Jham

Watching this game is more frustrating than normal. I'm here. Also watched highlight footage of the CB the Vikes drafted. I don't get too worked up about games this time of year, but the lack of fire in this team is... disappointing. Lack of leadership is a big big issue here I think. Molitor seems confused and scared more often than not. Meyer is wasting space. And Sano is starting to look better in right.

Nice to see Stewart starting to pile up the K's. He could move quickly if his stuff starts to translate into empty swings and outs.

Either Meyer or Duffey or both will be shuffled back down to Rochester. Santana is only going to be out for a week. I'm surprised we haven't seen Meyer. There seems to be glaring holes in the pen. If I'm Moli, I'm giving Meyer every chance to take at least Tonkin's spot, and possibly Jepsen's.

Then this is my prediction! Struggles was meant to be relative. Hopefully fewer than 9 struggling starts before posting the solid half season though.

Hey, I think he's going to be under enough pressure. He doesn't project like an elite ace, but could develop into one eventually. His rise reminds me of Garza. He struggled mightily for a couple years before we traded him. I'm hoping he can flash some of the upside and be a .500 pitcher this year with enough ability to win us a few games on his own.

Agreed. Johnny Cochran and the Dream Team had nothing on you guys! If you're an aggrieved fan who's been impacted by the crime of poor roster construction, contact the law firm of Brian, Spycake, & Chief for justice in the field of baseball team management!

Like I said before,the Kepler/David Murphy thing is the one thing. I mentioned Kepler loping after a fly ball and putting Esco in an awful spot. I don't know what he's done in the locker room, batting cages, team meetings, or warm ups. I don't know if he partied too hard in the Nation's capital, but he was up for a while and didn't play much for some reason. Assuming rationale is tough without managerial input. I've only been taking the oppositional stance because I've misplaced my pitchfork. I'll clean out my shed, and flip sides soon enough. Oh look, Berrios is coming up!

I think it's Milone to the pen, we need a long man. Berrios to the Rotation. Duffey/Santana.

Yep, it's unusual. Of all the critiques, I think this one carries the most weight. But I think it's obvious we want Duffey to take his turn if Santana can't go. Bearing in mind that the potential extra bench player is most likely Mastroiani, I'm really pretty ok with seeing if we can get an extra start or two out of Duffey/Santana. Put another way, Duffey and Santana help the team more than Mastro even with the short bench. I'm ok with waiting a day or 2 to see, no offense to Mastro. It's ok if you're not. I'm outnumbered, so you're thinking with the vocal majority. I might join up as soon as tonight if the situation continues to drag, although I don't think that's their intention...

And I get the criticism, but the conundrum only really arises because Buxton and Kepler were sent down simultaneously preceding the bizarre retirement of David Murphy. I have a hard time blaming the organization for that. We've played some very very good teams so far this year. I can't blame the organization for that, nor for Perkins injury, Plouffe's injury, Santana injury, and rather dismal opening month for Dozier, Sano, and Rosario. Criticize the catching situation, criticize game management, platooning, shifting, or not signing an additional bull pen arm. Criticize forcing Buxton up, not holding on to Quentin, even hiring a manager with no managerial experience. They've also made some unpopular decisions that have worked out so far, ie Nunez, Nolasco, Arcia, to some extent maybe DanSan, Abad. I'm willing to wait a day or two before I call their plan/gamble an indefensible failure.

As stated, Plouffe's trip to the DL only further limits available moves. Either DL Santana for an extra bench guy (arguably option Duffey who would almost certainly and immediately be retroactively moved to the DL, I think he just shows the video and wins), or try to make due with either a desperately short bench or an over-taxed and already fragile pen.

Ok, well that was the one way I could say we would certainly need to adjust 25 man. I think then, our options, then are pretty limited, and I really don't understand the outrage.

But we haven't even seen anything play out. Even though we didn't use Meyer, I'm sure Molitor managed differently knowing he is available, possibly won us a game we would have lost. I want to see if Santana can come back within a couple days before I call anything "indefensible". I'm willing to see this play out before I call it bad management. Who knows, 2 good starts from Santana, Plouffe in the lineup against the Tigers, and we might call it good management.

Agree on the rationale for keeping Santana and Duffey, Disagree somewhat on the suspectness. If we don't add someone today or tomorrow, I'll agree. I like your point on Duffey, because it brings up another possible explanation... That the Pohlads want to wait to option Duffey so they don't have to pay the full 15 days of MLB pay. Seems far fetched but the history of this organization... Unrelated, how long has Plouffe been out? Isn't the DL retroactive? Like how many additional days of Plouffe are we missing by not DLing him? To me, that's the bigger beef if it's only a couple games.

Now this I can agree with! IE disagreeing with a plan is different from saying that there is no plan.

The Twins are, hopefully, betting on either Duffey or Santana being able to go this trip through the rotation. They don't want to DL Santana, and they CAN'T send Duffey down. If they DL Duffey, and end up having to DL Santana, then they feel having to start the clock on Berrios, or rely on Meyer or Dean for 2 weeks would hurt the team more than having to wait a day or two to track injuries. I'm not positive they didn't make the right choice. Realize it's a gamble either way is all I'm asking. Last night, the gamble paid off. Yet still the relentless criticism, once again, mostly, imho, based on anger over a rumored DMurphy - Max Kepler swap, which in my mind is again, entirely defensible, if not somewhat frustrating to most Twins fans.

