HarmonK03

I am still baffled by this move. If feels like they are giving up on him to a certain extent. He has had a years worth of games at 2B. He has had some good games and to me it looks like he is thinking and not reacting. The best way to solve that is reps. For those who say he should be sent down to work on his defense, what can they do in AAA that our major league staff can't. I think they need to show more patience especially when there is not a clear replacement. Clemens should be in a utility role moving around to get his bat in the lineup while he is producing. Is there any kind of plan for this team, they have completely remade the infield barely halfway into the season. Defensively no one regressed at their position, they didn't improve but I don't feel there was regression. So then why weren't these moves made at the beginning of the season or better yet wait until of this season. Not to mention as others have we have at least 6 corner outfielders that are going to pushing up for at least a look between now and the end of 2027. So you add another player to that mix, where again is the plan. Not every player is a finished product and he did look better playing next to Kreidler, you can't totally dismiss the instability at SS and the impact on Keaschall. He has the athleticism and his arm probably plays best at second. It would be nice if we could develop more than one or two players to be productive starters in the majors. But part of that is showing patience, something that has been in short supply with many of the younger players under the Falvey regime. And even though Falvey is gone, all the supporting cast is still there and they are not operating much differently than in the past.

What exactly is the plan for Rojas. I get letting him only throw 2 innings and 50 pitches on Tuesday as it was only his second outing back from the IL. But then today he only threw 33 pitches, if they are ramping him up to be a starter why not let him go another 1 or 2 innings. Like everything with this team, do they have any kind of plan, or do they just sit and wing it day by day.

This is a learning curve for Paredes like any young pitcher and I hope and think he can figure it out. I just saw the Rockies play two games against Boston and they are a free swinging team, they are up there to take their hacks. So it was a good team for Paredes to face.

I like Kreidler's defense and he has had a good streak at the plate in the last week. At the end of May, he played a seven game stretch that he started every game and was 4 for 18. Does he get exposed playing more, who knows but can he really turn from .150 hitter into even a .200 hitter. I am not sure I want to hold back one of our top two prospects to see if he can sustain it. Even the Twins aren't buying into him, he didn't make the team out of camp and they started Gray two of the three games this weekend. I prefer him over Gray but we will see what they do in Houston facing all right handed pitching. There is no perfect moment to bring up a prospect but when you have two journeymen ahead of him, if he proves he is healthy he should be up here. Don't hold him back because of a one week stretch of good games from Kreidler. Keep Kreidler as the utility and send Gray packing.

There's your problem, make Gomez the closer until he shows he can't do it.

Gomez is your best option to close out the 9th inning or do you want to wait until Banda gives another home run to tie it up. This was overthinking it at its finest, there was no way Banda should have been out there to face RH hitters. And the only reason Banda came out was because of injury.

Apples and oranges, Bell is a DH only and a very streaky hitter, who wants to take that on. There was a limited market for him this offseason, only Falvey bit. You will be lucky to get a Rookie league or Low A player for him.

At least until Culpepper is ready, hopefully after the All-Star break.

Just ask the Nationals how easy is it trade Bell at the trade deadline, they couldn't do it last year. The only hope would be that Falvey gets a job between now and the trade deadline and we could probably convince him to take him. We are stuck with him unless he is DFA'd.

So do you want Banda facing RH hitters or Gomez facing LH hitters. Banda has historically struggled with RH hitters, even though he has had more success this year. Morneau is turning into another Bremer where he will rubber stamp whatever the Twins strategy is, so I am not sure that is a good reference point for validation.

First you say Tom P. was self appointed, that is not true. The Twins are a family run organization and they made the decision to make Tom the executive owner. How the family dynamics in this played out, none of us will truly know the answer. You ask the question of will the deadline define him. In what way, does he need to green light Zoll to add $50m or $100m for the payroll. Zoll should be leading the direction of the deadline moves and convince Tom P of why it is the correct direction short or long term for the Twins. Tom P. is not out there scouting players or I would venture is he capable of truly assessing the abilities of the current in an objective manner. What Tom P. needs to do is get a true experienced baseball person that understands both the scouting and evaluating side and how to mix analytics as support to guide this organization until he hires a permanent head of baseball. I do not believe Zoll is up for it and I think this deadline will define him more than Tom P. I don't want to see any major moves from this team at the deadline, they are not a true contender and they need an overhaul on the baseball side of the operation.

Per Gleeman Derek Shelton said he stuck with left-hander Anthony Banda to begin the ninth inning because he wanted to keep lefty bats Jake McCarthy and Mickey Moniak on Colorado's bench. If Shelton and Zoll are going to continue to be obsessed with the side batters hit or the arms they throw with, we will never win consistently. In some situations it makes sense to match up, but not every situation. There are times you go with your best option, didn't Gomez get one of those two hitters out that he was trying to avoid. I do believe this is an organizational direction and Shelton may or may not believe it but he follows it. It feels like he did less earlier in the season but is now following the company line.

And Gomez just showed why Shelton's decision was foolish to start Banda in the 9th, not because he was hurt but because he was not the best option.

Why was Banda even out there to start the 9th. This is Shelty overthinking it again. Right now Gomez is your best option, you win or lose with your best option.

I have heard this about Minneapolis multiple times over 40 years, I don't agree with your narrative that it is current politics. It also depends upon your background and where you live, outstate vs. suburban can be part of it as well.

