Article: Finding Offense

[Nick Nelson]

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php/2764-Finding-Offense

[Jim Crikket]

I'm not sure there are any workable ideas to improve the offense at this point. Drew and Morales are better off waiting to sign until June than signing at a discount now. The time to add offense was 2-3 months ago.

[jmlease1]

Of these options, Morales is the one I like the best, which isn't entirely good. Dozier is a huge asset at 2B, both on offense and defense (assuming the second half of the season is who he is as a hitter) and Gardy doesn't like his defense at SS so moving him doesn't seem like a real option.

 

I agree about Pinto being an option to improve the offense, but there's no way Gardy will DH him. Yes, it's a little silly, but it is what it is. The better hope is that he hits his way into getting more starts at catcher.

 

Morales is the most realistic option considering this team and its manager. He'd be a nice player to backup Mauer at 1B and be the primary DH, and as a switch-hitter he'd give some lineup flexibility. He's not too old that a 3 year deal would be foolish either.

 

But clearly, the offense needs some help until Sano and Buxton are ready.

[pierre75275]

Morales to me, isnt worth giving up a draft pick to sign. Or worth what he wants to get paid. That being said if Josh W started off hot and got traded June 4th and the twins signed Morales to a 3 yr deal without losing a draft pick I would be good with that

With Pinto, if the plan is to Dh him, i believe that it will come with a price. That being, Chris Hermann makes the roster and Aaron Hicks doesnt. Mayb that isnt much of a price..but i would rather see Hicks then Hermann

[DJL44]

With Pinto, if the plan is to Dh him, i believe that it will come with a price. That being, Chris Hermann makes the roster and Aaron Hicks doesnt. Mayb that isnt much of a price..but i would rather see Hicks then Hermann

 

If Pinto is hitting well enough to DH he should be the starting catcher. I think Colabello could be the other side of the DH platoon and hit as well as Pinto.

[savvyspy]

I agree with Jim above. The time to improve the offense was months ago. The front office neglected it again this year and will be paying the price all year. Bartlett and Kubel were garbage signings. Neither belongs in the big leagues at this point. Suzuki isn't horrible but doesn't add any upside either.

 

I would say its much more likely we've seen the best days from Plouffe, Willingham, and Parmalee than they are actually going to improve.

 

 

Its basically an offense that is built to fail. That is 100% on the front office. They chose to go with hope over actually building a roster.

[Winston Smith]

Hoping and praying is always a great way to put a teamtogether.

[ppearson50]

Kendry Morales. Kendry Morales. Kendry Morales.

Morales would slot into the DH spot this year and next. Put him at first on the days you need to use the DH for Mauer.

They apparently like Florimon too much to even consider signing Drew so I've pretty much given up on that one.

[jay]

If Pinto is hitting well enough to DH he should be the starting catcher. I think Colabello could be the other side of the DH platoon and hit as well as Pinto.

 

Pinto and Colabello would the same side of the platoon... they're both righties.

 

I do like the idea of a 40/60 split at C with Pinto at DH vs lefties. That configuration makes it easier to keep Parmelee or Kubel to DH vs righties, but it might squeeze Colabello from the roster.

[Dave T]

Nick, you're definitely working on the right problem. The pitching looks pretty damn good, and the hitting looks worse than last year. I think the Twins give up too much defensively to move Dozier back to SS. If the Twins had an above-average infielder at 3B, it could work. With Plouffe at 3B, the Twins need Florimon's range.

 

With so much help on the way in the minors (Sano, Buxton, Rosario), and the improvement Arcia has shown this spring, I just can't see the Twins doing something short-term to get a few more wins during the first half of the season. Your short-term fix is Kubel. I think Buxton gets promoted in June or July, moving Willingham to DH and Kubel off the team. If Buxton gets hot, the whole team will ignite. I'm thinking to buy more tickets in July-Sept than April-May, how about you?

[Willihammer]

I think Morales makes a lot of sense for this team. The market's weak, they'd only give up a ~45th pick, and by signing a switch-hitting DH they can keep Bartlett and one extra out of options guy on the roster this year, or claim a waiver pickup or whatever.

 

Dozier

Mauer

Hammer

Morales

Arcia

 

not a bad top 5 at all.

 

I'd think different if Kubel or Colabello had done something to get me excited but from what I've seen, there's probably nothing we'll miss.

[Dantes929]

"I agree with Jim above. The time to improve the offense was months ago" Not sure I agree. Unless you think we should have been in the running for Sano the best names months ago that I could see were Morales and Drew who are still available. I would have liked to see Drew. I also believe the best move down the line might be to put Dozier at shortstop if Rosario is all we hope he will be.

[tjsyam921]

I think the only reason Gibson doesnt start the year with the big club is if they keep him in Rochester to have a space open for a optionless player. With Deduno pitching out of the pen all spring and Worley and Diamond struggling (Worley being horrible) I dont see any reason to not have Gibson start with the Twins. They need to have the best pitching staff they can if they're going to struggle to score runs.

I dont even want to get started on the Gold Glove 30 homer short stop we gave away. The loss of a possible mid-season call up of Sano is a big blow to the offense. If some of the players hit like last year and players like Plouffe, Willingham, Colabello, Hicks, or Kubel can hit better we could surprise some people. But thats a lot to ask.

