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After the recent demotion of Oswaldo Arcia to AAA-Rochester after the Minnesota Twins were nearly no-hit by Anibal Sanchez, I would like to know what exactly is Twins management thinking, and what is their plan. Arcia started out his major league career hot, but has recently started to struggle, and is hitting just .120 in his last ten games. However, his demotion after just 98 at-bats is a bit of a surprise for a team that has gotten no production out of any outfielders yet this season.

Aaron Hicks, hailed by many (as well as me) as the next Twins long-term center fielder, has struggled all season long, yet is still in the majors despite his .157 batting average, whereas Arcia is hitting .255 on the year with four home runs as well. Of course there is more to baseball than simply hitting, and with Aaron Hicks touted as a great defensive prospect, maybe the Twins have kept him up because of his defense in center field? Well if they are, then they are dead wrong in doing so consider Hicks has a -2.0 UZR, which is an advanced metric that measures a players Ultimate Zone Rating, and needless to say, a negative number is not a good thing.

One move like this is acceptable however considering Hicks is a better prospect than Arcia, and Arcia was not even expected to make his major league debut this season as he saw his first AAA at-bats this year. However, this isn’t the only questionable roster move by the Twins lately, as they decided to promote Samuel Deduno over prospect Kyle Gibson, which has already proven to be a bad decision as Deduno lasted just 5.1 innings on Friday and gave up six runs in the loss. As a side note, Gibson had just completed his second complete game shutout in his last three starts leading up to the decision to promote him or Deduno.

So with Gibson still in AAA, and Arcia, arguably the second best hitting outfielder for the Twins recently being demoted, I once again ask the question, what are the Twins doing, and what is their plan? Well I certainly got even more confused when realizing slugger Miguel Sano is still in advanced A ball despite hitting .352 with 13 home runs through 45 games. Sano clearly deserves a promotion to AA, and with how dismal the Twins’ major league third base situation is, the Twins should be looking for every opportunity to promote Sano and get him closer to making his major league debut either late this season or early next.

Sadly, Sano and Gibson aren’t the only minor leaguers the Twins are holding back right now. Byron Buxton, the Minnesota Twins’ first round pick last year, is tearing up single A ball with a batting average of .318 and seven home runs, as well as stealing 22 bases through 45 games. For a Twins team in the rebuilding process, they sure are doing everything possibly to further torture their fans as they are holding back their best prospects, as well as holding a 10-game losing streak at the major league level.

Yes this was written out of anger towards the Twins as I had to suffer through yet another terrible attempt at watching them play baseball Friday night. Hopefully things turn around soon so us Twins fans have something to cheer about.

All stats courtesy of MLB.com and MILB.com

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Today, May 20th, news surfaced that Minnesota Twins pitcher Cole DeVries had been optioned to AAA-Rochester, and would not be on the Twins’ major league roster. Then, news later surfaced that pitcher Pedro Hernandez, who pitched on Sunday, was being sent down to AAA-Rochester as well. This now leaves the Minnesota Twins with only four starting pitchers on the big league roster, meaning one spot is open.

This open spot in the rotation just happened to become empty a day after pitching prospect Kyle Gibson lost a no-hitter in the eight inning, and then finished the game with his second nine inning shutout of May. Gibson, a former first round pick of the Minnesota Twins, has been impressive in AAA this year holding a 3.25 ERA through nine starts and striking out almost a batter per inning, an uncommon characteristic for a Twins starter.

While the Twins have a few other options in replacing this fifth spot in the rotation, what makes Kyle Gibson the front runner is not only his impressive performance on Sunday, but also that if he were to be called-up, he would not pitch again until this Friday which would be on the normal five days rest. Everything seems to be lining up for Gibson to make his major league debut this week in Detroit, and it would be the next step for fans in witnessing the making of the next contending Minnesota Twins team.

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Joe Mauer was batting just .287 coming into May for the Minnesota Twins. While this obviously was no cause for concern among Twins fans who know how potent Mauer can be at the plate, he put all those worried at ease recently as he has gone a hitting tear that has risen his batting average to .340 heading into the Wednesday afternoon game against the White Sox.

While the power still hasn’t returned from Mauer’s MVP 2009 season in which he hit 28 home runs, his .340 batting average in the two hole has been a huge deal for the Minnesota Twins so far this year. In Joe Mauer’s last 10 games he has hit .500; yes, he has gotten a hit in half his at-bats the past 10 games. Extending even longer than the past 10 games, is a 13-game hit streak Mauer is currently riding (which extended to 14 games as I was writing this).

