gocgo

Any concerns on Plouffe at this point?

It wouldn't make sense to have Hunter around to mentor Hicks if Hicks is in AAA, so I think he is a given as well. I also am not a fan of Nunez, but I also don't see a better option at this point. A young guy with lots of speed and limited upside would fit the role. Any suggestions...or do you keep Chris Herrmann as a super duper utility role?

I don't have very much confidence in our starting pitching because the numbers show that very few starting pitchers are successful after age 32. Santana and Nolasco are both 32, so my expectations are low.

Perfect fit...for the White Sox.

Am I the only one watching that swing of Hicks from the left side and seeing sooo many flaws? His weight is shifted early, his bottom half is bailing toward first like a left handed curve ball was thrown and his top half is desperately reaching to the third base slide. He'd be lucky get a foul ball on that swing. Granted, it is only one really bad swing, but if my 11 year old swung like that, I'd stop and correct him.

Mr. St. Peter, I would like to hear your assessment of the AL Central team by team. Here is mine: KC - young, hungry, on a roll, using the tools they have to the max (base running, defense, etc.) Detroit - Scherzer a FA, Verlander on the downward slide, not a strong defense. Downward spiral coming with a dried up farm system.. Cleveland - not good, not bad. Just flatlined and I don't see that changing unless they grab a high end pitcher and improve their defense which was not good. Chicago - previous GM sold the farm with the "All In" year that didn't pan out. It will take them a while to restock the shelves. They did catch lightning in a bottle with Abreu and they do have a high end pitcher with Sale. After that....yech! Minnesota - no high end starter to compete with the Scherzers/Sales. Offense is where it needs to be to compete, although Mauer at first is not ideal. Outfield defense needs to improve along with offensive productivity.

I think we can all agree that this team is much better than the team we started the year with!

Lots of good observations/comments. I think us long time Twins fans still recognize good baseball, so I don't think we have become complacent and accepting of the product on the field. I watch, but I haven't been to a game in 2 years because of the product on the field. I see a couple of problems outside of pitching that are tough fixes. Generally, your winning teams are solid on the corners defensively and/or get great offensive production from those spots. Mauer and Plouffe aren't those guys. Mauers offensive production as a catcher was well above average, but is well below average for a 1st baseman/DH. For the last couple of years, we've needed a shortstop that is good defensively and hits above .250. We now have 2 (or at least we think we do). IF Sano is major league ready, the Twins have the question of what to do with Plouffe. If he can play outfield, he could play a role as a superutility guy playing some 3rd and some left/right field. If he can't, what do you do with him? I don't see a future for him with the Twins. Schafer would be a good 4th outfielder, I agree. However, that assumes that Hicks is ready to play left and produce at the plate and that assumes that Buxton is ready for center field. While I would love to agree that we are only a couple of positions away, I can't yet because of all the questions regarding 3rd, CF, and even 1B/DH....and I haven't even gotten to the pitching yet. I will say that I am hopeful for a brighter future...just not convinced that I'll want to buy a ticket next year yet.

OK, specifics....here we go. I don't like an Ozzie hiring. I always thought he was the one guy that Gardy could out manage during a game. Ozzie was a loose cannon with a loose tounge. He threw players under the bus via the press. The only thing he brings is that he speaks Spanish...and that isn't enough for me. Front office: Keep Terry Ryan. I like the moves he's making and the overall direction of the team and organization as a whole. The minors are getting restocked and the team should be better down the road. Managers: Gardy - replace with Molitor Anderson - replace with Cuellar I like the idea of bringing up Jake Mauer to fill in for Molitor in the dugout and/or if Molitor gets tossed (which I can't see happening). I'm also hoping that Jake can give a swift kick whenever Joe needs it....we all need it sometimes. The team: Dozier - solid building block and plays hard. Keeper. Mauer - like it or not, we are stuck with a contract that he cannot live up to at first base or DH. Keep because we have no other choice. No other team will take that contract. Suzuki - I consider him the key to the Twins future. If the young guys are smart, they will take notes from him and his approach to the game. Vargas, Santana, Escobar - keep, keep, keep, learn, learn, learn Esco is our utility without a dropoff. Santana at SS and Vargas/Mauer rotating first/DH Plouffe - on the fence simply because I see no spot for him with Sano coming up and Esco as a utility. I think he should have been traded. Arcia - he's the one weak defensive player that I would keep for his stick which I think will continue to improve. Hicks - I'm willing to give him another chance simply because he is a rare athlete. Buxton - please arrive and be what everyone thinks you can be Schafer - possible 4th OF, but if Plouffe can play a decent OF, he might be out due to Plouffe being a superutility guy. Parm, Nunez,Herrman - No future with the team. Pinto - Hmmm. Needs to catch, but I think it has to be in the bigs and he has to learn from Suzuki. The question is whether he can improve more at AAA or in the bigs playing part time. I say keep him up in the bigs. Pitching: Let's see what spring training brings.

