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mazeville

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Everything posted by mazeville

  1. mazeville
    Not saying that. But you could rotate the four easily, especially with Buxton flailing at the plate, while giving Santana playing time in the infield and outfield. You could also rotate Arcia into the DH spot to face righthanders. Hell, one of the better options would be to send Park down to rediscover his swing and so Arcia could be the everyday DH. Give the guy some regular playing time. It doesn't have to be every day. But work with him and put him in good situations.
  2. mazeville
    I won't necessarily disagree with that. But he'd earned some benefit of the doubt his first two years here. And people sometimes react differently. And on the other hand, he'd also worked his butt off by all accounts all winter long. He is a talented, powerful hitter. That he has failed at this point is an indictment of the Twins' player development. Not everybody does develop. But the Twins have had such a problem developing players that they deserve to be heavily criticized for this move. And based on this post and other comments, they're not. "Oh, well, he stinks so the Twins should get a pass on Arcia." No. They shouldn't.
  3. mazeville
    "Time to move on?" Why is it time to move on in June? Why not give him a month or two in the starting lineup to see what he can do when he gets a nice stretch of playing time? Because contrary to Nick's assertions, he has NOT been playing that much this year - only in very small spurts. He certainly warrants just as much of a chance as Danny Santana is receiving. This team ain't winning anything this year. The entire focus should be on young players. Period.
  4. mazeville
    Arcia had a .276 average last year. He stunk in AAA, but that's not uncommon for a player who fully expected to be promoted when he was healthy and didn't.
  5. mazeville
    Again, the issue isn't, "Will Arcia be David Ortiz" or "Is Arcia better than Danny Santana." It's not even "Will Oswaldo Arcia play with the Twins next year?" The issue is that Oswaldo Arcia, in his three years in the majors, demonstrated a legitimate power stroke. The Twins are going to lose 100-plus games this year. They have numerous players on the roster who are in their late 20s. And somehow they can't find a way to keep a player who is 25 and who hit 30 home runs his first two years in the majors? That's the problem here. And yes, this team has given up on numerous players over the years, only to have many of them come back to haunt the club. Danny Valencia is only the latest such player. This front office and the player development folks frankly have not earned the benefit of the doubt. Not after these five years. Not even close.
  6. mazeville
    Arcia's numbers after being sent down to Rochester were shockingly brutal, but you could possibly explain it by saying the kid just pressed because he wanted to get back to the majors. Take that away, and nothing Arcia had done before that warranted being sent down and kept down. He had a .276 average and a .718 OPS in the majors before he was injured. He had a .752 OPS the year before. When he was 23. This year he has been playing in spurts. But his OPS is STILL better than, oh I don't know, Trevor Plouffe, who has destroyed his trade value this year with a .626 OPS. I get that there are too many people ahead of him. But there are too many people ahead of him for odd decisions. Signing Byung Ho Park when we already had strikeout-prone power hitters who were best served as DHs was one. Keeping Plouffe and deciding Miguel Sano was better off in the outfield was another. For a team on pace to lose about 110 games, dumping Arcia was not a good decision. Will he be David Ortiz? No. But there is a good chance that he will come back to haunt this team in some fashion.
  7. mazeville
    I would like to designate the Twins' front office for assignment. What a dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb decision. I don't mind the Byung Ho Park signing. But I think Arcia should have been the designated hitter this season, given his power and hitting potential. I also believe that he will find another team and will absolutely rake. Neither Park nor Kepler are hitting much. And they have options. Why not send one of them down? Why not send a reliever? Why not, you know, trade Plouffe while you still can? And speaking of trades, it's looking like the magic fairy dust Abad used to be lights out this year has worn off, reducing his trade value. This team and front office need to understand that this isn't about this year at all. There's no point in somehow trying to rescue the season. They need to get themselves ready for next year. Twins don't need my ticket money this year.
