jokin

I don't see anyone freaking out or getting mad, rather, rationally discussing options the Twins might have pursued to continue finding answers how to get out of the deep hole the Twins have dug for themselves the last 3 years. This largely comes from the far-from-outlandish proposal that he Twins should be mostly playing guys now in September with something to prove or show to the club, those who can at least help possibly start to make their case for how they are part of the solution. The Twins already have a 3rd catcher on the active roster, and a 4th one (Escobar is the "emergency catcher"), and 5th one (should Mauer come off the DL) who can cover the situation for one day should the highly improbable event of 2 catchers getting injured in the same game somehow occur. And then of course, like with the Chris Herrman promotion last year, Fryer could be on the roster the next day. If they want to give Fryer strictly bullpen duties, that's fine, but Pinto and Herrman should be catching every inning of every game through to the end of the year. In the case of Martis, why not have Trevor May get those "18-2 game" innings? He pitched just fine in relief for Rochester- there are no innings restrictions or injury concerns, and he's already on the roster.

I want to make it clear, I want guys called up in September......Guys with a legitimate shot at making a long-term impact with the club. Why waste any precious major league innings or ABs on even more of the same-old AAAA runaround? Martis is a 9-year career- mostly minor league- journeyman, failed as an SP, trying to salvage a career with the Twins as a full-time reliever, and whose career, quite frankly is treading water with not much apparent upside. Tonkin is 2.5 years younger, a 6'7" horse with legit strikeout stuff, especially compared to Martis, and also in contrast to Martis, stuff that has translated quite quickly and nicely since being made a full-time reliever in 2011 (K/9 over 11.00 in 2012-13). Certainly, Tonkin hit a wall late in the season, his ML call-up probably had something to do with that. But this was at the end of a metoric and whirlwind rise from A+ ball in 2012....through 3 promotional levels up the organizational chain in one season. Meanwhile, Martis just finished his 5th year in AAA since 2008 (the other year was a full year at AA in 2011). The Twins could have done better choosing from other options on the potential promotion list, and as you say, Martis will be off the 40-man by November, so why does a rebuilding team waste the effort in calling up a guy who most likely won't be around in helping seeing that rebuild to fruition? Escobar is a perfect and justifiably rewarding example for a September call-up. He plays with a little chip on his shoulder that he has something to prove. He could still figure in the long-term plans of the Twins, probably in a utility role, unless the Twins trade significant facets of their MI and 3B depth chart.

Besides the Sox, the Orioles have a pretty good line on that type of action, as well. Either way, Plouffe in his upcoming first arb year, is a goner, either in the offseason or sometime in 2014. For the record, Joe Torre started phasing out his catching duties at age 28, and permanently stopped catching at age 30. The next year, at age 31, he played 161 games at 3rd and was the NL MVP. (And this "Joe" wasn't near the athlete that Mauer is, Mauer would be much better than Torre defensively). I say platoon Mauer at 3B with Plouffe, making Plouffe more of a lefty-option super-utility specialist. This will help drive up Plouffe's value in trade (he's putting up All Star numbers against lefties this year [.304BA/.852OPS] and his career split against lefties is nearly identical to 2013), and give Mauer enough games to qualify for the All Star game as a Catcher- thus keeping Joe more happy in his new role. It also takes the pressure off Sano on coming in mid-season and having to be annointed as the only available option at 3B, like Hicks was in CF. Should he falter, Sano can DH more often, take Arcia's place in RF, or take a return trip to AAA in a worst-case scenario. I know the Twins have invested a lot in Sano at the hot corner, but as another poster pointed out, the defensive infield would actually be better with Mauer at 3rd and Sano at 1st.

Cole DeVries 2013 AAA numbers: ERA 7.20/K*9 4.32/OBA .345/WHIP 1.80 Diamond has earned his recall, I agree with you on that one. But at the MLB level, he still pitched down to many of our regression expectations; and at this point, it's still essentially a crapshoot for whether he's destined to rebound in 2014 to something close to his 2012 numbers, or conversely, if he's on the Blackburn track (without the fat contract).

More confirmation from today's Strib: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/222837481.html Confirms Hicks' quotes from what he hinted at in his recent interview. The long-term implications of this decision definitely point to him starting 2014 in Rochester.

A rebuilding team: still giving out "Service" awards (Fryer and Martis, for sure). But only two "Meritorious Service" awards in 7 recalls (Escobar and Tonkin). Along with 3 "Hope for the Best, Here's One Last Chance" awards (DeVries, Diamond and Parmelee).

See Rosterman's post above. 24 guys have played both for the Wings and the "MLB" Twins this year. So now we get the best (worst?) of both worlds for the next 3 weeks.

