Twins Roundtable: The First of The Post-Livan Era

Dan WadeAug 8, 2008

Thanks a lot to this week's contributors: The vacationing Andrew Kneeland, Nick Nelson of Nick and Nick's Twins Blog, and Bleacher Report's own Dhruv Kalra. I'm Dan Wade and, without further ado, let's look over the past week and ahead to September.

The Twins’ love of mediocre vets is well know, but over the last few years has really come back to bite them. Who was the best gamble the Twins have taken in the last few years (whether it worked out or not) and who was the biggest dead weight loser?

Dan Wade: I didn’t mind the Mike Lamb signing, and it hasn’t been a total flop. He’s a decent bench bat right now and could be an asset down the stretch as the Twins try to get players rest during August and September.

Resigning Rondell White was one of the dumbest things the Twins ever did. He couldn’t stay healthy, and even when he wasn’t on the DL, he was exceptionally . The first time they signed him was a mistake, but one that was excusable. The second time, on the other hand, was just dumb

Andrew Kneeland: There are a lot of candidates for the biggest loser award on this team. One could argue that Craig Monroe and his .202 batting average have not been worth the millions of dollars the Twins gave him. Livan Hernandez has also been something short of spectacular this year, being hit around so much he could be heading to the record books. Another horrible veteran signing was Tony Batista at third base in 2006. Batista is currently hitting .226 for the Columbus Clippers.

One of the best veteran signings was Ramon Ortiz. He was great to start his career with the Twins, but eventually fell back to earth.

Nick Nelson: I had no problem with signings like Rondell White and Mike Lamb -- players with recent successful track records signed to relatively short-term and inexpensive contracts. That neither of these players worked out is unfortunate, but their dramatic drop-offs were not entirely foreseeable and I can hardly fault the Twins in those instances.

Signings like Ramon Ortiz, Sidney Ponson, Tony Batista and Livan Hernandez were obviously more less savvy, but in most instances the Twins pulled the plug on these failures in time that they weren't terribly damaging.

Dhruv Kalra: I think the best gamble the Twins have taken in recent history was the pickup of Rick Reed in 2002. While his play in a Twins uniform was nothing spectacular (and in particular left me with recurring nightmares of Jim Thome home runs blasting holes through the Metrodome roof) he provided a serviceable back-of-the-rotation arm that provided the team with several key wins down the stretch that year.

As far as busts, Bret Boone immediately comes to mind as being one of the most short-lived Twins pickups, but Sidney Ponson last year and Livan Hernandez this year aren't far behind.

Just two teams in the AL have winning records on the road, and the Twins aren’t one of them. The road to October lies primarily away from the Metrodome; can the Twins figure out how to win when the sky isn’t Teflon and white?

DW: The Twins aren’t totally dependent on the Dome to win, but they are certainly built for turf. In order to win consistently on the road, the Twins will need to move away from the bunt and run game that works so well in the dome, and rely on more traditional ways of scoring runs, namely, drawing walks, stringing together hits and showing a little more power than they have so far.

AK: There is really only one team that is above .500 on the road because the Yankees are just one game above (as of Saturday night). The Angels, however, are better on the road than at home.

Anyway, I do not think the Twins will improve much on the road, as much as it pains me to say. They are a very young team and obviously have extremely little expereince, as even Nick Punto admits. When you march into big-time stadiums, much composure is required; I don't think the Twins have aquired that yet. I sure hope it doesn't effect where they sit in the stadings, though.

NN: The Twins haven't been terribly successful on the road, but they also haven't been all that bad. As you noted, the vast majority of teams in the league don't play well on the road, and the Twins record away from the Dome -- five games below .500 -- is not that bad in context, especially when you consider that this record is really dragged down by three series in Chicago, Boston and New York where they went 0-11.

Take away those three series and the Twins have been fine on the road. They should be fine the rest of the way, especially considering that they are done playing in all three of those ballparks.

DK: The biggest obstacle to the Twins is going to be being able to play the same brand of baseball that they do at home on the road. Typically, that's involved being down or tied early, with a furious late-inning burst of scoring to win. Unfortunately, the team seems timid on the road, almost as though their mojo is scared to leave 34 Kirby Puckett Place.

The starting pitching, which as been a key strength at home falls apart on hostile turf for some reason. Thus, the biggest key to the Twins' fate down the stretch will be the mental toughness of their now-very young rotation. The starters are going to have to bear down and get nasty very fast in order to keep games from getting away from them early.

