The Denard Span Non-DL Watch

[DPJ]

Misses his 7th straight game Monday and won't play Tuesday since he's getting another MRI.

 

Just amazes me how the team just continues to burn active roster spots.

[bird]

It is amazing. What's even more amazing to me is that our big media pals have not asked the hard questions about this ridiculous pattern. Are they afraid? Under orders to not press? Lazy? Making a calculated decision to protect their "access"?

 

Has anyone ever read something from this FO that addresses this?

[chuchadoro]

You would think the Twins wouldn't be so cavalier with their bench spots, given they have a useless catcher who is one of the worst hitters in the history of baseball rotting there 4-5 days a week. It's tough to make any late inning moves when the bench consists of Butera, Casilla and my grandmother.

[TheLeviathan]

Apologists? I'd really like to hear the people who bristle at every criticism try and defend this. Not only are we already at a week and still performing tests - we happen to have a kid in AAA that is destroying the pitching down there.

 

I just can't wrap my head around this.

[Gernzy]

It is amazing. What's even more amazing to me is that our big media pals have not asked the hard questions about this ridiculous pattern. Are they afraid? Under orders to not press? Lazy? Making a calculated decision to protect their "access"?

 

Has anyone ever read something from this FO that addresses this?

 

This is probably why. The press needs to be careful what the say if they want to stay on the good side of the team

 

As for why we keep doing this I really don't know. Thankfully if he does have to go on the DL it doesn't have to be for a full 15 days, but it's still a huge waste of a bench spot.

[DPJ]

It is amazing. What's even more amazing to me is that our big media pals have not asked the hard questions about this ridiculous pattern. Are they afraid? Under orders to not press? Lazy? Making a calculated decision to protect their "access"?

 

Has anyone ever read something from this FO that addresses this?

 

The beat writers and reporters for the Twins are a bunch of pathetic suck-up yes men. Too concerned about having a good working relationship with the team then actually questioning the way they do business.

[Top Gun]

They probably still lookin to trade him, down playin the injury in hopes of a quick trade before Sept 1.

[Winston Smith]

Wasn't Terry Ryan going to fix this? Another great job by the front office. Same guys different chairs is all.

[DPJ]

They probably still lookin to trade him, down playin the injury in hopes of a quick trade before Sept 1.

 

I doubt Span's contract would pass through waivers.

[gunnarthor]

My guess is that they don't want him on the DL b/c they want to trade him in the offseason and want to say that he had a healthy year after getting dinged up in 2011. And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

[bird]

There you gp again, DPJ, mincing your words...

[TheLeviathan]

My guess is that they don't want him on the DL b/c they want to trade him in the offseason and want to say that he had a healthy year after getting dinged up in 2011. And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

 

Yeah, it would crush us to lose him for an extra week. We may not finish ahead of the Royals!

[gunnarthor]

My guess is that they don't want him on the DL b/c they want to trade him in the offseason and want to say that he had a healthy year after getting dinged up in 2011. And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

 

Yeah, it would crush us to lose him for an extra week. We may not finish ahead of the Royals!

 

I suspect we care more about keeping his trade value high than catching the Royals ....

[DPJ]

My guess is that they don't want him on the DL b/c they want to trade him in the offseason and want to say that he had a healthy year after getting dinged up in 2011. And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

 

Which I could maybe listen too if the Twins didn't have an extensive history burning active roster spots when guys are "day to day" Plus I don't think a quick 15 days on the DL is gonna hurt Span's value in the offseason. Hell every team can see that he missed a good chunk of games in Aug so what's it gonna hurt just sending him to the DL for a quick 15.

[stringer bell]

I thought they should have DLed Span right away. That said, what does it matter? I feel the same way about Butera. If the Twins were in the race I would be breathing fire about wasting a spot on a third catcher and throwing away bench moves because they won't DL the regular CF. I do want to see Parmelee up when he is raking, but if he is just sitting on the bench, it's better for him to be in Rochester.

[luckylager]

At this point in the season, who cares? Rochester is fighting for a playoff spot. Mastroianni is getting a good look filling Span's spot.

[Top Gun]

The F O is pretty stupid. They are probably trying to push Gardy out the door too!

[DPJ]

The F O is pretty stupid. They are probably trying to push Gardy out the door too!

 

Nothing stupid about that!!

[Mike Sixel]

It matters because it is a recurrance of an ongoing problem, that they said they would fix this year.

[jctwins]

It is amazing. What's even more amazing to me is that our big media pals have not asked the hard questions about this ridiculous pattern. Are they afraid? Under orders to not press? Lazy? Making a calculated decision to protect their "access"?

 

Has anyone ever read something from this FO that addresses this?

 

The beat writers and reporters for the Twins are a bunch of pathetic suck-up yes men. Too concerned about having a good working relationship with the team then actually questioning the way they do business.

 

Common and Rosey went after Gardy, Mauer and Morneau after Sunday's post game interviews. How ridiculous it is that they keep talking about what a good team they could be, etc. Common is at arms' length, but Rosen is on the field before BP often. I was surprised by that.

[Mauerzy4Prez]

It is amazing. What's even more amazing to me is that our big media pals have not asked the hard questions about this ridiculous pattern. Are they afraid? Under orders to not press? Lazy? Making a calculated decision to protect their "access"?

