Goodbye, Grossman

The Twins on Friday -- the deadline to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players -- signed recent waiver-wire addition C.J. Cron to a one-year deal ($4.8 million)and cut loose Robbie Grossman.

Cron and Grossman are both bat-first guys, but their hitting success comes in different shapes. Cron has the power; Grossman is an on-base percentage guy. I don't dismiss 30 home runs, but Grossman is the better hitter.

But there's a catch, or lack of them. Grossman is a poor defensive outfielder, and the Twins have four outfielders ahead of him (Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jake Cave). Cron isn't as good as Joe Mauer at first base, but he doesn't damage the pitching staff when he's in the field -- and with Mauer retired, the Twins don't have an incumbent at the position. Cron fits the roster better than Grossman does.

Of course, there is arguably room for both in the Minnesota lineup -- Cron at first base, Grossman at designated hitter. That was a road the organization choose not to take. Had Cron not been available, perhaps the Twins would have kept Grossman. More likely, his time in Minnesota was expired anyway.

The fast facts and stereotypes

Filed under fast facts:

#mntwins sprint speed (feet/second):

Buxton 30.5
LaMarre 28.0
Rosario 27.9
Kepler, Escobar 27.7
Grossman 27.6
Adrianza 26.9
Dozier 26.7
Garver 26.1
Morrison, Sano 26.0
Castro 25.9
Mauer 25.8
Petit 25.1
Wilson 23.5

— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) June 12, 2018

Kinda makes you wonder why the fixation with having Ehrie Adrianza pinch run for Robbie Grossman, doesn't it?

It's understandable. Adrianza is a glove-first middle infielder; Grossman is a poor defensive corner outfielder. Most good middle infield gloves come attached to fast feet. Most poor defensive outfielders aren't very mobile. 

And it's even possible that if you had the two run a 40-yard dash that Adrianza would win.

But there are few situations on a baseball field in which a player is asked to run 120 feet in a straight line. It's 90 feet from home to first, after which there's a 90-degree turn to navigate. And what these numbers tell us in that Grossman does the running baseball requires faster than Adrianza.

And after watching Adrianza stumble twice rounding third base before getting thrown out at home, I believe it.

Contemplating Robbie Grossman

The Twins have no shortage of culprits to blame for Thursday's loss if they are so inclined, but the one that I'm going to pick on is Robbie Grossman, whose bumbling play in right field allowed the White Sox to tie the game.

Grossman is, emphatically, a poor defensive outfielder, But he's getting considerable playing time in the field right now in the absence of Byron Buxton, who last played on April 12. 

This weakens the Twins at two outfield slots, as Max Kepler is not nearly as good in center as Buxton and Grossman is nowhere near Kepler as a right fielder.

This is overly simplistic, but the Twins are 4-12 this year when Grossman starts in the outfield. They are 7-4 when Buxton is in the lineup.

And, not to pick on Dick Bremer too much, but the TV play-by-play guy has been assuring us for quite a while that Grossman is hitting well now after a horrid start. Over the past six games, Grossman is 2-for-20 with two walks, a slash line of .100/.167/.150. Yes, Dick-and-Bert's-stand-ins are paid to sell the team to the audience, but they also need a decent regard for the truth.

And the truth is that Grossman isn't hitting, and if he isn't hitting, there's nothing else he does well enough to help a team.

This was an overlooked drawback to the signing of Logan Morrison. Adding Morrison's power bat pushed Grossman out of the DH role and into the fourth outfielder slot of the roster. (Morrison hasn't hit all that well either -- .184/.283/.322 -- but his slash line is still slightly better than Grossman's.) And Grossman doesn't fit that role well.

A bench of role guys

There are, broadly speaking, two kinds of bench players. There are players -- typically veterans -- who have specific in-game roles.  And there are players -- typically younger -- who are waiting for a regular to get hurt or slump his way to the bench.

Leo Durocher, Hall of Fame manager, was notorious for dividing his teams into the guys who play and the guys who sit. Casey Stengel and Earl Weaver, also Hall of Fame managers, platooned everybody but their superstars; it was hard to tell who was their bench guys some years.

Rosters are shaped differently these days; benches are thinner when about half the roster is pitching. But the Twins bench under Ron Gardenhire tended strongly toward the Durocher model. Gardy didn't platoon much, and he liked a set lineup.

