Nick Nelson

Well said.

Dozier could just as easily be the No. 9 hitter as the No. 2 hitter, so the only difference made by moving Mauer down (in AL parks) is that you potentially rob him of at-bats in favor of Dozier. Or whichever suspect is hitting leadoff. Maybe there's some validity to the idea that Dozier's confidence will be jump-started by the nod and he'll get going. I doubt it, but maybe.

Be curious all you want. Blindly scapegoat the medical staff too, if that makes you feel better. I'm sure it's their fault.

I sort of started out responding to your post and then went on a tangent. Didn't mean to make it seem like that was all directed at you.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1812-Diamond-Getting-Away-From-His-Game

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4253[/ATTACH]Last year, Scott Diamond emerged from the wreckage of an awful rotation to establish himself as the unit's lone long-term building block. At the conclusion of the season, Terry Ryan was clear in stating that only Diamond was assured a spot among the 2013 starting five. As it turned out, Diamond would not be a member of the Opening Day rotation this year, as his recovery from offseason elbow surgery stretched a bit longer than expected, but when he rejoined the club in mid-April he was every bit the breath of fresh air that he had been a year ago. Recently, however, he’s begun to unravel as the aspects of his game most responsible for his success have gone by the wayside. Diamond’s outstanding results last year – 12-9 with a 3.54 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 173 innings – were met with skepticism by many for two principal reasons. For one, his previous campaign had been utterly horrendous; between Triple-A and the majors in 2011, the lefty went 5-19 with a 5.44 ERA – an inauspicious introduction to his new organization after being acquired in the Rule 5 draft. Secondly, Diamond’s vastly improved numbers came along with a 4.7 K/9 rate that ranked as the third-lowest in all of baseball. However, Diamond offset his extreme contact tendencies by excelling in the two areas where low-strikeout pitchers must stand out to achieve sustainable effectiveness: walks and ground balls. His 1.6 BB/9 rate ranked as the lowest in the American League while his 53.4 percent GB rate put him in the top 5. Because of his elite standing in these two key categories, Diamond separated himself from the rest of the organization’s contact-heavy pack and looked like a decent bet to become a rotation fixture going forward. He certainly looked that part in his first handful of starts this season, posting a 3.03 ERA over his first five starts while issuing just three walks in 29 innings with plenty of grounders. But after hurling seven shutout innings at Fenway Park on May 7, Diamond took a sudden turn for the worse. In four outings since, he’s 0-2 with an 8.41 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. He has failed to complete six innings in any of those starts. Lately, the skills that had been so vital to the southpaw’s game are nowhere to be found. Opponents have hit more fly balls than grounders over those last four starts, and during that span Diamond has uncharacteristically issued eight walks in 20 1/3 innings. What’s the explanation? Are there lingering effects from his elbow injury and surgery last year? Or are old habits manifesting? Whatever the case, Diamond needs to work with pitching coach Rick Anderson and get back to his bread and better of locating the ball down in the zone effectively. Because when he’s not consistently doing that, he becomes part of the problem rather than part of the solution. This rotation has enough problems as it is.

You think you need to tell me, of all people, that the Twins' decision-makers are not infallible? They miss the mark, plenty often. And I call them on those mistakes, probably more so than any other writer on this site. But they are also not clueless morons. If they've kept Butera around for this long, and waived several players from the 40-man roster ahead of him, and are paying him $700K to play in the minors right now, then clearly they recognize an enduring value in his presence. Who am I as an outsider to authoritatively call them idiots? I personally do believe they overvalue Butera and I wish they'd move on, but I'm not unwilling to try and see things from their perspective and I guess that's where I differ. I try to remain objective and there's no objectivity here when it comes to the topic of Butera. He's an absolutely dreadful hitter and because of that people choose not to bother trying to understand what sort of positives he might actually bring to the table. No shock that we once again see him being tied to every one of the organization's problems... I'm sure since some international scout and/or Bill Smith once screwed up on Nishioka it means Ryan and Gardenhire have no clue what they're doing in assessing the necessity of a single defensive-minded catcher on the 40-man roster. Totally related situations. Anyway, I'm bowing out of this conversation. I'm tired of being put in the position of defending a player I don't even like. By all means, keep on with the ridiculous ranting over a guy who currently has absolutely nothing to do with this team's problems.

Wonder if this is the same calf issue that was nagging at Plouffe in spring training. If so, that's pretty worrisome. Really bad timing. Offense could use a jolt and June has been the month where Plouffe has exploded the last two years.

So your argument is that the Twins, a major-league baseball organization filled with professional talent evaluators, have a view on Butera that amounts to "Hey, this guy's a historically bad hitter so he must be a really great defender!" And that's the reason they've kept him around for the last three years and paid him $700K in arb this year. This is the reason I can't take a lot of these anti-Butera tirades seriously. No basis in reality.

What I'm saying is that catcher defense is often one of those things better evaluated by the people on the field. There are many nuances to the position that can't be quantified. I certainly haven't seen anything substantive to convince me that he's not a plus defensive catcher, and I don't think there's anything objective about choosing SSS stats and presenting them as evidence of his decline. Joe Mauer's CS% was 14% last year, he must have the worst arm in league history, right? Could someone explain to me why Butera, who's been reputed as a top-notch defensive backstop throughout his career, would suddenly undergo a major decline in his late 20s? Has he been hurt? Is there anything to back up this viewpoint other than a couple insignificant statistics?

I think people have generally been doing a good job of not only linking to their writing but also including some additional thoughts/comments to spark a conversation about a relevant topic. In this respect, it's not really different from any other thread starter. You certainly don't have to follow their blog links.

