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Ok boys, listen up. You won a game yesterday. You won a game today, that's two in a row. You win tomorrow...that's called a winning streak.

Any game that Dobnak pitches that we win is a big deal. Any game that Dobnak AND Colome pitch and we win is A REAL BIG DEAL.

"Paging Mr. Serling, Mr. Rod Serling...you're wanted in the Twlight Room." The Twins have won 3 In a row and have generally been playing much better the past few weeks, even with a few bad losses. They're also get healthy again. Now, it's far too late for any 2/3 of a season "back in contention" miracle, but what a possible .500 finish while building confidence and momentum for 2022? And how about continuing to get experience for Jefffers, Rotvedt, Kirilloff, Larnach, Gordon, Alcala, Dobber, Ober and anyone else we haven't seen yet but will? Three quick thoughts: 1] Despite some HR issues, including the one he gave up Friday night, Alcala is gaining trust and growing up right in front of us as a legitimate BP option. 2] I think you are either a believer in Dobnak that he can be a reliable back of the rotation bulldog who will always take the ball every 5th day and give you a solid chance...eventually...OR, you just aren't a fan. Service time-wise, I believe he just lost rookie status. But he still only has around 120IP in his young career and has shown stretches/games of being quite good. He gets a little more consistent I like him at the back of the rotation. 3] Except for 2020 and a few appearances early this year, Robles has been a fine RP. And he's still 30yo until August 13th. What is his future worth to the Twins? Is he more valuable being traded for an A level prospect or re-signed for 2022? Personally, I'm in favor of keeping him for next season. FINAL NOTE: I have really enjoyed listening to Perkins in the booth the past couple of games and would enjoy hearing him more.

Assuming no additional injuries (BIG assumption), it will be interesting to see what the Twins do when Garlick, Refsnyder (both in the next week or so) and Cave (possibly mid July) are healthy enough to play again. I would like to see Gordon, Kirilloff and Larnach stay on the big league roster.

No way they are giving up on Sano. Its a lost year. They are not flushing that money. Plus, stranger things have happened than Sano finding his 2019 form.

Optioning Astudillo? Has all the makings of another 30 year curse.

I was glad to see Dobnak had a nice outing today! However, I still think Dobnak is a long reliever / 5th or spot starter, at best. Ever play Yahtzee? Building the pitching staff around the Dobnak extension is, to me, kind of like using the 1s, 2s, or Chance category on the first roll. Not too bad maybe, but you still haven’t done the hard stuff yet.

Hold the trade phones just a few more days. Second City's South Side club has just dropped three in a row. 102 games left and there's just the teensiest crack of daylight peeking through.

Today could be a real "nail biter".

lets just hope its a case of getting all the bad luck out of the way in one season.

Pick the right guy to trade away... Grade: A. Pick a reasonable guy to try to develop... Grade: C-, based on results this year. Then punt it away by gambling that no bottom-feeder team would desire a guy with minor league options for 2021 and 2022, a guy you yourself had thought was promising? Grade: F. Shaking my head.

Second, for whatever reason for all of the mistakes that were made this offseason, Shaun Anderson (who has minor league options and is 26 years old) is the first addition the front office has admitted failure on by placing him on waivers. Meanwhile J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker and Alexander Colomé continue to “eat innings” with absolutely zero chance of having any future on this team beyond 2021. It’s simply baffling. I think it's more than fair to ask what the rationale behind this decision is. The FO took a fringe 40 man player, whose ceiling is a utility OFer and swapped him for a position of need that they thought they could straighten out. It failed, but I'm ok with that swap. I don't think the Twins have been hurt in either the short or long term by playing who they have in the OF. I don't think the move is worthy of much hand wringing. Congrats to Wade on a good month.

I think if 5/$80 would get it done, it would already be done.

Agree with Rosterman on how the Twins play the youngsters as opposed to the vets. I would also like to see more of Gordon who has the positional flexibility to be a strong super utility option now that he has shown some aptitude for playing in CF.

