SydneyTwinsFan

33%. 29-89 Kid finds himself in an 0-2 hole a third of the time. talk about making life hard for yourself

Just quietly, JR Murphy has hit safely in his last 6 games (8-22) and has a .278/.333/.444 line for his last 10 games. Baby steps, but maybe he's beginning to find his mojo at long last. Would love to see Chargois in the MLB pen.

And cut Nolasco while you're at it.

Take the opportunity to stretch out May. This is just farcical.

Santana has many flaws and limitations, but he can swipe a bag

Nice write up. Like others have said, plenty of reasons to demote Rosario this year, but stealing 3rd isn't one of them. Do you want to be aggressive, force them to move the shift, risk throwing the ball away etc? Or just stand meekly at 2nd and accept your fate? Molitor has lost the clubhouse, lost the plot and is hurtling headlong towards losing his job.

I'd like to offer a tip of the cap to Kennys Vargas and his first stolen base in 6 years.

Arcia has 5 PA on a team sliding to 0-9 with just 14 runs in those 9 games. 5. I just don't get it. And now this? Crazy

I've tried to moderate expectations, but barring injury it's hard to see over 650 PAs how Sano doesn't put up at least a .270/.370/.500 line with 35 2B and 30 HR. That's assuming say 160Ks / 90BB. And he has a chance to be better than that. It seems insane to expect that as a floor for a 22 year old with half a season under his belt, but that's where I find myself. Just hope he can stay healthy out there in RF.

Barring injury, can't see Arcia and Santana not going North >95% chance IMO. Only way Sweeney or Mastro gets a look in is if Buxton spends a month at AAA, and he would have to be flat out brutal at the plate for that to happen.

So one day Arcia is making leaping grabs at the wall, the next he is taking 3 BBs and swiping a base? It might just be a Spring Training mirage, but it's good to see.

If Murphy is used correctly, then this trade could add value in two ways: Murphy > Suzuki Buxton/Arcia/Kepler eventually > Hicks By moving Hicks you allow him to be replaced by a more productive player. By acquiring Murphy you increase the production from the C position, assuming (and this is the huge IF when it comes to the Twins) Murphy has been brought in to do more than catch 30 games as a backup. The overall benefit could be 1-3 wins - not season-changing in itself, but a useful step in a grander plan. Only caveat to the above is whether Hicks could have returned more value elsewhere in the market (eg one or two upside RPs). I don't know the answer to that, but on balance I am OK with the trade without being wildly excited by it.

Nice for Jake Mauer to spend some time with the big league club in recognition of some great work over the past couple of seasons. I thought there were a maximum of 7 coaches allowed though. Do coaching "rosters" expand in September as well as the playing roster? Or will Mauer replace someone for the last two weeks of the season?

Nice to see Parker's article linked on the main ESPN page by Schoenfield today. Great article, deserves a wide audience

Berrios currently through 6 IP: 4H 1 ER (solo HR) 5/0 K/BB

Achter, Tonkin, Fryer, Vargas and one of Santana/Polanco are all givens I think. I would like to see Arcia, Kepler, Pinto, Berrios and Meyer as well. I know not all of these guys will see much playing time, but there is absolutely no reason why the team should ever be short of a PH option or relief arm to optimize match ups in September.

Cotts is fitting right in

It's pining for the fjords....

My take on a few of the threads running through this discussion: I have zero problem with giving Buxton another 7-10 days at AAA to get his timing back. I get that he's gone 5-12 in 3 games back, but he needs to get used to playing baseball every day after 6-7 weeks off. What I don't understand is why that couldn't have been done by continuing the rehab assignment rather than going the option route. If using the option is a signal that Buxton is done with the Major League club for the season (or at least until September), that strikes me as idiotic if only because... ...Shane Robinson has no business being on this roster. There is also no need for more than 7 RPs. There should be room to now add Buxton (once the rust is knocked off) at the expense of one of those guys, even if it is only to play sporadically at first. It's bizarre and borderline negligent that another bat that actually could have helped the team win hasn't already been added (Arcia should have been up weeks ago, or Vargas who looks to have his mojo back after destroying AA for the past couple of weeks). Sadly though, it looks like that horse has bolted and the opportunity to improve the team when it actually mattered has been lost, which means... ... while Hunter has been pretty much as advertised (decent pop, below average defense, good clubhouse leader) and has played his part, if the team falls properly out of contention over the next week or so (as seems likely) then he needs to accept his contribution for the rest of the year will be more mentor / less playing time. It's more important that Buxton and Arcia get reps in September as a prelude to 2016 than it is to roll with the Hunter Retirement Roadshow. This last month or two has been plagued by roster mismanagement. I hope optioning Buxton isn't latest example of that.

For me the only head-scratcher is why option him now instead of letting him continue on rehab for 10-15 days. I'm totally on board though with giving the kid more than 3 games after being out for 6 weeks before calling him back up. Major League veterans can probably get back up to speed after an injury break with only a few rehab games, but we're talking about a kid with barely 50 PA above AA ball - a week or two teeing off on AAA pitching isn't going to hurt him or the team.

Alvarez was 5-69 in 0-2 counts so far this year. Awesome.

Twins unbeaten in the Sano era!

Isn't the narrative that Mauer is having an ordinary season thus far given his OPS of .722 and 0.2 WAR, but that a .500 BABIP with runners in scoring position has generated a few more RBI than might otherwise be expected? Or are you contending that Mauer has some control over the outcomes in those high leverage situations (in which case it would be helpful if he exerted it all the time). I'd expect his overall line to improve and his line with RISP to normalize over time but I'm struggling to see the "reinventing" here unless I'm missing something - (which is quite possible by the way )

Hicks is being held to a pretty high standard here. Seriously, the kid is crushing AAA pitching right now, from the left and right sides. .976 OPS is second in the IL, he's tied for the lead in XBH and hitting the ball with the authority that has really been missing in the last 2 years. Over the past couple of seasons there has been a general clamour (which I have supported) for him to be sent down and earn his way back. As of now, I'd say he's done just that.

Santana walks!