Shane Wahl

The additional issues with Dozier and the hints from the front office regarding Dozier are about not being in the right position before the play starts and some other issues that involved decision making and not stats. Not sure how big of a deal these are, but my guess is that considering Gardy was pretty high on him, I'd bet that they played just as big a role as his lack of hitting (though hitting below .200 in AAA certainly didn't help). That's speculation on my part, but I don't think he gets called back up unless he starts hitting well, clears up those issues or in the case of injuries. "(though hitting below .200 in AAA certainly didn't help) " I agree with your overall assessment, but, to be fair, at AAA he did bat .276 with an OPS of .710 before his call-up, coming off of a terrific 2011 year in AA/A+ (BA .320/OPS .890). Culminating with his last disastrous media interview, Dozier clearly had crumbled under the pressures of the season-long spotlight- on a struggling team that has made a convenient habit of finding convenient scapegoats when the timing was right- it was not surprising that his struggles continued late-season in Roc. As I also speculated- and am in agreement with you, he has a long road back. It's possible that they put him up next spring as "competition" with Plouffe for the 3B job, with the intention of giving him the SS job again at a depleted Rochester infield. (The logical move is trying him out at the lower-pressure job at 2B, but it appears that the Twins aren't looking in that direction). Great post, Jokin, though I find it absurd to think he has a "long road" back. Clearly the non-September callup indicates that. But they are just not intelligent there. THE TWINS made the mistake first by calling him up before he had done anything at AAA (I know AAA "doesn't matter" but .. . . clearly it does), then sticking with him for 6 weeks after he started to REALLY plummet down, down, down. He isn't to blame for that total mismanagement. The answer seems painfully obvious. Start 2013 with Florimon at short and Dozier at 2B. Carroll is the true utility infielder for all three positions. Escobar needs to prove that he can hit AT ALL, so he can start the season at AAA. If either Florimon or Dozier start to suck, stick Carroll in as the starter and KEEP the other one up as the utility player. Carroll is finally rounding out to his expectations with a .260/.340 slash. That works as a utility guy and potential starter. Meanwhile, as I have posted elsewhere, the Twins should trade Morneau to the Red Sox for Allen Webster and Garin Cecchini (and if up to half of Morneau's salary needs to be paid by the Twins, so be it). Webster seems Hendriksesque (the minor league version of Hendriks) and Cecchini is a good 3B prospect. They would likely start out at AAA and AA, respectively. Cecchini provides much need Plouffe protection in case Plouffe doesn't right that ship.

I agree completely. Someone has to be "that guy" who sits on the bench for several games at the beginning of the season, but after that, a consistent rotation like this can be had.

Well it makes sense for Florimon to be at SS and Dozier at 2B this September to see how that works. Oh wait a minute. They somehow didn't make that obvious decision.

Well perhaps that goes back to developing too slowly . . . The Twins approach with Parmelee and Benson was fine up until 2011 when they both should have gotten a taste of Rochester. Hicks' movement through has been good. Arcia's movement is much better. They could have kept him in Fort Myers for the whole year in the name of proper development and "seasoning" but they rightly didn't.

With regard to honest debate between "left" and "right" -- seriously the left/right dichotomy is a BIG factor in the problem here. Go check out The Political Compass for a quadrant represenation -- anyway, I agree that someone with some clout needs to make true debates actually occur. For instance, Dennis Kucinich or Ralph Nader vs. Ron Paul. Both of them know the great problem of the two party system and how the military-industrial and the Federal Reserve are, well, problems, but yet they have actual legitimate differences in view, differences that hearken back, some, to both the founding of the American system and the general role and function of government. THESE other debates? Two factions of the same damn party.

How on earth can one legitimately claim that homosexuality is morally wrong? Apply reason, please.

Revere is a good hitter. He is not yet a good batter.

The Red Sox are more likely to shop for players in their fifth or sixth year that the small market teams can't afford.. They will hope for better success than they did with Gonzales. A contract like Mauer's would only make sense if was the final piece to a championship. If Mauer wanted to waive a no trade contract it would not be to a team in Boston's current situation. Mauer waiving the clause has nothing to do with the the question. I view it as moderately insane to think that Boston wouldn't make such a trade. The comparables in my scenario are Hendriks, Herrmann, Goodrum, and Boyd or Harrison or someone. That Boston would more likely pursue other options isn't the point either (that pursuit has most to do with the fact that Twins will never trade Mauer). Boston has dumped a BUNCH of money and Mauer's contract would be only about 1/3 of the amount that they will want to spend.

By the way, it is something like $57 million dumped by the Red Sox between Gonzalez, Crawford, and Beckett for the next 2 years, and $41+ million for Gonzalez and Crawford for the next 5 or six years. Adding $23 million would still allow them to spend mightily.

Other than Morales, I am most curious about what Jorge Polanco does in Beloit and where he actually plays.

Yeah it is a very interesting list. And I agree about Mejia and Morales (with fingers tightly crossed there!).

