Gleeman & The Geek, Ep 209: Buxton Gets Arcia'd

Sorry Bonnes, but I completely agree with Gleeman about playing Buxton (or Kepler) instead of Shane Robinson. I also agree about Hicks and Rosario not needing to play every day so that Buxton can play 4-5 times a week. I don't think Rosario and Hicks sitting once a week will hurt their development.

8 ABs a week from Shane Robinson is a pretty big deal. It really is.

"... clearing the 2016 outfield logjam..."

 

Logjam?    Really?

 

Before even talking about 2016, let's remember what happened the last time the Twins 'cleared a logjam' in the outfield.    Span and Revere were sent packing to clear room for Aaron Hicks.    And individual merits aside, the trades, taken separately, appeared to at least make sense in that they sought to use organizational depth to address a weakness.

 

But as a result of them both being traded before Hicks' MLB debut, Twins fans were treated to a revolving door of journeymen in center.    And they mostly followed two half seasons of Hicks looking either comatose or swarmed by yellow jackets at the plate, and like a performance artist using center field as a stage for an interpretative dance retelling of the voyages of Magellan.

 

 

That said, there's one other issue with clearing the logjam:     THERE IS NO !@*%  LOGJAM!!!!!!!!

 

Hunter and Robinson are gone.      I can't even imagine how that's a discussion. 

 

Buxton in center and Arcia and Rosario at the corners.     Hicks backing up Buxton and giving either corner guy a day off against a tough lefty.

 

An infielder who owns an outfield glove as the 5th OF, because teams with a bullpen big enough to form a marching band don't get to have a real 5th OF.

 

If that's too thin of an outfield, sign a DH bat (probably right-handed) who can play a tolerable corner outfield occasionally.      That's essentially what Hunter is now anyway, though the Twins don't realize it or refuse to acknowledge it.

 

And most of all, repeat after me:    There.     Is.     No.     Logjam. 

Yes, really.  You really can't imagine Hunter not being gone is even a discussion? Have you met Terry Ryan? I agree that we shouldn't re-sign him, I'm just not so sure Ryan would never do it. The possibility of Hunter being back is one that has to be considered, whether we like it or not.

But even aside from Hunter, Arcia and Kepler are both in the picture for next year, so that is at least five potential outfielders, all of whom are potentially starting quality. And the Twins don't like to platoon or keep young non-everyday players on the 25-man roster.  So that is the reason Gleeman and Bonnes raised the logjam. You can say there shouldn't be a logjam if the Twins had better management, but I think there clearly is going to be a logjam under current management, unless someone or someone(s) are traded, or Arcia, Hunter, and/or Kepler are moved to different positions and others moved to make room for them there. Thus I think it is a very legitimate topic to discuss.

My post was intended to reference the construction of a competitive roster.    If Ryan chooses to do pursue another goal, the Twins will be of relatively little interest to me anyway.    And bringing a player who has contributed at replacement level in the second half of 2015 back for his age 41 season is not fielding a competitive roster.

 

Put in a TD forum context, if Hunter is part of an ongoing discussion on this board in spring training 2016, it should only be a discussion about Ryan's fitness to continue as GM, or the Twins' bleak future with the Pohlad family as owners.

 

That leaves Kepler.    I'm a big fan, and hoping he continues his ascent to the majors in 2016.    But he has just 400 plate appearances above A ball, and in them he has benefited from a whopping .375 batting average on balls in play.    That's about as sustainable as a nationwide transportation system run on whale oil.

 

And yes, knocking fifty or sixty points off his slash line still gives numbers that show a breakout year, albeit a less remarkable one.    But that's not enough to bother with wringing hands now about what to do with him next year if he kills AA and AAA pitching for half a season.

 

If Kepler does, he either replaces Arcia or Rosario if one of them struggles, or the Twins trade one of the three in-season, knowing their needs and strengths better than they did in the offseason.

 

Worst case is that Kepler proves himself ready for the majors by some point next season but spends the rest of it in AAA anyway, at age 23.    Sub-optimal to be sure, but hardly a major personnel gaffe.

Ok, that's pretty reasonable and I mostly agree. The only place I might disagree, which Gleeman point's out, is that if we are going to have a logjam at some point next year, the time to trade Plouffe might be this winter, not next spring.  Because Plouffe might be at the height of his value now, it might be tougher to trade him for as much value in May or June when teams have already set their rosters, and because it might be tough to switch Sano from DH to 3B midseason. And whether or not Plouffe is with the team will help moot any future logjam, since Kepler and/or Arcia could partly or fully shift to 1B/DH if Plouffe leaves, leaving an extra spot in the 3B/DH/1B trifecta.

Ok, that's pretty reasonable and I mostly agree. The only place I might disagree, which Gleeman point's out, is that if we are going to have a logjam at some point next year, the time to trade Plouffe might be this winter, not next spring.  Because Plouffe might be at the height of his value now, it might be tougher to trade him for as much value in May or June when teams have already set their rosters, and because it might be tough to switch Sano from DH to 3B midseason. And whether or not Plouffe is with the team will help moot any future logjam, since Kepler and/or Arcia could partly or fully shift to 1B/DH if Plouffe leaves, leaving an extra spot in the 3B/DH/1B trifecta.

Somehow I don't see Arcia as any type of decent 1st baseman. Do you really think he is going to dig out those one hoppers consistently? Vargas, I could see more so than Arcia, at 1B.