spideyo

Florimonster is both an awesome nickname, and a pleasant surprise. Can't say I expected Hicks to be very high in the ranks this early (curious, how much better would he have to be to actually be 16 out of 17?) Dozier stands out as a significantly underachieving, especially when they are using him as leadoff guy. At what point do we figure Carroll or Escobar would be bringing more to the table as a starter?

You beat me to it. Marquis bailed out and got signed to the Padres where he had a decent enough year to come back for a second season. And he was doing MUCH worse than Pelfrey is

Hey it could be worse. We could be Royals fans

The other part of that too, is that Ryan didn't technically fire anybody, he merely chose not to renew contracts. Gardy and Andy happen to have another year. They're paying them that year wether they coach or not, why not let them ride it out, see if they turn it around. If not, come end of the season you just let them walk and bring in new folks, who aren't going to feel quite as much pressure as they would if they came into a situation where a GM had made a mid-season firing or had fired ALL the coaches at once. It also looks better from a PR standpoint. And for all that some folks here hate Gardy, there are plenty of fans who don't, and they aren't going to want to "rock the boat" with the fans any more than absolutley nesc. Remember, Twins fans as a whole aren't used to management turn over. For people 25 and under, there have only been TWO Twins managers in their entire life. For better or worse, that is the Twins culture, and you can't just change it overnight without risking serious blowback from the community.

Interestingly enough, the Twins actually lead the league in OF assists. In some ways, it's almost like the team took to heart all the criticism of having a guy like Punto around (and to a lesser extent the CONSTANT bitching last year about how Revere will never be more than a singles hitter and his range can't possibly make up for that) and decided that instead of slick-fielding "put me anywhere and I'll make highlight reel defensive plays" guys, they are going with guys who can slug and trying to find a spot for them where they won't screw up too many plays. Basically, it seems like it used to be a philosophy of counting on the defense to keep the score low, scrape together a few walks/bunts/singles, and expect one of our few mashers to knock in just enough to win. Now it seems like its a lot more offense first, score a lot of runs and then count on the pitcher to limit the exposure of the defense. This shift really started with the move to Target Field, when they got rid of Carlos Gomez (which ultimately meant a whole lot more playing time in LF for Delmon Young), and signed Thome. Now, I like Thome, but when we already had Kubel, Mauer, and Morneau, it never really made sense to grab another left-handed power bat, particularly one who couldn't play ANY defense. Essentially what they lost was a spot for a guy like Brian Buscher, who wasn't the greatest bat off the bench, could at least cover 1B/3B when needed. It seemed like a very clear indication that they were saying "ok, we don't want to be a small ball team anymore, let's hit some dingers in our fancy new stadium" The main problem I see with this "offense first" mentality, is that players are far more likely to go through slumps as batters than as fielders. Even the best hitters will go through stretches where they just can't seem to find their swing. Not very often do you see normally fantastic fielders suddenly start missing routine plays. The other big problem is that without really good defense, it puts ENORMOUS pressure on the pitcher, and if you don't have top-flight pitching, you are screwed. Detroit has sacrificed defense for power, but they can get away with it because they have Verlander and his pals. We don't.

Pretty sure you can't DFA a player on the DL. Besides, from a roster standpoint 60 day DL is no different than DFA. After Deduno gets added there will NOT be an open spot on the 25 man. Remember, Thielbar took Hernandez's spot. My guess is that Thielbar probably gets sent back down, and they give DeVries or Hendricks a spot start call-up (since Gibson wouldn't be available Monday anyways) so they don't have to DFA a guy just yet. A lot may actually ride on Plouffe. If concussion symptoms rear up bad on him, they likely aren't goin to take chances and he could end up on the 60. It wouldn't surprise me if the twins are shopping Butera and Herrman around right now. They likely won't get much better than a c-level prospect or a AAA lifer for them, but there are always teams that are looking for catching depth, and better to get a few bench fillers for them than nothing at all

I want Vanimal to get his stuff together in AAA and come back and be a great part of our rotation, if for no other reason than to keep me from being bitter and angry about losing Revere

Wait, you didn't win the powerball jackpot did you? Seriously though, pretty sure there is no way in hell the Pohlads will sell anytime soon. Even though the team isn't performing great, they are still drawing pretty good crowds and turning a decent profit. They own the radio station that is the flagship of the twins radio network, they just dumped a ton of money in renovating the ford center right next to target field, and they play host to the All-Star game next year. They have absolutely zero reasons to sell, and every reason to hang on to the team

I think the next month or two is really going to make or break Anderson's (and possibly Gardy's) future with this organization. No matter how good a coach is, he's still just a coach, he isn't out on the mound. He can't force a guy to pitch better, and nobody is deliberately sabotaging their pitchers. The real test is how he helps players identify what needs to change, give them a plan to help change that, goals to aim for, and how he handles players that arent performing well and fail to make improvements. I don't know how the decision was made to send Worley down, but it's very interesting that the announcement was made so quickly. I hope for the sake of the team that Andy is stepping up and being more bold and decisive with the staff. We'll see though.

