Article: Eddie Rosario Promoted To Twins; Arcia Placed On DL

[Mike Sixel]

Isn't it possible that this is about Rosario, and the Twins seeing what they have (getting more data), AND HAS NOTHING to do with Hicks?

 

Why not just take the move at face value? Why try to read so much back story into the move?

[laloesch]

Good move by the Twins.  It will be nice to see what Rosario can do even if this is a short term callup.  I also like that they were considering Pinto as well.  Looks like we FINALLY get to start seeing the talent that has been drafted these past couple of years.  EXCITING!

[drivlikejehu]

 

Again, my biggest complaint is that the Twins didn't take this approach with Hicks in 2013 or 2014. I'm certainly not going to blast them for finally trying to do right by the kid.

 

There's no question that the Twins have been completely incompetent in their handling of Hicks. The problem with your argument is that, regardless of how long the Twins wait, there is no guarantee Hicks will immediately produce upon returning to the Majors. Even a good, consistent player can have rough stretches.

 

If Hicks comes up and doesn't really hit for a couple weeks, what difference will it make that he (yet again) had performed well in the minors? Either he can handle it mentally, or he can't. Playing well in Rochester will do nothing for him in that regard, anymore than his previous minor league success did in 2013 and 2014 with the Twins.

 

He's 25, he's not the centerfielder of the future anymore, and he's clearly shown he can hit minor league pitching over the years. If he can't cut in the Bigs, so be it... but I don't see any reason to think the damage the Twins have done can be reversed by hanging out in the International League.

[bird]

 

I find it baffling I am on the defend the FO side......I find the move very sensible.

 

 

I second that. You might ask, "what are you seconding, my being baffled at agreeing with the FO, or finding the move sensible?"

 

My answer is yes.

[bird]

 

Sometimes, though, they seem to make these decisions strictly NOT on the basis of box scores.

I doubt there's another organization that does the same thing here.

 

Exactly true, they make these decisions strictly NOT on the basis of the box scores. They have professional coaches watching every AB, every play the guy's involved in, plus his BP's, what time he arrives at the park, etc. 

 

After reading Wetmore's interview, I don't have any further questions about their reasoning, and it isn't all that baffling, given the temporary nature of the call-up.

Edited May 5, 2015 by birdwatcher

[raaschjt]

I'm just glad I don't need to see Arcia's ridiculously bad fielding in right field anymore...

[Shane Wahl]

 

I think there's something outside the box score that bothers the Twins. I would *love* to see an article of that kind that asks the right questions and doesn't accept trite answers. At this point, the front office needs to explain their thinking about Meyer if only to sate the fanbase a bit.

 

Absolutely. I don't see it happening from this group of Twins journalists. Molitor seems more open to a frank discussion, though. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

http://m.1500espn.com/pages/sportswire.php?sID=13742

Fascinating read from Derek Wetmore on the decision. I thought the part about why the slight delay discussed at the end of the article was really interesting and very sensitive to these young kids.

Thanks for the link.  I was most intrigued by the last section of that article, under the heading "Taxi squad."  It seems the Twins and TR consciously delay DL and call-up decisions as long as possible.  (Ultimately only left us short-handed for one game this time.)  That I don't agree with, especially when the players aren't that great anyway.

 

Otherwise, the Rosario decision seems fine to me.  I'd prefer to move on from Schafer too but Rosario over Hicks for 15 days is okay by me.

[Shane Wahl]

The Wetmore article is pretty clear. I think we are looking at a Polanco kind of situation, not a Santana situation. Maybe a bit ahead of Polanco. This says little about Hicks other than in his situation they are not interested in playing yo-yo at all. 

 

Rosario has not played up to the level of his competition, so that is a strange statement. The versatility comment is just in reference to Pinto and Fryer. Eric Fryer was considered . . . that third catcher thing might come from Ryan as much as it did Gardy?

