DuluthFan

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/45876/the-best-utility-infielder-of-all-time?ex_cid=espnapi_public Punto wins hands down! Ha!

Sounds like somebody's idea of a fantasy baseball trade. Let's keep it in the realm of reality shall we. The fantasy baseball site is down the road a bit. When you come to the site that mentions NO TWINS 25 MAN ROSTER PLAYERS you found the right site. <note sarcasm>

I must be seeing things. A thread about signing a player rather than trading him for minor unproven leaguers.

Placing the bet is not idiotic. Writing that headline on the other hand.....

Arcia will NOT be playing everyday. Nor should he. Expect everyone on the roster to get his turn starting. Yes, even Bartlett. Kubel is a part of this team this year. Arcia is a part of this team this year. Beyond this year, neither is guaranteed a place. It is assumed Arcia has a long term future with the team because he is young and has potential. Parmalee had potential too, but he didn't produce and look where he is now. If Kubel produces, he should definitely play more. Will he remain with the team beyond this year? Who knows. If he plays better than Arcia throughout the year, I say yes. It is still early in the season. Gardenhire needs to play all his players to determine what they can and cannot do in various situations. Arcia is a streaky player as seen last year. So far this year he doesn't seem to be able to handle the cold weather. So be it. Let Kubel play if it leads to the Twins winning the game. I want to see a winning team. After three losing seasons, I would rather see the Twins win with veterans, than see them lose with prospects.

The Twins have had issues filling the shortstop position with a player who can hit for years. When they come across a shortstop prospect who shows an ability to hit, they might move him along quicker than other players due to their major league need. The defensive repetition and learning at the minor league levels were cut short. Could he have learned more by being left down longer? Possibly. Could he continue to learn at the major league level? Sure. But the point of the minor leagues is to teach players to play fundamentally sound baseball. When you rush the players through the system, you can sometimes hurt their development. Hopefully Pinto, Sano & Buxton do not suffer the same fate.

Waiting for the headlines for this game. "Twins assault White Sox" Pic of Arcia with ski mask and bat in hand. Also pic/gif of Arcia's uppercut celebration.

Your links are mislabeled.

I can't see Mauer hitting below his career average when he should be healthier this year without the wear and tear of catching. I also can't see him hitting as high as 345 considering he has only done that twice in his career. I peg him around 330.

While I would always encourage upgrading weak positions on the major league team when possible, unless the replacement player is a significant upgrade, the Twins should not be looking for players with no options. There are enough of those types of players on the roster already. They only limit the kinds of moves you can make. If the players are of similar skill sets the player who came up through the system should have the advantage. Keep in mind the dfa'd players weren't good enough to make the other team. The Twins should be looking for the types of players that are able to 'make' the team.

Arizona Diamondbacks - 80.5 under Atlanta Braves - 87.5 under Baltimore Orioles - 80.5 under Boston Red Sox - 87.5 over Chicago Cubs - - 69.5 over Chicago White Sox - 75.5 under Cincinnati Reds - 84.5 over Cleveland Indians - 80.5 over Colorado Rockies - 76.5 under Detroit Tigers - 89.5 under Houston Astros - 62.5 over Kansas City Royals - 81.5 under Los Angeles Angels - 86.5 under Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5 under Miami Marlins - 69.5 over Milwaukee Brewers - 79.5 under Minnesota Twins - 70.5 over New York Mets - 73.5 under New York Yankees - 86.5 under Oakland Athletics - 88.5 over Philadelphia Phillies - 76.5 under Pittsburgh Pirates - 83.5 over San Diego Padres - 78.5 under San Francisco Giants - 86.5 over Seattle Mariners - 81.5 over St. Louis Cardinals - 90.5 under Tampa Bay Rays - 88.5 over Texas Rangers - 86.5 over Toronto Blue Jays - 79.5 under Washington Nationals - 88.5 under Tie breaker: The two AL WC teams will be: tampa bay, oakland Tie breaker 2: The two NL WC teams will be: cincinati, nationals

Mauer has played some first base prior to this year so it should be easier for him to solidify the position. Moving Mauer to 3rd and Plouffe to 1st would require two players to learn new positions. It would also require Sano to learn another position which would just add more time for him to reach the majors. While Mauer has the athleticism to learn pretty much any position, it would still take time for him to learn the skills necessary to play the positions.

