Huge shakeup at CR; Hicks promoted along with 3 others

[Steven Buhr]

Just thought I would point out that, with the promotion of Gruver, my 2013 record remains perfect... I've purchased three jerseys during the special jersey night auctions this season. Manuel Soliman, Candido Pimentel and, now, Steve Gruver, have all been promoted within a month or so of my adding their autographed Kernels jerseys to my collection.

 

I think a few of the current Kernels might want to think about just giving me their jerseys. Obviously, it would be a smart career move on their part.

[clutterheart]

Hopefully this will have some corresponding moves that go all the way up to AAA?

Will a player like Pinto finally get moved up to AAA?

Would the team consider moving Buxton to play CF at AA?

 

If not that OF in FM will be fast and crowded.

[stringer bell]

Tough to think that Buxton would advance so quickly to AA. He's going to be great, but Ft. Myers is his level for the rest of the season.

[cmathewson]

I agree they need to find room for Walker, but it likely was due to a space crunch. There's still only three OF spots in Ft. Myers and they likely had to chose between Walker and Williams and Williams has already spent 1 1/2 years in the Midwest league. Williams is justly deserved of a promotion aside from just the service time and the guy knows how to take a walk, something the Twins clearly love.

 

 

I understand taking Williams over Walker, but not Hicks. It must be defense and position. Looking at the numbers, especially lately, Walker is the better player than Hicks. But Hicks plays first and that's Vargas' position, so...

[Shane Wahl]

Walker must be getting his promotion soon. I think they must be looking at Fort Myers and seeing who deserves promotion to AA. I am happy for the players promoted though. Walker will be next.

 

Polanco could sit in low-A with an obvious start at Fort Myers next year. yes, I wouldn't mess around and I would promote him with Walker in the next few weeks. Some E-Town players need to show up and be worthy of A-ball first, though.

[Oxtung]

The question of the day becomes - Who will be the new 1st baseman in Cedar Rapids on a regular basis?

*Kepler (that would waist his OF growth)

*Goodrum (He needs reps at SS / 3B / & 2B)

*Walker (College 2nd Team All American at 1B - But would waist his athleticism)

I hope they don't go 1st Base by committee

Do I see a Rory Rhodes sighting?

 

I actually think we see Bryan Haar promoted instead of Rhodes. Rory hasn't hit particularly well since the GCL 3 seasons ago.

 

I understand taking Williams over Walker, but not Hicks. It must be defense and position. Looking at the numbers, especially lately, Walker is the better player than Hicks. But Hicks plays first and that's Vargas' position, so...

 

Hicks is also already 23 so if he is even a possibility in the Twins braintrust he needed to move up and then move again early in 2014 to AA and look to get a big league shot at spring training in 2015 as a 25 year old. Now that is probably unlikely to all happen but it is the only way I can see him making the Twins as anything other than a bench bat for a season or two.

[lightfoot789]

Don't count Hicks short. All he has done is lead "All of minor league baseball in RBIs"!!! Production is production no matter what round you were drafted. He is a .300 hitter and has had success at every level he has played. Judge his results until they don't work for you. Right now he is a steal and deserves every opportunity to be "a" guy in the prospect race.

[TheLeviathan]

Don't count Hicks short. All he has done is lead "All of minor league baseball in RBIs"!!! Production is production no matter what round you were drafted. He is a .300 hitter and has had success at every level he has played. Judge his results until they don't work for you. Right now he is a steal and deserves every opportunity to be "a" guy in the prospect race.

 

Production isn't just production. You can't compare MLB production vs single A production and call it equal for example. There is quite a difference. You'd be better off comparing him to his peers or to MLB players stats from the same level.There are all kinds of valid reasons to make relative comparisons.

[Major League Ready]

You have to believe Carroll will be traded to a contender before the deadline. There are a lot of pieces to fit together and movement expected on the ML roster very soon.

[2wins87]

I am also wondering about the absence of Walker or Polanco in these moves. Can someone clarify for us about these two not earning their callup? (yet)

 

Gruver, Jones, Hicks and Williams were all getting a bit old for their level. Gruver is already getting old for A+. The difference is mostly about age and the Twins wanting to get their older prospects moving faster. This will not hurt Polanco or Walker's development.

 

Also I'm not sure who would be playing for Cedar Rapids if the Twins were to promote half of their roster.

[2wins87]

Also, I really think Beresford needs to be called up to the Bigs and they should just release/trade Carroll. We are in rebuild mode...no reason to keep the crap we have on this roster anymore.

 

First, the Twins need a backup infielder, who better to fill that roll than a veteran. Why would you release Carroll so that Beresford can sit on the bench in the majors? And to be realistic his ceiling is probably around a Jamey Carroll type player; good defense, hits enough to stick around, maybe even start, but with no power. He's not going to take a job away from any starters at this point.

[cmathewson]

Don't count Hicks short. All he has done is lead "All of minor league baseball in RBIs"!!! Production is production no matter what round you were drafted. He is a .300 hitter and has had success at every level he has played. Judge his results until they don't work for you. Right now he is a steal and deserves every opportunity to be "a" guy in the prospect race.

 

Nothing against Hicks, but I expected Walker to be promoted, considering that he seems to hit a homer and a double in every game.

[cmathewson]

Also, had a conversation with a buddy who spent a long weeked in CR right after Buxton was promoted. He said "the [CR] right fielder [Walker] was clearly the best guy on the field of every game I saw." He said it was like watching Harmon. You got the feeling he could hit a homer in every trip to the plate.

[pab]

Nothing against Hicks, but I expected Walker to be promoted, considering that he seems to hit a homer and a double in every game.

 

He didn't in June! You can't promote someone everytime they have a hot streak.

[Steven Buhr]

.297/.355/.494 .850 OPS 44 extra-base hits (13 HR), 85 Ks, 34 BBs in 89 games

.282/.332/.540 .872 OPS 43 extra-base hits (18 HR), 79 Ks, 23 BBs in 85 games

 

Pretty hard, to me, to make a case that one of those guys is so markedly better than the other one that he clearly is more deserving of a promotion than the other. As has been said elsewhere, other factors such as position and age play a factor and both players have had excellent seasons.

[Seth Stohs]

I don't get Walker staying down. Buxton needed to move up. JD absolutely needed to move up. I think Walker should be up. But, I think Kvasnicka could move up to New Britain too... it is about space and opportunity and stuff too.