Morales sent to Rochester, despite hitting .358
Posted on May 21st, 2009 – 5:00 PMBy Joe Christensen
CHICAGO — The Twins sent catcher Jose Morales back to Class AAA Rochester after today’s 20-1 victory over Chicago, as expected, to make room to re-instate Delmon Young from the Family Medical Emergency List.
Morales went 3-for-4 with two walks today, raising his average to .358, but the Twins already have two catchers in Joe Mauer and Mike Redmond.
Morales said he understood the move, but it wasn’t easy for the Twins. Manager Ron Gardenhire called it a fitting move for the end of a “goofy” road trip, having to send out a player after he reaches base five times.
Young isn’t expected to return to the Twins until Sunday, following his mother’s funeral, but major league rules only permit a player to stay on the FMEL for seven days.
184 Responses to "Morales sent to Rochester, despite hitting .358"
wouldn’t matter how well he played this was going to happen, just the way things work with the twins and some other teams.
congratulations to the manager of the millennium for another excellent decision…
Thank you. Moron.
[…] Around the Majors – […]
Manager Ron Gardenhire called it a fitting move for the end of a difficult road trip, having to send out a player after he reaches base five times.
Having to send out? HAVING to?
Is there some MLB rule about this we’re unaware of?
‘Choosing to’
There, fixed it for you.
“congratulations to the manager of the millennium for another excellent decision…”
Not his decision.
just like he said in the article, players can only stay on the family emergency list for 7 days, so they had to activate young and send someone down, and sending down there 3rd catcher was the obvious choice
Everyone is full of Shidt.
Seth,
are you sure about that?
d-roy,
They sent down their 2nd catcher! Morales is head and shoulders better than reddog at this point.
the GM makes player/roster moves, not the manager. I’m sure they talk, but yah.
let’s see:
Morales: .358/.424/.415 (59 PA)
Redmond: .255/.321/.294 (56 PA)
makes total sense…
The simple thing is this…. a contract is a contract, good or bad, fair or unfair. What is, is. RedDog is protected, Morales is not. It is all about dollars. Would I rather we keep Morales over RedDog, Yes. Butt, the DrDon understands a little bit about things, more than you want to hear about.
the GM makes player/roster moves, not the manager. I’m sure they talk, but yah.
I know that Smith has the final say, but Gardy also has a lot of input. The bottom like is if Gardy wanted Morales up, he’d be up (the same way that Punto is now the starting SS; Smith signed the papers, but Gardy pushed for it)
I’m not sure you do understand, Doc.
Red gets paid whether he’s with the Twins or not.
Swapping out Red for Morales costs the Twins only Morales MLB salary, around $400k.
If the Twins release Redmond, someone would sign him up later the same day. Then what happens when reality sets in with Morales and he’s the one hitting .275/.310/.320 because he’s only playing once every 3-4 games?
Morales has done his job. He’s likely made it a tough decision.
Chief…. can I ask you this… Do you really think RedDog would pass waivers??????
If the Twins release Redmond, someone would sign him up later the same day.
at this point, I’d rather have the hottest bat up who when/if he cools off will hit what Redmond is hitting. As a matter of fact that .275/.310/.320 would still be better that what Redmond is hitting.
As long as Morales has options, which he does all of this year, the Twins are going to play this game of backup catcher.
yeah, but how bout cuddyer?
mickey….what about him?
oh, just messin around, doc.
one whipping boy (cuddyer) recedes and two others (gardy and punto) step to the fore.
at the 25 percent mark, cuddyer is on pace to hit 24 hr, score 102 runs and drive in 98 … with an .834 ops.
not exactly hall of fame, but not worthy of the hate, either.
mickey….”"”but not worthy of the hate, either.”"”
Thank you.
morales day will come when its time…now is not the time to be dickering over a 3rd string catcher…twins have more pressing problems to deal with, mainly a pitching staff…you would think morales is the second coming of mauer the way people out here write….he looks good, but he has alot to learn about catching and calling a game in the major leagues…AAA will prepare him for that, maybe next year and thats definately soon enough…the kid needs to play, not sit…
The problem is that Morales could benefit from daily playing in Rochester but the Twins would benefit from his bat. Whereas he is hitting and catching better than Red now, it is better in the long run (especially if Smith doesn’t lock up Mauer and for some reason the Twins lose him) for Morales to get a little more work in the minors. You can’t just get a kid up here to catch once a week behind an all-star silver slugger, that might do more harm than good for Morales, Red is used to it.
The one thing that people do not seem to realize is that catchers in Rochester do not play every day. They play every other day. That translates in Morales playing 3-4 times a week in Rochester instead of 2 (maybe 3, if they find a way to get his bat in there) times a week in the Cities… Not that much of a difference. And if Mauer is gone in 2011, most likely Wilson Ramos will be the man.
now is not the time to be dickering over a 3rd string catcher…
it’s not dickering about a “third string catcher” is about the decision to devoid the team from a player who has been hitting .358/.424/.415…
even then he will get 1 game at the most a week in the cities unless Kubel proves he still cannot hit lefties– but if Kubel can get a shot to hit lefties and succeeds and Mauer continues to be healthy Morales will be on the bench most of the time and that will have no benefit for his learning.
does anybody seriously think mauer is going anywhere…get real…this kid is minnesota thru and thru….his family, friends and his best friend morneau…he is not going anywhere and the twins wont let him go anywhere, so yall can just relax and stop worrying about mauer and trying to rush morales to the big leagues…..redmond is still the much better catcher than morales and to say anything different is just plain ludicrous…you cant compete with reds experience and years….he will be just fine for the rest of this year and he deserves it..
