What moves would you make right now?

[tobi0040]

 

I'm not arguing for a Bruno firing -- but doesn't Bruno have a hand in all of those poor K rates, save for Murphy's and Park's?

 

A hand yes.  But this logic of Team not hitting, therefore fire the hitting coach needs to take a step back and think.

 

Should we congratulate Bruno on the work he did over 800 AB's last year for Sano and Rosario, or fire him based on 7 games this year when they struggle?  I think it is one of those the coach gets too much credit for success and blame for failure thing....just like who happens to be president during a good or bad economic run.

 

Just saying I stick with Bruno here.  I think we have constructed a team that is going to whiff a ton for a variety of reasons.  Who they are, inexperience, etc.  And a good chunk of these guys performed well with much larger samples last year.  It is adjustment time for many of them and hopefully Bruno can help with that but we need more time to see that play out and Park and Buxton might need more time at AAA either way

[Vanimal46]

My 4 year old son can explain this very easily using some of his older toys as an example. He doesn't play it anymore and doesn't like them. But if I were to get rid of them he would be incredibly mad. When I ask him why is he mad if I get rid of a toy he doesn't like or play with his reason is two-fold.

 

1) Because . ..

 

and

 

2) It's mine and I want to keep it.

 

Simple . . .

Brilliant Loosey. This describes the Tonkin/Arcia situation perfectly.

 

I'd also include FOMO as another reason why they refuse to let fringe players go.

[Jham]

I'd call up Adam Brett Walker and start him at first base and see if we can be the first team in history to get no-hit on 27 strike outs.  #unbreakablerecord

Honestly, mixing threads here, but I want Mientkiewicz working with the prospects that he helped develop. Molitor has looked over his head in one plus years of in-game managing, often too late or too scared to make a move.  He's also now failed in getting his team ready for the regular season.

At this point, there's not a ton we can do with the line-up, but doing some reshuffling can't hurt.

1) Mauer 

2) Escobar

3) Dozier

4) Plouffe

5) Rosario

6) Nunez/ Arcia

7) Kepler

8) Suzuki

9) Buxton

I would give Park and Sano several days off or a brief stint in the minors.  Park reminds me of Pedro Serano from Major League.  Straight ball he hits very much, but curve ball... bats are afraid.  I dunno, maybe Jobu needs a refill...

[tobi0040]

 

I'd call up Adam Brett Walker and start him at first base and see if we can be the first team in history to get no-hit on 27 strike outs.  #unbreakablerecord

Honestly, mixing threads here, but I want Mientkiewicz working with the prospects that he helped develop. Molitor has looked over his head in to two years of in-game managing, often too late or too scared to make a move.  He's also now failed in getting his team ready for the regular season.

At this point, there's not a ton we can do with the line-up, but doing some reshuffling can't hurt.

1) Mauer 

2) Escobar

3) Dozier

4) Plouffe

5) Rosario

6) Nunez/ Arcia

7) Kepler

8) Suzuki

9) Buxton

I would give Park and Sano several days off or a brief stint in the minors.  Park reminds me of Pedro Serano from Major League.  Straight ball he hits very much, but curve ball... bats are afraid.  I dunno, maybe Jobu needs a refill...

 

That's enough with the fastballs Eddie.  Why don't you throw some breaking balls.

[rghrbek]

The Twins had the worst OB% in the American league last year.   Molly said they had to cut down on strike outs.   What did the Twins do?   They added Park and JMR.    Both high strike out guys and both unproven at the major league level.   Granted we haven't seen much of Murphy Ryan.

 

The league is cruel in it's ability to make adjustments.   Rosario had a .289 ob% last year and tons of strike outs.   Based on his track record in the Milb, there is nothing terribly surprising going on here (likely he is seeing more pitches out of the strike zone then ever).   Sano, couldn't hit the high fastball last year and he is getting a steady dose of them this year, and now has lost confidence.   Buxton never made the transition last year and is still in the process this year.

 

My point is, the Twins were relying on the young kids to carry this team offensively,without any veterans that can carry you on this team.   This is a plan that seems shortsighted and mirrors something that is done in a rebuilding year.

 

Regardless, I think they have to stand pat for the most part.   I agree with most posters, that smaller moves could and should be made (Arcia hitting more, Kepler should be playing either here or at AAA, Park and Rosario maybe less at bats).   We have to see what we have here.

 

If this persists offensively, I would absolutely think Bruno would be the first casualty, although I still think that should be late spring early summer. 

