DocBauer

Random Thoughts? OK, bullpen, this year and next. May should never have been taken out of the rotation in the first place, and should most definitely be inserted back now. I don't buy the whole "he's not stretched out at this point" arguement. He was a month ago. The Twins have an EIGHT MAN BULLPEN right now right? How many starts before he's stretched back out? Two? Three? With all due respect to Duffey, who I think is a very solid prospect, who I hope does well, May has proven a hell of a lot more at this point as aML starter. And Duffy's stuff and past experience would make him a solid candidate for work as a reliever. Mostly love what Molitor has done this season, though I have questioned a few roster moves here and there. This one I really don't get. Despite taking the loss the other night, Jepsen is helpful. Fien getting healthy, or confident, or whatever, and just throwing like he normally does, helps a ton. Graham has really surprised and may have a real future. Boyer is still OK for lower leverage, middle innings, at least for now. We're better from the port side lately wit Duensing doing better and O'Rourke doing well. Next year? One major FA signing from the RH side. It's necessary and will be done. Jepsen, possibly Fien as well, give really nice depth. From there? Graham, Duffey, Pressly, Tonking, Achter and Oliveros all competing for what might be a single open spot. Duensing's tenure may finally be over. But LHRP and quality are tough to find. A failed LHSP or fading one that can be converted? The Twins have done it before and done so wit much success. That would leave Rogers, O'Rourke, Thompson all fighting for a second LH spot. (Did I miss anyone) I think the pen potential in '16 bodes well with that one single, quality move. ($5-6M ?) A second really makes things work. (Too many milb relievers too far away at this point despite potential) For the rest of this year? We're not great, but we are better.

I also feel Plouffe could be excellent trade material, and all but a few teams are secure enough to not consider him a pretty good upgrade. But I'm not convinced he is traded, or needs to be traded. Bullpen: The Twins will make at least on major signing here. They need to. Someone with a track record, or just busting out, for $5-6M that they feel they can count on for the 8th. They have enough solid to good arms from the RH side to complete that portion of things, I think they finally move on from Duensing. They will also look for a LH reliever, though good ones are hard to find. A failed or failing LHSP for conversion perhaps? They have a successful history of doing so. Catcher: I'm not so sure Arcia and a couple prospects, possibly Polanco, don't get this accomplished. The Mets maybe who may still have a big need offensively?

Going all the way back to McPhail, the Twins, and Ryan, as an organization, have made the majority of their trades in the offseason. They build their team, run with it, making internal tweaks throughout the year. The trade for Stewart a few years back was an abnornality, but one that wirked. A couple decades before that was the move for Niekro. (Mixed results) This lineup changes when Buxton can claim the leadoff spot. When that happens, Dozier is in the mix for anywhere from 2-5. I like 4 or 5 w Sano if a couple other things fall in place. Plouffe, a better Rosario and Kepler make me feel a lot better as well in the lineup construction and depth. Nice thing is, all of this can start taking shape as early as '16, with a possible preview this September. In regard to May, with all the complaining about not developing young SP, and how bad the rotation has been up until this year, how can anyone not believe May belongs in the rotation? He pretty much lead the team in every peripheral before the pen move, was getting better and better, and has a bright future. You only put him in the pen if he fails as a starter, or you legitimately have 5 better starters.

This could be fun! Absolutely, positively, May and Duffey should be reversed here, but again, May isn't stretched out. Of course, with the size of the bullpen right now, I have to wonder how many games would it take for May to get stretched back out again?

Duffey="the Assassin"

Actually, with the DH, Kepler possibly playing some 1B, you COULD keep all 5 if you only keep one utility INF. I don't think that's practical, however, and more than likely one of these guys is gone in some sort of move. Still not 100% how good anyone will end up being, of course, but I'm betting Arcia is the odd man out in this mix. That leaves a potentially excellent and versatile OF with a balance of hitting, speed, power and defense as well as LF and RH hitting. Mauer, Sano and Plouffe for 1B/3B/DH, and this whole lineup starts to look tantalizing!

Just for fun and some real perspective sometime, go back and look at early career error totals for 2B, SS and 3B that are/were considered stars and Gold Glovers. I have, and I've posted a few interesting numbers here before. Good to outstanding defensive players seldom arrive that way. Sano will be just fine, given a little time and patience.

