Is this a thing?

[stringer bell]

Borrowing that title from Letterman.  Yes, there are people older than me that are on television.  Anyway, Eddie Rosario is leading the AFL in batting average after the first week and a half.  Eddie has 15 hits in the seven games he has played in (14 singles, one double) and also leads the league with six stolen bases.  He has exclusively played in the outfield (mostly left).  I know this is an incredibly small sample size, but the AFL is only 30 games, so the season is 1/3 over.  I also know that there is a gigantic hole in the Twins roster that could be filled by a fleet, sweet swinging outfielder.  In that small sample size, Rosario has shown the wheels and sweet swing. 

 

As the AFL started, I half-jokingly predicted that Rosario would make the Twins out of spring training in 2015.  I am starting to believe that this unlikely event could really happen.

 

Edit:  something named Roman Quinn has recently stolen a bunch of bases and has one more than Rosario.  Eddie is two clear of the third place guys.

[drjim]

He absolutely has a shot to break camp with the Twins. Certainly wouldn't bet on it though.

[Thrylos]

Mid 2013 Rosario was readier than both Santana and Vargas.  I'd love to see him with his head screwed on straight and his heart back to the game.  If he does that, I see no reasons that he is not the Twins' 2015 opening day CF.  He is on the 40 man roster and will be there in ST. 

[biggentleben]

With the suspension this last year, I was quite curious to see what you'd see from Rosario in Arizona.  I don't think you're done evaluating him at this point, but perhaps you've found a guy who's more leadoff than middle of the order, and the Twins really could use both as long as the glove isn't a hindrance in the outfield (and his was good enough to consider moving to the infield at one point).  I'd say he's got a pretty solid shot to make the roster next spring, but there's still plenty of evaluating to be done.

[JB_Iowa]

I have to see him come to ST on time, in shape and ready to go.  Has he learned his lessons well enough to remember them over the winter?

[twinsfan34]

Despite injuries, suspensions, and just a lack of production from expected farmhands to MLB appearances in the likes of Sano, Rosario, Meyer, May, and Buxton we got surprises and production in the form of Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas to the MLB club. With the aforementioned, again, in the chamber to possibly produce this year. It was fun to watch the "patient" and Colabello mashing Twins of April and early May and then August Twins in an otherwise tough year.

 

We had the best 2 free agent acquisitions in $-to-WAR in Phil Hughes and Kurt Suzuki, which is unfortunately lost on most Twins fans. Caveat, Nolasco was on the worst end of that spectrum.

 

I think Mauer will bounce back in this era of uber-metrics. If he's healthy, there's no reason to think he won't. His career batting average, his 3 batting titles, and his hitting style would be the first to not to continue .300+ seasons afterwards. Granted, we are in the 'low ball era' of baseball, never seen so many low ball strikes called before.

 

But...yes, I expect Rosario to be battling to the last week of ST for that starting LF roster spot.

[ashbury]

I took at look at 2013 AFL stats, and several guys who raked got a taste of the majors this year. If anyone broke camp with the big club in April, I missed it.  Rosario would face very long odds of this happening.  But his performance so far this October has certainly opened some eyes, even if a .455 BA isn't sustainable, and it would not seem terribly long odds for him to see time in Minneapolis in 2015.

[Seth Stohs]

I think it's very unlikely that Rosario open the season with the Twins, but he is an obvious add to the 40 man roster and he'll go there. That said, if he performs like this in spring and starts the season well in AA/AAA, he could be the first guy called up.

 

His outfield defense is terrific. He has the speed, the glove and the instincts, as well as a strong arm. For him, the AFL was kind of about re-establishing himself as a prospect. So far, so good!

[biggentleben]

He reminds me right now of where Tommy La Stella was going into last year's AFL.  All he did there was show he could handle the keystone position defensively and hit .290 with a 16/4 BB/K ratio, which put him on the fast track to making Dan Uggla expendable this year.  No, he didn't break with the big league squad, but he did end up the starting 2B in Atlanta and was a very late cut in spring training.

[drjim]

He reminds me right now of where Tommy La Stella was going into last year's AFL.  All he did there was show he could handle the keystone position defensively and hit .290 with a 16/4 BB/K ratio, which put him on the fast track to making Dan Uggla expendable this year.  No, he didn't break with the big league squad, but he did end up the starting 2B in Atlanta and was a very late cut in spring training.

 

Big difference is that there is no player (or contract) really blocking Rosario at the moment.

