Chin Music w/ Roy Smalley, LaVelle E. Neal III & Jim Souhan - Minnesota Twins Podcast · Talk North Podcast Network

Twins' bullpen & "Fest"

·28 min·2 clips

Fans are too angry to care about their hometown baseball team.

Real stuff is getting closer. Jim Souhan starts with LaVelle E. Neal III, who had been at the Hot Stove event and heard Derek Shelton talk. Shelton has some selling to do. LaVelle says these appearances are not just hello-and-welcome moments anymore. Shelton is getting a feel for what the fan base is carrying around. Tickets matter, but LaVelle thinks the first job may be getting people to look up at all. The tone is practical, a little uneasy. Shelton is talking about effort, style, and what kind of baseball this group wants to play. Then the bullpen takes over. LaVelle brings up a Triple-A arm with real stuff and command problems, the kind of pitcher who may be headed for relief work. Pitchers and catchers report in the next couple weeks, so the invite list matters. Once the non-roster names are out, LaVelle expects a better read on how the Twins think they can rebuild the late innings. The closer case is not dressed up. A real ninth-inning option would settle the bullpen, prevent the losses that take the air out of a roster, and give fans something visible. Roy Smalley is right there with him. If the Twins keep saying starting pitching is their strength, he says they have to protect those starts. Do not fritter them away. If the starters are good enough to win, somebody has to finish the game. Then breaking news hits mid-show. Bobby Nightingale reports Derek Falvey saying the Twins are close to adding to the blueprint, and the panel reads it while texts are still rolling in. The news lands: the Twins have re-signed left-hander Taylor Rogers, their former closer. Twins Fest wraps things up, with jokes about LaVelle at the bar, Roy probably not drinking, and the usual local back-and-forth. The baseball point stays put. Before spring training, the bullpen is not background noise. It is one of the cleanest tests of whether the club means to protect what it already does well.

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