Tom Froemming

It has already been an interesting year in terms of how the Twins have deployed their players defensively. From Miguel Sano moving all over the place, to Jorge Polanco going from no reps a shortstop in the minors to the everyday guy there on the big club, there have been some decisions that have been worthy of questioning. Well, the questioning seems to be never ending during a down season, and I'd like to pile on and add Mitch Garver's usage on to the list of head scratchers in the organization. If the Twins believe Garver can be a starting catcher, they sure have a funny way of showing it. While in Chatanooga, fellow 2013 draftee Stuart Turner held a slight advantage over Garver in terms of reps behind the plate. Since his promotion, Garver holds a slight playing time advantage over John Ryan Murphy, but it's only eight starts vs. seven. Overall, Garver has played 107 games this year but has caught in just 54 of those contests. This is nothing new. In 2014, on his way to being named Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year, Garver caught 63 of his 120 games. Last year, the split was less extreme at 77 games caught and 127 total games. With just 12 games left in the Red Wings' season, when it's all said and done Garver will have caught right around 200 games over the past three seasons. Sounds like a decent amount until you compare him to other backstops. A few of the most recent catchers to establish themselves as big league regulars are Philadelphia's Cameron Rupp, Miami's J.T. Realmuto and Cincinnati's Tucker Barnhart. Over their final three full years in the minors, each of them totaled over 280 games caught. Even prized Yankee prospect Gary Sanchez, who has always been more highly regarded for his bat, eclipsed 90 games caught in three separate MiLB seasons. It seems these days you can't have a discussion about catching without also talking about concussions, especially in concern to the Twins. It's worth noting Garver has been placed on the DL twice for concussions, once in June of '14 and again this May. There is no such thing as a concussion that isn't a serious injury, but in both cases Garver was able to get back in the gear in a matter of weeks, so those injuries can't account for the lost reps behind the plate. Garver has kept his bat in the lineup by playing first base or DH, but his skills at the plate have never been questioned as much as his ability play behind it (but we'll get to more on that later). With that being the case, you'd think the team would go out of its way to have Garver catching as much as possible. Not buying the playing time being an issue? Okay, then let's go into the "Free Mitch Garver" portion of the discussion. Garver was called up to Rochester on Aug. 9, but what took so long? There's a valid argument to be made that Garver should already be on the big league club. I understand that Turner was drafted ahead of Garver and started his career a level ahead. It's also valid to point out that the team invested resources into Murphy, who is on the 40-man roster, and they want to give him every opportunity to play his way out of his season-long slump. But why has Garver remained so low on the catching totem pole when his performance has been stellar and he's actually older than both Murphy and Turner? At 25-years-old, I'm not sure if Garver can really even be called a prospect anymore. It's time to see what he can do, no matter what that means to Murphy, Turner, or even Kurt Suzuki or Juan Centeno. Garver had a down year in 2015, but followed it up with an impressive showing in the Arizona Fall League. He had posted an above average OPS for the Southern League each month this season, ending his time in Chattanooga with a .257/.334/.417 slash line. Combine that with an excellent start in Rochester (.364/.404/.455) and you have a guy who has trended up for around 12 months now, and the glove work is catching up with his offense. On Sunday's pregame radio broadcast, interim GM Rob Antony went out of his way to compliment the strides Garver has made with the mitt, and the numbers back it up. The University of New Mexico product has also thrown out an impressive 50% of base stealers this season and has received positive reviews on his pitch framing ability. So ... if the bat was never in question and the numbers show he's been a phenomenal defensive catcher this season, then what gives? I suppose it's entirely possible the front offices does not, in fact, view Garver as an everyday catcher. The way he's been used over his career certainly makes you wonder.

I can't see the Ramos reunion happening, somebody's going to throw a crazy amount of money at that guy, but you never know. I believe the new GM will want to completely blow things up and start over, but ownership will be hesitant to do so. This may be pretty close to the 2017 Opening Day roster, but if things start off poorly again I'd expect a massive fire sale at the trade deadline.

Vargas being optioned?

