Trov

Good thing he is not being asked to carry the offense. He is hitting down in the order. It is not like we are asking that he be the number one offensive guy. Hopefully he can pick it up, but saying we are in trouble because our normal number 6 or 7 hitter is not doing well is going a little far.

He was not given up on, he just did not make the cut of the 40 man. I am sure the Twins wish he was not taken, but you can only have 40 men on the roster. Not common is a guy only playing high A gets the jump to major leagues. The Twins were not willing to do that. My guess if they were in Detroit position he would have made 40 man and Garlick would not have been brought in. Really that is who most likely took Baddoo's spot. However, we are 1 week into the season. He has played a few games and had big hits, but only the walk off helped his team win. The grand slam was when they were down 15-2, my guess Dobnak was not really bearing down to get the rookie, next time he may. The key Baddoo will have to show is how he adjusts when teams scout him, because I am sure no team has video on him outside possibly the Twins. Get back to me in June and we will see if Baddoo was a huge diamond in the rough that was ready to play at this level, or just a guy that is on a little hot streak. We have seen rule 5 guys in the past have this happen. They have big Aprils, teams scout them and then as season goes on they get overmatched.

I take little stock in any single game in baseball. Baseball is a game of failing at the plate. We had a bad day, but the game prior they did pretty well with RISP. So far this year we have done well. Eventually it will balance out and you need to look at how they are doing overall. One of the missed chances was Arraez hitting a ball that in just about every other park would be a grandslam, but in Detroit is a warning track out to center. I did not check how many parks that would have been a HR in or off the wall, but I know Detroit has a very deep outfield. Another play that sticks out is Sano's worm burner into the shift that the second baseman made good stop to save a run and get an out. Games like this will happen throughout the season. I am most disappointed in Mr. Rooker so far. He is being given a great chance to show he belongs at the majors and has done nothing so far. Garlick is not doing much either. It will only be a matter of time before Kirilloff gets in there. I know it is short sample so far but neither has really given much to say oh that was just bad luck.

If the question is who should they try to keep for long term success I would say Berrios. If the question is who having a break out few years will lead to greater success that is Buxton. Buxton is not likely to age well over his career. He relies so much on top speed that will eventually go away, not that he will ever be as slow as Cruz or someone like that, but he will start to lose some defense value and base running value. If he can learn to hit constantly similar to what Hunter did late in his career then I would change my mind, but based on his career I do not expect his 30's to treat him well. However, playing a key defensives position and showing that when he is clicking he can carry the club on offense if he can have career peak years he will be the most important player for our team the next few years.

I agree that each game he does not play will decrease that chance, but he has shown no signs of slowing, and there has been some hitters play into mid-40's. Not common, but not much about him has been common. He did not break out until nearly 30, and has been just fine into 40. Most players fall off mid-30's after having amazing decade of mid-20's to mid-30's. He is just shifted that timeline right now. As long as a team is wiling to give him some time, I think he will make it.

I missed the 9th inning so did not see the 5 runs dobnak gave up. I am not worried about him at this point. All pitchers have bad innings. Also, we are not looking for him to be an ace, he is a 4 or 5 starter or long reliever. Badoo is a nice story for himself, but lets wait until june to see how he is doing before we talk about what a mistake the FO made with him.

I think he will do it if NL opens up DH. That is because I think he will play more than 1 more year and a bottom feeding team might bring him on small deal hoping to flip him late in season for a team that still needs some pop. He sure does not look he is slowing down yet. I do not think he will do it next year. I think this because I expect a work stoppage next year that will go into regular season for awhile. The two sides are so far apart on things and cannot seem to even decide if they will have muffins or bagels at the morning meeting.

I am not going to complain about runners left on, as long as runners are scoring. It is the games you are leaving a ton of runners on and lose by a run or two, which did happen Thursday, but runners left on was not the main reason for the loss. Brewers left a ton on too that day. The runner left on issue is only an issue if you are not scoring in those innings as well. Unless you clearing bases with HR, you have to leave runners on base any inning you score runs. You cannot expect every inning to end with a HR and then no more runners after it. The bigger issue is if you are not getting any runs in and leaving runners on in good scoring chances.

You mention the errors which were bad, but Simmons also made some great plays that he made look easy to save some runs too. Yes he messed up once, but overall he is looking great on defense. He also doing just fine at plate. I would like to point out, much like Dick has, how much the Twins are driving the ball up the middle to other way. This looks like a plan they have and I like it. Also, many people were down on Kepler due to bad spring numbers. He reportedly said he was tweeking his swing to see if he could do better, but once spring numbers were not there he went back to old way, so far so good.

