Thread: Action Plan for the Second Half of 2012--Part 1

Play Casilla more and/or recall Florimon

The Twins have divided up the middle infield between Casilla, Carroll, and Dozier. Casilla and Carroll were the regulars until Dozier was recalled, at which time he became the regular SS, moving Carroll mostly to second and Casilla to the bench. At the break, you can throw a blanket over the three offensively--Dozier's OPS is .599, Carroll's is .597 and Casilla's is .577, all substandard. Defensively, Dozier has been poor--13 errors in 53 games--Carroll has been good, and Casilla probably a bit better than good. Carroll has played second, short and third, while Casilla has played almost solely at second and Dozier has played exclusively at short. In less playing time, Casilla is 10 for 11 in SB, while Dozier and Carroll have both stolen six bases.


If all the players were the same age or had the same major league experience, this would be an ideal job sharing situation. It isn't because Carroll is a long-in-the tooth veteran, Casilla has multiple years and Dozier is a rookie. If the Twins are going to be good, they need better play from shortstop than they have received this year. I think they need to see if Dozier can be that guy. He has shown flashes, but he hasn't hit much for more than a month and he has had periods of time when his defense has been unacceptable. If the Twins think he would benefit from more minor league time, then the Twins should recall Florimon, who is reputed to be a good defender, has a bit of power and quite a bit of speed. The question is whether he can hit.


Jamie Carroll has been a utility player all of his career. He is on track to play in the most games and have the most plate appearances of his career. He is currently in a deep slump and his overall line just doesn't merit everyday play. The Twins aren't going to win anything this year and investing another 250 plate appearances in a powerless 38 year old middle infielder makes no sense.


That leaves Casilla. Alexi has a track record and it is mixed at best. He has been inconsistent on the field, with a history of injuries. In 2008, he emerged from oblivion to be a regular and lead an unlikely run to game 163, but he was injured late and when handed a starting job was horrendous the following year. Last year, after sinking to the end of the bench, Casilla was among the best players on the team when they went on their only good run of the season. When he suffered what ended up being a season ending injury, the team went in the tank. Casilla got a raise this year because of arbitration and will be eligible for arb again this offseason before becoming a free agent after 2013. The Twins need to know whether he can be an everyday player, a utility guy or less. I think a month's worth of games would be a fair test. He could play his way to a DFA or non-tender or he could get a raise and maybe a multiyear deal.

Casilla is a bad baseball player (at the MLB level). I'd rather they call up Floriman or something, anything, other than play Casilla more. What more do you need to see to understand that he's not a legit MLB starting 2B?

Matt Maloney will undergo Tommy John surgery.

Maloney revealed the news himself on Twitter. "My season is officially over," he tweeted. "Gotta have tommy john surgery. Gonna be a lengthy recovery, but I'll be back stronger then ever." Maloney, who allowed 10 runs over 11 innings earlier this season for the Twins, will be sidelined until around midseason next year.


Source: Matt Maloney on Twitter

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

Casilla is a bad baseball player (at the MLB level). I'd rather they call up Floriman or something, anything, other than play Casilla more. What more do you need to see to understand that he's not a legit MLB starting 2B?

I'm not a believer in defensive metrics, but my eyes see an excellent defender at second base. Casilla has the ability to be a disruptive force on the bases, so the only factor is hitting enough. I think he's a marginal big league regular if he can hit .250, which is pretty close to his lifetime average.

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

Casilla is a bad baseball player (at the MLB level). I'd rather they call up Floriman or something, anything, other than play Casilla more. What more do you need to see to understand that he's not a legit MLB starting 2B?

I wouldn't go that far. Casilla has plenty of value as long as his speed holds up. I don't think he's a long-term solution, but he is better than and should be playing in front of Carrol.

I also would like to see Casilla playing regularly. Is he our long-term 2B? No. But until we get one (whoever that is) he's the best option. Then you have a choice: play Dozier at short to get MLB experience and bench Carroll, or play Carroll at short and send Dozier down to Rochester. Granted, he won't get experience hitting MLB pitchers down there, but he will get experience fielding the position, which is I think his biggest liability right now. A shortstop in AAA gets just as many chances as a shortstop at MLB. Let him spend the rest of the year learning the position, and maybe next year he'll be better prepared for the show.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

Matt Maloney will undergo Tommy John surgery.

Maloney revealed the news himself on Twitter. "My season is officially over," he tweeted. "Gotta have tommy john surgery. Gonna be a lengthy recovery, but I'll be back stronger then ever." Maloney, who allowed 10 runs over 11 innings earlier this season for the Twins, will be sidelined until around midseason next year.


Source: Matt Maloney on Twitter

GREAT, now they decide to have the surgery on a pitcher....but its Maloney???

Carroll might be around in 2013. Can't say I believe the same about Casilla.

