zwiefz

Believe it or not, I do have a Jeff Reboulet memory(although not a playing related one). During one post-game I saw him being interviewed(no idea why). This was sometime in the middle of the Michael Jordan/I Wanna Be Like Mike hysteria. Reboulet was wearing a shirt that said, "Forget Mike, I Wanna Be Like Puck". Man, I wanted that shirt bad. I searched and searched but never found one.

On radio broadcast Gladden was bashing the Blue Jays(rightfully so) for falling into the analytical trap and taking Berrios out too early. I'm glad it didn't end up making a difference, but I felt the same way about taking out Wallner so early for Castro. An earlier post talked about Julien, Lewis, and Wallner making such a huge difference in the second half of the season. Couldn't agree more, which is why I have one nit to pick......... Hindsight is 20/20(especially since Castro hit into a double play), but I was really looking forward to seeing Wallner hit with bases loaded and no outs. If he had connected for an extra base hit the place would have gone nuts. If he hit one out for a grand slam the stadium may well have imploded :)

Any word on Kuechel decision? Depending on if his AAA numbers are a mirage that could be a big add to roster?(or absolutely nothing)

Not interested at this point. Before we write him in on Cy Young ballots, go back and look at 2019. I am not a stat head, but when I read this article I seemed to remember similar thoughts(OMG, how did we land this guy so cheap???) early in the year before him ending up in the bullpen. A very brief look at his numbers showed that in his first 8 starts for the Twins(after getting inserted in rotation) he gave up 1.5 runs per game started through May 30. After May 30 he had 21 more appearances(some were bullpen I believe) and averaged 3.5 runs per start/appearance with some absolute clunkers in there. So he has had 'hot' stretches early in the year before. If he is still doing this at the trade deadline, then maybe. Way too early to see if he is an upgrade or a mirage. Besides, the entire rotation is such a shambles right now that not sure if even 1 great pitcher would make a difference over the long haul.

I think one thing that also influenced the decision to move on from Donaldson has been the emergence of Miranda. Two years ago the Twins had no 'elite' prospects at 3rd base. Now they do. Urshela is insurance at short or 3rd if they can't land someone like Story or Miranda doesn't do well. If they do, then Urshela is a utility guy. It's a huge if, but IF they did use the money saved from Donaldson to sign Story to a long term deal then that would make Lewis(and Martin to a lesser extent in my opinion) and maybe even Arraez(with Urshela/Gordon as utility) trade chips for pitching. Sanchez platoons better(offensively) with Jeffers than Garver and since he can also DH(maybe 1st base) you have the bench space to find a true backup catcher. Long story short-I can see several possible plans. And no, Falvey saying he doesn't "know" what will happen doesn't make him an idiot. It makes him a realist.

I can't see the games being rescheduled. Too many variables go into making schedules, namely stadium usage and other large events in played in cities. If they did rearrange the schedule, I can't imagine the nightmare that would ensue refunding every ticket, hotel room, etc that has already been purchased and then having to resell them again with the new schedule.

Glad he wants to be a starter and has confidence in himself. But what happens when the postseason rotation shrinks to 3? If healthy and pitching as expected Berrios, Odo, Pineda and Hill all could be better than him. So long as they let him make his 30 starts/get his incentives in the regular season will he be happy with going back to the bullpen?

MLBtraderumors has links to two reports that Twins are also sending a low level prospect to Dodgers. One specifies it is an outfielder.

Bunch of random thoughts: 1)Yes, the Twins said they were starting Graterol out in bullpen. But everything I remember seeing said that was because he didn't have anything more to prove in the minors, but also had never had his innings pushed to the point where he could be a year long starter. Don't remember anyone every saying he would NEVER be a starter publicly. The medical records may say it, but the Red Sox would never have known that. Starters are more valuable than relievers, even if it would have taken him a year or two to get stretched out to that point. 2)Of course Boras would say that he is healthy enough to start, Starters get more money than relievers. What else would an agent say? 3)If I were in charge I would still see if the Dodgers wanted to do a straight up swap of their own. Last year they used Maeda primarily as a reliever(for multiple reasons it appears). They clearly don't see him as a starter. But if they trade him they have an opening in the bullpen. So Graterol would be a cheaper, higher ceiling option. Regardless of the Red Sox, a trade between LA and MN still makes sense to me, both are trading from areas of strength to address areas of relative weakness.

