stringer bell

Don't know how to put the Starting Lineup in the body of Brian's opener, but Dozier is back in, Parm is at first and Nuñez gets his third straight start at short. Kind of surprised that Gardy didn't throw Cola right in the mix, with a lefty going, but maybe he just got off the plane. Oh yeah, Fryer behind the plate for a day game after a night game.

First, let me say that I think the die has been cast. The Twins are in fourth in their division, 9 back and 7 back in the Wild Card. They aren't going to contend. It's time to look at 2015 and beyond. Dick Bremer recapped the first half of the season by saying that center field was a mess. He is right. There has been poor production and less than stellar defense from that position. The opening day center fielder is in limbo or Double A, or maybe both. The best offensive CF is a 23 year old shortstop. Ron Gardenhire has started fourth outfielder Sam Fuld there a lot and resorted to starting Chris Parmelee in center for a game. There isn't a player on the 40-man roster who could be looked at as more than a patch for center field, discounting the thoroughly confused and confusing Aaron Hicks. Bremer also made similar comments about shortstop. While there hasn't been any continuity, I don't think shortstop is broken, like center field is for the Twins. Yes, Pedro Florimon failed in 80 at-bats, but Eduardo Escobar has been very good, Danny Santana has been a revelation, and Eduardo Nuñez has shown that he is a big-league hitter and he can play shortstop. Somewhere in the latter three is a pretty good shortstop. Santana has shown enough for us fans to believe he could be more than pretty good, however he is currently injured and has only 143 plate appearances, not quite enough to say he's proven he can hit. Here's my take for both of the problem position for the Twins: Center Field--Sam Fuld is a capable center fielder, he shouldn't be considered to be a regular, but he's the best the Twins have right now. When Santana returns, he should play some center field as well. Why? Because the Twins need to see Santana get big-league at bats and they have other options at short. The only player in the high minors who could insert himself is Eddie Rosario. Rosario has recently slumped at New Britain, after serving a 50-game suspension. If he picks up the hitting and continues to be acceptable as a center fielder, I think the Twins could and should give him a chance. Shortstop--I think the Twins owe Escobar an extended audition. He also has slumped recently, but he still carries an OPS+ of 100 and he has demonstrated he's a plus fielder at the three infield positions. Escobar is just a year and a half older than Santana. He is getting his first taste of everyday play in the majors and I don't think he's overmatched. Meanwhile, Nuñez may be the SS of last resort, but he isn't a totally unattractive option. Nuñez has a pretty good bat, some power and good speed. He, like Escobar, is truly versatile. Certainly his defense has been a problem, but with some work that could be acceptable--he's got the range and arm to be good. I also question Santana's defense, not so much for what he's done in Minnesota, but what I saw and heard of him previously. To the point brought up several times, I think Escobar should get a shot at being a regular SS before the club gives the position to Danny Santana. What does everybody else think?

Yeaa. More Chris Colabello. Sorry, I can't get excited for more Cola. It is bad enough to watch him hit, but Gardy seems to find a way to put him in the outfield and that really hurts the eyes.

Reimold hasn't played in the majors this year. How can he be having a terrible year? He's had a bad run of injuries and he will probably never be a great player, but he isn't a career minor leaguer like Ramirez. IMHO, Fuld and Santana are the Twins' center fielders the rest of the year. That isn't good, by any means, but stopgaps like Parmelee or Ramirez (who both aren't really CFs) does nothing to solve the problem. My best hope for something out of center field for the remainder of the year is Rosario and he's also struggled recently at NB, although he homered last night.

Vargas has hit a rough patch in NB. Also, he is in the Futures Game. I don't see it happening, but I wouldn't be opposed to it if it happened. I noted Nolan Reimold as a possibility for the Twins, with Parmelee becoming the primary first baseman for the duration of the Mauer injury. I think that makes the most sense.

Further comment: Reimold's audition could be as short as the length of the Mauer injury. I think it is worth the risk given the lack of options for the Twins right now.

In light of the Mauer injury (and Kennys Vargas' recent slump) I'd do it today. Reimold has rehabbed his most recent injury so he should be good to go. The Twins could use a RH hitting corner OF, especially if Parm is the regular 1B. Reimold could start in left vs. LH pitching (Hammer DH, Morales 1B) to get an extra RH bat in the lineup or he could give Arcia a rest in right field.

OK, OK. I have kind of backed P-Flo all year. Let me say this first, Florimon should not be in the majors. Also, if the Twins need room on their 40-man, designate him. I will say that Florimon's entire body of work isn't quite as futile as has been painted here. He is above the Mendoza line (.204) and he has hit 10 long balls in under 700 plate appearances, so he has some power, along with 24 stolen bases. His OPS is in Buteraland, and that is not a good place to be. Further, I would guess Pedro is now fourth in a depth chart of shortstops. 1) Santana 2) Espinosa and 3) Nuñez. I don't think Florimon belongs as part of the present with the Twins and it is obvious that he isn't part of the future.

I want to dispute #4 on the list. Both Rochester and New Britain have winning records. They have guys who can help major league clubs, unfortunately those guys are not power hitters, center fielders or lead off hitters. Rochester doesn't have a single hitter on the active roster who I see as more than the last man on the bench (Pinto is still DLed right?), but they have pitching. New Britain has a potential 1B-DH along with Hicks and Rosario in the OF.

