Panic Time?

[Platoon]

Here is an interesting take on the signing of David Murphy by Ed Thoma. It pretty much states my case for me, with the exception of this thought, It's sink or swim time for the Twins. You can't resurrect this roster with out of work OF'ers. Stay the course, it's going to be ugly, but there is really no choice.

 

http://fpbaseballoutsider.blogspot.com/

[kab21]

I think that is a poorly written analysis.  If a young player is on the roster then he should be playing everyday.  Murphy is fine as the backup OF'er if he is called up.

 

Here is the problem that I brought up this offseason.  The Twins left themselves with no plan B if Buxton failed (it has only been 9 games but it has been bad so far).  The Twins repeatedly do this to themselves (Hicks and Gomez).  That is the frustrating thing.  I might be disappointed that multiple young players are doing terribly this season but that happens with young players.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Me thoughts that Sweeney was the backup plan, but they ditched it.

[Minniman]

 

 

Here is the problem that I brought up this offseason.  The Twins left themselves with no plan B if Buxton failed (it has only been 9 games but it has been bad so far).  The Twins repeatedly do this to themselves (Hicks and Gomez).  That is the frustrating thing.  I might be disappointed that multiple young players are doing terribly this season but that happens with young players.

 

Buxton is playing like I thought he would; he was not ready last season, and nothing has changed to improve his game.

 

Teams that are good year after year bring in young players and mix them with a capable veteran roster. Bringing in so many rookies or second year guys and expecting them all to perform is not a logical expectation.

 

Some teams will do this to give many players experience at once and build through an improved draft, but the team will suffer, and the product will not be high quality for fans. The Twins did this in the early 80s, and Houston had done this recently, but Minnesota had awful teams for so long already that one would expect a better mix by now.

 

This begs the question, where are the veterans? I don't mean overpriced end of career players and cast offs; I mean quality veterans in at least some of the fielding positions on this team. What upgrades have been made? The Twins didn't think all of these young guys would solve all of their problems; did they?

 

[USAFChief]

I concur with the column.

 

It is difficult to have faith in an organization that doesn't have faith in itself.

[mazeville]

I don't understand the Murphy signing. It's a panic move. But it's also putting them in a tough spot with their young outfield. 

 

They traded away Aaron Hicks this offseason and inserted Sano -- and you can't tell me that Sano's struggles at the plate aren't at least partially due to his distraction in learning how to play the outfield. They gave Buxton the CF job even though there was plenty of evidence he needed more time in AAA to learn how to stay away from breaking balls. 

 

And now they sign a veteran outfielder, who bats lefthanded by the way -- just like Oswaldo Arcia, and Max Kepler. 

 

Murphy will come in. He'll demand some playing time. And that will take playing time away from one of the young outfielders. He's hardly a world beater with the bat, though decent. The Twins did the right thing by deciding to focus on their young players. But you also sink or swim with those young players. And you can make the argument that the team has already played itself out of contention this season -- sure, it's early, but they're 0-9 and teams just don't recover from that to make the playoffs.

 

There are plenty of outfielders on the roster already that you can send down Buxton and plenty of potential DH options to send down Park. Why crowd the outfield further in a season that's probably already a lost cause?

 

This stinks.

[gunnarthor]

 

 It's sink or swim time for the Twins. ... Stay the course, it's going to be ugly, but there is really no choice.

http://fpbaseballoutsider.blogspot.com/

I think that's a point that real life GMs have to push back a bit on.  As I see it, I think we should leave Buxton/Rosario in the majors unless the Twins think:

1) the failure's are destroying their confidence, or

2) time in AAA will accelerate their learning curve.

 

But the Twins also have to put a product on the field that all fans (not just those that post on TD) will want to watch.  Target Field prints money for the Pohlad family so they want people in it. TF was funded by tax payers so the team has a PR nightmare if it says 'losing is fine, spend money anyway.'  If the Twins were 4-5 right now, they wouldn't be under this pressure and could let the growing pains happen at this level - which is what I think they expected.  But a historically bad start (probably) means some alterations of the plan.

 

And the GM's job is not just to create the best future team - he very much does have to worry about attendance and revenue and keeping his boss happy.  I don't think the Twins ever wanted to go the slash and burn route that the Astros did, which really hurt their relationship with the fans (their attendance figures, even last year, were worse than the Twins, as were their TV ratings).   It can't ignore the bad start. It's a fine line.

 

So I do think the GM might say - let Buxton get fixed in AAA where the fans won't see those ugly at-bats, bring him up when he's hitting again and in the meantime try to field a more competitive team at the ML level so fans still come to the ball park.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm not sure a 34 year old, corner OF that can't play defense, who hits and fields like Arcia, is a panacea for the MLB team, though........it looks 100% like a panic move, even to my casual fan friends.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

......But the Twins also have to put a product on the field that all fans (not just those that post on TD) will want to watch.  Target Field prints money for the Pohlad family so they want people in it. TF was funded by tax payers so the team has a PR nightmare if it says 'losing is fine, spend money anyway.'  If the Twins were 4-5 right now, they wouldn't be under this pressure and could let the growing pains happen at this level - which is what I think they expected.  But a historically bad start (probably) means some alterations of the plan.

