Ted Schwerzler

I’d do that deal every day of the week. Then again, I’m not super high on Cavaco. He’d also have to be a PTBNL

I disagree with the "second class championship" notion entirely. You can't compare counting stats to any other year, but 2020 on it's own has everyone competing on the same playing field. It's as legitimate as any other year. As far as what you're bringing him in for, the goal if rotation help is the desire, is to find someone better than Berrios/Maeda. He's it.

I think there's plenty of reason he struggled in 2018, and while a good deal of it was lack of preparation, I think that bridge is burned enough to avoid it. http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/the-one-player-minnesota-shouldn%E2%80%99t-trade-for-r9744

We are under a week away from the 2020 Major League Baseball trade deadline. What is going to take place this year remains entirely unpredictable, and it’s a good assumption it will be unlike many deadlines of the past. If Minnesota is going to dip their toes into the starting pitching market though, it should be for only one guy, Trevor Bauer.Here’s the deal, Rob Manfred opened the floodgates and is allowing everyone and their dance partner into the Postseason. With a shortened 60-game sprint, there’s not going to be any significant distance between the top and bottom teams (except, well, sorry Pittsburgh). That means that with over 20 games to go teams with poor records aren’t incentivized enough to blow things up. A single hot streak could get you right back in the thick of things. Then you also have the added wrinkle of what is being swapped from the contenders. In a traditional year you’d have prospects moving to new homes in favor of proven big-league veterans. This year only players in the 60-man player pool are available to be traded. Guys outside of that group can be included in deals but must be done so as players to be named later or PTBNL. There’s also the reality that while Major League Baseball is making information from alternate sites available to clubs, there’s been no MiLB season and development in 2020 has likely been lackluster at best. Finally, consider that anyone being swapped could choose to opt out on their own volition, and well, we’re dealing with an incredible amount of volatility here. Now, back to Trevor Bauer. He’s the guy. Not Johnny Cueto, not Matt Boyd, and certainly not Lance Lynn. No, if the Minnesota Twins are set on bolstering their starting rotation for the Postseason the lone avenue to do so is grabbing an ace in the form of Bauer. He’s an impending free agent and currently playing on a prorated portion of a $17.5 million deal. He looks the part of a current National League Cy Young candidate, and he’s nuked 49 batters through his first 32.2 IP in 2020. After being largely mediocre for the first six years of his career, Bauer had a coming out party in 2018. He posted a 2.21 ERA and led the league with a 2.44 FIP. The Indians hurler made his first All-Star game and finished 6th in Cy Young voting. A slight step backwards in 2019 paved the way for where we are now. Bauer owns a dazzling 1.65 ERA, league leading 13.5 K/9, and also holds MLB best marks in WHIP (0.735) and H/9 (4.1). He’s always been a high strikeout guy, but command is now better than ever and he’s honed in on his stuff. Arguably the most interesting pitcher in baseball, Bauer certainly comes with his quirks. He was someone I misunderstood for a time in Cleveland but have now very much come to appreciate. It’s clear his intention is to grow the game and engage with fans. Through his , media company, and social media outlets, you may learn more about Trevor Bauer the person than you could ever understand about Trevor Bauer the baseball player. On top of that, it’s not an accident he’s a very good pitcher. As a Driveline disciple, Bauer works with his stuff as much as anyone in the game. His fastball sits at 93 mph this year, but it’s the spin and movement he puts on it that make him unhittable. He’s a nightly feature on Pitching Ninja peek-ins, and his results light up the Statcast leaderboards. In short, this is the pinnacle of what you seek to acquire or develop on the pitching front. Download attachment: Bauer.PNG Now let’s throw some water on all of this. The Cincinnati Reds are 11-16, but that’s just two games back in the win column from inclusion as the final Postseason participant in the National League. On top of that, the organization went in hard this offseason signing guys like Nicholas Castellanos and Mike Moustakas. Those moves weren’t made with the idea of blowing it up just over 30 games into the season. If a deal is to be struck, it’s not going to come cheaply. While Bauer is a free agent at the end of the year, and he’s more than made it clear his intention is to go year-by-year the rest of his career, the Reds will want a healthy return right now. Minnesota has significant ammo with top prospects galore at their alternate site, but what price is too steep for a guy that may not be around a few months from now? Derek Falvey certainly has a familiar relationship with Bauer given their time together in the Indians organization. Maybe even Twins Daily can broker the deal with Bauer’s agent Rachel Luba having been featured among the Women in Baseball series. No matter what level of comfort however, the uncertainty regarding a move now, and how little value it may provide down the road, should be reason for all parties to pause. At the end of the day, Bauer is probably a pipe dream. There’s a reason Cueto is seen as the most likely prize on the starting pitching market. However, if it’s the rotation Minnesota wants to work on, there’s only one way for the organization to take a big step forward. It’s with the guy who plays with drones and mows down the opposition. Plus, the season series with the Royals is done, so we won’t have to worry about him sending anything the rest of the way. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

