Thrylos

The former "second baseman of the future", Rosario.

LA has a single aberration disaster season (like the Twins had an aberration good season last year). They won 98 games 2 seasons ago. Unlike the Twins, there is not a Total System Failure. It is a team sport and the core of the team sucks. So the core should be cored to improve.

I just looked Baseball Reference for his comparable players through the same age. The first 4 are all middle infielders, including a former Twin: Danny Espinosa (953) Jose Valentin (943) Damion Easley (943) Bret Boone (938) Boone might actually be a very good comparable because he developed power later in his career and had some incredible years (including the .331/.372/.578, 37 HR, 141 RBI, 118 R, 2001 season) and some very forgettable years, including his month or so with the Twins, but ended with a very Dozier-like .266/.325/.442 slash line. I just don't think that Dozier's hit tool is good enough. I just do not see him hit close to .300. He hasn't hit in the neighborhood for a good 5 years. As soon as power appeared, hitting for average disappeared. Looking at Boone's 2001 season, I just do no see Dozier coming near those numbers because of the BA. This current .266 is the highest he has been in 5 seasons...

Everyone who has been a core player of the 99+96+96+79+9x teams, should be treated as part of the problem. If Dozier, Mauer, Plouffe, Suzuki etc are not part of the problem, who is? The kids?

Career numbers: Jeff Kent: .290/.356/.500 Dan Uggla: .241/.336/.447 Brian Dozier: .244/.319/.432 Become Dan Uggla? He is Dan Uggla practically Dozier has highs and lows. He currently is on a high. I hope that he does not cool off, so the Twins will sell high on him. His glove is getting worse and worse and the first month he was horrid with the bat. If he can bring back a top of the rotation arm this off-season, it will be crazy not to do it. Got to remember, he has been part of the problem, time to go.

Reasonable? Sure. State Hospital reasonable (unless someone confused the Twins with the Saints. Easy to happen these days..)

"Yes, it was a long time ago, tracing to the start beginning of this lengthy era of organizational ineptitude." That was not 2011, more like 1995 And then (also unrelated) a young starter by the name of Eddie Guardado was switched to the bullpen

Who said that Palka would be a 4th OF? Rosario (because he can play CF) would likely be the 4th OF and his playing time would be like 110 games resting all other 3. Other option is that Buxton does not make the team...

The 4 OFs for the Twins in 2017 should be (alphabetically) : Buxton, Kepler, Palka, and Rosario. There are 3 DH/1B on the roster: Vargas, Mauer, Park. Because Grossman is so good against LHP, and 3 of the 4 mentioned are LHBs, he might have a position with the Twins in 2017 over Danny Santana as a fifth OF, but that will require the Twins to get rid of one of their DHs. And if that is Vargas, it would be a shame, because I'd rather have Vargas than Grossman on the team any day. So the equation is really: Grossman or Palka or Grossman or Vargas And for me, Grossman loses both of those... So the Twins should sell high, hopefully this month.

I cannot see Grossman clearing waivers, or Escobar for that matter...

Carl Crawford is a good comparable (minus his crazy early speed.) He barely walked in his Rays' years. And he was alright. As long as he puts the ball in play at a .300+ clip, I see no issues

Suzuki should be gone, any way you see it: a. if the Twins plan to compete in 2017, he is not good enough, he has been part of the problem b. if the Twins plan to rebuild in 2017 with new competent leadership, there is no place for Suzuki Frankly, I'd go for b. Let's see what Garver & Murphy can do. Murphy played only in 11 games with the Twins this season in a colder than usual April. Hard to judge. Got to rebuild. I'd be very disappointed in Antony if Suzuki is wearing a Twins' uniform on September 1st...

Turner is worse than Butera with the stick. Just sayin'...

Good stuff. DJ Baxendale's July in Rochester was also remarkable (11 G, 1.64 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 11 K) and should probably be included in the list

In other words, you are really sick of being a Catfish Hunter...

Let's revisit this in 2-3 years...

Just out of curiosity (and I am not picking on you, by any means.) Have you ever watched Alex Meyer pitch other than his grand total of 3 games with the Twins? Just because of that "biased" thing...

To get a player with some potential for a guy who would not be with the Twins next season, is a plus. On the other hand, here is a comparison you might find interesting: Pat Light's career AAA numbers: 6.0 BB and 10.0 K/9 (51 games) Jim Hoey's: 5.4 BB and 9.3 K/9 (120 games)

The deal is effectively Alan Busenitz for Alex Meyer. (I really don't care about the mediocre starter swap/salary relief.) Could I ever like this deal? No way. Meyer was really messed up with the Twins and maybe did not have a chance to achieve his potential. On the other hand, my hope was that the 2017 Twins after the regime change would have broken camp with Meyer on top of their rotation, because he is the only guy in the organization with ace potential and because I have seen him pitch at that level. Now if the Twins new GM goes out in the off-season and trades for an ace (like one in the top 10-20 names in this list), I might change my mind.

Another data point: Baseball America had him as the Twins' best fielding SS 3-4 years ago...

Thank you. Lots of suburban legends and fantasies are floating about Jorge Polanco's fielding for some reason...

Dozier is blocking better players and there definitely be someone to offer more than that, based on his HRs. The Twins' have to start selling high. Dozier (and pretty much all veterans in this team) have been part of the problem. Time to go, so there might be a solution. Identical player to Plouffe pretty much, and he should go for the same reasons.

