jorgenswest

I am not reading it the same way. Ignoring the posts that have little to do with Pinto's playing time, I think that most have been OK with his early use and feel it is better than AAA. Starting 2 in 5 is OK for now. There was one missed pinch hitting opportunity.

Pinto started 2 of 5 games at catcher. He did not DH. The was at least one opportunity to pinch hit not taken. It is hard to argue that he should be DHing over Colabello. That may change in a few weeks. If the plan is for Pinto to get two starts out of 5 at catcher, is that enough for now? Would it be better for him to be playing everyday in AAA? I think there is more to learn at catcher than any other position. Learning the league and the pitchers can happen at the major league level. Steinbach and the starting pitchers on the bench have a lot to offer. If the plan is for him to catch Gibson and Hughes, I think that will work for now. Any less and the Twins should send him down.

Carlos Triunfel was claimed by the Dodgers and optioned to AAA. The Dodgers see the upside in the shortstop prospect having just turned 24. The Twins passed though they have space on the 40. Instead they are betting on the upside of Eric Farris, Doug Bernier and Jason Bartlett.

Nolasco's pitch usage was different than his time with the Dodgers. With the Dodgers, he was throwing the slider 30% of the time as opposed to 21.5% yesterday. That rate would be lower usage of slider than in any of his 17 Dodger starts. Instead he used the fastball more often. It is one game. It probably has no meaning. However, Liriano's pitch usage was different with the Pirates with a significant drop in 4 seam fastball and an increase in slider and sinker usage. It may have made a difference. source: Brooksbaseball.net

It was the full bench. 4 players. It is not going to get better than that. The Twins will need to pinch hit for Florimon this year. The best batter on the bench is likely Kubel, Colabello or Pinto. Bat them and pinch run Escobar if they get on. No reason to save them when it is the 8th inning and the Twins are losing. Burn to players and give the team the best chance to win the game.

I think you are right about Chicago. They didn't have young talent near ready so they went out and acquired it. Seems like the Twins are in a similar space. While they may have expected Sano and Meyer to play this year, they still have several other spots to fill. They chose veterans. The White chose the upside of youth. Both teams don't look very good this year. If the White Sox develop two players out of those 7, they will be two players better off.

I had these questions at the time. Does Escobar give us the best chance to win? Using the roster to win games is Gardenhire's responsibility. If Gardenhire doesn't use Pinto now, would there ever be a better point? I couldn't foresee a better point in yesterday's game. The only reason not to use him is that one of the three other guys gives them a better chance to win. In what game situation would Bartlett be useful? I suppose his leadership on the bench was helpful at that moment. If Herrmann is on the roster instead of Bartlett, does Gardenhire use Pinto? Maybe that third catcher isn't so bad after all. I assume that Gardenhire thought that using Escobar gave them the best chance to win.

Thanks Seth. All of your projections are in the reach of the players potential. I really can't do projections that are near the accuracy of those published. I can do hopes though. I hope that Dozier, Plouffe, Hicks, Pinto and Arcia reach those projections. I hope they do as well or better. I hope Willingham and Kubel will do better. Without an OPS of 800+, they aren't trade material and probably won't get the playing time. Last year you had some projections that included playing time for Arcia moving two levels and an improvement from Dozier. If any are interested, projections from last year. http://twinsdaily.com/content.php/1386-Seth-s-2013-Twins-Hitting-Projections?#comments

The contrast in rebuild between the a White a Sox and Twins is shown in the acquisition of 27 and under players since last opening day. White Sox Adam Eaton Adrian Nieto Avisail Garcia Jose Abreau Leary Garcia Maikel Clato Conor Gilaspie almost makes the list. He was acquired last spring training. Twins Phil Hughes (actually it is his age 28 season and he is older than any of the White Sox 7) There has been an argument that the Twins can't go young because they don't gave any young players. Maybe they need to go out and acquire them. Maybe they need to let Willingham go and create the need for an Adam Eaton. Maybe they need to deal a Perkins to get a young talent like Avisail Garcia. It has been said that it can't hurt to sign guys like Bartlett, Kubel and Guerrier. Maybe it does hurt. Maybe it keeps the Twins from looking for younger options. Teams need young players to rebuild. The Twins enter this season with 14 players in their 30s. I don't know if it is an opening day record for them. I do know that only the 1991 Twins ended the season having played more players in their 30s. They played 15. They weren't rebuilding. They were going for it with a core that was getting older. What are these Twins doing?