100%! Words right out of my mouth. But Polanco to AA??? I call BS on this one. His bat is ML ready, or awfully close. He's earned his ticket to Rochester. While I like Santana and continue to root for him and hope for the best, if anyone needed to go to AA it's Santana to find himself with less pressure.

Tell me at the end of this post you don't feel a bit better and that you don't hear Bobby McFerrin's smooth voice singing to you: "Don't worry............................be happy." So your favorite baseball team is winning, is in contention for a playof spot, actually holds said playoff spot, but has been scuffling a bit as of late. You are anxiously awaiting the trade deadline for your team to make a move to create a spark, to get back in the winning path, and to make September, and hopefully October, really mean something for the first time in a while. Speculation and anticipation runs as rampant as a Byron Buxton triple or Oswaldo Arcia tracking a fly ball in the outfield. One by one you see the days and hours tick away until the deadline...(trying to ignore August waiver trades which also seem to happen because it's just not as much fun)...and team after team, player after player, and trade after trade is reported in the news. EXCEPT...not YOUR team. And then, shortly before the deadline, the much anticipated move takes place. You pull up a web page with excitement and a bit of trepidation, and you glimpse a headline. Your team made a move! A trade! Someone new is coming in help rally the team and the season! Your Twins have joined the play for playoffs party! Except......except....there's nothing splashy here. There's no home run. No race around the bases. No walk off single in the bottom of the 9th with two outs. No, your team has traded a solid, intriguing, but not yet top prospect who happened to be fun and your favorite Abbott & Costello character, (let's be honest, a lot of pitching prospects ahead of Hu still at this point), for someone that might actually help...at least a little...but who feels like an intentional walk from a pitcher who was already 3-0 before he got the manager's call. (Don't point, I know there was a second party involved in the deal) Nothing splashy. Nothing fun. Nothing that really feels like a difference. Honestly............you feel kind of cheated. "Don't worry.........................be happy" The 2011 Twins were just plain old bad luck, black magic, Murphy picked our team to root for on a bad/typical day, hoodoo voodo that nobody and nothing could undo. It wasn't even bad performance so much as nobody decent was ever healthy enough TO perform. 2012 was a misguided, over-sight, 20-20 says foolish and plain wrong, attempt to just get healthy, retool, and "get back out there because we still got something to work with" season. The Twins were wrong. It didn't work. 2013 and 2014, as I have stated previously, were attempts made by TR, the front office, and probably Gardy and his staff to some blindfolded, last cigarette degree, to put something on the field that would resemble an OK, fairly competitive, keep the merchandise and beer flowing and the turnstiles turning with false optimism while we start to rebuild behind the scenes with draft picks, trades, and amateur FA signings. Obviously, none of that worked. However, the hand of fate or the baseball gods...possibly Mother Nature or Paul Bunyan, (or their love child offspring) pissed at the removal the the trees in centerfield...decided to throw a very unfriendly and un-funny monkey wrench in to the development grinder with additional injuries to some of the ML FA brought in, but also to several prospects, including the Twins top two prospects, possibly the TOP TWO PROSPECTS in all of baseball at the time. Not saying the Twins could have or would have won in 2014, but think how much better and more fun the season might have been with Buxton, Sano, Pelfrey and Nolasco all healthy. "Don't worry.......................be happy." A few months ago, the pundits predicted a last place finish in the AL Central, and another losing season. The question was could they avoid losing 90 games for a 5th straight year. Optimists pointed to a few strong players, a strong milb system, and conjectured if the team might have a shot at .500 in 2015. This is also exactly what transpired here on TD in pre-regular-mean something season debates. The arguements for and against a .500 and less than a .500 season blew like Blyleven homers! But to ALL of our surprise, (don't fib now), the Twins have been one of the best/top teams in all the AL for just about the entire season up to this point. They were maybe the worst team I have EVER seen the first 8 games, (still not sure how they won the one they did), and everyone panicked. Then they played great, and even had the best record in the AL briefly. Then they slumped. Everyone panicked. Then they played really good ball again, right up until the All Star break. Then they came out of the break slow and slumping. And everyone panicked again. This season is fun. This season is not done. Nor are the Twins. We are still in this. If moves alone made a season, the A's would be defending World Champs. From the begining, this season was never about winning. It was about health, development, steps in the right direction, being competitive, promotions, and getting ready for 2016 and beyond. While I didn't really expect or want the Twins to get wrapped up in the golden calf of temptation and make a 9+PTBNL for 6 scenario, (believe me, the 2AM weird and wacky dream part of me actually had some logical scenarios