jimbo92107

A big old yuppers for John and Seth. The only saving grace for this hot mess in the pen is that things should get a lot better over the next couple years. A baseball team is a synergy of many pieces working together. Failure of one part can bring down the whole thing, but sometimes another part can compensate. The Twins had a good thing going in last night's game until they depended on two unreliable pieces, O'Rourke and Graham, who quickly pitched a 4-1 lead into a 4-5 deficit. The rest of the story was even more unreliable pitching. As the Twins have done for several years now, they depended too heavily on older players to continue producing at peak levels, until those players got tired or injured. Perkins and Torii Hunter are good examples of riding a good old horse until it breaks down. Then they found themselves depending on untested, unreliable players like Graham and O'Rourke, who as expected, found a way to fail. The Yankees still have a better hitting lineup than the Twins, which didn't help. They still have A-Roid, which was a killer. I'll continue to argue that intentionally walking A-Roid with the bases loaded was the logical move for Graham. Maybe even plant one in his ear. Bastard's been leaning in his whole career. Anyway, there is no clear way forward from this, other than increased player development. It's too late and too expensive to trade for half a relief staff, so the Twins have cornered themselves into calling up Berrios, Tonkin, maybe Taylor Rogers and Logan Darnell, just to get some fresher arms in there, despite their youth and inexperience. These guys will take their lumps just like Graham and O'Rourke have been, but at least some of them have a future with the club. With the starting rotation and the bullpen degenerating into a shambles, it's time to start cutting and pasting together a staff for next year. Guys like Milone and Pelfrey may have some modest trade value, while a guy like Duensing is sputtering near the end of his career. Graham needs work in AAA; Twins should either make a trade deal for him or hand him back to the Braves. Either way, he's out of the pen. If I were Terry Ryan (perish the thought) I would pull some moves that would reshape the team quickly. I'd DFA Duensing, trade Milone and Pelfrey for whatever, then bring up Berrios, Tonkin, and Jason Wheeler, the big lefty in AA. All are currently on the 40-man roster. Sink or swim boys, take yer lumps and learn. Sadly, I'd leave May in the pen as the traditional one guy the Twins burn up. Jepsen becomes the closer. Perkins goes on the DL for the rest of the season. Rest, rehab, see ya next year, Perk. Let's see, what else is on the shopping list...buy lighter fluid for the townspeople's torches... Call up Max Kepler and bat him third, in front of Sano. Call up Vargas as DH/1B, bat him behind Sano. Call up Buxton, bat him first. Trade or DFA Robinson. Bench Hunter, platoon Mauer with Vargas, rotate Kepler with Hicks and Rosario in the corners. DFA Nunez, call up Polanco to SS. This at least keeps things interesting, in the sense of the Chinese curse.

It's the one time a pitcher would be better off intentionally walking in a run. Sad, but true. You walk A-Rod, at least the next guy's not A-Rod.

I'd bring up Tonkin as the 8th inning guy, then use May as closer. Best solution for the moment.

Trevor May now becomes the closer. He's the only guy with remotely shut-down stuff. The only alternative would be to call up somebody from AAA or AA. Who's got better stuff than May? Nick Burdi maybe, but Burdi is just as likely to blow up as get guys out. This explains why they kept May in the pen, and why it looks like he's been working on hitting the corners with his heater.

Strangely enough, I still like JR Graham. Needs a little work on those cookies.

Just got in. Anything interesting happen?

I agree with sane on this. Nunez's throw to first wasn't out of confusion, it was an act of frustration. He knew the game was blown the instant he bobbled the grounder. No way to get the winning runner at home, so he simply released his frustration by gunning it to first. Eduardo Nunez does suffer from lapses of concentration, and the bobble may have been one of those. That doesn't make Nunez stupid. Frankly, it makes him more like me. I can relate to blown plays and missed opportunities. It's so much more common than the errorless perfection of a superstar baseball player. We sometimes forget that even in the show, most guys are fighting just to stay afloat, like Nunez and Escobar. Blowing plays doesn't make a guy stupid, it make him more like us.

Perkins looks like he's barely getting by with some kind of injury. Pulled oblique, sore elbow, maybe both. He's been throwing a bare minimum number of sliders, I think because that hurts more than throwing his fast ball. At the same time, his accuracy with the heater has degraded, again I think because he's nursing some kind of injury. I wouldn't mind seeing the Twins swap Perkins for Trevor May for a while. May has got better stuff right now than Perk does, and May is as sturdy as a horse.

Even great pitchers can have a bad stretch. Gibson is a very good pitcher, not a great one. Chill pills for everybody!

OMG, that is GREAT! Taped to the wall, and a ball wedged in the seam between pads. Byron "Crash" Buxton has to learn not to crash quite so hard!

Boy, was Clayton Kershaw pitching like crap for a while in the first half. We should have offered a straight up trade, him for Arcia. /snarktacularcagematchcomeseeitatthebuffalorama!

