LA VIkes Fan

I looked this up and I think Cornholio is correct. Varland was added as thee 29th man for a double header. He was required to be returned to the minors the next day. He can come back up at any time thereafter. He does not have to wait 10 days. As far as service time goes, one year of service time for free agency is defined at 172 days. The Twins could bring up Varland for the rest of the season without him accruing a year of service time for free agency.

Hard to see a reason to rush players back at this point. The chances of making a run are very small. Instead, we should use this time to evaluate guys for next year. Varland and Ober should both get 3-4 starts in these last 25 games or so. I also agree that the ABs now going to Cave could be given to Wallner to see if he's ready. Finally, no reason not to play Miranda and Gordon every day unless there is an injury issue. Probably the same for Celestino.

I predicted 78-84 at the beginning of the season. I’m a little more optimistic now. I say 83-79.

I think we should avoid a rush to judgment on Ryan. He has been quite good in this hi rookie year and is showing us a floor of a solid #3/strong #4 starter. Not a bad return for 2 months of a declining Nelson Cruz. Typically pitchers develop up over their first 2 years of MLB starting work. He needs to improve his command of his breaking pitches but that is the classic kind of thing that occurs over time. I see a real possibility of him becoming as much as a solid #2 in the future, barring injury.

Hey, I'm with you. I would rather see Ober take the mound Sunday than Sanchez. Or maybe Smeltzer?

Ober is supposed to start Sunday in St. Paul on an 80 pitch limit according to Rotowire .

I think we have to assume that Mahle is not coming back for at least a while. I think Varland earned himself a more extended look. Also, I understand Ober will be starting for the Saints over the weekend. If he pitches well, I would like to see a rotation of Gray, Ryan, Bundy, Ober and Varland for the rest of the year. We could add in archer and go with a 6 man rotation since Ryan is starting to run out of gas but we just don't win his starts so I would drop him. When and if Mahle is ready to actually return I would drop out Varland or Ober, whichever one is performing the worst. I would put Winder in the bullpen for the rest of the year in long relief. His constant shoulder issues are a red flag for trying to start him this year. Having said that, we have a "TBD" starter for Sunday. I'm guessing that's going to be Sanchez. Yet I wonder, would that be a good spot for Ober or Winder or even the two of them in combination? We could drop Sanchez and option Megill or Sands to create the room. Varland pitched Wednesday so that may be a day too soon for him, but I would be tempted to think about him starting on 3 days rest. I just don't want to go through a critical 3 game series and trot out Bundy, Archer, and Sanchez as the starting pitchers.

All good points, but I have 2 questions/possible disagreements. You call the Paddack deal a night mare. Not sure I agree. Rogers is a FA after his year and he has not been good since May. Pagan actually has very similar stats other than saves. Paddack could be a strong starter after he returns from TJ and we have him through 2024 via arbitration. It actually looks like a short term loss through May, pretty even almost a win thereafter, and a possible long term win for us. We have to evaluate Rogers on what he is in 2022, our last year of control, not what he was in 2019-21. Besides, nothing stops the Twins from re-signing him after this season. His price should have come down after this year. I agree with you on Rocco - he is not strong when it comes to handling a pitching staff. Yet I believe the starters ERA/FIP for the Twins has actually improved since Wes Johnson left and he was the guy who changed some guys' mechanics to get more velocity. Are those changed mechanics directly related to the injuries? Perhaps. I also have read that it was Johnson was insisted that Pagan should be a closer and made the in-game pitching changes before he left. Not sure his leaving explains the current issues. I think it's an overall talent deficit and lack of organizational depth resulting from poor drafting in the 200-2008 time frame. Is this FO any better? We won't know that until 5-6 years after the drafts.