where this could happen), the hairless Moses of the Twin Cities, Terry Ryan himself, tapped his baseball bat staff and cried out loud: "I will not let my prospects go!" (Pretty sure I'll be struck by lightening at some point for that one) But this season, this fun, this "still in contention" despite not making the BIG or fun move is all good. "Don't worry.....................be happy" The season will unfold as it will. With pre-maturity expectation that collapses, or, continued contention that leads to October with a somewhat predictable outcome all things considered. No matter what, there should be no dark cloud over the '15 season, what we have seen, what shall yet transpire, and the possible magical mystery tour that could be September.....win or lose. Other than Meyer and Thorpe being out with TJ surgery, (which we all knew in the pits of our stomach was going to happen), what has gone wrong in the Twins milb system this year? Answer: not much of anything. Sure, a few relievers didn't live up to expectation. Other than that....WOW! Winning teams, top performances, promotions, development, ML debuts, etc. Right now, other than the bullpen and catcher, the biggest problem you can say about our Twins is that maybe they are too young. Whaaaaaat?! No, seriously! Gibson, second season. (Real season, not a short and poor debut) May, first season. Santana and Escobar, disappointing, but still talented, still young, still with potential. Rosario, first season. Hicks, still so young, limited games, FINALLY putting it together. Buxton, made it, flashed it, got injured. Sano.....forget it....what do you say? And there is a progressive, cleated march towards Minnesota, and Target Field from various points east and south. Consider a very real and very logical look at your 2016 Minnesota Twins who did NOT give in to temptation and sell the farm for the winning cow at the fair. (Is that a saying or did I just make that up?) OF: Rosario, Hicks, Buxton (immediately or soon), Kepler (ditto) and hopefully/possibly Arcia as a part-time OF who will DH and PH as well. He could also be decent-solid trade material for a team needing LH power and being intrigued. Rosario and Hicks are almost a given, Buxton, healthy to finish out the season, is almost a given. Kepler, up to Rochester soon, the Twins in September, and maybe another round of fall or winter ball, should be right behind. Wow! We could have a nice young mix of hitting, speed and power, (various degrees) in our OF made up of 4 current and former CF'ers. INF: Mauer at 1B. Which Mauer? Jury is still out. Is it a failing, flailing, gasping Mauer? Or is it the one who has been making adjustments, playing a nice 1B, coming through in the clutch and "transitioning" in his career? I hope the latter. He will also DH on occassion. 3B is Sano and Plouffe, who will share, DH, and Plouffe will also play some 1B. Dozier is Dozier. SS will be the talented bat and athletic Polanco who just needs a little more time/experience/patience defensively as most young infielders do, or the very solid and better when playing every day Escobar, or the very talented and enigmatic Santana who could explode at any moment. I know it's not settled by any means, but there is real talent there gang! Whoever doesn't start joins Nunez, possibly Beresford, as quality depth, with someone at AAA waiting in the wings and refining his game. C: The one weak spot. Suzuki makes a nice backup and possible platoon or quasi platoon option. A veteran like AJ to work with for a year until an option is found internally or externally? (Pinto with maybe one more shot providing he can keep his head from being used like a "whack-a-mole" carnival game?) Rotation: Hughes, Santana, Gibson, May, Nolasco, Milone, Berrios, Duffey, Rogers. These are 6 SP with ML history and success, veteran and youngster, a tip-top prospect and a pair of solid milb prospects just behind. Bullpen: Perkins. Jepsen no doubt, though I like him better, thus far, in the 7th, as I do Fien, who also probably makes it. Graham? Mixed bag this season, but he has potential, and has flashed at times. How much better could he be next season building on this one? Pressly is at least OK. Tonkin, Achter, Oliveros...will get a shot. LH? Well, you know the names, Thompson, O'Rourke, Thielbar maybe, Darnell....date I suggest it...could Duensing rebound enough to convince the Twins to bring him back yet again? Clearly, catcher and the bullpen are the two area that need to be scrutinized for next season. I'm sure there will be at least one solid FA signing for the pen before next season. But at least there are options to look at, run through, audition and choose from. There is even a real chance Duffey and/or Rogers could help big time in the pen. Meyer? An enigmatic but very talented option for the rotation or bullpen who could have the light turned on to bright with a snap of the fingers. Yes, there is room for some work to be done. But look at the talent and potential of that OF, INF and rotation. Consider the depth of talent here, and coming, and realize the Twins have options for promotion, trade, and FA fill ins for the pen and catcher spot. (Partially because they didn't panic and make a bunch of prospects for rental or high priced aging MLer trades at the deadline) So relax. Root for our Twins. Urge them on. Enjoy the remainder of the season. Look forward to the continued development of so many youngsters. Get ready for some September games and player promotions that should be fun. But mostly........ "Don't worry.........................be happy." Told you so.

