spinowner

Dude is 21 years old. His performance during his very short major league call-up means absolutely nothing. The vast majority of baseball people who have seen him play think he's going to be an elite major leaguer. No GM would ever offer enough for TR to even consider trading him.

Terry Ryan receives strong criticism from many sides for not making moves. But if there's no free agent who truly addresses the team's needs then the best signing is no signing. That leaves trades and promoting from within. Based on what I have read about our farm system I would say the priorities are C and RP in that order. I'd wait another year to see if Santana can bounce back or if Polanco can improve before sinking money into or giving up prospects for a SS from outside. Similarly, I'd wait another year to see about Arcia before going after outfield help.

Yeah, it's too bad the Twins didn't have the luxury of stretching him out for a week or two, but let's get him back in the rotation for good. Wonder if the Twins will consider using 6 starters once or twice through the rotation after Hughes comes back.

I respectfully disagree with your last point. You try to get your best arms in center and right, and only half our games are played in Target Field. Besides, Rosario certainly has enough speed to manage left field there. Otherwise I agree that those three have the potential to be the best defensive outfield in baseball.

In addition to the above explanation both May and Duffey had been called up ahead of Berrios. May certainly deserves to be starting, and I think Duffey is entitled to at least one more opportunity. It's not unusual for pitchers to struggle in their first outing, especially against a team that we caught at exactly the wrong time (as their current 11-game winning streak demonstrates).

From Phil Miller at the StarTribune: Phil Hughes said he was healthy after being rocked by the Indians on Sunday, but that didn’t last long. By Tuesday, his back was sore enough to prevent him from throwing in the bullpen. He’ll have a pain-killing shot in his back to treat it, but he’ll be placed on the disabled list while he recovers. With Hughes out of action at least until Aug. 25, the Twins finally sorted out their pitching schedule, and decided who will face the Indians this weekend: None of the usual guys. Trevor May, shifted to the bullpen six weeks ago, will return to the starting rotation on Friday, albeit for no more than 50 pitches, and probably will start a game on next week’s road trip, too. On Saturday, Tyler Duffey will return to the majors and be given a chance to improve upon his two-inning debut in Toronto. And Sunday, Tommy Milone, who threw in the bullpen this morning with no problems, will be activated from the disabled list and will start the finale of the six-game homestand. Hughes said he had nothing but normal aches after his three-inning start at Cleveland, but reported stiffness in his lower back a day later. He tried to throw his regular between-starts bullpen session on Tuesday, but threw only a few pitches. The Twins sent the right-hander for a magnetic resonance imaging test, which found severe inflammation, enough so that Hughes was given a pain-killing shot on Thursday. It’s the same problem Hughes had occasionally while with the Yankees, and the Twins believe it’s not serious. May has become a reliable set-up man in the bullpen, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his last eight appearances. May’s ERA is 4.37 this season as a starter and 2.51 as a reliever, but the 25-year-old said, while he didn’t seek the switch back, he welcomes the chance to start again. May will be limited to 50 pitches on Friday, and perhaps a few more next week when he starts again in Baltimore. The Twins’ rotation for their three games in New York next week will be Kyle Gibson, Mike Pelfrey and Ervin Santana.

Beginning in 1974 we've been asking who would be the next Harmon Killebrew. I remember when it was going to be Bob Gorinski. We've been waiting ever since. Until now.

Maybe Torii's influence. He's pretty much an eat-healthy fanatic from what I gather.

Got anybody watching the Texas feed tonight? Curious about what they have to say about #22.

Patrick Reusse has said that he thinks Sano will be the first player to hit a ball over the third deck in left. He's only 22 years old. As Torii said about Mauer in his rookie year: just wait till he gets his man-muscles.

OMFG

Not exactly true. All home teams have won but never when there were 15 games played. All 11 home teams won once in 1989. In 1914 all 12 home teams won. (3 leagues, 4 games in each league.)

We'll have to ask Torii--does he have his man-muscles yet?

Hey, Dicknbert mentioned Moonlight Graham!

It's spelled P-H-O-E-N-I-X. Sheesh!

Especially let's not forget that iron ranger Archibald "Moonlight" Graham!

Additional spin: The Twins are 1-6 in their last 7 games.There are 51 games left in the season. In the 51 games after their 1-6 start the Twins were 32-19. If they replicate that performance they will finish at 87-75.

So they simply call him up on August 28 if they want to avoid burning the option. While I agree it would have made more sense to wait three more days to assign him to AAA it's not that big of a deal. Hunter and Robinson will have decreased playing time in September anyway, so starting that three days sooner really doesn't matter.

The Texas Rangers were named after the New York Rangers but they weren't named for them. They were named for the Texas Rangers. (I'm confident that Riverbrian knows this but I couldn't help myself saying so.)

This is exactly what I picture. Arcia and Buxton come up on Sept. 1. Hunter (and Robinson) see a drastic reduction in playing time while the youngsters participate in fall training. And Hunter (and Robinson) should not be offered a contract to play next season.

If 4 outfielders split starts equally each one would start in 75% of the games. So starting in 40% of the games is probably about typical for a reserve outfielder.

I'm sure Buxton's wrist is healed enough to play. That doesn't mean it's healed 100%, and for that reason it could still be reinjured if he tries to do too much with it. So let him play at AAA where he will be less likely to overextend himself. Edited to add: Leviathan posted while I was writing. GMTA.

So should the Twins trade or release Hunter to give Buxton playing time in the majors? Edited to add: I expect that Hunter's playing time will significantly decrease in September. Might as well let Buxton finish August in Rochester. That way they can bring him up without having to worry about removing Hunter from the roster. And they better not sign Hunter for next year.

Here's what doesn't matter: service time, the Twins' 2015 postseason chances, salary, Torii Hunter, Aaron Hicks, Gallo, Seager, Baez, Correa, ticket sales, options, super 2 issues. Here's what matters: Buxton's development as a player. His call to the majors was not the plan. It happened only because Hicks and Schafer were both disabled. AAA is where he should have gone at that point, so he is now where he is supposed to be in terms of games played.

So, to those of you who had been advocating the trade-up-to-win-now approach, how many trades at the cost of how many top prospects would have been required to avoid this most disastrous road trip?