Vanimal46

Is there any mention of Rosario being in the lineup for game 2 of this series?

Welcome to the big leagues Eddie Rosario! It may just be a 2 week trial, but give them a reason to keep you up here for good.

To make a point on Santana, sure he could come help out in the 2nd half of this season. More realistically I would think he's going to be very inconsistent. He's going to have some rust after not pitching for half a year recovering from not injesting/injecting PED's, right? Or does that logic only apply to Buxton & Sano working off the rust mentioned in earlier threads?

Limestone Baggy sees this season clearly without blue & red tinted glasses. Reasons to be cautious and not go overboard on this year so far: We've seen Plouffe have these hot streaks before, and we've also seen him disappear off the face of the earth for weeks at a time. I really hope he can stay consistent, but there hasn't been any evidence in his MLB career so far to say he will. Twins W-L record on this date (May 4th) over the last 5 seasons: 2010 - 18-9 (last contending season) 2011 - 11-18 2012 - 7-18 2013 - 12-14 2014 - 14-15 2015 - 13-12 we've seemed to be competitive around this time since 2013, but as we all know it didn't turn out to be the case. If I am wrong I will gladly eat crow, but I still need to be convinced that the current roster on hand is a part of a master plan to be competing for a playoff spot this season.

Looking at it from a high overview perspective you can make that case. The biggest difference between the teams philosophies is that the A's know their limitations, and cash in on their pending free agents to bring in more high end prospects. That's why they might have a down year or two, but eventually know another wave of prospects is on the horizon. The Twins on the other hand, have either let FA's go somewhere else, or received peanuts back in compensation from trades. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last notable good trade I can remember in the TR era has been Pierzynski for Liriano, Boof, and Nathan... 11 YEARS AGO. Obviously we had that stretch of Billy Smith, but TR was still behind the scenes during that time. We can't go that long without a trade going in the Twins favor.

I feel like the Twins could have been in the same spot that the Astros are in had we completely blown up the roster like the Astros did. Sure we've been bad with 4 straight 90+ loss seasons, but the Astros were god awful. Their staff is a little on the older side, (Hello Sam Deduno) but I like their lineup they put together. And still have Mark Appel and Carlos Correa at their disposal who have yet to be included on the 40 man roster (at least according to their website) Realistically I don't see the Twins being contenders until at least the 2018 season. Doesn't mean we won't see an above .500 team before then, but I'm thinking it's another 3 years until everything shapes up and we see Berrios, Sano, Buxton, Rosario, etc. get into their groove. I have no faith that TR is the person that will get us to that point. I think the game has passed him by, and to get to being a contender again, we need a fresh set of eyes on these prospects.

Very similar to Kevin Garnett "mentoring" all of those young Timberwolves players by playing in 1 game and maybe being on the bench for 5 games. We love our veteran mentors in Minnesota

Yep. A 24 year old who can't make it past A ball without struggling... See ya later!

Up to this season, I could have led pitchfork nation against Mike Pelfrey. But as long as he's starting to figure things out, I am okay with him in the rotation. I have now focused my pitchfork efforts on Nolasco. I hope the only motive to put him back in the rotation is to see if he shows any signs of turning things around. If he has 2 starts in a row where he lasts 5+ innings, I would deal him in a heart beat. Heck, even a Josh Hamilton type deal where we only get "cash considerations or a player to be named later" would be a good deal for Nolasco.

Please don't give Terry any ideas.... Hide the check book!

Okay. He's 50 at-bats in on the young season so far. One week of tearing the cover off the ball will make that OPS skyrocket. Then is he ready?

I'm firmly in the bring Buxton up ASAP camp, so he can get the kinks out in a rebuilding year. For those that are on the other side of the fence saying he's not ready, what are the magic numbers you need to see in order to say he's ready? And for how long do you need to see it: one week? two weeks? two months?

I'm with you 100%. I'd be curious to have someone outside of the organization review the farm, and see if it's still this highly rated. Or if we've been fed lies the last 4 years. In my opinion it feels like we're still 2 years behind where the Cubs and Astros are. When they decided to blow it up and start over, we were still signing re-treads and no upside veterans as if we were thought to be a competitive team. I don't get it.

To get back on topic, I would be ecstatic to see Nolasco's name erased from the rotation for good and have Meyer take over the 5th spot in the rotation. Other than Hughes and I guess Gibson, I don't believe anyone has earned the right to have their name etched in stone in our rotation as of yet. Might as well experiment in this rebuilding season.

Thanks for the clarification. I was a little confused at my desk reading that Atcher gave up a walk-off in the 7th inning!

Honest question. Did they only play 7 innings because it's a double header today? Or do they always play 7 innings?

No doubt about it, Terry has made countless errors in judgment over the last 4-5 years since he reclaimed his GM title. When you think about it, he spent the vast majority of his career scouting, selecting, and signing low-ceiling "pitch-to-contact" pitchers. When the philosophy changed 3-4 years ago to acquiring power arms like Meyer, May, etc. the organization has not been able to adapt and develop these guys. There has to be a younger candidate OUTSIDE of the organization that can come turn this around. You would think it would be an attractive opportunity with the prospects we have, and more high-end prospects to come this June, and June 2016.

Yes that is true. Can't blame anyone for taking a raise when it's offered to them. He was mediocre in the NL with only 2 full seasons below a 4 ERA. I don't know why he was expected to do anything better in the AL with us. If only we weren't so desperate for any pitcher with a pulse that off-season. I fear it's going to be the same situation in 2017-2018 seasons with Ervin Santana.

Sure that plays into it. But more than that, he's just been flat out brutal since joining the team. A 5.38 ERA last year, large # of walks allowed, and throwing meat balls down the middle (like Moonshot Scott Baker) isn't going to win over any fan base. Plus... the $11.5 million pay check for mediocrity doesn't sit well either.

Wow what a crazy stat! I can only imagine the look on Calvin Griffith's face that night with 5,213 fans in the crowd. Thanks for a great bar trivia question that I can stump my fellow mid 20 year old friends with

Can the Twins break a record for largest deficit in attendance in game #2 of the home stand? Looks like it was a sell-out, or near sell-out yesterday. Now that home opener nostalgia has worn off, will even half the seats be filled tomorrow?

Arizona Diamondbacks - 71.5 UNDER Atlanta Braves - 73.5 UNDER Baltimore Orioles - 82.5 OVER Boston Red Sox - 86.5 OVER Chicago Cubs - 82.5 UNDER Chicago White Sox - 81.5 OVER Cincinnati Reds - 77.5 UNDER Cleveland Indians - 84.5 UNDER Colorado Rockies - 71.5 OVER Detroit Tigers - 84.5 OVER Houston Astros - 75.5 OVER Kansas City Royals - 81.5 UNDER Los Angeles Angels - 88.5 OVER Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5 OVER Miami Marlins - 81.5 OVER Milwaukee Brewers - 78.5 UNDER Minnesota Twins - 71.5 OVER New York Mets - 81.5 UNDER New York Yankees - 81.5 UNDER Oakland Athletics - 81.5 OVER Philadelphia Phillies - 68.5 UNDER Pittsburgh Pirates - 84.5 OVER San Diego Padres - 84.5 UNDER San Francisco Giants - 84.5 OVER Seattle Mariners - 86.5 OVER St. Louis Cardinals - 88.5 OVER Tampa Bay Rays - 78.5 UNDER Texas Rangers - 78.5 UNDER Toronto Blue Jays - 83.5 OVER Washington Nationals - 93.5 UNDER Tie breaker 1: The two AL WC teams will be: Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners Tie breaker 2: The two NL WC teams will be: Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants