stringer bell

OK, here's my take. Oswaldo Arcia is vulnerable to high fastballs and breaking balls in the dirt and he can't lay off either one consistently. That is probably one too many holes to be an effective major league hitter long term. If that is the case, then what else does Arcia offer? Well, he looks like a good teammate and he's good with the GatorAde bucket. He's not fast, he is a poor defender and he plays left and right field. "Good" Arcia happened in 2013-2014. Since then, he has been a poor player. Since 2014, Danny Santana has been a poor player as well. If you want to include 2013 and 2014 for Arcia in assessing his upside, you have to look at Danny's 2014. Santana was pretty spectacular in 2014. So what you have is two players who both looked like they had broken through coming into 2015. One of them is a switch hitter who has played a lot of games up the middle of the diamond and who has very good speed and the other who has only played the corner outfield spots (poorly) and has demonstrated power. It is not so cut and dried that Oswaldo Arcia is the superior option.

Yesterday, Ricky Nolasco and the Twins were cruising to a victory against the weakened, but still hated, New York Yankees. A funny thing happened on the way to the winner's circle--the Twins gave up seven runs in innings 7, 8, and 9 and were beaten despite getting two homers against Chapman in the ninth. Here are some of the culprits: Kevin Jepsen entered in the eighth with a two-run lead and one runner on first and one out. He yielded the game-tying homer to Carlos Beltran, which gave the Yankees with their great end of the bullpen a huge advantage. 2) Ryan Pressly came in with the bases loaded and nobody out. He allowed the go-ahead run to score on a 3-2 fastball to Ellsbury, then wild-pitched the runners to second and third where the Yanks final run. 3) Fernando Abad who walked the leadoff batter and allowed a bunt single to Didi Gregorious setting up the Yankee's big inning. 4) Juan Centeno who failed to catch a low pitch and was charged with a passed ball and then partially blocked another pitch in the dirt, which still allowed the runners to advance. 5) Paul Molitor, who took Abad out instead of having him face a pinch hitter, then two lefty hitters and intentionally walked the number 8 hitter loading the bases. In my humble opinion, Centeno's mistakes, particularly the passed ball, can't be underestimated. If he wants to stay in the majors, he's got to block low pitches. Molitor's strategy was questionable. Abad has been his best reliever and very good against lefties. Asking Pressly to not only get out the pinch hitter, but both Ellsbury and Gardner is asking for a lot. Abad committed the cardinal sin of walking the leadoff hitter. He wasn't in good position to field Didi's bunt. Pressly was asked to perform a near-miracle and probably came close. If he didn't run the count full to Ellsbury, he might have gotten out of the jam. Jepsen threw a nothing off-speed pitch to Beltran, he had a 2-2 count and absolutely needed to keep the ball in the park. Here's my verdict: #1--Centeno. #2--Jepsen. #3 Molitor. #4 Pressly and #4 Abad (a tie).

I think the key component here is that Arcia is not a good fit as a bench player and perhaps not so much as a platoon option (and there aren't that many true platoons in MLB). To be productive (IMHO), Arcia needs to play almost every day and he simply hasn't hit enough since Molitor became manager to justify that. As I said earlier, the Twins are at fault for creating the logjam at DH/1B/corner OF, with little choice but to start Arcia on the team but on the bench.

There really should be two 40-man spots available. Arcia's will come open and also Mastroianni, as soon as he is healthy enough. With Buxton and Santana being what they are, they really don't need Mastro.

I haven't been near a keyboard since I heard the news that Arcia was DFAed. Not a total surprise by a long shot, but still sad because Arcia came to spring training in great shape and did seem to work hard at his deficiencies in the outfield, plus he is one of the few guys to show a lot of emotion when out on the field. It's a failure all right. First, the Twins had a young player who looked like he would be a candidate to hit 30 homers a year as recently as 2014, but he went backward big time last year. This year, he hasn't shown enough as a hitter to garner regular playing time and I would suggest that Arcia is a guy that will never to a good bench player. I believe he needs regular at-bats to keep the holes in his swing from becoming open invitations to throw high fastballs and breaking balls in the dirt. It's also a failure of the organization. They haven't prevailed on him to make the adjustments needed to be consistently successful. Also they've used up options too early and have a glut of younger guys and not enough playing time for all of them, while carrying a 30 year old DH and a 33 year old first baseman on multiple year contracts. I don't think the 40-man decisions have been good for a long time. The Sano, Plouffe, Park, Mauer merry-go-round is a mess and leaves no place really for Arcia or Kepler.

Free Tommy Milone! With the devastation that is the Twins starting rotation, Milone has to deserve another chance in the rotation, if nothing more than to build trade value.

I think it is Nuñez mostly because of positional flexibility. If Abad allowed a three-run homer, his numbers would look pretty average pretty quick. If Nuñez hit .250 for two weeks, his BA would still be north of .300.

His value will probably go up after the All-Star break. Yes, I believe in some respect an All-Star nod is a consideration, but not many trades happen until after the AS game. Nuñez' story is a really good one for the All-Star game and I will be very happy for him if he does make the team. I'll also be happy for him if he's traded to a contender.

