Doug Bernier and the lingering effects of spring training

Doug Bernier is 34 and
has played in 42
major league games.

Eduardo Nunez hit the disabled list after Tuesday's game, a move that apparently followed a few days of hoping that his left oblique strain would quickly subside. It didn't, and so minor league vet Doug Bernier gets the call to sit on the major league bench.

(This appears to be the first time this year that the Twins did not respond immediately to an injury by making a move. Nunez's DL stint is retroactive to Thursday, six days ago. They certainly didn't wait to sideline Oswaldo Arcia, or pitchers Casey Fien or Brian Duensing before him.)

Bernier isn't likely to see much playing time, but then neither was Nunez. They're both right-handed hitting infielders who rank behind Eduardo Escobar in the utilityman hierarchy, and it's a reasonable surmise that the purpose of having either on the roster is to allow Escobar to play in the outfield and still have an infielder on the bench.

Bernier takes the 40-man roster spot opened by Ervin Santana's suspension, which means somebody's gotta go by early July. But that's two months off, and plenty can happen between then and now -- not the least of which is that Nunez figures to return first, removing the reason for having Bernier on the 25-man roster -- and Bernier would have to be outrighted to be returned to Rochester.

Bernier, like Eddie Rosario, hasn't put up numbers at Rochester . Both were picked, it appears, partly on the basis of being the last man out among infielders and outfielders respectively during spring training and partly on the basis of being a something of a match for the role of the injured player they're replacing on the roster.

But they're only something of a match. Arcia and Rosario are left-handed hitting outfielders, but Rosario is a line-drive hitter and a good defensive outfielder; Arcia is a strikeout-prone slugger who is abysmal in the field. Bernier and Nunez are are right-handed hitting infielders who play multiple positions, but Nunez is a bat-first guy and Bernier a glove-first guy.

The bigger factor is this: Had the Arcia and Nunez injuries occured in late March rather than early May, Rosario and Bernier would have opened the season in the majors. Last ones out, first ones up.

Starting the roster trimming

Yohan Pino made
11 major league starts
for the Twins, fifth
most on the team.

Terry Ryan and the rest of the Twins brain trust are in Fort Myers this week holding the organizational meetings.

Even without a manager, even without a coaching staff, some decisions have to be made.

The first made public was the removal of infielder Doug Bernier and pitcher Yohan Pino from the 40-man roster.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins re-signed either or both to minor league deals. Nor would I be surprised if the 34-year-old Bernier wound up with a minor league managing or coaching gig.

The Twins now have 37 players on the 40. Mike Pelfrey is still on the 60-day disabled list, which means he's off the 40; at some point he'll be reinstated to the 40, so it's effectively at 38. 

The Twins will need to clear more space to protect the likes of Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Alex Meyer. Those three are obvious must-protects, and there are other Rule-5 eligible players they probably will want to protect as well, such as Sean Gilmartin, a left-handed starter and former first-round pick. So there are more cuts to come. 

The September call-ups

Doug Bernier, who
spent half the 2013
season with the Twins,
was named MVP of
the 2014 Red Wings.

The Twins on Monday morning announced eight callups for the expanded September roster, names familiar and otherwise: A.J. Achter, Doug Bernier, Logan Darnell, Chris Herrmann, Aaron Hicks, Lester Oliveros, Josmil Pinto and Michael Tonkin. They were all with Triple A Rochester, which was eliminated Sunday from playoff contention, and will join the Twins today.

As surmised here earlier, three of them -- Achter, Bernier and Oliveros -- had to be added to the 40-man roster. Of the eight -- nine if you want to count Aaron Thompson, called up during the weekend -- only Achter has never appeared in the majors before.

This collection is heavy with minor league veterans and light on true prospects.The Twins did not call up anybody who is to be first-time eligible for the Rule 5 draft and thus likely to be added to the 40 early in the offseason. That would include Eddie Rosario, who didn't play well enough this year to be rewarded with a month of major league pay and perks but is too good a prospect to expose, and Alex Meyer, who went on the minor league disabled list during the weekend.

Lester Oliveros
will audition this
month for a bullpen
role next year.