Gotta give Stewart credit for his run prevention and pitching successfully as a 21-year-old in his first shot in Double A, but how long can he keep this up? Over his last 10 starts he has 32 Ks and 29 walks over 61 1/3 innings. Somehow he's still managed a 2.49 ERA over that stretch. How does that work?

Not that this has been a factor for other guys, but Palka does only have 38 games at Triple A. He's also striking out 36% of his PAs at Rochester. Still a legit question though since his other numbers are outstanding.

This seems to be the most likely way Escobar makes it back off the bench at this point.

Tough to argue against any of these points, so I won't And for the record, Eduardo is one of my faves. Gotta root for a guy who continually defies the odds and really seems to enjoy himself at the ballpark. But you can't deny that after appearing to turn the corner in terms of his approach at the plate, Escobar has been a big disappointment. Since the team burned through Polanco's option years they have a lot of incentive to try and find him a spot. It's just a terrible time for Eduardo to be performing poorly.

Really? I believe he's expected to start throwing again sometime next month and the club expects him to be ready for the start of Spring Training.

Jeremy did a nice write up on the arbitration eligible guys and estimated Escobar to earn between $3-4 million. That's not crippling by any means, but if the Pohlads are motivated to cut payroll they may not be inclined to commit that to a utility guy/insurance policy. If I remember correctly, Hughes, Perkins and Dozier are all getting salary increases next season. Throw in the other arb raises and things may get tight, even with Suzuki coming off the books and the savings from the Ricky Nolasco trade. Of course, there's the possibility the payroll increases next season, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Thanks for reading. This has now been published on the front page, hopefully the discussion will continue there.

Quick update: Polanco is starting at short again tonight, so that's eight of the past 11 games.

Heading into this season, it appeared Eduardo Escobar had cemented himself as the Twins' starting shortstop. He'd put together two-straight above average offensive seasons and ended his 2015 season with a big exclamation point. With a poor showing thus far in 2016, however, Escobar's place on the team is now very much in question.Escobar performed admirably in 2014, taking over for Pedro Florimon and fending off rookie Danny Santana for playing time. He hit .275/.315/.406 and ranked 10th in the AL with 35 doubles. Still, he seemed like more of a bandaid at the position than an attractive long-term option. Santana re-entered the picture to start 2015, but once he faltered there was steady Eduardo to step in. At the time, it was disappointing to see the talented young Santana fail to take advantage of an opportunity and Escobar again just seemed to be a stop gap. The team was in contention and he was the best option. His performance over the last two months of the season changed that perception. Escobar hit .287 with eight homers, 27 RBI and 31 runs over his final 56 games played. Extrapolated over a 162 game period, that equates to 23 home runs, 78 RBI and 90 runs. He went from stop gap to the solution. Unfortunately, that performance appears to have been a mirage. A big element to Escobar's game that fueled his hot finish to 2015 was an improved approach at the plate. He has been unable to carry that over to 2016. 2014: 5.2 BB%, .315 OBP First half 2015: 3.7 BB%, .285 OBP Second half 2015: 8.7 BB%, .330 OBP 2016: 3.4 BB%, .283 OBP That second half spike from last season appears to simply be a huge outlier at this point. Escobar has an ugly triple slash of .259/.283/.380 this season and to top it off advanced defensive metrics suggest his glove work has declined, as well. The trade of Eduardo Nunez appeared to have opened the door back up for Escobar to take over at short, but instead Jorge Polanco has started six of the past nine games. The organization has always seemed hesitant to commit to Escobar, but now his performance has justified that stance. With an additional two seasons of team control which should come at modest prices, Escobar entered the year in a perfect position to slap a long-term stranglehold on the starting shortstop gig. No one could've seen the emergence of Nunez coming, but Escobar has also played himself out of the picture. With his ability to switch hit and play multiple positions, he's got an attractive skill set for a utility player, but with how far his performance has fallen off it's anyone's guess what the new front office regime will ultimately decide to do with Escobar. It's not too late to rule out another late season surge from Escobar, but at this point it certainly appears the franchises' instability at shortstop will continue. Over the past ten seasons the Twins have had nine different Opening Day shortstops. Click here to view the article