I think so. Who'd a thunk it on April 1st?

Apologies for temporarily locking the thread. Trying to operate from a mobile device. How long will the Dean experiment last? Very reminiscent of Andrew Albers.

Only when John Ryan Murphy was catching.

Winnah! First MLB win for Taylor Rogers, who was very impressive against the Rays. I do have to say that I haven't seen a worse lineup against the Twins this year.

I'm holding my breath. It does help that Jep is facing three guys with a batting average under .200.

I think everyone agrees that doing what is best for Buxton long-term is what is best for the Twins. There is no need to rush him back. However, there is no agreement on what is best for their top prospect. I was in the camp that believed he could have benefited from starting the season in AAA, but he was basically handed the starting job in Spring Training. Without a doubt, Buxton was thriving at Rochester, hitting for extra bases, reducing his strikeouts and playing every day. Should he have stayed in upstate New York with a lesser talent promoted? No one really knows for sure. I hope he starts almost every day for the Twins and thrives. I don't have a problem with Buxton getting an occasional day off, but wherever he's playing, he should be the principle center fielder. As for hitting him ninth, I don't think such baby steps are an issue. Batting at the top of the order adds just a bit of pressure IMHO and there is no need to subject Buck to that. It is also interesting that the Twins didn't recall Eddie Rosario. After a slow start in Rochester, he's been hitting better than Buxton. Interestingly, when Buxton left the Rochester game early yesterday (presumably to catch a plane to the west coast), Rosario moved from left to right field while Max Kepler took over center. Do the Twins not consider Rosario a center fielder at all?

Not quite fair to include Rosario and Santana in this discussion. Santana has played center out of need at the big league level and Rosario was an outfielder who the Twins experimented with as a second baseman. The young talents present make the Sano experiment tougher to understand.

OK, speaking of marginal players, I understand the love for Beresford, but he is at best a utility guy. On a team that thought it had a chance, he wouldn't be worth losing a 40-man spot to give him a shot in the majors. The Twins have 12 wins on Memorial Day weekend, so the scenario is different and maybe it is a chance to reward Beresford with some big league pay and meal money. Robby Grossman is interesting to me. How many left handed throwing switch hitters are there? I can think of a couple, but not many.

No, it is not June yet.

I think Brian Dozier is a better player now than Jorge Polanco and I think that it is pretty likely that Dozier will always be a better player than Polanco, but for the first time since Dozier emerged (three years ago), I believe that it may be time to move Dozier for a better fit on the team (Polanco). The assumption for a long time has been that soon the best two players on the team will be RH hitting youngsters Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. I hope that day arrives some time in the second half of the year. Of the next five most established players on the Twins, four of them hit right handed (Dozier, Plouffe, Suzuki, and Park). Dozier, Plouffe and Park are all players whose power is a big portion of their value. I want to see more guys who make contact, provide speed and defense, who maybe can hit at the top of the order. The projection for Polanco fills that bill better than today's Dozier. As for playing Arcia for now and optioning Rosario, I get it. Right now Rosario is rolling a little better and Arcia is having a tough time. A week ago, the situation was reversed. Ideally, Rosario could be optioned, but until Buxton is ready, there really isn't anyone to replace Rosario, so I leave them alone for now and get both Arcia and Rosario enough at-bats. I don't think it would be a terrible idea to give Santana a day off or two, but I'm satisfied with his play in center and hitting ninth.

Buck had another good game yesterday (2-5, walk, leadoff homer and no Ks). I think he leads Rochester in BA and OPS, although he only has about 50 PAs. A month at AAA would be good for him. Buxton's development is crucial to the Twins in so many ways. If staying in AAA is the way for him to be as good as almost everyone has predicted, so be it.

Who's with me? The season turned on the fourth inning reversal of an out call at first base. The Twins will roll from here.

I do have a special sense of anticipation for Berrios to make his debut. I met him and spoke a few minutes with him in Cedar Rapids three years ago, I think. Nice young man. I also shook his hand in ST the following year. Anyway, he is the last of the golden group of prospects to make it to Minnesota. I'm sure there will be some early struggles, but the kid has a lot going for him. Best of luck to JO!

If Santana can't go, for his next start, then Duffey can stay and Polanco can return for him. I suppose the Twins could disable Duffey if he has more than a bit of soreness. Santana hasn't pitched since last Tuesday, so he would only have to miss one more start. I'd do that unless he's absolutely 100%. I still think the 40th roster spot should go to Juan Centeno, who has hit OK for Rochester and is a LH hitter. He should replace Murphy on the active roster.

Centano for Murphy? Or maybe they reach down to AA. At least whatshisname is a good receiver.

Stellar at-bat for Plouffe!

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Maybe this guy can turn into a 21st century version of the late Toni Phillips. Play a lot of positions, switch hit, steal some bases and play acceptable defense. Phillips was more of a lead off hitter than DanSan likely ever would be, because of his patience and ability to draw walks, but Danny is faster and has the arm to play shortstop.