Rosterman

Not to bash Sano, as he could have continued value as the designated hitter of the future, but with the way Escobar is batting and handling third, CAN HE BE the guy until someone materializes in the minors. Who would've thunk that he had the power to be a force for the Twins. And speaking of power, we look at Eddie Rosario and shake out heads. Out of the three outfielders, Eddie is probably #3 in terms of offering a longterm lucrative contract, behind Buxton (who needs to break out) and Kepler (one of the ahrdest workers in baseballa). For any number of players, it is always "how much" is the contract, and "how many" years the team is willing to gamble. Be interesting to see if we think Escobar can be a third bsaeman for another season or two...or allow him to walk. Dozier is entering HIS free agent season and needs to shine. But if he's not handling leadoff, and just knocking himself in with home runs...do we need to give him five at bats to hit .240. The lovefest on Grossman continues. I wonder what we would be doing if Granite wasn't disabled down in Rochester....missed opportunity for Zack. LaMarre on the bench? Of course, the second coming of Jason Tyner is wondering what will happen when Buxton returns. I am curious to see the battle between Adrianza and Petit heat up. Mitch Garver....c'mon down and make the most of your opportunity! Just don't get hurt!

It is easier to pull guys from Ft. Myers (and replace those guys with extended spring training guys). Especially if you are just looking at bodies. It's because Stassi is on some sort of temporary list. They needed a body and didn't want to move someone from Chattanooga, which would mean someone to Chattanooga, etc. etc.

I'm not sure if Molly knows how to construct a lineup. The whole fact that Dozier keeps batting leadoff because....... It would help if Buxton was playing, and could also run, and hit above the Mendoza line. We lack his speed (when he gets on base). But, please, STOP batting Dozier leadoff. Mauer is fine in the number 2 spot, and Kepler has adjusted to the #3 spot. Now the question is...Morrison or Escobar at cleanup. It would seem idea to have Morison, but Escobar, given the chance., is proving to be a powerful weapon. And then we keep pushing Eddie further down the lineup. The bench. Garver is out playing Castro right now and should be catching Berrios and Romero ALL THE TIME, since both are the future of the Twins, as well as Castro. LaMarre and Petit may be flash in the pans, but you run with them. Im sorry, dragging out Robbie Grossman, having him bat leadoff (five at bats a game) isn't working. LaMarre is hungry. He may be the second-coming of a Jason Tyner for hitting singles, but he is hitting. But the lineup is a shambles, partly obvious because runners aren't being advanced (except by passed balls) or coming home. Not sure the philosophy here. Almost the same with the bullpen. You can't keep trotting out the same relief pitchers. You have to be able to use all your guns in close games. If they can't give you the pitching you need, then jettison them for someone else. Of face the reality...you are one of the non-competing teams this year. And then ask the questions why and how did we get here. The answer? Bad front office moves, poor field management, wrong mix of players.

I agree that he is working hard to fulfill his contract. But the stuff is just not there. If the Twins keep playing the way they are playing, maybe they can afford to keep him in the backend of the bullpen, use him for that occasional double-header start, and see if there really is potential use in key situations. But when you can't afford to carry a guy that you can't trust in a pressure situation on the mound (and the game matters), it hurts the team. Sure, it would be nice to stash him at AAA and let him pitch to his hearts content, he still gets paid. But (remember Mike Lamb) the Twins surely don't want to pay for him to be backend in someone else's organization and have him suddenly develop into a fine pitcher again. It seems to be a front office ego thing, although the current front office was not responsible for this signing.

I was surprised to hear that he ahs only had one 100-pitch outing in his career. He reached 150 innings last year, so hopefully can stretch that total a bit this season, if push comes to shove. Would we like to see him work out of the bullpen if the rotation gets too crowded and an opening happens, or does he go back to AAA and continue to be a work-in-progress. Only time will tell. Considering Santana and Lynn will be free agents, as well Gibson. If Romero produces, I would rather go forth with him as much as possible.

Well, when Eduardo is the spare guy on the bench, he is just okay. But when called upon to fill in, he's dynamite. Not sure how that computes into a longterm contract. But when called upon to play fulltime, he has not disappointed. So.......

There must be something in the power water in the bullpen. Target Field run-off water is not the key ingredient.

