Well, this explains the release of Aaron Bates, but still don't like it
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Well, this explains the release of Aaron Bates, but still don't like it
There has been a lot of criticism of Joe Vavra over the years. Fair or not, there are way too many young bats on this team for a hitting coach to work with everyone on a regular basis. If ten guys need some one-on-one time, even just an hour a day each would be too much to handle. Going by that logic, why don't the Twins do something trailblazing and hire an additional hitting coach? If you had two, they could each focus on the various strengths of hitters, because the team does need to face the fact that not everyone is very good at going the other way and more of an uppercut swing does benefit some hitters while others need a more level swing. I don't see what it would hurt other than in the payroll, but honestly, a hitting coach is probably not getting paid very well.
It's absolutely the right move, but it's a bummer. Parmelee wasn't really a top prospect, but he looked really good last September, and I would have put money on him succeeding over other sorta-prospects like Plouffe. Mauer is playing a lot of 1B these days, which is good, but you wonder if this will put Morneau in the field more often than he probably should be with all his issues. Doumit may play there too, but he's only been there for one partial game out of 31, and I remember him saying something like 1B was his "4th preferred position" after C, RF, and DH (not in that order).
Still no need to dump Bates. Now if Parmelee struggles at Rochester and Morneau gets hurt again, what are they going to do?
Plouffe or Burroughs with either Valencia or Burroughs or Carroll at 3B.Quote:
Originally Posted by shanewahl