Wish I had bought that discounted(still like $90) Joe Vavra jersey at the proshop a couple years ago. Didn't know they made jersey's for the coaches. Full disclosure, I almost did buy it anyway. My wife and I bought the best dog ever from him just as he got hired by the Twins. It always seemed like he(the dog) would recognize him every time he popped up on TV. Second random thought...I remember once Jeff Reboulet wearing a shirt in the locker room that said "Forget Mike, I Want to Be Like Puck". I searched everywhere for that shirt.

With or without Pineda I couldn't see the Twins beating the Astros pitching staff. This could end being blessing in disguise. He feels he owes team and gives them a bit of a discount on a new contract. If they were willing to bring back Big Erv after his, they should bring back Big Mike after his

I like the idea, but with one tweak. I don't think you can just say Pitcher B is going to follow Pitcher A. Starting pitchers are notorious for taking a long time to get warmed up to game speed. What then happens when Pitcher A gets shelled in the 2nd inning like Stewart or Gonsalves just had happen? If the plan had been for Pitcher B to come in after them then you are rushing them to get ready. So my tweak would be to say Pitcher A starts the 1st and Pitcher B will start the 5th. If Pitcher A has to be yanked early then you go with relievers until the 5th so that Pitcher B can go through their normal pregame warm up routine. If you rush them then you are asking them to prepare as a reliever, not a starter. And I think that is setting these young guys up for failure.

1)I agree completely. Arcia is always going to be a liability in the outfield and with Vargas/Sano in the future there is only so much room for so many all bat, little glove players. Arcia could actually net something in trade due to his age/power potential. I just hope if you are right that he doesn't turn into this decades Big Papi. 2)Have the Twins said for sure Arcia will be moved instead of Hunter? I've seen that come from a columnist/beat writer but who knows what Ryan/Molitor have in mind. For all the talk about Molitor being more metrically based its hard to believe he would be oblivious to how bad both of them in the outfield together would be. 3)Would people please stop comparing Hunter to Kubel, Bartlett, and Guerrier. Hunter was healthy and offensively productive last year(and several years prior) as compared to the huge unknown/gamble those three posed last year coming off horrible years(Kubel) or basically being out of baseball with injury(Bartlett, Guerrier) 4)I am all for bringing back guys like Eddie, Molitor, and Torii who can bring the 'Twins Way' back. That used to be a source of pride, of doing all the little things right, of maximizing talent. If this new, talented generation could be taught those things they could be amazing. Just because the 'Twins Way' has turned into a joke in recent years doesn't mean it can't come back to life.

Stringer- let me rephrase my first post, you're right: potential is too strong a word. How about this: hicks looked better in September than earlier in the season( which wasn't hard considering how low the bar was)

I agree that the Twins need to find an outfielder on a stop gap contract(1-2 years) until Buxton(hopefully) arrives. But I disagree with the idea that they need to focus on someone for left field especially. It is assumed that center will be manned by a Hicks/Shafer platoon. But if you can get a guy through free agency or trade who has a bat and a glove(say Rasmus) why couldn't they play center with the Hicks/Shafer platoon shifting to left. They would provide the same offense regardless of where they play, would be above average defensively for left fielders, would provide the center fielder the ability to cheat towards right to help Arcia, and lets be honest-if Hicks has a future with the team(and that is a HUGE if) it is going to be in a corner spot when Buxton comes up. Might as well get him adjusted to it now. So my answer is that I want the Twins to find the best outfielder they can, regardless of whether they have played center or a corner spot in the past. Hicks and Shafer showed potential at the end of the season, but not enough to say that they are entrenched in center field for the next season or two.