 

I really think some 40 and 25 man roster changes could be in store by August 1st, including some DFAs and a couple trades (Escobar, Fien). Pinto, Rosario, Hicks, Buxton, Sano, Z. Jones (simply the best performer out of those Chatty guys), Oliveros, and Meyer could be Twins starting in August. Polanco, Berrios, Reed, and Burdi get September calls (and Herrmann comes back).

[USAFChief]

Exactly true, they make these decisions strictly NOT on the basis of the box scores. They have professional coaches watching every AB, every play the guy's involved in, plus his BP's, what time he arrives at the park, etc.

 

After reading Wetmore's interview, I don't have any further questions about their reasoning, and it isn't all that baffling, given the temporary nature of the call-up.

It can't be the only thing, but performance (as reflected in the box score) has to be part of the decision process.

 

I don't like signing Pelfrey because he's a good guy, I don't like bringing up Rosario so he can get a taste of big league room service.

[dxpavelka]

In spite of his early struggles at Rochester, he's probably been our most big league ready prospect for quite some time now.  Hopefully, he hits well enough to make Shafer the odd man out when Arcia's ready to go.  After that it's likely only a matter of time before Shane Robinson goes back to being--Shane Robinson and Hicks will replace him by mid June. 

[jokin]

 

Rosario didn't perform well last year. I never said otherwise.

 

But Rosario didn't fail to the point that he considered giving up switch-hitting permanently and didn't even tell his coach about it. That should raise enormous red flags about the mental state of Aaron Hicks as recently as last season. The kid looked and acted completely lost, a guy who was beat before he even stepped into the box. He wouldn't even take the bat off his shoulder, for crying out loud. Even the coaches were confused by his actions.

 

That's not the type of guy you call up until you're sure he has sorted his problems and the Twins' explanation is rational. I'd be disappointed if they hadn't learned from their previous, repeated mistakes with Hicks by now.

 

There's a lot more to a baseball player than a box score. Hicks' numbers were not only bad, he behaved like someone who had lost all confidence in his ability. If you want that person to be a longterm fixture in your organization, you treat him with kid gloves until he gets his head right and then you probably give him a few more weeks to make sure his head is right. Throwing him into the deep end again after he failed multiple times is a good way to waste what could be a valuable asset going forward.

 

Again, my biggest complaint is that the Twins didn't take this approach with Hicks in 2013 or 2014. I'm certainly not going to blast them for finally trying to do right by the kid.

 

Thread Winner

[jokin]

 

Aaron Hicks had multiple months in 2013 where he OPSed over .700. Was he playing well then?

 

Let's not fall over ourselves just because a prospect has a good month, particularly when his name is Aaron Hicks.

 

I just can't wrap my head around why some of you are advocating that the guy get a call-up after so many spectacular failures, time after time after time. What's the rush? What harm is there in letting the kid see success at a level for more than three weeks before promoting him?

 

Hell, right now I'd consider calling up Buxton before I'd call up Hicks if the 40 man wasn't an issue. I'd do everything in my power to let Hicks flourish for a prolonged stretch of time so he has the best possible chance of sticking on the 25 man roster permanently when he does get the call. It doesn't need to be months or even half a season... Just 6-8 weeks of solid play could do wonders for the poor kid's head.

 

Co-Thread Winner

[beckmt]

Twins are taking the long term approach.  If Hicks is to be useful, he needs to eliminate the mental mistakes(that is more of an issue to Molitor than his hitting).  Players without their heads in the game, cannot be at the major league level.  Give Hicks until July and then see what the decision is.  Rosario is probably a short term callup until Arcia returns.  Do not read a lot into this.  The plan for Rosario is to make him want to be here and improve his play until he forces his way here.  The better question is which of Arcia or Vargas gets squeezed out in the long term.

[jimbo92107]

This is a great psychological move for Rosario. See if he likes the coffee in the major league clubhouse. After his pot blunder, the kid may have needed something like this to verify in his mind that he's still highly regarded by the team. I bet he's smiling right now like it's the first time he's seen a sunny day for a couple years.

