halfchest

I like his K/BB 26/5 of 24 innings so far. That is certainly encouraging. I noticed opponents are hitting .336 against him. That is sure to come down as the year before opponents hit only .248 at Fort Myers. However, the K's will also likely fall down at some point as well. Hopefully he continues to improve. If he can show he can handle AA then the guys got a shot someday.

I agree, if he's up he should be playing close to everyday. That said, I'm liking that Escobar is getting extended time at SS right now and hope he can stick there. Havent' gotten to see him much live at SS, anyone know how he's been there defensively?

Wow, this is a dizzying conversation. I'm in the camp that would like to see Dozier get a shot at SS again, if he and the team feels he can handle it. I guess his slick fielding at 2B makes me feel like he would do the same at SS. He probably doesnt' have the range Florimon has but I think he'll make all the plays he should and probably some highlight reels from time to time. League average defense with a .750-.800 OPS? That would be pretty awesome. Escobar to 2B for now and then we see what happens with guys like Santana and Rosario. Hope one of them can come up. I'm also comfortable with leaving it as is and seeing Escobar start at SS for a month to see how that goes. I see he's starting again today too but that may be due to the double header.

I guess I think you start Rosario at 2B when he comes back, keep Santana and Polanco at SS in the minors this year and keep Dozier at 2B in the majors. Then depending on the scenario you have a few options. You consider moving Dozier back to SS over the offseason if you see Rosario as a legitimate major league ready 2B. You give Dozier the offseason to know about this move, prepare, and go into spring training with this plan. The other possibility is that Santana shows he deserves a shot at SS in the major and you go into this year with the plan of him taking over. The third plan is Polanco developing but understanding he is a year or two away and you will need some sort of backup plan. In this scenario you maybe go after one of the guys mentioned on a two year deal. If all of these things work out positively (Rosario, Santana, and Polanco looking capable) then well you have a nice embarassment of riches in middle infield prospects and you figure out what makes the most sense be it a trade, moving Dozier to SS or moving Rosario to a corner outfield spot to make room. Let's hope this is the problem and not a problem of still having no one for SS next year.

Agreed. I just don't see a rush to transition him to LF as that would be an easier switch a year from now if they decide he's blocked at 2B. Polanco's a year behind and currently playing SS. Dozier well that's another argument but if they don't find a different solution prior to opening day I could see Dozier getting another shot at SS in 2015. Even if let's say Dozier sticks as our long term 2B and Rosario can handle 2B. How great would it be to have a corner outfielder that can back up 2B adequately. Gives added flexibility. If he's blocked and we can get a guy like Alex Meyer for Dozier or Rosario then heck yah. You're not going to get a guy like Meyer for a corner outfielder with a league average bat. My biggest argument against moving him from 2B is that it's way easier to find corner outfielders than 2B. Sure now if next year Hicks still hasn't improved and Dozier is still locked in at 2B then it makes sense to consider the transition to a corner outfield spot.

I get that, but still think he's more valuable if he can stick at 2B. I think transitioning back to a corner outfield position would be pretty simple. At this point there doesn't appear to be an opening in our outfield as they are trying to get Kubel, Colabello, and Pinto(DH) in the lineup as much as possible and it sounds like Arcia and Willingham are on the way back. I still could envision the Twins giving Dozier another shot at SS next year and they're obviously trying to give Polanco the chance to stick there next year as well. Not sure if Rosario's stick will play as well in the corners either. He's a potential all star at 2B but maybe league average or below in a corner. Now if he could play CF it's a whole different conversation.

Thanks! I did a search on him today too but didn't see anything newer than April 19th.

