Week in Review: The Bottom Falls Out

[Jeff K]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

You are not alone on that front. Julien isn't the only one with that problem either. Today there is an article calling for a return of Gasper. Gasper has had incredible AAA stats with a bat. He might be, along with Miranda, a guy who struggles even more than Julien with the glove. So it becomes an issue of how much defense does a team sacrifice for offense? The patience with the bat is really hard if the glove doesn't play. This has been the fate of the Twins at a number of positions. It also doesn't help if the players are looking over their shoulder. These defensively challenged players work very hard to reach some level of competence but then errors, misses, and mistakes happen because excellence in the major leagues is difficult.

Teams have different philosophies on building rosters. The Twins are hoping to win with pitching and position players who are bat first. Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, among other teams, put more of an emphasis on defense than the Twins. The teams we watch reflects the will or visions of the front offices and managers on various teams.

When hacks like myself suggest potential trades in the offseason I only have an idea of a team in theory. I cannot know whether other teams would entertain any of my proposals. My ideas include players who could run and play defense at a high level with an allowance for 2-3 DH type hitters. Pitching is always going to be a main focus as well. Right now the Twins roster the slowest team in baseball and a pile of guys best put in the lineup as a DH. If Julien was strictly a DH, we wouldn't discuss his fielding. Since the Twins have not released or traded Eddie, we can expect to see him back at second base for the Twins if a couple current players fail or get injured. The chorus shall rise again if this happens, but remember it is part of the design of the organization.

Clearly fielding has not been a priority!  And unless Gaspar is a decent catcher (haven't seen him catch), he has no fielding position.  Right now, given the absence of hitting, i would be tempted to call him up to DH 2/3 games a week until we get keaschal and/or Lewis back...or if Gaspar doesn't  hit.

[Doctor Gast]

Most definitely, it was a very frustrating week after missing Lopez. We got a lot of offense off of Texas, but hapless Texas scored more. After Paddack, we got great pitching from Ryan & Simms but lacked clutch hitting. 

Yes, the Twins did well with Keirsey on the field & haven't since he was gone. But, I'll say it again (maybe this time it'll be printed) that the Twins are re****ing his hitting development. It's well known that new players entering MLB need a lot of regular ABs there to adapt. Keirsey hasn't gotten any. He was so bad that when he was sent down to AAA (where he previously mashed), he had trouble. 

Yes, the Twins can use his glove, legs, presence & even sometimes get a clutch hit when allowed 4 ABs in a game. But most of all, they need to develop his bat, which will never happen when he sits on the MLB bench. Leave him down at AAA & at least let him get some rhythm back down there. Miranda is a veteran, give him a vote of confidence by bringing him up, put him in 1B (they brought up Sabato to AAA & playing him there). Maybe that's all he needs.