Twins offense, who'll make it?

Question

With Mauer, Redmond, Morneau, Castillo, Bartlett, Punto, Hunter, White, Cuddyer, Cirillo, and Ford pretty much inked in there, who'll be the rest of the offense? I figure 3 more guys will make it from a group of Kubel, Tyner, L. Rod, Rabe, LeCroy, Harvey, Casilla...

Hey A.J. in I.C. you have had great intellegent answers to all my Twins related questions, and I really appreciate your Twinks knowledge, but are you forgetting Neshek, or do you think he'll be back in AAA?

Answer 1

Easily the best odds go to Kubel and Rodriguez.

Kubel was supposed to be the right-fielder of the future until his knees went to hell on him. I'd expect him to be right in the mix as the DH, however, with some occasional time in the field.

Rodriguez can play anywhere the Twins stick him, which is huge. He is also a big favorite of Gardenhire's...which bodes well in his favor. He has never been much with the bat, but neither is the other utility infielder (Cirillo) so I'd expect Rodriguez to make the big club.

Rabe showed potential, but I feel like the outfield is set and Ford has already shown that he is the guy to fall back on if you need someone in that OF. He plays great defense and has the second-best arm on the team, plus as he showed in 2005...he can hit.

LeCrow doesn't have a lot to offer besides a wicked swing against lefties. Harvey seems like a very, very long shot at this point and would have to put up huge numbers in Spring Training to make the big club. Casilla is the definitely the future, but I think he's still about a year off before he finds a way to break into the lineup.

Answer 2

Not so fast. I think Lew Ford's role is greatly diminished, and his place on the team is less certain. A lot will depend on the confidence of Ron Gardenhire in Jason Kubel's knee. Going into Spring Training, it is widely assumed that Kubel is the favorite for the majority of the DH at-bats. If his knee will allow him to lay left field once a week, I think we might see the Lew Ford-era come to a close in Minnesota. In this case, Jason Tyner would be solidified as the 4th OF, getting some starts in leftfield against right-handers, and hedging against injury at all 3 OF spots.

If we take Lew Ford off your first list, and replace him with Jason Kubel, I think the best races will be for utility infielder, 5th OF, and RH power-hitting pinch hitter/backup 1B. For the IF spot, Luis Rodriguez certainly holds the edge over the rest of the contenders, and they will almost definitely send Alexi Casilla to Triple-A for one more year. But the wildcard here is a young Venezuelan named Alejandro Machado who the Twins picked up in the Rule V draft this offseason. Under the rules of this draft, he must remain on the Twins 25-man roster for the entire '07 season, or offered back to his original team for half of the $50,000 investment. This is the way the Twins acquired Johan Santana, by the way. The Twins will give him every opportunity to win the job, as he plays outstanding defense at both middle infield spots. He doesn't have a lot of offensive upside, but his slick defense may be enough to earn him the spot. I also tend to think that Tyner will win the 5th OF spot over Ford, and Ford (again depending on Kubel's health) will be designated for assignment. This would leave one more spot, and I think that almost certainly is Matt LeCroy's to lose. His ability to play both 1B and C, and his RH power bat off the bench, or as DH against tough lefties, is exactly what the Twins needed down the stretch last year.

So the offense will be Mauer, Redmond, Morneau, Castillo, Bartlett, Punto, Hunter, White, Cuddyer, Cirillo, Tyner, Kubel, LeCroy and Machado. And pitcher staff will include Santana, Bonser, Silva, Ortiz, Garza, Nathan, Rincon, Reyes, Crain, Guerrier, and either Randy Choate or J.D. Durbin.

Answer 3

I'd say Lrod as the utility guy (they like him), Tyner won a lot of fans last year, and Kubel could actually start, those three will make it.
Casilla needs a bit more minors time, Rabe has a low cieling, LeCroy is fat, but could come up midseason, Harvey is a joke...