I’m MN thru and thru mj1, i left for a better oportunity and money even though all things equal i’d still live in MN.
Morales needs to play, get ab’s and work on his defense, he will be up next year, if anything this shows we have depth at catcher, also there’s Butera and Ramos in the minors as well, Redmound isn’t what he use to be, but he can still handle being a backup, depth isn’t a bad problem to have
good for you shawn, but your not joe mauer
nope, and he might not leave, but he might even though he might not want to, he’ll have his agent in his ear too.
mauer is as locked in here as was hrbek, puckett, that you can take to the bank….i dont care what ny would offer — joe mauer will make more money than he could ever spend - i dont think money will be an issue…..
I don’t prefer Morales going down but i am ok with it for now. If Red doesn’t improve and Morales keeps tearing it up down there, i’d like the Twins to ask him to retire and be like an extra coach. If he didn’t do that then maybe you make the move.
mj1,
i’ve heard enough differing about mauer not taking less and how he can’t even leave his house. sometimes players feel disrespected, sometimes an agent can angle a player.
my guess is that mauer will stay, but with no real knowledge i can’t see it as a slam dunk.
thats the beauty, were all entitled to our own thoughts…
yeah, i hope the Twins are engaged with his agent now, the sooner the better chance he signs.
If I were Morales or is agent I would get out of the Twins farm system asap. With Mauer in front of him Morales has no future with the Twins. I believe he could be an starter with another major league team now. He’s young, hustles, good stick, handles pitchers well including Blackburn’s excellant 7 inning shutout. He’s way underated defensevely. Overall, he needs to tell the twins to take a hike. It’s time too that the broadcast team gives him some ink too. He’s being taken for granted and always will be in the Twins system.
Today’s “game” was without a doubt the greatest Twins game I have ever been to. The silence of the Sox fans was beautiful.
I hope Gardy has the stones to keep Mauer batting 2nd with Morneau and Kubel following.
IMO the Twins will announce signing Mauer to extended contract sometime after the All Star game. Good public relations going into the new stadium. If he keeps hitting homers at this pace, it might even be sooner.
Morales could be part of an upcoming trade to add a pitcher or three. Catcher is a weak spot for many teams & he is young & cheap.
morales being taken for granted…c’mon how stupid is that…8 weeks ago, most of us, including you probably didnt even know of morales…he is just a kid moving up in the system, pretty quickly too
Given Mauer’s injury history and Redmond’s age, it would be stupid to trade Morales. Why couldn’t the Twins have sent Gomez or Tolbert to AAA? The easiest thing for a team to do is put it’s 25 best players on the team and it is something the Twins continually fail at. Morales has played infield in the minors. Why not give him a shot at 2b? He probably wouldn’t be any worse than Harris defensively.
morales…he is just a kid moving up in the system, pretty quickly too
not quite… as a matter of fact, Morales is 2 months older than Mauer…
Kevin H,
Morales was a below average short stop, but an ok second baseman. Last time he played either position was 6 seasons ago.
That said, he should have been up there instead of Buscher (since they want to keep the ghost of Redmond’s past for some reason). He could fill in at 1B instead of Buscher or Cuddyer, be the primary C back up and LH PH off the bench. That would get him 3-4 games a week.
White Sox are rejected by peavy
What are they thinking. We need mauer in the lineup every day. This guy made that possible. A switch hitter hitting north of .350 who allows another hitter in the lineup hitting north of .400. What is going on in the home office?
I knew of Morales in 2007. Saw his 3 for 3 game in Chicago.
What would have been wrong with sending Buscher down?
And, Morales would be starting twice a week, right?
romer,
apparently Buschy is part of the inner circle, too…
We all knew of Morales in 2007. He could hit and not catch. At least he has improved a little on defense, which is the SOLE reason why Red-Dog is the backup catcher, not Morales.
twins should be busy putting up whatever it takes to get peavy on this roster…now is the time…..this pitching roster needs a leader and he would definately qualify for that and i dont especially care what it costs, as this team needs to start winning…they win and all the money in the world will not matter, as they will make plenty of it….just win….
can morales play another position?
So Reddog’s defense is better than Morales’ now?
Reddog’s noodle arm double hops throws to second. Reddog cannot catch a direct throw from the OF to save his life.
How is that better?
we have plenty in that farm system to toy with as most of them will never make this squad anyway..this team is still very young, so alot of these guys will be stuck in the numbers game, so why not try and package a few for a stud…..
Here’s a scenario: Morales keeps playing and hitting well in Rochester. Redmond continues to have days like Tuesday, when he called a terrible game and allowed Scott Baker to melt down without going to the mound once. Based on his stature in the game and another team’s needs for a veteran back-up, the Twins trade Redmond before the deadline for bullpen help and call up Morales for good. Until then, Morales can work on his footwork and his throwing in Rochester while hitting the living snot out of the ball.
why not try and package a few for a stud…
such as?
(don’t say Peavy for many reasons, but you gotta know that he is not moving from south california as he just said)
“The problem is that Morales could benefit from daily playing in Rochester…”
That’s what’s been said about Gomez too.
In Morales’ case, I disagree he benefits more. But even if he would, who cares?
They won’t send Gomez down because he can contribute on a part-time basis regardless of whether it does him much good. Why the change of thinking re Morales?
Looks like an example of institutioanl/bureaucratic stultification to me.
His game calling skills are much better, which is a part of defense.
the Twins trade Redmond before the deadline for bullpen help
if you were a GM of another team, why would you want Redmond on your roster? And what can he bring? I guess maybe Barry Zito, but that’s about it…
His game calling skills are much better, which is a part of defense.
if this were true, the pitchers would have better numbers with Redmond catching that with Morales, right?
