jimbo92107

Snidley Whiplash!

At least a couple teams would jump all over Trevor Plouffe. He's a solid hitting and fielding 3rd baseman. Nunez is hot, so a real contender could use him as their utility guy. Don't trade Trevor May. The team that grabs him will instantly make him a 5th starter, and then he'll work his way to the middle or top of their rotation for the next eight years, winning between 12 and 15 games each year. We must see the difference between Twins mismanagement and May's ability. He can be very good, if the organization doesn't screw him up. Same goes for several young players. Hi, Alex Meyer! Oswaldo Arcia wouldn't get much, but he looks like a far better player today than he did a year ago. Some team might want a young lefty corner outfielder with some power who is improving all aspects of his game. Agreed that Hughes and Nolasco wouldn't get much of anything right now, which is why it's better to stash them in the bull pen and figure out something in the off season. Gibson should be worth something in trade. He's still looks the part of a useful middle ro guy. Most of these contemplated moves are not an attempt to grab a pirate's haul of prospect booty. This is just flushing out the bilge of a stagnant roster. Har, bring me a bucket of fiery new blood, so we can have a round of fresh new misadventures! Har!

Well, in my job at the missile silo, we all use "Twins2016" as our passwords because really, who would ever guess that?? Actually I'm pretty upbeat about the Twins. Now that any post-season chances are thoroughly blown, players and coaches can relax. It's a practice season, a four month scrimmage. You can start looking for sales on golf clubs early. For the guys with a future, this is a golden opportunity to get experience at the level you need. Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, all the guys in AAA now can work on their games, then come up when they look ripe. Twins management appears to understand this, which is why they've called up Rogers and Dean as starters/relievers. Both look mediocre, which on this team means OUTSTANDING! Juan Centeno has looked decent behind the plate, certainly better than Kurt Suzuki, whose professional career ended sometime last year. Sadly, the FO has yet to acknowledge his shift from professional player to enthusiastic amateur. Maybe that's because he still digs balls out of the dirt? Both Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco have ceased to be top ro starters, now looking more like 4th and 5th guys, which is usually reserved for rising rookies or innings eaters, but they can't do that, either. Both actually would serve better in the bull pen, if the Twins had anybody better to start. At the moment they might actually do better with a rotation of Duffey, Dean, Rogers, Santana and May. With Hughes and Milone in the pen, that gives them a couple relievers that can go two or three innings, while the younger starters have the stamina to get through six or seven before pooping out. Meanwhile I've got my doubts about Dozier being a team leader. Seems more like a borderline head case with very little plate discipline. Around the All-Star break I'd trade him and Plouffe, stick Polanco at 2B, Sano back at 3rd, then see what we got in AAA for the outfield. The transition year will not be a winning year. Peace be with you.

Even in a blowout loss like this, Sano makes pitchers act differently. They don't want to put the ball anywhere near the middle.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get into politics. Policies have to come from somewhere... ;-)

Jepsen gives up his usual two runs per appearance...

The Minnesota Twins has become a sanctuary where waning veterans get fat contracts for mediocre production. It's like the old men running the front office are making roster decisions with darts and a magic 8 ball. It's like they read the part in Moneyball where you can get great deals on players, but forgot the part where they have to fit in somehow.

I don't see anything particularly deceptive about Moylan.

Place your bets on Grossman.

Abad does throw some very pretty pitches. Love that floating cutter at 64mph.

Sometimes the man is simply psychic.

If he faced him a lot, I think Joe Mauer's average against Moylan would be about .800... That was a very comfortable swing.

WTF Sano? All he needed do was corral that ball by kneeling down to block it from getting past him on the carom. Even I could do that!

One thing we don't talk about much with AAA veterans like Dean and Rogers is that, when they do come up, they look far less overwhelmed by The Show then the younger cats. Even if their stuff isn't as fizzy as some, they seem a lot more emotionally composed than the guys that are fast-tracked. I don't expect to see Taylor Rogers implode emotionally if somebody bangs a ball over the fence off him. That said, why not call up a couple more AAA veterans like Wheeler, Wimmers and Albers? None of these guys is going to wow the radar gun, but they've spent enough time in the high minors so that they're thoroughly familiar with their games.

Shut him down for a couple weeks, then put him in the bull pen. He's still got great command and knows how to pitch, but he can't go 100 pitches anymore. That spells veteran middle reliever.

I'm curious, why can't Taylor Rogers do exactly what Pat Dean is doing? Aren't they essentially the same pitcher with two different names?

Whoa, that called 3rd strike was even worse than the ones Detroit was carping about. Ball was outside and low every damn time.

This game is officially off the hook. Drop the mic. Nuff said, Stan. There is no spoon, because the spoon has left the building. It was Elvis's spoon.

The Pat Dean Experience. Go ahead, top that ball. Go ahead, hit a line drive to an outfielder. Go ahead, pop one up.

Nice pitching by Pat Dean. Batter tossed... Oh heck, they cut to commercial just as the manager was blowing a neck vein. I'll assume he's tossed, too. I was about to be sorry for watching this game. Now, I'm glad to be here. We got hubbub, ruckus, and a little French soup can of hullabaloo!

The infield dirt is really wet. The ball is squirting like a nervous octopus.

We got a baseball game. Tales of the Unexpected.

I got here a little late and I was wondering how Berrios - What the F---?????

Leave Buxton in AAA until the all-star break. Plate discipline, bunting, and better lead-off technique on base. He doesn't even do a couple skips on each pitch. He could put so much more pressure on pitchers if he actually learned how to steal bases.

Okay, I was slightly off when I said Rosario could be the best player on the Twins. I figured he would improve his whiff rate by being stingier at the plate. Nope, nope, nope. Instead, he decided he was Vlad Guerrero, able to hit anything within reach of a garden rake. Bad Eddie, bad! Go back to AAA and learn the boring discipline of a real MLB hitter! I disagree about Polanco. I think he could be a better hitter than Dozier, given time. Not the best time to trade Dozier, but from his perspective it would be liberation from a team that's going nowhere. Good points on Arcia. He could be a really good player on another team, but right now he's blocking Kepler. I'd also trade Plouffe and put Sano back at 3rd base. It's nice to know Sano can be a decent RF given time, but he's much better at 3rd, and it opens an outfield spot for the eventual trio of Rosario, Buxton, Kepler.