GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #3, WFTC29 & am1500, 12:05 pm

This has been an oddly productive and early morning for me – especially for a Sunday – but it also means I have had time to pay attention to some of the roster discussions taking place.  That’s pretty much all anyone – media, fans, staff alike – is talking about this morning.  Gardy admitted to the am1500 radio audience that, yes, it’s pretty likely that there will be some roster adjustments taking place before Thursday.  No decisions regarding the struggling Nick Blackburn yet but Gardy plans to speak to him today.  I expect something forthcoming there. I still don’t know what Blackburn’s status is regarding options and whether or not AAA or bullpen is being considered but I don’t think we’ll have to wait very long for that answer.

*** answer:  Blackburn will stay in the rotation for now – sure there will be a lot of discussion of this during the game. “The only reason I would take him out of this rotation is if he’s lost confidence in his own ability,” Gardenhire said. “We have confidence in him getting people out. We’ve seen him get people out. … He understands. He wants the ball; that’s what we want to hear from him…***

Also under discussion is the proposal (originally from Souhan) that Delmon Young is perhaps the Twins best trade option to get some REALLY stellar longterm pitching – ie, Harren or Oswalt.  To me it seems like a very high price to pay but at least we would be talking about players with longterm options, not rentals.  Could make for some interesting discussion.

Gardy also announced that Joe Mauer is out of today’s lineup because he’s dealing with some shoulder soreness from foul tips.  That has caused a bit of backlash since some would rather see him play today and skip the AS Game if he needs rest.  I can see the position but that’s pretty much like asking the bruises to wait two days and they can hurt on his off-day.  If he’s sore now, he’s sore now.  YES, this is an important division game but so were the last two.  I’m pretty much of the opinion that no team rests on the shoulders of a single individual for every game, nor should it.  If we can’t win one game without Joe Mauer behind the plate, we have problems too big to solve by getting an ace pitcher.  But that’s just me…

More from Joe C. regarding Mauer and Blackburn.

Now would be a really great time for Pavano to have one of his amazing, ironman starts. Just saying…

FINALLY!!!!!  It really feels GREAT to get a win in this last game before the break.  I wish we could have gotten more here in Detroit but this one keeps us in the mix – we are only 3 games back in the division right now.  And more importantly, it was an immense outting from a Twins starting pitcher which has been few and far between lately.  But it’s not so unusual for Mr. Carl Pavano.  He’s been a MONSTER for us and came out with a solid start for us again – going to the 8th inning and protesting his replacement even then.  The players morale really needed this outting and the other starters really needed the example of the passion and fire they need to find.  Who knows what our starting rotation will look like when it gets back but the individual level of passion needs to look like today.  For that, he has earned today’s BOD.  Despite the odd horseshoe mustache he was sporting today, Cuddyer was really quality effort today too – 2/3 with 2 BB’s, 1 R, 2 RBI.  For that, he can take a few pastries with him on his all-star vacation.

To address earlier conversation regarding trading Delmon, Al Newman has gone on record in the postgame show saying that there is no way he thinks anyone should trade DY for any pitcher, including Cliff Lee.  It’s interesting to see how many people are addressing that issue.

But for all the angst the first half of the season, this win has at least gotten me back to looking forward to the 2nd half.  I think the break couldn’t have come at a better time (except maybe one series earlier) and we’ll have a fresher bunch of guys.