Doomtints

Yes. And the Grand Canyon was created by Killebrew dragging his bat behind him.

A common opinion in this thread is, "Oh well. You win some, you lose some." One fact being missed: This front office has never put together a good bullpen. They don't have a closer. They don't have a set up man. They don't have any specialists. They don't have a manager who seems to play matchups. If the Twins win the world series by having a bunch of nonspecific, unmemorable relievers then we can admit that all of us were wrong when we talked about this more than any other topic over the past couple of years, of course. But when all of us see this as the missing piece we are probably right. (Though some defense would be nice, too.) I'm not saying this guy was the answer -- he wasn't because the Twins need more than one guy -- I am merely pointing at the elephant in the room.

Being in Minnesota, the Twins may as well play as the Vikings. Anyhoo, this is why good pitching is important. Ask any Rangers fan from the 90s how well those hot offenses helped them in the postseason.

He says the pain is gone, time will tell if the power is gone too. I doubt it but who knows.

A black hole? The Twins have an abundance of hitters and have problems with defense. This would be filling a black hole.

Um, no, I won't dig through box scores to find examples. However: 1) We have had this conversation on this website before, but on the opposite side, with me arguing someone else should have received the win and everyone else here saying "so what" 2) Consider the possibility that others were paying more attention This is something I first noticed in the 70s and have been thinking about it a long time. Pitchers who pitch 1/3 or 2/3 of an inning can get shafted. It happens.

Why? The Twins have enough hitters and could use some defense.

It happens where if a relief pitcher faces only one batter he does not get the win, even if the final lead change happens when he's on the clock. It may not be right, but it happens.

Per above, Odorizzi has 7 quality starts in 23 tries. He's not underrated and there's no way he's good for 5 innings as you say. Gibson is better, but he's practically geriatric considering his ability. May as well find a younger option than Gibson and let Odorizzi walk too.

RoY voting has been predictable for at least five years. Just look at whoever has the highest bWAR at the end of the year. Put your money on it.

** As far as you know

The Twins could have a similar year next year -- soft early schedule, soft late schedule.

I don't think they will need to maintain this year's offensive output to compete.

I will say what I said on this website before the Twins played the Yankees in their last wild card game: The Twins can only beat the Yankees in the playoffs if it's a low scoring game and the Twins squeak out a run or two at the very end. If there is early scoring and it becomes a bullpen game, forget about it. If you recall this is exactly what happened, and it's what will happen again. The Twins fared very well against Houston this year, probably better than they have against any other playoff team. The Twins can beat them.

Yes, I think it might take more than one year to get the pitching in order unless the Twins very uncharacteristically open their wallets. If the Twins had addressed the bullpen this year, they would only have to address the starting pitching next year. However, the Twins neglected to do that and will now have to address both. The Twins showed they can win without Sano, so he could be a nice trade chip.

If Houston gets the top seed, a wildcard berth is the best scenario for the Twins. If the Yankees get the top seed, which suddenly seems very possible, then the Twins had better take care of the division.

I don't think it's fair to call Romero a lefty specialist. Both him and Rincon were the best setup pitchers I ever saw in a Twins uniform. Seeing them come up to pitch the 8th was almost always a good sign. Though, yes, I think they were both juicing....

True, but remember Gardenhire kept getting the team into the playoffs in spite of rapid roster turnover like this. Of course, those teams played defense.... I think this team is on the cusp of putting together a few good years. Next year could be a step back, but the year after won't. Players clearly like Baldelli and for a rookie manager he has not made as many mistakes as one might expect.

As Tom Kelly said in defense of having Straker on the playoff roster in 87, Rincon and Romero were two guys who helped get them there.

Though the 1991 Morris lasted ten innings, the 2019 Morris probably would last around ten pitches.

A few of us were saying to be cautious. As I said back then, this team reminds me of the 2001 Twins who had the exact same start as this team but did not make the playoffs. I think this team can pull it off, but we will see. It does not surprise me that the lead evaporated, but there is more baseball left to play. Worst case, we got to see the most prolific home run hitting team in Twins history, potentially baseball history. That's special too.

I'm sure you noticed over the years that I am one of the most critical people around here. I'm also right more often than not. I think the Twins will outpace Cleveland. However, I don't think the Twins can beat the Yankees in the playoffs, for this to happen they needed to put together an elite bullpen.

This was a boring game. The Twins were not hitting well. Yes the 3rd base coach made a big Carlos Gomez-like blunder, but the Twins were only in that position because they'd been chasing pitches all day. Personally I would not have marched Rogers out there two nights in a row in a non-save situation. This move reminded me of when Gardenhire kept showing the Yankees Latroy Hawkins in the 2003 ALDS. It worked well the first time, not so well after that.

Some things: 1) I'm not sure who this post was directed at, but if it was meant to calm people down it seemed to have the opposite effect. 2) No one truly thinks the Twins are "done" even if the missteps have been predictable. We know there is a lot more baseball left. 3) Though the team missed chances to improve, the Twins still control their own destiny. 4) That jockey appears to be wearing something very close to a Twins uniform.

Those must be Vikings fans because that's what we hear about the Vikings every year... at least until the team bubbles up to the top, gets the tough schedule, and collapses early on.