Badsmerf

Absolutely not. The Twins lose almost all leverage. They have to trade him within 48 hours or pull him back for the rest of the year. So, it is a do or die thing. If he clears waivers they are free to trade him to any team they choose, and the highest bidder. For the most part teams give pretty fair value since they generally want a player if they claim him. There is no benefit to a team claiming a player unless you want to dump their salary.

Shane, I don't understand your argument. So far, I've pieced that you think he is too young to give up on that side, skipping a level has more influence then his ability for that side and there isn't enough evidence to support that the move would be worth it. Let me have a few points. 1. Progress into his career is irrelevant. Think of this as eliminating a slider or adding a split-finger. Baseball players (and people in general) have to evolve and grow to become better players (or better people). So far in his career, he has been terrible hitting from that side. While, he has been good hitting from the other side. This isn't a new argument, I've advocated this move for 2 years and stated he will not be a legit MLB hitter from the left. 2. Skipping a level, or for that matter just making a jump to the MLB, highlights weaknesses. Yes he starts out slow at other levels, but he was historically bad. You could bring up any of the Twins top 5 prospects and they wouldn't come close to how bad he was. There is really no way to slice it. 3. Evidence? Like there are only 13.4% switch hitters in the MLB? Some guys can do it effectively, most can't. The drop-off for him specifically hitting RH pitching as a RH bat just really can't be worse than hitting LH. Its possible... but it would be pretty difficult. 4. Twins are changing nothing in his approach, swing, style etc. All they would be doing is focusing on him hitting from the same side. Which might actually help him hitting lefties as well. Since 76.6% of MLB hitters do not switch hit, it tells me hitting from the same side is better for more people. He is one of them IMO. 5. He is an employee of the Twins. If they want him to do it, he better listen. His dad having him switch hit in high school better have absolutely no factor in this decision. This is the real world, not little league. Come on!!!! Moderators be proud, I wanted to swear 50 times just now and didn't. Living up to my promise to Ashburry.

Not too worried about him getting a break. He will be fine.

Wait... was that about boobs? *hehe, boobs

Its like the same thing, except different.....

David Ortiz and Derek Jeter will be available soon.... While we're at it we should tickle goats and sprinkle chalk in the showers.

I'm a little surprised that Buxton is getting the nod. I can see Kepler since he missed so much time, but Buxton.... My hopes for seeing him in 2014 just went up a little.

Judging a rebuild is tough. Right now the Twins look to have hit on a bunch of players recently (with the exception of starting pitching... for now). The positional talent coming up is phenomenal. I consider things to be moving forward in the rebuild if the organization looks to be improving; which I believe it is.

Mine does....

I really hope Worley and Diamond are not in the plans right now to be apart of the rotation on opening day. I'm really hoping for a Johson/Santana/Lincecum type signing to add some dependability to the rotation. The Twins can't simply lean on Gibson, Meyer, and May developing. That is foolish. They need some actual talent, and its getting a little late to be crossing fingers on prospects.

Oxtung, I'm sure you checked fangraphs already, but that is the most likely place to find it. Nice research. Perhaps part of the problem is mixing pitches when he is behind in the count. It seems like he hasn't gotten Mauer behind the plate very often, usually Doumit or someone else. I don't think that is helping him much (proven by Doumit being dreadful at framing pitches). So, again, if it is a gameplan problem I would look to Rick Anderson. Getting behind in the count is one thing, but getting crushed every time is another. These numbers have to normalize somewhat. This is where the focus should be for him and the Twins. Truth be told, I don't have much faith that they have even recognized what you've just shown.

Arcia in LF and Hicks in RF makes too much sense. By default, the rest makes too much sense too.

You might be right, but Correia has carved out an alright career so far. The unfortunate part, is that Hendriks isn't the only 5th starter on the Twins. The whole rotation is basically 5th starters. I'm just remaining optimistic that a guy whom posted a 2.2 ERA as a 23 year old in AAA can find a way to translate that into the MLB. The one thing that concerns me is his K rate. He really needs to improve on that out pitch to get some more strike-outs. My opinion, is that Rick Anderson is not the coach for him. He needs a better out pitch, maybe Bert should come down from the booth and do a little coaching for the Aussie.

I think his stuff will play. Its a matter of him being able to make adjustments and utilize it to the best of his ability. I've long felt the only way he is going to improve is actually pitching in the MLB. Some guys take longer to adjust to the MLB. I wont be ready to write him off until he doesn't show improvement up to about this time next year. Then, if he still hasn't shown much, I will be right with people in moving him to a long relief role. Hendriks is never going to be a top of the rotation starter. His ceiling has always been a mid-back of the rotation starter. He will rarely be lights out. His margin for error is going to be pretty slim, similar to Diamond (but in different ways).

Casilla was pretty good defensively. All the negativity was driven by the Twins.

I was hoping September call-up! Just kidding. I'm not too worried where he pitches right now as long as he is pitching. The AFL, then start 2014 in AAA is my guess. Depends really on if the Twins think he has a shot to make the opening day rotation. If not, no reason to promote him this season.

He is 24, how has he run out of chances? I don't see how a guy like him can dominate in AAA and get hammered as bad as he has in the MLB. He was very hittable yesterday. I hope they continue to give him the ball until the end of the year. This just wasn't a very good performance.

Hopefully Hicks can finish the year strong. Maybe a change of atmosphere is what he needs. Reading between the lines, the Twins clubhouse isn't a very fun place to be right now. I don't blame them. Heading to 3 straight 90 loss seasons has its effects.

Very nice outing by Meyer. Only 60 pitches too! I really hope the shoulder is good...

I don't understand his treatment either. He really hasn't been given a significant stretch of starts. I hope he can come up and throw some nice games so they leave him with the Twins for a while.

I'm not sure what the Twins logic with Walker was. Maybe they feel like him having success is a good thing and will not push it too far this season? From my prospective (and Keith Law) he had no business being in low A the entire year. He is a college guy, he is doing what he should (if he is going to legitimately be an MLB player). Guess I'd just like some insight on what their plan with him is and why they are holding him back.

Well thought out, detailed, and persuasive post. I have no reason to doubt you or the fact that you have read the entire thread. At what point do you let a manager go and get a new voice? To me, it was after getting beat down in the playoffs (probably after the third time.. not even allowing it to go as far as it did). As it is, they kept Gardy around and he has backers and haters. I don't hate that Gardy is the manager, I think he has positives and negatives along with every person. I do think his time with the Twins needs to end. I don't think players play hard for him anymore and that his voice has become stale. Obviously, I'm not in the clubhouse so it is impossible for me to really know anything for certainty. The main discussion is that many feel they want a new voice/direction.

Having 52 SB he has almost certainly stole 3rd more than twice. I'm on board with letting the kid rest (along with Sano). The baseball season is long, and this is his first full season. I'm sure by the end of it he will be tired. Offseasons are huge IMO. That is where he can make gains in the weight room and heal nagging injuries, some of which might take months. It all depends on the player though. I have confidence that Buxton would make good choices over the winter to improve as a player. If management doesn't share that opinion it might be better to throw someone in a league to keep them occupied and out of trouble.

The Twins should absolutely do it. I would do a one year deal with an option on it. There is too much money available in the budget to not do a low risk/high reward deal like this. 2014 might not be a playoff team... but 2015 could be a pretty good team. If Santana can find a little juice left it would be a huge move.