This week is quite possibly the most important the Minnesota Twins will have embarked upon in 2020. Monday represents the halfway point in the 60-game sprint, while a week from then is the 2020 Trade Deadline. With plenty of guys on the shelf, it’s imperative Rocco’s boys keep winning and get healthy. Starting out with three games on the road against the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota will miss both Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac but deal with Shane Bieber anyways. After leaving Ohio, they’ll travel to Michigan for a four-game set with the lowly Detroit Tigers. In terms of opponents, there couldn’t be more of a stark contrast, but putting distance between themselves and The Tribe will be reliant on early week wins and later expected results. Leading the division by 1.5 games as of August 24, Minnesota is in a very good position to make the Postseason. This team’s goals are significantly loftier than that however, and it’s in that reality that the situation off the field may prove even more dire. Right now, Baldelli’s lineup is void of 33% of the Opening Day group, and the pitching staff seems to take a new hit each day. The latter is an issue, but the former could prove to be a real problem. Josh Donaldson has been shelved since July 31, playing just seven games in his debut season with his new team. Miguel Sano swapped positions to accommodate him, and following a COVID positive, it took Sano roughly two weeks into the season to get his bat going. Donaldson currently owns a .614 OPS on the year and hasn’t settled in at the plate. If he misses much more beyond this week, expecting him to be acclimated and contribute from the outset of October would be somewhat of a fool’s errand. Ryan Jeffers is the future tandem partner with Mitch Garver anyways, so ushering him in hasn’t been a problem. Garver also hasn’t gotten going however, and while it looked like he was starting to find it, the intercostal injury could cost him ample time to lock in. The injury is just a grade 1 problem, but it still remains to be seen when he’ll be back on the field. In the outfield Byron Buxton has been among the Twins greatest assets this season. It’s a sigh of relief that his shoulder injury doesn’t involve the surgically repaired labrum, but it seemed to come out of nowhere and anything more than a 10-day breather would seem problematic. Jake Cave has not stepped up at the plate, and both Rosario and Kepler on the corners have yet to consistently contribute. On the mound there’s a reinforcement coming in the form of Michael Pineda. However, Cody Stashak has been one of the club’s best relievers and him going down out of nowhere was a blow. Zack Littell worked plenty of high leverage a season ago, and now an elbow injury could prove to be a serious problem. Tyler Clippard gets bit by unluckiness being hit by a comebacker, and Homer Bailey has yet to do anything of substance for Minnesota. To say that the shuffling on the mound is starting to wear thing would probably be putting it lightly. There’s not much in the form of starting pitching options that will be available at the deadline, and that means Minnesota will either need to stay internal or go the route of relief to bolster their staff for the stretch run. I’m not yet considering who is brought in being impactful to the same extent as who can get healthy. This week is a critical juncture for the players and training staff to get bodies back on the field. Ideally Buxton misses the minimum, Donaldson returns to the lineup, and Clippard has now more than a bruise needing to heal. This club has all the talent in the world, but there’s only so many injuries one roster can truly withstand. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

To be fair Alcala and Stashak have been two of the Twins best relievers this year

Absolutely, which is the reason you'd consider it. It's a no for me because of what I assume is between the ears when it comes to Minnesota.

I'd agree with you if he'd have never pitched for this regime, and it didn't go the way it did. I really wanted him that winter. Then it blew up.

