5 moves I'd make to improve the Minnesota Twins (no slideshow)

The Twins are performing at a higher level than even I had expected.  I felt that the Twins would be a 75-win team and they are on a .500 pace.  Things will change, and I still think that 75 wins is their ceiling.  However, there are a few moves that the Twins could make to optimize their active roster and put out an even more competitive team.  The Twins' good start is like money in the bank.  If they can improve their active roster going forward, they might be able to maintain or even better their current pace. 

Here are five moves that I would make as soon as possible.  I believe these moves create the best possible roster with the players available to the team. 

Move #1 - Install Josmil Pinto into the lineup permanently. 

The Twins made one of the moves I was going to propose, calling up Chris Herrmann earlier this week.  I would keep Herrmann around permanently mostly because it will keep Ron Gardenhire from stressing out about losing his catcher in the middle of a game.  This is important because Pinto is one of the Twins' best hitters and the lineup is better when he's included.  Pinto is second on the team in OPS, slugging percentage, and home runs. 

The problem is that he's only playing about half of the time right now.  I'm not sure that will change much this week, as the Twins won't have a DH while in San Diego and San Francisco.  That San sucks, but what can you do?  Starting next week, I'd keep Herrmann on the active roster and use Pinto as an everyday player.  He's young, exciting, and he's earned it. 

Speaking of moves to make after this week...

Move #2 - Call Oswaldo Arcia up from AAA Rochester and DFA Jason Kubel. 

Half of this move is a complete no-brainer.  Arcia hasn't mastered MLB pitching yet, but he has very little to prove at AAA.  Arcia is also one of the more exciting players on the 40-man roster and a player who is a very important part of the Twins' future.  The easy move would be to bring Arcia up after the California trip and move Herrmann back to AAA.  I prefer to keep Herrmann's versatility and ditch Kubel's one dimensional profile.

All Kubel can do at this point is hit.  He was once a decent defender, then a serviceable defender and now he's just a bad defender.  I liked the idea of keeping Kubel on the bench as a lefty masher, but I'm not so sure he can do that any longer.  He started off hot and he's still hitting .289/.349/.371 against right-handers.  However, he also has a .458 BABIP and a 34.9% strikeout rate against right-handers.  One of those figures is luck-based and the other is skill-based.  The skills seem to be eroding and it could be why he's hitting .240/.321/.240 in May (through Sunday's game). 

Getting the band back together always seems like a good idea, but not when guys can't play their instruments any longer.  Speaking of the old band...

Move #3 - Call Michael Tonkin up from AAA and DFA Matt Guerrier. 

• Player A is 35, he's coming off of three straight seasons with a below-average ERA+ and he's absolutely not a part of the Twins' future.
• Player B is 24, throws hard, did hit a little rough patch recently but has the stuff to overcome it, and is hopefully a part of the Twins' future. 

You don't even really have to play this silly game with these two because anyone with any sense would agree that Michael Tonkin should be on the active roster and Matt Guerrier should be elsewhere.  The Twins might be holding out some sort of weird hope that Guerrier is worth holding onto to try to trade him later, but come on.  Last season, the Dodgers traded Guerrier to the Cubs for Carlos Marmol and cash.  Carlos Marmol is a net loss, so I hope that was a lot of cash. 

A rebuilding or retooling team should be giving young players opportunities.  This is especially true when the young player is more talented than the old player.  Tonkin had a few bad outings, but he needs to be given time to work through them when the team can suffer a few losses without those losses compromising a playoff run.  Guerrier was a great guy to have around back in the 2000s, but those days are gone.  It's nothing personal. 

Move #4 - Move Kevin Correia by any means necessary and promote Trevor May from AAA.

This one is a riskier.  May has been impressive with Rochester, but his stock had slipped a bit after his 2013 season with New Britain.  That said, he's a guy who can strike batters out and he has at every level.  He's walking fewer batters this season and it's time to capitalize on May's improved performance.  I think he projects as a 4th starter at his peak, but one who can be durable and flash number 2 stuff from time to time.  Plus, who doesn't love a good MLB debut?    

Getting rid of Correia altogether is hasty.  I'll agree with that.  He could be a trade chip if he can get things together.  Let's be honest, what is Correia's trade value, even at his peak?  He's 33, he can't strike anyone out and he gives up hits in bunches.  It's almost June, when's he going to regain his value?  What team is going to fall for a few good starts anyway?  Francisco Liriano put together a run of great starts after a terrible start back in 2012, and all he brought back in trade was a utility infielder (sorry, Eddie) and a number 7 starter.  Liriano has much more talent than Correia and was five years younger. 

