I thought that a FA signing for 1B (my personal fav was Youklis) would bring a veteran presence into the locker room. I now think that it makes sense to do the same at catcher. Doumit should become a near full time DH, with spot starts at C and RF. I would also suspect that Doumit will be on the trading block sooner, rather than later.

With Doumit on the way out, the Twins might be willing to lock down Willingham for another 2 years - to play left and eventually DH full time once Hicks is ready to lock down an outfield spot permanently.

This might also signal to Plouffe as well that his days may be numbered. He has to be aware that we've got quite the 3B prospect in Sano making his way up the system. What position will Plouffe end up at now? The Twins are definitely not handing the spot over to Plouffe now that Mauer is there, and the outfield looks to be filling up with Willingham, Arcia, Hicks, Presley, and eventually Buxton. Maybe he ends up at DH?

I thought that a FA signing for 1B (my personal fav was Youklis) would bring a veteran presence into the locker room. I now think that it makes sense to do the same at catcher. Doumit should become a near full time DH' date=' with spot starts at C and RF. I would also suspect that Doumit will be on the trading block sooner, rather than later.

 

With Doumit on the way out, the Twins might be willing to lock down Willingham for another 2 years - to play left and eventually DH full time once Hicks is ready to lock down an outfield spot permanently.[/quote']

 

If there isn't bad blood, I would go for AJ Pierzynski at catcher. The bad blood part though is a big if. But lets assume there isn't. The past couple years the Twins have seemed flat with no real emotion. AJ definitely brings that. He also knows the catcher position extremely well.

 

As for Doumit, I put him in the same camp as Parmelee and Colabello, competing with those three for playing time at DH. Arcia and Willingham should get a majority of the starts at right and left field. Doumit will stay with the team as its 3rd catcher, back-up outfielder and first baseman, but that doesn't amount to a lot of actual playing time.

 

When you add James' comment about Plouffe in, we are looking at four guys who will quickly be losing there places on the Twins. Hopefully we can trade most of them before mid-season. There are too many minor leaguers knocking on the door to keep around AAAA players.

With Mauer at first we pretty much have closed the book on Parmelee and Colabello. One will return to AAA, the other is tradebait. We also have to strongly look at the need for Doumit, especially if the Twins would sign another catcher. Of course, Doumit is here for a season and a veteran signing of a catcher would allow a good season and a half of Pinto at Rochester with the vet catcher becoming the DH/bench guy. Even the ripple effect of someone like Bartlett means that there is no room in the home for Escobar or Florimon if Bartlett rebounds.

Ultimately, the Twins have a lot of roster spots they can free up if they do sign comparable players. Most of the names I mentioned above are already replacement level players, placeholders until someone better comes along. Throw in Willingham, and the Twins even have more free salary base for years to come.

Likewise, if the Twins sign a starter or two and a bullpen guy they have names like Albers and Hendriks and Worley to remove from the 40-man. Hermsen is gone, Welker would probably pass thru waivers at this point. You can argue the need to keep Duensing or Swarzak at the moment. Is Pressly really that good? And Fien and Burton could both be comfortable tradebait if the need arise. There is a little value on the Twins 40-man roster if Ryan plays his cards right, or at least flipping AAAA guys for possible prospects (preferably pitching). You hate to just let guys walk, but.... not like Ryan and Co. haven't done it in the past.

I disagree that first base is a "lowly position". I expect that Mauer will excel defensively at first base, and with Dozier, gives the Twins an excellent right side; and with Floriman at short, the Twins should provide excellent infield defense (Ploufe is another story). Considering their ballpark, I feel that the Twins should also put a premium on swift, good fielding outfielders also. Eventually, that will mean Hicks, Buxton, maybe Rosario, but for now they should emphasize Willingham as a DH, and try and upgrade their outfield defense. It can't hurt their pitching if they put some resource into defense.

If there isn't bad blood, I would go for AJ Pierzynski at catcher. The bad blood part though is a big if.

Teams have always had to weigh AJ's personality vs. his performance. The Ozzie Guillen quote "If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less." is a classic. (I still hate Ozzie more than AJ.) Hopefully the personality has mellowed with age, because the performance isn't what it used to be.

If it was up to me, I'd pass.