Sorry Spycake. I wasn't trying to single out your postings. Just the 7 pages of mostly revisionist history posted to prove points or validate criticism without acknowledging alternative theories or arguments. As I've stated there's plenty to criticize without having to embellish or spin. Regarding the short bench, all I want is for people to acknowledge the horrible position we were in by having the short starts and long games. The call for more pitching makes sense, or is at least defensible. Trying to get an extra start or 2 out of (arguably) our best starter at the expense of a short bench for a game or 2 makes sense, or again, is at least defensible. I get the short bench handicap argument. Perhaps it would have helped yesterday, although I doubt Molitor pinch hits for our catcher more than maybe once before rosters expand this whole season. But again, you're failing to consider alternatives. For instance, if we don't call up Meyer, perhaps Molitor doesn't feel comfortable pulling Milone in the 5th with 2 on and 2 out. Maybe he tries to squeeze an extra hitter or 4. Ask me at that moment if I'd rather have depth on the bench or in the pen, and I'm taking the pen every time. In that way, the unpopular roster move may have won us a game. Perhaps in 3 days, Santana steps up and throws a gem and then again 5 days after that. I'm not saying that will happen. Maybe Santana throws a bullpen, starts in 4 days, tweaks his back and ends up on the DL anyway. I think most of the steam really just boils down to an apparent rumor of a swapping of David Murphy for Maximillion Kepler. I don't think it's a coincidence that Max was sent down the day after he made Escobar sprint 30 yards to complete a Willie Mays style catch while he jogged in with his glove under his arm to see the play occur at his feet. Youth is great, but effort and professionalism matter, no matter what anyone says.

We were pretty darn close to knocking off Strasburg and Salazar back to back. And we miss Kluber so let's get start winning some series!

Ozzie on his way back to being my favorite Twin. Quirky like Gomez, but misunderstood. Often criticized for, imo, struggles caused by trying too hard. Taking losses too hard, blaming himself for the team's losses. But I remember him energizing the whole team two years ago during the longest hottest part of summer (before he hurt his knee when Plouffe whiffed on a bunt and hung him out to dry). A lot of people thought he was a selfish player, but I saw him celebrate as much for getting an opposite field single as a big home run. He's trying to develop as a player, but he's young and emotional, and takes his failures very hard. His interview with Marney was all about adjusting to the moment, to the pitcher, shortening up and applying his practice to the game. Fun finish.

Not to quote my own quote but.... Also do the Hunter-less Twins seem awkward in celebrating? They should be having more fun after a win like that considering this weekend. It seems pretty forced.

Is Meyer available tonight? I've been waiting to see him ever since Milone started struggling.

At least he cares whether we win or lose.

If Murphy chose to go home over a call to the bigs, he should go on the DL and have his head examined instead. I don't think it matters however, because that sort of rogue out of nowhere refusal to earn Major League money is so unpredictable I can't fault the organization for not planning for that. We have a 40 man spot open right? So it wouldn't necessarily mean Mastro or Beresford, although I imagine it will be Mastroani who is more valuable at this point that Buxton and doesn't have to play like Buxton or Kepler would. Again, it sucks that we sent down Buxton and Kepler first, but Murphy refusing his promotion? I've literally never heard of that. It's not all that. It's the "Danny Santana shouldn't be on the team" the "Duffey should get sent down" even though he's injured and he can't, the JR Murphy needs to be sent down or start, the Twins have no plan at CF despite still have 2 capable CF's on the roster, with 2 young ones sent down, accusations that are unnecessarily piling on. There's lots to criticize. You can even criticize going into a game with a 2 man bench, but it's not fair to ignore 3 IP by Gibson, Tyler Duffey being hurt, but not bad enough to DL him, Santana being hurt but not bad enough to DL, and 16 innings the day before. Santana is the most obvious move, 15 day DL would be taking away 2-3 starts with the most obvious replacement nursing a bruised shoulder. I'm fine waiting an additional day or two in order to see how those 2 injuries progress before making a decision for the next 2 weeks. I don't think not having Mastro or Beresford or ABWII or even a recalled Polanco or Kepler makes much difference for the next 2 days. If ONLY we could have pinch hit... we'll say Polanco tonight, man this game would be so different... Not buying it. I'm not saying there isn't room for valid criticism, but there's also room for valid defense.

I really like the way Nunez takes professional at bats. I'm glad he's producing now that he's getting a chance. He's fun to watch, easy to cheer for, and representing well for the so called expendable replacement level veterans.

I'm all for venting frustration, discussing roster moves, and critical fandom in general, but this thread is a veritable witch hunt. First the baseless David Murphy terrorism. Then all the bashing of a 1 day roster forced by an injury and 16 inning game. Somehow, little mention of the 16 inning game directly following a 3 inning start from Gibby. I'm fine with 14 pitchers for 1 day when Sano, Santana, Nunez, Rosario and Arcia all have some level of position flexibility. Good grief. We've played the ESPN computers power ranking teams Nats (2), Royals (3), Orioles (4) and White Sox (6) for 12 of our 14 losses. You'd think we'd win some of ;those games, but what are you going to do? We were in many of those games with a lot of our young players doing next to nothing, and hopefully learning a little about getting yourself ready for the season. Rational suggestions please.