spinowner

Good exciting.

There's a good exciting and a bad exciting. Not sure which this is. I'll let you know after the game.

Yikes.

And the pitch Rosario hit was about 6" off the ground.

I thought exactly the same thing, but on the replay it looked like he may have started to lose his balance. Either way it was catchable, albeit a difficult play.

Interesting thought. Usually you'll only see that in the bottom of the last inning with less than 2 out. I can see that happening, for example, on a day when Gibson has his sinker is working.

You have been proven correct.

Ladies and gentlemen, that run courtesy of Mr. Byron Buxton.

Don't you own a remote?

Gardenhire had it right: The loose cannon.

Concur. Rosario has a very good arm. But Hicks has a cannon. That's what you want in right field.

What if the Twins were in the AL West instead of the Astros and the Astros were in the AL Central instead of the Twins? Current record of the AL Central minus the Twins: 271-263. Current record of the AL West minus the Astros: 260-277. Current record of the NL Central (which the AL Central plays this year): 357-311. Current record of the NL West (which the AL West plays this year): 331-343. This shows that the Astros played an easier schedule this year than the Twins. Now I understand woulda coulda shoulda. As my Grandfather used to say, "If my aunt had (male endocrine glands) she'd'a' been my uncle!" But it makes me think the Twins would be leading the AL West if that's where they were aligned.

This reminds me of the type of question my daughter sometimes asks. Example: Who would catch if Suzuki and Fryer and Herrmann and Pinto and Escobar and Mauer were all injured?

I think PM and TR should be doing what's best for Byron Buxton. Sit him if that's what they think is best. Play him if that's what they think is best. Even at this juncture of the season I'll say what I've been saying since March: The top priority for this season is to do what's best for the development of the young players in the organization. If we happen to qualify for the postseason while we're doing that it's a nice bonus. This may not be a majority opinion but it's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

What was not true when Dave started this thread is true now. He is done. And he has succeeded in the role he was signed to fill. To sell tickets? No. To contribute as a player? No. To contribute to the development of Aaron Hicks to the point where he is a major league player? Yes. Does he have anything to contribute to the Twins next year? IMHO not as a member of the 40-man roster.

Well, a year and three months.

Good call by the ump because he got himself in perfect position.

What if Mauer had barreled into Conger? Would that have been a clearer illustration that Conger was blocking the lane? Does the rule allow the runner to do that if the catcher is there?

Imo? Nope. Not opinion. Fact.

Baloney is too kind of a word.

Anybody watching the Houston feed? What did they have to say about the Mauer play?

I don't know the details of the sliding lane rule but it sure looked like he was blocking the sliding lane. This goes back to the discussion on the Elephant in the room thread. What is the definition of clear evidence to overturn? Had Mauer been called safe do you think the call would have been overturned?

I'm certainly not confident in our bullpen, but I'm at a loss to see any reasonable moves TR and PM should or could have made to improve the situation. Don't say trade for established relievers outside the organization. To get our bullpen to the level that could consistently shut other teams down would have required bringing in at least four high-quality pitchers. The price for that would have been several of our best prospects. Think Kepler, Berrios, Vargas and the like. Not prudent. Don't say bring up Berrios. IMHO the Twins handled him correctly by keeping him in a minor league starting rotation, assuring that he gets his work done as a developing pitcher. IMHO putting him in the Twins bullpen this season would have stopped his development, and maybe even led to him regressing. He'd have been pitching in sporadic unpredictable situations and IMHO that's not how your best starting prospect should be handled. As for the other minor leaguers, I am certain that the front office and field staffs of the various teams have a good handle on what they think their pitchers can do. I am also certain that they would have called up some of those named in the above comments if they thought there was a chance they could succeed. There certainly wasn't any great success with those they did call up. O'Rourke was probably the best and he's been mediocre. I'm not saying to give up on this season, but perspective is important. No matter what we may have done we would not have passed the Royals in the standings. We just wouldn't have. Period. And last season notwithstanding wild card teams have the postseason deck stacked against them big time. This season was not the time to go all in. The odds against winning a WS were too great. Now that we have shown everyone that we are a team on the rise it will be easier for TR to bring in better relievers than Thompson or Boyer. It's not great fun, but our best move is to limp along with what we've got and hope we can upgrade during the off-season.

Someone will need to confirm and/or expand on this, but I thought that if a player is DFA'd a team can claim him and pay only the major league minimum salary with the Twins being on the hook for the balance of what he's owed. The only way we'd be off the hook for his contract would be if he's traded.

But the reviewers don't need to know the original call to say whether it's too close to tell. They can issue a ruling of safe, out, or inconclusive. If they rule the replay is inconclusive then the call on the field stands. Using the standard of clear evidence to overturn makes the ruling much more subjective on the part of the reviewer. Exactly how clear does the evidence have to be to overturn?