Yasser Mercedes
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A conversation Baldelli and the FO need to have, and I want to mediate.
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Twins fans seriously have to start letting the GM General manage and the manger manage and the players play. Getting really annoyed with twins fans in general these last few weeks.· 0 replies
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Posted by LA Vikes Fan,
While I am not a big fan of Kepler, I completely agree with this assessment. He is a serviceable 3rd/4th OF for a contending team. His defense is such that he probably should start 70% of the time and sit the other 30% against LH pitching. He provides value such that we need to keep him going forward. To make that work the best way, we do need a RH backup outfielder who can start when Kepler sits, ideally one who can play CF when necessary. Maybe that guy is Celestino or Refsnyder next year, maybe it's an off-season free agent, but it probably isn't Larnach or Rooker. I think Larnach and Rooker will either make or not make it next year's roster depending on whether they can win a job in LF. If not, they're both better served playing in AAA, assuming in Rooker's case that we want to keep him at all.
What complicates all of this is finding a place for Kirilloff, Arraez, Donaldson, and Sano to play regularly next year. I say that assuming the Sano we will get next year is somewhat similar to the second half Sano of this year - roughly a .250/. 350-.360/.475-.500 kind of player who also strikes out 30 to 35% of the time. While that guy is not a middle of the order bat, it is worth having him here hitting 6th or 7th in the order. The issue is that Sano can only play 1B or DH, Donaldson 3B or DH (I agree that he's wasted at 1B), and Arraez 3B or 2B where we have our best player, Polanco.
I really think that the answer is to do what they intended to do with the start this year and play Kirilloff in LF, with Sano at 1B. Donaldson's physical limitations are such that it is hard for me to see him playing more than 50 – 75 games a year at 3B. That leaves plenty of games for Arraez at 3B, and he and Donaldson can be the DH most of the days when that one is not playing 3B. We don't have to worry about leaving the DH open for Sano most games and we can even rotate a few guys through on occasion to give them a partial day off. If, on the other hand, we put Kirilloff at 1B, then we really have a logjam with the other 3 guys and all we've done is open up a spot for Larnach or Rooker, both of whom have had a chance this year to win that spot but have not been able to do so. They will get another opportunity next year at some point due to injury so it may be better for them to start next year in AAA, and in Larnach's case get some experience at that level that he hasn't had until the last couple of weeks. In Rooker's case, he's had the AAA experience, kind of/sort of did well at that level, but he hasn't shown any thing that makes me think we want to create a spot for him at the major-league level. He may be a guy that we package as part of the trade to another team that sees him as a potential breakout candidate or he may just be depth waiting for another opportunity. And, to echo many other posters, I simply don't see any basis for Cave to be on next year's team in any capacity. He should either sign a minor league deal with us as AAA depth or seek out a better opportunity elsewhere
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