Roster revamp?

[nicksaviking]

I would keep all three. I don’t see anyone in AAA I want starting twice a week. Good defensive catchers will not be easy to find midseason. Trade Castro now followed by a concussion to Garver and the Twins are very thin at catcher especially if the increased load exposes Astudillo shortcomings defensively.

I don’t mind keeping them for now, the bench is pretty flexible with Gonzales and Astudillo. But I’m not going to sweat losing Castro. I don’t think he’s markedly better than Bobby Wilson or whomever is available at the time.

[DocBauer]

Ever since the Willingham/Doumit era, this team's roster has had hardening of the arteries where it came to bat-first guys. No roster flexibility, just players signed to play a corner position (or poorly at an up-the-middle position) with a side comment "and if nothing else he can DH". It seemed to me, after a while, that it came from a lazy point of view, since that kind of player is always one of the most easily available. Cruz in that regard is somewhat of a refreshing experience, as he was signed with no pretense toward being a position player - the bat has to be perceived as really, really good to make that work.

 

As for catcher, in this era of 13-man pitching staffs you just can't have 3 of them anymore. Either Astudillo has to be so valuable at other positions that you can keep him in a genuine utility role, or you choose between him and Garver for Rochester, or you work an emergency trade to get Castro off the books for as much salary relief as you can negotiate with some other team. I am guessing the higher-ups turn thumbs down on any Castro trade FalVine can come up with, as it won't likely cover 100% of the salary. And Astudillo as utility guy is half-assing it in my book, since it only means "third base, maybe left field once a month if you have to, and first base which is easy to cover".

 

Mid-game at this writing, Astudillo's BA has slipped to only .538, so he might be the first to go.

Totally agree with just about everything you said here, Ash! There has been WAY too much old school construction in the past, and simply locking in to guys for their role and their spot.

 

And while we can debate the Austin situation, and are, I think that old school mentality is clearly changing with Baldelli in charge. Yes, the Twins have a set OF lineup most days. But why wouldn't they with Rosario, ZBuxton and Kepler? But Cave has been seeing time. Astudillo has seen time in the OF as well.

 

Speaking of Astudillo, he's also seen time behind the plate, 3B and 1B as well. Gonzalez has only been at 3B thus far, as I recall, and has been struggling at the plate since the first game. But with his late start and past history, are we really worried about him? We can say we have 3 catchers on the roster, but is that really accurate? We have a veteran catcher back from a major knee injury, a young catcher with a potent bat in Garver who continues to develop defensively and can play some 1B if needed, and we have a guy in Astudillo who can catch decently/well but can also be viewed as another "super-sub".

 

Now, Astudillo is absolutely not to be compared to Gonzalez as a similar "super-sub". But he looks fine...whenever I have seen him or listened to games...as a 3B, 1B, LF option who can "apparently" play some 2B without embarrassing himself. I would think he'd be an good to outstanding PH option. So I don't know I'd say the Twins are necessarily carrying 3 catchers.

 

I find some of the debates/opinions regarding Adrianza interesting. He is, in reality, the classic utility infielder. And he by no means a great player or a dangerous hitter. But he is a fine and often excellent defensive player who has hit better then. 250 in each of his seasons with the Twins, provided occasional pop, has handled the bat well in "situations" and even snuck in a few SB. And while his time with the Twins could be short lived with overall depth/options and kids coming up, he's a pretty decent bench guy to have around.

 

I'm not big on a DH only guy unless he is special. And while I advocated for Brantley or McCutchen over Cruz to provide a true positional player for even better lineup versatility and construction, I'm very happy to have Cruz. And I think we can all agree on that point.

 

While we can absolutely debate the timing and usage of Austin, barring injury, I think we can all pretty much agree he was going to be the odd man out eventually. Sooner or later...and let's be honest, we all hope it's sooner...Sano will be healthy and ready to go and start to shine again with his ability and new dedication. That means yet another move, beyond Austin, is going to have to take place. (Again, barring injury). That is going to be a much more difficult and complex move.