The quote from Diamond " I felt what I had going for me is being out of options and being a lefty just trying breaking up that right-handed rotation but I think with the numbers he put up this spring in was too hard to ignore.” really irked me. It seemed he expected to get the job because he was left handed and he was out of options. If the Twins had had any decent alternatives, he would not have been promoted in the first place. He was a rule 5 pick up by the Twins. Someone else thought he was not good enough to protect. He was fortunate that the Twins had pitching troubles two years ago so that he could get a chance. His roster spot last year was given to him based on his performance from the previous year.

The Twins traded Worley to make room on the Rochester roster for their prospects.

Reason for the trade vs waiver claim. Worley had no options remaining. If the Pirates claimed him, he would have had to remain on the 25 man roster. By letting him clear waivers and be removed from the 40 man roster, he can now be stashed in the minors or re-traded later without having to pass through waivers again. Worley's lack of options has now placed him in a sort of limbo. If he is ever re-added to the 40 man roster, he will also need to be on the 25 man roster since he has no options left to send him down to the minors. If he once again is added and removed from the 40 man roster, he would also have the option to become a minor league free agent if he once again clears waivers. He is only a few steps away from becoming a 'journeyman' player, signing minor league deals with spring training invites to try to make a club.

It will be very disappointing if Bartlett makes the team over Arcia. As far as Parmelee and Diamond go, if they don't make the team, they don't make the team. If the Twins lose them because they don't have options left, well so be it. They had their chance to make the team. They lost their jobs because someone better took their jobs from them. Not all young players can play at the major league level. Not all prospects pan out.

0-5 Coincidence? Or is the sample size large enough to suggest barring you from attending any Twins games this year?

If someone claims Worley, he will have to stick with the major league team. The claiming team could also try to waive him and send him to the minors. Once he finally clears waivers with whatever team finally ends up with him, he will be removed from the 40 man roster. He can always be added to the 40 man roster later, but once a player is dfa'd twice, he can become a free agent. I can't see any team willing to start the season with Worley on the 25 man roster based on his spring performance. I expect him to be sent to Rochester.

Since Mauer is no longer catching, the Twins should no longer need a third catcher on the roster. The need for a third catcher was for allowing Mauer, by far the best hitter on the team, to remain in the lineup as a DH while still having a backup catcher available in case of injury. The extra roster spot should be used for a bench bat or true DH. Keep in mind, if it wasn't due to Mauer's injury and subsequent move to first base, Pinto would still be developing at AAA this year and possibly next year. So while it would be optimistic to think that Pinto is ready to move into the starting role right now, he should realistically need at least another year at AAA. Hermann should be the back up catcher this year if he has a passable spring.

*Sigh* The RBI stat is a box score stat. It HELPS to tell the story of the game if all you have is the box score. It tells you who was at bat when the run(s) scored. If you read a box score and did not have the RBI noted, you would not know who batted in the run. It was not intended to be a stat to describe how good a player is or was. It was not intended to be a stat to compare players (although it has been used as such). It helps to describe the action of a game. No one stat can completely describe how good a player is compared to other players. It is in combination with other stats that they become useful for comparisons. Player A goes 3 for 3 no RBI Player B goes 3 for 3 with 3 RBI Who had the better game? Player A had no one on base during his at bats. Player B had runners in scoring position for all his at bats. Who had the better game now? Player A had 2 doubles and a triple. Player B had 3 singles. Who had the better game now? The only reason the RBI stat is 'over-rated' is because you are trying to use it incorrectly.