  8. mazeville
    This team needs to make a lot of changes. My guess is that this team will send down Kepler once Santana is eligible to come off the DL. I think that would be a mistake. But I think most of what this front office does is a mistake. I would release Santana or try trading him shortly after putting him back in. He's not a good enough defender to warrant his weak bat. I would trade Plouffe and put Sano there once he gets off the DL. You could trade Plouffe now, in fact, and use Santana as a super utility until Sano gets off the DL. I would strongly consider trading Dozier so I could open up a spot for Jorge Polanco, who has demonstrated an ability to hit at the major league level. Maybe Dozier's recent improvement at the plate will generate some interest. Maybe monkeys might fly out of my butt. Once you get rid of Santana, bring back Rosario and rotate your four outfielders - Buxton, Kepler, Rosario and Grossman -- with Arcia playing every so often but mostly spelling Park at DH while Kepler gets a time or two at first base. Also, release Kurt Suzuki and call up John Ryan Murphy. It's time to focus on the future.
  9. mazeville
    You can't objectively look at this front office and conclude anything but this: It's a total disaster. Free agent signings generally failed. And when the team found good free agents - Phil Hughes and Kurt Suzuki -- the front office quickly negated that by signing them to odd, long-term extensions. Trades have failed. The team's trades of Ben Revere and Denard Span were miserable failures. I'll give some time for Berrios, Buxton, Kepler and Sano. But anyone who says that this is the front office that collected those players needs to remember that a team that has had four years of 90-loss seasons is clearly going to amass top prospects. Meanwhile, teams like the Cubs, the Texas Rangers and others have rebuilt faster and done a better job, starting with young talent. It's awful. And if there's anything good that comes out of this season, it'll be a complete overhaul of that tired, old-school front office staff.
  10. mazeville
    Trade Plouffe. Use Nunez at third until Sano comes back. Put Escobar at short. Use Santana as the utility guy. You could make the case for sending down Buxton or, preferably, Max Kepler. But frankly I'd prefer the much stronger defense associated with having both of them in the field at the same time. Santana's offensive stats aren't nearly enough to warrant him starting at center - or even right field, for that matter. At this point in this ugly, lost season, it makes far more sense to play young kids rather than give someone an unearned job.
  11. mazeville
    I should probably clarify to note that by "right now" I mean "when May comes off the DL. Hughes is on the 60-day DL and the chances of him pitching again this year are slim. I would still try trading Santana in the hopes of getting something in return. This team needs to develop pitching badly. I think they should just let the kids play and see what comes of it. If and when the team returns to contention, they can hopefully sign a free agent to bolster the rotation. But they need to develop first.
  12. mazeville
    Ugh this is depressing. This is what I'd do with the rotation right now ... Trade Ricky Nolasco if you can. Trade Ervin Santana. Both players would not bring much in return and you'd have to eat some salary. But the fact is that neither are doing the job and this team NEEDS to develop starters. I would call up Berrios and make May a starter. I would also call up Tommy Milone and have him be the long man until one of the starters falters -- and it will happen. So my rotation would be: Berrios Dean May Duffey Gibson Long man: Milone Waiting in the wings in AAA: Meyer The hope then is that some of these guys become good or serviceable, while young rotation options start making their way through the system. Next year, I would start working to have Hughes be a reliever.
  13. mazeville
    Indeed. But I think they'd be better off trading Dozier because of that contract.
  14. mazeville
    There's no reason to trade Nunez if he doesn't bring value in return. It's not like a Plouffe situation where you need to free up a third base spot, or a pitcher who has a massive contract and is blocking younger, better and cheaper talent. Nunez is reasonably priced and under team control. Granted, you could trade him to free up a spot for Jorge Polanco, but I'd want Polanco to play a regular position like second base. Yet Nunez's versatility and his strong play this season, and the lack of any reasonable return you'd get for him, means it's better just to keep him.
  15. mazeville
    I read the column and mostly agree with it. I definitely agree with the frustration. This is a maddening, maddening year -- the worst in Twins history. My hope is that it helps spur the Twins to start making changes. And they NEED to make changes.
  16. mazeville
    Only comparing Dozier to an "office worker," or any worker, for that matter, on the basis of evolution. I'm a professional. And I've had to evolve over the years to adapt to the growing demands of my job. And while that does not involve "hand-eye coordination," it does involve "learning new things." Asking Brian Dozier to learn a new thing is not out of the question. Can he do it? I don't know. But I refuse to believe he can't simply because he's 29.