If you take a look at the top of the pitching leaderboard on Fangraphs you’ll notice a familiar name when sorting by fWAR. Somewhat surprisingly a look back at 2019 has that same familiar name in the top three across the sport. Despite how good he’s been, the Twins should avoid Lance Lynn at the deadline.The Minnesota Twins are good. They were expected to come into 2020 and compete as one of the best teams in the sport. That has been true, and teams like that often bolster their positioning prior to the Postseason in an effort to make a run at the World Series. If Minnesota is going to go down that path, and they should, it will likely come in the form of pitching. Going into the year a starter was the presumed acquisition, and it may still be. The Texas Rangers are not good, and despite hanging in near .500 at this point, they don’t seem likely to factor in as one of two third place teams playing in October. Assuming they feel the same way, veteran starter Lance Lynn could be on the trade block. He’s 33 years old and signed through the 2021 season at a modest $9.3M next year. Besides being on a bad team, there’s a lot to like here. Lynn currently owns a 1.37 ERA through six starts, and he’s sitting down 9.6 per nine innings. He posted a 3.67 ERA across 208 innings in 2019 and topped 10 strikeouts per nine for the first time in his career. Finishing 5th in the Cy Young voting, it’s fair to say that Lynn has been everything for the Rangers that Minnesota thought they were getting when grabbing him off the free agent market in 2018. Now we’ve come full circle, Lance Lynn has already been with the Minnesota Twins. It did not go well. Lynn made just 20 starts before being sent to the New York Yankees. It seemed apparent he viewed the deal as a below-market offer that begrudgingly was accepted late into Spring Training. He’s not a small guy normally, but came into camp looking out of shape, and stamina often looked concerning when taking the ball. The results came out to the tune of a 4.77 ERA and 4.4 BB/9 that ultimately contributed to career lows across the board. It’s also clear that Lynn isn’t the same pitcher he was in that outlier of a season. His average fastball velocity is higher now than it was when Minnesota signed him, and some of the supporting numbers are better than they’ve ever been. Statcast numbers view him favorably in comparison to his competition across the league, and you absolutely can’t argue with the results. Where it breaks down for me in regards to Lynn is what you’ll need to give up, and what you may be getting back into. Maybe it’s somewhat hollow to suggest a team not acquire a guy that previously didn’t work out, but I think there’s some merit to that. It’s not as though there’s been an overhaul in the organizational structure since Lynn was last here. There has been coaching staff changes that could potentially take him to even higher heights, but the bosses that handed him a paycheck deemed subpar still remain in place. Neither side got what they wanted out of the deal, and mentally that likely plays a factor. On the basis of baseball merit, Lynn could quite possibly be the best starting asset acquirable at the deadline. His production has been top notch for the past year and a half, and Texas also has him under team control for another season. They should be asking for a nice return and dealing some combination of top prospects for that type of return seems underwhelming. Postseason starting pitching isn’t as much about depth as it is having horses. With only three guys truly necessary and a fourth being arguable, the length of the rotation is called more into question. Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill are both proven and capable of being aces of a staff. Jose Berrios still is Minnesota’s internally developed ticket there, and Michael Pineda will be back in due time. For that group to include another member, the argument should be that they’re clearly head and shoulders above the rest. Despite what the numbers may say, I don’t think that’s a case you can make for Lynn. It’s anyone’s guess how this trade deadline is going to play out. No one has seen much of what prospects are doing at their alternate sites, and there’s been no actual minor league action to evaluate talent real time. Throw in the wrench that Major League Baseball invited everyone to the end-of-year party and the incentive to sell is minimized. Maybe Minnesota goes the path of adding to their stable of relief arms, but if it’s a starter, I’d shy away from Lynn. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

In the rubber match of this three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota will turn to Opening Day starter Jose Berrios. He’s had a poor 2020 to say the least thus far and turning things around as the calendar is quickly turning to September would be a big boost for Rocco Baldelli’s club. This could be circled as his most important start of the season.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIL 9, MIN 3: Hill Follows Maeda's Gem With a Clunker Today: Milwaukee @ Minnesota, 6:10 PM CT Betting Lines: Minnesota -115, O/U 9.0 Twins Starter: Jose Berrios, RHP (1-3, 5.92 ERA) To say Jose Berrios has been scuffling in 2020 would be putting it lightly. He’s been relatively ineffective, and ultimately inefficient. He’s failed to make it past four innings in two of his five starts, and his longest outing was six innings of one-run ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates. For a staff ace and an Opening Day starter, you need better. There’s been plenty written about what may be going wrong thus far. One thing of note is that Berrios has actually experience a career high spike in velocity with his fastball averaging 94.9 mph. His 11.1% whiff rate is near a career high, but the chase rate is down four percent from 2019. He’s dipped five percent on his first pitch strike rate, working from behind nearly 40% of the time. His hard-hit rate is where things are really going awry however, as the Puerto Rican is seeing the ball launched a whopping 49% of the time (33% is his career average). Download attachment: Berrios.PNG While watching him pitch it’s almost as if the mental makeup has taken a step backwards. Berrios has nibbled the strike zone often in outings, and it looks like he’s unaware of an option to miss bats. The homer has always been somewhat of a bugaboo, and if he’s going to pitch trying not to make mistakes, he’s already behind before the batter steps in. This is a guy the Twins are counting on, and a bulldog performance tonight would go a long ways. Brewers Starter: Brandon Woodruff, RHP (1-1, 3.16 ERA) Brandon Woodruff is a former top prospect that broke out in a big way during 2019. The Brewers Opening Day starter owned a 3.62 ERA across 121 innings and made his first All-Star team. So far in 2020, he’s followed it up with an encore that remain right on par. Through five turns Woodruff is still sitting down over 10 per nine innings, and he’s stingy on walks allowing just 2.5 per nine. His 1.052 WHIP is currently a career best, and his FIP of 3.26 is essentially in line. He’s been a bit more beatable in his last two outings, failing to make it through the fifth inning in either. On the year, his worst start was a three-run outing against the Cubs last time he took the ball. Download attachment: Woodruff.PNG Milwaukee’s ace has a heavy fastball that’s currently averaging a career best 97.1 mph. Coincidentally he’s using it a career low 30% of the time while turning to his sinker and changeup more often. Right now, he’s one of the best arms in baseball and Minnesota will need to solve him early to come out on top in this one. Transactions Lineup: Other Notes: Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brenammen made a horrific and abhorrent comment on air last night during the Royals game. While presumably thinking he was off air, a hot mic picked him up using a homophobic slur. He has been suspended by the organization. (Twins Daily forum)The Padres continue to slam the Rangers, and while this one wasn't on a 3-0 count, I'd assume Chris Woodward isn't any more thrilled with the result. San Diego is making noise in the National League.We made it just one day where every team was in action for the first time since June 26, Opening Weekend.Around the AL Central: KCR 4, CIN 0 (F/7 G1) CIN 5, KCR 0 (F/7 G2) CLE 6, PIT 1 CWS 5, DET 3 MIN 16-9 (+33 run differential) CLE 15-9 (+29) CWS 14-11 (+10) DET 9-13 (-25) KCR 101-5 (-11) Click here to view the article

