Trov

One thing that I heard a sports talk person say is that rosin is legal, but the rule also says too much rosin is not. They went on to say that there is no clear standard and up to each umpire. This is a problem, because each pitcher may do same thing a bunch of times, then runs into the ump that says you are too sticky, when every other ump said you good. I can say Max is the type that will take every rule to the extreme if it works in his advantage. He basically said he would be doing that with the pitch clock and did testing of the rule during spring. So he may have very well just used rosin, but if he knew he could get extra sticky using rosin, that can be a violation of the rule as well is my understanding.

I mention this exact point every time I read people on here complaining about how we lost some player. It was brought up a ton when Baddoo was let go in rule 5. Some times fans forget we cannot keep every player, and at some point we need to decide who to pick. I will also point out, we never know if a player would have had similar development path with Twins or after Twins. I brought up this fact with some of the players we dealt to Reds last year. Many were saying Steer and ECS will be good, and maybe they will, but we had so many that were of similar roll all ranked higher than them in our prospect rankings. So you always have to look at not only who we let go, and who filled the spaces the same player would have. I also agree in Rookers case we would not have kept him on 40 man last year most likely either. I still wish him well, but do not expect his hot start to carry all year, but it should be something he can show he has value for someone.

We love to look at how former prospects are doing for other teams, mainly to see if we got it right or wrong on letting them go. One could argue it would be did we get it right or wrong to originally draft them as well. One of the stories on past Twins that are doing well this year is Brent Rooker. He was touted in our ranking as a guy that would hit, not much of fielder but we were hoping would be a middle of line up bat for many years. He debuted in 2020 getting 7 games in the short year, but injury took him out for much of it. He did well in the 7 games so hopes were still high. 2021 he got a much longer run that did not go well. His AAA numbers were good, not great, and there was worries about the K rate, but the power was there. At MLB level it was nothing short of terrible. With a slugging under .400 in over 200 PA, striking out 70 times only walking 15. There was still hope he would figure it out, but we shipped him out last year, as a throw in the trade to SD. He only played 2 MLB games for SD, but his AAA numbers again were good. Eventually he went to KC and AAA numbers were good there too, but short stint at MLB level was not good again. Looking like he was going to settle in as a AAAA player, the good to great in AAA but subpar in MLB. He found his way to Oakland this year, a team that appears to have been adopting a real Major League plan of being so bad the fan base packs the bags for them to move to Vegas. Oakland might be the worst team to be assembled. However, they have 1 really bright spot on offense, that Brent Rooker. He is getting regular at bats, splitting DH and corner OF. He is off to a blazing start. Not only has he hit 7 HR, but more important for him, he has only struck out 13 times in 72 PA, with 12 walks. Unlike every other time where he struck out at over 33% rate he is at a much lower 18% rate, with nearly 1 to 1 k to walk ratio, where every other stint was significantly worse. The question is, has he figured something out in Oakland, just got recent chance for a team appearing to actively trying to lose, and he is doing his best Pedro Serrano impersonation after telling off Jobu? Is it just a SSS and he will come back to earth after teams adjust to him? I hope for him it is the former and he will continue to hit well, never wish any player ill will, unless they chose to go to Yankees. I bet A's will look to flip him midseason for a team looking for a RH bat, like the Twins might be at deadline. I mean we keep giving Garlick runs with the team for that exact reason. Rooker is hitting RHP better than LHP, but still doing well against both, hard not too when you have an OPS of 1.112 with OPS+ of 215. Similar to Gallo, I do not expect this to last all year, but good for Rooker to start off hot and hopefully for him will get to stay up at MLB level all year. I mean only reason Oakland will send him down is because he helps them win too many games.

This KC offense is just terrible. If we do not win at least 3 of the 4 we need to be kicking ourselves. We now have our top 3 pitchers and I would hope the starters do not give up more than 1 or 2 each game. Our offense is starting to click a little better too, so I am hoping to bring out some brooms Sunday.

Kepler will most likely play out this season, unless a team really wants him at trade deadline. They will not just cut him, but if AK comes up and hits well, Larnach continues to hit and so does Gallo, there just is no room for Kepler in the regular line up, but he is fine enough should anyone struggle or get hurt.

I could be wrong, but it was technically a combo of cutting out some of his bone in his forearm, and taking out some cartilage in his wrist. All reports after it was completed is that it was a wrist surgery. The ulna connects to wrist bones. I do not know where the section of the bone was removed if closer to elbow, wrist, or mid-forearm. That being said, I think the fact that even the team released the surgery was referred to as a wrist surgery, I think it is safe for reporters here to refer it as such.

