karcherd

And now we will blow thru the bullpen and Festa goes tomorrow, will anyone be available.

Despite the extension, Rocco needs to go and if this is an organizational philosophy than Falvey needs to go now. You don't pull a pitcher in this situation, he has been up here a year and a half, if he can't go any deeper than he needs to be moved to the bullpen. This is two starts in a row Rocco has pulled Sim unnecessarily. This makes no sense and is making it harder and harder to support this team. Our rotation is very thin, we need someone to step up and Sim has been but this short leash is ridiculous.

We need 8 from Ryan, there is not much available in the bullpen today. Don't want to see Wentz.

I don't necessarily disagree about Larnach and Wallner but they should play them on a regular once and for all and find out which one can be a contributor. Yes Clemens can have a role on the bench. But I think they overvalue positional flexibility versus talent. Get players who can play and not worry how many positions they can play. Yes you always need one Willi Castro type but you don't need 5 or 6.

And you are going to win games by playing Clemens every day? Wallner has at least produced in his career for more than a one month stretch.

I am not advocating to get rid of Clemens, I like him and think he can provide a role for the team. I don't think he is an every day player though. As for Wallner at what point do you stop giving him resets in St. Paul, he is not a young prospect anymore. Either he produces or you have to move on. I would love to see him play every day for the rest of the year and not platooned. Of course he gets a day off here and there. But find out if you can count on him going forward. This team needs direction and needs players with talent. Either develop it or do a better job of signing free agents and not one year stopgap.

Wallner and Clemens have almost identical stats for the month of June. And yet you say Wallner could be sent to St. Paul and keep Clemens. If they are not going to commit to Wallner for the rest of the season they should trade him. He is no longer a young prospect, he either has to play or should be traded. Yes his strikeout rate is high and he had a bad month in June. But have some patience, advocating for Clemens over Wallner makes no sense.

And we are 3 games under .500 with France leading the team in AB's. I am not saying they shouldn't have a role on the team but we need to up the talent level. A winning team is not going to happen playing all these players on a regular basis and it is shown by our record. We have to get away from relying on stopgap players for regular roles if we ever want to be a serious contender.

This was a great win by the Twins, an exciting game, it was good to play some small ball in the 9th inning. As far as Adams I thought it was an uneven debut, but would like to see him get some run and find out what he has. The Twins are not developing any starters in the minor leagues right now, they are all just bulk guys. They are all going 3 to 5 innings and typically topping out at 70 pitches at the most. How can you expect to have anyone ready to start if needed. This seems to fall in line with what Zoll said a few weeks ago of what they are trying to do in the minor leagues. But will shorter stints and fewer days between appearances translate to the major leagues. I am not sure why there are people down on Wallner, yes he has not looked good since coming back from injury. But he has only 644 AB's with an .836 OPS and 37 HR's and 102 RBI's. Have patience and let him play. Other teams have played their younger players and let them work thru their struggles, see Chourio of Milwaukee and Merrill of SD last year. I think Lewis, Lee, Wallner and Larnach need to be in the lineup every day regardless of who is pitching. We need to find out if they are going to be contributors to a winning team and if not either move on to the next crop of young players or bring in impact players not one year stopgaps. You are not going to be a consistent winner with Bader, Castro and Clemens/France all in your lineup on a regular basis. They are role players and can be successful if kept in their roles, but not as everyday players. This team needs to develop regular players and not turn everyone into a role player.

Glad one of our top RBI producers came thru there.

I would like to set the bar higher. Having a guy with over 300 AB'S and 42 RBI does not scream championship team to me.

And that is why we are a .500 team, we won't do anything to raise the talent level.

I am at the game and I didn't come to see 8 pitchers

When is Willi getting punished when he makes one of his bone headed plays.

Coulombe coming in next

Tarp coming off

No Lee again today, two days in a row. Does this organization have any kind of plan.

Bader needs to be a role player, that is how he brings the most value. He will always give good defense, but on offense he will have days like yesterday but also a lot of 0 for days as a regular. He has had one good month with offensive numbers and that was the month he had the least amount of AB's. He needs to be a forth outfielder, not an every day player. This team needs to either develop or find players that can play every day that can produce on a consistent basis. This is why we have the long losing streaks and a winning streak thrown in when everything clicks for a few games. And now the one guy who has been producing on a regular basis is sitting on the bench for the second game in a row. You are not going to win consistently with Bader and Castro playing every day.

There was no reason to pull Sim, take the training wheels off. This team can not develop pitching.

If he can't play more than one day in a row then he needs to be on the IL. IMO, I think his running is more mental. His instincts are to run full bore like any athlete, they are telling him to not do that and be careful running. He has to figure out how to do that and make that his natural movements.

This organization is so frustrating, this hip issue is not a new injury with Ober. He pitched four days ago, they need to be more decisive. Now they took one potential replacement off the board by pitching Adams yesterday, if they considered him an option. They do this with free agency, the trade deadline, injuries, they are not decisive and it feels like every time they then are forced into a decision that is not always the best one. And my other rant, if Lewis is up here, play him. I get giving him a day off every two or three days but one day. That sure isn't a recipe for him to find his swing and get comfortable. And yes I know most are down on Lewis, but I am still a believer and want to see him succeed.

I am not sure he complained to the media, he talked about his concerns of potentially hurting the team because he wasn't prepared to play the position. It was reported in spring training he did some work in the offseason and even during spring training at 2B. It feels like it was more of a timing issue, this type of move should be done during the offseason.

Wallner or Larnach would be better options. Willi's defense has not been as good the last two years as it was in 23. Just because you can play different positions doesn't mean you play them wel.

Willi can not play RF, stop putting him out there.

Yes I thought Lee should have been on second and was surprised he wasn't. France did this against Seattle where he didn't go to third on a ball hit to right center, everyone thought he should have gone. But this team has played station to station for the last 6 years and the philosophy starts with the manager. He says he wants the team to be more aggressive but they have not been an aggressive base running team. I hope it will start taking hold, I am willing to not be upset with Lee for last night as long as he doesn't continue to do that when the opportunities are there.