At some point, not calling it rebuild, but DO you play for the future and cut the guys who won't be a aprt of the team in anyway come 2019. Of course, there is no market for the likes of Rodney or Lynn or Hughes right now. And even Morrison. You aren't going to walk away from them and their salaries, sadly. Which means they play...until you give up. And too early to give up. The good news is that they are all money, and you MAY be able to filter in some new faces in the meantime. The Twins do have decisions. What to do with Mauer and Dozier. Should Sano be in the long range plans (and may we forever be a year too late in making a decision on the big guy). We have Santana coming back, in a free agent walk year...will he be lights out? What role can Trevor May play...long relief and spot starting with hopes of a return to the rotation? Michael Pineada is also in the wings. But suddenly you are hampered by free agents NOT producing. They can't sit. The big salaries can't be jettisoned easily (but, yes, they can be jettisoned if push comes to shove). The hope is everyone will get to work again, and figure things out. No way can ALL these guys be this ...putrid.

I think the team is better. But, also, the play of baseball is better. In any contest, one team wins, one team loses. There is no sure pathway to a victory. Otherwise, you would be able to predict winners over losers easily. But you can't. Were the Twins cheap? Supposedly, no. But they did BUY to be competitive as a Wild Card team, NOT to take the division today or tomorrow. Still too many factors there. The resurgence of rookies and sophs. A new bullpen. A better middle-of-the-road rotation. But still, unless you truly think Detroit and Kansas City and Chicago are worse teams, which they very well may be, the Twins still have to say "Are we better than every other team in baseball? You would think coaching and managing would've figured some things out, from arm usage to line-up construction. SO much of the game is going over stats and film and players just can't throw the ball hard and be tricky anymore, just like batters can't wait for the perfect pitch. It is work, on and off the field. The talent is there, but the talent is there on so many other teams, too. The weather was bad, but the Twins weren't the only team suffering from cancelled games and bad weather. Target Field is a gem, but how many of the guys on the current team really played the game at Target Field (of course, are biglosses were in Tampa Bay, land of great weather, and Yankee Stadium, which everyone dreams to play). I want to have patience. But I also know the front office is sweating the sell of the team, coming out badly in the gate. Cheap tickets this month, still, folks!

Is it the coaching staff. Has the manager lost control? Is there any leadership in the clubhouse? Does anyone read reports or look at tape? Hey, let's give Glen Perkins a call! better yet, BRING BACK BARTOLO COLON! Don't Panic. Don't Panic. A $120 million+ payroll can't be this bad!

The good news, Duffey on needed 13 pitches in this game in facing six batters. Unfortunately five of them scored runs. Pressly gives up his first run. Humm, maybe the Twins needed to drag Rodney out again. Wait, Hale the new guy is long relief. Well, he ate up some innings and faced more threw as many pitches as Hughes, well almost. Duffey made me long for Kinley. Well, the Twins showed their bats can bang Reds pitching, but.....

Hughes was ALMOST the best guy pitching tonight!

Right now, who would they bring up that is better suited for whatever his role is in the bullpen. By the way, what is his role...to come in, worth men on base, and end the inning. Not working. Pitch mix/match? Is the film on him working for the other team? Is his velocity down? Better to work on it in the minors, in many ways. But if you choose between him or, say, Busenitz or Curtiss, who do you pick? The Twins are actually one plus in the relief corps now...but only if they felt the need for a stronger bench. Buxton coming back will show movement of a bullpen arm, perhaps.

The Twins signed Castro to better the pitching staff. He still has one more season on his contract. The Twins knew he wouldn't hit a ton (and someone HAS to make outs in every game). So, as long as he remains healthy, he will get the starts. Garver seems to be Berrios catcher, for now, and that's pretty much it. He will be the limited use reserve this season (surprised he isn't worked into any extra inning games) and may see 50-60 starts next season. But yes, come 2020, the Twins will probably need to pick up a veteran backstop (Drew Butera should still be available) to split games with Garver. Of course, the catching situation is a mess beyond that. If Castro would go dowm, Garver WOULD get a chance to play most everyday, and he can't be any worse with the bat than Castro. But who comes up to sit on the bench and why? Are any of the catching prospects a fulltime catcher come 2021, say. We can hope. Also look for the Twins to use one of their higher draft picks this season for the catching position. We all complained about the old "pitch to contact" of the Twins of the past. Now we get a game of catch between the pitcher and the catcher while the guys in the field stand around watching pitch speed and pitch counts. Go figure. Castro IS producing as requested. Let him sit in the 8th or 9th spot and get his four at bats a game. The choice was made and he's here to stay, as no one will be tying to pry him away from us at the trade deadline. Hummmmm...suddenly starting to wonder about the Twins 40-man roster again. Who actually NEEDS to be on it, has a future, why are they being carried.

