Rosterman

An awful large amount of dumpster diving in the above. Too much, to be sure. The real decisions were what to do with Plouffe and establishing the fact that Sano IS the third baseman now and in the fuiure (the Twins did it to other players when they rid themselves of productive Pierzynski and Mientkiewicz -- or the clubhouse guy hated stitching names on uniforms - for younger stud players). They need a back up catcher and/or depth. They got both in Murphy, at the expense of Hicks, who isn't really that great heading towards arbitration himself right now. I will say that wasn't, at the time, a total loss move. But I would've started the season with Hicks as backup and Murphy playing fulltime at Rochester, assuming Suzuki would get more starts out of the gate. Losing Hicks for no reason whatsoever was a bad move. The Twins blew it the season before grabbing Graham in the Rule 5 and letting Gilmartin go to the Mets. And Jones leaving to Milwaukee because you also kept a number of nonsense names on the roster, including Graham. I can partly understand Graham and that decision. He was a failed starter that still had potential and could've developed into a longman out of the pen and potential replacement for Swarzak. If you really felt you needed a Swarzak replacement. The signing of Park was also an oddity. You had Vargas and Sano at DH, although you want Sano to at least play the field for a few years. Vargas had the potential to be backup at first, with possibly Kepler in the wings. You also had to get Arcia in the mix, somehow. Maybe not signing park would've justified the signings of Sweeney and Quentin to add some veteran presence to the team. But having them in spring training and supposedly fighting for a job when you didn't move Plouffe, had a backlog of like position players, and just not really ending up with a reason for them to be here in the first place, boggles my mind. What to do with May? Try to build up his innings in a short spring training (and also market Gibson, perhaps). May entered the season in the bullpen with no specific duty except to pitch every single day, it seemed. I would rather see him pitch once every five days and keep us into a game or develop as a bonafide starter. Or make the decision that he is the potential closer. When Perkins went down, we had to be glad that Jepsen was in the bullpen, until he actually pitched. Abad was a wonderful signing. A guy who looks to improve. Now the secret is to flip him before he comes down to earth at some point. I doubt that he would welcome the chance to stay with the team next season if he has the option to get away. I can understand the fear of throwing money at relief specialists, especially long-term. The trick is to recognize that every player runs a risk of failure, or an upside of bringing your team positives and another player back at some point. The Twins have been bad on this point, going back to Delmon Young and that other guy who played left field and should've departed for a prospect or two after a halfway decent season. The general manager has to recognize a nucleus that you wish to continue to build around, and since all players basically play for major league baseball now, you move them in and out as necessary, taking THAT gamble rather than opening a bag of garbage from your dumpster diving and hoping to find some totally fresh, unspoiled and good-to-go. Yes, for a team that was hinting that they were contenders, that was a horrible off-season. Absolutely horrible. The joy was it meant you were still stuck with a lot of promising players and many more in the wings who DO have the opportunity to win a major league job and run with it to a career. It is up to the players to do so. And hope the coaching staff is doing its best to get them there, too.

I would be eager to fast trak the kid, who is only 20. But will he be the shortstop of the future? The Twins also have Ryan Walker (24) and Vielma (21) hitting up a storm and ahead of Gordon on the future call-up track, but do either of them look like a fulltime position player? Palacios is dismal this season and Javier is wandering around somewhere and is far out in the potential to hit the majors. I would love to see Gordon go up a notch NOW and Walker/Vielma replace some of those AAAA guys at Rochester. And see Gordon get some major league action at some point. But it all depends on the ultimate call on Polancho. Is he a shortstop, second baseman or what. I can live without giving any more at bats in a rebuilding year to Escobar or Nunez, and keeping one of them (probably Escobar) for another season as an experienced backup. It would mean making a 40-man spot, earlier than wanted, by the Twins. But at this point...think future. Can he play in the majors fulltime in 2017? Is his year 2018? Will he be surplanted by others before then, by chance, or not.

