stringer bell

Certainly some changes will be made. The team is playing poorly and very few position players are going well--Morneau is hitting (singles) and .........well Plouffe's been pretty consistent and Florimon continues to be okay--and the rotation is in tatters and the bullpen is overworked. I think they need to do something with the rotation first and at least two and possibly four guys should be on "super secret double probation"--Parmelee, Dozier, Hicks and maybe Arcia. I'd like to see the team keep three lefties in the bullpen, but that would be predicated on the effectiveness of Thielbar.

Buxton has been terrific, but it is probably the correct move to keep him at Cedar Rapids at least until midseason. How many MiLB teams have won 30 games. I'm guessing there aren't many in affiliated baseball.

Congratulations to Caleb Thielbar. Randolph is less than 25 miles from where I live and two of my cousins used to live in rural Randolph, so Caleb is practically a neighbor. I hope he is given a chance to stay with the big club when Friday's start is upon us. He had a fine two innings in his debut.

The Twins' roster has been stable for quite awhile. The last change that I remember is DLing Mastroianni and recalling Arcia and that was some time around April 20th. They are going on another tough road trip, playing two World Series contenders and the Brewers. After hitting well on their last road trip, many if not most are slumping. The starting pitching is at a low point (I would classify the rotation as "in tatters" and the bullpen is starting to leak a bit from overuse. It is time for changes--fresh faces and particularly fresh arms--and here is what I think they should do: Place Mastroianni on the 60-day DL and either put Wood on the 60-day list or DFA him, that frees up two 40-man spots. DFA Wilkin Ramirez, creating a third spot. Recall Chris Colabello and Anteon (sp) Richardson. Replace Pedro Hernandez with Kyle Gibson and either option or disable Pelfrey and exchange him for De Vries. Finally, option Parmelee.

I am not clear on Arica. He was a fairly early option in March--does it matter if he's optioned early before the teams start playing regulation games? On Hicks, I think the Twins need to first do what is right for the player. If his development could be increased by sending him to AAA, batting leadoff without the pressure of doing that as a big-league rookie, they should do it and save a year from free agency. On Gibson, I'll say it is only money. As Nick noted, there was a change that makes more 2+ guys eligible for arbitration. Gibson won't be eligible to be a Free Agent until he's well past 30, so the only bone of contention is arbitration. I'm pretty much with Seth on the outfielders, but let Gibson get his feet wet.

Four types of players that the Twins need to make decisions on in the remaining three quarters of the season: 1) Veterans--keep and pay them, or trade them? This would include the oft mentioned Morneau, Doumit, Willingham, Carroll, Burton and Perkins. 2) Young non-rookies--should they be penciled in for the forseeable future or discarded? This is Dozier, Plouffe, Parmelee, Florimon, Escobar, and Pedro Hernandez. 3) Talented rookies--what is best for their development? Major league time, staying in the lineup/rotation through their struggles or triple A time in Rochester? That would be Hicks, Arcia, and Gibson. 4) Finally, minor-league producers without star projection. Do these guys have enough talent to help a rebuilding big league club on the rise? This would include A Richardson, Colabello, Deduno, Walters, Albers, De Vries and Pinto.

While I hate seeing the Twins get swept at home, maybe the Front Office will process the losses and do what they can to help themselves down the road.

I certainly want the Twins to do well. I also want them to face reality and quit pretending that they can contend this year. They need to do what is right for the development of their young talent. I think they may need to send Hicks down and I wouldn't rule the same out for Arcia (if some of you haven't noticed, he hasn't hit the ball very well lately). OTOH, it is time for Gibson to arrive and get his 100 innings in "at the major league level", and perhaps they need to find out about Deduno, Walters, Albers and De Vries.

Given the performance of the Twins' starting staff, I sure hope so.

How is Hicks a better outfielder? He has misjudged more balls in a quarter season than Span did in a full season. I think he'll be good, but he's not there yet.