[SwainZag]

 

Brilliant Loosey. This describes the Tonkin/Arcia situation perfectly.

I'd also include FOMO as another reason why they refuse to let fringe players go.

 

They kept Arcia because he proved in 2014 he can be an asset. He showed a lot of power   He seemed to take a step back last year and had injuries, but I see zero reason why they should cut bait on him without giving him a shot this year.  Hell he is still 24, at least for another month.

 

As for Tonkin....has his spot really been a problem? Have the Twins lost anyone of note because he made the roster? He is the last man in the bullpen.

[Mike Sixel]

But, they are not playing Arcia......I would keep him, if he is going to play. If not, why bother?

[Jham]

 

But, they are not playing Arcia......I would keep him, if he is going to play. If not, why bother?

 

Agree here.  Quentin possibly even Sweeney could have at least taken professional at bats.

[alarp33]

 

They kept Arcia because he proved in 2014 he can be an asset. He showed a lot of power   He seemed to take a step back last year and had injuries, but I see zero reason why they should cut bait on him without giving him a shot this year.  Hell he is still 24, at least for another month.

 

 

 

We know why they kept Arcia, I would have as well.  We don't know why they are refusing to use him.  Hell, they had Eduardo Nunez pinch hit in the 9th yesterday

[Pardon My Dinger]

Man, I just feel like Kepler could Rosario his way into the everyday lineup if he got some consistent playing time. 

[d-mac]

I feel like making a ton of movement with the roster at this point is likely just shuffling the deck chairs on the titanic, IMO. I would send down Buxton, possibly Rosario, bring up Mastro to handle CF and get Kepler in left. Buxton and Rosario need more time in AAA to see AAAA junk ballers for a few months and learn some better pitch recognition and plate discipline. 

[bluechipper]

Man, I just feel like Kepler could Rosario his way into the everyday lineup if he got some consistent playing time.

 

I think only Mauer could match the professionalism at the plate that Kepler showed in his lone AB.

 

Kepler takes walks and he doesn't strikeout. That's exactly what this team needs more of, so I really hope he gets some consistent playing time while he's up.

[bluechipper]

Here are my predictions in the next two to three weeks. I don't know that we do much of anything right now.

 

Buxton and Park go to AAA.

 

Sano to DH

 

Kepler goes to RF

 

The pen shake up begins.

 

Things that should happen but won't:

 

Murphy getting drastically more reps than Suzuki.

 

A deeper pen shake up.

 

Also, I think it is a little unfair to fire Brunansky. We have to consider the team he was handed here, the inexperience, and whiff rates.

 

Park - 0 MLB at bats with a 25% k rate in Korea.

 

Rosario - 470 MLB at bats, 25% k rate last year.

 

Buxton - 138 MLB at bats. 32% k rate last year and only 59 AB's above AA.

 

Murphy - 270 MLB at bats, 25% k rate.

 

And then you have two guys that even when productive are going to whiff a ton (Sano and Dozier). Sano had a really productive 335 AB's last year but struck out 35% of the time. Dozier had a pretty good season and still set the franchise mark. But given the issues of the Park's, Buxton's, etc, we tally all the k's and these two could add to that tally while still having good years (I think they likely will aside from the first 7 games).

 

Here is a dark horse prediction. If Sano continues to struggle, we will hear more rumblings about him being overweight.

So Danny Santana is the CFer in this prediction? I think more likely would be Kepler taking over there.

[d-mac]

 

Not only that, but then we asked Suzuki to sacrifice, giving up one of our 9 outs remaining to advance the non-tying run from first to second.

[d-mac]

 

 

Here is a dark horse prediction.  If Sano continues to struggle, we will hear more rumblings about him being overweight.

 

Twins, throwing young players under the bus for as long as I can remember.

[d-mac]

 

But you don't have to keep him either.  He is what he is.  They have better options in the minors.  Give Fiend the chance to grab on with another team.

 

Free up at 40 man so Mastro can play in CF while Buxton gets a half a season in AAA.

[d-mac]

 

I think if I spent all winter assembling this team, and all spring training making decisions on what's the best current deployment, I'd give it more than a week before making big decisions.

 

Although, figuring out how to put more usable options in the pen might not be a bad idea immediately.  It's just "mind boggling" how they're to afraid to use a guy like Tonkin in a prominent role, for a couple years now, while simultaneously afraid he'll be claimed by another team, so he must be kept on the 25 man roster.

