stringer bell

He's been nearly helpless. He is certainly jumping at almost anything and constantly finding himself in the hole. Hitting between Willingham and Plouffe will protect him, but Morneau really needs to produce more vs. lefthanders.

We don't know the sequence of events. I read this as Walters telling the staff after the fact that his shoulder was tight and it wouldn't loosen up. It is entirely possible that Walters told someone before the game, but the way the article is written, it could be either way. Players looking to establish themselves aren't likely to report anything to anyone when they are getting a chance to perform. A veteran with a guaranteed contract like Nick Blackburn is another matter altogether. Gardy is reporting things as he sees them, but he wants to put his spin on events. The Twins website is going to try to put the best possible spin for the team. Those aren't exactly the same things. Gardenhire appeared angry and I think the anger was with Walters, not the training staff or Anderson.

Good for Lester. He has a really good fastball, but he needs to have command of his secondary stuff. He had a bad outing on Monday, but everybody that toed the rubber for the Red Wings did that day (lost 16-0). Let's hope he can go out and win the Delmon Young trade.

1) Walters--Here's my take. Walters says he can't get loose. Anderson says if you can't go, we'll get Manship ready, but if you want to give it a go, we'll go with it. Walters decides to give it a go and is rocked. 2) Transactions--Hendriks is almost certainly going to get a shot before De Vries, who got rocked at Rochester a couple days ago. The Twins could disable Walters, call up Hendriks and not need a fifth starter until the 23rd. I suppose it keeps Gray in the majors until then. If Diamond and Liriano can pitch fairly deep, the bullpen will be okay. 3) Cheering for Thome. The guy has a sterling reputation, everybody loves him (although Ozzie might love him a bit less), he's 41, a future Hall of Famer and played a year and a half with the Twins. His play for the Twins pretty much erases any punishment he put on the Twins before that. It likely his Big Jim's last appearance at Target Field and both the Phils and Twins are in last place. I want the Twins to win but I'll cheer for a few of my favorite ex-Twins. I would cheer for Thome.

Thome bomb in 5, 4 3, 2,...

Mauer tagged that double. It did produce a run, but not pulled enough for a 2-run homer.

Nick "BP" Blackburn. Willingham for DH?

Florimon had two hits last night, in the 16-0 disaster. I heard Terry Ryan on Sunday and he said that if Pedro hits, he'll be a big leaguer. While his stats aren't great, he's holding his own and he does have other skills.

Why would a 31 year old catcher want to play for a rebuilding team? I think the Twins market Doumit and they trade him at the deadline. I doubt he will be back if he is any kind of productive and stays healthy. Liriano and Pavano are both free agents--unless they sign for dirt, they aren't returning to the Twins. Liriano, with a couple more good starts, just might have some trade value. If so, pull the trigger TR! I think Span is a goner as well. Both he and Capps should be able to bring back talent that can contribute in 2013.

This offseason has shown that holes in the lineup and bench can be filled with relatively cheap signings. The Twins picked up Doumit, Willingham and Carroll for less than Morneau makes. The offense is approaching average for the league despite getting minimal production from several spots. However, building a rotation is not so easy and it isn't cheap. The Twins need to acquire pitching with any trade they make, specifically starting pitching. It looks like Diamond is a keeper, but that is one of five spots in the rotation. There is no one else who is a lock (Diamond really isn't either) for next year. Perhaps Gibson will be avialable before the season is over, perhaps someone like BJ Hermsen, will make the large jump to the big leagues or perhaps Hendriks will establish himself. Regardless, I think the Twins need to acquire a pitcher at the deadline, sign a free agent and hope to find a couple in their system, including some that will get chances this year.

I believe the Twins' staff doesn't think his stuff will carry over to get major league hitters out, not whether Slama throws 91 or 96 or 86. The club's one obvious bias for pitchers is guys who throw strikes. In Slama's brief time with the Twins, he didn't do that very well IIRC. Slama is not getting overtly overlooked as much as he is a victim of circumstance. If he were putting up the kind of numbers he is this year in 2011, he would have been on the major league roster for a month. There is a full bullpen and with the possible exception of Gray, all of them have done very well and would likely do as well or better than Slama.

