Ryan Atkins

Former Twins farmhand and ex-White Sox Daniel Palka has just signed with the Red Sox. Red Sox Sign Daniel Palka To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors

And how could I forget (but I did), the great ByungHo Park who will be playing for Korea

If you're looking to find an excuse to watch the World Baseball Classic (WBC), there are some familiar faces to be on the lookout for... Andrew Albers (P) - Canada https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/canada No sign of Justin Morneau. I was thinking he might join Larry Walker on their coaching staff, but it doesn't look like he's part of the team. Vance Worley (P) - Great Britain YES! The Vanimal! https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/great-britain Danny Valencia (IF) - Israel https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/israel Andrelton Simmons (IF) & Jonathan Schoop (IF) - Netherlands https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/kingdom-of the netherlands Bert Blyleven is also back with the Netherlands serving as Pitching Coach! Dereck Rodriguez (P), Emilio Pagan (P), Hector Santiago (P), Jorge Lopez (P), Jose Berrios (P), Jovani Moran (P), Christian Vazquez (C), Jose Miranda (IF) & Eddie Rosario (OF) - Puerto Rico https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/puerto-rico Ryan Pressly (P) - USA https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/united-states Martin Perez (P), Luis Arraez (IF) & Eduardo Escobar (IF) - Venezuela https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/venezuela

I'm so glad we've moved on from the obsessive (Gardy) desire to carry 3 catchers. The worst-case scenario has always been that you end up playing some portion of one game with an emergency catcher (like Farmer) and the next game your fine again with a quick callup.

Living in Dallas, TX, I am fortunate to be able to watch nearly every Twins game live on MLB.TV for a rather modest cost. No need for cable or satellite tv contracts. I only pay my ISP and select streaming services like MLB.TV. But I will say that MLB seems to do a terrible job of making sure their product is readily and easily available to anyone who wants to consume it. All the other leagues seem to have figured this out. And their blackout rules are archaic and geographically "dumb". When I said am able to watch nearly every Twins game, that is true except for blackouts. MIN vs. TEX (ok, I get this one) and MIN vs. HOU are blacked out. The latter is ridiculous because I have no access to local Houston broadcasts, and it would take me 5 hours to drive to a game in Houston.

If we're going start putting guys like Scott Rolen (a fine player) in the Hall of Fame, then no one should question Joe Mauer getting in. And he should be in on the 1st ballot. Either you're a HOFer or you're not. For that matter, Torii Hunter should be in, or at least should be better than 7% vote. Hunter has more hits, more homers, more RBI, more gold gloves, and more silver sluggers than Scott Rolen. The difference, one World Series Championship, is that the benchmark now? If so, Mauer is in trouble.

The lack of an experienced major league 1st baseman continues to hurt this team. They need to get this fixed for 2023. I have no qualms with Arraez not bunting in the 9th. He is league's best hitter and unfortunately just didn't have a productive AB there and then the subsequent double-play grounder ended it. There were plenty of other opportunities earlier in the game.

Yankees to sign Tyler Duffey, will be eligible for postseason. Yankees To Sign Tyler Duffey - MLB Trade Rumors

No. But I might take this year's Martin Perez (7-2, 2.68), an All-Star for Texas, over this year's Lance Lynn.

Might Tony Oliva have had a longer career if he only averaged playing 75 games a year like Buxton? Maybe so. Would he have been a Hall of Famer? Unlikely. And despite playing hurt much of the time, he still logged a 15-year MLB career, on par with most players today.

Former Twins great Taylor Motter is back in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies. No word on if his hair will be joining him.

I had the exact same thought as I was watching that AB. The Twins have played so poorly, and so consistently poorly, in 2021 that its fan base actively hopes for GIDPs because they know it is the best possible outcome from a 1st & 3rd with no outs situation. RE: Larnach I think Jim Kaat nailed it on the head last week when he explained that Trevor's swing was too long. He needs to tighten that up or the strikeouts will continue. He was making a comparison with Kirilloff whom he characterized as the better hitter--at least right now.

RE: Taylor Rogers Why? Mariano Rivera pitched back-to-back days 16 times in his final season, he was 43 years old. In 2008, just to pick another random year in his career, he pitched back-to-back days 21 times. In fact, it was not uncommon for him to pitch in 3 consecutive games. He also pitched both games of a double header on multiple occasions. He played for 19 seasons.

These games are sure hard (boring) to watch. Even Dick Bremer struggles to come up with something positive to talk about and he is usually very good at that. It's a real shame that just as it seems that Byron Buxton has figured things out and we have productive vets like Donaldson and Cruz, the rest of the team with few exceptions is dragging. Garver is completely lost at the plate. I think Roy Smalley said it best last night when he said "When you are going bad and all you do is go up there and try to hit the ball out of the ballpark, it only gets worse". And it just floors me that Rocco has plugged Garver into the leadoff spot on more than one occasion this season. I loved how Derek Shelton forced one of his slumping players into having an aggressive AB by sending the runner, no one particularly fast, on a hit-and-run early in the game. The player go a base hit. It doesn't always work out that way, but you could clearly see the differences in management styles in this series--play for the home run or get creative and try to make things happen in other ways. I tend to give Jake Cave a pass. He is who he is. A good guy to have as a backup outfielder. Plays hard, good defensively, runs well. He is just not a starter and is struggling in that role. Earlier in the season Dick and Justin would say what a luxury it was to have Cave, a player that would be a starter for many teams. That has never been true. He could be a backup for handful of other teams just as he is with the Twins, that is who he is, but I like him and root for him all the same. The bottom line is that with only 3 games played in the division so far, there is more than enough time to turn it around and take this division. But they need to get away from the 3-outcome approach to hitting (walk, strikeout, homerun), it is not a recipe for long-term (or post-season) success.

I was a bit disappointed in Luis Arraez. in the top of the 3rd inning, his 2nd AB. He hit a weak grounder to the 2nd basemen, who bobbled it, recovered and threw him out because he dogged it down to 1st base. Justin Morneau correctly pointed out that had he hustled out of the box, he likely would have been safe and it could have been a much bigger inning for us as he was the lead off hitter. I recognize that he is a very talented player, but I would not put up with garbage like that if I was the manager. In the bottom of the 3rd, Avisail Garcia reached on an infield single that Arraez muffed. That was tough play, not an error, but much greater chance that Donaldson would have made that play as I've seen him do countless times. That extended the inning and the Brewers scored on the next AB.