How Long Is Eddie Rosario's Leash?

I'm not really "looking at numbers over stuff"-- I guess that's a tangent of a tangent. : ) I was just skeptical that there was enough difference between Reed and guys like Bard or Melo to explain the last few months of org bullpen inactivity (even just AA to AAA movement, since these level of arms are unlikely to successfully skip the AAA step).

 

I'll gladly give Reed a chance, and I hope you are right about him replacing Breslow very soon, even if it seems awfully late.

Reed really couldn't have moved much quicker.

I think there is clearly something more they need to see from Melo that they didn't fast track him.

I don't have a good handle on Bard, he really emerged this year after several years of injury and ineffectiveness. If he's legit I would push him fast since he's an obvious injury risk.

It was an all too familiar sight on Tuesday evening at Target Field: Eddie Rosario, in the name of being aggressive, making an unbelievably dumb play and costing his team.

On this occasion, against the White Sox, he fielded a ball in left field and chucked it toward home plate in a hopeless attempt to beat a runner scoring easily from second. The throw was off line and, as catcher Jason Castro ran over to catch it, Jose Abreu strode leisurely into second, credited with a 'double.'

Paul Molitor might have gained a gray hair or two, but definitely lost a little more of whatever patience remains for the young outfielder, who shows minimal interest in tempering his recklessly aggressive style.On the Gleeman & the Geek podcast a few weeks ago, Aaron cited a rather remarkable stat. Among all left fielders in the history of baseball who've made 1,000 plate appearances, Rosario's career on-base percentage (.296) ranks dead last.

He has had the worst strike zone control of any player in the majors since arriving, with his 0.15 BB/K ratio ranking 185th out of 185 qualified players over the past three seasons. He lets his aggressiveness get the best of him at the plate, just as it does in the field, canceling out raw ability that too rarely shines through. The habits we expected Rosario to outgrow linger on, at age 25 and coming up on his 300th MLB game.

He has been an altogether consistent hitter over the course of his up-and-down time in the bigs, with all the hot streaks and slumps adding up to roughly the same OPS every year (.742 career, .771 in 2017). That production would be perfectly fine from someone like Byron Buxton, who adds immense value on defense, but Rosario is a far cry. He plays a position with higher offensive expectations and he hasn't been playing it all that well.

While defensive metrics love Buxton, they don't look so kindly upon Rosario, who rates negatively by both UZR and DRS. The small sample caveat obviously applies, but I don't think anyone who's watched him in left regularly would disagree.

Now, this bears noting: Rosario is presently a year younger – and 200 plate appearances shy – of where Aaron Hicks was entering this season. Too many times we have seen a hopeless case suddenly flip on the light bulb, and with his electric ability Rosario would shine brighter than most if he could find the switch. He is a tremendous athlete. He hit three home runs in a game less than 10 days ago. His competitive fire would be refreshing and entertaining if it didn't so often burn him, and the team.

Is he starting to feel the heat? The microscope is magnifying with a higher power lens with Zack Granite making serious noise at Class-AAA Rochester. The Twins 2016 Minor League Player of the Year is batting .349/.402/.479 for the Red Wings, with a .478 average in the month of June. A scrappy and speedy center fielder known for his high baseball IQ, he is an enticing option, albeit one with a far lower ceiling than Rosario.

The big-picture play is to let things ride. Keep hoping it finally clicks for Rosario and let Granite continue to tear it up, maybe come up late in the year to get his feet wet as a fifth outfielder. But Molitor's fading club needs a spark, and the manager is undoubtedly exasperated with watching his blunderous left fielder hurt an already overmatched pitching staff.

Swapping Rosario for Granite would certainly send a message. Are the Twins, whose deadline approach will be dictated by the next four weeks, ready to send it?

Click here to view the article

The first message should be sitting him after the throw or if he continues to make that play.  You can have some wake up calls without putting someone in AAA.  I'd like to see Molitor make these type of moves first before a AAA demotion. 

Not late on Reed, obviously -- late on doing anything with any minor league arms.

 

Obviously there must be something this front office *thinks* they don't see in this group of minor league relievers. The question is, should we trust them? And more importantly -- have they offered a compelling alternative?

I don't see a reason not to trust them initially.

I never liked the Belisle signing and they probably should have aimed higher than Breslow, though I was intrigued by his changes enough to approve the minor league signing.

While they were uninspiring in major league signings, I give them much more of a pass on how the depth had shaken out. So much of the current situation is based on what they inherited. It is so difficult to add impact depth from outside the org, unless they blew up the major league roster.

Levine and Falvey, fwiw, have both commented multiple times on how much of the second tier plan for relievers had been ravaged by injuries and required the scramble. This is pretty clearly true and does seem like they had something of a plan going in.

All that to say, while I am critical of the major league additions to the bullpen, I don't think that should necessarily mean they don't know how to evaluate their own internal options compared to scrap heap veterans they continue to add.

The second tier was already a pretty injury prone group (Chargois, Burdi). Relying heavily on them and Belisle/Breslow/Haley, and failing to adapt to fairly predictable injuries/ineffectiveness, was a bad plan. So yeah, I am a little skeptical at this point when the same minds that cooked up that plan tell me it's not worth pushing basically any minor league arms. Obviously the book on this FO will be written about more than just this season's bullpen, but so far it is a demerit.

 

But I digress.

Not sure I agree on this. How would they have added higher quality second and third level minor league depth in an offseason, without subtracting from the mlb roster.

I have been on the Rosario bandwagon.  The idea of Kepler, Buxton, Rosario outfield growing together is compelling.

 

But, there is something about Eddie's attitude that has started to grate on me.  He sulks, his facial expressions, his body language:  it's all about him, good or bad.

 

Even Sano, at least, is showing up as a team guy.

 

Now imagine we have a scrappy, high OBP, speed guy leading off, who is better defensively, raises havoc on the bases and is all about team and being the underdog.

 

Call me Granite curious, but at the rate he is going, I can see the Granite skill set fitting in better than Eddie over the long term.  Twins have power and defense, but they need OBP, speed and an ankle biting underdog, IMHO.

In interviews with other players it is often brought up that Rosario is one of the most popular players because they love the passion & energy he brings. I don't think its fair when people watching on TV make assumptions on attitude. Resting B Face is real thing