Happy Buxton Day

Byron Buxton in spring training.
He wore 70 in Fort Myers this spring,
but he'll wear 25 now.

No sooner posted than said. A few hours after I noted the surge in anticipation of the arrival of Byron Buxton, the Twins announced his callup.

I am curious about how the Twins will make room for him. They had a spot on the 40 man roster availed after designating Tim Stauffer for assignment, so that's taken care of. Somebody currently on the 25-man roster has to make room.

Possibilities:

• Aaron Hicks, who missed Sunday's game with a suddenly sore elbow, might go on the disabled list. That, obviously, might hinge on what's wrong with his hinge.
• The Twins have an eight-man bullpen, as they have for weeks, and occasionally make noises about getting back down to seven relievers. The most likely targets for demotion/DFA there are Aaron Thompson and Brian Duensing, but they are the two lefties in the bullpen. Neither is faring well, but I doubt that Paul Molitor wants to go to one LOOGY.
• Shane Robinson, who has been an effective reserve outfielder, might be seen as superfluous with Buxton, Hicks and Eddie Rosario all on the roster. (They are all at least CF capable.)

I'll say this: There's no good reason to see Eduardo Escobar in left field now.

And an outfield with Buxton in center with Hicks and Rosario on the flanks -- I'd opt for Hicks in right and Rosario in left, but I won't argue it too strongly -- would really be a boon to the pitchers.

Start the Buxton countdown

Even before Aaron Hicks misplayed an eighth-inning flyball/line drive into the winning runs for Texas on Friday, the social media chatter about calling up Byron Buxton was reaching new heights.

Aaron Gleeman perhaps started it a little after noon:

Byron Buxton's first 12 games at AA: .180 AVG, .241 OBP, .300 SLG Byron Buxton's last 45 games at AA: .306 AVG, .373 OBP, .541 SLG He's 21.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) June 12, 2015

Then Seth Stohs predicted that Buxton would be called up within two weeks.

It can happen any time, as far as I'm concerned. Hicks has dragged his OPS+ up since the last time I wrote about his offensive inadequacies, but .256/.302/.311 is still south of adequate, even for a stellar defensive outfielder. Which, to be fair, Hicks has been, Friday night's error not withstanding.

But I don't think the Twins are going to be knee-jerk about bringing Buxton up. For one thing, he's not on the 40-man roster, so it's not a simple matter of optioning somebody down. They'd have to cut ties to somebody. For another, because he's not currently on the 40, they will want to avoid yo-yoing him up and down. If he comes up next week and struggles, it will cost one of his three options to send him down. They have good reason to want to be as sure as possible that he's going to stick at least through this season.

I've had the All-Star break in my head as the target for Buxton. If the timeline moves up, I certainly won't complain. But I'm not exactly calling for it either.

Goodbye, Stauffer (and other notes)

Tim Stauffer was designated for assignment after Wednesday's game, with Michael Tonkin recalled to take his place.

This is essentially what I expected the Twins to do last month when Casey Fien came off the disabled list. Instead, they shipped Tonkin back to Triple A and kept the veteran around without any real purpose. Stauffer pitched five times since coming off the disabled list May 21, and last appeared on June 6. Paul Molitor really didn't want to use him in a winnable game, and I can't blame the manager for that.

The odd thing, really, is that the argument for having Stauffer on the roster is better right now than it has been at anytime since spring training began. He hit camp with diminished velocity, and now he's almost back to his accustomed speed.

Not that the argument for Stauffer was ever that good. His 3.87 career ERA before coming to the Twins was greatly enhanced by the San Diego park (career ERA in Petco Park: 3.07) and the lack of the DH in the National League. He never should have been signed to a guaranteed contract.

Recalling Tonkin keeps the Twins at 13 pitchers. One has to wonder if the Twins will ever get back to 12 pitchers and if so, which one gets the ax? Neither Aaron Thompson nor Brian Duensing would seem to have that firm a grip on their jobs, but they are left-handed, and I suspect Molitor would rather have two LOOGYs than one.

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Josmil Pinto went on the concussion disabled list for Triple A Rochester. The catcher/DH (or maybe it's the other way around) suffered a concussion in spring training, and even though he passed the protocol and was cleared to play, there's been a suspicion that he was still feeling the effects. It's unclear is there's a specific incident that led to this sidelining, or if this is the spring training injury remanifesting itself.

Either way, this is not good for Pinto.

A day of Jorge

Jorge Polanco
turns 22 next month.

Paul Molitor was pretty blunt about Jorge Polanco's call-up on his pre-game radio appearance: One day. Molitor just didn't want to manage even one day with a two-man bench, especially in a series with Kansas City. Off day today, and Eddie Rosario is expected back for Friday.

Polanco started at shortstop, got a hit, drew a walk, hit another ball hard and had ... adventures in the field. Some nice plays, some misplays. He was charged with one error and was at least tangentially involved in two others. (At least one beat writer, Mike Berardino, suggested on Twitter that Torii Hunter's flip to nowhere was because Polanco wasn't where he was supposed to be, and the Joe Mauer throwing error had Polanco as its target.)

I saw Polanco play a game at short two years ago in Cedar Rapids, and my immediate impression at the time was that his throwing arm is a bit weak for the position. I expect shortstops to show me throws to first that sizzle. Now, there have been outstanding shortstops who didn't have that kind of arm -- Ozzie Smith after his shoulder injury, for example. So its possible for Polanco to be a major league shortstop without a Cal Ripken cannon. But he can't be the human pinball bumper he resembled at times Wednesday.

