Noncompetitive Baseball

I haven’t had many posts over the past few days because there hasn’t been much to talk about regarding the Twins. Currently, the Twins are playing noncompetitive baseball. They’re operating on a simple formula, whenever one aspect of the game is working, the opposite aspect fails spectacularly.  

Quick & Painless Recap:  

 Jason Marquis pitched well on Saturday (by Marquis’ standards) holding the Mariners to 2 runs over 6 innings. Unfortunately, the offense only mustered one hit during that entire game. One.  

Sunday saw Ryan Doumit homer twice which could be an early indicator that Doumit’s bat is starting to heat up. Unfortunately, no one was on base in front of Doumit during those at bats. Nick Blackburn, Sunday’s starter, also made sure that Doumit’s efforts were simply window dressing as he quickly buried the Twins in a 0-3 first inning hole in route to a 5 ER, 7 hit outing.  

It’s telling that a 5 inning, 4 ER outing from Francisco Liriano is being dubbed “promising” by Twins writers and reporters. When the supposed ace of your staff is utterly hittable, sporting an ERA around 9.00 and is 0-5, I guess a start where he “only” gives up 4 runs is an improvement.

 Noncompetitive is the perfect adjective for the Twins right now. Ever since they came off a promising east coast trip where they split two with New York and played Tampa Bay tough, this team has been in a tailspin. They gave away two very winnable games against Boston and ended up being swept. They hung around with Kansas City, but did very little in that brief series to build confidence. Now, a 1-5 west coast trip and a game one loss in the current home stand have the Twins at 7-21 with the worst record in baseball.  

Changes Coming?   

I don’t think we’re too far from seeing a full youth movement to Target Field. If this team continues to play uninspired and downright bad baseball, there will likely be some players looking at new opportunities within the Twins’ system.   Batters such as Danny Valencia, Alexi Casilla, Jamey Carroll, Trevor Plouffe and Drew Butera could be likely victims of a shakeup with demotions, designations or trades a very strong possibility for any of them. On the pitching front, Jeff Gray, Mark Maloney, Alex Burnett and Francisco Liriano are all players who could be seeing a shakeup during some point this season.  

At this point, I think fans, reporters (and possibly players) can admit that the 2012 Minnesota Twins are not a good baseball team. However, there are a few things fans can look forward to and stay positive about.  

With a good deal of contracts coming off the books at the end of this season and a strong surge of young players ready to make the move to the big leagues in the next year or two, there is promise on the horizon for Twins fans. The first step in rebuilding is to dump the old bloated contracts from the payroll. Luckily, the following Twins players will be free agents at the end of this season:  

Ryan Doumit – Could possibly be resigned due to lack of depth. However, I think they’ll likely look elsewhere for a cheaper backup.  

Scott Baker – Likely resigned at discount. I believe we’ll see Baker back in ‘13.   Francisco Liriano – At this point, there is no way the Twins bring back Liriano in ’13.  

Carl Pavano – I had originally thought the Twins could resign Pavano next season, but I now think he’ll likely be moved to another team at the trade deadline.  

Jason Marquis – Either moved at the deadline or he walks away at the end of the year. He was signed as a short term fix. It’s highly unlikely he’s back with the Twins next season.  

Matt Capps – Glen Perkins was given his contract with the full intention that he was the team’s future closer. Capps has done little this season that would cement him as a necessary member of this team in the future. The Twins should decline his option and use the money elsewhere.  

Trade Bait:   

These are the players that I could see being shipped to another team by the end of July. (All of the above listed players, excluding Scott Baker, also qualify to be on this list.) 

 Jamey Carroll – Solid defense and he knows how to get on base. For a team that needs shortstop depth in the midst of a playoff push Carroll would be a good fit. If Dozier proves to be as solid as we all hope, Carroll is a luxury the Twins can afford to move.  

Josh Willingham – Twins fans (myself included) love what Willingham has brought to the team so far this season, but his bat could entice a playoff team that needs a little more offensive pop. With the OF depth in the Twins’ organization, it doesn’t make sense to hold on to an aging player.

 Denard Span – I hate (HATE) that these rumors keep popping up, as I believe Span can be a great part of the Twins’ rebuilding efforts. He’s young, a great clubhouse presence and a great defender. However, Span may be the Twins best player at this point in time and would likely warrant the best return (prospect wise) in a trade. I hope this doesn’t happen, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see it happen.

 Justin Morneau – This is, of course, assuming Morneau is healthy for much of May, June and July. If that’s the case (and he continues to post solid offensive numbers) I could see the Twins eating some of his contract to move Morneau. At one point in time, this would be a blasphemous claim – but the reality is setting in. This Twins team isn’t going to compete this year and will be going very young over the next two years. Morneau doesn’t fit that plan. Sending him to New York, Texas or Boston (or to another AL team that could use an extra power hitter) makes sense for everyone involved.  

‘Safe’   

These players are likely part of the Twins rebuilding plans and will be around for years to come.  

Joe Mauer – Face of the franchise, one of the best catchers in baseball. He’s here to stay.  

Chris Parmelee – He’s likely the Twins 1B answer for the foreseeable future. Solid defense, good bat and a reliable instinct, Parmelee is a young player with great potential.  

Alexi Casilla – While he’s not likely to be a future starter, he works well as a utility infielder and provides nice bench depth. He’s not a certainty to be a future Twins player, but I’d wager the odds are in his favor.  

Glen Perkins – Just signed a contract extension and is likely going to be the Twins closer in ’13. Pending a disastrous meltdown in mechanics, he’s here to stay.  

Jared Burton, Scott Diamond, Anthony Swarzak, Liam Hendriks – All young pitchers who will find their way into the starting rotation or the ‘pen.  

Waiting In The Wings  

 I think the following players are on the verge of being called up either during this season or that will certainly be on the major league roster some point next season.  

Aaron Hicks – OF
Joe Benson – OF
Ben Revere – OF
Darin Mastroianni – OF
Miguel Sano – 3B
Pedro Florimon – SS
Kyle Gibson – SP
Alex Wimmers – SP
Lester Oliveros - RP
Deolis Guerra – RP
Anthony Slama – RP
Jeff Manship – RP  

That’s what you’d call a youth movement!    

Simply put, change is likely coming for the Twins this season and it may happen sooner rather than later. There are contracts coming off the books, players playing below the level expected of a major league player (Plouffe, Valencia, Butera, Casilla, the entire pitching staff) and a lot of young players on their way up (Benson, Revere, Sano, Gibson, Wimmers – to name a few). Given their current level of play, maybe change is the best solution for the Twins.