darwin22

Aarrgghh!!! Well, that is NOT the news I expected to hear this morning. Real bummer for Lewis as this appeared to be a pivotal evaluation year for him. Selfishly, I was really looking forward to him starting at AA Wichita as I've already arranged for a 2-day road trip (May 5-6) to Springfield, MO as the Wind Surge open their season against the Cardinals AA team. Hopefully, he his rehab is successful, but this may force Falvey to look at re-signing Simmons to another year as its doubtful Lewis will be in any position to start at SS in 2022.

Specific to the issue of breaking up the Bomba squad going into next season, I did an analysis of the 91 HRs the Twins hit this season, when I think I heard a stat that stated they were 4th in MLB. As I heard that earlier this week, I remembered saying out loud, "well...big whoop"---I bet 2/3 of those 91 came with the bases empty." Well the FACTS show that I was actually spot on (not that I'm happy with that). 62 of the Twins 91 HRs were solo shots--68.13%. Let me repeat that, 68.13%. I can't say where that ranks to other teams this year, but I'd venture it would be in the bottom 10. The whole Bomba Squad made for a nice marketing tool, but proved to be unsustainable this year. I believe that far too many of our hitters who "broke out last year" (Garver, Polanco, Sano) started to believe their hype and swung for the fences far too often. Not to discredit Cincinnati pitching in our final home series and what the Astros were able to do, but how many HRs did the Twins hit in their final 5 home games this season. Answer: ZERO. In the 1 game they won on their last homestand (7-3 vs. CIN) they hit 8 doubles. Thats HOW you win games. Back to the HR analysis, I found the following other nuggets that may be found interesting by others: 1. Twins hitters hit only 7 three-run HRs all season and failed to hit a 3-run HR in ANY game after Donaldson's shot in 1st game of DH @ STL on September 8th. 2. Rosario: For all of his faults...and there's a lot of them.......actually was the TEAM LEADER (not Cruz) hitting 6 HRs with men on base. Four 2-run HRs, 1 3run HR and 1 grand slam. Cruz, Sano and Buxton tied with 4 HRs that were not solos. 3. Cruz: Hard not resign him with the season he put up, but his production with men on base waned badly over the last 1/2 of the season as he failed to hit anything more than a solo HR from August 21 through September 27th. Many other culprits but zero 2/3 run HR (or grand slam) over his last 34 games may make some fans wonder if investing $30mill to bring him back over the next 2 seasons is the best course of action. 4. Of Twins 91 HRs...62 were solo shots and another 20 were 2-run HRs. So 82 of the 91 HRs------90.1%---didn't generate a lot of runs (102 total). How many opportunities did Twin hitters waste throughout the year by failing to go deep with 2 runners on base. 5. Twins hit a total of 2 grand slams for the season. Cave in Game 3 vs. White Sox and Rosario in Game 17 @ Milwaukee. The de-construct of this team may not happen till 2022 as I doubt, Falvey/Levine/Pohlads will blow this team up to a large degree going into 2021. I don't see Garver (31 HRs in 2019) getting traded. Nor do I see Polanco (22 HRs in 2019) nor Kepler (36-2019) being traded or replaced as both are signed to team friendly long term deals. Same is true for Sano (34 HR last year) as he's signed for $11m next season. Seriously, what team in their right mind would take on his contract with a 2020 whiff rate (90 in 186 ABs) that was nearly 50% in 2020. The obvious trade option is Rosario, who will demand more than $8mill in arbitration. I'm not saying that I want to see Twins mgmt revert to a 1980s style of "Billy Ball," but our extended FAILURE in PLAYOFFS, which Rocco IS PART OF (whether he'll admit it or not) with managing this club to 5 consecutive playoff losses (19-20)--should send a clear signal that CHANGE is needed. Swinging for the fences is fine for the regular season facing poor pitchers, but will not produce a winning formula for playoff success.

