Twins kick off new era of opportunity with loss to Guardians

CLEVELAND A new era of Twins baseball the era of opportunity if you will began this weekend It figures to be painful at least at first like it was on Friday All-star starter Joe Ryan who had been rumored to be on the move gave up two runs in six innings and the Twins rallied for a pair of runs to tie the match up in the seventh but could not muster any other offense and Kody Funderburk eventually gave up a walk-off hit to Kyle Manzardo in the th inning of a - loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field But it might be potentially fruitful down the road particularly as the players whom the Twins acquired in trades this week start graduating to the big leagues Aggressive moves at the pact deadline on Thursday the front office dealt players off the major league roster have opened the door for different players to step into larger roles Players like Austin Martin who returned on Friday from Triple-A for the first time this season and had three hits in the loss to the Guardians Players like Justin Topa and Cole Sands who will have larger roles after the bullpen was decimated by trades Topa pitched a scoreless seventh and Sands a scoreless eighth on Friday I m excited about all the opportunities that are going to be given to specific guys that either are deserving or have been waiting in the wings and now are going to get an opportunity to showcase that on the highest level third baseman Royce Lewis revealed It maybe won t look pretty at times But frankly neither has the season up to this point or the Twins wouldn t have reached the transaction deadline six games under looking to sell We haven t been able to win like we requested to win We ve shown glimpses of greatness and glimpses of one of the worst teams in baseball catcher Ryan Jeffers reported Maybe a reset was needed Maybe this is the harsh reality of what was needed for this club It s a hard pill to swallow for players fans and everyone associated with the organization It s the reality of what we ve got moving forward The Twins traded arguably their top five bullpen arms Jhoan Duran Griffin Jax Brock Stewart Louie Varland and Danny Coulombe and will now look to modification their rework their bullpen Their defense will surely take a hit with a pair of former Gold Glove Award winners Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader gone Edouard Julien back from Triple-A on Friday bobbled a ball in the first inning that should have been a double play That run eventually scored But the final two months of the season will give the Twins a chance to assess which players should have roles on the band moving forward Thursday was just a weird day overall outfielder Trevor Larnach commented The battle goes on we all have to move on We ve got an entirely new gang but a lot of new guys I think everyone is excited to meet each other and play with each other move on really Before Friday night s meeting the Twins added pitchers Travis Adams Pierson Ohl Erasmo Ram rez and Jos Ure a to the roster as well as infielders Ryan Fitzgerald and Julien Martin a utilityman and Alan Roden the only participant acquired in a business at present on the major league roster Roden was playing for Triple-A Buffalo the Toronto Blue Jays top affiliate in uniform and ready for a minor league challenge when he got word of the exchange For me I m a young contestant he explained I m a rookie so I m still getting my feet wet with being in a clubhouse major league clubhouse I m definitely still learning and I think we ll all move forward together That they will Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey addressed the group before Friday s match something they felt necessary after a complex emotional day for the organization And now they re looking for players to take hold of their newfound chances and run with them as the Twins try to salvage the rest of the season Let me be clear This is not take five efforts back and just watch the young guys play and whatever happens happens Baldelli explained That is not what s going on here The mentality is to go out there and win every day Related Articles Twins still trying to process deadline moves A lot of guys were shocked Frederick Next time opportunity knocks for the Twins don t slam the door in its face Why did the Twins tear apart their roster We ve got to find a new way to do it In shocking move Twins deal star shortstop Carlos Correa to Astros Twins tear apart roster in transformative day for organization