jimbo92107

Granted, but my point is to use the rest of this season as a tryout for everybody that might possibly have value at the mlb level. This is the time to find out, and they're all cheap. The pitchers in question are unlikely to implode if the first guy they face hits a home run. Unlike Berrios, a guy like Pat Dean has seen his stuff get pounded, and his heart rate doesn't go crazy. Same should be true for the other veteran AAA pitchers. It's quite possible that Darnell and Wimmers just don't have enough talent to be major leaguers, but Wheeler might. Beresford has literally earned a shot at being a utility infielder, especially if the Twins deal Nunez. We won't know unless the Twins start making these moves.

It really is disturbing how few good starting pitchers have emerged from the Twins system. Could it possibly come down to bad draft picks? No way. There must be some fundamental flaw in the way the Twins develop pitchers. On the other hand, maybe we're looking at the end of an era of the Twins drafting "ground ball, weak contact" pitchers rather than strike out pitchers. Maybe Gibson is the last of that era. Duffey is a strike out pitcher with a great curve. Berrios is a strike out pitcher. They just brought up Chargois, a strike out pitcher. Dean and Rogers are more in the former mold, but so far they both seem serviceable. If they bring up Wheeler and Darnell, the Twins would have more lefties than anybody else in the league. That at least would be interesting.

Moving all the veterans (including the younger ones) isn't about getting that much in return. It's about clearing the way for lots of much younger, cheaper players in the Twins system, guys like Berresford, Wheeler, Darnell, Polanco, Wimmers, etc. If the Twins plan to be competitive a few years from now, this is a perfect opportunity to give extended tryouts to lots of young, cheap players, most of whom may not stick, but it no longer matters in this flushed season. One side benefit is that it allows some of these veterans to escape a lousy situation in Minnesota for possibly a more promising situation elsewhere. Guys like Plouffe, Dozier, Escobar, Nunez, etc, deserve a chance to do something other than lose, lose, lose on a team with the worst pitching in the league. If the Twins can get a decent low-A prospect for each of these guys, they should go for it. Meanwhile, they've got to clear out Hughes, Nolasco, Jepsen and Santana. They might get another low-A prospect for Abad, same with Kintzler and Tonkin, who might firm up into a decent set-up guy.

I was wondering earlier if there were more guys like Robbie Grossman floating around the league, just looking for a chance to shine. Maybe the Twins lucked into two of them, including Daniel Palka.

Never fat shame a manatee. It's a lifestyle thing.

Tell them you're not looking for anything special. Maybe you can work out a compromise.

I wonder how many more Robbie Grossmans are floating around between AAA and MLB?

Good stuff by Tonkin. After he got plunked in the thigh, suddenly it was like, "F it, I'm just gonna get these mofos out." And he did.

Make 'em split a bottle of tequila during each broadcast. You'd hear laughter, yelling, a fistfight, and possibly some gunfire.

Lemonade, brother!

Jepsen appears every bit as effective as when he was a closer.

Jepsen taken out of the closer's roll... Twins need a closer?

Duffey needs a little bit better fielding to keep his card clean.

Beautiful change up by Duffey. I hope he uses that a lot more.

I think Kepler should have stolen home on this pitcher. Watch for the knuckle ball grip, then take off. No way the catcher fields it cleanly, and the pitcher will probably deliver a wild ball anyway.

I remember wanting the Twins to get Todd Frazier, and wondering what they were thinking with little Ben Revere.

He...just...likes...WINNING!

Let's hope he's Neshek without the arm trouble.

A couple game ago Kepler drove a ball to the right-center gap with great velocity. The ball must have left his bat at 110 mph or so. It screamed by the 2nd baseman so fast, the guy barely had time to move before it was by him. Never got more than 15 feet off the ground, reached the fence in about two hops. If Kepler elevated that about 10 degrees, it would have cleared the fence. Der Kid's got serious pop.