How hard is it to believe that for this organization? Seriously. And, yes, there are bigger problems to worry about and hopefully Pohlad is planning to fix them.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----The Twins acquired LHP Adalberto Mejia, from the San Fransisco Giants, in exchange for Eduardo Núñez. Núñez came to the Twins from the Yankees for Miguel Sulbaran who came to the Twins from the Dodgers for Drew Butura who came from the Mets for Louis Castillo who came from the Marlins for RHPs Scott Tyler the Twins 2001 2nd round draft pick and Travis Bowyer the Twins 1999 20th round draft pick. Mejia was signed as international free agent from the Dominican Republic by the Giants in 2011. Mejia last played for the Giants in AAA Sacramento River Cats (Pacific Coast League,) and was invited to their 2016 MLB camp for his first time. He is on the Twins' 40-man roster, and likely September callup. Mejia was born on 6/20/1993 in Bonao, Dominican Republic and was a late bloomer signing by the Giants as an eighteen year old. That season in the Dominican Summer League he impressed, starting 13 games for 76 innings with 71 K (8.4 K/9) and only 8 BB, with a 0.868 WHIP, 1.42 ERA and 1.75 FIP. This was enough for him to skip the Giants' US-based Rookie leagues, jumping right on full season A in 2012, playing for the Augusta GreenJackets of the Southern Atlantic League. He participated in 30 games, among them 14 starts. His final numbers for that season were: 106.7 IP with 79 K (6.7 K/9) 21 BB (1.8 BB/9), with a 1.341 WHIP, 3.97 ERA and 3.29 FIP. He started the season in the pen, with limited success and moved into the rotation in June, where he found success, finishing the season with a 6-3 record, 3.00 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, post All Star break. The next season he moved up to the San Jose Giants of the High A California League. He started 16 games (87 IP) with 89 K (9.2 K/9) and 23 BB (2.4 BB/9) for a 3.31 ERA, 4.20 FIP and 1.126 WHIP. He miss 48 games that season in May and June with shoulder issues, but came back okay. He was called to AAA Fresno to start a single game (5 IP, 5 H, 2 HR, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) and participated in the Arizona Fall League playing in 7 games, 3 as a starter for 8.47 ERA, 1.529 WHIP, 7.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 17 innings. In 2014 he moved up to AA Richmond Flying Squirrels (Eastern League) where he started 21 games and relieved in one, pitching 108 innings with 82 K (6.8 K/9) and 31 BB (2.6 BB/9), for a 1.389 WHIP, 4.67 ERA and 3.78 FIP. He went to the DL three times for 6 days with a leg bruise after a ball hit him in April and for 8- and 12-days in July with finger blisters. His weight that season went up to 240 lbs (he is 6'3") and needed to be reduced. Unfortunately he took a banned weight loss supplement that contained stimulants and tested positive, receiving a 50 day suspension, very much like current Twins' DH/1B Kennys Vargas. He repeated AA in 2015 after he served his suspension. He appeared in 12 games (9 GS), pitching 51.3 innings with 38 K (6.7 K/9) and 18 BB (3.2 BB/9), for a 1.091 WHIP, 2.45 ERA and 3.41 FIP. Despite the nice performance, he needed innings so he returned to the AFL (7 GS, 31 IP , 1.258 WHIP, 3.48 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 4.1 K/BB) and also appeared in the Dominican Winter League (playing for the Gigantes, coinsidentally: 5 GS, 18.3 IP , 1.091 WHIP, 3.44 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 1.5 K/BB). After he was invited to his first MLB spring training as part of the Giants' 40-man roster, he was caught in the numbers games and started against at AA Richmond where he excelled after he trimmed down this season (11 GS, 65 IP , 0.985 WHIP, 1.94 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.2 K/BB) forcing his promotion to AAA in his age 23 season (he was 22 at the time.) His numbers (7 GS, 40.7 IP , 1.303 WHIP, 4.20 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 2.4 K/BB) are fairly impressive, especially for the Pacific Coast League. He has an above average to borderline plus fastball that has increased in velocity this season, sitting at 92-94 and touching 95 as a starter. Average to above average command and improving and the pitch is projecting to be plus pitch in the near future. Natural cutting action on the pitch. His slider is his best pitch. Siting at 83-84 mph and up to 86. Nice biting motion, great command and above average control. This is a pitch that he throws anywhere on the count, pretty much like current Twins' starter Tyler Duffey does with his curve ball. He also throws a changeup that is an average to above average pitch that can improve. Nice fluid mechanics. Weight is a consideration for him, and it currently is under control, listed at 195 lbs. His ceiling is that of a number 3 starter, but he has a high floor. His floor is of a 8th inning reliever. He held lefties to a .216/.273/.275 slash line and had 11.3 K/9 against them, which is pretty impressive for the PCL. Mejia was listed as the 5th best Giants' prospect by Baseball America and 7th best by MLB.com. He would be among the top 10 in my Twins' list if I had to do this list now, but likely he will be called up in September and that will disqualify him. Very good return for the Twins.

Shortstop. Might actually be the best option for shortstop the Twins have right now on the roster. No way he should play third (he is 5'11" with cleats, and has not play it that much.) He will be an improvement with the glove at SS over Nunez and is young enough to master the position. He is a better fielder than Sanatana and has great instinct. This is like asking what position should Buxton play...