diehardtwinsfan

oh, and just to go off topic for a minute... With Joe Mauer and his swing at the 1st pitch less than 10% of the time, why doesn't Gardy call a hit and run with Revere on and Mauer at the plate? You know Joe is going to get a meatball...

I'll admit to being one of the naysayers on Revere and thus far, I am quite happy to be wrong. I'm not, however, convinced in him just yet. 1) To answer the original question, I doubt anyone would say that the arm is more important than the range. I'd agree that range is the most important defensive aspect of OF because it eliminates base runners alltogether. The arm, however, does cost the Twins runs. The question is how many runs are picked up with range that are cost with the arm. If I were a guessing man, it's probably 3 to 1 or so, which is still a net win... that said... 2) Revere's biggest problem is a lack of power. That hasn't changed. I don't know where people get the idea that a SB is the same as a double. It isn't. It is certainly better than a single and nothing, but a double will clear the bases with just about any runner on 1st. A stolen base does not advance runners, and last I checked, we have a manager that talks the talk with SBs but doesn't call them nearly as often as he should. This just means that Revere at the plate with runners on will typically generate less runs than a Mauer, Morneau, Willingham, or Plouff in the same situation. Putting him up at the top helps limit that exposure, which is fine. 3) His other problem, that to date he has fixed, is his ability to get on base. I'm not convinced that major leaguers will not adjust to him a bit, but based on what I saw of him this week, the kid should be able to consistently hit around the .300 mark as long as he takes good at bats like he did this series and continues to make good solid contact on the ball. 4) Like his pitch to contact brethern on the mound, Revere's skillset walks a very, very, very fine line. His usefullness will be non-existent when the speed drops off should he not develop any power. A small tweak to the hammy or something like that will result in an entire lost season. This is not the type of guy you want to depend on. That said, his ceiling is still a Jason Tyner type player with better defense. It's a nice stop gap, but it isn't a stand out guy either. Tyner didn't walk much and could hit for average. He had no power and played pretty decent defense. I can live with a guy like that in the OF as a stop gap, but in reality he's more or less a very very very good 4th OF. Given that the Twins are not in contention, this should make it easy to trade Span if they want to add some starting pitching, as Revere should be able to hold down a spot until Arcia, Hicks, and Benson arrive, but to count on him for more than that is not a good idea.

Oh, and to answer the original question. A Liriano extension would look a lot like Pandora's box.

Kenny Rogers and John Smiley weren't terrible if memory serves me right, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

kind of surprised that Arcia didn't make it.

He could go 15/30 and hit 6HRs, and he won't get promoted. They didn't bump Sano, Arcia, or Rosario from Elizabethon even though they put up numbers that would have made Pujols jealous. They won't promote Harrison if he does the same. Some of it is SSS, and I'm convinced some of it is simply to let the guy get some confidence before hitting a much more difficult environment in Beloit.

really, when did I say give him 2 more weeks before writing him off? For that matter, when did I specify a timeline at all?

Parmalee would benefit best by playing every day, and quite frankly I doubt anyone cares whether that's in AA, AAA, or MLB. I seem to remember reading a while back that the Twins did consider AAA to be development grounds. It's certainly a step that the Twins, or other teams for that matter, are willing to skip, but plenty of good prospects have spent time there and plenty more will continue to do so. A lot of that has to do with the fact that 1) the jump is not that big from AA to AAA and 2) there's an obvious need at the club, and the guy occupying the spot in AAA isn't the solution. I have no doubt that the Twins would have been happy to give more development time to any of their AA guys as opposed to calling them up, but the circumstances dictated otherwise. Also of note, I would not compare September callups to skipping AAA, especially since many end back up in AAA the next year. September callups follow a different pattern: 1) the guy is on the 40 man or is pretty much a lock to make it next season. 2) the team is largely out of it and wants to get a look at the kid in a lower pressure situation against advanced players or the team is in it and wants the kid to fill a niche role such as a pinch runner or hard thrower out of the pen.

I tend to be a bit of a skeptic with defensive numbers, especially when they say Carlos Gomez is worth 85 runs or that Delmon Young was an average defender. They keep running Rayburn and Santiago out there because of their defense (certainly isn't their offense)... both made some pretty nice plays this weekend as well. FWIW, even the Detroit fans around here that hate their guts admit the two are pretty decent defenders... that said, while Detroit fancies themselves as a contender, I highly doubt they give up anything more than what they gave up for Delmonster.

