John Bonnes

Paragon Sports Marketing Agency tweeted today that the Minnesota Twins are promoting Matt Carson from AAA-Rochester to complete the roster moves they started after yesterday’s afternoon game. Carson, who has primarily played right field in Rochester, was likely added to provide outfield depth due to the day-to-day status of outfielders Denard Span and Ben Revere. Span hurt his shoulder in a game on Sunday and had not played since. Revere hurt his ankle in yesterday’s game. This is not Carson’s first time in the majors. The 31-year-old had exactly 100 at-bats with the A’s in 2009 and 2010, hitting .200. This year with Rochester, he was hitting .277 with a 785 OPS, including 14 HR, 102 strikeouts and 33 walks. In his career in AAA, he has hit .280 with a .500 slugging percentage. According to Seth Stohs, he is often lauded by for his attitude, work effort and class, as well as his play on the field. The Twins chose to promote Carson over first base/right field prospect Chris Parmelee, who is tearing up AAA with a .348 batting average and 15 home runs in just 181 at-bats. This likely indicates the Twins feel that Span and Revere are healthy enough to be playing regularly soon. It is likely better for Parmelee, who is just 24 ear old, to develop by playing every day in AAA than only occasionally with the Twins. However, Parmelee could still be an option soon. The Twins have been slow to place their players on the Disabled List this season and it’s certainly possible they could do so with Span retroactively. Also, after September 1st, rosters can expand to up to 40 players. It is likely Parmelee would be promoted at that time. Yesterday, the Twins demoted pitchers Luis Perdomo and Jeff Manship to Rochester and reactivated pitcher Anthony Swarzak from the disabled list. An additional move was anticipated to fill out the 25-man roster. The delay was likely to give the Twins an extra day to evaluate the status of Revere and Span and their ability to play regularly. Also, the Twins will need to make a subsequent 40 man roster move as Pedro Florimon grabbed the final spot when he was called up on Wednesday. Matt Capps could go to the 60 Day DL, or someone will need to be DFAd.

Terry Ryan says the Twins aren’t going to be able to buy themselves out of this funk they’re in. He’s absolutely right, especially when it comes to second base, where the Twins OPS ranks 29th in the majors. Because there is almost nothing to buy. The free agent market for middle infielders is often limited, but this year’s market for second basemen is especially sparse. I count one starter – Toronto’s Kelly Johnson. Johnson is 31 years old, has a 692 OPS and is slightly below average fielding (according to UZR). And he’s the class of this group. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There are several who have found their way into a bench job, including Jeff Baker (DET), Adam Kennedy (LAD), Jeff Keppinger (TB), Maicer Izturis (LAA) and Ryan Theriot (SFG). I find Keppinger the most interesting, slightly above Izturis. With the Rays, the 33-year-old Keppinger has hit awfully well but has been slightly below average defensively. And for his career (over 2300 AB) he has a .336 OBP. Everyone else has either been designated for assignment or hurt or both or retiring. It’s thin gruel. With those options, ones thoughts can’t help but turn to Jamey Carroll, who only has a 626 OPS but at least is getting on base at a .334 clip. The bigger concern might be that if he reaches 401 at-bats next year, then 2014 becomes a player option, albeit one that only pays him $2M. Frankly, that looks like a bargain and Carroll looks like a better option than anything Ryan is likely to find on the shelves this winter.