Article: January Mailbag? !!!!!

[Brad Swanson]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php/2580-January-Mailbag-!!!!!

[ashbury]

Mike Pelfrey: Burnt Popcorn. Some people actually like it; the result of taking too much time.

 

I would have nominated Nutraloaf. Cruel and unusual punishment, for anyone bothered by his pace.

[Marta Shearing]

2015:

1. CF Buxton

2. LF Rosario

3. 1B Mauer

4. 3B Sano

5. DH Arcia

6. RF Hicks

7. 2B Dozier

8. C Pinto

9. SS I have no idea.

[VandyTwinsFan]

Even if the Twins are happy with Florimon, I'd love to see Escobar get some starts at 3rd and enhance the team defense.

 

I'm also an Escobar fan. I hope he continues to hit like he did at AAA at the end of last year. However, I'm not so sure he's who I'd want at 3rd base. I didn't actually like his D at 3rd. He didn't look as comfortable as at SS (best) or 2nd. I won't use stats since the sample size is small, but they're aren't favorable for him at 3rd. My views are just from watching him closely as a fan of his. Plus, I'd prefer it if Plouffe was given every opportunity there until Sano is ready. A low average Plouffe with chance of power is better than a low average Escobar with no power (as a 3rd baseman).

I do hope he comes into spring training and gives Florimon a run for the starting SS position. I have no problems with the defensive "loss" and I think he has a better chance at becoming a better hitter. Florimon never looked like he was seeing pitches late, just guessing at what they were out of the hand. Escobar seemed to try and adjust as he was swinging to go get those breaking balls. Neither was particularly successful though...

 

Fun article! Thanks.

[alphanumeric]

2015:

1. CF Buxton

2. LF Rosario

3. 1B Mauer

4. 3B Sano

5. DH Arcia

6. RF Hicks

7. 2B Dozier

8. C Pinto

9. SS I have no idea.

 

Although highly unlikely, this is my dream also.

[SpitefulRabbit617]

Sam Deduno: McRib. Bounces between available and not available, saucy, incites excitement, makes some people crazy, not really very good.

 

EPICLY TRUE! Who would be a White Castle Cheeseburger?

[Rosterman]

I would like to see Hicks be the new #2, flipping places with Rosario. Could the Twins move Dozier back to short, perhaps? When is Kepler really due, and Kenny Vargas.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Guys like Brian Dozier and Glen Perkins are great and nice and super, but they aren't really core players. Dozier is good, but not great.

 

I think it's too soon to say Brian Dozier is only good. He hasn't had more than 1,000PAs yet and in his 3rd season, even at age 26, I think he still has the ability to improve his game by a legitimate margin. So he's not going to be Robinson Cano, Jason Kipnis, or Pedroia, but he could still be a vital piece to a core of players. I view the 'core' as the team's 4-5 best players and I feel like it may be possible to be competitive with Dozier being the #4/5 overall if he does make some improvements.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Kipnis and Dozier both had short rookie seasons, but if we go off year 2:

Dozier: .244/.312/.414 (.726) 18HRs; 14/7 SB:CS in 623PAs for 3.8 WAR

Kipniis: .257/.335/.379 (.714) 14HRs; 31/7 SB:CS in 672PAs for 4.0 WAR

 

If you go off of WAR per Plate Appearance that is EXTREMELY close value and it is Actually Dozier who comes out ahead. But the age difference though, right?? Well, Kipnis was 25 in his 2nd year and Dozier was 26. I'm just thinking that they are pretty similar players. Dozier has the better glove and Kipnis has more speed, however.

 

And we all saw what Kipnis did year 3.

[Brad Swanson]

Obviously, I like Dozier. I did call him penne arrabiata, didn't I? Overall, he had a good 2013 season. He had two excellent months, two good months and two bad months. The order of when the bad and excellent months occurred is encouraging. I'm not ready to say he can be a core member of a championship team just yet. If he improves in 2014, I'll admit that I'm wrong.

 

As for who is a white castle cheeseburger - I'd say Ryan Doumit is a pretty good fit. Simple, pretty good, you'd like to have more than one, but it's no one's favorite and sometimes it makes you really sick. It's just too bad the Twins traded him away.

[Monkeypaws]

Deduno McRib is brilliant!

[Brock Beauchamp]

Sam Deduno: McRib. Bounces between available and not available, saucy, incites excitement, makes some people crazy, not really very good.

Killed it. Absolutely perfect.

[rogrulz30]

Nice, fun article to read, I thought at first the food bit was going to be dumb, but I laughed a few times, and liked it. Nice job!

[Arcia_LETS_GO]

2015:

1. CF Buxton

2. LF Rosario

3. 1B Mauer

4. 3B Sano

5. DH Arcia

6. RF Hicks

7. 2B Dozier

8. C Pinto

9. SS I have no idea.

 

I'm thinking it will more than likely be danny Santana

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=santan001dan

 

He had a pretty strong year last year behind the plate, however, committed way too many errors and had a pretty bad fielding %.. If he can keep it up in the batters box and get his game together defensively, We have definitely found Florimons replacement.

