Rosterman

Well, when Sano is ready to come off the disabled list, send him to AAA Rochester for 7-10 games, partly for the heck of it, and mainly to play THIRD BASE every single game. Buy yourself 10 more days of a looksee at Kepler and Buxton (and Grossman) and maybe Arcia. Sano is NOT the future outfielder for the Twins. He is the future third baseman, possibly a first base guy down the line, and settling into a David Ortiz role eventually. The Twins have more than enough guys to play and back-up the outfield. Sadly, Plouffe is jsut a rental for a team and will only bring back a low-level prospect. He's too expensive to be packaged with another expensive contract. In that case, a team will stay in-house or grab someone similar to Nunez. In trading Nunez, the Twins don't solve the Sano issue, and possibly weaken themselves right now at shortstop. Like trading away Mientkieweicz and Pierzynski, you do it to bring in the new guy who will give you x-amount of years at x-value, and the potential is there to outshine your current roster holder. But I do say send Sano down for a rehab at Rochester to play third base, rather than just throw him into the spot. And if you still must keep Trevor, sadly, make him the super reserve (ala Cuddyer in the past) and have him play the outfield and first to increase his value to others as a tradechip.

At some point you JUST advance Burdi and Reed and see how they handle AAA.

And the Twins not playing Sano at third when Plouffe was down. Nunez is hot and we need to keep his bat in the lineup. Which is fine and all. But then you bring up a Beresford to sit on the bench. At this point in time, you bring up Rosario if you need a bench rider. Let's hope Kepler plays everyday. Until they both wane, Nunez and Escobar should bump Dozier to the bench, sadly. What to do with Park? When Sano comes back, let Park go to Rochester for a moment and tweak a bit!

I also see the front office having too many general managers, minor league directors and such. Too many people with power over certain segments, not enough oversight, perhaps, of the big picture, unless it is The Twins Way of thinking. Does Terry really make hardline decisions, or it it a groupthink vote to do things one way or another. In some ways, saw that the new baseball would be more body oriented, with the GM and assistants handling various duties. But not sure if that REALLY does work in the world of baseball.

Sounds like the Twins did a hattrick last season when they managed to off Wheeler from the 40-man and have him rebound like he has. Looks like a definite keeper and add-on next season.

The Twins are so bad, that Billy Beane probably couldn't trade anyone away if he was general manager of the team. Trader Billy may be trading on his own team, but at least there is some demand for some of his assets. Whew!

If we have an outfield of Kepler Buxton and Arcia, we have Rosario (and Santana) as extras. We have to move Walker into the mix sometime...with Kepler going to first or Park to first and Walker to DH. The nice thing is Walker can age for at least another season at Rochester. If the Twins can keep a Buxton/Kepler/Arcia mix going for a few years, then the Twins are more than set with adequate backup outfielders, some that may shine (Granite) and push Kepler, let's say, to first. Michael will be a solid 4th outfielder. Palka, too. So the Twins will have some trade possibilities depending on how Rosario, Santana and Arcia play out over this and next season. You also hope that you might restock the system with some Top 40 or 50 prospects by trading off some of the vets (and salary) this summer. Guys who won't show up until 2020 at the earliest, and might just develop enough to give a push towards whomever you do have in the upcoming outfield. The Big Thing for the Twins is to stop creating outfielders from guys at other positions. Rosario moved from 2nd to the outfield. They moved Sano from 3rd. Santana was a shortstop. Stop!

And the Twins also find a couple of minor league free agents to supplement the mix. Catchers either have concussions, or they play in the minors forever (Eli Whiteside, Corky Miller for example) or we can ask about bring back Drew Butera. I would love to see in September Murphy and Cedeno as well as Garver and Turner up here. I would love to see Garver and Turner given the opportunity to run with the job next season rather than being the duo at AAA, which they probably will be. Sadly. The Twins hopes rest on investing in a catcher beyond Murphy (not really many to choose from) or signing a one-year vet to help hold down the fort with Murphy next season and go from there and hope the next five seasons are filled with some of the names mentioned above or throw out runners, frame pitches and hit for an okay average, batting eighth or ninth and being responsible for 3-4 of the 24-27 outs you need to make every game (someone has to do that).

