Thegrin

Dozier needs to prove to himself that he can hit at the AAA level. Then he can be brought back up. A deal is made to send Nishi back to Japan. That leaves us with Florimon, Escobar & Carroll to play middle infield. Plouffe will be OK at 3rd until Sano is ready for the "Show". The rest of the Twins hitters are solid.

Of course I would oppose the firing of Ron Gardenhire. If you watch the games, how often do you question his decisions ? Rarely, I'd bet. (Now that Grey is gone.) Vavre and Anderson are excellent coaches. What makes you think that a new voice would improve anything. Change for change sake is rarely a good idea.

With the emergence of Chris Parmelee as a Major League quality hitter, someone recently commented that the Twins could easily fit 7 players into 6 positions. So I tested the theory. If nobody is traded, the Twins have 7 players to use in 6 positions. Mauer C, 1b, DH Doumit C, LF RF DH Morneau 1b, DH Willingham LF,RF,DH Span CF,RF,LF Revere LF, CF, RF Parmelee LF, RF DH -------- Lineup 1 Maurer C Doumit DH Morneau 1b Willingham LF Span CF Revere RF Bench - Parmelee ============== Lineup 2 Doumit C Mauer 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Morneau ============= Lineup 3 Mauer C Morneau 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Doumit ============ Lineup 4 Doumit C Morneau 1b Mauer DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Willingham ============= Lineup 5 Doumit C Morneau 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Mauer ============= Lineup 6 Mauer C Morneau 1b Doumit DH Willingham LF Span CF Parmelee RF Bench Revere ============== Lineup 7 Mauer C Morneau 1b Doumit DH Willingham LF Revere CF Parmelee RF Bench Span =============== Also Parmelee can play 1b while Morneau plays DH while Willingham, Span, Revere play the outfield. There are other ways to do this, but it is easy enough to give all 7 players regular playing time. Given the fact that strains, twists, bumps, bruises and outright injuries will occur thoughout the year, Twins fans should not worry about giving all 7 players enough at bats.

With the emergence of Chris Parmelee as a Major League quality hitter, someone recently commented that the Twins could easily fit 7 players into 6 positions. So I tested the theory. If nobody is traded, the Twins have 7 players to use in 6 positions. Mauer C, 1b, DH Doumit C, LF RF DH Morneau 1b, DH Willingham LF,RF,DH Span CF,RF,LF Revere LF, CF, RF Parmelee LF, RF DH -------- Lineup 1 Maurer C Doumit DH Morneau 1b Willingham LF Span CF Revere RF Bench - Parmelee ============== Lineup 2 Doumit C Mauer 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Morneau ============= Lineup 3 Mauer C Morneau 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Doumit ============ Lineup 4 Doumit C Morneau 1b Mauer DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Willingham ============= Lineup 5 Doumit C Morneau 1b Willingham DH Span CF Revere RF or LF Parmelee LF or RF Bench Mauer ============= Lineup 6 Mauer C Morneau 1b Doumit DH Willingham LF Span CF Parmelee RF Bench Revere ============== Lineup 7 Mauer C Morneau 1b Doumit DH Willingham LF Revere CF Parmelee RF Bench Span =============== Also Parmelee can play 1b while Morneau plays DH while Willingham, Span, Revere play the outfield. There are other ways to do this, but it is easy enough to give all 7 players regular playing time. Given the fact that strains, twists, bumps, bruises and outright injuries will occur thoughout the year, Twins fans should not worry about giving all 7 players enough at bats.

[TABLE=class: stats_table data_grid] [TD=class: dg-rank][TABLE=class: stats_table data_grid] [TH=class: dg-rank] [/TH] [TH=class: dg-name_display_last_init]Player[/TH] [TH=class: dg-team_abbrev] [/TH] [TH=class: dg-pos] [/TH] [TH=class: dg-g sortable] G [/TH] [TH=class: dg-ab sortable] AB [/TH] [TH=class: dg-r sortable] R [/TH] [TH=class: dg-h sortable] H [/TH] [TH=class: dg-d sortable] 2B [/TH] [TH=class: dg-t sortable] [/TH] [TH=class: dg-hr sortable]HR[/TH] [TH=class: dg-rbi sortable] RBI [/TH] [TH=class: dg-bb sortable] BB [/TH] [TH=class: dg-so sortable] SO [/TH] [TH=class: dg-sb sortable] SB [/TH] [TH=class: dg-cs sortable] CS [/TH] [TH=class: dg-avg sortable active] AVG▼ [/TH] [TH=class: dg-obp sortable]OBP[/TH] [TH=class: dg-slg sortable] SLG [/TH] [TH=class: dg-ops sortable] OPS [/TH] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: stats_table data_grid] [TD=class: dg-rank][/TD] [TD=class: dg-name_display_last_init]Morneau, J [/TD] [TD=class: dg-team_abbrev] [/TD] [TD=class: dg-g]51 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-ab]192 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-r] 28 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-h] 61 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-d] 12 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-t] [/TD] [TD=class: dg-hr] 8 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-rbi] 35 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-bb] 17 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-so] 33 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-sb] 0 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-cs] 0 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-avg active]. 318 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-obp] .369 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-slg]. 516 [/TD] [TD=class: dg-ops]. 884 [/TD] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD=class: dg-name_display_last_init] [/TD] [TD=class: dg-team_abbrev][/TD] [TD=class: dg-pos][/TD] [TD=class: dg-g][/TD] [TD=class: dg-ab][/TD] [TD=class: dg-r][/TD] [TD=class: dg-h][/TD] [TD=class: dg-d][/TD] [TD=class: dg-t][/TD] [TD=class: dg-hr][/TD] [TD=class: dg-rbi][/TD] [TD=class: dg-bb] [/TD] [TD=class: dg-so][/TD] [TD=class: dg-sb][/TD] [TD=class: dg-cs][/TD] [TD=class: dg-avg active][/TD] [TD=class: dg-obp][/TD] [TD=class: dg-slg][/TD] [TD=class: dg-ops][/TD] [/TABLE] This is Morneau since the All Star game. x3 = 153 games played . 24 HR, 105 RBI, 36 2b, .318 Avg, How much is that worth ? Trade him ? You can't get enough to make a trade worthwhile.

I've been watching baseball since 1955. High priced free agents rarely are a value. Trading position players for arms is almost always a very bad bargain. Look at the Twins arms we let go: Mays, Lohse, Bonser etc. Rarely was it a mistake. The only way seems to be to get one mediocre FA pitcher with proven durability, or a good but injury plagued starter and otherwise work with what we have.