Kirby_waved_at_me

I think the Twins are going to employ an "if it ain't broke . . . " strategy of roster moves. I expect that if they keep underperforming but still are winning games, Santana will get to stay through his hitting slump. If they start to lose several games, I expect that Arcia will be up, and there may be a shake up at short stop.

That first week might have some effect on the BaseRun data... I'm not sure if it does or not. They had a run differential of -30, but since then it has swung hard the other direction. I have to believe that more games played will help make the numbers normalize. The Twins may not have been playing well enough to justify the record they have now, but they did actually win those games, and that will keep them in the conversation much longer than anyone thought reasonable in March (or April)....

There's a perverse enjoyment in seeing that the White Sox are 2nd on this list after the Twins... So, the White Sox should be 5 games WORSE than they are right now? Goodness. I'm curious to see how the team fares once they add back Arcia and Ervin Santana.... will either move break the spell the Twins have been under?

My guess is that the rumor is coming from the national media's collective imagination, though it's rare that the Twins' name comes up in rumors unless they've actually put feelers out, they are notoriously tight lipped on things. Ryan Howard in a Twins uniform would be interesting, but chances are it would not be worth trading away any useable assets to find out just how interesting.

Well, if you count Ervin Santana, that's 7 starters right there. The Twins could just let each guy pick a day of the week, and then instead of "Hughes" the jersey could just say "Thursday"

I don't think Swihart being wasted in AAA is any better than Pinto being wasted in AAA. This is Suzuki town. I think if the Twins don't want to bring Pinto up this season, he should probably be traded for someone they will actually play.

So, various national rumor mills have floated the idea that the Twins might be interested in Ryan Howard. Is there any fire to that smoke? Is it the worst idea, or just a terrible one?

To me, the note about treating BP like HR derby was more an issue of not taking the assignment of Batting Practice seriously. As in, making daily pre-game BP a home run derby was defeating the purpose of taking BP in the first place. I've listened to several former Twins players (specifically Tim Laudner, Dan Gladden) and Molitor discuss on various radio shows the purpose of taking batting practice this year. They all talked about it as if it was a chore, like mowing the lawn or something. The point (to those guys) is not to have fun, but to use that time to get focused on the act of making solid contact and maintaining / refining your stance in the box, your stride, your swing, etc. It could be one of those new school / old school things, or it could be a cultural barrier... I don't know exactly. Gene Glynn talked on this weekend's show about how he's glad he's not a hitting coach. To hear Glynn tell it, Rudy Hernandez and Tony O are working with guys in the batting cages for hours before each home game. Maybe Vargas and Arcia (the other hitter that has a penchant for taking BP home Run Derby) feel like they've put the work in already in the cages and are looking to get loose / stay loose before the game starts. Glynn pointed out that when he played, no one had batting cages in the stadium (at least, not the way they do now). I don't think Molitor or Ryan are ignoring the work these guys are doing to improve as hitters, it would be petty of them to send Vargas to AAA just because he was taking big cuts in BP. I think they know that he has potential to be a very dangerous bat, and they want him to learn some more skills in AAA while they focus on winning ballgames at the major league level.

one thought - I instinctively scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page first and then back up- that's where I grew accustomed to finding the Twins on ESPN lists. So, it was nice to see that I can probably try to break that habit for awhile.

Yes, exactly. I was just pointing out that given the current roster, moving Suzuki down is one of the few options that Molitor has - there's not really a better bat sitting on the bench (even if there are 3 good ones in Rochester, and several more in Chattanooga). I think they are happy with the lineup as constructed at the moment, and as soon as Arcia starts to make solid contact, he'll be back up. Vargas might be given a longer sentence in Rochester, just because the Twins are scoring runs without him right now.

If Santana had been able to keep his job as leadoff hitter, Dozier might be the clean up hitter and Plouffe would be batting 5th... I think so far the results have been encouraging.

Yeah - the only justification I can think of regarding Pinto is that the Twins must not think he's good enough to be the regular DH, and they don't think he's good enough defensively to be the backup to Suzuki. Personally I think he's a better defender than Suzuki, and a better hitter than any catcher the Twins have above AA (I like Garver and Stuart Turner, but they are good hitters for their current level, they'd be lost in the majors). But that's just, like, my opinion, man. The Twins are committed to give Suzuki the playing time, so Pinto is the odd man out. With how little Herrmann is getting to play, it seems like having Pinto instead of Herrmann doesn't make much difference. I don't see anyone being particularly effective playing just one game a week. If Pinto was up, I'd want him to be in the lineup.

2014 was a career year for Suzuki - he's playing closer to his career norms, with almost identical rate stats to 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Arcia getting healthy will hopefully move Suzuki down to 7th (or 6th) in the lineup. It's interesting to point out, however, that Molitor was routinely batting Arcia 7th before the injury. Maybe they can flip Suzuki and Rosario in the batting order, but it seems like the team has been successful scoring runs with the lineup they have. There's a bit of a lull after Plouffe, but it seems like Santana is getting on base just enough to give Dozier and Hunter RBI opportunities. The first 4 guys in the lineup are also the top 4 in team RBI. Santana, despite hitting in the .220s, has scored over 20 times this year.

