The Twins should look to the Cardinals, Braves, and A’s as role models, writes Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com. Like the Twins, those three clubs are middle class franchises, yet they also consistently succeed against the top payrolls in baseball. Mackey highlights a few traits to emulate. Minnesota should seek to supplement their upcoming prospects with affordable trade and free agent acquisitions. They can’t be afraid to trade a player at the height of his value (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau come to mind). It also wouldn’t hurt to avoid bad contracts and exploit platoon hitters like Trevor Plouffe.
- While Mackey highlights Plouffe as somebody the Twins could platoon, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune thinks the club should trade him before the waiver deadline later tonight. Plouffe was considered a bridge to top prospect Miguel Sano, who missed this season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but now the club can get similar offense and better utility from Eduardo Escobar. Danny Santana, who Souhan considers the Twins shortstop of the future, could move from center field to shortstop with Escobar shifting from short to third base. Lastly, Aaron Hicks could get another shot at the big leagues before Byron Buxton blocks him.
- Bartolo Colon is still expected to remain with the Mets through the trade deadline, tweets Matt Ehalt of the North Jersey Recorder. As Ehalt notes, things could change between now and the end of the day.
- Jarred Cosart has an “extra chip on his shoulder” following his trade from the Astros to the Marlins, reports Craig Davis of the Sun Sentinel. Cosart has helped to keep the Marlins long shot playoff hopes alive with a 1.64 ERA in five starts. Based on the pitcher’s comments, he was a little irked by the surprise deadline deal. Miami received quite a bit of criticism for the package they sent to Houston (Colin Moran, Jake Marisnick, and a 2015 competitive balance pick), but pundits will sing a different tune if Cosart continues to dominate opponents. Looking at his peripherals, Cosart’s short term success seems to depend on a 1.91 BB/9 that’s roughly half his typical walk rate.
Souhan also floated moving Plouffe to left…perhaps such a move could elevate his game and help him reach the potential they saw in him. It certainly worked with the Royals and Alex Gordon.
C Suzuki
1B Mauer
2B Dozier
3B Escobar
SS Santana
LF Plouffe
CF Hicks
RF Arcia
DH Vargas/Pinto
IF Nunez
IF/C Vargas/Pinto
OF Schafer
C Fryer
He certainly couldn’t be a worse fielder than some of the guys that the Twins ran out there this year. On the other hand, Plouffe is actually adding more value from his fielding at 3B, so maybe it’d be preferable to have Escobar (who’s never looked good at 3B) try his hand in the outfield.
Is that next years lineup…..cause this year is over
That lineup isn’t that much different from this years so it shouldn’t matter either way.
last place next year as well?
Probably so.
Next year if nothing changes and management doesn’t get aggressive with new players.
The Twins aren’t an innovative enough team to make that move.
Mauer will not be traded. Period. The mere suggestion is ludicrous. Now that he’s a first baseman, his trade/team value is next-to-nothing. Sorry to say, but he is an anchor around the Twins neck for the next 4 seasons. They’re going to have to work around him during this rebuilding process.
Who is going to trade anything of value for a $23MM/year slap-hitting first baseman whose sole goal is to get on first base by whatever means necessary?
(Crickets)
The article said that he should have been traded when his value was highest, not now.
Actually the article said they should learn “to cut bait on players at peak value instead of when it’s too late” then cites Brian McCann, Pujols and Freese for some reason. The trade part about Mauer and Morneau was just interpreted by the author here.
For most of the early 2000’s many would have said the Twins were a franchise to emulate. The Mackey article doesn’t really provide any valuable insight, it’s suggestions are rather pedestrian and ones that all smart teams should follow, ex. Supplement the roster with smart trades/cost effective free agents, don’t give out bad contacts and use platoons when necessary ( I would add using shifts or applying statistical analysis in general).
The examples he uses are void of context and in some cases really bizarre. I wouldn’t say the Samardjiza trade is one that should be emulated or that the Cardinals/Braves were shrewd in their letting go of Pujols and McCann. The Cards tried to retain Pujols they just got outspent and the Braves had suitable replacements for McCann and couldn’t afford him anyway.
The Twins have been doing an adequate job of righting the ship and should start seeing success as the prospects graduate.
cosart has been a bit surprising to me, in a good way. i kept reading on here how he was just a glorified reliever, but he looks much better than that to me. i know it’s a small sample size, but sometimes all you need is a different environment to shine.