nicksaviking

The acquistion of Eduardo Nunez got people speculating about when he would get a chance in the Twins lineup over the struggling Pedro Florimon. Florimon's defense is an asset but it is not making up for his inability to hit. Nunez has been getting panned for his poor defensive play, despite this, he is still looked at as a shortstop option for the Twins. This makes me wonder, what exactly is it that allows poor defensive players to continue getting chances at short when defense is continually hailed as of utmost importance? We often hear about minor leaguers who "need" to move to 3B or 2B because they just won't cut it at the MLB level. Many of these guys get moved not because they play poorly, but because the perception is that they lack range, arm strengthy, speed or proper footwork. But that begs the question, how did Nunez get through, and more importantly, why is he still considered a shortstop? Or Jed Lowrie? or Asdrubal Cabrera? Or Jhonny Peralta? Brian Dozier was deemed unworthy to play SS last year before he was demoted to Rochester. Since his return, he has only been considered for 2B duties, and almost surely that will never change. Is he really an inferior fielder to Nunez? Or Lowrie or Cabrera? I doubt it. It seems to me, that once a player sneaks through to the majors and sticks at SS for any considerable amount of time, he will be considered as such, despite his shortcomings defensively. Lowrie, Nunez and Peralta are all working on their questionable SS play for thier second and third organizations and Cabrera will hit the free agent market viewed as a SS next year. I think this shows an overly critical evaluation of minor leaguers. Defense matters, but managers routinely put subpar SS in their lineups because they aren't losing games despite what evaluators may project. Jorge Polanco is being given another chance at SS, and I'm happy to see that. But even if he hits, if his range or arm start to play at a subpar level, he'll risk being moved. I always wondered what would have happened if JJ Hardy had been developed by another orgainzation. He's big, he's slow and by the eye test he does not appear to have much range. I would bet that there are a good number of clubs that would have moved Hardy to 3B long before he ever got the the majors, which of course would be a shame considering he is one of the top defensive players at his position today. My overall sentiment is that defensive measurables for a shortstop seem to be more valuable in theory than the do on the field. How many perfectly acceptable shortstops are judged unworthy early in their careers?

Well some would argue the jump from AAA to the majors is easier if you happened to face the 2013 Minnesota Twins rotation. Unfortunately Parmelee never got that chance last year.

I agree, I didn't care much for Presley, but then that just goes to show that it was a terrible trade in the first place. Either the trade, or the DFA was a mistake. I'd like to hear an honest evaluation from the front office on the matter. I'd vote both I guess, but hopefully this team learns to stop trading one guy who requires a 40 man roster spot and take back two who will struggle to make it. One thing I wonder though, how out of commission has Ryan been while dealing with his cancer? Did he make the 25-man roster? Or did he leave that up to Anthony/Gardenhire as he didn't get to evaluate much of spring training?

I'd actually like to see these guys step up to give the Chicago teams a few option! I'd still prefer the Twins to get Aiken/Kolek/Rodon.

They have been successful drafting that way, but you're never going to find an ace or win a WS by fielding a rotation of Baker/Slowey/Duensin/Swarzak/Blackburn. You have to go for the high upside guys, and if the probablity of them panning out is less, that just means you have to draft more of them to up your odds. I'd rather draft a guy with a 10% chace of being an ace and a 50% chance of flaming out than drafting a guy with a 20% chance of being a #4 and a 40% chance of flaming out.

Of course another way to look at this is The Twins have had four picks in the first two rounds since 2012 and have taken two young pitchers, Berrios and Stewart. I believe recent history is a stronger indicator of future actions.

And the swag is coming without Oswaldo Arcia in the lineup. Here I thought he was the sole swag bearer on the team.

Do I get banned if I make a joke involving the removal the word Hermsen from your quote?

That may be the only thing, but hitting is basically the most important aspect of baseball, so it's kind of a big deal.

Ha, yeah they never do fall in order. The only guarantee is that they WILL fall to the Cardinals.

I'm not disagreeing that Freeland doesn't have 1st round talent, if the Twins had a 10-20 pick he'd interest me, but not at 5. Out of that pack, I have no interest in Nola, Fedde and because of his size Finnegan. Beede's falling off my wish list also.

I'm didn't like the Eades pick and don't think he will pan out, but it's way too early to play the "I told you so" game. I wouldn't think he's beyond figuring things out.

So you're going to call Shane out for "slander" but not the post prior? OK.

They must have edited that part out of my copy. This is the quote in my version: "We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go.

Hypotheticlly, if the Twins could get an A prospect for Dozier now because of another teams desperation, but have a 75% chance of only getting a C prospect for Dozier three months from now when this team is unwatchable again do you still keep him?

Freeland pitches in the low 90's from my understanding and he's beating up guys in the Missoui Valley conference. I'm guessing those strikeouts wouldn't translate as well in the SEC let alone professional ball. Without knowing a ton about him, he seems to be the kind of low ceiling, command pitcher we are all tired of the Twins running out there.

Seems a little high considering the Padres only got one free agent year. Gyrko has some promise, but I'm not sure he would have gotten much more in arbitration if he was an average 2B.

I think he does fall further. Could be a Stanek or Manaea even?

Agreed. No way the Twins change their philosophy for Beede. It's the other way around. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already out of contention for the front office.

I haven't seen any stats on it, but 12 games at .500 seems like a lot for any team, no matter which side of the mark they fall on. After all, it's impossible for a team to be at .500 more than one game in a row.

It may be moot. It may be Polanco vs. Santana as Jorge hasn't played one game at 2B yet this year. I'm not a fan of Niko Goodrum at 3B as he does not have the bat for the position, but I'm happy to see Polanco get extended time at SS. Goodrum at 3B, Polanco at SS, Michael at 2B, Harrison in LF and Kepler back to CF. I don't think many of us would have predicted those positional assignments before the season started.

I think it's more about only having two CF options on the 40-man when neither of them has proven to be a MLB caliber player as of yet. Since we don't have a sure thing, maybe it's better to have 3 CF capable players than 4 (5) that can catch.

I worry about that also, but hopefully Gatewood, Gordon, Holmes, Toussaint and Feeland's increased stature will offset any declines.

I make take Hoffman over Rodon. Maybe.

I'd say Bartlett, but I don't he can be removed while on the 15 day DL. Eric Fryer likely wouldn't get claimed and even if he did, is there a difference if Dan Rohlfing is the #4 catcher? You can get these guys on waivers all summer long.