Article: Minnesota Twins Set Opening Day Roster

[Kwak]

This roster was constructed to avoid 2015 being a disaster.  Consider, declining season ticket sales, total paid attendance, and just plain relevance in the entertainment market of Minneapolis.  Toss in a new manager and the inevitable comparisons between the two and a plan was constructed to try and make 2015 season "not stink".  The flies in the ointment with that policy are: this season isn't going to assist in improving subsequent seasons and 2015 for the Twins isn't going to the World Series like 2014  and KC Royals--in short 2015 won't be memorial nor will it help for the future, it will simply stand alone and be forgotten.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Torii Hunter on this team is infuriating. He forces Arcia to left, where his defensive flaws go from obvious to glaring. He is himself a terrible fielder, so we have the worst possible corner fielders in the league. He forces Santana to short, instead of a corner which would be the ideal place for him, which forces Esco to the bench. The only thing Hunter does is sell jerseys to the rubes who have forgotten the disingenuous manner in which he left.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

a tip of the cap to the Twins for not going the previously automatic route of "defense only" backup catcher by moving someone else to make room for Fryer.

Baby steps!

[KGB]

 

This is the strangest rebuilding plan I've ever seen. Reminds me of the mid-late 90's with plug and play mediocre "veterans"...do we really have to wait a whole year more before they go all 99 and call up a bunch of kids??

We don't rebuild, we just reload.

 

Based on the offseason signing and the makeup of the roster, I think the FO thinks they can contend.  Hopefully are ready to eat salaries and make changes quickly if this proves to be wrong.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm not thrilled about every choice, but concluding that the front office doesn't have a plan seems a bit over the top.

 

1) I'm fine with Pinto getting at bats in AAA to start. I won't be fine with it if he lingers down there and Hermann is as bad as I think he'll be. Perhaps he runs with the job (good problem to have if he does), but I expect them to be trading places by May 1.

 

2) Not happy about May... I'll leave it at that.

 

3) Hicks was the right call. The big problem in my opinion was not having a better plan A. I suspect this was the plan all along. Don't really like it, as I would have considered Rasmus over Hunter, and/or gone hard after Kemp but then again, who knows.

 

4) I don't see how calling up a guy before he's ready maximizes his value. If anything, I see it doing the opposite. Hicks is a great example here, accumulating nearly 2 years of service time with lousy production to show for it. He wasn't ready in 2013 and 2014. He might be ready now, but I think there's merit in letting him build up some confidence in AAA before sending him back to the majors. If you want to maximize their value, you do it when you know that they only thing they have left to learn is stuff they can learn in the majors. I think May fits that mold, and perhaps Tonkin/Oliveros, but Hicks, Meyer, and Rosario still need seasoning.

[amjgt]

 

Buxton and Sano are coming off missed seasons, so I think they'll be late-season (July or August) call-ups at best. Berrios may fit into that same time. Meyer and May should be up by June or sooner. That could be Rosario's timeline too. I think Burdi could be up by August. Tonkin, Pressly and Achter could be up any time. Darnell could come up and be ready any time. Then guys like Reed, Chargois and Zack Jones could be up early next year. 

 

What in the Twins recent history would lead us to believe that those prospects will be called up when "ready" (I use "ready" because the Twins seem to have way more criteria for a prospect being ready). Buxton is probably the only person you've listed that isn't blocked by someone who "Competes every night", "is good at controlling the zone", or has "years of experience to lean on"

 

Injuries happen, but without injuries, I consider almost every one of those players to be blocked. Well.... Twins-blocked 

[Shane Wahl]

 

I agree with a lot of this, but why do we think that Meyer is on an innings limit? No one has said anything about that, have they? His pitch count in limited innings might be an issue, but he's not on an innings limit... Maybe others have heard that and I just missed it?

 

Of course actual number of pitches matters more than innings, but I guess I am making this assumption based on the number of innings he threw last year? It was 130, so I would think he wouldn't go past about 160-170. 

[Shane Wahl]

 

a couple things re: Robinson

 

a. if he has a place on the 25 man roster of a World Series team, he should have a place on the 25-man roster of a 99+96+96+92 L team.

 

b. He is the best fielding OF of the bunch the Twins gave serious consideration.

 

c. He led all 4 potential centerfielders with a .277/.333/.362 slash line.

 

A. A very good team can have the luxury of one guy who does one thing very well (defense in this case). Was he on their playoff rosters? He is exactly the kind of guy you would want to have for the playoffs since there are fewer pitchers needed and each inning really, really matters.

