stringer bell

While I agree that "pitch to contact" and bad range is a lethal combination, I think the Twins are moving away from both but the changes haven't hit the major league club yet (or Rochester for that matter). I have thought how cool a defensive OF of Arcia/Benson, Buxton and Hicks would be for a while. They will be able to run down a lot of line shots and gappers that the current group has no chance of catching. I will submit that Parmelee has been a much better than advertised outfielder as well. The only position in the infield that has yielded negative fielding results is third base. Plouffe may never be a gold glover, but he isn't a statue over there either. The pitchers on their way to the majors aren't all command and control guys. It will take a while before they make a mark, but the club is moving in the right direction, especially in the lower levels of the minors.

A serious question. Do the Twins alter their rotation a bit here? Deduno was supposed to pitch yesterday, I believe. Maybe he should go right away on Thursday, giving Diamond an extra day. Also Pelfrey could probably go any time between Friday and Sunday since he only worked two innings thanks to the rain. Gibson's scheduled day would be Friday, but if he's called up, Saturday would be a good day to start him.

Ironic that Worley's two worst starts were against NL teams, including one with no DH. Then again, maybe not so ironic since both the Mets and the Braves had seen him multiple times.

Well, after relative stability, the Twins have made a rash of roster moves. I am glad that success stories Thielbar and Colabello will have their chance. Thielbar has been good so far, while Colabello will hit some, I think. Can they be useful big leaguers? It would be good for the Twins. Deduno is an enigma, but after witnessing Worley and Hernandez pitch, it is certainly worth seeing what Deduno 2.0 (3.0, 4.0, or 5.0?) can do. I consider Gibson a different class than both Walters and Albers. He has the potential and the profile to be a good starter. His numbers are good at Rochester and I maintain that a surehanded rangy infield would make them considerably better since he has a 2-1 ground out/air out ratio. While it makes sense to see what Albers and Walters can offer, it is doubtful that either will ever be a regular starter in a major league rotation. One further reason that Walters might have an edge over the other two is that he has over a full year in the major leagues.

After today's disaster, perhaps it is time for Vanimal to head to Rochester. He's been mostly dreadful. The easy answer is to promote Gibson for Worley. Pelfrey is a runner up, but given his veteran status, it will be tough to send him down. He might want to be DLed and then rehab. I am all in favor of sending the youngsters, Arcia and Hicks, down. There is a glut of Corner OF/1B/DHs on the team so perhaps Arcia can go first, and then depending on the productivity of several players Hicks could be sent down and replaced by Richardson or maybe just maybe Joe Benson if he is able to get it going at Rochester (two hits last night).

What is Vanimal's 1st inning ERA?

That part is easy-peasy. Since Deduno isn't officially on the roster 'til Friday, they need to clear one spot on the 40-man--that would be Mastro to the 60-day list. Making space for Deduno will be a little more difficult.

I wouldn't bet on it.

Add in a little bit of bad luck and yet another loss.

Anatomy of a losing streak: Questionable managerial decisions, close losses, slumping offense and deteriorating pitching. Most things that went right when the Twins were winning more than their share have regressed toward the mean, while the problem spots have truly been exposed.

The collision did not look good, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power, FWIW. Sad to say, but Trevor's the third best offensive player on the team right now.

This thread has morphed into an examination of the Twins management staff. I have mixed feelings about both. 1) Gardenhire has won when he had the talent and a couple times when he didn't have as much talent as the competition. However, most managers have a "shelf life" and he probably has passed his expiration date. A different style and voice might be needed for the next generation of players. Gardenhire can manage another team if he doesn't get his contract extended or is fired. I'd like to see what Gardy can do with a strong rotation, but it doesn't look like he'll have a chance. 2) Ryan comes from the scouting side of baseball front offices. He knows talent and has demonstrated he can build a farm system. My questions about Ryan center on the change for the Twins from small market to medium market. Ryan has handled the checkbook as if Calvin Griffith was signing the checks, seemingly always opting for bargain basement players, sometimes hitting, but often missing. When pursuing free agents, he has been unwilling to pay the price for good talent and may have not adjusted to the "strikeouts good" pitching philosophythat favors hard throwers. I submit that Ryan has again built a good future for the Twins, but 2013 is a lost cause. Middle market teams should do better in down years.

