Rosterman

.500 may not cut it for contention anymore or even a shot at the wildcard. Of course, it makes the Twins a more viable thing to visit (i.e. ticket sales). That is the MAIN concern about the front office overall. Keeping the attendance momentum going past the State Fair. If I was the Twins, I would be thinking hard about making a HUGE splash at the Minnesota State Fair...dragging out former Twins, having appearances by current ones (especially if they are here on the disabled list for sure) doing a nice big screen with "great play" loops, promotional handouts showcasing the current crop of future Twins as well as guys of the future. Anything but the garage remainder sale of jerseys for folks who no longer play for the Twins. Be nice if they could jsut set up a nice dollar dog stand, but that raises other issues, I guess.

I doubt if Moya would be taken as a Rule 5 yet, so the Twins may be lucky there. Still, they have to think about adding him to the 40-man...and he'll need time at AAA.

Yeah, the Twins need (and will) continue to put butts in the seats for what they play in August. But once the State Fair hits and kids go back to school, a non-winning team will flounder and there could be lots of cheap seats, especially as the Vikings ramp up their season and Super Bowl becomes the talk of the town. The only way the Twins get get any ink between September and March 1 is to go deep in the playoffs or the World Series. And that is not probably at this point. The biggest free agency signing will be buried. It will be tough and interesting to see how the Twins market themselves for the rest of the season, especially if they become a rebuilding team.

They still have Dillon Gee and Melville to drag out. And maybe Slegers or Eades or Hurlbut. Of course, you want your top starters to be at AAA (unlike your top prospects who are at AA) because that means they can throw 150+ innings in a season. That's the predicament the Twins find themselves in. At worst, if they are out of the hunt, they should be looking at Romero and Gonsalves and more of Jorge in August before giving the fifth spot to whomever (40-man spots remaining). You can still move a lot of players around in August. The Twins just have to face that they may end up with a losing record, especially if Cleveland and Kansas City improve themselves to make the division more uneven. I still say, play for 2018 and 2019. If the shoe isn't fitting for those seasons, get new shoes.

It's a good move. Regarding Recker, the Twins currently have Garver and Murphy at Rochester and Paulino and Rohlfing at Charlotte. The question is, who comes off the 400-man for him. The Twins have to now decide who stays and who goes among Mejia, Gibson, Colon, Santiago, Garcia for three spots. Throw Ge in the mix, and let's see some new names in the rotation for the second half. Assuming Mejia will go back to the minors (because he can). We might have seen the last of Santiago and Colon has to pitch like he means it. Does anyone want to see Gee get a chance in the rotation? Just remember that the next big happening will be after August 1 when you throw goes out there and see if anyone wants to claim them. That's where you hope Santiago puts up a couple of good starts, Colon maybe shows some life. If nothing else, you can hope someone claims Gimenez, let's say (who will be a free agent) which makes you happy that you do have Recker for AAA if you bring up Murphy or Garver. But right now, the Twins will have FIVE catchers on their 40-man? And I would rather see them try and pass Recker thru waivers than the younger Murphy. Wow. $800,000 for a 15-year-old. Sometimes you do have to keep in mind the investment pricetag in a player when you do they trade them. At that price, he was a pretty good thought of prospect at one time.

The Twins will have 7-10 guys that the HAVE to protect in the off-season. They probably could find an even dozen that they should...so some of those names can be traded, whomever they may be.

At first, I am aghast when the front office talks of Ervin Santana's inconsistency. The guy who have three more wins, perhaps, if the bullpen performed correctly more often than not and if the offense would gets its act together, and that is NOT taking into account last season. And then I tell myself "that is why" he should be dangled as trade bait, but if the Twins did trade him, people would shout and heads would be asked to roll, but still...is he going to be better than he has this past year or worse...and when will the downslide happen. If it IS happening, then he still has one more start to increase his trade value, or maybe he does want to work out his contract with the Twins and see if the Twins can be magical and make the playoffs with 83-84 victories in the division. But still, every pitcher is going to have BAD games, and Ervin is still a .500 pitcher with a 4.00 ERA, especially if pitching on a bad team. Sh he should be applauded, everyone should be gttateful that he is performing better than expected, and save the inconsistent remarks for folks like Gibson and Santiago.

