Twodogs

I guess if he were 23 instead of 26 I would be more ho hum about it. But I don't get grabbing a medocre minor league pitcher who is 26???

He was good enough that the Yankees came calling. And it wasn't because of his bat necessarily. Hit only 65 bombs in his career. Was a decent hitter though.

I'd say they would be better off spending if they so wish to spend to bring in new blood for the staff. If you trade for players in the off season and burn the one or two trade chips they got, then they will be S. Outta Luck when the trade deadline comes, which could be important if they are in the running at that time. Just my point of view.

I see a lot of what you are saying, so if that is the case where most of the time the DH is a rotating spot to rest regulars whereas the guys like Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz, Don Baylor's are gone or maybe going away, should MLB then look to get rid of the DH??? I know at one point the union would have fought it tooth and nail because they were protecting guys like Edgar Martinez, etc... But if those guys are going away, shouldn't they just get rid of it?? Just a thought

He was also about the same time as, Brian buchannon, Michael Restovich, etc.... There were a lot of guys back then that looked like they were going to be really good.

Yeah but if Molly manages for 15 years he might win one or two also. Another slight factor is that during TK's years McPhail and the Twins sometimes actually went out and signed some players that helped them. Chili Davis, Don Baylor, Dan Gladden, John Smiley, etc.... Maybe McPhail was just luckier with his signings and stuff, but those kinds of moves helped then accomplish a lot of those things. So far for the last 10 or so years the Twins and the F.O. haven't done a lot to help the twins get better. That one year they signed Nolasco, Hughes, Santana, they gave it a shot, but it didn't work out. So some of the circumstances are different. Again, I don't have a real opinion on what to do with Molitor, but I think he deserves a shot to stay.

After thinking about it, jmo, but I think the Twins need to go after a guy like Lynn or Cobb in the free agency market and they need to win it, whoever they want. That would give them Lynn/Cobb Santana Berrios Gibson Mejia/Gonsalves/Romero/May/etc... Not great but better than this year overall. It's a good enough staff to get them to the postseason once again. They need that guy that can average pitching 6 innings a game. Then they need to also sign two solid bullpen guys, they are cheaper, and it appears that the starters get you to the playoffs and it seems that the bullpen wins in the playoffs. So the bullpen arms can be gotten at less of a cost. But they still need one guy like a Lynn to take over for Santana in a year. Just my thoughts.

What was Tom Kelly's overall record?? They made a bronze statue of that overall loser??

I agree that they probably won't outbid the Yankees or whoever, but they should throw their hat in the ring to show that they are really looking and not just pretending.

No I hear ya, but how much money did they spend on Nolasco, Santana, and Hughes? Not to mention they spent a bunch on a 1B man from overseas that hasn't even gotten out of the minors yet?? So imagine if they spent their money on one or two more sure bets rather than spending a lot of money on 5 or 6 lower bets??? But yeah I hear you that typically the Twins don't spend big, but they have a new stadium to fill, that hasn't been really full the last couple of years and now they have a mostly young team that they have control of for around the next 4 years or so; So just in my opinion this is the year that they should go after it. I don't have the check book, but right now, I think, is the time to go for it.

Why not go after someone like Darvish? Lynn would be ok, you'd need a little better bullpen then, but why not go after those guys? I know the payroll would be excessive for about a year, but Mauer, Santana, Hughes, Dozier, etc... will be coming off of the books in the next year or two also. So might as well go after a guy like that. I feel that if you trade away guys like Gordon, et al for a pitcher then you no longer have any depth. And you know any pitcher the Twins trade for will at some point in time spend some time on the DL, they all do, so you are willing to trade away all of the depth for someone that we know will most likely spend time on the DL? Just go and buy and arm or two and develop guys like Gonsalves, dont trade him, because they will need him in the next year or two for sure. Just go buy someone, go after the big guys, if you cant get them get Lynn or Cobb, someone who can make sure the Twins don't need a Colon, Tepish, etc... to pitch for big chunks of the season. Bullpen also needs a good guy also. But if those are addressed then they would have a legit shot at going deep into the playoffs.

I don't think you try to do any of that. I think you sign some free agents, spend some real money on a free agent pitcher, a good one, then you don't lose your prospects to replace Santana and Gibson in a year or so. Gordon will need to replace Dozier when his contract is up also, if the Twins don't re-sign him or don't offer enough money, I mean it will be Dozier's last shot at a big deal so it will be hard for the Twins to bring him back with Gordon in the wings. I say go after a real good starting pitcher, maybe a bullpen guy and keep the depth. They may need to trade one or more of those guys at the deadline next year also depending on what situation they are in.