Paul Molitor has edged away from that, and it really shows in the bench the Twins expect to open with today. There are four players, and it's not difficult to identify their in-game roles:

• Mitch Garver is the backup catcher. He's a right handed hitter, which gives Molitor a platoon option with starter Jason Castro. 
• Ehire Adrianza, utility infielder, is a superior gloveman who started games last season at five different positions. He's a switch hitter.
• Robbie Grossman, switch-hitter, is an on-base percentage specialist. The more he plays in the outfield, the less his bat helps. 
• Ryan LaMarre, right handed hitter, is something of a mirror image to Grossman. Despite his gaudy spring training numbers, he's never been much of a hitter, but he's fast and a good defensive outfielder.

The Twins' nine regulars tend heavily to the left side. The bench is all right-handed or switch hitters. Molitor has some bat-first options and some glove-first options. There is nobody on this roster like Luis Rodriguez a few years ago, where one wondered what function he had. There is an obvious purpose to each of these four, and I applaud that.

The opening roster takes shape

Hardly had I gotten Thursday's post published than the Twins did other than predicted. Tyler Duffey was optioned out (as was Alan Busenitz), leaving the Twins with 13 pitchers for 12 spots. The final spot figures to go to either Gabriel Moya or Tyler Kinley, with Kinley favored.

This suggests that the decison makers are confident that the starters are prepared to give them some length when the season opens next week. That hasn't been the outlook in recent years. Keeping Duffey and Phil Hughes would have given the Twins a fifth starter and a long reliever (or two spot starters/long men). Instead, it's just the post-operative Hughes.

Duffey will be used in relief in Rochester but in a stretched-out way, akin to how he was used last season. And he'll be in Minnesota sooner than later. There will be a need for innings out of the bullpen.

More surprising to me, in truth, was the lopping of veteran non-roster infielder Erick Aybar. I had been resigned to the notion that the suspension of Jorge Polanco and the uncertainty over Miguel Sano meant that Aybar, who hit well early in camp and then faded, was going to be on the opening roster.

Instead, it appears that the Twins intend to have five outfielders open the season in the majors. This may be related to Eddie Rosario's multi-week issues with his throwing elbow.

The conventional wisdom has Robbie Grossman and Zack Granite as the extra outfielders. I wouldn't rule out Ryan LaMarre, but he does have the significant disadvantage of being a non-roster guy.

And Mitch Garver will be the backup catcher. Bobby Wilson and Willians Astudillo were both told they won't be on the opening roster.

---

Kennys Vargas was claimed on waivers by the Cincinnati Reds, which is a bit puzzling. The Reds, as a National League team, have little need for a designated hitter, and Vargas should not be taking at-bats away from the great Joey Votto.

Best guess is that the Reds will quickly waive Vargas in hopes of stashing him at Triple A, which I think is what the Twins were hoping to do.

Low-key competitions: Outfield

When the Twins signed Logan Morrison to be their primary designated hitter, Paul Molitor made a point of telling reporters that he had warned Robbie Grossman -- 2017's primary DH  --  that Grossman would have to make the roster as an outfielder.

The issue wth that is that Grossman is a terrible defensive outfielder.

There is a prototype for fourth outfielders:

• fast enough to play center field
• too weak at the plate to be a regular (but still good enough to get some at-bats), 
• left handed or a switch hitter for platoon purposes, since most pitchers are right-handed. 

In the Twins specific case, however, the third point is off kilter. Because two of the three regular outfielders, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler, are left-handed hitters with problems against lefties, the Twins would prefer their fourth outfielder be right-handed. And Rosario or Kepler are capable of sliding over to play center when Byron Buxton sits.

Grossman misses on the first point. Zack Granite fits the usual form perfectly but hits left-handed, so he's not much of a platoon partner to Rosario or Kepler.

There are a couple of right-handed hitting non-roster outfielders in camp.

Chris Heisey, 33, has compiled more than 1,750 major league plate appearances over the past eight seasons with three clubs (Reds, Dodgers, Nationals). He has not, however, been notably useful as a platoon player (his OPS, On-base Plus Slugging, is notably better against righties for his career), and he's probably not capable of playing center field well at this stage in his career. He hasn't hit much the past three years in limited playing time, and he hasn't hit much this spring.

Ryan LaMarre, 29, has -- his spring training batting average is above .500, which is obviously ridiculous and not to be maintained. He lacks Heisey's track record (just 40 major league at-bats) but is obviously fast enough to play center. Despite the gaudy Grapefruit League numbers, his minor league record isn't that impressive.