Mauer is currently setting himself up to have one of the best one-month performances by a baseball player recently as he has been almost impossible to get out with a .552 OBP in the month of May. He has already collected more walks in 12 games this month than he did in all of April, and while his RBI numbers remain low, his 10 doubles in 21 hits this month have helped him accumulate 15 on the year, good enough for second in the majors.

What all these numbers are showing is just how hot Joe Mauer has been recently for the Minnesota Twins. But just how valuable has he been for a Twin’s team that has a 7-6 record in the month of May? Well, although the moving of Mauer from his typical three spot in the lineup up to the two hole surprised many fans at the beginning of the year, this new sabermetrics approach by the Twins has clearly been working so far.

Line-up analysis have recently showed that a teams best overall hitter should be hitting in the two hole, while the three spot should be clogged with a solid hitter, and the four spot, like always, should be manned with the teams best power hitter. This is almost the approach the Minnesota Twins have taken this year as they have placed their best hitter, Joe Mauer, in the two spot; but have elected to put their best power hitter, Josh Willingham, in the three spot in-order to keep from batting the lefty Justin Morneau after Joe Mauer, who also bats left.

Although some could argue this approach hasn’t been working because the Twins are simply a .500 team right now, once taking into account how bad some of their starting pitching has been…Vance Worley…. Mike Pelfrey, it is easy to see the offense has been carrying this team so far. Ranking in the top half of the league in most major batting statistics, which the Twins are currently doing, you really can’t expect to see much better offensive numbers while a team puts Aaron Hicks, Brian Dozier, and Pedro Florimon in the line-up on a regular basis.

If Joe Mauer continues this hot streak is on, or even lets up a bit, the Minnesota Twins should actually start to see their record get better if one of the previously mentioned pitchers, Worley or Pelfrey, can start pitching as we know they can more consistently. If neither of them can improve their pitching anytime soon, then prospect Kyle Gibson should get the call-up to replace one as he has recently been on a tear in AAA-Rochester.

All stats courtesy of MLB.com.

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The Minnesota Twins have an excess of outfield talent on the major league roster. Aaron Hicks was named the future franchise outfielder of the Minnesota Twins’ roster after his impressive spring training, but since the season has started his production at the plate has dropped significantly as he is hitting just .128 with one home run through 28 games this season. His main contribution thus far has been through the 13 runs he has scored and the above average defense he plays in center field.

Hicks may see his playing time decrease the next few games, which has a chance of being followed up by a demotion to AAA once Darin Mastroianni comes off the disabled list. Although Mastroianni hasn’t impressed in his limited nine at-bats this year, other outfields such as Wilkin Ramirez and Oswaldo Arcia have hit well enough to make Hicks nervous about his spot on the Minnesota Twins roster.

Arcia has gotten hot lately hitting .389 in his last ten games, and although mostly a corner outfielder he can play a decent center field by splitting time their with another unlikely Twin making noise, Wilkin Ramirez. Ramirez has only seen limited action this year with just 26 at-bats and most in pinch-hitting situations, but he has proven to be an important piece of the Minnesota Twins roster with his .346 batting average.

The roster problem that is about to occur for the Twins is what outfielder to demote when Mastroianni returns. Looking at purely stats it seems the easy choice would be to demote Hicks, however, the Twins have stuck with him through his struggles thus far showing they clearly think he is ready to start making an impact at the big league level and making it seem a little less likely he will be the one to get demoted.

The other choices for demotion are Arcia and Ramirez; Arcia is still considered a prospect for the Twins as he turned 22 today (May 9) and is gaining his first major league experience this year. Ramirez on the other hand has bounced around between a few teams playing mostly AAA ball the past four years. Based on the playing time each has received, favoring Arcia, and the fact that he also looks as if he doesn’t need anymore minor league at-bats in order to be an effective piece of the Minnesota Twins roster, my guess is on Ramirez being the one demoted.

This will be a big decision for the Twins when they must make it as they either will be sending down a potential future All-Star in Hicks, or one of two role players that have helped the team to their current 15-15 record.

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Yes the Minnesota Twins have started the year with a surprising 12-12 record. They have done this despite barely “upgrading” last season’s pitching staff, and playing a struggling but budding center field star for most of the first month of the season. For as good as the Twins’ record looks, they could still be playing a lot better, and hopefully will be soon.