As a 40 year+ Twins fan, this loss---not that we could forget "the streak" as freaking Karl Ravich had to remind the national audience what seemed like every 10 minutes----just blends in with all the others since 2004. Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly p*ssed off at a multitude of things, but will save that RANT for another day. So, turning the page to 2021------what else can we do-----I agree with a few other posts that its time for Falvey-Levine/Pohlads to take a step back and rebuild this roster. Looking at current roster, the following players are all UFA's and imo they should ALL be allowed to leave/shown the door: C: Avila UT: Adrianza UT: M. Gonzalez Those 3 combined salary in 2020 was: $14.85mill. Those $$ can be better reallocated in several areas In addition, the following Pitchers should be shown the door "asap" 1. Odorizzi 2. Bailey 3. Hill 4. T. May* (tough call)--I could be convinced to bring him back, but prefer the upside of Stashak and Alcala Although not a UFA, there is NO WAY to justify bringing Romo back on a $5 mill club option/$250K buyout. NO WAY this should happen for a 38-year old RP with 1 pitch. Also--1 more cut-------Jake Cave. Although Cave won't cost much (paid $587.5K this season), Falvey has got a RH bat 4th OFer that can hit LH's. I would try to sign UFA Kevin Pillar. Pillar is 31-year old veteran. Pillar was productive this season between Red Sox and Rockies hitting .288 with 6 HRs and 26 RBI. Pillar was even better vs. LH pitching hitting .342 (76ABs) with a .969 OPS. Now, with those cuts-we can start to restructure the roster for next year with the intent of challenging for a playoff spot & building for the future: Catcher: 2 Mitch Garver: Arb 1 eligible. Made $620K this season. Won't see much of anything in way of a raise. After his dreadful season, he has to earn the #1 slot back Ryan Jeffers: Under team control. Solid defensively and bat showed some thump INFIELD: 5 1B: Sano; Signed for 2021 at $11.0mill. Not going anywhere. Possible DH if mgmt doesn't resign Cruz. 2B: Arraez: Under TC for 2021; made league min (596K in 2020). Must improve his speed and range and find a way to stay healthy next year. Only played in 33 of 60 games this season. SS: Polanco; signed for a reasonable $4.33m next year. Huge regression in his offense this season. 3B: Donaldson: 35 years old next year and due $21.0m per year over next 3 seasons. Key to our offense even at his age. Only 28 games played and not as productive as hoped, but Twins were a much better team with him in lineup and defensively at 3B. UTILITY INFIELDER: Need to find via trade or in free agency. Possible cheap alternative could be Travis Blankenhorn. Got a cup of coffee from alternate site this year, but hit .277 in 471 plate appearances last season with 19 HRs and 54 RBI in 108 games DH: Nelson Cruz-UFA for 2021. I really can't believe Falvey will allow him to leave during FA. His market will be limited if NL returns to NO DH rule next season, which I can see MLBPA pushing for in offseason. If that's the case, even for a 41-year old--Twins have to at minimum make a reasonable 2-year offer---$30mill. I know a high expenditure, but worth it with the numbers he's put up the last 2 years. If you're keeping track-------Twins have $36.33 mill obligated for trio of Sano, Polanco and Donaldson. Add another $15mill for Cruz, $600K (league minimum) for Jeffers & Arraez, maybe $1 mill for Garver in arbitration and $3m for a veteran utility infielder acquired in FA---that takes payroll to right at $56-57mill for 7 roster spots. OF Rosario: Made nearly $8m this season and due a raise in arbitration. UFA in 2022. Time to TRADE Rosario for a RH bat/ Corner OF or a closer/RP. Buxton: Arb 3 eligible; Made $3.075 mill this season. He will be back. I'd project raise in area around $4mill Kepler: Signed for $6.5mill next season and through 2023. Must improve his bat next season and find a way to stay in the lineup, preferably in a lower slot. 4th OFer: Already covered, but I think Pillar should be a major target in free agency. Veteran leader, which this team needs!! Played for $4.25m in 2020. Corner OFer*---If Rosario is traded: I got to think Kiriloff's promotion to playoff roster is a signal mgmt is counting on him next season. So, if you add the OF payroll together for Kepler, Buxton, Kirilloff and Pillar(?) that add another $17mill to above players for a total payout of $74mill. Moving onto our Pitching. 13 slots/ 5 starters/ 8 RPs SP1: Maeda; signed for $3.125 per season through 2023. What a bargain! SP2: Berrios: Arb 2 eligible. Made $4.025 this season. In line for a large contract from Twins mgmt. Not sure if Berrios will accept as he's due to hit the FA market in 2023. I assume he gets a nice raise in the area of $6mill for next year SP 3: Pineda: Signed for $10m for 2021 SP4: Randy Dobnak; Cheap SP alternative that was Twins best pitcher from opening day through later part of August. Under team control for 2021 in area of $600K SP5: FREE AGENT or TRADE MARKET. Add the top 4 SPs to previous monies and payroll is at/close to $94 mill. BULLPEN: 8 slots Tyler Clippard: UFA, but a RP that I believe Falvey should try to resign. Made $2.75m this season and I think he'd resign for 1 year for $3.25m Matt Wisler: Arb 2 eligible and should be offered. Made $725K as UFA signee in offseason. Should be able resign him for $1.25m Cody Stashak: Under team control. Will be back in 2021 at/around league min/$600K Jorge Alcala: Same as Stashak. Showed flashes this season. Only 26. Back for league minimum-$600K Tyler Duffey: IMO our best and most consistent RP in 2020. Arb. 2 eligible and should be offered. Made $1.2 mill in 2020. See a raise to around $3.0 for 2021 Taylor Rogers: Although Rogers clearly regressed this season, his contract likely brings him back, but not necessarily in closer role for 2021. Rogers is Arb 3 eligible after making $4.45 mill this year. I project a salary of $5.5 for next season. Add those 6 RPs to other roster slots and you see a payroll in the area of $105 mill for 23 of our 25 man roster for 2021. Twins total payroll for 2019 was $125mill. So, the way I figure--Falvey and mgmt have $20-25 mill to spend on 3 free agents/trade acquisitions-----1SP and 2 solid RPs with 1 of those RPs being a hard throwing closer with experience and a past track record of success. I havent forgot about the following 3 hitters that all could play vital roles next season: Brent Rooker Trevor Larnach Royce Lewis With the lost 2020 season--playing regular games I see all 3 starting the season in minors; Lewis at AA and Larnach and Rooker back in AAA at Rochester.

