Rosterman

Jax is learning. I wish they would let him at least start a game.

I would so agree that it actually did look like a competitive and servicable roster. And spring training was NOT horrible. So, what the devil happened! Talk about imploding!

Yep, some serious 40-man issues. A reason that they sometimes keep the guys at AA or below for the whole 2021 season. Unless total rebuild mode, you could argue of Lewis would be major league ready come 2022. From the pitchers you list, would you advance any to the team this year for some experience, and have them spend most of the season at AAA. Once you add them to the 40-man, you risk losing them if you remove them. But I don't see any big demand for free agents to sign with the Twins for 2022 and doubtful that 1-2 big names would make much of a difference.

When vets are putting up bad numbers, and youa re losing, might as well let prospects take their bumps and use it as a learning tool. You can at least send the prospects down to work it out in the minors between call-ups. Which is what is needed with Dobnak. You hope to get at least a couple more years out of his newly signed contract. But he needs to start on a regular basis and work it out at AAA. Of most importance to the Twins: The Future of Buxton and Berrios. We gave them Target Field so the team could keep their own free agents. You can afford to overpay for homegrown talent if they have produced for you now and in the past. How much, that is always the question. The Twins have a problem, though. Kirilloff and Larnach are here to stay. Kepler is not going anywhere until his numbers rise, but the Twins will soon have four outfielders. Sadly stories like Rfsnyder and Garlick are out-of-luck, but either should be able to still find a job in the majors for the year. What to do with Nick Gordon. Too few at bats, but he ahs given the Twins more of a base-running threat than they have seen in years. If you had to choose, right now, between Arraez and Gordon, who would you pick. And that is still giving fulltime field work to Polanco and Simmons. ANyone give us soemthing for SImmons? Willians Astuldillo may be the odd man out again. He is lovable. He can play all positions, but when Garver comes back we got catcher covered. Kirilloff can play first base. Gordon and Arraez cover the infield and outfield. Is "The Turtle" out of options? The Twins need to make major blowouts in the pitching staff. Just cut loose some guys - Shoemaker, Colombe. Your bullpen: Taylor, Duffey, Robles, Jackson (amazing), Alcala. Your rotation: Berrios, Pineda, Happ, Ober, Maeda. I want you to give Jax a couple of starts to see if that is his forte. Happ and Pineda need to be gone for the msot value you can get if they produce a couple of quality outings. I fear that their stock may continue to tumble and all you get is a roster spot and minor salary relief. We have Thielbar and Thorpe injured in the wings, still. Although counting on Caleb for 2022 is not in my crystal ball. Smeltzer is still on the radar. The Twins could run out Ian Hamilton if a roster spot appears. That is the issue now. Anyone you remove from the roster you will probably lose (except Minaya). At what point does Duran get the call? Is there a major purge? Garlick, Rfsnyder, Astudillo, Simmons, Colombe, Pineda, Shoemaker - 7 name ptffutttt! Followed by Happ, possibly Cruz ad maybe Thielbar in 30 days! Make decisions made on Buxton and Berrios. It shouldn't be hard to exchange numbers to see a reaction. Who do you add (and keep) on the 40-man. Of course, hard decisions on that include players that need to be protected come the Fall, and that can actually learn from getting some time in the major in 2021 and possibly break camp to the majors in 2022 and stay! The Twins continue to hit the slush pile. Garca, Milacki, Anderson, Descalso, Whalen, Koch, Johnson, Lau, Milbrath, Horstman, Boyd, Mullenbach, Manoah, Washington are all castaways the Twins brought to the island to go with Broxton, Shepard, Pena, Tomscha, Leyer, LaFlor, Maggi, Albers, Mooney - all placeholding spots for future prospects developed by the organization. I am seeing too much time spent shopping at the Dollar Store than actually making hard decisions on the future of the team!

