Dave The Dastardly

Arraez hands down. Ryan second. Kepler third. Larnach fourth.

Hilarious! Laughed all the way through it. I used to have trouble using Microsoft Word until I got my first vaccine shot. Now it's a piece of cake. Got my booster and damned if I can't do Excel spreadsheets like a pro now. I'm hoping the third shot will help me write code. Lots of money to be made designing video games with lots of first-person shooting and explosions in them. The only drawback I seem to have is this urge to face northwest every morning and bow multiple times while chanting "Bill is my Savior." Don't know where that comes from...

The Twins will be the most well-rested players watching this season's play-offs from home. But many of us expected nothing more than a .500 season this year as there are still too many missing parts for this bunch to be a serious contender. What this season should be is the final building year before we become a serious contender in 2023. But only if we stop signing up retreads, fielding players that won't help next year and start playing every day those that need the major league experience and can help us next year. And not all over the field, but at one position where they can master positional skills, become comfortable playing there and can focus on hitting. Same with the bullpen. Give them a role so they anticipate when they will be used, know how long they'll be on the mound and how often they will be used. Of course all that's assuming Rocco will actually let position players play long enough to develop familiarity with their position, quit screwing around with nonsensical batting lineups, expect starting pitchers go at least 6, preferably 7 innings, and learn how to properly use a bull pen so as not to burn it out by mid-season. And for godsakes stop designating "rest" days for a player whether he's tired or not and not using them as pinch hitters on their "off day". World Series in 2023!!!

You mean Rocco Rest and Pitch Limitations isn't "saving" players from injury?

Concur. I got one from a motorcycle accident when the end of the handlebar got slammed into my hip. Took forever to heal. The pain from a sneeze would damn near cause me to blackout. Had to quick brace myself against a wall whenever I felt a sneeze coming on. But I was the lucky one. The black lab I hit went to that Big Kennel in the Sky. What's it going to take for the Twins to increase the padding? Gotta be cheaper than putting your millionaire players on the IL for weeks at a time.

If it was my decision to make I'd view the situation as a long term matter, not a short term situation (who's joining the team as a short-term substitute for an injured player). Granted, the Twins are more competitive this season than most of us expected. But are they serious contenders for post season play in 2022? Probably not. Close, but not quite close enough. When they can beat Houston and New York in regular play, they're ready. So the long term goal should be readying the team for 2023. In that scenario, the team has to count on Lewis, Miranda and Kirilloff to take key rolls on next year's team. All three have to "be ready". So all three need to be playing full-time for the Twins right now, not wasting time starring at the AAA level. There is nothing they can learn playing for the Saints that they can't also learn playing for the Twins. Plus the value of major league experience. So you bring up Lewis now with the idea he's staying for the season. Kirilloff, since he's sort of on a rehab assignment, you leave in AAA until you're sure the bum wrist is going to hold up or he learns how to deal with an aggravating injury, sort of a Buxton-type thing. Miranda stays up with the team. He has a track record of initially struggling at a new level of play, then adapting. He can't "adapt" to major league play pounding the hell out of the ball in the minors. Gordon, unfortunately becomes expendable with Lewis, Miranda and Kirilloff on the team. But he has trade value so start shopping him. There's also no room for Sano to return, not that we need him, package him with Gordon. Nail down Correa as soon as possible. If he commits to returning, Urshela becomes expendable as Lewis will claim third base in 2023 with Correa staying at short. So start shopping Urshela. If Correa hedges, start preparing for Lewis to take short in 2023 and Miranda to play 3rd. Urshela is again expendable. A package of Gordon and Urshela might be attractive enough to land a decent pitching prospect. Sano you can throw in for free. So the short answer is bring up Lewis. The long answer is keep all three, Lewis. Miranda and Kirilloff, on the major league team for the rest of 2022, replace a few retreads off the pitching staff with young talent from the minor league system in the second half of this season and plan for the play-offs in 2023. End of Sunday sermon. Go in peace.

How about a stint in St. Paul as a long reliever first? If he's still showing promise bring him up after the All-Popular Game. Our bullpen will be worn out by then and we'll be looking under the bleachers for new fodder anyway.