 

B. And he is capable of doing nothing else.

 

C. ST sss is about the worst sss to base decisions on.

[Thrylos]

 

A. A very good team can have the luxury of one guy who does one thing very well (defense in this case). Was he on their playoff rosters? He is exactly the kind of guy you would want to have for the playoffs since there are fewer pitchers needed and each inning really, really matters.

 

B. And he is capable of doing nothing else.

 

C. ST sss is about the worst sss to base decisions on.

 

 

He was on the 25-man in 2013 and 2012 both during the regular reason and post-season.  

 

So, how can you evaluate players in the Spring and make roster decisions?  Darts? Names off hats? Gut feelings?  Or performance on the field?   Or something else?

[big dog]

1.  I love baseball.  I'm excited for the season.  No matter what anyone says.  Hell, I listened to most of the games back when our pitchers were people like Brad Havens, Pete Filson, and Frankie Rodriguez.  You are all welcome to your own opinions, and I actually share some of them, but you can't wreck the Twins for me, no matter how hard you try.

 

2.  I feel sorry for Pinto.  And if I were pitching for the Twins, Adam Jones would have left his next at-bat to get his ribs taped up.  Sorry, that's how it should work.  No head-hunting, no cheap shot on the bases, no "unwritten rules", just something to think about next time you consider having a long, looping follow-through.

 

3.  I love baseball.  Go Twins!!!

[gocgo]

What confuses me about the roster is that it was assumed that Tori Hunter would mentor Hicks, Rosario, or whoever was in CF.  No chance for that with the current roster.  So, why pay 10 mil for a guy to play subpar defense and mentor no one?

[ashbury]

 

What confuses me about the roster is that it was assumed that Tori Hunter would mentor Hicks, Rosario, or whoever was in CF.  No chance for that with the current roster.  So, why pay 10 mil for a guy to play subpar defense and mentor no one?

He was signed to sell tickets.* Purely. All else is added after-the-fact.

 

^{*_{Not intended as a straight line leading to him working for Mike Clough, Twins Vice President for Ticket Sales & Service}}

[Danchat]

 

What confuses me about the roster is that it was assumed that Tori Hunter would mentor Hicks, Rosario, or whoever was in CF.  No chance for that with the current roster.  So, why pay 10 mil for a guy to play subpar defense and mentor no one?

I think he'll be a mentor to Oswaldo. He's still a young kid who could use a mentor.

 

Outside of that, the rest of the reasons go along with what ashburyjohn said.

[troyhobbs]

 

From Vodka Dave: "Hermann... is a decent org depth guy, but come on....he doesn't hit, he doesn't field well, he doesn't have speed."

 

In other words, he's a triple threat in any league.

Ya, I don't know what people see in Hermann.  He's not good.

[Willihammer]

I think the Hunter signing was a little bit of all things for everyone. He could sell tickets, still swing a bat, and maybe help out the new manager. Defense, well... Torii Hunter!

[Shane Wahl]

 

He was on the 25-man in 2013 and 2012 both during the regular reason and post-season.  

 

So, how can you evaluate players in the Spring and make roster decisions?  Darts? Names off hats? Gut feelings?  Or performance on the field?   Or something else?

 

I was wondering if he was sent back down periodically. It doesn't really matter.  A team in contention can have a player like that (esp in the NL). He is a very good player to have in the playoffs. 

I should distinguish between ST games and the totality of ST. So much goes on outside of games. There is value to the overall ST. But the games are ridiculous! Honestly, there is about as much value in ST games as the AFL games in evaluating up and coming players. Anyway, I don't really think that roster decisions should be based on ST games unless we are talking about prospect vs. prospect or veteran vs. veteran when they have basically similar track records. Guys in competition with similar track records and roughly the same age can be evaluated by these silly games. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

He was on the 25-man in 2013 and 2012 both during the regular reason and post-season.

Why not 2014?

 

 

Eduardo Nunez was on Yankees playoff rosters in 2011 and 2012 too.  I hope that didn't factor into our evaluation of his talent in 2014.

 

[Kwak]

 

Ya, I don't know what people see in Hermann.  He's not good.

Pinto had a huge setback with a concussion--so he wasn't "fit for duty" yet. Fryer was the other option--and he "hasn't paid enough dues" in the minors ala` the Twins Way.

[Tibs]

I would much rather have Shane Robinson on the active roster than Aaron Hicks right now. If Hicks is going to be what we want him to be, he has to play every day and prove he can hit. After the last two years and how he performed in spring training, he has no business being on the 25 man until he can prove it in AAA. Hopefully he proves it early in the season.

[Shane Wahl]

 

Ya, I don't know what people see in Hermann.  He's not good.

 

The .878 OPS in AAA last year is relevant to these discussions.

[Thrylos]

 

Why not 2014?

 

He was out by then because of shoulder surgery.

