Dave The Dastardly

Did I like trading Arraez? No. Do I like having Lopez? Yes. What I like just as much was the vacancy trading Arraez created as that gave Julian a shot at the Bigs. Otherwise the FO would probably still have him wallowing in the minors. Now if the FO can wangle a way to trade an unproductive Correa we can clear up the current infield logjam and give a couple other promising youngsters a chance to prove themselves at the major league level... and improve the lineup's batting average. Not to mention freeing up a lot of salary money for signing pitching talent.

A Boy Named Sue?

Bali Hi (sp?) Two bucks a gallon back when a dime bought you a tap beer. Two bucks was still a challenge for 6 teenagers in a 1952 DeSota. Thank God for 21-year old Bobby Jones or we would've never learned to avoid drinking on the cheap.

Your proposal is too logical, therefore not worthy of consideration.

I'd forgot about the 2005 Vikings. That Whizzinator thing had me in stitches for weeks... the press really got a hold of it, tried to milk it for weeks, but like all news it eventually dribbled right off the front page. And the love boat scandal... a real piece of... work. Minnesota Vikings; they may not have won the Big One but you gotta give them credit for flailing.

Thoughtful, but I think your either/or conclusion is a little premature. For one thing, given their track record, this Twins FO will probably find another fading veteran to sign come next season and leave both Wallner and Larnach in AAA for more "development".

I worry more about the feast or famine, strike-out prone lineup than the bullpen. If the starting rotation can give us 6-7 innings every time they take the mound I think the BP will hold its own. But if the starters only go 4 or 5 innings, for whatever reason, we're all going to be saying "I told you we should've picked up another reliever before the deadline!"

I was 13 years old when the Twins came to town and I was already wise enough to know that my life was going too well; that I needed to balance things out with frustration, disappointment and aggravation. So I immediately became a Twins fan. Been happy every since.

FO and Rocco - or whoever is deciding who plays and who doesn't. IF the Twins are in the playoff chase and CC is still stinking up the batter's box, bench him and go with Lewis at short. Only makes sense if one of your two best defensive SS is hitting and the other isn't. And Gallo has to go for the same reason; make room for somebody who's hitting. There's no room for dead weight on a play-off team, either just getting there or staying there once you're in.

190 strikeouts. I know you shouldn't do math on TD, but does that come out to $57,894 per strikeout? Cheaper by the dozen I guess.

This is baseball, not Monopoly. "Winning" the trade market doesn't guarantee making the play-offs. Not making a trade is the least of the Twins problems. Tying up a good chunk of the payroll on two unproductive "stars", signing declining vets instead of promoting in-house prospects, rigid, unimaginative coaching by stats, puzzling lineups, swinging for the fence on most every pitch, leading the league in strikeouts, poor bullpen management... the list is practically endless. The only "trade" that will fix the Twins is a swap for a whole new front office and coaching staff.

I missed that last pitch by that much!

Two beers, please.

Give me your tired, your poor, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Inscription on Twins Front Office Door

Inconceivable!

Heavy walletitis has been known to prematurely end sports careers. Something about throwing hips out of allignment which can lead to chronic groin pulls. Not that I would know anything about that... but anyway, a couple weeks off to play pickleball might straighten them right out.

How about we give every player making ten million or more this year the rest of the season off?