Late getting to this as I needed to try to calm down and agree with all thats been posted, but will add a few items: #1 Where's the guts? Where's the fire? This team is so much of a reflection of Baldelli--"lets just relax and enjoy the process". My answer: F*ck the process!! The process has made us a laughingstock. My 24 year old son, incidentally named after Kirby Puckett, can barely remember the last playoff game the Twins won in 2004. He was 8 years old. #2 Thielbar: I actually feel bad for the dude as his "story"-----out of baseball since 2015 and back this year with some success is a nice one, but by no means should Baldy have put him in that situation against a veteran (Twins killer) hitter like Brantley. Brantley was patient & confident enough (unlike 1st pitch hacking Astudillo) to wait till Caleb made a mistake with his 1 pitch (more coming later) that he can throw for a strike. He didn't miss Thielbar's hanger with 2 strikes and did what a professional hitter does. He smoked it for a 2-RBI single that put the game out of reach. #3 Offense in general: Season long failure---I don't care what the numbers say--but this group of hitters has been out of whack all season in key situations. Sano has been putrid for ongoing a month. Cruz, yes a key RBI double, but not much after that. Garver: Absolutely brutal. There are many others to blame, but when you get 2 freaking hits over 8 innings, you don't deserve to win. #4 Polanco: Yes, a crucial error in the 9th opened the floodgates to Astros taking the lead, but a physical error, which happens. Saying that, in that situation, he can't make that poor of a throw. I would remind everyone blaming Polanco for the loss, that he didn't put those 2 Astro hitters on base.....that would be........ #5 Romo: Why Rocco? Why?? Does he see what I've seen and all Twins fans have seen most of the season and especially the last 2 weeks. He's NOT...repeat NOT good and shouldn't be on this team next year. He's a "1-pitch" (slider) pitcher that EVERY HITTER in MLB knows about. He's basically an older version of last years "1 pitch (curveball) pitcher"--Ryne Harper. Like most Twins fans I gulped when Rocco turned to him in the 9th. Felt better after 2nd out, but wanted to vomit after Polanco's error, BUT.....Polanco's error did NOT produce the go-ahead run! Please remember that. What did, of course, was Romo, turning to his 2nd best (yuck) pitch--an 86mph heater to that lilliputian Altuve. Well, I guess there is still some hope tomorrow as this loss didn't eliminate Twins, but after 17 losses, why would most TRUE fans think tomorrow's result will be any different? Maybe tomorrow is the day that Lucy does indeed hold the ball and let Charlie Brown boot it? Don't count on it.

