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Welcome back to my ongoing little thread where my opinions come out to play. I hope to add to the conversation about the Twins. When last I wrote, the Twins were in first place and my attention in the division was the Chicago White Sox. That has changed. Cleveland has climbed into first place, winning three straight series on the road and sits atop the AL Central. I attended the matinee yesterday and saw Cleveland first-hand. They are a pretty good club and playing very well right now. They've da eveloped enough hitters that the top 2/3s of their lineup is good. Their bullpen looks much better than the Twins and they have an abundance of speed, which helps them in the field and on the base paths. Cleveland isn't very deep, but if they avoid injuries, they are a complete team that will have a winning record. Alex Kirilloff is back with the Twins. When I wrote about this team just before Opening Day, I opined that AK's floor was Mark Grace offense and Will Clark defense and his ceiling was Mark Grace defense and Will Clark offense. After his wrist woes, I was worried that he would never be the same player he could have been. Now, I'm back on the bus for Kirilloff. He's going to hit and he is going to be a fine first baseman (IMHO of course). Trevor Larnach meanwhile has hit the skids. Since June 1, his OPS is .429, and he's struck out 24 times in 68 plate appearances. He still looks like a better hitter and ballplayer than the guy who played last year, but he might soon be losing playing time or perhaps he'll be sent back to St. Paul. Speaking of demotion to St. Paul, if all the position players are healthy, the Twins have two too many on the major league roster. Miguel Sano will start his rehab probably in July and the Twins would have 20 days to wait before they have to bring him back to the majors. Most likely, there will be injuries to players that make the unpleasant decisions of demotion or DFA moot. That said, if all of the 15 players are healthy, it is still a tough call as to who should be sent down or DFAed. My vote would be Larnach and Nick Gordon, but my opinion could change. A third choice would be to DFA or trade Sano. I don't think that is out of the realm of possibility. I wish Ryan Jeffers could throw out a few runners. He is a good receiver and seems to synch well with the pitchers and I think the bat will come around. I am running pretty cold on Gary Sanchez these days. Yes, he has power, but he's hitting about .215 and watching him "run" down the first base line probably upsets me more than it should. Luis Arraez is having a great season, but he's not a lock for the batting title. In fact, right now he trails Tim Anderson of the White Sox in BA. Anderson had an injury and is below the plate appearance threshold, but he's hitting .354 to Arraez' .349. Arraez is a .216 hitter with a .534 OPS against lefties. He should get several days off when the Twins face southpaws. It appears that the pitching coach and the manager don't trust Tyler Duffey at all right now. If this is in fact the case, it might be time to bid him farewell. With current pitcher usage, every bullpen arm needs to contribute and currently Duffey isn't contributing. There are bullpen arms on the horizon (returning from injury) and if the Twins are saherious about contending they will pick up at least one late-inning reliever by the trade deadline. Devin Smeltzer has really done a nice job as a soft-tossing lefty in the starting rotation. I hold my breath every time he throws an 88 mph fastball over the plate, but he is getting the job done. He's also thrown more six inning or more starts than anyone on the team except Joe Ryan. I'll close with my continued confusion about Byron Buxton. I am not a doctor, so I don't know if putting him on the IL to work through his knee tendonitis is the right call. What the Twins are getting from Buxton is much, much less than what the Twins got from him in 2021 (in 60 games). He has only played 33 games in the outfield and he is not a threat to steal a base. His value is almost exclusively from hitting home runs. IMHO, the plan isn't working if this is what we will see the rest of the season. According to the Twins web site, Buxton's knee has not improved since suffering an injury in April.

The Twins 26-man roster is in permanent flux, as most major league rosters are. They have run a lot of players on the Injured List, but there are several players on the road to return to the active roster. Within this week, Kyle Garlick and Sonny Gray should be added back to the roster. In addition, Alex Kirilloff is absolutely mashing for the St. Paul Saints. I am of the opinion that it is past time to bring Kirilloff back to the Twins. His stats in the past weeks are beyond excellent. He is crushing there and has shown that right now he is dealing with whatever residual wrist issues he might have. Assuming there are no new injuries, the Twins will be hard-pressed to choose players to option or be designated for assignment. Adding Gray, Garlick and Kirilloff would require demotion or designation of three players. Who might that be? Here's my take: Jose Miranda--Miranda has had a good month of June and is getting pretty consistent playing time. He plays first and third base (but not well). Miranda's overall stats are below average and IMHO his defense has been a disappointment. With Garlick providing a right handed bat, I think Miranda is the #1 candidate to be removed from the roster. Nick Gordon--Gordon's left handed bat really isn't needed, however his defensive versatility is of some value and he does have plus speed. Further, Gordon has no options remaining. To be demoted, he would have to be exposed to the other 29 major league teams. Trevor Larnach--The new, improved version of Trevor Larnach had a WAR of 2.0 about two weeks ago. He has demonstrated improved plate disciple, used the whole field and really has looked like an improved defender in the outfield corners. However, he's the flip side of Jose Miranda. His hitting has dried up recently. He is 5-44 in the month of June. On balance, Trevor has taken a step up, but it only figures that Kirilloff would produce more at this point. Kyle Garlick--Garlick is a 30-year old outfielder with limited upside. He is passable as an outfielder, but his reason for being on a major league roster is his ability to hit left handed pitching. So far, in a limited sample, he is again mashing against lefties. Garlick has the "lefty killer" role with the Twins and there is really no one available to fill that role if he were demoted. Like Gordon, he can't be optioned and would have to be exposed to waivers. Among the pitchers who could be demoted, only two can be optioned, I believe. Jovani Moran has performed well for the Twins and is left handed. Trevor Megill also has performed quite well, but he has two options available. Otherwise the Twins could DFA Thornberg or Cotton. The long-shot that would appeal to TD readers would be to release Tyler Duffey. There are more pitching returns on the horizon. Danny Coulombe and Bailey Ober will have spent their IL time and should be healthy by the end of the month. Of course, this is probably a fantasy exercise. By far, the most likely event is Injured List assignments to players currently unknown. Opinions on what the Twins will/should do are welcomed.