Rosario

[Ncgo4]

Rosario is batting less than .240 and now hasn't played in at least 3 games. Is he injured or just being rested out of a slump? The 50 game suspension seems to have really affected his game. Hope the drug usage doesn't indicate a head case for this once golden prospect.

[diehardtwinsfan]

He was struggling in AA last year too, though in both seasons he showed flashes of what made him good.  I suspect the suspension hasn't helped, but I think he's going to drop a bit on a lot of prospect rankings. 

[jorgenswest]

He really needs a good August to avoid a third season in AA.

[Seth Stohs]

He spent 1/2 season in AA last year, and basically a half season in AA this year. If he needs to go to AA to start next year, it's not a big deal at all. He doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster until after this year. There's no rush. He's missed time for his suspension. He likely has a minor injury right now. There's no rush. He's very young

[Mike Sixel]

As usual, I agree with Seth.

[TRex]

<snip>

There's no rush. He's missed time for his suspension. He likely has a minor injury right now. There's no rush. He's very young

I think we need to remove the 'very' from that last sentence. Rosario will be 23 shortly after the season... the same age the 'slow' progressing Aaron Hicks was when he had his breakout AA campaign. (As a aside, I buy age differential for A-ball, but not for AA or AAA when the average age is 25 and 27 years old! An 'average' prospect is NEVER that old in those leagues!)

 

While I do agree that Rosario has time, his lack of position and speed already have him on a slippery slope. I agree with Diehard that he is likely to fall quite a ways on the prospect lists.  Would it be too much to say that I hope he can avoid a Hans Gruber-like fall off of the Nakatomi building?

[Thegrin]

So what ? Prospect lists are for grins and giggles only. 

[Badsmerf]

At this point, I'm just glad he's on the field. His results this year haven't been great, but he also jumped in mid-season. I'll be more interested how he responds to this season, and the suspension. He is still a great talent.

[drivlikejehu]

Rosario ate up lower-level pitching, but he has always lacked plate patience and his contact-oriented approach hasn't worked at AA. He's a corner outfielder without the ability to hit for significant power or get on base via walk, which means he will have to hit for a very high average.

 

Those concerns have always been there, but with him not hitting for average at age 22 in AA, his stock is definitely way down. I can't see ranking him higher than 9th in the Twins system and even that might be a stretch.

[ScottyB]

Rosario ate up lower-level pitching, but he has always lacked plate patience and his contact-oriented approach hasn't worked at AA. He's a corner outfielder without the ability to hit for significant power or get on base via walk, which means he will have to hit for a very high average.

 

Those concerns have always been there, but with him not hitting for average at age 22 in AA, his stock is definitely way down. I can't see ranking him higher than 9th in the Twins system and even that might be a stretch.

 

MLB already has him ranked #10 behind Buxton, Sano, Stewart, Meyer, Barrios, Gordon, Polonco, May, and Thorpe.

[DocBauer]

Rosario ate up lower-level pitching, but he has always lacked plate patience and his contact-oriented approach hasn't worked at AA. He's a corner outfielder without the ability to hit for significant power or get on base via walk, which means he will have to hit for a very high average.

 

Those concerns have always been there, but with him not hitting for average at age 22 in AA, his stock is definitely way down. I can't see ranking him higher than 9th in the Twins system and even that might be a stretch.

Going to slightly disagree here. I think he has more power potential than many give him. He's a quality hitting prospect with a nice swing, good athleticism, and has shown the ability to hit very solid line drives. Power is often late in developing, even in true power hitters. He had the one big year where he went head to head with Sano all season for the team and league HR mark. Since then, he has not duplicated the 20 HR feat. He is still only 22, and between quick promotions and the suspension to miss the first half of this season, he's seldom spent anything close to a full year at one spot, one level, since rookie ball.

 

I believe experience and further development over the next couple of years, as well as just settling in to a level, will see a jump in Rosario's power. I don't know if he's ever going to be a consistent 20 HR guy or not, but high doubles and consistent mid to upper teen HR totals I think could easily be expected.

[Thegrin]

Eddie Rosario was the lead-off hitter tonight and went 1-5.  He had not played since Monday, July 28. Does anyone know the reason why he was not playing ?

