Dman

I tend to agree with your assessment. There isn't much for hitters at AA but the pitching is likely the best in the system so there's that. Gonna need to hope some of those HIgh A hitters perform well and move up quickly as there lot's of bats in AA that have a history of struggling. Granted they still have a chance to come around it is just that it appears unlikely to change or be good enough. Would love to see David, Ernie, Aaron, Andrew and Jermaine turn things around but they have pretty much been bat liabilities to this point. They will need to step up if this team is going to win games. It is mainly Celestino and Miranda with the greatest chance to do well but even they have struggled at times. Like I said earlier AA looks starved for elite bats.

Seth thanks so much for providing greater context to those players. I was down on Wallner to some degree because of his 2019 K rate. Not permanently down but had my concerns about contact so it was great to see him have such a special game. I hope he keeps that swing simple and keeps the K rate down. If can do that he will be a very dangerous hitter. I got see Steer in 2019 in Beloit and he went 0 for 3 that night. Still he took great at bats. Didn't appear to swing at anything outside the zone and was one of the few batter to make contact and not K. It was a tough night as I think they lost 11 to 0 or something like that but even at 0 for 3 he was a bright spot. I don't know much about Gore as a pitcher but have to admit I was a little disappointed with the HR ball. I know it happens but it did spoil his debut a little. I hope he is the next Joe Nathan but guessing he has a ways to go. Thanks again for the insight you provide on the players. It is easy to get lost in the statistics and lose sight of the human player. I appreciate that you bring that back to stat watchers like me.

I was wondering about Cavaco's bat and he is off to a good start. I was also curious about Juliens eye at the plate and he had three walks yesterday so happy to see he has some plate discipline. Holland has been good to start the season as well. Hopefully those guys keep it going. Hunter McMahon was really working the corners of the zone last night. He looked good for his first time out. It was the Wallner show for Cedar Rapids as he had all the RBI's until the 9th inning. That was a heck of a game for him and I haven't been his biggest fan, but don't forget about Steer either as he has been an on base machine to start the year. Good to see Miranda finally getting those balls over the fence. That is what we have been waiting for. It is early but nice to see some of the top prospects doing well.

I agree. They had to have cheaped out on Berrios. Both those deals would have been in line and likely worked for Jose. He has been healthy too which is a good thing to have in a pitcher. I guess they believe in the guys they have coming up but he looks gone to me now that they waited so long.

I think that is why Chicago took the risk of extending some of their top end players right from the start. Once they have some money they don't need to extend especially on team friendly deals. Still risky that way but less risky than looking at 30M AAV deals on long term contracts. You van lose on a couple of those and survive. Lose on a later deal and that hurts for a long time.

I don't think you are wrong the whole thing feels like a house of cards almost no matter what they do. They would need to come up with 30M AAV or more for likely 8 to 10 years to keep Buxton. Where are they going to find that kind of money? And if they keep Buxton and then lose Cruz and Donaldson where in this lineup where do we get that production back. That is assuming we can even trade Donaldson and re-coop that money to keep Buxton? I just don't see payroll moving much beyond where it is right now. Maybe another8 to 10 Million up if Jim is feeling crazy but lower revenue teams like us don't live in rarified air for longer than a season or two. The other part of signing Buc long term is the injury history. He is one bad hamstring pull away from losing his top end speed maybe a concussion or two away from a Justin Morneau situation. What if you pay for 10 years and get three to five good years can we afford that? And while that 30Mil contract doesn't look that bad now what happens when it comes time to pay Kirilloff or Larnach or Arraez or whatever other star player players develops in the next 3 to 5 years, will there be money to pay them? Making FA moves will be harder when carrying that much salary for one player as well. There are tough decisions that need to made now and into the future.

yeah I am with you. They needed to take the risk two years ago to have a chance to extend and they didn't take it so they knew this day was coming for both Berrios and Buxton. Would need to be something really good for Buxton as he has league MVP potential. There are injury concerns but if he makes it half way through the season to trade time I still think teams bite. If they don't trade him in this lost season they just lose more value. Personally I think he he makes the 30M per year mark. When healthy he is a top 10 player in the league with his all around skill set he can change games with his power, speed, arm, defense. Stinks that it took him until year 4 to reach his potential but it is what it is. If the pen was good maybe this would have been the year to make some noise instead it looks like a time to retool.

I just don't get what happened to this bullpen. It was one of baseballs best the past two years. Clean innings were the norm and not the exception until this year. It is like direct Karmic payback for the last two years of success. One guy is not going to fix the mess they have. I can't ever remember total system failure like this year and such consistent failure. The silver lining is maybe the FO looks for more velocity and better K9 guys for the pen instead of castoffs. The pens they have put together have not been good in the playoffs either. Maybe something like this will force them to look at things differently.