Doc: Other than your final note ( I didn't watch game on FSN) so I have no opinion on Perkins, I agree with your comments. I really believe that Alcala has a strong future as a late inning option in our bullpen. To me, he has the demeanor/disposition you need from a closer. What he doesn't have at this point to be trusted in that role is an effective 3rd pitch, namely a changeup. Other than some command issues, I like what I've seen from Robles as he's shown he's much more like the effective pitcher he was in 2019 rather than the gas can he was with Halos last year. As for Dobnak, I'm somewhere in the middle on him. I think he's most effective as a starter. Seems to me his poor performance this season may be attributed to the fact that he's been yanked around without having any defined role. Saying that, I can understand those that argue Dobnak must make that mental adjustment as well as showing he can effectively command his pitches. When he does what he did today, he can be a viable option for next season---joining Berrios and Maeda. Count me NOT in the crowd that is ready to trade Berrios. That doesn't mean you don't listen to offers at the trade deadline, but he's shown BY FAR he's the most reliable SP we've had over the past 3 seasons. Where many may disagree with me is filling out the remainder of the starting rotation next season. Im DONE with dumpster dives for the likes of Shoemaker, Happ and countless others over the past many years. Time to take the kid gloves off and give Duran, Winder and Balazovic the chance to compete in ST for 2 rotation slots for 2022. I can't believe Winder has anything left to prove at AA Wichita. Another excellent outing last night. Balazovic will take some more time to gain strength as he's only made 3 starts. His outing this week, which I witnessed in person, was quite impressive. Don't have as much to offer about Duran, but from comments I've seen----he just needs to get consistency with his command. Will be interesting to see what trades FO will make over the next 6 weeks. Got to believe that Cruz and Pineda (if healthy) are at top of list, which could bring some value back. If Donaldson can get back into lineup and show production he could also be moved if mgmt is willing to kick in some $$$. Appears that SF and Milwaukee could be possible sights for JD.

How nice - I will take this as a fathers day present or a fans day present - whichever you like.

The Rangers entertain the Twins in Texas in the middle game of a three game set. Buxton is back! La Tortuga is gone (for now), but not forgotten. Dobnak gets one last chance to show he can be in the rotation. Play ball. Pitchers: PLAYER W-L ERA WHIP IP H K BB HR R. Dobnak 1-6 8.38 1.73 38.2 56 24 11 10 K. Allard 2-2 2.91 1.12 34.0 29 37 9 4 Twins: J. Polanco 2B 0-0 0 0 0 .254 TODAY'S AT BATSFull Player Profile No at bats in this game B. Buxton CF 0-0 0 0 0 .370 N. Cruz DH 0-0 0 0 0 .300 T. Larnach LF 0-0 0 0 0 .259 R. Jeffers C 0-0 0 0 0 .221 M. Sano 1B 0-0 0 0 0 .179 M. Kepler RF 0-0 0 0 0 .204 A. Simmons SS 0-0 0 0 0 .241 L. Arraez 3B 0-0 0 0 0 .273 Rangers: HITTERS H-AB R RBI BB AVG I. Kiner-Falefa SS 0-0 0 0 0 .288 N. Lowe 1B 0-0 0 0 0 .242 A. Garcia CF 0-0 0 0 0 .273 J. Gallo RF 0-0 0 0 0 .218 N. Solak 2B 0-0 0 0 0 .233 W. Calhoun DH 0-0 0 0 0 .249 E. White LF 0-0 0 0 0 .169 J. Heim C 0-0 0 0 0 .195 C. Culberson 3B 0-0 0 0 0 .218

Soon enough came a few weeks ago.

Kirilloff should be playing 1st. I don't mind Kepler playing, it's Sano that is not needed now.

good afternoon, everyone. Let's go Twins!

Shoemaker will be gone soon enough, give it some time.

This is a reasonable offer in 2008.

I’ve been waiting all season to use this quote except the team refuses to, you know, win any games.

Thanks for the report Allen. Watched most of the Wichita game last night. Have been saying for the past couple outings that Balazovic just looks like a top of the line major league starter. After watching Winder last night, got the same feeling. Really liked how he worked himself out of a couple sticky situations. Springfield had several stolen bases and a bunt single against the shift to put runners in scoring position. Other than the one kid stealing home, he seemed to be in control of the situation and worked out of them. Also was impressed with the defensive play of Palacios. Seemed smooth charging the ball with strong accurate throws to first. Also great to see from the box score that Javier had another night with a hit, run scored and 2 rbi. Great seeing him having some success!