Among current internal options, Plouffe is the team's best option as an everyday 3B and I don't think it's really even close. I'm not happy about that fact, but it's true. Personally, I'm ready to see Miguel Sano's glove taken away permanently. Sure, that will cause issues for Vargas/Park, but who cares? If Polanco's arm is questionable for short, how is he an option for third? I suppose you could scoot Escobar over there, but he's been terrible and even when things were going well wasn't putting up numbers that would look good for a corner guy. I'm not opposed to a full on youth movement, but if this team wants to complete in '17 Plouffe is the guy for 3B. Sure, you could sign a free agent, but that would likely take a multi-year commitment. Addressing the position via a trade would be an option too, but I'd think there are bigger problems to fix.

I keep expecting Gonsalves to slip up at some point. Coming off that 100-pitch complete game I was thinking this may be the spot. Boy was I wrong. I'm in the camp that's ok with him staying at Double A, but what I'm wondering is what this guy has to do to jump over Tyler Jay in prospect rankings? I know the walks aren't where you'd like them to be, but he's been unhittable, giving up something like 5.1 hits per nine in Chattanooga.

That would be ideal. I'm just not confident at this point Polanco can be a solid defensive shortstop. Hopefully I'm wrong. Also, Esco as the utility guy would probably mean Danny Santana would need to go, which I don't have a problem with. But Danny is going to be a bit cheaper than Escobar next season. I wonder if that will play into the decision at all. I think there's a 50/50 chance the Twins 2017 Opening Day shortstop is someone not in the organization right now. Wouldn't surprise me if that's a position the new GM looks to address.

Heading into this season, it appeared Eduardo Escobar had cemented himself as the Twins' starting shortstop. He'd put together two-straight above average offensive seasons and ended his 2015 season with a big exclamation point. With a poor showing thus far in 2016, however, Escobar's place on the team is now very much in question. Escobar performed admirably in 2014, taking over for Pedro Florimon and fending off rookie Danny Santana for playing time. He hit .275/.315/.406 and ranked 10th in the AL with 35 doubles. Still, he seemed like more of a band aid at the position than an attractive long-term option. Santana re-entered the picture to start 2015, but once he faltered there was steady Eduardo to step in. At the time, it was disappointing to see the talented young Santana fail to take advantage of an opportunity and Escobar again just seemed to be a stop gap. The team was in contention and he was the best option. His performance over the last two months of the season changed that perception. Escobar hit .287 with eight homers, 27 RBI and 31 runs over his final 56 games played. Extrapolated over a 162 game period, that equates to 23 home runs, 78 RBI and 90 runs. He went from stop gap to the solution. Unfortunately, that performance appears to have been a mirage. A big element to Escobar's game that fueled his hot finish to 2015 was an improved approach at the plate. He has been unable to carry that over to 2016. 2014: 5.2 BB%, .315 OBP First half 2015: 3.7 BB%, .285 OBP Second half 2015: 8.7 BB%, .330 OBP 2016: 3.4 BB%, .283 OBP That second half spike from last season appears to simply be a huge outlier at this point. Escobar has an ugly triple slash of .259/.283/.380 on the season and to top it off advanced defensive metrics suggest his glove work has declined, as well. The trade of Eduardo Nunez appeared to have opened the door back up for Escobar to take over at short, but instead Jorge Polanco has started six of the past nine games. The organization has always seemed hesitant to commit to Escobar, but now his performance has justified that stance. With an additional two seasons of team control which should come at modest prices, Escobar entered the year in a perfect position to slap a long-term stranglehold on the starting shortstop gig. No one could've seen the emergence of Nunez coming, but Escobar has also played himself out of the picture. With his ability to switch hit and play multiple positions, he's got an attractive skill set for a utility player, but with how far his performance has fallen off it's anyone's guess what the new front office regime will ultimately decide to do with Escobar. It's not too late to rule out another late season surge from Escobar, but at this point it certainly appears the franchises' instability at shortstop will continue. Over the past ten seasons the Twins have had nine different Opening Day shortstops.

Here is a link to that article by La Velle, which included this quote from DSP: “We said we’d like to have it completed by the end of the baseball season, but that’s more of a goal and certainly not a requirement,” St. Peter said. “We’re realistic enough to know that it might need to extend beyond that.”

