I'm relatively new to Twins Daily, so maybe this has been discussed in depth previously; but I have two topics I've wondered about this spring.

 

1. Has there ever been talk about Mauer moving to 3B rather than 1B to better use his athleticism? Plouffe hasn't taken advantage of the chances he's had it seems, and I know Sano is coming up but with his TJ he could easily move over to 1B right? It just seems if Mauer was going to play a new position, 3B seemed like a good fit for his abilities.

 

2. Obviously there's contract stuff involved, but why was it just assumed that Hughes, Pelfrey, Correia, and Nolasco automatically got 4 spots in the rotation? In my mind Gibson and Deduno are both deserving members of the rotation over at least one of those other 4.

1) Yes, there has been plenty of talk about that on this board. No real mention of the possibility by anybody who can make those decisions.

 

2) It was assumed because of the contracts, and because Deduno has a hard time keeping his pitch count low enough to make it through 6 or 7 innings. It's a pretty weak excuse in my book, but our pen does tend to get overworked.

I'm concerned that Mauer won't be able to play an adequate 1B.

Why mess with Mauer more than need be? Sano is still going to get every chance to stick and 3rd and should for at least the first part of his pro career, so why make Mauer learn 3rd when he is coming and Plouffe is there as a stop gap. If you moved Mauer off 1st right now guess who would be starting there...... Plouffe, so why arbitrarily switch them.

 

Deduno is there in the pen as possibly the 6th starter when someone falters or gets injured, but he profiles better as a reliever anyway.

Mauer has played some first base prior to this year so it should be easier for him to solidify the position. Moving Mauer to 3rd and Plouffe to 1st would require two players to learn new positions. It would also require Sano to learn another position which would just add more time for him to reach the majors. While Mauer has the athleticism to learn pretty much any position, it would still take time for him to learn the skills necessary to play the positions.

I'm relatively new to Twins Daily, so maybe this has been discussed in depth previously; but I have two topics I've wondered about this spring.

 

1. Has there ever been talk about Mauer moving to 3B rather than 1B to better use his athleticism? Plouffe hasn't taken advantage of the chances he's had it seems, and I know Sano is coming up but with his TJ he could easily move over to 1B right? It just seems if Mauer was going to play a new position, 3B seemed like a good fit for his abilities.

 

2. Obviously there's contract stuff involved, but why was it just assumed that Hughes, Pelfrey, Correia, and Nolasco automatically got 4 spots in the rotation? In my mind Gibson and Deduno are both deserving members of the rotation over at least one of those other 4.

As soon as Sano went down I thought they should have moved Mauer to 3rd. That would have allowed Colabello to play first. As it is looking though, Plouffe may have a good year. I would rather watch Deduno pitch than any other starter the twins have. But Gardenhire freaks out over the walks. Thankfully, Deduno was kept. If someone falters or is injured he should be plugged in to replace them.

 

Regarding the Twins in general, I have this to say:Based on what we have seen this spring, despite the improved pitching, I predict the Twins win 3 games in April and 6 games in May. At which point they bring in some players that can hit - and start to look a little better than last year. Right now, they look worse.

1. Mauer will never play third base, unless Sano's elbow injury requires Mauer to move. Mauer left the catcher position to avoid concussion, going to the hot corner puts Mauer in harms way again.

 

2. I'm not certain that Deduno is more deserving than Gibson or the first 4 in the rotation. While he was a strikeout machine, Deduno rarely got out of the 5th inning. The best thing a starter can do is limit runs and keep the relievers out of the game. I like Deduno as a reliever.

1. Mauer will never play third base, unless Sano's elbow injury requires Mauer to move. Mauer left the catcher position to avoid concussion, going to the hot corner puts Mauer in harms way again.

 

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You may very well be right about Mauer never playing 3B, but playing at 1B doesn't really take Mauer more out of harms way relative to playing 3B. Maybe a few less line drives and hard smash/bad hop groundballs, but lots more collision posibilities and potential missed balls in your general direction at first. (Recall the rather fluky, low-impact collison/concussion at 2B for Morneau.)

While he was a strikeout machine, Deduno rarely got out of the 5th inning.

 

Only in the Twins rotation could Deduno be classified as a "strike out machine".

You may very well be right about Mauer never playing 3B, but playing at 1B doesn't really take Mauer more out of harms way relative to playing 3B. Maybe a few less line drives and hard smash/bad hop groundballs, but lots more collision posibilities and potential missed balls in your general direction at first. (Recall the rather fluky, low-impact collison/concussion at 2B for Morneau.)

 

That was while base running. I don't think the concussion risk is much different between first and third. It's a LOT lower than catcher. Mauer got hit on the top of the head dozens of times per year. We now know that that has a cumulative effect.