Plus, the starting pitching depth isn't actually all that bad.  Alex Meyer is looming and will need a spot by the end of the season.  Logan Darnell has been great in AAA.  Kris Johnson seems capable.  Scott Diamond is still around.  Mike Pelfrey is coming back soon.  Besides Meyer, those guys aren't super exciting, but each is capable of performing at Correia's level or better.  I see no reason to keep Correia in the rotation and I don't think he'd be effective in the bullpen either. 

Correia was much better than I expected in 2013 and I'll gladly admit that I was wrong about his signing.  However, he's not pitching well, he isn't talented enough to turn it around and he isn't part of the future.  He's still due a decent chunk of money, but that's a sunk cost.  It's time to thank him for the serviceable 2013 and part ways. 

Since I mentioned Pelfrey, he'd be in the bullpen upon his return, if I had any say.  Until he proves that he can pitch better than Sam Deduno, I don't see how Pelfrey ever cracks this rotation.  Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson are set.  I want May to replace Correia.  That just leaves Deduno's spot.  Deduno has a 108 ERA+ over the past two seasons and Pelfrey has a 73 ERA+.  I'm no Deduno supporter, but he gives the team a better chance to win, even if I have no clue how he does it.  Pelfrey might actually be more effective as a reliever.  Who knows?  I'm not sure how he fits on this team right now, to be honest. 

Move #5 - Re-jigger the lineup just a bit

Brian Dozier is the best hitter on the team right now.  His batting average is climbing and his power appears to be real.  He's walking a lot and he can steal bases, so he fits in the leadoff spot, but I think he would be more productive a little lower in the lineup.  I'd swap Dozier and Joe Mauer, putting Mauer in the leadoff spot and moving Dozier to the two-hole. 

Dozier has eleven home runs and nine have come with no one on base.  Mauer reaches base in roughly 40% of his at-bats.  Simple math and logic would assume that Mauer would have been somewhere on the bases for three or four of those home runs.  That's three or four extra runs.  It's not a ton, but every little bit helps.  The Twins don't operate the top of their lineup in a traditional sense anyway.  Mauer doesn't bunt Dozier to second after a leadoff single (nor should he), so why not put the more powerful hitter behind the better OBP guy? 

Lineup optimization hasn't proved to be as worthwhile as many thought, but this is such a simple change and it makes so much sense.  Mauer would be an excellent leadoff hitter and it might take some of the pressure from fans off of him.  He'd score even more runs with Dozier behind him and Dozier would drive in more runs with Mauer ahead of him.  Does that make either guy more valuable?  Not really, but I still think it's still a logical move.

These five moves create a more optimal lineup, a more talented bullpen, a more talented rotation, give young guys time to develop and grow, and doesn't cost the team anyone valuable.  These five moves could also greatly change the character of the clubhouse and that might be exactly why none of them will happen. 

I fully expect Arcia to return after the California trip, but I'd guess Herrmann, Chris Colabello or Danny Santana are sent to AAA.  I think Correia will be the next player to suffer a phantom injury, opening a hole in the rotation for Pelfrey.  I am sure Tonkin will get a lot of chances in Rochester.  Kubel and Guerrier will continue to provide leadership or whatever.  Josmil Pinto will continue to produce in limited duty.  I'll bang my drum on Twitter but the Twins will do what they think is best.

What moves would you make?  Do you think my proposals are crazy?  Let me know, I'd love to hear from you!

Monday Morning Madness: May 19, 2014

Weekend Recap

I'm happy with two of three when the one the Twins lost was at the hands of Felix Hernandez.  The Twins looked good this weekend and winning two of every three is a great way to win over 90 games.  Not saying that will happen, but...it will probably happen.

Josmil Pinto

I'm two for two on mini-rants!  Two weeks ago, I called for more Danny Santana and I got it (until I was hamstrung.  get it?!?!).  Last week, I called for more Pinto.  Pinto has played in three of the last five games and I hope that trend continues.  Actually, no, that trend sucks.  He needs to play more than 60% of the time.  He needs to play closer to 90% of the games or else his roster spot is kind of a waste.  Of course, Chris Herrmann's promotion would have normally ensured more playing time, but the Twins won't have a DH all week.  So that sucks.    

Pinto is the Twins' third best hitter right now.  By OPS+, he's actually been better than Joe Mauer and he only trails "Superstar" Brian Dozier.  Pinto will be up and down because he's a rookie and he has a lot to learn, but he's going to help the lineup more than he ever hurts it.  I watch his approach at the plate, his level swing and his power and I really think he might hit .300 in the future.  Talking about batting average will get my smart baseball card taken away, but I still think that's an impressive feat. 