Just another pathetic offensive performance tonight. Come to expect it from Polanco, Kepler, Gonzalez,Rosario and others, but the slump Cruz is in...3-18 (.167) over his last 5 games with 0 RBI is a major concern. Nice to see Hill recover from a rocky 1st inning to pitch his best game all season. Really getting sick of and hating being in Chicago. Saying that, Im sure Rocco's soft/everybody relax and "trust the process" postgame comments is exactly (NOT) whats needed right now. A very SOFT team mentally that will pull ANOTHER early playoff exit (if we make it in).

Although covered by a few others, I have to add my 2 cents on a few items: #1 Sick and tired of Baldy hooking our SP's when they have more gas in the tank----especially with Maeda. I'm sure Sox hitters were drooling when he went with Wisler in 6th, which May bailed him out. #2 Donaldson: Love the fire, but seriously, in SUCH AN IMPORTANT game to win (tiebreaker advantage to Twins if they win season series), you cannot, blatantly show an umpire up the way he did. You know HP ump was looking for a reason to toss Donaldson after his HR and JD just, in his mind, had to give him a "middle finger" by raking dirt over the plate when he got home. If he controls his emotions, maybe he cuts off Abreu's grounder in bottom of 7th that would've preserved a 1-run lead. If he controls his emotions, he gets another AB in the 8th instead of Adrianza (3 pitch whiff). #3 Kepler: Getting really tired of his lack of production with the bat (2 for 19 since coming off IL), but his WEAK and off target throw in 7th that would've easily...and I mean easily doubled off Dyson, was INEXCUSABLE!! Kepler had maybe a 150 ft throw to double off Dyson, who was stealing on the pitch and at least 70 feet away from 1B when Kepler caught the ball. An AVERAGE high school OFer would make that play 90% of the time. Not Kepler. Just pathetic. As is his season avg. of. 204 with an abysmal .692 OPS with 31 Ks. Rocco needs to quit massaging his EGO and drop him down in the order--if he can stay healthy, which with Kepler's mental toughness being comparable to a flower, is no guarantee.

Count me in as a Lamont Wade fan. He takes solid ABs in nearly every plate appearance. Right now, no way should Kepler be leading off. Even before he was injured he wasn't going much with average in .220 range and not drawing walks. Needing somebody to leadoff, my vote would be Polanco as he's marginally better there. He's not a 3-hole hitter. Maybe moving Kepler down into 4-hole behind Cruz could help. Nice to see Gonzalez's bat awaken the last couple of days. Looking like he'll be starting at 2B with Arraez out (again). Sure hoping that Baldelli plays his BEST lineup these next 4 games vs. Sox as we'll need to score 4+ runs to win. I don't see any pitcher duels developing. Losing Rooker is a blow. Sure wish we'd bring up a hitter--Blankenhorn, Kiriloff or Larnach for extra bench bat this week. No reason to be carrying 15 pitchers at this point.