I understand what you are saying, but the inverse of keeping those underperforming veterans around is the conflicting message that it sends to the guys in the minors. Want to get promoted? Perform! Perform better than a veteran? Well, not so fast because we're still going to take the veteran over you.

I agree with many of the comments posted here and I think what frustrates me the most is probably what frustrates many of you. I'm not a baseball guy...and odds are that you aren't either. Don't get me wrong, we all love the sport and probably know more than the average fan, but, while we would all like to play GM or manager for a season, the reality is that we will never get that shot and even if we did, would probably fail miserably...and that's where the frustration comes in. If we, who are not baseball guys, could see that Bartlett was not deserving of a roster spot and certainly shouldn't have been put out in left field to showcase that fact, why couldn't the baseball guys? As we watched Kubel swing away in spring training and could see that his bat speed was not where it needed to be, we heard Gardy say "I don't worry about Kubel". Really? Because we, the non-baseball guys, worried about Kubel. What frustrates me more than anything is that I would like to believe that these guys are better at their jobs than we, the non-baseball guys, would be...and yet, their decisions make me question whether they are.

The whole thing makes me want to lock up Suzuki. Obviously, him and Bruno are working well together regarding his hitting.

I feel like the Twins dodged a bullet while intentionally stepping out in front of a firing squad when I read all three articles.

It occurred to me after reading the link below how the Twins really got lucky this year when AJ Pierzynski turned down a 2 year contract offer. I know in the past Gardy has been criticized about keeping "clubhouse guys" around and in some cases that criticism has come from me. However, after reading the article on Pierzynski, it occurred to me how underrated good clubhouse guys are in comparison to a clubhouse cancer. When you think about where the Red Sox were, it's hard to think that one guy could bring them that far down and I think there are other factors that contributed to the fall, but it's hard to ignore what the article points out about how one guy can create such a drag on a clubhouse. http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2014/07/10/aj-pierzynski-problem-was-worse-anybody-could In the past, the Twins have had some clubhouse cancers like Kevin Slowey, but I am curious why they were willing to ignore Pierzynski's reputation enough to offer him a two year deal knowing of his subpar catching skills. Also, do we have any current guys in the clubhouse that have a similar effect as AJ?

Hey, hey, hey! We avoid the shutout!

Bone bruises take an eternity to heal.

Not a bad idea, but it really makes management look bad to do that. Also, what if Nolasco gets hurt running the bases?...Hey! What if Nolasco gets hurt running the bases! Yeah....that's the ticket!

So far 7 of the 9 batters for the Angels have at least one hit....in the 3rd inning.

Looking like BP today for the Angels so far.

Not a bad idea, but it really makes management look bad to do that. Also, what if Nolasco gets hurt running the bases?...Hey! What if Nolasco gets hurt running the bases!

Ooh, Florimon may actually dip below .100 today. That's just depressing. You would think he could bunt and bat .100. I bet most pitchers have better BA than that.

Recipe for a no-hitter today.

A couple of things complicate this. First, we are a half game out of a wildcard spot...do we look to add talent or do we build for the future? I see Matty G getting sent down/cut...so that won't happen. All of this assumes Pelf gets things on track. Willingham...not sure what to do other than get him back up here and hope he produces, but what if he doesn't? No trade value unless he produces. Ugh, the curse of mediocrity.

Well, yeah. I don't mean to pee on anyone's parade, but I think we will have ample opportunity to sign him if we want. At this point, it would be crazy to trade him if he was brought in to tutor Pinto considering that we probably wouldn't get much for him.

Whoa! Hold everything. Yes, his hitting is better than expected, but he was brought in for defense. I think I heard last night that Twins catchers have thrown out 1 guy in something like 22 attempts! If he puts the ball anywhere close to 2nd base last night, we have the runner out. Instead, it ends up 6 feet up the line towards 2nd base and into center field. I'm not screaming for more.