Let me clarify when I say city leadership I meant city hall and business leaders both working together. It is in the best interests of the businesses to have people want to come downtown. I do not agree that perception is political, people have to want to go someplace and if they don't feel it is safe they won't. I am not saying I totally agree with that because in my opinion Minneapolis is no different than any other big city, there are parts you stay away from and most of the other parts if you mind your own business you will be just fine. But just telling people it is safe isn't working and I have seen this playbook for over 40 years. When they have shown concrete actions that make people feel safe they come downtown.

I didn't bring politics into this thread and I don't think this is the place for it. I talked about city leadership, not political party.

Read my whole post, I explained a solution to this line despite sub optimal options.

Technically these players were designated for assignment and then we agreed to give cash considerations to skip the waiver wire hierarchy. Bottom line these players were deemed no longer necessary to be on their former teams 40 man roster and the Twins made a move ahead of other teams to claim those players.

Shelton has been using this line for the last month or so. At some point, like now you just need to say this is your role to each reliever. If it doesn't work, switch out a period of time but not two games. Yes the options are not optimal and some days the plan will fall apart. But it is easier to adjust when you have a plan, when you have no plan then you are just shooting darts. Yesterday was a great example, Fundy was going to have to face Goodman as he was the third scheduled hitter, just put in your best option not the LH to face the first two LH scheduled hitters. It probably should have been Banda or Morris to come in if they had a real plan and defined roles.

This market has always supported winning teams the most. There are a lot of options with 4 major league sports, a division 1 college, and a thriving Arts scene. People can not support all of these options and will allocate their entertainment dollars based on perceived value and winning is part of that formula. It has always been that way in this market. Getting tickets for the Wild and Vikings has been easier in the last couple of years because they have not consistently been winning in the playoffs. As for downtown, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. There are issues with crime downtown but if you go to a game and leave with the crowd, the odds are pretty low that you are going to have an issue. If you stay after the game and hang out, yes the odds go up that you may find trouble. The problem is the perception that downtown is unsafe and the city leaders will not acknowledge this. They can trot out facts and say it is safe but they have to show people and change their perception but they refuse to. I remember a time before the Wolves and Twins that you didn't cross Hennepin Ave if you wanted to insure you were safe especially after dark. With the Warehouse district it is much safer in that area than it ever has been.

I would say don't trade anyone except maybe for Jeffers. The reason is do we trust this front office to make the right choices and decisions of who to trade. What is the vision of the organization, do they value athletic players, sluggers, defense, strong baseball IQ any of the above. The only trait I can see they value is versatility so they can platoon everyone, but what has that gotten us but sub .500 ball since 2020. Our infield has no one playing at the same position as opening day on a regular basis. Have Lee, Keaschall or Lewis regressed defensively from the end of last season. They made assessments over the offseason and said these three were going to play the infield, but halfway thru the season that has changed. That seems like either a very poor assessment or a knee jerk reaction with no real planning to change this much only halfway thru the season. And they have also had Keaschall take grounders at first. It feels like they are just throwing slop at the wall and see what sticks. Yes Lewis needed a reset for his offense which is not unique in baseball, even Hunter and Buxton were sent down a couple of times. But should this have meant a position change. Yes Keaschall's defense has been rough but it did seem to be better next to Kreidler, would stability and a better defender next to him help. As for Lee, he didn't move for Culpepper who is not up here and who knows when he will be but instead they trot out Gray on a regular basis who is similar if not less defensively than Lee at short. And remember they signed Bell to play 1B not DH, those were Falvey's words. Based on all reports he favored a collaborative approach so I have to believe there are still people advising Zoll and maybe Zoll himself that believed Bell could play 1B that are still in this organization and will be helping make the decisions at the deadline. Fortunately they finally figured out what the rest of baseball already knew, Bell is unplayable at 1B. Some have mentioned Lewis as a trade candidate, that to me would be a real indictment of this front office. One of the first people Shelton visited in person not on the phone after being named manager was Lewis. I have to believe this was part of the interview process discussing the core players and who to build around. That would tell me Lewis was near the top of the list. And they are having a jersey day for Lewis, this was planned in the offseason between baseball operations and marketing. It shows they valued Lewis as one of their core players. Yes he needed a reset but he has come back and has been producing. So a half season after identifying him as a core piece you say no he's not let's trade him. If I am Tom P. I would look at Zoll and seriously question his process and decision making abilities if he tried to trade Lewis. At the end of the season you could review this. Yes he needs to learn to layoff the low outside sweeper just like Buxton. And I know many don't like his eye black but that is not a reason to get rid of him. If last year's deadline is an example of their moves, I would like to see more of a vision. They traded for two more LH outfielders that were semi major league ready when we already had two similar players slated at some point in 2026. They did at least fill a void in the lower minor leagues for a catching prospect. And did get one starting pitcher, maybe two. I want to see a vision not just more prospects to say we have more prospects. So if you want to trade Clemens, Bell or one of the veteran relievers for a low A player, fine it at least clears roster space if you can find a taker. But otherwise don't let this management put us further behind. End of rant.

The cash considerations were just guys put on the waiver wire and we jumped the line by giving cash considerations. So maybe technically correct but not in spirit.

I am amazed that Keaschall was able to turn that double play, I thought he was a complete failure at 2B.

But he has made noticeable changes and improved because of these changes. Whether he should up or not can be debated. But there was at a least a reason for the improvement. That is what is supposed to happen in the minor leagues.