matthew0211

Gardy had nothing to argue on that play. Not a thing. He went out there specifically to get tossed. The new rules have taken getting ejection out of his pocket as a tool to "motivate" his players - which is a silly managerial tactic anyway. Today, when he saw his opening, he took it. That the Twins came back and won today after the ejection was a coincidence and nothing more. Between his ridiculous need for three catchers, his 13-man pitching staff (and even wanting 14 pitchers for one game), his mismanagement of the bullpen, and now this stunt today, he's lost me.

While today's moves with Florimon and Herrmann make a ton of sense, that still leaves 13 pitchers on the roster barring any more demotions. Five relivers were used today to get 11 outs. I think it was mentioned on another thread, but isn't there anyone in the organization that can show Gardy these numbers and make him realize he's using his bullpen inefficiently, and at the cost of a competent bat at the end of his bench?

How much of a necessity is having a lefty starter? Target Field appears to play well for RH hitters and is tougher on LH, so you'd think throwing RH starters out there would make sense. The Tigers seemed to do pretty well last year going with five righties.

I picked Willingham. I also predict a two-year extension next October/November for $16-18MM. Twins will need a DH in the lineup with all the kids.

Well, if they want me to buy a ticket, they're going to have to do better than an outfield with Presley and Parmelee in it. I think fans are getting tired of the Twins putting AAA-AAAA talent on the field. The good prospects (except maybe Sano) are still 1 1/2 - 2 seasons away - there is a way to provide an entertaining product while still building for the future. They got a good start with the pitching staff, let's see some improvement on offense/defense as well.

The Brewers just traded Aoki to the Royals for Will Smith. Aoki would have fit in nicely as a bridge to Hicks-Buxton-etc. and would allow for one of Willingham/Arcia to DH and push Doumit to the bench where he belongs.

"Is wearing women's underwear part of your turn-on?" IALTO.

I agree completely. And Gibson is 26 years old. If he's not good enough to be in the rotation from opening day 2014, then he's just not good enough.

If they sign Pierzynski, I would not be surprised at all to see Fryer on the 25-man roster in April as the back-up catcher. Pinto needs to be playing 5-6 days a week at AAA to iron out his defense. Herrmann as a LH hitter doesn't work in a platoon with AJ, and he is redundant with Doumit on the roster. Doumit is a DH/PH/RF and (very) emergency catcher.

Winter meetings aren't until the week after next, Dec. 9-12. Rule 5 draft is Dec. 12.

Hendriks has another option year left. It will be interesting to see what happens with Worley, Diamond, and Deduno, who are all out of options. If all three are in the rotation come April, something has gone very, very wrong this offseason.

I like Molitor on the staff, but it should be at the expense of Vavra or Ullger with someone from outside brought in as well; this organization needs some new blood in coaching/leadership roles.

I'm probably in the minority, but retiring numbers should be reserved for upper-echelon Hall-of-Famers only. Now, "upper-echelon" is definitely subjective and I don't have any specific criteria for what that would be, but my overall theory is the more numbers that are retired, the less meaning it has, and that honor should be reserved for the truly greats of the game. In my humble opinion, the only Twin that should have his number retired is Harmon. I could probably be talked into Carew. But that's it.

Hopefully it's the Kirby Puckett model.

I've been following the Twins daily and religiously for about 35 years or so... and this is about the lowest and most apathetic I have felt about the team during that time. It's their prerogative to bring Gardy and his staff back, but I hope they will show the real fans some respect by bringing experienced, professional players and a new attitude to the team during the winter instead of the AAA/AAAA talent we've been exposed to during the past three years. I'm not optimistic - my fear is that they will continue to market Target Field as a place to eat gourmet sandwiches and drink craft beers, catering the ticketholders in the suites and the Legend's Club as opposed to the real fans who actually care about the product on the field. They need to show me they are more interested in winning games and World Series rather than becoming the baseball version of the Minnesota Wild. I want to see a change in how the team adapts to the new style of baseball being played in the 21st Century. Acquiring pitchers who can strike out 7-8 batters per nine innings with the mentality to throw 120 pitches and pitch into the eighth or ninth inning every single game. Hitters who can get on base 35-40% of the time, and aren't afraid to choke up on the bat and protect the plate with two strikes. The Twins' hitters struck out the third most times in Major League history this year - unless you're hitting 200 home runs a year, that's not anywhere near acceptable. They need to change their approach. The manager needs to better utilize his pitching staff so he doesn't need 13 pitchers, and his bench so he doesn't need three catchers and two utility infielders. Again, I'm not optimistic. But I am a baseball fan, and I won't quit on the Twins. It feels like they've quit on me. They have this winter to prove me wrong.

My god. How many fourth and fifth starters does this team need? They have Correira for next year. Deduno will be back healthy. They seem intent on giving Diamond and Worley another shot. Albers, DeVries, and Hernandez are in the rotation right now. Hendriks will continue to lurk. Now they are talking about Duensing and Swarzak, neither of whom has a ceiling any higher than the rest. I guess we're not going to know what the true plan is for fixing the rotation until the winter is over and we see what free agents they sign or don't sign, and what trades they make. This Duensing/Swarzak nonsense certainly doesn't inspire hope. All it does is encourage fans to become further apathetic, which I hope the Twins are aware of.

Mr. Hendriks has one option left. He was called up (added to the 40-man roster) in Sept. 2011, and was optioned to AAA in both 2012 and 2013. Not that it should have any bearing as to where (if) he fits into the team's plans in 2014.

Unless Gardy stops shifting him between positions all the time, it will be awhile before we know about his defense. Last night he was in RF, today it's LF again. Give him one position and let him get comfortable there, and he'll probably be fine.

I've always loved the idea of Mauer at 3B. We are hearing that Sano would be adequate there defensively, but Mauer would seem to have the range (and of course the quarterback arm) to be one of the best in MLB. I think Mauer at third and Sano at first would be stronger defensively than the other way around.

One thing to keep in mind is that Diamond, Deduno, and Worley are out of options next year. Knowing the Twins, they will want to give them all another chance as they won't want to risk losing them throught the outright waivers process during the winter. Hopefully this fact won't keep the Twins from using other avenues to bring in better starters.

. Awesome, thanks.

Since Rochester is the wild card, why are they playing Pawtucket instead of Durham, which had the best record in the league?

Doumit has value on a contending ball club. Just not the way the Twins are using him. He'd be a nice bat off the bench, and an adequate fill-in for Mauer at C or our RF-du-jour against a tough lefty once in a while. He's not an everyday player, and he has no business DH-ing.

Deduno, Diamond, and Worley are going to be out of options. That's going to have an impact on who starts in the rotation next year. I can't see any of them clearing waivers for an outright assignment to AAA; Deduno would have the ability to become a free agent instead of going to Rochester, I believe.

Escobar is in the lineup today for Rochester. Brandon Warne tweets that Hicks and Mastroianni are also in Norfolk with the Wings. I'm betting they activate Ramirez from the DL for today's game.