Adam Everett was saved from release by Alexi Casilla’s injury, but Casilla may well come back before the season is done. Matt Tolbert and Michael Cuddyer will also be back from their respective hand injuries soon, so what should the Twins do when everyone is healthy and looking for playing time?

DW: The Twins must look at merit alone when deciding playing time. It would be tempting to put Cuddyer in because he is “The Starter” but if it comes at the expense of Denard Span, that’s a terrible idea. Who knows how it will all shake out, but the Twins absolutely cannot fall into the trap of playing the name. Go with the guys who have put you in this position.

AK: As soon as Casilla is healthy Everett should board a plane to Rochester, in my opinion. The only way I would want him to stay with the club is through September call-ups. When Cuddyer comes back, I wouldn't be opposed to sending Gomez to Rochester as well for some tuneups. He would hang out there until one of three things happened: someone else gets injured, the roster expands in September, or the season ends.

NN: Everett is totally expendable and quite lucky to still have a spot on this roster. The Twins have shown already that they are willing to part ways with him and I don't think they will hesitate to do so when Casilla or Tolbert returns. The outfield situation will be a bit murkier when Cuddyer returns. Span cannot be taken out of the lineup right now, and the team remains committed to playing Gomez every day. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

DK: In a perfect world, This platooning nonsense would be over and done with, but Gardy's man-crush on Punto and his unwillingness to play Buscher and/or Kubel against lefties will forever doom the starting lineup to a revolving state. Ideally, with Casilla's return, we would see the end of the Adam Everett experiment.

Furthermore, I would encourage the appointment of Buscher as the starting third baseman and Harris as the starting shortstop, allowing Punto to slide back into the super-utility role for which he is best suited.

As far as the outfield goes, if Carlos Gomez still hasn't figured it out by the time Cuddyer is ready to play, I would urge a 3-way platoon between Gomez, Span, and Cuddy for CF and RF. While that may seem counterproductive, Span's bat and plate presence are too hot to keep out of the lineup for extended periods.

More drastically, Gomez could be sent to AAA, but with the roster expansion for September looming, such a move now seems counterproductive.

Furthermore, Kubel, regardless of his stats against left-handed pitching, needs to be the starting DH, with the occasional start in left field to keep his glove fresh and to give Delmon Young a rest. Tolbert, while a capable bat, should be limited to a bench role, with the occasional start to spell one of the infielders. In other words, right above Nick Punto on the depth chart.

Mike Lamb, with his 2-year contract, is more complicated. Unfortunately, it seems clear that he doesn't have much of a future with the club. He seems to have accepted his role as a late-inning defensive replacement/pinch-hitter, so I would argue that not much change is needed in that role for him.

Now that Liriano is back in majors where he should be, who should Twins fans be watching in the Minors? What potential September call-up could make the biggest impact on the Twins.

DW: Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes are both playing pretty well in AAA and could patch holes the Twins have right now. I hope we see Hughes, but I kind of doubt we will, he started the year in AA and the Twins probably won’t push him up two levels in two months.

Bobby Korecky could honestly be the difference between the Twins making the playoffs and missing. The bullpen needs help like mad, and Korecky may be the only one with the poise necessary to survive the rigors of the pennant chance.

AK: I am really looking forward to seeing Kevin Mulvey, Philip Humber, and maybe even Anthony Swazark in the Bigs. I doubt Swazark will be called up, as he was promoted from New Britain to replace Liriano just days ago.

As to the biggest impact, I think Bobby Korecky should be called up to help out bullpen. That weak link was exposed on Monday night against the Mariners. Perkins surrendered one bad pitch and gave up a grand slam, then the bullpen gave up six more runs before the inning was over. They could not get ahead of the hitters and clearly need help.

NN: I figure that the September call-ups will be fairly predictable and unexciting. We'll probably see Matt Macri, Randy Ruiz (if he's sent back down when Cuddyer returns), perhaps Howie Clark, and probably a reliever or two. There might be a surprise call-up, say Luke Hughes or Danny Valencia, but I don't think that's terribly likely.

DK: Fans should keep a sharp eye on Bobby Korecky. He will most likely be back up with the Twins when rosters expand, and with some seasoning may well give the Twins that elusive 8th inning Pat Neshek replacement arm they so desperately need.

Also, Jose Morales continues to turn in solid play behind the plate, and will likely be a big part of the club's plans for the post-Mike Redmond backup era. Further down the line, Luke Hughes continues to put up good numbers at AA New Britain, which may earn him a nod in September as well.