As mentioned, Aaron Hicks has struggled more than any Twin this year as he has turned his impressive .370 spring training average into a dismal .120 batting average in the regular season. This just goes to show that not much stock should be put into spring training numbers; nevertheless, Hicks is starting to turn things around slowly as he has batted .233 in his last 10 games which included a few key hits showing he does deserve to be in the majors and should stick around despite his early season struggles.

Although Hicks has been a disappointment early on, it has been offset recently by the emergence of Kevin Correia, the newly acquired 32 year old pitcher, who has surprised everyone with a 3-1 record and 2.23 ERA through five starts. Correia is carrying the Twins’ starting rotation thus far, but has been helped out recently by Scott Diamond who since coming off the DL has posted an ERA just south of four. Although his stats may not show how important he has been, Diamond has produced three straight quality starts (6 IP and 3 ER or less) for the Twins, the most recent coming against Detroit and Texas.

As the pitching staff is starting to look stronger in some areas, it still lags behind in others, most notably the three spot which is currently held by Mike Pelfrey, another first year Twin, who has looked downright terrible since his first start of the year. Pelfrey made a nice impression on Twins fans in his first outing which was a 5 1/3 inning outing with zero runs allowed against the Tigers, but since has let his ERA balloon to 7.66 and hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in any game. Pelfrey’s struggles may be coming at the right time however as there is currently a pitcher in AAA shining and looking to make his major league debut.

Kyle Gibson, former first round pick of the Twins, is making it look like as if he is finally over the Tommy John surgery he had at the end of the 2011 season. Gibson has a 3.33 ERA in five starts in AAA-Rochester and has proven he still has strikeout potential by the 26 batters he has fanned in 27 innings of work. Gibson had one spring training game in which he looked like one of the next possible phenoms, but then showed inconsistency which led to his starting the year in AAA. But now through five games of solid outings in AAA, and with Pelfrey, who is on a one year contract, struggling, the Twins should make the correct move for the future and give Gibson a shot in the majors sooner than later.

The good news, as far as prospects go, doesn’t stop with Gibson however as top ranked Minnesota Twins prospect Miguel Sano, a third basemen, has gotten off to one of the best starts of any player in the Florida State League (High A ball). Sano currently has a .368 average with nine home runs and 24 RBI’s through 25 games, looking as if he will be called up to AA soon and possibly make his AAA debut later in the year if his success continues.

Another young but top prospect having a great start to the year is last year’s first round pick Byron Buxton, a center fielder who could either takeover for Hicks in a few years or possibly move to one of the corner outfield spots if Hicks establishes himself as the major leaguer he is projected to be. Buxton has posted a .383 average with four home runs through his first 23 games in A ball, meaning he could make the jump up one level and join Sano on the Fort Myers Miracles soon if Sano himself isn’t promoted. Either way, the future looks bright for the Minnesota Twins, and they could be contending even sooner than many people think.

Keith Allison/Flickr

Joe Mauer has been the most valuable player in the Minnesota Twins’ organization the past five years. Despite the recent leg injuries Mauer has suffered from, he seems to be past them now as he boasts a .386 batting average through 13 games this year as he is looking to earn his fourth batting title, and first since 2009. Mauer should have a good shot at earning another batting title if Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau continue to produce behind him as they not only have this year, but also in the past.

Mauer has proved year after year he is one of the best hitters for average in the league, evident by the three batting titles and four silver slugger awards he has won. This year may not only be about another batting title for Mauer, but about another hitting record, held by Joe Dimaggio. Through Fridays canceled game against the Chicago White Sox, Mauer had a nine game hitting streak going, including back-to-back four hit games, both of which the Twins won despite being underdogs.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Twins’ success goes hand in hand with Mauer’s success. Back in 2009 and 2010 the Twins took first place in the AL Central, those were also two of the best years of Mauer’s career, proven by the MVP award he won in 09′.

After looking at the Twins’ past success and the correlation its has with Mauer’s, the early season 6-7 record for the Twins this year doesn’t seem so surprising. Mauer is hitting in the two hole for the Twins this season, a role role for him, and it clearly has been a successful move by Ron Gardenhire as not only is Mauer looking to have another fantastic season, but the Twins could surpass the online sports books expectations and finish the season in the middle of the AL Central.

Looking deeper in to Mauer’s play this year, it’s noticeable he been more aggressive at the plate, thus taking fewer walks, and getting more hits. If Mauer is to continue to be more aggressive at the plate that could mean great things for the Twins, especially once they have a reliable lead-off hitter, and Mauer as well, as he is on pace to have his first 200 hit season.