For me a few take aways from the game. First, Maeda may have made his last start for the Twins barring injury to others. He is expected to go back on IL with elbow issues. Reports I read say they think more muscle issue than ligament but still not goo d for a guy coming back from TJ surgery. Even if he is healthy later in season, he has not impressed at all, and feel like he needs to settle into pen and give one of the many young guys that could fill the 5th starter roll. Two, Headrick did a good job. Maybe the Yankees were not trying all that hard but going 5 innings 8k 2 walks and 2 runs allowed is still a good outing. His reward is to get sent down to call up the next sacrificial arm. With Maeda going on IL most likely, we will see Ober and guessing Sands come up. Ober will take starter roll and Sands will get the long relief guy until he has to step in and throw 70 plus pitches in relief then he will get sent down again for SWR or Headrick again. I know players hate when teams treat pitchers this way, but the CBA allows for as many ups and downs in a season so Twins will continue to rotate a long relief guy in so they do not need to burn their top arms during a blow out loss. Third, the offense seems to be heating up overall. Yes, there is still a long way to go, but we are scoring runs at higher clip even with Buck and Polanco sitting. We have good depth on this team, and will be getting even better in coming weeks.

It is always too early to call any team a clear contender or not. We started off hot last year, and after having many injured players we faded late. That being said, if we can maintain decent health with our pitching we should contend. Really our biggest hole or lack of depth is still bullpen. If we start losing our top pen arms we could start seeing some troubles, but we have already seen both this year and last that if we start losing starters we have guys that could fill in. We have a lot of depth in line up, already we are about to face a roster and at bat crunch when AK and Farmer are ready to return. Then we still have Julien, Walner, and Lewis will be back later this year. We even could call on Lee if needed most likely.

I wonder if people will stop saying Joe can only beat bad teams? He has won 2 games against the Yankees, Boston, and Houston. Botson and Houston were the games he gave the most runs, but they above league average in runs scored, and he still kept them under their average. Really Houston he was great outside the one pitch for the grand slam. Sure looks like the offense was missing Polanco more than we knew. I was always big on him, and he just seems to be that guy when healthy will lead the team.

I do not want to jump the gun on the AK 100% wrist healthy. We thought this last year when he had an OPS over 1.100 last year in 35 games with St. Paul, but then crashed in majors and needed the second surgery. I am not saying he is not recovered, but until he can show he can play each day and not have issues, I will just be knocking on wood.

You kind of contradict yourself in the article. You say we need a middle relief guy because Pagan and Moran have struggled in that roll, but then make comment we can use a lot of different people because only going to pitch in blow outs. Other than his last outing of terrible work, Pagan has been fine in that roll. Moran has been an issue giving up runs in most of his outings. If it does not matter who we throw out there because they are only to eat up innings in blowouts, why do we need someone that will do it better? I am mainly pointing out the contradicting statements the writer posed.

I know it is SSS right now for Miller, and could be he is used to playing in the cold April games, being he played in WI high school, but if he can continue to hit like has started off doing, he will be the fastest rising prospect in our system. All reports are he will field and the bat was the main question. I am glad they moved him up to high A, as hitting the FCL is hard to judge normally. Sure more power will be nice, but if he can get on base at a near .400 clip, steal bases, and play good defense he will have a place in the majors.

I would say it was a win for the Twins. For most part it was just a way to dump Donaldson bad contract, which allowed us to go out and sign CC. Really the trade should be judged with Mitch Garver in mind, as we traded him for IKF, kind of like a 3 team trade being it happened so quickly and IKF never played a game for Twins. Garver missed a lot of time last year, but had average season up to that point. This year got off to quick start for a few games, but back on IL after only 6 games.

Stealing bases is more than just speed, it is a combo of things. Paul Molitor who was never known as a speed guy, stole 504 bases caught 131, for 79% success rate, right where it makes it worth it. Yes, 504 over his career is not a ton, and he played in a different era where teams hit and ran as well. A good base stealer can steal even if they do not have elite speed, and guys with elite speed can still get caught. That being said it also comes down to opportunities. Stealing to just steal makes no sense, it needs to be worth the risk, and be in the right situation. Poor throwing catcher, slow to catcher pitcher, and other things all are involved. I also feel the team is very risk adverse for both injuries of guys as well. Correa reportedly during a slide on a steal attempt had issues with his ankle. He said, 90 feet was not worth the possible injury. Buck has been hurt on steals as has many others. So it is not just the risk of the out, but increased risk of getting injured that teams may be looking at. I am sure when the chances are their they may start increasing the running game.

Buxton is who he is at this point. He is a streaky hitter that when hot will carry an offense and one of most dangerous hitters in league, but when he is not hot, he will strike out a ton and provide almost no offense. Right now he is on a bad streak. Hopefully he can heat up soon. He will never become what people want him to be, he tried years ago and failed. He will not be a guy that walks a lot. The book on him has never changed, get ahead in count, then just throw endless sliders off the plate, he will chase them more often than not. Just throw a fastball once in awhile low and outside corner to keep him honest and thinking maybe this time it will be that fastball. He needs to attack early in counts because if he does not, he will fall behind and strike out more often than not.