(today’s game excluded and that would tip the scale even more to Morales’ favor) :
Opponent OPS:
with Redmond catching: .804
with Morales catching: .791 (about .765 after today’s game)
there is absolute no logical reason to keep Redmond over Morales at this point. Just sentimental…
if you were a GM of another team, why would you want Redmond on your roster?
Have you looked at the state of catching in baseball? Several teams have backups who signed minor league deals to start the year and were called up out of desperation. The Twins faced two of them on the recent road trip: The Yankees have a AAAA catcher as their current starter and Kevin Cash as their backup. And the White Sox have Corky Miller as their backup. Really, I should have just said two words: Corky Miller.
I am not saying I agree Redmond is better than Morales right now (or ever will be again). I am just backing up the Twins while everyone is bashing.
“there is absolute no logical reason to keep Redmond over Morales at this point. Just sentimental…”
which seems to be how a lot of decisions have been made over the years.
Yes Morales got screwed. Let’s take it out on Punto with a Gene Autry tune:
You know Kubel and Morneau And Crede and Mauer,
Tolbert and Gomez
And Span and Cuddyer,
But do you recall
The most famous infielder of all…….
Punto the hard-nosed shortstop,
Had a very shiny nose
And when he dives in head-first,
You would even say it glows
All of the angry bloggers
Used to laugh and call him names
They didn’t want poor Punto
To play in any baseball games.
But all of the coaches loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
“Punto, you hard nosed shortstop,
You’ll go down in his-to-ry!”
Corky Miller
I was listening to Girardi’s interview this afternoon at WFAN in my car and it looks like they have too many catchers when Posada will come back in a week. They love this kid Cervelli and are seriously thinking about DFAing Molina to keep Cervelli (unlike some team we both know and Redmond is worse than Molina and Morales is better than Cervelli)
back to Corky: do you think that the Sux would trade a bullpen arm not named Gobble to the Twins for Redmond?
If the Twins weren’t so short at OF right now with DY gone, I’d send Gomez down and put Kubel in the OF and make Morales the DH, but alas hitting is not the biggest issue - it is pitching, and I trust Mauer/Redmond to help the pitchers figure it out more than Morales. Look beyond the moment and look at the future based on a body of work, not just a few weeks. Hitting is a much more streaky thing than pitching mechanics.
which seems to be how a lot of decisions have been made over the years.
I am just backing up the Twins while everyone is bashing.
Folks, here is the beef: This team has not won a world championship since 1991. Kids who were born when the Twins won the world series last time can vote this year.
this bothers me.
those Andy McPhail-led teams were all about performance not sentiment:
Laudner was a great local product, he didn’t cut it he was out. Gaetti was great until Herr freaked him out,then he was out. Viola was great, he was out so the team would rebuild rationally. And all 3 were fan favorites, like the Reddog is.
If one is happy with an 18 year drought, he/she should feel free to support mediocrity instead of demanding excellence and bashing mediocrity and inane decisions…
Look beyond the moment and look at the future based on a body of work, not just a few weeks.
that might work if you ignore the fact that Redmond is 38 and his skill are diminishing as we speak…
do you think that the Sux would trade a bullpen arm not named Gobble to the Twins for Redmond?
I’ll take Thornton, please.
I’ll take Thornton, please.
me too
good luck
nice point t98, i’d like to see at least a real good run at a ws title before i can’t see anymore. to me it would be nice to see them try just a little harder.
i don’t feel like they ever sit down and say what do we need to do to get in the world series? it seems like it’s what do we do so we can compete maybe win a div.
The Twins were 1-5 in the last six game and outscored their opponents by i think 10 runs.That’s why stats are so missleading.Alot of players padded their stats today.If Mauer is not player of the month for May,there’s something wrong with the whole bit.
THRY:
I forgot about the Gaetti/Herr conection. Found this from a Quebec story, but it’s all Greek to me:
Gary Gaetti Vs Tommy Herr??
Thank you for the Baseball cover that you U.S. offers. For me the couvertue baseball in Quebec is definitely insufficient since the departure of the expos and I still do not understand how people have pus to release this splendid sport with the oubliettes after having lived of so beautiful emotions, that its is by looking at the expos or as a practitioner this marvellous sport.
I would like to ask you a question: Wasn’t Gary Gaetti, which had gained the world series with the twins, to find the year according to with Cards of St-louis, the team which they had beaten in world series? I do not know if my memory is lacking, but I believed that this exchange had been make during the dead season which had followed this world series.
As regards the year which is come from there, I believe that we should not draw aside Tigers de Detroit.Leur equips has 2 times more potential than than it has us to show last year, remains has to see whether Jim Leyland will be able to brew soup sufficiently so that this stuffed club of high-speed motorboats is able to play of Baseball to inspire.
Doc,
that’s looks like a babelfish translation of a french site
but i really give them an A for creativity for this:
I still do not understand how people have pus to release
as far as the Herr/Gaetti story, I’d rather not repeat it here, but I would point people out to read Hrbek’s book…
It seems we have 6 potential blasters and 3 potential Go-Go’s,so who knows were we go from here.As always,it will come down to who has the best pen
Well Jake Peavey makes it at least two of us that pick the White Sox as about the last team in the league to play for…
Of course I haven’t picked up a bat for almost 10 years, so I am sure the Sox arent too sad about that.
I’m thinking the Twins will make a trade for at least a bullpen arm soon, but you’re dreaming if you think they will try to make a trade for someone of the Peavy skill set. Ken Williams of the White Sox has shown the courage to make big trades, Bill Smith not so much.
