Twins manager Paul Molitor sat down with Darren Wolfson of KSTP and 1500 ESPN over the weekend for a 12-minute interview (video link) and discussed a number of topics, including the decision to play Miguel Sano in right field over left field, the possibility of Byron Buxton making the Opening Day roster and the team’s expected rotation. Molitor says it’s very likely that Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes will be in the Opening Day rotation (assuming good health for each), and Tyler Duffey “has a really good chance” on the heels of a strong rookie showing, though Duffey’s inclusion is not considered a sure thing. Tommy Milone, Ricky Nolasco and Trevor May are all candidates for the fifth spot, though Molitor hinted by suggesting that May will “get a look, at least early in camp, to see how it goes, to see if that’s a better fit for him than in the bullpen,” that May’s chances might be a bit lesser. May opened last season as a starter and pitched reasonably well before turning in a very strong 2.87 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 31 1/3 reliever.
More from the AL Central…
- Manager Terry Francona is happy to see Rajai Davis wearing an Indians uniform heading into the 2016 season, writes Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal. Cleveland’s manager tells Lewis that he joked with Davis recently that he “hated him” for the past few seasons, “because he’s been a thorn in our side.” Davis’ stolen base totals have declined in each of the past two seasons, though the fleet-footed outfielder said that part of the reason for that was hitting in front of Miguel Cabrera and not wanting to run the risk of getting caught with one of the game’s most potent bats at the plate. Francona tells Lewis that the team has similar hopes for Davis that it did following the signing of Michael Bourn. “…[I]f you can get a guy that can get on base and kind of disturb the game a little bit, that really helps a lot.”
- The White Sox and Rangers are both looking at Dexter Fowler, tweets David Kaplan of CSN Chicago. Sox GM Rick Hahn spoke over the weekend about the value of the No. 28 overall selection, which the club would have to forfeit in order to sign Fowler, however. I’d imagine that if Fowler’s asking price dipped enough, the Sox might be comfortable enough with the immediate value they’re obtaining to part with the potential longer-term value of the draft pick. The Sox do seem like a good fit for Fowler, as Jeff Todd and I recently discussed on the MLBTR Podcast. The Rangers, too, were mentioned in that discussion, and they could certainly make some sense, pushing Josh Hamilton to more of a part-time role that could possibly keep him healthier while creating more outfield depth in Texas.
- Whether or not a move is ultimately made, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin feels that the one of the takeaways from this weekend’s SoxFest event was that the White Sox are definitely still trying to get something done, be it a trade or free-agent signing (links to Twitter). “It was more than just general SoxFest talk,” says Merkin of the team’s desire to continue adding to the roster.
- MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan adds some more context to his recent report that the Royals and third baseman Mike Moustakas have discussed a two-year deal to buy out his remaining arbitration years. “There’s been a couple talks about a multiyear deal, a two-year deal, also a one-year deal,” said Moustakas of talks between the Royals and his agent, Scott Boras. “We’re just trying to figure out what the best fit is for everything. They’ve been talking back and forth and trying to figure it all out. They give me the information and I go, ’Yeah, that’s all right.’ But I try to stay out of it because I love Scott and I love the Royals.” Moustakas said that a two-year deal is appealing, if possible, because he’d like to avoid “the stress of another arbitration year.” Boras and the Royals worked out a similar deal for first baseman Eric Hosmer last winter, though Hosmer will still have one more year of arbitration following the completion of that two-year deal.
Raj Davis vs Cleveland with Francona as manager:
2015: 1.028 OPS, 50 PA
2014: .693 OPS, 59 PA
2013: .393 OPS, 8 PA
I love when players and managers make these kinds of researchable statements to see how true they are. He was right for most recent history, but “for the past few seasons,” isn’t right.
Well still he’s a thorn
The one thing the sox have to get done is FIRE VENTURA AND WILLIAMS!!!
Yeah, right. Forget any FA or trade upgrades that might still improve the White Sox chances for the postseason in 2016. Just fire executive vice president Kenny Williams and manager Robin Ventura instead. I can just envision the rush of White Sox fans to the ticket office with your suggestion being implemented. (lol)
Nobody’s going now. A change in that messed up organization sure wouldn’t hurt. They are the Cleveland Browns of baseball right now.
Lol no, it’s still nowhere near that bad.
Berrios is the best pitcher on the Twins right now. It will be interesting to see how long the Twins hold him down. Surprised no mention of him in the post.
I would think he would be kept down for a month, at minimum.. Unless they can trade one of Nolasco/Hughes/Milone.
I like a straight up trade of Ender Inciarte from the Braves for Miguel Sano of the Twins. Win-Win. Twins get a more proven young controllable outfielder who is not a defensive liability and the Braves get a player for third base with potential.
hahahaa come on…..this is a joke right?!
This guys a troll. He’s posted this before, along with many other equally ridiculous trade ideas.
Interesting….that’s actually a pretty good fit.
Twins would be better off keeping Sano.
No, no, no.
Obviously this post was a joke, but I’ll respond anyway. The only type of player I see the Twins trading Sano for is a young ace. Like 23/24 year old ace. Someone like Jose Fernandez…even though it’s unknown how he will do in full season play after TJ surgery. That’s the only type of player I see them wanting for such a potential talent in Sano.
They’re not going to give up a potential 30-40 HR player for a “meh” player.
Believe it or not it’s not a joke. This guy just doesn’t know how to do trades.