Aaron Hicks

Aaron Hicks is hitting better (he couldn't be any worse) and I'm pleased.  His walk-off hit on Thursday may have been a spark to his confidence, but I can't really say that for certain.  He raised his average to nearly .200 this weekend.  I hope that Hicks' average continues to rise, but I think it is still important to keep some perspective in regards to his ceiling. 

I always envisioned Hicks as a .250 or .260 hitter at best.  That isn't outstanding, but I also thought he would walk enough to post OBPs in the .350 range.  That is very good.  In fact, a .350 OBP would have been 45th in the Majors last season.  Even in a dreadful 2014 season, Hicks has a walk rate around 18%, which would be in the top ten in the Majors.  You can say that he's walking because he's being passive and that is definitely part of it.  The other part is that he has a good eye for the strike zone.  However, it may be that he's still learning the MLB strike zone right now.  Here's a chart:

	Actual				Pitchf/x
	O-Swing%	Z-Swing%	Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Swing%	Z-Swing%	Swing%	Z-Contact%
2013	22.50%	61.30%	39.90%	83.10%	22.10%	55.50%	39.70%	82.50%
2014	17.50%	54.90%	35.10%	88.60%	16.70%	54.70%	35.00%	90.60%

O-Swing% is the percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside the strike zone.  Z-Swing% is the percentage of pitches a batter swings at inside the strike zone.  Swing% seems pretty self-explanatory and Z-Contact% is the percentage of times a batter makes contact when swinging at pitches inside the strike zone. 

So, Hicks is swinging less.  However, some of that comes from swinging at significantly fewer pitches outside of the zone (a good thing).  Of course, some comes from swinging at fewer pitches within the strike zone (not so good).  While he is swinging less, he is making much better contact on pitches in the zone.  Last year, he swung at more pitches in the zone, but made less contact.  Now, he's being more selective and making more contact.  It hasn't worked all that well for him just yet, but that type of approach could pay off as he gains experience. 

For the record, his O-Swing% would have been in the top five in the Majors last season, if Hicks had qualified.  Hicks clearly owns at least one elite skill that has translated to the Majors. 

If he can continue to improve his plate discipline (being more aggressive when getting good pitches), he could settle in as that .350 OBP center fielder that would be very valuable.  His line drive rate is up and he's hitting fewer fly balls (good with his speed).  His walk rate is way up and he's actually striking out less often.  He's making minor strides and I hope they start to pay off for him.

Brian Dozier

Some chucklehead on Facebook had the nerve to point out that nine of Brian Dozier's home runs have been solo home runs and then he added "#not clutch" just to further prove that he's a chucklehead. 

• Dozier has six home runs when leading off an inning, should he have asked to not lead off those innings, chucklehead? 
• Dozier is hitting .275/.385/.500 with runners in scoring position.  That looks pretty good to me, what do you think, chucklehead? 
• Dozier's OWn% (a stat that looks at what a team's winning percentage would be with a team full of just that player, a stat my brother told me about this weekend, a stat that is awesome) is .693.  Basically, a team full of Brian Dozier's would win 112 games with his 2014 production.  Is 112 wins good, chucklehead? 

This one goes out to all the chuckleheads out there:  if you can't enjoy Brian Dozier's 2014 season, then you should probably give up being a fan.  You'll never be satisfied. 

Madness

Former Twin Update - Bronson Arroyo

Oh wait, he's not a former Twin at all.  This past offseason, it seemed almost inevitable that Arroyo would sign with the Twins.  First, he was a perfect fit.  He's a veteran and veteraniness is very important in the Twins' clubhouse.  Second, he "pitched to contact" and limited walks.  It seemed like a match made in heaven.  The Twins signed Mike Pelfrey.  Arroyo took his grit to Arizona instead.  Boo.  Arroyo started slow and had a 9.95 ERA after his first three starts.  He's been great since then.  His ERA is down to 4.15 and he's doing that weird leg kick thing that leads to cool baseball cards like this one:

See, the leg kick is so great, it can turn the whole world silver.  