 

Let's hope he mashes some taters and plays great outfield. Welcome to the big leagues, Eddie Rosario!

[Willihammer]

I wonder if this was less of a Hicks vs. Rosario decision than people think. Perhaps it was more Rosario vs. Arcia.

[Pius Jefferson]

 

I wonder if this was less of a Hicks vs. Rosario decision than people think. Perhaps it was more Rosario vs. Arcia.

 

Do you mean the stay in the big leagues is likely to be only two weeks, and the Twins want Hicks return to be permanent?

[Halsey Hall]

 

Do you mean the stay in the big leagues is likely to be only two weeks, and the Twins want Hicks return to be permanent?

That's the way I see it, and see no wrong with it either.  Give Roserio a taste.  It's only 2 weeks.  I don't think they have any intentions of sending down Hicks again.  When he comes up he either plays or is traded.  The Twins will get a better feel for what they have in Roserio for later in the year when some changes are surely to be made.  This is a test run.

[Mike Sixel]

I think it is possible, only slightly, that if Rosario is good on O, and great on D, that they send Arcia down to AAA. It wouldn't be the first time they do that (see, Hunter, Torii).

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

What kind of numbers would Rosario need to have to stay up with the big league club? I think they would have to be pretty big...

[Mike Sixel]

 

What kind of numbers would Rosario need to have to stay up with the big league club? I think they would have to be pretty big...

 

I think that depends as much on how they feel about Arcia going back to AAA to learn, as it does on Rosario........

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think it is possible, only slightly, that if Rosario is good on O, and great on D, that they send Arcia down to AAA. It wouldn't be the first time they do that (see, Hunter, Torii).

It wouldn't even be the first time they did it with Arcia.  He was sent back to AAA in both May and July 2013 and again briefly in May 2014 after his DL/rehab stint.

[Danchat]

 

I wonder if this was less of a Hicks vs. Rosario decision than people think. Perhaps it was more Rosario vs. Arcia.

Terry Ryan said that "this is most likely not a long-term situation. Obviously that can change." (quoted from the Derek Wetmore article)

 

So unless he breaks out like Danny Santana did, Arcia's gonna get his spot back.

[Shane Wahl]

And what would Arcia learn by returning to AAA?

[Brock Beauchamp]

And what would Arcia learn by returning to AAA?

How to not spill his drink on a bus ride. Past that, I got nothing.

[Mike Sixel]

 

And what would Arcia learn by returning to AAA?

 

No idea, but it wouldn't be the first time a MLB team did this, would it? You really think there is a zero percent chance they won't send Arcia down?

[Willihammer]

Terry Ryan said that "this is most likely not a long-term situation. Obviously that can change." (quoted from the Derek Wetmore article)

 

So unless he breaks out like Danny Santana did, Arcia's gonna get his spot back.

I wonder if Rosario fits a profile the Twins like more. He is the opposite of Arcia in many ways - doesn't strike out much (hasn't struck out since Apr 25), speedy baserrunner, can bunt(?), better defender. People point to the decision not to go day to day with Arcia as a diffference between Molitor and Gardy, but I wonder if it had more to do with capitalizing on an opportunity to compare and contrast. Pure speculation of course.

[drivlikejehu]

I think there's zero chance the Twins send Arcia down at this point. He has proven he can dominate AAA and he needs to develop his game in the Majors. 

 

If Rosario gets hot and they want to keep him, he could play CF.

[TheLeviathan]

 

What kind of numbers would Rosario need to have to stay up with the big league club? I think they would have to be pretty big...

 

I think it's more about his approach than the results.  I'd love to see him stick.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I think there's zero chance the Twins send Arcia down at this point. He has proven he can dominate AAA and he needs to develop his game in the Majors. 

 

If Rosario gets hot and they want to keep him, he could play CF.

 

I agree it is very unlikely......I just don't think it is zero. let's hope Rosario is so good he at least makes them think about it.....