Rosterman

Sano Garver Donaldson floating thru DH duties. Miranda sharing time at 3rd. Kirilloff at first. Question is who is at shortstop, and who do we carry as catchers/spare infielders. Rotation is Thorpe, Jax, Dobnak, Ober and Ryan with Smeltzer in the wings with Barnes. I see 75 wins from this group easy! (If they pitch at least five innings a start).

Ah, wait. The other totals were when the Miracle were a High-A team. The record was broken by an A-ball team, now playing with a share of short-season folks that normally would've been with Elizabethton in the past, and facing similar players.

I know they want to see if Moran can get thru a batting order, or that's the only explanation I see having him pitch, sit, pitch, sit, then come out yet again. He's a lefty. Is he that good that he faces everyone well and cane have his routine broken by stretches between innings? At some point, the Twins need to think of a way to get starters to pitch five complete innings. That would be a major step in the right direction, and it just ain't happening with Ober, Jax, Barnes, Gant, Albers. Maybe it is time to see if Jax can be used in long or multi-back-back-to-back days of relief. Bring up Strotman is you wish to elt pitchers learn by getting battered and staying in the game. Surely this is the "learning experience" of the current field staff and front office calls for the team.

If you look at the progression of Gil, he was Rule 5 eligible each of the past two seasons, but was still in the low minors. Even this year he started at AA and progressed to AAA. Nothing really outstanding there, but enough for the Yankees to looksee because they needed to add him to the 40-man come the off-season or he would probably walk elsewhere. If Gil had not lost a season of play so early, who knows. Now he ends up in option land. The fact that he is only 23 works well in his favor, and that the Yankees did push to see if he can contribute. Compare that to the Twins who have Balazovic languishing at AA ball, even when injured part of this season. This was a guy who was going to pitch AA/AAA ball and get a looksee by the Twins this year. The difference between the Twins and Yankees is that the Yankees tried a rookie in a positive year for their team (although looks like they are just missing the playoffs) while the Twins are running thru a list of old standards for some odd reason, rather than give big league time to a few more guys who might be on the roster, still in 2023-24-25. Is Jax a better pitcher, or Barnes, for getting major league innings out of the way this year? Even Ober. Plus getting a chance to work with major league coaches and try things in the majors. Cave gave the Twins a need, especially with Buxton going down each season. But at some point he becomes too expensive in arbitration. He will still find work (ala Grossman). Have to see what happens to Gil in the end. But at some point, he seemed too rough and too many years away to keep in the system, especially in a Twins system where they like pitchers to be much older before coming to the major leagues.

So next year we have Strotman, Balazovic, Duran, Winder, Sands and who else starting at AAA St. Paul? Barnes still there? Jax? Anyone else at AA deserving of a bieegr push?

It is always a question of how much you can afford to lose vs. overpaying for lesser production. Big budget teams can have tens of millions released, waived or on the disabled list. The Twins can afford to have $10-20 million not producing, and they bite-the-bullet when names like Mauer or Donaldson are getting overpaid compared to expectations, but at least they are on the field. I often have little problem over paying home grown talent, since you have gotten lower-payroll production out of them in the first place. It's why he Twins should've kept players like Cuddyer, Nathan, Hunter...even Santana and Koskie, when they went for greener pastures. You pay them because of their past, present and future worth as franchise people. It's why many of us hated Jack Morris and his one-year of taking a check, but the results were, in the end, more than worth it. Too often a franchise gets caught in a budget crunch, so to speak. But is it really a budget crunch? I go back to the 55%. I'm sorry, a team spending $150 million on payroll as 55% of their budget isn't paying the from office equal to a team spending 55% on payroll from their $500 million budget. And, the years you underspend vs. ... well, baseball is in a financial mess but somehow they seemed to weather the disaster of 2020 for dollars, and the lighter pocketbook of this season, too. In the end, franchises keep going up-up-up in value, something Carl Pohlad was fully aware as he always borrowed other's people money against his team. If players won't come to Minnesota unless we overpay them, and the players we are overpaying are not really worth overpaying to come to town, then why not overpay our own bright prospects who have been a aprt of the system and then the club for 4-5-6 years.

All four full season teams are winners so far. But the Saints have a challenge to stay that way now with two extra weeks of play.

Be interesting to see if he stays with the Twins organization. Somehow he got bumped by Celestino who has a similar skill set. Wichita, having baseball back, has to be an exciting place with a winning team. Twins AA ball teams usually do pretty darn good.