You have touched on one of the core problems with fan speculation. First, TD is a fan site with no connection to the actual Twins organization. As such, we have the freedom to ignore the unlikelihood that a billionaire will say, "What the heck, I'll eat a few multi-million dollar contracts to see if Wheeler and Darnell are slightly better than Hughes and Nolasco, if May can replace Santana, etc, etc." In the real world, MLB owners tend to be pretty conservative, and this team's owners are even more conservative than average. Second, even high prospects like Berrios and Buxton can implode when they hit the Show. What makes me think Wheeler and Darnell will do any better? My answer as a Twins fan is, it doesn't matter. This is a terrible, almost unwatchable team. The veteran pitchers are mediocre, and the position veterans are mediocre. If this is your product, I'm not buying it. This bottom-dwelling team would do better to completely rebuild itself from within, trying out every AAA and AA player to see where they're at in their development. They brought up Pat Dean because Hughes can't go five innings without giving up 5 runs. Nolasco and Santana aren't much better. At this rate, no starter on the Twins will win more than 10 games this season. A good team sometimes will tolerate such low production from their fifth starter, but only if he's a rising prospect or a monster innings eater. The Twins have neither. The catcher situation is an embarrassment. Kurt Suzuki is physically worn out, and he was never that good anyway. Base runners steal off of him with impunity, for they know he gets the ball to 2nd consistently too late. Even so they play the worn out veteran more than a scrappy kid that hits and throws much better than Suzuki, but they won't even make that change. There is no direct connection between TD and the Twins organization, but if they care about their fan base, the Twins should pay some attention to the rising level of frustration with this team's failure to make moves to prepare for the next generation of talent. Like Pat Dean, Darnell and Wheeler offer a more mature approach to pitching than do flashy younger guys like Berrios. While we wait for the hotter arms to develop, this is a good time to see if the Twins can find out more about the guys that don't throw mid-90's, but know how to pitch. If one or more of these guys can become a late rotation innings eater, now is the time to find out.

At this point, the Twins should trade away every veteran except Mauer. Ervin Santana, Nolasco, Hughes - gone. Suzuki, Dozier, Nunez, Plouffe - gone. Abad, Boshers, Jepsen, Kintzler - gone. I'd also trade Tonkin. None of these moves needs to return any significant prospects, tho they should be able to get something for a few of them. Doesn't really matter for the immediate future. Mainly this is clearing the way for the next gen Twinkies. First, I'd promote as many decent pitchers as possible from Rochester. Wheeler, Darnell, Chargois, Wimmers, possibly Albers...but not Milone. Trade him, too. Then I'd promote the new infield, again mostly from Rochester. Polanco, Beresford, and since there are NO SS's listed on the AAA roster (!), grab a shocked and happy Engelb Vielma from AA as your slick-fielding, light hitting SS. Since I just remembered Escobar is fairly young and a good SS, that's a tougher call. They could trade Esco for some value to a contender, or keep him as captain of the infield. Either way Rochester gets at least one SS bumped up from AA. Ridiculous not to have a starting SS on a AAA roster. Let's see now...what to do with Murphy? He's still not hitting, so I promote Garver from AA to split time 50-50 with Centeno. Turner to AAA, all below in the minors get bumped up. Notice I'm leaving Berrios and Meyer in AAA. Throw strikes, kiddies. Hey, this is fun!

Why not call up Jason Wheeler?

Zach Granite is looking good. I see he's 6'1", 175, so he's got room to grow a bit. How are his defensive stats? Does he have a decent arm in the OF? A fast lefty/lefty lead-off hitter that gets on base a lot, steals bases, covers lots of ground in the field... Could he be a possible LF instead of Rosario? Currently in AA batting .274, OBP .346, 17 BB, 21 SO, 25 SB, 23 yrs old... Not much power, but he puts the bat on the ball pretty good. If he adds a little muscle mass, he could be a riser.

We are just crackin' ourselves up today!

Dear Eddie: Learn to work the count, shrink your swing zone, and take some walks. That's what we're all waiting for. Love, Jimbo