His perception of the focus is off. It is about roster construction on a team with three consecutive 90 loss teams. Filling the holes with free agents helps long term only if their level of play is above league average. While Pelfrey, Kubel, Bartlett, Colabello, Suzuki and possibly Guerrier have a chance to be better than a 24 or 25 year old in 2014, they will not be an asset to the next winning team. Rostering them only extends the cycle of mediocrity. Though I am not sure if the above players are good enough for the Twins to improve to mediocre. The Mariners are crunched in the middle infield. Triunfel is out of options. They can't roster him. Someone should pick him up and see if they can capture the upside.

Triunfel for Bartlett. Absolutely.

I thought and hoped this would be the year where the Twins would go with youth. I should have known better. The direction for the winter roster construction was made clear when they retained Josh Willingham last August. Earl Battey was the catcher when I first became a young Twin fan. I recall his western oil 8x10 card hanging my wall among other Twin heroes. Those years were great. I didn't know how lucky I was to follow a team that was competitive or at least entertaining every year. There have been several difficult stretches in the 50+ years since. Most difficult were teams that you knew were not going to compete and offered little hope for the future. The late 70s and the 90s were the most difficult until recently. Twice the Twins emerged from those stretches of mediocrity by going with young players. I remember the 1981-82 Twins well. After the trade of Carew in 1978, the Twins tried to hang on with a 1979 team that had 9 players in their 30s over the course of the season. They were mediocre and you knew they weren't getting better. They flipped the roster and had only two players in their 30s in 1981 and 1982. Ron Washington was 30 and had 470 plate appearances. The other was 30 year old Fernando Arroyo who pitched all of 13.2 innings. While they were awful, the young players also gave hope for the future. The foundation for the good run from 1987-1992 was set in the early 80s. The next tough stretch ran from 1993-1998. In 1998 they entered the season with one of their oldest roster in team history. The 11 players in their 30s on the roster that year accounted for 2348 plate appearances and 484 innings. They reversed course in 1999 rostering just 5 players in their 30s accounting for 881 plate appearances and 196 innings. They stayed that same course in 2000 with similar numbers. Those teams set the foundation for the next successful run in the 2000s. While the 1981-82 and 1999-00 teams had a very poor record, they are among my favorite. They offered the hope of young players getting better. A good game is a glimpse of a future from a Gary Gaetti rather than a memory of a past from a Josh Willingham. Two years ago I wrote about my concern with the Twins entering a cycle of mediocrity with their roster decisions. In truth they would have to improve to become mediocre. Last year, a similar article about projections of their aging offense. They ended the year with their second oldest roster since 1998 and a significant decline in offense. This year the Twins start the season with 14 players in their 30s. That must be an opening day record for them. I continue to wait for the shift in direction. The setting of a new foundation. Perhaps it will come next year. A signal of hope for the future. If not, this article will be written again next year as it has the previous two.

I don't know if it is the coaching or the scouts or those responsible for making roster decisions. I do believe that the skill and talent of the front office and coaching staffs have an impact on performance. Is it unreasonable to question that skill following three years of very poor starting pitching? A pitcher has an awful year and waived. That seems reasonable. A team has three bad years and the staff appears to remain the same. Reasonable? Can we at least ask the question?

I had to retread my words. Free pass? No room? There is a thread to blast and blame Worley. He earned his way to the minor leagues. Liriano earned his poor contract. Slowey his demotion and trade. Who is next? A pitcher has one awful year. It is a demotion earned. A team has three awful years. Isn't it OK to at least question the talent of the staff and organization?

