mnfireman

If the front office doesn't promote you or if manager doesn't play you once they do, there is no opportunity.

To those of us that are cord cutters, the game is on FS1 if you can get it.

Starts with an "O"................. Opportunity

Buxton has full no trade protection. If Gallo and/or Kepler can be traded for ANYTHING of value, Wallner and Julien have playing spots. Julien, Farmer and Polanco rotate through 2B/3B. Wallner and Julien can rotate through LF/RF depending on who's traded and all 4 can DH occasionally even if Buxton is not IL'd.

I think the team can get at least the same production from Larnach and Wallner they are getting from Kepler and Gallo, though the defense may suffer a little. The time is now to see if they can make the adjustments to stay with the big club, not after Gallo (this year) and Kepler (next season) are gone, that just delays finding replacements if they can't adjust. Time for the FO to admit their mistake and move on.

On the subject of trading Buxton, he has full no-trade protection. And MLB contracts are guaranteed, so he will not be DFAd, at least not by this team. I do think the team could place him on the IL for 10 days followed by a rehab in St. Paul, maybe a little rest followed by crushing some AAA pitching might be the re-set he needs. Kirilloff, Julien, Gallo, Solano and Jeffers could handle DH duties. Polanco is also due back shortly. Wallner could be called up. Correa could use the DH spot as a day off every so often. Even Miranda, maybe not having to bring his glove to the ballpark helps his hitting. If Buxton was crushing it I wouldn't suggest this, but he is league average at DH and the other players could provide the same results without hurting the defense or forcing a "hot" bat to sit.

The second half of the season is time for Buxton to get back in CF. The team can get the same offensive production by rotating other players through the DH spot, but the defense improves by having MAT as the backup CF instead of Castro. Yes Buxton is league average at DH (101 OPS+), but MAT is not league average in CF (82 OPS+). Kirilloff, Julien, Gallo, Jeffers, Solano and (SSS) Wallner are above average OPS+. Lewis, Correa, and Polanco could all have a "day off" at DH. As could Miranda, and a "day off" from the glove could help his offense. If Buxton gets hurt, MAT goes back to CF and the others can continue the DH rotation.

So here we have another "plug and play" article on TD. It's like the writers here have a template set up where all they have to do is copy and paste a name into the blanks: Twins make bad decision by keeping _________ and trading _________. They then proceed to tell us the traded player is doing this and that with his new team while telling us that the player the team kept is unworthy of MLB playing time. Well, hindsight is almost always 20/20 and not every move works out. If player A is succeeding and player B is not, guess who gets traded. If the roles reverse the following season, then so be it, the call was made at the time. Having said that, this team has been unbelievably snake bitten with injuries and poor performance from the trade acquisitions and the players they decided to "bet" on. I think a little soul searching needs to be done over the next few days by players and front office alike.

Not ready for Prime Time player...

Are you sure you want that to happen?

Now that the defense got to make a play, Ryan needs to get some quick innings or the BP will be in there by the 5th.

His Chevy Big Block ERA (4.54) in June and July maybe hurts him a little though...

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.

Why is Vazquez hitting instead of Jeffers??

I think the botched DP attempt means no Ober for the 7th, he would be at 88 pitches if they turned it.

Lost in Buxton's out was that Correa tagged and moved over to third. A flyball or grounder to the right side (maybe) scores a run.

And the ugly K rears its head....

Somebody complaining about MLB coverage, I don't think I've ever seen a post like this before...

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.

You would be wrong. TD fans sun rises and sets around Arraez...

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.

A couple of bad outings have skewed some otherwise decent pitching the last 2 weeks. Winder's scoreless inning was too far down the list to make the screenshot.

Team has hit pretty well over the last 2 weeks and have a record of 8-6 .571 (92 or 93 wins over 162 games).

Breathing room

Julien!!!