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Funny as in peculiar...He only played 5 games when Morneau took his break in March...which was the time frame I specified in my post.Quote:
Originally Posted by CDog
I'm gonna back away from this, because you seem to be getting testy and I'm not overly interested in having it escalate
If I may be allowed to jump into your conversation let me introduce some other facts and see if they are illuminating to form a conclusion to your discussion concerning Butera, et al. Mauer's injury did heal and Morneau played regularly at 1B with few off-days. Butera played far more than "an emergency catcher". Butera's hitting for the rest of the season was substandard, but he was not demoted to AAA like Parmalee--he stayed with the Twins. Hermann was promoted in September but hit poorly in but a very small sample of ABs (18 I think).Quote:
Originally Posted by CDog
Considering neither Hermann's nor Butera's 2012 season was strong at the MLB level why didn't the Twins sign "competition" for them? Why was Parmalee's poor hitting deemed for banishment but not Butera's? To respond "he needed AAA experience" isn't any more relevant to Parmalee than for Butera. To me, the real answer is derived from "Why was anybody signed to compete with Butera (and Hermann) to be a bench catcher for the Twins?" Those guys are plentiful, cheap, and can easily be dismissed without issue. The answer is easy.
Not feeling testy at all (which is why I made the extra point out to indicate that in my first reply). I'm assuming you meant May, not March. My point was that during the games Morneau was out (which corresponded to when Butera first arrived), Mauer basically filled in for him. Up to the point he went out hurt (21 games), Morneau played almost exclusively DH with a few (four) games at 1B sprinkled in. During the 14 games he was out, Mauer started at DH 4 times and 1B 5. The original "starting first baseman" was Parmelee and he continued to be when Morneau was out.Quote:
Originally Posted by ThePuck
No, this conversation is being held in the Private Section....oh, wait, nevermind....Quote:
Originally Posted by Kwak
I think your post gets at a lot of things that are different than what I was wondering about in this topic, though. My angle was to take the original post's thought that Gardy wanted more pop, presuming that a good place to do that would be to replace Butera, and then to try and see how likely this was based on what was different at the start of last year (when he wasn't on the 25-man) and the remainder (when he was).
Your facts that Butera played more than "emergency" levels is undisputed, but my point was to figure out WHY. I maintain it's because Morneau moved from DH where he started the year to 1B when he returned from injury. This left Mauer and Doumit DH'ing frequently (almost always one or the other), and I believe THAT is the reason Butera was kept and played (I have made no conclusion about whether this is right or wrong, simply that it was "the reason").
My guess as to why Parmelee was demoted when he hit poorly and Butera was not: Parmelee had been the STARTING 1B. His replacement became Justin Morneau. Butera was the third-most-frequently used catcher. His replacement was...Hermann?
My guess as to why nobody from outside the organization was brought in to possibly be that third catcher instead of the aforementioned group: (This space intentionally left blank)
yes, I meant May, and I was specific about what I was saying...you changed the scope. Remember what my original argument was as to why Butera was brought up? Mauer at 1st, Doumit at catcher, Butera up. I said that, but then also pointed out the amount of games Mauer played at first when Morny was out was five. Meaning, I was pretty much saying that although that my original thought process was Butera was brought up to be insurance for catcher so Mauer could play 1B, the fact Mauer only played 5 games at 1B while Morny was out hurts my original argument making it funny (peculiar, not haha)Quote:
Originally Posted by CDog
Now I'm just plain confused.Quote:
Originally Posted by ThePuck
Your first post in this thread, in its entirety, said Butera came up when Morneau went out for a couple of weeks. There was no additional commentary as to why or anything about the Morneau-Mauer-Doumit-Butera chain. From there I wanted to get at what was different, especially when Morneau came back. Since Butera stayed, it didn't seem as simple as Morneau Out = Butera In.
In response to my attempt to look at what changed, you replied that Gardenhire wanted Butera all along and used Morneau going out as his excuse. I still don't see how that makes sense, and don't see where you made the arguments that you seem to wonder how I missed. Was it in a different thread? I don't see it here. I apologize if I'm missing it somehow.
All of that is outside the topic of the thread, though, and I'll re-state the essence of where I was going to hopefully get us out of the mire here: Butera was kept on the roster after Morneau came back because the DH was almost always Doumit or Mauer. Before Morneau went out, it wasn't necessary because Morneau was the DH (and, therefore, Doumit was not). So if the hope is that there is "more pop off the bench" in place of a third catcher, it seems unlikely to me unless A) someone other than Doumit is the primary DH, or B) the popper can also fill in at catcher.