[Winston Smith]

They have the money to sign both Drew and Morales. The 40+ and 70+ draft picks are a very very long shot to ever produce what these guys should. It would really improve the Twins chances of at least keeping fans interested past Memorial Day. People might even start buying tickets again!

[zchrz]

It would be nice to move Dozier back to SS, and go get Franklin to play 2nd but that isn't going to happen.

[tellis205]

It would be nice if Eddie Rosario was even in camp! Seems to me that he'll need significant time to get ready now that he's missed so much. Anybody willing to step up and let us know what's going on?

[Jim Crikket]

"I agree with Jim above. The time to improve the offense was months ago" Not sure I agree. Unless you think we should have been in the running for Sano the best names months ago that I could see were Morales and Drew who are still available. I would have liked to see Drew. I also believe the best move down the line might be to put Dozier at shortstop if Rosario is all we hope he will be.

 

You're assuming the only "moves" a front office can make involve signing free agents. While it's true there was limited offense on the FA market, that doesn't mean you can't add offense via trade. Acquiring help via trade is every bit as important as, and often preferable to, adding it via free agency.

[Shane Wahl]

I am not as concerned as some, though with Mauer moving to first Kurt Suzuki behind the plate is just nowhere near a good idea. I think Pinto is going to be mightily important this year. I am not concerned about Dozier, Arcia, and even Hicks. Willingham and Plouffe? Yes.

[DJL44]

Pinto and Colabello would the same side of the platoon... they're both righties.

 

Well, yeah. The other half of the DH platoon is Kubel or Parmelee. I'd rather have Pinto catch and Colabello DH than having Pinto DH and Chris Herrmann catching.

[DJL44]

by signing a switch-hitting DH they can keep Bartlett

 

Why would they want to keep Bartlett? He's been awful.

[DJL44]

It would be nice if Eddie Rosario was even in camp! Seems to me that he'll need significant time to get ready now that he's missed so much. Anybody willing to step up and let us know what's going on?

 

50 game suspension to start the season

[Cris E]

"50 game suspension to start the season."

 

Yes, but he is allowed in camp until the games start. The real issue is that he's been out of camp for "personal reasons". Honestly I don't particularly care what they are, but it is a bad year to be missing a heap of playing time. He was on the verge of getting a major league cup of coffee as soon as this Sept, and the team is short on both middle infielders and hitters. I hope all is well in his life, but the timing was unfortunate.

[Dantes929]

"Yes, but he is allowed in camp until the games start. The real issue is that he's been out of camp for "personal reasons". " Where is the source that says he is out of camp for personal reasons? Bad enough about the suspension but additional bad if he is not in great baseball shape by the time it is over.

[JB_Iowa]

Where is the source that says he is out of camp for personal reasons?

 

I don't think there has been anything new on Rosario since this 3/8 Berardino column:

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2014/03/08/twinsights-eddie-rosario-dealing-with-personal-issues-agent-says/

[jokin]

"Yes, but he is allowed in camp until the games start. The real issue is that he's been out of camp for "personal reasons". " Where is the source that says he is out of camp for personal reasons? Bad enough about the suspension but additional bad if he is not in great baseball shape by the time it is over.

 

From article dated March 8:

 

"According to the player’s agent, Melvin Roman, Rosario is “dealing with personal issues” and will report to Fort Myers as soon as those are resolved."

 

 

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2014/03/08/twinsights-eddie-rosario-dealing-with-personal-issues-agent-says/

 

Are the Twins truly cursed with their top prospects? This is 2 guys in their top 5 who are on the verge of seeing this season go completely to waste.

[Halsey Hall]

We asked Chad Allen yesterday why Rosario wasn't here working out. He stated that it's against the rules when suspended. So we mentioned A Rod was going to, and he said the Yankees wouldn't of allowed it because of the rules. I think he may be wrong though. Anyone know for sure the rules?

[jokin]

From the same article, but still not very illuminating on what's actually going on:

 

Roman...... said he could not provide a time frame for when Rosario might report to camp.

“We don’t know just yet,” Roman said. “We have an idea, but we don’t want to put any type of pressure on him to report by a certain time.”

 

Murkier and murkier. I'm surprised that more questions haven't been asked of management about Rosario's status.

[TheLeviathan]

Honestly, I don't see a way to fix this offense. It's going to be below average if things break well in some respects. If things even break slightly more to the negative this could get horrific.

 

Just imagine how bad this team could be to watch offensively if Hicks and Arcia aren't ready to take the next step? Nevermind the rest, just that alone is going to make this a trainwreck.

[JB_Iowa]

Well, we should get a sneak preview tonight.

 

 

• Phil Miller ‏@MillerStrib 1h
  The entire projected regular-season lineup is taking the bus ride to Port Charlotte to play the Rays tonight: pic.twitter.com/TTHMILTxVs
   
  Dozier
  Suzuki
  Mauer
  Willingham
  Kubel
  Plouffe
  Arcia
  Hicks
  Florimon
   
   
  

[shs_59]

yeah its kinda sad

 

Bartlett Guerrier and possibly even Kubel

 

have ziltch shot at making the 25 man team. Kubel might make it, but clearly on track record.