Yes. But the numbers ended up working in favor of Littell. Twins also gave up on Hendricks, too. Sometimes your best minor league starters will do better out of the bullpen. And players have ups and downs. I always thought Trevor May was the closer option for the future. Deolis Guerra also ran out of options. Could he have been that backend bullpen arm earlier for the Twins? With rosters now at 26, you can carry that extra arm, or funnel them back and forth from AAA ball, as long as options do remain. Of course, we also have the case of Nick Anderson, deserving of protection by the Twins but... And Curtiss and Chargois were also top minor league guys that got away when they didn't produce right away for the Twins, as needed. But then you also have names like DeLong, Harper, Adams, Moran, Hildenberger, Magill, Parker, Eades, Poppen, Stewart, Wisler, Gearrin, Moya, Slegers, Reed, , Kinley, Busenitz, Mejia, Drake. What is frustrating is when the Twins search out the slush pile and disregard their own prospects.

Astudillo may just come down to the game of numbers. Same can be said for eventual destination of Garlick and Rfsynder. Trevor and Alex should be here to stay. Alex can play first. Kepler and Buxton aren't going anywheres. Gordon is an interesting choice. Can also play short. He ahs given the Twins a potential running game. Question is, can he get at bats as long as Simmons is on the team. Him and Arraez can also fill in the outfield. Sano is not going anywhere. The question is, can they (should they) trade if an offer comes Simmons, and even Cruz. And you have to ask WHO from the whole mix you expect to see on the roster in 2022, which is either a rebuilding year around a new crop of players, thus plugging in B-level free agents, of you do make a splash keeping Buxton and Berrios on the team, move Sano to DH and make Alex the 1B. Would you trust Polanco and Gordon at shortstop and Arraez and Gordon at second? Gotta make a big splash with pitchers. Dobnak, I guess, is worthwhile sending back to AAA to start as regular as possible. Everyone else who pitched today should not be on the roadtrip. Sorry. Colombe, Shoemaker, Pineada. You have to make a couple of 40-man spots. And I would give Jax a couple of starts in the scheme of things.

Some guys need every chance to be a starter before going to the pen. Especially if they are a starter.

Line-up construction? Dismal. Hey, it's nice to have players play multiple positions. But nicer if you actually have players that can play a position. You construct a team that also gives you different skills, especially back-up/replacement players. Speed, defense, putting a ball in play, hitting a fly ball, taking a walk. Like a bullpen. Lights out closer. Someone who can strike people out. A groundball pitcher (if your defense can handle such things). The Twins were totally unprepared for starting a 10th inning with a runner on second, both in moving the runner towards home themselves and also keeping there from a pitching standpoint. It is nice to have a starter (or two) who can potentially stop a losing streak. That works better if they can pitch at least five innings, preferably six (sometimes), throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks, giving guys games off for no particular reason (you are hired to play ball). Right now the clubhouse has to be a mess. Same old same old game after game after game. A dozen in the hole is a deep hole to climb.

He has the drive. Now excited to see what happens. Interestingly, I think he was available in two straight Rule 5 drafts and wasn't grabbed.

So hit and miss on high draft picks. For every Denard Span or Ben Revere there is a BJ Garbe or Matt Moses. Tyler Jay, Kohl Stewart, Carlos Gutierrez, Ryan Mills. Sometimes you get Matt Garza or Kyle Gibson, or you get Adam Johnson or Kyle Waldrop. Of course development is the key. And the best players in AAA and AA ball are often the backend players on a major league roster, when the need arrives, because they can be plugged in to play the game for a year or three. Such a juggling act. The Twins could open their 2021 roster for prospect tryouts, but the players getting the call would have to be those needing protection for the 2022 season. You don't promote someone really not ready to even get a consideration in 2022 if you may be forced to replace them with others who might be showing a spark of life. Yet you can't have 15 spots on the 40-man held by guys who are just minor league guys. Except for this season, Celestino never would've gotten the call...and he is going on year two. You can argue about the two remaining players on the 40-man who have not seen major league action that they are preventing you from signing minor free agents (or cut players) and that they probably wouldn't see action if the team was winning. With the current Twins, they will get the chance before the season is done. But are they up to the task for 2022, and can a roster full of prospects improve the Twins chances of winning in 2022.