Tough tough list. Ober isn't getting to decision time at all. Can he have an opener, perhaps? Thielbar has excelled, but not much to being a setup man on a losing team. With Rogers gone, he was the heavy-carrying lefty, until Coulombe came on the scene (also underrated). Can Col-B and Farrell (and Minaya) be the core of a bullpen in 2022? Do we think Thielbar will stay on par or excel even more? Is Rogers still in the mix as setup, or are we going to play him at closer and forego getting a real closer for the team. Can any Twins pitcher pitch an extra inning with a runner on second and get out of the inning? At one point we were happy with Garlick, and rooting for Refsnyder. It's too bad there isn't anyone else the Twins could be running out at catcher.

That's right. Wichita will be playoff bound, which is good for that team. My only gripe for NOT bringing up a pitcher in a bad year for a team, is that it IS the perfect opportunity for them to get the Big League debut out of their system, and especially give them something to work towards in the off-season.

I'm still a little ticked. Strotman should be pitching and getting 4-5 starts with the major league club. Balazovic and Sands could be pitching in St. Paul and also getting 4-6 starts, or x-amount of innings. With Balazovic coming to Target Field to even piggy-back in Ober starts, since Bailey can't go five innings.

The Twins still need the same TWO things they needed last season, a starter (who this year) would be better than Berrios, and a real closer. Both could be expensive, but the money spent on a bunch of lesser talents could be pooled for a bigger expenditure. Or, if that doesn't work - trade.

I'm seeing the Twins not having a .300 hitter come season's end (except for the departed Cruz). Arrgh! And so many in the low, low .200's, or fighting to get to that number. But, hey...as long as every player hits .200 and the team gets 200 homers........

I pegged that Ryan would be an okay starter, but that he would eventually suit out as a closer. Works fast, nice mix, will challenge hitters. Have to see how the buzz and video follows him as he works thru the lineup multiple times. Can he do it consistently? I say, go for the rotation as loooong as you can. But he is an arm that should have a solid career in the major leagues.

When do we get to see Luke Farrell again?

I would love to see Cruz return for another encore with the Twins. But then, we have Donaldson at third and Sano at first and Garver catching. No room in the inn for Kirilloff at first and Miranda at third. But if you look at Cruz as being that BIG bat off the bench, maybe playing 80-90 games, then okay, I guess. The Twins could do worse. Then they have Cruz back and also two pitchers who could do major league time.

Man, the Year of the Pitcher, when they changed the ball and batting averages fell and people accept that you can possibly win a batting title again and not hit .300. Of not have a .300 hitter on a team at least (Go Twins!). The Twins rotation was pitiful. Besides refusing to pitch five innings at a time, can you heap much praise on Happ or Shoemaker as free agent saviors? Naw, they have been sent elsewhere (where they are actually pitching better, shades of Lance Lynn). It was the year Smeltzer and Thorpe were going to shine and show they belonged in the rotation, if not the pitching staff, along with Dobnak (shades of Joe Mays and Nick Blackburn) who got a longterm deal but could be waivered out and unclaimed because...of the salary the Twins gave him. Jax and Barnes reminds you that many rookie pitchers have tough times in their first partial major league season and might find better luck in the bullpen., Speaking of the bullpen, Colome stunk up in the beginning sending the Twins into a spiral when it came to extra inning games. He was basically the 26th man and didn't draw any trade interest thru mid-season (shades of Michael Pineda not being wanted), and now he seems to be bucking for an extension from the Twins. I would almost rather see Duffey given a chance at closer, he will be here in 2022. But the other mess of musical chairs: Burrows, Barraclough, Garcia, Gibaut, Law, Vincet, Garza, Minaya, Coulombe, Farrell, Stashak, Thielbar. At the least we flipped Robles. And other teams saw interest in Waddell and Shaun Anderson (go figure). What to do about catching. Jeffers has gone the season hitting around the line of such famed Twins catchers as Jerry Zimmerman and Phil Roof. But he has power punch. Calls a decent game. And his backup Ben Rortvedt makes us dream of Drew Butera. The Twins improved their infield, with Polanco moving to second, Simmons at short, Donaldson at third base and Sano holding down first. Problem is, Sano has 14 errors in 94 games. Polanco has made 14 errors in 93 games, Simmons 11 in 115 games, and Donaldson has played 78 games and made 12 errors. Infield has been the finest moment for the Twins, with Arraez playing 33 games at 2nd (7 errors) and 41 at third (7 errors) besides making 4 in leftfield. Astudillo has played C, 1B, 2B, 3B. They kept him out of the outfield. But his value is that he can catch, which he really hasn't done...or be that bench bat, but can you do better? Nick Gordon has made 7 errors in 18 games on the infield, but only 1 in 26 games in centerfield. The outfield has been a disaster. Left field has seen the Twins use Garlick, Larnach, Arraez, Refsynder, Rooker, Gordon, Cave. Humm....how many also played in right when Kepler wasn't playing well? And who was our centerfielder when Buxton was hurt? Kiriloff did 33 games at the corners, but also 25 at first base. When you start looking at the Twins roster, the only guys that played their position ONLY were Donaldson, Jeffers and Rortvedt, Blankenhorn and Riddle. Even when Tzu-Wei Lin was up for a game, this guy played the outfield, a position he usually only played after tolling in the infield. Amazing that the Twins didn't get Cruz in the field this year! One hates to single out players with a "stink up the game" list. You really don't need to do that as is it really fun to rag on players, when their stats usually speak for them. And, at times, it is a team effort. That is what we saw in 2021...a team effort. New baseball, extra inning/double-header strange rules, lots of injuries, strange managing but it does really work when most of the time a player is standing right where a ball is hit. Go figure that. Except in the case of...Our Twins!

