Rosterman

Yes, you need pitchers. And it all starts with a strong rotation. It is a plus if your 4th and 5th starters can also throw relief innings. The Twins were pretty gutsy going into the post-season with three rookies (Dobnak, Smeltzer, Stashak) not to mention rookie Littell. The rottion arms alone were sketchy, with Berrios being totally inconsistent the second half, and the ability to get five innings a dream with Odorizzi, Gibson, Perez. Man, do miss Pineda.

I think we got a good idea of the Twins with this trade deadline movement in 2019. They are going to build with pieces in the organization and supplement with a few mid-level free agent signings. The big questions will be what to do with Cron, Dyson and Adrianza (and possibly Cave). Resigning Pineda would be a plus, but you don't have him for two months, so what do you do. Is Ordorzzi worthwhile to bring back on a $30+ million contract, or will he be overwhelmed by riches elsewhere. What will come of Kyle Gibson. Do you trade Eddie Rosario, which could be a key to adding a front line starter. Are Haley, Rooker and Kiriloff ready to tackle the Big Leagues? Still, with a strng Indians team once again, the White Sox making some waves...can the Twins compete again in the division? We know that is usually the one key (compete in post-season, nah...will just hope luck plays a part).

We can second-guess trade deadline moves. We miss Pineda. What is with all the bases on ball. Come home and DOMINATE!

I would hope everyone is comfortable and on board for THIS game in Yankee stadium. Itwas the walks that hurt the Twins (as well as Arraez, sadly, in the field on two plays). Strike Zone too small? Pitchers can't adapt? You are playing one of the best teams ever. Even if the score was reversed, you stll have to worry about the Yankees coming back. Play to win. Don't need to save pitchers for tomorrow. There might not be much of a tomorrow if you lose.

The Twins can do two things with Graterol. They can play him like Santana, start him in the pen, have him throw multiple innings. Pump him up to being an occasional starter. Either way, chances of him reaching 120 innings would be slim. Even if they sent him to the minors exclusively as a starter, he wouldn't get 150 innings next year. That is the rub. Yes, would like to see him start, too.

A hanky is white. Period. But, good for the Twins. Can they print more to quelch the eBay sales and to make sure people have one?

I will be curious with the lineup. Make sure the guys who egt on base hit high in the order and can be followed by not one but 2 or 3 or 4 guys capable of getting him home (speaking of Arraex here). I'm happy with the pitching. Perez, Smeltzer or Thorpe are inetrchangable at this point. Every game starting today is the last game of the year!

18 players = $60 million. Would add Graterol, Stashak and possibly Romero (out of options) into the pen. Another $1.5 million. Stewart, Smeltzer, Thorpe and Gonsalves will be given a chance to break into the rotation. Picture 2 making it. Another Mil. Still have Alcala, Gordon on the 40-man. That's 13 open roster spots! 13! You need 2 starters. One bullpen arm (even a real closer would be nice). Possibly a backup catcher. Wow. Not going to add nine minor league guys to the roster, so some names like Cron, Harper, Wade/Cave, Torreyes might even remain. But, yeah, easily spend $50 million on pitchers!

Man, was watching the Yankees game with the middle of the order coming up with men on in the 9th. Hoping Graterol would egt us out of the inning and the Twins would have extra innings to try and hit more home runs. Both games ended close to the same minute with Stanton strucking out. It is a proud record. Will probably be a Twins Record forever and ever. BOMBA SQUAD. Some good merchandizing here for the post-season. Hope they sell a lot of these shirts and caps in the next weeks.

Yes, I would extend him for four seasons this off-season with an option for a 5th season...and then you always have another possible option for a sixth. How much? That's the kicker. I would almost pass on Cron for 2020 and have Sano and Gonzales play first and third. And then I would move Sano to DH once Cruz hangs up his spikes. But I would still play him in the field to keep his glove fresh there. That is the worth of Sano...if he can be a fulltime DH who can also play the field at first AND third (especially in inter-league games). He is the perfect DH. Should be able to slug 40 homers a season and play there without missing a step. You do have to keep on him for his weight, his workouts, and also constantly review his swing and make him take pitches rather than just swing at those low-outside balls. Next two years in arbitratuon will bring him a minimum of $18m. So $50m and four would be a safe bet for both sides. But after the four, he suddenly starts to enter the $20 million range. If you treat him well, he could bacome Minnesota's David Ortiz, signing a comfortable set contract each year for the rest of his career.

Yankees are at six home runs! Crap!

Gonna be interesting to see the nine names chosen to be the Twins bullpen in the post season. Picture one game, and maybe two, being relief pitcher games against the Royals. At best, Odorizzi may start and pitch three innings in the finale on Sunday. I imagine they have to look at Perez again, although I would rather they did what they did with Gibson and see how he does as a middle inning relief guy.

I shuddered when Gibson came n. Of course, now, for the final FIVE games the Twins do have to use their post-season bullpen for at least four of the efforts, maybe using one game just to give work to some of the remaining guys (Stewart, Harper, Hildenberger, Romero, and let's get Alcala more than 2/3s of an inning of major league exposure). But gotta put away the division first. And be ncie to get 100 victories.

