Thread: Breaking: Scott Diamond and Brian Dozier to join the Twins

I've always been a Valencia fan, but he has really looked lost at the plate the last few games. Ok this season. Gardy has never been real happy with his fielding. I think he is the odd man out with the promotion of Dozier. When he came up in 2010, I really hoped that he would claim the position as his and not give it up for 10 years. He played much worse in 2011 and I think there has been another drop off so far this season.

As most everyone agrees, Lexi has probably played the best of the three and Carrol has been about as good as expected. Even with his low avg, he has been getting on base and you can tell Gardy likes the quality of his at bats. He has fielded his position as good if not better than expected. The guy that needs to sit and earn his way back on to the field is Danny.

With the Twins deciding to keep 13 pitchers and with Maloney's current struggles, would it make sense for the Twins to send him through waivers and bring up Guerra, who is pitching the best he has in like his entire career? I also liked Danny when he arrived, but if the Twins can have Sano keep his weight down and improve his fielding, Sano actually might be our next solution at 3rd base.

Originally Posted by TKGuy

Time for Maloney and.Gray to go also. Slama has definitely earned a shot, probably Manship too.

Gray got way over 3 tonight...

Time for Gray and Maloney to go

Slama and any lefty.....French ? Up to biggs... (robertson, Oliveros, Devries, Guerra, Gutierrez) need more time.

Originally Posted by shs_59

Gray got way over 3 tonight...

Time for Gray and Maloney to go

Slama and any lefty.....French ? Up to biggs... (robertson, Oliveros, Devries, Guerra, Gutierrez) need more time.

Not necessary another lefty. There are already 2 very good lefties in the bullpen. I would say Slama and Guerra, although maybe is too early for Guerra.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt on 13 pitchers when Blackburn and Liriano were skipped. But its gone on for weeks now and is just more evidence of how truly idiotic they can be regarding roster management. Major league teams do not intentionally handicap themselves to this extent. 13 pitchers, no Morneau for a week, AND Butera. Sheesh.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

I gave them the benefit of the doubt on 13 pitchers when Blackburn and Liriano were skipped. But its gone on for weeks now and is just more evidence of how truly idiotic they can be regarding roster management. Major league teams do not intentionally handicap themselves to this extent. 13 pitchers, no Morneau for a week, AND Butera. Sheesh.

Yeah that's bugging me big time.

As for Dozier arriving... Jamey Carroll is 53 years old. He should regularly fill in at 2B, SS and 3B. Dozier and Casilla should play.

Not sure what it will be after 4 games, but I am guessing Dozier gives Casilla, Carroll, and Valencia a day off and then another day with Valencia DHing (Carroll moves to third), then maybe Dozier's off and either some sort of cycle starts again or by that time Casilla will show that he will return to be terrible . . .

Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

The idea of Dozier or Carroll starting at 3B is just crazy to me... I'd guess Dozier at SS and Carroll at 2B primarily with Casilla as the utility guy. Also wouldn't be surprised if all three of them (Carroll, Casilla and Dozier) play two out of every three games.

Yes Dozier has to play virtually everyday or it makes no sense. Casilla should be the utility guy, I think the Mauer to the 2 hole will have to wait until Morneau gets back cuz I think you need Willy to bat 4th.


Span
Carroll
Mauer
Willy
Doumit
Valencia
???
Dozier
???

I'm anxious to see what Dozier can do .... but I hope we wait awhile before proclaiming him a savior or as a long-term starting replacement for Carroll or Casilla.

It seems like Twins fans have a tendency to laud these call-ups early .... only to suffer big disappointments in the long run.

I hope Dozier does well. I hope he and Carroll and Casilla make the decision-making difficult (and if Dozier can play a good third base, all the better) but I hope that people keep a sense of perspective.

On his show this morning, Gardy said that Dozier is his shortstop and that he will figure out the playing time at 2B between Casilla and Carroll.

I woudl also encourage everyone to have some control on their expectations for Dozier. He's got about a .720 OPS in AAA right now. If he can post an OPS of .680-700 this season in the big leagues and make the plays with the glove, I'll be very happy. I think an .800 OPS from Dozier would be best case scenario in a couple of years. But I do worry about how not only the Twins media but the Twins manager is touing him as a guy who is going to come up and be a huge difference maker and create all this offense.

I think he can be a good player, but I fear what people's expectations are for him.

Patrick Reusse of 1500ESPN.com reports that the Twins are trying to trade Danny Valencia.

They were already likely to demote him from an everyday role, as Jamey Carroll has been removed from his starting job at shortstop and slated to share time at second and third base. Valencia has been one of the worst major league regulars this season, batting just .224/.230/.341, and this is after he sported a .246/.294/.383 line in 2011. We can't imagine the Twins will find much of a market for him.


Source: Patrick Reusse on Twitter

Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

On his show this morning, Gardy said that Dozier is his shortstop and that he will figure out the playing time at 2B between Casilla and Carroll.