I think the good to very good on the offense comes from the fact that it is much improved from the beginning of the year. Plouffe has come on nicely, Dozier seems to be settling in, and Revere has learned how to do something other than hit a dribbler to the pitcher. Perhaps these guys will turn back to pumpkins... who knows, but there's a decent amount of hope for all 3 of them given they are all prospects. That said, to answer the question, I doubt Ryan can do much of anything this year. He needs to add 2 or 3 starting pitchers in a market where that's going to cost him something. To do that, he's going to empty the farm, and there's no way he should dump Sano, Rosario, and Arcia to obtain that pitching, and the guys he can dump (like Tosoni) won't get us jack squat. The best option if Ryan wants to contend is to go hard after pitching this offseason, and I'd say that means getting at least 3 above average starters, counting on diamond, and hoping that one of Gibson or Hendricks can step up and claim that last spot.... I'll be surprised if they get more than one good starter.

Pretty much this. Sano should be in AA come 2014. Harrison will hopefully be right behind him, but at this age, it isn't uncommon for the prospect not to pan out... both are looking nice, but neither are sure things just yet.

The Twins routinely have used AAA to continue development. Yes, they will promote from AA if needed, but unless there's a huge gaping hole that the AA guy can fill, he's going to spend time in AAA.

Delmon's contract forced the issue. He signed an ML contract. When he arrived in MN they pretty much had to keep him up, and lest anyone forget, he was pretty bad his first couple of seasons in MN.

If you add Zach, you still need two more pitchers.... that's the big problem for making a splash... This team would be decent if it had a decent rotation, but it doesn't, and counting on Diamond to be a #2 is stupid as stupid gets.

Being in Michigan this week, I've heard nothing but complaints from Tigers fans about those two, and sadly Casilla is better... though that said, we won't get much for him... he's not exactly a huge upgrade over what they have.

drjim, you are correct on Goodrum, I should have added him... I did list Santana though.

Nice to see Rodriguez doing well... given his dad is a HOFer, I kind of hope this ML bloodlines guy takes off...

Kab, I'm not comparing Dozier to Delmon and Gomez. I'm simply using them as an example that people can get called up too soon and it can have a negative impact on them. You are right in that Dozier was never considered to have the talent that these guys had. But that has nothing to do with whether or not he should be sent down or work things out in Minnesota. Like Lev said, you do what is best for the player and for the organization, and if that's sending him down... send him down. If it's keeping him up, keep him up.

Casilla is no longer a stop gap... He's in his arb years now and gets very expensive.

You are correct, Smith himself never did that. The PR machine under smith did this all the time, and he did nothing to stop it. JJ Hardy was a fairly recent one, as was Delmon, Perkins, Baker, Slowey, Neshek, etc. It happened quite a bit, and its only purpose was to lower the value of the guys he wanted to get rid of.

agree we should have taken a pitcher, but everyone saying BPA BPA or some garbage like that... That said, not sure I'd call him a bust just yet. Here's the reality... he's never faced this type of competition before, and he's likely doing the whole "wooden bat for the first time" thing. He may need to take some time adjusting. I hope he figures it out... #2 overall is a bad one to waste.

I was kind of hoping that he could OPS closer to .800 than .700, but this is respectable for a SS in a pitcher's league... probably starting to figure out teh whole wooden bat thing. At least at the moment there looks to be some decent help in the middle infield for the 2014/15 timeframe with Michael, Santana, Rosario, and Dozier... starting pitching on the other hand....

how so? both are ground ball machines who put things in play... when Blackburn was good, he was the same way. The problem is that these type of pitchers are walking a very fine line. I'll admit to drinking the Blackburn koolaid when he did it two years in a row and was not nearly as upset about that contract as some others... but since then, Blackie has shown us that this fine line is in fact a fine line. Diamond is the same way. I have no problems counting on him as a #4/5 guy for the next couple of seasons, but to center a rotation around him would be foolish. Unless he starts getting a few more Ks, he's going to regress. If the Twins fancy themselves as competitors next season, then they need to get some higher upside starters to go with Diamond.

Moving Justin done would make sense if it helps him with his confidence or if you have something to replace him with... Given Plouffe's continued hot hitting, I could see Trevor forcing it at one point if it continues... That said, Justin hasn't played baseball for 1.5 seasons and it's obvious there are some flaws... For one, he's a bit rusty, and second, he's pull happy. The scouting is out and it's obvious that he's trying to pull everything. No one pitches him inside. I'll say this, he seems pretty decent against right handers. I thought he put that one pitch out last night, but it died on the warning track. Against lefties though he's putting everything on the ground... the old justin wouldn't have been so bad... I'm guessing with Justin it's going to be a time/memory thing. I'm hoping he kind of puts things together later this year and looks more like his old self come 2013.

the yanks were rumored to have wanted to trade Nova for him prior to his 2010 break out season... just a point. I do agree that putting a mental case in NY would be dumb, but teams do desparate things when they want a ring...