Jason Bartlett

[jokin]

And 'team chemist', ehh? Hope it doesn't come to this:

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/0_ce2d3_d63d25e7_XL-650x365.jpg

 

 

Bart-ie as "the One who Knocks?" or as the Twins own Team Chemist-Alchemist, if you will, a PED-Free, Dr Heisenberg Feelgood-Aboutourselves?

 

 

Or maybe this might be the secret to our Team Chemist's success in 2014?:

 

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7ajlvnTYK1ry7ppro1_500.jpg

[zchrz]

Whats Lew Ford up to these days?

[Thrylos]

I was not surprised about this decision, based on what Gardehire has been talking about all Spring, but when I first heard about it I was disappointed, esp. vis-a-vis Antony's comments about performing and winning jobs in ST. And then the more I thought about it, the more I do not mind it. And I wrote the reasons here.

 

I am really ok with it. We are talking about the 24th man (remember the last roster spot is between Colabello and a potential waiver wire pick up) and none of the others who were cut (other than maybe Danny Santana, but that is another long, and philosophical, discussion) did anything to win a spot with the team this Spring.

 

Matter of fact, Presley did everything to lose his job, and he did. Deservedly.

[cmathewson]

There might be something to the comments that they hope he adds to the shortstop depth and ultimately takes over there. But they have said nothing to suggest it. What Gardenhire has said (and Antony made it clear that this was Gardy's decision) is that he wants a "Rays-style" bench, meaning a couple of guys who can play everywhere. He also said yesterday that he does not need a backup center fielder. This implies that he is not confident with Presley anywhere else but center. And, come to think of it, Presley pretty much only played center this spring. Clearly Gardy saw him as competing with Hicks. And he lost that competition.

 

I'm not that bothered by it. Presley is slightly above replacement level. But I don't think Bartlett is a viable center fielder for anything but an inning or two in an emergency. If Hicks gets dinged in a way that he needs a couple of days but does not need to go on the DL, they will be in a pickle.

[JB_Iowa]

Has someone in the Twins organization said something about Florimon recently? I know Gardy was a bit concerned that he wouldn't be ready, but he has played with the regulars almost every day for the past week. If there was a contingency to disable P-Flo, the Twins wouldn't have wanted him to play in major league exhibitions. He can't be disabled retroactively, so barring a new injury, I see no possibility that he will stay in Florida when the Twins go to Chicago on the 31st.

 

The only thing I've seen of note is that he has been taking extra work with Brunansky. Not unusual and given both his delay in getting started this spring and his struggles at the plate, a good thing.

[JB_Iowa]

What Gardenhire has said (and Antony made it clear that this was Gardy's decision) is that he wants a "Rays-style" bench, meaning a couple of guys who can play everywhere. He also said yesterday that he does not need a backup center fielder.

 

Couldn't the Twins just kidnap Joe Maddon (and his sabermetrics guys)?

[nicksaviking]

Couldn't the Twins just kidnap Joe Maddon (and his sabermetrics guys)?

 

They have one of them managing the Rochester team.

 

I hated the Morneau trade simply because just like the Liriano trade, the Twins had to take back two guys who needed to be placed on the 40-man. This is what you get; uncomfortable roster decisions about equally inadaquate replacement level players.

 

Well maybe not equal. Presley got claimed by the first team eligible to do so. I'm guessing no one here actually thinks Bartlett would have been snatched up and given a MLB roster spot.

[tobi0040]

 

This is kind of how I feel. Regardless of how you feel about Bartlett over Presley, this is the 24th or 25th man. We are going to give Hicks the reps in CF and Arcia in RF because it makes sense. We want to build up Willingham, so Presley was going to get under 100 AB's this year anyway.

 

To see Hicks, Gibson, and Pinto on this team. Young guys who can grow here and could be part of the future, in the grand scheme of things we should be pretty pleased.

 

I think people are upset that the SS battle came down to Bartlett versus Florimon in the first place and Bartlett is the whipping boy at the moment. Trust me, I get the frustration.

[Reider]

And they have already cut their 2014 Clete Thomas, in one Jermaine Mitchell.

I'm not going to disagree with you because I really don't know a whole lot about Mitchell, but the guy deserves some respect. He had a nice spring training at the plate. Everybody was Collabello this, Collabello that, but not a single person said anything about Mitchell. He hit .400, .444 OBP, 1hr, 6RBI's, which is better than a lot of players who made the cut.

