IndianaTwin

I think it will mostly come down to health -- not so much his, but other people's. For Sano, when he does come back, it will be with a rehab assignment. With several days off along the way. A minor league rehab assignment can be as long as 20 days. With the amount of time he's had off, it's hard to imagine something less than seven days, even if he crushes the ball. Much more likely is that it will take most or all of the 20 days. And unless he's crushing the ball in the minors, it's hard to imagine them clearing a 26-man spot for him on the shorter end of the 7-20 day range. Unless someone gets hurt, which is where the first part of the health comes in. If someone does get hurt, then you can clear a spot for him. If not, I think he stays in St. Paul for the full 20 days. More on that later. Unless someone gets hurt on another team. If that happens, and if he's crushing it in St. Paul, then maybe there's a smidgen of trade interest on him, IF the other team doesn't have a minor leaguer of their own. But it's hard to imagine receiving much of anything for him in a trade. Teams won't view it as 1.3-1.4 seasons of control, because there's virtually no team that is going to pick up the option at that cost. And someone's going to have to pay the buyout. If the Twins make the other team do that, the prospect return is even smaller. It seems more likely that the Twins would have to send cash to cover the buyout, if not also part of this year's salary. That's a lot of "if" and "unless," making me think it's very unlikely that a trade happens. Which brings us back to the rehab scenario. There's no point, and no savings, in a DFA, other than being able to keeping someone else in his stead when he's required to come off the rehab assignment. So it's back to a Twins player's health, and I'm guessing they wait as long as they can to make a decision. That means doing as much rehab as you can before you start the 20-day clock, UNLESS someone gets hurt or starts to slump. Then, they can use the whole 20 days if they need to, making the decision on how he's performing vs. however someone with options is performing, calling him up when there's a sense that he can improve the team. By then, yeah, if nothing has opened up and he continues to struggle, you can go ahead and consider a DFA, but realistically, that's not going to happen before the trade deadline when you consider that the rehab hasn't started and can last 20 days. And related -- given how Kirilloff, Arraez and even Miranda have played, given how poorly Sano plays first, and given that they will want to Sano from a re-injury, it seems very unlikely that he will get even an inning of 1B, either in rehab or when/if he comes up.

I suspect that one of the reasons the starters’ ERA ranks so high is that they HAVEN’T been left in long enough to melt.

Two questions: 1. What have been the relative stats of the Twins bullpen in the first half vs the second half over the past several seasons? (My sense is that they have consistently been better in the second half.) 2. How does that improvement (if I remembered correctly) compare with the league average? I would suspect that the league average in the second half is typically better than in the first half, since other teams are also jettisoning flotsam in the second half.

Arthur Carlson? And pro tip — turkeys can’t fly.

Can't go there -- it's Sunday.

Yes, I was having the same thought as I listened. Interesting that he identified Pelfrey as the example of a standup guy after struggling.

Sorry for breaking the rules, folks, but there were T-bones thawed out in the fridge. Beef is what's for dinner. I hope I don't mismanage the grill.

Not arguing that part -- just that what Rocco did made sense. Oh, wait -- that can't be right. Obviously Wes is making the pitching decisions today. ?

To pre-empt the "why Duffey" comments? Thielbar and Pagan have been used. Thornburg and Cotton unavailable after 35 and 25 pitches yesterday. Moran is just up from the minors and threw an inning yesterday. That leaves Duran, Jax, and Duffey. Do you... Go to Duran for two innings with a two-run lead (now three, thanks to scoring another run) heading into the massive Cleveland series? Go to Jax after 12 pitches yesterday? If he runs into any trouble and gets pulled, you're bringing Duffey into a trouble situation or asking Duran for more than an inning, including coming into to a trouble situation. Or go to Duffey? If he gets an out or two and gets in trouble, hopefully Jax can still get an out or two, but he doesn't have to go an entire inning. Or, you can still go to Duran, but only need four or five outs, rather than six. There's logic in the Duffmeister warming up.