Having three young studs that can play all three outfield positions (Rosario, Hicks, Kepler), plus a budding superstar CF in Buxton is a great situation for the Twins in 2016. Nothing wrong with platooning four guys depending on the situation, with one of them always available for PH, DH, PR, or just throwing sunflower seeds at whoever's being interviewed. I do agree that Arcia is a big question mark. If he fully recovers from his bad hip by next year, then he's back to being a legitimate power hitting lefty to protect Sano. Otherwise it will have to be Kennys Vargas. You can't keep batting Plouffe 5th against righties, though he's done all right this season. The other option to protect Sano against LHP's could be Rosario, frankly. Gotta think very carefully (and then say NO) before trading any of these guys, including Arcia, given how rare are Twins power hitting prospects, especially lefty ones. No way do I trade Kepler. Der Kid is destroying AA, and he has gotten better every year, including his power numbers. With his speed, average and gap power, he might be a very good lead-off hitter. If he develops more homer power, maybe it'll be Kepler protecting Sano. I can see stashing Kepler in AAA next season as a plan B if Arcia doesn't work out, but otherwise you have to ask whether you're getting more value with a guy like Robinson as your 4th OF or if Kepler provides more. Robinson is a skilled all-around ballplayer, but Kepler could be a star pretty quickly. My guess is the Twins will go with the youth movement, but possibly keep Hunter around as mentor for one more season.

One screaming line drive after another. Is there a more eloquent way to say, "He's got nuthin'?"

Jeeze, I've just been trying to get the game feed back, and the instant I do, Duensing just gave up a two run homer. Seriously, one second after I get the game feed back. Boom. Get Duensing out of there!!

Now that is some seriously trivial knowledge. I salute you!

Plastic bags be the problem, matey! Rip-stop nylon shopping bags are the solution. Light, super-strong, and they'll last a few years. Much like aluminum, rip-stop nylon has a very good strength to weigh ratio, making it good for Festivus, and for shopping!

Just bought a shopping bag made of rip-stop nylon. Problem solved! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GGXZVOU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 Baggin' it now, baby!

Rosie can hit this guy...I bet. Whoops, lost that bet.

The Nibbler... a super villain that didn't quite make it on Batman.

Hicks does seem to be developing better power from the left side. Still not as much as he could... Hey, I thought the whole idea of Hicks batting first was to have someone on base when Dozier came up.

At this point in the season development considerations should trump in-season expectations for guys like Robinson and Boyer. It is far more important to get Buxton up and playing CF, so we can see how he fits in with Rosario and Hicks as the outfield trio going forward. Same goes for Berrios. Get the blue chippers up ASAP, to add value and see where they still need work.

You want to trade a guy that was making half the Indians lineup whiff on his curve balls by six inches? I urge reservation of judgement. Duffey's debut against the Jays was a typical case of rookie debut nerves and over-throwing. Against the Indians he showcased a devastating curve ball / fastball combination. Let's see how his curveball fares now that the next team sees video of it. Will they be able to lay off? Does Duffey have more to show us?

This has already been a very successful season. Aside from competing realistically for the first half... We found out that - Brian Dozier's monster 2014 was no statistical fluke. - Aaron Hicks indeed could fix his power problems at the plate, and even his weaker lefty swing is looking much better. - Eddie Rosario is a keeper, just as Molitor thought. - Paul Molitor is a pretty good manager, and Tom Brunanski is a pretty good hitting coach. - Trevor Plouffe keeps getting better at 3rd base. - Torii Hunter is indeed a great mentor, helping all the young outfielders, building team morale, instilling professionalism, and providing some great play himself. - Trevor May is a very versatile, very talented young pitcher that gets better in every role. - Kyle Gibson is rounding into a solid mid-rotation starter. - Tyler Duffey's last name has an Extra E, just like an advertisement for urine fetish sex in New York. "The extra E is for extra pee!" - Tommy Milone on a good day can shut down anybody; on a bad day, not so much. - Bert Blyleven, master of the curve ball, has no better idea of the difference between a curve and a slider than any of us hackers. Vertical break?? Then I guess Randy Johnson never threw a curve ball! Come on Bert, only a few guys actually get the ball to break 12 to 6! - Tyler Duffey likes pitching to the Indians more than the Blue Jays. So far. - Molitor likes shifts, bunts, and shifts. Did I mention shifts? - Neil Allen is a pretty good pitching coach, but he still hasn't gotten anybody to throw nothing but change-ups for a whole inning. Somebody's got to do it. History beckons. Double. Dog. Dare. - Byron Buxton needs protective gloves when he runs the bases, and a crash helmet in the field. - Miguel Sano has a really good arm at 3rd. Not much else to say....a nice smile, too. - Kurt Suzuki is a very positive, friendly, upbeat, hard-working catcher. Unfortunately, he's no Pudge Rodriguez. - Joe Mauer...sigh. There's a few other things, but I'm tired now. Twins should call up Stewart Turner for defense, then work with him on his Cuban Kick and Dominican Bat Wave. Then move Mitch Garver to AA. Why are so many American players so stiff at the plate? Loosen up, Gringos; listen to some salsa! Call up Buxton, Vargas, Berrios and Kepler in September. That pretty much completes the band, except for drummer. Who can play drums?

Even the relatively modest move of giving up Chih-Wei Hu for Kevin Jepsen could come back to haunt the Twins. Hu looked like a very good developing pitcher with a neat assortment of pitches and excellent control. Not to mention all the lost Dr. Who/Hu jokes and references to Hu's on First... Damn!

When September rolls around I'm hoping to see one more guy join the Three Musketeers, to form The Fantastic Four Outfielders. Talkin' Der Kid, the Keplermeister. Maximus Ohreallyus Keplermundo. Four men, accidentally exposed to cosmic rays, and now exhibiting strange baseball super powers. Watch as these young heroes defend the honor of the Northland... Ford dealerships, in their quest for the legendary, um, cup or something. He shoots he scores!