Quite the pitching performance by Grace and Varland. Louie with 10 K's in 4.1 innings of work that is crazy good stuff. Taken in the 15th round with middling stats I didn't think he had a chance. If he keeps this up he will be on the fast track. My boy Willie Joe with the leadoff HR and he took a couple of walks. Cavaco held his own as did Holland. The biggest bat was Julian 2 for 4 with a walk and the clutch hit that put things out of reach in 9th. Sabato was a brutal 0 for 5 striking out when we badly needed a hit and leaving 6 men on base tonight. I saw him this spring and thought I liked his swing and approach despite the lack of results but then and now there appears to be a huge hole in his swing. 3 of his 5 at bats ended in K's. This guy was supposed to be an advanced bat he can't even make contact? Now I know why they started him so low in the system. Peoria didn't want to throw strikes and walked 8 batters. The top of the order had the hits and RBI's. They scored early and that was enough to win. Funderburk and Cabezas were OK but they are not K 9 pitchers and I see little upside there. Cabezas is interesting in that he is small but a plucky player. He might make it as a reliever But am not certain he has the stuff or not. I feel like Funderburk is too hittable but he had a good night tonight so I guess wait and see. There are some interesting bats at the High A level. Steer was the best going 2 for 4 with a walk but Gray, Wallner, Camargo are all interesting bats as well. Anyway they got the job done tonight. Winder pitched well but would have been nice if he could have gone at least 5 innings. Almost everyone got a hit in this one except David Banuelos who has tons of trouble as a hitter. Clutch RBI heroes were Contreras and Bechtold who came up with singles to finally get two runs in the 8th. Moran and Hackimer did their job getting 3 K's each and Cano finished it off for the win. For a vet Albers was horrible in this game. 7 earned runs at the AAA level I expected a lot more from a guy who used to be better than this. Jeffers 2 for 4 with a HR was the only thing to smile about in the entire game. Wiel went 2 for 4 as well all the other bats pretty much stunk. AAA was an ugly watch tonight.

Another bullpen loss. They are horrible. Well I said I wanted Waddle and they gave me Waddle in the 10th but same result as Colome so I don't know what to wish for anymore. Our best bullpen arm blows it in the 9th. I don't think we can survive this season with a bullpen that is this bad. It is a shame. We have a pretty good team but maybe this the wake up call the FO needs. Maybe this will get the FO to look at K9 guys for the pen and stop with this goofy boot strap bullpen building. Maybe a wasted year can get them to move this team toward dominance instead of just enough to get the job done.

Keep your eye on the Muscles this year as there is going to be a 2019, 2020 blend along with later in the year guys that might have started at Elizabethton needing time there as well. There will be lots of guys to look at. High A and AA have lot's of starting pitchers to keep an eye on. Will be interesting to see how our hitters do this year. There doesn't seem to much for elite hitters after Kirilloff and Larnach. I guess Sabato might make it in that range at some point but pretty much every other hitter in the system has to make a lot of progress to get to that elite level. Maybe Wallner, Soularie, Steer and Gray can challenge but have been average at best to this point. Celestino, Miranda have an outside chance as well but again on paper the hitting looks weak this year IMO. Hopefully we have some guys that break out this year otherwise it looks like we will have to wait for Cavaco, Valdez, Urbina, Rosario, Rodriguez and Diaz to make a difference but they are a ways a way. Gonna be fun to follow these guys this year. Can't wait to see who shines.

I agree the K rate is something to keep an eye on. With AK hitting HR's they will throw him even more breaking stuff as he is already K'ing on that stuff. I think one of the reasons he is swinging early and for the fences is I believe they have been been throwing him first pitch fastballs and even when he hits it hard they have been hard outs. With HR's you don't have to worry about it being caught. To your point I think K's are going to be a problem for him just like they were for Rosario as they are close to the same player. Hers's hoping AK can adjust.

They will give Shoemaker another chance or two before cutting him loose. They could use Thorpe and\or Dobnak in the 5th spot if they need to. The Shoe has looked they can't do any worse. I am really surprised at how poorly he has pitched. I guess there was a reason he was signed for just a couple Mil. I just don't think they will give up on him this early though. I agree we need a good week as it is a long road back to 500 right now. Happy they took the three game series with the Royals but could have really used a sweep right there as well. At least it has been back to watchable baseball.

Boy if a pitcher isn't quite on this offense can be relentless. Very nice to see the lineup coming around. Kirilloff isn't going back down not with his one HR per game average. The confidence is back and we need his bat. If our pitching holds I think they can get back in this thing.

With no 2020 this is the team I am the most interested in. Tons of guys that we need to figure out where they are at and honestly there are a lot of good players right behind them. Lot's of competition for fewer spots so I wonder how that is going to work out for senior signs or anyone who starts out slow. Probably also impacts guys trying to make it from the DSL. Likely will take them longer to get to the GCL. Things have changed. Very happy to see Valdez in this list. He had a great 2019 and if his bat is for real could be a fast mover. Was worried he might get buried with all the college talent they brought in plus the last year of no MILB baseball. Also looking to see how Cavaco, Holland and Julien do. Would be nice to see a third wave developing. Not that excited about the outfield except for Willie Joe Gary and Soularie once off of injured list. Sabato doesn't belong down here but I guess if they want him to meet and get input from coaches at all the levels then fine but he looked good this spring just looked like he was having trouble with breaking stuff. The pitchers here are all intriguing but no idea how they will perform just yet. There will be tougher competition earlier in with fewer leagues so harder to move up as well. A ball is going to be different from here on out. Probably closer to High A than before now that the talent level will be higher. Should be a fun season I can't wait to see how all these guys turn out.

