Eris

I don’t think spending money is really the issue. Some players don’t want to come here (Marcus Semien). They have gotten poor performance from some they did pay (Donaldson, Sano, Kepler, Colome).

Entering the season the Twins were in need of a backup outfielder who could play a serviceable CF because of Buxton’s injury history. The Twins had Cave, Kepler, Celestino, Wade, and Baddoo. Wade was traded, Baddoo lost to rule 5, both Cave and Kepler were hurt, Celestino look very unprepared when given the opportunity. Both Wade and Baddoo have outplayed the others on this list. Although injuries to both Kepler and Cave could not have been predicted, they both struggled in 2020. One of Wade or Baddoo should have been retained. The Twins don’t have the luxury of making to many mist

There was time many years ago when the Twins thought they had expendable catching depth as well. We should revisit the Wilson Ramos trade before we discuss trading another catcher. Keeping Mitch Garver as a 1B / catcher / DH is the best option. (This was mentioned by @stringer bellHe is also under team control for 3 more seasons.

“All three relievers have struggled mightily this year, but specifically using Dobnak and Shoemakers as relievers and leaving them out there when they were clearly struggling to get outs was interesting. “ Because the bullpen is burned up. The only way the Twins will have a respectable record at seasons ends is if every pitcher starts contributing. Yes, that means when a pitcher is expected to throw 2 or 3 innings he needs to throw 2 or 3 innings even if the results aren’t there.

Well that a horrible at bat by Sano. Swung at 3 pitches well out of the strike zone.

I am curious about the decision to put Gordon in CF over Gilberto Celestino. Not that I am unhappy about it and hope that Gordon can learn how to play the OF like Jarrod Dyson. But with Gordon having no OF experience it seems the safe choice would have Larnach with a strong arm in RF, Gordon in LF and keeping Celestino in CF.

They used the slot money they saved by taking Lewis, to sign Blayne Enlow. Considering the Twins stretch of bad luck/poor decisions in drafting pitchers in the first round, selecting Lewis seemed reasonable. My concerns would be on reports of poor swing mechanics that aren’t being corrected. (Like another top pick who plays CF) I also agree with @Danchat above that the continued selection of bat first high strikeout prone hitters could use an adjustment either by drafting more pitchers or players with defensive value https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-twins-prospect-royce-l

He is on to something that doesn’t seem to be emphasized in today’s pitchers. He must have close to a 45 mph speed differential between his fastball and off speed pitch. That difference can be effectively utilized to keep hitters off balance and get outs. In his younger years Zach Greinke had about a 25 mph difference between his fastball and curveball, which at that time was the largest differential in the MLB.

I thought the Twins had a rule about 1 inning pitch counts. After 35 pitches in one inning the pitcher’s day was over.

I did not see this elsewhere in the forum. This is an article by Joel Sherman of the NY Post that suggests that many pitchers are cheating and he outlines what he thinks baseball should do about this. https://nypost.com/2021/06/02/mlb-must-put-a-stop-to-cheating-substances-epidemic-sherman/ From the article. “Then pick a start date, like July 1, to state that umpires are being ordered to aggressively check for foreign substances, and if one is proven to be used, then not just the pitcher, but the pitching coach, manager and head of baseball operations too will all be suspended for 10 g

Alex Colome deserves to be on the list as he is single handedly responsible for 4 losses. He was also the Twins big bullpen acquisition for the winter. In addition to many of the names mentioned above, I would have Ryan Jeffers on this list. He went from being in the pre-season RoY discussion to playing himself off the roster with a nearly 50% K rate. The consequences are that we have lost several games with passed balls or WP with Garver that a decent defensive catcher would have corralled. It is really approaching total system failure. The number of regular starters and pitch

It looks like the euphoria is over. Against KC, today 3K, 7 LOB. A batting average that is nearing the O’s Chris Davis recent years of futility. It is really frustrating to see Sano flailing at sliders low and outside.

Garlick was a defensive substitution in the bottom of the 7th after Kepler reinjured this hamstring. To describe him as a pinch hitter in the 10th is not the most accurate description.

I think so. The Twins were able to convince the umpire(s) to give Jorge Alcala extra warm-up time despite LaRussa's disagreement. Therefore assume that Maeda is at least somewhat hurt. (There are likely consequences for lying to umpires under these circumstances as well although I do not know what they would be).

Aaron Hicks to undergo wrist surgery. Likely season ending. https://nypost.com/2021/05/21/aaron-hicks-yankees-season-likely-over-with-wrist-surgery/