 

And the GM's job is not just to create the best future team - he very much does have to worry about attendance and revenue and keeping his boss happy.....

So, you are saying the David Murphy signing is a ploy to sell more tickets?

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

And the GM's job is not just to create the best future team - he very much does have to worry about attendance and revenue and keeping his boss happy.  

That's St.Peter's job. 

[Homer Hanky]

This is the result of two other moves that I/we were probably not a fan of... 

 

Why sign Park... ? 

 

Why not trade Ploof? 

 

If we would have skipped out on Park... We have plenty of DH options... 

 

If we traded Ploof... Sano I think would be more relaxed and we would not have an OF log jam... 

 

 

 

 

[brvama]

I'm not sure a 34 year old, corner OF that can't play defense, who hits and fields like Arcia, is a panacea for the MLB team, though........it looks 100% like a panic move, even to my casual fan friends.

I have to agree here. It does look like a panic move. And I'm not ready to put the whole thing on TR yet. These kids need to grow and learn, and I'm willing to wait thru that process.

 

What I find curious, and very frustrating, is the apparent reluctance to shuffle the deck for the game lineups. To sit Arcia when those he could replace are struggling is bewildering. Same with moving those hitting together to maybe string some hits together to score runs.

 

I wonder if Molitor, being a cerebral individual, is actually overthinking this and unable to grasp some more obvious moves, which may or may not work. but I'd think it be worth a try or two.

[HitInAPinch]

The entire starting outfield is either under performing or we're seeing what they really are, without the hype.  Murphy WILL be starting somewhere.  Of that I have not doubt.  Who does he replace? 

 

My vote, as much as I like him, is Eddie Rosario.  Why?  I think he needs an attitude adjustment.  

Why not Buxton?  His hitting problems are pretty well known.  That will take more to fix. 

Sano?  Same in RF and he was at 3B:  he can catch what he can reach.  A career DH, IMHO.  Just let him hit and next year make a semblance of actually finding a position for him.

[gunnarthor]

 

So, you are saying the David Murphy signing is a ploy to sell more tickets?

I think it's more to stop the losing.  If Murphy can hit .250/.305/.355 it's a MAJOR upgrade.  Which is sad. But Ryan has to do something.  I suspect Park will be sent down in a few weeks and the other of Buxton/Rosario as well if they don't get it going.  (I think Sano will be fine).  

 

I do wonder how much rope Molitor has.  He probably wouldn't be fired in season but (as others have noted) some of his moves are a bit questionable and I always felt like he was more a Pohlad pick than Ryan.  I don't think it'll happen but it's not a zero chance that maybe Dougie Baseball is managing the team before the season is out.  

[Mike Sixel]

I actually expect Park to take off soon. No idea why, I just have this feeling.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

The brass made a call.  Buxton and Park were ready enough and Rosario and Sano were deserving enough. However, I think it is unfair to say that they expected all four to either elevate or maintain their performance to a consistent major league level.  I am sure they were ready for them to struggle.

 

What they weren't expecting was that Plouffe, Suzuki and Dozier to be so slow out of the gate or for Perkins and Jepsen to under perform.

 

I am sure they thought that their veterans would pull their share of the load, providing some cover for the youngsters.  

 

I would guess they would like to let it ride with their youngsters, but not if their veterans continue to scuffle.  The only reasonable move is to bring in Murphy to hopefully tip the scale toward a little more experience and at least buy some time for the other veterans to right themselves.

 

Sending Buxton or Rosario down until things stabilize is not a bad thing.  I am sure either will be back with the big club in time.   But for now, I think our attention should be paid to our veterans and their ability to provide the key leadership necessary to pull this team out of this miserable start. 

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Anyone expecting Suzuki to be good was probably not a good judge of talent, imo.

 

It also shouldn't totally surprise people that one of Jepsen / Perkins would struggle (though both being actually bad is a surprise).

[kab21]

 

This is the result of two other moves that I/we were probably not a fan of... 

 

Why sign Park... ? 

 

Why not trade Ploof? 

 

If we would have skipped out on Park... We have plenty of DH options... 

 

If we traded Ploof... Sano I think would be more relaxed and we would not have an OF log jam... 

Does a team really have an OF logjam when none of them are hitting?

 

Everyone continues to be concerned a prospect X and prospect Y not having anywhere to play but this is what happens when you have prospects and young players are given starting positions.  Some of them flop and the too many OF'ers situation works itself out.  This is part of rebuilding.