I agree. A trade involving Miguel Sano would be unlikely unless it is a deal the Twins simply could not pass up. The trade suggested here would not qualify.
A club would be highly reluctant to give up that kind of cheap and controllable hitting and power potential in today’s game when elite offense is in such great demand.
The Cubs face a similar situation with power hitting OF/C Kyle Schwarber. There is talk that if the team re-signed lead-off hitting CF Dexter Fowler it might make a corner OF like Schwarber or Jorge Soler available in a trade for an upgrade to their rotation. Imo, Soler might be dealt in a package for a pitcher like Jose Quintana, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar or Tyson Ross whereas Schwarber should only be traded in a package for a bonafide young ace like Chris Sale, Jose Fernandez or Sonny Gray.
I hope to God you’re joking. Sano actually likely WON’T be a defensive liability. He moves surprisingly well for a 260 pounder.
Interesting proposal. What else are the Braves adding? Oh nothing? Welp, there goes that idea.
Twins don’t need any more outfielders. Regardless of the fact that there’s absolutely no chance they trade Sano.
Thank you, but I’m not being serious. Twins aren’t trading Sano. The guy I replied to is just known to make terrible trade offers, so I was poking some fun at him.
Sano is going to the OF because of the corner IF/DH slots being occupied, not because of a lack of OF!
You are high
Trevor May is so undervalued by the twins it’s getting sad.
If it wasn’t for him and Jepsen there would not have been a Twins bullpen in the last few months of the season.
Thats a poor reason to give an inferior pitcher more innings. It’s akin to putting a worse hitter in the lineup because your bench is weak.
It’s not akin to that at all.
At the end of last season, the rotation ended up being Gibson, Santana, Milone, Duffey, and Pelfrey at the end of the year, so May stayed in the pen and excelled there. It’s the same cast of characters, minus Pelfrey and plus Hughes off of the DL. Technically Nolasco is in that mix, too, but realistically I doubt he’s going to start at the beginning of the season.
Was May good enough in the rotation in the first half to have him penciled in on the depth chart above any of those guys (minus Nolasco)? Not really. He wasn’t bad, but that’s why he got bumped out of the rotation in the first place. If Duffey struggled I almost guarantee he would have been back in the rotation last year, but Duffey was great and earned the benefit of the doubt to start this season in the rotation at least.
Then he excelled in the pen, which was and continues to be a black hole. In a vacuum I don’t think May is done being a starter but for the time being that’s what makes the most sense.
He has too many plus pitches he’s gaining command of to stay in the pen for very long IMO.
I agree he’s undervalued in that he should be starting, but I also agree with what JD396 posted. Without May in the BP…that bullpen looks even worse. It’s bad enough with him, without him…..yikes. There aren’t many guys the Twins can move from the rotation to the BP and have that player make an impact out there. I can only think of two…Hughes and May.
They won’t do it with Hughes likely because of two reasons: veteran and paycheck. Right now, they need him in there until the young arms develop, which hopefully happens this year.
Moustakas did have a great year last year but is it his new baseline?
If I were the Royals I wouldn’t offer him a two year deal because
they probably won’t be able to keep him unless he plays well anyway.
I like Molitor but he’s developing a worrisome trend of mismanaging young assets. Last year he moved Arcia to left to make room for one year of Torii Hunter, and now is defying conventional wisdom by putting Sano in right over left and pushing May to the pen. Despite May performing well as a starter last year(3.35 FIP 4K/BB). He is greatly minimizing their value.
I agree with the part about May not being in the rotation. They backed themselves into that corner by not signing BP guys or trading one of the starters. Right now I’m fine with it, as the bullpen really needs help and I know May can do it. I’d rather have him in the rotation though. I just hope it’s not permanent.
As for the Arcia/Torii/Sano thing, I don’t agree with how it’s wrong to move Arcia to LF but that Sano belongs in LF. Arcia for sure has limited range, which makes him bad for LF as there is more ground to cover over there. Catchable balls don’t get caught wherever Arcia plays, so it’s best to limit the damage. So I agree, Arcia belongs in RF, but Arcia couldn’t even make it back to MN last year. He was terrible in AAA except for July and that had nothing to do with his position or Torii.
My assumption is that Sano doesn’t have the greatest range either…but that we don’t know for sure yet. I do believe Sano is faster than Arcia, but Sano has never played in the OF before so routes are a new thing for him. Inexperience and possible range issues lead me to believe that he needs to be in RF.
If the outfield was going to be Sano-Buxton-Arcia then I’d agree that LF would be better suited for Sano because Arcia is probably a worse defender than Sano. As of this very moment Rosario seems to be a lock over Arcia and he likely has more range than either one of them therefore it makes sense to do Rosario-Buxton-Sano.
Leftfield at Target field has a lot more room to cover than right. That would be the reason Eddie Rasario will be playing left. Arcia never played for a winning team and he has allowed a ton more runs on defense than he has ever driven in. AAA outfielder defensively at best!
Twins need to take a page out of the Yankees Manual with regards to outfield defense. Target Field dimensions are similar to Yankee stadium with regards to the lines and gaps. The Yankees employ two CF’s Gardner/Ellsbury to cover center and left, Twins should do the same with Buxton/Rosario. If you don’t strike people out, you’d better catch the ball!
I keep racking my brain for a possible way to dump Nolasco’s contract in a trade somewhere. I just don’t think anyone would take him. Even for nothing. Wishing we could bundle him with a couple other arms in return for an average starter. But unfortunately the real world trades don’t work like they do on The Show!