jimbo92107

What if old Erv finds that extra couple mph before the end of the season? If he's topping out at 95 or more, that would make him pretty effective for the upcoming season. We can already see that Santana's command is still good.

At least we can all agree now that Matt Belisle needs to be released. Garver did better. Speaking of Garver (and other position players that want to pitch an inning in a blowout), I would recommend the two-seamer grip to make those slow 60 mph floaters drift a bit more. The slow timing and movement can be almost like a knuckler.

On September 30, 1859, Abraham Lincoln recounted a story: It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction! Hat tip, Abe Lincoln. HOF? GPOAT?

I guess that was Trevor May's second appearance since he got back from his TJ adventure. Good to see him back up, and good to see he's still got mid-90s buzz. Looked like he's got a lot of rust to wear off before his breaking stuff is a weapon again. But he's back!

The best reason for optimism for the Twins is that their farm system has lots of good looking players in the low and mid levels. Of course, lots of these guys will get hurt, or fade, or somehow not make it to the majors. Even so, a handful will make it, and maybe a few of those guys will turn out to be excellent ballplayers. You can see odds-on favorites right now in Gonsalves, Gordon, Romero, Busenitz, then in AA you've got Rooker, Thorpe, Wells, maybe Vasquez... You've also got relatively slow developing 1st rounders like Stewart and Jay. We could and should see several of these guys in the final part of this season. Thing is, the river keeps flowing, so even if Sano and Buxton implode, it's not the end of all hope. Big, strong guys that can run fast and throw hard are all over the farm. Some of them can even hit a thrown baseball! Let us celebrate the continuous renewal that baseball represents. It's a kids game played by adults. Enjoy it!

Nice thing about Garver is that he's very athletic. His defense should improve over the next couple years as he gets more thousands of reps blocking curves in the dirt. If his bat holds up, man... Good catcher.

Seems unlikely, if Rooker is anywhere as good a hitter as we think. When Rooker is ready, he comes up. I'd even bring him up after the dust settles from all these trades, assuming Lo Mo is gone, and I don't see why not.

Houston trading for Doz might work, but they missed a much better opportunity with Esco.

Or maybe the Red Sox made noises about Duke so the Twins wouldn't use him in this game, instead using a lesser pitcher in Moya... People aren't that sneaky, are they...?

"...free agent starting pitchers tend to stay away from Colorado." Um, I think we've been noticing the same thing here. Given how hard it is to acquire first rate starting pitchers, why don't we keep Gibson? He has improved from middle rotation to vie for solid #2 status. If he keeps performing at this level, why get rid of him? It's not like he's 32 and tailing off. Gibson's style of pitching doesn't require high 90's heat anyway; he's thriving on deception and command.

Trade Lynn and Odorizzi and Dozier. Bring back Sano and Buxton. Bring up Gonzo, Gordo, Wade and a few more kids. No Series this season. Let the tryouts begin.

It bears repeating that almost all the minor league players emerging onto the Twins roster in 2020 will be from the Ryan regime. It's also possible that Lewis will force his way onto the roster if he continues his torrid performance in the minors. I liked Rosterman's take on the issue, tho I disagreed with a few of his choices. Alan Busenitz has the potential to be either a setup or closer, with Pressly in the other role. Each has whiff stuff, but with Busenitz it will be a matter of dotting the corners with his fastball, which doesn't bend enough to get whiffs that way. Jake Cave may turn out to be a good player, but he won't be on the 2020 roster because of a logjam of better hitters in the outfield. Same thing might even happen to Kepler, if he's not batting over .280. If Kiriloff and Rooker both look good at the plate, they might force their way into the corners, leaving CF to Rosario. I'm not even including Wade in this equation because he's a lot like Cave. The 4th OF position might come down to positional flexibility and defensive talent. Heck, then you have Akil Baddoo, the speedy young spark plug, also ETA 2020. Good problems to have, I guess...

When you consider Wilson's dismal offensive numbers, it's a fair question to ask if any catcher in AAA or AA would do worse. The next question would be, who in AAA or AA would be a better defensive catcher to back up Garver? Brian Navaretto, y'all. Big guy, six-four, big arm behind the dish. Hitting a big .246 in AA, he's got 65 hits, including 15 doubles and 4 home runs. Point is, his services would be cheap, and he can close his eyes and swing just as well as Wilson does. Meanwhile, big arm, and an occasional extra base hit. Why not?

Seems like Kyle Gibson has adopted a motion that looks almost like short-arming the ball, with an abbreviated windup of his pitching arm. Hitters have a terrible time gaging the speed as well as the type of pitch he's throwing. I don't recall seeing better stuff from Gibson. Not only were his breaking balls falling off the table, his heater was consistently on the edges of the zone the whole time. Heh-heh, it's almost like Gibson just showcased himself for the two teams he'd most like to pitch for, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Heh-heh...

