In the last week or so things have been going quite nicely, at least on offense, for the Twins. The hitting has been just short of ridiculous. But looming in the horizon are the P&P Boys. Plouffe and Park. There is no doubt Plouffe is coming back in the near future. Parks timeline has likely been muddled by Ryans leaving. Saving face is removed from the equation. But reports are that he has been hitting AAA pitching fairly well. I liked the moves Antony made so far, but the injury to Plouffe and the demotion of Park has moved the logjam at the corners and DH to the rear burner. That burner is about to reignite. Plouffe, Sano, Vargas, Mauer, Park! You might add ABW3 as DH on this team seems his only opportunity. As the old commercial said, "you can't put two ton of fertilizer in a one tone truck"! No matter your like, or dislike, of any of the above players, somebody's gotta go!

P & P & P & P = Palka & Polanco & Plouffe & Park

Given ABW3s performance in Rochester so far, I don't see the point in muddying that debate for the time being, but Park needs to come back up here....  Plouffe does too if there's going to be a trade.  If there's no chance at that, he may as well just sit the bench or get DFAd. The real issue is figuring out PT.  You could potentially have some sort of Park/Mauer/Vargas platoon and have them playing 2 of every 3 nights, but I'm not sure how much PT I want to take away from Sano, especially since I expect to be pretty underwhelmed by whatever Plouffe finally nets.

I'd be awfully tempted to leave Park in Rochester for the rest of the year and start fresh next season.  It's already a wasted year for him, no reason to make things more complicated just because he makes a lot of money.

 

Plouffe will be back soon, as stated above.  Here's to hoping that he either gets claimed on waivers or clears and Antony is able to deal him quickly.  Having him hang around isn't good for the team or Plouffe.  This is the just more punishment for not moving him sooner.

 

I think Polanco needs to be playing in the field virtually every day.  Rotate him through the infield to see what he can do in the field.  I think we've got a decent feel for what he's going to do with the bat.  If you rotate him through the infield, you can either DH the starter or rest him.  Either is fine with me, but he needs reps with the glove.