I went to my first Twins game this year. Four hours later, I was trying to summarize a whupping at the hands of the Rose Hose. Here are some quick thoughts: I didn't have the greatest seat, but from my view the ump had a real, real tight zone. Big zones seem to help soft tossers and Diamond was nearly helpless against the Red Sox. Florimon has been surprisingly decent with the bat. He stung a couple balls and stole a base. He did bobble a grounder, but Papi was running, so he still threw him out. Plouffe had some good ABs and was okay in the field. Doumit also swung pretty well, but what the bleep was he trying to do on the pop fly caught by Pedroia? Fien and Swarzak gave up homers--it looks like we are regressing to the mean in the BP.

The Twins seem to be going into a slow fade. The hitting has cooled a bit, but the main culprit seems to be the pitching. As mentioned all over this site, the starters rank near the bottom at several significant categories, including ERA, hits per inning, and innings pitched. The bullpen has been very good, but used too often and seems to be springing some leaks. The bench now has one "resting" starter and no backup center fielder and the lineup includes a lot of guys who are underperforming for major league regulars. Help at AAA includes Chris Colabello, a RH hitter who nominally is a first baseman and a bunch of guys who aren't performing well at Rochester. Pitching options include starters Kyle Gibson, Samuel Deduno, PJ Walters and the rehabbing Cole De Vries. 27 year old Andrew Albers has performed very well, as well. Tyler Robertson and Caleb Thielbar are on the 40-man and lefthanded, if the Twins want to reach out to get a lefthanded specialist. While the Twins 40-man roster is full, there are a couple options to make room for a player not currently on the 40-man. Darin Mastroianni is going to have surgery and will be disabled until July--he could be placed on the 60-day DL. Joe Benson is below the Mendoza line at Rochester and could perhaps clear a DFA, and Tim Wood is experiencing continuing shoulder problems, but a clean MRI, and is out of options, so that he could be designated and either not missed or outrighted if and when he is declared healthy. My prediction is that the Twins will replace at least one starter before the month is out. Pedro Hernandez is the obvious choice. The first chance will come to Deduno, who is healthy and looked like he had secured a spot in the rotation before he was injured in the WBC. Anyone else have different ideas?

In the offseason, the Twins traded two low-power regular outfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, and declined to find an alternative for Trevor Plouffe. The two new regulars figured to be Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks, both of whom would figure to have more power than the duo of Span/Revere. My thought was that at least the Twins will hit more homers, even though a lot of balls that Revere and Span would have caught will fall. After Justin Morneau had a healthy spring training and Joe Mauer declared himself as healthy as he had been in years, I thought there was potential for more power from the two former MVPs. Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit were returning, coming off career highs in homers, combined with a full season of Plouffe, Parmelee, and Hicks along with the healthy M & M boys would figure to be a sizeable increase in long balls. So, at the quarter pole, not a one of the players I have mentioned is hitting homers at their projected level. Mauer and Morneau have two each. Hicks, Parmelee and Doumit have three apiece. Plouffe has four long balls and Willingham has five. Multiply those numbers by four and that will total 88 homers from seven starters. Osvaldo Arcia has knocked three homers in limited ABs and Twins shortstops--Florimon and Escobar have poked four long balls. At the rate these guys are going, they will barely hit 100 home runs and most likely finish last (again) in the AL in circuit clouts. What happened? I guess we can blame the weather for early suppression of homers, but it has warmed up and the Twins haven't increased their homer output substantially. Maybe things will start changing today. I hope so, because I'll be at Target Field witnessing tonight's event.

Yes, and we know that sweet father of Pedro, is Pedro Sr.