I agree with those that have argued that the time has come for the Twins to part ways with Rosario at the conclusion of this season. I've been saying this for a long time, but today's 2nd game was a perfect microcosm of why Rosario needs to go. 0 for 4, not a shock, but I know in his final 3 AB's he saw a GRAND TOTAL of 7 pitches. Leading 2-0 after Rooker HR, a Donaldson double and 4 pitch walk brought Rosario to the plate in a key spot. What does Eddie do? Takes 1 pitch for a ball and then can't help himself in 1-0 count and swings at a ball high and inside and pops out. BAD AB. Next time up, I think, same situation----swings at 1st pitch and hits a weak groundball turned into an out, but it did advance runners to 2nd and 3rd. Final AB, saw--oh boy--four pitches and AGAIN---swinging to hit the Arch, he lofted another weak flyball out. I posted the other day, but Eddie is first and foremost--ALL ABOUT EDDIE. Thats his sole concern and focus. His continued refusal to work a count in his favor in key spots to get a good pitch to hit is enough of a reason to cut bait with him.

Attitude reflects leadership. Point being, despite being named MOY in 2019, I'm beyond preturbed by Baldelli's passive nature and (non) reaction to players who appear to care more about THEMSELVES than the welfare of the team. This goes today for Rosario and I'll even call him out for not putting Sano in his place for pimping his HR yesterday. Although Sano may have cause for past actions of Jimenez, what ever happened to shutting your cakehole and letting your actions speak for you? I know this may be considered too much of an "old school concept," but I NEVER saw Twin regular hitters or pitchers from their WS teams in 87 or 91 (other than Juan Berenguer) act in ways to berate and disrespect their opponents.

Only May may be missed of that trio. Saying that, his recent performances have NOT been good. Brutal inning today (0.2 IP 4H and 3 ER), but again, imo, due to his lack of command with his secondary pitches. His fastball is his best pitch, but lacks movement. He can be replaced. As for Odorizzi----good riddance. Will never be more than a .500 SP who NEVER gets deep in games due to lack of command/high pitch count. Adrianza also, can be easily replaced. Sub .200 avg with at best average speed and defensive skills.

One more item---I'm NOT assuming anything about making the playoffs until a spot is locked up. With the inconsistencies of our hitters and recent leaks in our bullpen, I'm not sure of anything. But, for argument sake, lets say Twins do make it in, but fail to secure either either of the two higher seeded spots for teams from the AL Central. That drops the Twins into the 7-seed, which would result in a 1st round matchup vs. Oakland, with I think, all 3 games on the road. Well, we all know, what that result will be. Should that happen and I hope it doesnt, Twins only have THEMSELVES to BLAME as evidenced by their collective 8-9 record (so far) vs. the 2 worst teams in the division--KC and DET. Twins finished 5-5 vs. KC and now stand 3-4 vs. Tigers with 3 games (at home) left. The fact is you have to beat/dominate the BAD TEAMS in your division. I don't care what others say, but KC and DET are BAD teams, which the Twins have, to put it mildly have struggled against. For factual purposes, take a look at White Sox record (so far) vs. those same 2 teams. Sox finished 9-1 vs. sad sack Royals and hold a 6-1 advantage over DET. Thats 15-2!! A .882 winning percentage. Cleveland--smaller sample size, only 12 games so far vs. KC and DET are 8-4 (.667%). Im sure CLE will improve on that as they still have 8 games left vs. Royals and Tigers. They also have 3 home games to end season vs. the hapless Bucs. Twins have dug themselves this hole, no excuses but to look in the mirror if ANOTHER 1st round playoff exit is the result.