Bill Smith has shown the courage to make big deals (Garza and Santana) but he has not exactly shown good judgement. Which is a bigger deal than lacking courage.
coco,
I am not sure that Peavy is that great of a pitcher to begin with.
(here is my rationale: http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-panachea-spelled-p-e-v-y.html )
that said, there is another starter that Smith should try to bust his rear end to get: Danny Haren (and try to have them add Yusmeiro Petit in the deal for the pen - they probably see him as a disappointment, but he is the RH version of Morales in a lot of respects)…
let’s see what it takes.
Doc: What are you smokin’? Is your last name Gooden?
One lesson from Herr/Gaetti: clubhouse chemistry means a lot. That guy was a cancer in the clubhouse because he divided the closest friends the Twins have had in the Metrodome era. And the Rat was never the same in a Twins uniform after that.
Redmond means a lot to this team as a clubhouse character. Hopefully he plays once a week from here on out so his on-field performance does not have too big an effect, until such time as Morales comes back for good.
Lost in the 20-1 drubbing: Punto was 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Discuss.
Morales has shown twice this year,that he is comfortable in the show.That will help his confidence,knowing that has ML talent.If Ramos is the catcher of the future and Marales is a switch-hitter,what does that say about Mauer,maybe a left turn 90 feet from home plate.
Punto was 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Discuss
I will just refer you to Doc’s earlier post,(actually might describe Redmond’s role in the clubhouse, as well) :
will be able to brew soup sufficiently so that this stuffed club of high-speed motorboats is able to play of Baseball to inspire.
Thrylos98, you are probably correct as usual….. but I was trying to say Bill Smith is much more unlikely to trade for a recent Cy Young winner with a big contract than Kenny Williams. Smith is much more likely to trade a salary than gain one. I’m sure there are a number of good pitchers available, but they will not come cheaply at this time of year. Maybe Smith will surprise us & take on a big contract/salary dump from another team.
Isn’t Punto Italian for chicken? In which case, he was poultry, in motion! Or, as Doc might say, chicken soup for he soul.
One note: Good thing he didn’t dive into first on the bunt play. His head needed to get in the way for that play to go awry for the Sox. At least his head mad contact with the ball today.
Punto is a good utility player because of his glove,pure and simply,not really much else to discuss.He should be fined every time he tries to upper cut the ball.
coco,
I think that the equation has shifted a bit. Bad economy and all, the Twins are just about guaranteed to make $25-50 million (I know that it is a broad range, but I would need better attendance figures from this season to approximate it) more next season just by getting into Target Field. This changes a lot. And if you are smart enough to go after a Haren and bait them with a deal that includes Baker, you loose that contract and if you include Perkins, you lose that arbitration next season…
just saying…
Isn’t Punto Italian for chicken?
“punto” is Italian for “point” and for a car that will appear in a Chrysler dealership next to you next year:
Thrylos98, if the Twins were willing to trade TWO of their young starters (& I don’t think that will happen), they could probably get quite a bit in return.
Thrylos98, if the Twins were willing to trade TWO of their young starters (& I don’t think that will happen), they could probably get quite a bit in return.
Let’s see: Perkins and Baker and ? for Haren and Petit. Can it happen? It would help the Twins if it does, with a rotation of Haren, Slowey, Liriano, Blackburn and Swarzak and Petit being the RH option in the 8th inning. Heck, throw in Crain for the deal…
I’m watching the Twin’s replay & I sure am enjoying seeing Mauer bat 2nd in the lineup. Hopefully Gardy will be superstitious enough to not want to break up a good thing right away!
I don’t like this decision. Redmond is a shell of his former self. Morales can hit. He will catch half the games in Rochester, if that. He’s not going to get remarkably better. This team is not willing to cut bait on a veteran when a younger player has shown to be superior. And, don’t give me small sample size - he has small sample size because he’s young! Even while all three were up this past week or so, Redmond caught, and PH, while Morales sat until today. I really don’t get the decision making at all.
Punto is hitting .193/.295/.211. Even if his defense was as good as Ozzie Smith’s, he would be a bad shortstop. But Punto is no Ozzie Smith. His UZR this year is 1.4 which is mediocre. In this day and age, shortstops are expected to make some offensive contribution. Punto is the worst offensive shortstop in baseball. If the Twins are out of the race in July, I say bring Plouffe up and see what he can do. We need a solution at shortstop. Punto is not it.
I agree with cmatt, but as the Redmond decision shows, it’s all about stiff veterans, not good young players, when there is a choice.
His UZR this year is 1.4 which is mediocre.
(actually it’s 1.7 after this game) And Harris’ UZR in SS is 2.2 . Now if you normalize and use UZR/150, you have:
Harris: 33.2
Punto: 10.1
I just wish that Gardy knew what that means or rather, I wish for the Twins to have front office personnel and a manager who knew what that means…
so for those who don’t know what it means is it better to be higher or lower thrylos?
LMS,
higher…
and here is what UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is all about:
It calculates the runs above average a fielder contributes based on: his arm (if he is an outfielder), his capability to turn double plays, his accuracy of fielding (errors) and his range.
UZR/150 is normalized to 150 games played.
but, LMS, tell me, what it would take for the Twins to pluck Haren and Petit from your Diamondbacks
The d’backs are only followed by me if forced upon or if I want to watch gracie, but I don’t think with the BP problems you want Petit…. although I think Haren is looking for anywhere but AZ seeing he gets no support (but he would pull a Peavy to stay in the NL with the bat seeing the last few games he does most of his own scoring)
Hey everyone, sorry to jump into a chat and start a new topic but here goes:
Does anyone think Baker is still injured? Or has anyone heard anything in this vein?
