Dave The Dastardly

If a team has a guy that can go 6 or 7 innings without crossing the mythical 100 pitch barrier why wouldn't the manager let him do it? Of course the only way to find out if a pitcher can accomplish that rare feat is to let him pitch 6 or 7 innings. What's next? Telling relievers they can't throw more than 15 pitches per inning? Batters are only allowed 7 swings per at bat? Physical limits should be based on demonstrated physical performance, not artificial counts universally applied because it's the "in" thing. But that's just my opinion... out of step with the times, as usual.

And Jax? I'd use Jax/Duran/Lopez, not necessarily in that order, to cover the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. Everybody else covers the 5th, 6th and maybe 7th innings according to match-ups. They could even cover the 4th if the starter really chokes and/or Rocco goes nuts on bullpen usage.

The only question now is if Rocco uses them properly. For some unexplained reason I fear Rocco will now start pulling his starters after 4 innings instead of 5.

Qualification for Twins Trade Targets: Best Years Behind Him Must Have Nagging Health Issue Can't Go More Than 4 Innings Give Up A Lot Of Homeruns And/Or Walks No Other Team Wants Him Prefers 6 Days Rest Between Starts Will Require Two Of Our Top Prospects Cheap Salary But Huge Buyout Option Has A Prepaid Reservation At The Old Baseball Players' Rest Home If a trade prospect meets none of those qualifications, get him. Otherwise use your ten-foot pole.

I think Rocco should immediately put Sano on the Buxton Plan. We don't want him to re-injure that knee before the play-offs.

The word down at Ichabod Crane’s Pub and Pablum: Head Cases Welcome is that Sano is to be traded to the San Diego Padres for four DisneyLand tickets, a 12-pack of 2019 Homerun Baseballs to be used only in the bottom of the 9th when the Twins are trailing and a Player To Be Named Much Later. In exchange the Twins will pick up Sano’s remaining 2022 salary in full, throw in a week’s stay at Madden’s Resort, a signed copy of “The Prospect” (in case it rains while staying at Madden’s) and a 12-pack of Grain Belt; whether it rains or not. The local chapter of Sabermetrics is reportedly bummed out by the deal as they will no longer be able to measure Sano’s long balls… Wait, let me rephrase that, they’ll no longer be able to measure the distance of Sano’s moon shots, which played an asymmetric role in calculating the Sano Whiff Wind Rate, which in turn was used by Xcel Power to calculate the potential megawatts created by their wind generators in western Minnesota that is usually handicapped by the reverse breeze generated by South Dakota’s natural suckiness. Ichabod’s chief bartender, Four-Finger Frank (so named for an accidental brush with a blender of Bloody Mary’s - lending truth to the nomenclature) said his regular patrons accepted the news with aplomb, which is slightly less explosive than a bomb, and a round of celebratory drinks was quickly ordered, the tab eventually provoking an argument as to who placed the order, said dispute later settled by a dart tournament that left only two customers not wounded and who agreed to split the tab rather than risk a hole-in-one.

"Well, bless their little ol' hearts," she gushed in a southern accent thicker than Louisiana gumbo. "They try harder than a skinny Sunday preacher passing the collection plate!"

I think he'll sign with the Twins just to avoid having to wear that ugly uniform anymore. What was the team name again? The Blu-rays?

Miranda

I remember Hatcher "dying" at home plate after a hearty swing-and-a-miss, my old man in stitches as Mickey lay there in the batter's box. Neither one of us ran out to get a tattoo. Bremer, or maybe Stu, is losing it.

Couldn't agree with you more. Keep the developing young players and only consider trading the players you named in your response, but not just so we can say we made a trade. Don't sell the farm for an extra load of corn.

Again with the trades. The current Twins have a solid core of players. Yeah, they're young, yeah they make a few mental errors, yeah the pitching staff has a couple too many "experienced" pitchers on the back side of their careers holding the team back. So what. The young hitters are steadily improving, we have a few pitching prospects still in the minors that might be able to help out and who offer a better long-term solution to pitching problems than trading for more questionable arms and best of all, this bunch is coming together, which means we don't have to whine about chemistry anymore. My advice: don't screw with them. Don't trade anybody. Evaluate at the end of the season and make player decisions then. Oh, with one exception: get rid of Sano now. If you can't trade him, cut him.

Loved the headline! And really appreciate the report!

If MLB's goal was to make even more money they'd return to scheduling the Twins/Brewers for a couple home and away series like they used to play. But then we know MLB isn't into making money, their only goal is to provide entertainment for the unwashed masses. I shower every day. In case anyone was wondering.

You're the manager, you've run about 20 reports off your computer, had three statisticians, a data geek and a borrowed nun from St. Francis explain esoteric stuff that went right over your head and had you daydreaming like Goldie Hawn and you've now retreated to your manager's office and are debating about throwing darts at the player's roster, wondering who you're going to start at 1st Base. But Fast Frankie, the team's towel guy, has stuck a purple post-it note on your desk that you can't avoid: Arraez .346 .420 .499 .869 Miranda .260 .299 .463 .762 Kirilloff .269 .319 .407 .726 Sano .093 . 231 .148 .379 And you wonder why Fast Frankie wants you to know the players' locker combinations. Who would you start at 1st?