Maybe, since everyone else is down there for one reason or another. Man, an outfield of Arcia, Santana and Grossman with Mastro in the wings. But, of course, send him down with the thought of getting back into the third base groove and keep him there. Which means you make a decision that moving Plouffe is priority #1, but also by doing this you tell everyone else you wish to rid yourself of Plouffe who will then draw only a position opening, payroll decrease and a low level prospect (or maybe two) in return. But why not! Let's make the Rochester Red Wings the MOST EXCITING TEAM in baseball!

The Twins will jettison salary any way they can, and when the final attendance numbers come in for 2016 they will be crying. Catcher: No to Suzuki,no matter the price. Not sure if there is anyone out there. Hopefully Murphy turns around and you get Garver or Turner up here at some point. You might be able to supplement with a minor league free agent, but I wouldn't count on Cedeno being a second-year surprise. Mauer and Park continue at first. I would give Kepler some turns there and hopefully he is at Rochester. He might be our first baseman of the future when all is said and done. Trade Dozier. Although I don't see anyone knocking down doors. He is an all-around decent player, but needs to shine somewhere this season to have any value. The Twins can continue to gamble on him to increase value for another season. Hopefully Nick Gordon advances. Or any of the other shortstop candidates, that you feel you can give them a clear shot in spring training. All comes down to defense. At some point, you return Danny Santana to this hole. But Danny or Escobar will end up starting, with Polanco in the backup wings as he approaches being out of options. Plouffe needs to be moved. He will be a free agent in 2018. In 2017 he will be a $10-12 million dollar cornerstone. I, sadly, see few teams ready to take on that kind of salary. Including the Twins. If he isn't traded, he will be let go and resign for less. Put Sano in at third and hope he is comfortable and holds the fort down for at least three seasons. Nunez is gone. The Twins do have some prospects to fulfill replacement/backup roles as they get better in the minors. Looking at the minors there are some comfortable future names for middle infield bring speed and average. Outfield of Kepler, Buxton and Arcia will have to happen sooner or later, with Rosario clearly the fourth outfielder. If Arcia and Rosario have any value, they get moved as you look at Walker. Palka is also a fourth outfielder possibility. There is hopes that much of the rotation will have callers during this summer. Nolasco and Santana could both be traded for soemthing right now. Gibson should be considered tradebait. He will become expensive before he becomes exceptional, which he never may. Hughes is an enigma. Berrios, May, Meyer, Duffey are locks for 2017. You might be able to sneak in Baxendale. Maybe Wheeler is a prospect. Hopefully a couple more names are closer in the wings (Stewart, Jay). he Twins may also flip Milone for something if he continues to shine in the minors. They need to keep the system building towards the future, too. But someone may think May is the closer of the future. We have no idea where Perkins fits in right now. He could remain a Twin for life, as you always need a decent lefty in the pen. But who is the closer. That is the question. Abad will be able to name his price and he will depart. Jepsen will be gone. We will finally see Reed, Burdi, Bard, Chargolis and others. It will be their job to win and keep. The Twins WILL NOT invest in a multi-year expensive contract for anyone in the bullpen. So 2017 will sink or swim on the quality ofthe pitching overall. There will be bad and horrible games (similar to this year). But hopefully coaching will be better and we will have someone who won't change picchers so often. Like going into this year, we thought the lineup woudl produce. It ahs to. I mean look at it: Buxton Mauer Sano Park Arcia Dozier Kepler catcher shortstop I want to see Kepler thrive. I want to see that strong center of the order. The reality is that the Twins MAY have the ability to shed a lot of salary and contracts between now and the beginning of spring training. They won't be signing anyone, as it might still be a rebuild year and it could be dismal. But the hopes for 2018, when all the same players would likely return and you can make a hard decision on spending BIG on one starting pitcher and maybe spending some on one or two solid bullpen veterans at that point, as well as a powerful/versatile infielder (which Dozier might be at that point...but ocne a starter it is hard to become a super sub). The big question is how many lumps do you continue to give the players in 2016, rather than fill the roster with replacement players that don't fit into the long-term scheme of the team. You have the ability to run a super shuttle service between the minors. You just need to have some 40-man roster spots open for those guys that need a look sooner rather than later. New general manager. Don't strap them with the free-agent spendings of the past not working. A new President who also has baseball on-the-field smarts. Probably new field staff. Lots of names from the minors (Dougie, Jake, Tommy Watkins). Create another new uniform for everyone who cares to buy and make the lower seats in the outfield into drinking club seats (nope, let's get kids to the park - more personal appearances by current players!)