[oldguy10]

Wouldn't Polanco be considered ahead of Santana amongst the young shortstop/middle infielders? And there is also Goodrum to consider.

[Paul Pleiss]

I love Mike Pelfrey and I don't know why. He's not very good at baseball (compared to competent starting pitchers) but I irrationally expect him to be better than average in 2014. Please help.

[Brad Swanson]

Wouldn't Polanco be considered ahead of Santana amongst the young shortstop/middle infielders? And there is also Goodrum to consider.

 

Yeah, I'd say in the long-run, say 5-6 years, Polanco is ahead of Santana. But, since Santana has AA experience and Polanco hasn't reached Fort Myers, Santana has the upper-hand for 2015.

 

I love Goodrum. I still think he has a major breakout in the very near future.

[Brad Swanson]

I love Mike Pelfrey and I don't know why. He's not very good at baseball (compared to competent starting pitchers) but I irrationally expect him to be better than average in 2014. Please help.

 

I'm right there with you, on the 2014 part at least. I think he will be much better next season and I think that signing him will look very intelligent after the next two seasons. Watching him pitch is gross though.

[lee_the_twins_fan]

Nice story. As for SS, I'm thinking Polanco in 2015. Polanco's only hitting .294 in the Dominican Winter League, with a .744 OPS. (FYI - Oswaldo Arcia is hitting .262 with an OPS of .882 in Venezuela).

 

Yes, 2015 is looking almost promising. Unfortunately, we have to endure 2014 first.

[stringer bell]

I don't know if Aaron Hicks is in my ideal lineup for 2015. My fondest hope is for Hicks to be recalled early, establish himself, and be traded for value as were Span and Revere. I think one of the outfield corners should be manned by Arcia. He has the tools (range/speed & arm) to be a competent outfielder and he's only 22. I am also not sold on Rosario returning to the outfield. In the next year to year and a half, one of he and Dozier could also go for power or pitching.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't know if Aaron Hicks is in my ideal lineup for 2015. My fondest hope is for Hicks to be recalled early, establish himself, and be traded for value as were Span and Revere. I think one of the outfield corners should be manned by Arcia. He has the tools (range/speed & arm) to be a competent outfielder and he's only 22. I am also not sold on Rosario returning to the outfield. In the next year to year and a half, one of he and Dozier could also go for power or pitching.

 

Who is your third outfielder if not Hicks?

[cmathewson]

I think Hicks ends up in RF when Buxton comes up, with Arcia moving to LF.

[Brad Swanson]

I think Hicks ends up in RF when Buxton comes up, with Arcia moving to LF.

 

I'm with you on this. I love Hicks' arm in right. Nothing would fall between center and right either.

[Shane Wahl]

I love Hicks' arm in RF, but I also like his range for LF. Especially given this claim about Arcia being more comfortable, and better, in RF. I don't know.

[Lazarus]

Obviously, I like Dozier. I did call him penne arrabiata, didn't I? Overall, he had a good 2013 season. He had two excellent months, two good months and two bad months. The order of when the bad and excellent months occurred is encouraging. I'm not ready to say he can be a core member of a championship team just yet. If he improves in 2014, I'll admit that I'm wrong.

 

As for who is a white castle cheeseburger - I'd say Ryan Doumit is a pretty good fit. Simple, pretty good, you'd like to have more than one, but it's no one's favorite and sometimes it makes you really sick. It's just too bad the Twins traded him away.

 

The White Castle Cheeseburger (aka Slider) would have to be Nick "Why does he always slide head-first into first base?" Punto. Seems like a good idea at the end of an evening after over-indulging, but you seriously question his worth the next morning. And the rest of the day too.

[Lazarus]

I love Hicks' arm in RF, but I also like his range for LF. Especially given this claim about Arcia being more comfortable, and better, in RF. I don't know.

 

When factoring both Rosario and Arcia into the equation, I think one of these outfielders becomes a tradable asset - hopefully for more starting pitching (correct me if I'm wrong, but we'll have some expiring contracts at the end of 2015 that we'll be looking to upgrade). The one who remains becomes your leftfielder.

 

I think a bigger key for this team is to make sure they are at least 3-deep with high-quality starters by '16/no later than '17 if this team is going to constructed for a playoff run for the end of the Mauer era and moving towards the prime of Sano/Buxton. None of those three will be in the rotation in '14 (unless we are surprised by a career resurrection by Hughes) - and I only see (with high probability) two of them in the system currently with Meyer and Stewart. You can make arguments for others to have that potential but they are longer shots, so we'll need to make an intelligent trade or two to complete the rotation as getting true value through FA is getting more difficult by the year due to teams locking up their good young players through their twenties.

[Paul Pleiss]

If Mike Pelfrey comes to Twins Fest this year I would actually pay to have my picture taken with him. Last season I had him sign a random add from the Twins magazine, wasted opportunity. I'm smitten with Big Pelf and I don't know why. I'm considering making a legitimate post about why he'll have a sub 4 ERA this season and will lead the team in wins.