Minnesota Twins Talk

To me, the 2022 Minnesota Twins are finished. Even if they manage to hang on to the Central Division, they will probably be ousted from the playoffs in the first round. So my question is: Should we start planning for next year? For a quick summary to start things going, I think that all the Twins need for 2023 are 1. Three good starting pitchers. 2. Four good relief pitchers. 3. A solid catcher who can hit .250. 4. Better bench players. 5. A new manager? (I'm still in a quandary about this). That doesn't seem like too much to ask, does I?

It's Monday afternoon and Rocco is still the Twins' manager. I really think he's been given ample time to show what he can do based on what the Twins have given him. There are just too many other things that Rocco lacks the ability in. His decision making processes concerning the line-up and bullpen are suspect. His 'read' on pitchers is lacking. It's easy to make him the scapegoat, but he's had a lot of instances where he just came up short or made moves that are baffling. I believe the FO and ownership should shoulder much of the blame, but you can't fire everyone. Does anyone see a Rocco 'move' or 'change', that would get this team over the hump.? Is he …

If this is a repeated topic, I apologize. But I'd like to know the fans' opinions on a pretty straightforward question: should Rocco Baldelli remain at the helm of the Twins after this season? If so, why? If not, why not? Your reasonings are what I'm interested in the most here.

Maybe I missed this thread (but I don’t think it’s been discussed). Part of the experience about being at the ballpark has been lost - No more vendors walking through the stands. From the beer guy with umbrella hat at the old Met (who would respond “Milk for you son” when my juvenile friends and I would order a beer in vain), to Wally the Beerman at the Dome to the hotdog guy with a flair at Target Field, and more, the vendors have been part of the experience. But there is no more din of “Hey Hot Dogs” to “Get Your Frosty Malts”. All we have is some guy hustling raffle tickets. Maybe the view of a big play won’t be blocked by a vendor, but I’ll still miss this p…

Truly wrecking a great team. Thoroughly disappointed. These players are so good. What a let down. Scatterbrained on the field. If everyone is playing bad, the problem is with the manager. For example, if analytics are so great, how does Pagan get the ball when the Twins are down by 2 runs in a game they must win, which occurred Monday. When Pagan left the mound the Twins were down by 3 runs. My analytics say that the Twins need an 8 run lead for Pagan to come into the game. So what metric does Baldelli use for Pagan and continues to treat other players differently? Another example is Celestino. He batted .310 to .320 for 6 weeks, and batted ninth the whole year. …

First, we do not need to win series against Yankees to make playoffs, being we have plenty of head to head games down the stretch with both Sox and Guardians to figure out who wins the division. However, the Yankees are slumping bad, with about as many injuries we have been dealing with and outside of Judge, not much offense can be counted on each game. Sounds pretty similar to much of our last few months. Now, when you look at the elite teams, which until the injury bug set in the Yankees were in the Elite class, we have not done well. We have lost all games against Houston, and the Dodgers, two of the Elite teams in baseball we have played. We won a game agains…

...... there is too much analytics, and no competition between players. They are confused about his decisions nearly every game, as am I. Automatically pulling pitchers for no reason. Arraez not leading off every game is another one. He's earned leadoff, and should be there 100% of the time. He'd be batting .375 if Baldelli would get out of his way. Arraez is the team leader and the only one with swagger. I could go on and on, but as a fan, I follow the games now as background noise. The Twins have great players that are not allowed to excel. I like Baldelli as a person, but World Series winners do not manage like this.

I just finished listening to Joe Madden talk with Jason Stark and Doug Glanville and it was terrific. As a carry over from that discussion I had to think about Rocco. As Joe talked about the management styles of past managers - Billy Martin, Earl Weaver, Whitey Herzog, Tommy Lasorda, Casey Stengel,.. they had their own signature that you saw on the teams they managed. They were not cookie cutter copycats. They all managed with their players in mind. They knew what they were capable of and played to that strength. Some ran, some pitched, some hit long balls. But the manager had control. Then analytics came along and provided reams of information - many ti…

Came across this on MLBTR, interesting read on the reigning World Series Champions ability to keep their pipeline up to date, while still producing ROY quality in their new players: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/the-braves-star-rookie-starter.html Spencer Strider is 23 YOA, drafted in 4th round 2020, (college player), played a grand total of 22 games in MiLB in 2021, had 2 games with Braves end of 2021. Michael Harris is 21 YOA, 3rd round draft 2019, (out of high school), played 197 games in MiLB in 2019, 2021, 2022 across multiple levels, now 90 games with Braves in 2022. I can imagine Twins fans would be thrilled to have one of these guys on…

After a godawful outing last night, Tyler Mahle has been placed on the 15-day IL. Shoulder inflammation is believed to be the culprit again. Jovani Moran has been called up from AAA to take his place. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/twins-place-tyler-mahle-on-15-day-injured-list-2.html

In my opinion, anyway. What does everybody else think? We have possibly the best closer candidate to come down the pike in a very long time. Of course I mean Duran. I know he's a pretty raw rookie, but he's got 100 mph heat, filthy stuff, good command/control, and it sure doesn't look like the pressure gets to him at all. He's legit. I know there are concerns with his work load and use. That's understood. He's still the guy I'd put in the closer role. Ok, we trade for Lopez, who's had some success with Balt closing games this season. This is also his first year as a reliever/closer. His career numbers aren't that great, but he's done ok this year. We also lit him up in a …

The Twins lost to the White Sox last night and are on their way to losing to them again tonight. The players have not quit and continue to give it everything they’ve got in every game. But maybe it’s time to acknowledge that the Twins offense is not good enough and not good at all for long stretches. The pitching staff, as built for this season, was never good enough to contend, even in the worst division in the American League. The team has some good players but has no everyday players at catcher, first base, third base, right field, and left field. Kiriloff and Lewis may or may not be able to play or play well next year. Shortstop may or may not become a proble…

Don't really like to see guys go down with injuries, but Cleve lost Plesac and Civale today. Both are on the 15 day IL. Plesac broke his hand and Civale has forearm inflammation. I'm sure those are season enders for those two pitchers. If we can hold our own the next 10 games, and stay in the thick of it, we can catch them.