If the Twins think they can keep Sano working hard...look what happens when he does take pitches and lays off that spot the opposing team likes to pound, then there is a good chance he could become the next David Ortiz, making a comfortable living with renewable contracts staying in Minnesota. But deciding what to do with him for the next 3-5 years is more crucial. The benefit, he could move to first, which is a weak future spot for the Twins and depending on what they do with Cron, he could start there in 2020. Then slowly shift to fulltime DH. Seems the Twins always had a hardtime finding a fulltime DH before Cruz. The best may be yet to come. We'll see. Buxton, for all his goodness, is still not there. Having that extra season of cheapness, compounded even more with a weak arbitration battle in 2020 because he basically only played half-a-season, gives the Twins at least another year of decision. But they do have Kiriloff, or maybe Royce Lewis, or a number of other considerations. Again, it boils down to money for a 3-5 year extension...and if the Twins even see that need depending on rating the prospects. I still wonder what would've happened had the Twins traded him to the Mets before the deadline...something I would've seriously considered depending on other pieces. We also forget that the Twins have two more pressing pieces. Rosario and Berrios. Is Berrios the Ace? Attutude there for good or bad. Be interesting to see if the deal has sweetened even more from the pre-2019 talks. Rosario may be at his most valuable. See what happens in the playoffs. But over the years this Twins Daily board has been on the guy for non-clutch hitting, weak outfield play, always astonished when he does put up good numbers, and we wonder if it will continue. Even of late some have called him an average outfielder...like the marketplace is full of guys who hit .270 with 30 homers and 100 rbi. Well, we will find out. Like the quality season Delmon Young gave the Twins, I would almost NOT gamble on him being great and see what he could bring back in trade value this off-season. Are Raley or Rooker ready? Do we believe in Cave as a fulltime guy? Is LaMonte Wade a true prospect who could replicate something similar to Rosario? Remember, we have to find room for Larnach sometime soon, too.

I'm not 100% sure. We could do another run on Logan Morrison, now playing for the Phillies. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morrilo01.shtml

Have the Twins relesed an Instructional League roster?

So who needs to be seen in the last six games? Thorpe? Is Stewart forgotten? Harper on the bubble? Gibson and Perez ned to shine to be anywhere on the playoff roster. Can Smeltzer be an opener? I would try him as that in the Gibson start. Hope Garver is okay. And Kepler returns. Need 3 wins in six games against bad teams who have nothing to lose (see the Royals double-steal in the last game).

Bullpen for 2020: Rogers, May, Dyson, Littell, Stashak, Duffey. The Twins still need a bonifide closer, although I would be tempted to give that role to...Trevor May. The rotation is more iffy at this point. Can Dobnak and Smeltzer be a part of the mix? The Twins need two free agents for sure and could maybe add a Pineda to come in if a rookie tryout doesn't woprk.

What a ninth inning again. Two runs on five walks. Sheesh. A couple of folks have not auditioned well for jobs next year out of the pen. We have to ask about the value of Perez for the post-season. Glad to see Sano not reaching for those low outside pitches as much today. What happened to Kepler? Anyone? The Royals shortstop going down in the infield looked painful.

And overall the "reserves" have ben jsut fine. The Twins had to figure out a way to get Gonzales in the mix, and have. Castro ahs held his own as the "other" catcher. Adrianza and Astulido have both fared well. Cave came into his own. You can argue that LaMarre and Wade are worthless...just give them some time. Every so-called secondary player has contributed, many have played numerous positions (or outfield spots). Offensively, it has been a Team Effort for the Twins to get where theya re today.

I love the swagger he is developing. He ahs to continue to work HARD on location. Reports will be pulled and people where see where he is msot comfortable throwing pitches, especially his 100 mph ones, and some batters can adjust accordingly. Yes, he can throw the ball by batters. I expect that he will get four more opportunities to shine. Depending on what they Twins think they need for a third rotation spot (do they keep Gibson on the roster of IL him), he does have an outsize chance.

I so want Rocco to pull a pitcher when they get into trouble, as can't afford to let a game get away. But Dobnak proved himself worthy and got out of a Big mess. Unfortunately, Rocco also wants to push his starters as far as he can and get that extra inning. So, Randy will be married next Saturday. He could start Wednesday or Thursday before going on marriage tenure. The bigger question is who will be the third Twins starter in the playoffs. Is Dobnak a viable candidate? Do we stick with Gibson or Perez? Trevor May ahs the stuff to be THE CLOSER for the Twins, or to share duties with Rogers come 2020. The guy, when he trusts his stuff, is dynamite. Like all closers, we worry about that long ball when he throws hard. But that is the name of the game. What has happened to the Twins offense. Can they NOT hit well at home? No homers against a weak KC starter, and nothing much against a weak bullpen. Few hits. Miss Arraez, who should be batting ledoff!

The Twins have one regular who will play in 150+ games: Polanco. Rosario and Kepler could both crack 140 if they play every remaining game. Looks like Kepler won't. Cron is at 120. Schoop, Cruz and Gonzales could break 120. Looks like plenty of rest going on here. Even our catchers are evenly split for the season with neither getting 100 games. Used to be a starting catcher would catch at least 110+ games.

I still wish Arraez would lead off consistently. I would rather Garver hit a home run with someone on base. But, yes, let's give the guy a rest.

The question is the make-up of the team for the postseason. What three players are on the bench (Castro. Schoop, Cron as of now). Do you need Cave because of Kepler issues? Then, if you do need a bullpen game...well, you have Berrios and Odorizzi. So you have 10-11 arms in the pen - Rogers, Duffey, Littell, Romo, May. I can see the Twins keeping Smeltzer, Stashak, Graterol, Dobnak for sure. Word out on Romero, Perez, Harper. Is Thorpe deserving? What happened to Kohl Stewart. Twins have 12 games. Probably 2-3 times to highlight all those rookie starters. See how the opener works. But, yeah...facing the dreaded Yankees again! Can we Bomba Them?