A shutout! A SHUTOUT! AGAINST THE INDIANS!

WQho can go from that mighty bullpen so we can see Moran. And maybe Hamilton? Of course, the Twins want to give work to Pineda and Colome, sicne both will be such fantastical parts of the team going forwards. Can't wait to see the roster decisions when Thorpe and Smeltzer return!

"Hi, my name is Roy Hobbs. They told me you need some help." "How old are you son." "Younger than that coach, but older than you, Manager." "Can You Hit?" "Only if I can use my own bat, and if one of your guys is on the mound pitching." "We got a former Twin on most every team. Be ready to suit up...Roy, is it?" "Sure is." "Pretty good looking for a ballplayer," "Well, then make sure they get in real close with the camera for my at bats!"

Who the Twins haven't advanced Miranda, Hamilton and Moran is beyond me. Also, might as well let Strotman come up and get clobbered. Learning experience for a future Twin. You are letting Jax take his lumps. I was hoping to see Balazovic for at least one game. Less than two weeks of Wichita ball left. Will he come to Saints land to end the season. For some reason, not excited about the return of Pineda,

Vinny Nittoli will be the next call-up and will get us out of the central cellar! Make My Words!

The good news is Simeon Woods-Richardson threw 40 pitches on scoreless ball in his first start for the Twins. He only walked three batters. Struck out two and...well...humm.....wait....was he playing the role of opener? I'm thinking if the Saints want to return to their winning ways, they have to make a deal with the Minnesota Twins to get Andrew Albers and Griffin Jax back into their rotation. Hummm...let us bring Balazovic up to the Saints for a day, and then trade him and Strotman to the Twins.

They never really do. Giving a Donaldson contract to a starting pitcher? They had their chance with Berrios, maybe last off-season. And, why would someone come to Minnesota...now. Look at expensive arbitration pitchers that other teams may not want to keep (Boyd at Detroit). The Athletics have pitchers they don't want to pay. Even as a one-year rental, it all depends what you need to give up in trade. Otherwise, comeback pitchers (been there, done that). Albers, Gant, Thorpe, Smeltzer, DObnak with Ober in the wings is the 2022 rotation. My call! St. Paul has Stortman, Ryan, Sands, Jax, Barnes.

ting to feel bad for Strotman. A 40-man spot on the pitching rich Rays who suddenly find themselves with some arms they would rather keep. To the Twins, a wide-open starting field, and I'm sure he is pressing himself to shine, and sometimes that works against you. Seeing other arms go to the majors (including Albers who was not on the 40-man). And some of those arms NOT doing well in the long-run (Jax and Barnes). Strotman needs a chance as much as anyone. Get him a couple of starts in the majors. What's the worse he can do...give up 10 runs in five innings? That would be a lot of pitches and a learning experience. Maybe he can pitch five innings with one bad three run inning. That is a learning experience. The same can be said for the bullpen. Hamilton and Moran both have to be wondering just what do they have to do to get a call to the majors after watching Garcia, Vincent, Burrows, Barraclough all added and basically discarded. Wouldn't the Twins want...keepers? Sure, the Twins have found some life in Gibaut, Garrza, Farrell, Minaya, Coulombe. But who are the two best relievers in St. Paul for msot of the season. The guys are hungry, and start to make mistakes, and then the front office finds excuses not to call them up.