July 1st is the day the Twins start looking at prospects moving up EVERYWHERE. You start making room for them at All-Star break at the latest and by the end of July you have anyone on the roster who will start the 2017 season on the roster. You also prepare for having September callups coming from all those guys you advanced in the system in July, adding as many as you can to the expanded roster, especially those that you expect to add anyways. Yes, you MIGHT keep few names around like Grossman, add Beresford, one or two of the bullpen arms (Rogers, Abad) to lop off come time. You know your chances are slim to none that you will add ANY free agents, unless you bring in a veteran backstop (A.J.'s farewell) or a grizzled vet to light some sparks in the bullpen or off the bench. But, wait, we have Mauer who can be that bench guy!

When looking at ALL of the names above, and many of them should be moved sooner rather than later, the Twins also have to look at their depth in the farm system, especially at names of guys who will become minor league free agents, who need to be added to the 40-man roster not only this year but also the following year, and deal some of those names as well...since there are only 40 names you can protect in 2017 as well as 2018. That is the secret. Create the list of guys YOU EXPECT will come to camp and break camp next year. And also a possible list of players coming to camp in 2018. They start packaging players. You might have to package a fringe prospect or two to rid yourself of some salary. Some teams may be willing to take on a Jepsen thinking a change of scenery may help, or jsut for depth. Yes, I'm sure that little angel on Ryan's shoulder is telling him to NOT EAT SALARY while the devil is on the other shoulder telling him to just go ahead and release the guys...you won't be around in 2017 except as a roving scout of talent, if you don't get outright fired and jump to another team...many of which will seek your scouting services, I'm sure. the Twins have to look for returns of prospects that are on the bubble because of the need for work, or guys jsut behind in anyother teams depth chart. I mean, look at the Twins. Right now we have Escobar and Nunez, bother should be available. We have Polanco, who could play short, move to second eventually, or become a utility guy. We have Beresford who could be a temp 40-man backup this year AND next. We have at least four guys in the shortstop depth, with Nick Gordon possibly fast-tracked and Wander Javier at least four years out from getting a taste of major league life. So we have lots of depth (shades of too many centerfielders notice of the past). But, yes, you have to look at the very big picture. The Twins have drafted a lot of bodies the past four years who are on the cusp of needing protection. Other teams are watching and salviating at who the Twins will leave open for Rule 5. The Twins trick is to move some of these possibilities for something, with soemthing of lesser value, to clear books AS WELL AS roster space. You take Nolasco. You get a couple of higher prospects (guys we can't protect), we get a couple of guys we need to protect in 2019 or 2020. We free up salary. We move our own prospects up for a slice of major league life. We suck, but we such with rookies and the future, not just guys filling roster spots that other teams have already found no place in the home for now or ever again.

Like!

Yeah, Milone barks questions. Yet we need, more than ever, a long-man or two who can pick up the slack from failed starts (isn't that what Taylor Rogers should be doing, J.R. Graham should've done, Trevor May should be striving for). Both Berrios and Meyer have a taste of the big leagues. If they want the daily pay, nice room and meal money, they know what is expected from them and they should be working hard at it every minute they are at AAA. And they should be given a chance to come up here and bomb as bad as the current rotation of starters. Yet the Twins need outings from their big four of Santana, Gibson, Hughes and Nolasco to see if they could get anything for them. Santana is now on the poison list. Too abd no one came calling a start or two ago. I'm waiting to see who disappears when Gibson comes up. Duffey and Dean have both earned at least one more start. Berrios should've had one more start and deserves a recall. Nolasco DOES NOT deserve anymore starts. Sadly. It will be tough to eat the contract,