Perhaps the most compelling number in the June stats is the W-L. There were some peaks and valleys and a continuing slowdown by the offense. The month of June was particularly cruel to Oswaldo Arcia, although a number of guys didn't do well. The team averaged almost exactly four runs per game, were outhomered by seven and outscored by ten runs. The span of a month seems to be long enough to normalize a lot of stats. Without looking, I thought Dozier and Escobar would both be below .200 for the preceding 30 days and that the club would have both a worse won-loss and homer differential than did occur. http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/stats/batting/_/name/min/split/42/minnesota-twins On the mound, we saw a staff that continues to show it is better than last year, but not enough to take a big step forward. One bad start ruined Kyle Gibson's otherwise stellar month. Hughes regressed to the mean, but remained solid, and Correia bounced back to the good side of mediocre. The principle guys in the bullpen were good, but not dominant. The other two spots in the rotation remain up in the air. Nolasco's contract locks him in to one spot and all comers should get a shot at the other slot in the rotation. http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/stats/pitching/_/name/min/split/42/minnesota-twins What lies ahead? Well, the month of July should be a transition month. The schedule softens a bit, and the trade deadline looms. At some point, Terry Ryan will have to decide whether this basic roster is good enough to contend (I don't think it is) and act accordingly. If the team is to retool and contend as soon as next year, they need to shed a lot of veterans.

Royals' Gold Gloves not too golden.

Polanco has been promising but proven nothing IMHO. His full body of work is more telling than a handful of major league at-bats.

I think at least nine wins are necessary to be viable after the break. I can't see it happening.

Very enjoyable venue here in SF. We are finally in the shade on a beautiful day. Giants are down 1-0 in the 9th here. They've struggled mightily since they swept the Twins.

Scoreless in the second. I see the Twins are up!

Hello. I'm in SF and will be posting from the Giants/Reds game. I haven't had computer access til now, so I haven't been able to post or comment. I see the Twins continued their futility yesterday and need a win to salvage something from the trip. Will be posting later.

This is a game I thought the Twins would win, but the magical Nick Tepesch is shutting them down. Tomorrow they get Yu in midafternoon, should be fun.

Parmelee is of some value to this team. He is the best corner OF available and plays a very servicable first base. He has hit left handers well in a small sample size and has a better OPS than Arcia. I don't think it is too much to start him 3-4 times a week (twice for Arcia, once for Hammer and maybe once for Morales/Mauer).

They can get by on one backup infielder (Nuñez) but they would have no one with center field experience beyond Fuld. Personally, I don't want to see Fuld in the lineup every day and I certainly don't want to see him leading off, but it looks like that is how they will roll unless they promote someone not on the 40-man roster or make a trade.

I think there is some consensus that when Plouffe and Nuñez return, Florimon and Polanco should be dispatched to the minors. The sticky wicket is if Santana gets DLed, what will the club do? The loss of Santana for two weeks would mean that the team is thin in the outfield as well as the infield. In addition, they would not have a top of the order guy to be paired with Dozier. Let's hope we don't need to find out what the Twins would do if Santana has to go on the DL.

That was my understanding all along. Nuñez' injury was not a two-week injury. Since he has been a part-time player, it is probably helpful to get him at-bats and since he plays several positions, it would help for him to play a couple different positions before returning to the Twins. I expect that Plouffe will be ready on Monday, as well. Two things temper my optimism on Plouffe: 1) history--Plouffe has had at least two episodes where he was supposed to be back the day after tomorrow and the goal line kept moving. 2) nature of injury--pulls and strains in the side and ribcage seem to always take longer than expected to heal. His injury was not diagnosed as an oblique strain or pull, so maybe this injury won't be so slow to heal.

Seriously Halsey, what did Trevor Plouffe ever do to you? His numbers, both offensively and defensively, are league average. He definitely has improved hitting with runners in scoring position and defensively, but you think he's not as good as 20-year-old Jorge Polanco?

Given the circumstances, my only complaint is that Dozier should be leading off and everybody moved up a spot, with Fuld at #9. I'm ready for the Eddie Rosario era to start in center field BTW.

The door is open for someone other than Pino to start on Monday. Pino can't be recalled unless there is a new injury. I think it will be May, but Johnson and Darnell are on the 40-man roster. Also, I don't get the Florimon hate. His numbers this year are miserable, but he was a positive WAR player last year. He isn't old (27-28) and he does offer some base stealing speed. I don't worship at the altar of WAR and I think the Twins belatedly made the absolute right call in sending P-Flo down. In fact, IMHO, Florimon should be DFAed if the club needs more space on the 40-man. That is not to minimize what Florimon does very well--play very good defense at shortstop. Until Santana's injury, Florimon had two PAs in ten days. Why waste a 40-man move to do that to someone else and then perhaps lose both the player designated and the guy promoted in a few days?

It is my understanding that Nuñez will rehab in New Britain this weekend and be ready to be activated when he is eligible. I have read some other posts suggesting he won't be ready when he could be activated, but I think I'm right. If this is the case, both Polanco and Florimon will be history next Monday. Of course, that depends on whether Santana avoids the DL.