beterday

Keep the discussion going, I only remained with my cable carrier so I can watch the Twins and now it sounds as if that is in jeopardy. What is MLB.com and will they still blackout local games?

Sano showed a total inability to adjust to the situation and the ball/strike count. He struck out on a low, outside, breaking pitch 1000 times and usually that was after getting a fastball close to or down the middle of the plate. This happened over and over and .... If Gallo shows the unwillingness or inability to adjust, he should be gone quickly. Kepler is the same deal. He refused to hit the ball to the wide open left side of the infield, continuing to stubbornly try to hit a ground ball into the shift. Being long-term Twins maybe they deserved (they didn't) the extended chance, but Gallo needs to change or be gone.

Thank you for this article, NIck, I agree 100%. When this signing of Correa thing was going on, I trusted the front office was making a reasonable, well-thought-out offer, based on the medical information and the evidence they had accumulated over the year he played for the Twins. Then the offers from the Mets and Giants came in and the Twin Cities media was mostly disgusted with the FO for "not even being in the ball game". "They must know they are not in the game with that offer" was a refrain I read and heard often. Well, maybe they did know more than what they were credited with, maybe they were less impulsive than the others the first time around. The fact that they continued in the discussion and, I believe, legitimately cared about Correa as a person more than about where he landed were instrumental in the final outcome. The Twins FO did not go to the default position of anger and vitriol of comments like, "we were his third choice", or "he really didn't want to be here", without mentioning the millions of dollars involved in Correa's decision. I enjoyed the drama of the signing and now I will look forward to the Twins season, my 62nd season as a Twins fan (I still remember sneaking out to the Nash Rambler - it did not run very often and had no reverse - but it had a great radio, at 10:30 PM with my cousins and listening to Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall describe Harmon Killebrew's at bat in the bottom of the 10th) instead of finding other pursuits like I did at the end of last year when we were playing a AAA lineup.

Is Rocco really making the decision to pitch Pagan again in a game winning/losing situation; I remember yelling at the TV several times this summer over that decision. Isn't this because Falvine has made that decision by not dropping Pagan by May or June. If it was Rocco, I believe he would have been fired at the end of the year if not sooner, earlier in the summer. I certainly would have fired him. Bundy and Archer met expectations, the team just didn't have the relievers to fill 5-6 innings every game they pitched. Was Rocco making the decision to pull the starters by the 6th inning regardless of how they were doing? Why did Ryan get to pitch later into games, often left out there to clean up his own mess of a bad outing into the 7th inning? The third time through the order philosophy. Was that Rocco? Without the front office on board he would have been fired by June. Is Rocco like Sonny Gray and hoping he gets a shot at making these decisions for a different team, or is he fully onboard? These decisions have to being made at a higher level than Rocco.

I agree that it should not be added to the mix of things to keep track of; a participation trophy.

Rocco is young, intelligent, and able to change, and I think he will be a very good major league manager over time; maybe not with the Twins as he will have to evolve more quickly than he has shown so far. He should have benched Celestino a month or so ago when there was a no-hustle out at second. I commented at the time that a guy like Celestino has to show a play by play desire and appreciation for being in the big leagues, like Jake Cave does. On that front, a measurement of success is whether the Twins have to resort to playing Cave in the major league lineup; as much as I like his passion, he has kept himself in the bigs beyond his time already. I think Correa on this team is a huge positive for the development and culture for the young team and he is worth his pay as a SS and as a mentor for winning. I love the support he brings to what was a first year in Minnesota and the positives he has for beginners like Miranda. Buxton is a dilemma, could be the best, but maybe really can't stay on the field for a season. If he can't run the bases or hustle for a fly ball without injury and continues to hit like Sano on the low, outside breaking ball, maybe accepting that he isn't going to reach greatness is the way to go.

My wife and I are watching the game on two different tvs; she's in the bedroom and I am in the living room. There is wind and what appears to be a storm brewing outside. The game is entering the bottom of the 9th and the electricity goes out. Waiting for it to come back on and I get my phone and tune in on the Bally App; 13% charge left on my phone. My wife can hear the game from upstairs and comes down to join me on the couch. We are watching the end of the game, 8% charge; will we get to the end? When the Twins win, we are yelling, "Yea, the Twins beat the Yankees, the Twins beat the Yankees," like it is the 87 World Series

The Twins have 3 major leagues starting players in the line-up today - Arraez, Correa, and Miranda. Urshela and Gordon should be reserves, but probably can't even get on the field for the Dodgers, which the Athletic today says are the best team ever. With no money constraints, I could care less about the Dodgers and how "great" they might be and I might watch the World Series to see them get beat, but I doubt I will have any interest. For me, it is hard to figure if it is Baldelli's fault when he is working with the pieces he has to work with. Celestino gets thrown out going to second base because he is admiring a home run that doesn't become a home run? He should appreciate every day he gets to play in the majors and play like Jake Cave; he should be on a bus to Witchita!

Announcers must be given parameters about what they are allowed to say on air. Gladden on the radio will tell it like it is a little more and criticize a player when he screws up. Last night Correa looks at a 93 mph fastball that couldn't have been centered any better if you had a tape measure and a slide rule. Then proceeds to swing at two unhittable pitches and no comment. An inning later Ryan leaves his slider in the middle and Morneau says, "Not too many major league hitters will miss that pitch." I would love to hear some analysis of why Correa might have let that pitch go.

Please don't compare Miranda to Cave; that is a curse worse than anything. I like how Jake plays the game, but him being on the major league club is the story of the 2022 team, injuries, injuries, injuries.

Looking at a three game sweep when Twins go to Houston, Then the same when we go to NYC. That's 6 games; if Chicago and Cleveland are at .500 through those games that puts us 5 games back going head-to-head (.500 against Boston -even with competition). To much to make up at that point and I don't see this team capable of a winning streak.

Tenth inning, ghost runner on second, Thielbar leaves a pitch in the middle of the plate, an absolute bullseye and Texas guy gets a line drive hit. Morneau comments: "He got a pitch you don't expect him to miss and he didn't". Twns come up in the bottom and Buxton and Miranda both get pitches, again right down the middle, 86 and 87 mph, straight as an arrow and they both look at them. Morneau says, "Well, I guess you want to make them throw a strike there". Have some confidence and swing the bat!!!!

It wasn't the number of strikeouts that was so, well striking, it was how they happened with the same three pitches, ending with the low and outside pitch. How a major league player with all the tools available to him could be so consistently hopeless against any pitcher who could throw those three pitches was always amazing to me. Is it really that hard to recognize a slider that is going to end up a foot outside and a foot low?

Bullpen is not "a clear strength" as long as you keep pitching the same people who lost all the games before the trade deadline. Duffy and Pagan need to NOT be used under any circumstances.

Agree with USAChief: " Duffey HASNT been better lately. He's had some better results, but not due to better pitching, just better luck." I think he has just gotten away with his regular pitching lately. I knew he was gonna lose the game against the Brewers and felt sorry for Rocco having to go to him in the 9th. Rocco (Falvey and Levine) are baseball people; they must also watch with a fatalistic attitude. Must be incredibly hard to keep going back to a dried up well.