 

Probably because you'd do a better job of assembling the team and making better roster decisions than Ryan. I feel like most of us could.

[d-mac]

 

Eduardo Escobar just turned 27

 

I'd hardly call 27 young for a SS. 26-29 is physical prime for a position player. Middle infielders and CF's fall off sooner defensively and speed-wise. 

[d-mac]

 

Just saying...............
35 - HRs
31 - 2B's
5 - 3B's
71 - XBH's
127 - RBI
101 - RUNS
195 - SO's
PER 162 GAME AVERAGE (MiLB #'s)

 

I know I know - He would "probably" strike out even more than Sano, Buxton, and Park?  He "probably" wouldn't come close to touching MLB pitching if these guys are struggling?  I know one thing - When ABW II was on those stacked minor league teams with Sano and Buxton, his numbers were crazy good.  And I said CRAZY GOOD.  Do RBI's matter now folks?  I'm thinking DH opportunity couldn't provide  any worse production!  Do you know of anybody in minor league baseball who shares those above number comparisons?  Risk - Reward!  Time to take a Risk

 

Because our line-up needs more K's. 

[d-mac]

 

My 4 year old son can explain this very easily using some of his older toys as an example.  He doesn't play it anymore and doesn't like them.  But if I were to get rid of them he would be incredibly mad.  When I ask him why is he mad if I get rid of a toy he doesn't like or play with his reason is two-fold.

 

1) Because . ..

 

and

 

2) It's mine and I want to keep it.

 

Simple . . .

 

So we have a GM with logical reasoning capacity and emotional maturity of a 4 year old? That's redic... Wait, no. That explains a lot actually. 

[Blackjack]

People need to calm down, the Twins aren't going to be making any big changes after 7 games.

 

As others have mentioned, I hope they give Kepler some consistent playing time while he's here, take the opportunity to see what he can do. Then when Santana comes back, if Kepler is playing well, send either Rosario or Buxton or Park down. Or two of the three and bring up Mastro.

[awinter]

 

I think it's time for a roster move or two and a line-up tweak. I'd do the following:

 

Send Park down. He's in a bit over his head and it couldn't possibly hurt to hit AAA pitching for awhile. Meanwhile Sano is pressing big time. The RF thing isn't helping. At least push pause on it and get him back to DH (and down in the line-up).  I'm not sure it matters who comes up since Kepler is already here. It would only be until Santana is back.

 

Line-up shake-up:

 

1. Escobar

2. Mauer

3. Dozier

4. Plouffe

5. Arcia RF; Kepler platooning.

6. Sano DH

7. Rosario

8. Murphy (he should play at least 50%)

9. Buxton

I like it- here's my "short-term fix" lineup.

 

1. Escobar

2. Kepler

3. Mauer

4. Plouffe

5. Sano

6. Dozier

7. Murphy/Suzuki

8. Rosario

9. Buxton

 

Escobar at the top to spark the lineup with an occasional extra base hit. Kepler replaces Park, he will strike out less and hitting in the 2-hole is much less pressure than hitting 5th (or even 3rd). So far, Mauer has been hitting better than anyone so he stays at 3. Dozier moves down based on performance. I've got Rosario & Buxton at the bottom of the order to provide speed on the base paths for Escobar to work with.

 

I'd like to see the Twins cut down on strikeouts and improve onbase percentage- Kepler over Park should do this. I also would like to see the them bring up Polanco and work him in wherever they can (2nd base to give Dozier a few days off, and try to get him some starts at short & DH (I'm not advocating for him to supplant Escobar or be a regular DH, just want to see what we have in him). I think he's likely to get on base more than Dozier and for sure strike out less. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more Arcia against righties, even though that may result in more strikeouts- IMO he has too much upside still to leave him on the bench.

[jimbo92107]

Send down Park and Buxton, bring up Polanco and Mastroianni.

 

Play Rosario, Kepler, Arcia in OF, Mastro 4th OF, bats first when he starts. Sano to DH.

 

DFA Casey Fien, bring up Graham. Put Jake Reed on the 40, bump him to AAA, next in line for middle relief. 

 

1. Dozier (Mastro when he starts over Kepler)
2. Mauer
3. Escobar 
4. Plouffe
5. Arcia RF
6. Sano DH
7. Rosario CF/LF 
8. Kepler, LF/CF (platoons with Mastro)
9. Catcher

 

If Perkins doesn't pick up his game soon, he goes to setup man, Jepsen becomes closer. Get ready for Burdi. 