 

Again, I don't feel the Twins are necessarily carrying 3 catchers. But they have 3 guys who CAN play the position. And two of them are younger, cheaper, better offensively, and have growth potential. Is this where the veteran Castro gets squeezed out? He's not signed beyond this season and the FO/ownership has eaten contracts or portions thereof in previous moves.

[Jacksson]

When Sano, FINALLY IS HEALTHY, Astudillo will probably be optioned to Rochester.

At the trade deadline, Castro, Gonzalez, Odorizzi, will be shopped and Astudillo will be recalled.

[Mr. Brooks]

I don’t mind keeping them for now, the bench is pretty flexible with Gonzales and Astudillo. But I’m not going to sweat losing Castro. I don’t think he’s markedly better than Bobby Wilson or whomever is available at the time.

Bobby Wilson has a career .577 OPS.

By which measurement is Castro not markedly better than Wilson?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I’d dump Castro and keep Garver and Astudillo if push cane to shove. Both play other positions and both have much, much better bats.

Glove only catchers are DFA’d weekly, if for some reason one is needed they can grab one off of waivers any time.

While I agree with your concept of glove only catchers, I'd point out that Castro is not a glove only guy. He's well above average for a C. Castro isn't the problem on this team. I wasn't excited about the signing, and I'm not getting the angst here either. 

 

As someone else said, a good 25 man roster is 30 deep. That's how you make it 162 games.

[TheLeviathan]

 

While I agree with your concept of glove only catchers, I'd point out that Castro is not a glove only guy. He's well above average for a C. Castro isn't the problem on this team. I wasn't excited about the signing, and I'm not getting the angst here either. 

 

As someone else said, a good 25 man roster is 30 deep. That's how you make it 162 games.

 

It doesn't make sense to me to send down the 15th or 16th best guy so we can protect the 24th.  We can quibble about where guys would rank but I hope you see my point.  By every measure - Castro is not a good hitter.  Even for a catcher. 

 

Seems to me, the best way to have the best record you can over 162 games is to play the best players.  Austidillo needs to play and catcher seems like the best spot.  If we have to ditch Castro to do that....so be it.

[Rosterman]

It's a long season, and an even longer first month.

 

Will be interesting to see if anyone grabs Austin and if they don't the decision Austin will have to make about being a free agent.

 

Interesting that the Twins took Chase DeJong, who was scheduled to pitch today, instead of Littell, who was scheduled to pitch tomorrow. The only evil I see of DeJong is that if they have to send him back down, he gets waived off the 40-man and goes thru the whole mess again. Guess it gives the Twins an open roster spot to play musical chairs with pickups and such. I mean, will DeJong be around when Magill or Moya or Reed come back?

 

What to do with that third catcher. Garver is hitting. Can he play as a regular (will have to in 2020). Is Willians a suitable backup? Can you get anything for Castro? Right now, you can carry three. The decision is who plays third - Adrianza, Gonzalez or Willians. I vote Willians playing every single day if you can plug him in somewhere. The guy is hot hot hot. You don't have to make a decision until the return of Sano. By then, you get to decide who goes, be it hire, Cave or that third catcher.

 

What gives! Two games in a National League park and you can't use Cruz as a pinch hitter for the pitcher?

[nicksaviking]

While I agree with your concept of glove only catchers, I'd point out that Castro is not a glove only guy. He's well above average for a C. Castro isn't the problem on this team. I wasn't excited about the signing, and I'm not getting the angst here either.

 

As someone else said, a good 25 man roster is 30 deep. That's how you make it 162 games.

I guess I’d disagree that he’s well above average for a catcher. He has been a couple of times in his career, but for the most part he’s been the stereotypical offensive black hole catcher.

 

But either way, I don’t think the Twins need to worry about having a guy who’s ‘a good hitter for a catcher’ now they have two actual good hitters who can catch.

