Rosterman

Logan Schafer drawing that 9th inning walk to load the bases! We have to move him up in the order now!

Hey Santiago pitches a good game, Nolasco has to pitch a good game. Nothing wrong with that!

We finally got someone who can throw long relief. The guy who has pitched in 152 games the last four years and tolled 143 innings! Go figure!

Let's see. It is Wednesday. Yeah, Dean can get one more start before the guys come up from Rochester!

No one doubts Mauer's place in Twins history, and we would like to see him remain a Twin always and forever. What will be interesting to see is what happens when his contract expires and if he wants to continue to play. He is a Hall of Fame catcher, but his status continues to go down the longer he plays as a lesser first baseman. He's not bad, he's just not in the best. It's one of those things where he can work, but the Twins have to revolve their system around him and his needs for playing time and at bats. You don't want to be a first baseman in training if Mauer is holding down the bag for two years, and what if he decides to play for another 3-4-5. And you can usually find better alternatives to the designated hitter. The Twins have two right now. Sano and, in the wings, Walker, albeit probably shortterm for one, but the other could develop into a David Ortiz decade of being the big smiley face of the Twins. We want Joe to play, to be great again with the bat, to shine, and get those October moments along with another batting title or two and become a Hall of Famer. We do. But somehow, the team is going in a different direction.

A Tribute and a Toast to You! It is fun to ramble and try and put thoughts together on the game and team we really all do love!

Discussion was started awhile back over here: http://twinsdaily.com/blog/517/entry-8583-who-gets-the-call-in-september/

We don't need Milone as a long man, although at this point it looks like the Twins will be hanging onto arbitration guys until they have to make that decision in the of-season. If you need long men, you use Dean, Albers or cycle Duffey into the role and see if he can do better and put him in that category for next season. Sadly, no one shall make the jump from Chattanooga to the Twins this callup period. But can't wait to see if anyone is kept down on the farm with no callup (Buxton or Vargas, maybe even Berrios). If so, that is sooooooooo sad. And please, please, please bring up Wheeler. And figure out a way to get Walker and Beresford up here.

It will be an opportunity (hopefully) for Garver to catch everyday. So that is a plus. What are the qualifications for a player to go to AFL? I think they have to be Hugh A+ or above. It is usually a stepping stone to going on the 40-man. And most do make the major leagues in some capacity.

You have to see what offers come to the table. He is still a tradeable asset thru next July. You can always buy starting pitching. But that has a downside. You must compete against other teams and you may overpay or over extend. In doing so, you have to look at the entire contract as a 1-2 year contract. If the pitcher isn't working, you move on. OPtherwise, you are stuck, as the Twins will be in 2017 with Hughes and Santana heading the rotation. When dealing with your own product, you have to look at a guy, say, Kyle Gibson...and entertain offers when he may have more value but less outlook in your own plans. Like Delmon Young and Josh Willingham before, but unlike Ben Revere, Carlos Gomez and Denard Span, the Twins often don't move a player when they can get top dollar and replacement value within the organization. I also feel you do have to push young starters in the system. you get them up here to take their lumps sooner rather than later. There is probably not much of a difference. You can always send a player down to work things out. Are we being better served having Berrios up and getting clobbered this year? He can still go down to Rochester, heck he can still stay at Rochester most of next season and mature even more. But the initial plans probably saw him not making the Twins, not making the 40-man until this November. Would the team as a whole be better served if we were also looking at Stewart and Gonsalves now in August and September (than Albers and Dean). You can always patch in thise fringe guys. But you need to see what you have, how the adapt to the major league spotlight, and see if they will really THEN work at getting their pitching acts together. When you are a losing team, having youngsters gain experience and failing is not as bad as trying to work inexperience into a contending team.You have to see what you have now and in the near future to make those free agent or trading decisions that will improve you going forward rather than treading water. And if you have to write off contracts to go after more contracts, do so. You don't make money if you don't put fans in the seats. And you need to be paying players that will/are producing to do that, not just guys working out their contracts. If you do too much of contract eating, than it is an issue in team management, not players,

