Rosterman

Someone has to leave to have some of the non-roster names added. Who won;t be around in 2018? Well, the Twins have to make a decision on Vielma and Plaka. They have three AA pitchers taking up space: Romero, Jorge and Rosario. At some point, you have to make a decision on Turley. Better yet, you have to make a decision on Santiago (free agent) or Gibson (don't arbitrate) as well as Colon (would he be back in 2018? - If not, why is he starting now). Gimenez should also be on the bubble. You make a decision for the 40-man - Recker or Gimenez, and do bring up Garver nonetheless. Tonkin, WImmers...been there, done that, sadly. Invites back next year if they wish. You have to make decisions on Boshers, Rucinski and Busenitz, which shouldn't be all that hard. Also, is Pressly really a keeper? Then, do you do a September looksee at guys on the fringe: Baxendale, Slegers, Hurlbut, Melotakis, for example, and keep the guys you truly have to ad in November off until then (Bard, Curtiss, Gonsalves, etc.). Do you do Vargas or Park, one but NOT both. If not in contention come Sept. 1, NO ONE should be on the roster that won't be considered for the roster come November and spring training. You have to see the future, not dwell in giving Colon more innings.

Gee or Enns. Whichever isn't up for the starter job, although I would bring upSlegers or Melville in the meantime. Boshers could be gone. Pressly is on thin ice, but I still think he has potential. Thank goodness Santiago is not coming back soon, although I was hoping he would pitch a game or two, be put on waivers, and grabbed.

I, too, can't believe that Stu Turner managed to stay on the Reds roster all season. Good for him, except it will be back to the minors next year for more seasoning and see what happens from there. The joys and ills of the Rule 5. But at least you get 40-man roster money while in the minors.

It's so tough, because of the Twins position in the standings, to have any idea of who might be available, unless they want to absorb some big contract, which could happen when a player is sent thru a second time and doesn't need compensation. I think the twins may be looking at that venue more and then deciding what to do with the player after-the-fact.

I'm not seeing it. Not sure what the whole organizational picture is. The coaching staff changed, but the results have been glamorous. The Twins are, indeed, in a weak division in some ways. Who has improved? Who hasn't improved? Is there stability on the 40-man roster, let alone the 25-man roster. Part of it will be the expectations the front office sets for 2018 and beyond. Rebuilding mode, or do they think they have enough pieces (they don't) to remain a contender of sorts in 2018. More interesting to see will be if there ARE major shakeups throughout the minors. If the Twins return to signing lots and lots of minor league free agents, or if they actually push prospects. Be interesting to see if some movements start by people leaving (in the front office) rather than being elt go.

I thought Granite handled himself well and would rather see him get turns in the outfield than Grossman, at this point. But the Twins still don't have a bonifide DH. Vargas isn't cutting it. They won't give Park the opportunity (even with some open roster spots). Palka will have to surge at Rochester to get a September call-up. But they still lack that bat, and I don't want Escobar there. Looks like Polanco might be coming alive. Not sure what to make, or who to put, in the rotation. It was the bullpen getting lumps before. But that has settled down, and pretty much any name from the Rochester bullpen would add more sense to the pen. But who can you send out in the rotation? When Bartolo Colon is your best starter, something is amiss.

In the current Twins young outfield situation, they go with Eddie. He is far from perfect and inconsistent. You can find someone to run better (Granite), field better (probably anyone, and he does give you some hits. But you are not sure where to bat him in the lineup. He can kill the guy batting in front or in back. Is he a proper bench bat? No, because he is a free swinger. If you had a replacement for him in the field, would he be better at DH than Grossman, or Vargas, or even Palka or Park from the minors? The bigger question: what does MLB think of him. Are ANY teams clamoring to have him on their roster? At some point, for his skill level, he will become too expensive, even to keep as a 4th outfielder. But he is only 25. Will he step up his act, work extra hard with the coaches, become a shining light in the Twins outfield? Or will he be passed by such names as Kril, Rook or Wade in two years.

Is there a reason to protect him on the 40-man come the off-season?

It's a lefty thing. Let him get his feet wet. He may not be top of the rotation, but is he better than some of the names we already have out there (Hughes, Gibson, Santiago, maybe even Mejia...not to mention Gee or Colon)? The guy was nervous. If you can figure out a way to not have guys get nervous...and to throw like they should...not how they feel...maybe everything would be perfect. Only time will tell.. Quick call up. Starting a game earlier than scheduled. How are the Twins over .500 is what I wonder!?!

Will Diaz or Rooker be ready in two years? Probably not. Will Park be a guy to keep? You could. Maybe. The Twins still need a DH and Mauer is NOT the name for that role, which will eventually go to Sano. Contract is an issue. You can only resign for so much, right? Unless you groom Kepler to play 1B (he did some last year, didn't he, at Lookouts land?)