 

He'll have to really show in spring training though, off the field concerns and not touching AAA yet won't get him the benefit of the doubt. Plus there is still a good chance the Twins sign a FA OF of some sort.

[Kwak]

Make two lists:  1).  Why Rosario could be the next LF on April 1st

 

There is no incumbent.

Gardenhire (and his aversion to rookies) is gone.

We have been prompted that there won't be a "surge" in  payroll for 2015.

An oblique admission that the Twins are "sorta punting" in 2015 as far as contending for the playoffs.

A dearth of competition in the OF.

The unexpected success of Santana in the OF implying that internal evaluations might be too conservative.

 

                           2).  Why Rosario won't be on the Active Roster April 1st

 

Rosario doesn't have the requisite AAA success and time, and this is inconsistent with stated policy.

The Twins like to "challenge" candidates by delaying promotion to better moivate them.

Delaying promotion (if long enough) can extend team control and  delay arbitration.

Delay promotion as an addtional penalty for the substance abuse.

New manager may have his own favorite.

[stringer bell]

Make two lists:  1).  Why Rosario could be the next LF on April 1st

 

There is no incumbent.

Gardenhire (and his aversion to rookies) is gone.

We have been prompted that there won't be a "surge" in  payroll for 2015.

An oblique admission that the Twins are "sorta punting" in 2015 as far as contending for the playoffs.

A dearth of competition in the OF.

The unexpected success of Santana in the OF implying that internal evaluations might be too conservative.

 

                           2).  Why Rosario won't be on the Active Roster April 1st

 

Rosario doesn't have the requisite AAA success and time, and this is inconsistent with stated policy.

The Twins like to "challenge" candidates by delaying promotion to better moivate them.

Delaying promotion (if long enough) can extend team control and  delay arbitration.

Delay promotion as an addtional penalty for the substance abuse.

New manager may have his own favorite.

Yep, factors run both ways. The team did go with Aaron Hicks to start two years ago. The way I would look at this is that continued success in the AFL will put Rosario in competition. He would need to be better than his competition in the spring as well. Of course, he can't show any obvious flaws, on offense, defense or the bases. Beyond that, with his off-field problems, he can't display any attitude or criminal problems.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

I wonder if Lovullo is the manager and his preference to platoon might lead to Rosario facing righties while Hicks get the ABs against lefties, eventually.  I don't think Rosario will break camp with the team, but if he rakes, there's no reason to keep him down. I'd assume he'll go to Puerto Rico yet, so there is still a lot of time to figure out who the real, current Eddie is...

[jokin]

I wonder if Lovullo is the manager and his preference to platoon might lead to Rosario facing righties while Hicks get the ABs against lefties, eventually.  I don't think Rosario will break camp with the team, but if he rakes, there's no reason to keep him down. I'd assume he'll go to Puerto Rico yet, so there is still a lot of time to figure out who the real, current Eddie is...

 

Hopefully, the PR Winter League isn't the source reason he's been repeatedly getting into trouble.  I'd like to see the club keep closer tabs on Rosario in the offseason, it sure seems he's in a healthy, and undistracted, environment in Arizona.

[goulik]

Make two lists:  1).  Why Rosario could be the next LF on April 1st

 

There is no incumbent.

Gardenhire (and his aversion to rookies) is gone.

We have been prompted that there won't be a "surge" in  payroll for 2015.

An oblique admission that the Twins are "sorta punting" in 2015 as far as contending for the playoffs.

A dearth of competition in the OF.

The unexpected success of Santana in the OF implying that internal evaluations might be too conservative.

 

                           2).  Why Rosario won't be on the Active Roster April 1st

 

Rosario doesn't have the requisite AAA success and time, and this is inconsistent with stated policy.

The Twins like to "challenge" candidates by delaying promotion to better moivate them.

Delaying promotion (if long enough) can extend team control and  delay arbitration.

Delay promotion as an addtional penalty for the substance abuse.

New manager may have his own favorite.

Actually, over the last few years the Twins have shown a habit of skipping AAA more often than not with positional prospects. With pitchers this is true but Not position players

[goulik]

Backing up my statement, Mauer and Morneau both skipped AAA though Morneau visited Rochester after time with the Twins, Parmalee also was not to Rochester until after his first Twins tryout, Arcia and Vargas both skipped AAA and Polanco has already had his sip of coffee coming up from A before even AA. Pinto only had 19 AAA games before his September call up and Santana barely got to Rochester this year before coming up.