Horrible spring. Time on the DL. And an atrocious season thus far.
Thoughts?
LMS,
Petit is very good. I followed the guy since he was (a skinny - can you belive that? teenage phenom) with the Mets before he went to the Marlins in the Delgado trade. The guy has on of the nastier sliders around. These days he ballooned to Mijares/CC proportions, but I think that a steady diet of Lutefisk will do him good. And he has no stamina to be a starter, but he would excel as an 8th inning man…
Does anyone think Baker is still injured? Or has anyone heard anything in this vein?
Baker is tipping his pitches:
http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-scott-baker-tipping-his-pitches.html
it’s out there in the internets. Opposing managers know it (if I know it). The point is, does Andy know it?
I think Baker could be still injured. He doesn’t seem right.
He was very good last year, but this year is not the same story…. the era is very inflated as is the BA against. The few games I have seen of his he has been hit hard and I don’t know if the loss of Bryan Price is going to help or hurt him.
Bryan Price is a joke. He resigned because he wanted his buddies Kirk Gibson or Chip Hale (remember him?) to get the manager’s job…
cmatt- that was not lost on me. We had a great laugh about that at work.
See I can laugh about it… as long as we win by 19 runs.
Thrylos
I had mentioned earlier today that the Twins would be far better off trying to obtain someone like Haren then a guy like Peavy. As the D-Backs keep sinking in the standings they just may do it. They will look to unload his salary and get good, young, inexpensive talent in return. So I don’t think they would be too interested in Baker. I would love to see Haren in a Twins uniform!!
Jeff,
that would be sweet
haren is still owed 43+ mill on his contract, something i’m sure the twins will take on. plus how many players?
Jeff in So Cal..I’ve got tickets to see the Twins in Anaheim in July. Great seats, 16th row behind the visitors dugout.
Hopefully, the Twins will be in contention at that time.
Just wondering, why wouldn’t Morales have worked in the #2 spot?
I agree with cmathewson about Punto. While he won’t end up hitting .193, he is a poor offensive player and was barely marginal in his two “good years” 2006 and 2008. If the Twins want to be contenders this year, in ‘10 and beyond they need a shortstop and Punto is not it.
Yeah, cmath and flatblade, this is the day I gave up on Punto.
It’s his alter-ego or something. And he generally looks weaker all-around.
With everyone else doing superbly today, he was the kid who couldn’t.
Maybe he needs more days off.
Sorry, gang but the Morales move makes perfect sense to me.
This team can’t afford to carry 3 catchers on the active roster for an extended period.
Neither Redmond nor Morales would get much playing time as Mauer’s backup if he stays healthy.
If you send Morales down, you still have all 3 in your organization. If you waive Redmond, he gets claimed and you only have 2 out of the 3 in your organization. In that situation, you are one stray foul tip away from having Butera backing up Morales on your Major League roster. It’s not like having a catcher get injured is a remote possibility.
That might be a risk you take in August as you prepare for a stretch run… but not in mid May.
Morales will get regular work behind the plate in Rochester and he’s just a phone call away if/when one of the Twins’ catchers gets banged up.
The Twins are tied (with the low budget-low profile Red Sox) for the 5th highest team BA in MLB and 3rd highest team BA in the AL (.276).
Vavra-bashers, it’s on!
JC,
But every game that Red plays instead of Morales, in the meantime, has a higher potential for a loss that can’t be reversed in the final standings.
Butera is not that much worse (if any)than Red as Morales backup, if the dreaded emergency occurs.
Morales should DH. Good from both sides of the plate. Kubel should be in LF, Span in CF, Cuddyer in RF. Gomez sent down to AAA.
Span CF
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Kubel LF
Crede 3B
Morales DH
Harris SS / Tolbert 2B / Casilla 2B
Tolbert 2B / Harris SS / Punto SS
Much better offensively.
that’s right, jimcrikket. there’s method to their madness. even earl battey spent some time on the shelf.
so what kind of hits is morales getting? i see only three doubles out of 19 hits.
sane, i didn’t see your post. so you think morales needs to be on the team? he’s a real hitter?
mickey mental,
I think the evidence is stacking up that Morales is a real hitter.
Even Gardy and the coaching staff acknowledge that as a fact.
Mauer is getting a lot of days as a DH, so Morales (or Red) will have to be the catcher frequently.
It looks to me that Morales is the better choice and that Red is sinking toward Butera’s level.
JimC, I don’t like that way of thinking. Playing it “just in case there is an injury”. I want the best players on the roster. Morales will play at most half of the time at catcher in Rochester. That’s 1-2 times more per week than he would here.
by your logic, they should keep Redmond forever, even if they have better players, just in case someone gets hurt.
Butera is your “just in case someone gets hurt” catcher. He hits like Redmond, and he’s got a better arm now. Morales s/b up here.
As for Gardy, he displayed just how stuck in the past he is with his comments about the #2 hitter last night. It’s about getting on base, that is the number one correlator for guys w/o power for scoring runs. It’s not about bunting, it’s not about hitting the other way, it’s about getting on base.
So you guys really want to be one Mauer injury (which has been known to happen) from having two rookie catchers take us through the season?
Not me. Redmond is fine as a backup catcher and Morales needs to get behind the plate more than once a week.
I was proud to see a certain player go 4-for-6, including a 3-run homer and 5 RBI yesterday…
That would be Lew Ford playing for the Long Island Ducks, of course.
agreed re: No. 2 hitter, mike
my guess is the Twins will use Joe in the 2-spot tonight, come up big again, and he’ll return to the 3-spot by Sunday when they get their roster back intact.