 

But I have no problem if they keep him, just not at the expense of the two guys who can help the team win with their bats.

[Channing1964]

C'mon guys now if you remember, Castro was part of the miracle of 2017. ok now, its not like he WON'T hit. Plus we are left handed hitting Starved at the moment.

[jimbo92107]

Jason Castro is a solid defensive catcher, but nothing amazing. Frankly, Drew Butera was better defensively. Thing is, both Garver and Astudillo appear to be equally solid behind the plate, and both those guys are much better hitters. 

 

Unless Castro's bat bursts into the incandescent flame of justice and vindication, I don't see much reason to keep him around over the two demonstrably better hitters. If Castro were gone and one of the other guys got injured, I would not hesitate to bring up Brian Navarro, a big, strong defensive catcher. And I hear he works relatively cheap.

[Mr. Brooks]

Jason Castro is a solid defensive catcher, but nothing amazing. Frankly, Drew Butera was better defensively. Thing is, both Garver and Astudillo appear to be equally solid behind the plate, and both those guys are much better hitters.

 

Unless Castro's bat bursts into the incandescent flame of justice and vindication, I don't see much reason to keep him around over the two demonstrably better hitters. If Castro were gone and one of the other guys got injured, I would not hesitate to bring up Brian Navarro, a big, strong defensive catcher. And I hear he works relatively cheap.

Navarreto has a .573 milb OPS.

To put that into perspective, Drew Butera had a .610 milb OPS.

Jason Castro had an .804 milb OPS.

 

With all the hyperbole about how awful Castro is with the bat, I find it fascinating that people want to replace it with someone who will hit much much worse.

[ashbury]

Interesting that the Twins took Chase DeJong, who was scheduled to pitch today, instead of Littell, who was scheduled to pitch tomorrow. The only evil I see of DeJong is that if they have to send him back down, he gets waived off the 40-man and goes thru the whole mess again.

I think DeJong has a minor league option remaining. He can be sent to Rochester without necessarily removing him from the 40-man and exposing him to waiver claims.

[Platoon]

Ever since the Willingham/Doumit era, this team's roster has had hardening of the arteries where it came to bat-first guys. No roster flexibility, just players signed to play a corner position (or poorly at an up-the-middle position) with a side comment "and if nothing else he can DH". It seemed to me, after a while, that it came from a lazy point of view, since that kind of player is always one of the most easily available. Cruz in that regard is somewhat of a refreshing experience, as he was signed with no pretense toward being a position player - the bat has to be perceived as really, really good to make that work.

 

As for catcher, in this era of 13-man pitching staffs you just can't have 3 of them anymore. Either Astudillo has to be so valuable at other positions that you can keep him in a genuine utility role, or you choose between him and Garver for Rochester, or you work an emergency trade to get Castro off the books for as much salary relief as you can negotiate with some other team. I am guessing the higher-ups turn thumbs down on any Castro trade FalVine can come up with, as it won't likely cover 100% of the salary. And Astudillo as utility guy is half-assing it in my book, since it only means "third base, maybe left field once a month if you have to, and first base which is easy to cover".

 

Mid-game at this writing, Astudillo's BA has slipped to only .538, so he might be the first to go.

me, after a while, that it came from a lazy point of view, since that kind of player is always one of the most easily available. "Easily available" could also be defined as cheapest. . In my world, Garver would go down to Rochester. Then I would let the Astudillo thing play out. There seems to be no difference in the two's catching ability. And if Castro has an edge, it's minor. If Astudillo holds up, I ship out Castro near the deadline. If Castro was far superior defensively I would keep him, but I don't see that. Plus his knees are still, to me, a concern.

[stringer bell]

 

I think DeJong has a minor league option remaining. He can be sent to Rochester without necessarily removing him from the 40-man and exposing him to waiver claims.