Tonight, Rich Hill will take the ball for the Minnesota Twins and he’s being activated off the Injured List to do so. It will be his second start for Minnesota, and the first since July 29. He landed on the Injured List due to shoulder fatigue, and a night after Kenta Maeda was three outs from a no-hitter, Hill will look to provide an encore.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIN 4, MIL 3: Kenta Maeda Carries No-No Into 9th Inning; Twins Win In Extras Today: Milwaukee @ Minnesota, 7:10 PM CT Betting Lines: Minnesota -160, O/U 9.5 Twins Starter: Rich Hill, LHP 1-0 (0.00 ERA) In his lone start of 2020 Hill was nothing short of spectacular. He cruised through five innings of work against a good St. Louis Cardinals squad. Throwing 68 pitches, he recorded two strikeouts while walking one and allowing just two hits. Coincidentally that would be the final game for the Cardinals until just a few days ago, and Hill himself is just making a return to the mound tonight. Despite having a bottom of the barrel velocity on his fastball, Hill does everything else at an elite level. Because of his ability to spin the bender, Hill has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for quite some time. Yes, he’s 40 years old, and yes, he’s often injured, but when a team has had him on the bump, they can feel pretty confident about their chances. Download attachment: Hill.PNG Shoulder injuries are certainly tricky for pitchers, and while fatigue isn’t something requiring a procedure, it will be interesting to see what kind of runway Wes Johnson and Rocco Baldelli give him tonight. Minnesota’s bullpen was relatively taxed with the extra-innings affair last night, so getting at least five should be a must. Brewers Starter: Brett Anderson, LHP (0-2, 4.91 ERA) Much like his fellow starter, Anderson finds himself shelved quite often. Before pitching 176 innings for the Athletics in 2019, the Brewers left last topped 80 innings during a season back in 2015. Unlike Hill, Anderson’s results haven’t been nearly as good when he’s out there. At his best Anderson is a control guy that keeps the ball within the strike zone and within the yard. When he gets burned, it’s because the lack of strikeout stuff combined with the propensity for multi-hit games turns into deficits too stark to overcome. Download attachment: Anderson.PNG Anderson has yet to pitch more the one out into the fifth this season for Milwaukee, and he’s given up two earned runs in each of his three starts. He’s given up a single homer in each of the last two outings, and opponents have generated at least four hits off of him in each of his three turns. Lineup: Here's how the bullpen is looking heading into tonight's game: Download attachment: bullpen.png Other Notes: Barring any negative, last-minute, developments, today is the first day since July 26 (Opening Weekend) that Major League Baseball will not be dealing with a COVID-19 related postponement.Pretty exciting prospect matchup between the White Sox and Tigers tonight as Dane Dunning and Casey Mize will both be making their MLB Debuts.Around the AL Central:CLE 6, PIT 3 (F/10) CWS 10, DET 4 MIN 16-8 (+39 run differential) CLE 14-9 (+23) CWS 13-11 (+8) DET 9-12 (-23) KCR 9-14 (-10) Click here to view the article