Only 2 40-man players await a call to the majors now (if you consider that Colina is on the MLB disabled list) for this season. It's nice having AAA close to home, but the shuttles between the minors is really busy!

And now Thielbar maybe hurt? Will the whole 40-man roster soon be at Target Field in some capacity?

You can trade him. And, if need be, resign him. Open up opportunities to see what you do have once you start to write-off the season. Any "prospects" need exposure, and what better way to get exposure than a losing season where they can actually work on pitches at the big league level. You need to open up roster space so you can see thhat next rung who may not be quite ready to start 2022, but will be a aprt of the season IF you don't sign anyone. Berrios, in all accounts, will be gone if you don't overpay. And, remember, Pineda could come back as a free agent signee. Any pending free agent needs to move on to stock the farm system and open roster spots for potential major league prospects: Happ, Pineda, Shoemaker. Colome, Simmons, Cruz all are tradable and probably all (except Shoemaker) could be wanted. You have to decide on the fate of Duffey, Rogers and Robles. Spots are being wasted by Farrell, Minaya and Thielbar right now, as well as a couple of outfielders.

17 RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE! Gotta play fundamental ball. Bullpen can't hold the game close. And even after a battle back, who do you call?

Free vaccines and a beer. Man, I wish I had waited for the days when getting a shot would also get some swag!

The friggin' pain is the Twins have four arms on the injured list taking up 40-man roster space, and all four will probably NOT pitch in the majors this year (Smeltzer has to be on the bubble for sure when he comes off). There is not a lot of play on the 40-man unless the Twins start jettisoning outfielders.

I'm hoping the Twins decide to let relievers start the games and let the starter finish the last 4-5 innings. Maybe that will work.

I see lots of "former Twins" playing in 2022 from our current squad.

The Twins now have a reason to play Sano at first base, and the Big Guy needs to produce. Garlick and Cave will play the outfield and then the Twins will have to make a Big Decision when Kirilloff needs to come back. At that point, Alex will probably go on rehab to the Saints and, depending on the play of the duo, come back shortly with regular play. Larnach has a good two weeks to show off at AAA, although not being on the 40-man puts his chances of an early recall at nill at this point. Of course, the need to be called a Minnesota Twin in 2022 is now in the play of Sano, Garlick and Sano.

All it took was money to keep Trevor May!

Someone didn't read that Rogers can't pitch back-to-back. Be glad he got the one out and move on. But to whom? You got a friggin' closer you are afraid to use. Gotta blame the front office on this one. The Twins have no bullpen arms that can stand having a runnenr at second. Why the lefty? Who pitched horribly the night before? Well, okay, because your choices aren't all that great beyond Alcala who may be the closest the Twins have in a future closer in a rebuilding team. They need a closer. They left the gate open and Trevor May moved onto the Mets. This guy might've turned the corner if he had stayed a Twin. Only hope is Duffey stops screwing around and uses the arsenal he did last year.

Free Garlick!

There is always a winner each day...and a loser. Amazed at how many teams are at .500 or below compared to winning records. Yet no one yet (it is still April) is totally running away with this thing called a baseball season. Baseball is such a team sport, and it relies on hitting, pitching (giving up less runs than runs scored against), and fielding (not giving those extra outs). If it was so easy, one team would win every year...and the joy is that we see more and more teams staying competitive outside of just spending the most money.

The thing is, he hasn't play in a good solid run of consecutive games anywhere outside of spring training. He needs to play everyday, be it here (instead or Sano or Garlick), or at least a good stretch at AAA until the Twins figure out what to do with Garlick or Sano.

Twins need to figure out if they want Buxton AND Berrios longterm now, or forget it. Jeffers back to AAA would be a good move. But can we live with Willians as the second catcher...for awhile. I imagine Kirilloff will also go back when Sano is activated.