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.

Would ANY other team trade for him to play first base? Do the Twins have better options for someone to play first base? Can he play ANY other position? He was rewarded franchise player money. Nothing wrong with that. But then his salary should be considered outside of the yearly bubble of dollars and sense. Sadly, it stopped paying off once he was moved from catcher. The jerseys have gone down in sales. He is not the commercial darling (no Twin is a commercial darling right now, except for modeling shirts on the scoreboard for some company). We can argue that he is NOT a team leader and we can WONDER if he has any future coaching abilities...to be that 25th roster guy who can play first and maybe another position, as well as DH, but also HELP players. Again, would any other team trade for him right now? NO. Would they pay his contract? NO Would they take him if the TWINS paid his contract in part? Doubtful. Stop batting him first? Molitor, have you seen the results yet? It's like letting Berrios not pitch out of a first inning, it's like your constant need to change pitchers after one or two outs, it's the need to find playing time for defensive subs because guys are playing out of position, it is lack of a good, solid plan that should've been on paper out of spring training. Or maybe it is a total system failure.

Let's get the band back together! Jordan Schafer can pitch and play centerfield. In the Dodgers system and striking out many a guy in relief. Lew Ford is playing for the Long Island Ducks and also coaching. Could fulfill both functions for the Twins. Man, Neil Cotts, Craig Breslow, Brian Duensing are all floating around out there and Caleb Thielbar is about to start the season at St. Paul. He could moonlight with the Twins perhaps! And if we still need outfield help, Jason Repko is still available!

For starters, we have five guys who have no business being on the 40-man and playing in the major leagues right now: Pat Dean, Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressly, Darin Mastroianni, Robbie Grossman. Throw in names like Nolasco, probably Hughes, Jepsen that should be replaced sooner rather than later, and Vargas who has no place in the organization. Add in Plouffe, maybe Dozier, possibly Gibson, definitely Nunez, maybe Escobar, not to mention Suzuki, and the roster is in shambles. But Meyer and Berrios, Turner and Garver, Kepler and Buxton and Rosario and Walker amongst so many other arms for the future from Chargolis and Reed and Burdi and Cederoth and Stewart and even Bard and Baxendale all could jsut as well put in time and the team should do as well as they are doing now. Tough call. But adding AAAA rejects from other teams IS NOT the answer.

He will replace Mastro and make Danny Santana a super sub eventually, if we don't send down Rosario, which might be a good thing, but still...then we send down Sano, too. And there is a good chance we would lose Mastro if he is cut, going thru waivers and not having to return to the Twins if he wishes...again.

Nunez, because of free agency, is a sellable commodity. But probably just a mid/low level prospect (or maybe two) if he keeps it up. Because he is a free agent, he isn't worth much more. Plouffe is worth more because of one more (expensive) year of arbitration. He also is playing for a free agency contract come winter. So he is playing his butt off at bat and on the field. Playing a variety of positions will make him more valuable and he may tender a multi-year modest deal. But not with the Twins.

I'm surprised Alex Meyer isn't back instead to start in 6 or 7 days. I think he's well rested.

I would've given him one more start. Giving Dean a start is not a necessity. Although he seemed to pitch the longest game of any relief guy on the staff. A future roster spot (2017 and beyond) is now between him and Rogers. And when Gibson returns, we know Gibson will go in the rotation and everyone else will also stay for now. It is time to shine if people want to stay in Twins plans! But, yes, I would've given Berrios one more start at the majors, see how he absorbs advice given to him by MAJOR LEAGUE coaches and applies to a major league game, then make the decision if he needs to go down to AAA (yes, he does at some point).