Grossman should still be reckoned the most likely fourth outfielder. But even if he opens the season on the roster, his position is not secure. His fielding issues are deep enough that he's got to hit to get in the lineup, and he didn't mash lefties as well in 2017 as he did in 2016. 

LaMarre has had an impressive camp so far. And it's also possible that the fourth outfielder is in somebody else's camp waiting to be waived or traded.

Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar, Robbie Grossman and the postseason roster

One thing we learned from Torii Hunter's occasional forays into the broadcast booth is that he calls Eduardo Escobar "Mighty Mouse."

Escobar helped save the day Friday night with a home run. He helped save the season with 21 homers, which is power output nobody expected when the Twins got him from the White Sox in exchange for Francisco Liriano in 2012.

Fifteen of those 21 homers have come while playing third base, which is supposed to be the property of Miguel Sano. (Three have come when at short, and three as the designated hitter.) Sano has had two lengthy stints on the disabled list, and Escobar has gotten the heavy majority of his playing time at third as a result.

Sano has hit 28 homers, 23 of them at third. So the Twins have gotten 38 homers from their third basemen, which basically sounds like Sano got a full season in there.

But only in terms of the power. Sano draws walks and Escobar does not. While their batting averages are similar, the Dominican has a far superior OBP to the Venezulean. Give credit to Escobar for producing in Sano's absence, but know that Sano is the more productive hitter.

Sano returned to the active roster Friday and got an at-bat late in the game, grounding out meekly to the pitcher. He's expected to get at least one start as the designated hitter in these final two games as he tries to wrangle his way onto the playoff roster.

If he does, he's not going to step back in at third base; there's no indication that his leg is ready to play the field. If Sano is in the lineup, it will be as the designated hitter.

So Escobar's status as the third baseman seems secure as the wild card game approaches. The guy who might lose out is Robbie Grossman, who has himself been strictly a DH since returning from his thumb injury.

Grossman has nine homers on the season with a slash line of .248/.364/.383. He's sort of the reverse image of Escobar -- big on walks, light on the power. (His September slugging percentage, .484, has been sharply higher.) Fourteen Twin have more than 100 plate appearances; only Joe Mauer has a better on-base percentage than Grossman.

Don't underestimate the importance of the ability to reach base. Escobar's big flies are valuable and startling. Grossman's walks are mundane -- but just as valuable.

But the choice really isn't between Grossman and Escobar. It's between Grossman and Sano, and the real question is, is Sano ready to hit against playoff caliber pitching?

A secondary question might be: Is Grossman able to play outfield? He hasn't in weeks. And if he can't, is there room on the playoff roster for two bat-only "position players"?

The Twins have a few days to draw their conclusions and make their decisions. At thp point, I'm skeptical of Sano's return.

Notes, quotes and comment

During my truncated biweekly appearance on KMSU Thursday, I volunteered the notion that Kyle Gibson was the key figure in the Twins push for the wild card.

He gave us reason to beleive that Sunday, both pro and con.

His first two innings were SOG -- Same Old Gibson. Four walks and four runs in the first inning, five runs -- including two homers -- in the first two innings. And then, four innings practically without blemish, the good Gibson of his previous five starts.

Gibson has had remarkable run support all year, and particularly of late. Five runs allowed in six innings is not a great start, but with 13 runs of support, it was good enough.

---

Last week the Twins designated Engelb Vielma for assignment. The San Francisco Giants claimed him on waivers.

Last winter, the Giants waived Ehire Adrianza, who was initially claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers, to tried to get him through waivers themselves only to see the Twins claim him. Adrianza has stuck all year, starting games at five different positions. He's been the gloveman I expected (easily the best defensive shortstop on the roster) and a more productive hitter than anticipated.

In a very real sense, the Twins traded Vielma for Adrianza, just about seven months apart. They;re rather similar players -- switch-hitters, shortstops, some speed, glove-first. Vielma has options left, and Adrianza does not, and Adrianza has more pop in his bat, but in the main, they're the same guy.

---

Adrianza has picked up a good bit of playing time in left field since Robbie Grossman's thumb injury in a platoon with Max Kepler, who has struggled at the plate against lefties. (Eddie Rosario shifts to right when Adrianza is in left.)

It's only 53 plate appearances, but Adrianza has slashed .298/.340/447 against southpaws. And he hasn't embarrassed himself in the outfield despite little previous experience out there. (There have been too few innings for the metrics to be definitive, but they show him as a very good defensive outfielder.)

