Kelly Vance

FC: Agree with 1. Two, they are already kinda doing that. 3 Pressley and Reed aren't hurt. How do you release LoMo when Mauer is out. Leaving only Sano at 1B? Uhhhh no. OC:1, Keps has to play through it. He homered in Seattle and looked like he was getting hot. 2, OK. 3, OK. I think they have to play through the rough patches. I don't like it anymore than you.

I think this is one of those times when the only way out of the problem is through the problem. They need to get players healthy and play better. But it seems kind of wrong to get too down on a team that started the season with their #1 SP undergoing surgery, and which has lost 4 of their regulars to injury. I mean, that is just unfair. Doesn't excuse Grossman thrown out twice at home in one game for dumb baserunning (on the 3B coach too), errors, and chasing bad pitches with men on base.

Don't think so. The award is given to the manager the voters think deserved it Usually you have to be a contender. It didn't hurt that they rebounded from a horrible previous year, I'll grant you that.

I saw it in person during the Mariners series. Speed of the game.... Stuff you can't appreciate unless watching live.

You mean the Molitor that was last year's Manager of the Year?

Look, Pressley gave up the runs. Odor put the runners on though. I agree Reed didn't help. But in answer to the title's question: No. Its only June 7.

Well, its the only thing about Wilson that I see as a plus. Has to be the reason. It sure isn't his hitting. Although it could be Molly sending a message to Garver.... :Catch the damn ball"

Twins will not trade Lewis....especially for a catcher.

Yeah, a weak hitting catcher won't get you through the year but a massive hole up the middle is worse.

Im just saying he has a cannon. And notice I said reason, singular. Can't be his hitting, his framing, or his athletic ability. And I agree Garver is better. But he can't catch every day.

I don't think we justify a move by saying Castro is 31. Options A and B are that age or more. Still, that is NOT that old, Didn't Red Dawg play until he was 36? I like the Ramos idea, because if for no other reason, we get to see him in a Twins uniform after that Capps fiasco. But maybe that won't happen because it draws attention to what a bad trade that was. The reason Molly is playing Wilson is that he has a cannon of an arm. Can't hit though. I like giving one of our minor leaguers a shot, like Nav. Is Crash Davis available? How about Jake Taylor?

See, that is why you will never work in the FO. You expect things to make SENSE. If it makes any difference, I thought the same thing.

I liked this post, because all it did was make sense. You may not have been in the room, but I can't help but think you were. I think you may be right. Twins like hitting catchers, ala Mauer, Red Dawg (hit .341 one year as Mauer's BU) and everyone not named Butera (anybody notice he is still in the league?) So, we currently need catchers. This pick won't change that. I still suspect a trade is imminent. If Garver doesn't shine and Wilson don't hit (he has a cannon of an arm, which i saw IRL in Seattle, so I will shut up about him) we still need a playable backstop. Which I think may mean a call up for a spell, if only a couple weeks, if we can't find a deal. But who? I like Nav. Give him a week in the Hilton, why don't we? BTW, Can Rosario catch? And am I the only one who thinks calling up a kid, maybe a Lookout, if only for a spell, makes him a better player, long run? It gets him a dose of desire for use later, right? We have a young team. There will be hiccups, but when you go with a youth movement, you gotta let the kids play. So you toggle the switch and call up a kid. Give him a look at the Show. Send him back with his face glowing like he just saw Sophia Vergera up close. He may be back sooner than expected that way. BTW, if like me you are following the MLB draft, you don't have enough to do

catchers don't usually hit .300. OK, I'm in.

After the game they interviewed Eddie. "So Eddie, when you came up in the 9th inning, were you thinking about hitting a home run?" "Yeah. sure why not?" I have liked this kid since his first game. He is a gamer.

Cue all the "Trade Eddie while his value is high" proponents. OK, just kidding. Sorta. But gee, give Eddie his due. He is a leader on this club and he is almost immortal. I love to watch him play. And no, he is not available for trade. He is one of a kind.