Buxton back? Take a pick between LaMarre and Grossman. I know who I would pick. But, we still have an extra arm in the bullpen. Hildenberger will need more seasoning. Yes, it would be interesting to see Romero get his cup-of-coffee sooner rather than later. You can always send him down to work on some things. But then you still have to put Hughes somewhere. I picture management trolling out Hughes 2-3-4 more times until Santana pushes a decision. Bullpen usage. Need of Rodney as closer. Role of Suke. Can Duffy be the longman? Line-up construction. When Buxton comes back, move Dozier out of leadoff? Who bats third. Who is the clean-up hitter. Why are guys not doing anything getting potentially five at bats a game and Kepler or Escobar not? Should we be seeing a tad more of Garver behind-the-plate, or is that a "wait until next year" when they start phasing out Castro moment? What do players do during "cold outs?" Swim, interior batting cages, workout, play cards?

Well, I think coaching should talk to him before each at bat. Tell him NOT to chase things inside or down low, if at all possible, and if it seems like the pitcher is working in that arena. Force him to take pitches. Of course, you can't do that for the entire game, so have an at bat plan. Work on it, especially in the batting cage. Get his eye/ball coordination to focus on a few particular areas of ball flight. And come down hard, discipline him. Get rid of the free swinging. It will come back and keep happening, yes. But you have to lean on him hard. He may take a few more called third strikes, than swinging strikes. But he has to learn to swing at those balls that ARE in the strike zone, and totally zone out the others that look "tempting".

The twins also have to make decisions on Mehia, Enns and Slegers. Sure, it is "nice" to have starting depth, but can they pitch relief, or even long-relief. AT this pont I would rather see one of them at the backend that Kinley (sad to say). Enns is a question. Not doing great, but has possbilities...or if he doesn't, cut him loose. I'm sure the whole "value" thing is in play, and the Twins want to bring him up to see if he can produce at the major eaegue level because of the minor trade value they did. But at some point, if they guys aren't usable, you replace them with guys that are. Or figure out how to use them. Use Duke for one or two batters. But Rodney in setup or mopup until you are comfortable with him back in as closer. Pressly is doing better than Rodney, so is Reed. They both should be getting the ball if the Twins ever have another save situation. Yes, it is too early to panic, and the Twins can run thru Busenitz again and bring up Moya and use Curtis. But at some point, these names will be judged against Anderson and Reed and Melotakis and others, too. If the Twins are a competitive team, that is!

We should just be glad that Goncalves and Romero are showing so much promise. Remember, at the end of the season Santana, Gibson and Lynnn will be gone. The Twins will (hopefuylly) make a decision on Hughes. Depending on the quality of any of these guys, they might be able to flip them out for a solid prospect before the trade deadline or thru waivers in August. Next year: Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda, May and build from there. Same with the bullpen. The Twins DID make some decent moves to bolster their pitching for a possible run at the Wild Card (if not the division). But they happily didn't tie into longterm contracts and we do know there are POSSIBLE arms in the system to work into the mix.

You hope it is just growing pains after all those days off and playing against some hungry teams themselves. But, yes, the pitching, which started the season well, is quite putrid. It is bad when the bullpen gives up more runs than the rotation, no matter how you look at it. And the offense. Batters protecting each other? Non-existent. Base stealing? Putting the ball in play (strikeout king Sano!). You want Sano to find a grove, Morrison to stop pressing..... Why not use Rodney and Duke in any of these blowouts? Not like they are the pressure guys fer sure.

So, do most of these guys live in housing supplied by the Twins (which would be great if ALL minor league systems did this...i.e. basically own a hotel with 30 or 60 rooms, food service capabilities, meeting rooms and a pool). Plus, they do have better off-field facilities than most minor league parks, right? It is great that the Twins share their High-A space in Ft. Myers, too. Easy to shuffle guys in for some real game experience. Plus great for players on rehab. Are there ANY restrictions on how many players can be in an extended training camp (which also operates in the fall)?

Fernando Rodney not available?

These things are always a gamble. You saw it with Perkins. You saw it earlier with Mays and Blackburn. You can always look bigger, the Joe Mauer contract. Of course, if Joe was going to catch into year 35-36-37 and you didn't need to find, say, a Castro to replace him...then it looks pretty good. Name WONDERFUL more than 3-year contracts the Twins have signed with players!?!

At worse, Moya becomes a situational lefthander. Give him some time at AAA. Actually, would've been nice to see him in the Arizona Instructional League. He is a work in progress. Had the stuff, now needs to know how to use it.

Luke Bard was cut by the Angels. If he passes thru waivers, do the Twins reclaim him for $50,000 and stash him at Rochester?

Molitor got the reserves to play: Grossman, Garver, Ehire and LaMarre started. Stayed a close game. Low pitch count meant you tried to get 7 out of Gibson, but is it really necessary top push starters anymore. The two kids were horrible. Luke Bard cut by Angels. Should the Twins pay $50,000 to get him back?