LA VIkes Fan

I agree, Mike. Just because Pineda didn't do well in the 6th doesn't mean you pull every starter after 80-85 pitches. Let these guys go and give them a chance to work out of jams. This bullpen isn't getting better any time soon so we have to try to get length out of the starters. Speaking of which, the one place we seem to have a little tiny surplus is starting pitching with Thorpe and Dobnak at AAA. Let's call one of them up to start and take a current starter and put him in the bullpen to see if he could be more successful in one or two inning stints. I nominate Matt Shoemaker since we have no long-term commitment there and he has been our worst starting pitcher by far. Maybe we will get lucky and he will be successful as a high leverage reliever, reinvented himself, and provide value at the trade Deadline. His level of starting pitching is replaceable with either Dobnak or, I think, with Thorpe who we need to develop anyway. This is now officially become a development year, not a contending year. Let's get the young guys some real opportunities. Kirilloff and Larnach need to play every day, Garlick and Kepler platoon when Buxton comes back. On the pitching side, I would actually bring up Dobnak first with Shoemaker going to the bullpen, then bring up Thorpe if there is an injury or when we inevitably trade Happ at the deadline for low-level prospects. Let's give Andrew Vasquez as a chance in the pen and we should really think about whether Jax or Duran can come up this year and get their feet wet at the MLB level by pitching out our bullpen. I know Levine subscribes to the two months evaluate, two months fix, two months enjoy theory of roster construction but I don't think we need to wait our full two months to make this change. Six weeks of bad baseball is enough.

Wow, if Duffy is our 3rd most trustworthy reliever we are in some deep do–do. He has been awful. While I'm not sure whether these rankings are what you think management does think or what you think management should think, I would definitely put Alcala ahead of Duffy as a reliever in whom we should have some faith and trust. I see it as: A good quality backend reliever – we don't have any of those. A Small gap Rogers - Close, but no cigar. Who knows, maybe he could become that good quality reliever he once was. A pretty good sized gap Robles - B- guy who is not that trustworthy but might return to form. Alcala - B- guy now but might improve if given more opportunity. The Grand Canyon Duffy - A great example of why you do need to get in shape even to play baseball. Think low carb diet. Colome - Come on, he can't be this bad based on prior years, can he? Theilbar - Meh. Mediocre and doesn't really belong on a good team (so he probably does belong on the Twins). The Mariana Trench Everybody Else.

