Twins Add Another Left-Handed Outfielder on Minor-League Deal

I think it means we shouldn't be too optimistic about the recovery from injuries sustained by our OF players. I'm not fond of my interpretation, but there it is.

Worse still, there may be some news which has not yet been made public.

Maybe there is more serious offers for some cOF LH bats. As to take a chance on Stevenson. Besides possible set backs.

This guy isn't young, isn't on the cusp and if he ends up on the Twins things have gone really, really, really wrong. IMO he is a guy that can take over in St. Paul when other prospects move up, that is it. Even if he is hitting .400 with an OPS of 1400 on the Saints I don't want to see him in a Twins uniform! (In this case trade him)

Jake Cave's replacement in St. Paul......

5 minutes ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

Jake Cave's replacement in St. Paul......

I was thinking the same thing.  An older player with some MLB experience but hasn't quite had the bat to make it.  Plays all three spots and if he can get the bat working maybe he gets a chance.  But just like last year he is pretty much a break glass in emergency type of player at this point.

Seems like a cheap depth move. No conspiracy theory that everyone else is going to be out for extended period. Good athlete that can play all 3 OF positions if we are really desperate at some point. Good organizational move.

10 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Seems like a cheap depth move. No conspiracy theory that everyone else is going to be out for extended period. Good athlete that can play all 3 OF positions if we are really desperate at some point. Good organizational move.

i think this is right. If you get a rash of OF injuries all at once and you need someone to fill in as a emergency, having a guy who is still right in his prime and has spent some time in the majors already sitting in AAA on a minor-league deal isn't a bad thing at all. he's not going to slot in ahead of Larnach or Wallner but gives you another option to keep the floor a little higher if disaster strikes. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Cave didn't show up until we got to disaster levels last season and while he didn't do great, he was professional and not horrible, so having a player for that type of role stashed in AAA seems good. Cave didn't take ABs away from Nick Gordon or Trevor Larnach last season like some people (including me) feared: he was the break glass in case of emergency OF...and we had to break the glass. Stevenson feels like a similar version.

Hitting left-handed is an advantage in baseball, due to being closer to 1B than a R/H batter, having one's body going in to direction of 1B as the swing is completed and due to there being 75 % (plus or minus) right-handed pitches in the major leagues, which means that 75 % of pitches faced by a lefty stand to be from an easier to see R/H pitcher. I know lefty relievers are brought in to face lefty hitters, but with the relatively new requirements of a reliever facing 3 batters, that affects these stats some. Therefore I am happy the FO has obtained an abundance of L/H hitters. I'll close with this: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker, Stan Musial, Barry Bonds, Rod Carew, Tony Gwyn, Mel Ott, Ichiro Suzuki all had something in common. Can you guess what it is?

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 I'll close with this: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker, Stan Musial, Barry Bonds, Rod Carew, Tony Gwyn, Mel Ott, Ichiro Suzuki all had something in common. Can you guess what it is?

Um, they all played professional baseball before Luis Arraez?

This could also be a culture/mentor move as well.  Every team needs players in the organization that are "seasoned" minor leaguers.  Beyond the organizational depth piece, could be he is also there to help some of the younger guys.