Well, when you look at Burdi, the earliest he MIGHT be ready is 2019, and you do have to start about thought on addng him to the 40-mam. Make that someone else's issue for a couple of years and revisit him yourself down the line. Whatever team see Burdi will have to be thinking the same.

Garcia is still a rental. But the Twins do have a number of prospects that MAY have to be protected on the 40-man. They might as well trade someone on the fringe that they probably won't protect rather than lose them. Or to make a roster spot for someone else (which is what they did, essentially last year, with Alex Meyer...deciding he wouldn't work into their plans). So if it is a pitcher on your fringe for a rental that you MIGHT wish to resign, go ahead and do it, I...guess.

Kohl Stewart might've been the likely candidate, especially if the Braves were going to eat any salary (the Twins would want SOME of their draft investment back for a rental). Or maybe it was Lewis Thorpe. Maybe Glen Perkins (wait, he's not a prospect). Some of us hoped it would be Nick Tepesch or Yohan Pino. Of course, pick a name of a Twins pitching prospect on the DL? Chargois, Reed, Jay, Burdi, Zack Jones...the lsit goes on and on and on it seems. But it may also be a hitter.

These guys in the indy leagues are some of the hardest working players in the game, especially the ones on the field. There is not a lot of roster movement and the playing conditions (and clubhouses) aren't always the best, unless YOU ARE a Saint and have some pretty comfy digs. Baseball is a beautiful game. The best starter can lose a game 1-0. A misplay can make for a big inning and destroy the game. Umpiring is always inconsistent, it seems. You may not feel the best every single game, It's 3 hours of being on the field or on the bench. And I love it, especially in Saints land!

The Twins right now are a destination for pitchers wanting to get a second chance, if they can bump any of the high-priced failures the Twins continue to throw on the mound off the mound. Like two years ago, we are going a bit ga-ga over a barely .500 club in a weak division that has: (1) A rebuilding offense that is inconsistent at best, bad average at worst. Teh good news is that the youngsters should improve over time. But, truly, who is knocking down the door to acquire ANY of the players we put on the field not named Sano? And even those that might show a smidgen of interest that the Twins would be willing to trade for anything, something (Gimenez, Grossman, Adrianza) will not necessarily bring back anything in return. (2) A starting pitcher needs to have an era under 4 in order to win with this team. (3) The bullpen is a mess. Kintzler, in all liklihood, could be gone. Names like Rucinski, Busenitz, Wimmers, Tonkin might still be bandied around next year. Reed, Melotakis, Chargois, Curtiss are in the wings, still. I would not build a pen around Rogers, Duffey, Hildenberger and call it great. Who will close? Can Pressly find the magic pill? (4) The Twins are actually having a good season. Whatever they budgeted for play should be higher than expected unless they have a total fallout come September. They should still be able to weave the magic of going to the game up to State Fair time (and they should be thinking hard-hard-HARD about how to promote the team at the State Fair rather than just running a lame remainder booth). (5) Should they just open the coffers and spend-spend-spend? It might help if they could find a taker for Mauer (be interesting to see what happens when players go on the waiver wire in August...will someone grab Hughes, Mauer, Breslow, Belisle) which is probably when the real movement of some names MIGHT happen with little or nothing in return. (6) The Twins will have quite a few players to protect on the 40-man come this Fall, some of them not likely to contribute in 2018 (i.e. like Rosario, Jorge, Romero and Vielma this year). BUT BACK TO THE ABOVE! A destination for pitching? Maybe if the Twins do get into the playoffs and can get a set line-up heading towards 2018. We still don't have a great leadoff hitter. Who bats second? Why is Sano batting third ever? Buxton is still at the end of the order. No one knows what to do with Rosario. We still need to commit to a shortstop, and MAYBE should take an early look at Nick Gordon...can it hurt? Or do you NEED to keep him off the 40-man as long as you can (didn't seem to be a problem with Polanco and now you can't send him back down for more seasoning without the risk of losing him, which may/may not be bad at all). I'm happy we are having some wonderful years from Berrios and Santana. That Kintzler is a bright light (shades of Nunez from last season). I'm excited to see if Sano hits 40 home runs. The club is closer to .500 than not, which is a major plus and a good feeling, but there are still so many problems in line-up construction and the bullpen. But there is more good play on the field than bad, or so I like to see it that way. The front office is still working thru things and having a winning team probably hurt more than benefited the new front office from doing massive wholesale changes. The minor league system is shining (so what is the difference between coaching down there and up here). The Twins had a good draft and we might see players pushed a tad more. But the remnants of past drafts are imploding, slowly. I can't wait to see the Twins figure things out (what with the Super Bowl offering competition for the limelight in the off-season) and glad attendance is holding its own (it could've tanked bigtime).