I know this sounds "old school," but after Rosario's blatant disregard to stop at 3B on double by Rooker, Baldelli should've benched him. Yeah, I know he got 2 hits in his last 2 ABs that produced 2 runs, but this kind of "I'm gonna do what I want attitude" is not putting the TEAM first. Eddie wants to be put Eddie first. It shows not only in his ABs---wild 1st pitch swings trying to yank the ball 600 ft., but in his defense/throws. Although it didn't cost Twins a base after Greiner's single to bring DET within 1 run, but he had NO CHANCE to throw runner out at home. This was a perfect example of Eddie putting Eddie first. Pretty much any other runner would've taken 2B on his wild throw home. Say what you want about Rosario's hitting, but prior to his last 2 hits, he was in a 5-30 slump with 1 HR and 2 RBI over his last 11 games. The time has come for Falvey to TRADE Rosario in offseason for additional bullpen help or and more importantly a RH bat that can play a corner OF position. As for the last 18 games of the season, our veterans--Cruz and Donaldson--need to show some leadership and pull Rosario aside and remind him his SELFISH play will not be tolerated. This needs to be done "asap" as its pretty apparent that Rocco doesn't have the cajones to do it himself.

A few observations from watching both wins today: 1. Does our lineup vs, LH pitching miss Garver and then now departed Schoop and Cron that much? It sure appears so as we've been collectively atrocious all season. Doesn't help when Baldelli is forced to playing Cave (4 for 27 vs. LH) with Kepler out. Saying that, Kepler is even worse this year going 4-36..111 avg. 2. Getting JD back adds a huge dimension to this team thats been lacking all season. I know only a couple of games...knock on wood....but he adds a presence that nobody else does, even Cruz. His walk in the 8th was crucial. He grinded that AB out after getting to 2 strikes. His defense is Gold Glove. 3. Nice to see Marwin Gonzalez break out from his horrendous slump...3 for his last 32...with hits in his last 2 ABs. Hope his game-winning RBI is what he needed to get his swing back. We need him as I cannot stand to see Adrianza in the lineup. 4. I know we came back to win, but is just me not understanding Baldelli's decisions with his bullpen its a close game? I've lost track of how many times Rocco has reached into his pen trailing by a run or two and goes with our #9 or #10 RP. First it was the awful experience with Lewis Thorpe. Today, I'm sorry, but I saw no reason why Sean Poppen was the BEST CHOICE to protect a 1-run lead in the 3rd inning. Yes, Poppen got the 8&9 hitters out, but made a bad 1-2 pitch to Reyes for a single. What does Rocco do? Of course, leave him in. Although Rooker butchered the ball hit by Schoop into a triple to tie the game, even if Rooker plays it safer, its 1st and 3rd with Miggy coming up. No reason to let a rookie continue in that situation. This is not our 40th game in a 162-game season Rocco!! I'm so tired of Baldelli appearing to just "wave the white towel" in games that are within reach of victory by keeping our least talented RPs in the game. I know Thielbar worked out of a big jam after that, but at 35+ pitches with 2 runners on, allowing him to continue, was just bad managing.

I don't think so, but his sample size is pretty small. Saying that, he's nowhere as good defensively as Avila, Jeffers or Garver. It really won't matter much as I'm sure he's optioned to alternate site tonight since he was only called today for DH.

This team is in a complete free fall and I'm getting real sick and tired of the "oh well, we'll get em tomorrow" philosophy of Baldelli. I also fault players throughout the lineup, mainly our hitters as they continue to fail to produce runs. A grand total of 12 runs since leaving KC last Sunday over our last 5 games. I'm sure others will disagree, but this offense, albeit an occasional good game from Kepler, Rosario or Sano has been MIA all season with the exception of Cruz. I know only a shapshot, but after 2 days off...2 days off.....our hitters combined to go 8-47 today (.170) with 10 whiffs and only 1 walk drawn. I'm sure Falvey and Levine will sit idly by as the trade deadline passes without making ANY KIND OF MOVE to upgrade the OBVIOUS HOLES on this team. Its just the Twins way. As is, signing over the hill FA's and getting nothing from them. Yes, JD..I'm talking to you.