When I started out on this venture back in late June, my goal was to highlight some of the best women sharing their talents around the world of baseball. That took us outside of Twins Territory, and even behind the scenes. Now to put a bow on it all, it seems only logical to go with a familiar face, Marney Gellner.If you’ve watched Fox Sports North for even a fleeting moment, you know exactly who Marney is. Hailing from North Dakota, she’s tried and true in Twins Territory, and her talents have been endless no matter what the requirement. From “Better Call Mama” to on-field storytelling, Gellner is synonymous with some of the biggest moments on the diamond over the better portion of the last decade. Paving a Path Part 1: Britt GhiroliPaving a Path Part 2: Melanie NewmanPaving a Path Part 3: Rachel LubaPaving a Path Part 4: Emily WaldonPaving a Path Part 5: Kate TownleyPaving a Path Part 6: Venika StreeterPaving a Path Part 7: Vanessa LambertWhile Marney may have broken in as somewhat of a trailblazer, she doesn’t consider herself as such. Although she’s too humble to admit it, because of women like her and Michele Tafoya (who she mentioned looking up to), we have the opportunity to watch future generations get their shot. It’s because of these path pavers that more opportunity for women in baseball, and sports in general even exist. So, without further ado, here’s the final conversation of the Women in Baseball series: Twins Daily: You’ve been a staple across a handful of sports on Fox Sports North, what makes baseball special for you? Marney Gellner: I love the vibe of baseball, sort of the chill. Being outside, summertime, and the whole atmosphere that goes along with it. I played softball growing up, as well as a couple of years in college. I like the nuances of the shift, hit and run, and the strategy of it. Mostly the vibe, though. TD: Sideline reporting is often about storytelling, how have you also incorporated the ability to do play-by-play and dive so deeply into all facets of the game? MG: I like to think of myself as a Jackie of all trades, master of none. I have definitely not mastered any of it, but I pride myself on being flexible and being able to handle many different roles. It’s a far different preparation depending on what my role for that night is. When I’m doing play-by-by I’m pretty much guiding the whole broadcast and constantly setting up the analyst. In sideline I’m always looking for my opportunity to jump in and sprinkle a little knowledge. Learning how to pick my spots, and what makes a good nugget, definitely took some time to get a feel for. The play-by-play is far more detailed and a constant. The sideline is having fifteen things available and using three per night. TD: You’ve been working in sports from the beginning of your career. Was there ever a fear of acceptance being a woman in the industry and how did you seek to separate yourself? MG: When I first started it was far rarer to have women working in sports. For some reason, that didn’t really phase me. I didn’t think of myself as anything unique, special, a trailblazer, or any of that, I just knew that I liked sports and that I fit in. I don’t think of myself any differently. I don’t see myself as a female broadcaster, I just see myself as a broadcaster. When I look back, it’s completely different now. The number of women who are in the business now has grown exponentially, and it’s much more common, particularly in the sideline role. I still feel like if I make a mistake, and any mistake (a name, stat, etc), I always feel like people are going to think I don’t know what I’m talking about. That’s the only time I feel like gender enters my mind. If I make a mistake, I feel like people will look at me like, “she doesn’t haven a clue, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” That same principle doesn’t seem to apply to males. That’s my perception. If I do make a mistake, I tend to mull it over, let it eat at me a bit, and I get hung up on them a bit. TD: As someone who’s become a mainstay in Minnesota sports, what level of pride is there to be blazing a path for other females looking to follow in your shoes? MG: Honestly, I don’t have a great idea because I don’t put that thought into it. I think about Michele Tafoya when it comes to a trailblazer. I wrote her a fan letter when I was working at my first job in Bismarck telling her how much I admired her and how good she was. She wrote me back, handwritten, I still have it. To me, she is a trailblazer. She’s worked everything from the Olympics to Monday Night Football. She has reached the highest points, and she did it when almost nobody was doing it. I feel like I’m doing it amongst so many other women, so I don’t think of it as anything unusual or that it stands out. There have been so many that blazed trails, I’m just happy to walk along the trail and maybe pick up a twig here and there. I just don’t put myself in that category. TD: What about your career has been most challenging as a female, and how has that changed over time? MG: It goes back to making mistakes and needing to prove my knowledge. Proving that I belong, and that I know what I’m talking about. I definitely don’t know everything. I don’t know that I feel like it has changed, but I may put that on myself more than I should. That’s not something I ever want to stop doing either though. I don’t want to get to the point that I feel so comfortable that I get to the point where I’m not worried about making mistakes. I want to have some of that discomfort and insecurity, I just think I have a much more health balance now. I’m much more comfortable and confident. I remember back to when I started with FSN and feeling like I constantly needed to prove it, adding more information than anyone should be putting into a sideline hit because I wanted to make people believe that I belong and deserved the opportunity. I don’t feel like I need to go that far anymore. TD: Specifically working with the Twins, what about the organization sets them apart when it comes to inclusion and diversity? MG: The Twins have been a great organization. When I have to actually think about it (diversity), and don’t actually notice it, it’s probably a good thing. They haven’t created an environment where there’s a need to discuss that elephant in the room. It’s just a really open, warm, loving, inclusive environment. That’s all I’ve ever known with the Twins. From the point I began working with the Twins back in 2002, it’s all I’ve ever known. No one has ever made me feel like I was a female working in a male’s world and nothing I’ve ever observed whether gender, race, ethnicity, has been that way either. I’ve not heard a bad word about that organization, it’s first class all the way. TD: We’re in the midst of an unprecedented season, and there’s sure to be more uncertainty ahead. What are you most excited about with this Twins team? What challenges around covering them through this are you looking forward to embracing? MG: The challenge is that my role as a sideline reporter has changed dramatically this season. I would typically spend a lot of time doing interviews directly with players and building relationships through daily conversations. All of that rapport lends to better sideline report, and me being able to get better information. This year I’m not sure if I’ll physically, in the flesh, see anyone. Everything is done over Zoom, and maybe we’ll be able to progress to a distanced face-to-face interview, but we aren’t quite there yet. My sideline role is very different, and it’s morphed into something that will be challenging, but it’s doable. I’m more than willing to figure out how to get the best and most out of it. What I’m most looking forward to is just watching this team on a nightly basis. I think our hitting is fantastic, and our lineup is incredibly flexible. Our starting pitching is solid, our bullpen is tremendous, and I think the putting of the pieces all together is going to be fascinating to watch night in and night out. I think that this team can be something special in what has already been an unforgettable baseball season. I can’t wait to watch it unfold. Keep up with Marney and all of her endeavors here. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