The thing is, is what is Grossman, is he mostly young and ok but not great?? That is who Vargas is going to fight for PT

Is this a playoff team? Well if the A's hold on they will have a 4.5 game lead with like 7 to play, doesn't matter what we think, they are most likely in. At least they have a really great shot at it. Now let's be realistic, once in they can beat anyone once, but they probably aren't going to beat Cleveland or Houston or anyone for that matter in a multiple game series. But you have to give them some cred for getting there with a bunch of 23 -24 - and 25 year olds, how huge is that for their development going into next year?? Think about it even if they are one and done, or they win their one wildcard game and then lose out think about what that experience gives them going forward to next year, even go as far as to say they might have an easier time convincing one or two decent FA pitchers to come this way because they would have a legit shot at going even farther next year. Think about that, good pitchers looking at Minnesota as possibly their chance at getting deep into the post season, they have a lot of younger talent that isn't going anywhere for a couple of years. Now add that to the experience guys like Buxton, Polanco, Kepler, Rosario, Berrios, Mejia, etc.... Get from going that deep and they will be more mentally prepared next year too. Doesnt matter what we think, they are just about there. I would have never ever guessed it at the beginning of this season that they'd be here but it's here. Good luck Twins going forward!!!!

You can make a decent case that Gibson has been better than both Santana and Berrios since the All star break. That's a fairly decent stretch 12 to 13 starts. Gibson is 7 - 3 and like a 3.58 ERA Santana is 5 - 2 with a 3.87 ERA. Berrios has not been very good at all since the All Star break. Actually he has had some good games just not consistent.

Well lets see, Keuchel has started a total of 18 games this year, McCuellers has started 19 games this year and McHugh has started a grand total of 8 and Morton is leading the way with 21. Gibson with all of his trips to the Minors has started 24, so are you saying that they didn't need Verlander in case they have more issues with their rotation?? (That's the only reason), Also do you seriously think they would have given up good prospects and all those millions if Keuchel, McCuellers, Morton and McHugh had all started 28 games this year and had no apparent issues going forward?? Combined they are all 31 - 14 in a total of 66 games started. Extrapolate that over 110 games started if they all had 27 to 28 games started up to this point. Yeah, I'm saying that they wouldn't have needed him, nor would they have given much if anything for him. They need him because of injuries, so yeah he provides depth.

I agree, especially if the Twins make the playoff with this group of players this year. Even an early exit, if they make the playoffs you don't dismantle it and get new guys in here. You keep what you have and you add to it, like a starting pitcher and a bullpen arm then you also let the young guys compete for positions so as to create depth. But you don't start getting rid of the guys helping you win.

I feel that the Twins will be better off if they keep their prospects and sign a good starter in the off-season, such as Lynn. Then the rotation would be Santana Lynn Berrios Mejia Gibson, May, Hughes, Gonsalves, Romero Then they will be able to afford a decent arm for the bullpen also. I just don't think Verlander is going to be that great going forward, I believe he left his last start early with some minor injury to his trap. Even if Verlander is ok this year, he wont make a difference agianst Houston etc.... and if he isn't that great next year then it is a giant waste of money and resources if they had to trade someone good for him. Houston on the other hand has a shot at the WS, without Verlander, now you add him and he provides some depth in case a few starters get hurt, most of the Houston starters have been hurt at some point this year. So yes it makes sense for Houston, not really the Twins in my opinion.

Don't look now but Mauer is hitting .302 and Gibby is pitching for a new contract

People see Grossman and don't expect a lot so when they get something then he is doing good. They see Vargas and expect a lot so if they don't get a lot then he doing poorly. JMO

Pressly right now even with his bad stretch has a 1.05 WHIP he should probably be closing.

The Twins need someone like Mejia to be their 5th starter next year. They need to go out and sign at least one decent starter this off season. Guys like Colon, Gibson, etc... hopefully aren't part of the equation next year, at least not before an injury or two.

Who's Melville?

I think it might have been just a numbers game this year, all of the yanking around. I mean they had Buxton in the lineup who hit .190 for the first half of the season and polanco went 4 for July. Kepler has had some hot stretches and some cold ones, Sano has been hurt at times and has had some cold streaks too, the catching position hit about .200 for the first half of the year, etc...... So now Buxton once again seems to have figured it out, Rosario has been a good hitter all second half, again Kepler has some really hot stretches, Polanco is on fire, Sano is out but shouldn't be for long, Dozier is on a tear and Mauer has been pretty steady. So when all of those guys were struggling, I think the Twins needed guys that could go in and play positions to give guys extra days off; Grossman for example had to give the corner OFers a lot of days off this year, Adrianza and Escobar have given guys a lot of days off when they were hurt or struggling etc..... I'm hoping that next season that Buxton doesn't hit .190 in the first half or Polanco doesn't go 4 for July in those scenarios those guys will play 150 - 160 games if they mature to the point where they don't have month long prolonged slumps. If that happens then they won't probably need so many guys that can give the regular guys days off, in that case Vargas could be that guy who DH's full time. Right now it has had to be Grossman because at times he has had to do more than just DH which Vargas is not really able to do except play a little 1B, but unless Mauer is hurt then he doesn't really need to do that either. Plus if all of the younger players continue to develop ie Buxton, Polanco, etc.... Some of the team K's may decrease in which case Vargas's K's then won't seem so hurtful and he may get better pitches due to guys like Polanco getting on base more often in front of him?? Just some ideas, where the maturation of the team itself could lend a huge hand as far as Vargas getting more playing time.

But is Polanco a better hitting option over Mauer