I like your thinking, but, with Dobnak starting and not much in reserve out of the bullpen------I wouldnt get my hopes up.

I really liked this short essay. Yes we can say it is one of the first signs of throwing up our arms and admitting mistakes. But we have also had Tzu-Wei Lin DFA'd April 29 and everyone said - who cares, April 29 we also DFA'd Mr Riddle and got a league wide yawn again. May 7 we had a DFA for Brandon Waddell now with the one team worst than us - Baltimore. Derek Law was DFA'd May 18 and now he is a star in St Paul - leave him there. He was outrighted there May 20. Dakota Chalmers DFA May 29, a minor leaguer we could not develop. June 5 Minaya DFA and once again, no one cares. We have a lot of chaff. We need quality.

There was time many years ago when the Twins thought they had expendable catching depth as well. We should revisit the Wilson Ramos trade before we discuss trading another catcher. Keeping Mitch Garver as a 1B / catcher / DH is the best option. (This was mentioned by @stringer bellHe is also under team control for 3 more seasons.

He doesn't. He and his agent have educated guesses. But it's still a year and a half out before they can "know". You've seen those hurricane cone maps? It's kind of like that, except probably with even more variance, and without a certainty of "weakening" like a storm will do as its geographic track plays out. We're at Wednesday AM right now. We're trying to pick a price that shuts the door on him finding out where the Monday AM location will be. Some players might accept the conservative offer, to reduce all the risk. Other players are said to "bet on themselves", and you will have to offer pretty close to the maximum in that cone of probabilities, to shut that door for them. 5 years for $80M is $16M a year. That is Kimbrel/Chapman territory - top relievers, but starters get more. Money like Bauer and Cole got may not be achievable. But I'm thinking $20M for 7 years is what's needed to get him to say, "OK, never mind about the Yankees and free agency." 1.5 years away, $140M will get his attention, $80M will not.

Isn't the comp to look at Zack Wheeler? Yes, Wheeler was a bit older, but from a career perspective there's a lot of similarities: very good pitchers, never great. Belief that there's still another level to unlock for them, similar ERA+. Wheeler got 5 for $115M. I'm sure Berrios is thinking "I;m younger than this guy, I'm better than this guy, I'm never hurt...I should get 5 for $125, minimum." Is he wrong? It's an interesting question. All it takes is one. I'd lock up Berrios on 5 for $85M in a heartbeat, and I think the Twins would too. I think he's said no. The number will have to be over $100M for him to even consider it, because I'm sure he can get that on the open market and he's shown he's more than willing to bet on himself. and it's paid off for him. We are not talking AAV of $15-17M for Berrios on an extension. We're talking $20-25M if we actually want to sign him.

This is exactly why the "trade Berrios now" talk makes no sense. Trade for whom? And how do you fill the hole he leaves? Unless the ball club has decided to rebuild from the ground up, or if Berrios and his agent will settle for nothing less than the greatest amount they can obtain on the market, this is the correct approach. Smart management doesn't deal away personnel without knowing whom they will plug in as a replacement. Even if he is only ever a number 2 or 3 arm, having Berrios spend his most productive (or even all) years with the Twins is likely to benefit the club. Everyone they have on the farm is at least a season away from being as good as he is now, and dealing for someone as good or better is always fraught with peril. Dance with them that brung ya - and pay 'em, too.

Look, Maeda is NOT himself right now. He may or may not be the pitcher we saw in 2020. But career numbers and his ST performance and injury would tell you he's going to rebound. Berrios has been a rock, despite some ups and downs. For the 100th time, he's still 27yo plus and is a 2 time All Star. Again, for the 100th time, he and the Twins have changed his work out routine to allow for a full season of endurance and performance. And we haven't seen the results yet after the weird season that 2020 was. He may or may not ever achieve the ACE status that so many wish for. Me included. But despite some very good prospects rising, you can't ignore what you already have. If the Twins don't give him a 4 or 5yr deal for something close to $18-20 per they are being stupid. Someone else will.

