Article: Gardenhire: Dozier will start in Rochester

[Parker Hageman]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?343-Gardenhire-Dozier-will-start-in-Rochester

[Fanatic Jack]

I believe it's very fitting to say manager Ron Gardenhire has set the Twins organization back 10 years. And 10 years is being nice. The guy is a class A bum and could screw up a wet dream.

[Mike Sixel]

This should surprise no one. It's just not the Twins' way to promote a guy like this.

[Seth Stohs]

As a fan of Twins prospects, I am really happy to see Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee, Brian Dozier and Liam Hendriks are giving the Twins front office plenty to think about this spring!!

[Seth Stohs]

That said, the decision for all of them to start in AAA this year is pretty easy, but it's great knowing that they're pretty close if needed!!

[nicksaviking]

So does this mean Nishioka starts at 2B? I thought they were saying they wanted to send him down to work on his SS mechanics, specifically learning how to backhand grounders in the hole.

[gil4]

So does this mean Nishioka starts at 2B? I thought they were saying they wanted to send him down to work on his SS mechanics, specifically learning how to backhand grounders in the hole.

Nishioka has already been sent down.

[Seth Stohs]

I don't know if I'm right on this or not... I don't think Nishioka will be in the organization terribly long. Clearly Dozier's going to be the starting SS. I would think that Florimon, Chang, Hollimon, Burroughs or others will get their playing time. Nishioka may get a game a week at SS (with Dozier moving over to 2B), but I suspect that he'll eventually be released or quit... I could be wrong.

[J-Dog Dungan]

To truly make sure that Dozier is ready for the bigs, it only makes sense that they send him down to AAA. He hasn't even played an inning at AAA before, anyway. If we rush this guy too much, we might set ourselves back even farther with a long-term solution at short. Let him get some time at AAA, maybe not even call him up till September so he can have a full year at AAA and see how concrete the proof that he is about to break out is.

[Ultima Ratio]

Nishioka has already been sent down.

I believe "nicksaviking" is referring to the AAA positioning. You have both Dozier and Nishi playing short. This is the issue: who starts at SS at AAA?

[Seth Stohs]

Nishioka will not get in the way of Dozier...

[Twins Fan From Afar]

Nishioka will not get in the way of Dozier...

Correct. Dozier will be playing every day at AAA. I'm sure the Twins' thought is that Dozier is going to be starting on the major league team for the next several years, while Nishioka is a headache (unless he gets better) for the next two seasons who will not stand as an impediment to other prospects' development.

[Dilligaf69]

That said, the decision for all of them to start in AAA this year is pretty easy, but it's great knowing that they're pretty close if needed!!

 

Agree it's the right move from a baseball perspective.

[Dilligaf69]

I believe it's very fitting to say manager Ron Gardenhire has set the Twins organization back 10 years. And 10 years is being nice. The guy is a class A bum and could screw up a wet dream.

 

 

WOW!

[ben]

I believe it's very fitting to say manager Ron Gardenhire has set the Twins organization back 10 years. And 10 years is being nice. The guy is a class A bum and could screw up a wet dream.

You're right, that is being nice. In 2002 the Twins won the division with 94 wins.

[WJ]

It's 2010 and Danny Valencia all over again. Is Dozier really "too good to be a utility infielder" or did they spend too much on Jamie Carroll for him to be the utility guy? In 2010, it was more important to find a starting job for Nick Punto to justify his $4M contract than to go with Valencia at 3B out of spring training.

[nicksaviking]

Nishioka will not get in the way of Dozier...

Well that would be a first. He's always in the way, ask Nick Swisher.

[nokomismod]

I was hoping for Casilla at 2b and Dozier at SS on the big league roster (with Carrol backing up both).

[Coach J]

Lets not forget Carroll is 38 and Casilla has never been able to produce a full productive season. The longer Dozier stays in AAA, that probably means both our middle infielders are performing pretty well. This has to be looked at as Casilla's last shot at a big league job with the Twins, so once Dozier does get called up, lets hope it is for good.

[bird]

You know Fanatic Jackass, Gardenhire has more baseball knowledge in his Class A bum than you have the capacity to accumulate in an entire lifetime. What's more, he's actually nice.

[eagle]

I believe it's very fitting to say manager Ron Gardenhire has set the Twins organization back 10 years. And 10 years is being nice. The guy is a class A bum and could screw up a wet dream.

Fanatic Jack,

 

I am pretty sure Terry Ryan has a lot to say on player promotions along with the entire Minor league staff. Gardenhire has stated many times that he would like to see Dozier up with the big club but to skip a level doesn't happen very often. I have a feeling if Dozier plays well in AAA, there may be a call up but not until after the date to avoid the super two, sometime in May.

[WJ]

Baseball managers, coaches, and executives with vastly more baseball knowledge and experience than I will ever accumulate get fired all the time.

[OtherHoward219]

The Twins have nothing to lose but a position on the 40 man roster by keeping him in Rochester. Maybe, just maybe, he'll develop into trade bait. They're on the hook for 2 more years anyway, so keep the guy around and see what happens.

If they release him now, he'll probably clear waivers and wind up back in Japan with a bunch of Yen in his pockets and the Twins will never know what might have, could have been. I'm not saying he'll develop into a premier or even a journeyman 2B or SS. But, they might be able to get a bucket of balls and a PTBNL right around July 31st of this year or next.

I really doubt that he'll ever make it back to TF. At least not in a Twins uniform. But with the rather tenuous situation the Twins have up the middle, you never know.

Casilla gets injured and/or has head somewhere else. Jamey Carrol runs out of gas sometime in June. (Think Adam Everett here). Dozier pulls a hamstring and is out for ??. It can happen.

Let him ride the bus around for awhile without having the pressure of being a stranger in a strange land. If he gets it together, fine. If not, well that's OK too.

[Thrylos]

It's kinda of saddening to see all that venom against Nishioka. Ok the guy did not performed to the par last season (but he suffered a broken leg a week into the season.) And he was (apparently) not up to par this Spring Training, but if you look at the numbers, he was not much off than others. Matter of fact he was better than some non-roster people who are either still in big league camp or were cut after him. And he had a bad off-season personally, so he needs a break. And in his awful debut last season, he was not the worse player on the team. That would be someone who the Twins braintrust will push on the 25-man roster as the 3rd catcher for no good reason...

[WJ]

The Twins starting middle infield come August will be Dozier and Nishioka.

[TwinsFanLV]

Gardenhire had a Cy Young, an MVP, and a Batting Title on the same team and failed to win a playoff game.

 

Can we please drop the "Minnesota Nice" b.s. and hire a real manager?

 

I believe it's very fitting to say manager Ron Gardenhire has set the Twins organization back 10 years. And 10 years is being nice. The guy is a class A bum and could screw up a wet dream.