DaveW

If you can find someone who will pick up 75% of his remaining salary I think you make that trade in a heartbeat. However that is extremely unlikely, so you keep rolling with him. He isn't as terrible as some people make him out to be, and he is a legit starting pitcher, he is just more a #5 then the #2/#3 we thought when they gave him 50 million.

Escobar should never get a start in LF or DH. I wonder if the twins would be 11 or 12 games over .500 if they kept up Vargas or has pinto up instead?

Pitching: Cut Stauffer Send down Pressly (put Duensing on a short leash for the next month) I am willing to give Duensing a bit more time, because I think he has earned it with several solid years in the major league pen for this org. Call up Fien Batting: Call up Arcia Call up Pinto Send down Hermann It's hard to get rid of Nunez at this point seeing how his OPS is 1.069. Wait a couple weeks, and either DFA Nunez or send down Santana or Robinson. (Whoever is left can be backup CF) Call up Vargas.

Pass

It could be, but as mentioned in the OP the discrepancy is very large (.400+ OPS points) and even last year it was almost a .200 point discrepancy, career wise it is .082 for him.

With men on base he has the 2nd highest BA amongst 1st baseman and comes in at #7 amongst first baseman in the same stat you are referring to wRC+ So again, what is going on here?

The most Minnesota sports thing ever would be Santana coming back and pitching like an ace the 2nd half of the season, I am talking sub 2.50 ERA, leads us to the playoffs etc. Then he is not allowed to play in the playoffs obviously and the Twins lose game in 7 in the ALCS by the score of 14-0 because Santana wasn't on the mound. It will all happen, book it.

But the problem is if he doesn't pull it,the shift is eating him alive, no?

One of two things will happen with Nunez: 1. He keeps mashing in a reserve role. 2. He goes back to his career norms and is likely cut or sent down (I don't know his status) by mid to late June. With Mauer, Dozier and Plouffe in the INf as guys you would never PH for anyways, you only need one INF util type, which would be whichever of Santana/Escobar isn't the regular SS at the time.

Not implying Pelfrey is all about the money etc But heading into a Free agency year I'm sure he realized that a good strong year as a starter prob nets him another 10-15 million (total) over the following season, while pitching poorly and being a DFA candidate nets him a minor league contract and maybe 1 million in 2016. Never underestimate a make or break season for a guy and in a game of inches, maybe this motivation helped him just a little bit?

I saw him ranting and raving on a twins (official) Facebook post a few months ago, was hilarious. Him, Stat and Itstime were some awesome characters.

In response to bullet point number three right above this post. The twins have the worst DH production overall in the entire MLB this year and it's not even close. That is an area you could improve.

I'm not a doctor, but I would guess that not all concussions are created equals and that different people respond differently to them. The doctors who advised Mauer and the twins said it would be best for him not to stay at catcher, I trust them and will continue to trust them until someone who actually has personally diagnosed Mauer medically says else wise. He isn't going back to catcher, it just isn't happening, it's time for us to stop saying he should or consider it. It would also be nice if Sano was still a SS but we gotta look at reality and figure out what to do.

I view them as both non hitting (but a bit below average for SS) and average to above average defensively potentially. The differing factor to me is Santana's speed, at least when he gets on base he can turn his singles into doubles from time to time with an SB. all that is to say, I have a gut feeling that Santana ends up a better overall SS

