stringer bell

Just saw this on ESPN. If they failed in Detroit, they probably will have a hard time finding work, but given the Twins BP, maybe one or both could be helpful.

I'm not a moderator, but IMHO this thread has veered quite a ways from the origin. It looks to me like the consensus here is more libertarian than anything. I find very little to like in the Republican platform and hearing guys like Ted Cruz speak make me fear for the future of the country. The hard-right base is far overrepresented in Congress and in Republican primaries and until they can break that grip, the party will be too out of touch with the voting public to win national elections.

As per usual, two of the loudest voices are Republicans running for President and the Catholic Bishops. Their anger has devolved into fervent protection of "liberty" and protecting religious freedoms. I don't agree with the gay lifestyle, but I am certainly in the "live and let live" camp. I know enough gay people to know that they are people and not just charactatures.

With Hicks returning, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Santana at short tonight. Not that I want it to happen.

Thanks for the information. Best wishes to his daughter. I guess I never saw any information about the Robinsons situation.

I do think it's close, but Milone's numbers are the best. In a vacuum, I'd take the Pelfrey line before May's. Milone 3.19 ERA 1.29 WHIP May 4.37 ERA 1.37 WHIP Pelfrey 3.81 ERA 1.44 WHIP Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Advanced statistics, FIP, Strikeouts, and I do believe May offers more for the future than either Pelf or Milone. That said, I think the decision should be about July 2015 and not 2016. May has gotten about 24 starts already in his career and if the Twins fall out of contention, he would get several more. He won't come into 2016 as unproven and untested. I do think he could help in the later innings in close games. The club needs a late-inning reliever more than anything else.

I agree with the bolded part of the previous post. I think Escobar provides the floor and that floor is okay offense and defense. I truly don't think we'll ever see 2014 Danny Santana again.

Curious about the Robinson situation. He earlier took family emergency time at an opportune time for the Twins and now the situation recurs (I guess). I don't want to appear insensitive, but is it known what the family issue is? I like Robinson, he is a pro who has made about as much out of his limited talent as he can. Watching him taking BP in ST with the likes of Vargas, Hunter and Hicks, he looked very small and very pale compared to those guys. He looks particularly geeky when wearing sunglasses (I think of Ant-man).

I've commented about Esco at short before and will again. He has good hands and enough arm, so he turns outs into outs very reliably. He doesn't possess the tools to make a lot of highlight film plays. His bat also profiles as about average for a shortstop, last year's gaggle of two-baggers notwithstanding. The whole picture is a competent, about league-average guy, who would hit in the bottom of the order and never take many walks. My take is that this kind of player can be surrounded by better players and be on a playoff team.

He does. Escobar's OPS+ is 90. Team--91. Individuals: Dozier 133 Nuñez 132 Hunter 115 Plouffe 105 Mauer 96 Rosario 94 Escobar 90 Vargas 76 Robinson 72 Suzuki 68 Hicks 66 Herrmann 53 Santana 46

Two starts ago IIRC, Pelfrey was locked in a low-scoring game with the White Sox. He lost the game in the seventh when he should have been removed, but the Twins stuck with him (in part because the bullpen alternatives were horrible). It still qualified as a quality start and really was better than that. Fryer is slipping pretty badly at Rochester, he's nearly 30 and never profiled as a hitter. His "D" is fine, but he's not on the 40-man roster. It would be a 40-man disruption to change irrelevant pieces IMHO. Also, FWIW, Herrmann is an acceptable outfielder. Apparently Molitor doesn't think much of that since, the Twins have started EE in left 26 times.

Also could be Robinson to the DL, if he can't swing a bat.

I don't agree with either proposal. I think Kepler might get a recall in September as a reward for a fantastic season in the minors (and he's on the 40-man) and I see him as more of a corner guy than Rosario. If both Rosario and Kepler were in the same OF, my guess is that Eddy plays center. I don't think Polanco is the answer at short. I do believe he can develop into a capable hitter for a middle infielder, but I think he's really stretched as a shortstop. Further, despite his success in his major league call-ups, I don't think he's quite ready as a hitter, either.

A couple other thoughts (I'll be going silent soon): 1) Guthrie and our own Ricky Nolasco belong to the same club--winning record +5 ERA, not many starters in that club. 2) Curious to see what the usage will be for Escobar going forward. 3) Looking at proposals for the Twins position players, almost all of the power is RH. Who is the top LH hitter for power? Mauer? Rosario? C'mon Oswaldo, get your act together, the club can use some LH sock.

The two games against an NL club are in Minnesota. No need to make any adjustments there. I haven't found anything about Hicks returning, but I believe it is past time.

I only caught a snippet, but is Plouffe's paternity leave imminent? Honestly, I don't think Robinson will lose his spot this year. I think a lot of other things will happen before Robinson is DFAed.