Proving Joe Mauer stays healthy this season, and the Twins get decent production out of Willingham and Morneau before possibly trading them, the Twins very well could be in the running for the AL Central title with the Detroit Tigers come mid-season. If the Twins continue to play against the Tigers as well as they did in the first series of the year, when the Twins ruined the sports betting spread and won two of three games at Target Field, then it should be no surprise if the Minnesota Twins are in the playoff hunt a few months from now.

Keith Allison/Flickr

The Minnesota Twins started off the season hot, and after six games were tied atop the AL Central standings with a record of 4-2. Now, as almost a whole week has passed since those first six games, and the Twins now stand at the bottom of the AL Central with a 4-7 record. That means the Twins are currently on a five game losing streak, which started last Monday, and will luckily have a chance to be ended this Sunday the 14th against the Mets.

It seems that as the temperature has cooled off in Minnesota this week, so have the Twins. Despite this cold weather that has caused snow to fall on Target Field, the Twins have still maintained decent ticket sales early in the year and hope to turn things around on the field so fans continue to come support them as they hopefully start winning games again.

The ugliest part of the Minnesota Twins’ five game losing streak came just a few days ago when Vance Worley took the mound against the Mets, and only lasted one inning giving up nine total runs, seven of which were earned. Because of such a short outing, the Twins’ bullpen had to put in eight innings of work, which wasn’t helped by the grand slam hit by John Buck in the top of the second off Pedro Hernandez’ eighth pitch of the game.

The one common denominator in this miserable week for the Twins was their lack of ability to score runs.. The Twins averaged just over two runs per game Monday through Saturday, and were even shut out once against the Royals. The Twins were scoring runs easier the first week of the season, but now that they showed us they can also struggle easily, the question comes out as to what kind of hitting should we expect to see going forward.

One player who hasn’t struggled this week is Joe Mauer. Mauer is currently on a seven game hitting streak and got his first home run of the season on Tuesday. Batting in the two hole Mauer will be possibly the most important contributor for the Minnesota Twins this season. Although it’s a good sign Mauer has been hitting well as of late, but he will be needing more help from Aaron Hicks, batting in front of him, and Josh Willingham who will be hitting after him if the Twins hope to start scoring runs again.

Looking forward to next week, and how the Twins will possibly get out of this funk, it doesn’t look good as they will play host to the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are one of the best selling ticket teams in the majors thanks to their uber talented roster headed by Rookie of the Year Mike Trout. Never the less the Twins have shown they can beat anyone, winning two games against the Orioles and Tigers each this season, meaning they definitely have a chance against the Angels in a three game home stand starting on Monday.

Keith Allison/Flickr

The Minnesota Twins have gotten off to a surprisingly good start to the season as they won both of their 3-game series so far, first against the Tigers at home and then the Orioles on the road. Another surprise from this season so far has been the quality of starts of Twins pitchers. Vance Worley got off to a rocky start Opening Day, but was able to finish strong, going six innings and giving up only three runs. Worley’s quality start on Opening Day was then followed up by two more impressive starts by Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey, both of which ended up in Twins wins.

Sitting at a record of 4-2 after their win Sunday against the Orioles, the Twins are currently tied with the White Sox atop the AL Central standings, something not many Twins fans thought would happen with this rebuilding team. The promising take aways from the Twins’ early season success can be greatly attributed to not only their starting pitching, but also their late game ability to score runs.

Through their first six games, the Twins have scored 12 of their total 28 runs in the last three innings of games, almost all of which were crucial in a Twins win. While it is always nice to be able to score off a teams bullpen, going forward we hopefully will see a Minnesota Twins team that can score more effective early on, making it more likely for this early season success to continue.

The Twins should expect to see more early game offensive production once the likes of Aaron Hicks, Joe Mauer, and Josh Willingham start hitting at the level they are capable of. Hicks saw plenty of success during spring training, but since Opening Day Hicks has only been able to record two hits. Besides Hicks’ late game RBI against the Orioles on Sunday, he hasn’t produced much as the teams lead-off hitter.

Mauer and Willingham have also been seeing early season disappointment in their games as both are hitting considerably under .300 and have only one combined home run. Once Mauer and Willingham get on track and hit like they did last year, this Minnesota Twins team could very well become a serious contender with the Tigers for the AL Central crown.

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The Minnesota Twins officially began their 2013 season when they fell to the Detroit Tigers yesterday 4-2 on Opening Day. Thankfully for the Twins, the season has just started and they have plenty of time to correct the mistakes that were made. Although plenty of mistakes were made, like the error by Pedro Florimon, and the rocky start for Vance Worley, there we also plenty of positives to take away from the Minnesota Twins’ Opening Day game.