So the choice was to add De Jong and fill the 40-man over Littel, whose option was already used? I'm not a big fan of either, but if this is just shuttling between Rochester and the long man in the 'pen, I guess it doesn't make much difference. They have Magill, Moya and Reed to add back to the bullpen soon, so I would expect De Jong won't be around long. 

[ashbury]

So the choice was to add De Jong and fill the 40-man over Littel, whose option was already used? I'm not a big fan of either, but if this is just shuttling between Rochester and the long man in the 'pen, I guess it doesn't make much difference. They have Magill, Moya and Reed to add back to the bullpen soon, so I would expect De Jong won't be around long. 

I think it was stated elsewhere that everyone on the 40-man sitting in Rochester was ineligible to be brought up because it hadn't been 10 days. Thus someone else needed to be added, *if* they were going to do it the day they did.

[jorgenswest]

Interesting that the Twins took Chase DeJong, who was scheduled to pitch today, instead of Littell, who was scheduled to pitch tomorrow. The only evil I see of DeJong is that if they have to send him back down, he gets waived off the 40-man and goes thru the whole mess again. Guess it gives the Twins an open roster spot to play musical chairs with pickups and such. I mean, will DeJong be around when Magill or Moya or Reed come back?

The Twins could not recall Littell or anyone else on the 40. They need to spend 10 days in the minors after they being optioned.

 

Their only option for adding a pitcher from AAA was to select the contract of a player not on the 40 man roster. DeJong happened to be scheduled to start. He also has an option. They won’t need to expose him to waivers when they return him to AAA.

[nicksaviking]

Navarreto has a .573 milb OPS.

To put that into perspective, Drew Butera had a .610 milb OPS.

Jason Castro had an .804 milb OPS.

With all the hyperbole about how awful Castro is with the bat, I find it fascinating that people want to replace it with someone who will hit much much worse.

We’re talking about a guy who should be the #3 catcher, it’s not about choosing between a bad bat and an awful bat, it’s about managing the roster and getting the best hitters the most at bats.

[Mr. Brooks]

We’re talking about a guy who should be the #3 catcher, it’s not about choosing between a bad bat and an awful bat, it’s about managing the roster and getting the best hitters the most at bats.

Unless one of your catchers gets hurt, now that awful bat is playing in 1/3 of the games, instead of just a slightly below average for a catcher bat.

 

The post I was responding to stated they would be fine dumping Castro, then bringing up Navarreto as the backup if Garver or Astudillo got hurt.

[Mr. Brooks]

The Twins could not recall Littell or anyone else on the 40. They need to spend 10 days in the minors after they being optioned.

 

Their only option for adding a pitcher from AAA was to select the contract of a player not on the 40 man roster. DeJong happened to be scheduled to start. He also has an option. They won’t need to expose him to waivers when they return him to AAA.

If they couldn't recall Littell, then why did they tell him to be ready to come up on Saturday?

If the FO didn't know the rules, that is very concerning.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't know about "superstar" but Astudillo's last year-plus in the minors suggest he could be an all-star type bat, especially at catcher. The addition of power to his game has been huge. A 123 wRC+ over the last 435 PA in AAA, and nothing seems particularly fluky (for him) about those batting lines anymore (if anything, his AAA BABIP last year was low, at .255, and thus wRC+ could have been even higher).

 

He really needs to be starting every day now, either at C or 3B, and if he keeps it up, it will probably be worth making him the primary catcher and finding another solution at 3B.

I suspect the front office is moving in that direction, albeit not immediately.

 

In the case of catching, they shouldn’t make that kind of snap judgment. Astudillo is getting reps behind the dish every third day or so. When your backup catcher is Garver, I think that says a lot about how the org views Astudillo. Garver, while defensively sketchy (but also improving, at least visually), has a potentially elite bat for a catcher. If Willians is taking games away from him, that tells me the front office is intrigued by Astudillo.