[cmb0252]

This is why I don't pay attention to spring training. The twins will always end up with a very "twins like" veteran heavy team over actual talent.

[Squirrel]

 

Pinto had a huge setback with a concussion--so he wasn't "fit for duty" yet. Fryer was the other option--and he "hasn't paid enough dues" in the minors ala` the Twins Way.

Fryer isn't on the 40-man. The fact that they didn't make moves to put Fryer on the 40-man would indicate to me that Pinto's time in AAA won't be for long. But who knows.

[Shane Wahl]

 

I would much rather have Shane Robinson on the active roster than Aaron Hicks right now. If Hicks is going to be what we want him to be, he has to play every day and prove he can hit. After the last two years and how he performed in spring training, he has no business being on the 25 man until he can prove it in AAA. Hopefully he proves it early in the season.

 

Hicks hits lefties well and Robinson is terrible against them. What if the real ceiling for Hicks is a 4th OF? Just immediately, there is going to be competition between Buxton, Rosario, Hicks and Arcia. Either Arcia or Vargas will be traded by this team, so maybe that alleviates some of this. The fact is that trades have to happen for Aaron Hicks to be a full-time starter for the Twins. But you know what? I would rather have Aaron Hicks as a lefty masher and 4th OF than all of these jokes the Twins have tried there for the last several years. Also, Hicks is going to be a great guy on the roster to move to any temporary starting role due to DL issues with Rosario, Buxton, Arcia, Kepler, etc.

I would like to keep him around. It is weird to me to see a team just end prospects who don't become starters and then opt for has-been journeymen to fill out a roster. 
 

Edited April 3, 2015 by Shane Wahl

[troyhobbs]

 

The .878 OPS in AAA last year is relevant to these discussions.

Ok, I looked at his minor league stats and he has done some decent things on the farm. He has not looked good in the MLB but maybe he is better than what I give him credit for.

[DJL44]

Looking at the schedule, Saturday April 18th would be a great time to have Pinto back. It's the second in a set of day games after night games. That would limit Herrmann to maybe two starts and give Pinto two weeks to get into game shape. Chris Herrmann's purpose on the roster is to get shuttled back and forth to AAA Rochester.

[DJL44]

 

Fryer was the other option--and he "hasn't paid enough dues" in the minors ala` the Twins Way.

 

No, Fryer isn't on the 40 man roster and they'd have to cut someone else to add him.

[Hrbowski]

This won't last long. On August 1st the lineup will be:

1 Santana SS

2 Dozier 2B

3 Mauer 1B

4 Vargas DH

5 Sano 3B

6 Arcia LF

7 Hunter RF

8 Buxton CF

9 Pinto C

 

Jordan Schafer will have a breakout season but will be traded to the Tigers along with Casey Fien and Tommy Milone for David Price who after winning the World Series here will re-sign. Alex Meyer will pitch a perfect game to win it against the Cubs in game 4 (Meyer replaced Nolasco who will retire midseason to become a NASCAR driver.)

Edited April 3, 2015 by Hrbowski

[dxpavelka]

 

The CF situation is absolutely maddening, they are going with two guys that have next to zero major league future. Hicks has been a disappointment, but good lord, at least he has some upside. Hunter serves no purpose on this roster whatsoever, he is just taking much needed at bats away from players who can help in the future.

 

Ditto with the bullpen decisions, I just don't get it, especially for a team coming off of a horrendous last 3 years, why you decide to stack the team with mediocrity throughout is beyond me. There is only one reason why Meyer or May shouldn't be up by May, and that is if somehow both Milone and Nolasco are pitching very well.

We have a left fielder who will only strike out less than 200 times because he won't play 162 games.  We have a CF platoon that will be lucky to strike out less than 100 times and put up a .625 OPS.  Exactly who, that is ready to make quality major league plate appearances, is Hunter taking at bats away from?

[nicksaviking]

Buxton and Sano are coming off missed seasons, so I think they'll be late-season (July or August) call-ups at best. Berrios may fit into that same time. Meyer and May should be up by June or sooner. That could be Rosario's timeline too. I think Burdi could be up by August. Tonkin, Pressly and Achter could be up any time. Darnell could come up and be ready any time. Then guys like Reed, Chargois and Zack Jones could be up early next year.

 

While I think we are all hoping for this, that means there's a ton of players to clear off the 25-man. Unless we're talking a ton of significant injuries, it wouldn't seem to me the front office would be comfortable losing 11 players even if many of the posters here may. Sano alone would seem to make Plouffe, Hunter, Arcia, Mauer or Vargas have to move. We're not even talking about the cutable guys like Herrmann, Schaffer or Robinson. Then make room for ten more guys? I don't think the team is OK with this much in season turnover.