Twodogs

Pablo Lopez Joe Ryan Taj Bradley Zebby Matthews Dean Kremer Mick Abel Connor Prelipp Bailey Ober Maybe Festa?? The Twins have basically 8 guys for 5 spots, I mean they would kind of be like a poor man's Dodgers. I mean how many starting pitchers do they have rolling around in the organization, or (did have) before the Skubal trade. I mean the Dodgers have proven that even they need all of the starters in order to have a full consistent season. Now it would be a great problem if everyone was completely healthy all year long but in all reality, Pablo will probably only be counted on for a solid 20 - 24 Starts. Let's error on the low side as we know how this always plays out. Ryan could put together a full season of 32 starts but he hasn't done that lately, but lets say Ryan and put down 29 - 30 starts. Right now Taj, probably because of his youth and he hasn't been abused over the last 3 - 4 seasons could probably be counted on for 32 starts. Zebby might be able to take another step forward and start 28 - 30 games. Zebby and Prelipp have looked to be maturing a little and could be on the cusp of becoming trustworthy of giving them the ball every day. Kremer as the 5th starter should be counted on for 24 - 25 starts hopefully after showing that he is fully recovered. Then you have Abel, who knows after recovering from injury maybe he can have 15 solid major league starts? Then ideally Prelipp 15 solid major league starts puts you at about 162 or so. Now you still have Ober on the squad for insurance. I mean in no way do i really want Ober to be starting 30 games a year, but he'd be a great fall back option to throw 20 starts if any of those other guys get hurt which they will, maybe not serious injuries but injured enough to miss 3 - 4 weeks, you know with back spasms or bi lateral leg weakness, and if 2 or 3 of the guys the Twins are depending on have some minor things that put them out for a few weeks here or there then Bailey would come in perfect. Just my thoughts, can never have enough pitching. I mean it would be ideal if the Twins went out and signed Skubal and King after he opts out and then brought in Freddy Peralta as insurance but that won't happen. The Twins have a good group of decent pitchers and Ober has a lot of major league experience and innings under his belt. I think he is a good keep if they aren't trying to run him out there at their #3 starter or something like that.

Buck hit 25 bombs and put up a 3.3 WAR in only 93 games for the Twins this season. Name another Twin, right now, that has ever done that. I mean we can sit here and say Walker Jenkins "could" hit 25 bombs, Rodriguez or Gonzalez "could" do well, but none of them ever have, and until multiple of these guys actually put up the numbers to force Buck out I'd quit trying to say that there is anyone better than him. Now like I said, if someone comes along and next season is out hitting him or out fielding him then make a move. But you dont push Buck aside until someone forces the issue and hitting OK at AAA doesn't count. I mean look what Royce Lewis did when he went down to AAA??

Unfortunately, most of these pod casts are designed to create a stir or create a ruckus. I mean look at Stephen A Smith? That's all he does is say stuff that makes people uncomfortable. Guess what, it drives ratings. I mean had Donaldson just said, Minnesota was just another stop in my career, it wasnt any better or worse that many of the other squads I was on, then nobody would be talking about it. Which again is unfortunate. Roger Lodge, commentator and tv personality said way back in the day he filled in for Jim Rome, he said that he went after the jugular and said some questionable things about certain athletes, coaches, athletic personnel, etc.... He said the producers were stoked, they loved it so much, they requested him back time after time and he said he ate it up, got his own show and after awhile he said when he went home at night, he just didn't feel good anymore. Pointing out negatives all of the time and trying to bring people down all of the time actually wore on him. So he quit, now he does a local show prior to the Angels games the sports Lodge, and he is pretty upbeat all of the time and he says hed make a lot more money had he kept being cutting edge and bringing up negative things all of the time, but he said he just feels so much better when he gets home nowadays that he said he would never go back. It just goes to show that someone like Josh Donaldson or any one else will get more clicks or play nowadays if they say some negative stuff and get everyone upset. So hard to blame him in todays climate that he would say something questionable. If I remember right, the Twins were really focused on signing someone else and got Donaldson sort of as a consolation prize? Best memory of Donaldson was the homerun robe. Too bad he was hurt all of the time, might have a different opinion of him had he helped win a couple of division titles??

Kremer

I dont understand why they left Culpepper down for so long this season? It seems like the Twins always do this kind of stuff. Especially once they moved Lee over to 3rd, i get back when Lee was the guy that you want him being confident and whatnot, but once that move was made and Culpepper was doing pretty good all season they should have brought him up awhile ago.

He throws with more velo than Ober??? 😀

Yeah getting into the either buying of selling is definitely a question as they are on the line to where they could go either way. However, at the beginning of this season I would have guessed that they would be way way worse than where they are at now. Also include had someone told us back in February that Lewis and Wallner would both spend a good amount of time in the minors we would have all been like go ahead and sell now. But for some reason they are in it. So here we are kind of in a quandary.

Well Hoffman has 75K's in 48 innings at the MLB level, so hopefully he can provide something down the stretch. Sucks to lose good prospects but Hoffman has been doing well as of late and maybe with him the Twins don't lose that game against the M's??? I mean it isnt worth it if the Twins dont make the playoffs, its low key worth it if they do make the playoffs. So have to wait and see. Could flip him next year too??

The twins announcers talking about how close the Twins clubhouse is. Bell says its the closest one he has ever been a part of. Is that due to change in leadership??

Man 89 would be an uptick.