Well, I don't feel so bad about NOT having cable television and the NOT need to purchase a major league baseball package to run off my Roku stick or whatever. I'm somewhat happy that the Twins are on the radio station I would never listen to unless the game was on and I'm in Minneapolis somewhere and not under a bridge. No talkfest before the game, no Dark Starr-like wrap up for hours after the game. That they even fail to mention scores when returning to music...what kind of station is this? Pretty much the total ignorance towards the Twins, or nothing but pathetic articles by writers needing to write something. No cliches. Just TMZ-like coverage or NO coverage of the team. When you talk about the Wild on WCCO instead of baseball, or the new Vikings Stadium...where Twins management must know it will be a long lonely summer at Target Field. Parking is at least cheap for Twins games. Maybe the Twins could have valet parking. Guys not in the line-up making a few extra bucks, or maybe front office staff doing something useful. What did the Twins do today? They lost! Tell me something new. Only talk Twins smack when they win! Travelling the state without a Twins schedule in the car so I can't find the local station that may be broadcasting the games, which cuts out 10 miles later. I hope all that radio ad revenue is filling up the Pohlad money bin. Did I say I missed them on television? Not! Finally catching up on all those seasons of Friends and Fraiser I missed.

Twins early round drafting, first 150 picks: 2005: MATT GARZA, Henry Sanchez, Paul Kelly, KEVIN SLOWEY, Drew Thompson. BRIAN DUENSING, Ryan Mullins, Caleb Moore 2006: CHRIS PARMELEE, JOE BENSON, TYLER ROBERTSON, Whit Robbins, Garrett Jones 2007: BEN REVERE, Angel Morales, Danny Rams, Reggie Williams 2008: AARON HICKS, Carlos Gutierrez, Shooter Hunt, Bobby Lanigan, TYLER LADENDORF, Danny Ortiz, Nick Romero 2009: KYLE GIBSON, Ben Tootle, Billy Bullock, Derek McCallum 2010 Alex Wimmers, Niko Goodrum, PAT DEAN, EDDIE ROSARIO 2011: Levi Michael, Travis Harrison, Corey Williams, Hudson Boyd, Madison Boer, Matt Summers 2012: BYRON BUXTON, JOSE BERRIOS, Luke Bard, Mason Melotakis, JT Chargolis, Adam Walker, Zach Jones, TYLER DUFFEY 2013: Kohl Stewart, Ryan Eades, Stu Turner, Stephen Gonsalves, Aaron Slegers 2014: Nick Gordon, Nick Burdi, Michael Cederoth, Sam Clay, Jake Reed 2015: Tyler Jay, Travis Blakenhorn, Trey Cabbage, Alex Robinson, Kyle Cody (didn't sign) The last four drafts do look pretty promising, but you never know, especially when you see the dozen guys who made it to the majors out of the next 7 drafts. There was a minor benefit in finishing in the bottom of the league compared to being competitive when you look at the big picture. I'm sure there are other teams that have developed many more top round picks than the Twins overall, and some teams that have developed even less.