I am wondering same thing. I mean he hit easy double and comes up with injury. I said the second I saw it, well he is out for awhile now. I mean how is he always injured the second real games are played? They claim it is hamstring, and it may be, but those take a long time to heal and you do not want to ever rush him back when it comes to leg issues.

It is not an easy catch, but yes should have been made. It happens though. The play that I am most upset at is the decision to throw to second base. Colome should have thrown to first for easy out. That runner would be meaningless overall. No need to try and cut him down. If it was 1 run game, then so be it, but with 3 run lead taking harder play to cut him down is a little league mistake.

That 9th inning was so ugly. It shows how poor mental prep that leads to bad decision to throw to second. I mean how long has Colombe played baseball? Everyone should no to get the easy out. Double play was not going to happen, so get the second out. Then Kepler has tough catch bounce out of glove. Two plays that should have been made and we win the game. I have been preaching how important defense is. One error, one non-made play that is not an error, giving two extra outs. No wonder they scored 3 runs. I am most upset at the decision to throw to second, it should never had been attempted. Everyone on the field should have been yelling at him to go to first. Justin summarized it correctly even if you get the out at second, the harder play, the runner on first will just get second through defensive indifference so you gain nothing. I do not blame Rocco, but if that mistake is made again by any pitcher in that situation I would blame him for not teaching his guys properly.

So because Arraez has limited time in LF and started over Rooker, you conclude the team has not prioritized defense? Lets see we signed Donaldson who is a top defender when on field, can hit too but not just a bat. We signed Simmons over other better offensive guys out there, which allowed moving Polonco over to 2nd where he projects to be much better on defense than Arraez. The comments on Rooker from Rocko was that he needs to work on his defense. I am pretty sure over the last few seasons the Twins have shown they want better defense than what they had.

You had me until prediction 21. Get your head out of the clouds. That would be a grand slam prediction on "write this down"

The quote of Tim Anderson may be true, they may be more athletic overall, but baseball is not just about being athletic. Yes, being athletic can help, but how many out of shape pitchers or even hitters have done very well? Billy Hamilton may run as fast or faster than Buxton, but he does not get on base so his speed only help for pinch running or defense. Until the Sox prove they can beat winning teams, I will think the Twins will win the division. Only to extend our losing streak to 21 games, because until they prove me wrong I will believe we will never win another playoff game. Got my hopes up too often with, this team is different stuff.

What I take from statements of team as it relates to Rooker and Garlick is that Rooker is a statute in the outfield and he will need to hit at a super elite level to get a chance to play in the field at this point. So the future for him appears to be either DH when the ageless one retires, or is let go, or Rooker will have to learn to play defense at an average level, unless he becomes such a good hitter we can deal with poor defense. The team has clearly taken defense into account when planning their team recently. Something I am happy about. Defense normally goes very overlooked unless it is so elite and highlight making. That is because for most fans errors, attempts, and put outs are the only counting state to quantify their value. You can see the highlight plays, which sometimes are not that impressive when you break down the play. I remember for years some people would praise Edmonds on defense, while others said he was overrated because his range was limited and dove because he had too. I never really looked into which was accurate, but the point is, so much more goes into determining a good defender than just counting numbers and highlight plays. Having top defenders will mean less runs and pitches from our staff which is a good thing over a full season.

I fully agree their possible depth will help them win this season. Baseball is such a crazy sport that you need the depth to win over the long season and handle the injuries and slumps that will come, but also have the power to win in a short series in the postseason. I feel this year we can handle many of injuries when they happen, unless there is a ton of them. I just do not know if they can make a good playoff push.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I expect good season for the team. I know the Sox will try to fight us for it, but I am not sold on them as of yet. They are top tier offense, but took a hit with losing Eloy. They have good top starters, but two are aging and you never know when they will fall off cliff. They have young talent, but pretty untested. The biggest downfall is their defense is terrible overall. I think people look past defense most of the time, but it really affects the team as a whole. It is not just the errors but the lack of getting outs really piles up over a long season. Last year Sox beat up on bad teams, but got beat up on against good teams. Until they show they can regularly beat good teams I will still think we will take the division. Then get swept in playoffs, but we will deal with playoffs when we get there.

I am not a fan of Cave either, but if the team feels he gives them a better chance to win now, versus someone else then so be it. You advocate for Rooker, which I support, but reports are he cannot field pretty much at all. Which means he will need to hit that much more than what a platoon of Cave and Garlick does because both are reported to be better on defense. Either guy will be hitting near bottom every game. If Rooker could carry the offense and make up for his terrible defense and we would win more games with him, I would be all for him out there. However, we need to win now, not get a guy some time to win for later. If that means sitting a guy that is not ready, then do it. Personally, I think Kirolloff will be making his way over sooner than later.