[h2oface]

 

Not sure how a team that has a good Spring Training could start the season so poorly.  Overrated?

 

Baltimore lost something like the first 12 Spring Training games..... and they stand as the last undefeated team in baseball. Go figure. As much as we want spring training to mean something..... it never really does.

[wickedslider]

 

When you construct a roster with low on base-high strikeout guys what do you expect? This really shouldn't be that big of a surprise.

that has been my continuing argument about this lineup ever since we signed Park. We didn't need a player like him in the batting order. Hitting is contagious.We need a couple of high on base % types, who cause pitchers to lose a bit of concentration, and forces them to throw from the stretch position as some of their velocity/effectiveness is thus diminished. K's don't advance runners the way a sac fly or ground out does. I really don't get this roster compilation.

[Hrbowski]

1) Sending Park or Buxton down is ridiculous.

2) Burdi is going to be out for a while, so people might as well stop talking about him being groomed for Perkins' job.

3) Tim Lincecum, Justin Masterson, and Greg Holland are interesting reclamation projects that could be useful later this year or next year.

[awinter]

Just an observation I want to point out: it seems the Twins are trying to win with a model that seemed to work in the mid-2000's for a certain Central division foe that's currently in town. Have a lineup of guys with slugging ability at the expense of on-base skills and a rotation that is solid across the board, but with no ace. I'll use 2005 as an example- this worked in Chicago for a few reasons.

1. The starting staff had 4 starters that had career years AND each pitched over 200 innings, which led to:

2. A rested bullpen

3. Their top 4 homerun producers struck out no more than 109 times each

 

2016 Twins

1. Solid with no ace, but not too likely for more than 1 or 2 of them to go 200 innings

2. Bullpen has pitched a lot already. As currently constructed, I expect struggles to continue. Although we can all hope that the reinforcements in Rochester & Chattanooga will provide relief.

3. Our expected top 4 homerun producers look like they could strikeout at least 150 times each.

 

I'm honestly not trying to be negative... just was interested by the comparison of the two clubs.

[SwainZag]

 

Baltimore lost something like the first 12 Spring Training games..... and they stand as the last undefeated team in baseball. Go figure. As much as we want spring training to mean something..... it never really does.

 

It's about the winning and losing, it was more about the team was hitting.  I know the pitching wasn't the same caliber, but the AB's were better.  Sano wasn't missing continuous 94 MPH fastballs down the heart of the plate.  It just seems like everyone is pressing right now.  Trying to hard to get that big hit, trying to hit that 5-run HR.  They need to relax a little bit at the plate, i don't even know.

[SwainZag]

 

Just an observation I want to point out: it seems the Twins are trying to win with a model that seemed to work in the mid-2000's for a certain Central division foe that's currently in town. Have a lineup of guys with slugging ability at the expense of on-base skills and a rotation that is solid across the board, but with no ace. I'll use 2005 as an example- this worked in Chicago for a few reasons.

1. The starting staff had 4 starters that had career years AND each pitched over 200 innings, which led to:

2. A rested bullpen

3. Their top 4 homerun producers struck out no more than 109 times each

 

2016 Twins

1. Solid with no ace, but not too likely for more than 1 or 2 of them to go 200 innings

2. Bullpen has pitched a lot already. As currently constructed, I expect struggles to continue. Although we can all hope that the reinforcements in Rochester & Chattanooga will provide relief.

3. Our expected top 4 homerun producers look like they could strikeout at least 150 times each.

 

I'm honestly not trying to be negative... just was interested by the comparison of the two clubs.

 

The problem also is those HR hitters aren't hitting any HR, they are just striking out.  When Sano, Buxton and Rosario are combined hitting worse than the NL pitcher line, you know something is just out of the ordinary.  

[alarp33]

 

that has been my continuing argument about this lineup ever since we signed Park. We didn't need a player like him in the batting order. Hitting is contagious.We need a couple of high on base % types, who cause pitchers to lose a bit of concentration, and forces them to throw from the stretch position as some of their velocity/effectiveness is thus diminished. K's don't advance runners the way a sac fly or ground out does. I really don't get this roster compilation.

 

And it's been part of my continuing argument that Plouffe should have been traded.  The lineup construction makes very little sense, completely ignoring the fact they're playing Sano in RF.  Too many low obp right handed bats.