There is just sooooooo much going wrong. As a young player, you have to fit into the team structure, which is the lineup, bench, bullpen or rotation. Players feed off of each other. The construction of the playing roster in consultation with the contruction of the overall roster with the G.M. is on the head of the manager. The coaches are there to spot problems and work with players and sit down and review film and answer questions and then seek out advice from others for the players, bringing it all together...under the guidance of the field manager. I was looking at the bullpen. We have no long guys. And a couple being overworked (Tonkin, Pressly). Even the other day where Kintzler ended the 8th, pitched the 9th, then started the 10th -- because there was no one else to pitch...all bodies had been destroyed in the Jays series. Where is the guy that can take a hit for 3-4 innings (think Swarzak, or even Johann when he was first called up). Can someone explain to me why the guy hitting 30 homers is batting leadoff? If we are only getting a couple of innings out of Dean and Albers (and Duffey) then, when he comes back, we might as well have May start starting. We seem to be producing decent overall results in the minors with the different minor league managers and coaches. But something happens when the players come to the majors. Our Rochester team has been fabulous the past seasons, and any rookies get the exposure of playing with guys who have had small stints in the majors and know the clubhouse atmosphere that must be a part of things. Players are sent down to the minors and seem to flourish (except Arcia last year, and Murphy this year). And you do see results. Players like Rosario and Kepler seem to be working harder than ever to meet the challenges that major league ball brings to a player. they have downs and ups and downs again. That is something you like to see. Even Danny Santana, the man without a position who plays everyday, seems to be working hard. Can't wait to see what happens when Vargas returns, a guy who needs to continue to produce because he does have a major league roster spot waiting for him next season with the Twins or is made valuable as a trading piece, yet if he fails he becomes...Chris Parmelee. Wait until the off-season to make a change? Nay, Nay. If it is going to happen, do it now. Elevate Gene Glynn for the moment. When the minor league season ends, bring up a couple of the coaches who have worked with the newbees (Allen, Watkins, Cliburn, Artega) and see if they can keep the action going positive rather than negative. And please, please, please...even if not using them as regulars, bring up any and all 40-man guys and possible players to fit into the mix not in the playoffs or going to Arizona. Major league money opens eyes. Just riding the bench opens eyes. And it isn't like we need to give playing time to some guys who won't be on the 40-man come November, or even a minor league player in 2017. Looks like we will have Plouffe back, though, in 2017. Considering that he will be a free agent in 2018...would you sign him longterm?

Albers and Dean each should get a second start to prove themselves.

Why is someone with 30 home runs batting leadoff?!?

This is what baseball is about. You do see something and you think your system could possibly work with the raw talent and develop something. You give him one season, maybe two. You just never know. But still, my question is - are you spending more time and money on a player like this than someone who is closer and has even more talent. And if you are failing with the guys that have talent, what makes you think you can be a success with the ones that require a major makeover.

What you say is so true for the current team. The Twins have had four gret draft years (according to the numbers) and those players should all be in the high minors or on the cusp of the major leagues. But somehow that hasn't happened and the Twins still saw a need to fill AAA Rochester with minor free agents and guys we were talking about as little as two seasons ago still are in the minors and NOT near ready for the major league call. But that still doesn't mean they can be exposed or added to major league life. We are, afterall, looking at the future. For all the comments by a manager that he didn't want to play rookies because it isn't serving to the vets NOT to win, to management feeling we are a few pieces away from being competitive in 2017. Well, the strength of the team and organization is the prospect route, unless you have loads of money to throw away on hits and misses. You can always buy a team. But even that is suspect, with possible little return according to the dollars spent. You MAY be just as well served going with the unproven, the hungry, the guys you spent hours watching and giving bonus money to play pro ball because you believed they could be fashioned into a major league player. Something happened in development. We will see if the Twins do have prospects and who they lose in the Rule 5, the minor league portion of the draft, how many roster spots disappear because of minor league free agents that THEY DEVELOPED not having a 40-man spot. 40-man rosters can suffer when you have to protect players two years away from the minors. A lot can happen in that big jump to AA or AAA ball. Team management may shudder when they look at the results of Buxton and Berrios and a few others. But we didn't get to where the team is now because of them. We got there because of at bats to Park, injuries to numerous players, a pitching staff that has ONE starter with the others wallowing between a glint of greatness and many glints of just plain all-out badness. And still they lose. But part of the process is creating a player base that can survive the highs AND the lows, that play together, enjoying playing the game of baseball together, and then playing for each other as a team. If you have no prospects, or borderline prospects, you can afford to play the aging vets, the guys looking for that last big paycheck, the ones that give you some depth but are still the 41st-42nd-43rd man, at best, on any team's depth chart. But the Twins don't have to do that. They can throw Stewart and Gonsalves out there just as well as Albers and Dean. You can (wait...we don't want too many innings). Amidst a team that has players, it seems, no one really feels has value (Santiago, Suzuki, Plouffe amongst others) we add more players that most all other teams have already given a pass, while players that other teams are eyeing flounder in the minors.