I'm not hard and fast on that one, but I do think it's kind of crappy to say we've been dominated for 7 or 8 innings, I'm going to try and bunt since I can't hit. It sounds dumb typing that out though, so maybe more strictly against the shift. Or well, just #NeverBunt

I think Marwin is often credited for being a better defender than he is just being really good at playing multiple positions. He's stretched in the infield, and his career numbers show that. He hasn't played hardly at all in the OF this year, but that's where he's best historically. From a catching perspective, Garver has taken a step backwards early in blocking. I'd imagine a good deal of that is mental combined with his offensive struggles. Throwing out baserunners has become something Minnesota (and many teams around the league) have placed on the backburner in favor of framing. Mitch is still better at that than he's ever been. I think I touched on health, Buxton and Kepler specifically, but yes that has been huge.

Last night Fernando Tatis Jr. got a grooved fastball in a 3-0 count and sent it into orbit. The San Diego Padres were already up seven late in the game, and with the bases loaded, his grand slam put it way out of reach. Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward, he of the crotchety old age of 44, took exception to it. Woodward told reporters after the game, "I didn't like it personally. You're up by 7 in the 8th inning, it's typically not a good time 3-0. It's kind of the way we were all raised in the game. But ... the norms are being challenged." He literally was asking for his opponent to quit playing. After Major League Baseball marketed their young talent wonderfully during the 2019 season with the slogan “Let the kids play” this is where we’re at. I have no problem with baseball having unwritten rules. I think there’s a certain level of affection I have reserved specifically for the nuances in the sport. By and large though, the vast majority of said unwritten rules are dated and should be re-evaluated. Retaliation in the form of beanballs has long been silly. Bunting late in a game solely to break up a no-hit bid is one I think should draw some ire. If a pitcher wants to get on you for walking unnecessarily over his mound, so be it. Suggesting there’s counts in which the pitcher should know what the batter is doing though, and even further, completely expecting them to give up, is not a good look. More often than not a 3-0 count results in a take due to the game scenario. Unless the pitch is absolutely grooved, that’s not a situation in which you want to miss and make an out. If a pitcher is going to throw a get-me-over fastball though, by all means the batter should be locked in and ready to ride it into orbit. When Fernando Tatis Jr. did just that, his own manager Jayce Tingler missed the mark in defending him. Instead of noting that there was a sign missed, he simply could’ve said that he put a great swing on the pitch. Sure, missing signs is suboptimal, but that’s not the talking point in that specific spot. It’s like the basketball coach wanting the guard to work the offense, but he steps back and drains a three, which then causes exhale anyways. There were takes all over the place in the wake of Tatis’ performance. Many of them correctly called out Woodward as off base and old school. Former Twins pitcher Phil Hughes chimed in comparing the situation to that of a football team taking a knee. The difference between all of those types of comparisons however is that baseball is the lone sport not dictated by time. When you’re up against a clock, strategy involved suggests killing the seconds and minutes in order to get you closer to victory. Baseball has outs, 27 of them, all finite. The only strategy when it comes to results in baseball is scoring more than the opposition before your self-inflicted missed opportunities run out. If you want to be mad at a guy for swinging 3-0 at a bad pitch and giving up an opportunity to get on base, so be it. If you want to get mad at a guy for putting the ball in the seats, under any circumstances, by all means hop aboard the leather and ride it right on outta here. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