Good Deed of the Week

Glen Perkins is a notoriously nice person.  Or at least that's how it seems on Twitter.  He's from Minnesota, so you know he's great.  Anyway, with Aaron Hicks' confidence reaching a low (probably) and Hicks getting questioned by pretty much all of his bosses, Perkins did the nice thing and blew a save on Thursday so that Hicks could come up later and win the game with a walk-off hit.  That is the kind of good deed that only a Minnesotan would ever think to do.  If Perkins had been born just a few miles East in Hudson, Wisconsin, he'd have probably just eaten a bunch of cheese curds or something.

Just kidding Minnesota and Wisconsin are basically the same place.

Poll Results

My most recent poll ended last week.  I wondered who you thought would hit at least 20 home runs this season.  This poll had 62 votes.  Here are the results:

• Brian Dozier - 47 votes
• Josmil Pinto - 39 votes
• Joe Mauer - 2 votes
• Josh Willingham - 3 votes
• Chris Colabello - 19 votes
• Jason Kubel - 20 votes
• Oswaldo Arcia - 12 votes
• Trevor Plouffe - 20 votes
• Frank Stallone - 4 votes

Stallone beat Mauer.  That's awesome.  For the record, I only voted for Dozier and Pinto.  I think Arcia will come close too, provided he comes back relatively soon.  Kubel won't reach 5.  I put up a new poll, please support democracy and vote immediately. 

Random Baseball Card from the Past

I hate that card.  Nothing personal against Funderburk (or Robidoux for that matter; great name).  I hated cards that had two guys on two different teams.  It made it impossible to sort by team.  When you're a kid with baseball cards, you have to sort the cards a different way every day.  Or was that just me?  Anyway, when it was time to sort by team, these cards would really cheese me off.  It was a real dilemma.  I'd usually sort by the team I liked better or the player's team that I liked better.  It was unsettling.

Why this specific card?  Just wait until Friday.  Suspense!

Plugging My Way

Last week, I completed a four-part look back at the past 8 years in Twins' center field history.  With Aaron Hicks hitting a bit better this weekend, perhaps the tale will have a happy ending after all.  If you didn't read this saga, here are links to each part:

• Part 1 - Torii Hunter leaves, Carlos Gomez arrives
• Part 2 - Goodbye Gomez, enjoy the Denard Span era
• Part 3 - Span and Ben Revere are traded, Aaron Hicks takesover
• Part 4 - Aaron Hicks flounders, what is the situation now?

5000 words on something you probably remember because it didn't happen that long ago.  However, I might have hidden a secret code in one of the parts?!?!   What if I did?  You should probably read them just in case. 

Parting Thought

I'm really enjoying this team.  Even if they go into the tank and fall off their current pace, I'll still enjoy watching this team.  The younger guys on the team are fun to watch.  Brian Dozier is a freaking superstar.  The starting pitchers are more effective.  Even though the Twins aren't as talented as other teams in the AL, they actually have some players who would be starting on any team.  This is really starting to feel like the first step back in the right direction.  I'm all jacked up.  Have a nice week, everyone!

8 Years of Minnesota Twins Center Fielders: Part 4

This is the final part of a multi-part feature.  You can click the links for part 1, part 2 and part 3.  

After the 2012 season, the Twins decided that center field is overrated and traded both their incumbent center fielder and his potential replacement.  In trading Denard Span and Ben Revere, the Twins essentially turned over the starting job to Aaron Hicks, a former first-round pick who had a dynamic 2012 season, but with AA New Britain.  Could he seize the job that the Twins clearly wanted him to win?  Could he succeed while completely skipping AAA?

Hicks was spectacular in Spring and won the job.  The Twins were convinced that their 23-year-old starting center fielder would be their starting center fielder for a very long time.  He had all the tools.  He even got some comparisons to the player who started this tale, Torii Hunter.  Then, real games started.  Hicks was over-matched and passive from the start.  On April 20, just 13 games into his MLB career, Hicks was hitting .042/.179/.042.  Ouch.  He had just two hits! 

Hicks would show marginal improvements in May and June, but the hole that he dug in April was far too deep.  He missed time with a hamstring injury in June, which was enough time for Clete Thomas of all people to carve out a role on the team.  When Hicks went to the DL, he was starting to get things together.  He had a hit in nine of eleven games and his batting line had reached .179/.249/.326.  That's still putrid, but did you see the line in the previous paragraph? 

When Hicks returned from that hamstring injury in July, he got hot, hitting .400 in his first seven games back.  It didn't last.  He would hit .152 from that moment until August 1, when he was sent to Rochester for the remainder of the season.  Clete Thomas, who famously hit a home run in his first at-bat as a Twin, was not a solution.  He hit .214 in 2013, although he did so without batting gloves, so that's admirable. 