Strange, I posted an update to this or at least thought I did when Eddie reported to training camp. Not a lot to update on old Eddie. He reported late to spring training getting there around the middle of April. He was late for "personal reasons" and nothing further was explained. He was reportedly in good shape when he reported. As of today the Rock Cats have played 22 games so he's just under halfway through his suspension. I wonder if they count rainouts? The Miracle have played 25 games. Maybe he could report to them if they finish 50 games first then move up to New Britain a week or two later. I will be curious to see how they handle him as far as the possible need for some "rehab starts" when his suspension is up. I'm excited to actually get to see how Eddie does. Hopefully he's healthy and well rested when his season eventually starts.

I'm really ok with if he came up tomorrow or if we have to wait a month. I think giving your major league guys a couple months makes sense. Now if it gets to be end of May and Meyer is still dominating AAA and we have a clear cut starter who doesn't deserve to be up here then you move on. I suspect that our arguing doesn't matter and the Twins won't bring him up until end of May at the earliest. This will make it fun to revisit this argument. We will all get the chance to see if Pelf or Correia turned it around (or Nolasco for that matter).

Good point for sure. I guess I dont' know that this team will keep it up currently so maybe I'm a pessimist and view the team as going from a 75 win team to maybe an 78-82 win team with the moves you mentioned. It's hard without a crystal ball to predict the future. Being crazy optimistic for a moment though it is exciting. This offense is scoring and we barely got a glimpse of Willy and Arcia. Mauer hasn't started clicking yet and I'm confident he will. The flipside is that maybe Plouffe, Pinto, Colabello and even Dozier to some extent are due to regress a bit?? That's a whole other argument though. So yah, I get it. I'm fine with Meyer having to prove it for a few more weeks (4-6 starts) and giving Pelfrey a few more to work it out. If we get to the end of May and something hasn't changed and Meyer or May is still performing like this. Then yes, time to pull the trigger for sure. If the called up either one of them within the next week, I wouldn't complain about that either.

I think specifically with Meyer, it's the fact that he only had a half year or so at AA in addition to only a few starts at AAA. I don't think anyone is lobbying to keep him down there until September but just that it's not ridiculous to give him a few more starts as well as Pelfrey a few more to get things right. As others have pointed out, this is one great start, a clunker, and two good starts for Meyer at AAA. He's still only averaging 5 innings pitched although he may have been stretching out over those starts. I'm not sure of his total pitch count other than he hit 100 this last game. My argument is I don't think Meyer is the difference between contending for a playoff spot this year. I don't see a rush to bring him up and I don't think 4 starts is enough to prove himself or for the current starters to disprove themselves. If he were called up today, I wouldn't complain but I also don't have any issue with him staying down for a few more starts. Too early to cut bait on current guys IMO and a few more minor league innings couldn't hurt.

Ok, maybe not "figure it out" but "prove it" would be a better choice of words. I like that he has major league stuff but I'd still like to see a few more starts. I guess one really great start does not make me think, let's promote him immediately and cut another starter. So I guess I see it as an overreaction to immediately cry foul for not promoting him. That said, I think most agree that if he can keep it up for another 4-6 starts and Pelfrey continues to struggle then it's time to make the move.

Exactly, let's not overreact from a couple good starts. Meyer has four total AAA starts and 70 innings in AA. Total of 220 innings in the minors (not counting Fall/Winter league). It's not like he's being held back. Had he been healthy all last year and put up 150 innings of 3.00 ERA and a K per IP then I think the Twins would have been more comfortable with considering him jumping straight to MLB. For now, I agree. Give the guys another month to figure it out, then make changes as needed after 5-6 more starts.

This makes sense. I still think as others have said they give Pelfrey a couple more starts to get it figured out. I'm just surprised by his awful K/BB ratio. So much worse than last year, I have to believe it's a SSS fluke and will work itself out hopefully. his 15 walks are almost as many as he had in any month last year. I'm hopeful he'll correct it. Worst case if they send him to the pen and he is capable a 5 million dollar reliever that's good isn't the end of the world. Just kind of sucks. Gotta wonder with hindsight being 20/20 if they would have not signed Pelfrey. Season is still young but it seems we have 2-3 better options right now for that spot.

