Pineda, Smeltzer, Polanco

Michael Pineda came off the injured list and threw five innings Thursday. His first four innings were really good. His fifth was better than it looked. He was charged with three earned runs, but that's because the scoring rules say you can't assume the double play.

Jorge Polanco's throwing error, on that basis, cost the Twins bases but not an out. The reality is, if he makes an on-target throw, Pineda gets out of the fifth allowing just the lead off homer. Maybe he would have gotten the ball to at least start the sixth in that case, maybe not. He struggled to get his fourth out of the fifth and there wasn't any question that he was done after five.

That makes four errors in three games for Polanco -- two muffed catches, two errant throws. At least three of them have come on potential double plays. He really needs to clean it up.

Devin Smeltzer mopped up -- four innings, three earned runs and a save in a game in which he never had less than a six or seven run lead. The scoring rules say a pitcher who finishes a win with three or more innings holding a lead of any size gets a save. That sounds goofy, but Smeltzer at least saved the rest of the bullpen.

He becomes, incidentally, the eighth Twin credited with a save this season. I tried off the top of my head to list the eight during my midnight walk home after work and missed one. The eight: Taylor Rogers (18), Blake Parker (10), Sergio Romo (2), Ryne Harper (1), Mike Morin (1), Trevor May (1), Trevor Hildenberger (1), and Smeltzer (1).

Parker and Morin are both with the Phillies now, and Hildenberger and Smeltzer, with his immediate demotion after throwing 68 pitches, are in the minors.

Michael Pineda, Devin Smeltzer and the roster

Michael Pineda had on Monday what has become a standard Michael Pineda start -- six innings, three runs. He made five starts in May and allowed three earned runs in each. Three were six innings, one was five, one was seven.

Three earned runs in six innings is a minimal quality start. It's not wining him any Cy Young awards, but it's certainly acceptable from the back of the rotation. The Twins are just 5-6 in Pineda's 11 starts -- the bullpen gave up the lead he bequeathed Monday -- and his ERA remains over 5, but I wouldn't be eager to discard him.

So when the Twins put him on the injured list Tuesday morning with right knee tendinitis, I agreed with the social media theory that the Twins were taking advantage of a scheduling quirk to give Pineda a short break. (Pineda had surgery on that knee last September.) The idea going around Twitter was:

• Devin Smeltzer gets Tuesday's start and is immediately optioned back to Triple A.
• Nelson Cruz comes off the DL for Thursday's game in St. Petersburg against the Rays.
• Luis Arraez is optioned out during the weekend when Mitch Garver is ready to return
• With two off days in the offing (one of them today), the Twins don't need the fifth starter until Pineda is eligible to return.

That seemed a logical sequence of moves.

But after Smeltzer threw six highly efficient shutout innings on Tuesday, Rocco Baldelli signaled a different plan:

Rocco Baldelli said that Devin Smeltzer will travel with the team and the plan is for him to make another MLB start.

The trip to Tampa Bay is doubly great for Smeltzer, who lives in Fort Myers, Fla. with his wife, Brianne.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) May 29, 2019

So no, I don't know what they have in mind. At some point soon, Cruz and Garver are coming back. Pineda doesn't figure to be out long. And the roster is jammed with productive players. It's a good probem.

Bye-bye, Dozier

Brian Dozier walks into the Dodgers dugout for the final
inning of Tuesday's game.

So Brian Dozier is gone, traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the final hour before the trading deadline.

Of the five deadline deals swung by the Twins -- trades that stripped veterans Dozier, Zack Duke, Eduardo Escobar, Lance Lynn and Ryan Pressly from the roster -- the best "get" came from the Pressly trade, and that's because Pressly was the only one who isn't a two-month rental.

I'm not impressed by what the Twins got for Dozier, and that's not surprising. Remember: The Twins actively peddled Dozier two offseasons ago without pulling the trigger. If the published reports are accurate, the Dodgers made the best offer, and that was pitching prospect Jose De Leon. Had the Twins done that deal, I would have ripped it.

The Dodgers were apparently intent that winter on trading De Leon for the best available second baseman; they settled on Logan Forsythe, then of Tampa Bay. Forsythe didn't hit as well in Los Angeles as he did with the Rays -- no surprise considering the difference between Tropiciana Field and Dodget Stadium as home environments -- and De Leon has pitched a total of 41 innings, majors and minors, since the trade.

And now Forsythe is a Twin. Presumably he'll play second base the rest of the way in Minnesota and then be allowed to join Dozier in the free agent market.

I would not have done this trade were I making the call. Even if, as I expect, Falvine have no interest in an extension with Dozier -- who is 31 and putting up his worst numbers since his rookie season -- I don't think the return justifies ripping out such a key foundation piece in midseason. If this was the best they could get for Dozier, walk away.

There are two possibilities that would sway my opinion:

• The Twins blew past their allotted payroll with the spring training signings of Lynn and Logan Morrison; it's possible that Falvine were told that if they're going to sell a priority would be getting payroll under budget.
• It's possible that Dozier told the front office that he'd prefer to be traded to a contender if they were going to sell. (Among the advantages for Dozier: having been traded during the season, his pending free agency cannot be encumbered with a qualifying offer.)

As for the trade itself:

The Dodgers today acquired second baseman Brian Dozier from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for infielder Logan Forsythe and minor leaguers Luke Raley and Devin Smeltzer.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 31, 2018

Forsythe I touched on already.  A few months older than Dozier, a higher draft pick, less accomplished. He's a placeholder, included in the deal to keep the Dodgers under the luxury tax and because somebody has to play in the infield in Minnesota and Nick Gordon is flailing at Triple A. Three years from now we'll have pretty much forgotten he ever played with the Twins.

Raley is a left-handed hitting 1B/OF, 23, putting up what appear to be decent numbers in Double A but in what I perceive to be a very good hitting environment. Smeltzer is a left-handed pitcher, 22, putting up what appear to be atrocious numbers in Double A but in what I perceive to be a very good hitting environment. Neither is a particularly well-regarded prospect.

One other point before I get on with my life today: There will be chatter about the Twins mishandling the Dozier "asset." That's nonsense.

I don't know why the rest of MLB didn't properly value Dozier two winters ago, but the Twins got lowballed in trade talks. They kept Dozier; he hit 34 homers, won a Gold Glove and the Twins won a wild-card berth. It was the correct decision.

They were going for it this year and thus didn't attempt to trade him last winter; nobody was surprised by that decision. Even if I don't care for this return, they got more from the Dodgers for two months of Dozier than they were offered by the Dodgers for two years of him in the 2016-2017 offseason.