When the Twins go back to 12 pitchers...

[Seth Stohs]

Reusse and Mackey were just discussing this topic on 1500espn...

 

Which 'hitter' is called up to the Twins? The Twins 40 man roster is currently at 39, so they could look outside of the organization as well.

 

Will they go with a 3rd catcher? (Very possible, in an attempt to be able to use Ryan Doumit more)

Drew Butera's on the 40 man roster. Rene Rivera and JR Towles aren't.

 

Will they add an infielder? Carroll and Casilla are both playing terrific right now, but both will need time off. Trevor Plouffe not an ideal backup SS.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka in on the 40 man roster. Brian Dozier, Michael Hollimon, Ray Chang, Pedro Florimon are not.

 

Could Ben Revere come back?

 

What do you think?

[StormJH1]

I don't know for sure what they will do - 3 catchers is a good guess because we know Gardy values that. One of the interesting parts of Morneau being penciled in at DH for so many games is that prevented them from DH'ing Mauer...and if Mauer is at 1B, then you don't have the whole need for a 3rd catcher problem.

 

Clete Thomas seems to work as the 4th outfielder, but then there are guys like Plouffe and Parmelee who are like "5A" and "5B" outfielders.

 

If it were me, I would get one of the shortstops up here and get them used to MLB play. Jamey Carroll is starting to earn his money, but he's 38, and he's never been even close to a full-season SS. Dozier has a .911 OPS at AAA and really has hit at every level. He'll be 25 next month, so I really don't accept the whole "over-ripe" approach. 21 year olds need consistent playing time to improve - Dozier is at an age where he's either going to be an asset to a big league club or he's not, so it's time to find that out.

[Thrylos]

I understand Mackey's argument for Nishioka coming back and might make sense - and if that happens Plouffe is full-time 1B/OF/DH, but I think that Gardenhire will try to make everything possible to get Butera up to the majors again.

[stringer bell]

I think Revere is the least likely. Bringing up a third catcher has the added benefit of easing the logjam at Rochester. Bringing up either Dozier or Nishioka probably doesn't make much sense when the starters are playing well. I'm guessing it will be Butera to add "catching depth".

[stringer bell]

The other side of this question is, "who gets sent down?" Gray is out of options, Burnett has been very good so far, Maloney and Burton have shown some progress. If they hold true to "no scholarships", I think Gray gets DFAed and I think that is the right move. If they send down the guy with the option, it will be Burnett.

[Mr. Ed]

Bringing up a catcher is nonsense. Then you wind up putting Butera's putrid bat back in the lineup. Just when the lineup looks like it has fewer weak links, you want to put auto-out back in?

 

Bring up Dozier when the pitching is settled down. Or, get rid of Clete and be more serious about Parmelee/Plouffe in RF.

[Mr. Ed]

The other side of this question is, "who gets sent down?" Gray is out of options, Burnett has been very good so far, Maloney and Burton have shown some progress. If they hold true to "no scholarships", I think Gray gets DFAed and I think that is the right move. If they send down the guy with the option, it will be Burnett.

 

Burnett has surprised after a horrible start. May be working his way to pressure situations. Not sure if that's good or not, but at least he can miss bats vs Gray's meat.

[gunnarthor]

If we bring up a 3rd catcher, why not Rivera? He seemed to catch Liriano well. I'm not sure catchers have much impact on the SP but at this point, why not try?

[mattsaari]

It seems pretty likely to be Gray who goes out, released, replaced by Butera, so Doumit can become more regular in RF. I'd like to say Towles, but he has 3 hits in 24 PA. 1 Walk and one Sac. His 3 hits have all been doubles, so there's that. Rivera has two dingers, but he's only 5 for 27. Drew's defense is a known quantity, and he's on the 40 man. I imagine the move will happen in 10 days if Hughes clears waivers and they assign him to AAA. But if Luke gets claimed / traded then the clock might tick longer.

[striker_86]

If we bring up a 3rd catcher, why not Rivera? He seemed to catch Liriano well. I'm not sure catchers have much impact on the SP but at this point, why not try?