 

Speaking of guys who made the cut, I'm indifferent about Bartlett and Kubel making the team. The Twins are hoping Kubel still has something left in the tank and they gave Bartlett the benefit of the doubt because he's been out of baseball for a while. Guys like Mastroianni, Parmelee, Presly, Diamond etc.. have all had plenty of opportunities to prove that they belong in the MLB level long term. Odds aren't good that they'll have career years, but I'm not going to get upset with the Twins for giving Bartlett and Kubel another opportunity. Worst case scenario is they don't work out and guys like Parmelee can always get called back up.

 

I would have been fine if they kept Presly as the 4th outfielder. It really doesn't matter a whole lot. The Twins are trying to make something work without spending a lot of $.

[Halsey Hall]

Morneau's absence here is loudly apparent, as he was a vocal, and entertaining guy on and off the field. Bartlett will bring some of that back, as most of these guys are pretty quiet. We need someone in the clubhouse to ease the mood a bit. Hopefully that's not his only asset, but that alone can't hurt.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I'm not that bothered by it. Presley is slightly above replacement level. But I don't think Bartlett is a viable center fielder for anything but an inning or two in an emergency. If Hicks gets dinged in a way that he needs a couple of days but does not need to go on the DL, they will be in a pickle.

 

Yup. And what bothers me most is not the risk that we could see too much of Bartlett in CF (although that's not a pretty proposition either), but that the Twins might force Hicks to play through injuries and fatigue when he would otherwise be rested if they had a true backup CF.

 

Heck, it wouldn't even have to be management or coaches forcing Hicks -- Hicks could just feel the pressure and take it upon himself to keep playing (by minimizing the extent of an injury or fatigue).

[Craig Arko]

It's worth remembering that even after adding Kubel and Bartlett there are still two open spots on the 40-man. Mastroianni? Guerrier? Somebody else?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Presley got claimed by the first team eligible to do so.

 

Well, it was only the Astros. And Presley must have passed through waivers last August to be traded to us in the first place. So it may have just been circumstance and timing that led to his claim now, rather than any truly greater value.

 

As to the Liriano/Morneau trade returns, I wasn't crazy about them either, but really, this Twins club shouldn't have any truly difficult roster crunches. There just isn't the talent in MLB or even the upper minors yet. Doesn't really hurt to occasionally cycle through some more marginal 40-man types if you're not signing free agents to fill those spots anyway.

[JB_Iowa]

Morneau's absence here is loudly apparent, as he was a vocal, and entertaining guy on and off the field.

 

I thought that before his concussion.

 

Afterwards, not so much. It really was like the concussion made him a shell of his former self. I hope he re-emerges in Colorado but his "vocal leadership" seemed to be gone long before he was traded.

[savvyspy]

Jason Bartlett has played exactly 1 inning in his 9 year career at a position other than shortstop (2B in 2004), batted .078 in spring training, wasn't in the majors basically for the last 2 years, had one decent season in 2009, and is 34 years old.

 

The Twins cut 3 outfielders (Parmalee, Mastroianni, and Pressly) who are all in their 20's and SIGNIFICANTLY better players than Bartlett, exposing 2 of them to waivers, so Bartlett could be a backup outfielder.

 

Ladies & Gentleman your Minnesota Twins!

[LaBombo]

Couldn't the Twins just kidnap Joe Maddon (and his sabermetrics guys)?

Or maybe just hire a junior analyst who's been mentored by a respected department head of a successful organization, instead of promoting someone from within who had no experience in the field?

 

Having Mr. Goin answer questions here was wonderful, and if they want him to run an analytics department that's fine, but he should have been allowed to hire a BProp or other such alum who has couple of years working for a major league front office.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I thought that before his concussion.

 

Afterwards, not so much. It really was like the concussion made him a shell of his former self. I hope he re-emerges in Colorado but his "vocal leadership" seemed to be gone long before he was traded.

 

To be fair, the team absolutely sucked after his concussion too, which could also suppress one's vocal leadership tendencies.

 

But you're right -- it's especially hard to be a vocal leader as a reduced player on a lousy team.

 

I'm with you -- maybe his relocation will make it easier to accept his new role as a more of a complementary player, hopefully on a better team.

[Shane Wahl]

i was not surprised about this decision, based on what gardehire has been talking about all spring, but when i first heard about it i was disappointed, esp. Vis-a-vis antony's comments about performing and winning jobs in st. And then the more i thought about it, the more i do not mind it. And i wrote the reasons here.

 

I am really ok with it. We are talking about the 24th man (remember the last roster spot is between colabello and a potential waiver wire pick up) and none of the others who were cut (other than maybe danny santana, but that is another long, and philosophical, discussion) did anything to win a spot with the team this spring.

 

Matter of fact, presley did everything to lose his job, and he did. Deservedly.

 

what. Have. You. Done. With. The. Real. Thrylos?