You have to build a solid farm system with a philosophy for developing players for major league play. If you look back at the last 10 years of the draft, the Twins are drafting a lot of guys that haven't gone anywhere (or some that have gone to other organizations). You may have a Twins Way of doing things, but how does that reflect into the changing structure of a roster mixed with players essentially playing baseball for the major leagues at some point, with no team loyalty above and beyond pay. You have to set yourself up as a competitive team. Combined with the bosses in the front office, how are you doing this. The Twins fault seems to be a cross between Mike Veeck and Indy Ball (let's have fun at Target Field) and let's just compete solidly in our division and worry about what happens if we do go to the playoffs if that does happen. That hurts the general manager as a signee of free agents. Sure, the Twins wanted a bunch of mid-range (say $6-8) million guys, but they could easily get that elsewhere with teams that ARE more competitive. The Twins essentially had to overpay to get guys to come here after a string of losing seasons. Right now...who wants to come and play with the Twins unless they are on a rebuilding plan for themselves or are vastly overpaid. I even question what it would take to get outside management to come to this team. You have to gamble a lot of money and fail. In the draft, how many millions are spent on failed players. Every year a certain number of player days are because someone is hurt. That's millions. Or you make not one, but two or three bad signings. Can the team afford to eat those dollars or let them walk away (what the Yankees were always able to do). And I do like a general manager that does go dumpster diving and finds a few gems. But also want him to trade of pieces when they are valuable commodities, and not wait to long on pulling the strings on guys that are not in the plans 2-3 years down the road and have come off a good season. But I also want him to seriously look at what a player can bring to a team. Even when dealing with the field staff. Thought things would be totally blown out when Gardy was relieved of duties. Yet we still retain Bruno and Vavra and, in a sense, Molly. We brought a couple of guys up from the minors (Glynn and Hernandez). We did bring in some new blood. Who choose everyone? GM, GM and Manager? Every team seems to operate with multiple general managers. Some have presidents/CEOS with more of a handle in baseball operations with a named general manager and their assistants. The Twins have general manager duties basically shared by at least three people, it seems. In a family run organization that prides itself on a front office staff made up of lifers to this particular team, all seems well when the team DOES compete and that near 2 million paying customers spend on the team. And management can avoid spending what other teams ae throwing at players...in this point they seem like me, a diehard Minnesotan, who is always a few years behind the norm in what I purchase or safely invest in. Is it a Minnesota thing? When I look at so much discussed above in the writer's detailed description of what a general manager should be or do, I see a lot of Terry Ryan in there, from international scouting (although I feel the Twins were surprised that they one the Park auction), to scouting and development, to talking with free agents (Target Field was not only going to allow the Twins to keep their own free agents, but give them revenue to spend).. He has a good grip with the media, is sometimes too honest, and truly loves the game, the way it WAS played, and the concept of people being major league ball players. Every team has ups and downs. We should be proud we didn't have the runs of Kansas City or Pittsburgh. Houston had a heckuva a rebuild. The successful Braves have to work hard to keep their fan base in a rebuild. Boston has ups and downs. Other teams have overspent. Other teams have had troubled seasons (Detroit, White Sox). No one knows what is happening in Cleveland. We do have a "system failure" in this team right now. There is a lot of talent in the pipeline, some obvious needs (catching, defense, hard-throwers compared to soft tossers). But like the players in the minor leagues, do we have talent in the front office that has been and is being groomed in a manner that will improve the club in the long haul, or just enthusiastic guys who fall into the trap of Twins Way (the address of the team, by the way) and the need to give an illusion of competition rather than go forth 110% into the field of play!

Not sure what to make of May. He has been getting pounded lately. I would like to think that he doesn't truly know his status out of the bullpen...setuo, long man, future starter, whatever. But Jepsen. Unless we have someone better in the wings, at least let him pitch in games that we are down, or have a big lead. Not sure what he needs to do to increase his value (which he wants to do, entering free agency himself). At least he didn't give up a home run against K.C. But it has been a strange 40+ games. Thought Pressley was a find, but NOT. Tonkin ahs been a surprise, although he isn't really a special arm out of the bullpen. Abad makes you want to look at a longterm contract, but the Twins WOULD BE BETTER if they sold high when they can on this guy. We will probably see at least a trio of minor league free agents before the season is done and maybe the Twins can flip them too. But until we get to see Burdi, Reed, Chargolis, Hildenberger, Bard and any number of other guys NOT on the 40-man, we won't be excited when the call goes to the bullpen. May.work him up as long relief with the potential to start if you aren't going to groom him as a closer. I have hopes for May, but we continue to hear the rally cry that people are being misued. This guy may be that poster child for the organization in 2016.

I wouldn't even keep Escobar or Nunez. I would keep Polanco before them, at the moment, if anyone would take them off my hands. Yes, it says a lot about where the Twins are going this year. We can plug in Garver or Truner as catcher soon, but they won't tear the cover off the ball. Nick Gordon or Ryan Walker will be a shortstop for the future. Sano should be at third. Kepler is untouchable in my book. Anyone else we keep is because they have some promise or are cheap. Arcia needs to prove himself worthy of a continued look (and I would gamble one more season on him, while Walker develops). Rosario and Santana are only okay...but I ask "would anyone else want them from us?" I see you didn't touch on pitching. We seem to be so system rich. We have to find something out of Berrios, Wheeler, Meyer, Wimmers, Chargolis, Baxendale, Reed, Williams, Melotakis, Hildenberger, Westphal, Burdi, Gonsalves, Jorge, Stewart, Jay, Peterson, VanSteesel, Romero, Bard, Landa, Curtiss and Thorpe...any of these guys should crack the major league roster by the spring of 2019. Out of all of them, I would say Berrios, Gonsalves, Stewart, Chargolis, Hildenberger, Landa and Thorpe remain untouchable. Especially since the Twins are so weak right now there is no reason to trade any prospects for contract players. The only reason to trade a secondary prospect (blocked by someone else) would be to get some other higher prospects back from another team, but they would still have to be low-level as the Twins only have so many roster spots to protect their own future prospects. The fact is that 2017 is a rebuild year. 2018 might be a more competitive year. But depending on how many bodies get some time this year, the whole mess could be pushed back to even 2019, and then what are we spending on the Sanos and Company of today to keep them happy and around?