It is always fun to see where predictions end. It's like looking at those Top Prospects lists we make every year and eventually seeing where they went.

Regarding Schafer. I do love his quotes in the article on the Twins page. Not only was he in Rochester playing with a full outfield, he got a ridiculous number of at bats. I'm glad he is here to "contribute to some winning baseball here." http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/198370490/twins-call-up-logan-schafer-over-byron-buxton/

Hey, on another note.....anyone notice that Toby Gardenhire is now a hitting coach for the GCL Twins!

If they add Park and put him on the 60-day, they get a 40-man roster spot. Assuming they might also get one with a trade of Suzuki, and possibly releasing someone, I would like to see Beresford get a shot. He won't get many at bats, unless you use him to spell someone in the later innings of a losing effort. Why Jamie? He has put up decent numbers this year and last. He's a longterm prospect. He has been a solid part of the organization. Maybe you want to keep him involved in the organization if he doesn't return to Australia. Besides, what can it hurt. He's a free agent anyways. Give him some major league money, a few at bats. If you don't keep him, someone will then be able to grab him. Yes, we should be bringing up as many prospects or future 40-man adds as possible. Some guys will be going to the Arizona League after the Lookouts pennant play. Some don't need to added to the 40-man (which would've still been the case of Berrios) until November fer sure. In the real world, I wish we were in a situation where we would want to see Burdi, reed, Jones, Hildenburger and Bard all come up in September to push aside everyone else and give us an advance look at the future and the past a rest. But there aren't enough roster spots, too many injuries to those youngsters, and not the way the soon-to-be-old-school Twins operate (or so we hope).

We are talking a lot of money here. Some guys (like Park in Rochester) are making major league money playing AAA ball. All players dram of that first major league paycheck, that pretty much is what you made for playing in the minors for the summer, unless you are on the 40-man roster, or unless you are a six year minor league veteran playing AAA ball. And let's plug him into the lineup and watch him go 5-5 or something (wait, he went 0-2 and got pinch-hit...yes!) and be declared the second coming of Robbie Grossman.

The flip side of player development is just that. You can have the multi-tooled players that you draft, but at some point, they all need some tweaking and work. All of them. Of course, you usually have a "Way" that you draft around, taking players to increase your depth, that MIGHT work in your park, that show skill sets that you think important vs. those you don't. Not all players are able to be tweaked, which is the downside of drafting and why so many of the 40-50 players taken each year don't last into, say, Year Three and maybe 5% ever ever make it to a major league game. That's a lot of money and time invested in players that have flaws and weaknesses and can't be molded. Sometimes you see such players in otehr organizations and they conform more to your "Way" than the other team, so you get a short cut at the other team's expenses. Or some guys just can't handle it. You are given a chance at 18 or 21 to embark on a career that in as little as 2-3 years and as many as 5-6 MIGHT see you making a million dollars a year. The dreams of baseball. The system as a whole works with 150 players a year and hopefully 2-3 graduate to some level of play at the major league level each year, with 40 dropping off the radar and another 40 filtered into the mix. It comes from the top down. The General Manager (or President of Baseball Operations) with his various Directors of Scouting, Minor Leagues, Player Personnel go forth to put together a major league team each year and a backup plan at each and every position and an organizational depth chart pipeline to keep things going over a 3-5 year period of time. I can be a coach or manager or a coordinator and work my butt off to teach a kid to play baseball, but if they don't wanna learn, or don't overcome issues, is it my fault? Yes, at some level it is...if that player goes elsewhere and thrives. Then you can question about how many guys were cut from the list that might've thrived given a different environment (which is why we have minor league free agency, the Rule 5, and ultimately independent league ball). But it starts at the direction the organization as a whole wants to take, laid out by the powers-to-be, and if you don't fit with that vision, and contribute players in your reports that mean what the "Way" is looking for, you don't stay, are canned, put in time until caught. The coaches and managers you hire in development land do come together with a shared vision and a shared outlook on how each and every player must move thru or out of the system. That is the basis of the game. If you have trouble getting a message across, there should be someone who can come in and try, and if not...pfuttt!