Help me understand. What would you have done differently? Would you have stood pat and not made the trade for Mahle at all? Would you have included Miranda and/or Larnach (nobody wants Kirilloff at this point with the uncertainty if he will ever come back) in a package to try to get Luis Castillo or Frankie Montas? They were not available for the package we traded for Mahle. Would you have kept Povich instead of trading for Jorge Lopez? Would you have kept Rogers and his present 4.69 ERA, over 5 since July 1, at the beginning of the season knowing he was likely gone as a FA after 2022? I agree Pagan stinks and have advocated for his DFA but he's frankly no worse than Rogers has been this year and we have Paddack next year after his TJ so at least we would up with the lottery ticket. And hey, maybe we sign Rogers back to MN for 2023. He's seen the big world out there and it hasn't treated him very kindly. I understand and respect the position that trading for a guy with injury concerns for a playoff push is a risky strategy. But I think you have to also include 2 other factors - Mahle is signed for next year and the likely alternative was getting nobody. Our high end prospects are on the Twins, not in the minors, or hurt. Mahle is a starter next year (we hope) and I think this team was being set up for next year all along. It's perfectly legitimate to say that given the market it would have been better to simply not go get a starting pitcher at the deadline. That's the alternative. You gotta choose one. I'm not a huge fan of this FO or Baldelli. You still have to give them their due for the stark improvement in the team since they got here. The Twins were going nowhere and getting there fast under the old regime. I think its a real question whether this FO/manager combination can get us over the hump of being a slightly above average 82-85 win team who would just be "happy to be there" in the playoffs to a 90+ plus win team that could actually compete for a deep playoff run. We've seen some improvement and some development, but I really wonder if Baldelli is the right guy if we actually can keep the deep team we should have next year healthy. I would love to see us somehow win this lousy division and win a playoff series and compete in the next, Regardless, I think next year tells the tale.

Agree there. It's a combination of things. Not horrendous in any phase of the game, but not good enough in any phase of the game either.

So, is Varland going to be in the rotation for the rest of the season? It sure seems like it should be. Easy enough to DFA Archer or Sanchez, or to send Megill back to AAA.

Horrendous AB by Cave. Swung at ball 4 and then walked on strike 3. Yet he is starting every day. And we wonder why we stink.

Just tuned back in. Why? Because I like pain apparently. Is Urshela now hurt?

Oh, I agree. Correa has not been clutch at the plate, he has been clutch in the field. It's his defense with a decent bat that got him the contract he has. He was not one of the clutch important Astros hitters, he mostly hit fifth if I remember correctly. He wasn't brought in here to be one of our best middle of the lineup hitters, those were supposed to be Buxton, Polanco, Sano, and Kepler, none of whom have performed. I guess the silver lining is that we are really seeing that that core we thought we had a couple of years ago was a mirage and we're moving onto the next group. Goodbye Sano, Polanco moves to the 5 or 6 hole, and the bench for Kepler, and on to A seem to be sticking Arraez, Miranda, Gordon, and . . . Next year is looking kind of ugly.

It's easy to bang on Correa. He hasn't hit up to par and I think he's gone after this year, but where's his help? Arraez, Miranda, Gordon, maybe, and that's it. Buxton is hurt and didn't much after May, Polanco has had a poor year, Urshela is "fine" (average), Kepler and Sanchez are well below average, and Larnach and Kirilloff have been hurt most of the year and are question marks going forward. Sano? That was supposed to be the core of the lineup. Bottom line is it's not injuries, it's lack of high end talent. We have about 65% of a contending lineup (less without the unexpected contributions of Miranda and Gordon), about 60% of a contending rotation, maybe 50% of a contending bullpen, and an inexperienced manager. Recipe for a mediocre team. And guess what? We're a mediocre team.

If you're right my 78-84 prediction may be right on. And you may be right.

Megill was the problem, not Correa. Correa hits a sac fly, their last hit probably plates 2 and we lose 6-5 instead of 5-4. We just don't have the bullpen depth to survive 5 inning starts yet that's all we get. A guy like Megill should never be in that kind of a spot. Wait until the night cap. The remaining relievers are Moran and Pagan. Poor Ryan. Doesn't matter even if he leaves with a lead.

More than anything else, this game just reminded me that we aren't a very good team. No depth, weak bullpen, unreliable starters, poor managing moves. All of this on top of a lack of overall talent to compete with the big boys. They say you are what your record says you are. that is so true of this team. We're 68-66, slightly above .500. That's about right. I see us coming in around 82-80, 83-79. Better than than the 78-84 I predicted pre-season but still not good enough.

I predict the Twins lose the night cap 6-0. There's very little chance of recovery from this.

Well, that was predictable.

Megill? Now we lose.

Always good to have subtlety appreciated.

Saw that coming.

Ok, Fulmer is pitching the 11th. Now we're going to lose.

I am shocked we haven't lost this game yet. Between the 4 errors, the failure to score in the 10th, and the overwhelming offensive ineptitude., we should have lost by now. Unbelievable.