Ben Noble

I hope he has an explanation that satisfies me or he risks losing my respect. Although they might not have been the moves that I would've made, I've been able to get my head around all of the new FO's moves to this point. But this one just doesn't make any sense to me. At all.

Lots of stuff to like here, but I might be most encouraged by the walk rate.

This is the report on Navaretto that I remember from when he was drafted. Has anyone seen him catch in person? He's got a pretty big frame, wondering how he moves behind the plate or if his defensive rep is all based on his arm...

If by "different" you mean "better." I'm obviously biased here, but I personally think Goodrum has a higher ceiling, it's just a matter of putting it all together. But that's still a very, very big "if." Tightening up the defense at SS will be key.

Sure, if he can tighten up his defense a little. After 4 errors in his first 8 games, Goodrum has just one error in the past 10 games, splitting his time pretty evenly between SS and CF with a few games at 2B as well. With 18 games under his belt in 2017, Goodrum has an OPS of .710. In 74 PA, he’s hit 3 HR and 4 2B with 2 SB and a 16/5 K/BB rate.

The KBO did try those robotic fans a few years back...

Goodrum is off to a pedestrian start to the season, playing in 8 of the Red Wings' first 10 games, with a line of .258/.294/.419 for an OPS of .713. He's added a home run, a pair of doubles and a stolen base, and his K/BB ratio is 8/2. Perhaps most notably, Goodrum has started 5 games at SS, 2 in CF and 1 at the keystone, suggesting that the organization could be looking at him as a utility player, but he's already committed 4 errors on the season.

Cartier Niko Goodrum was born and raised in Fayetteville, Georgia (population 16,000) and selected by the Twins as a toolsy but raw shortstop out of Fayette County High School in the second round (71st overall) of the 2010 draft, one spot after Andrelton Simmons. Goodrum is listed at 6’3” 198 lbs, although by all reports he’s put on some weight and looked more muscular this spring. Now 25 years old, Goodrum is a switch hitter who can play all over the field and has flashed all five tools, but has yet to put it all together: Hit: .275 BA in 2016; career IsoD of nearly .100 Power: .464 SLG in 2016 Speed: 35/39 SB in 2014 Defense: .971 Fld% in 250 innings as a SS in 2015 Arm: BA’s Best Infield Arm in FSL 2014 Goodrum spent about half of last season on the DL but, when he did play, he hit .808 in AA with over 200 innings at 3B and another 100 innings at SS. He was granted minor league free agency last fall, but quickly resigned with the Twins, who promoted him to Rochester to begin 2017. There’s a lot to like about Goodrum. He’s a switch hitter who’s flashed a decent hit tool, patience at the plate and a little pop, can swipe a bag and has played every position on the field sans pitcher and catcher. He’s the definition of versatile, a jack of all trades. Personally, I really liked this pick back in 2010 and thought Goodrum could’ve developed into the Twins’ SS of the future. While my expectations have certainly changed, I still think he could help the Twins as a super utility player who can play competently anywhere on the field, pinch hit from either side of the plate, and put pressure on opposing defenses as a pinch runner. There’s very real value in having that player as the 25th man on your roster. And that’s probably his clearest shot at the Majors. That being said, 25 isn’t ancient, Goodrum has tools, and he wouldn’t be the first raw, small-town high school draftee who took a little longer than hoped to fulfill his potential. I’ve been rooting for this kid for seven years now and I hope to finally get a chance to see the man at Target Field in 2017. Below are photos of Goodrum in high school and this past winter:

Niko Goodrum

Congrats to Watkins, a real class act who's earned it. As easy as it is to criticize the Twins for keeping too many former players in the organization after their playing days, I'm really glad they kept Watkins in the system and developed him as a coach. Hard to believe he's still only 36.

According to this place, a hot dog is a sandwich...and a chili dog is a side order. Duh.

I disagree. Slide Vargas over to 2B (it's only one base over) and move Sano back to his natural position of SS. Less pressure on Sano defensively will hopefully carry over and help him relax and excel at the plate. At 3B, I'd like to see the team go out and sign The Thing. The Thing is solid (he's made out of rock) and a veteran (born 1961), and would provide the solid veteran team presence the FO was looking for in Napoli. Depending on how ST plays out, I'd like to see Air Bud head north as the backup catcher. I know he's a bit raw and toolsy, but that dog is really good at catching balls and I prefer a defense-first backup catcher. And if our pitchers can start yelling "STAY!" after every pitch, Air Bud should grade out as an at least league-average pitch framer. In this scenario, Mauer still gets a handful of starts at catcher, because Joe Mauer is a catcher.

These moves, along with running Hicks through waivers and Murphy leaving the team, have all the makings of a trade in the works...or TR thought he had a trade sewed up that fell through. Hear me out: Twins trade (A) SP for ( backup C and © stopgap CF. I don't think the Twins are getting anything particularly sexy back in return, mind you. Hear me out: A: The Twins have too many SP on the 25. I think the consensus around here is that it would take a team with an injury or extremely poor performance in ST/April/May to pull the trigger on someone like Nolasco or Milone. Well, it's late April. And Meyer's been starting, and he's up. B: JR Murphy should be in AAA. I don't think he's a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination, but he's lost right now. Why run your third catcher through waivers if you don't have someone better on the way to replace Murphy? Maybe because TR just traded for him, but still. C: Buxton and Kepler down, CF is left up to Rosario and Santana, Murphy requests release. Seems like the Twins sort of thing to tell a vet on a minor league deal that they weren't calling him up...because they have someone else on the way? Pure speculation, I know, and I've knocked on my coffee table enough times to put knuckle marks in the veneer, but if I were a beat writer for the Twins I'd be on the horn with whatever contacts I had at the other 29 MLB franchises right about now. I fully expect these moves to leave the 25 a bit of a cluster (fart) and nothing more...but a trade kind of makes sense, no?

Vielma. That defense is legit and I love the 35 steals last year. He doesn't have to hit to have an impact on the game, and he's young and skinny enough that the bat might still come around a little.

As upset as I initially was with May's move to the 'pen, I've started to come around a little bit. Now if the Twins can be flexible with how they use Perkins, Jepsen and May, I might be sold. I realize that's a big 'if,' though...

Nice to see a couple of rookie managers in Banister and Molitor get some love.

https://youtu.be/ojMxPEiJvb8

I hope they call Meyer up ASAP; he's been pitching a lot better lately and the gut says keeping that momentum going in The Show could be absolutely huge for him.

Rob Antony takes over as GM.

Expert analysis on "Mays" and "Meyers." Joe Mays hasn't pitched for the Twins in a decade, it's time to give it a rest. Still not sure who Meyers is.

Depends on how the Rockies view Polanksi. While his sordid criminal history could make him a clubhouse cancer, he's had prominent supporters in his corner over the years, too. And while I think we can all agree that he's well past his Chinatown peak, I don't think it's unreasonable to hope for another Pianist-like late-career resurgence.

No, but I wouldn't mind seeing Rosario get 3-6 starts a year at 2B just for the sake of maintaining flexibility. Long term I'd start Buxton, Rosario and Hicks against lefties, and Arcia against most righties while sitting one of Hicks/Rosario. You'd have Arcia as a late game PH when he's not starting and Hicks/Rosario as defensive subs when they don't start. There's not enough room for Arcia to play regularly until Hunter retires, leaves or is 5OF/PH, the DH spot opens up, or due to current OF injury/poor performance.

Sano