Very seldom have I created a topic but I would like to know what you think about the color announcers…..especially Morneau and Perkins. Watching the game tonight there is non- stop talking and evaluation. Not relaxing. It almost sounds like a seminar, or lecture. Most of us all played baseball, or understand the game and we don’t need never ending babble. The Producers need to work with these people on their craft. A requirement for these color guys: listen to tapes of Vince Scully…sometimes less is more.

2022 has gotten off to an interesting start with the lockout and then for the Twins a frenzy of trades. The roster has a whole new look and just three weeks from Opening Day, it is a pretty good bet that the current 40-man roster doesn't contain all 26 players who will line up for the opener at Target Field. We plan to do a game thread every day that a game is played (only one thread for a doubleheader) and as before plan to utilize volunteers to introduce each game thread. We have several regulars on Twins Daily that have done introductions before and plan to do them again, but there is space for new talent to volunteer to do introductions. New voices and different…

Our Minnesota Twins have had a largely up and down season. There have been winning streaks, unforgettable moments, injuries, and other ******** They currently stand at 67-61, 1.5 games behind the first place Cleveland Guardians. They seem to have caught fire as of late, winning 5 of their last 6 games against the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. As we roll into the month of September, the Twins have a crucial 10-game stretch ahead of them which involves a 4-game series in New York, sandwiched by a pair of 3-game series’ against the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox. This stretch will have a major impact on the final standings when …

The price we are paying Correa and the production he has given over the season - not just the last two series - have me wondering about the wisdom of the collective front offices, again. The frenzy over SS signing last year was amazing. Somehow Correa fell out and fell into our hands at the most exorbitant of short term contracts. Of course short team is better than long term - how many of those signed last year will stay at SS for the duration of their contracts? By the way, two are now playing 2B which is not supposed to be as costly a position. Right now Correa has the best seasonal Stats Correa 279/355/439/794 Although Corey Seagar might have an argument Cor…

Sorry it had to happen but it kinda had to happen.

Would you still roll with him in your playoff bullpen?

Looking good for Mahle to return with the change of the month ...

Looks pretty interesting. As promised in the new CBA, the Twins play every other team (including NL teams) at least once, and there are fewer games with division rivals. Seems pretty front-loaded with lots of Yankees, Astros and Dodgers in April and May, and Rays, Jays and Braves in June. Looks quite a bit softer from July onward.

Anyone wondering how buxton became an all star? Yet another season below 100 games, too many strike outs to count, too many DH times at bat to really be considered a full time player. How old is this guy??

The arrogance with which this front office and this manager pretend stolen bases don't matter really irritates me. We don't ever run. Worse, we act like it doesn't matter anyone who wants to can run at will on us. No big deal. We don't ask our pitchers to hold runners, to the point the ghost runner on 2nd in extra innings can steal third without the pitcher even looking back. Everyone takes a huge leg kick. We don't pitch out, ever. Our weak armed catchers have one knee on the ground in SB situations because pitch framing. It'll get ignored because of the pen and the offense today, but that entire 7th inning debacle today was made infinitely worse becaus…

The Twins are on the hook with struggling Max into next season. Then they can buy him out for 2024 for $1 million. Looks like Max is destined to be a reserve defensive outfielder but only when Jake Cave is injured. They can’t play him when he looks this lousy and they probably won’t dump him when he is under contract for 2023. Is it as hopeless as I describe? Or - Do they just take an $8 million hit next year if he struggles in Spring Training?

No, "Augmented Reality" isn't a hot international pitching prospect, unfortunately. It's apparently a way to play games with your phone's camera, and fans at Target Field will be the first live sports fans to use it. Forbes: Minnesota Twins Launch First Shared AR For Live Sports App That Opens Door To Sponsorship Land Grab Could extend beyond just games:

Doesn't seem like Sonny is too happy with the way he has been handled this year. I like that Rocco sent him out for the 7th last night. Not sure what this means going forward but by listening to this interview, I would say enjoy Sonny Gray for this year and next because this sounds like a guy that doesn't really care for how he is being used and won't resign.

Since he is our favorite target to hate it is important to recognize the contribution he made in today's win. He covered a couple innings on short notice without giving up a run and bridged the gap to where we'd expect to see a run of bullpen arms. Hopefully this is a turning point for him.

Goal for the rest of August is keep it where it is or at least close. Rangers, Astros, Giants, Red Sox schedule is hard to get a handle on so an overall split would be ok. 8 games against Cleveland in Sep may decide it. Glad there will be Sep games that count and maybe Oct. Every game is an effective playoff game.

I would like to see Emilio Pagan DFAed. The Twins have managed to accumulate some interesting arms in St. Paul right now. Which of these four players would you most like to see in the Twins’ bullpen down the stretch? 2022 stats: Brad Peacock, 46.2IP, 54/20 K/BB, .222BAA, 1.93ERA, 1.24WHIP Jake Jewel, 44.1IP, 50/15 K/BB, .179BAA, 2.44ERA, 0.99WHIP Jovani Moran (not great in 2022, but check out his minors career numbers), 245IP, 366/119 K/BB, .175 BAA, 2.87 ERA, 1.10WHIP Not a reliever, but maybe an option… Louis Varland, 116IP, 134/41 K/BB, .246BAA, 3.18ERA, 1.30WHIP

Retroactive to 8/18, 15 day minimum IL for pitchers