Had to look that up... beignet. Never had one but it sounds similar to something my mother used to make; pan fried dough smeared with butter, looked like a pancake, confectioner's sugar on top. But she called it "cat gut". She'd grown up poor on the wrong side of the tracks from Irish stock so we never pursued where the name came from. Afraid to find out I guess. Going north tomorrow with a planned stop at Tobie's Bakery. Gonna stock up on artery choking baked goods for the cabin. Mouth is already watering. Long as I'm there I'll see if they have any of those sissy beignets.

Putting Sano back at first and benching Kirilloff and Miranda would be criminal. Hand him a check for the rest of whatever he's got coming for this year, pay him the buy-out option for next year and wish him well. Money well spent.

Gotta wonder if Dan Hayes lost a pile in Vegas betting on the Twins. And that reference to people disappearing in northern Minnesota sort of rings true. A guy I knew disappeared up there. Told his wife he was going deer hunting, but I got suspicious when his wife packed his three-piece "funeral" suit instead of his deer rifle. I always thought he'd get in over his head when he married her.

Gaetti and Hrbek were brought up way at the end of the season in '81 just so the Twins could get a look at them. That was typical in those days. The fact they started as full time players in '82 (their rookie season) is a testament to Manager Billy Gardner as well as to their talent. Gardner didn't give out "rest" days or constantly screw around with the lineup. If you made the team you played, usually one position and often the same spot in the lineup. I doubt either Hrbek or Gaetti would have gotten in over 140 games if Rocco had been their manager. More playing time means more player development when you're a rookie. Not playing regularly, in my opinion, is hampering the development of Kirilloff, Miranda and Larnach. All three should be around 70 games by the All-Star break, Larnach excepted of course, but I don't see that happening. So a smaller sample size to work from. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is the 2022 rookies aren't doing half bad at the plate despite limited playing time and often playing out of position.

The Years of the Rookies: 1982 and 2022 I’ve mentioned in several (okay, numerous) posts that as far as I was concerned the 2022 season is primarily a “look-and-see” season for the Minnesota Twins; a fish-or-cut-bait season for testing out those promising young players that have been shining at the minor league level. Are they ready to play at the major league level or aren’t they? If they are, we’re a contender in 2023. If not… back to the Baseball Trade Casino looking for “deals” followed by another couple seasons of wallowing in baseball hell. That’s why I argued back before spring training even got started that the Twins needed to move Sano, Donaldson and Cave to make room for Kirilloff, Larnach, Lewis and Miranda. Did I think these four rookies were sure things? No. But I did think they showed “promise”; that is, enough talent to be at least as good as the older players on the team and hopefully, better in the long term whereas Sano, Donaldson and Cave were all on the downhill slide of their careers. There is no future in the past. Anyway, reminiscent of the early 1980’s Twins team, which also brought a number of rookies up to the major league level, I prepared a chart comparing the 2022 rookies to Gary Gaetti and Kent Hrbek so as to gain a perspective how this year’s “experiments” are doing as compared to a solid ball player like Gaetti and a star player like Hrbek, both mainstays on the team throughout the 1980’s. Draw your own conclusions. Me, I think we’re headed to baseball’s Pearly Gates in 2023. *Lewis I left off because of his latest ACL injury, though I think most of us were ready to declare him a future star before he went down. * Stats are current as of 1:46 PM 6/29/22 * Hrbek finished second in Rookie of the Year Award in 1982 to Cal Ripken, Jr. Gary Gaetti finished 5th. Hitting Comparisons Player Games ABs Ave. OPS Larnach 51 160 .231 .712 Miranda 42 138 .239 .696 Kirilloff 21 65 .231 .560 Gaetti 1981 9 26 .192 .615 Gaetti 1982 145 508 .230 .723 Hrbek 1981 24 67 .239 .659 Hrbek 1982 140 532 .301 .848 * Interesting to note how many games Gaetti and Hrbek played that season.

UCL strain? Wouldn't touch it with the proverbial ten-foot poll. Besides, given our current young starters we shouldn't even be thinking about trading for another one. Agree with dberthia, if we're going to step up to the baseball slot machine we should pulling the relief pitcher arm.

Duran and Jax. The rest give me heart palpitations.

Wow! First time I've seen Archer and Jax pitch and I was impressed by both performances. Anybody else think Jax has closer stuff? And you gotta wonder if Rocco is going to lengthen Archer's leash to six innings after the All-Star break. He hardly worked up a sweat going five.

I disagree with your take on Rocco- but I do agree this team is not play-off caliber - I don't understand how that rumor even got started - but this is a ballclub building for 2023 and from that perspective I actually like what I see. We've got some talented young players on this club and they're learning to play at the major league level. Now if we could get Rocco and the coaching staff to teach them small ball to go along with long ball... well, we'll have a play-off team next year.

The Twins prefer perspiration instead of inspiration. Instead of using a new colt we prefer to beat a dead horse.