How is it possible that the staff who evaluated Worley last spring and saw an opening day starter now see a pitcher not worthy of a relief role in AAA? It's not about numbers in the spring. It is about the expertise of the staff in evaluating a pitcher they see every day. Is it that the Twins staff is incapable of assessing and evaluating talent? Is it an inability to use, guide and develop the talent? I am certain they will put this all on Worley. We will start to hear about him sulking and unwilling to listen. The staff couldn't possibly have any responsibility in the career downturn. Liriano? Slowly? Not the staff's fault. Would they stick with a pitcher through three awful seasons? Why is it different for the staff? At some point the Twins staff needs to be held accountable for their evaluation and development of pitching talent. I hope that point comes soon.

He was a top 100 prospect that had a reasonable age 23 rookie season. It certainly shouldn't hurt his status. While shopping him, they aren't going to give him away. He will get a good return. He can probably return a similarly ranked starting pitcher prospect or catcher or centerfielder. Alex Meyer is in that neighborhood. If they are worried Montero won't bounce back, maybe Josmil Pinto would be a fit. What of the Twins gave them the choice of any two pitching prospects not named Meyer or Stewart (who can't be traded yet)? Would you make that move?

While useless for projecting, they are necessary for the pitchers to build towards the season.

Interesting but not encouraging for the position players. They only rank above average at 1B(barely). Every other position is the bottom third of the league at best.

Mix that with fly baller Phil Hughes and there should be a lot of entertainment.

Kubel has no long term value. His numbers in 2010-2011 at age 28 and 29 suggest that he wouldn't play long into his 30s. That OPS in the 750s is going to fall. He has no defensive value. He is a liability on the bases. His projections of an OPS in the neighborhood of 700 is reasonable. I don't see how that would fit a contending team. It certainly doesn't fit a team trying to build a foundation. The Twins have failed to give Parmelee enough opportunity to know what he can bring. It can take 1000 major league plate appearances for a player to establish his value. After 2+ seasons he is not even 2/3 of the way there. Instead 90 loss teams were giving at bats to no upside veterans. The Twins would be much more sure if Parmelee had a future if they had invested consistent playing time. They didn't. Now they don't know what they have in him. Designate him or keep him. They will have to guess. Fortunately, the other teams don't know either and he could clear waivers. The best option might be the third option. Maybe there is an outfielder that is out of options on another team that will be designated. He could be better than either Kubel or Parmelee. The best answer might be neither.

They would be wise to be looking at other players out of options. If not by trade, then by their early claim. Why not send Kubel down in order to give a look at a player squeezed off another roster? Some of those guys have to be better than the end of the Twins bench. If it doesn't work out, bring up Kubel in a month and try to get the player through waivers. Other teams do this all the time.

What is the Twins responsibility to the season ticket holders and sponsors. Squeeze as many wins as possible this year? Build a foundation for the next winning team? I am certain someone will say yes and yes. However, their roster decisions might lean them one direction or the other. I am not a season ticket holder. My thoughts shouldn't carry any weight.

I don't want to see it either, but I am not sure Presley is a lock.

I am not certain Presley is a lock. Escobar and Parmelee played in CF the last two days. Presley offers below average defense in center. It would be upgrade over a Escobar, but will it be worth a spot on the bench? He would be on my bench, but I would be watching the waiver wire. I think Parmelee or Colabello make the roster. It could be for a catcher or possibly Kubel. They should cut ties with Kubel. It is so easy to think that signing a guy like Kubel to a minor league contract has no downside. The downside is when he takes the roster spot or playing time from developing younger players.

I didn't imagine Suzuki being the starter or batting second at the time of the signing. At the time, he was the best of the leftovers at catcher. Seemed like a good idea to have a veteran working with a Pinto and starting a game a series. The Twins probably need to exercise more caution when handing a veteran to Gardenhire. How does he profile as a number 2 hitter? He doesn't get on base well. He sees a below average number of pitches per plate appearance. He has been more of a fly ball hitter with a high number of infield fly balls. Odd for a guy that doesn't hit home runs. I really don't think he will hit second very often.