I agree, We have to try something different. Bring him up just to catch Frankie and see what happens. Dont mess with the infield, Carroll and Casilla are playing great.

[Thrylos]

If we bring up a 3rd catcher, why not Rivera? He seemed to catch Liriano well. I'm not sure catchers have much impact on the SP but at this point, why not try?

 

Bringing up a catcher is nonsense. Then you wind up putting Butera's putrid bat back in the lineup. Just when the lineup looks like it has fewer weak links, you want to put auto-out back in?

 

Yes, having a 3rd catcher and especially Butera makes no sense at all, but this is Gardenhire we are talking about... For some reason he sees something in Butera the rest of the world does not...

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

How much input does Gardenhire have into who is called up / demoted? Shouldn't it be the GM's call about who the personnel is at each level, then the manager's job to use them?

I'm sure the manager has the ability to suggest moves and provide feedback, but Terry Ryan would have to agree that a third catcher is the best move in order to make it, right?

[SweetOne69]

If Smith was running the show, Butera would be up here as he gave Gardy what ever he wanted.

 

With Ryan in charge, Gardy would have to make a very compelling case to convince Ryan to bring up Butera. Ryan is the one who has final say on the roster. Gardy can make requests, but Ryan makes the calls.

 

That being said, I believe that Hughes was the "emergency" catcher. Who has that role now?

[Mike Sixel]

I would bet on an infielder.

[Highabove]

Why would we keep Gray?

Gardy and Anderson are the ones that throw batting practice.

[Gernzy]

We need another infielder, and I don't see how its not Nishioka. We can't keep paying him millions to play in the minors. Either that or release him.

[glanzer]

My bet would be outside the organization. The gang down at Rochester either seems to fall into the category of "needs to play every day" or "not very good." I'm holding out for Hughes clearing waivers and coming back up.

[nicksaviking]

I figured Thomas was going to be the fourth outfielder when he got claimed, but so far he's getting the heavy end of the rigth field platoon. With Doumit riding the pine 2 out of 3 days, and Mauer always catching the other, there is no need for a 3rd catcher. Gardy may want one, but Terry Ryan has clearly shown that he's in charge of this ship and he should know better.

 

That being said, if the team is going to call up a utility player, why didn't they just keep Hughes?

[mattsaari]

Nishi is hitting 280 in the past 10 days. It would be kinda crazy to mess with an upswing right now. Let the fella get the hitting on, and see what another month can do for his confidence. A utility infielder who can play short and pinch run, probably off the waiver wire would make the most sense. OR a third catcher who can play other positions as well, and hit. I was gonna say buy low on Napoli in a trade, but he's heated up. ETA: They let Hughes go because he can't do what they need. And that's back up 2B and SS.

[John Bonnes]

If Smith was running the show, Butera would be up here as he gave Gardy what ever he wanted.

 

I dont' know where this perception comes from, but I assure you, it would be hard to type a more untrue statement. The tension between Smith and Gardy was palpable.

 

I'll be honest - I don't know where the percetpion that Gardy loves Butera comes from. I see it mentioned here a lot. The Twins sent Butera down early, did not keep a 3rd catcher, and yet everyone is convinced Gardy loves Butera. Why? Because Butera played a lot? Butera played a lot because Gardy uses his bench guys a lot, because it's important Mauer rests a lot and because Butera was on the roster. Am I missing some smoking gun here?

[John Bonnes]

Regarding the original topic, I'd say:

 

1) it may not happen anytime soon, unless there is an injury

2) The reliever who is sent down is whoever sucks the most at the time and

3) the guy called up will likely be dependent on who is fighting some nagging injury on the team.

 

If it was right now, I'd say the need is for Hughes. I can't see it being Revere - what role would he play? I guess I can see it being a shortstop, probably Nishioka, if they're worried enough about Plouffe's D. But I don't see why they woudl be in any hurry to move someone right now.