  17. mazeville
    At this particular point I'd probably trade Brian Dozier for a bag of baseballs. Because I think Jorge Polanco will play better RIGHT NOW. For a lot less money.
  18. mazeville
    That's a perfectly accurate analogy. He has a job. It's professional baseball. And like every other job you have to adapt to changes in technology or work demands or whatever. Baseball players need to make adjustments at the plate if they're to have good, long-time careers. Brian Dozier needs to do that right now. He's perfectly capable of it, whether he's 29 or 25.
  19. mazeville
    I don't know if I buy the idea that Dozier can't fix himself just because he's 29. That means none of us who are older than 29 have no hope of improving at our jobs. Many players have made late-career changes to extend their careers or suddenly become all stars. In Dozier's case, it's a matter of adjusting his approach at the plate to keep both pitchers and defenders honest. I think some time in AAA could help him make that adjustment.
  20. mazeville
    The St. Louis Cardinals yesterday sent down second baseman Kolten Wong, even though they signed Wong to a $25 million contract three months ago. Wong has been terrible for the Cards, with a .591 OPS so far this year. It made sense for them to send him down, given that the Cardinals are contending and have plenty of other middle infield options. My question: Should the Twins do the same with Brian Dozier? Dozier is often considered on par with Wong. He, too, has a long-term deal. He's been a bit better than Wong this year, with a .649 OPS on the season. Yet Dozier was not very good in the second half of last year. His pull-happy approach has made it more difficult for him to get hits given modern shifting strategies. And pitchers just aren't giving him the same pitches they did to make him an all star last year. Perhaps the Twins should send Dozier down and instruct him to start hitting the ball the other way. Then again, the Twins aren't exactly contending like the Cardinals, so the Twins could afford to let Dozier fix himself up here. In addition, Dozier is a potential trade candidate if he can fix himself, and sending him down would eliminate whatever trade value he had. And Dozier perhaps earned the right to fix himself in the majors. But he's had a year to do that, and still hasn't done so. Regardless, the Twins have to figure out which Brian Dozier they have, because they have Jorge Polanco waiting in the wings to take over the second base job.
  21. mazeville
    This. There is no point to having a promising rookie up for a team on pace to lose 100 games not play. Please play Max Kepler. For the love of God, play him.
  22. mazeville
    To be honest, I don't think the Twins have anybody that would fit the bill outside of Buxton or Sano. Maybe Kepler. But looking at the team's strikeout prone hitters, I'd definitely keep Kepler to balance that somewhat. And I agree that the team has some pitching coming up through the minors. I wouldn't bother.
  23. mazeville
    The problem here isn't that the Twins have called up Buxton -- he's dominating AAA now and if he hadn't had his two appearances in the majors people would have been screaming for his promotion. The problem is the way the Twins handled him up until now. They called him up too early last year. They handed him the CF job after trading Aaron Hicks (and not Trevor Plouffe). The whole thing has been an ugly mess. Hopefully, he gets it and plays well enough to stay. That's what I'm going to hope for. I'm not going to count on Buxton having a .900 OPS. But I will be thrilled if he can hit .250 with a few doubles and triples and stolen bases, but with world caliber defense and a style of play that makes the Twins more exciting.
  24. mazeville
    That is depressing. I would trade Plouffe simply to open a spot for Sano. Even at his peak performance Plouffe wouldn't generate much of a return, so this is simply a trade to get some return now and open up the outfield logjam and improve outfield defense. I would definitely trade Ervin Santana. While the Twins "need" pitching they do not "need" Santana. He would actually command at least something on the open market and the Twins should probably open up some space for pitchers like Alex Meyer or Jose Berrios. I would also trade Abad and Nunez. And I would look to trade Dozier in the offseason after some hoped-for improvement. I don't know that TR would do all of these. But I would expect a couple of trades from the Twins. It's all horrible.
  25. mazeville
    Right. We won't know how his skills translate until he returns to the major leagues. I think it's pretty much a given that he can hit AAA pitching.
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