hybridbear

I agree. His comments point to a potential attitude problem. I hope the Twins can fix this.

I like the idea of Mauer second because he can move runners over either with a single, a walk or a ground out. His propensity to take a lot of pitches allows for steals & hit & run attempts. However, he has to improve over last year. If Mauer starts out hitting as poorly as he did last year then I think he has to go down to 7 or 8 in the lineup. I also like the idea of Mauer batting leadoff because of how many pitches he takes which would give the rest of the lineup a chance to immediately observe how the opposing pitcher is throwing. However, his lack of speed could be a liability on the bases because he couldn't go first to third on singles as often as Dozier or Santana or Hicks.

Sounds like a great idea!!

Torii's comment is yet another reason why he shouldn't have been brought back to Minnesota. *sigh* this is going to be another dreadfully long season and it hasn't even started yet

This is a terrible signing. I don't understand what the FO is thinking... Very disappointing day for Twins fans.

This doesn't make any sense. Bruce doesn't even seem like that good of a player. How does his WAR compare to that of the players you're looking to trade?

I want to hear more about what the Twins did to try to lure Maddon. I don't think they did enough on that front.

I see a couple potential options: Escobar 3B, Santana SS, Dozier 2B, Mauer 1B, Plouffe LF, revolving door in CF until Buxton is ready, Arcia RF, Vargas/Pinto DH, Suzuki C - this allows Escobar to potentially increase his stock higher so that the Twins can sell high when Sano is ready to take over 3B or if Escobar struggles then the Twins can sign him to a long-term cheap extension to keep him at their Utility guyEscobar SS, Plouffe 3B, Dozier 2B, Vargas 1B, Mauer LF, Santana CF, Arcia RF, Pinto DH, Suzuki C - then when Buxton or Sano make it to the big leagues you can shift players around and/or trade Plouffe and/or Escobar, I think this provides the Twins with the best offensive lineup to start the season but is questionable defensively, but if Molitor implements shifts and other changes on defense based on statistics that could mask some of the issuesThe other question is: where is Eddie Rosario?? Last off season there was constant talk about him being part of the big league club in 2014. Then he got suspended and disappeared from the discussion. Did he forget how to play baseball during his suspension? Have the Twins given up on him since he's had off-field issues?

Isn't Rosario still playing infield?

Another article recently referenced Alex Gordon's routine to achieve the defensive excellence for which he is now known. This article states that Pinto has a good work ethic, or at least that he hasn't been called out by the organization for a lack thereof. So, what's the deal then? If he's working hard on his defense then he should be getting better. Why isn't he? Is the problem with the Twins' coaching staff that's teaching him? Is he not as talented as we'd like to believe? Is he not working as hard as we'd like to believe? I was very impressed with the reference to how Alex Gordon works so hard on his defense and I'd like to see the Twins encourage Pinto to go the extra mile in a similar fashion to improve his defense. It could be a focus for him in the offseason and during Spring Training.

Great tidbit about Alex Gordon. Thanks for sharing.

With those platoon splits it might be worth making sure he's always in the starting lineup against LH SPs and then using him in a utility role when needed against RH SPs. I hope that the next Twins manager believes in platooning players where appropriate.

The bullpen sounds like a great idea! Glen Perkins has had much more success since moving to the bullpen. Perhaps Pelfrey could find similar success as a reliever.

I agree with the idea of selling high on Dozier and trading him. I also think that if he can get his average up to .250-.260 range and thus increase his OBP by another 20 points then he'll bring a big return for the Twins. Particularly if they've signed him to a team-friendly contract.

This is exactly why the Twins should not have locked him up with a big contract. Relievers are too unpredictable.

This is true. Time for the Twins to fully tank and go for a top draft pick. Mauer & Gibson could have the rest of the season off. Even Hughes could take these last couple weeks to rest. Let Meyer and May start more games to see how they do. Start Santana at SS and Pinto at C and Vargas at 1B and see what happens.

I support the idea of trying to sign a big name free agent pitcher. The Twins still don't have a good #1 starter. They need to find another Johan or else pay big bucks for a proven starter.

Fascinating info! Thanks!

