Shane Wahl

I am going to echo the comments about SS and second base here. I have been a prospect-plays-first guy and have been told that the minor league team wants to win first and prospects can be placed at the bottom of the lineup. The point is that "veterans" can occupy certain positions because they are "better" than those prospects. This all means that the minor league affiliate has some strong say in the matter (for a reason, I guess). OK, OK. So . . . . what the hell is this Santana at short and Beresford at second situation???? That can't be a move by New Britain to win more games, clearly. Clearly. So are the Twins involved in this? And why? What does it matter, at all, whether Danny Santana can play short? Beresford is THE GUY to do that. Santana can flourish as a second baseman. I am very confused by the usage of these two at New Britain. I don't understand how a HUGELY struggling SS keeps being placed there when a clearly more-than-viable alternative in Beresford is right there. It's mystifying.

And this bio is a great thing. Very detailed and fun to read.

Tony Oliva | SABR Tony O biography.

AUTHOR - PETER C. BJARKMAN A: This was the guy in the Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations" Cuba episode. B: This guys knows more about Cuban baseball than the vast, vast majority of American baseball people. C: He drinks at the Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette, IN where I drink mightily. I just discovered A and B today. I am thinking about writing an article about this with an interview. Any questions to be asked? He has met Twins scouts in Cuba and they do scout there . . . but they really scouted players from The Netherlands.

I say now a lot, there. It's called drinking after a Twins loss.

Gibson, Walters, and Albers should all be next. A rotation of Gibson (wasted innings in AAA--i would have him at 40 right now), Diamond, Deduno, Correia, and Walters is something I would want right now. Albers is not a bad option at all. He is not Pedro the joke Hernandez. He is much more like Diamond. Pelfrey needs to "get an injury" right now.

Not an interesting thought at all. Sano should be promoted to AA pronto. But that is all for now.

Colabello will DH some, fill in for Morneau at first for a Morneau day off or a Morneau day at DH. He will also pinch hit. Escobar and Carroll are likely in the lineup now and that is good. He is not someone who needs to play every day. Having him on the roster could be highly beneficial. Replacing some pop with some pop is good, in general.

Yes, how about a rotation that includes BOTH Gibson and Deduno!?

Hell yeah!!!!!

Chris Colabello works for me. Doesn't play the OF, but that doesn't matter.

Well that was a strangely stupid decision by the Rays! (thanks for pointing that out, so nevermind)

A problem with this is if they keep it at 130, isn't about 165 the "proper" percentage increase for next season? That's why I was hoping for 150ish, to get that closer to 200.

However, they DID do that with Delmon. And the rest is history . . .

I don't really feel like going game-by-game to see the nature of the Sano errors. I think it's a mix. I understand that he has the athleticism to play third. So do a lot of people.

Fort Myers double header today. Sano with one bomb in the first game and one in the first inning of the second game.

The Bollinger article mentions that limit as an expectation. He also mentions that he "could" start out slowly in AAA. Yes, he could have. And damn it, my crazy idea was to go very slow (he would be at about 40 innings now) and to have Andrew Albers be his personal reliever. THE GREAT Andrew Albers, by the way!

TP beat me to it. 130-140 innings. I was optimistic at 150.

I want to say it was Terry Ryan. I saw it somewhere on this site, I thought. I don't know if it was 130. I thought it might have been 140-150. And honestly, given how things are going, he absolutely should be limited to 150ish.

I like the Pujols defensive 1B comp for Sano. Dear lord that would be nice. About "skill" positions, see my second base analysis on my blog (I apparently need to advertise it). There are a lot of guys who are middle infield types who are actually having good years. KNOCK ON WOOD. Beresford, Santana, Michael (hopefully), Rosario (clearly), Polanco, and perhaps Goodrum (who I see as a potential third baseman down the road).

Gibson has 100 innings left max. Are they really just going to burn through them now as fast as they can in AAA?

I am not a fan of continuing to ruin Chris Parmelee, so I would send Arcia down for a bit.

By the way, Sano's defense at third is returning to form after an OK start. I would be in favor of a move to first base (I know that "wastes" his arm, but there is no hole in the OF by 2014).