While I'm excited about Meyer as well, I don't have a problem letting him get a 10-12 AAA starts first. I think being smart about arbitration clocks is the right move most of the time and in this case he's not being wronged. It's not like he's been down there for 3 months just dominating, he only has 4 AAA starts to his name and about half a season at AA. Now if his May looks similar to his April then yes, it's probably time. Speaking of May, Trevor May's numbers are just as exciting through three starts. Over a K per inning and crazy low WHIP of .783. Considering May had a full year at AA it will be interesting if they both continue this well to see who gets the first call up when we have an injury or they decide a guy needs to be sent to the pen. Exciting problem to have a couple of guys at AAA that look deserving of callus but no open spots yet on the MLB roster. Of course Pelf has looked pretty bad so far but still to only have one guy at the MLB level that we're fed up with instead of 5 is a great improvement, HA

While I'm excited about Meyer as well, I don't have a problem letting him get a 10-12 AAA starts first. I think being smart about arbitration clocks is the right move most of the time and in this case he's not being wronged. It's not like he's been down there for 3 months just dominating, he only has 4 AAA starts to his name and about half a season at AA. Now if his May looks similar to his April then yes, it's probably time. Speaking of May, Trevor May's numbers are just as exciting through three starts. Over a K per inning and crazy low WHIP of .783. Considering May had a full year at AA it will be interesting if they both continue this well to see who gets the first call up when we have an injury or they decide a guy needs to be sent to the pen.

Does anyone else wonder if Parmelee is just going to end up one of those guys who you see claimed on waivers via mlbtraderumors and are like "holy crap, how did that guy not stick with the team" due to big numbers at AAA? It seems like I see that every year a couple times some 1B/DH type that gets claimed and I see them and think dang, Twins shoulda got him only to realize the guy just couldn't make the jump for some reason. Hopefully he can keep it up and at some point get up here if a bat cools down or when someone gets injured. It just seems unlikely at this point with both Arcia and Willingham waiting to get back on the roster again and Kubel and Colabello hitting so well.

I think his short bursts of productivity in the past are glimpses of what Plouffe is capable of and actually encourage me to think maybe he's finally putting it together. It's a time will tell scenario similar to what we saw last year with Dozier. Was it real or not? As of right now, despite the poor batting average, Dozier is definitely looking for real both in the field and at the plate. If Plouffe is for real, he could be huge for this lineup rotating at the corners in the outfield and infield once Sano comes up assuming he can stay at 3B. Hoping this is for real.

Something that hasn't been mentioned is that Corner OF are cheaper to acquire either via free agency or trade than a good 2B. Maybe if he shows enough with the bat we've got an awesome asset in a guy who can play corner of, backup 2B and maybe even be your backup at CF in a pinch. I'd like to see him stick at 2B as many have mentioned here just because that's where his bat would be the most valuable either for the Twins either on the Major league club or in the right trade scenario.

Dead on. I could see if he had one year or maybe even if we only had a couple years but we have five years with the guy and I believe his value will only go up. I guess he's been doing it long enough that yes I believe he is a good defensive 2B with power. That would put him in the top half of 2B. His ceiling is probably more like top 5-10 2B if he continues with what he's done now for about the past 5 months of baseball.