1. Aaron Hicks had a disappointing major league debut as he went 0-4 and is still looking for his first career major league hit. However, Hicks did have some good at-bats that included him fouling off one or more pitches in an at-bat along with drawing a walk in his last plate appearance. Overall I was impressed with how confident Hicks looked at the plate even against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

2. Joe Mauer batting in the two spot is a long overdue move by Gardy. Last season the Twins thought it would be beneficial to bat Jamey Carroll in the two spot, however they then learned a .268 hitter with no speed doesn’t do a good job setting the table for the 3-4-5 hitters. Now with Mauer in the two spot, the Twins will get Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham more at-bats, meaning more runs over the course of the season for the team.

3. Vance Worley started out slow, but once he got into his rhythm he convinced me he will be the ace for the Minnesota Twins this season. Worley ended up with a quality start, going 6 innings and giving up only 3 runs, but if you didn’t watch the last few innings he pitched you were probably left with bad first impression of him. But, what Worley changed after giving up his three runs was his pitch effectiveness, he started throwing his pitches down in the zone thus causing plenty of routine ground-ball outs.

4. One last thing I saw yesterday that impressed me was the effective 1-2-3 inning Casey Fien threw in relief. Even more impressive was that Fien struck out all three batters he faced that inning, who just happened to be the top of the Tigers lineup that included Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, and reigning MVP Miguel Cabrera. Fien showed great control with his pitches, especially his fastball which seemed to hit the outside corner for a strike every time Mauer called for it.

Being so early in the season its hard to tell if the positives pointed out will continue much longer, but if they do, this Minnesota Twins team will have plenty of players to keep an eye on this season.

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The Minnesota Twins kick off their home opener tomorrow April1st at 3:10 CT. The Twins have a lot of the same faces in the lineup this year, but have a few newcomers that could make some noise along with an almost entirely redone pitching staff. Although the Twins have already brought in a lot of new faces, don’t expect them to stop now as they continue to bolster their minor league system for the future.

With the Twins now fully looking towards the future, here a few things to look for this year that will either have an impact on the future look of this Minnesota Twins team, or will continue to be a part of the team in the coming years.

• Minnesota Twins prospect Aaron Hicks will be starting in center field on Opening Day and hopefully for the long future. The Twins finally have their long term solution at center field since the departure of Torii Hunter in 2008. Hicks did many things well in spring training including hitting for both power and average. As long as his average stays high and consistent expect him to be the lead-off hitter as the Twins become competitive in a few years.

• Former first round pick Kyle Gibson will make his major league debut sometime this season. Gibson is currently rated as the #68 prospect by Baseball America and is starting the season in AAA-Rochester. The only thing the Twins will be looking at before calling Gibson up will be his performance in AAA, if he isn’t putting up the numbers they want to see out of him they have no reason to hurry him to the majors and we likely wont see him until late season call-ups. However, if he starts out the season strong and looks fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, expect to see Gibson come up as soon as one of the current members of the starting rotation falters.

• The moves the Minnesota Twins make at the trade deadline could drastically alter the future of this team. The Twins have one great trading chip in Josh Willingham, who could easily be traded to a team looking to upgrade their lineup for a couple prospects who could be seeing time in a Twins jersey in a few years. Another player that could be dealt this year is Justin Morneau. Morneau is on the last year of his contract and will be an attractive option for many teams looking to lease a player for a few months and then let him walk after the season, as long as Morneau is able to show he is past his concussions and can play as he did pre-2010.

• If Scott Diamond and Glen Perkins can perform as they did last season, this Minnesota Twins pitching staff will be a lot better than expected going forward. Scott Diamond’s impressive 3.54 ERA in 27 starts is being called a fluke by many, as he is seen as a possible number three starter at best. However, if Diamond can prove last year was not a fluke and he can perform at that level going forward, the Twins will have a number two quality pitcher at their three or four spot in the rotation in a few years. The same can be said for new closer Glen Perkins, last year was the first time in his career Perkins was asked to close games, and if he can duplicate the 2.56 ERA he had then the Twins will have a solid home grown closer for their next AL Central title run.

Although the Twins seem to be doomed for a rough year, as a fan there are many things to watch for closely that will give indications about the future success of this team. Hicks and Gibson are really the only two prospects who are expected to see extended time at the major league level, however once the Twins announce their September call-ups another list will be out as two who to watch the last month of the season. Until then, don’t be surprised if the Twins make a few uncharacteristic trades to send away current talent in favor of young prospects.