With regard to promotions and whatnot, I get the sense that many people ignore the various contingencies in promoting players and just assume that X player is going to be a bit worse after a promotion. Who knows--promoting Sano to AA might make him go off offensively. Players can have all sorts of issues with various coaches, climates, and surroundings from level to level. And promotions also serve as big votes of confidence. Machado might be an extreme example of that. I don't think he had a minor league season where he put up the numbers he is putting up now in the majors, right? For the record, Sano still doesn't really have a position so that is an issue. Buxton could be on a faster pace because there is not a lot left to be desired with him. Like . . . very little.

Second base is a problem area for the Twins and has been since Luis Castillo. Here's a look at the state of the system from top to bottom, in detail: Minnesota: Brian Dozier: RH, DOB: 5-15-87. STATS: .205/.250/.279 (.529), 2/2/1, 8-29, 3-3. I was a fan of Brian Dozier up until May of this year. I worry about his ability to be a competent player in the major leagues at this point. His defense at second is good, but he is abysmal at the plate. His walk/strikeout rate is just inexcusable. It's frustrating because he can really get good swings on the ball sometimes (his homer in the ninth against Boston, for instance), but he is not good overall at the moment. Jamey Carroll: RH, 2-18-74. STATS: .304/.361/.339 (.700), 2/0/0, 5-13, 0-0. Carroll is getting fairly limited playing time this year, mainly because of Dozier. But Carroll is doing an OK job as a utility player and his OPS should climb over .700 with a bit more playing time, returning to 2010 and 2011 numbers. I like Carroll as a tradeable player to some N.L. team at the deadline (even if the Twins are somehow also competing for the playoff) since he is a good roster piece to move around in certain situations more likely to come up in that league. The return just needs to be competent, not overwhelming. I think the Braves, Nationals, Giants, Cardinals and Reds are notable teams to start considering for trade possibilities. Eduardo Escobar: SH, DOB: 1-5-89. STATS: .293/.328/.466 (.793), 2/1/2, 3-6, 0-1. I undervalued Escobar for several months now and am admitting that I was wrong, fundamentally, and could be very wrong about his ability and potential. I think that there is a fairly easy managerial decision to be made right now: play Escobar somewhere until that OPS drops below .730 or so. It's really simple: he spells Plouffe once a week, spells Florimon twice a week, and spells Dozier twice a week. Rochester: Eric Farris: RH, DOB: 3-3-86. STATS: .227/.278/.311 (.589), 3/1/2, 9-19, 7-0. I like Farris' ability to steal bases, but there is really no reason for Farris to have 138 plate appearances right now. For whatever absurd reason, Farris was batting 6th in the Red Wings lineup just last night. There is no excuse for that. Joe Benson was batting 9th in this lineup. And we will see below that there are AA players now deserving of a promotion. Nate Hanson: RH, DOB: 2/8/87. STATS (AA/AAA): .255/.318/.368 (.686), 3/0/3, 11-23, 0-0. Hanson is struggling in AAA now and hasn't played second base yet (for whatever insane reason--Deibinson Romero must be cringing in AA). He is a potential super-utility option as he has played 3B, 2B, 1B, and LF in significant doses. New Britain: James Beresford: SH, DOB: 1-19-89. STATS: .340/.413/.383 (.796), 4/0/0, 11-16, 3-0. I believe Beresford is an overlooked player right now in the Twins system. He plays great defense at second and perhaps great defense at shortstop, though the Twins are hardly bothered to put him at that position this year so far. Maybe that is because they know he can do and they are trying out Danny Santana there. The offensive numbers are good for Beresford this year and I am really impressed with his ability to make substantial improvements offensively while repeating at AA. That said, he belongs in AAA by now. He's basically ready defensively and is showing major strides at the plate. And below him are guys named Rosario and Michael. His SLG has jumped 69 points to MI respectability now. Jason Christian: LH, DOB: 6-16-87. STATS: .189/.271/.302 (.573), 2/2/0, 6-18, 2-2. Organizational filler who is taking plate appearances away from players with actual potential. This is what the Twins do, and there is no good reason for it. He's never been remotely good in the minors, yet the Twins signed him. Danny