sorry for the long post

Let's just look at the last few years of free agent signings and trades to patch up holes. 2010 our last good year they got Orlando Hudson and traded for JJ Hardy to patch the middle infield. Pretty successful move if not marred by the asinine trading away of JJ the next season. I don't even care that Gomez has had an awakening in Milwaukee. I was so excited to get JJ only to see him shipped off later. They also traded for Capps as well as brought Pavano back to shore up a youngish rotation. 2011 . . . THOME!!! That's all really. and damnit Nishioka not much to be said for this year but it was a lot of fun watching Thome even in a crap year. 2012 . . . despite a crap year they made some nice moves bringing in Doumit, Willingham and even Carroll to some extent was a decent pickup. Burton and Fien were some nice reclamation projects that year too. 2013. I can't defend much about this year. I can't complain a lot either. There wasn't a lot they could do to make this team better. I think they could have gone after some better free agent or trade for some better pitchers. Correia was an awful signing until he actually turned out to be decent. Pelfrey, I was ok with due to the money and am hopeful he'll figure it out soon here. 2014. They spent a lot on starting pitching and so far those three have one quality start between them. It's still the beginning of April so we really can't judge any of these yet. They were allegedly still purusing Ervin and Garza as well. Now had they signed one of them instead of Pelfrey, I'd be pretty ecstatic and feel optimistic we could push for a wildcard. The only other thing I would have like to see them do is bring in Stephen Drew, draft pick be damned. All this is just my way of saying, yes I do think they will sign guys to plug holes. I don't know if they'll sign a big name guy but they're moving in that direction with Willingham a couple years ago and now with Nolasco. The Twins have changed since moving into the new stadium and shown more of a willingness to sign some free agents. Somewhat out of necessity. I don't think they're going to be players for the Robinson Cano's and Zach Greinke's anytime soon either though and I'm fine with that. I think the future is now though honestly. This year may not be amazing but we've already got Dozier and Pinto looking better. Hicks isn't wowing anyone with his numbers but it's a much better start than last year and I am encouraged by his near 1:1 K:BB ratio. We should see Meyer and possibly May by years end in some role. So to me trading away a guy like Dozier at this point is foolish. He is under control for the next five years so even if they don't start competing until 2016 or 2017 like you are saying he'll still be there. If Rosario develops into a competent 2B than we have a great problem. Right now we have what is appearing to be an emerging good 2B with defensive chops and power then a lot of question marks.

I like Rosario too, in fact I even adopted the son of a gun. However, I'm just not sure enough of a guy with half a season at AA and possible character issues. Still kind of unclear on the "drug of abuse" thing whether it was a mistake or not. We have a young 2B who is playing well defensively and at the plate. I just can't justify trading him especially when I his value could rise dramatically if he continues what he's done now for probably the last 4 months of last year and the first couple weeks this year.

I guess I'm one of the few who would like to see this team try to contend now, even if it's unrealistic. You can't keep trading for the future . . . especially with the future. Dozier is under control for multiple years and is our only proven (semi proven really) middle infielder in the system at least at MLB level. He's the only guy who's done it both offensively and defensively at the major league level. Given the years of control I wait to make sure Rosario/Polanco/Santana can hack it at AAA before I even consider trading Dozier. Dozier very much could factor into the next wave of winning which needs to get going sooner than later. Even if the Twins only wing 75-80 this year, I for one am sick and tired of 90 loss seasons and horrid baseball. If they trade away one of their best players I may just turn it off for the year. The other problem is he's still fringy as far as value goes. I think the only thing I would even consider him for would be another Span type trade for someone like Alex Meyer or for a top SS. At this point he hasn't proven himself long enough to be as valuable as Span and given his power over last year and beginning of this year along with his defense he has the upside of being more valuable than Span if he continues this through 2014. Lets say he hits 20 homeruns has an OPS of .750 and continues his plus defensive play? Then what's his value 6 months from now? Probably damn near untouchable honestly.

What sets him apart and gives him a chance to be a top of the rotation guy is those ground ball rates. I just remember seeing his minor league lines and it was always a ridiculous like 3:1 or 4:1 GO/FO ratio. Along with a decent K rate. When he was coming up prior to injury I was thinking he would be Scott Baker with ground ball ability. Still feel like that is his upside. His walk rate is way high and I'm convinced is a small sample size issue. His groundball rate is a bit higher than normal too but still within his wheelhouse. I expect him to continue the gb rate for the most part and improve the K/BB rate. My opinion he could very much be a top of the rotation guy because of his groundball abilities that have been consistent even last year. However, I'll be happy if he can be a solid midrotation guy for his career like Nolasco.