A short change of locale. Get him under the wings of being against some older talent. He will return to Florida for the Fall Instructional League, I'm sure. Different roadtrips on the horizon. A stepping stone to maybe starting with the Kernels next year. After all, want to see Royce graduate out of the short-season teams if at all possible and not sit in Florida during the early months of 2018 playing piickup ball.

I'm excited. I don't think we really lsot anything in Garcia compared to what we gained. Kintzler was not your ultimate closer. As we see, Belisle is perfectly able to do the same, and sure the Twins could patch together someone else in Hildenberger/Rogers/Pressly if push-came-to-trade. I'll say this, it will help to sell tickets going into September, which is what the Twins have to do. Will it save Molitor's job? Will Paul figure out the lineup? Will Buxton get above .250? Will Dozier hit more home runs than Sano? How do you market this stuff? And, seriously, what prospects do you bring up? The ones the Twins truly have to bring up are back-of-the-pen/bench types like Palka and Vielma to see if they should stay, and folks like Melville, Slegers, Hurlbut even Melotakis to see if you should consider keeping them in the organization in some way. Besides Reed, everyone else is still considered "sometime in 2018" or beyond. What is still amazing is that the Twins have two 40-man roster spots open, that Colon is still a Twin, that Santiago may be coming back, and that Glen Perkins may re-emerge before September 1. The bigger backup is happening in the minors where Gonsalves and Bard pushed Yohan Pino and Baxendale backwards. Go figure on that. I'm not sure who they could truly add, unless they want to grab some big discarded contract when a guy goes thru a second time. But the more the win, the lesser chance they have of doing a decent waiver claim anyways. Talk about a pleasant surprise and some overachieving. Now we have to figure out why the team is so horribly bad at times and what can be done to prevent that from happening. Where is Gibson?

If you aren't calling the guy up in September, feel free to listen to trade offers. If you aren't going to protect the guy in November, get rid of him in some way. If the prospect is on the fringe, see if you can package in a deal. But watch out for contracts and lack of options. If a player is available, it is because there is no need for them in another organization's plan, or they are a salary dump that you probably don't need yourself. And speaking of salary dumps, if you think you might be paying players too much for how your tem is doing or is expected to do, flip them out for something that you need...combined with the salary relief. And tell Molitor to find a lineup and stick with it, thinking ahead to 2018. Is Buxton better at leadoff? Who is the BEST clean-up hitter. How should Mauer contribute?

It depends if the team is TRULY in rebuilding mode. You want someone who will work well with the system already in place and the guys in the minors. Of course, most of that talent is still a season away. But if you look at the talent that will probably stay on the roster, most of those guys have played in the system for BOTH Mauer and Dougie M. I don't think there is a quick fix that throwing money at and bringing in a hardass from outside that will suddenly make the Twins major contenders at this point. But NOW is the time we will see exactly where the new regime expects the Twins to be next year and down the road. And I also wonder how the new front office will be dealing with other lifers...like TK and Hrbek and Oliva and all. Sure, former players always serve honorary positions in an organization, but will even Cuddyer and Hunter and Hawkins remain in the mix, or was that a semi-p.r. move for this season only. The Twins are going to be a tough sell, no matter how they end 2017. Super Bowl fever is going to wash them from the media in town. Not sure what that will say to budget, seating prices and the ilk. Not sure what to expect, except that a lot of new names will be in the various front office arenas (scouting, minor leagues, player services). I'm sure the job will be open to applications. If Dougie doesn't get it, or at least a major laague caching offer, I hope he takes his talents elsewhere. Mauer might play the game card a bit more, with hopes of at least being a coach someday.

Let's hear it for Dillon. Between him and Belisle the Twins are step at closer. Why is Busenitz up here if you aren't going to use him. Suddenly have that extra Granite bat would look pretty good, especially when you had a weak bench when Sano was down.

We need to sign Mark Hamburger!

Perkins Twins fate depends on well he pitches if he comes back. Otherwise, he will be out there looking for another contract. Being a lefty, he should be able to find work as a setup man, depending on hisprice. But we will see. Hopefully Hughes will become an insurance writeoff. Don't see the Twins offering Santiago a contract. And doubt that they should go to arbitration with Gibson at this point. The sad thing about May is that he won't be able to step fulltime into the rotation until 2019. Next year will be an innings buildup year, a well as working out kinks. O'Rourke may not make the 40-man. But he will be invited and looked at if he doesn't sign elsewhere. Twins have to think about Burdi...long and hard. They have to make a decision on Chargois. Maybe he will be the next Zach Jones, remember that guy?