Mauer has come up very "clutch" this season when it counts, but it seems that when it isn't a big moment Mauer has looked very pedestrian which has been strange, one thought that came to my mind is that with runners on, especially in scoring position teams are: A.) Much more likely to give Mauer something to hit. B.)Much less likely to do extreme defensive shifts. Few numbers that pop out: Mauer with RISP: .400/.500/.489 (989 OPS!) 58 PA Mauer in "High Levare bRef): ..481/.581!/.840!! (1.421 OPS!) 31 PA Mauer with runners on: .387/.406/.500 (.906 OPS) 90 total PA Mauer with no runners on: .188/.212/.271 99 total PA Not the hugest sample sizes obviously, but a 400+ difference in OPS between runners on vs no runners on signals to me that something is going on with Mauer's approach to the plate. I would like someone smarter then me (Parker) to add his two cents, is this all due to teams extreme shifts on Mauer when there aren't runners on? Then playing him more straight up with runners on? If that is the case I am very confident Mauer will be fine moving forward, Mauer if nothing else is a very smart and disciplined hitter, I would have to think he would be able to make adjustments eventually when the shifts are put on, no? Also with the expanded strike zone, I am confident he will be able to make adjustments as well. IMHO all signs point to Mauer breaking out of his "no runners on" funk and becoming a Any other thoughts? Also I know USAFChief has been harping on moving Mauer out of the 3 hole, but these numbers show that for whatever its worth Mauer has been doing his job as a middle of the order bat (which is to bring in runs) and shouldn't be moved for now. Notes: Career wise Mauer has a .902 OPS with runners on vs a .815 with bases empty. .936 with RISP -In 2014 Mauer a .658 OPS with bases empty, .834 with runners on and a .933 with RISP

The Mauer complaining has gone completely overboard, good lord, this team is on fire and yet people still need to bash him, less than a month ago he was over a .800 OPS, he is in a bit of slump now in May but he will bounce back and be fine. Hell at least in his "slump" he has at least been productive, RBI's aren't even close to a perfect stat, but it should be noted that he has 13 RBI in his last 19 hits over the last 21 games. If he will still plate 13 Runs in 21 (bad games) I can handle that. Part of me wonders if part of the reason of why Mauer is doing so much better with runners on is because with runners on you can't do as extreme of shifts typically, no?

You make it sound like Mauer is being selfish or something, he moved from catcher due to serious health reasons, in 2015 we should be able to realize that Mauer and the Twins are doing the RIGHT thing and should actually be applauded instead of the constant cheap shots of being soft etc (not saying you are saying them specifically) you see from the newspapers/online community. The guy is still very young in terms of being a human, he has a family and one more concussion could do some long lasting damage. Something money and world series titles will never fix.

I'm as tough on Nolasco as anyone, but the Twins signed him to a big contract for a reason, prior to last season he was a very dependable 190 IP 4th/5th guy in the rotation. While neither one should be booted early for a guy like Milone (who also projects as a 4/5th at best) the real question that needs to be asked is assuming everyone is healthy/effective: Who would be the odd man out once Santana is ready to play again? Ultimately I see Pelfrey being a real asset in the pen if he happens to falter in the rotation, but certainly am pulling for him to do more of the same in the rotation like he has been.

All things being equal, I don't think Escobar is a better every day option at SS then Santana (who has struggled but is still very young) Neither guy is a guy you can count on for a .670+ OPS IMO, but Santana brings some 15-20 SB speed with his game at least and is younger. That's not a shot at Escobar as I think he still has a place on this team as a super UTIL type until the Twins find someone better.

I don't think the Twins feel comfortable with Pinto as an everyday catcher. He however could have a nice amount of value as a backup catcher, PH and occasional DH. He also could be valuable as trade chip if he could ultimately become Ryan Doumit like.

Hu's on first?

Mauer and Plouffe aren't standing in his way. It can't be repeated enough: Nunez and Escobar have been the primary DH over the last week. When that is the case it really goes without saying that NO ONE is blocking Sano currently.

Yes and no. They are very useless in some cases (especially MI when guys with awesome range get punished for getting to tough balls that 90% of players wouldn't even get to and then making bad throws or having it go off a glove etc) I think errors for C, CF, SS, 2B and even LF/RF can be discarded pretty easily. Sano doesn't have great range at 3rd base, so its not hard to figure out where at least some of those "errors" are coming from. I would be curious to find out how many are throwing vs fielding though, if the majority are of the throwing variety, that could be fixed with a major leaguer at first base digging those out.

WE WANT THE CUP! WE WANT THE CUP! Ooops wrong sport....um....we want the division title! (then the pennant, then the WORLD!!!!!!! series)

Saved!