(Originally posted on www.twinsandlosses.com)

The Twins know when to Fuld them. They know when to walk away, know when to run.

The Twins made moves after they convinced themselves that they were much better off than they actually were. Colabello was red hot to start the season. Gibson was putting up impressive stats for his first month. And Joe Mauer was non-existent. Well Bello cooled off, Gibson isn't the fireballer we thought, and Mauer is still M.I.A.

That's not to say the Twins don't have some good pieces in the mix. Perkins has become a fine closer, with a few bouts where he does his best Eddie Guardado impression. Brian Dozier was almost an All Star. An average June, that's continued into July hasn't done much to prove the doubters wrong. Dozier is still one of the better players on the 25 man roster, and it's not even close.

Aaron Hicks and Josmil Pinto have been sent to the minors, and haven't been seen or heard from since June. Sam Fuld closed the door on the Aaron Hicks experiment for the time being, and Kurt Suzuki's red hot season has allowed the Twins to let Pinto develop at AAA. Pinto has battled injuries, and his stats have been anything but impressive. Eric Fryer is hardly a threat in the line-up, but Gardy and Co. are more content to roll with Zuke and Fry Guy for this season.

Speaking of Gardy, he might be fired this season. His entire staff might go too. And hopefully Terry Ryan is out the door shortly after they've been escorted from the premises. If there's a failure at the major, minor, and managerial levels (4 seasons of 90+ losses would be one example), then the general manager is equally to blame. Bill Smith got his grubby little fingers into the cookie jar and left crumbs for TR during his short tenure as GM. Ryan has done a good job stocking the minors, but some of his major league moves have been questionable at best. I think the fan base is pointing a lot of blame at the manager and pitching coach, and not enough at the GM.

One downfall of writing an article all day is that things happen. Things like Sam Fuld being traded to the Oakland Athletics (who also landed Lester and Gomes for Cespedes) for Tommy Milone. Milone was pretty much bumped from the A's rotation with the addition of Jason Hammel, and Jeff Shamallamadingdong (Samardzija). A lefty with a career 3.84 ERA (automatically the lowest on the Twins starting staff FYI), Milone has been sent to AAA. Maybe for a test and tune, but it'd be a shame to keep Milone in the minors for the remainder of the season. It's not like the Twins have done that with any other minor league pitcher this seas...

Kendrys Morales, another low cost waiver signing, turned into Stephen Pryor. Between Scott Boras, and personal greed, Morales ended up back in Seattle, playing for a lot less money, on a team that ended up having a good shot at the post-season. Pryor owns a career 2.81 ERA in 34 games pitched. He's been out since 2013, dealing with multiple surgeries. He's the kind of player the Twins can develop into a middle/long reliever, and possibly a set up man. His velocity is down from the high 90's to the low 90's. Hopefully that will come up a few MPH after he's healthy.

The Twins also signed undrafted rookie Brandon Poulson earlier this week. The kid's touched 99 and 100 on the radar. He's improved his control since just last fall. Did I mention he ran a 6.60 60 yard dash in his socks? Oh, he's also 6'4". He's been sent to Elizabethton to play rookie ball, and get acclimated with the pros but should see time in Fort Myers in the not-too-distant future. Poulson's legend may grow to Paul Bunyan-esque levels if he continues to improve and impress with each stop on his way to the majors.

Kennys Vargas is set to make his major league roster debut, days after Terry Ryan said he'd probably have to make a stop at AAA - Rochester before getting called up. Vargas is a great prospect possessing both power and speed. He'll hopefully be one of the many rookies who help turn this franchise around sooner rather than later. I hope he doesn't struggle like Aaron Hicks did when he jumped from AA - New Britain to the majors. Time will tell, and I personally think Vargas is a better ball player than Hicks could ever hope to be.

The tradeline looms like a dark cloud over Twins Territory. Maybe the Twins will get lucky and someone will take Ricky Nolasco off our hands for free. Maybe we could even package JJ Barea in and free up some cap space for the Wolves too. Hell, why not try to find an All Star goalie for the Wild. I'm sure the LA Kings would take Mike Pelfrey for Johnathan Quick. amitire??