Not only are we looking pretty futile, it's hard to see a way forward here. I've been one of the voices saying call up Law!! Call up Larnach! Send down Jeffers!, etc. it's becoming increasingly clear that bringing up guys from AAA is not likely to be the answer other than some help at the margins. Kirilloff looks like he could be a long-term Lineup fixture if he is not hurt, Thorpe looks like he could develop as a starter if we can make room for him in the rotation, I still think the Dobnak can be decent to good number 4 or number 5 guy in the rotation, and maybe Jeffers can get it back together. That looks like it's about it. At the major-league level, it looks like Polanco is getting back to his old self and we do have some other guys who are solid, but Kepler and Sano have regressed horribly and show no real signs of improvement (particularly Sano), and age may be finally catching up to Cruz - still a good hitter, but no longer able to carry the team for stretches the way he could at one time. Maeda is pitching like the number 3/4 starter he was the Dodgers, rather than the ace we thought we might've lucked into last year, and Berrios, Pineda and Happ are all competent starters but none of them are true number 1 guys and only Berrios is really even a solid #2. The bullpen is a disaster. So what we have here is a team with about two thirds of a lineup at best, a middle and back end of the rotation but no top end, and about one third of a competent bullpen. All this, and not much down below to provide immediate help. So what do you do? Much as I hate to say it, I'm beginning to think were doing pretty much everything we can short of trading guys. And that's what's so depressing. We have to play Garver at catcher because he is the best we have and we've got to sort through Jeffers and Rortvedt to see if we have a competent 2nd catcher. Rortvedt simply can't hit at all, so it's probably time to give Jeffers another shot or maybe Tellis. They called up Larnach and Kirilloff, and each of them should play every day when healthy at the expense of Cave, Kepler and Sano. I'm not sure what to think of Garlick as a longer-term piece and maybe it is time to demote Cave and give Broxton a shot, but not at the expense of at bats for Kirilloff or Larnach. I would love to see Gordon get a shot but frankly middle infield hasn't been the problem in the short term. I think his shot comes in July or later after we trade Simmons for low-level prospects. I would like to see Andrew Vasquez get a shot in the bullpen and Alcala get more high leverage innings, but there we're stuck with hoping that Duffy, Rogers and Colome simply do better to really see much improvement. Stashack needs to go back down and try to re-find a groove and it's hard to see how Theilbar is really any part of the solution. I would also give Robles some higher leverage innings, not because I see him as a long-term solution, but I see him as a potential trade piece in another month to a team desperate for relief pitching. It's also probably time to take some of our better starting prospects and try them in relief this year as necessary. Once these steps are taken, time to work the phones. I think Simmons, Robles, Colome (another guy we're going to have to get back to high leverage innings to improve his trade value), and Happ are all viable or potentially viable trade pieces for decent prospects. I would include Kepler and Sano as trade pieces but their value is so low right now and the potential is still there, so I think we have to keep them but limit their playing time for now. It would be great if we can send those two to AAA to re-find their stroke but I know that service time and options prevent that from happening. I would also seriously consider trading Donaldson and Cruz but you would have to get a significant return to make either trade worthwhile and I don't really think that significant return is out there, especially for Cruz. I would not trade Buxton unless you're firmly convinced he cannot be re-signed. I think you go ahead and make the higher financial commitment to both Berrios and Buxton if you need to to get them signed and take the risk on whether Buxton can ever stay healthy. I realize that the result of a plan like this is that an 80 win season is probably our best hope for and even that may be out of reach. I frankly think we're already there. My view would be to use this year as a way to set up next year. I think the lineup as soon as possible this year and for next year needs to have Kirilloff and Larnach as everyday players, probably needs Arraez in the infield rather than the outfield playing either 3rd base if there's a Donaldson trade or 2nd base there's a Simmons trade with Polanco moving back over to short, and with a Kepler/Garlick platoon in right field or with Kepler in centerfield if Buxton is hurt or traded. I think Thorpe and Dobnak need to be in next year's rotation, so they need to get some MLB starts this year, and I would love to see 3-5 starts apiece from Duran and Balzovic to at least check on where they are. We are going to need to transition to a younger, hungrier team. This team simply isn't good enough to really contend and we are not going to be willing to pay enough to attract veteran ballplayers to augment this group, and because veterans want to go where they have a chance to win and right now this team does not give them that chance. We may not have the right manager or stand for that kind of the team. My view should keep Baldelli, get a different hitting coach, and stay with the pitching coach. In short, time to punt on this year's win/loss record as the measurement of success and switch to player development as the primary goal. It sucks given our preseason expectations but I think this is the reality of where we are.

I don’t know if the season is over, but it is at best on life-support. Nothing kills a baseball team more quickly than blown late leads/ ties by a bad bullpen ( see Davis, Ron). The bullpen is sucking the life out of this team and probably cannot be fixed. The more interesting question is whether anyone is going to step up and make a mark this year for the future. Watching for that may soon be the only reason to watch this team, at least sober. The second most interesting question is whether this manager and coaching staff survives the season intact. I’d the odds of stating intact is no better than 50/50.

Well said, Mr. Nelson. You really encapsulated they way I, and I suspect many others, feel about this team. You see glimmers of hope for the lineup, the starting pitching seems decent, but the bullpen and clutch defense just seems to doom this season. Add in some injuries and very poor managing at the FO and field levels and it’s just hard to see how things can improve. I’ll still follow the team and rant on Twins Daily every now and then, but my heart just isn’t in it this year. This team shoes no signs of life, fortitude, or resilience; nothing you can grab on to and give one much hope. It’s frankly a little sad.

This team is hard to watch. Like many here, I do want to move things up and start over at least a little. The problem is who to add. Hopefully Arraez is back Tuesday, and Kirilloff by the end of next week. Move Shoemaker to the pen, bring up Dobnak. Rortvedt isn't ready, time for Jeffers to come back. Find Significant playing time for Larnach and Gordon. Keep Law in the bullpen for the next 10 days and see if he can pitch. Its hard to know what to do other than that. There just isn't much else out there. Its actually pretty depressing.