Santana: SH, DOB: 11-7-90. STATS: .280/.297/.354 (.651), 7/3/0, 5-28, 7-3. Santana has a lot of potential as a kind of Ben Revere of the infield. I list him here as a second baseman, because I see no future as a SS. He has been fairly bad his whole minor league career there. I am not sure what the Twins are thinking because swapping Santana and Beresford is such an obvious decision. Regardless, Santana did not initially do well after the jump this season to AA ball, but he has come on strong in last 10 games. Making these adjustments matters, and he is doing so. I would like to simply see him improve his now adequate defense at second base. Santana's long-term role with the Twins really depends on Eddie Rosario more than those above him. Do not be surprised if the Twins offer him up in a trade sometime down the road if they find themselves comfortable with Rosario at second, and a few other players as SS and UTIL players. That said, Santana does have CF experience and could position himself as another player who is Brian Dinkelman+ (well maybe ++). Fort Myers: Eddie Rosario: LH, DOB: 9-28-91. STATS: .318/.359/.487 (.846), 9/4/3, 10-26, 3-2. Rosario is a key component to the Twins future. As a second baseman, he could serve as a major re-shaping figure for this team. And the results are in so far: after a shaky transition in 2012, Rosario has improved his defense enormously at second base and he may be projectable as an above-average major league defender at the position. And this will come with significant doubles power and some other extra pop. His plate discipline has lagged only a tiny bit after the move to high-A ball. He could serve as the best 2-hole hitter ahead of Joe Mauer (Ben Revere 2012 for a few months is the only other contender) in the Mauer era. There is no reason that Rosario should not finish at AA. Levi Michael: SH, DOB: 2-9-91. STATS: .210/.278/.370 (.648), 6/2/1, 8-19, 2-0. Michael has returned to Fort Myers and has mimicked his numbers from a season ago, though he is coming off of an injury. His power is slightly up too, which is a really good sign. If he sticks at short that would be a plus, but he could very well end up competing at second base. And with Rosario there, he is going to have to improve offensively. And how. Cedar Rapids: Jorge Polanco: SH, DOB: 7-5-93. STATS: .325/.376/.491 (.867), 12/6/1, 16-20, 1-2. Polanco is exciting. Up until he turned 18, Polanco struggled at the plate. In the past two years, he has gone ballistic. His defense at SS was an attractive thing as a 16-year-old. He has now split time at SS and second overall is minor league career. He struggled at SS up until this year. In limited time there he has really improved his defensive stats. I think the Twins want to see if Niko Goodrum will stay at SS, but that may be doubtful. Polanco could move over and be the SS of the future for the Twins. For now, he is the primary second baseman for Cedar Rapids. Even though his numbers are great, I wouldn't expect a promotion to Fort Myers this year. Candido Pimentel: SH, DOB: 7/19/90. STATS: .262/.328/.299 (.627), 2/1/0, 11-27, 7-2. Pimentel blossomed last year in his third season of rookie ball, but he appears to be returning to the pre-2012 performance. He is rotating into the lineup with Polanco and Goodrum this year, but he really needs to improve if he has any chance. EST: Jose Ramirez: SH, DOB: 9-6-91. STATS (2012 in the GCL): .234/.294/.269, 3/1/0, 10-33, 3-5. Ramirez is likely going to Elizabethon when that season starts. He has not produced, but perhaps this year he gets acclimated to the U.S. and plays better. Logan Wade: SH, DOB: 11-13-91. STATS (2012 in the GCL): .234/.301/.371 (.672), 6/4/1, 12-29, 2-2 The Australian turned in an OK performance in 2012, but will need to improve significantly to advance out of rookie ball. Will Hurt: RH, DOB: 12-22-93. STATS (bad in limited time in the GCL, not even worth mentioning!). With a name like that, I really want him to succeed. He was drafted in the 16th round of the 2012 draft and played very little rookie ball. He should go back to the GCL and play, hopefully turning things around this year. Conclusion: Eddie Rosario alone makes this position adequate in the system, but now the Twins have significant depth at second base. There are some question marks about who's going to end up staying at second and short, but the middle infield situation has improved markedly in the past year with a successful move (Rosario) and very improved performances (Escobar, Beresford, Santana, and Polanco).