I want what this guy is smoking if he thinks any team would take Mauers contract AND give up a prospect!!! Were the reasons I gave you not adequate? Especially with a team like Boston? The team that just unloaded a bunch of money in Crawford, Beckett, and Gonzalez? The team that is likely not going to pay David Ortiz $12 million or whatever next year. The team that has Jarrod Saltalamacchia (sp?) to catch the rest of the games that Mauer doesn't? The team that plays in a stadium that would likely produce a significant increase in Mauer's offensive production? 15-20 homers and 40 doubles would not be out of the question with that short right field and that Green Monster. Do you really think that if Mauer were a free agent that the Red Sox wouldn't pay him $138 million over 6 years? Without that option, trading from prospect depth isn't a huge extra burden. The Red Sox are not the Twins. The expectation there is to win the World Series each year.

The main issue is that the Twins don't seem to like the idea of using every level in the minors as a place for prospects to get time. That is, they think of AAA as merely a dumping ground for so-called "veterans" like Joe Thurston and Clete Thomas (being older does not make one a veteran). The result is that there can be a logjam that develops and there clearly is one in terms of OF prospects. Beloit next year is going to be packed with them somehow.

No. No one is stupid enough to believe that the Twins would "outright release him for free." It would have been a COMPLETE waste of time for any team to bother and they ALL knew that. Just about the whole roster is put on revocable waivers to muddle things up and disguise true trade interests. Yikes. You are just wrong about Mauer's trade value. It's 6/$138 million remaining, correct? Teams often sign players to such deals knowing that the latter half to 1/3 of the contract is going to be dubious. The point is that those teams want to win and win every year. The Red Sox would throw a lot to get Mauer, for instance. They have several shortstops and pitchers in the system, and I think two of their top 10 prospects are actually catchers. I could see four top 15 Boston prospects coming quite easily. It would still be a mistake for the Twins to do it (unless they were unloading . . . everybody), but to deny this reality is quite strange.

No way should they do this now. The only reason I see it possibly good NEXT offseason is if two of Arcia, Hicks, and Benson flop bad in 2013. I am glad that the Twins went out and got guys (Willingham and Doumit) who CLEARLY like playing for and in Minnesota (adding a year to this deal would significantly reduce his trade value).

The vitriol never stops with you toward Mauer, does it? Zero waiver claims has NOTHING to do with whether or not a trade would happen. If you don't understand that you know nothing about revocable waivers. 29 doubles, 3 triples, and 9 homers this year so far. .860 OPS. 68 games catching, 27 at 1B, and 35 at DH this year.

Morneau trade target one: Boston Red Sox Potential players in return (MLB new prospect rank): 5. RHP Allen Webster: ETA 2013 and 10. 3B Garin Cecchini, ETA: 2014. (with possible Anthony Swarzak throw-in) Boston is not going to be comfortable with James Loney, and who knows about David Ortiz. While Boston is all over the place with their pitching, I would expect them to sign one top SP in the offseason, so Webster is more expendable. Cecchini is promising, but blocked.

Down the road it might be best if Benson is the CF and Hicks is the RF (Arcia as DH or move to LF). JB has to come back and play very well though.

That was a brilliant exchange between the three of them, topped off by Kluwe's awesome smackdown. It will be strange to cheer for the punter this year . . . but I have to.

Morales continued to struggle this year. His time is about up as well. Well he does have more potential than Danny Rams, but you are right. However, given that they kept ANDY LEER and Anderson Hidalgo around, who knows what they'll do.

Other than Revere and Parmelee (who are still mildly questionable as full-time starters, and add Plouffe), that list goes back 5 years and then 8 and then 10+. Besides that, there still is a sense of merit for achievement and proper development guys deserving a chance, right? I don't know, I have a sense of justice that gets bothered by this kind of thing (Slama the biggest pitching example). That's not a consideration everyone is going to share. But besides that I am not optimistic about how the Twins are going to treat Arcia and Hicks this year--I could see them "Parmeleeing" both of them for 2013 and then STILL be left with question marks for 2014. Or I could see them "Doziering" both of them and STILL be left with question marks for 2014. Consistent promotions through AAA (with at least 200 PA there) just makes sense to me.

Investing in Danny Rams as a catcher is one thing, as an outfielder is kind of a joke. No future for that guy.

Players can fizzleout because they don't get promotedwhen they should. Roberts, of course, hasn't fizzled out yet and I hope they are aggressive next year. He is the kind of player who should be fine in A+ and the real test will come in AA. This is also a team that mistakenly demoted Joe Benson back to AA instead of having him work it out up where he belongs. Same for Tosoni. But, you know, Clete Thomas was too important at AAA . . . I suspect the Fort Myers OF will be Roberts-Ortiz-Morales.

Yes, hopefully he joins that list after bouncing back in 2013 . . . . I almost see it as pointless to include pitchers in any kind of trade talk, unless it involves a MR type.

Point taken. I am going to hope that it happened with Schilling and RJ. What did the Phillies do with regard to Oswalt and Lee? The first would satisfy both conditions . . . if true. The second weren't THE top, more like the 2 and the 4 and of course they didn't win. I am not saying that they even need a 1 and a 2, but more like a 1 and a 3 or 4. I do believe that there may be some arbitration-year guys with good seasons that could be swapped with Morneau and each side throwing in some other minor pieces, if the Twins don't sign two pitchers.