Garlick over Rooker surprised me a little. I read that it really has to do with defense. Rooker defense is so bad that they do not want to put him in left because his offense is not good enough to make up for it, at least as of now. To me it is also a sign that Kirilloff will be getting a call once his bat starts finding the ball again. I was not surprised with Law not making team off the bat because of 40 man roster situation. I bet Twins just waiting for the flurry of moves and then make a 40 man change when they are ready to bring him in. It is easier to sneak guys through waivers in the early part of season than just before it.

The Dobnak deal may look like a steal for the Twins, and hopefully it will long term, but Randy knows how quickly he could get cut and be back to having a different career. Sure, if he becomes a good starter, not even great, he will have cost him some money long term, but he is one TJ surgery from having to prove he can make a MLB roster at league min as well.

I just have to say good for him. We can talk about the deal in terms of who wins it or not, but the fact is Randy saw a chance to make sure he was going to get paid basically just over 9 mil for 5 years but could be more. Yes, he could be giving up big money if he develops into an Ace, not that I expect that, but he knows where his home will be, he knows he will be paid, and sure he may end up leaving sever millions on the table. On the other hand, he may get injured this year and never come back to MLB form and he will still get paid. If he did sign, then he needs to continue to pitch well, never get injured and continue to fight for money every arbitration year and may face non-tender. He decided this move was right for him. I think it is a good move for Twins because it is very low risk overall for a potential starter for years to come. Sure, it is unlikely that he will be a top end starter but should still help team for years to come. Good job Randy way to secure your bag.

First, Kirilloff will not hit under .200 in St. Paul, if he is even still there when they start up. I refute the argument though that our FO would have sent him over if he was hitting well. Of course we will never know because it did not happen. Only one time has anyone pointed to manipulation of service time under this FO and that was Buxton, but I would argue he did not warrant a call up. He was doing terrible that season at MLB level and he was not tearing it up in AAA when he was down there to end the season. To say he should have been called up because he could or you are manipulating service time is a step too far. Did it work in their favor yes, but at the same time he was not playing at MLB level. I agree the way the FO manages games now is not the same as it used to be. In part that is because they have learned new ways to try and win. I think teams would be happy to work on loyalty if they could expect it in return. Both sides need to take those steps. How often does a top FA stay with their present team? There are a few top guys that have, but they were playing in large market team already. So how often does a top FA, I mean the guys that can break the bank, stay with their home grown team? For some teams they are priced out of the market, and so they feel they need to manipulate service time to get that 1 more year of team control, or 1 more cheap year depending on how it was manipulated. I do not put blame on either the owners or the players. Both side agreed to the rules and both sides use them as best they can. The issue with the current CBA is that the FO started playing by new rules of how they decided to evaluate older players. In the older days, late 90's to around 2010, teams used same type of evaluation and would give 30 year old 7 to 10 year deals. They did this to lock up them for the first few years of the deal knowing it was dead money at end of it. Also, record deals were being reached each year, even when the players were not the best in baseball but the best on the market. Well FO started to say why should we do this? Lets start to limit these to not have bad money going out the door. They learn ways through the rules to get the most of a player for cheap and then not pay them on the back end. They also stopped giving out large contracts to lessor players just because they were the top guy that year. Well this led to players getting upset and now the big blow up is coming. I do not predict the new CBA will look anything like it used too. Before 1 year service time manipulation sucked, but player would still get paid, but now that 1 year manipulation could cost him a couple years on a deal and that much more money. Players want to hit FA when they are 27, not when they are 30. I would love to see a way to make players want to remain with teams, but a good FO needs to assume they cannot keep them all and plan for the future, as well as the present. The Rays are masters at this.

I find that highly unlikely. Could Baddoo bloom with his chance, yes he can. However, to do so he would need to prove just about every scout wrong. Very few guys with years of time in minors can just come out of no where when they make majors to be all-star player. Could he be one of the very few, sure. However, he has never been high on prospect list, never been top OF prospect for Twins or Tigers now. To call him Puckett 2.0 is even further off. Puckett was drafted number 3 overall when Twins drafted him second time around. He was not some out of no where guy that people were shocked to make it big. I do not wish Baddoo any ill will and hope for him he proves me and the Twins wrong. If he does he will be the rare talent that snuck up on people.

In a 162 game season no team ever uses just 5 starting pitchers. Many times teams will use at least 8 or more. Having depth is important. I have no issue with Dobnak not starting, but if he pitches well out of pen and either Happ or Shoemaker struggle out of the gate, I just hope Dobnak gets a chance. I do not think the team will hesitate to make a move, but in old days Gardy and company would keep running the same guys out there because they were our rotation.