So where is Vielma in this mix. Niko will be a minor league free agent. Is he good enough to let the backup duo walk, perhaps? A pitcher like Melville is interesting. Is he backup at AAA. Do you add him to the 40 man for a September callup, or do you put mroe stock in Hurlbut or Slegers, for example. We still have Rucinski in the mix. Turley is out there. Wimmers will need someplace to go. Is ZTonkin a piece to reinvest in right now?

Yes, the front office did buy a couple of years back. Maybe not the best use of monies, but they did spend money. Not sure what the purpose is...just to look to be competitive or what. Comes back to Target Field, the most beautiful stadium in baseball. The Twins ahd a given for the first couple of seasons where the stadium sold the tickets (and they sure did their best to use the stadium to sell tickets). And the baseball experience, once the product on the field is made whole, can be truly beauitiful. The new stadium was supposed to make the Twins competitive in the free agent market, and also able to spend money to keep their own under contract. Name the splashes they made on the free agent market. Name the home-grown talent that walked away to other teams. See the front office cry because they truly did want a winning team, selling out the stadium constantly, so they could really jack tickets, instead of the nickle and diming they are doing for select games and sections right now...squeeze that lump of coal and you'll get something...maybe. So maybe we all can afford to go to a Twins game because they haven;t been that god,really. And even that bit of light a couple of years back...like this year...barely creeping above the .500 mark and with the added wildcard, you can almost seem like a post-season threat. I like Dozier. Not sure what we will replace him with. He is not a premiere second baseman, sadly, otherwise there would be more knocking on the door. Mauer is a solid player, good on the field, can hit decently...but each year his numbers put him further and further away from a Hall of Fame vote. He would've made it had he stayed a catcher and played accordingly, even 2/3rds time behind-the-plate. I don't fault the move, really don't...but we now have no place to put him on the field or the lineup where he scares the other side.Players want to play on winning teams? They want to go to the post-season? Good luck if you can predict who and when. Best is to play 200% the first half of every year and hope someone needs you badly as a position replacement and you are a worthwhile investment. Joe and Brian, right now, have contracts that other teams really don't need to take. It's a sad state that you aren't a GREAT deal, maybe not even a good deal, especially when compared to what a team already has or other pieces in the marketplace.

Interesting to see who the team shuffles off to...say, Buffalo. They need to find two spots in an already packed team. Let's see. Rochester has: Slegers, Hurlbut, Melville, Turley, Enns starting. Suppose they can bump Turley, or go with six-man. Santiago still starting down there, too.

Sometimes, you just have to change things up a bit. Maybe the days of everlasting jobs in a baseball organization are done in Minnesota. It's been a good ride for the people working there. Family...so to speak. But times change and so does the business plan. Be interesting to see what happens with the minor league coaching...as well as a relook at the major league field staff. i just hope we just don't see people move here from Cleveland.

Found it strange that after two complete games in three games, the Twins chose to deplete their bench by sending down Granite when they brought up Gibson. No bench at all. Or a weaker line-up. Have to start thinking hard about who they need to bring up and where to bat them in thee order. The Twins still want to be competitive and win? Well, it ain't happening with what they put on the field today.

Who are the Twins currently marketing as players. I know last year they were HOPING to do Byung-Ho Park. Of course, Sano is there. Mauer? Who does Kemps do a growth chart of at the Fairgrounds. Heck, who would draw if you put them on the kids field at the State Fair this year?

Not sure if Joe Mauer will be a manager. Probably just one of those roving Twins as he loves retirement. Even the life of a coach is a lot of road games. Although his brother Jake has the potential to someday manage the Twins.

As someone said, just because you want to sell, you have to have a buyer. That they unloaded two players that will be free agents and that they really weren't going to resign was for the best. They can now revisit these guys and get them cheaper if the market isn't there for them, compared to the restrictions they would have if the guys left you as a free agent. We now enter August. This is when you can jettison some players and get salary relief and maybe a prospect in return. Time to say good-bye to fringe guys who don't figure into 2018 plans...if you have someone you wish to try and replace them with. I do hope the Twins stay away from waiver wire claims themselves and just stick with promoting prospects. But then we have 40-man roster issues. If you are on the 40-man, 25 of you have to be ready to play in the major leagues. It's nice if everyone else is capable of time in the majors. This year the Twins have six guys on the cusp. Garver should be here in September. Palka needs to bust his butt after his disabled stint. We already saw Rosario and Jorge who are still a year away. Romero is also a year away and it would be nice to see him. Vielma should take the place of any of our abundance of SS that could be jettisoned in August. We need to see WHY these guys were 40-man protected (shades of Adam Brett Walker). And if there are prospects that contribute, that may not be longterm (think Slegers for one), you still should looksee. Can they give you whatever any of these minor league free agents did?