 

Has anyone ever read something from this FO that addresses this?

 

The beat writers and reporters for the Twins are a bunch of pathetic suck-up yes men. Too concerned about having a good working relationship with the team then actually questioning the way they do business.

 

Common and Rosey went after Gardy, Mauer and Morneau after Sunday's post game interviews. How ridiculous it is that they keep talking about what a good team they could be, etc. Common is at arms' length, but Rosen is on the field before BP often. I was surprised by that.

 

Common is a bit. Everything he says is a bit, that is what he does... He has no real sports knowledge on anything other than golf. He is there to entertain you, when the going is good, he is positive, when the going is bad, he gets negative. DPJ saying all the beat writers and reporters are a bunch of suck up yes men is bad, but I certainly don't think Common being negative has ANYTHING to do with a legitimate opinion about the team.

[Seth Stohs]

And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

 

I have no problem with this. If you know that he'll be back in 7 days or less, of course you don't DL him. But once it gets to that 7 days and there still is no certainty on when he'll return, DL only makes sense.

[jokin]

And frankly, it's not that uncommon for a team to keep let a banged up player sit for a week so they don't have to lose him for another week. Most teams do it.

 

I have no problem with this. If you know that he'll be back in 7 days or less, of course you don't DL him. But once it gets to that 7 days and there still is no certainty on when he'll return, DL only makes sense.

 

This just in from the Keystone Kops on Day 9 of the Denard Death Watch:

 

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/166844536.html

 

"Span had an magnetic resonance imaging exam of his neck on Monday, which came back negative. On Tuesday he will have an MRI of his right clavicle.

Span injured himself Aug. 12 trying to make a falling catch in center field. He thought he would be ready in a few days, but continues to feel discomfort.

The Twins still won't say he's a candidate for the disabled list, but they ordered the exams to make sure nothing more serious is bothering him."

 

TR usually breaks out Antony for the really ridiculous PR fluff that you just can't make up:

 

"Basically we're doing that just to make sure we're not missing anything," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said. "We want to rule everything out and give him peace of mind."

[snepp]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVUsrF__WyGjN8sdyBkFoWl__1qUpUlhXziIdSaHUvu9UqHMhZg1qK_LGB

[StormJH1]

What makes this approach such a joke is that it's not even like we're in a wild card race or anything where missing out on one or two healthy or close-to-healthy games of Span is THAT big of a deal. Isn't it a bigger to have another bench player for the 15 days, and to make sure that you give Span all the time he needs to get healthy? There's no upside to waiting like this, and it creates stupid situations like the one last year where Mauer had to play right field.

[Mauerzy4Prez]

The way this whole medical staff and front office handles injured players makes me think of the South Park episode where they go through the history of the Morman religion and the entire time there are guys singing "dumb da dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb, dumb da dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb, da dumb dumb dumb dumb dummmmmmmmmmmmmmb"

[diehardtwinsfan]

in 2 months they will find a torn labrum... they'll rest and rehab it and realize in spring training that it needs surgery anyways.

[ofx1]

More of the Twins MO...

 

1) Why carry 3 catchers? Just in case.

2) Why carry 13 pitchers? Just in case.

3) Why not put Span on the DL so you can get one goddamned bat on the bench, just in case? Just in case.

 

It's annoying, and embarrassing.

[Seth Stohs]

I had the following Twitter exchange with Rhett Bollinger, Twins beat writer for mlb.com:

 

[TABLE=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template, width: 500, align: center]

Seth Stohs @SethTweets

[TD=width: 60, align: right]21 Aug[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template-padding, colspan: 2][/TD]

[TD=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template-text, colspan: 2]@RhettBollinger - Has anyone asked why Span has not been put on the DL yet? Is that a bad question to ask?[/TD]

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[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-avatar, width: 48][/TD]

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[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-user-info]Rhett Bollinger[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-template-tweet-user-info]@RhettBollinger[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-padding, colspan: 3][/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-text, colspan: 3]@SethTweets It's been asked. It's just been dragging on. But they feel like they can wait with Carson on roster.[/TD]

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To be honest, I'm good with that answer. It's not like the team uses pinch hitters often, and there is depth enough.

[jokin]

I had the following Twitter exchange with Rhett Bollinger, Twins beat writer for mlb.com:

 

[TABLE=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template, width: 500, align: center]

Seth Stohs @SethTweets

[TD=width: 60, align: right]21 Aug[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template-padding, colspan: 2][/TD]

[TD=class: ecxsmall-tweet-template-text, colspan: 2]@RhettBollinger - Has anyone asked why Span has not been put on the DL yet? Is that a bad question to ask?[/TD]

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[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-user-info]Rhett Bollinger[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-template-tweet-user-info]@RhettBollinger[/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-padding, colspan: 3][/TD]

[TD=class: ecxbig-tweet-template-text, colspan: 3]@SethTweets It's been asked. It's just been dragging on. But they feel like they can wait with Carson on roster.[/TD]

[/TABLE]

 

To be honest, I'm good with that answer. It's not like the team uses pinch hitters often, and there is depth enough.

 

Depth enough? They played 2 games with Butera and Casilla as their bench depth. Begging the question, but they don't use them because they don't have them.