The youth movement must start now because it has already started

[sane17]

Didn't I just read a couple days ago that Alex Swim retired from baseball?

Yes.

On Monday, Alex decided to SINK, rather than SWIM.

[Linus]

The timing of when prospects come up should be completely determined by their readiness regardless of what's happening with the big club. For example had Buxton played all last year at AAA he likely would be up this year. So just because the Twins stink it doesn't mean people should be called up before they are ready. I would love to see Kepler in the Twins outfield but he has his hands full in AAA right now.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Miggy and Trout could not have this team playing .500 ball.

I was curious, so I looked this up at Fangraphs.

 

The biggest gap between Twins WAR at a position, and the MLB leader in WAR at a position, is CF (3.1 WAR).  SP would have a comparable gap too, with Kershaw about 3 WAR ahead of most of our starters so far.

 

If we swapped both of these performances onto the Twins, we would net ~6 wins, leaving us at 14-19 right now and still in last place.  Additionally closing one of the next big deficits at C or one of the outfield corners could get us to .500.

 

Interestingly, the leading CF so far isn't Trout, but actually someone who was available freely this winter (for a comp pick, Dexter Fowler).

[Jham]

Just calling everybody up is a poor excuse for real talent evaluation.  We need to have a much better indication of player readiness (and better coaching to get them prepared) before we just call them up because they're younger.  You can say we got ourselves into this mess by stocking up mid-level talent and refusing to get rid of place-holders.  That's only half of it.  If we're going to keep the Santana's and Hughes' (who you can compete with) then you can afford to sort through your prospects and trade some while they have value (pre-bust or "upside" guys).  Keeping all of your vets and all of your prospects leads to a nice looking farm system, as no one can get called up, and the cupboards keep getting stocked, but it isn't really a realistic way to build a team.

 

Regarding whether 2 MVP's could make this team a contender.  That's hard to say.  Does .500 make you a contender?  What is the average team WAR for the last 4 out?  What's the Twins team War?  What would Trout and Miggy do for us there?  Conceivably, 2 competitive Alphas and a better record could focus, inspire, and improve the play of others.  If I had a line up that included Trout in CF, Miggy, Mauer, and Sano...  I think I'd take my chances.  (with the belief that the current roster is nowhere near an 8-24 team over the next 3/4 of the season).

[laloesch]

 

The extreme version of this looks something like this:

Gibson-May-Berrios-Duffey-Meyer

 

Melotakis, Chargois, Rogers, Burdi (when healthy), Abad, Tonkin, Jepsen, Perkins

 

Mauer, 1B

Polanco, SS

Sano, 3B

Arcia, RF

Park, DH

Dozier, 2B

Rosario, LF

Turner, C

Buxton, CF

 

Kepler, Garver, Santana, Escobar/Beresford (latter if trading Escobar)

 

 

And I would be happier with something closer to this than what is currently occurring. Start it June 15. Trade, trade, trade.

 

 

I am questioning now whether Gibson fits into that equation.  He is another one of those "slow" starters and we have to move away from that as a team in order to be successful.  This year is particularly bad.

[d-mac]

 

I see where you are going here, and I appreciate your enthusiasm and ideas. But I'm going to disagree somewhat with your construction, as listed.

First, given some real time at Rochester, which he is getting, there should be real hope and expectation that said AAA time, and additional ML time later on, that Buxton should be hitting at the top of the order somewhere.

Second, I don't want to trade Dozier. I'm not sure how many people really WANT to see Dozier traded. But as I also stated recently in another thread, it may simply be prudent to do so. Polanco has a ton of talent and potential. But you will never see a return on that talent if you keep Jenkins him around, up and down, on the bench, and constantly moving him around. He is such a good hitter and overall producer that the past three seasons, every team he's been on places him in the 1 or 2 hold, and eventually moves him to the 3 spot because he's so solid and productive. He needs a spot, and I won't argue that point in the slightest.

Third, I know this has been an ongoing debate for some time, but the roster as you select it...and I dont disagree...I think Mauer, looking like his old self, is best in the 3 spot until Kepler is ready to take it from him. I really believe that is his future spot.

I also agree on the rotation. It just makes too much sense to not be that way, though we do run in to the 6 men for 5 spot debate. I also can't argue with your bullpen, though I think it's more fluid. Even with the Hughes move there, there are multiple possibilities there to be determined.

 

I'm not about to put Buxton in the leadoff spot until he proves at the major league level that he can get on base at a consistent rate. If his power develops and he still K's at a high rate, he may be a better fit in the middle of the order. Polanco on the other hand, really hasn't had the same contact and strikeout issues that Buxton has- and has considerably less power. 

 

As far as the #3 hitter goes, contrary to traditional baseball sensibilities it is statistically the least important spot in the first 6 spots in the lineup. The #3 spot is more likely to come up with 2 outs and least likely to lead off an inning than any other spot. Since Mauer doesn't hit for a ton of power, yet has one of the top OBP rates in the game, that makes him the least ideal hitter on this roster for the #3 spot. Conversely, the #2 spot has the highest correlation to run production in the first 6 spots. Putting your best OBP hitter there makes sense. And you're correct, based on Kepler's minor league track record, he may be an ideal candidate to eventually replace Mauer in the line-up, just in the #2 spot, not the #3 spot.

 

As far as Dozier goes, he's had 499 plate appearances since July 1st, 2015. He has hit .210/.283/.369 in those plate appearances. He's been a replacement level player over that time. So he is the definition of replaceable. He'll also be turning 30 in 2017.

[d-mac]

 

Two All-Stars would make this team a contender. Certainly it would forestall the need for any type of massive rebuild activity which is what I originally responded to.

 

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[d-mac]

 

Let's see:  after disposing of everybody  who can make any claim of being a major league player  how do you justify charging admission for games?  If every fan (except for TD armchair GMs) revolt, how do you explain to all of the state that they should continue to pay for a stadium that is supposed to be used for MLB games (except they really aren't!)?  I have read oh so many posts about players being "rushed", and now every prospect is to prove himself at the major league level?  Hmm, panic attack to me. 

 

What's the difference? They're on pace to lose over 110 games. 

[d-mac]

 

Yes.
On Monday, Alex decided to SINK, rather than SWIM.

 

http://rs738.pbsrc.com/albums/xx24/CityFolkAlbum/Reactions/badumtss.jpg~c200