While all this chaos and Clete Thomas was going on, Byron Buxton was dominating in the Minors.  Buxton crushed Low-A pitching to the tune of .341/.431/.559, earning a promotion in late June.  He picked up right where he left off in High-A, batting .326/.415/.472 in 57 games as a 19-year-old in his first full season of professional baseball.  In all, he finished the 2013 season with 19 doubles, 12 home runs, 18 freaking triples and 55 stolen bases.  He also made many highlight reel-catches and countless fans in the prospect community.  The present in center was down, but the future was blindingly bright.    

Back to reality for a little while though.  Clete Thomas was still the Twins' starting center fielder.  Yikes.  When the August trade deadline arrived, the Twins used one of their M&M chips to land Alex Presley, another serviceable 4th outfielder, but hardly a long-term option in center.  Given an opportunity as an everyday center fielder, Presley wasn't terrible.  He hit .283 for the Twins in September and he seemed like the logical choice to start in center in 2014.  If nothing else, he could start the season while Hicks gets some AAA at-bats under his belt.  After that, he can slide into a 4th outfielder role quite nicely.  It wasn't the return fans wanted for Justin Morneau, but it could work out fine. 

Unless your memory is shot, you know this isn't how it all worked out.  Hicks missed time to start Spring Training in 2014, but came back soon enough to reclaim his job as the Twins' starting center fielder.  In fact, the Twins were so confident in Hicks that they placed Presley on waivers and lost him to the Astros.  It was a surprising move, considering Hicks's track record, the uninspiring option to back him up (Jason Bartlett) and the fact that Presley was not terrible just one month prior. 

Bartlett barely made it through one game before an injury forced the Twins to add Darin Mastroianni back to the active roster to serve as a 4th outfielder.  Bartlett was never going to see extended time in center, as Ron Gardenhire basically said that Hicks would play every single game, but a backup was still needed  Of course, Mastroianni became expendable when the Twins claimed Sam Fuld off of waivers from the As.  Mastroianni was lost to the Blue Jays, the organization that the Twins claimed him from in 2012.  What a whirlwind! 

Fuld is absolutely a stereotypical Ron Gardenhire player.  He's short, he plays hard and he makes the most of his ability.  Translation:  he's not really that good, but he tries!  His best fit is as a 4th outfielder.  He can handle center, but he's better in the corners.  He's not a great hitter, although he's capable.  He shouldn't be starting in place of a younger, more talented player.  However, Aaron Hicks is currently hitting under .200 again and looks just as lost this season as he did last season, so maybe Fuld should be starting.  

When Fuld joined the team, Hicks was healthy.  However, it certainly appeared that Hicks had at least temporarily lost his full-time job.  Hicks and Fuld alternated starts in center in their first five games as teammates, with Fuld starting three.  Hicks started both games of a doubleheader, but suffered a concussion in the second game and had to leave early.  He was placed on the 7-day disabled list and returned last weekend.  Fuld is now on the 7-day DL himself.  Hicks has been brutal since his return.  Eduardo Escobar and Danny Santana have seen time in center.  What is going on here!!!!!

Hicks couldn't hold off Clete Thomas last year, so maybe Fuld takes over as the starter upon his return.  Maybe Sam Fuld is the final link in the chain between Torii Hunter and Byron Buxton.  Maybe Aaron Hicks's future is as a serviceable 4th outfielder just like those who have been replacing him over the last two seasons.  Optimistically, maybe Hicks starts to heat up.  Maybe this time he keeps improving and the Twins can return to the days of having two center fielders in the outfield.  The thought of Hicks and Buxton in the same outfield is very enticing.  

Pessimistically, maybe there's still a few more ho-hum center fielders left between now and Buxton.  Perhaps there are some guys we aren't even aware of right now, like a month ago when we weren't aware of Sam Fuld.  The question is, how did the Twins get here?  How did they survive the loss of Torii Hunter, the bust that was Carlos Gomez as a Twin, and the Denard Span concussion scare and still end up with such a message center field situation, just two short years later? 

Should the Twins have simply signed Hunter to another long-term deal?  I'm not so sure that made sense at the time.  With Span and Ben Revere in the system, it made sense to save some money knowing that Joe Mauer was due a contract in the very near future and Hunter's position seemed reasonably simple to fill.  In fact, the Twins were right, as Span was nearly as good as Hunter, for a fraction of the price.  