The Twins have been very under the radar in their search for a new general manager, but could the team be in a position to announce a new hire before the end of the 2016 season? Recent remarks from Star Tribune reporter Phil Miller certainly make that sound like a real possibility. Miller joined host Michael Rand on the most recent episode of the Star Tribune's Twins Insider podcast, and had a couple of very interesting tidbits to share in regard to the team's search for a new gm. The topic comes up toward the end of the podcast, around the 41-minute-mark. Miller shares that inside the organization the "feeling has definitely set in that Rob (Antony) won't get the job" and added that the team has been very quietly doing their research and making progress. How soon could they be prepared to make a hire? "I would be surprised, actually, if it went beyond second week of September," Miller said. Miller even gave some insight into who one of the top candidates for the new GM may (or may not) be. He didn't name names, but Miller said while in Tampa he looked up one of the Rays' candidates for the job and was told by the teams PR department that individual wasn't interested in speaking with any media from Minnesota. Who may that mystery candidate be? This is complete speculation, but my guess would be the Rays Vice President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom. The Twins are working with the same search firm that led the Brewers GM search, in which Bloom as finalist. He was also considered for the Phillies GM opening this offseason. The Brewers actually interviewed Bloom last September, so we know the Rays aren't opposed to allowing members of their front office to interview for outside positions during the season. MLB Trade Rumors said this in regard to his fit in Milwaukee's search: "The 32-year-old Yale grad would seem to fit the team’s preference for a rising young executive that can bring a familiarity with analytics to their revamped front office." Bloom was promoted to his current position in October of 2014, but has been working for the Rays since 2005. Again, there is no concrete evidence that the Twins are tied to Bloom or even that the leading candidate is anyone the Rays organization, but it would certainly make a lot of sense.

It is out of the ordinary. Here's a quote from Gonsalves in the milb.com game story: "I was going out with 91 pitches, and I think normally there's a Twins rule that you're not allowed to start an inning after 85 pitches," Gonsalves said. "Doug was confident in me and I appreciate that. I was waiting, watching him out of the corner of my eye in the dugout. He walked by and was sitting by the water jug, taking little glances at me."

I like Robbie, but to me the hope is that the young guys play him out of the picture. Ideally next season I'd like to see Kepler in RF, Buxton in CF and either Walker or Palka in LF with Rosario as the 4th OF. Walker is yet again leading his league in homers. The Ks are obviously a huge concern, and he's not known for his defense, but he deserves a look with the big club at some point next season. You can basically say all the same things about Palka, but Walker has a lot more of a track record in the upper minors (987 PAs between Double A & Triple A vs. Palka's 468). Both Walker and Palka turn 25 in October. If you're not going to leave the door open for them next season then at least one of them needs to be traded.

Nailed it. I think Geovany Soto would be the guy I'd most like them to target. He signed last offseason with the Angels for 1 year, $2.8 M and has had an injury plagued season (a common thing for him, unfortunately), so I'd imagine you could get him on a similar deal. His career OPS+ is actually the same as Wilson Ramos and better than Matt Weiters, though that's boosted by excellent numbers he put up with the Cubs early in his career. Also, his caught stealing % is right about league average. But the main point is guys like him -- 30-something major league catchers -- are available on one-year deals every offseason. I have no problem with the team just going with those guys for a few years. And then if one of the minor leaguers blossoms or you can swing a trade for another young catcher, you don't have that position blocked by an overpaid veteran on the decline.

I hope he sees plenty of playing time behind the plate. Do you know why Stuart Turner has gotten more reps at catcher than Garver in Double A this year? Has Garver been banged up?

Well it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to keep both Darin Mastroianni and Logan Schafer in Triple-A. Maybe it's one of those two who'll be out the door. Buxton, Walker and Palka should be getting the bulk of the playing time in the OF.

I decided against trying to write something bigger connecting those two because they really aren't that similar, outside of being center fielders who struggled in their first exposure to MLB. The way they got to that point was way different. I think it's important to remember that Bradley was only advancing from High A to Double A during his age 22 season.