My take on Polanco: As a hitter, he's major-league ready. I believe in his bat. I think he's best off at second base. The Twins have Brian Dozier at second, and while I can make a case for ranking Polanco ahead of Dozier, it's largely age based (Polanco is about six years younger). Dozier has more power, and he's established himself as a quality second baseman.

If it weren't for the shortstop vacancy, I would expect the Twins to auction off one of them, most likely Polanco. But there's no urgency.

Notes, quotes and comment

Getting blown away by the Kansas City bullpen isn't embarrassing. Getting just one hit off Chris Young should be.

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While the Twins were being baffled by Young, the word leaked on social media that Jorge Polanco was coming up. The speculation about the corresponding move raged. I found the notion of calling up Polanco puzzling. Why would they bring him in after just two days of Eduardo Escobar at shortstop?

Then the game ended, and the official announcement was made. Eddie Rosario is going on paternity leave, reportedly for just one game. Polanco takes his place, and returns to Double A Chattanooga when Rosario is back. (You can tell Rosario is a rookie, just leaving for one day.) 

This ignited another social media furor from fans who don't understand the option rule. The Twins burned Polanco's 2015 option long ago. They can yo-yo him up and down all year and it won't matter. 

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Tuesday was Day Two of the draft. The Twins drafted a pair of left-handed hitting high schoolers who project to be third basemen in the third and fourth rounds, Travis Blankenhorn and Trey Cabbage. I wonder how the Twins will work out the playing time for them; they would figure to start on the same level. I suppose they'll split time at third base and try some first base and Dh some as well. 

The fifth round pick was another left-handed college reliever, Alex Robinson of Maryland. This is certainly a unique pattern the Twins have going here.

I'm not going to go into great detail of any on them, or discuss at all the rest of the second day picks. This was reckoned to be a pretty mild draft field from the beginning of the cycle, and it thinned out with injuries as the spring wore on. I'm sure somebody will emerge as a bona fide talent, but I'll let him emerge before I get interested.

Feeling a draft: The Twins on Day One

Tyler Jay pitches for Illinois in the Big Ten tournament
last month in Target Field.

The Twins's selection of Tyler Jay with the sixth overall pick fits two recent patterns in their drafting style:

• He's a pitcher from a Big Ten school (in the past decade they popped Matt Bashore and Aaron Slegers of Indiana and Alex Wimmers of Ohio State; Bashore is out of baseball, Wimmers is in Double A and Slegers in High A).
• He was used in college primarily as a reliever but is viewed by the Twins as a potential starter.

Sixth overall is too high for a straight-up bullpen guy, but it appears that there was an industry consensus that Jay was the best lefty in the pool. Some mock drafts I saw had him going as high as third overall.

While Terry Ryan downplayed the notion during his appearance on the Twins game broadcast, there was a buzz about the possibility of Jay getting to the big club this year, a la Brandon Finnegan last season with Kansas City.

And Ryan did say that he expects to keep Jay in the bullpen this year in the minors and begin the process of making him a starter next year, This would fit the hurry-him-to-the-majors theory. And watching Aaron Thompson and Brian Duensing struggle of late does prompt thoughts that the Twins need some southpaw help in the bullpen.

That kind of ambitious timeline can only work if Jay cooperates -- sign quickly and dominate from the get-go. And it will also require that the Twins remain in contention. There's no point in putting him on the 40-man roster for a late-season callup if the team's out of the running; that would start his option clock early and, perhaps, impede the long-term goal of making him a starter.

There's an obvious reason Jay was expected to be an early pick. He's a left-handed power pitcher, and there aren't a lot of those guys around. The perceived drawback is that he hasn't been a starter, but there's a plus to that as well: He hasn't been burdened with high pitch counts and lots of innings.

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The Twins lost their second round pick by signing Ervin Santana, but they did get a "competitive balance lottery" pick at the end of the second round, 73rd overall. They used that pick on Kyle Cody, right handed pitcher from the University of Kentucky. Which is another school the Twins have dipped into for pitchers quite a bit. Cody's a big guy with velocity.

They've drafted a lot of power arms in recent years. They haven't -- yet -- seen fit to bring them up to the big club.

Santana, Vargas and draft day

Danny Santana has a batting average of .218 at the plate
and 12 errors in the field.

The Twins demoted Danny Santana after Sunday's game and recalled Kennys Vargas.

I suspected from the get-go that Santana wasn't going to retain the shortstop job. He displayed this season the flaws his minor league stats and reputation indicated: Erratic in the field, lacking in strike-zone judgment at the plate.

So Eduardo Escobar gets the everyday job at short, at least for now. He hasn't hit as well this year as he did last season, and it's entirely possible that in a month or so Jorge Polanco will get a trial. Or they may try again with Santana.

Recalling Vargas doesn't do much for me. Vargas as DH means Torii Hunter in right field, with either Eddie Rosario or Shane Robinson in left (supplanting Escobar there.) Hunter's been doing a lot of DHing lately, including four times in the past five games (with a misplayed fly ball in the one game he was in the field).

Ultimately, and obviously, Vargas has to hit. My opinion remains: the Twins are better off using the DH spot to hide Hunter and deploy a superior defensive outfield.

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Today begins the annual draft. Baseball America has consistently projected the Twins to take a high school outfielder with the No. 6 overall pick, but which one (Dez Cameron or Kyle Tucker) has fluctuated.

A lot depends on who goes ahead of the Twins, of course, and this is regarded as a particularly difficult draft to handicap. There's no real consensus about who should go first, so the teams at the top are believed to be trying to pre-negotiate below-slot deals with possible candidates. Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press:

Asked at midday Sunday if he knew yet who the Twins would pick, general manager Terry Ryan shook his head. 

“Not yet,” he said. “Somebody is going to fall.”