This date in Twins history... Today we celebrate the 45th anniversary of @stewthornley climbing the foul pole at Metropolitan Stadium. I was an 11-year-old, enjoying Rod Carew Day from a seat down the right field line. Sir Rodney went 4 for 5, missing the cycle by a triple, driving in six, scoring five times and lifting his batting average to .403. He finished the day with four or five lengthy standing ovations in a 19-12 win over The Team That Wore Collars on Their Uniforms, But Whom Shall Remain Unnamed. Glenn Adams also went 4 for 5 and set a team record with eight RBIs, thanks in part to a second-inning grand slam off Steve Stone. Tom Johnson went 6.2 innings in relief to get the win, despite giving up seven runs along the way.

If I'm not mistaken, when they postponed the 13-pitcher requirement, they also postponed the limitation on callups in a season.

That should be CDO. It needs to be alphabetized.

Not to mention it was still a slow roller. And even if Correa hasn’t overshifted, Arraez has probably still shifted to some degree. Decent chance in that case that it gets through for a single OR just turns into a 4-6 force due to the slow ball.

So here’s one idea. Bundy went 107 pitches last time out, and next Wednesday they’ll be looking for a long outing after Tuesday’s doubleheader. Whether or not we agree with it, there’s logic in that thought process.

Twins have a DH on Tuesday. That’ s a logical time to bring Winder back.

Gladden: "I don't follow that WAR too close. That's Wins Against Replacements, right?" Gladden doesn't follow WAR. I'm shocked...

And Thielbar mows down Toro.

I taught my son the alphabet by naming that A is for Albury, B is for Bostock, C is for Carew...

FTFY: Every day I get more and more appreciative of the White Sox front office for hiring this 77-year-old manager...?

Earlier today, there was a post pretty harshly asking the question of why Soto was activated yesterday, rather than Kirilloff. The first response was, “Because Rocco’s mind is on its own private island, surrounded by excel (sic) spread sheets (sic) and BP usage charts.” The fourth response was, “…I’m not surprised as this FO makes very strange roster moves plus Rocco doesn’t seem to have a clue unless his spread sheets (sic) tell him what the clue is.” You and others rightly called out these posters, naming that the decision in question wasn’t a Rocco decision, though he likely had input into it. (And, I’d add, today’s DFAing of Soto pretty much answered the question as to why he was activated rather than Kirilloff, but that’s another discussion.) But to me, the two posts I quoted were examples of posters who “**** all over [Rocco].” I recognize that “few” is an imprecise term, but my perspective is that it happens pretty regularly. It seems there’s a lot more than just a few of takes that don’t really question moves or offer other opinions — they just call Rocco an “idiot” or some other condescending terms. To put it another way — for various reasons, I’ve not been as active during Game Threads this year, but I’ve read a fair number of them after the fact. Similarly with the Game Recaps. In both cases, it feels like there’s been a lot of inappropriate bashing of Rocco (and by “inappropriate,” I’m meaning demeaning, not just a healthy difference of opinion).

Buxton could get chosen, but it’s really hard for me to see him actually go, when there’s a golden opportunity for extended rest.

They are on pace for 92.95 wins. Regression to the mean suggests a slip backwards. At present, they are well above average in the number of players on the IL. Regression to the mean in health suggests a step forward in comparison to other teams. As a whole, they are youngish. Continued development suggests improvement. The front office has made trades every year at the deadline. This year's trades are more likely to add to current talent than to subtract. With the net of those four pearled items, I think they will pick up at least the remaining .05 wins needed to end up at 93 or more.

Check back in, and let us know where you agree/disagree.

Definitely agree on the heat. We spent several days in Texas and were exhausted after moderate activity, but were pretty relaxed after the game. It definitely takes a toll, and I'm guessing the regularly going elsewhere and returning makes it difficult to acclimate.

Where was Drew (Butera) when we needed him?