Now, just Hu are you referring to?

I think Hu was a great story and I'm sorry to see him go. Do I think we paid too much? Yes I do. I don't believe we were robbed, however. The jury is still very much out on Hu and how good he might potentially be. (Same as all milb prospects) There are several SP prospects in the system that would rate higher. Not the guy I wanted, but he's not just a rental. He will be re-united with a familiar coaching face in Allen. The 8th inning is now better. This could/should make the 7th inning now better. I'm not totally happy, but I'm not looking for a bridge because a nice A ball prospect is gone for ML help in the pen now and next year.

Escobar SHOULD be starting. But not the next few games. If Polanco is up, he needs to be in the field and in the lineup. At least for 2 of his probable 3 games.

Agree with both Brock and Leviathan completely! There IS improvement to be made. And there ARE moves to be made. I appreciate Molitor believing in the talent and potential of Santana. And I also would not write him off. It would be foolish to do so considering his talent, and some off potential and flash we've seen. But he looks lost and overmatched...to be fair and honest...a lot of the time, not all the time. But now is not the time for continuing auditions from your starting SS. Escobar is flat out better at this time and needs to be in there. Pelfrey has been very solid for the club. He was a big boon once upon a time. But May is younger, more talented and more productive on several levels. (Numbers show it along with the eye) And to remove such a potentially strong piece out of your rotation for someone who is NOT a part of your future is ridiculous. The bullpen needs help. The Twins have options like Duffey who are viable to audition and help. But there are enough veteran arms out there, like Benoit, that they could undoubtedly acquire without mortgaging anything, that I'm in favor of such a move. Benoit to solidify the 8th, bump Fien to the 7th, (where I've said for a while he belongs), depends the pen with little sacrifice. We might even sign said veteran again this off season for '16. It would be an investment the Twins could afford, but also, sorry to say, Burdi, Jones and others aren't knocking on the door just yet. And I gotta be honest, I'd love a low cost shot at AJ teaming with Zuke behind the plate. Absolutely nothing special behind the plate, but they would undoubtedly provide confidence from the staff, could offer an OK-ish platoon or quasi-platoon offensively. And maybe, just maybe, if the right deal isn't there this next off season for a young option, the Twins might try to ride that duo for one more year.

May never should have been taken out. But it's time to put him back. He not only represents the future...where Pelfrey doesn't...but he very likely was the best SP in the rotation at the time of the move. Very, very short sighted to appease a solid, but nonetheless mediocre, veteran who doesn't have a future with your club over a high talent, high performance youngster because....because....because...

Man, a guy could get whiplash at times when reading these boards. Promote the kids! Play the kids! No! Trade the kids away for veterans. The Twins millions of dollars, (not a,ways wisely I agree) on Pefrey, Nolasco, Santana and Hunter...while being tied to a few others...and have invested in their own roster with contracts for Perkins and Dozier. And they have not once said they refuse to make any additional moves because payroll is maxed out. But they are cheap and miserly because they don't want to invest in multi-million multi-year contracts of players on other teams? How dare the Twins not be willing to sacrifice 3 or 4 top prospects for 30yo veteran players who will be paid $20M + until they are 35-36 Ish. There is a difference in making moves to make moves, and making proper and responsible investments.