Grossman, whose splits last year showed more power right handed, has been the opposite this year. He's slugging just .355 as a right-handed hitter, .412 from the left side -- but his on-base percentage as a right handed hitter is a stellar .406, markedly better than his still-useful .355 as a lefty.

I know there are those who want to see more Kennys Vargas as DH and less Grossman, but one long ball a week really doesn't make up for the all the extra outs Vargas would make.

Paul Molitor has this month largely limited his lineup juggling to the outfield corners and DH. I certainly didn't expect Adrianza to emerge as a viable outfielder, and I do believe that platooning Kepler now is detrimental to his future, but Molitor has gotten immediate benefits from this approach.

One win, one loss, lots to talk about

Glen Perkins, in the first of Thursday's games, became the 32nd player to pitch for the Twins this year. Simply getting back onto a major league mound after essentially having his shoulder reconstructed is quite an accomplishment.

That said, his outing wasn't good. He hit two batters, walked another, threw more balls than strikes, got just one out.

He hit 93 at least once, but he didn't have command. He says he'll be better in future outings. We'll see. I'm pleased he's back; now I want to see him be effective enough to justify a role.

---

Aaron Slegers, in the second game, became pitcher 33. He was pretty impressive in his big league debut: 6.1 innings, two hits, two walks, three strikeouts. Paul Molitor pulled him after just 82 pitches, which struck me as a prematurely quick hook.

Slegers is being sent back to Rochester, as he was the 26th man for the doubleheader, the Twins are in the midst of a staff-straining seven-games-in-five-days stretch and he can't help further with that, and, well, numbers, man.  (Despite what Dick Bremer kept saying during the telecast, my understanding of the rules is that he could remain and somebody else removed from the 25-man roster, but all the somebodies who could be sent down in his stead might help in the next five days.)

But it's really difficult to concoct a baseball rationale for keeping Kyle Gibson in the rotation and Slegers in the minors. Plus there's an opening in the rotation with putative fifth starter Dietrich Enns going on the disabled list.

---

Enns went on the disabled list to make room on the 25 man roster for Perkins. Enns missed considerable time earlier in the year with a shoulder issue, but he was quoted as saying that this is in a different area of the shoulder.

Buddy Boshers gave up another homer in the first game and was demoted to Rochester between games, with Nik Turley activated. Bet you forgot Turley was still on the 40-man roster. (I knew only because I've been trying to figure out how to open enough space on the 40 to add all the Rule 5 eligible players I want the Twins to protect this winter.) Turley at least gives them another long man in the bullpen (and a potential starter). If he's still around a week from now, something went very wrong.

---

Robbie Grossman broke his left thumb bumping into Byron Buxton in the outfield. He's out probably three weeks or so; Molitor suggested he will be able to hit before he can throw again.

Mitch Garver, primary position catcher, was called up during the night to take his place on the 25-man roster. Garver has played a few innings in left field for Rochester, but I wouldn't advocate having him platoon in right field with Max Kepler, which was a significant portion of Grossman's playing time.

The move means the Twins don't have an true fourth outfielder. Presumably Zack Granite (left-handed hitter) will be back when rosters expand, if not sooner. Either way, with Grossman out, I'd just as soon see Kepler play even against lefties. He's too young and talented to condemn to a strict platoon role. He's not going to get better against southpaws facing them this infrequently.

---
My commentary on the major league team will be muted at best the next few days; I'm headed to Cedar Rapids for my annual look-see at the Kernels.

Three thoughts

Three thoughts from Wednesday's Twins loss:

* Same Old Gibby. I may turn this into a standard acronym, SOG.

Kyle Gibson was really impressive during spring training, and I started to have hope that his revised mechanics would unlock finally make him a pitcher worthy of the 14th overall pick.

He was excellent for three innings Wednesday. In the fourth his command just vanished, and it was only a matter of time. SOG. Five runs allowed in the fourth, and he didn't come out for the fifth.

* It was Byron Buxton's turn to sit Wednesday -- Paul Molitor has used eight different batting orders in eight games -- and it was noteworthy that Eddie Rosario played center field, with Danny Santana in left.

In previous seasons, Santana would have been in center. This suggests that Molitor has concluded (or realized) that Santana is a lesser defensive outfielder than Rosario,

* In a somewhat related note, Robbie Grossman has yet to play even an inning in the field.

