lukingood

Best of luck. I enjoyed your writing.

Hicks is on a quick trip to nowhere at this point as far as a MLB centerfielder. He has no trade value. His best season was a .280 batting average at New Britain in AA. He plays centerfield like he is bored and can't get around on a fastball when batting from the left side. I don't know if it is an attitude adjustment he needs or he just lacks the skill to play. The Twins have exercised far more patience at this point than needed.

If you watched Rosario play in the Arizona Fall League, you would know that he is not shortstop material. His play at second base is awkward. And Santana also is a less than desirable glove at shortstop. I am not sure the Twins minor league system currently has a shortstop in it that is major league worthy. I personally would like to see Escobar get a shot.

The major thing I notice about Kubel is that it looks like he has lost weight. He has never been a player blessed with speed, but at the game yesterday there were a couple plays into the left field corner that he moved very well and un-Kubel like towards. A person might even say he looked graceful out there yesterday. I was doubtful about the signing of Kubel, but he has looked great. A platoon with he and Mastrionni might make a lot of sense.

Yes, good call!

I certainly agree with you about Mauer. He has looked rough at first base. For my money, I would put Escobar at short, but Gardenhire has never asked me for my opinion. And why not give Bartlett a game or so at short and see how he looks.

As to why platoon Arcia so early, I think the Twins management too often is looking out to the future instead of looking to win today. Billy Beane has certainly used platooning in Oakland to the betterment of the franchise. Also, I may be wrong, but with that huge uppercut swing that Arcia uses, I have serious doubts about his ability to handle left-handed pitching.

My issue with decisions that have been made is Gardy's reluctance to take steps that would improve the punch of this team. An example would be having a platoon in right field. Does anyone truly think that Arcia is going to light it up vs. left-handed pitching? And if he does occasionally use a right-handed bat in that situation, is it going to be Bartlett? Really? Therein lies the frustration of a Twins fan. I truly would be happy if the Twins could finish .500 this season and be able to put up a fight and be competitive in the 81 games that they lose. I get the idea of saying, "Let's wait for Buxton and Sano and Meyer." The problem is every team makes that statement about their top-tier farmhands. Weren't we hearing that same thing last year about Arcia? He would be the guy that would put us over the top. So far Arcia has looked like an average- to below-average right fielder with a slow-pitch softball swing. Hope I'm wrong is all I can say. And I'm not happy that Gardy was resigned. Please feel free to point out where I am wrong. I could use the encouragement.

If Gardy sends down both Parmelee and Colabello, then our backup first baseman must be Plouffe with Escobar at third. In my opinion, Colabello earned a place on this team, and sending him down is criminal. Are we really to think that Hermann would be a better bat off the bench than Colabello? This will be a painful offense to watch this season.

It is criminal that Deduno is not in the starting five. He may have the nastiest stuff of any pitcher in a Twins uniform.

Santana has a great bat and he has speed. But the Twins need a shortstop who can make the average play at shortstop and Florimon and Escubar can certainly do that. Will Santana reach that point? No one truly knows at this point.

Colabello has to be kept. The Twins need a credible right-hand bat. While I liked Danny Santana's bat, he simply does not yet have the major-league composure to play shortstop. As to Kubel or Parmelee, Parmelee makes more sense in that he plays both a decent right field and first base. Kubel is primarily relegated to DH or pinch hitting.

Hicks needs to prove that he can hit AAA pitching before he ever plays another ML game. And as for Arcia, his fielding in left or right is subpar, and his swing has a bit of a slow-pitch softball style to it which is easy for a ML pitcher to take advantage of. If Parmelee can shorten his swing, I think he still has a chance to be an effective ML player.

To those who say Colabello cannot be an asset to the Twins, I disagree. He obviously can hit as witnessed by his minor league numbers. And having a home-run threat in the late innings who can come off the bench is a luxury that not many major league teams have. I personally hope that he makes the team and I believe he will contribute.

Has anyone noticed how James Beresford is raking it in New Britian? Is he totally off of the Twins radar? It is interesting how we bring up Aaron Hicks who batted .286 in a season at AA and the Twins talk about how he had a blowout season. I just find Beresford's performance interesting because of the fact that the Twins are lacking production at second base also. Another point is that whenever the Twins talk about their future second baseman, they always mention Rosario.