If the Braves are doing this, I would just walk away and hope Colon has more than another start and then turn to Gee. Yes, I'm not sold on Gibson remaining, and Santiago will return, but his stock is slim as he'll be a free agent. (Two pitchers the Twins hopefully could've flipped, if they had produced).

Be interesting to see the 40-man roster move this time. Is he better than Dillon Gee? Since he is pure salary dump and a rental, you trade a prospect - I say someone from A+...look, maybe it will be Dereck Rodriguez. I imagine the Twins are presenting any number of names that that MAY have to protect next season but really don't, especially from the lower minors.

If there is one thing I like about Molitor, he is not afraid to use his second catcher in a game. This having to keep the guy ALWAYS on the bench during the Gardy years wore thin with me. The bigger question...do the Twins see Garver as a catcher for the future, catching upwards to 100 games a season, or will they be happy to get 80-90 game and rrtate him with someone else. Having him catch more often than not is the ONLY reason to keep him at Rochester right now. If he comes to the majors, he won't neccesarily get rotations behind-the-plate. That he can play 1st base (probably as well as Vargas) and the corner outfields (on par with Grossman) is a plus factor. He has the potential to hit as well as anyone else in the designated hitter spot not named Sano, who is playing well at third, But if you goal is to have him share catching duties 100% with Castro next season, and probably take over the job in 2019...it ain't happening if you are forced to find him playing time with Gimenez as the backup backstop. But yes, the next time you drop down the bullpen and amp up the bench, bring him up for the week or two to get a taste of the big leagues.

They should start by jettisoning any deadweight on the 25 man and 40-man roster. DO the housecleaning now. If you can, replace the deadweight with guys in the system that are hungrier than some of those taking up space. Then look at what you have left in the system. Who NEEDS to be added to the 40-man, who won't find room at the inn. And fill all those released minor-league free agent holes with more released minor league free agents that JUST MIGHT be betere than the ones you passed to pasture. Except for Santana, Kintzler and maybe, just maybe Dozier...you have no one of real worth to trade. You have no one of really any worth to spin for some prospects (sadly). You do have a wealth of prospects you might able to spin as being a year away to other folks, but it won't bring you much in return. If you can afford it, grab a contract or three NOT named Colon or Sandoval. There's a reason they look too good to be true. They aren't good, and that is true. Really, the Twins don't have MORE to offer than other teams at this point in time. All they have is money, and lots of roster space. It is a miracle that they have been playing and producing as they have. I am glad for that and love listening to the games when I drive around, but can't understand why the station cuts out when I'm out in Lakeville. Really. Really. I would say be buyers. But to trade, you need to have pieces you can afford to giveaway, and the Twins just don't have those. They can sell, but no one is lining up and knocking on the door wanting you to open early.

I love Granite and glad to see him getting playing time. But not sure that he should be dumped in the #2 spot out-of-the-chute and you best hitter regulated to the bottom of the order. You let a guy get some bumps (and only 4 at-bats) at the end of the order to start. If Granite CAN bat second, than Buxton should be batting second upon his return.