The Twins get to watch all these guys practice and take cuts in the cage - the coaching staff and Terry Ryan know a lot more about these guys than we do. I have to believe that Terry Ryan and the coaching staff have conversations about the offense, and specifically about Arcia, Pinto, and Vargas. All three seem on the surface to be more attractive options at DH than the Eduardos. The coaching staff must see something we aren't seeing. It's not a secret that Arcia and Vargas are free swingers - it could very well be that the Twins think that Vargas is a net negative to the offense when his approach to hitting is so hot and cold. Molitor's quote about Vargas is revealing - too aggressive at times, too passive in later at bats. By sending Vargas to AAA, he should get the message that his big league playing time is directly linked to taking a more consistent approach. I'm guessing Arcia is just not ready physically- he's yet to record a hit in the 4 games he's played in AAA. And Pinto? He's slashing .252/.329/.400 so far this season. 5 Homers, 16 walks and 37 strikeouts.

Stauffer lives!

I thought Toronto was pretty cool city - The Blue Jays tend to match up well against the Twins, but I'm hoping Trevor May can be the right kind of kryptonite tonight.

Twins should just swing a trade... Bautista or Encarnacion at DH would be awesome.

When I read that bit about Aaron Hicks, I thought it meant he's been terrible since he first came up in 2013, not referring to just the small sample in 2015... I think saying Hicks has been "terrible" in that context is still a little harsh, but not without some merit.

I definitely think that at least two of Pinto, Arcia, and Vargas should be on the MLB club, if not all three. They have better bats than anyone the Twins would use regularly at DH right now. Arcia might not be ready health-wise and timing-wise, but I didn't think Vargas should be demoted in the first place and PInto... I never really understood what he's gaining by being wasted in AAA.

Yes, I agree with all of that - If Arcia is recovered fully from his injury, he should be coming up. "Fully recovered" the issue with me - it means healthy, but it also means that his timing and discipline have returned. Not that he's ever been especially patient at the plate, but so far this year he's been hacking at everything. To your point about him mashing in the minors - He can be successful in AAA without actually becoming a better hitter, I agree with that too. He has a better chance of learning / developing against MLB pitching and with the orgs best hitting coach. My argument in favor of Arcia staying in AAA is just to make sure he's healthy and recovered first.

I like Arcia a lot, but there's something about the way he's been taking his at bats this season that has rubbed me the wrong way. Arcia is exactly the bat the Twins need, a lefty masher. Vargas can also do that, but he's a switch hitter, so there are (in theory) better match ups for the Twins that way. If Arcia can show that he can take some of the bad pitches, and punish opposing pitchers for their mistakes, I'd love to see him batting 5th or 6th. Same thing with Vargas - the two of them plus Sano will be a very formidable middle of the lineup in years to come. If the situation were that Hunter was not hitting right now, I think the Twins would be in more trouble - Arcia and Vargas have time to fix their issues, and can do so in AAA or in limited playing time with the big league club. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well Hunter has hit early on. Before the season started, I wanted to see Arcia in RF, Rosario in LF and Hunter as the DH, splitting time with Vargas and Mauer. Hunter has earned his spot this year; so far, Arcia hasn't. I hope Arcia can show the Twins he's ready to come back and hit like he's capable of hitting.

Without being able to read his mind - what does everyone think that Molitor wants? My guess is that based on this year's performances (including Spring Training), Molitor may have moved Rosario up his depth chart. Arcia would have been on top in Left Field before they started playing, but I wonder now if the manager may now prefer Eddie in Left Field. There's no question that Arcia has more power potential, but playing him at DH when he's hitting / seeing the ball so poorly seems wrong, no matter how bad his defense is. My personal preference is to play the guy that is most likely to keep the offense humming along in the DH spot. Vargas looked ok in the few at bats he was given before being demoted, I felt that he was sent down too rashly. But I'm biased, I think Vargas is my favorite Twins player. Santana on the other hand - my unscientific eye test in seeing him (in 4 games this year spread out across the whole season) is that he's been lost at sea at the plate. His defense has been ok, but I think Escobar is better suited to be the Twins everyday SS if they are looking to stay in first place in June. I agree with the others that suggest Santana might benefit from some time in AAA, especially if he can play every day. I think regardless of which level the Twins place Santana, he should be getting regular playing time, as that will be the best for his development.

Right on - I wasn't sure if Boyer had 5 years yet or not, I know he's been around for awhile. Based on that, I still think Stauffer, Tonkin, and Pressly are the most likely to move when Fien and/or Arcia come up.

I think the most likely candidates are Stauffer, Pressly, and Michael Tonkin - based on Molitor/Allen's usage of those guys and based on how long they've been up.

opposing teams will have to start their closer!