mnfireman

If the team plans to DH Buxton all season, then a true back up CF is needed. I re-watched Hicks' SF this morning to see if it was as bad as I originally thought - it was. I like what Castro brings to the team, but he is not a CF option late in close games. He took a horrible route, which resulted in him having to make a running basket catch. It was still a close play, but the route and catch gave the runner the extra time to score. I don't think a trade here is necessary as the team has Celestino in St. Paul. Besides, who do you trade for help now while being able to keep the future intact? The team can't keep emptying the cupboard. I would also rather see Castro at 3B, as Solano's throw across the diamond on the double play looked like it came from one of the middle school kids I used to coach. I checked on Baseball Savant and his average arm strength is 67.4 MPH. Granted this is mostly as a 1B, but his hardest throw of the season is 80.5 MPH. This is better than Miranda's arm strength, and Solano caught the ball, not a given with Miranda, but Castro would have been the better defensive replacement, but was needed in CF. Farmer also would have been a better replacement, but he had also been PH for by Julien. Another BP arm would be nice, but if you are going to send Duran out for a second inning, stay with heat, the only four-seamers he threw were to McCann, who was bunting. He threw one splitter to Hicks, it was in the dirt. Urias' double and Hicks' SF were on curveballs. I think Balazovik, Sands, or Lopez would have been a better option if the plan was to not use Duran's fastball. Again, who do you trade for that doesn't empty the farm system and can be counted on in close games? I think we are "stuck" with the current roster as it sits now, unless the team falls out of contention, the we may see some veterans on expiring/bad contracts dealt.

This front office doesn't have track record of DFAing players owed substantial $$$, so you can pretty much count on them not DFAing Gallo, Kepler, Polanco or Pagan. If any of these players can get/stay hot, they might be viable trade chips, but they do not fit the mold of young prospects to build around. Any team looking to dump salary is not going to trade for them either. The team is full of infield prospects, but which ones are available to trade? And if the prospects have success with the new team and the player brought in struggles with the Twins... well we know how TD handles that!! Having said all that, Hader, Candelario and Gomes kind of intrigue me, but the best trades might be returning players from the IL and struggling players regressing to normal.

Oh boy, an insightful take on the team's manager. You're also saying that Rocco doesn't/didn't have anything to do with all the K's, bad AB's and LOB's, which would be correct.

Finally, a thread about the Arraez trade. I didn't think anybody noticed he wasn't with the team anymore.

So now its Correa? It has been, in no particular order, Kepler, Rocco, Pagan, Buxton, Larnach, Popkins, Falvey, Levine, Lopez, Lopez, Solano, Castro, Miranda and the trade of Arraez according to the TD staff and users. At least we know where to start to fix the problem.

Rosario was let go so that Kirilloff and Larnach could get into the line-up.

Obviously no NHL fans on here..."Byron Buxton out with lower body injury" Health matters are private and don't need to be discussed. Major sporting leagues have injury reports, but I believe that is mostly for the odds-makers in LV.

5 one-hit innings from the BP, only 2 relievers used, really picked up a bad start and kept the team in the game. Too bad the bats didn't help them out. Julien, Lewis and Kirilloff were a combined 3-8 with 3 BB's and 1 HBP, good to see this out of the younger players. Even Gallo and Taylor were 3-6 with a BB. Correa, Buxton and Kepler however were 1-13 with 2 GIDPs. Ryan serving up 5 HR's in the first 2 innings did not help either. This team can't get out of its own way and it generally starts with the "veteran leadership"

The 27th player, a bullpen arm, afforded by a double-header may help the team as Maeda will almost assuredly not make it to the 5th.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/06/triston-mckenzie-shut-down-for-several-weeks-with-ucl-sprain.html

Texas won the AL West in 1994 with a 52-62 record, .456 winning %. It was a strike shortened season and there was no WS, the Twins are still (so far) a .500 team, which is 81-81 over a full season.