Kirilloff finally proves he can play with the big boys. Fantastic to see our guy finally put together some great at bats. I have no idea how he hit that home run on a bending breaking pitch. Just a gorgeous swing! I was down on him this spring but so, so happy to see him swinging well right now as we need his bat really bad. Great all around win for Twins again. Let's keep this train rolling.

I believe I said earlier that if KC's young pitching holds up they have a good chance to win the division this year. They had been snake bit losing lot's of close games last year. Their Offense has always been pretty solid but starting pitching and the pen needed help. While I don't think they will keep up the current pace I don't see them falling far off of it unless their pitching falters. I don't think they have a ton of pitching depth so injuries could hurt them. At any rate I don't see them as pretenders. The Twins have had a lot of really odd things happen to lose games. Colome is pretty much directly responsible for I think 4 losses himself granted the defense cratered on him as well in some spots but he hasn't helped. The bullpen looks unreliable at worst and shaky at best. It looks like the Achilles heal for the team this year. If they can somehow fix the pen maybe they are contenders otherwise look for lots of heartache at the end of games. Indians still don't have an offense and other teams in the division are starting to get better pitching. I think they are a long shot to take the division. Chicago still looks like the team to beat to me. The lineup is solid and the pitching is there. Again I question their depth when it comes to pitching but they might have enough offense to cover for it anyway. Not as bullish on the Twins as I was to start to the season but if they can fix the pen I think they can hang at the top. Right now it is just hard to see that happening.

So just when I am about to give up watching these guys they find one of their double digit games and pitch well to boot. So I guess this is our one game this week where the offense does its thing and the rest of the week it is back to tough luck loses. Anyway great game today keep them coming. Buxton Wow just Wow. The guy is on fire. When he is healthy he is the heart of this team. Here's hoping he stays healthy. Nice to see Mitch actually making contact and getting a couple of HR's hopefully he gets that confidence back because we need that bat. Oh and yes I apologize to JA Happ. I didn't like the signing and with him getting off to a late start and looking not ready I had him penciled in for failure. I will silently eat my crow for now but he looks better than I imagined he could look so far. Probably our most consistent starter to start the season.

I am ready to see Waddle and Farrell in relief duty this pen is such a disaster. So Wes's philosophy is throw it down the middle those guys can't touch your stuff? Or is it just throw hard who cares where it goes even if it hits them? I don't think I have ever seen such a pitiful group of relief pitchers for the Twins ever. I mean if this is the best they have bring up Chalmers he can walk three guys and hit a batter like Colome did and likely strike out the side doing it. Bring up Ober can he be any worse than Stashak has been? Let all those guys sit and think about finding ways to throw strikes and miss bats. Can anyone throw a clean inning anymore? Let's get to work guys come on. Hopefully the Twins learned their lesson on the Colome decision. No one in the league really wanted him as the deeper numbers were not there. Now we know why. Rocco did his friend no favors leaving him out there for 30 and 40 pitches an outing and not giving him much rest but still Colome is not the kind of pitcher you hang your hat on. K's rule and the pen needs to get back to missing bats. Don't get me started on the brutal defense this year either. There is an untimely error every game setting us back and lot's of them are not even tough plays. This just doesn't look like a professional team right now more like AAA with a few MLB players mixed in. I can't watch this train wreck everyday anymore. Will keep a distant eye on them but this looks like a wasted season right now.

Three quick outs and we can go home with a whimper..

Rameriz is up so here comes the HR to finish this thing off the right way,.

Unbelievable how bad this pen is. I don't know if I could think up a pen this bad. They can't hit their spots at all. Brutal.

This has to be rock bottom for Colome. The numbers have finally caught up to the guy and the way Rocco has abused him this year it's no wonder he is ineffective. Rocco needs to give him a rest like a weeks rest or more.

I don't know. He has a pretty darn good gig in Minnesota right now. Leaving a pretty sure thing for a maybe doesn't seem like a great idea to me but I am not much of risk taker. I guess it depends on how he see's things for the team. Colorado has assets but they are in a tough division and in a likely fairly long rebuild which is always pressure packed for the GM. The GM title is enticing though and if he has connections he might want his shot. There are only 30 job openings so he would be in elite company. Hard to say what he will do as it depends on what his goals are and how he wants to accomplish them.

My mind is with the over-reactors but my heart says this team will come around. The team has had some bad bounces early but there is no reason to just give up. They just need to work on getting better. With the way they have been playing it can't be that hard to play better. Baseball is like this. A team can have a terrible first half and then a great second half. You have to stay the course, you have to keep trying. My one concern is the bullpen. There have not been many clean innings and that doesn't bode well for holding leads. Wes needs to get those guys ready. The offense will come around. Some young blood and more competition should get players more motivated to hit. They have had games where they have scored lots of runs. I think May will be different story. Have to wait and see.