Do they bring Ober back out? 89 pitches?

Its early

He might consider not throwing anymore fastballs. Sweepers, sliders, curves. He needs to get below hitting speed since he really can't get above it.

Its weird when you look at it. But there are 7 teams with payrolls lower than the Twins. Pittsburgh, Tampa, Chicago White Sox, Miami, Washington, Cleveland, and St. Louis and they all have winning records?? Only one team with a lower payroll has a losing record, the A's. I'm thinking if a team isnt going to sink big money into payroll with free agents they probably have to sink their big money into scouting and player development?? I mean how does Tampa seem to do it year in and year out?? It has been a lot more fun to watch them lately while they've been competing. Hope they can keep it up with this sort of Hodgepodge group!!

I could listen to those guys all day long. Most of the Twins announcers have me napping by the 4th or 5th inning or so. I was cracking up when they were all making fun of Span when he raised his finger when he thought he just hit a walkoff and the ball got caught on the warning track.

6 games is a lot for one player, not saying it couldn't be 6. But im pretty sure we could go through the schedule right now and find 3 games for sure where he makes the difference. But think about that, if we can flip 3 games the Twins would be above .500???

He played high school and college in St. Paul, I dont think he wanted out. In fact I think he was actually a little upset when he got traded. Unlike Jax who I think may have requested a trade.

Twins dropped him for some reason and now they'd have to offer some sort of trade for him. I don't see any reason to bring him back. Also if they got him they would have to try and clear waivers with him and I think someone could snatch him so it's just not worth it.

They aren't going to get anything for Larnach. They should still trade him for a bucket of balls or something so they can make room for a young guy or two. I mean if you are a playoff caliber team and you need an outfielder/bat, who would you rather have Larnach or Moniak?? They should pick a couple of the young dudes and focus on them and trade one or two of the other young guys also, because they might actually get something good for one of them.

I know, but it seems to me that usually they bring in someone else after a long delay??

Definitely, i mean how hard is it to say I got it, when you are running in and the guy running out looks like he is spinning around in circles?

Just a curious question? How often does a team roll back out the same pitcher after a 53 minute rain delay?

I agree with the fact that the Twins should look to move Larnach and Bell. But no one wanted Bell last season so that kinda shows what he is worth. I mean maybe the Twins can get their soda machines filled for next year or something with Bell. Larnach is not really worth much overall either. I dont see anyone seriously knocking down the Twins door for Trevor, even though he is having an impressive season this year. Also, if the Twins do manage to offload those two I don't see anything coming back that will make a difference from taking the twins from a below .500 mediocre team to a 90 - 100 win team. Those guys just dont have a lot of value. Now they might be able to get a decent piece or two for Joe Ryan, but thats not really why im on here right now bringing this up. Im noticing a giant logjam in the OF on the Twins and in AAA. I mean Buxton isn't going anywhere for a few years. It looks like Austin Martin has carved himself a spot for a couple of seasons. Now they have Keaschall running around in the OF. The Twins still have Walner, Fedko, Gonzalez, Rhoden, Rodriguez, Mendez, Jenkins and with Larnach that's 11 OFers that are all already MLB players or are ready to be MLB players. Again don't get me wrong, i think Larnach needs to be shopped, but im also thinking the Twins could really actually get something valuable for the up and coming guys? I mean shop Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez and try to off load Walner and Larnach. If the Twins can get something really good and younger for one or two of those young guys, I mean they still have perceived value, Larnach has known value and with some moves like that the Twins could ready themselves for a breakout 2 or 3 years from now. What the Twins seem really good at doing is allowing talent to stagnate in the minors while picking up guys like Bell and Wagaman in every off-season. Its like they are trying so hard to not get some of these guys clocks started early that once they finally get a shot their time has run out. Like I said, we know Buxton, Martin, and now Keashall will probably be around for at least 2 more years, the Twins need 2 or 3 good OFers to provide depth, but they don't need 11 of them. They don't need to sign any more below average veterans either. I mean if they sign a difference maker thats different, but no more Wagamans etc..... they have too many high and getting old AAA prospects. They probably need to trade some of those guys for younger A or AA prospects that will be ready when someone like Buck is near the end?? I know people are going to start twitching because i said trade the young guys like Jenkins, people will be like he was our #1 draft pick, and I'm saying that's exactly why he has a lot of value attached to his name, or one of the other guys like him, Rodriguez, etc..... I'm hoping the twins could get multiple prospects for guys like that and load up to explode onto the scene in 2 - 3 years. I just feel like only trading a guy like Larnach will accrue another nobody that will clog up the system? I guess we will see. Hopefully the Twins can keep winning series for now.

Zebby looked really good though!

Maybe Lauer made an adjustment? That and the team is a little different than when they played Lauer earlier this season. Plus it sure seemed like the Twins players had no issue with the opener causing him to throw 30+ pitches, they seemed fairly loose against that guy. Im not saying you are wrong though with those said teams, but I think another way to look at it is that the Twins are just not a good baseball team, and haven't been for quite a long time now, so in a situation like that, they will probably lose to the teams that are usually better than them. Even when the team had decent seasons they were flawed in numerous ways. Id say over the last 15 - 20 years or so the Twins have over performed in comparison to what their talent level really indicated where they should be. They have usually done well in the Central division, but even in the playoffs seasons, the Twins were missing key ingredients to being a real good team. In the end it usually gets exposed, especially by the good teams.