Likewise, they will continue to start a .193 hitting shortstop, who, in the midst of a 20-run, 20-hit output, managed to go 0-for-5.
Yesterday was fun, but this team is still 5.5 games out of first.
You don’t need to get rid of Redmond to keep Morales around. Send down Buscher and you’ve got a 3rd catcher and a pinch-hitter that can give you a good at-bat against lefties or righties.
Heaven forbid we lose our backup 1B who’s worthless against LHP.
The Twins are tied (with the low budget-low profile Red Sox) for the 5th highest team BA in MLB and 3rd highest team BA in the AL (.276).
Vavra-bashers, it’s on!
Sure. Still 8th out of 14 in OPS and SLG in the AL (the low budget low profile Boston is 2nd behind the Yankees).
And I would not compare the Twins hitting with teams who hit pitchers, (on the other hand, Punto hits like one, so it might be a fair comparison ) the Twins would have ranked 5th in the NL in OPS and 5th in SLG.
And the important thing: still 7 games behind in the loss column.
Excellent point, Benny W. Moving Buscher would actually serve a dual purpose–he would have an opportunity to resurrect his career somewhere else instead of continuing to watch it fizzle here.
If you waive Redmond, he gets claimed and you only have 2 out of the 3 in your organization. In that situation, you are one stray foul tip away from having Butera backing up Morales on your Major League roster.
At this point, I’d rather have Butera than Redmond up. Butera is “replacement level”, Redmond is playing below replacement level.
And Redmond could be backup first baseman so Morales can develop his skills here.
There, I said it.
Jim, let’s say Mauer gets hurt. Who do you think would catch 2/3 of the time, Morales or Redmond? If you think Morales, then you shouldn’t fear him being the primary catcher with Butera as the backup. If you think Redmond, I have no idea why you think that.
What’s your plan for next year? Keep Morales down, and bring in a vet? Your main arguement seems to be that you want a vet, not that you want the best player.
The logical move is to send down Morales. He has hit well but his catching skills still need work. It’s better for him to play everyday at AAA for now. I foresee him being Mauer’s backup starting next year.
PDP, he won’t catch every day in Rochester. He’ll catch about half the time, which is 2-3 times a week. He’d catch 1 time a week here, or so.
I’m sure catching prospects are just thrilled about coming up in this organization. Can/Has Morales ever played any other position?
So, are the Tigers for real? I had picked them to finish last.
Justin, Morales used to be a utility-type infielder whose best position was 2B. That was a while ago, and he’s more valuable as a catcher anyway.
Watching the replay last night, when Morales flied DEEP to the outfield, it made me think opposing pitchers are going to figure him out real quick. He’s not going to keep batting .350 any more regularly than we are going to keep beating teams 20-1.
They made the correct decision.
Over 4 seasons at AAA Morales has hit .308/.361/.402. He’s not going to hit .358 but his track record suggests that he’s still a very good hitter.
Of course he’s not going to hit .350. But, will he outhit Redmond, that is the question.
the scenario that has to be in the back of the twins minds is what happens if Mauer blows out his knee/back/whatever next week and is gone for the season. If you keep Morales now and dump Redmond, you will most likely lose Redmond to another team just because of his experience and value as a veteran backup catcher. Then you have Morales and another minor league catcher to carry you the rest of the season. Better to keep Morales at AAA getting experience, and have the option of him and Redmond if Mauer has an season-ending injury.
Also it’s not fair to compare Redmond’s ten year .293 batting average to a converted second baseman because Red Dog is old.
And you know what they say about old dogs.
how do you think the TEAM would feel if they sent redman down, I really don’t think that would go over very well.
Right, jon. At the end of the season they would be pretty worried heading into a World Series without a veteran catcher.
Mauer’s backup will catch twice a week, not once a week.
Morales would play twice a week as Mauer’s backup vs. three times a week in AAA.
Morales is better off as Mauer’s backup.
Better for him - better for the Twins.
You guys have seen Morales catch, right?
big al, what should they do next year then, when they have the same choice? All you all that are worried about the third catcher, what do you do next year? Morales will still not have much MLB experience in your plan. Will you be all nervous about Mauer getting hurt, and want to sign a veteran, and keep Morales down? That is the argument you are making.
As Sane says, he’s not going to get much more experience in AAA.
Morales will get called up later this season and will be ready next year. You heard it here first.
As long as Red doesn’t finish strong (over .300) he’s done as a Twin, and possibly for his career. I don’t think he wants to be a Pat Borders 40 year-old AAAAer.
“At this point, I’d rather have Butera than Redmond up.”
Now there’s a shocker, thrylos. You’d rather have Kevin Costner too, because Redmond is part of your “inner circle” of irrational hatred.
By the way, you would not find a single GM in baseball that would prefer Butera as their backup over Redmond, now that Redmond appears to be recovering from his shoulder problem (an injury you conveniently ignore when you spew your ignorant venom).
this sure doesnt say much for the twins right now, if the biggest story is that of a 3rd string catcher, who is and should very well be, in the minors…you would think this kid (actually older than mauer) was the second coming of the mick the way guys/gals on this blog act…yes he is a nice looking guy and has hit pretty well, but when the pitchers find his out pitch, that average will drop 50 points or so and all will be quiet again…the kid needs to be in the minors to learn the art of catching and calling a game, one area redmond has him completely overshadowed…redmond is a great backup and a clubhouse leader on this team and he will be here for the whole season, just because of that fact, and if all goes well, maybe all you morales groupies will get next year…..now lets talk about the important things, we need a shortstop that can hit over .190 and we are 5.5 games out of first place…thats where the attention of this team should be, and also trying to rebuild a complete pitching staff, that has suddenly just come apart…..
mj1, that would stink if our backup catcher could hit .300 with medium power. Brutal.
check out the OPS+ for the two players, 129 vs 68. 68.
