Mid-season report: Twins

[sweaver]

The Twins were the AL Central favorites, but have not played like it much this year. They are in 2nd place right now, 1/2 game behind the Royals, and just ahead of the charging White Sox. Can the Twins improve on their 43-39 record?

The Twins have been paced offensively by Corey Koskie, the only regular to reach 900 OPS. Doug Mientkiewicz, Bobby Kielty, Matt LeCroy, and A.J. Pierzynski all top 800, but not by much. Jacque Jones and Torii Hunter are disappointingly in the 700s, and double-play partners Luis Rivas and Cristian Guzman are in the 600s. The Twins offense has struggled.

The defense has been excellent as usual, even with Koskie having an off-year. The outfield covers a lot of ground.

The starting pitching has struggled, and manager Ray Gardenhire has strangely resisted the temptation to insert Johan Santana in there. Kyle Lohse has been the most consistently effective starter. Rick Reed and Kenny Rogers have struggled, and Brad Radke and Joe Mays have been terrible. The bullpen has been the saving grace, with Santana, LaTroy Hawkins, Eddie Guardado, and Juan Rincon effective, and J.C. Romero helpful. Tony Fiore has struggled with his control.

This is a team that looks like it needs a shake-up, especially to bring in a middle infielder. They should have made a deal or two in the off-season, but instead just let David Ortiz go. Jacque Jones should have been dealt for pitching or infield help. But it's not too late. The rest of the season will tell the tale of the Twins "dynasty."

[rcartman28]

Unfortunately for us Twins fans, that's pretty much on the money. We need some offense from the middle infielders and it wouldn't surprise me if the decision to leave Santana in the bullpen all season costs the Twins the division. I would have liked to have seen them make a run at Alomar, but that's not their style. Not a good thing when your 1-2 hitters have a combined total of 18 walks on July 2. On the "plus side", maybe going into July in a dogfight with the Royals and White Sox will spur Terry Ryan into finally making a few moves for the stretch run.

I'm sure they will never consider this, but I would like to see them move Mientkiewicz over to second base, bat him leadoff, and let Morneau become the first baseman, since the Twins appear to be starting to prepare him for the utility role now played by Hocking. Obviously, Santana should be in the starting rotation, and I would try to move Jones for any useful player available, since my guess is that if the Twins don't win the division, he'll be cut loose anyway to make room for one of the prospects because he is arbitration-eligible.

[Diehardtwinsfan]

Originally posted by rcartman28
Unfortunately for us Twins fans, that's pretty much on the money. We need some offense from the middle infielders and it wouldn't surprise me if the decision to leave Santana in the bullpen all season costs the Twins the division. I would have liked to have seen them make a run at Alomar, but that's not their style. Not a good thing when your 1-2 hitters have a combined total of 18 walks on July 2. On the "plus side", maybe going into July in a dogfight with the Royals and White Sox will spur Terry Ryan into finally making a few moves for the stretch run.

I'm sure they will never consider this, but I would like to see them move Mientkiewicz over to second base, bat him leadoff, and let Morneau become the first baseman, since the Twins appear to be starting to prepare him for the utility role now played by Hocking. Obviously, Santana should be in the starting rotation, and I would try to move Jones for any useful player available, since my guess is that if the Twins don't win the division, he'll be cut loose anyway to make room for one of the prospects because he is arbitration-eligible.

Nail on head there. Minky would be just as good if not better defensively than rivas and as a second baseman, his offensive statistics are very respectable..... and to quote BP, "Morneau: dead sexy"

[huskerdru]

Doesn't Mientkiewicz throw lefty?? I'm not so sure that's gonna make for a good 2B situation...

[rcartman28]

Originally posted by huskerdru
Doesn't Mientkiewicz throw lefty?? I'm not so sure that's gonna make for a good 2B situation...

Doug bats lefthanded but throws righthanded. He'd be okay....

[Firpo Marberry]

The reason the Twins' didn't make a move is they paid out big ching to some of their regulars and figured Cuddyer would be what he wasn't in the post-season: A guy who could hit and field.

Frankly, Ron Gardenhire made a lot of good calls last year. Putting Jacquestrap Jones in the leadoff spot was just one of them. But sticking with Cuddyer in the post-season killed the Twins. Cuddyer singlehandedly drove the nail in the team's coffin with awful ABs and bad fielding, or bad fielding judgement.

When he hits the ball, it sounds like he's using a wet newspaper.

Once Cuddyer dropped dead on them this year, they were hurting. Morneau has a sweet, sweet swing, but he just doesn't appear to be ready.

If this team was pitching OK it would solve many problems. I don't see Mientkiewicz moving to 2b. Can he pivot? I have no idea. He hasn't the stats for a cornerman and the OF is filled up.

I do find it interesting that adding Cuddyer last year did not improve the team, and adding Morneau ditto. It's almost as if they can't stand "interlopers."

It would also be nice if some of these guys could take a walk now and then. Jones. Geez. That BB total is inexcusable.

Koskie and Pierzynski have the heart of players such as Gaetti -- who was their clear field leader in '87 -- and Puckett, Hrbek, Davis, Viola, Blyleven, Reardon, Aguilera and Gladden. I don't see that in these other guys, though. Lohse is the bulldog of the pitching staff.

I think Mays and Radke are just smart enough to think on the mound. That can be dangerous. If they were both a little dumber, they'd probably be OK.

[rcartman28]

I had forgotten this until reading a BP column yesterday, but apparently Cuddyer is now learning to play 2B at AAA right now.

[Firpo Marberry]

Originally posted by rcartman28
I had forgotten this until reading a BP column yesterday, but apparently Cuddyer is now learning to play 2B at AAA right now.

Gardenhire had mulled that move when Cuddyer was still taking up valuable big-league clubhouse space earlier this season. My thought was Gardy had seen the same "Scott Stahoviak-like" swing I did and decided despite the fact the guy has good size, when he swings hard the ball goes nowhere, thus aligning Cuddyer's potential offensive prowess with a position more suited for a man with, at best, gap power. Cuddyer turns 25 as next spring training arrives. There's not a lot of time left for more experimenting.

Ron Gant was 24 when the Braves decided he couldn't play infield, but could hit, and moved him to the OF. And this was after moving him from 2b to 3b. That's getting to the outside edge of what you can do with a player who isn't an established big-leaguer.