Trevor's not a great baserunner.

Justice for Swarzak. He certainly didn't deserve the loss.

The Twins have a lot of candidates for demotion and Arcia is among them. It looks like the second half of May might be one of the worst fortnights in Twins' history.

Please rain, stop. let Pelfrey get back out there and lose his position on merit.

I would consider the catching tandem of Mauer and Doumit being in the top 20% of catching tandems to be meeting expectations. I am not a Mauer hater by any means, but the man is the highest paid catcher in baseball, he's in his peak years and he's healthy. Mauer is 10 points above his career batting average, seven in OBP and 10 in slugging. An 0-fer would have put him below in all (I know he got a hit already). Doumit in 14 games is significantly below his norms in all those categories as a catcher.

The catching position for the Twins is manned by a capable hitting backup (Ryan Doumit) and a future Hall-of-Famer (Joe Mauer). I did not say that compared to the rest of the league they were meeting expectations. I said that the performance of the Twins two catchers approximately met expectations. A healthy 30-year old Joe Mauer is close to matching his career norms and his backup is below his in 57 plate appearances as a catcher. Mauer is an All-Star catcher, no question, and I think Twins fans should expect at least what he is doing offensively.

The comment about Sano's defense falling off--does that have to do with errors or scouting reports? Errors can come from a lot of things like throwing to unoccuplied bases or hitting sliding baserunners and they can be reduced drastically by a decent first baseman (ask Pedro Florimon). IIRC, many if not most of Sano's errors have come on throws and his number of errors has little if anything to do with hands or range.

It isn't about "team control" for Gibson, it is about arbitration. If Gibson were promoted today, or June 2 or July 10, the Twins would get this season plus six more out of Kyle. It is just that he would be eligible for the bigger dollars of arb after two full seasons plus this partial season.

If Pelf has another "disappointing" outing, I think it is possible that the Twins add either Walters or Gibson for a start in Detroit. I really would like to see Gibson sooner rather than later given his innings limit, but Deduno was going to win a spot in the rotation until he came up lame after the WBC.

Going through the postion players, position by position (and counting Arcia as a RF), the Twins are getting less than expected performance from 2B, LF, CF, RF, and DH. I would say they are near expectations for 3B, C, and 1B, and have exceeded (low) expectations for SS. Individually, Mauer and Morneau are performing "well", but unevenly--Morneau hasn't hit with power and Mauer has been uncharacteristically streaky and strikeout prone. They both have been in the lineup more than could be expected and they both are playing well defensively. Given the team's low slugging and batting average, it is surprising they've scored as many runs as they have. I would argue that Plouffe has been average for a regular at the hot corner, but I suppose that is picking nits.

Certainly some changes will be made. The team is playing poorly and very few position players are going well--Morneau is hitting (singles) and .........well Plouffe's been pretty consistent and Florimon continues to be okay--and the rotation is in tatters and the bullpen is overworked. I think they need to do something with the rotation first and at least two and possibly four guys should be on "super secret double probation"--Parmelee, Dozier, Hicks and maybe Arcia. I'd like to see the team keep three lefties in the bullpen, but that would be predicated on the effectiveness of Thielbar.

Buxton has been terrific, but it is probably the correct move to keep him at Cedar Rapids at least until midseason. How many MiLB teams have won 30 games. I'm guessing there aren't many in affiliated baseball.

Congratulations to Caleb Thielbar. Randolph is less than 25 miles from where I live and two of my cousins used to live in rural Randolph, so Caleb is practically a neighbor. I hope he is given a chance to stay with the big club when Friday's start is upon us. He had a fine two innings in his debut.