Based on this thread, and similar past threads, infinitum, never. Ex. Four 90-loss teams from 2012 went about totally revamping their team with full intention of becoming immediately, and longer-term, relevant starting in 2013. They all took on various levels of risk in terms of payroll dollars, trades and free agent acquisitions. Boston actually cut payroll by $21M, while Cleveland and KC marginally increased payroll to essentially match the Twins 2013 number. 3 of the 4 teams (Boston, Cleveland and KC) are still competing for a chance in postseason, the 4th team (Toronto) put the best-looking roster together of the 4 on paper, but a series of injuries and a high-risk/high-reward SP staff failed to deliver as hoped [ZIPS predicted they would win 94 games in 2013]. The Jays aggressive attempt at major improvements still paid off in rejuvenating fan interest- Their home attendance has increased by 24%, the club is averaging over 32,000 fans per game, their first year over 30K since 1998. If I were a Jays fan, I would appreciate their noble attempt at competing by acquiring quality players over the Twins ignoble, but successful, attempt at punting, even though they had virtually the same available dollars as the Jays. And win or lose, I appreciate all 4 of the teams for the earnest effort in trying to bring a winner to their fanbase.

So many questions. So.....they've already counted out Deduno to start out the season in the rotation in 2014? Re:Ramirez...how many guys get 60-dayed twice in the same season? How does Martis (definition of mediocre journeyman) get added to the 40-man over Ibarra? No more Mauer at catcher this year, now that Fryer is called up, even though there aren't enough ABs for the catchers we already have up, why Fryer? 6-man rotation from here on in with both Diamond and DeVries back up?

I would agree that you must not be following those teams as they are clearly rebuilding, this year's won-loss records are completely irrelevant in that regard. Both teams have admitted as such, with a plan and time-frame clearly in place. Please check the article that John Bonnes highlighted in his thread regarding "grading the rebuild" which discusses the Cubs rebuild plan for further proof. The Twins would benefit from getting up to speed in that regard themselves, and being more forthcoming to themselves and their fanbase with an honest plan on the steps (in a general, not specific way) they will be taking to get out of this mess. And as this is the second time you've mentioned Buxton and Sano and 90 loss season probabilities. Can I politely suggest you set up a thread proposing that the TD community guess on the W-L record in 2014 with Sano and Buxton in the lineup for more than half the season? You might be surprised at the results. Sano and Buxton are two pillars on whom you build around, but there are very few "building materials" on the roster now or in the near-term pipeline to put this team into a position to win more than 71 games next year. 2015 certainly looks to be a little better than 2014 and should give the Twins there first shot at .500. Of course, the other teams in the AL Central division have a big head start and could very well continue the present pattern of ownage of the Twins like KC demonstrated this year. I'm thinking 2 additional years on the rebuild is realistic and likely.

10 Ks and 1 BB is not too shabby a ratio for May. Looks like Hicks finally woke out of his somnolent send-down when he heard who the Twins got in return for Morny!

Thielbar, now Hamburger, anyone else the Twins should be looking at on the Saints or in the AA?

10 Ks and 1 BB is not too shabby a ratio for May. Looks like Hicks finally woke out of his somnolent send-down when he heard who the Twins got in return for Morny!

Spot on in your analysis, you're on fire this week, Alex. The gobsmack the Twins got in 2011 has led to the club to even now still trying to dig its self out of continued inertia from an entrenched "new stadium master plan" gone horribly wrong.

I guess I missed the daily drumbeat of criticism directed Roenicke's way. A good pick-up at no cost, what's there to complain about?

Well, based on his career numbers, it looks more like the Twins added their 4th, "Fifth" OFer, if you follow the convolution. Not that I disagree with your basic point.

Add in Grant Balfour and Craig Breslow, 2 key RPs for 2 of the ALs best teams.

Or 2013 for that matter.

Wil Myers for Shields. Garza coming to the Rays was a steal for them as we all know, but so was the trade they made when they moved him to the Cubs- Chris Archer, Hak-Ju Lee and Sam Fuld. (Think of how useful those 3 would be on the current Twins 40-man roster). They are already actively throwing David Price's name out there to get the bidding up for the makings of yet another blockbuster prospect acquisition, even though they still have 2 year left on his contract. That's a team playing 3-Dimensional Chess with the Twins meanwhile, forever a day late in anticipation and a dollar short in the willingness to take on risk, playing Chinese Checkers.

Re: Morneau's departure and another ghastly season.....I came to this thread thinking it was going to be a primer for Twins fans to work through getting to the last of the 7 stages of grief.

And even more chances for TD poster name-mis-spellings! And think of when the Twins marketing department gets both of them in their first TV commercial together, with each sporting long sideburns, for next year's "Elvis Nite" promotion.

In Twins baseball, pathos comes in varied pastiches.

Let me put it to you this way: he ain't no Julio Borbon or Sam Fuld. And how many AAAA OFers should one team be carrying anyway?

I don't know. Everything Eades has done thus far for the Twins, simply confirms what I saw in 2 post-season appearances for LSU. His college coach had virtually no confidence in him- almost pulling him in the 2nd inning of one game, and his lack of a smooth delivery and continual inability to throw strikes consistently or force weakly hit batted balls confirmed his concerns. Did the Twins scouts close the book and make their final decision on drafting him early in the spring? He was awful at the end of the season in college, and obviously, he's a mess right now- and all this while going up against less experienced and polished players while doing so- a 2nd round college pick should be dominating at this level. I hope there's not a Wimmers-esque arm issue as yet unidentified.

Then again, in the "What have you done for me lately" department, Clete Thomas had an OPS of .961 in AAA..... in 2013.....I fail to see the upgrade.