Still Berrios got out of some messes. He's throwing the K's that we all want, as is WImmers. Just need some better pitch selections,

So, there is some place the Twins are posting "Help Wanted" ads?

Start moving everyone up and getting rid of those AAAA guys. The players will get some lumps, but welcome to professional ball. And quit signing indy league guys!

I like the idea that the Twins are stocking up the roster with some good trade candidates. Can't wait to see what Grossman and Mastro will bring in return. Time to add a couple more of the AAAA free agents to the roster.

We want seasoning down on the farm. We want the young guys to play together in the major leagues. Torn between the joys of an outfield of Sano, Santana and Grossman rather than the struggles of Buxton Kepler Arcia (with Sano at third and Rosario as the 4th outfielder). Let Centeno start and have Garver or Turner be back up, or let Murphy struggle up here to see if he belongs. Polanco and Santana are the bench infielders perhaps, or rotation at SS with Escobar being the chief backup? We can wait on the rotation shakeup until the trade deadline passes. The bullpen needs a house cleaning as soon as some arms get some AAA time. See if Reed or Burdi or Bard can handle the higher level. They have troubles at AA...but it might jsut be AA.

Line-up construction. Players pushing or being frustrated. Lots of factors here. The team is just playing bad, and if it is this bad, you better be figuring out more and more ways to fix the future kids as well as get them some playing time. Nothing against the major league/AAA shuttle. But let's get a new plan and stick with it. Or is the worry still to give some sort of illusion of competitive play to hopefully get people to come to the stadium, drink beer and enjoy outdoor baseball, which they can now do in St. Paul for a fraction of the cost. The players don't look like a team. They aren't enjoying themselves. The season will be a grind. Someone has to bring some life back into their play. Soon IT WILL BE pitchers against hitters as one or the other blow apart the play on the field on a consistent basis. I can live with rebuilding. Call it that and go from there. Get the players out in public (pro shop appearances and events). Bring the team into the community. Be that "Try Harder" team.

Good post, Seth. Yes, you aren't just going to cut loose some of the vets at this point in the season. It is a Catch-22. Do the vets play bad, do the rookies play bad. Or does some goodness appear. If the vets do good, they increase their trade value. The rookies have had a taste of big league life. Now they need to work on stuff. Do it at AAA, but do promote them early (August 1) and run with them. As you jettison the vets you can add some others to the 40-man and give them a rotating taste of big league life (Burdi, Reed, Stewart, Harrison, Palka, maybe even Nick Gordon gets a callup in September). But you do want to play the fringe guys who MIGHT be a part of 2016 (be it Tonkin or Dean). The guys who won't be around in 2016 should be gone in any ways by August 1 (Suzuki, possibly Nunez - although he has been a rock and a contributor - maybe Escobar). Hey, we could've won that game last night. But Berrios deserved to continue pitching deeper into the game, at this point in the season, to see IF he could get out of it...or maybe someone on the field should've noticed that he wasn't ready to start the game in the first place. And just a quick side note: there are approx 16 players on the Twins 40-man that shouldn't be there at all come 2017. There is no where near that number to add for the long haul from AAA and AA at this point. And if the Twins do what you say, Seth. What IS the status of the on-field staff. Do we promote Dougie, Jake, and a couple of others who have followed this group to the majors? Do you get a hard-core vet to lead the field and really come down hard on the guys? Do we stay with Molly?

So, anyone watch Berrios warm-up tonight> We basically have two pitching coaches, a manager, a catcher catching his stuff before the game. We let him walk four, give up three hits, get a couple outs. Let him throw another 40 pitches and keep going at this point. You allowed the hole to get that deep (although we are battling back, it seems). I hope he gets one more opportunity before exchanging out for Gibson. Or maybe two. But something is wrong with the field management issues here. Definitely the guy wasn't ready to pitch tonight.