They may be. But when you're basing your argument on his CS% and passed ball numbers compiled in a limited sample size while working with a preposterously bad pitching staff, perhaps we can acknowledge that they may have better insight on the matter? That's not meant as a dig, but the fact is that there really aren't any great metrics for evaluating catcher defense, especially when we're talking about a sample of 135 total games over the last two years.

The fact that he's managed to rack up enough service time over the past three years to hit arbitration despite a sub-.500 OPS is a pretty good indicator. The whole notion that the people running the Twins are completely clueless morons isn't an especially compelling explanation to me. Obviously they recognize that he can't hit, but value other aspects of his game enough to keep him around and pay him $700K in Triple-A. Butera is not a good player and at times he's been way overexposed, no question about that. I just wish people would keep an open mind and make an effort to at least recognize the guy's strengths while doling out (very justifiable) criticism.

Oh. OK.

I know people seem to think that premium defensive catchers who can't hit grow on trees, but the Twins don't share that opinion. They need to have someone around who can come up and hold things together behind the plate if Mauer or Doumit goes down. They apparently reached the conclusion that it will be more difficult to find that type of player in a pinch than a backup center fielder. They're probably correct. I don't think that's safe to say at all. Butera will be the first one called up if there's an injury to a catcher. Benson was undoubtedly behind several others in line for a call-up even as an injury replacement. He wasn't going to be around after this year.

I think his point was that, like Kubel, Parmelee lacks footspeed but makes up for it with good routes and defensive fundamentals. I should follow up my previous question about whether it's wise to keep Parmelee up as a part-time player with the flip side of the argument: if they don't option him all year and his play doesn't drastically improve, they'll have the chance to start him back in Triple-A next season. He'd be a nice guy to have around as insurance behind Arcia et al.

I would agree that he's been better than expected. He looks like an average defensive right fielder, which is impressive for a first baseman playing the outfield. But by no means is he a defensive asset. Still waiting for him to work out of the slump he's been in for the past two seasons... Do you think they should keep him around all year even if he continues to play only ~50% of the time? I don't see that as being positive for his development. As I recall, Doumit hit a pretty crucial two-run homer in the game, his fourth this month. Parmelee, meanwhile, is hitting .206 in May. At the end of the day, Gardenhire is interested in trying to win games and I can't blame him for that.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1794-For-Parmelee-the-Clock-is-Ticking

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4205[/ATTACH]Chris Parmelee offered Minnesota Twins fans a glimpse of his offensive ability on Monday in Milwaukee, when he launched a majestic, 420-foot home run to center field. Unfortunately, those glimpses have been entirely too rare for the 25-year-old. The solo shot was just his fourth homer – and seventh extra-base hit – of the season, leaving him with a .215/.293/.331 hitting line. That’s miserable production for a plodding right fielder whose value is tied almost entirely to his bat, and when combined with his similarly ugly .229/.290/.380 mark with the Twins last season, it paints a grim picture regarding Parmelee’s ability to hit major-league pitching. The Twins keep giving their former first-round pick chances to dig his way out, but Parmelee’s time to prove that he’s got more to offer may be running short, at least here in Minnesota. Surely this is a situation where the Twins would prefer to exercise patience. They have plenty invested in Parmelee, whose career minor-league track record suggests that he should ultimately be a competent hitter in the majors (maybe more if his small-sample Triple-A numbers are to be believed). Even though he has tripped over himself in two extended MLB chances now, he remains relatively young and inexperienced. But the window to make an evaluation may be shrinking. Parmelee was added to the 40-man roster following the 2010 season, so the Twins have already used up two of his three options (2011 and 2012). They haven’t used one this year, since he made the big-league roster out of spring training, but it’s hard to imagine he will stick much longer if his offense doesn’t pick up. With an OPS+ of 70 – third-worst on the team ahead of only Brian Dozier and Aaron Hicks, who both at least provide meaningful defensive value – Parmelee has been beyond brutal. Even a rebuilding team in a lost season can’t justify trotting that production out regularly, and if his playing time continues to wane (he’s started only 10 of the team’s last 20 games) it makes little sense to keep him on the roster. If he’s sent down, Parmelee will suddenly be headed toward a tough spot next spring. The Twins have numerous candidates to fill their outfield and probably would have some interest in retaining Justin Morneau if the cost isn’t exorbitant, so barring a turnaround in performance, Parmelee could be squeezed out. That’s not an ideal outcome for him or the Twins, who would enjoy having a usable inexpensive piece that they can plug in for a few years. I'm not quit ready to give up on Parmelee but his plate approach has been mostly ugly and, as his performance continues to deteriorate rather than improve, it seems like major-league pitchers are gradually figuring him out rather than the other way around. It's not time to cut bait yet, but he has already relegated himself to part-time duty and with Oswaldo Arcia lurking in the minors, his place on the roster is very much in danger. Should he find himself bumped to Triple-A, he'll have an uphill climb ahead of him in order to remain in this organization long-term.

As opposed to center fielders who hit .187/.261/.297... in Triple-A. I understand that we all think Butera is disposable, fungible and easily replaced. You're misinterpreting if you think I'm disagreeing with that standpoint or defending the guy. The Twins, clearly, do not feel the same way. As they might not have one single quality defensive catcher in the entire organization outside of Mauer, they feel it's important to dedicate one of their 40 roster spots to keeping Butera around. From what I've heard, it seems likely he would be claimed fairly quickly if he went on waivers so there's a good chance they are not alone in valuing him to some extent. I may not agree but I've come to accept it. I wish others would do the same. Anti-Butera opinions are not wrong or meaningless, they just don't need to be regurgitated ad nauseum every single time the Twins make a 40-man roster decision. Especially when the guy who was dropped had far less chance of making any kind of impact for the big-league club.

Thanks guys!