[Thrylos]

John Shipley published a nice tidbit about the relationship of Ryan and Gardenhire in one of his stories yesterday. Here is a direct quote (italics) from the interim GM (emphasis mine) :

sometimes you have to come to a difficult situation, like this one, and who might go down or who might be available to go down. This is just one of those situations, and we decided the way we're going to go." The Twins now have 13 pitches on the 25-man active roster. Asked if the team can afford to keep that many for long, Ryan said it was up to manager Ron Gardenhire. "I'm just the person facilitating," he said.

 

So apparently Gardenhire is extremely involved in roster decisions and not "playing with what the GM gives him". Gardenhire was responsible for the Twins' latest roster decision and will probably be for the next as well.

 

Very interesting to see the interim GM washing his hands proclaiming that his role was "just facilititating". Very interesting, especially in light of everything he was saying about "accountability" across the organization when he was named the interim GM last November...

[Mike Sixel]

I am disappointed in that quote from Ryan. Is he in charge or not? If not, go find a gm that will be.

[Jim Crikket]

I tend to agree with John, at least philosophically. Sending Hughes out leaves them short a back up middle infielder (sorry... Plouffe just doesn't feel any more like a legit option than Cuddyer did). But if the Twins felt that way, why not just ship out Gray yesterday instead of Hughes rather than waiting a couple of days and then losing Gray anyway and having to call up Nishi? It's kind of baffling, to be honest.

 

Maintaining an 8-man bullpen just makes no sense 99% of the time. Then again, given the make up of the Twins current rotation, this situation might fall in to that left over 1%.

 

This is all Liriano's fault, obviously. When you have a starter you can't even project to survive 3-4 innings, that forces you to make difficult, and ultimately bad, decisions. If his start Sunday turns out to be a really good one, then Hendriks is an option to send down to Rochester so he can continue getting starts while Swarzak stays in the rotation. But if Liriano lays another egg Sunday, I say they find a physical or mental impairment causing it and stash him on the DL.

[Thrylos]

Here is comes from the horse's mouth: (paraphrasing) Gardy said that next week they will have 12 pitchers and there is a chance they will have 3 catchers.

 

All a plot to get Drew again in the majors.

[Seth Stohs]

Maybe not a great comment, but Gardy absolutely should have a large say in the roster... Ryan can over-ride some of that based on business decisions...

 

If you've got flexibility, they can go with 13 pitchers for a little while... and what that will show is that they can also go to a 3rd catcher, not worry about Doumit or Mauer DHing, and have that spot.

[nokomismod]

Nishi is hitting 280 in the past 10 days. It would be kinda crazy to mess with an upswing right now. Let the fella get the hitting on, and see what another month can do for his confidence. A utility infielder who can play short and pinch run, probably off the waiver wire would make the most sense. OR a third catcher who can play other positions as well, and hit. I was gonna say buy low on Napoli in a trade, but he's heated up. ETA: They let Hughes go because he can't do what they need. And that's back up 2B and SS.

I think you are right on MattSaari.

Is it wrong to hope that if the Twins keep Nishi in the minors long enough, he may retire? Nothing against him, but based on last year, I can't see any possible way that he will have success for a MLB team. I would rather try to get an Omar Vizquell type guy that will play solid backup middle infield defense and maybe mentor Alexi a bit more.

[Thrylos]

Maybe not a great comment, but Gardy absolutely should have a large say in the roster... Ryan can over-ride some of that based on business decisions...

 

Agreed. But with that comes accountability for decisions when they do not pan out like in 2011, 2008, 2007, 2005, plus on the post-season rosters. And unfortunately nobody ever holds Gardenhire accountable for mediocrity, they just attribute it to external factors (like injuries, "luck", etc) or find enough excuses (and I am sure that we will see some here in reply to this .) Fortunately, after the 2011 debacle the tide has started to turn and at least a large amount of Twins' fans do realize that someone should be held accountable when the team does not win...

[Rosterman]

And the Twins will have to address Kyle Waldrop at some point, after a minor league rehab, as they would have to waive him out of the organization to keep him in the minors.

[matthew0211]

And the Twins will have to address Kyle Waldrop at some point, after a minor league rehab, as they would have to waive him out of the organization to keep him in the minors.

Wasn't Waldrop just put on the 40-man last Sept.? He has options remaining, he can go to Rochester on a non-rehab assignment.