As for Punto, we have all year to talk about that, and next as well.
Next year’s catching situation will be addressed next year when Redmond is no longer under contract. Then they can evaluate what talent is at AAA and see what a Morales/Mauer duo would need in case of injury. But as it is, Redmond is under contract for the rest of the year, so I think you give Morales a full year to prove his worth at both AAA and in the big leagues when he is needed and then worry about the situation next year in spring training after seeing how things went this year with Mauer’s health and Morales continued development.
“when the pitchers find his out pitch, that average will drop 50 points”
Are you saying that Morales is going to end up as a crummy .300-hitting catcher?
That is not much of an argument for keeping him in the minors, while Redmond(.255) plays twice-a-week in a batting order with Punto, Tolbert and Gomez.
i would really like to see casilla brought back up and put at ss…all i have ever heard is that he is a natural ss and thats his best position, but i have never seen him play ss in twin uniform –if he could come back with a new attitude and hit well and put harris at 2nd base, this lineup would be pretty sweet, as long as the power holds up too…i think even gardy is going to see the punto thing has got to come to an end and just let him be the backup that he is–enough losses and alot of changes will be made and i think gardy knows that, at least i hope he does…bring back casilla and you might also see a pickup in gomez game as those two are pretty close and i think it affects gomez that casillas gone..jmho
well sane maybe it will drop 100 points-but it doesnt matter, its not his bat that puts him in the minors..again, he needs to learn to catch and thats what they do in the minors…teach….dontget me wrong, as a twins fan i hope he hits 400 and pushes mauer out of a job if possible, lol, but he still needs learn to catch and call a game………
span cf
casilla ss
mauer c
cuddyer rf
morneau 1b
young lf
kubel dh
crede 3b
harris/tolbert 2b
defense subs gomez, punto, ph - buscher
and redmond backup catcher….this lineup would be very solid if they could play it on a consistent basis…when you can have a joe crede hitting 8th, your lineup is pretty tough
I don’t want Morneau hitting 5th.
span cf
casilla ss
mauer c
morneau 1b
kubel dh
cuddyer rf
crede 3b
young lf
harris/tolbert 2b
this lineup if you dont want to go left/right/left
… he needs to learn to catch and thats what they do in the minors…teach………
I don’t think it’s a huge deal right now, Red over Morales, but this idea that Morales ‘needs’ to be in the minors to ‘learn how to catch’ is laughable. Do some of you even READ what you post?
Morales was converted to catcher in 2003–SIX years ago. He’s had some injuries, sure, but he has over 400 games of catching experience. He’s 26 years old (2 months OLDER than Mauer), and has been at the AA and AAA level since 2005.
Morales’ catching skills are either good enough now, or they’ll never be good enough. An extra game per week in Rochester catching isn’t going to make any significant difference in his defensive skills.
If he’s a better player than Red, right now, he should be in Minnesota, not Rochester. Any decision based on Morales “long term potential” is either being invented by posters here or is pure Twins propaganda.
Chief,
Very well said.
Guess we’ll just disagree. To me it has little to do with Morales’ “long term potential”.
When you’re talking about whether someone in Rochester is better than someone who’s a front line guy in Minnesota, sure… they should be in Minnesota.
But we’re talking about which situation you’d rather have for your backup catcher… both Redmond and Morales available in the event of a Mauer injury or Morales and Butera.
At this point in the season, there is no way I want the latter situation.
Next year is a whole ‘nuther topic.
Said this before, gonna say it again. With Mauer ahead and Ramos behind Morales seems destined to be a carreer backup. Who hits pretty good. Red has stated he wants to coach. Great. Get em both started on their next steps.
Isn’t Morales’ competition for a roster spot more Buscher than Redmond?
Three catchers allows Gardy to have peace of mind when he wants Mauer at DH. Morales can also man the back-up 1B job now held by Buscher.
Buscher’s other role as back-up 3B can be filled by Harris or Punto.
JC,
“But we’re talking about which situation you’d rather have for your backup catcher”
I apologize for belaboring my point, BUT
Twice a week, Redmond/Morales is the STARTING catcher, not the BACKUP catcher.
On those two days, the Twins need Morales.
On the four or five days that Mauer is the starter, I agree that “we’re talking about which situation you’d rather have for your backup catcher…”.
And I don’t care who the backup catcher is……as long as he is sitting in the dugout.
JC: As I said, I don’t think it’s a big deal, and there are arguments to be made for Red.
But IMO, if Mauer goes down with a serious injury, it won’t much matter who the backup to the backup is. The season is probably not recoverable at that point.
I’d rather see the Twins base the decision on ‘who’s better twice a week right now,’ instead of base the decision on ‘what’s better for Morales’ future’ or ‘what happens if Mauer gets hurt?’
Do they have a plan to deal with the pitching owes? If you think they’re going to make a big time trade to acquire a big salary starter you are ignoring the Twins past history. They will “try” to acquire a bullpen arm but the asking price will be too high, the salary to great, etc., etc. Nothing of note will happen
Obviously, I disagree with many of you and there’s no point in belaboring it (I’m used to having a minority opinion… I’m a moderate Republican).
The Buscher v Morales thing is an interesting topic though.
Given that Buscher’s appearances are extremely limited, I can see logic behind having Morales in that PH role.
I do question whether now is the right time to do that, however, as they head in to “interleague games” season. Having three postion players that can only play one position (catcher) at the expense of a backup corner infielder might not be a great idea when you’re looking at all that “double-switch” and “pinch hitting for your pitcher” stuff. Just a thought.