No. No. And.....finally.....no. A couple hiccups. Happens to just about every single pitcher, every single year at sometime. Could be early, could be late, could be coming off the All Star break where routines get interrupted and pitchers sometimes get an extra day off, or two, that maybe they didn't need. Did I say no yet?

Exactly! One of Two things is going to happen with Arcia. First things first, however,the Twins absolutely and positively will look at a FA signing or two for the bullpen, and they will also be looking to sign or trade for a catcher. Now, it's possible any of these potential FA signings could include a player "rented" for the balance of this season and then re-signed if the market skews away from the Twins making a trade or different FA signing.. Now, concerning Arcia, someone is going to recognize the talent, potential and past streaks of production and be excited despite the struggles of this season, and be glad to include him in a deal. He is, after all, very talented and still quite young. OR, the Twins will trade prospects/sign FA to fill in a spot or two for the '16 club and Arcia will be a valuable component of said team, possibly beyond, as a LH part time corner OF and DH. Either is very possible, and IMO, the only two options. Which is all the more reason to get him back up to MINNESOTA for the stretch run of the season. And we all know there is roster room. Hate to state the obvious, but Kepler has a big, big bearing on this as well. All the more reason a healthy Kepler needs to get up to Rochester ASAP.

I get O'Day. Like former Twin Pat Neshak, you don't always have to thrown hard to get the job done. But still, I'd think a power arm, experienced, can still do the job like Benoit makes more sense.

Wieters as a possible FA signee, assuming his poor season keeps the cost down. The guy probably will bounce back nicely overall, but I hear rumors of 4 years and $60M for a guy, even a catcher, post surgery-bad year-limited games played, which just sounds way too big of a deal for me. I'm interested, and I know the market goes crazy at times, but WOW! But he does nothing for me at this point as a short term trade option. I'd much rather hold on until after the season, take stock of our team, our minors, let other teams do the same, and then look for a match for a younger catcher with upside. I know it's not as easy as that, of course, but there have been several options discussed right here on TD that could make real sense. Honestly, if I were to trade for a veteran catcher, potential FA right now it would probably by AJ. At least he's LH with a little pop. If Garver and Turner finish this season strong like they did last season, if I don't have an immediate trade partner available in the off season, I might consider AJ back for another year, take my shot with he and Suzuki and roll with them for another year.

I see this Kepler guy on just about every list there. He must be pretty good huh?

Ok...completely off the wall...as are many of the liners given up by the bullpen...but what about Pelfrey and Milone both moved to teams needing rotation depth for a couple of relievers, put May back in the rotation where he belongs and shouldn't have been removed from in the first place...and bring up Duffey for the 5th spot to see what he could do? Rogers on deck, so to speak.

OK, think and hope that fixed the issue. Grrrr. Nothing like stepping on your own headline.

OK......my bad! Or rather...my 4 yo IPad I usually use when posting. Despite my editing, "Robinson" became Richardson. Apparently, the parent Apple company has an affinity for SOMEONE named Richardson. I will re-edit the post and hope the IRS discovers this mysterious "Richardson" person.

The lineup has been inconsistent all season. Sano makes a difference to be sure. But that's a hell of a lot of pressure on a rookie who wasn't even around for most of the first half when this team played its way in to contention. Arcia was sent down for a reason. And he's been kept down for a reason. Look, im a lover and supporter of Arcia, have been and will be. Dude is NOT a bad egg. But young dude also needs to "get it" to some degree eventually. Pure athletic ability and power isn't enough. He doesn't have to be a hit/AVG or OB machine, but he can't just swing for the fences all the time. Do people really hate Nunez? Or are they just upset that the roster isn't deep enough to keep him as a nice utility player? Since the Twins acquired him, all he's done is hit and play OK to "ish" defense at multiple positions. Isn't that what he is supposed to do? I'd bring him back for '16 at this point. There is a lot to like here folks. This is a retooling club that is getting younger by the day. Lots of young players getting their feet wet while contributing to a winning ball club. Let go the angst and enjoy the ride.