The Twins and every other team can say "no scholarships" and still treat different players differently. Drew Butera hit in ST and hit fairly well for the Italian WBC team IIRC. It is known that Butera can not/will not hit his weight and will have little power. It is known that Walters and De Vries have marginal stuff despite (in Walters case) putting up good numbers in AAA. They don't project to do well at the next (major league) level. Gibson has more than enough stuff to be effective for the Twins, that seems to be agreed by all. While the results haven't been spectacular, he continues to get a majority of his outs on ground balls with a decent strikeout percentage. He would benefit a lot from a rangy and surehanded middle infield, which the Red Wings don't have. Coaches and managers of the minor league clubs write reports so that the GM can make a more accurate projection. It is neither an exact science nor based purely on performance. In addition to those considerations, the GM has to deal with 40-man issues and options. Risking players who are out of options, or removing them from the 40-man presents the possibility of losing players for nothing. In a meritocracy 3/5 of the rotation would probably be turned over already. Ryan doesn't want to lose them for nothing or give up on them too soon. It will be interesting to see who is demoted/DFAed and who is first in line for promotion.

I was going to mention that guy, but just couldn't remember his name and I don't have any reference materials at work. Ruiz, Funderburk and Brito were all guys that hit RH, really couldn't play a position and lit up minor league pitching as older players (IIRC).

More likely that he is Bernardo Brito or Mark Funderburk than Garrett Jones. However, I believe he would be a decent fit as occasional RH DH and bench bat. It looks like he is pretty close to brutal in the field. I really would like to see Parmelee thrive and I think it is in him, but when the best part of your game as a 1B/RF is your defense, and you are Parmelee's size, you have to worry about your major league future.

Mason Melotakis started today for Cedar Rapids and got no decision in a thrilling 7-6 Kernels win. Mason pitched fairly well tonight pitching six innings, allowing four runs (only two earned) on four hits, walking one, striking out three. 13 of the 15 outs from balls in play were on the ground. Originally one of the hits was ruled an error and Melotakis was only charged with one earned run. Apparently a scoring change was made. On the season, Mason is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA. On the season, Melotakis has pitched 35 innings, allowed 32 hits, walking 16 and striking out 33. He is holding opponents to a .211 BA against in his seven starts.

Rohlfing remains at New Britain, playing catcher, first and outfield. His stat line is .274 BA, slashes of .369/.316/.685. The batting average and OBP are fine, but Rohlfing has only 4 extra-base-hits, all doubles.

I would like to think Pinto/Herrmann combined with Mauer would be a better "platoon" offering some RH sock and better defense than Doumit provides. If Morneau is gone, as I still believe, than Mauer will play a lot more first base and Pinto would get a chance to see if he can hit something like his outstanding numbers in NB. Herrmann would provide 3rd catcher/backup outfielder bench strength with a far better bat than Drewsie will ever have.

Gibson's peripherals look much better than his standard stats. I wonder if a bad minor league infield hurts him more than it hurts most. He continues to get a good number of ground balls and is striking out a fair number--I'm almost sure he would get the more strikeouts per IP than any of the current starters--so I suspect he would do better in Minnesota than those basic numbers suggest.

The Twins, as presently constructed, aren't a .500 team. The starting pitching is too weak, with little hope that the current guys will improve as the season goes along. The bullpen is overachieving and will regress, although, as a whole, it is an asset. Offensively, the Twins are producing a fair number of runs, despite poor power numbers. There are too many low OBP positions currently to sustain such production. The club has improved defensively, despite dealing two above-average defensive outfielders.

The major league team needs pitching, then middle infielders. Their best prospects are outfielders and corner infielders. I have been of the opinion that two of Morneau, Doumit, and Willingham will be gone by Opening Day 2014. I think that Doumit will have a market because of injuries to catchers on contenders. Performance will probably determine the value of both Willingham and Morneau. I wonder if there will be a market for Pelfrey or Correia. Neither probably figure in the Twins long-term future.

The "roto" is teetering on awful right now. Expectations would be for Worley to improve, Corriea to regress, Diamond to be somewhat similar to his performance last year after the All-Star break. I would figure that the other two spots will turn over. In the wings are De Vries, Deduno, Gibson and maybe Walters. I would assume that all will get their chances later this summer. This season is about guys establishing themselves and so far the only positive in the rotation has been Correia.

Big early AB for Arcia.