[jorgenswest]

He was not injured. He was disciplined by the team. Wisely, the reason was kept in house thus far.

[Seth Stohs]

Yup, needs to stay in-house... Hopefully nothing too serious.

[drivlikejehu]

It was serious enough for him to sit a few games. Coming off a 50-game suspension, that's not very encouraging.

[maxisagod]

Yup, needs to stay in-house... Hopefully nothing too serious.

This is is 2nd "in house suspension" in as many years, with a 50 gammer from Milb in between them.  Are these in house suspensions, for on field lack of effort, club house issues, or outside ball park issues?   

[diehardtwinsfan]

I believe last year's had something to do with a lack of effort, though I don't think it was really made clear.

[Monkeypaws]

Well, Dozier's spot is looking more secure than ever.

[jorgenswest]

Young guys make mistakes. The reason doesn't matter. Teams are wise to discipline and move forward.

 

He has another month this year to work hard and show he doesn't need a third stop in AA.

[Willihammer]

Before the deadline Dave Cameron wrote a piece about why the Cardinals should be willing to deal Oscar Taveras http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/when-im-a-bit-of-an-oscar-taveras-skeptic/

 

High contact, moderate power, above average wRC+ AAA hitters who profile as corner OF players are among the most overvalued by prospect analysts. Rosario isn't at AAA obviously, but he fits the profile too doesn't he?

[Mike Sixel]

Not everyone agrees with Dave, btw. Otherwise they wouldn't be "over valued".

[TRex]

I think that is why they tried (for a year and a half) to see if he could stick at second base, right?

[Willihammer]

I bring it up because there were calls last offseason to put Rosario on the trading block, with the rationale being that he was blocked at 2nd by Dozier and probably couldn't stick at CF. And with other options at corner OF he looked to be very far down the pecking order.

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/8236-article-eddie-rosario-as-a-trade-chip/

 

Those trade calls were met with "give it another year to see if Dozier flops or Rosario dominates at AA," but nobody considered that Dozier would maintain and Rosario would flounder. Now the Twins dare not trade Dozier and Rosario's value is in the tank.

[drjim]

I bring it up because there were calls last offseason to put Rosario on the trading block, with the rationale being that he was blocked at 2nd by Dozier and probably couldn't stick at CF. And with other options at corner OF he looked to be very far down the pecking order.

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/8236-article-eddie-rosario-as-a-trade-chip/

 

Those trade calls were met with "give it another year to see if Dozier flops or Rosario dominates at AA," but nobody considered that Dozier would maintain and Rosario would flounder. Now the Twins dare not trade Dozier and Rosario's value is in the tank.

 

I thought he would make sense as a future trade candidate, but let's not pretend he had a ton of value last year that was lost. He was a second or (more likely) third piece for a good player.

[Mike Sixel]

And he's young, and has plenty of time to gather value. Ryan does not trade good prospects for players, does he? Calling for it is like calling to sign Grienke or Ellsbury.

[Willihammer]

And he's young, and has plenty of time to gather value. Ryan does not trade good prospects for players, does he? Calling for it is like calling to sign Grienke or Ellsbury.

Clearly there are missed opportunities with such a rigid approach.

 

(Sign Ellsbury)

 

edit: Sorry I couldn't help myself.

[twinsfan34]

If he's healthy tonight...and presumably, if Buxton is as well, it'll be interesting to see who starts in CF tonight...and the other 19 games remaining to follow. My guess is the golden child, Buxton, but then also curious where Rosario then starts LF, 2B, etc.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

Hard to write Rosario off yet.  I would suspect he will see lots of time down the stretch and will play fall and/or winter ball to make up for lost time this year.  Goal for him should be to start at AAA next year with the opportunity to make the club after the start of the season.  

[John Kelsey]

If he's healthy tonight...and presumably, if Buxton is as well, it'll be interesting to see who starts in CF tonight...and the other 19 games remaining to follow. My guess is the golden child, Buxton, but then also curious where Rosario then starts LF, 2B, etc.

 Buxton leading off and playing center, Rosario batting third and playing left tonight. 

[AScheib50]

I'm interested in seeing if Rosario gets much time at 2b this year now that Michael is in AA as well. With buxton being hurt now Rosario will probably be in CF a lot but I wonder what the plan was before.