Last Weekend: Sunday – Texas 18, Twins 4 – The Twins literally couldn’t wait ONE game to get Chris Gimenez in there to pitch. He homered too, though, so that’s a little cool. Other than that, the “opener” thing seemed pretty flawless.
Monday – Houston 4, Twins 1 – At least the Twins didn’t make a bunch of pitching changes on their way to defeat.
Star Tribune; Twins brass has dropped the ball in handling of Byron Buxton – I have two thoughts about this situation. The first is the one that I’ve always had about Minnesota. Minnesotans are the only ones who really ever see Minnesota as a destination, and the team likely has to pay a premium to get players to come here, or they get malcontents like Lance Lynn. Even if this was just a manipulation for playing time (it probably was) it might have been more about keeping Buxton here, rather than saving money. I bet they already thought he was gone when his rookie contract ran out. 2) Even if they didn’t, they had to know that stealing a year of Buxton’s free agency would irk him and sour the relationship between front office and player. They had to know it, and they still benched him for the rest of the season. The Twins have a passable outfield, with Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler, Jake Cave and Tyler Austin all poised to return (and Robbie Grossman if you really feel like it) and atrocious starting pitching. Adding a year of team control without regard for how the player will feel about the team he is on seems an obvious play to increase Buxton’s trade value. I’ll be moderately surprised if Buxton isn’t traded this offseason, for a slew of pitching talent.
Roster Rundown: More minor league call-ups. This time, it will be John Curtiss, Gregorio Petite, and Chase De Jong, who was acquired for Zach Duke at the trade deadline.
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