 

Also, dropping Castro is pure madness when you have a defensively-challenged catcher and a curious enigma rostered behind him. You want Castro guiding those guys as much as possible for as long as possible.

 

Like I said last year, I think one of the worst things that happened to Mitch Garver is Castro going down for the entire season. Garver could have learned a lot about the finer points of modern catching by sitting next to Jason 162 times a year and implementing those lessons every third day.

[jorgenswest]

If they couldn't recall Littell, then why did they tell him to be ready to come up on Saturday?

If the FO didn't know the rules, that is very concerning.

I really don’t find myself at all concerned.

[Doctor Wu]

 

Ever since the Willingham/Doumit era, this team's roster has had hardening of the arteries where it came to bat-first guys. No roster flexibility, just players signed to play a corner position (or poorly at an up-the-middle position) with a side comment "and if nothing else he can DH". It seemed to me, after a while, that it came from a lazy point of view, since that kind of player is always one of the most easily available. Cruz in that regard is somewhat of a refreshing experience, as he was signed with no pretense toward being a position player - the bat has to be perceived as really, really good to make that work.

the Willingham/Doumit era ... I love it! That has a much better ring to it than the Punto/Delmon Young era.

[Mr. Brooks]

I really don’t find myself at all concerned.

It's not at all concerning to you if the FO doesn't even know the basic transaction rules?

[terrydactyls]

Does Castro have trade value? I’d think you could get a reasonable pitching prospect for him.

Only if you define reasonable as "still breathing."

[stringer bell]

 

If they couldn't recall Littell, then why did they tell him to be ready to come up on Saturday?
If the FO didn't know the rules, that is very concerning.

Could it be they thought they would put someone on the injured list? That would negate the requirement for how long they were in Rochester, correct? 

[Mr. Brooks]

Could it be they thought they would put someone on the injured list? That would negate the requirement for how long they were in Rochester, correct?

I hope it's that, and not that they didn't know the rules.

But who would it be? Is anyone on the roster banged up right now?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I hope it's that, and not that they didn't know the rules.

But who would it be? Is anyone on the roster banged up right now?

My guess is the reporting was flawed, not the FO’s knowledge of the rules. We see this not just in baseball.

[stringer bell]

Once the spate of off-days is over, I would think the Twins will want 12 pitchers going forward. Perez would join the rotation, vacating his multi-inning relief role, so someone who can throw 2-4 innings would be a replacement. De Jong could be that guy (or Magill or Littell) or they could go with Meija in that role and then add another 1 or perhaps 2 inning guy (Vasquez or Moya). Honestly, I haven't heard any reports on the Injured List pitchers--are they close to at least a rehab assignment?--but it appeared when the team made their final cuts that all but Moya's injury were convenient.

 

On the catching front, the ideal situation would be to have a starter and backup and a third guy to come up in event of injury. Going into the season, I thought starter (Castro 110-120 games if healthy), backup Garver (50-60 games) and third guy Astudillo (injury replacement-utility) but Willians has been too good to be an injury replacement guy shuttled to the minors. Castro is an experienced lefty hitter, with a decent reputation as a catcher. His lifetime OPS is .695, not Ruthian, but not Drew Butera either. Garver has a big-league bat and has shown progress as a receiver. Yes, it is now a nice problem to have, but will be tough to sustain for an entire season. If the Twins don't have a chance to contend, I guess Castro would be on the trade block.

[Mr. Brooks]

My guess is the reporting was flawed, not the FO’s knowledge of the rules. We see this not just in baseball.

Definitely very possible considering the source of both the initial report as well as the follow up.

[Monkeypaws]

 

If Willians is taking games away from him[Garver], that tells me the front office is intrigued by Astudillo.

 

Just like the rest of us.

 

I think Rocco likes putting him in the lineup as well.

 

 

BTW, Castro has the fewest ABs so far this season for non-pitchers with 7, 3 fewer than Garver, and 7 fewer than Astudillo.