Pat, I don’t think the Twins will make a deal for a big time SP. But I don’t think they need to.
What they could do is pick up a reliable SP who’s having a moderately successful year and could be counted on for 100 innings the second half of the season. They did try to get Washburn from Seattle last year and if a couple of the guys in the rotation continue to really struggle, I could see them look for something similar again.
What I don’t expect is for them to take on someone with a huge salary for the next 2-3 years. I suspect they still believe their “rotation of the future” is going to be comprised of guys already in the organization.
JimC, I knew there was a reason I generally liked you so much. I once interned for Bill Frenzel….(just testing everyone’s age there for a moment).
And your argument about Buscher is why Hughes should be up here and not Buscher. He kills lefties, and in an emergency NL type game, he can play OF, 2B, 3B if needed.
and, I agree, we just aren’t going to agree about worrying about injuries vs worrying about who plays twice a week.
I do question whether now is the right time to do that, however, as they head in to “interleague games” season. Having three postion players that can only play one position (catcher) at the expense of a backup corner infielder might not be a great idea when you’re looking at all that “double-switch” and “pinch hitting for your pitcher” stuff. Just a thought.
The Milwaukee series is just a tease of interleague play; afterward the Twins play 17 more games before they get back to interleague competition vs Cubs on June 12-14. And aside from that three-game series at Wrigley, they will not play under NL rules until June 23.
I think people are a bit confused when it comes to who really has the final say in roster moves.
Yeah, Smith will take Gardy’s input into consideration…but ultimatly when a move would involve cutting salary, releasing players, DFAs…etc…Gardy’s not going to be able to force that to happen.
Gardy can tell them “I really wish you could find a way to keep Morales up here”, but ultimately he can’t tell them “Well why don’t you just get rid of Redmond” and expect it to happen the next day.
I should add that I don’t think you’ll find a manager that will come out and say “We need to get rid of ____”
Because if that gets back to the dugout (which it will), then that manager will officially “lose” that player.
then that manager will officially “lose” that player.
you could have spelled “lose”: l-o-h-s-e, for emphasis 
I just question all the timing of roster moves the last few days. Why in the heck was Swarzak called up so early?
You guys will correct me if I miss something, but wouldn’t the better move have been this: Not officially call up Swarzak until saturday morning? When Delmon had to be reinstated for fridays game, that is when Perkings gets shifted to the DL. Then, after fridays game is when Morales gets sent down to make room for swarzak. Would mean only one, not two games that you are playing with a 24 man roster. Mauer DH’s again friday (while there are two other catchers around), and then can catch saturday, sunday, monday no problem.
Now of course, all of this is a moot point. I just think there are roster moves that seem to not so well thought out.
fcmlefty,
agreed. But this team is very horrible in roster management. Another case in point: Dickie did not have to start the season in the 25 roster until his first start, the 5th game. So the Twins lost the opportunity to have an extra bat or an extra arm for 4 games…
This team supposedly does “the little things right”, but I think that “the little things” are way over their heads
t98: I remember thinking the same thing with Dickey to start the year, just forgot to mention it!
Looking back, it would have probably meant Tolbert would be up the first four days, which may or may not have changed anything, but most definitely should have been done.
Roster management shouldn’t be too hard. I can think of tons of scenarios on a daily basis that could/should be done. Where do I submit my resume?
” And if you are smart enough to go after a Haren and bait them with a deal that includes Baker, you loose that contract”
We are 7 starts into Baker’s contract. Isn’t it a little early to determine it would be beneficial to dump it?
“If the Twins are out of the race in July, I say bring Plouffe up and see what he can do. We need a solution at shortstop. Punto is not it.”
Have you ever watched Plouffe? He hasn’t looked that solid in the field to me (mind you, I’ve only seen him in spring training) and he’s batting .227 in AAA. I anticipate he’d be a considerable downgrade at short at least in the short term.
“Does anyone think Baker is still injured? Or has anyone heard anything in this vein? Horrible spring. Time on the DL. And an atrocious season thus far.”
I think Baker simply has to walk a line to be successful. He isn’t overpowering. His control has to be keen and he has to pitch smart to have success. When he is a step ahead of the batter, he can dominate. We’re seeing innings of that mixed with innings of his weakness- when he misses just a little bit, or gets rattled, he is very hittable. It tends to snowball on him and we forget the all the zeroes he put on the board when he puts some fives and sixes up there. Who can blame us? I think he’ll find his stride, but if he doesn’t, it’ll be tough on the whole staff.
Re: Jim Crikket’s 12:20 post
I love this guy’s posts. He gets it. When he tells me I’m wrong, I’ll probably believe him
I have had a soft spot for Morales since watching his 3 for 3 call-up, but I can’t complain with his being sent down right now. It makes sense.
Also, I really don’t to have to watch Butera try to hit.
Mike is giddy (and mistaken) wrote:
“Butera is your “just in case someone gets hurt” catcher. He hits like Redmond…”
Butera hits .227 at AAA.
Redmond is hitting .255 in MLB and has hit .304 for his career as a Twin.
Butera may be ready to contribute with his glove and arm, but let’s not equate his bat with Redmond’s.
Vic, please explain your thinking. I will check back to see if you found this. I am truly curious (not sarcastic.)
“Watching the replay last night, when Morales flied DEEP to the outfield, it made me think opposing pitchers are going to figure him out real quick. ”
How does a near-miss HR indicate a weakness that opposing pitchers will be able to exploit? Or were you being sarcastic? I was confused by this comment.
POPRIVET:
Vic Power meant that opposing pitchers
don’t respect his talent and will concentrate harder on how to pitch him.