I thought that both Cubs phenoms--Bryant and Schwarber--looked no better than okay. Bryant is a pretty good all-around player and his numbers say he's already a fine player. Schwarber only DHed. He was dominant in AA and did very well in a short stint in the majors, but the Twins pitched him well. How does this relate to Sano? Well, Bryant was put on the same level as the Twins phenom. Bryant will have ups and downs and so will Miguel Sano. Sano will probably be mostly a DH, so he does need to hit to have value.

Mostly agree with the above two posts. Hicks is the best of poor alternatives in center field. The unfortunate reality is that one of the starters goes to the 'pen--my vote goes for May, with the understanding that if the season goes astray, May returns and somebody (probably Pelfrey) is either traded or switched out for May. Both lefties are questionable, Thompson has options and should go down now. If the Twins stay in the race, they need to have a lefty they trust, I'd start converting Rogers right away at Rochester, with an eye on promoting him within a month. I want to see Escobar at short until someone shows this year that they are better than he is. Continue spotting Nuñez, because he has hit well and almost no one else has. Depending on Hicks' performance, Buxton can either come back immediately, rehab and return or be optioned to Rochester. Sano is my DH until the trading deadline and probably for the rest of the season.

Who heads to Rochester/is released? Maybe that should go in Next Transactions or whatever the thread title is.

Of the 10 pitchers listed, five of them are in the upper minors. There is help in the pipeline. Interestingly, there is no urgent need to provide help right now. Trade fodder? Convert to relievers?

What I think is that for some reason Molitor has overvalued Escobar's hitting, while simultaneously undervaluing his defense at short. IMHO, Escobar hits and fields well enough to be an average shortstop. He doesn't hit enough to be an average left fielder. I also was quite surprised that Molitor started Nuñez at short in a couple games where Escobar was in left. Even though Nuñez isn't very good in left, I would think the Twins would want the better defender at short, but that didn't happen. They had two games, I believe, with Nuñez at short, Santana in center and Rosario in left. Again, I would put Nuñez in the outfield, Rosario in center and Santana at short, but the Twins chose to do otherwise.

"Infielders in the Outfield" has been a common refrain around TD for the past year. It seems to be code for managerial (and GM) misconduct in putting together a roster. Specifically, going in 2014, Jason Bartlett, who had never played outfield in the majors was slotted in as a backup outfielder, with predictable results. When injuries occurred, AAA depth from Rochester's infield was playing two spots in the Twins' outfield, along with first baseman Chris Colabello. Shortstops Eduardo Nuñez and Eduardo Escobar also took some turns on the corners and Escobar made an ill-fated start in center field. New season, new manager, no more of this? Well, even with Molitor in charge, Danny Santana has started the last three games in center field, Eduardo Escobar has made far more starts in left (26) than he has at shortstop and Nuñez has chipped in with a couple games in the outfield, as well. Is everyone in Twins' management daft? Is it truly irrational to play these guys out in the grass instead of on the dirt where they belong? I, for one, am not that preturbed by it. Short benches mean that guys have to be versatile. Escobar, for one, has shown he can play acceptably at three infield positions and has added left field to his resumé. Santana played a lot of center field last year and according to what I can see can be acceptable there. Last year, Santana was both a rookie and an outfield novice. His lack of experience showed, but by season's end, I thought his defense was quite acceptable. Outstanding speed and a great arm are tools that play well in center and Santana has those tools. In the three games he's been in center, I haven't seen a ball drop in that he should have caught and I haven't seen the opposition get any extra bases. Still, he isn't hitting and I guess I'd rather see Aaron Hicks in center if the choice were between Santana and Hicks. Escobar has a larger body of work this year. He's got okay speed and a good arm. I've seen Esco miss balls that he should have gotten to, but he has improved. According to BBRef, his OF numbers are satisfactory. Escobar is good at going toward the line and denying an extra base and he's shown off a good arm. His routes haven't been good sometimes, but that comes with experience. If Escobar is to be a utility player, he is going to get some innings in the outfield. Again, similar to Santana, my gripe with Escobar in the outfield is that he doesn't hit enough to be starting consistently. In summary, having versatile players who can play acceptably in the infield and the outfield is a good thing. I think Escobar is acceptable in left field and it looks like Santana is acceptable in center. I don't think an occasional start by an infielder in the outfield is cause for a manager to be fired, but these should be stopgap moves and not something that recurs over and over or lasts for more than a week.

First call ups for Vargas and Hicks were directly from AA. Santana played about a month and Arcia dominated, but for only 38 games. Santana and Vargas have both been optioned to AAA this year for brief periods and Hicks dominated early this year.

They did get one nice season out of Scott Diamond, who was acquired from the Braves.

Nice win. Another great start for Gibson.