I like many of the points you make. To protect their young arms the Twins could consider going with a 6-man rotation next year. Having a 6-man rotation should allow each starter to throw more innings in each start. The Twins also have a few bullpen arms like Deduno who can do pretty well throwing 3+ innings in relief when needed. I also think that instead of an innings limit the pitchers should be on a pitch count limit. It seems that right now some of the young starters are on a pitch count limit in games, getting pulled after 75, 90, 100 pitches, regardless of how the game is going. If you have a starter like Meyer who the Twins are trying to protect, maybe you say that you want him to make 30 starts at 100 pitches each for 3000 total game pitches for the season. 160 innings at about 5.5 innings per start would mean 29 or 30 starts for Meyer. So why not look at it from a pitch count perspective. Innings are important too, since each inning started results in extra warm-up pitches, but I think that pitch count should also be part of the equation.

I agree. If at the break next season he's repeating this offensive production while playing good defense at multiple positions then it might be time to look at trading him to a team that would use him as a starter, provided that Danny Santana is locked in as the starting SS based on his production. Or, if Santana falters next season then Escobar can start & Santana can be the utility player. I wonder if the Twins will look at extending Escobar this offseason. What's his contract like? If this season isn't an aberration having him locked in to a multi-year team friendly contract would be really attractive. And from what I've read about Escobar's personality & demeanor it seems like he would not be the sort of player to be overly greedy in his contract talks.

I agree! Concussions are serious. He needs to sit out as long as is necessary. It would be a shame for him to ruin his career with the Twins by trying to come back too soon from a concussion. I had a number of concussions growing up and even though I haven't had a concussion in about 15 years I still have lingering symptoms. I disagree! The Twins need to take it slow with him and let him recover fully. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for him to take the rest of the season off. He could still participate in "baseball activities" once he's no longer experiencing concussion symptoms but the Twins should not rush him back. I hope that the Twins Front Office & medical staff are smart enough to realize that rushing him back on the field this year could ruin his career. This is very heartbreaking. Keith Law had called Buxton a future perennial MVP candidate. I now fear that his ceiling will be much lower and that he won't end up being that much of an impact player

I've been interested in starting a blog for some time now. Not necessarily a Twins-specific blog, but just a blog in general. But, seeing the Blogging for Pizza post here has prompted me to start one today. I mean, come on, who doesn't love free pizza? First off, a couple things about me. I'm a lifelong Minnesotan and baseball fan I'm an Electric Vehicle Owner & a big advocate of electrified vehicles I really enjoy listening to Alfonso Fernandez & Tony Oliva broadcast the Twins games in Spanish & wish they did all the games First off, I must in some way incorporate Joe Mauer into this post. So, here goes: At the time when the Twins signed him I said it was a bad idea and that they would have been better off trading him or letting him walk as a free agent. Unfortunately, the Twins were trying to relive the glory years and thought that keeping Mauer around until his legs fall off was a sound strategy to win ballgames. On that same front, Gardy needs to go. The Twins need a manager & staff who will embrace sabermetrics and find a way to win games. Gardy's love affair with washed up players like Kubel, Bartlett & Guerrier this season should have been the straw that broke the camel's back, he needs to go. Baseball is a business, it's not a family. Gardy has the wrong attitude. Ok, rant over. Secondly, I really enjoy listening to the Twins games in Spanish because the announcers are so much more animated compared to listening to Dan Gladden, Kris Atteberry & Cory Provus. It's much more entertaining to listen to Alfonso Fernandez describe what's happening on the field than listening to the other three. In fact, I've found just about every sport to be more entertaining to listen to in Spanish. For example, listening to Alfonso Fernandez & Tony Oliva analyze and describe the out by Nunez on the basepaths in the 7th inning was very entertaining because they got so into it. Football (not soccer) is also especially entertaining in Spanish for the same reason. Thirdly, as someone who is very interested in the environment & sustainability I'm glad to see that the Twins also take an interest in these things. Their Sustainability page summarizes their efforts. Their efforts to capture & reuse rainwater are well publicized, but some of their other efforts which are less well known also deserve attention. The Twins donate prepared, but untouched meals, to local charities rather than throwing away this food They also have a "Green Cleaning program" which focuses on reducing the amount of chemicals used in cleaning the stadium and also using cleaning compounds which meet the USGBC (US Green Building Council) LEED standards It's very nice to see the Twins making efforts to reduce waste, resource consumption and energy consumption at the stadium. Now, I'm looking forward to pizza.