I think Mauer will be fine at 1B.

 

Deduno... I think will be great in the bullpen if he starts innings. But.... I still believe he could be our best starter if starting.

That was while base running. I don't think the concussion risk is much different between first and third. It's a LOT lower than catcher. Mauer got hit on the top of the head dozens of times per year. We now know that that has a cumulative effect.

 

Yes, exactly my point. First and third are basically no different in the risk, but I would lean to the possibly of a slight edge at first because of many more chances for body contact or a tipped ball to the noggin- maybe not the impact like a screamer at third, but at this point, the cumulative effect won't require a 120MPH line drive to be a career-threatener. And the Morneau cumulative thing was also my point, as in his case- what really looked like a non-incident at the time, at this point in Mauer's career, you have to cringe a little every time he slides into a base.

LEN3 and Souhan have Mauer at 3rd in their opening day lineups.

 

http://apps.startribune.com/news/sports/20140328-baseball-manager/results.php?1=1&2=2&3=6&4=3&5=9&6=13&7=4&8=5&9=0&C=9&1B=13&2B=2&3B=1&SS=0&LF=3&CF=5&RF=4&DH=6

#2 is complete crap. He led the Twins in innings per start last season.

That's more of an indictment of the rest of the team. 18 games, 108 innings, that's 6 inning per game according to Fangraphs.

Yes, exactly my point. First and third are basically no different in the risk, but I would lean to the possibly of a slight edge at first because of many more chances for body contact or a tipped ball to the noggin- maybe not the impact like a screamer at third, but at this point, the cumulative effect won't require a 120MPH line drive to be a career-threatener. And the Morneau cumulative thing was also my point, as in his case- what really looked like a non-incident at the time, at this point in Mauer's career, you have to cringe a little every time he slides into a base.

sure you have more base runners at first, but steals of first rarely happen, line drives rarely happen. My concern with third is more on the line of diving for the low liner, and impact base runners.

That's more of an indictment of the rest of the team. 18 games, 108 innings, that's 6 inning per game according to Fangraphs.

 

Over a full season that's almost 200 innings which is apparently a workhorse these days.

LEN3 and Souhan have Mauer at 3rd in their opening day lineups.

 

http://apps.startribune.com/news/sports/20140328-baseball-manager/results.php?1=1&2=2&3=6&4=3&5=9&6=13&7=4&8=5&9=0&C=9&1B=13&2B=2&3B=1&SS=0&LF=3&CF=5&RF=4&DH=6

 

As do the fans, only the fans are even smarter than LEN and Souhan, putting Plouffe in LF and Willingham at DH.

LEN3 and Souhan have Mauer at 3rd in their opening day lineups.

Thanks for the link; hadn't seen that one yet. Interesting that they went that way, and it makes the idea (which I like) seem less outside the mainstream.

 

For me they kind of diminished that warm fuzzy by also being the only two to pick Buxton for center. Buxton is a better prospect than Hicks, but having him skip two levels when his predecessor faceplanted skipping only one seems... outside the mainstream.

 

As for the concussion risk, just off the top my head (no pun intended), it seems to me that the concussion risk of 650 plate appearances is greater than the risk of a full season at third base, or even the risk of a season at third plus another at first.

1. Mauer will never play third base, unless Sano's elbow injury requires Mauer to move. Mauer left the catcher position to avoid concussion, going to the hot corner puts Mauer in harms way again.

 

2. I'm not certain that Deduno is more deserving than Gibson or the first 4 in the rotation. While he was a strikeout machine, Deduno rarely got out of the 5th inning. The best thing a starter can do is limit runs and keep the relievers out of the game. I like Deduno as a reliever.

 

There has been ongoing concern about Sano not being able to stick at third since well before the injury, some of it going back to when he joined the organization.

 

Though I'm not terribly excited about Gibson yet, agree with the second point. Deduno is fun to watch, but Gibson should still have more upside.

 

At any rate, what are the odds of a Twins rotation not needing plenty of starts from Deduno and/or others when the 1-5 guys are injured or (yes, even with Hughlasco improving the rotation) ineffective?

There has been ongoing concern about Sano not being able to stick at third since well before the injury, some of it going back to when he joined the organization.

 

Though I'm not terribly excited about Gibson yet, agree with the second point. Deduno is fun to watch, but Gibson should still have more upside.

 

At any rate, what are the odds of a Twins rotation not needing plenty of starts from Deduno and/or others when the 1-5 guys are injured or (yes, even with Hughlasco improving the rotation) ineffective?

 

I'm guessing that Las Vegas wouldn't even be able to set odds on virtual certainties....