I woudl also encourage everyone to have some control on their expectations for Dozier. He's got about a .720 OPS in AAA right now. If he can post an OPS of .680-700 this season in the big leagues and make the plays with the glove, I'll be very happy. I think an .800 OPS from Dozier would be best case scenario in a couple of years. But I do worry about how not only the Twins media but the Twins manager is touing him as a guy who is going to come up and be a huge difference maker and create all this offense.

I think he can be a good player, but I fear what people's expectations are for him.

This is a lost year. IF he struggles early, he can go back to AAA whenever Morneau gets back to being ready to play.

As LaVelle noted the Twins are now historically bad on offense. least # of hits over 4 games in modern MLB history. Dozier won't fix that by himself.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

Patrick Reusse of 1500ESPN.com reports that the Twins are trying to trade Danny Valencia.

They were already likely to demote him from an everyday role, as Jamey Carroll has been removed from his starting job at shortstop and slated to share time at second and third base. Valencia has been one of the worst major league regulars this season, batting just .224/.230/.341, and this is after he sported a .246/.294/.383 line in 2011. We can't imagine the Twins will find much of a market for him.


Source: Patrick Reusse on Twitter

Sure, let's play Carroll/Casilla at 3rd. Honestly this organization keeps going backward. Sure seems like there isn't a plan in place for changing the direction . "Reloading" didn't happen. They just are not very good. Tough schedule or not, I don't see this year ending well. Multiple changes are required throughout the org.

Strib reporting Gardy sez Dozier = starting short stop, Carroll to be utility. http://www.startribune.com/sports/tw...150343705.html

Same article has this lovely info:

UPDATE: The offensive failure is officially historic!
From the Twins' media notes about the four hits in nine games:
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the fewest amount of hits over a four game span in modern Major League history (that is, since 1900)...Minnesota surpassed the previous four-game low of 10 hits, done by the California Angels in 1963 and again by the Cincinnati Reds in 1993.

Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

On his show this morning, Gardy said that Dozier is his shortstop and that he will figure out the playing time at 2B between Casilla and Carroll.

I woudl also encourage everyone to have some control on their expectations for Dozier. He's got about a .720 OPS in AAA right now. If he can post an OPS of .680-700 this season in the big leagues and make the plays with the glove, I'll be very happy. I think an .800 OPS from Dozier would be best case scenario in a couple of years. But I do worry about how not only the Twins media but the Twins manager is touing him as a guy who is going to come up and be a huge difference maker and create all this offense.

I think he can be a good player, but I fear what people's expectations are for him.

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

This is a lost year. IF he struggles early, he can go back to AAA whenever Morneau gets back to being ready to play.

As LaVelle noted the Twins are now historically bad on offense. least # of hits over 4 games in modern MLB history. Dozier won't fix that by himself.

It could be argued that he struggled in AAA recently, though. I agree with Seth that expectation and perception are way too high for Dozier.

A lot of people getting what they've been asking for with Dozier coming up. I'll be very interested to see how long it takes some of his cheerleaders on this board to feed him to the wolves if he doesn't make the desired impact. The size of his impact should be measured, he's playing well at AAA but at this point, not so well that his call-up should have had most of us saying "what the hell have you been waiting for"? Luke Hughes had a great spring as well, I don't need to go further I'm sure.

I hope it's the right move that may spark the team, although I'm not a big believer in "sparks" winning ball games comes from execution and the Twins simply are not doing that. I'll be cheering for him, I'm a fan, it would be nice to see Revere get his chance after the Komatsu experiment fails, bring him in to platoon with Plouffe.

What's the deal with Kyle Waldrop? He looked as if he was going to make the 25 man coming out of spring but then his arm flared up, is he still rehabbing? Has he thrown some innings. I thought he looked somewhat promising, a lot better than Maloney and Gray.

Originally Posted by twinsnorth49

A lot of people getting what they've been asking for with Dozier coming up.

...and this includes Gardy since last summer. I really hope I'm wrong but, as I said, I think Seth is right and that we should probably be happy if he posts an OPS in the high .600s

Originally Posted by glunn

At this point, almost any possible callup would feel like a good thing.

Unlike the other possibilities mentioned, like Mastroianni or Chang, which would have been a move just for the sake of filling a roster spot, this one is more strategic, and thus interesting. I didn't see the front office/manager ready to pull the trigger on it yet.

I still don't get why they are clinging to Plouffe. He isn't very solid at any defensive position, he hasn't been hitting worth a crap, and his minor league numbers don't seem to indicate that he's suddenly going to turn into a fantastic player anytime soon. If Eric K can't hold down a starting job in RF and Dozier can hold his own in the IF, they should send Plouffe through waivers and let Revere have his shot at being a starter.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

I gave them the benefit of the doubt on 13 pitchers when Blackburn and Liriano were skipped. But its gone on for weeks now and is just more evidence of how truly idiotic they can be regarding roster management. Major league teams do not intentionally handicap themselves to this extent. 13 pitchers, no Morneau for a week, AND Butera. Sheesh.

There are times that I love you Chief.