The Twins are trying to build a Major League team. Hopefully, it comes together sooner rather than later. While a team can be put together with only young prospects or with only veterans, it seems to me that the best teams have a combination of the two. I cringe every time someone brings up trading a good veteran for prospects to "build up the minor league system". At some point you have to stop trading away all of the team's good players. The Twins need major league players to be successful, not prospects. Yes, prospects can help in the future. All major league teams need a steady supply of prospects in their systems. But at some point you have to start putting the pieces together and field a major league team. The Twins appear to be making moves indicating that they are ready to put the pieces together. The Perkins extension in addition to the rotation signings seem to indicate that the team thinks it is time. The top prospects are close. The majority of them should reach the majors in the next year or two. So you're looking at 2016/17 to be competitive. The Twins will need a closer by then. Why not Perkins? Why worry about having to bid for Perkins' service when they don't need to? Perkins is a Minnesotan. Who better to give his best for this team? He is a homegrown Twins prospect, playing for the team he has grown up with. Why pay another free agent to come play for the Twins when we have someone who WANTS to play here? Who has taken a team friendly contract to stay here. Who has the skills to play the position. Let's stop trying to trade away the team's good players for untested prospects who may or may not ever make the team and field a competitive team. As fans, we have put up with three forgetable seasons. It's time to put the pieces together.

For those upset about the no trade issue, consider the 10/5 rule regarding trading veterans. A ten year veteran, the last five with the same team, has the right to refuse a trade. This is similar to the trade language that was worked into the Mauer deal. Perkins needs 2(?) more years to reach the 10/5 plateau. Edit: After looking at the Twins Daily roster/payroll page, 2017 would be Perkins' 10th season. It effectively makes his option year a non trade season.

The Twins do not need a third catcher this year or for that matter going forward. The primary reason for the Twins to have had a third catcher no longer exists. Mauer is no longer the catcher. Since Mauer was the most productive hitter on the roster, there was need to keep his bat in the lineup as a DH on the days he needed rest from catching. The Twins no longer have their best hitter catching and therefore do not need to have their catcher spend time as a DH. The twins only need two catchers now. The starter and the backup. The DH spot can now be used to rotate and rest other position players or they could have a full time DH. They certainly have enough players with no primary position to play. If the Twins no longer need to rotate the catcher through the DH position, then a catcher known for his defense has more value for this team than a offensive catcher who will not play as often. In this case Pinto should be sent to AAA until he is ready to take over for Suzuki full time. He will have more time to develop his catching skills playing full time at Rochester. Fryar or Hermann would be better suited to be the major league backup.

I have an idea. Perhaps the Twins should cut, waive, trade or sell to Korea this Chris P guy whose name no one can spell. It is obvious to all concerned that he is the cause of the Twins poor play due to people obsessing over the spelling of his name. He is currently the subject of a thread on Twins Daily that has regressed into a grammar lesson that provides no constructive feedback or debate on how to improve the Twins major league team. Except this: no one can spell his name and it is distracting from the productive back and forth discourse by amateur baseball evaluators on a fan site to finding a solution to fielding a competitive major league baseball team for both the short and long term. Removing this player immediately from the team will solve all of the Twins current problems and finally end this pointless thread so that all of these knowledgeable and diehard thread posters can concentrate on the important topics of debating the upcoming 25 man and 40 man roster decisions which will not be made for several weeks. *The above post contains just the smallest bit of sarcasm. It is for entertainment purposes only and was not intended as a direct attack on any particular poster or posters in general. I was bored and annoyed that I read this thread in it's entirety and cannot get the lost time that I devoted to reading this thread back. Perhaps I will be lucky in the choice of the next thread I read and will not have to submit myself to reading non-baseball related topics on a baseball site. One can only hope....

Sad news for Twins fans. But this is one reason why you don't add someone to the 40 man roster before it's necessary.