Author's Note: The game we attended was on July 23, so I apologize for the late report. But our intent wasn't a game report as much as a players scouting report. My son (Dastard Junior) and I made the one-day trip down-and-back to Cedar Rapids to catch a glimpse of the Twins High-A Kernels. The four-hour drive (one-way) proved to be a small price to pay. As others have mentioned on TD, the ballpark is great, the fans are friendly and the Kernels are well worth watching. Our tickets were on the first deck, just to the 3rd base side of home plate, so we had a great view of the action. Temps were near 90 degrees but our seats were in the shade (thank God!) so we didn’t fry. Dastard Jr. had seen the Kernels play several times before hand but at other stadiums, so a home Kernels game was a first for both of us. Junior, because he’d seen the team play before, and me, from the info I’d picked up reading the Minor League reports on TD, both had a general idea of the Kernels’ caliber of play and which players we might find most interesting, but even then we were still surprised. Here, in no particular order, is a brief synopsis of the players that caught our eye. Noah Cardenas - DH. The question we kept asking ourselves was “Why is this guy here?” Not that we thought Cardenas was overmatched, but rather why he was still in High A. Normally a catcher, Cardenas was DHing this day, and if I remember correctly, he went 3 for 3. Batting prowess: in the later innings the opposing team brought in a pitcher with an exaggerated overhand motion (the ball seemed to come out of his hand above his head) which baffled a couple Kernel batters. Then Cardenas stepped up to the plate and calmly rifled a single into right field; easy peasy. Best comparison: Arraez. Pre-game stats: 3 hr .283 ave 16 dbl .803 OPS Not sure how well Cardenas does defensively as a catcher (has also played 1st base) since he was DHing, but this kid is going to be a major league hitter even if they have to find him a spot on the grounds crew. Andrew Cossetti - Catcher- Cossetti is built like the typical catcher but has surprising speed on the base paths. We saw him go 1st to 3rd on what you’d expect to be an advance to 2nd on a single to RC. In fact I was following the ball, expecting to see Cossetti standing on 2nd when the throw finally came in, only to be stunned to find him standing on 3rd. My son and I exchanged a wide-eyed look of amazement: a catcher with wheels? Good receiver behind the plate. Seems to know how to handle pitchers. Got a “presence” on the field. The only negative, if there was one, he short-hopped a throw to 2nd on a steal attempt. Saw him do the same thing several times on the last throw to second in pre-inning warm-ups. Also he might have lost a high foul ball behind the plate, Ross charged in from 3rd to get it, but that might’ve been one of those “sun-in-the-eyes” things. Whatever. We think this guy’s got a future behind the plate. Power hitter more than a spray hitter like Cardenas, 10 hr, 19 dbl .297 ave .981 OPS. Can’t imagine how the Kernels are getting enough playing time behind the plate for both Cossetti and Cardenas. Noah Miller - Shortstop. This young man took our breath away on two different plays. He’s fast, rattlesnake quick, got a good glove, excellent range and a cannon for an arm. He was deep in the hole when one of those broken bat hits dribbled past the pitcher… thought for sure it was going to be a cheap infield hit when all of sudden Miller appears on the infield grass, snags the ball and guns it over to first in time to nail the runner by a stride. Later a hot grounder just got past an extended Ross at 3rd, again looking like a sure hit, when Miller swooped in from nowhere, nabbed the ball at the edge of the outfield grass and fired a bullet to first that nailed the runner. My old timers first comparison reaction: Greg Gagne. And like Gagne, Miller isn’t much of a hitter. 5 hrs 9 doubles. .208 Ave. .588 OPS But you don’t have to hit .300 to play short in the Majors. Just ask Correa. Ben Ross - 3rd base. Excellent range, good glove, another cannon arm, hit the walk-off single that won the game. This prospect has played every position (mostly 1st and 3rd) except catcher and we watched him play a very good 3rd base this day. An excellent athlete, obviously, but from what we saw today 3rd base just might become his permanent home. With him at 3rd and Miller at shortstop nothing will ever get through the left side of the infield. And he has power. 14 hr, 19 dbls .255 ave., .778 OPS. Kala’i Rosario - RF. Explosive contact! Before the game began my son told me the ball explodes off Rosario’s bat, has this different angry whack sound. First time at bat Rosario smoked a line drive to center field that if a few feet lower would’ve decapitated the center fielder. As it was it screamed over the center fielder’s head (already playing deep) and whacked into the wall like an anti-tank rocket. This kid’s got power! 13 hr, 20 dbls, .271 ave. .862 OPS. Oh, and he’s got an arm, too. A cut-off man’s wasted on this guy. Emmanuel Rodriguez - CF. Speedy - covers a lot of ground. Good arm. Kind of reminds you of a younger Buxton. Defensively that is. Got some pop, too. 6 dbls, 11 hrs, .228 Ave .827 OPS All in all, an entertaining trip, saw some good baseball and we agreed to make Cedar Rapids an annual outing. Maybe extend the trip to follow the Kernels to Beloit; baseball roadies.

"a traditional high strikeout power-hitting" player? Don't we already have a half dozen high strikeout guys? Who's next to consider? Sano?

If only they'd take a bath, maybe comb their hair...

For which reason do you speak? 7 years experience as a minor league manager; 3 years Advanced A, 2 years Double A, 2 years AAA? A winning record 6 of those 7 years? Lifetime winning percentage of .545? A players' favorite? “He wasn’t just a coach to most players,” Buxton said. “He was more of a brother to us. He fit in. He’d tell us all the time: ‘Y’all can text me anytime of night. It doesn’t have to be about baseball. It can be about life.’ “ Buxton, who remains in frequent contact with Mientkiewicz, is among 16 current Twins to have played for him in the minors. How did he instill winning ways en route to four playoff trips and two league titles? “It’s more the character and the energy he brought to the field every day,” Buxton said. “It’s the excitement, the way that he knew how to play the game. He showed us the right way to play the game.” https://www.twincities.com/2017/09/16/byron-buxton-on-fired-manager-doug-mientkiewicz-more-of-a-brother-to-us/ Yep, nothing there for the "Twins Way."

Stu- Are you in truth the Ed-less Horseman?

One word: Dougie

I can't get too excited about any of the Twins' draft picks. They either 1) become chronically injured, 2) get traded to other teams where they shine in exchange for a chronically injured veteran , or 3) wallow in the minor leagues while a newly signed over-paid chronically injured veteran fills out the Twins roster. The next Twins general manager should be an orthopedic surgeon. Or a comedian.

Great post! Thanks for the review. My son and I are headed down to shuck some Kernels in July.