Did Phil Coke sign with anyone yet? 

 

Did Phil Coke sign with anyone yet? 

Minor league deal with Oakland.

Thielbar for Thompson

Achter for Boyer

Fryer for Hermann

Arcia for Santana

 

I'm fine with shuffling the deck in the pen as it is clear that these guys aren't getting it done anymore.

Herrman needs to go - can't hit a lick and isn't great defensively. Might as well see if Fryer can keep hitting at MLB level.

Arcia for Santana just go give us a decent pinch hitting option off the bench and Santana can try to find his mojo again in AAA for the rest of they year. Who knows, maybe he could work on some 2nd Base and corner outfield so he can be our super utility guy and free us up to trade Escobar for a bullpen guy or something

I think the Twins need to call up Arcia.

 

Play him in RF once a series for Torii. DH him and rest Plouffe occasionally with Sano at 3B. Provide a better bench bat option to pinch hit for Suzuki.

 

The Twins need a weapon on the bench to use late in games. Arcia or whoever is out of the lineup when he is in the game can be that weapon. I think it is more important than the role Duensing has on the team right now.

Aaron Thompson has done something special lately. He has taken the pressure the pressure off of Brian Duensing. Please, Mr. Ryan, send him to AAA and replace him with.....maybe a hitter. I'd either promote Rogers now or put him in the bullpen in Rochester for a week. The club needs LH relief pitching.

 

AJ Achter has earned a promotion. Perhaps he could be a decent middle innings or seventh inning option. They really need an eighth inning option so that Fien could back off to the seventh. I had hopes for Tonkin to fill that role, but he hasn't been good for the Twins. Maybe the 10th time is the charm.

I mean, I understand some of the standing pat.  Our solution in some cases relies on some of our key components simply playing better.  Zuke has struggled mightily this year, but he's a better player than what he's shown.  He needs to play better.  It's nice that Mauer is starting to sting the ball a bit, but in general, he just has to play better.  Dozier picked a bad series to go cold.  Hicks keeps getting chances. Vargas, Arcia, Tonkin all failed in their opportunities.  Fien, Boyer, Hughes, Duensing all need to pitch to their abilities.  We could try bringing Fryer up for Herman, but this year's stats aside, I feel like Fryer is known to be an even worse hitter.

 

The one guy I don't get is Thompson.  Thielbar has shown some ability in stretches.  Other than that, there aren't a lot of suitable replacements.  Guys just need to step up and produce.

 

Zuke has struggled mightily this year, but he's a better player than what he's shown.  He needs to play better.

Suzuki's batting line this year is almost identical to his 2013.  (And not far off from 2012.)

 

Suzuki's batting line this year is almost identical to his 2013.  (And not far off from 2012.)

he really has no business being a starter.

Here is mlbtraderumors on the catching market:

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/jonathan-lucroy-catcher-trade-market.html

 

Similar to what we have been saying -

LuCroy, Vogt, Norris as clear upgrades.

Hedges, Plawecki, Susac as young guys likely not available.

And a whole lot of nothing else. Some guys currently having better seasons than Suzuki but no guarantee they will be any better going forward.

 

Just not sure what it would take to get the first three - don't see if happening without Berrios or May.

Edited July 6, 201511 yr by drjim

 

Suzuki's batting line this year is almost identical to his 2013.  (And not far off from 2012.)

 

I mean, his OPS sits at .588 which would be a career low by .17 and almost 100 points below his career average of .684.  Ideally he's a back up, but given his defensive limitations, the year he had at the plate last year, and his career norms, he needs to pick it up.  I was also stating that players need to play better as a rhetorical premise of "if we are to build a winner..." I don't think a trade for a catcher would work out better short or long term than crossing our fingers and hoping Zuke has a good 2nd half in him.  He seems to managing the staff extremely well, and he's tough as nails.  I'm willing to wait it out with him instead of going to get a catcher and paying a premium.  

Edited July 6, 201511 yr by Jham

Harrison out in Pittsburgh, 4-6 weeks.  Plouffe looking more and more attractive to them.  I like Elias Diaz, but I like Reece McGuire even more.