As hard as I have been on Rocco and the FO, I think we need to acknowledge that at least the FO seems to be recognizing the urgency of the situation and at least is making moves. Larnach, Gordon and Law are all up. While I still think that Thorpe should be up to replace Shoemaker, or at least Dobnak, I’m guessing that Shoemaker’s kind of slightly better than the average performance last night against a lousy team will buy him another turn in the rotation. Still, the guys that look like they have a chance to contribute this year are getting their shot. Now it’s up to Rocco to find a place to play these guys. Larnach and Gordon need to get some fairly consistent at bats and Cave needs to go to the bench and stay there. Let’s see what these guys can do.

Guys, I'm not a Rocco basher but you have to give him a significant share of the blame. The manager's job is more than game time managing, where he has been poor, it also includes getting the players ready to play with effort and putting them in the best position to succeed. Rocco simply hasn't done that this year. He's been way too dependent on prior performance in making decisions and slow to react to changes in performance. His over use of Colome when it was clear he wasn't right and his continued use of Sano when he is literally almost the the worst hitter in the American League are just a couple of examples. This team looks lifeless and tight in the clutch. The manager is responsible to keep the team loose and productive. The Twins are neither of those things. That doesn't excuse the players - they've been bad.

You're right. A team playing this bad and this far below potential is an indictment of the coaching staff AND of the players themselves.

Agreed. I'd start with the hitting staff. They haven't been able to help Sano, Polanco, Garver, Kepler, etc. get going. Come to think of it, the pitching coaches haven't done much with that bullpen either. Baldelli also can't seem to get these guys to perform. The record is a pretty overall indictment of the coaching staff from manager on down.

I agree, but not because of Sano. I think it is much more likely that Polanco flips a switch than Sano. He needs a good 2 or 3 week stint in AAA to find himself.

Get Dobnak to 80 pitches and he'll be at the "Rocco limit" for starters. He's almost there.

I would reverse the allocation between the Front Office and the manager. I do think Rocco it’s about 25% responsible for where this team is. I would give the FO 15% because they badly misjudged the bullpen talent. This team is just not ready to play every day, they’ve lost confidence, and they look tight. The manager has to take responsibility for that. Rocco also needs to get his head out of the statistics, give his starters longer leashes since the bullpen is not strong, and be less afraid to pull the plug on players like Sano who are simply not performing. Those players either need to go to AAA or the bench. I think we really miss Derek Shelton as a bench coach and I know we miss James Rowson as a hitting coach. I think it’s time to cut to the chase. The season is pretty much lost. Let’s move on from some of the fringe, under performing veterans like Jake Cave, Kyle Garlick, and Caleb Theilbar. We need to keep Colome around, find a way to give him seven to ten strong performances, and then trade his ass at the deadline to somebody desperate for relief help. Strip this club down to the players you really want to have going forward and then, instead of filling the gaps with average or mediocre veteran talent, fill it with some of the young guys out of the system and sort through who can play. Now is the time for Larnach and Thorpe instead of Cave and Shoemaker. Let’s do what we’re doing with the catching. Garver is the starter and we gave Jeffers a chance to be the second catcher. He didn’t hit and we sent him to AAA and replaced him with Rortvedt. If he doesn’t hit and Jeffers hits in AAA, switch them out until you find one that can stay at the MLB level. Do you the same thing with the relief pitching and the same thing with the fifth starter spot. Sano can’t find his stroke at the MLB level, send him to AAA, give Kirilloff the 1B Job and put Larnach in the outfield. If Kepler can’t find his stroke, make him the fourth outfielder and start playing Larnach or Rooker every day. Maybe even find some consistent at bats for Gordon or Weil. And heresy of heresies, maybe it’s time to see if there’s a market for Cruz or Donaldson that would get you a quality relief pitcher or starter with upside. Look, I’m disappointed because I thought this was a team that had a real shot. It’s becoming pretty clear even at this early stage that it just does not. I could get behind watching a developing team this year, with a decent core supplemented by young guys being groomed for the future and getting their shot. It’s hard to get behind a veteran team playing poorly with no real plans for the future. And let’s face it, that’s with this team is right now.

Is it OK to give 100% of this to the players?

I I am depressed. Who thought we’d be reading this article a month into the season?

Sign Greene. Promote Law and Smeltzer. Demote Theilbar and Waddell. IL Colome. Make Robles the closer, Rogers a fireman, Duffy and Alcala 8th inning guys. And pray.... a lot.