Probably not, unless his "defensive metrics" improveas they are more heavily weighed than anything else. The eye test doesn't seem to matter as much anymore, but at least reputation, offense and popularity have seemingly been removed from the award (see Jeter, Derek).

Not a fan of pitch counts, innings management, or any of the other ways teams are trying to keep pitchers healthy these days. Throwing a baseball overhand at speeds in excess of 90 MPH is an unnatural motion and is and unto itself asking for an injury. Some players just seem to have a more natural aversion to injuries (see Ripken, Cal) while others are an injury waiting to happen (see Buxton, Byron). Today's players are in better athletic condition than players of the past, but seem to wind up hurt more often. I think the weight room has probably hurt as many pitchers has it has helped. Pitchers from the past relied more on conditioning and stretching than weightlifting, pitch counts and innings management programs. They also do more baseball related training in the off-season, and you often hear of players getting injured while doing so. Ober did have an elbow injury in 2019 and missed 2 months, but his recent injuries have been hip and groin strains. Flexibility issues? My answer to the OP's question is yes, the innings do matter. They matter to getting this team to the post-season, so keep sending him out there. If any limitations are to be applied, go to a six man rotation or a BP game during long stretches of games with no days off, but I don't think that would help the players or the team.

Probably a good move, Winder pitched 4 very good innings this week and the team will (probably) need a long man with today looking like a BP game.

Maybe not start him against every lefty, but quit pinch hitting for him the 4th, 5th or 6th innings because the other team brought in a lefty because they know Baldelli is pinch hitting for certain guys. It weakens the late inning defense (Solano is not good) and most teams 8th and 9th inning guys are right handed.

SSS for sure, but since his recall Julien is slashing .429/.556/.714 in 4 games, and if you go back to May 1 (actually May 20 when he was recalled for the second time), his slash line is .286/.400/.531. Polanco in the 7 games he played after returning from the IL (the second time, he is now on his third trip to the IL this season) has a slash of .120/.154/.324, and if you go back to May 1, his slash line is .210/.273/.383. According to defensive metrics (hate those) they are about the same in the field. This is backed up by the eye test. Polanco may have a slight advantage in range and arm strength.

Per MLB.com: Maeda will make another rehab start for Triple-A St. Paul on June 16 in Louisville, after which the Twins will have to make a determination on next steps. He threw four scoreless innings in his last rehab start on June 10, when he struck out five without issuing a walk while throwing 60 pitches (37 strikes). Maeda said he has taken the time to address some mechanical misalignments that held back the quality of his pitches when he was last in the Majors.

The best trade the team can make at the deadline is good health for bad health. The roster is solid and if they can have everyone succeed in their roles, they will be OK. Right now players are being asked to do things out of their skill set and it is hurting the team.

Mixed feelings or not, if a team can win 2 of 3 and split the 4 game series every week, that will lead to 90-95 wins in a season and in the AL Central, that is more than enough.

I think we will see Buxton on the IL before we see him in CF. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I think the team should have placed him on the IL after he hurt the knee against Boston last season, he may have damaged the knee more by continuing to play on it, as witnessed by the fact he didn't have surgery until November despite being shut down at the end of August. Sano (bad example, I know) returned in about 6 weeks from his surgery, if Buxton would have had the surgery immediately after the injury, he is back around mid- June/early July. The team also should have been a little more vocal about him skipping the All-Star game and getting that injection/treatment instead. Personal accolades are fine, but this is a team sport and his team needed him healthy (as much so as possible anyway) for the 2nd half. I am as big a fan/supporter of Buxton as anybody, but I don't think we'll see him CF any time soon.

Hope Correa and a few others took notice of how Polanco RAN hard out of the box on his double instead of standing there admiring it hit the wall...

That is the definition of a strike.

He wasn't as good as you think, but not as bad as some may believe.

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Wallner = Nothing left to prove in the minors.