Mason: Previewing the Twins Infield

[John Bonnes]

Lord, but I'm down on the Twins infield situation. Mason gives a good overview and gets Terry Ryan's thoughts...

 

GENERAL MANAGER TERRY RYAN SAYS: "We don't know exactly how Florimon's going to respond. Dozier's got ability. He had a tough time last year. Escobar just came over from the White Sox and it was I think a little bit of a culture shock for him coming from the White Sox to the Twins. Obviously we sent him right to Triple A. I'm sure he wasn't happy with that. He's got talent, or we wouldn't have gone out and got him. With that foursome, we've got a couple other young guys on the roster we're going to bring in as well."

 

Twins ST will see competition in middle infield

[ThePuck]

Team has more question marks than Jim Carrey's Riddler costume...

[TheLeviathan]

He's got talent, or we wouldn't have gone out and got him.

 

I have the better part of a decade supporting my disbelief in this statement.

[70charger]

The middle infield looks to be a real problem. The only guy I think can really "make it" is Brian Dozier, and I doubt that'll be this year. Let's just pray that Morneau stays healthy, Plouffe isn't a mirage, and the other teams don't hit it to the shortstop...

[spideyo]

I think Escobar will surprise people with how capable he actually is, and Dozier will surprise people with his ability to mimic Danny Valencia's career

[snepp]

I think Escobar will surprise people with how capable he actually is,

 

You're referring strictly to the defensive side I assume?

[spideyo]

You're referring strictly to the defensive side I assume?

 

Not nesc. I don't think he'll be a huge power hitter, but he's got good speed and is a decent bunter. When they first got him last year, a coach from Chicago mentioned he hits a lot of line drives. If Bruno can help him develop some more patience at the plate and get those line drives to fall into the gaps, we could see him spinning his wheels around the bases quite a bit, or at the very least giving our power hitters somebody to knock in. And hey, when you look at what Dozier, Casilla, Nishi, Florimon, and Hughes did at the plate last year, he won't really have to do all that much to look like a HUGE improvement over what we've had.