Should the Twins have hung on to Carlos Gomez?  That's an easy decision in hindsight, but it's also easy to forget that Gomez wasn't just bad again in 2010, but bad in 2011 and bad for the first half of 2012.  Now you're asking the Twins to keep a bad hitter on the team for four and a half years, just hoping that one day he'll miraculously figure things out.  It sounds crazy on paper, even though that's pretty much exactly what happened for Gomez.

Should the Twins have kept Denard Span and/or Ben Revere?  Maybe, but then they wouldn't have one or two extremely exciting young pitchers on the cusp of MLB debuts.  With Span and/or Revere and no Alex Meyer and/or Trevor May, the future is not nearly as bright as it is right now.  Those two pitchers could make up 40% of the rotation for the next five years, while Span and Revere have both produced less since leaving Minnesota. 

Should the Twins have been more patient with Aaron Hicks?  Yes, for sure, but that's another easy choice when we already know how much he's struggled so far.  He obviously needed more time in the Minors and ideally, he would have spent all of 2013 in AAA, but that didn't happen.  At this point, the Twins need to figure out if Hicks can hit MLB pitching.  If he can't do it in 2014, it's hard to make the case that he'll ever be able to. 

By eliminating all of the possible reasons why the Twins are in this situation, we're left with reality:  sometimes things don't work out.  The Twins have an amazing prospect who might be just one or so seasons from joining the team.  Of course, he's on the Minor League DL right now, but that's only temporary.  Even so, with all the turmoil in center for the Twins over the last several years, it's hard to keep from bashing your head through the wall with the news of Buxton's seemingly never-ending wrist injury.

Even so, having a guy like Buxton in the system gives the Twins a bright future at one of the most important positions on the diamond.  Will Buxton finally end the madness in center field after seven long years?  That part can't be written right now, but for the Twins organization and for Twins fans, they have to hope the story has a happy ending.   

8 Years of Minnesota Twins Center Fielders: Part 3

This is the third part in a multi-part series.  You can click here if you missed part 1 or part 2.  

The Twins enjoyed a stable season in center field in 2010.  After two years of a Denard Span/Carlos Gomez battle, the Twins chose Span and traded Gomez.  Span was the full-time starter in 2010 and had just signed a long-term contract.  However, 2011 would be less stable.  Span dealt with concussions for the entire second half.  Ben Revere joined the MLB team and became a fan favorite.  With two guys competing for one spot, the 2012 center field job seemed to be at least slightly open for applicants.  That said, if Span was healthy, he'd be the starter.  Would he be healthy?

He would be healthy.  In fact, Span proved his health and reclaimed his starting center field job heading in 2012.  With Josh Willingham in left and another former first-round pick, Chris Parmelee, in right, the Twins did with Revere what they wouldn't do with Carlos Gomez just a few years earlier, they sent him to AAA to get at-bats and seasoning.  Of course, Parmelee flopped and Revere was back in Minnesota by the end of May.  Revere would mostly play right field, save for the month Span missed with a shoulder injury.

Span saw a slight return to his former glory at the plate, hitting .283/.342/.395, good for a 104 OPS+.  In addition, he played his finest center field defense of his career and finished with an rWAR of 5.0, a career-best.  He also had 38 doubles, and that's a lot!  Revere improved in his second full season, hitting .294/.333/.342 with 40 stolen bases.  Despite not having an arm for right field, he and Span showed fantastic combined range and pretty much caught everything that was hit around or between them.  Two center fielders in the outfield at the same time?  That works defensively.  It works even better when both guys nearly hit .300. 

This same June, the Twins used another first-round pick on a center fielder, this time converting their second-overall selection into Georgia High Schooler Byron Buxton.  With two MLB-quality center fielders on roster and another promising player at AA, this selection was strictly a "we can't pass up this guy's talent" selection and it would prove to be the right choice.  Buxton wouldn't fully break out until 2013, but when he did, he moved all the way to the top of every prominent Minor League analyst's top prospect list.  While Buxton is not part of the present in 2012, his selection could prove to have played a part in how things would play out over the next few months.  But we'll get there later.  

Meanwhile in AA, Aaron Hicks was enjoying a breakout season.  He got off to a slow start with New Britain, but he finished with an impressive .286/.384/.460 flexing potential at the plate that eclipsed the capabilities of either Span or Revere. If his performance was a harbinger of anything, perhaps he was now the long-term answer in center.  Span was going to be 29 in 2013 and was only under contract for a couple more years.  Revere was a nice player but a slap hitter with questionable overall defensive value and absolutely no power.  If Hicks could be everything these two players added up to and more, then perhaps he was the long-term solution, at least once Span's contract ran out. 