[Shane Wahl]

I view every roster position as important (not equally important, obviously, but still). I am assuming that this is a Florimon thing and that the Twins are also going to get some kind of Clete Thomasesque player (Presley was the best version of that . . . ) soon enough to fill-in as the actual backup OF. This *must* just be a Florimon to DL situation coming.

 

OF defense late in games with Willingham and Arcia in the corners is quite funny though.

 

Free James Beresford!

[Otto von Ballpark]

Jason Bartlett has played exactly 1 inning in his 9 year career at a position other than shortstop (2B in 2004), batted .078 in spring training, wasn't in the majors basically for the last 2 years, had one decent season in 2009, and is 34 years old..

 

To be fair, if you factor in baserunning and defense, Bartlett was a perfectly fine starting MLB player for 5-6 seasons, before going to San Diego. 2009 was just his standout *hitting* season. That said, not sure how much baserunning/defensive value we can expect at his age and after his injury and layoff, certainly not at new and important defensive positions.

[Shane Wahl]

I am growing quite tired of "attitude" and "clubhouse leadership" and yada yada yada. Overhyped rubbish. WINNING solves the problem. Bartlett and likely Kubel run counter to that goal.

 

Also, it would seem that Brian Dozier might be one of those players clearly able to step up and be a leader.

[prairiejack]

Here we go again. Gardy likes the way he handles himself in the clubhouse and the fact that he's a proven winner--in 2008. Please someone tell Gardy and company that they need a player or two that can hit on the field and not just "character guys." Gardenhire just can't get over the guys he falls in love with, i.e. Nick Punto, etc.

[tobi0040]

The Twins cut 3 outfielders (Parmalee, Mastroianni, and Pressly) who are all in their 20's and SIGNIFICANTLY better players than Bartlett, exposing 2 of them to waivers, so Bartlett could be a backup outfielder.!

 

I think we need to take a realistic look at the players we cut or have in AAA.

 

Presley .715 OPS (Outfielder)

Mastro .607 OPS (Outfielder)

Parmelee .717 OPS (OF/1B)

 

Bartlett's career OPS is .702 and he is a short stop. I understand he has rust he needs to shake off, but can we honestly say any of those three guys has a better chance than Bartlett to be a starter on this team in July of this year or next year? I would argue Bartett has more upside, even at 34 years old. Carroll played until he was 38-39 and Bartlett only needs to get back to 80-90% of the years he up up a .879 or .760 OPS. If he gets back to his career mark he is easily the best option we have at SS right now.

 

Here is what I think the writing on the wall suggests. In May or June, Bartlett will take over for Pedro Florimon at SS and Mastro will be on the club as the 4th OF (Florimon DFA or in AAA). In any event, I am convinced Presley, Mastro, or Parmelee are not starters on the 2015 team so position flexibility is really not all that important to me this April.

 

I find it refreshing that we are clearing our roster of guys that may add depth this year but who we know are not part of the future. And we have roster space to pick up cast offs who may click from another organization. While a long shot, I think we know what we have with the guys we have cut (Worley, Diamond, Parmelee, Presley, etc.)

[Shane Wahl]

Aren't Perkins, Pelfrey, and Suzuki known "character" "leaders" anyway?

[Shane Wahl]

Pedro Florimon is clearly and demonstrably better than Jason Bartlett at all things SS. So . . . please.

[twinsajsf]

Wow. I am amazed that so much angst can be generated over the decision to keep one bad player over one of two other bad players. This decision deserved to be met with one large, collective yawn.

[tobi0040]

Pedro Florimon is clearly and demonstrably better than Jason Bartlett at all things SS. So . . . please.

 

Unfortunately one of the things an SS does is bat.

 

Pedro has a career OPS of .601.

 

Bartlett's career OPS is .702 and he has 7 seasons with a higher OPS than Pedro. Even in his 2011 "what happened to Bartlett" season, his OPS was still higher than Pedro's.

[Lefty74]

Shane, I agree that winning trumps all, however everything we hear says the Twins clubhouse is a morgue. With the 162 game grind you need players who can pick others up, provide vocal leadership and in general make 1+1=3. I think today's Twins have none of that. Just too many passive/introverted players.

[Mike Sixel]

One of the reasons the A's and Rays win is that they value EVERY single player on the roster. They don't carry negative WAR players, in general. The secret to the As last year is that no one is really bad, and a few players are quite good. If the 24th and 25th spots don't matter at all, just hire Bonnes and Stohs to play out there. But then, no one would do that, so clearly they do matter.

[strumdatjag]

Wait a minute. Bartlett is now the "attitude guy" in the Clubhouse. The last time he was here, Gardy had trouble getting him to shout "I got it" for a pop-up. Something positive needs to happen before the waiver wire and still this is going to be a tough season to watch!!!