The most interesting of the nine, as I look to 2015, are Hicks, Oliveros and Tonkin.

Hicks needs to have a strong September, as I see it. He's twice won jobs in spring training only to flop in the regular season, and I can't see a good reason for the Twins to let him do that a third time.

Oliveros and Tonkin are a pair of hard-throwing righties, either of whom might be a successor to Jared Burton (whose contract is expiring) in a set-up role next year. Oliveros, as you might recall, came to the Twins in the Delmon Young trade in 2011; he's had some injury issues and has returned from Tommy John surgery. (Achter might be put in this group, but his stuff is a notch behind the others.)

Chris Herrmann hit
.304 for Rochester
but just .143 with
the Twins.

Darnell and Thompson are showcasing themselves as potential replacements for Brian Duensing and Caleb Thielbar as lefty specialists.

Pinto and Herrmann ... I think their purpose is to lighten the load on Kurt Suzuki, who has taken a beating behind the plate in recent days. Theoretically either could push out Eric Fryer as the backup catcher in 2015, but Fryer is the superior receiver, and a reliable backstop seems to be Ron Gardenhire's preference in that role. (Assuming, of course, that Gardy is back next year.)

Herrmann would have a better chance at a backup job with a manager inclined to use the backup catcher in platoon situations -- meaning, to look to give Suzuki his days off against right-handed pitchers and fit the left-handed Herrmann in then. Gardenhire is not such a manager.

The return of Doug Bernier

Doug Bernier was called up at the All-Star
break and played in 33 games for the
Twins, but only four of them in September.

The Twins earlier this month outrighted infielder Doug Bernier, which made the 33-year-old infielder a minor league free agent. This weekend, Bernier re-signed with the Twins on a minor league deal, presumably with an invite to major league camp this spring — which, itself, is a step up from last year.

It's not difficult to understand why Bernier was eager to return to the Twins organization; they gave him almost a half season in the majors, which is a whole lot more service time than he ever got from his previous organizations (Colorado, Pittsburgh and the Yankees twice).

A bit more puzzling is why the Twins were eager to bring him back.

As matters stand, the Rochester middle infield regulars figure to be Danny Santana at shortstop and Eddie Rosario at second. I don't know what James Beresford's status is — he's probably a minor league free agent too — but I see more of a possibility of him becoming a useful major league player. For one thing, he's nine years younger than Bernier. Assuming Beresford is retained (and that's not a certainty), there doesn't appear to be a purpose to having Bernier as well.

So are appearances deceiving?

This may be reading too much into a signing that is clearly about minor league depth, but it leads me to suspect that the Twins may have other plans for Rosario in 2014 than playing second base in Triple A. The emergence of Brian Dozier during the second half may have persuaded the Twins that they don't need Rosario as a second baseman. If so, they might shift him back to the outfield; they might trade him.

And if Rosario isn't the second baseman for the Red Wings, there's a role available for Bernier.

Notes, quotes and comment

Doug Bernier appeared in 33 games for
the Twins, with a slash line of
.226/.339/.283.

The Twins on Friday outrighted infielder Doug Bernier, who thus becomes a minor league free agent. This officially reduces the 40-man roster to 35, but the unofficial tally of 37 is more accurate, since it accounts for Wilkin Ramirez and Sam Deduno, who are on the 60-day disabled list.

This was certainly the most glorious season of Bernier's professional career: He got to spend almost three months in the major leagues after hitting .295 in a half-season as the primary shortstop for the Rochester Red Wings.

The Twins never really had a role for the 33-year-old — no matter how thin his bench, Ron Gardenhire always seems to have somebody who doesn't have much purpose sitting around — but I'll guarantee you, Bernier preferred that to playing every day in Triple A.

His removal from the 40-man roster was inevitable. It's possible that the Twins will seek to retain him as Triple A roster depth, but Danny Santana figures to be the primary shortstop in Rochester next season, and Eddie Rosario may be the primary second baseman if the Twins don't return him to the outfield or use him in a trade, and then there's James Beresford, who's considerably younger than Bernier, as a utility guy.