Of course, that was further down the line, right?  Hicks was just a 22-year-old with no experience above AA.  He often needed full seasons to adjust to new levels and the Twins currently had two starting-caliber center fielders under contract at reasonable rates.  There would be simply no reason to rush Hicks with both Span and Revere capable of holding down the fort for at least a couple more seasons. 

On Opening Day 2013, both Span and Revere had been traded and Aaron Hicks was the starting center fielder.  Quite a fast forward, huh?  But let's go back just a bit. 

The 2012 season was the second dud in a row for the Twins.  Their starting pitching was awful and their assets had dried up.  Nearly all of the core from the 2000s had moved on, save for Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.  Mauer couldn't be traded, lest the Front Office likes eating pitchforks and Morneau was coming off of concussion issues of his own.  The organization had to face the cold reality that it was in the midst of a rebuild, one that came upon them without warning. 

Thus, they had to start looking at how they could maximize their assets.  The Twins' two best non-M&M assets were the two center fielders who may have been set to battle for the job in 2013.  Trading one of their center fielders could help them boost the starting pitching that they so desperately needed.  Not long after the season, feelers went out, conversations started, frameworks of deals were formed and before the end of November, the Twins had made a deal.

Denard Span was traded to the Nationals for minor league pitcher Alex Meyer.  Meyer was a first-round pick as well, and he has incredible promise as a starter.  However, he was set for AA in 2013 and was in no possible way an answer for the Twins in 2013.  With the starting pitching still in shambles, the Twins made another move just one week later.  Ben Revere was traded to the Phillies for Vance Worley and minor league pitcher Trevor May.  May was the more promising of the two, but Worley had MLB experience and success. 

The Worley outcome is now irrelevant but I'm sure you want to punch me in the face for pointing that out.  It doesn't change the fact that it's true.  Sitting here in 2014, it appears the Twins traded their two center fielders for two potential long-term starting pitchers.  You can argue the merits of both sides, but if things work out that way, the trades were huge successes in a vacuum.  The problem was the new gaping hole in center field going into 2013.    

Before we move on, I want to state that I fully believe that the Twins wanted to trade one, but not both players.  However, once the deals started coming in, they had to pounce on the offers they received.  It was possible that they put out feelers on both players and were surprised with how good the deals were.  If that was the case, I applaud the Twins for being aggressive.  It sucks right now, but it could pay off huge in the future. 

Future being the key word.  Back to 2013, the Twins were now without an MLB-quality center fielder with AAA experience, much less MLB experience.  Aaron Hicks was great in 2012, but two levels below the Majors.  Even so, Hicks was the favorite to win the center field job out of Spring Training.  His competition was Darin Mastroianni, a serviceable 4th outfielder but nothing more, and Joe Benson, a guy that I complete forgot about before I started writing this despite the fact that I thought he was a future star once upon a time.  Do you think that's a good thing?

In the next part, we'll see how that 2013 season unfolded.  Did Aaron Hicks win the job?  I know it happened in the recent past, but human memories aren't really as good as we think they are, so maybe we'll all remember something great that we forgot about.  We'll have to see if that's true tomorrow.  

8 Years of Minnesota Twins Center Fielders: Part 2

This is the second part in a multi-part series.  If you missed part one, please click here.  

In 2008, the Twins had to embark on their first season without Torii Hunter in center since 1998.  Carlos Gomez was the prize from the Johan Santana trade and Denard Span was the home-grown prospect on the cusp of his MLB debut.  Both guys were needed in 2008 and while Gomez was an outstanding defender, Span was a better overall player and a much better hitter.  Heading into 2009, it seemed apparent to any Twins fan that Span was the center fielder of the present and perhaps Gomez was the future.

April 6, 2009:  Denard Span is batting leadoff for the Twins and playing...left field.  Carlos Gomez was batting seventh and playing center.  Gomez wasn't sent to AAA for more seasoning.  He wasn't given a part-time role to learn on the job.  He was the starting center fielder for the second straight season. 

It was quite impressive when Span and Gomez were in the outfield together, but that didn't change the fact that Gomez still couldn't hit MLB pitching.  He certainly had his moments, but by June 5, his OBP was down to .274.  55 games into his third MLB season, he was about to become a part-time player.  Gomez would start just 54 of the remaining 107 games.  Span was hitting over .300 with an OBP just shy of .400 and was more than happy to pick up some starts in center.