The Twins are running into 40-man roster issues. Who to get rid of and who to add. If you add a prospect, you always have injury potential. Especially as many of the prospects will start to reach innings potentials (whihc is WHY it does help to bring up the Felix Jorge and, hopefully, Fernando for that spot start before September). You almsot think that any of the young arms may be tired and not necessary to add during the season September call-up (similar to alst year) because of innings pitched. Which means at this point you are running with the retreads who you can happily jettison during the off-season, or continue to extend the ones you have on the current roster. Yes, Melotakis COULD do more innings. But he is not on the 40-man. Alex WImmers and Michael Tonkin and Drew Rucinski are all potential callups if you decide to part ways with, say, Belisle and Breslow. But right now you do have too many names for spots (who goes when Breslow and Haley come back? How do you work Dillon Gee into the mix. Can Glen Perkins come back, still). On the other side, you are paying Park a lot of money to play AAA ball, especially when you seem in need of a true DH. And what to do about shortstop. Add Gordon early to the 40-man? Escobar will start to be expensive if he is a true backup (remember the day when the Twins didn't want to pay Hocking his third year arbitration to be a backup...especially when he was almost a fulltimer). Is there value in moving Grossman or Giminez? What is Dozier worth? Would someone give you more for Santana than less? Can you trade your closer and one of the best in the league BECAUSE you won't be re-signing him next year? What to do about...Joe? Such a tight division, and the last wild card still in play. But how far can the current team go in the playoffs? Can they upgrade better than Cleveland, or even Kansas City, and stay in the hunt? Would they really mortgage the future as prospects don't always pan out?

Liriano as a bullpen arm is something to consider. But at what salary price. But at this point I would rather trust that the four prospects in the trade will be major contributors to the Twins in 2019/2020. Of course would trade Niko Goodrum in a second for Neshek. Niko is one of those fringe guys that won't be protected. But his worth to the Phillies would only be if they could play him, otherwise he walks himself after the season. Pat, I think, might feel he has one more solid multi-year contract in him. But being with the wrong team for the rest of the summer could hurt him rather than help him, not that he has a choice of trading partners. Can the Twins live without Santana? Sure. They free up money. But the logjam the Yankees trade would present the Twins...well, it wouldn't be a logjam if they just leave some of the logs to rot on the bank. You wouldn't need Vargas or Park anymore, not that anyone is knocking down the door to get them. It solves the Mauer problem in a year, maybe, but what ARE the Twins going to do with Joe? Would we really be mad if the Twins traded him (and ate some of his salary). Not that we have anyone in the wings that we are dying to see at first base (bring back Morneau! All I can say regarding Kintzler is to listen and listen and take the best that you can get. Don't see the Twins giving him longterm money. Not sure if he would even close for any of a number of teams that would trade for him. And if you traded him, you could always come back at him on the free agent market if you saw fit (and considering that you really don't have a closer anyways). But you aren't going to give him a qualifying offer. And you aren't going to pay him closer money. Let him go elsewhere and revisit in the off-season. You can play musical chairs the rest of the season (Pressly, Hildenberger, hey Jake Reed). And you know that Perkins wants to give you at least one GREAT appearance before 2017 ends. I'm not really sure if the Twins can ADD to their roster with the prospects that they might have available, and if it truly is worth it Ihis there an offense player who will put butts in the seats. Is there a pitcher not named Colon of Gee that will excite us every four days? I worry that Santana won't continue. That pitches (especially the bullpen) will start to wear and the Twins won't be playing musical 40-man chairs correctly. Pretty much all the young promising arms will have met their innings goal come the years end, so we will see the mops ups looking for a contract in the coming year. I just wish ANY of these free agents/minor league free agents were notable enough to trade for a possible non-protected prospect to give the Twins some depth. But don't even see that. Santana and Kintzler are wanted. Escobar could be had. Maybe someone wants Giminez. I don't see a market for any return better than anyone might've given you in the off-season for Dozier, so you better start thinking "long-term contract."

