I'm terrified he's going to play well enough to convince the Twins he's the starting left fielder in 2015, at which point we get a repeat of thinking SS was filled going into 2014.
You have Arcia, Hicks, FA LF guy, Replacement level Shafer all on the team, and havent named a CFer yet. The days of teams carrying 5 OFers are pretty much gone.
I would say Shafer is a 'canary in a mine' we can use as an early test of how serious the Twins are about 2015. If they close one eye, squint real hard with the other, and convince themselves he's an acceptable answer in LF to start next year...we have our answer.
Is an extra point timed? Until there are 2 strikes on a hitter, every pitch does "progress the game." It's a ball or a strike or a HBP or a balk or a ball in play. Not meaningless at all. And I would argue that even with two strikes, every pitch still "progresses the game."