Yeah, adversity brings out the best in some and the worst in others. In any season a team is going to hit a rough spot or two. The Dodgers last year being a good example. The winners ride it out and right the ship. The Twins can do that. 4.5 games back on June 3 is not that much to worry about. Trade Sano? For what? A bunch of magic beans? A pitcher? We have 5 starters and Erv and Pineda and Gonsalves ready to step in. Another 3B? Who out there has 40 HR potential and that would be available? And of the power hitters out there.... they all strike out a lot. But Sano is still young and has time to correct his faults. I don't believe in making moves just for moves sake. When you go with a youth movement, you have to put up with the growing pains.

Yeah, fun as Buck is to watch, Eddie is likely to do ANYTHING. I'm waiting for the ghost of Billy Martin to teach him to steal home.

Failing Offense? Like the one that has scored 8, 8, 7 and 7 in the last 4 games? I think we need a new category of articles.... the "Reverse Psychology Blog"

I was at both Fridays and Sunday's games. Just got home after a six hour drive last night. Im not sad. I got to take my boys to a ballgame like when they were kids, and got to see Romero and Berrios pitch. In a sense, I feel like I put out more effort to go to the games (6 hour drive and at $90 a ticket--I wanted to sit close to see Fernando and Jose up close) than the Twins. They looked uninspired. Sano looks fat. Really. But they lost three really close games on the road to a pretty good team. All 3 games couldagoneeitherway Oh, that double yesterday was a double only because Rosie took a cut off line to the ball and could not get there in time. It went to the fence. It would have been a single if he had taken a less splashy route to the ball. Still my takeaway is that the Mariners just played better. All close games. Saturday's went 12 innings. The locals got their money's worth. Us Twins fans got to see our team trying to play through a teamwide hitting slump. I think they will bounce back. Stay positive

Nick, I like the Dickensian flavor of this article. Thing is, Sano had a leg injury and its easy to get overweight when you can't run/jog/etc. Being out of shape can lead to leg pulls, but so can being unbalanced in strengthening quads while ignoring hams. But I think it is a little early to say.... "While Sano still looks reasonably capable at third base, he's undeniably trending the wrong direction." It may be an accurate statement in some way, but Sano has two dingers in his short rehab assignment, so he may bounce back quick and make you eat your words. Remember, he had 28 homers last year and made the All Star team, and then he missed a lot of time late. I think to be fair, anyone who was an all star and got injured and is struggling to get back is trending in the wrong direction, but I think that is maybe an exaggeration, and only temporary. Maybe very temporary. Sano is still a kid in his head. He has not reached the executive level of judgment and brain function yet. He is a late bloomer as far as maturity goes. Gotta be patient with the kids. I get to see the Twins and Mariners Friday night in Seattle. Im stoked.

Last year, Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton ranked first and second among Twins players in WAR. They were driving forces in the team's playoff push and, with a better supporting cast in place, expected to help propel another step forward for Minnesota in 2018. Instead, they've become posterchildren for a disappointing club that cannot stop tripping over itself at every turn. -------- Nick, that is an undeserved cheap shot. Dozier is a team leader, Buck has been hurt. And as for leadership... Nobody wrote about a crisis when the team won 7 of 8. As for leadership, the "Leader" won manager of the year just a few months ago. And nobody can say Dozier or Buck is playing lazy. So pullleeeze. This is the reason some of us get surly when we read gloom and doom pieces. Doze and Buck are playing hard and unless you got a story about them being paycheck players alluvasudden, don't say they ain't leaders. You aren't there. You don't really know. You think you do, but you don't know. Twins will be fine. .500 is well achievable before the All Star break and they can get hot like anybody else. Lighten up Francis.

Berrios, Romero, Gibson, Odorizzi, Santana...... Lynn to BP. Easy peezy.

Happy for Garver, who showed two games innarow that he can play. Twins may still be open to a new catcher, but I think he holds the fort for now. Rosario is money, He just makes things happen. And he is having a great year already. Another good outing for Gibson, who seems to have maintained what was working for him last year. Maybe his light bulb has finally clicked on. A lot being made today about Trout’s nice slide on that play at third. That’s ok. Sliding is almost a lost art. I am glad to see that part of the game get airplay. Trout made a nice slide, no doubt. He earned the base. But if Eddie had been at the base instead of six feet off, Rosie woulda thrown there. And the throw would have beaten Trout by a mile. Eduardo would probably admit that after seeing film. But mental errors don’t count as errors. Did anyone else get a kick out of Buxton’s hat flipping so high in the air?