Because he was added to the 25-man roster briefly, did Gee get his salary upped to a million bucks? Which in Twins land is a reason not to DF-him for assignment, especially if he is pitching well. The Twins are only on the hook for $300,000+ for Colon at the moment. Haley is pitching at Rochester and will need a roster spot soon. He can only pitch so long in rehab...and he is the Twins Rule 5 hot pickup. Breslow is also due back. So between Boshers/Hildenberger/Pressly, who goes, if not all three (unless Vargas gets his ticket punched yet again).

Jake Mauer and Doug Mientkiewicz. Two stars that the Twins need to find a place for with the big league team. Dillon Gee has to be frustrated. Of course, did his million dollar contract kick in because he was added to the 25-man roster briefly? He'll be one of those oddities that was on the Twins roster but didn't play (Alejandro Machado was one, on the DL most of a season. Chuck Schilling was another...was up for a month and didn't play and then quit back in the 60s). The question will be how long is the leash on Bartolo Colon. Better yet, how long is the leash on Kyle Gibson. His next stop will be his to show if he can stay or not. Gee is on the 40-man, for now, so there is a slight advantage for a return there. There are a lot of pitchers on that Red Wings roster, and besides Colon, the Twins have to find space for Haley and Breslow and the corresponding moves with see the Red Wings either release (or disable more) guys, or a shuffle as people are pushed backwards when they should be pushing forwards. Sigh. Sometimes too much pitching can be a problem. Especially when the too much pitching is not all PLUS candidates.

Garver's time will come. Hopefully he is getting more behind-the-plate moments than just being a bat. Interesting that the Reds are hanging on tight to Stu Turner, who is getting minimal play in Cincinnati. Castro is here for the long haul. I doubt that with his contract/salary he would be a pick-up sought by other teams. Gimenez is on a one-year contract, so we are stuck with him, unless someone really wants a backup catcher and the Twins deal him. Look at it this way...would we rather have had Murphy up all year and not able to pitch in those emergency situations? Speaking of Murphy, would be interesting to see what would happen if someone got injured on the offense. Would he be called up first over Garver? The Twins have been pretty lucky this season with so few injuries to the non-pitchers. Or maybe unlucky...they haven't had to cycle anyone else thru the team except the up-and-down of Vargas. But Garver's time will come. Just don't get injured, Mitch. And, gang, would you take Stu Turner back? Or maybe his time has passed and he can't be returned?

Wow. The names not there. No Kohl Stewart. No Reed, Burdi, Chargois, Cederoth. Tyler Jay, Keeton Steele, Ryan Eades, Zach Jones, Madison Boer, Hudson Boyd, Corey Williams. Shows how the landscape can change. How it is NOT always the top draft picks that will pan out in the end. Or combined with injuries to many, some mistakes were made in the draft. Especially when Nik Turley is your big leader!

The Twins have to take a hard look at who would need to be added to the 40-man not only this Fall, but also next year...and do they have the spots for them. Looking further out, you suddenly do have players with potential that MAY NOT find a home with the Twins organization and may be ripe to include in a package of prospects. Yes, if you do a trade, you do have to dangle a couple of guys in your top 20, as well as a few more in the next 20. But in the grand scheme of things, do you add 8-10 players a season to your full roster? And two years from now some of the names drafted today will be on the cusp of consideration. But it also has to start with recognizing the current needs of the team, mulled by the time you still need to hive to a Kepler or Buxton and continued looksee at Polanco and Rosario, amongst others, and it will start all over again with whomever you bring up currently on the 40-man (Palka, Garver, Vielma). You have to seriously decide who will be here in 2018 and beyond, and who you do think will be a wise investment. Can you grab someone from another team, and still keep control? Do you lay out BIG money in the off-season? And then you have the Joe Mauer factor. How much do you pay this guy and where do you play him, and is he worth it in the long-run. Could MAUER be a difference maker for any team right now (of course, he is injured) and going forward, do you really need to worry about any p.r. fallout not having him a Twin would bring?

But then anopther team can claim him for a 40-man spot, and almost immediately ask waivers, sending him to their own minor league system.