Park banged

13 pitchers and what do you get?

Not, to the apparent surprise and consternation of those around Twins training camp, ByungHo Park:

Crazy stuff. Twins reassign Shuck. Option Murphy and reassign PARK.

— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) March 30, 2017

A few thoughts from one who would have kept Park:

* If the Twins are opening with a 13-man pitching staff, they're almost certain to maintain a 13-man pitching staff all season.

* We probably should have seen a 13-man staff coming. On Wednesday Ervin Santana, the obvious opening day starter, couldn't get through five innings. Hector Santiago, who starts today against the Triple A squad, has all of 13 Grapefruit League innings. The post-surgical Phil Hughes has struggled more than impressed this month. And the Twins have few off-days in their early April schedule.

Bottom line: The Twins right now can't expect that their starters are going to eat innings.

* That said, there was an obvious alternative to sending Park to Triple A: dumping Danny Santana.

Park may be a one-tool player, but that tool -- power -- plays. Santana does nothing well enough to put him in the game to do it.

Park isn't on the 40-man roster, and Santana is out of options, so doing it this way keeps both in the organization. But I don't see a lot of value in keeping Santana around. He's third-string everywhere.

* A co-worker was jeering Thursday evening at the notion of Robbie Grossman as the base DH. It's not as ridiculous as Grossman's play in left field as 2016 wound down, and it's what I expected to emerge when spring training opened.

Grossman lacks Park's power, but he does get on base, and that was a significant failing in the Twins lineup last season.

* This does leave the lineup vulnerable to left-handed pitching, with no significant right-handed alternative to Joe Mauer, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler, each of whom struggled against southpaws last season. Two of them were going to play against lefties even with Park around; now all three will. And if Paul Molitor is as reluctant to platoon Jason Castro as I suspect he will be, that will make four exploitable lineup spots for lefties.

The WBC and job competition

The Twins minor league camp opened earlier this week, yet there have been no cuts from major league camp.

Blame (or credit) the World Baseball Classic, in two ways. First, the numbers in camp have already been reduced a bit by players leaving to join their national teams -- most prominently the quartet of Puerto Ricans (Jose Berrios, Eddie Rosario, Hector Santiago and Kennys Vargas). Second, the now-concluded pair of exhibitions against Team USA and Team Colombia, for which the Twins supplied their rivals with a handful of players to supplement their rosters. Those games required extra bodies in camp.

With those games behind them, the decision makers may feel free to start making decisions.

Rosario's absence is interesting because he's expected to be the regular in left field, and now there's more playing time for the guys trying for the fourth outfielder role. Somewhat tied into that, too, is the DH job, for which Vargas is one of three primary candidates.

What connects the two is Robbie Grossman, who had a fine 2016 with the bat and a terrible one with the glove. He has, apparently, been a primary project for Jake Pickler, the new outfield coach, who has been working with Grossman on such basics as how to position his glove. This sounds more like something to teach Little Leaguers than a guy with more than 250 major league games on his resume, but ...

Anyway, the Twins would probably like their fourth outfielder to hit right-handed, as both Rosario and right fielder Max Kepler are left-handed and have shown some platoon difficulties in the past. Grossman is a switch-hitter but better from the right side. He might be the primary DH; he might be the primary reserve outfielder, especially if he can catch the darn ball. (He's not under any circumstances a likely center fielder, but both Rosario and Kepler can play there when Byron Buxton gets/needs time off.)

Then there's Drew Stubbs. The word Thursday was that, with the Twins slated to see a couple of left-handed starters today and Saturday, Stubbs was to be in the lineup to give Paul Molitor a chance to see him in a potential platoon role.

Molitor on Stubbs' defense: "He's gifted. He's moving around well. Has the stride and the speed."

— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) March 9, 2017

Stubbs, a non-roster invitee, has been a center fielder in the past, and it's possible that even at age 32  he's better there than Rosario or Kepler. But that's less relevant to his chances of making this team than how he looks at the plate against left-handed pitching. His bat, and specifically his tendency to strike out, has turned him from a young regular of promise to a veteran journeyman looking for a role. Some good at-bats today would help his cause. And with Rosario and Vargas off WBC-ing, he's going to get the chance.

Oh, Shuck

The Twins have signed outfielder J.B. Shuck, veteran of four major league teams over five seasons, to a minor league deal.