I can understand the argument for playing Casilla, I just don't see a major league player there.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

I can understand the argument for playing Casilla, I just don't see a major league player there.

Chief, you are probably correct, but I was thinking the same thing about Plouffe last year. Maybe this is a team with more than one late bloomer?

Originally Posted by glunn

Chief, you are probably correct, but I was thinking the same thing about Plouffe last year. Maybe this is a team with more than one late bloomer?

Possible, but Casilla will be 28 this month, has had mulitple unsuccessful opportunities to lock down a job, and 1600+ MLB PAs at .250/.306/.333.

IMO that ship has sailed.

Even with that, I can understand the argument he probably should be playing ahead of Carroll.

Pffft on Casilla. Sure, he may as well play, but there's very little future there.

Originally Posted by USAFChief

Possible, but Casilla will be 28 this month, has had mulitple unsuccessful opportunities to lock down a job, and 1600+ MLB PAs at .250/.306/.333.

IMO that ship has sailed.

Even with that, I can understand the argument he probably should be playing ahead of Carroll.

That makes sense to me as well. And I seem to recall a few flashes of Plouffe-like streaks from Casilla, and it seems possible that Plouffe and Revere might inspire Casilla to realize more of his potential.

I would also like to see Florimon get a chance.

Pedro is stopgap at best. It is not like he was blocked at the major league level in Baltimore

Originally Posted by old nurse

Pedro is stopgap at best. It is not like he was blocked at the major league level in Baltimore

His history is not bright, but if he plays next to Plouffe, then maybe some magic could hit him as well. And it would be nice to see just how slickly he can field, if only for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I don't see the harm from sending Dozier down for a while to work on his game in a lower pressure environment. This seems like a luxury of being in last place -- the goal can be development for the future, not winning now.

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

Casilla is a bad baseball player (at the MLB level). I'd rather they call up Floriman or something, anything, other than play Casilla more. What more do you need to see to understand that he's not a legit MLB starting 2B?

Did you read Stringerbell's entire post? Have you been watching the games this year? Casilla is easily having his finest year defensively. He has saved countless runs and ended many an inning, snaring line-shots, and seeing-eye, hard-hit grounders, to his left and right, frequently laying out full-horizontal and adroitly turning DPs as both initiator and middle-man- which has gotten the Twins pitchers out of many threatening situations and the club far and away leads the majors in that department. FWIW, given the quantifiable metrics that are available, Casilla ranks 7th among all active 2B for 2010-12 and 2011-12 and 2nd for 2012 alone in UZR/150. If you evaluate him solely as a hitter, I see where you're coming from, but even there, if he gets an extended run or two before the season ends, he historically has had a couple of short 10-25 day runs per year where he hits for high average and he does have 2 seasons where he hit above positional average. I fully agree with the OP, establishing his value for trade purposes and future arb worth as a utility player should be a priority in the 2nd half. If Caroll rightly returns to the career role he is accustomed as utility infielder (he currently is on pace to play 153 games, the most in his career) and can play that to age 40 (through 2014), than Casilla should play more now, with Florimon getting his shot in September. Is there anyone else knocking at the door to take that spot in 2013? Eddie Rosario is at least two years away, and there's no firm evidence in yet that he will master 2B. The Twins have to prioritize their spending on pitching, the MI has demonstrably been shored up from last year's disaster of a year with a relatively cheap fix. Hopefully Dozier continues to improve and/or Florimon definitively takes the job away from Casilla.

Casillas saving grace is that he'd be an upgrade for many contending teams (not much of one, but that tells you how bad the MI is right now)... Do agree that defensively he's much improved. That said, I dont' think he's in the 2013 plans at all, which is why he's doing what he's doing now.

I certainly hope Carrol isn't in the 2013 plans over Casilla. Carrol is a solid fielder and thats it, he does nothing else well. Casilla at least has plus speed to go along with a better bat and is cheaper. Carrol makes no sense.

Play Dozier. Past that, I don't much care. All the BYTOers know my stance on Casilla. If he's healthy and his head has been forcibly removed from his rectum, he's a league average guy.

The problem is that his health and skull rectal removal surgery are always temporary things. He has all kinds of upside but can't put it together for more than a couple hundred PAs a season.

Originally Posted by Badsmerf

I certainly hope Carrol isn't in the 2013 plans over Casilla. Carrol is a solid fielder and thats it, he does nothing else well. Casilla at least has plus speed to go along with a better bat and is cheaper. Carrol makes no sense.

Carroll is already under contract for next season while Casilla would have to go through the arbitration process for the third time. The Twins could just decide to pass on Casilla and fill the utility role with someone from the minors.

Originally Posted by rocketpig

He has all kinds of upside but can't put it together for more than a couple hundred PAs a season.

Sounds like he has been hanging out with Liriano too much.