Imagine if Parmelee and Colabello could hit in the majors at the same level as they hit at AAA. They could platoon DH and provide powerful bench options if/when our various OF kids make their presence unnescesary in the OF.

Wow, you guys are good! I know Gardy said a "corresponding roster move" would be made, but is there any reason they would make any other move than to add Deduno? Maybe if tomorrow burns through a lot of relievers they'll send Thielbar down just to get a fresh arm. Pelfrey has over 5 years service time, so he could refuse any minor league assignment. More likely is that they'd push him to the bullpen. Right now, Duensing, Thielbar, Fein, and Diamond are the only pitchers with options left. I don't think that Corriea or Pelfrey are pitching that bad that the Twins would be willing to cut them loose entirely, and the bullpen has looked pretty darn good.

Good call on that prediction

I'm way too lazy to do the research, but I'm curious as well to know how many of those 1st inning runs are due to home runs, walks, "easy hits" or anything else that is totally the pitcher's fault, and how many can be attributed to weak defense and/or errors

I'm just really hoping he turns out to be the next RA Dickey kind of story. A pitcher who defies conventional logic, and turns into a great pitcher far later than should ever happen

If I recall correctly, in 2010, didn't we lead the league in runs SCORED in the first inning?

Based on our current organizational depth, if Collabello gets sent back to AAA he totally should be working on 3B. We've got plenty of sub-par corner OF/DH guys

Yes, I'm suggesting he isn't mentally ready. As far as getting shelled by Detroit, they are leading the AL in hits, runs, BA, OPB, and 4th in SLG and TB. There is a decent chance ANY pitcher we throw out there will get shelled by Detroit.

Little to no success? He was second on the team in wins, third on the team in H/9 (behind only Burton an Perkins), 2nd on the team and above league average for QS%. His high walk rate certainly inflates a lot of the stats, but from actually watching the games, he did pretty well. Part of what makes him exciting to watch is that he defies traditional pitching logic. With his walk rate and wildness, his state "should" be a whole lot worse. For better or worse, he was either the second or third best starter last year, depending on how you feel about DeVries

I have no idea what Gibson will be like in 6 years. But I want him to be a solid piece next year, and rushing him up here so he can get shelled by Detroit helps no one.

While he hasn't played it for the Twins, Colabello did put it in a fair amount of time at the Hot Corner from 2009-2011. Not sure of they'd consider him an emergency option there. It honestly would be pretty boneheaded for the twins to make any 25 man move other than Plouffe to the 7 day list. Between a knee to the head and a 97mph heater to the back/shoulder, he almost certainly feels awful today and could use a few days off, concussion or no. Give the Italian Stallion a week, and if Plouffe is ready to come back, then you can make a decision about who needs a refresher course at AAA. The one thing I can guarantee though is that they won't send Dozier down today. That would leave them with Florimon, Carroll, and Escobar playing every inning of every game, with NO MI backup.

It's not the plan simply because Gibson has been very volatile and inconsistent. This is a kid that they expect to be a solid part of the rotation for 5+ years. If he can't string together 3 back to back good starts in AAA yet, who does it possibly help to shove him into a higher pressure situation against exponentially better hitters? It's not like a couple Gibson starts are all that's standing between the Twinkies and a title.

Time for him to dust off his 3b glove? The HPB alone might have limited Plouffe, but with that hard collision, I'll be surprised if they don't put him on the 7day concussion list just to be on the safe side. Collabello hasn't played a ton of 3B, but who else could we bring up that could cover at least some IF?

1st 2 moves made, what comes next? I'm guessing Wood and Mastro to 60, to open up spot for Deduno and someone else I know nothing about Richardson, so I don't know if pulling him up will help, but a brief AAA stint might be just what Hicks needs. Parmelee really hasn't been playing much lately, so I am totally in favor of sending him down so he can get regular at bats to get himself straightened outand giving Collabello a shot. I would keep Ramirez for now, because he can play CF, can help translate for other guys, and so far has been totally on with being a bench guy. Do any of our pitchers (other than Thielbar) actually have options left?

I think it's pretty clear that Gibson will benefit more from a couple more AAA starts than Deduno will. It's not like he's being blocked forever, Not sure if its a factor or not, but it wouldn't be doing Gibson any favors to have his MLB debut come out a time when our offense is slumping badly and our defense has been inconsistent at best. I don't want the kid to come out and pitch alright, but lose because of bad play behind and no run support. That wouldn't do anything for his confidence.

Right now? Nothing. He has yet to demonstrate that his hot bat last year was anything more than a fluke. He's still not a stellar 3b, and his hitting hasn't been anything special this year.