You’ve heard of the Devil being in the details, well finding what advantage the Twins have crafted in 2020 may come from a surprising place, their defense. After finishing 23rd overall in team defense last season, Minnesota currently finds themselves 2nd in 2020. We knew many of the problems from a year ago. Jorge Polanco was not a good defensive shortstop, particularly coming in on the ball. Luis Arraez was stretched going to his right, and the outfield suffered every game Byron Buxton had to miss. Bringing in Josh Donaldson was expected to be a boost for the infield, and a healthy Buck would be a great remedy on the grass. Not all of that has played out though, and yet, here we are. Minnesota has gotten just 7 games from Donaldson in his first year with the club. Despite that, their 14 DRS is 3rd in the big leagues and leads the American League. Byron Buxton has already been worth 6 DRS on his own, and while Polanco has been worth -3 DRS, his 0.7 UZR represents the only positive mark of his entire career. Luis Arraez was worth -8 DRS in just shy of 400 innings during 2019. This year, he’s been worth 2 DRS in 157 frames. This isn’t just an individual player thing though, and it’s clear Minnesota is taking an analytical approach to cutting down base hits. With 322 shifts, or 42.4% this year, Rocco Baldelli’s club ranks 10th in the majors. Last season they shifted just 35.5% of the time. Against righties the Twins are shifting 33% of the time, or virtually the same frequency they did a year ago. Against lefties though, they’ve gone from 36.4% in 2019 to 53.2% in 2020. Thinking about configuration, left-handed shifts also bring some interesting possibilities to consider. Miguel Sano is holding down first base for the first time in his career. He’s been caught a couple of time straying to far from the bag. In a shift however, he’s solely responsible for the line. Luis Arraez, who was challenged going up the middle last season, plays a roving right field with Polanco up the middle to his right. Whether it’s Donaldson or Ehire Adrianza at the hot corner, there’s a plus defender standing near the shortstop hole against a lefty. In the outfield, Minnesota again has made tweaks with Byron Buxton. In a recent article for The Athletic Aaron Gleeman talked about how the centerfielder is starting deeper than he ever has. With the ability to come in on virtually anything, this gives him the opportunity to find the wall and remain more in control when playing balls near it. Eddie Rosario looks the part of a healthier left-fielder, and Max Kepler asserted himself as a stalwart while pulling double time last year. Thus far we haven’t seen the Twins offense click on all cylinders, and there hasn’t been a certainty to the entirety of the rotation either. While the bullpen has flashed very well at points, there have been cracks on that front also. If there’s a tried and true narrative for 2020 it’s that this team shows up with the glove. Errors are a dated way to measure success, but from the most basic number the club has committed just two through their first 22 games. Pitching and hitting can go in slumps, but defense is completely mental beyond the overall athleticism needed to compete. Give it to the Twins for being completely locked in there on a nightly basis. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

My response would be that I think there’s far more impactful ways to drive inclusivity and don’t see this as much more than shock value or doing so for the sake of doing so. If that’s wrong or incorrect, or there was a way to measure a significant impact, then by all means do so.

Last season Miguel Sano was one of the best hitters in baseball. He posted a .923 OPS, clubbed a Kirby Puckett number of dingers, and generated one of the hardest hit rates in the game. 2020 hasn’t quite gone the same, but there’s a couple of ways he can turn it around.First and foremost, it’s worth noting that Sano missed a significant portion of Summer Camp due to a positive COVID-19 test. In an already truncated ramp up, the Twins new first basemen got a muted opportunity to prepare. On top of getting ready at the plate, he was also fine tuning his skills and footwork for a new role. Those could all be classified as excuses, but let’s not negate that the Dominican slugger was behind the eight ball. Fast forward to where we are today. Sano has played in 15 games for the Twins and has 56 plate appearances. He’s posted a .137/.214/.412 slash line and owns a 26/5 K/BB ratio. His 46.4% strikeout rate is 10% north of his career average, and the 8.9% walk rate is down nearly 4% from where he was a year ago. Of the seven balls he’s put in play, only one has been a single, with four leaving the yard (I’ll spoil the fun, the other two aren’t triples.) Now that we’ve got the bad out of the way, let’s go under the hood. Eno Sarris recently wrote about offense being down across the board at The Athletic. He noted that batters are taking more pitches, likely in an effort to see the ball and work on timing. Swing rates are down early in the count, and guys are trying to lengthen at bats. As Twins Daily’s own Matthew Taylor points out, pitchers have benefitted from this situation in converting substantially more looking strikes and strikeouts. For Sano specifically, this is wildly apparent in how he’s being attacked. Last season Miguel got first pitch strikes 56% of the time. That number is all the way up to 71.4% in 2020. In 40 of his 56 plate appearances he’s seen two strikes, and he’s been ahead in the count just 24 times. His hard-hit percentage is a career best 56% and he’s actually generated a career best 95.6 mph average exit velocity. Pitchers know this information too and are exploiting it. Right now, Miguel Sano is season more early strikes because pitchers don’t want him to settle in. He’s taking pitches early and has a career low 42.9% swing rate. He’s chasing less than he ever has, but the contact rate is 6% below his career average and the 18% whiff rate is 2% above 2019. Instead of dictating at bats, he’s needing to respond to the scenario he’s been presented. In short, it’s a long game. His goal is likely early season timing for a tradeoff that hopefully results in late season production. One other facet that’s currently coming into play, but also relates to his timing and patience, is the resulting launch angle. Sano has a 52% fly ball rate in 2020 and is converting 30% of those into homers. Where there’s a slight issue is that the 10% increase in fly balls from 2019 has dropped the line drive rate down to a career low 12%. He’s still not putting the ball on the ground, which is good, but too many of his fly balls right now are unproductive. Last season when he pulverized the baseball Sano owned a 15.9-degree average launch angle. In 2020 it’s an ugly 27.6 degrees. When he previously dropped the line drive rate to 18% in 2018, it coincided with a ground ball rate of 43.8% (a career high). His launch angle in that season swung negative the other way, down to 12.6 degrees. The sweet spot for a player hitting the ball out of the park is something in that 14-17-degree range. By making hard contact with the barrel at that trajectory, you’ll create the most ideal scenario on batted ball events. Once again, a microcosm of timing, it can likely be surmised that Sano’s pop up problem comes from both being reactionary and getting settled into the season. It’s not that he’s swinging with an upper cut or intending to be under the ball as much as it is the bat path through the zone and it lagging behind an optimal connection point with the pitch. Right now, there should be no reason for concern. Sure, we’re one game shy of having completed 33% of the 2020 season, but everyone was aware this would be an extremely small sample size. When the dust settles on the regular season the goal for Miguel Sano, and all Minnesota Twins hitters, is that they’ve found their groove making them capable of being the lineup most feared by opposing pitchers in the Postseason. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