At the rate Rocco is going every bullpen arm will have more innings than any of the starters. Maybe that's the plan; after the All-Popular game the starters will move to the pen and the pen will be the starters. God! What have I done! Erase this before Rocco sees it!

And some are unable to see the big (long term) picture.

Two more "experiments" why the Twins are more competitive; we got rid of Donaldson and Sano has been on the IL. Addition by subtraction at its best.

I know! Maybe he's not getting enough playing time! We might need to send him down to St. Paul so he can get regular AB's with Lewis! Chill! That's sarcasm for those who haven't had their morning coffee yet, or have just spilled their morning joe down their jammie front.

Matt- I don't get into analytics but love your writing style. Kept a dull subject interesting enough for me to keep reading.

I live in the same world. That's why I'm still baffled by the Lewis move.

Good to see Lewis is still "learning" how to play baseball. Another couple years in the minors should do the trick preparing him for the Majors.

FO: "We're going to hire a manager that uses data and analytics. The data says Lewis is the 4th best player on the team; therefore we're going to return him to the AAA team." Illogical.

Hate is a pretty strong word. "Dislike" or "confusion" over some of Rocco's decisions might be more appropriate. Rocco's belief in the mythical "100 pitches" and now the "third time through the batting order" schtick vex us old-timers and some of his batting line-ups defy all baseball logic even for the young-timers. I don't like any of those things. Doesn't mean I hate the man. As far as Manager of the Year, bring that up after the All-Popular (Star) game and let's see where the Twins are in the standings. I hope they're on top, or at least in contention. If they are I will have less dislike for Rocco's methods.

Interesting. How tall was the North Pole (Doug Mientkiewicz)?

Not to mention saving the bullpen an extra inning of work.

There are two reasons why I always look forward to Fridays: pizza night and Randballs Stu on TD. Not necessarily in that order.

Dreams die hard, expectations easily. Sano's inconsistency has worn out a lot of Twins fans' expectations and now it seems the "Next Big Poppie" dream has also bit the dust. Time to move on. Best for Sano, best for the Twins.

Exemplum. Had to look that up. I gave you a "like" for improving my vocabulary and giving me a new word I can drop on my in-laws. Who says you can't learn anything new on TD?

Once upon a time in a land not so far away where civility, fairness and sportsmanship were still valued, I had the good fortune to coach a girls' high school basketball team. We had one of the best athletes I'd ever coached, boy or girl, in any sport, she of many conference and state awards to attest to her abilities, to lead the team. Unfortunately she came down with bronchitis just as the season started and she missed the first few weeks of the season. She eventually returned to play but with a noticeable decrease in stamina. We had another girl, second-stringer, not as talented, couldn't dribble more than four feet without losing the ball, not as fast, not as physical, but a little taller and eminently coachable. I informed this second girl that her role with the team would now be to spell our "stud". She'd play the last two minutes of the first half and the last two minutes of the 3rd quarter so our "stud" could catch her breath. I told her I expected her to score two points, grab two rebounds and collect two hard fouls; not cheap shots, but play physical enough against the girl that had been guarding our "stud" that she might draw a contact foul. So we drilled her on playing physical defense under the basket, worked her on positioning for rebounds and how to use the backboard for put-backs. Fittingly enough, this "second"-stringer, played two minutes every half, grabbed her two rebounds, scored her two points and kept our "stud" fresh while tiring out our "stud's" opponent. The team voted her MVP at the end of the season. I'm not saying Coulombe will be the Twins MVP, but he appears to know his role, knows what he's capable of, sticks to his "two-minute" assignment and makes it possible for his teammates to do their stuff. Exactly what a reliever is supposed to do. Teamwork; it makes up for a lot of short-comings. Statistics only reveals them.

So if I may attempt to summarize comments so far; Gordon is best with a bat when he plays every day, but he's not an everyday player. I'm having trouble coming to grips with that.

We all knew the wheels were going to start coming off sooner or later, but two wheels at the same time? Come on!!!!! Twins fans are masochists.