News Collection: Why not Us?

[PseudoSABR]

Terry Ryan quipped, "Why Not Us?" to a question that had not (yet) been posed; exasperated at his own to need to anticipate such a question, one could hear his sardonic wit smacking in his mouth. For many of us, not-competing was something of a forgone conclusion--and the signing of Morales, and the idea of competing, seemed surprising and a bit strange.

 

Let's take a look at what some national and local writers think about the Twins chances.

 

Christina Karl thinks the the line up should be improved, though she has some doubts that the Twins rotation will hold up.

As much as signing Kendrys Morales is a good thing, the shored-up Twins lineup is going to have to seriously crank to beat that sort of near-daily handicap. And there, there may not be a good answer, beyond the expectation that former first-rounder Kyle Gibson is supposed to get better, and that the same expectations that led to signing Ricky Nolasco and Kevin Correia as free agents should fuel the expectation they’ll be better in the second half. If they’re not, the Twins won’t go anywhere, even if they manage to hang around .500.

Karl doesn't account for May and Meyer, and if the Twins are interested in being bold, there's probably two spots that will need filling soon.

 

Tom Powers agrees the rotation needs fixing and the time for halfmeasures and holding back prospects is over.

Now the question is: How hard does he want to try? If he is convinced this team has a shot, then he and Rob Antony need to make some adjustments to the pitching staff. There are four starters going great guns in Rochester: Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Logan Darnell and Kris Johnson. Two of them -- pick any two -- should be here.

I know which two I would pick.

 

Jack Moore from the thoughtful and entertaining Sports on Earth likes the moves and genuinely sees the Twins as being competitive. While Moore could see the Twins sending Pinto down to develop, he'd prefer to handle it another way.

Perhaps the best solution would be to create a four-man rotation between catcher, first base and designated hitter, with Suzuki, Mauer, Pinto and Morales. With the exception of Pinto, this is a veteran group with a long injury history, and the wear and tear of the season should ensure a fair share of at-bats for all four.

Again, the only lingering question is what better serves Pinto's future, consistent time at AAA (he hasn't thrown out a runner this year), or inconsistent time at both catcher and DH.

 

The always hospitable Patrick Reusse suggests the move makes sense either way so we all should probably stop complaining.

Yeah, there are plenty of flaws here and logic says the Twins won’t stay in the AL’s wild-card muddle, but again, now we’re whining that they added $7.5 million to the payroll to give it a try?

While the whining bothers me too, I'm not sure bemoaning complaint is effective rhetoric.

 

Judd Zulgad emphasizes the abstract qualities the addition of Morales brings the team and the fanbase.

The Twins aren't only sending a message to their fan base - one that could be tempted to check out completely once the All-Star Game leaves Target Field - but they also sent an important message in the clubhouse.

I think he's right. I'm not sure that signing Morales makes the Twins a contender, rather, it unequivocally shows that the Twins will take financial risk for even small competitive gains. Which should relieve both players and fans.

 

The signing of Morales is bittersweet for me, as I find myself pining for Sano and Buxton all the more, and left wondering how aggressive they might have been with their promotion.

 

So are the Twins really going to be competitive? And if not, will we be able to sell Morales, Suzuki, and Willingham at the deadline? I worry we'll tread water just enough to avoid making trades, but not enough to really compete.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

It can be interesting to read the out-of-market commentary on what the Twins "should do" with their team; the proposed 1B-C-DH rotation being an example. Morales will be full time DH within a week and that's that, no guys rotating around those spots. Meanwhile the FO probably feels like we here on TD are imposters with no clue on how to run the roster.

[TheLeviathan]

I'm a huge fan of calling up May and Meyer, but let's not count on them to be improvements. Given how bad some of our current options are they may not be any worse, but we shouldn't count on improvements either.

 

Still absolutely the right move for now and the future though.

[PseudoSABR]

I'm a huge fan of calling up May and Meyer, but let's not count on them to be improvements. Given how bad some of our current options are they may not be any worse, but we shouldn't count on improvements either.

 

Still absolutely the right move for now and the future though.

I agree. Gibson's struggles last year should help temper our expectations, but we know what we have in Correia, and the Deduno experiment isn't getting any better.

[jokin]

It can be interesting to read the out-of-market commentary on what the Twins "should do" with their team; the proposed 1B-C-DH rotation being an example. Morales will be full time DH within a week and that's that, no guys rotating around those spots. Meanwhile the FO probably feels like we here on TD are imposters with no clue on how to run the roster.

 

The near-future is now.

 

LOL, re "TD imposters" Insane Clown Posse.

[jokin]

Terry Ryan quipped, "Why Not Us?" to a question that had not (yet) been posed; exasperated at his own to need to anticipate such a question, one could hear his sardonic wit smacking in his mouth. For many of us, not-competing was something of a forgone conclusion--and the signing of Morales, and the idea of competing, seemed surprising and a bit strange.

 

Let's take a look at what some national and local writers think about the Twins chances.

 

Christina Karl thinks the the line up should be improved, though she has some doubts that the Twins rotation will hold up.Karl doesn't account for May and Meyer, and if the Twins are interested in being bold, there's probably two spots that will need filling soon.

 

Tom Powers agrees the rotation needs fixing and the time for halfmeasures and holding back prospects is over.I know which two I would pick.

 

Jack Moore from the thoughtful and entertaining Sports on Earth likes the moves and genuinely sees the Twins as being competitive. While Moore could see the Twins sending Pinto down to develop, he'd prefer to handle it another way.Again, the only lingering question is what better serves Pinto's future, consistent time at AAA (he hasn't thrown out a runner this year), or inconsistent time at both catcher and DH.

 

The always hospitable Patrick Reusse suggests the move makes sense either way so we all should probably stop complaining. While the whining bothers me too, I'm not sure bemoaning complaint is effective rhetoric.

 

Judd Zulgad emphasizes the abstract qualities the addition of Morales brings the team and the fanbase.I think he's right. I'm not sure that signing Morales makes the Twins a contender, rather, it unequivocally shows that the Twins will take financial risk for even small competitive gains. Which should relieve both players and fans.

 

The signing of Morales is bittersweet for me, as I find myself pining for Sano and Buxton all the more, and left wondering how aggressive they might have been with their promotion.

 

So are the Twins really going to be competitive? And if not, will we be able to sell Morales, Suzuki, and Willingham at the deadline? I worry we'll tread water just enough to avoid making trades, but not enough to really compete.

 

Nice piece, Pseudo. And since I agree with practically all of your conclusions, you're obviously on to something, here.