There may not be a place for Bernier in this organization. And at his age, it's not going to be easy to find a place to keep his dreams going.

Dusty Baker has managed the Giants, the Cubs and
the Reds into the playoffs over the years, but has
never managed a World Series winner.

---

The Cincinnati Reds surprised a lot of observers Friday by dismissing Dusty Baker as their manager.

Baker's been around a long time — he is 16th on the all-time managerial wins list — and even at age 64 he doesn't appear inclined to go into retirement. He still wants to manage, and I suppose somebody will give him a job.

But he's not a manager I'd be particularly interested in having run my team. Even discounting his often-bizarre statements about the game (such as his complaint that hitters who draw walks merely clog up the basepaths), his tenures have been marked by a rather hands-off approach to player behavior, and inevitably there are incidents that appear to be the direct result of players knowing there will be no ramifications for immature behavior.

Cincinnati and Washington are two clearly win-ready teams with managerial openings. Those kinds of jobs aren't often available.

Shaking up the roster

Oswaldo Arcia tries (and fails) to break his bat
after yet another strikeout.

The Twins go into the All-Star break with a two-game winning streak. They will come out of the break on Friday with a drastically different outfield.

The Twins optioned out three players after Sunday's win: outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, infielder Eduardo Escobar and first baseman/right fielder Chris Parmelee. Catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann and infielder Doug Bernier were immediately named as call-ups; the third addition was not named, but is expected to be first baseman Chris Colabello, who is slated to play in the Triple A all-star game Wednesday.

It has been said here since early in the offseason that 2013 doesn't matter. All decisions should be made with the future as the priority. A good case can be made for two of the demotions on that basis, not so much the third.

Let's take the least important one first. Bernier, who has all of four major league at-bats, is a 33-year-old minor league veteran who is having, literally, his first good hitting season that didn't come in a notoriously good hitting environment. The only point to swapping out Escobar for him is giving the younger (24) Escobar a chance to play; he's had all of 13 at-bats this month.

There is, to be blunt, no question worth asking about the future of the Twins to which Bernier is a useful answer. Escobar might be a utility infielder of the Al Newman/Nick Punto ilk down the road; right now, Ron Gardenhire isn't playing him, so he's not developing. Bernier can sit on the bench as well as Escobar can.

The Arcia demotion brought immediate complaints on my Twitter feed, largely along the lines of: yeah, he's been awful for the past week, but so was Aaron Hicks for six weeks and they didn't send him down.

True, but: Hicks, during his horrendous April, was doing other things to help the team. He drew a few walks; he played better defense in center field than anybody else available to them; he ran the bases well in those few times he was on base. Arcia in a slump does nothing to help; this is the outfielder, remember, who fielded a foul fly with his face last week.

Chris Parmelee's natural position is first base,
but he's played just 66 innings there this season.

According to Baseball Info Systems's defensive metrics, Arcia is -17 in the plus-minus rating and -10 in runs saved. In contrast, Josh Willingham, widely recognized as a poor defensive outfielder, is -9 and -4 — in about 150 more innings.

Arcia on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday came to the plate 14 times and struck out 11 times. Throughout that stretch of futility, Gardenhire spoke publicly about how Arcia was trying to "hit an eight-run homer;" certainly the youngster was talked to about it; and he kept overswinging.

Arcia is a big part of the Twins' future. But he needs to do a better job of adjusting, and it may well be that he needs a reality check.

For me, the demotion of Parmelee is the bigger disappointment. Certainly his offense hasn't been what one desires from a first baseman-right fielder, and he hasn't gotten better (one hit and 12 strikeouts in his past 22 at-bats). Considering how he dominated the International League last year, I don't know what he's going to learn from this demotion.

I certainly would rather see Parmelee get at-bats in the majors than Clete Thomas. Parmelee may not turn out to be a regular on a contender; we know Thomas isn't.

Presumably the Twins intend to bring both Arcia and Parmelee back soon. Until then, the corner outfield spots will likely be manned by some combination of Ryan Doumit, Thomas and Herrmann. I don't think this is an upgrade.