Shane Wahl

Dozier needs time off. Suzuki needs time off. Vargas and Polanco are two likely contributors, both of whom might be considered for the playoff roster. Something must be physically wrong with Arcia.

Remember, barring DL situations, players have to be on the 25-man roster before Sept. 1st to be eligible for the playoffs. Clearly, Graham or Duensing (maybe both) will be "getting an injury" for there to be 14 position players in the playoffs.

The Twins' four-game sweep of the Orioles has kept them very much alive in the 2015 wild card chase. On Tuesday, they start a big three-game series with another contender in the Tampa Bay Rays. A series win would put two games between the Twins and Rays and keep the Twins within a couple games, at worst, of the final wild card spot. This comes after a big fall in the first three weeks of August. It honestly looked like Terry Ryan had just given up on the 2015 season. There are some things to note that are positive going forward however. 1. Miguel Sano is very good. 2. Byron Buxton is up with the Twins and he should start to come around (though a move to the bottom of the order would seem justified). 3. Aaron Hicks will be back soon. This will mean a full starting lineup for the *first time all season.* 4. Kennys Vargas looks like a key roster piece to be added soon. 5. The bullpen--which was becoming a full-blown disaster--could re-emerge with some new faces and the return to form of older reliables. There are six guys involved here. Glen Perkins and Casey Fien returning to their "true" selves is one part. Trevor May's dominance in his 2015 role as a setup man is another. Kevin Jepsen being a Casey Fein clone/RH specialist is another. Finally, the proper use of Ryan O'Rourke and newly acquired Neal Cotts against lefties is the last piece. I don't care about JR Graham or Brian Duensing. Hopefully, both of them will "get injured" for the playoffs. 6. Three out of five starters pitching well in any five-game stretch isn't bad. We won't know who they are going to be ahead of time, but they can get this done. There are remaining things to question: Are the Twins going to commit to 11 pitchers in the playoffs instead of 12? Will Josmil Pinto return to get some at bats this September? What about Danny Santana? Will we get to see Max Kepler and/or Jose Berrios? It's been a sudden roller coaster ride, but the Twins have a chance to right this ship. The Yankees, Rangers, and Angels are in the way, and the Twins will need to pass two of them, but it can happen, obviously. Odds are that one of those three is going to falter anyway (my money is on the Rangers there). I still have hope for the playoffs this year.

It is so weird. And while there are some major "what ifs" regarding the bullpen (what if Fien is really back? What if Jepsen basically is the same as Fien? What if Cotts and O'Rourke are used effectively? What if Perkins' bit of rest gets him back), it suddenly looks different. Those five (when used properly) plus May give me a bit of hope there again.

I said somewhere 10/$175 million. I don't think the conversation even begins before then (nor should it). These low, low numbers are just completely ridiculous to talk about. It's 2015.

If I were Sano and my agent even mentioned an 8-year, $73.3 million deal I would fire that agent on the spot.

It's wicked. It's Ice Cube/Korn Wicked. Non-Twins announcers have been "like What?" If he adds a changeup that he can throw 10% of the time and continue to control that OKish fastball, he could be very good.

That the Twins have this many pitchers on staff and yet they still do not have enough for individual games is astounding. I still cannot understand how Terry Ryan has no accountability, ever. It's pretty shocking how this team has tossed away this season after being in a playoff spot at the beginning of this month.

I would expect the same initial struggles at AA with the stick, but I imagine he can figure it out. Certainly not one to be rushed unless the Twins are playoff-bound next year and need a defensive SS for the playoffs.

First question: Who do you think brings back more in a trade, Trevor Plouffe or Oswaldo Arcia? Second question: Who do you want on the roster more, Trevor Plouffe or Oswaldo Arcia?

It almost has to be an injury that he is trying to play through.

Yeah, that Shane Robinson is going to last this entire year on the roster is a total joke and a half. Buxton in AAA is comical.

2013, actually, was his first option year.

Yikes. Also, I forgot that Santana was out of options next year. He would really be sold low right now, and that is just not good. Arcia is performing bad now, but I doubt teams would really care about that so much (somehow the Twins do . . . ). Play Arcia or trade him, please. Mets?

If the Twins want to make a run at the WC still this year, I would advise calling up Berrios before Sept. 1 for obvious reasons. By the way, I like the promotion of Diaz! That is a solid, aggressive move.

Tanner English is quietly making a solid case for himself this year.

So this is a defense of staying put with an inadequate bullpen (and adding yet another inadequate middle reliever while trading away young talent) and not adding--in some way--one legitimate bat. K.

I listed him at 44 a few weeks ago. He has continued to climb.

Thank you! And Wade is an interesting guy to watch going forward.

I do not get, at all, the love for managers who get tossed. It's almost always completely stupid. There are maybe 2 or 3 instances in any season that could warrant the LEADER of the team getting tossed from a game. This was nowhere near one of them.

Short of Tulo, the Twins either need to move Escobar to SS or call up Polanco and hope for the best at SS. Santana needs to be in AAA. At SS (though they should give Beresford another chance there too) if no Polanco, or all over if Polanco is still there. Danny Santana's ceiling might just be a super utility player. It's possible that he ends up hitting as well as Escobar, but with much better speed. That would be good. Right now, his *basement* as a MLB SS is really, really low.

No one in the system is going to be better than Chris Herrmann or Eric Fryer right now. Pinto was the bright spot. People got hot about Turner and Stuart. The "Best Player Available" crowd always wankers on about its virtue, but not all players are created equal so there is obviously a small correction to be made to that stupid philosophy. I would only draft catchers, shortstops, center fielders, and maybe just super sluggers/speedsters at other positions. Then only starting pitchers in high schools, right-handed and left-hand starters in college, and left-handed relievers in college. I am an idiot relatively speaking here, but even I understand this.

Zobrist isn't a SS. End of story.

Important article. Molitor clearly has something against pinch hitting. Otherwise, what? Anyway, Arcia would be nice. After Buxton comes back in a month or whatever, the Twins could have two good bench bats and Eduardo Nunez still. Imagine that.

I am *always* in favor of that, and keep in mind that we are also talking about 28, 29, 30+ year olds too. I don't understand the mentality of having aging minor leaguers clogging the top of the system.