HarmonK03

But yet Arcia has been moving around the diamond and not really much at SS. So move Gray out and put Culpepper in.

You can always change the roster if you don't have a player to fill a certain position. Personally I think it should be Lewis, Culpepper and Keaschall from third to second. Lee should be the one moving around, he has the experience at the infield positions. And there is no reason there isn't enough AB's for everyone. Either call up Sabato or roll with Clemens at 1B. Bell's AB's get reduced so Lewis and Keaschall can DH when Lee plays 2nd or 3rd.

This is basically the same front office, so even though it will be Zoll making the final call, I don't expect better results.

I understand earning your role, but you can't keep moving people around and then say they didn't earn it. You have to give them time and let them get comfortable. Not every player is comfortable moving around, this isn't Little League.

If you watch him, he actually has brought back his leg kick and he has mentioned that has helped him with his timing. The few times I watched him in St. Paul, I did see him go the other way more often. Now whether he needed more time in St. Paul, I wouldn't necessarily disagree. But he needs to figure it out up here at some point otherwise a decision needs to be made regarding his future.

I have given my thoughts many times on the comments relating to Lewis. The hate on Lewis has gotten over the top on here lately. Yes his performance was poor this year. Many have said he has a bad attitude and won't play another position like 2B, then when he does and isn't an instant gold glover he is trash. You said he didn't face any major league pitching and he did yesterday, didn't get a hit but it just shows there is going to be minimal rational discussion around Lewis and it is getting out of control. I am not responding to every comment just like many others who use the thumbs down.

The infield configuration was not good in the 9th inning. They got lucky that didn't cost them this time. You can't put Lewis or any other player in the position of playing a new position in a one run game unless it is an emergency. And this was not an emergency. We are seeing a lot of fielding miscues and some of that is due to miscommunication, which is going to happen with this philosophy.

I think that point has arrived with Gray and Kreidler.

That is your interpretation not mine.

Actually in June Keaschall is 3 for 17 and if you count the last two games in May he is 7 for 25 in his last 7 games before today. You can use any stats you want but regardless he has been looking better and demoting him is not going to help him or the team. This nonsense of saying Gray, Kreidler or Arcia should regular playing time is not helping this team this year or next. Set the positions in the infield with the young guys and let them play the rest of the year, Then assess at the end of the year where you are at with each player and position. But stop playing musical chairs and give the young guys a chance this year.

Keaschall turned it around in May, he has started off slow in June but nothing that warrants a demotion.

I would DH Keaschall, Bell needs his playing time reduced.

I think they are comfortable with Clemens out there in CF. But still Outman could have been gone at any time.

I am surprised by the timing of the Outman move but totally thrilled by it. But it does call into question this front office. On a day you know Buxton will be down at least for a day if not longer you decide to release your supposed back up center fielder. Why was he even on the roster the last two months, the timing of this move shows he could have been released at any time including before the season began. The front office really is aimless.

A lot of the top pitchers you have to get to in the first inning or your night is over. It takes some pitchers an inning to figure what is working and what isn't. Matthews isn't in that group by any means, but if he continues to right the ship quickly he will be fine.

It was Shelton's decision to pull him, Buxton wanted to stay in the game per Shelton. So I don't know if calling him fragile is fair in this instance.

This obsession to nitpick everything Lewis says or does is getting insane. Even Shelton has said putting on a first baseman's mitt is an adjustment. Lewis wasn't complaining and he has been positive about the change, it is a different size mitt he needs to get used to. I don't see anything wrong with what he said.

According to the article in the Tribune today, the Twins are happy with the changes he made offensively and that he was able to do it so quickly. So we can analyze to death what metrics we think are important, apparently the decision makers think he is on the right track.

We don't have even have anyone to fill in for Ober much less replace Matthews.

In fairness to Castro, he is more a bulk/reliever guy, not a starter.

Are you sure about that.😀

The main decision maker that set the path for this season left right before spring training. I realize Zoll was part of that team, but if he can't objectively look at the results then he definitely isn't the person for the job. At a minimum there needs to be some kind of a plan and from a distance it sure is hard to see. In all my years of following the Twins during good and bad times I have been able to at least see some plan whether I agreed to it or not. They are playing their third shortstop in three days tonight, how many winning teams do that at that position unless it is because of injuries. They are wandering thru the desert right now with no real direction.

At what point do you make an honest assessment of your team and say yes we may be 3 games back but we are also 6 games under .500. Maybe changes do need to be made because we are relying on a number of one year guys and what gives you hope that we will make a true run and not possibly sneak into the playoffs, which I highly doubt will happen. I get your point about thinking this would be an abrupt change, but I don't think it would be as abrupt as you do. Use the injuries to the pitching staff as an excuse if you want. But they need to find out what will work for next year and future years. Set the infield spots and let them play there the rest of the year and assess at the end of the year. I don't want to wait until August. I personally would play Lewis, Culpepper, and Keaschall from 3rd to 2nd. Lee is the one who has shown he can play multiple spots in the infield. You can get rotate those 4 guys and everyone should be able to play at least 5 days a week. Part of that is freeing up DH spot and that means releasing Bell. Give Sabato a shot at 1B, he can share time with Clemens who can be the late inning defensive replacement. Give Fedko a shot, who know what you have until you bring him up here. But this is not a contending team and at some point they need to look inward and make an honest assessment. The White Sox were in the same position a few years ago at the all star break and traded away some of their top players because they didn't feel they were true contenders. The other part of this is getting rid of Zoll and do an honest assessment of this organization from top to bottom.

I didn't say Clemens shouldn't be on the roster. But he is not an everyday player. So while he is not near the top of the list of problems, he is a symptom of the issue with this roster. We are insisting on playing 30 somethings with no future on the team instead of upgrading their positions either with players from St. Paul or outside of the organization. Clemens should be a bench utility player playing 2 or 3 days a week. Hitting him in the middle of the order is not going to lead to consistent winning.

Bring him up and play him at 1B, no platoon. He has much more upside than Clemens, stop twisting ourselves into finding spots for Clemens. If you want, start Clemens at different positions each day when he is hitting. But Lewis should not be a part of a platoon if he comes back. And Bell has not earned regular playing time, he can have AB's reduced.