Remember Ben Revere, the Twins' 2007 first-round selection?  He was hitting over .300 for High-A Fort Myers.  The Twins' center field depth was looking better and better.  Span was in the middle of a second solid MLB season.  Revere was rolling.  Gomez was so young and talented, you couldn't imagine the Twins would completely give up on him.  With patience, he still could turn into the superstar player the Twins had dreamed of when they traded their best pitcher to acquire him.  

The 2009 Twins won 87 games, most famously game 163 against the Detroit Tigers when Carlos Gomez scored the game-winning run with a headfirst slide.  The Twins' playoff fortunes hadn't changed from earlier in the decade as they were swept out of the playoffs by the Yankees.  The excitement of the playoffs did not last long.  Within a month of the Twins' final ALDS game, Carlos Gomez was gone.  The Twins traded him to the Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy, filling a different position of more long-term need. 

The trade made sense.  Denard Span was the better player, cementing his MLB status with a .311/.392/.415 sophomore campaign.  Ben Revere was headed for AA, the last big test before a prospect is ready for MLB action.  Gomez had made some excellent defensive plays, but he still owned a paltry .248/.293/.352 batting line after 963 plate appearances as a Twin.  He hadn't reached the magic 1000 PA figure, but he was about as close as he could get without crossing that supreme round number (and basically statistically there, right math people?).        

Of course, Hardy would only last one season in Minnesota before being shipped to the Orioles for a collection of garage sale items and Gomez would post an 8.9 rWAR for the Brewers in 2013.  Those are irrelevant details at this point.  That said, the irrelevant details related to the Twins' center field situation are starting to pile up and they're starting to suck.  To soften the blow of losing Gomez (not a blow that needed softening at the time, by the way), the Twins did extend Denard Span for five years, buying up all of his arbitration years.  They had committed to Torii Hunter's successor. 

The end.  Wait, that was 2010.  This is 2014.  2010+5 is...  Sam Fuld...  Eduardo Escobar...  Wait, we're not done!    

With their center field situation under control, 2010 would be a season of stability in center field for the Twins.  Denard Span played 153 games in center and no one challenged him for that position.  In addition, Ben Revere met his AA challenge, hitting .305/.371/.363 in 94 games with New Britain.  The Twins won 94 games in 2010, won the Central and got swept in the first round by the Yankees.  That's getting old.  At least all was well in center field, right?  Well... 

While Span did play a career-best 153 games in 2010, he also hit a career worst .264.  He saw his walk rate dip from 12.2% in 2008 to 10.4% in 2009 to 8.5% in 2010.  His slugging percentage fell from "good for a center fielder" to "good for a AAA center fielder" and it was starting to look like he might be a better defensive corner outfielder than center fielder.  Well crud.  Of course, Revere made his MLB debut in September of 2010 and looked like a potential contributor in 2011.  Perhaps Span was a better player when pushed by a younger, faster model. 

At the start of the 2011 season, Span was fully entrenched as the starting center fielder.  Revere was sent to AAA.  Span started hot, hitting over .300 right up until the last day in April.  In Rochester, It looked as though Revere would get an extended look at AAA pitching for the first time in his career.  However, Delmon Young strained an oblique in late April.  When Jason Repko and Rene Tosoni and guys like Jason Repko and Rene Tosoni couldn't hold down the left field job, Revere was summoned.  He played sparingly for a couple of weeks and was sent back to Rochester when Young was healthy.  Of course, as you've probably started to notice, Twins' center fielders don't stay at AAA very long.  

On June 3, Span had a minor collision at home plate with Royals' catcher Brayan Pena.  He missed a couple games but returned on June 6, going 0-4.  He didn't play again until August 2.  Span was dealing with a brain injury, a concussion to be more specific, and he would be shut down for nearly two months.  He would come back for nine ineffective games before going back on the DL as a result of more concussion symptoms.  While he did return for five games in late September, he finished the 2011 season with just 70 games played, only 14 after that early-June concussion. 

With Span out, Revere looked to take advantage of his opportunity to be the starting center fielder. When Revere returned to the Twins on June 2, he was hitting .250.  At the end of June, he was hitting .281.  The rest of his season was up and down, but Revere proved to be an exciting player in the field and on the basepaths.   He even did a somersault while legging out a triple!  Who does that?  Revere's rookie season wasn't a huge success, but he held his own at 23, hitting .267 and stealing 34 bases. 

With Span's future now a little less clear, the Twins had to be happy to have a potential replacement ready and on the roster.  Span was still the incumbent, but he had to prove good health.  Concussions aren't worth messing with and Span was still an important piece, so the Twins were going to be cautious.  In the next part, we'll see how this Denard Span/Ben Revere situation would play out.