I said before the season started, when everyone was thinking the shift rule would increase certain lefties a ton. I said it will make little to no difference, and so far that has held true. Sure, there may be a hit or two they get but for most part has made little difference. I agree no team will have an advantage from pitch clock. Steals I think will just come down to if the Twins actually want to try. They have guys that could, but have not chosen to yet.

I think AK only stays down much longer if his wrist starts to act up. Hopefully that does not happen. He clearly has the ability to hit, when his wrist is healthy. I hope he gets called up soon. Our offense could use a jolt.

From what I have heard today is that the umpire for Scherzer said his hand was the most sticky hand he has felt while doing the hand checks. Scherzer says it was just rosin, which all people who have used it say your hand will get really sticky from it. I also understand you cannot wash it easy in just a minute or two, but requires long washing or use of other products. If the league will continue to toss guys for rosin they need to just get rid of rosin. However, when hitters start getting plunked more and more, they cannot complain.

On the current 26 man, Julien will be sent down when either Gallo or Polanco are back. After that, when AK or the other are back will lead to some crunching. Castro and Garlick are most likely to be sent back down. Castro is out of options but he would likely pass through waivers, if not, so be it we can fill his roll with others not worried about that. When Lewis and Farmer are ready to come back that is when things will get really squeezed. It will really depend on if they look for trades, willing to let a guy go completely, or will option guys that still can. Much of that will depend on performance at the time a move needs to be made. Larnach started off hot, but cooled off quickly and could be optioned down. Not as likely, but Miranda still has options, but he would really need to be struggling in my opinion to go that route. Gordon would have to pass through waivers, and I doubt he would, so if they are looking to send him down, they need to look into a trade first in my opinion, but that is not likely to happen either. Solano has show decent enough bat, but if that goes really cold over next few weeks they could look to cut him if needed, the contract is small enough to eat. Most likely though someone will be hurt and the moves will take care of themselves.

I am not concerned about E-Rod K number yet. He missed a lot of time of live action and pitchers are going to try their best to get him to strike out. I have not watched him at all, but would not be surprised if he is trying a little hard to get going like he did last year. Also, possible he is trying to hit for even more power than he did before, leading to a little more swing and miss. If the K-rate stays at level for a few more weeks I will have concern.

As high as I am on Lee, I would be a little shocked if they call him up this year. There is 2 ways it happens, both require Lee to be raking down in minors. First, injuries of many ahead him just make it needed because we are that far down depth chart, not ideal. Second, is he is raking so much and we are having issues with at least one spot in infield. I doubt there is a situation where Lee forces his way, and others are doing well at MLB level.

This is the exact kind of deal I have been saying Twins should be offering for pitchers. 3 year deals basically, as 1 year they had him anyway. So really they signed a 3 year deal. Most long term deals for pitchers you only get 2 good years out of the contract. Many times on the front end, but sometimes on back end after injuries and adjustments to being older. Yes, HOF pitchers are outliers of that, so people can throw Cole, Verlander, and Scherzer as outliers, but I would throw dozens of others wasted long term deals that hardly work out for the team. These short term deals lock up a guy, but limits the risk for the team. The writer talks about Berrios, and my guess Twins offered something similar to him, but he wanted the 6 to 7 year deal, not a 3 year deal. I am happy to see they locked up Lopez and only had to sign him through 31.

I fully agree. If you look at most FA contracts for pitchers, a small percentage of top contract do pitchers live up to. Most end up being very over paid for poor performance, if any performance due to injury. For a mid-market team, signing poor contracts for long term guys will hamper you. Also, always hoping drafted guys to develop will not always work out either. Although it would seem to make sense to only spend on FA pitching, as then you can always keep who you think is the best players for your team, but people forget you can only have 40 guys on roster at a time, and after so long they get exposed to other teams taking them anyways.

Well, the FO has offered FA pitchers deals, but the FA have gone elsewhere. What we offered only the team and player will truly know. However, very few FA pitchers really live up to their deals, most after like 2nd year start regressing, injured, or both. I think getting a guy with control, and in your team you can better look at them and see what you really have in them and if worth extending. Also, they can get to know you and how they like the organization and if would be willing to take maybe less than what another team might offer. What FA pitchers last couple of years would have wished we offered big years and money to?

I would disagree that Lee is the least aggressive. This is his first full season of pro ball. They were super aggressive on moving him all the way up to AA by season end. Could they have tried AAA off the bat, sure, but then he would be in the more aggressive. I am sure you can find someone on the prospect list that is much less aggressive than Lee. I would put Walner in the least aggressive over both Lee and Juilien being he is in AAA, and has repeated that level even after getting some MLB time last year. At least with Lee he barely played AA last year, and Juilien moved up a level.