Short Change?

Escobar has yet to spell Dozier, and both Vargas and Mauer will get days off soon (Arcia to DH, etc.) so that part of the issue won't come into play yet. They should stick with Santana at the leadoff spot playing SS for two more weeks before making any changes. 

I'm not concerned enough yet to think he can work through this and become the guy at SS. Let him play through it like the rest of the lineup.

I must have missed the Twins focus on playing strong defense? (Snarky, sorry). After you replace Arcia, Nunez, Hunter, Hermann and Schafer, then you can consider Santana. Along with him don't forget Suzuki and Mauer. Santana went out and played CF last year, mediocre as it were, quietly and dreadfully out of position. He needs a chance to succeed at SS. If he can you have a SS. If he can't, you can plug replacement level Esobar back in. If this team cannot spend some time auditioning a player, which team could?

The Twins have had years to watch and evaluate Santana's ability to play SS. They made a decision this winter to play him there, and had an entire spring training (not just games) to evaluate that decision. Nothing he's done in 2015 should be a huge surprise to them.

I hope they aren't changing their minds based on 10 games. Things can change, for the better or the worse, but I don't think you decide they've changed for good based on such limited data.

Let him play.

This sounds like a post that might have been written about Plouffe a few years ago.

No idea why you'd bench him already.....he's young, and he needs time. All this "patience" I read about needing to have ....maybe the Twins should practice it with players.

 

And, duh, of course he's rusty at SS, that's what you get for playing him in CF last year, for no good reason at all.

Well, the whole handling of Santana has been bizarre, at best.  The "good" reason for Santana playing CF last year was the Twins, inexplicably didn't seem to have any outfielders to play, ya know, outfield.  How the heck can a professional organization pull off something like that??

Ahhhhhhhhh...  I feel better now

So Santana is still re-adjusting to SS  and his backup, Escobar, adjusting to being a bench player.  Santana was developing as a CF last year, so I think the whole poor defense thing is overblown.  Escobar had an excellent year at SS, with good defense.  So I ask the same question, again:  why the NEED to move Santana back to SS when you had a good thing going with Santana in CF and Escobar at SS last year?

It seems that Molitor really trusts Santana's raw talent. He basically acknowledged his struggles, but said "he might go 4 for 5 tomorrow". 

The guy I want to see excel at SS is Jorge Polanco in Chattanooga. 

Maybe the Twins should practice patience with players?

I get so confused. The Twins aren't patient enough. The Twins don't promote fast enough. 

You can't have it both ways, to use the commenter's own criticism of Terry Ryan.

I must have missed the Twins focus on playing strong defense? (Snarky, sorry). After you replace Arcia, Nunez, Hunter, Hermann and Schafer, then you can consider Santana. Along with him don't forget Suzuki and Mauer. Santana went out and played CF last year, mediocre as it were, quietly and dreadfully out of position. He needs a chance to succeed at SS. If he can you have a SS. If he can't, you can plug replacement level Esobar back in. If this team cannot spend some time auditioning a player, which team could?

Not sure why you include Mauer with this group.    Among those with 100 games or more his fielding % was tied for the best in 2014.   He certainly seems to make a lot of nice plays, he starts double plays well and is a great target.    Annoying error Sunday but otherwise better than average since he has moved over IMO.

Not sure why you include Mauer with this group.    Among those with 100 games or more his fielding % was tied for the best in 2014.   He certainly seems to make a lot of nice plays, he starts double plays well and is a great target.    Annoying error Sunday but otherwise better than average since he has moved over IMO.

Mauer's defense is just fine at 1B.  It's just not 23M dollar fine :-)

I think promote quickly, and then exercise patience with the promoted player at the MLB level is a consistent approach/argument .

Danny Santana wasn't going to play all 162 games, so I think it's not a terrible idea to give him a break when he's had a couple bad days and use that time out of the lineup to re-focus his game in the batting cage and in practice without in-game pressure.  

I will be surprised if he is indeed benched for an extended period of time. I don't think it's a big deal to insert Escobar for a day or two at SS here and there. Santana is still developing, he can take his lumps for most of the time in the lineup, but also he should get rest days like everyone else.

Escobar getting playing time is a good thing, and it won't always be at Santana's expense.

I'd be fine with letting Santana knock the rust off defensively. He's got an excuse for that.

I'm more concerned about the offense or lack thereof batting leadoff. I don't think it would be jumping the gun to move him to 9th.

I'd be fine with letting Santana knock the rust off defensively. He's got an excuse for that.

I'm more concerned about the offense or lack thereof batting leadoff. I don't think it would be jumping the gun to move him to 9th.

unfortunately, our list of people who should bat 9th is pretty long:-)

Clearly the offense is a concern, but it can't stay this bad.....

anyone know what league average BABIP is this year so far or what it was last year?

unfortunately, our list of people who should bat 9th is pretty long:-)

True, and admittedly I was going to add to my post "but then who bats leadoff," but it occurred to me that anyone else couldn't be worse there.