Kume34

Stay or go at the trade deadline or at the end of the season, this is my list as frustrating as it is. No minor league players are included on this list. Keep - Luis Arraez, Jorge Polanco, Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran, Prefer to stay - Alex Kirilloff, Tevor Larnach, Nick Gordon, Gilberto Celestino, Gio Urshela, Griffin Jax, Jovani Moran Enough is enough - Miguel Sano, Tyler Duffey, Emilio Pagan The Clash – Should I Stary or Should I go? (borrowing from punk rock band) – Everyone else with one note about Carlos Correa. He’s good for the team and the other players to have around but he will probably leave on his own in the off season and I’d like to see more of Royce Lewis if he can stay healthy. Who should be added or subtracted from each group?

The Twins made a big splash with trades and by signing Carlos Correa this summer. Correa had started slow and has been injured but will his 2022 season improve? According to my Magic 8 ball, “Signs point to yes.” There are a number of “replacement” players on the Twins roster because of those trades, signings and non-signings. Here’s a quick review of the replacements. Their stats through 6/6/2022 are below. Gary Sanchez replaced Mitch Garver at C Gio Urshela replaced Josh Donaldson at 3B *Carlos Correa replaced Isiah Kiner-Falefa at SS **Luis Arraez replaced Nelson Cruz at DH ***Emilio Pagan & Jhoan Duran replaced Taylor Rogers Let’s address the *’s first. *Although Kiner-Falefa walked through a revolving door for the Twins, he would have been the starting shortstop at least to start the season. **The DH has been a slot for multiple players this season. Luis Arraez, the MLB leader in batting average, didn’t really have a position at the beginning of the season. As I wrote late last season, how do you keep a future MLB batting champion out of the line-up? You can’t. So, Luis has been the designated fielder, playing different positions and DH. So, we’ll use Luis as our DH comparison. Although Nelson Cruz didn’t finish with the Twins in 2021, many people predicted his possible return in 2022. ***Taylor Rogers would have been the closer for the Twins to start the season this year. There were multiple players used as the closer in 2021 but Rogers was the only one left of the three to fill that position this season until he was traded. Name/AVG/HR/RBI/OBP/OBS/% of games played Sanchez/ .229 / 7 / 27 / .289 / .735 / 76.8% Garver / .220 / 7 / 16 / .295 / .719 / 67.9% (DL & rehab) Correa / .279 / 3 / 16 / .344 / .751 / 62.5% (COVID) Kiner / .274 / 0 / 12 / .324 / .645 / 92.6% Urshela / .268 / 5 / 23 / .326 / .722 / 87.5% Donaldson/ .229 / 5 / 17 / .337 / .737 / 74.1% (DL) Arraez / .358 / 1 / 13 / .447 / .854 / 83.9% (should be 100%) Cruz / .251 / 5 / 28 / .335 / .699 / 91.1% Name / ERA / IP / SO /SV/Save Opp’s Pagan / 3.00 / 18.0 / 22 / 7 / 10 & Duran / 2.13 / 25.1 / 36 / 4 / 4 Rogers/ 3.00 / 26.0 / 24 / 18 / 21 Do the Twins have the better player at each position? Here’s what I think. I’ll take Sanchez over Garver. Garver has played only 14 games at catcher and 20 at DH and we have plenty of players to fill in at DH. Garver's numbers will probably improve but I like Sanchez for now. Correa is my pick at shortstop. As long as he plays and isn’t injured, he provides platinum defense, silver slugger offense and he’s one of the best shortstops on the planet. Although the numbers are close, I take this brand of Urshela over Donaldson 100 out of 100 times for 3 reasons. 1-Urshela has been good, 2-Donaldson is gone and 3-Donaldson’s contract has also left the building. Arraez is my pick at Designated hitter/fielder or what ever you want to call him. Don’t misunderstand, Nelson Cruz can pick up an offense at any time but he might be finally showing some signs of aging. I loved watching Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer hit. I’m not trying to compare Arraez to these past Twins, but I love watching Arraez hit. I’ve always enjoyed players commanding an at bat and hitting .300+ every year more than the long ball. As far as the closer goes, I’d take Rogers. With the exception of 2 recent games, he’s been lights out. Yes, Pagan has been getting better and we’ve now seen Duran’s fastball but this is about the comparison. I have plenty of thoughts about the Rogers trade and how we would’ve seen Duran this year any way, but this is about the replacement comparisons and not about who won the trade. The Rogers trade and the other trades could be examined but, for me, that’s a better subject later in the season. What do you think about the “replacement” players?

OK, so I’m late to the party on this topic. I’ll admit to that right off the bat. Byron Buxton is a human highlight reel. There is a high chance of another highlight reel play every time he’s on the field defensively, at bat or running the bases. Exciting is my one word description for his play. He accepted a lower contract offer to continue to play for the team that drafted him. After 10 years with the Twins organization, by all accounts, he appears to be and I truly believe, he is a good human being. He is one of my favorite all-time Twins. I am very happy he remains on the team with a long term contract. During this century alone it was hard to see Torii Hunter and Johan Santana go. Next, we said goodbye to Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. Eventually Brian Dozier became a former Twin as well. Obviously, there are other good players who didn’t stay with the Twins their entire career but these are the five I think of from the 2000’s. There’s always a "but" that follows statements like these. Here it is. But, I want to see him play. Recently, we as fans have listened to reporters and baseball personnel tell us that they know better than any fan who disagrees with them on Byron Buxton’s playing “schedule”. I might be a little late at addressing this but the more games he misses, the more I’m annoyed by it and don’t want to tow the company line. The 2022 Twins pitching staff could blow up at any time so offense and defense are always needed. Buxton provides both. The Twins recent winning play has been against subpar teams that they should be beating but are we now seeing signs of the three parts not playing on the same day again like some recent past seasons? “Oops”, the defense didn’t show up today or “oh know”, the pitching staff is volatile today or is today the day that the Twins can’t hit. There are a lot of good players on the Twins roster but leaders need to lead and play. The Twins need Buxton and Correa on the field more. Buxton has only had one full season when he played 140 of 162 MLB games. Buxton has avoided the DL so far this year but has already missed 15 games. At the current rate, he’ll only appear in approximately 100 – 105 of 162 games this season without appearing on the DL. What if he ends up on the DL? What are the odds he does? Nobody knows but history seems to say that the odds are very high considering that 2016 is the only year from 2014-2021 that he was not on the DL. DL days by year (if my math is correct): 94/2014, 42/2015, 0/2016, 17/2017, 117/2018, 73/2019, 12/2020 (60 game season), 43/2021 & 66/2022. His time on the DL has been for joint sprains, broken bones, migraines and other items. I’m not a doctor and I don’t even play one on TV but, through no fault of his own, he seems to be injury prone and also to be prone to a case of bad luck occasionally. I don’t know the Twins exact schedule plan, but I’m hoping it includes increased play at the end of the season. Their current schedule plan appears to be more of a guessing game than anything. It’s like throwing a dart at a calendar. Does their crystal ball give them a list of dates that Buxton is more likely to get hurt? Before you jump on those comments because you disagree, I ask that you consider the fact that he’s going to be hit by a pitch again during his career and he’s going to make a diving play in the field. What about running the bases, just ask Justin Morneau. And, how easy is it to turn an ankle or pull a hamstring when you run as fast as he does to beat the throw to first base? He is a strong and conditioned athlete who works hard so it’s not about strength and conditioning. To me it’s a guessing game on some level, a sort of odds board when considering all of the factors. So, I say put him out there and let him play. I’m sure he’d say, put me in coach, I’m ready to play today. Look at me, I can be, centerfield.