If he will do do it for 5/80 I am on board especially given what they got out of Happ and Shoemaker for 10m this year. He is young durable and with slight improvement a potential All-Star type player or just under for the next four years. He takes good care of his body and takes the ball every 5th day. Why not do what you can to keep him especially with good pitching in short supply. With Maeda messed up he might be the one decent pitcher we can rely on next year and hopefully once the other guys come up we can fill out that rotation with more home grown guys. Unless the ask is absolutely unreasonable they should extend him IMO.

Agree 100%! The 1964 Twins were a big disappointment. Fortunately Calvin didn’t panic and unload his top players- we kept Killebrew, Allison, Olivia, Kaat. In 65 they came back with 102 wins and a World Series appearance. We need to have some faith that our still young stars can produce again and pay them what they are worth. NEVER let good pitching get away. Pay Berrios what he can command on the open market. We can’t assume prospects will produce at the ML level- we’ve had plenty of our future all-star prospects bomb and disappear. A bird in the hand……,,,,

I like your post but am going to slightly disagree. I've read, heard and seen in regard to AK at 1B. I keep hearing he could potentially be a Gold Glover at 1B and carry on a great tradition of outstanding Twins 1B. And there's nothing wrong with that! I just think he's undersold as an OF. I've seen nothing negative to tell me be can't be a solid corner OF. And right now, I just don't want to pigeon hole him at 1B exclusively. What's wrong with letting him continue to play both and we'll see what the future brings? I believe in roster flexibility.

Not interested in dealing Garver, not even a little. You'd have to overwhelm me to do that. But yes, Jeffers could / should be number 1, with Garver at first / DH / C....I don't care if Astudillo is on the team one way or the other. The only complication is if they feel Kiriloff is the 1B in the future, and not an OF......

I'm wondering if Kirilloff is going to play a lot at 1B with Buxton/Kepler/Larnach as the starting outfield. Sano is getting close to playing himself out the lineup.

We supposedly thought we had a lot of outfield depth, and Larnach wasn't even on the 40-man yet. And, guess what, we do., Which is why Baddoo wasn't protected (who knew someone would take a gamble on an oft-injured guy who has only limited AA at bats). It was Wade or Cave. I would've gone with Wade in the end as a potential fourth outfielder, although I wonder how spring training would've panned out for him where a bunch of minor league free agents were high in the pecking order. I felt Anderson was a good pickup. My question here is WHY? Why was he removed from the 40-man? Who are the Twins replacing him with? If they need a 40-man spot, you can get rid of Colombe or Shoemaker. Right now, I would rather see Jax and Anderson on the team pitching equally as bad as either of those two guys. And, at some point, you will have a 40-man spot open up when Buxton returns and the Twins have to make a decision on Garlick and Refsnyder.. Plus, I totally expect Happ and Simmons to be gone sooner rather than later. And the Twins best trading chips that some other team MIGHT want are Pineda, Robles and Cruz. Robles ahs been fine, but I don't trust the need to bring him back in 2022 (or you just might like to resign him, or Pineda, when the players search out a free agent contract). I hate the thought of trading Cruz. I think he is a fine bench and clubhouse presence, but at some point the Twins will have a crowded outfield and have to figure out where to play Larnach, Kirilloff, Buxton and Kepler, along with Sano. So Sano to DH might be in the offering for the remainder of this season. Yep, Wade was a loss, but doubt he would be an outfield starter in the future and the Twins are still looking at a prospect logjam depending on what becomes of signing Buxton. But nice the Twins are giving away players other teams want. At least the front office is spending mon ey at the Dollar Store signing such minor league guys as: Juan Minaya, J.T. Riddle, Tsu-Wei Lin, Jordan Milbrath, Justin Washington, Ryan Horstman, B.J.Boyd, Matt Mullenbach, Erik Manoah, Adam Lau, Sherman Johnson, Rob Whalen, Andrew Albers, Brandon Koch, Daniel Descalso, Nick Anderson (no, not the pitcher), Jason Garcia, Wilbis Santiago, Bobby Milacki. Robinson Leyer, Kevin Broxton, Chandler Shepherd, Drew Maggi. Wow, talk about prospect blocking!

I thought so too, the first 30 times I viewed it, but now I agree he overshot.

