Twins Sign Veteran OF David Murphy To Minor League Deal

Good god. I mean, really?

Just. Go. With. Youth. Now. And. Take. The. Bumps.

Two years two late, but it still needs to happen. This is a silly signing (in that they clearly want him to do well quickly in AAA to join the Twins). What a joke.

Don't trade your CF for a backup catcher.

Good god. I mean, really?

 

Just. Go. With. Youth. Now. And. Take. The. Bumps.

Two years two late, but it still needs to happen. This is a silly signing (in that they clearly want him to do well quickly in AAA to join the Twins). What a joke.

Yup Agree.  Trade everyone not nailed down and go young.  

(Of course, then they will get criticized for being cheap later but if the young kids learn and improve, who cares)

We have hot seats! We have hot seats!

I'm surprised they just didn't go with Quentin or Sweeney.

I was handling this bad start pretty well until I saw this. What a bummer.

They should send ZERO of these guys down. Let them play.

Way too early to give up on 2016.. 

 

Murphy is better than Quentin or Sweeney.

 

Kepler should not be on a bench. He should be in AAA playing (or MLB playing).

 

Buxton looks overmatched and as much as it's nice to say he should develop and figure things out in MLB, at some point, it becomes too much. The Twins don't want him to lose confidence and they want to do what is best for him short-term and long-term. Rosario hasn't looked good either. 

 

I see no downside to this.

Um, Quentin and Murphy are apples and oranges. Murphy is just an older version of Sweeney. Both lefthanded 4th outfielders with extreme platoon splits, decent BB/K ratios with not much speed on the bases. Sweeney has been an above average defender in the corners and average in CF; Murphy has been below average in the corners, but "GOD NO DON'T DO IT!" bad in CF. Murphy has hit for a little more power, but that's because he spend the bulk of his career in Arlington and Sweeney in Oakland. Murphy was cheaper and we had him in camp. This is just lack of foresight on TR's part. 

I do NOT endorse this move. They are not short of corner OF. They are supposedly rebuilding. He's 34. I see no upside here.

If they were going to do this, why not just have kept Sweeney? Their going to lose someone on the 40 man anyway, Sweeney costs less AND is younger and has at least some defensive value left. TR had to have known that the odds of having at least a few of Rosario, Buxton, Sano, Arcia, and Santana struggle making contact and need more time in AAA was very high, why not just keep Sweeney? 

You mean the guy hitting .091 for the Yankees?

From MLB Rumors:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/minnesota-twins

A little snippet:  "That means one of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton or Miguel Sano is on the hot seat in terms of his starting job, per Neal."

Personally, based only on what Rosario and Sano did last year:  Buxton is getting a bus ticket.

Well he's a corner outfielder or DH.

We have Arcia and Park at DH.

We have Sano and Arcia in RF.

We have Rosario in LF.

He could bump Sano down to the minors, or force the Twins to waive Arcia (and, yes, someone will claim Arcia...at the worst that team can send him to the minors).

Buxton could go down and Rosario and later Santana could play center.

Kepler can go down, but then we have a lot of outfielders needing playing time.

But the big question is 40-man. I doubt Santana is a 60-day DL. Maybe Perkins could be shutdown for 60-days.

Otherwise, you have Melotakis, Chargolis,m Rosario and Landa. Any one of those could be cut, but I'm sure some team would find a place for them on their 40-man, for now.

You have O'Rourke and Meyer. Meyer is still a valuable chip. O'Rourke could probably pass thru waievrs and remain with the Twins. You have Pat Dean. He pitched well, is a lefty (potential abckend starter) and I would think someone might grab him. Remember, any guy grabbed could be waived by the grabbing team and possibly not claimed again.

Of course there is Kennys Vargas, a first baseman for a team that doesn't really need that depth today (Plouffe AND Kepler could play first, not to mention Park, and maybe Sano).

Vargas could easily not be claimed, unless some team thinks he is better than the bench bat they have already backing up first.

O'Rourke could be sneaked thru. Vargas and Dean might not be claimed. That's it. Three guys that the Twins have to work around on the 40-man, period.

Those three (along with Nunez) may not play into the immediate plans for the Twins come 2017 (as I;m sure Murphy will not). 

Plus  is Hicks on the 40-man. I thought not. And if he isn't, then we need a player to rotate out if we ever need that second backstop.

how about taking kurt suzuki off the 40 man

I am all for sending Buxton down (and said so last fall).  But that doesn't mean signing a mediocrity like DMurphy. Just play Kepler and Arcia more.  Unless the Twins plan on demoting another player as well.  Even then DMurphy is not part of the solution.

If Pat Dean is not the guy removed from the 40-man . . . .