The left-handed batter is not much of a hitter, and is regarded as stretched defensively in center field. He's certainly not threat to become a regular, and he's flawed even as a fourth outfielder.

I think he's most likely to fill the roster role of Logan Schafer, who got 74 plate appearances with the Twins in August-September after injuries hit the outfield and has since signed a minor-league deal with Baltimore: stashed in Triple A and available if the major league roster deteriorates, Not much to see there.

There is another possibility, of course. As matters stand, the Twins outfield projects to be Eddie Rosario in left, Byron Buxton in center and Max Kepler in right, with Robbie Grossman as a reserve and Rosario and/or Kepler shifting around when Grossman is in the lineup.

Grossman had a fine season at the plate -- his .828 OPS was second on the team among players with more than 330 plate appearances and led all American League left fielders -- but he was awful defensively. It's possible that the new regime will opt to sacrifice some offense to have a fourth outfielder who can help the pitchers get outs.

In that connection, it's worth noting that Derek Falvey and Grossman crossed paths last year in Cleveland, where the Indians declined to bring Grossman up and instead let him go to Minnesota in May. Presumably Grossman's fielding failings had something to do with that.

This is a lousy fielding team

The phrase "E-Twins" generally refers to the Twins' Appy League affiliate in Elizabethton, Tenn. This year, it more accurately refers to the fielding "prowess" of the big league team.

Robbie Grossman's double error in left field Friday night inspires me to update this repeated complaint.

Grossman has now been charged with eight errors in left field. According to Baseball Reference, he had, entering the game, cost the Twins 19 runs compared to an average left fielder -- and this as essentially a half-time player (71 games).

Which is how a guy with an on base percentage of .384 and a slugging percentage of .454 is almost a wash in WAR (wins above replacement) as calculated by BR. Grossman has been an absolute liability in the field.

The Twins entered Friday's game with 118 errors. This was the most in the American League, second in the majors to Milwaukee (125). The Twins lead the majors in outfield errors by a wide margin. Nobody's committed more errors in left field than Grossman, Nobody's committed more errors in right field than Max Kepler (who at least has some range.)

Errors are far from a perfect measurement of fielding. But the figure is hardly meaningless, especially at the extremes -- and the 2016 Twins are definitely an extremely sloppy fielding crew.

Meanwhile, they find new ways to embarrass themselves.

Contemplating Robbie Grossman

The bat died gloriously: Robbie Grossman splintered his
bat on this two-run double Friday in Seattle.

Robbie Grossman got called up to the Twins while I was taking my San Francisco hiatus, and I haven't commented about him in any real detail, just a dismissive aside on my return to the blog about there being no real upside to him:

Grossman is not going to be a regular on a quality team. Not now, not four years from now, not ever.

I still think that, by the way. I still think that eventually, maybe even by the end of this season, the Twins will have a regular outfield of Max Kepler, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Eddie Rosario and Oswaldo Arcia are a bit younger than Grossman and have higher ceilings than Grossman.

But after a week of watching Grossman take one quality at-bat after another, I have to say that I agree that he's a better player right here right now than Rosario and Arcia. Grossman has drawn six walks in 34 plate appearances; Rosario drew three in 121 before his demotion. Grossman has played considerable center field in the minors; nobody ever did that with Arcia.

Realistically, Grossman isn't a .357 hitter with a 1.150 OPS (his numbers after Sunday's game). If he were, he wouldn't have been released twice in the last six months, first by Houston and then by Cleveland.

He's 26 years old, a switch hitter, with a minor league record heavier on on-base percentage than on power. Once led the minors in walks drawn (he was repeating high A ball), which led Baseball Prospectus to list him among their top 100 prospects, which was frankly the kind of silly ranking one gets sometimes when scouting the stat lines. Drafted in the sixth round by Pittsburgh, traded to the Astros in 2012 in a deal that sent Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates, released by Houston last November, signed by Cleveland, released by Cleveland earlier this month, signed by the Twins. He's not had a stable season since 2012; he's been switching levels and organizations constantly.

Paul Molitor's going to keep feeding Grossman playing time until he demonstrates that he shouldn't get that playing time, and I can't argue against that; Rosario and Arcia have already demonstrated that they shouldn't get that time, and Danny Santana is more ripe to be displaced from the outfield anyway. Somebody has to play in the outfield while Buxton and Kepler marinate in Triple A. But if Grossman has a big league career in front of him, it's more likely as a fourth outfielder than as a regular.