The Nola and Severino deals are no longer relevant to Berrios, due to the service time difference. McCullers is close -- he signed for 5/85 just 1 year away from FA. Berrios is still a half-season away from that, but he's also ahead of McCullers by some measures -- McCullers's final arb award was $6.5 mil, but Berrios is already at $6.1 mil in his second-to-last year of arb. (Probably because McCullers missed a year-plus due to Tommy John surgery, and has been on the IL most seasons otherwise.) Also, the McCullers deal takes effect in 2022. So including the 2021 arb award, it's more like 6/91.5. So I'd guess the McCullers deal is the baseline, but wouldn't be shocked if Berrios wanted 5/100 right now, or something like 6/110 including his likely 2022 arb salary.

Just because I had to check--------the 1982 Twins pitching staff (my senior year in high school) was NOT as awful as I originally thought in comparison to this year's group. Saying that, I knew that the 82 team would struggle, but as all know the CORE of that team---Laudner, Hrbek, Gaetti, Viola------with the help of others---produced the first (and best) WS title only 5 years later. As for that group......research shows the 82 team..as most know..went 60-102 finishing dead last in the AL West. However, their starting pitchers (as listed by Baseball Reference) showed a few surprises. 1. The 5 SPs listed were: Bobby Castillo (13-11/ 3.66 ERA); Brad Havens (10-14/ 4.31 ERA) Al(bert) Williams (9-7/4.22 ERA), Jack O'Connor (8-9/ 4.29 ERA) and a young southpaw by the name of Frank Viola (4-10/5.21 ERA) That group combined to go 44-51 for a winning % of .463 The 2021 group---Berrios, Happ, Pineda, Shoemaker and Maeda---with MUCH HIGHER EXPECTATIONS and with a much better (at least thought to be) lineup and bullpen in support have gone so far through 68 games...17-19 for a .472 win %. Not much better than the 1982 group. I know only 68 games in for the 2021 group of underachievers, but the 82 team had a final team pitching ERA of 4.72. This years group of misfits, is currently sitting at 5.01.....yes over 1/4 of a run higher------who's best SP was Bobby Castillo. 2. The 82 team's bullpen was a complete train wreck. Sounds familiar, huh? 4 of the most immortal (and forgettable) RPs from that team included: Ron Davis: Really difficult to type that name without expletives. For those who might remember, he was the epitome of "gas on the fire" as a closer. Sounds like a RP we acquired in the offseason as a free agent. Somehow, RD did collect 22 saves that season, but HAD TO HAVE at least 10 BLOWN SAVES. He finished the year 3-9 with a 4.42 ERA The aforementioned Terry Felton. From what I've read, Felton really was not as AWFUL (I'm being generous in my old age) as his 0-13 record with a 4.99 ERA suggests. Is the only pitcher (I think) in MLB history to record more than 10 decisions in a season and lose every game. Pete Redfern: 5-11/ 6.58 ERA Roger Erickson 4-3/ 5.87 3. Not intentionally trying to "cherry pick"-------but compare to the following 3 RPs for the 2021 that Falvey, front office and Baldelli expected to "be good" this season that have completely NOT been anywhere close to average: Dobnak: 1-6/ 8.38 ERA over 38.2 IP Colome: 2-4/ 5.63 ERA over 24 IP Stashak: 0-0/ 6.89 ERA over 15.2 IP Time to move forward and hope that those progressing at Wichita, Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers will give our fan base something in the way of positive production in the years ahead.

Not really. While the 2021 MiLB farm system's condition is somewhat unknown, it's miles better than it was in 2011. Smith did some good things in his tenure but many of his trades were just awful.

I think that loses too much value in trade. If the Twins want to make an offer, do it now or trade them. Teams are likely willing to pay a lot more for that half a season while in contention and to fill an immediate need. In the offseason, teams can sign or trade for anyone on the market and the supply is more limited at the trade deadline.

I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. I think the Twins spent right up to their payroll limit, which is why they ended up with Shoemaker. According to Spotrac, the Twins are 16th in payroll this season. Maybe they should be more toward 12-ish (IMO, where they should aim for while in contention) but 16th isn't unreasonable by any means.

By all means, if he is unhappy here and will not sign a new deal, trade him to the highest bidder