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.

Yep, Berrios might get one more chance. But this didn't help matters. But still, at least another couple of names could go on that Rochester shuttle with him. Then, again. Does this further the issue of who didn't see the potential of this happening. And why do you let a guy walk half the batters he is facing. Give up more hits than outs. Who's watching the game here!

The rotating names of catchers in and out of glory (not named Posey) is many. Yes, Ramos was the future, especially if we knew Mauer was going to first. Pinto really was never a catching prospect (folks, this IS true). You can get by with sub-standard production if they can call a game and hold runners. But even now, any of those "prospects" won't be starting 2017 with the team. There's always specialists, like Centeno, and you can usually find a Butera floating around, if you really want to sacrifice production. Murphy should be a good solid placeholder, although no one is excited after his less than dozen appearances behind-the-dish. I'm glad right now we didn't sign Weiters, or trade for Leucroy. Even Samatacchiaalinia (whatever) would've been a difficult justification for what he wanted or got in payroll. And A.J. is even slowing down. We should be happy for the Mauer years. May never see anything like it again!

The trouble is, if you add Beresford, then you run the risk of losing him if he is sent back out. Is he valuable to the AAA team? Better to reward him a call-up at season's end if you do have a 40-man hole, or someone on the 60-day DL. Then, as the season ends, he is still eligible to be cut for some other hot young prospect, but still remain (maybe out of gratitude) with the organization, unless someone really comes calling. The situation the Twins face with Mastro, now. If they do send him down to the minors, he will have to go thru waivers and you run the risk of losing him, good or bad for one party or the other. Fine if you don't need him. Bad if you don't have someone to advance if you lose him.

I'm sure Graham is glad to be gone. For now. Still on a 40-man and getting the pay!

So we wait four years. About that time the Twins will have money to burn, winning the World Series in 2018 and 2019 and 2020 with all the uys they would trade, today, for Trout.

You would have the second coming of Joe Mauer and not have any of the players who will be the mainstay of your organization in 2018 and 2019. Yes, he is younger, but better just to wait to see if you can unload the bank vault if he becomes a free agent and would want to play in Minnesota. That's going to be the new rub. What free agent wants to come here now unless they are overpaid, looking for a job, or a minor league guy looking for a job.

Yes, Rosario probably needs more seasoning. Yet we give Kepler and Buxton lots of at bats to see how they fail in Year One of their major league life. You could argue a need for Sano just to go down. I see 8 names on the Rochester roster that could play in the Big Leagues for the Twins into the 2017 season. And 20 names for equal consideration in Lookouts land. Of course, there are only so many 40-man spots. The Twins will need at least 5-6 open spots for those Lookout prospects. So for August first, you have opened up six spots, we currently have one open, we have a couple of bullpen arms that could be jettisoned. SO lots of space here. Do we add people like Burdi, Reed, Bard, Stewart, WImmers before the season ends. Is Jason Wheeler a return-to-the-40 man roster prospect? What does Beresford give us that getting rid of Nunez (unless he gives us a decent return) doesn't...and is Jamie in the long-range plans...would be be a backup in 2017? Think probably not. We also have a decision to make on Vargas. Do we bring up Walker? Does that make Arcia tradebait? It will be an interesting July to see what teams may make a dumpster diving run at the Twins for our old expensive pieces. That's the pain of the trio of starters, they still have another year or more of pay coming their way.

Yes, you have to bring in a wisend old vet for the bench or the bullpen to JUST be a team leader of sorts. But usually those are guys on the downside of their career (Nunez and Abad are good examples this year, but not necessary leaders). That 82 team did have a lot of youth who went on to play multiple seasons with the Twins. But practically no experience!~

Both will probably have to be protected on the 40-man this coming fall?