What a tough job it is to decide which of these guys gets a spot on the 25. The talent in the Twins outfield already is intimidating if you count a healthy Buxton... a big IF, unfortunately.

I'm starting to get a good feeling about Akil Baddoo. Could this guy become one of those spark plug fan favorites, slapping balls all over the field, racing around the bases, making diving catches in the outfield? That's the kind of baseball I like best.

I've seen plenty of examples of pitchers throwing strikes, often in tight situations, and not getting the call from umps. A lot of times it's a high fastball that catches the top of the zone after some low pitches. I can understand how the high heat can fool an ump, but that pitcher deserves that strike, and a robo ump would give it to him. Pitchers that can scatter balls around the zone should not be punished when they're throwing strikes. I, for one, welcome our robot masters.

Tuesday's game was an excellent example why mlb needs robo ump calling pitches. Not only did the ump call strikes on several fastballs that were 3-4 inches outside, he also cheated Toronto's pitcher of a called third strike on Dozier that would have saved his team from a disastrous rally by our guys. I don't care if it hurts umpires' feelings or eliminates pitch framing, which few fans care about or even notice. By 2028 we will definitely have robo ump. Heck, it will probably happen in the next couple years. Even with slightly improved calls, these humans screw up games too often. Kill 'em all! Oh sorry, that's my AI talking... Universal DH? I don't see why. With better training techniques including haptic feedback suits and 3D virtual reality environments, all ballplayers will throw and hit like their favorites heroes. They'll also all dance like Michael Jackson. This may increase the demand for a dead baseball and rules against flash mobs moonwalking during games. Also by 2028 I expect to see the minor leagues getting almost as much attention and camera coverage as the majors. The cheap and ready availability of sophisticated, hi-rez cameras and recording software should make it easy to narrate and record games at every level from beginners on up. If anything, the overexposure of everything could make us sick of all video media. Watch for a counterrevolution. The code phrase is, "God, I'm sick of this crap." Jim Kaat's suggestion of a 7-inning game will definitely happen. Fans will continue to display shorter and shorter attention spans, so we can expect to see more and more of them leaving ballparks after the 7th inning. Empty parks for the 8th and 9th will be so common, the league will finally give up and shorten games. Also, it'll be too hot in many parks for games longer than 7 innings. 120F or hotter on the field will be common. Games will be postponed or canceled due to excessive heat. Imagine Atlanta in mid-July, 2028. Or Miami. Ugh. On the other hand, the league may expand in Canada, following the general migration of humans north. The Twins could be playing the Seals or the Polar Bears for the division championship, led by old man Berrios and Graterol. Good times ahead!

What's really funny is that Cleveland should trade for Dozier, even if they don't need him. Removing Dozier in the second half would just about guarantee that the Twins don't make a miraculous second-half run. Shhhh.... ;-)

Problem with trading Dozier is, other teams don't believe what we have been seeing for years. Dozier tends to suck in the first half, then after the break, he rips off his mortal shirt to show his 'S' undershirt for the second half. If buyers believed it, they'd offer tons of compensation. But they don't. Faced with that, the Twins might as well keep him and enjoy his super second half. He'll hit 30 home runs and play great 2B. It's just the way he plays.

If that photo is recent, then I have no worries. All of Miguel Sano's baseball problems stem from his conditioning problems. If he minds his diet and conditioning, there is nothing else stopping him from becoming a perennial all-star. Full Stop. Reply to All. Press Send. Pack all my stuff, accompany Security to the front door. Get in car, drive away.

I'd trade Esco to a contender for his sake, not the Twins'. He has earned a shot at a ring, so let him go see what he can do at the top level of baseball. The team can get him back next year if both sides want it. Meanwhile, this team needs to get game experience for Nick Gordon. They should shuffle him around the infield along with Polanco and Adrianza. Assuming Dozier is gone, I could see Adranza at 3b, Gordon SS and Polanco at 2B, swapping freely among them.

Someday Miguel Sano will get back in decent shape. Then, he will be able to play baseball at a high level.

Gotta go with Gordon. He's the heir apparent, right? He needs mlb reps, right? The season is toast anyway, right?? If those three things are right, then it's Gordon time.

Polanco, Kepler and Odorizzi are easy guesses. What about surprises? Is anybody on the 25 right now going to shock the world? Watch out for Bobby Wilson. Last few games, I like his swing. He looks like he's been seeing the ball really well. Short hot streak, or a trend? That's the dilemma. Backup catchers don't get a lot of consistent reps, but Wilson is now getting them. Sometimes a guy will shock the world by suddenly "figuring it out" at the mlb level. Bear in mind that by "shock the world" I'm talking about maybe batting .265. That's a lot higher average than he has maintained so far. Singles, a few doubles, sac flies, an occasional dinger, but lots of professional at-bats. Would that not entertain us as Twins fans?