With the front office and field operations covered on the Twins front, a behind the scenes look at how Twins baseball gets delivered is this weeks focus for the women in baseball series. Vanessa Lambert is a Producer with Fox Sports North and she’s the one that makes sure everything runs smoothly for the viewing audience. In a fan-less season, I’m not sure there’s a great position of importance.Lambert has been with Fox Sports North for 14 years now, and she’s been in the Producer role since 2012. Her focus is the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Timberwolves, which means right now she’s got 100% of her attention on one of the best teams in baseball. Working through the challenges of offsite production and given inputs dictated to them on the road, Fox Sports North is bringing Twins fans unprecedented access in an unprecedented season. Paving a Path Part 1: Britt GhiroliPaving a Path Part 2: Melanie NewmanPaving a Path Part 3: Rachel LubaPaving a Path Part 4: Emily WaldonPaving a Path Part 5: Kate TownleyPaving a Path Part 6: Venika StreeterAlthough you may occasionally hear Dick Bremer or one of his rotating analysts thank her near the end of the game, Vanessa largely flies under the radar. This was a great opportunity to have her step out into the spotlight, share her connection with the game of baseball, and put a focus on a woman that is literally making sure that the show goes on. Twins Daily: You produce Twins (and Timberwolves games) for FOX Sports North. What exactly is the role of a producer? Vanessa Lambert: This is probably the question I get asked the most about my job – no one seems to know what the heck a producer does. Easiest way to explain it is, I’m kind of like a head coach. I decide what we’re going to do (go to a replay and which angles to roll back, read a promo, knock out a sales element, go to break). The director is kind of like a quarterback, executing everything. It can be crazy and chaotic during a game with plenty of people talking to you at the same time, but that’s what makes this job fun. My day starts early – basically I need to have as much done before we get to a ballpark as possible (for a normal 7pm game, we’re at the truck around 1pm). By that time, I need to have talked to the talent about what we’re going to discuss in the open and anything we want to hit on in-game, know what video packs and graphics need to be built, make sure sales elements are covered and planned, have all talent reads ready. TD: You went to school for Journalism, was a career path in sports always the goal and how did it transition to more behind the scenes? VL: I always wanted to go into sports television. Growing up in Detroit, I was a huge Red Wings and Tigers fan. Not to age myself, but the Wings won a few championships during my middle school & college years. My uncle has worked for ESPN for 20+ years and was on their ‘A’ NHL crew back in the day, so my family would stop by the truck to visit when he was in town. As an influential teenager, I thought, “hey, this might be a fun job”, so I started spending more time in the truck (my mom even let me skip school a couple times). I went to Michigan State for college, and my options were either Journalism or Telecommunications. Within the J-School, you could specialize in a specific field, so I chose broadcast. I took all the TV classes but knew I didn’t want to be on-air. Something in production was always my goal. TD: While not writing, you're telling stories in what is shown to fans during a telecast. What is most thrilling about this medium and the way you're able to convey it? VL: I think what I enjoy most is you never know what’s going to happen in the course of a game…it comes down to reacting to what’s happening in front of you. It truly is a group effort to tell stories and be in sync with a director, graphics, tape ops and on-air talent. You can plan as much as you want as far as graphics and video packs, but they may never make the show. You hope what you have ready can support what’s happening during the game and sometimes we can make everyone on the broadcast look like a genius when it works out. TD: Specifically, as it relates to baseball, what draws you to this sport and how well do you think women are represented in positions surrounding it? VL: I think I’ve always been drawn to baseball, and I blame my mom for that! I spent many nights at Tigers Stadium & Comerica Park watching games with her and keeping score. What I enjoy now is getting the chance to cover a team for an entire season, follow storylines all the way through, and getting to know the players and coaches (outside of this season