Fien is an offseason minor league contract signing. He has been in the Red Wings bullpen all year and pitched reasonably well. I saw Fien pitch twice in spring training and he was impressive. I think fien would be fine in the Twins bullpen if there were a vacancy, but there are several candidates ahead of/along side him. I'm also wondering if Fien signed a contract whereby he could opt of if not recalled by a certain date. He is not a rookie and has pitched in several organizations.

Swarzak has been good as a long man and okay as a mopup guy. He's been knocked around as a starter. Given the state of the Twins rotation, two long guys (Manship and Swarzak) makes sense, especially if they stay with a 12-man staff. I would say that Manship has done nothing to merit demotion, Swarzak has done more good than bad, while Gray hasn't done that much in the last month. More than his appearance against the Cubs, I think Gray's fate may have been decided by his outing against the Royals when he had a 5-run lead and couldn't finish the inning. While moving Gray would likely cost his spot, there are 3-5 guys at Rochester that can do what he does and perhaps more. It does sound like the move will be DFAing Gray and Hendriks being recalled to fill out the rotation.

Short term and long term, the Twins need to rebuild their rotation. It looks like they may have found one starter this year (Diamond), but there are vacancies for several more. The schedule favors the Twins for the remainder of the month. If they can get close to .500 and no one runs away, I suppose they have to hang on to their productive players. If they stay 6+ back and stay well below .500, they have pieces to sell.

Not liking Butera as the "pitcher whisperer", but with Liriano, small steps.

With the relative stability of the rotation--at least five innings per start-- several days off, and having eight relief pitchers including two long guys, I think a Gray DFA is coming unless someone gets hurt in the next four days. I presume Hendriks could go Friday, with Liriano Saturday, giving both one extra day of rest.

Diamond does all of the little things pretty well. He was run on in one of his first two starts, but he seems to have a pretty good plan in holding baserunners. He not only has limited his BBs, but he's pitched ahead in the count and made hitters go after his pitch. He keeps the ball out of the middle of the plate, fields his position and seems to rise to the occasion when runners are on base. While he doesn't have dominant stuff, he throws hard enough to have a real difference in speeds between his pitches. I still don't think the outstanding ERA will last, Diamond will get hit at some point, but I think Diamond is a keeper.

The Twins are carrying two long reliever types in addition to Gray (Swarzak & Manship). They could use another RH 7th inning guy along with Burton because the Twins don't want to use Burton on consecutive days. Gray isn't that guy, and I don't think Manship or Swarzak is either. Slama, Guerra, Oliveros, and Fien all could fill that role better than Gray.

I pretty much agree all the way with greengolblinrulz. While you play a little with stats, Gray's numbers overall just aren't that good. There are several relief pitchers in the minors, some with considerable upside. The team is carrying only four starters. Gray isn't needed and there are a lot of replacements for him.

I really don't see the point of keeping Gray around. The Twins have several options in the minors who are younger and have more upside. Gray isn't that good and doesn't figure to ever get any better. They do need starters and probably Gray could/should be replaced by a starter.

Mauer not pinch hitting when the game is tied isn't a terrible decision. The result, of course, didn't work out but when you're tied and you have a limited bench you don't want to end up with poor fielders or players playing out of position. Gardenhire wanted his best defense in the late innings, figuring his bully would hold off the Cubs--that didn't work out. Then he put in a fast guy with Morneau at third and nobody out--while that didn't work out, the move is defensible. I didn't like Revere bunting in the tenth with Carroll hitting next, but his chopper got the job done.

I noticed Slama only pitched a third of an inning. What is his injury?

I don't think there was a Game 163 for the Twins in '06. There was in '08 (lost 1-0 to the Sox) and '09 (crazy extra inning win vs. Detroit). In '06 the Twins ran down the Tigers to win the division, sweeping their last series while Detroit was losing. The fans stayed in the dome and watched the Tigers blow a late lead on the last day.

I looked through the month of June at the Twins' schedule. If the starters can all go on four days rest, they would need a fifth starter only twice for the rest of the month--the 16th and the 23rd. They could try to slip Manship (or is it Masihp?) in for those two games, especially if he's not needed much in long relief. He has pitched a grand total of 2.1 innings since his recall.

From what I understood, the consensus was that it would take Pavano quite a bit longer than 15 days to be ready to start again. They don't need a fifth starter for two series, so why not have the extra hitter? On merit, Parmelee has earned the recall. He is hitting by far the best of anyone at AAA or AA for that matter. Fitting him in will remain a problem and the Twins don't play in NL parks until they need a fifth starter.