave needs to have a good year if he plans on staying with the Twins. Average production won't keep him ahead of Kirilloff, Larnach and Celestino. Also with so many lefties Rooker and Garlic have more value as righties. He is going to have prove he belongs because after this year he doesn't look like a good fit in Minnesota.

I was rooting for Rooker but he looked pretty lost at the plate down the stretch. It was his job to lose and he managed to lose it. Garlic is his clone but all things being equal they would have stayed with Rooker. The OP is correct that Rooker doesn't seem to have much of a path in Minnesota. DH is truly his best position. Like most things it will work itself out. Hopefully Rook catches fire and stakes his claim.

Dang Rooker slumped badly at the end of spring. He still really struggles with breaking balls. Today he couldn't even hit his bread and butter fastballs. I think they made the right decision. Garlic is a slightly better defender in left and has taken slightly better at bats. Still pretty K prone though. IMO it was Rookers job to lose and he lost it. I agree with Stringer that the relievers (Law and Waddell) will be up if anyone falters or gets injured. Waddell is a likely replacement for Thielbar if he gets injured or is ineffective. Law looked really good all spring. Have to believe he could be the first one called up if there are issues with any righties. I think it makes sense to stay with the guys who are on the 40 man and have produced in the past. I just wouldn't feel too comfortable if I was Stashak or Thielbar as any stumbles and they likely make a move. Robles shouldn't feel comfortable either but will get a longer leash because he has no options left and they gave him 2M to play. I think in the case of the relievers they figure things will sort themselves out in the next month or two. Guys will either perform or not perform or get injured and then changes will be made. It is nice that we should have depth in the pen and starting rotation. to start the season. I was thinking the pen looked a bit depleted until Law, Waddell and Farrell looked like they had good enough stuff to supplement it. Would sure like to know what the deal is with Chalmers and Ober. They are soaking up 40 man spots and should be ready and yet we never saw them this spring. Colina was injured so another 40 man no show and Anderson isn't ready either. All these 40 man relievers and nobody seems available to help at least to start the season. Not sure what 40 man moves they can make to clear room if needed but hopefully some of that talent is tradable if needed.

I can agree none of them have Eddie's personality and it is possible none of them reach his level of production this year. It was a calculated risk taken.

With his new ability to strike guys out this could be an extremely good deal for the Twins. Hard to say if Randy can stay healthy and productive for that long but if he does the Twins will be getting him at a bargain price. I have been a Dobnak doubter for too long. Every time I doubt this guy I get burned. Here's hoping it turns out to be a good deal for both sides.