The Problems: Sano in the outfield, meaning no place for Arcia and the reps you gave Quentin and Sweeney were all a waste, too. And then, bammmmm, Kepler comes on board and you plug some time with Grossman, so some things look good. But Sano is not an outfielder, got behind in his reps and third, and becomes part of the DH mix-up. Park. Sometimes the Twins are pretty good at tantalizing us that they are on the cusp of keeping their own free agent, are negotiating for the best booty possible for their pending free agent, or reach out and sign the impossible to come and be the savior for the team. I still thing winning the Park thing was a surprise, and them signing him for the four years they did at what they did was an even bigger surprised. Then they knew not what to do with it all, and we end up losing Arcia, having Sano in limbo, Vargas showing he might be worth his keep and the Twins contemplating keeping Plouffe for one more season. Line Up Construction. Guys are all over the place. What are the match-ups. Did they work? Why so many K's. Are they not looking at pitches. No speed on the basepaths. Somehow, we did have one part of a season of excitement as Eduardo Nunez seemed to be a one-man wrecking crew in average, getting base, stealing bases, hitting homers and doing a better-than-though job of fielding before he came back down to earth as the utility guy Molitor felt he was in San Francisco. The rotation. It stunk. I though fer sure it would be better than it was. Maybe we would see 60-70 wins from the Big five +. Now we might not even see 30. One will hit 150+ innings. A disaster. An expensive disaster. Thus, Pushing Players. And still we have guys wandering the halls of A+ and AA rather than pushing harder to get them on the road to the majors. In the Twins way, most of these guys won't be around until 2018 now. Go figure. The bullpen. Rhyme or Reason. Overworked. Never have I seen so many pitchers used is so many games. The saving grace is that the Twins have used something like 20 guys in relief situations. 20 GUYS! Whew! Some are working a record amount of games (Pressly & Tonkin). There is not a long guy )think Swarzak) in the bunch. May was misued. Kintzler became the closer with no games to close. It seems th guys are on a rotation. No idea of matchups or situations. Who decides these things. And the future, for the second year, is still buried in the minors. So many names: Burdi, Reed, Hildenburger, Bard, Jones, Landa, Melotakis. We amazingly have seen Chargolis, who still is trying to get over his jitters. And Wimmers MAY be a good prospect, at last. And we got Pat Light, who is all over the place. The bullpen in 2017 promises to be more of the same, a patchwork of more (as someone calls Tonkin the 13th guy) end pieces than precision throwers. Management! Somehow they thought they had a winner. Not sure what they could've done. Everyone in the division seemed to have done something, and the White Sox even seemed improved but fell hard from grace. I personally thought ALL the teams might've been pretty close in the long run - 5 to 10 wins separating first from last. But what did I know. All I can say is that as a fan, I am excited about seeing more of the future, be they good or bad for now. I also look forward to seeing a new direction in management. Even if everything is totally torn apart and solid prospects are sent packing and money is thrown at more worthless free agents, and a big contract bombs, I will still be a Twins fan. It is, after all, a tough game, this major league baseball. Always more losers than winners. But it is a beautiful game when things happen well on the field and the teams play to a competitive balance.

Yes, you do consider the needs of the minors leagues. But looks like Rochester won't be in the playofs. Chattanooga will. And most of the AA guys with promise will probably be in Winter Ball. Itis fun to go to the playoffs in the minors. But I would expect that if you polled players, spending time in the majors (with major league money and travel and such) would be more of a plus than a minus any day.

Well, they seem to call up other players straight from AA. But beyond the point. A September call-up is an opportunity to put players in a major league environment, especially against teams in your own division and you actually aren't playing much of a spoiler role this year, so they can be used. It shows them what major league play is like. It gives them something to work on and strive to maintain IF they want to stay in the majors tomorrow or the following year. I am all for rewarding players that mean something to the organization, giving them some extra pension time and such. But I would reward Beresford before pretty much anyone on the offense side. Yes, there is not a lot of name to call from Rochester, and one may ask "why" should we add anyone before their time (like the front office is probably kicking tires that they added Berrios this season when they didn't have to add him until November in reality). But, hey...give Granite an early shot. Stick some pins in #1 Buxton that he isn't all alone as being the heir to centerfield. If they need someone for the playoffs in Chattanooga, drop Buxton back a step for the couple of weeks...or Schafer. Walker CAN play the outfield if you need a Santana replacement. Hey, the Twins are running with one extra pitcher. Can't wait to see what does happen when the Rochester season ends. Who might leave before September 1. What to do with Albers, Dean, Centeno, Boshers for starters.

Wow! Any no one is currently grabbing at the opportunity to add Plouffe or Suzuki to their playoff runs. Yes, this is soooooo good. How many Twins could find jobs with other teams if suddenly thrown into the free-agent marketplace. It is...so sad.