TwinsCD

Good thing the pitching has been spot-on the last 2 games to make up for the punchless offense. A win's a win, I'll certainly take it.

(watching Dodgers game on MLBN as I watch Twins) Amazing thing the Dodgers just did -- end of the half inning, they call attention to the video board for breaking news...Ryu and Puig say something in their native languages and then Justin Turner translates saying Vin Scully is coming back for another season. Dodger Stadium breaks into a 2-minute standing ovation. Goosebumps.

Sigh...DRINK!!! (I proposed to other Twins friends that every time they left the bases loaded, to take a drink. Surprised I didn't need Betty Ford by June)

Hmmmmph...I thought every angle was inconclusive up until that tight shot. But even then, it looks like he has leather under the ball before it hits the grass. So I can UNDERSTAND the ruling (it's the umpire in me that clouds my fandom). However, what I have a problem with is Drill Sergeant Barrett taking a couple of hops before tossing Gardy. I'm sure Gardy knows he's gotta go if he argues a replay ruling and the umpires know the same so there's no need to make a theatrical move about it. And I also have a real professionalism issue with the 3B umpire having a huge wad of tobacco going in his cheek. Hope he chokes on the juice.

I'll take my shot with what I've seen from some of these guys (I don't follow as closely the prospects in the minors): Pino -- decent stuff but seems to lose it a bit once he gets past 4 or 5 innings. Sounds like a future reliever to me. Johnson -- Hasn't impressed me at all so far. But if we're desperate for a bullpen slot, he might be able to fill it. Darnell -- Incomplete in my eyes. Took one for the team in his spot start the other day. Need to see more of him. Fuld -- I think there's a place for someone of his caliber somewhere on the roster. Good speed and range in the outfield. A threat when on base. Thought he was a pretty shrewd pickup back in April. Nunez -- I like him. Decent glove, can be a solid leadoff guy Hicks -- W. T. F? Leave him in the minors until he truly tears it up down there and then give him one more shot at the major league level. Really nice glove but he's almost an automatic out when he comes to the plate. Arcia -- hopefully a cornerstone in the lineup for years to come. As I said in another thread -- just needs to learn some more plate discipline. Santana -- Gotta stay healthy. When he went down at the beginning of June, the lineup started to suffer. Has a way of getting on base and really good speed. Escobar -- Not sure there's room for 3 or 4 guys like him on the roster. Needs to do more to stand out in a good way. Herrmann -- bye bye. Tonkin -- Don't know anything about him. Pinto -- Would prefer that he was up instead of Fryer right now. Surely, he could do better than some of the other bats we have on a semi-regular basis. Florimon -- Anyone who has a below .100 batting average and isn't a pitcher has no business being in the major leagues. Colabello -- Don't see the disdain for him that others do. I think he's a good bat to have on the bench when you need a blast. I don't think his April run was an accident. Just needs to continue to have the same approach at the plate that he did then. Polanco -- Don't know anything about him. Pressly -- I was lukewarm towards him when he was up last year. Be interesting to see how much he's improved once he comes up again.

Arcia definitely deserves his spot in the lineup. He provides power, speed, and a cannon arm in the outfield. However, he needs to learn some better plate discipline. Once he can gain that, he'll hit a lot better. Pitchers are baffling him with mostly off-speed and sinkers low and in that he waves at time and time again. I would never throw him a fastball anywhere near the zone because he likes to swing at the bad balls.

I wonder if participation in the HR Derby had anything to do with this.

The day that Arcia learns plate discipline will be the day he bats .300

That 5-2 road stretch right before the All-Star break looks like it happened 5 years ago instead of 3 weeks ago. No one's hitting on a consistent basis and the starting pitching is back to its usual putrid self. I agree that they need to move all of those names you mentioned but I wouldn't DFA any of them if no other teams wants them in a trade. Cards signing of AJ killed any thoughts of dealing with them for Suzuki. Not really sure any other contenders need a catcher. Willingham's average is so bad, we'd get hardly anything for him. And I don't know who would really want Correia now. He was mediocre, at best, as a Padre and a Pirate. However, if he did go somewhere else and prospered in the last 2 months of the season, that would train my spotlight squarely on Rick Anderson. I had hoped with everyone's contract up last year that he wouldn't be brought back. I didn't have a problem with Gardy coming back nor would I have a problem with him continuing. He didn't have much to work with last year (plus injuries) and this year is looking much the same. But when you invest the money that they did with this pitching staff and you get crap out of Pelfrey, Nolasco, and Correia, a philosophy needs to change. Because all 'pitch to contact' is doing is making the outfielders turn and run to the wall to retrieve another double.

First-time poster...just discovered this blog today while being overly bored at work. I'm part of boards like this in other sports so I figured I'd belly flop into this one. Quick background -- Pennsylvania native now living in Florida. I latched onto players before I latched onto teams growing up so I became a Twins fan because of Puckett and Hrbek a couple of years before the first World Series win. Attended a number of Twins games in Baltimore when I was in college and they seemed to always lose those. My first game in the Dome was the first home game of the A's series in 2002 and I almost cried when the Twins took the field and the place went deafening (I hope I wasn't the only one). I've been to Target for 4 games with my last one being the last Yankees game a couple weeks ago. I work in the media and I'm a high school baseball umpire so I think as a result of those 2 traits, I tend to be more of a realistic/objective fan than I was probably 10 years ago. I'm not much of a debate person but I'll engage anyone that wants to have an informed conversation. Look forward to trading thoughts with the rest of you frustrated Twins fans.